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[VIDEO] A New Videoclip Filmed in Japan for Alex Henry Foster
- Alex April 5, 2019 Press -
As published in Le Journal de Montréal / Le Journal de Québec
Surprise success during last fall music releases in Quebec, Your Favorite Enemies’ singer, Alex Henry Foster, releases a second music video off his solo album Windows in the Sky, this time for the song Shadows of Our Evening Tides.
“The weight of the world is love…” Filmed in Japan and featuring the words of famous American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Shadows of Our Evening Tides makes us travel to Tokyo.
The dreamy images of the Japanese megalopolis and its inhabitants are the canvas to what the artist describes as “the ineluctable pursuit of an everlasting happiness within the implacable context of a life hastily passing by.”
Shared online in November, the videoclip for the song Summertime Departures, now has, for its part, close to 500,000 views on YouTube.
Scheduled on the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal’s program, on July 5, at the Club Soda, Alex Henry Foster took the music world by surprise, last November, when his album made an entrance at the top of the sales in Quebec, ahead of the new releases of Muse, Imagine Dragons, and Marie-Mai.
CÉDRIC BÉLANGER
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French Animators, Kanye West and Knee-jerk Reactions: Why “All Of The Lights” Is Not A Case Of Plagiarism
By Larry McCloskey
When the video for Kanye West’s “All Of The Lights” hit the Internet it was almost guaranteed to cause controversy. The man never fails to achieve at least some outcry in everything he does. Within moments of it’s release, bloggers were at their keyboards claiming foul play on the part of the video’s director Hype Williams. The charge laid at his feet was one of plagiarism. The term seems to be in vogue as it was only recently that Rihanna’s ‘S&M’ found itself (and rightly so) at the center of similar furor.
“All Of The Lights” features words in various styles flashing along with the lyrics of the song and clearly recall the opening credits of Gasper Noé’s 2010 film Enter The Void. On the surface it seems a cut-and-dry case of creative laziness leading to the work of another being stolen but this is far from the case here.
Plagiarism is defined as expressing an idea as if it were an original thought. However, at no point in the video is it ever suggested that this is the case. It is obvious from the close attention to detail in the selection of graphic styles that it was not merely an afterthought to hark back to Noé’s original sequence but a careful decision made with each frame. There is no attempt to move away from the original style whatsoever nor cover their tracks. The video is blatant in it’s desire to replicate Noé and does not hide away from it. In comparison, Rihanna’s “S&M” video clearly borrows stylistic features from the work of David LaChapelle but never explicitly refers to him. This would suggest there was something to hide aside from the fact that LaChapelle has raised his own concerns over the video.
You could probably write a very long list of things you can fault with Kanye West. But despite his numerous moments of sheer stupidity, he is clearly an intelligent man. A man with great visual and cultural awareness. Even in his stupidity this is evident as no one could argue that “You Belong With Me” was a better video than “Single Ladies”. The same awareness can be attributed to the video’s director, Hype Williams. So it seems completely illogical that they think they could dupe millions into thinking the work was an original piece and especially with the power of the internet to uncover a fraud. There is a clear difference between trying to pass something off as the work of oneself and paying an ocular homage to a director’s particular trademarks. The video itself is a loving nod to the work of Noé in general and not just the opening credits of Enter The Void. West straddling the roof a police car in a red brick alleyway is a knowing wink to Noe’s previous work. The opening scene of 2002′s Irreversible is set in an equally claustrophobic alley and similarly illuminated by the red and blue flashes of police lights.
Those that are quick to jump on the ‘plagiarism-outrage’ bandwagon should at least try and equip themselves with the facts. The use of words appearing in different fonts and flashing along to the rhythm of music is hardly an original idea in itself. It would be wrong to credit the idea of that to Noé. It is derivative of fellow French music video director and graphic animator Bertrand Lagros de Langeron aka So Me. In partnership with Machine Molle, Lagros oversaw the creation of the “Justice” music video for ‘DVNO’ in 2008 which saw the lyrics of the song appear in various animated guises. Furthermore So Me have done numerous other pieces in a similar style for other artists. Not least for Kanye West’s ‘Good Life’ in 2007 which dates it to three years before the release of Noé’s Enter The Void. The single cover of which can be seen below:
It appears therefore that if West and Williams have a case to answer for plagiarism then by the same logic Noé should be appearing in front of the same court. Though it is obvious that none of them should have to face these ridiculous accusations from the knee-jerk reactions of the visually unaware. One of the aims of art is both to push the boundaries forward whilst also paying tribute to those who had originally set them. Words flashing about on a screen might not exactly been groundbreaking but the progression is clear to see. “All Of The Lights” is an exercise in homage and interpretation for the artistically able and most definitely not an issue for men in suits nor sensationalist journos.
Larry McCloskey is a writer for The Big Screen as well as a contributing author to A&E Playground.
Contact the Author: LarryMcCloskey@ArtsandEntertainmentPlayground.com
Tags: All Of The Lights, Bertrand Lagros de Langeron, controversy, David LaChapelle, director, DVNO, Enter The Void, film, French, Gasper Noé, Good Life, Hype Williams, internet, Justice, Kanye, Kanye West, Lagros, Larry McCloskey, lyrics, Machine Molle, Noé, plagiarism, Rihanna, S&M, single, Single Ladies, So Me, style, Video., West, You Belong With Me
This entry was posted on April 7, 2011 at 10:47 pm and is filed under Movies, Music, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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A COZY MURDER IS ANNOUNCED
Hi, my name is Ramla Zareen. I'm a beta reader and an author of light-hearted, romantic fiction, set in modern-day Pakistan. The main objective of this blog is to recommend wonderful authors of Golden-Age Mystery and Cozy Mystery, though there is also a small section for those who indulge in the genre of Romance. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for visiting!
Blog Introduction
Favourite Mystery Authors
Liked Mystery Authors
Favourite Romance Authors
"Agatha Christie" (1890-1976) was born "Agatha May Clarissa Miller", in Torquay, Devon, England.
She was the youngest of three children in a conservative, well-to-do family.
Taught at home by a governess and tutors, as a child "Agatha Christie" never attended school. She became adept at creating games to keep herself occupied at a very young age. A shy child, unable to adequately express her feelings, she first turned to music as a means of expression and, later in life, to writing.
In 1914, at the age of 24, she married Archie Christie, a World War I fighter pilot. While he was off at war, she worked as a nurse. It was while working in a hospital during the war that "Agatha Christie" first came up with the idea of writing a detective novel.
Although it was completed in a year, but she was initially unsuccessful at getting it published. However, in 1920 The Bodley Head press published her novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", featuring the character of "Hercule Poirot." This launched her literary career.
In 1926, Archie asked for a divorce, having fallen in love with another woman. "Agatha", already upset by the recent death of her mother, disappeared. All of England became wrapped up in the case of the now famous missing writer. She was found three weeks later in a small hotel, explaining to police that she had lost her memory. Thereafter, it was never again mentioned or elaborated upon by "Agatha Christie".
She later found happiness with her marriage in 1930 to Max Mallowan, a young archaeologist who she met on a trip to Mesopotamia.
"Agatha Christie" ultimately became the acknowledged Queen of the Golden Age. In all, she wrote over 66 novels, numerous short stories and screenplays, and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott.
Several of her works were made into successful feature films, Her work has been translated into more than a hundred languages. In short, she is the single most popular mystery writer of all time.
In 1971 she was awarded the high honour of becoming a Dame of the British Empire.
HERCULE POIROT MYSTERY BOOKS
1) The Mysterious Affair At Styles (1920)
2) Murder On The Links (1923)
3) Poirot Investigates (1924)
4) The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
5) The Big Four (1927)
6) The Mystery Of The Blue Train (1928)
7) Peril At End House (1932)
8) Lord Edgware Dies (1933), aka: Thirteen At Dinner
9) Murder On The Orient Express (1934)
10) Murder In Three Acts (1935), aka: Three Act Tragedy
11) Death In The Air (1935), aka: Death In The Clouds.
12) The A.B.C. Murders (1935)
13) Murder In Mesopotamia (1936)
14) Cards On The Table (1936)
15) Dumb Witness (1937), aka: Poirot Loses A Client
16) Death On The Nile (1937)
17) Dead Man's Mirror (1937) aka: Murder In The Mews And Other Stories
18) Appointment With Death (1938)
19) Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938), aka: Murder For Christmas, aka: A Holiday For Murder
20) The Regatta Mystery And Other Stories (1939)
21) Sad Cypress (1940)
22) The Patriotic Murders (1940), aka: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, aka: An Overdose Of Death
23) Evil Under the Sun (1941)
24) Murder In Retrospect (1943), aka: Five Little Pigs
25) The Hollow (1946), aka: Murder After Hours
26) The Labours Of Hercules (1947)
27) There Is A Tide (1948), aka: Taken At The Flood
28) Witness For The Prosecution And Other Stories (1948)
29) Mousetrap And Other Stories (1950)
30) The Underdog and Other Stories (1951)
31) Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952)
32) Funerals Are Fatal (1953), aka: After The Funeral
33) Hickory Dickory Death (1955) aka: Hickory Dickory Dock
34) Dead Man's Folly (1956)
35) Cat Among The Pigeons (1959)
36) The Adventure Of The Christmas Pudding (1960)
37) Double Sin And Other Stories (1961)
38) The Clocks (1963)
39) Third Girl (1966)
40) Hallowe'en Party (1969)
41) Elephants Can Remember (1972)
42) Hercule Poirot's Early Cases (1974)
43) Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975)
MISS MARPLE MYSTERY BOOKS
1) Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
2) The Tuesday Club Murders (1932), aka: The Thirteen Problems
3) The Regatta Mystery And Other Stories (1939)
4) The Body in the Library (1942)
5) The Moving Finger (1943)
6) Mousetrap & Other Stories (1950)
7) A Murder is Announced (1950)
8) Murder with Mirrors (1952), aka: They Do It With Mirrors
9) A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
10) What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (1957), aka: 4:50 from Paddington
12) Double Sin & Other Stories (1961)
13) The Mirror Crack'd (1962), aka: The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side
14) A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
15) At Bertram's Hotel (1965)
16) Nemesis (1971)
17) Sleeping Murder (1976)
18) Miss Marple Final Cases (1979)
19) Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985)
SUPERINTENDENT BATTLE MYSTERY BOOKS
1) The Secret Of Chimneys (1925)
2) The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
3) Cards On The Table (1936)
4) Murder Is Easy (1939), aka: Easy To Kill
5) Towards Zero (1944), aka: Come And Be Hanged
TOMMY AND TUPPENCE MYSTERY BOOKS
1) The Secret Adversary (1922)
2) Partners In Crime (The Collection Of Short Stories) (1929)
3) N or M (1941)
4) By The Pricking Of My Thumbs (1968)
5) Postern Of Fate (1973)
OTHER MYSTERY BOOKS
1) The Love Detectives
2) The Christmas Tragedy
3) The Jewel Robbery
4) The Incredible Theft
5) The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
6) The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930)
7) The Sittaford Mystery (1931), aka: The Murder at Hazelmoor
8) Why Didn’t They Ask Evans (1934), aka: Boomerang Clue
9) Parker Pyne Investigates (1934), aka: Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective
11) And Then There Were NoneTen Little Indians
12) Murder Is Easy (1939), aka: Easy to Kill
13) Sparkling Cyanide (1945), aka Remember Death
14) Death Comes as the End (1944)
15) Crooked House (1949)
16) They Came to Baghdad (1951)
17) Destination Unknown (1954), aka: So Many Steps to Death
18) Ordeal By Innocence (1958)
19) The Pale Horse (1961)
20) Endless Night (1967)
21) Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)
22) The Golden Ball and Other Stories (1971)
23) Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories (1997)
Posted by Ramla Zareen at 8:22 PM 1 comment:
BOOK EXCERPTS (PART 2 --FROM P.G. WODEHOUSE BOOKS)
P.G. Wodehouse is one author whose books never fail to make me laugh. Hope you also enjoy the following excepts from his books, thanks!
“Love, Miss Halliday, is a delicate plant. It needs tending, nurturing, assiduous fostering. This cannot be done by throwing the breakfast bacon at a husband's head.”
"He wore the unmistakable look of a man about to be present at a row between women, and only a wet cat in a strange backyard bears itself with less jauntiness than a man faced by such a prospect."
"I mean to say, when a girl, offered a good man’s heart, laughs like a bursting paper bag and tells him not to be a silly ass, the good man is entitled, I think, to assume that the whole thing is off."
"My scheme is far more subtle. Let me outline it for you."
"No, thanks."
"I say to myself--"
"But not to me."
"Do listen for a second."
"I won't."
"Right ho, then. I am dumb."
"And have been from a child."
"Beginning with a critique of my own limbs, which she said, justly enough, were nothing to write home about, this girl went on to dissect my manners, morals, intellect, general physique, and method of eating asparagus with such acerbity that by the time she had finished the best you could say of Bertram was that, so far as was known, he had never actually committed murder or set fire to an orphan asylum.”
"You know how it is with some girls. They seem to take the stuffing right out of you. I mean to say, there is something about their personality that paralyses the vocal cords and reduces the contents of the brain to cauliflower."
“One of the advantages a sister has when arguing with a brother is that she is under no obligation to be tactful. If she wishes to tell him that he is an idiot and ought to have his head examined, she can do so and, going further, can add that it is a thousand pities that no-one ever thought of smothering him with a pillow in his formative years.”
"And she's got brains enough for two, which is the exact quantity the girl who marries you will need."
"It was a confusion of ideas between him and one of the lions he was hunting in Kenya that had caused A. B. Spottsworth to make the obituary column. He thought the lion was dead, and the lion thought it wasn't.”
'But then everybody says that, though you have a brain like a peahen, you're the soul of kindness and generosity.'
Well, I was handicapped here by the fact that, never having met a peahen, I was unable to estimate the quality of these fowls' intelligence, but she had spoken as if they were a bit short of the grey matter, and I was about to ask her who the hell she meant by 'everybody', when she resumed.
...And there on the path, as if they had been waiting for me by appointment, stood a policeman and a parlourmaid.
"How did you get in?"
"Through the window. Being an old friend of the family, if you follow me."
"Old friend of the family, are you?"
"Oh, very. Very. Very old. Oh, a very old friend of the family."...
"I've never seen him before," said the parlourmaid.
I looked at the girl with positive loathing.
"No," I said. "You have never seen me before. But I'm an old friend of the family."
"Then why didn't you ring at the front door?"
"I didn't want to give any trouble."
"It's no trouble answering front doors, that being what you're paid for," said the parlourmaid virtuously. "I've never seen him before in my life," she added, perfectly gratuitously.
A horrid girl.
“But I say, really, you know, I am an old friend of the family. Why, by Jove, now I remember, there's a photograph of me in the drawing-room. Well, I mean, that shows you!"
"If there is," said the policeman.
"I've never seen it," said the parlourmaid.
I absolutely hated this girl.
"You would have seen it if you had done your dusting more conscientiously," I said severely. And I meant it to sting, by Jove!
"It is not a parlourmaid's place to dust the drawing-room," she sniffed haughtily.
"No," I said bitterly. "It seems to be a parlourmaid's place to lurk about and hang about and - er - waste her time fooling about in the garden with policemen who ought to be busy about their duties elsewhere."
"It's a parlourmaid's place to open the front door to visitors. Them that don't come in through windows."
I perceived that I was getting the loser's end of the thing.
Don't leave me, Bertie. I'm lost.'
'What do you mean, lost?'
'I came out for a walk and suddenly discovered after a mile or two that I didn't know where on earth I was. I've been wandering round in circles for hours.'
'Why didn't you ask the way?'
'I can't speak a word of French.' ...
'Well, why didn't you call a taxi?'
'I suddenly discovered that I've left all my money in my hotel.'
'You could have taken a cab and paid it when you got to the hotel.'
'Yes, but I suddenly discovered, dash it, that I'd forgotten it's name."
We drifted to one of the eleven cafes which jostled each other along the street and I ordered restoratives.
'What on earth are you doing in Paris?'
'Bertie, old man,' said Biffy solemnly, 'I came here to try and forget.'
'Well, you've certainly succeeded.'
ON 'HAPPY ENDINGS' IN BOOKS
I am a fan of happy endings in books and this is one of the reasons that two of my favourite genres are Cozy Mystery and light-hearted Romance ☺
While reading a Mystery, I enjoy the mental stimulation that comes with trying to solve the Mystery along with the sleuth ☺
But I don't crave strong excitement or deep contemplation while reading books. I get more than enough opportunities to ponder over serious issues in real-life and so when I get a chance to temporarily escape into the wonderful world of fiction, I prefer my reading experience to leave me feeling happy and relaxed ☺
With Mystery books, I like the resolution to be logically satisfactory and morally pleasing ☺
In both Mystery and Romance books, even if some secondary positive characters must face sorrow, loss or death, for the right cause ...but it's my preference that the main positive characters in a book manage to achieve happily ever after ☺
As far as the negative characters are concerned, well, if they are sincerely remorseful and there is no permanent damage done then they could be forgiven. But in my opinion, extremely offensive characters, like murderers, don't deserve happy endings.
Basically, I prefer such stories that end on a positive note and convey the message that if people possess wonderful qualities like faith, optimism, courage, honesty, fidelity, loyalty, tolerance, decency, courtesy, compassion, forgiveness etc then they do eventually get blessed with happiness ☺
This motivates me to incorporate such qualities in my own personality ☺
Such endings may not always happen in real-life, however, here I would like to reiterate that as far as I am concerned, I actually do not wish that the books that I read greatly resemble reality, since to me, reading fiction is like going on a vacation to a wonderful world, which is preferably different from the real world, where I can just relax and unwind ☺
Reading such books provide me immense happiness and a sense of deep comfort ...and afterwards, I am prepared to face the responsibilities of real-life with strengthened faith, renewed hope, rested mind and fresh enthusiasm ☺
What is your favourite type of ending in books ...and why?
Those interested are welcome to answer this question through their comments, thanks! ☺
Those interested can also check out the discussion on this topic on Goodreads by clicking ...here...! Thanks! ☺
Posted by Ramla Zareen at 8:25 PM 3 comments:
CARTOON (NO. 4)
I'm not ignoring you. You just aren't in the world I'm currently habitating.
Posted by Ramla Zareen at 9:09 PM No comments:
BOOK EXCERPTS (PART 1 --INCLUDES DETAILS ABOUT MY FAVOURITE MALE-PROTAGONISTS IN ROMANCE BOOKS)
Today, not only am I going to post excerpts from two of my favourite books, but I would also like to write about my favourite 'male protagonists' in ROMANCE books.
One is "Matthew Farrell", from "Paradise", a CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE novel, written by "Judith McNaught".
The main reason that "Matt" appealed to me was that his love for Meredith (the female protagonist) was completely selfless and unconditional.
For example, when, during their period of separation, Meredith told "Matt" that one of the reasons why they should not remain married was that she might be unable to have children, he still pushed for reconciliation and wanted to continue their marriage. Not out of sense of obligation, compromise, or ulterior motive but only because he loved her. He was willing to lead a childless existence as long as she was in his life.
Towards the end of the story, when she discovered that there was a hope of her having a baby, though with a slight risk to her life, he was adamant that she shouldn't take even that very small risk. Her love and companionship was all that he wanted from her. Her life meant more to him than any child that they might have.
Eventually, he only agreed to let her try for the child because she felt that it was necessary for her happiness...and Meredith's happiness was the important thing for him.
The other is "Ian Thronton", from "Almost Heaven", a HISTORICAL ROMANCE novel, also written by "Judith McNaught".
One great reason for liking "Ian" was the honesty and courage he displayed by acknowledging his love for Elizabeth (the female protagonist), both to himself and to her, right from the very beginning.
One more impressive quality that both "Matt" and "Ian" shared, was that they were self-assured and confident men, with their egos strongly intact.
They felt no compulsion to either intimidate others or ingratiate themselves, to prove their superiority and prowess, nor were they threatened by the abilities of other people.
For example, when, at some point in the story, both of their respective 'heroines', expressed feelings of inadequacy, both men actually tried to build up their self-esteem by showing how "Meredith" and "Elizabeth" had great power over "Matt" and "Ian", respectively.
It was also their love, and faith that their love was sincerely reciprocated, respect for the qualities and abilities of the women they loved, and trust on their innate goodness that they won't take unfair advantage, that allowed both men to behave like this.
Moreover, the same highly intelligent minds that contributed to "Matt's" and "Ian's" professional success provided them with an insight that their wives's self-confidence would eventually benefit their life together, and also, their innate integrity enabled them to motivate rather than disparage.
"Matt's" underlying sensitivity beneath his valiant ambition and aloof demeanour, a sensitivity that was often depicted by his instinctive smartness and intuitive compassion, endeared him to me as much as his sense of humour, that was at times naughty, usually disarming, and always attractive.
Trying to seduce his wife, Meredith, in an attempt at reconciliation, when they were officially separated and living independently...
"I know you want to kiss me back, I can feel it. Why not indulge the impulse," he invited her huskily. "I'm more than willing and completely available..."
To her horror, his teasing statements doused her anger and gave her simultaneous impulses to giggle and to do exactly what he suggested.
"If I die in an accident on the way home tonight," he cajoled softly, his mouth sliding over her cheek towards her lips again, "think how guilty you'll feel if you don't."
As for "Ian", it was the streak of vulnerability that came through at unexpected moments, that touched me:
"You can do this, calculate all those figures in your mind? In moments?"
He nodded curtly, and when Elizabeth continued to stare at him warily, as if he was a being of unknown origin, his face hardened. In a clipped, cool voice he said, "I would appreciate it if you would stop staring at me as if I'm a freak."
Elizabeth's mouth dropped open at his tone and his words. "I'm not."
"Yes," he said implacably. "You are. Which is why I haven't told you before this."
Embarrassed regret surged through her at the understandable conclusion he'd drawn from her reaction. Recovering her composure, she started around the desk toward him.
"What you saw on my face was wonder and awe, no matter how it must have seemed."
"The last thing I want from you is 'awe'," he said tightly, and Elizabeth belatedly realized that, while he didn't care what anyone else thought of him, her reaction to all this was obviously terribly important to him.
Every great author usually has an expertise in some specific aspect of writing.
For example, though most of my favourite ROMANCE authors, in my opinion at least, are about equally talented in delightfully addictive writing, witty dialogues, humorous situations, intricate plots, interesting stories, emphasizing important qualities in relationships, skilful characterisation, inventing lovable protagonists, and weaving superb romance, including both 'ideal love' and 'physical chemistry', between them.
However, I prefer "Georgette Heyer" for her entertaining escapades, authentic period details and slang, and most importantly, for her ability to maintain decency by exquisitely manipulating words to imply physical attraction between the lead characters, without going into intimate details,
...whereas, "Judith McNaught" is my favourite for invoking emotions, developing empathy and emotional attachment with characters, and above all, for her flair for creating, extremely wonderful and absolutely enthralling, male protagonists! ☺
For this reason, I can go on and on describing the adorable qualities of both "Matt" and "Ian" ...but I think that I should better stop gushing about them otherwise some of you might start thinking that I have developed a crush on these fictional characters ☺
Romance readers and authors are welcome to join my group:
HAPPILY EVER AFTER | GOODREADS
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/161133-happily-ever-after
HAPPILY EVER AFTER | FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/happilyeverafter.gr.group/
Thanks! ☺
Posted by Ramla Zareen at 10:46 AM No comments:
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Definition Of "Cozy Mystery"
LIST OF AUTHORS PERSONALLY RECOMMENDED BY ME
My Favourite "Mystery" Authors
My Liked "Mystery" Authors
My Favourite "Romance" Authors
Please click on the image for details. Thanks!
MYSTERY AUTHORS RECOMMENDED BY OTHER READERS AS WELL AS BY THE ESTEEMED AUTHORS WHO VISIT THIS BLOG
"MYSTERY" AUTHORS RECOMMENDED BY OTHER READERS AS WELL AS BY THE ESTEEMED AUTHORS WHO VISIT THIS BLOG
"WHITE HOUSE CHEF MYSTERY SERIES" BY "JULIE HYZY": ONE OF MY FAVOURITE COZY MYSTERY SERIES
"DEATH ON DEMAND MYSTERY SERIES" BY "CAROLYN G. HART": ONE OF MY FAVOURITE COZY MYSTERY SERIES
AGATHA CHRISTIE: ONE OF MY FAVOURITE "MYSTERY" AUTHORS
AUTHORS (AND THEIR "MYSTERY SERIES")
Cricket McRae
Denise Swanson
Jeanne M. Dams
Jill Churchill
Joanne Pence
Julie Hyzy
Julie Mulhern
Krista Davis
Leslie Caine
Maddy Hunter
Marja McGraw
Ngaio Marsh
Rebecca Douglass
Sheila Connolly
Susan Bernhardt
SOME OF MY FAVOURITE "CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE" AUTHORS
SOME OF MY FAVOURITE "ROMANCE" BOOKS
SOME "ROMANCE" BOOKS THAT I ENJOYED
READING WONDERFUL BOOKS AND EATING DESSERTS PROVIDE ME GREAT PLEASURE
LATEST "COZY MYSTERY" BOOKS
Cozy Mysteries (January, 2015)
Cozy Mysteries (February, 2015)
Cozy Mysteries (March, 2015)
Cozy Mysteries (April, 2015)
Cozy Mysteries (May, 2015)
Cozy Mysteries (June, 2015)
QUOTATIONS AND EXCERPTS
Quotation No. 1
Some Of My Favourite 'First Lines' In Books
Book Excerpts (Part 1)
Cartoon No. 1
GENERAL TOPICS RELEVANT TO BOOKS
On Reading Fiction
On Re-Reading Books
On 'New' Books
On 'Discontinuing' Books
On 'Sighting' Books
On 'Saving' Books
On Love-Triangles In Cozy Mystery Books
On 'Quality Writing Versus Good Story' In Books
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH
Please click on the image, to read about the rough phases during my love affair with perfumes. Thanks!
A DIARY OF A BABY GIRL
Please click on the image, to read a diary, written from the perspective of a baby girl, aged 6 months to 12 months old. Thanks!
MY PERSONAL WRITING ENDEAVOURS
MY POSTS AS A GUEST WRITER ON OTHER BLOGS
MY GOODREADS GROUP: HAPPILY EVER AFTER
HAPPILY EVER AFTER | GR
HAPPILY EVER AFTER | FB
MY BOOK REVIEWS ON GOODREADS
A Deadly Prediction by Carola S. Goodman
Deadly Diamonds by Denise Rodgers
Messiah by Sadaf Shahzad
She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Zeenat Mahal
MY OTHER BLOGS AND WEBSITES
RAMLA ZAREEN | MY WEBSITE
THE MAGAZINE AT BLOGSPOT
POSTS BY AUTHORS
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I LOVE MY COZY MYSTERIES WITH DELICIOUS CHOCOLATES AND A HOT CUP OF TEA
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE COZY COVERS
THE FIRST MYSTERY BOOK THAT I READ
THE BOOK FROM WHICH THE NAME OF THIS BLOG IS TAKEN
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Estimating image resolution by re-sampling
How can you estimate the resolution of an image with no obvious resolution target? On targets like the Moon with permanent surface features, this is relatively straightforward. Find the smallest feature that is resolved (e.g. a crater). In images of planets with changeable surface features and less contrast this is more difficult to do. We can use re-sampling of the image to a test resolution as a way to estimate resolution.
Two ways of defining resolution
First let's look at two common ways of referring to resolution that are often confused. Optical measures of resolution are based on minimum resolvable separation of elements like lines or points. Something like the ISO 12233 test chart can be used. Astronomers use a similar measure based on the separation of closely spaced stars. The Rayleigh Criterion and Dawes Limit are based on this measure.
When working with digital images the size of an individual sample - a sensor element or a pixel in an image is often described as its resolution. This pixel size of the image may be different than the actual resolution of the original image. If the original image resolution was better than that of the sensor, that detail has been lost. We call this under sampling of the image. If the original image resolution was less than that captured by the sensor, no detail has been lost. This is called over sampling.
How are these ways of measuring resolution related: the smallest detectable separation between two points and how finely must the image be sampled and not loose detail? The Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem describes the relationship between these two measures. A signal must be sampled at twice the rate of its fastest frequency (line spacing) to capture all of the detail (information) in the original image. An intuitive restatement: in order to distinguish two closely spaced points we must sample both the points and the space between them. Measurements made using the these definitions will differ by a factor of two. If you are digitizing an image with a line or point separation based resolution of 2 arc seconds, the size of the sampled pixels must be half this, 1 arc second.
It is common practice to use the line frequency based definition when talking about telescopes and the sample pitch (pixel) definition with digital images. It is easy to confuse the two, but they are different a factor of two!
Estimating real image resolution
When an image resolution has been over sampled, we can use the sampling theorem to estimate the real resolution of the image. We can down-sample the image to correspond to a lower resolution and see if we loose any detail in the image. If the down-sampled image has lost information, we know by the sampling theorem that the original image resolution was greater than that of the down-sampled image. In order to make a visual comparison of the down sampled image to the original image easy, up-sample the image back to match the sampling of the original image. If the re-sampled image shows the same details as the original image, then we know that the down sampled image resolution is better than the real resolution of the original image. By comparing images down sampled to a range of resolutions to the original, we can estimate the actual resolution of the original image.
This is all much clearer in an illustration. The figure below shows a processed image of Jupiter in the center and versions of the image that have been re-sampled to pixel sizes that correspond to from 0.6 to 1.4 arc sec per pixel. Each of these was then up sampled back to match the original image in size. The 0.8 and 0.6 arc sec pixel images are closest to the original. Averaging these and applying our factor of two (sampling to separation) we estimate the original image resolution to be about 1.4 arc sec.
Comparing re-sampled image to detect processing artifacts
When we process images to sharpen them, mistaking artifacts for real image features is a concern. We can use a similar technique to validate a processing work flow, by comparing the processed image with a high resolution image that has been down-sampled to the same resolution. The example below compares of my images compared to one of Christopher Go's amazingly detailed Jupiter images taken a few days before. Christopher's image has been re-sampled to approximately the same resolution as mine.
Content created: 2016-06-27
Overview & equipment for lunar eclipse photography
Framing and tracking a lunar eclipse
Exposure planning for a lunar eclipse
Processing lunar eclipse images
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Posts by Topic: “Flowers” RSS feed
“Flowers,” dark Brit-com, is a bouquet of strange
By Joanne Ostrow
Television Critic
“Flowers,” the dark British comedy premiering on the streaming service Seeso on Thursday, is the strangest TV concoction to vie for attention in years. It’s worth a peek just to see how bizarre scripted TV comedy is getting.
This isn’t oddball like “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” on Netflix or odd like the revamped “Odd Couple” on CBS. It’s weirder than those.
Opening with an unsuccessful suicide, narrated in verse, jumping to dreary dark drama, with assorted disconnected characters including an Asian stereotype popping up for no apparent reason, “Flowers” is more downbeat and genre defying than those more standard comedies. It seems to dare viewers to stick with it.
Seeso’s first original scripted comedy, written and directed by BAFTA-nominated Will Sharpe, is a head-scratcher. It does have Olivia Colman (“Broadchurch,” “The Night Manager”) going for it. Colman plays Deborah Flowers, a dotty woman in a seemingly loveless, open marriage.
Deborah is a music teacher; her husband Maurice (Julian Barratt) is the author of illustrated children’s books The Grubbs. They aren’t quite together, but haven’t managed to divorce. They have two maladjusted kids and Maurie’s nutty mom living with them. Deborah aims to keep the family together at all costs and becomes increasingly suspicious that Maurice is in a secret homosexual relationship with his Japanese illustrator Shun (played by show creator Sharpe).
If the rest of comedy is too ordinary for you, you might try “Flowers.”
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Categories: Actors and Actresses, Celebrities, Comedy, Social Media, Streaming service, Technology, Television & Media News
Raul Martinez departs Fox31
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Larry Wilmore will host White House Correspondents dinner
"Duck Dynasty" debacle winners and losers — 362 comments
TLC pulls "19 Kids and Counting" -- now it should cancel it — 106 comments
KBPI's Uncle Nasty, KBCO's Keefer fired by Clear Channel --updated — 102 comments
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Joanne Ostrow
Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.
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The Kurds: A Concise Handbook
Auteur : Mehrdad R. Izady
Éditeur : Crane Russak Date & Lieu : 1992, Washington
Traduction : ISBN : 0-8448-1727-9
Code FIKP : Liv. Eng. Iza. Kur. N° 2413 Thème : Général
Mehrdad R. Izady
Crane Russak
This book rethinks the relevance of the social sciences, both Marxist and liberal, to social change in the "Third World." The authors are concerned with the failure of contemporary development theory to explain and take seriously the dynamic histories of the peoples of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Breaking with unlinear, ahistorical approaches in economics, sociology, political science, and psychology, the essays explore a broad range of issues in an attempt to break new ground.
Topics discussed include: the link between democracy and raising productivity; the respective influence of technology and social relations in industrialization; the contribution to and participation in development of peasants; the conflict between individual freedom and authoritarianism; the changing relations of governments; and political alliances formed around development issues.
Mehrdad Izady is currently a lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He has undergraduate degrees in History, Political Science, and Geography and masters degrees in International Affairs, Geography, and Middle Eastern Studies. His doctorate is in Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University. He has lectured widely and testified before two U.S. Congressional subcommittees on the Kurds. He has published extensively in the Kurdish Times as well as The Middle East Journal. He has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of Asian History and has published maps on the distribution of Kurds.
Téléchargement de document non-autorisé.
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B Plus: Dancing for Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre: A Memoir
by: Michael Langlois (author)
Michael Langlois began studying ballet at the age of ten, convinced it would catapult him from Pop Warner directly into the NFL. Eventually forced to choose between football and ballet, he looked at his less-than-five-foot frame and decided ballet might be a more practical option. He went on to... show more
Michael Langlois began studying ballet at the age of ten, convinced it would catapult him from Pop Warner directly into the NFL. Eventually forced to choose between football and ballet, he looked at his less-than-five-foot frame and decided ballet might be a more practical option. He went on to train at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of American Ballet in New York before being offered a job at American Ballet Theatre by the foremost dancer of the 20th century: Mikhail Baryshnikov.
B Plus: Dancing for Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre is an intimate look at the upper echelons of the dance world as it appeared to a young man who made it to the top of his profession only to discover a vast plateau filled with dancers whose talents and ambitions were often superior to his own.
While he struggles to move beyond playing toy soldiers and happy, clueless peasants in ABT’s corps de ballet, he wonders what to do about his best friend who is in love with him, how to please his world-famous boss, and just how little you have to eat in a ballet company before anyone notices you.
After sixteen years as a professional, he comes to some important realizations about himself and ballet in general. “What makes ballet so intensely satisfying and beautiful to me,” he writes, “is that it is so spare. There are no props. There are no instruments that have to be manipulated. It is just the dancer at that moment, and whoever they are and whatever they are capable of doing exists then and only then.” [Amazon]
Publisher: Epigraph Publishing
Biography Memoir
A Scottish-Canadian Blethering On About Books rated it 2 months ago
http://surreysmum.booklikes.com A Scottish-Canadian Blethering On About Books 3.0 B Plus: Dancing For Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre (Langlois)
text B Plus: Dancing For Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre (Langlois)
I was a massive Baryshnikov fan back in the 70s and 80s, and therefore this memoir by corps de ballet dancer Michael Langlois was instantly of interest. As it turns out, he's also a reasonably interesting man himself. He's particularly frank about two subjects: the perils of eating disorders, and th...
Books by Michael Langlois
http://booklikes.com/b-plus-dancing-for-mikhail-baryshnikov-at-american-ballet-theatre-a-memoir-/book,14012258
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Română Русский
BIZARRE. Magenta took its employees to the street – they seem satisfied
A friend in need is a friend indeed. What do you do when you want to get to know your office colleagues and there are no needs looming on the horizon? Magenta Consulting has decided to take control over the situation, to break the routine and daily office habits and to challenge its staff with a City Quest. Thus, the Magenta team was organized into 4 teams; it had four places to guess and visit five tasks to complete and over six kilometers to walk through Chisinau.
What is a city quest? It is simple. Each of the four teams had to walk a route through the capital, with four destinations, or we could also call them “stops”. The exact location of these stops had to be deduced from the hints received by each team. At the destination, the Magenta Consulting colleagues were challenged to pass a trial.
Let us sum up: four teams, from the starting line they guess the first destination, get to it while timed, receive hints for the trial, pass the trial, get the hints for the next destination and hurry again to get to the “stop” ahead of the rival teams.
The first stop. Hint: The stairs and colors are what takes you HOME
Due to the “colors” from the hint, some teams thought that the first stop is the Water Tower which is during the night lighted in different colors or the House of Nationalities. In reality, however, the colleagues from Magenta had to get to the Valea Morilor Park.
There the first trial was waiting for them: with their eyes tied, to pick some candies. Each team was asked to choose a leader and make a line, leaving the leader to be the last in the line. For drama, all members of the team, except the leader, had their eyes tied. Why was the leader not “taken the eyesight”? Because he/she had to lead the team by finding a way to communicate with the team via handshakes and verbal instructions on a route where candies were suspended in the air, over their heads, and had to be picked.
The second stop. Hint: Let’s sit around the walnut tree, look in the eyes, and if you are afraid of the shade, step over the water and jump
The second task, at the second destination was waiting for the Magenta teams at the shade of a walnut tree from the Public Garden Stefan cel Mare si Sfant with quick questions. Each team was asked 16 various questions, such as: What is the speed of light? What peninsula has at its North-East the Pyrenees Mountains? What represents in Italy Serie A? In what artistic style have written Goethe, Byron and Hugo?
The method of answering, however, was a somewhat unusual one. Each group chose a leader. The leader drew the notes indicating the domain the questions would refer to. Taking into account only the topic of the question, before hearing the question, the leader named which member of the team was to answer. If the assigned person answered correctly to the question the team got three points. If the assigned person answered incorrectly, and another member of the team knew the correct answer, the team only got one point.
Thus, the Magenta Consulting employees trained their managerial skills to assign tasks and sense who from the team would cope better depending on the domain. At the same time, the employees had the opportunity to get to know each other better and to find out the domain in which the team members are more skilled.
The third stop. Hint: Even after death we are also side by side…
After walks in the parks of the capital, the Magenta staff continued their “pilgrimage” on the downtown streets, more exactly, at the most romantic intersection: that between the streets Mihai Eminescu and Veronica Micle. Also here was to be passed the third trial which took all of the Magenta employees from their comfort area – they entered contact with unknown people, negotiated with them, practiced their selling techniques and even the most withdrawn members of the team were uninhibited.
Each member of the team rummaged in their bags to find an object they were ready to offer as a gift. During 20 minutes, the object had to be traded for another, more expensive object, offered by passersby. Some of the passersby offered truly valuable items, such as the flag of the Republic of Moldova, refreshing drinks during hot weather, messages of appreciation for the company Magenta, autographs and “talismans” which had a special history in the life of some of the passersby.
Speaking of the comfort area, it was challenged during the entire trip through the city. Members of the teams had to interact with strangers: to find a visit card of a dentist and of a lawyer and to take pictures with a blonde, with a bicyclist, with a person with flowers, with someone wearing shorts and with someone wearing fur (on a hot weather!).
The fourth stop. Hint: Capital of Lithuania in the Center of Chisinau
The last destination brought the Magenta teams to Vilnius, to be more exact to the supermarket Nr.1 – Vilnius. Because action was taking place nearby a food store, the fourth trial was also a gastronomic one. On arriving near Vilnius, each team got a meter of adhesive tape, a meter of thread and 20 pastas in order to build a tower which would be maximum tall and stable enough to support a meringue.
The constructions of our colleagues came out interesting. Someone even managed to build a dough prototype of the Eiffel Tower. The game challenged the members of the teams to be more creative, involved and concentrated in solving a problem with minimum of resources.
The final trial, the fifth one, highlighted the communicative side of the team; the leader had to explain to the team how a lily is made using the origami technique. The source of information could be the internet or passersby, all members of the team had to keep their hands on the paper and listen to the explanation of the leader, because the leader did not have the right to show what was to be done.
In the daily activity communication has a crucial part in the success of innovation and projects realized for the first time. A good marketing specialist must pass the information through their own knowledge and experience in order to correctly interpret the goal to be attained. And a good consultancy and marketing company must know how to determine its good specialists to realize together the best projects.
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Magenta Consulting opts for statistics-based youth policies
Now in Transnistria, too - Magenta Consulting’s researches will include the left bank of Nistru as well
FLOW or how we went looking for happiness in the mountains and what we actually found
Research tools Insights & Publications Careers Contacts
Marketing research Marketing consulting Customer Experience Export marketing assistance
38, Alessandro Bernardazzi str., 3rd-5th fl., Chisinau, Moldova
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According to a recent post at EWeek, Twitter has not reached the elite status of other social networking sites. It has, however, doubled the amount of visits it receives over the past three months. Out of all the social networking sites, it ranked 439, and 4,309 out of all sites overall. Some figures that could alter these statistics are the many different access points other than just the typical computer.
Here at HitWise, Heather Hopkins notes that the majority of Twitter’s users return over and over again, giving the site a very loyal fan base. But ever over the past few months, with Twitter being in the news, such as breaking news about an earthquake in the UK, and freeing a UC Berkley student from an Egyptian jail, this very niche site is receiving lots of air time, and will continue to grow at such fast speed.
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KU nominates 4 students for the Goldwater Scholarship
LAWRENCE — Four University of Kansas students who have been actively involved in undergraduate research during their university careers are competing for Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, regarded as the premier undergraduate award to encourage excellence in science, engineering and mathematics.
The students’ applications are coordinated by the Office of Fellowships in Undergraduate Studies.
KU’s nominees:
Pierce Giffin, a junior from Leawood majoring in mathematics and physics
Anna Goddard, a junior from Lincoln, Nebraska, majoring in biology and mathematics
Tyler Nguyen, a junior from Kansas City, Kansas, majoring in chemistry and minoring in astrobiology
Eleanor Stewart-Jones, a junior from Mission majoring in chemistry.
Sixty-five KU students have received Goldwater scholarships since they first were awarded in 1989. Congress established the program in 1986 in tribute to the retired U.S. senator from Arizona and to ensure a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
The Goldwater Foundation trustees will announce the 2019 winners in late March. The scholarships cover eligible expenses for undergraduate tuition, fees, books and room and board, up to $7,500 annually. Each year the trustees award about 250 scholarships and 300 honorable mentions. The number of scholarships to be awarded per state will depend on the number and qualifications of the nominees from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and — considered as a single entity — Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Only sophomore- and junior-level students with outstanding academic records, significant research experience and high potential for careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering were eligible for nomination. Nominees submitted applications that included essays related to the nominee’s career goals and three faculty recommendations. The campus nomination committee is chaired by Mikhail Barybin, professor of chemistry. Students interested in applying next year should contact campus representative Anne Wallen, program director for the Office of Fellowships.
All the nominees are members of the University Honors Program. Brief descriptions of their research experience and career plans follow.
Pierce Giffin is the son of Paul and Maria Giffin of Leawood, and he is a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School. He is double majoring in mathematics and physics. Giffin is planning a career researching theoretical particle physics. He works in the lab of Assistant Professor Daniel Tapia Takaki in the Department of Physics & Astronomy studying a novel approach to look at a proton structure in terms of its fractal properties. Giffin also participated in a summer REU at Duke University on a nuclear physics topic and is currently working on a research project in the Lenexa-based PhytoTechnology Laboratories.
Anna Goddard is the daughter of Anne and Steve Goddard of Lincoln, Nebraska, and she is a graduate of Lincoln Southwest High School. She is a double major in biology and mathematics. Goddard is planning a career researching genetic diseases. She works in the lab of Associate Professor Maria Orive in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, using mathematical modeling in population and evolutionary biology. Goddard is also a member of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity and has presented at the national Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.
Tyler Nguyen is the son of Tung and Huyen Nguyen of Kansas City, Kansas, and he is a graduate of Piper High School. He is majoring in chemistry with a minor in astrobiology. Nguyen is planning a career researching chemical modifications of materials and proteins for nanotechnology and bioengineering applications. He works in the lab of Professor Cindy Berrie in the Department of Chemistry, developing model systems for enzyme-based sensors for disease diagnosis, a biological application of nanotechnology. He has presented his research in several settings locally and regionally, and he will present soon at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in Orlando, Florida.
Eleanor Stewart-Jones is the daughter of Brian Jones and stepdaughter of Loes Niedekker, and daughter of Teresa Stewart and stepdaughter of Scott Leigh. A graduate of Shawnee Mission East, her hometown is Mission. Stewart-Jones is majoring in chemistry with a minor in French. She works in the lab of Professor Tim Jackson in the Department of Chemistry, researching the reactivity seen in manganese model systems. Stewart-Jones serves as a research ambassador for the Center for Undergraduate Research and recently presented her research at the Max Planck Matter to Life Conference in Tegernsee, Germany.
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Outstanding humanities graduate students receive Hall Center research awards, internships
LAWRENCE – The Hall Center for the Humanities has recognized several outstanding humanities graduate students with summer research awards and internships. These summer funding opportunities are part of the center’s significant level of support for graduate research.
The Hall Center's Humanities Summer Graduate Internship program supports exceptional and well-rounded doctoral or master's degree students who demonstrate the ability to make outstanding contributions in their chosen humanities or social science disciplines.
Harley Davidson, doctoral candidate in history, will intern at the National World War I Museum. This internship position will offer Davidson the opportunity to work at a unique, world-class history museum with a large, diverse collection and museum professional staff. Projects include creating public space information displays using material from the museum's archival collection and expanding existing and creating new digital content.
Amber Roberts Graham, doctoral candidate in history, will intern at the Truman Library Institute by assisting with two interrelated projects: marketing the museum and membership programs through several audience development strategies and conducting the internal and external research necessary for them to produce a useful summary of the opportunities for growing participation in the Truman Library's programs.
Rebecca Dickman, master's degree student in museum studies, will intern at the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Among other tasks, Dickman will research and develop bibliographies for humanities and visual arts exhibition projects as directed; organize and create entries for an in-house library database; and assist with documentation and installation of in-house exhibitions.
Alyse Bensel, doctoral student in English, will intern with the Kansas Humanities Council, where she will be responsible for researching and writing theater scripts exploring three key moments in Kansas environmental history since the 1860s. Following the completion of the materials outlined above, KHC will organize and premiere the work at sites across Kansas. Scripts and instructions will be made available for free download from the KHC website.
Meaghan Kelly, master's degree student in English, will intern at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This internship will provide a comprehensive experience in fundraising with an emphasis in prospect research, donor data management, and stewardship and grant-writing. Kelly will provide support to the museum's advancement division by assisting with varied administrative tasks.
Katrina Lynn, doctoral student in history, will intern with the Franklin County Historical Society. Lynn will conduct the preliminary research to determine the feasibility of several large-scale projects made possible by the recent completion of the scanning of some 6,000 negatives of photographs taken during the 1930s, '40s and '50s in Ottawa and its environs, many of which were published in the Ottawa newspaper. Within this collection are several hundred images documenting the World War II era, which are representative of small-town America during the war years.
In addition to the internships, four outstanding graduate students were selected for Graduate Summer Research Awards. These awards offer summer support for graduate students engaged in humanistic dissertation research and writing. The goal of these awards is to make possible full-time dissertation work for the months of June and July.
The four winners:
Alison Miller, art history, “Mother of the Nation: Femininity, Modernity, and Class in the Image of Empress Teimei”
Evgeny Grishin, history, “Becoming a ‘Schismatic’: The Concepts of the ‘Schism’ and ‘Schismatic’ in the Church and State Discourses of 17th and 18th-century Russia”
Renee Harris, English, “Reading Keats: Sociability and the Work of Affect”
David Trimbach, geography, “Citizenship Capital in Narva, Estonia”
These students will organize the Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Workshops during the academic year following the summer of support, where they and fellow graduate students will present their work. The Hall Center will post workshop meeting dates on its website. The Graduate Summer Research Awards are made possible by the support of the Friends of the Hall Center.
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Banque du Liban
Title: Banque du Liban
Subject: Economy of Lebanon, Agriculture in Lebanon, Lebanese shipping, FFA Private Bank, Middle East Airlines
Collection: 1963 Establishments in Lebanon, Banks Established in 1963, Central Banks, Economy of Lebanon
مصرف لبنان(Arabic)
Riad Salameh
Central bank of
LBP (ISO 4217)
Interest on reserves
www.bdl.gov.lb
Bank of Lebanon (Officially French: Banque du Liban) BDL (Arabic: مصرف لبنان) is the central bank of Lebanon. It was established on August 1, 1963 and became fully operational on April 1, 1964. It is currently headed by Riad Salameh, who was named the Middle East's best central bank governor by Euromoney in 2005.
One of the main responsibilities of the bank is issuing Lebanon's currency, the Lebanese Pound. Other responsibilities include maintaining monetary stability, regulation of money transfers, and maintaining the soundness of the banking sector. Banking is a very important part of Lebanon's economy with over 100 different banks, which makes the role of Banque du Liban particularly important. It currently owns 99.37% of the shares of Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines. However, plans call for it to sell its stake in the airline by 2008 as part of government plans to privatize many institutions.
The government has recently launched an ambitious 5-year economic reform program in hopes to cut the country's debt. The outcome of the reform program will largely be dependent on Banque du Liban.
Besides the main branch in Beirut, it has branches in Aley, Baalbeck, Bikfaya, Jounieh, Nabatiye, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre, and Zahlé.
Role and function 2
The Monetary Policy 3
The Governing Body 4
Ottoman domination of Lebanon, which lasted for more than four centuries, was brought to an end on October 6, 1918, with the entrance of the Levant Marine Division in Beirut roads. The paper money issued by the Turkish Treasury, with a forced exchange rate, suffered the same fate.
In order to normalize economic life in the occupied territories and cover the expenses of the allied forces, English authorities imposed the banknote of the National Bank of Egypt, the Egyptian currency having been, since October 30, 1916, closely linked to the sterling and entirely covered by securities issued in sterling.
In accordance with the convention signed between the French and the British governments on September 15, 1919, a new occupying authority started to rule Lebanon. French troops replaced the British, under the command of General Gouraud, who was appointed on October 12, 1919 as "High-Commissioner of the French Republic in Syria and Cilicia, and Commander-in-Chief of the Levant Army". Consequently, the use of the Egyptian currency, suitable for the British Treasury, became inappropriate. To obtain Egyptian pounds, France, being the sole occupying power, had to offer increasing amounts of francs.
During World War I, the French franc had maintained its status thanks to advances from the British and American Treasuries. However, in 1919, the French franc registered a drop because of the British government's decision to stop these advances, thus breaking the alliance between the franc, the sterling and the dollar, and also because of the United States Government's decision to suspend its regulating role of the associated change rates. In order to replace the Egyptian pound, the French government decided, by Decree N° 129 issued by the High Commissioner on March 13, 1920, to endow Syria with a national currency.
On September 1, 1920, the representative of France proclaimed Great Lebanon. In 1920, the Bank of Syria was granted the concession of issuing the Syrian currency, which became legal tender on May 1, 1920. Banknotes issued by this bank were reimbursable to the bearer or at sight by checks drawn on Paris, at the rate of FF 20 for one Syrian pound.
As a consequence, an independent, currency-issuing department was established at the Bank of Syria. It was responsible for putting in circulation and withdrawing banknotes. Issuances were made either on behalf of the Treasury in Paris or on behalf of the Bank itself.
Concerning commercial operations, the Issuing Department was to provide the Bank of Syria with banknotes only in exchange of foreign currencies or foreign securities, which constituted, together with the credits granted by the Treasury in Paris, the coverage of the currency in circulation.
The Banque du Liban was established by the Code of Money and Credit promulgated on 1 August 1963, by Decree no. 13513. It started to operate effectively on 1 April 1964. BDL is a legal public entity enjoying financial and administrative autonomy. It is not subject to the administrative and management rules and controls applicable to the public sector. Its capital is totally appropriated by the State.
The BDL is endowed by law, with the prerogatives to fulfill its mission. It can use all measures it deems appropriate to ensure exchange rate stability, specifically the intervention in the foreign exchange market by buying and selling foreign currencies.
The BDL controls bank liquidity by adjusting discount rates, by intervening in the open market, as well as by determining credit facilities to banks and financial institutions. It regulates banks' credit in terms of volume and types of credit, by imposing credit ceiling, by directing credits towards specific purposes or sectors and setting the terms and regulations governing credits in general. The BDL imposes on banks reserve requirements on assets and loans as determined by BDL, as well as penalties should shortfalls occur. Investment in TBs may be considered by the BDL as part of the reserve requirements.
The BDL grants licenses for the establishment of banks, financial institutions, brokerage firms, money dealers, foreign banks, leasing companies and mutual funds in Lebanon. The Banking Control Commission controls and supervises these institutions. Conferring with the Association of Banks, the BDL issues circulars and resolutions governing the relations of banks with their customers.
There is a regular coordination between the BDL and the Government in order to ensure consistency between BDL's objectives and those of the Government. Cooperation with the Government implies coordinating fiscal and monetary policy measures. It informs the Government on economic matters that might negatively affect the national economy and currency and suggests measures that might benefit the balance of payments, the price level, public finance and offers advice on how to promote economic growth. It also ensures the relations between the Government and international financial institutions.
The Monetary Policy
A favorable environment has characterized the Lebanese economy in 2003. Lebanon is maintaining its commitment to exchange rate stability and to the soundness of its banking sector, in addition to implementing an ambitious fiscal adjustment program.
Confidence was boosted by the successful outcome of Paris-II conference, held in November 2002 with the participation of a number of countries and international organizations. An aggregate amount of US$4.3 billion was pledged in 15-year loans at reduced rates to support the government's economic reform plan for lowering the servicing cost of public debt, which accumulated over the years due to costly reconstruction efforts.
These developments led to a significant drop in TBs' interest rates, followed by a cut in commercial banks' average deposit and lending rates in Lebanese pound (LBP) and in foreign currencies. In parallel, USD holdings were being converted on a wide scale into LBP holdings. Moreover, the BOP performance, which started to improve in May 2002, remained on the same trend, with cumulative surpluses exceeding $2 billion at end-April 2003, while BDL assets in foreign currencies stood at more than $10 billion, excluding gold.
In the last few months, a strong demand emerged on Lebanese government paper in local and foreign currencies, due to increased confidence, reinforced in April by the Government's ability to pay from the Treasury a maturing $500 million Eurobond issue, without resorting to rollover as in the past. This was accompanied by a positive assessment by the IMF and major international rating agencies, which considered that Lebanon is on the right track in trying to end its economic and financial difficulties, and that its performance in coping with the aftermath of the war in Iraq is the best in the region.
In the banking sector, equity capital continued to increase, reaching $3.5 billion at end-April, and pushing the average capital adequacy ratio to 18%. Despite their modest growth, private sector loans attained 100% of GDP, a unique performance in itself. Deposits grew at an annual 11% rate, reaching $47 billion at end-April - more than double the GDP - with a dollarization rate dropping to 68%, from a 74% peak in May 2002. This excellent performance was buttressed by the BDL's efforts to strengthen prudential supervision, paving the way for compliance with Basle-II requirements by a sound banking sector, ready to better manage operational risks, and to improve transparency and good governance.
The government's commitment to decelerate the growth of public debt and to reduce its servicing cost was reflected in the conservative budgets of 2002 and 2003. Coupled with measures to achieve the highest possible proceeds from privatization and securitization, this strategy will be pursued over the medium term, expectedly leading to a public finance recovery.
The Banque du Liban is managed by the Governor who is assisted by four Vice-Governors, as well as by the Central Council.
The Governor is the legal representative of the Banque du Liban, and has extensive authority on the management of the Bank. He is entrusted with the enforcement of the Code of Money and Credit, and the implementation of the Central Council's resolutions. Upon the proposal of the Minister of Finance, the Governor is appointed by decree sanctioned by the Council of Ministers, for a renewable six- year term.
After the consultation with the Governor and upon the proposal of the Minister of Finance, the Vice-Governors are appointed by decree sanctioned by the Council of Ministers for a renewable five-year term. They assist the Governor in managing the Bank, carrying out functions specified by the Governor. In addition, they assume their duties as members of the Central Council.
The Central Council sets the monetary and credit policies of the Bank, including money supply, and discount and lending rates. It discusses and decides, among other things, on issues concerning the banking and financial sectors, the establishment of clearing houses, the issuing of currency and on loan requests by the public sector entities.
FFA Private Bank
Economy of Lebanon
List of Lebanese Banks
List of Lebanon-related topics
Official site of Banque du Liban
Bank for International Settlements
Bank of Central African States
Central Bank of West African States
Bank of Algeria
National Bank of Angola
Bank of Botswana
Bank of the Republic of Burundi
Bank of Cape Verde
Central Bank of the Comoros
Central Bank of the Congo
Central Bank of Djibouti
Central Bank of Egypt
Bank of Eritrea
National Bank of Ethiopia
Central Bank of The Gambia
Bank of Ghana
Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea
Central Bank of Lesotho
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Central Bank of Madagascar
Reserve Bank of Malawi
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Bank of Mauritius
Bank Al-Maghrib
Bank of Mozambique
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Central Bank of Nigeria
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South African Reserve Bank
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Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
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Central Bank of Barbados
Bermuda Monetary Authority
Central Bank of Brazil
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Bank of the Republic (Colombia)
Central Bank of Cuba
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Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
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Central Bank of Ecuador
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Federal Reserve System (United States)
Central Bank of Uruguay
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Da Afghanistan Bank
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Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
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Bulgarian National Bank
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Národná banka Slovenska (Slovakia)
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
Reserve Bank of Fiji
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Bank of Papua New Guinea
Central Bank of Samoa
Central Bank of Solomon Islands
National Reserve Bank of Tonga
Policies and implementation
Contractionary monetary policy
Expansionary monetary policy
Basel II
Basel 4
Capital control
Open market operation
Sovereign wealth fund
Bretton Woods system
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
List of central banks
Central banks and currencies of Africa
Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean
Central banks and currencies of Central America and South America
Names in italics indicate non-sovereign (dependent) territories, former countries, or states with limited recognition
Articles containing French-language text
Articles containing Arabic-language text
Banks established in 1963
1963 establishments in Lebanon
Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Syria
Turkey, Byzantine Empire, World War I, Turkish language, Sultanate of Rum
Isle of Man, India, Canada, European Union, British Overseas Territories
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, World Bank, Paper, Tobacco
Agriculture in Lebanon
Lebanon, Beqaa Valley, Economy of Lebanon, Geography of Lebanon, History of Lebanon
Lebanese shipping
Lebanon, Economy of Lebanon, History of Lebanon, Politics of Lebanon, Beirut
Lebanon, Beirut, Types of business entity, Banking, Banque du Liban
SkyTeam, Beirut, Airbus A320 family, Air France, Saudia
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When Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, it possessed, by far, the smallest population of any of the Southern States - 140,000, and was the third smallest state in all the Union. Of the total population, 78,000 were white with about 16,000 of military age - almost all would serve in the war in one fashion or another. The governor at the time of secession was Madison Starke Perry, who, by the end of the year, would be in command of the 7th Florida Infantry Regiment. John Milton would succeed Perry as governor.
The first concern for Florida after secession was the occupation of Federal facilities, most importantly Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas and the Pensacola Navy Yard. Quick action by Lt. Adam Slemmer of the 1st U. S. Artillery prevented Fort Pickens from ever falling into Confederate hands. On January 10, he moved his small command (about 80 men), from Fort Barrancas to Fort Pickens, which commanded the entrance to Pensacola Bay. As long as the Federals controlled the pass, the Confederates could neither enter nor exit the bay. Two days after Slemmer moved across the bay, Commodore James Armstrong surrendered the Pensacola Navy Yard to state troops, for which he was later court-martialed.
Florida was divided into two military districts - the District of West Florida, and the District of Middle and East Florida. In March 1861, General Braxton Bragg assumed command of the Confederate forces in West Florida, mainly the troops around Pensacola. In October 1861, the Confederate Government assigned Brigadier General James H. Trapier to command Middle and East Florida, but soon fell ill and was replaced by Brigadier General Joseph Finegan.
The first major action in Florida occurred on October 9, 1861, when 1,000 Confederate troops, under the command of General R. H. Anderson, snuck ashore on Santa Rosa Island with the objective of surprising the Federal garrison at Fort Pickens, taking the fort, and opening the port. On the way to the fort, the Confederates ran into Union troops encamped outside the fort who sounded the alarm. After skirmishing much of the night, the Confederates withdrew from the island at daybreak. Federal troops suffered 43 casualties - 14 killed and 29 wounded. The Confederates lost 17 killed, 39 wounded, and 30 captured.
A month and a half later, the Union and Confederate forces would again square off at Pensacola, this time using only artillery. For two days, the cannon of Fort Pickens and the guns from the Federal ships Niagara and Richmond traded shots with Fort McRee and the Confederate batteries around Pensacola. The Confederates suffered 21 wounded, 1 mortally; Union losses were 5 killed and 12 wounded.
The largest battle in Florida occurred at Olustee on February 20, 1864. The Federals, believing Florida vulnerable both militarily and politically, mounted a campaign to drive into the heart of the state and possibly establish a new government sympathetic to the Union. The Union forces, under the command of Brigadier General Truman Seymour, landed at Jacksonville and marched west toward Tallahassee, the state capital. However, Confederate forces, commanded by General Finegan, stopped the Federal troops at Olustee Station near Ocean Pond. In the engagement, the Confederates lost 93 killed, 847 wounded, and 6 missing while the Union lost 203 killed, 1,152 wounded, and 506 missing. Union forces would not occupy Tallahassee until after the end of the war. In between battles, little happened in Florida. The Confederates used their Florida troops elsewhere, and the Union only raided the smaller ports.
In all, Florida contributed nearly 16,000 troops to the Confederate cause (10% of their population), or about 1.5 % of the entire Confederate Army. They would raise eleven infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, several batteries of artillery, plus various smaller units of all branches; the Union raised two cavalry units from Florida.
https://ehistory.osu.edu/exhibitions/Regimental/florida/confederate/index
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Part 3 – Greying populations: where is the demographic dividend?
People Economy
by Alwyn Didar Singh |
Let me now go back to what I began with in part 1 of this three-part article. The issue of Europe’s greying population. That population pyramid now finds itself being inverted — and in some countries, that is causing the entire economy to topple.
Not so long ago, the conventional wisdom was neo-Malthusian — for individuals, for families and for societies, one of the keys to prosperity was having fewer children.
Now, that thinking has been turned upside down. Even China, which for decades has followed the one-child policy of population control, now fears it may get old before it gets rich. Meanwhile, India, whose fertility was once seen as its national curse, is touted as a rising investment prospect thanks to its “demographic dividend.”
So what can Europe do? There are only two options. Increase retirement age or allow in more migrants. The first option seems to be an obvious choice. Working longer has three great advantages. The employee gets more years of wages; the government receives more in taxes and pays out less in benefits; and the economy grows faster as more people work for longer.
Unfortunately this option is rather limited and countries and corporates using it are reporting several problems with it – including individual workers refusing to accept the voluntary option of extension of their working life. The second option too has both political and social ramifications. I do not need to remind you of the recent incident in Norway, perpetuated by an anti-immigrant madman.
There is little doubt that the most significant driver of migration will be the ageing population in Europe and in other developed countries. This will be the pull factor. The growing working population in the developing world will be the push factor. I had earlier mentioned the case of ‘outsourcing’.
It is really a migration issue.
With high old age dependency ratios, the preference is to shift in favour of technology when it is obvious that social security schemes need the support of a working migrant population to shore them up. Developed countries have the Hobson’s choice of either accepting immigration or losing jobs to developing economies with a growing working population.
Whatever the decision, it will require exceptional political will to implement.
The phenomenon of population ageing in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries will not go away. The International Migration Outlook brought out by the OECD proposes a road-map to manage labour migration that suggests better identification of labour market needs and adjusting flows accordingly.
Migration must be managed since ageing population and skill shortage is a reality especially in the context of the on-going economic crisis. Ultimately it’s all about competitiveness.
If the United States and European countries are to retain their competitive advantage, their universities, firms and industries will need a healthy flow of talent from abroad. Yet, many of them are coming up with walls to halt or severely curtail the mobility of talent.
In an already existing economic downturn the results can be even more disastrous. In fact a recent study in the UK estimated that the recently imposed cap on immigration will result in the UK economy losing some 1 percent of GDP growth.
It is also necessary to mention here the debate on ‘brain drain’ in the context of a globalizing economy and ageing societies. Today, the developed world is perceived as poaching the best and the brightest from the developing world, thus prejudicing those countries of their chance of development.
There are however two caveats to this premise: first, that any brain drain is as much internal within any country as it is among countries and, second, that the skilled migration system should not be seen in isolation from other types of migration.
There are two forms of discretionary labour migration. One is so-called “supply-driven” and reflects what Australia and Canada have generally done. These countries invite persons abroad interested in migrating to apply and then assess them on the basis of certain criteria (age, knowledge of the language, educational qualifications, occupation, work experience, presence of relatives in the country, etc.).
Points are awarded for each characteristic and persons having a certain minimum number of points are invited to immigrate with their immediate families, up to a pre-specified maximum per year.
Then there is the “demand- or employer-driven” migration, that is, employers make requests for workers to public authorities (generally they have specific persons in mind), which then allow the workers to come in if they deem that no workers in the country could satisfy the job requirements of the jobs for which the potential immigrants are being recruited.
This form of labour migration is the most common one and is the one prevalent in the United States, Europe and Japan. There is generally a “labour market test” to determine if workers in the country could take on the job.
Let me now turn to India. India’s experience as a major country of origin, transit and destination combined with its objective to forge a coherent and progressive migration policy that addresses the entire ‘virtuous cycle’ of human resource mobility, places us in a unique position.
Whilst we have an estimated overseas Indian workforce of over 7 million, what is less known is that India with its rapidly growing economy and its pluralistic society is also host to millions of migrants. They live and work in India and contribute to our economy.
The primary motivation for migration is economic and at the heart of migration management is the imperative to maximize the development impact of international migration for all. The scale and spread of the Indian experience of managing Migration as well as Development and the intimate interplay of these two complex processes is matchless.
With the second largest overseas population, its status as the country that receives the highest remittances, its experience in effectively addressing the problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment, India can provide the much needed impetus to meaningfully reinforce the symbiotic development-migration paradigm.
India exemplifies the strengths of a large, tolerant, secular, live democracy with a pluralistic society in which people of different faiths, languages, ethnicities and political persuasions co-exist and thrive.
Indeed, this milieu is the ‘sine qua non’ of any society that can create conditions for positive migratory movements and labour mobility for the benefit of all.
This places India in a position to help contribute in the international community’s efforts to develop an appropriate world migration strategy.
India is also one of the pioneers in recognizing the importance of its overseas population and establishing an institutional framework for sustainable and mutually beneficial engagement with its Diaspora.
By creating an independent and effective Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, India has given mainstream attention to its estimated 25 million strong overseas Indian community. This experience too has helped us develop appropriate and well calibrated institutional responses, through bilateral and multilateral engagement, to meet the challenges of capacity building for better migration management.
Estimated as the second largest Diaspora at over 25 million and spread across 189 countries, overseas Indians are today recognised as the ‘Knowledge Diaspora’.
Their ‘virtual presence’ across sectors and in most parts of the globe makes them a strategic resource. We recognise the need therefore, to bring a strategic dimension to India’s engagement with its overseas community.
We have taken a medium to long term view and are attempting to forge a partnership that will best serve India as a rapidly growing knowledge economy – to drive innovation and entrepreneurship – and meet the aspirations of the overseas Indian community as a significant constituency across the world.
We also recognize that there is no single, homogenous overseas Indian community. Indeed, there are communities within communities, each differentiated by their ability and willingness to engage with India and with distinct expectations. Our policy focus has therefore been on developing a mobility strategy that will provide for the wide range of roles and expectations and maximize collaborative engagement.
Let me conclude by raising a few questions.
The challenges in managing migration effectively at the international levels include finding and maintaining a balance between measures addressing various migration related issues, without creating improvement in one sphere to the detriment of another.
Should any or all migration policy issues be considered within an international comprehensive approach? Are some elements more important than others? Should the elements be common to all States or will each State develop its own package based on domestic priorities?
Any discussion on elements of a managed migration approach would need to take into consideration both what constitutes a comprehensive set of elements, and who the partners required to implement these elements are.
I am aware there are no easy answers but our endeavour should be to search for and find them, together, as partners of a common global destiny.
This is Part 3 of a three part article, written under the title of Migration in a Globalised World: Going and growing beyond Borders
by Alwyn Didar Singh
Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. Dr. Alwyn Didar Singh is a senior civil servant of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), presently posted as Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
People Students
Exams: Work smarter not harder! Part 2
Exams: Work smarter not harder!
People Labour
Conscientiousness or Creativity
People Governance
Trust Trumps Everything
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Concentrations of organochlorines in sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) from Southern Australian waters
Evans, K and Hindell, MA and Hince, G, Concentrations of organochlorines in sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) from Southern Australian waters, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 48, (5-6) pp. 486-503. ISSN 0025-326X (2004) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2003.08.026
Concentrations of DDTs, PCBs and HCHs were measured in sperm whales involved in two mass stranding events on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia in February 1998. DDTs and PCBs were present in all samples analysed, while only three contained HCHs. The relationships between organochlorines, sex, age and reproductive groups were marked by high variability. Differences in organochlorine concentrations were observed between animals from the two stranding sites and discussed in light of the ecology of this species. Concentrations of all pollutants were stratified throughout the vertical aspect of the blubber and possible reasons for and the implications of this are discussed. Concentrations of compounds were higher than those documented in this species in the Southern Hemisphere previously, although were relatively lower than those documented in the Northern Hemisphere. However, comparisons were confounded by spatial and temporal differences. Continued monitoring of marine mammals throughout this region in a co-coordinated, standardized manner is essential for establishing definite temporal and spatial variations in pollutant concentrations. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Climate Variability (excl. Social Impacts)
Evans, K (Dr Karen Evans)
Hindell, MA (Professor Mark Hindell)
TAFI - Zoology
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City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771–1965
Colloquium | March 14 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Hearst Memorial Mining Building, Room 290
Speaker: Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Associate Professor, History and African American Studies and Interim Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, UCLA
Respondent: Eric Henderson, Policy Associate, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Sponsors: Center for Research on Social Change, Department of History, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, Townsend Center for the Humanities, Equity and Inclusion, Vice Chancellor
Los Angeles incarcerates more people than any other city in the United States, which imprisons more people than any other nation on Earth. In this talk based on her new book, historian Kelly Lytle Hernández explains how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world’s leading incarcerator. Marshaling more than two centuries of evidence, she unmasks how histories of native elimination, immigrant exclusion, and black disappearance drove the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles. In this telling, which spans from the Spanish colonial era to the outbreak of the 1965 Watts Rebellion, Hernández documents the persistent historical bond between the racial fantasies of conquest, namely its settler colonial form, and the eliminatory capacities of incarceration.
But City of Inmates is also a chronicle of resilience and rebellion, documenting how targeted peoples and communities have always fought back. They busted out of jail, forced Supreme Court rulings, advanced revolution across bars and borders, and, as in the summer of 1965, set fire to the belly of the city. With these acts those who fought the rise of incarceration in Los Angeles altered the course of history in the city, the borderlands, and beyond. This book recounts how the dynamics of conquest met deep reservoirs of rebellion as Los Angeles became the City of Inmates, the nation’s carceral core. View the City of Inmates book trailer here: http://www.ibiblio.org/uncp/media/hernandez/
Followed by a reception with light refreshments.
Hearst Memorial Mining Building Room 290, UC Berkeley
Sponsored by Center for Research on Social Change, UC Berkeley
Co-sponsored by Department of History, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, Division of Equity and Inclusion, UC Berkeley
Refreshments: Followed by a reception with light refreshments.
Event contact: crsc@berkeley.edu, 510-642-0813
Document: View the City of Inmates book trailer here
Los Angeles incarcerates more people than any other city in the United States, which imprisons more people than any other nation on Earth. This book explains how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world’s leading incarcerator. Marshali
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Andre Rison Explained
Position: Wide receiver
Number: 85, 80, 81, 84, 89, 3, 87
Birth Date: 18 March 1967
Birth Place: Flint, Michigan
Height Ft: 6
Height In: 0
Weight Lb: 188
High School: Flint (MI) Northwestern
College: Michigan State
Draftyear: 1989
Draftround: 1
Draftpick: 22
Atlanta Falcons (–)
Kansas City Chiefs (–)
Toronto Argonauts (–)
Super Bowl champion (XXXI)
5× Pro Bowl (1990–1993, 1997)
First-team All-Pro (1990)
3× Second-team All-Pro (1991–1993)
NFL receiving touchdowns co-leader (1993)
92nd Grey Cup champion
Statlabel1: Receptions
Statvalue1: 743
Statlabel2: Receiving yards
Statvalue2: 10,205
Statlabel3: Receiving touchdowns
Statvalue3: 84
Nfl: RIS519110
Nfl-New: andrerison/2502674
Cfl-Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20140601170951/http://cfl.ca/roster/show/id/801
Andre "Bad Moon" Rison (born March 18, 1967) is a former American football wide receiver who played professionally for the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. Rison was selected to the Pro Bowl five times, from 1990–1993 and once again in 1997.
Rison won a Super Bowl championship with the Packers in 1996 over the New England Patriots, scoring the first points of the game on a 54-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Brett Favre. He also won a Grey Cup championship with the Toronto Argonauts in 2004. He is one of the few players to win professional football championships in both the United States of America and Canada. He was released by the Argonauts during the 2005 CFL season. He holds an NFL record for scoring a touchdown with 7 teams.
He was a star player at Flint Northwestern High School and in college at Michigan State University. As a senior at Michigan State, Rison had 30 receptions for 709 yards and 5 touchdowns; he was a prominent contributor to the 1987 Michigan State squad that won the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1988.
The Indianapolis Colts selected Rison in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1989 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he caught 52 passes for 820 yards with four touchdown receptions.
On April 20, 1990, the Indianapolis Colts traded Rison, Chris Hinton, a fifth round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, and their first round pick on the 1991 NFL Draft to the Atlanta Falcons for their first overall pick and their fourth round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts used the trade to move up to select Jeff George first overall in the 1990 NFL Draft. His next season marked the first of five very productive campaigns with the Falcons. During these years, Rison finished near the top of most receiving categories, and led all NFL players with 15 receiving touchdowns in 1993. Andre Rison was only the 5th Receiver in NFL history to score 60 touchdowns in his first six seasons. Rison led the NFL in most receptions in his first four and first five seasons. Rison was second in the NFL for most receptions in six seasons. During his final season in Atlanta, on June 9, 1994, his girlfriend at the time Lisa Left Eye Lopes from TLC burned Rison's house down.
After the 1994 season, Rison signed a lucrative free agent contract with Cleveland, where he was expected to become the featured receiving threat for the Browns, who had made the playoffs the year before.[1] Rison, who had been named to the Pro Bowl in four of his previous six seasons, had career lows in receptions (47), yards (701), touchdowns (3), receptions per game (2.9), and yards per game (43.8). Rison also developed a feud with the Cleveland fans, who were angered over the announcement that the team would be relocating to Baltimore. After a home loss to the Packers, Rison, who had been booed by the fans throughout the game, lashed out, stating, "We didn't make the fucking move. So, for all the booers, fuck you too. I'll be glad when we get to Baltimore, if that's the case. We don't have any home-field advantage. I've never been booed at home. Baltimore's our home. Baltimore, here we come."[2] Rison, however, did not make the move with the team to Baltimore as he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason.
Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders
Rison had a very short stint with the Jaguars, and joined the Packers in 1996. He won a Super Bowl ring in his stint with the Packers. He signed with the Chiefs prior to the 1997 season. He made it to the Pro Bowl after a solid first year with the Chiefs. His 2nd season was less successful. In his final NFL season, with the Raiders in 2000, Rison had 41 catches for 606 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Rison finished his NFL career with 743 receptions for 10,205 yards and 84 touchdowns, along with 8 kickoff returns for 150 yards and 9 carries for 23 yards.
He signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in August 2004, who went on to win the 92nd Grey Cup championship that year. He was released by the team in August 2005.[3] [4] [5]
Rison is also remembered for his life off the football field, which garnered him the nickname "Bad Moon" Rison from ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman, alluding to the song "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
During his three-season stint with Kansas City, Rison was nicknamed Spider-Man and would often fake shooting a web, like Spider-Man after scoring a touchdown.[6] Rison gave himself the nickname in part because he viewed Spider-Man as a positive character and wanted to be thought of as less of a headache and problem. His "Spider-Man" nickname has been named one of the best nicknames in sports history by Bleacher Report.[7]
In the 2006–2008 high school football seasons, Rison was assistant coach at Beecher High School in Flint, Michigan. The head coach was Courtney Hawkins, Rison's former teammate at Michigan State.
In March 2010, Rison was named the new head coach for Flint Northwestern High School's football team.[8]
For the opening week of the 2010 and 2011 high school football seasons, Rison and Flint Northwestern faced off against Courtney Hawkins and Flint Beecher. Not only did these games showcase two former NFL players coaching at their alma maters, but the schools are so close geographically that it made for an intriguing and intense rivalry. The crowds came in large numbers for both games, which forced each game to Flint's 11,000 seat Atwood Stadium, instead of Flint Beecher's Russ Reynolds Field, or Flint Northwestern's Guy V. Houston Stadium. Beecher won the 2010 opener, 28-18, spoiling Rison's head coaching debut.[9] The 2011 opener was a thriller, with Northwestern holding on for a 46-44 double overtime victory. In two years at Flint Northwestern, Rison's coaching the team showed noticeable improvement in his second season, nearly doubling their offensive output, and losing four of their games by a combined total of only nine points. In May 2012, Rison announced that he was leaving Flint Northwestern in order to complete his degree at Michigan State and join the football team as an assistant coach.[10]
Andre Rison coached in 2014 for Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the offensive coordinator, where he "led" them to a 0-9 record. He also coached his son Hunter Rison, who committed to Michigan State on April 1, 2016.[11] [12]
Rison also trains wide receivers at the Andre Rison Football Academy, and he coached in the 2008 Hawaii All-Star Classic. Rison has also recently appeared on an episode of the MTV reality show Made.[13] He worked to help a student become a high school varsity quarterback.[14] Rison was a featured Pro on the second season of the reality show Pros vs. Joes on Spike TV, and also appeared in an episode of TNA Impact (now called Impact Wrestling). He was at the center of the hexagonal ring, and then Abyss came out and Black Hole slammed Rison.
Rison appears prominently in the 2012 ESPN 30-30 documentary Broke about former professional athletes who squander their wealth. The film, directed and written by Billy Corben of Rakontur, was featured at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival as part of its TFF/ESPN Sports Festival, and is included in the second season (styled as "Volume II") of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series.
On May 30, 2017, Rison was one of eight new inductees announced for the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit. The induction ceremony took place on September 15, 2017.
Rison dated Lisa Lopes of TLC on and off from 1993 to 2001. Their relationship was rocky, with domestic violence allegations. During one altercation, Lopes attempted to light his shoes on fire in the bathtub resulting in his house burning down.[15] [16]
Andre's son, Hunter Rison, played as a true freshman wide receiver for Michigan State University in 2017, before transferring to Kansas State University in 2018.[17]
Web site: Andre Rison at the Canadian Football League . May 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140601170951/http://cfl.ca/roster/show/id/801 . June 1, 2014 . yes . mdy-all .
Web site: Andre Rison at CFL (alternate link) . May 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150930163720/http://cfl.ca/roster/show?id=801 . September 30, 2015 . yes . mdy-all .
Web site: Andre Rison at Yahoo! Sports . May 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050418170929/http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/623/ . April 18, 2005 . bot: unknown . mdy-all .
Web site: Andre Rison at Sports Illustrated . May 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120925022329/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/623/ . September 25, 2012 . bot: unknown . mdy-all .
Web site: www.andrerison.com – Official website . October 4, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010515224106/http://www.andrerison.com/ . May 15, 2001 . yes . mdy-all .
Web site: Andre Rison Football Academy . October 4, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131103084024/http://www.andrerison.com/andre-rison-football-camp.php . November 3, 2013 . yes . mdy-all .
News: Affair To Remember Emotional Browns Pound The Bengals . . Cabot . Mary Kay . December 17, 1995 . December 31, 2008.
News: BROWNS CAN'T SNEAK WIN PACKERS HALT TESTAVERDE RALLY, 31-20 . . Cabot . Mary Kay . November 19, 1995 . December 31, 2008.
https://www.tsn.ca/story/print/?id=95733 "Argonauts sign veteran Andre Rison."
News: Dropped: CFL's Argonauts release ex-Pro Bowler Rison . August 26, 2005 . www.espn.com . October 30, 2013.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/2004-08-22-rison-argonauts_x.htm "Andre Rison signs with CFL club."
News: Prisco . Pete . Jaguars' 'Bad Moon' on rise as Chiefs' 'Spiderman' . April 9, 2012 . . November 7, 1997.
News: Sickel . Jeremy . Jaguars' 'Bad Moon' on rise as Chiefs' 'Spiderman' . April 9, 2012 . . June 11, 2012.
http://www.minbcnews.com/sports/story.aspx?id=436842#.UnKVQKrV5CU "Andre Rison named Northwestern High’s football coach."
http://www.minbcnews.com/sports/story.aspx?id=502869#.UG3jnWY24xA "Beecher spoils the head coaching debut of Andre Rison."
Spezia, Mark. "Flint Northwestern football coach Andre Rison resigns; will complete degree and coach at Michigan State." www.highschoolsports.milive.com, May 4, 2012. Retrieved Oct., 4, 2012
https://247sports.com/Player/Hunter-Rison-58278 "Hunter Rison, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Skyline)"
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/211059/hunter-rison "Hunter Rison, Class of 2017."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP6-LkFgS0k "MTV MADE at Football University."
Going undercover as an aspiring college quarterback prospect . Armstrong . Kevin . May 9, 2008 . . December 31, 2008.
http://theboombox.com/lisa-left-eye-lopes-tlc-burns-house/
http://www.mtv.com/news/1444504/tlcs-lisa-left-eye-lopes-to-wed-andre-rison/
Web site: Former Michigan State WR Hunter Rison transferring to Kansas State . MLive.com. January 20, 2018. October 2, 2018.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Andre Rison".
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Almost from the beginning the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOC of SA) has been dedicated to the spiritual needs and guidance of the Orthodox faithful in South Australia.
Our first church established by the GOC of SA in Adelaide was the Archangels of Michael and Gabriel in 1937 at its current location in the western end of Franklin Street in the City. Our churches are mostly positioned within the inner suburbs of Adelaide as well as the Holy Chapel of St. Anargyroi at Ridleyton, serving thousands of worshippers. All our churches are under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of America and Australia and follow the Gregorian calendar.
Today the GOC of SA has the following Churches and Chapels, these are;
Church of Saint Nicholas
Saints Constantine and Helen
The Dormition of Virgin Mary
Saints Cosmas and Damian (Holy Chapel of St. Anargyroi at Ridleyton Greek Home for the Aged)
Church of the Holy Virgin (Annual Feast Day) This private Holy Chapel was funded by Mr John Kapiris and his family and was built on their property at Two Wells. The Chapel is dedicated to the Birth of Our Theotokos* (8th September). *The meaning of Theotokos corresponds to the Mother of Jesus Christ known in English as Virgin Mary.
Church services are conducted on each Sunday morning and all Feast Days.
For further details about church services please contact the individual church or phone our office on 8231 4307 or fax 8118 2043.
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Drink lots of water: an urban myth
Originally added on 20th January 2008
Last updated on 3rd August 2009
The Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal usually has a series of light-hearted articles in it. Last month's copy was no exception. In one of the articles, entitled "Medical myths" (Vreeman & Carroll 2007), the authors wrote "We generated a list of common medical or medicine related beliefs espoused by physicians and the general public, based on statements we had heard endorsed on multiple occasions and thought were true or might be true. We selected seven for critical review". The first myth critiqued was "People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day". Searches on Medline and Google apparently yielded no hard evidence supporting this advice. There are many sources stating that it's good health practice, but they could find no worthwhile evidence to back it up.
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001-(818) 366-4954
001 – International Code to United States
info@filmratingadvisors.com
Ratings Services
Script Coverage
MPAA Ratings
FRA Blog
International Ratings
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FRA is available for consultation to non-USA entities, including:
private enterprise
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Basic Explanation of International Ratings System
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content. A particular issued rating can be called a certification, classification, certificate or rating.
This is designed to help parents decide whether a movie is suitable for their children. Yet, the effectiveness of these designations is widely disputed. Also, in some jurisdictions a rating may impose on movie theatres the legal obligation of refusing the entrance of children or minors to the movie. Furthermore, where movie theaters do not have this legal obligation, they may enforce restrictions on their own. Ratings are often given in lieu of censorship. Movie theaters often have time restrictions on what time their children can come in with their parent.
In countries such as Australia, an official government censorship system decides on ratings; in other countries, such as the United States, the MPAA governs with little, if any official government status. In most countries, however, films that are considered morally offensive have been censored, restricted, or banned. Even if the film rating system has no legal consequences, and a film has not explicitly been restricted or banned, there are usually laws forbidding certain films, or forbidding minors to view them.
The influence of specific factors in deciding a rating varies from country to country. For example, in countries such as the U.S., films with strong sexual content are often restricted to adult viewers, whereas in countries such as France and Germany, sexual content is viewed much more leniently. On the other hand, films with violent content are often subject in countries such as Germany and Finland to high ratings and even censorship, whereas countries such as the U.S. offer more lenient ratings to violent movies.
Other factors may or may not influence the classification process, such as being set within a non-fictional historical context, whether the film glorifies violence or drug use, whether said violence or drug use is carried out by the protagonist, with whom the viewer should empathize, or by the antagonist. In Germany, for example, films depicting explicit war violence in a real war context (such as the Second World War) are handled more leniently than films with purely fictional settings.
A film may be produced with a particular rating in mind. It may be re-edited if the desired rating is not obtained, especially to avoid a higher rating than intended. A film may also be re-edited to produce an alternate version for other countries.
The following chart is a comparison of currently active film rating systems, showing age on the horizontal axis. Note however that the specific criteria used in assigning a classification can vary widely from one country to another. Thus a color code or age range cannot be directly compared from one country to another.
Comparison Chart of Current Active Film Rating Systems
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Copyright@2015 www.filmrating.com
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Story Uuid: a726a80a-13c2-42a4-83c6-f5a62c12587d
Story Link: /#story/a726a80a-13c2-42a4-83c6-f5a62c12587d
Story Slug: report-entire-cast-of-days-of-our-lives-released-from-contract
Report: Entire cast of 'Days of Our Lives' released from contract
By FALYCIA CAMPBELL | WSYX/WTTE Staff 1573601481000
The entire cast of the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives have been released from their contracts. (NBC via MGN Online){ }
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) -- It looks like the hour glass on Days of Our Lives is coming to a halt.
According to several news outlets, the entire cast of the NBC soap opera have been released from their contracts.
The daytime soap opera is set to go on an indefinite hiatus at the end of this month, according to TMZ.
TMZ said the show shoots eight months in advance which means there will be enough episodes in the bank to last through summer 2020.
If NBC chooses to renew the show, production is expected to begin in mid-2020.
Days of Our Lives aired its first episode in 1965.
Wisconsin police department warns of 'highly addictive substance' sold by young girls
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Pritchett Foundation
We are very fortunate to have this trust established by William B. and Athlyn C. Pritchett and managed by Gold Trust Company in Pittsburg, Kansas. The mission statement of the Trust is "to improve the quality of life in Pittsburg and Crawford County, Kansas by strengthening children, youth and families and by supporting projects that serve these populations." The first grants were distributed in 1995.
A $10,000 Pritchett Grant has been awarded toward construction of a Community Park. The award was given March 18, 2004 at the Gold Bank, Pittsburg, Kansas. The money will be a great start to creating a park for the children of Franklin and the entire community. Justin Stone graciously accepted the award for all the children of Franklin. He received a resounding applause after his acceptance speech. We would all like to thank Justin for accepting the award.
Joe Cukjati, Craig Stokes, Justin Stone, Phyllis Bitner
accepting 2003 award from Pritchett Foundation
Acceptance Speech - March 17, 2005
The residents of Franklin are very moved by receipt of this grant. We feel that that we are working to improve the quality of life by strengthening children, youth and families as the Pritchett’s intended. The Franklin Community Park will have a lasting impact on the entire population. The park has been the location of many community gatherings as it was previously a school then a community hall. Building the park will ensure that this area remains a place for families to gather to strengthen their ties with family and friends.
Phyllis (Liposek) Bitner, Margaret (Cumbarsano) Kennedy,
Veda (Vilet) Maxwell, Norine (Nepote) Laird
A $15,000 Challenge Grant was presented to Franklin Community Council, Inc. toward work on the community park. We are once again so honored that Gold Bank has shown the trust in our organization to grant us this very generous donation. We accept their challenge and will continue to work diligently by inspiring a high level of volunteerism within the community to see the project through. It is a very worthy asset to the community and we are committed to accomplishing the task.
While our work efforts are of the very highest standard it would not be possible to see this park become a reality without the continued support of Gold Bank and the Pritchett Foundation.
We feel this park in the center of the community is a beacon to anyone who drives through the still desolate area. As the flowers bloom, children play in the park and families gather under the shelter it is a constant reminder of the true spirit of the residents.
We genuinely thank Gold Bank and the Pritchett Foundation for the inspiring gift!
I tried to think of the appropriate words and ways to say "thank you" for this exceptional gift. No matter what I wrote it didn't seem to be adequate. It is still heart wrenching to drive through the community of Franklin but one of the bright spots is coming to the center of town and there is a beacon of hoping shining for everyone. This community park. Without funding from the Gold Bank and the Pritchett Foundation that would not have been possible. Almost daily the park is already in use and we can all be proud of our accomplishments. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Ray Hamblin, Chairman, Planning and Land Use Committee, FCCI
Tad Dunham, Gold Bank President
Craig Stokes, Chairman, FCCI
Ken Webb, Gold Bank Trust Officer
Park Construction
E-mail: memrylane@yahoo.com
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Fred Ernest Wing (M)
Fred Ernest Wing died at Springfield, Hampshire, MA. Fred was born. He was the son of Benjamin Freeman Wing and (2nd wife) Mary Ellen French. Fred Ernest Wing married Mary Ellen Roland. Fred Ernest Wing was buried at Gorton-Wing Cemetery, Warwick, Kent, RI.
Children of Fred Ernest Wing and Mary Ellen Roland
Roland Wing
Herbert Wing
Fred Ernest Wing Jr.+ b. 22 Nov 1887, d. 15 Jan 1965
Fred Ernest Wing Jr. (M)
b. 22 November 1887, d. 15 January 1965
Fred was born at Providence, Providence, RI, on 22 November 1887. He was the son of Fred Ernest Wing and Mary Ellen Roland. He married Ruth Hildegard Tillman in 1907. Fred Ernest Wing Jr. died on 15 January 1965 at So. Kingstown, Washington, RI, at age 77. He was buried at cremated.
Children of Fred Ernest Wing Jr. and Ruth Hildegard Tillman
Ruth Marion Wing+ b. 25 Jun 1908, d. 3 Jun 1995
Helen Wing b. 28 Oct 1911, d. 1 Feb 1983
Howard Richmond Wing+ b. 18 Sep 1917, d. 16 May 2001
Eldred G. Wing b. 20 Sep 1921, d. b 1980
Fred H. Wing (M)
Fred was born at Dead River Plt., Somerset, Maine, on 19 February 1869. He was the son of Steward Wing and Clara A. Parsons.
Fred Hampton Wing (M)
Fred was born at IL, on 22 January 1885. He was the son of Jesse van Ness Wing and Bessie Halpin.
Fred Jonas Wing (M)
Fred was born at Half Moon, Saratoga, NY, on 27 July 1868. He was the son of Jonas Wing and Julia A. Osborn Brownell. He married Etta Josephine Wenne [Winnie] at Albany, Albany, NY, on 14 June 1886. Fred Jonas Wing died on 20 May 1941 at Freestville, NY, at age 72.
Children of Fred Jonas Wing and Etta Josephine Wenne [Winnie]
Fred Ward Beecher Wing b. 8 Mar 1887
Malcolm Clinton Wing+ b. 4 Feb 1899, d. 5 Apr 1969
Fred L. Wing (M)
Fred was born at Maine, circa 1857. He was the son of Calvin G. Wing (Jr.) and Katherine Morse Cheney.
Fred was born. He was the son of Orrin Wing and Lurania Victoria Perry.
Fred Louis Wing (M)
b. 22 October 1866, d. 30 August 1933
Fred was born at twin, Conneautville, PA, on 22 October 1866. He was the son of Elijah Wing and Julia Margaret Burgett. Fred Louis Wing married Kate Kenyon Warner, daughter of George Wallace Warner and Cornelia Coit Kenyon, before 10 October 1895. Fred Louis Wing died on 30 August 1933 at Gibsonburg, OH, at age 66.
Children of Fred Louis Wing and Kate Kenyon Warner
Wallace Elijah Wing+ b. Sep 1897, d. 19 Feb 1960
Marion Julia Wing+ b. 2 Jan 1904, d. 1995
Fred M. Wing (M)
Fred was born at Oswego, Oswego, NY, on 20 November 1859. He was the son of Charles Howell Wing and Jennie A. Lamoree.
b. between 1869 and 1870
Fred M. Wing died at shortly after married (approx 1 yr). He was born between 1869 and 1870 at 10 1880, Chatauqua, Chatauqua, NY. He was the son of Samuel R. Wing and Nancy M. Baker.
Last Edited=25 Jun 2005
b. 23 January 1876, d. 27 August 1884
Fred M. Wing was born on 23 January 1876 at St. Charles, Kane, Illinois. He was the son of Clinton Demick Wing and Margaret Wyne. Fred M. Wing died on 27 August 1884 at St. Charles, Kane, Illinois, at age 8.
Fred Mitchell Wing (M)
Fred Mitchell Wing was the son of Daniel Marshall Wing.
Fred Stevens Wing (M)
b. 24 October 1876, d. circa 1877
Fred was born at Fayette, Kennebec, Maine, on 24 October 1876. He was the son of Frederick Allen Wing and Annie Stevens French. He died at Fayette, Kennebec, Maine, circa 1877.
Fred Tucker Wing (M)
b. 25 September 1878, d. 10 February 1953
Fred was born at Chicago, Cook, Illinois, on 25 September 1878. He was the son of Charles Tucker Wing and Alice Sophronia Deno. He married Bessie Burrow at Chicago, Cook, Illinois, on 21 September 1904. Fred Tucker Wing died on 10 February 1953 at Chicago, Cook, Illinois, at age 74.
Child of Fred Tucker Wing and Bessie Burrow
Mabel Tucker Wing+ b. 10 Jun 1908, d. 22 Nov 1998
Fred Walter Wing (M)
b. 22 January 1847, d. before 1915
Fred was born at Dexter, Penobscot, Maine, on 22 January 1847. He was the son of Joshua Raymond Wing and Olive Curtis Pomeroy. He died before 1915.
He married Erna Smith. Fred was born circa 1885. He was the son of Walter Wing.
Child of Fred Walter Wing and Erna Smith
Walter Albert Wing+ b. 23 Mar 1922, d. 15 Mar 1984
Fred Ward Beecher Wing (M)
Fred was born at Albany, Albany, NY, on 8 March 1887. He was the son of Fred Jonas Wing and Etta Josephine Wenne [Winnie].
Freda May Wing (F)
b. 1 August 1915, d. 15 August 1999
Freda was born at Phillips, Franklin, Maine, on 1 August 1915. She was the daughter of Ashley John Wing and Rosie Lillian Dill. She married Herbert Sewall Kelley at Farmington, Franklin, Maine, on 24 June 1939. She died at Maine, on 15 August 1999. Her body was interred on 18 August 1999 at Norridgewock, Somerset, Maine, at Sunset Cemetery.
Frederic Bartlett Wing (M)
b. 23 December 1848, d. before July 1889
Frederic was born at Brunswick, Cumberland, Maine, on 23 December 1848. He was the son of Samuel Spear Wing and Mary Cook. He married Elizabeth H. Harris (Pennell) at Brunswick, Cumberland, Maine, on 2 November 1874. He died before July 1889.
Children of Frederic Bartlett Wing and Elizabeth H. Harris (Pennell)
Harry Lester Wing+ b. Oct 1877
Marion B. Wing b. May 1879
Frederick Wing (M)
Frederick was born at (Unknown), MO, on 16 August 1820. He was the son of Horace Benjamin Wing and Mary Perkins. He died in 1901.
Children of Frederick Wing
Austin Wing
Dr. Edgar Wing
Charles Wing
b. 4 September 1872, d. 29 March 1953
Frederick was born at Monroe Twp., Putnam Co., Ohio, on 4 September 1872. He was the son of Henry A. Wing and Mary Elizabeth Gilbert. He married Minnie Castle at (Unknown), Putnam, Ohio, in 1895. Frederick Wing died on 29 March 1953 at short illness, (Unknown), Putnam, Ohio, at age 80.
Children of Frederick Wing and Minnie Castle
Pearl Wing+ b. 24 Jan 1896, d. Dec 1986
Rufus Edgar Wing+ b. 10 Dec 1897
Ross Gilbert Wing+ b. 4 Dec 1899, d. 26 Aug 1997
Henry Sheldon Wing b. 12 Dec 1901, d. 23 Aug 1989
Charles David Wing+ b. 13 Mar 1904, d. 2 Aug 1987
(Mary) Esther Wing b. 26 Jun 1906, d. 28 Dec 2000
Ralph Frederic Wing+ b. 20 Jul 1909, d. 26 Nov 1996
Cloyd Burton Wing+ b. 29 Mar 1914, d. 4 Jan 1996
b. 27 March 1822, d. before 1904
Frederick Wing married Augustus Root. Frederick was born at Champlain, Clinton, NY, on 27 March 1822. He was the son of Tyler Ward Wing and Martha Rogers. He died before 1904.
Child of Frederick Wing and Augustus Root
Frederick T. Wing+ b. 1852, d. 14 Dec 1944
b. 11 June 1871, d. after 1930
Frederick was born at near Schoolcraft, MI, on 11 June 1871. He was the son of George Washington Wing and Malvina Vreeland. He died after 1930.
b. 21 April 1855, d. 23 January 1947
Frederick was born at New York, on 21 April 1855. He was the son of Henry Wing and Ruth Bowen Dean. Frederick Wing died on 23 January 1947 at (Unknown), San Mateo, California, at age 91.
Last Edited=8 Oct 2005
Frederick Wing was born between 1852 and 1853 at WI. He was the son of Samuel Wing and Fidelia Richmond.
b. between 1871 and 1872, d. between 1940 and 1949
Frederick Wing was born between 1871 and 1872 at poss. San Joaquin, CA. He was the son of Chillingsworth Crosby Wing. Frederick Wing died between 1940 and 1949 at Ontario, CA.
Frederick Wing was born between 1845 and 1846 at 4 1850, of Athens, Somerset, Maine. He was the son of Joel Wing Jr. and (1st wife) Margaret Bunker.
b. circa January 1850
Frederick Wing was born circa January 1850 at 6/12 1850 10 1860 21 1870 30 1880, New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana. He was the son of Jacob Wing and Sarah J. (Unknown).
Child of Frederick Wing
[poss.] Capt. Jacob Wing+ b. 1781
Frederick Wing was born between 1866 and 1867 at 3 1870, New York. He was the son of Samuel Wing and Mary Malcolm.
Capt. Frederick A. Wing (M)
Frederick was born at Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, on 13 January 1812. He was the son of Barnabas Wing and Abigail Gifford. He married Eliza Hicks at Westport, Bristol, MA, on 16 January 1833. Capt. Frederick A. Wing was buried at Westport Point Cemetery, Westport, Bristol, MA.
Child of Capt. Frederick A. Wing and Eliza Hicks
Eliza H. Wing b. 21 Dec 1847
Frederick Allen Wing (M)
b. 11 May 1852, d. 9 October 1924
Frederick was born at Fayette, Kennebec, Maine, on 11 May 1852. He was the son of John Allen Wing and Lucretia Eaton French. He married Annie Stevens French at Chesterville, Franklin, Maine, on 18 November 1875. He died at Waterville, Kennebec, Maine, on 9 October 1924.
Children of Frederick Allen Wing and Annie Stevens French
Capt. Frank Everett Wing+ b. 24 Oct 1876, d. 24 May 1963
Fred Stevens Wing b. 24 Oct 1876, d. c 1877
John Edwin Wing+ b. 12 Nov 1877, d. 2 Apr 1962
Merle Wing b. 14 Nov 1878, d. 14 Nov 1879
Florence Ethel Wing+ b. 19 Mar 1882, d. a 1956
Frederick Augustus Wing (M)
b. 8 January 1853, d. 13 September 1947
Frederick was born at Streetsboro, Ohio, on 8 January 1853. He was the son of Benjamin A. Wing and Louisa Mason. He married Eva Amelia Boies at Hudson, Michigan, on 28 October 1875. He died on 13 September 1947. Frederick Augustus Wing was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, Hudson, Lenawee, MI.
Children of Frederick Augustus Wing and Eva Amelia Boies
John Boies Wing b. 11 May 1879, d. 30 May 1909
[poss. dau] Baby Wing b. 11 May 1879?, d. 15 May 1879
Clara Louise Wing+ b. 26 Jul 1881, d. 7 Jan 1964
b. 12 September 1855, d. 8 January 1925
Frederick was born at Mattawamkeag, Maine, on 12 September 1855. He was the son of Henry Stanwood Wing and Hannah Elizabeth Smith. Frederick Augustus Wing died on 8 January 1925 at age 69.
Child of Frederick Augustus Wing
Albert H. Wing
Frederick was born. He was the son of John Wing and Abigail Walker.
Frederick Austin Wing (M)
b. 24 April 1885, d. 16 December 1956
Frederick was born at Miller City, Putnam, Ohio, on 24 April 1885. He was the son of Henry Wing and Adelia Wilhelmina Carver. He married Caroline Elizabeth Frankart at Miller City, Putnam, Ohio, on 5 August 1905. He died at Bellevue, Sandusky, Ohio, on 16 December 1956.
Children of Frederick Austin Wing and Caroline Elizabeth Frankart
Ira Merle Wing b. 12 Nov 1905, d. 23 Jul 1923
Frank Leroy Wing+ b. 10 Aug 1907, d. 15 Jul 1998
Ethel Mae Wing+ b. 24 Jun 1909, d. 2 Nov 1979
Clarence Frederick Wing+ b. 11 Apr 1911, d. 17 Mar 1968
Arthur Ray Wing+ b. 31 Oct 1912, d. 7 Jun 1942
Child of Frederick Austin Wing and Fern Lucille Williams
Frederick Harold Wing+ b. 16 May 1927, d. 1 Nov 1995
Frederick Boutelle Wing (M)
Frederick Boutelle Wing was born on 15 December 1886 at Waterville, Kennebec, Maine. He was the son of Frederick Burt Wing and Ada May Crosby.
Frederick Boutelle Wing married Freida Marback. Frederick Boutelle Wing was born on 29 November 1894 at San Juan Bautista, California. He was the son of Albert Burleigh Wing and Susie May Sherwood.
Frederick Burt Wing (M)
b. 25 February 1848, d. 19 March 1894
Frederick was born at Waterville, Kennebec, Maine, on 25 February 1848. He was the son of Daniel Ripley Wing and Ann Elizabeth Burleigh. Frederick Burt Wing married Ada May Crosby, daughter of Albert Crosby and Sarah Gage Jerrard, on 10 June 1880 at Waterville, Kennebec, Maine. Frederick Burt Wing died on 19 March 1894 at Newport, Maine, at age 46.
Children of Frederick Burt Wing and Ada May Crosby
Frederick Boutelle Wing b. 15 Dec 1886
Margaret Crosby Wing+ b. 14 Jun 1891
Frederick E. Wing (M)
Frederick was born on 4 February 1884. He was the son of William Bond Wing and Georgiana Brown.
Frederick Eugene Wing (M)
b. 5 March 1850, d. 22 December 1946
Frederick was born at Belvidere, Boone, IL, on 5 March 1850. He was the son of Joseph Vincent Wing and Sarah Adelia Johnson. He married Sarah Ann Lawrie at Princeton, Bureau, IL, on 30 March 1871. He died at Omaha, NE, on 22 December 1946.
Children of Frederick Eugene Wing and Sarah Ann Lawrie
Charles Albert Wing b. 19 Nov 1871, d. 1926
Lila P. Wing b. 26 Aug 1873, d. 14 Nov 1889
Zada Wing b. 23 Aug 1875, d. 1898
Frederick Lawrie Wing+ b. 17 Dec 1878, d. 22 Jan 1972
Vincent Johnson Wing+ b. 25 Oct 1882, d. 31 Jul 1971
Frederick F. Wing (M)
Frederick was born. He was the son of Henry Wing and Sarah Barber.
b. 29 October 1881, d. 4 March 1952
Frederick F. Wing was married (an unknown value) times. He was born on 29 October 1881 at Ontario. He was the son of Allan Wing and Mary Anne Thompson. Frederick F. Wing died on 4 March 1952 at age 70.
Frederick Ferdinand Wing (M)
Frederick was born at Dublin, Franklin, OH, on 1 December 1838. He was the son of Jesse Wing and Belinda Thankful Sprague. He married Amanda E. Boord on 29 January 1861. He married Amelia Wittich on 10 June 1878. He died at Dublin, Franklin, OH, on 20 February 1917. Frederick Ferdinand Wing was buried at Dublin Cemetery, Dublin, Franklin, OH.
Children of Frederick Ferdinand Wing and Amanda E. Boord
Charles Melville Wing+ b. 29 Jan 1861, d. 1 Jan 1909
Iva Sophia Wing+ b. 20 Aug 1873, d. b 1969
Children of Frederick Ferdinand Wing and Amelia Wittich
Celinda Lucille Wing+ b. 10 Jun 1878, d. 17 Jan 1964
George Wittich Wing+ b. 22 Dec 1880
b. 14 November 1819, d. 1880
Frederick was born at Sandwich, Barnstable, MA, on 14 November 1819. He was the son of Judah Wing and Rebecca Wing. He married Elizabeth Madge Tozer at of Sandwich, Barnstable, MA, on 23 January 1841. He died at Worthington, OH, in 1880.
Children of Frederick Ferdinand Wing and Elizabeth Madge Tozer
Helen Elizabeth Wing+ b. 9 Feb 1841
William Tozer Wing+ b. 13 Mar 1844, d. 20 Nov 1910
Henry Wing+ b. 1846
Sarah Josephine Wing+ b. 21 Mar 1848, d. 1890
Eugene Clifford Wing b. 26 Feb 1850, d. 1861
Herbert Clarence Wing b. 1852, d. b 1911
Edgar Theodore Wing b. 1854, d. 1861
Frederick H. Wing (M)
Frederick H. Wing was born on 4 April 1867 at Louisville, New York. He was the son of Horace H. Wing and Sarah L. Thomas.
Frederick Harrison Wing (M)
b. 6 April 1876, d. 19 December 1935
Frederick Harrison Wing was buried at Skowhegan, Somerset, Maine. Frederick was born at Skowhegan, Somerset, Maine, on 6 April 1876. He was the son of Capt. Francis Harrison Wing and Mary Ellen Smith. Frederick Harrison Wing married Mabel Harriett Waltz, daughter of Osgood Waltz and Jennie Britt, on 20 August 1907. Frederick Harrison Wing died on 19 December 1935 at Togus, Kennebec, Maine, at age 59.
Children of Frederick Harrison Wing and Mabel Harriett Waltz
Francis Harrison Wing
Frederick Osgood Wing+ b. 13 Dec 1910, d. 19 Sep 1984
Frederick Henry Wing (M)
b. 14 May 1867, d. 13 January 1942
Frederick was born at Ottawa, Grundy, IL, on 14 May 1867. He was the son of Seth Caldwell Wing and Mary Eliza Howe. He married Leona Elizabeth Hazel at Newton, Harvey, KS, on 22 December 1889. Frederick Henry Wing married Sarah Josephine Fenter-Youngquist on 31 August 1904 at Newton, Harvey, KS. He died at Newton, Harvey, KS, on 13 January 1942.
Children of Frederick Henry Wing and Leona Elizabeth Hazel
Edna May Wing b. Aug 1890, d. 14 Nov 1962
Frederick Herbert Wing Jr. b. 28 Jan 1893, d. 11 Sep 1929
Maude S. Wing b. Aug 1894
Richard Elisha Wing+ b. 15 Nov 1898, d. 1 Jan 1970
Frederick Herbert Wing Jr. (M)
b. 28 January 1893, d. 11 September 1929
Frederick Herbert Wing Jr. was born on 28 January 1893 at Newton, Harvey, KS. He was the son of Frederick Henry Wing and Leona Elizabeth Hazel. Frederick Herbert Wing Jr. married Anna Alice Woodward on 18 April 1922 at Kansas City, Wyandotte, KAS. Frederick Herbert Wing Jr. died on 11 September 1929 at Wichita, Sedgwick, KS, at age 36.
Frederick Hopkins Wing (M)
b. 11 December 1830, d. 2 February 1911
Frederick was born at Charlemont, Franklin, MA, on 11 December 1830. He was the son of Gulielmus Wing and Diantha Smith. He married Amelia Kempshall on 6 October 1859. He died at Brooklyn, Kings, NY, on 2 February 1911.
Children of Frederick Hopkins Wing and Amelia Kempshall
Dr. Ralph Kempshall Wing+ b. 10 Apr 1863
Frederick Lincoln Wing+ b. 30 Aug 1866
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KJZZ Home
Willow Fire In Northwestern Arizona Causes Evacuations
By Al Macias, Associated Press, Katherine Fritcke
Published: Monday, August 10, 2015 - 7:53am
Updated: Monday, August 10, 2015 - 4:58pm
(Photo courtesy of InciWeb)
Map of Willow Fire in Arizona.
The Willow Fire, a brush fire in northwest Arizona, has burned over 6,700 acres. Firefighters said some homes and structures have been destroyed.
The fire broke out about 30 miles southeast of Bullhead City on Saturday morning. The blaze is under investigation, but there was lightning in the area when the fire started.
Delores Garcia with the Bureau of Land Management said Monday fire officials are confident a large portion of the 1,000 evacuated households in the area will soon be able to return home.
“Some of the evacuations will be lifted. So, at least half of what we’ve got evacuated should be able to return to their homes," Garcia said.
Garcia said there are still 150 homes whose owners will still not be allowed to return.
Hundreds of people have been displaced, and many of those homes held livestock. Buster Johnson is the Mohave County Supervisor from the district three which covers the burning area. He said when it comes to housing livestock, help has come from across state lines.
“People have a lot of animals and people are offering places to keep their horses at. Needles, Calif. Set up an area over there, at their fairgrounds, for animal," said Johnson.
The Western Arizona Humane Society also set up a shelter for smaller animals. Johnson said the outpouring of support from around the region has not gone unnoticed.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management said the fire became aggressive Saturday due to stiff winds and dense vegetation. Crews built barriers between the blaze and homes and used airplanes to drop retardant.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Department, along with Mohave County Emergency Management, ordered mandatory evacuations Saturday for half a dozen small communities and subdivisions near the fire on Saturday. About 850 homes were evacuated.
The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at an elementary school in the area for several hundred residents who had to be evacuated.
Updated 8/10/2015 at 1:15 p.m.
Support for this project comes from the
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Call us at (706) 662-5812 or E-mail us at midlandlodge144@gmail.com
BeartoCare
Country Breakfasts
Trestleboards
Lodge Pictures
Past Years Photos
Midland Lodge Calendar
Columbus Masonic Calendar
Freemasonry in Georgia
Midland Lodge
Become a Mason
Masonic Principles
GA Masonic Children’s Home
“The Heart of Georgia Masonry”… Our Children’s Home
Overlooking the Ocmulgee River in the city of Macon (Bibb County), Georgia is one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire state of Georgia.
During the 1902 session of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, construction plans were approved and bids accepted for the erection of the Masonic Home on the one hundred acres of land donated to the Grand Lodge of Georgia by the late Senator Augustas O. Bacon.
Most Worshipful Brother Max Meyerhardt, Grand Master of Masons in Georgia, laid the cornerstone in July, 1903 and construction of the Home was finally completed in 1904 at a total cost of $22,232.00. The home was dedicated during the 1904 session of the Grand Lodge of Georgia and the first residents, consisting of adults as well as children, were accepted in 1905.
In the 1920s, more than five hundred additional acres of land were purchased by the Grand Lodge at a cost of $33,000.00. This additional land was used to produce food, and to pasture cattle for milk and beef for the residents of the home. In 1929 the home housed and cared for 207 children, the most for any year before or since.
The Shellman’s Bluff camp property was acquired by the Children’s Home Board of Trustees in 1938.
The decision to accept children of non-Masonic parents was made during the 1942 Grand Lodge session.
The Masonic Home is governed by an elected board of trustees consisting of 12 Master Masons, one from each of the 12 Masonic districts of Georgia. These 12, together with the Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master, and the Senior Grand Warden, who serve as ex officio members of the board, comprise the governing body of the Children’s Home. Day-to-day home operations of the home are managed by a full-time superintendent.
© Copyright - Midland Lodge #144 F&AM
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Campus News Briefing
Campus News Briefing: Goodbye Glyn, Tribunal, Dancing
Sanchari Mondal
Click here to stay up to date with campus news and receive Farrago‘s news briefings delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
Professor Duncan Maskell has now commenced his term as the University’s vice-chancellor, succeeding Glyn Davis who served in the role for nearly 14 years. Maskell was formerly the senior pro-vice-chancellor (planning and resources) at University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Davis will join Australia National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy.
Tribunal throws out appeal
The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) electoral tribunal rejected More!’s appeal for a re-election for the general secretariat and women’s office. The appeal made allegations against the returning officers over defective conduct of the election.
New dean of arts
Professor Russell Goulbourne has been appointed as the University’s new dean of arts, commencing his term in January 2019. Goulbourne, who has previously served as the dean of arts at King’s College London, will replace Professor Denise Varney.
Rar-right figures on campus
On 7 September, three right-wing figures, one of whom was wearing a shirt which read “it’s okay to be white”, came onto the Parkville campus claiming to be interviewing students about the recent Liberal Party leadership spill. The trio was confronted by students and staff before leaving the campus.
UniMelb number one in Aus
The University of Melbourne has retained its ranking as the number one university in Australia in the Times Higher Education rankings. UniMelb has ranked 32nd in the world.
Freya dances for 24 hours
UniMelb student Freya McGrath danced for 24 hours as part of her project for Melbourne Fringe Festival. SHe originally performed the project as part of Mudfest last year, UMSU’s biennial creative arts festival.
Collated by Ashleigh Barraclough
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RUSS EMANUEL
(Director)
Originally from San Francisco, Russ grew up in both Japan and the United States, garnering an international viewpoint of the world throughout his childhood. After graduating from the University of Southern California to study Cinema-Television, International Relations and Japanese, and gaining more production experience at the UCLA Extension Program, he founded Russem Productions in 2002 to promote his shorts films including HER KNIGHT (2003) and the award-winning GIRL WITH GUN (2005). He also produced several shorts including MAVET (2004), the zombie-flick THE DIARY (2004), and most recently vampire film PERFECT RED (2006). Presently, P.J. and CHASING THE GREEN marks Emanuel's first two forays into feature filmmaking.
HOWARD NASH
(Producer)
Acting since the late 1970s, Howard Nash starred in numerous independent films, notably THE MEETING in 2004. However, he is best known as an independent filmmaker, having co-produced the cult film CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT for Columbia Tri-Star in 1991. He also produced SLEEPLESS NIGHTS (MTI, 2002), which is available in most video stores throughout the US and Canada. In 2005, he completed TRACKS (where he appears in a cameo alongside CHASING THE GREEN actor Chris Gunn), which also starred John Heard, along with Ice-T. He also produced the television special FELLICIANO, THE LEGEND (for PBS) starring the legendary singer, Jose Feliciano, and has produced promotional videos for the Beijing Circus, Cirque du Soleil, and the original members of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO II). Most recently, he produced/starred in Russ Emanuel's P.J.
CRAIG FRANKEL
(Executive Producer, Story/Screenplay)
Residing in Texas, Craig Frankel has always been interested in films. CHASING THE GREEN marks his second foray into feature filmmaking, his first being Russ Emanuel's P.J.. He also has cameos in both films.
RICHARD SPITALERI
(Associate Producer)
Living in New York, Richard Spitaleri worked with Howard Nash on early stages on CHASING THE GREEN (2008) thereby making it possible to be filmed. He also worked with Howard Nash on Russ Emanuel's P.J. (2007).
EMILIO IASIELLO
(Screenplay)
Currently residing in Washington D.C., Emilio Iasiello is originally a political speechwriter. He recently turned to screenwriting, writing the script for the feature film SAINT CHRISTOPHER (2002). Due to this success, Howard Nash approached him about writing the screenplays for both P.J. and CHASING THE GREEN.
SANDY WEISER
(Line Producer/
Unit Production Manager)
Sandy Weiser is a veteran in the industry. He's worked on numerous films as a line producer/unit production manager, including TRACKS (2005) with producer Howard Nash and actor Chris Gunn.
SETH MELNICK
(Director of Photography)
Seth Melnick is an accomplished Director of Photography and a business-oriented producer. Originally a technical consultant he managed projects with budgets of several million dollars and dozens of people such as Iwon.com and the first Internet ISP in Brazil, IG.com. Seth co-created SLM Production Group LLC with Lauzanne Nel as a venue to produce original and provocative works. As a production company they have been involved in the production of over a dozen feature films, many shorts, videos, trailers and animations. They are equipped to bring project from concept through pre-production, principle photography, editing, and other post-production to a completed product. He is currently deep into post-production on AMERICAN STANDARD, a clever comedy based on a never been done before concept. He is one of the producers and the director of photography for the project. He also recently was the Director of Photography for Russ Emanuel's first feature film, P.J.
SERGEO LEVITAS
(Production Designer)
Currently residing in New York City, Sergeo Levitas brings his own artistic style to every film he works on including the feature film AMERICAN STANDARD (2007), along with Director of Photography Seth Melnick. He also was production designer on the shorts EUTHANASIA (2005) and MUTATIONS (2006), and the features ALL SCREWED UP (2007) and DOORMAN (2007).
LISA FAIBISH
(Costume Designer)
Lisa Faibish, a native of San Francisco, has currently been residing in NYC for the last 10 years. She also is a costume historian and a stylist, having worked at The Costume Institute and The Metropolitan Museum of Art for 8 years. Along with this film, she worked with Russ Emanuel on his first feature P.J. (2007).
LAUZANNE NEL
(Key Makeup Artist)
Residing in New York, Lauzanne Nel has worked on many productions as a makeup artist. Her credits include: STANLEY CUBA (2006), SHOCKED JOCK (2006), PLASTERHEAD (2006), and THE SHANGHAI HOTEL (2006). Also, along with Seth Melnick, she is a co-founder of SLM Group LLC as a venue to produce original and provocative works including a film she also produced, AMERICAN STANDARD, which is currently in post-production. She also was the key makeup artist on Russ Emanuel's first feature film P.J. as well as having a cameo in it as the Pregnant Woman.
ANDREW PROKOPENKO
(Production Sound Mixer)
Living in New York, Andrew Prokopenko has worked on many films as a sound mixer including the short films PILLS (2005), LOVE AND/OR LAID (2006), and 5000 (2007), and the feature films INNER RAGE (2006), THE SPEED OF LIFE (2007), and the upcoming PLAQUE TOWN (2009).
ZEYNEP OGUZ CATAL
(Key Gaffer)
From Turkey, Zeynep Oguz Catal has worked in New York on many films in the Lighting and Camera departments. Her gaffer credits include: SEA OF DUST (2006), LET THEM CHIRP AWHILE (2007), and KARMA CALLING (2007). Her assistant camera credits include: SUBTERFUGE (1996) and COMPLETELY TOTALLY UTTERLY (2001). Along with this film, she worked with Russ Emanuel on his first feature P.J.
LUIS ARMADA
(Key Grip)
Residing in New York, Luis Armada's camera department credits in numerous roles include: MANITO (2002), CRY FUNNY HAPPY (2003), DEPRIVATION (2003), UNKNOWN SOLDIER (2004), and the upcoming ...AROUND (2008).
AILEEN TAYLOR
(First Assistant Camera)
Residing in New York, Aileen Taylor works in the camera department, specializing in focus pulling, having worked on numerous films with Director of Photography Seth Melnick, including Russ Emanuel's P.J. and CHASING THE GREEN.
KEN GREENBLATT
(Location Manager)
Residing in New York, Ken Greenblatt is a veteran in the industry. His numerous credits include: SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY (1998) as associate producer, FLUSHED (1999) as producer, ACTS OF WORSHIP (2001) as associate producer, THIS THING OF OURS (2003) as co-producer, DESTINATION FAME (2004) as line producer, MARY (2005) as location manager (New York), PARZANIA (2005) as executive producer, and PARAISO TRAVEL (2007) as unit production manager (New York).
MICHAEL E. GOODIN
(First Assistant Director)
Mr. Goodin is a graduate of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where he studied drama and directing. Former Production Manager of the Little Theatre of Manchester, he produced several shows including JEKYLL AND HYDE, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS and ON GOLDEN POND. He currently lives in New York City where he works as a Production Coordinator/Unit Production Manager/Assistant Director in film and television. Past onstage credits include Tom in NOISES OFF, Adam in THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ABRIDGED and Spider in JEKYLL AND HYDE. Past Assistant Director credits include the short film PROOF OF BIRTH and the feature film THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS.
ZAIRI MALCOLM
(Script Supervisor)
Residing in New York, Zairi Malcolm has been working in the industry for several years beginning with the feature film DUMMY (2002) as a wardrobe intern. Multifaceted, she has worked in the wardrobe and art departments, and as a script supervisor. Her credits as a scrpt supervisor include the short film RHYME ANIMAL (2007), and the features WITCHES' NIGHT (2007), and SORDID THINGS (2007).
DON ELMENDORF
(Still Photographer)
Residing in Westchester, New York, Don Elmendorf is an avid photographer. His website is at: www.donelmendorf.com. CHASING THE GREEN marks his first foray into still photography for films. He is also a motorcycle enthusiast, making a cameo in CHASING THE GREEN as one of the motorcycle riders.
JOSEPH NOTOVITZ
Residing in New York, Joseph Notovitz is a professional poster artist and still photographer. He is also the founder of Notovitz Communications, Inc. (his company provided post-production services for SLEEPLESS NIGHTS (2002). He also worked as a still photographer and poster artist on Russ Emanuel's first feature film P.J. (2007), as well has having a cameo as the Homeless Dad in the first film.
(Documentarian)
An award winning actor, director and producer of such short films as THE INERMISSION MAN (2004) and SHAKESPEARE’S DEAD (2006), CHASING THE GREEN marks Scott's second foray into documentary filmmaking, Russ Emanuel's P.J. being his first. He lives and produces films from his home in Northern California, with several projects on the horizon including his latest short concept BLINK.
RYAN HURST
(Post-Production Supervisor)
Ryan D. Hurst (born June 19, 1976) is an American actor who perhaps most notably starred as Gerry Bertier, an All-American linebacker in Disney's REMEMBER THE TITANS and as Alison's brother, Michael in the show MEDIUM. He also played the role of doofus football player Lump Hudson in THE LADYKILLERS, appeared in the movie WE WERE SOLDIERS as Sgt. Savage, and starred in the TNT show WANTED. Hurst was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Candy Kaniecki, an acting coach, and Rick Hurst, an actor. Hurst attended the Santa Monica High School. He recently formed his production company Fast Shoes, which is handling post-production on CHASING THE GREEN (2008).
MOLLY COOKSON
Living in Los Angeles, Molly Cookson works for Ryan Hurst's production company Fast Shoes, which is handling post-production on CHASING THE GREEN (2008).
Living in Los Angeles, Vijay Kumar works for Ryan Hurst's production company Fast Shoes, which is handling post-production on CHASING THE GREEN (2008).
EMILE HARIS
(Editor)
A graduate in both Writing and Film from Long Beach State, it's all about making movies for this enthusiastic individual. Haris, together with Yos Park produced the sci-fi short FRAKIE DIED (2000), which they put under their production company, Atomicgum Productions. Next, he teamed up with USC graduate Russ Emanuel and created HER KNIGHT (2003), a contemporary romance with strong fantastical as well as historical elements. His editing credits include: MAVET (2004) which he also wrote/directed, and most recently GIRL WITH GUN (2005), PERFECT RED (2006), and P.J. (2007).
JOSH SUMMERS
Josh started his editing career 10 years ago by working for a small independent network station in Phoenix, run by the Phoenix Fire Department. After work, Josh would spend hours working and refining his skills on their Avid editing system. There he learned the in’s and out’s of editing and creating music videos, learning how to capture and create dynamic video content. From this point, Josh took his skill and started his own business at the age of 19 creating industrial videos for local companies in Salt Lake City and California. Over the next 6 years he expanded his clientele over the region focusing on editing as well as took part in directing a project for AT&T wireless. His drive for filmmaking never left him, and he soon realized that he needed to make the move to California. While living here, Josh continued to grow his business, working commercially with such clients as CASINO MORONGO, THE SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LEIGH ADAMS, and THE KEYCLUB HOLLYWOOD.
THOMAS L. WENTWORTH
Originally from Tennessee and residing in Los Angeles, Thomas L. Wentworth is a gifted artist. Not only has he produced Josh and Cole Summers' first short film SPOONFED, but he also co-edited CHASING THE GREEN.
NEIL ARGO
(Composer)
Classically trained, Neil Argo's dramatic and provocative scores have been heard all over the world. From the TV series WILD AMERICA, THE NEW MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, and BEVERLY HILLS 90210 among others, he has composed for many noteworthy projects. More recently, he teamed up with director Russ Emanuel, composing scores for his films HER KNIGHT, GIRL WITH GUN, and P.J. (which he and Emanuel both shared a Bronze Music For Excellence Award at the Park City Film Music Festival). He also won 2 Emmy awards for the SURVIVORS OF THE SKELETON COAST National Geographic episode and A COMMUNITY OF CARING documentary for the Directors Guild of America.
As a composer and conductor, Jason Livesay, along with his twin brother Nolan, is currently scoring feature films, writing commissioned works, and musical directing and conducting theatrical productions. They both hold conducting positions with the Golden State Pops Orchestra, and have composed for Dreamworks, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, MGM, Warner Brothers, FoxFaith Films, Nickelodeon, CBS, and MTV, earning Gold Classic Telly Awards for their work in television. They have premiered original concert works with the Lake Avenue Chamber Orchestra, the Sonus Quartet, the Golden State Pops Orchestra, the APU Symphony Orchestra, and the Michael Skidgel Singers. Among over 40 film and television credits, recent projects include the HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE DVD video game, the original score for the feature film western BOUNTY, original music for the film series 36 PARABLES, original music for the award-winning documentary DEAR FRANCIS, and additional music arranging and orchestration for J.A.C. Redford's epic score for the feature film ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING starring Peter O'Toole.
COLE SUMMERS
(VFX Supervisor,
Poster Artist)
Residing in Los Angeles with his brother Josh (who is the CHASING THE GREEN co-editor), Cole Summers is a talented artist - using his expertise to complete the visual effects required and poster art. He also recently co-directed his first film (with his brother Josh), the short film SPOONFED.
MICHELLE GARUIK
(Post Sound Mixer)
Residing in Los Angeles, Michelle Garuik is an experienced sound mixer. Working in post sound since 1988, her credits include: NO MAPS FOR THESE TERRITORIES (2000), TALES FROM BEYOND (2004), and STONE & ED (2008).
SEAN FAHIMIAN
(Final Sound Mixer)
As a Re-recoding Mixer and Editor with 13 years of experience in Post Production and Production industry working on Reality TV, Features, Television, Trailers, Music, On-Air Promo's, Radio, and DVD Authoring. Providing clients with more and with better than they may expect almost anywhere else. Southern California-based audio post Production Company for film, television, and multimedia. On the leading edge of technology which is why Sound Design Digital Post clients enjoy the complete scope of superior sound prep, pre-lay and mixing services-All under one roof. Benefiting from an extensive sound effects library, Foley, ADR, Music mixing, Music editing. Every Client is assured of receiving personal service that is dedicated and responsive all the way through in a friendly client oriented studio with free DSL Service and gourmet coffee. He previously worked with Russ Emanuel on GIRL WITH GUN (2005) - which was nominated for Best Sound, PERFECT RED (2007), and P.J. (2007).
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CREW LIST
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Leamington's Highbury Canco tripled business, renews deal with Heinz
Highbury Canco has renewed a multi-year agreement with Kraft Heinz Canada and has tripled business since forming months after the November 2013 Heinz closure announcement
“I think we’ve by far exceeded our expectations in terms of growth, in terms of what we could have dreamed of five years ago, to think that we’ve tripled in size,” Sam Diab, President and CEO of Highbury Canco, said Thursday. “We’re on a good trajectory and we just want to keep that going.”
The focus was on survival when a consortium of investors formed Highbury Canco, bought the Leamington plant, and secured a five-year agreement to make Heinz products in 2014, said Diab, who is one of four owners.
A second, multi-year agreement was announced this week and was said to be worth about $1 billion in the retail value of the products.
In 2014, Highbury Canco started with 250 employees. With seasonal workers the plant employs more than 800 people and by the end of the tomato harvest in October Diab expects there will be 650 full-time workers. That’s edging closer to the more than 700 people Heinz employed when it announced the plant would close. [ Read More ]
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West Brom’s Hegazi good for recovery after surgery
Mahmoud Sheleib, Thursday 25 Jul 2019
The former Ahly player was bought by West Bromwich Albion in January 2018
Egypt and West Bromwich defender Ahmed Hegazi underwent surgery on his ankle Wednesday.
The 28-year-old defender said on his Instagram account Thursday that the surgery, which was postponed owing to last season's matches with the club and the national team, was successful and he will be ready for next season soon.
Hegazi joined West Bromwich Albion, which played in the English Premier League, on a loan deal coming from Ahly in July 2017, before the English team bought Hegazi in January 2018.
The former Ahly player won with the Egyptian giants two league titles, an Egyptian Cup, and an Egyptian Super Cup, after appearing in the red jersey in 56 matches.
Meanwhile, the national team defender played 85 matches and scored three goals with Albion, which plays in EFL Championship, the second-highest overall in the English football league system after the Premier League.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/339611.aspx
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Today I'm pleased to be a brief stopover on Steve Bein's 'Daughter of the Sword' blog tour (a book that I'm into pretty much as we speak, review next week I reckon). Here's the blurb if you haven't come across this book already...
Mariko Oshiro is not your average Tokyo cop. As the only female detective in the city’s most elite police unit, she has to fight for every ounce of respect, especially from her new boss. While she wants to track down a rumored cocaine shipment, he gives her the least promising case possible. But the case—the attempted theft of an old samurai sword—proves more dangerous than anyone on the force could have imagined.
The owner of the sword, Professor Yasuo Yamada, says it was crafted by the legendary Master Inazuma, a sword smith whose blades are rumored to have magical qualities. The man trying to steal it already owns another Inazuma—one whose deadly power eventually comes to control all who wield it. Or so says Yamada, and though he has studied swords and swordsmanship all his life, Mariko isn’t convinced.
But Mariko’s skepticism hardly matters. Her investigation has put her on a collision course with a curse centuries old and as bloodthirsty as ever. She is only the latest in a long line of warriors and soldiers to confront this power, and even the sword she learns to wield could turn against her.
Like I said, look out for my review next week but here's Steve now with 'The Fighter in the Writer (Part One)'...
They say you should write what you know, and I guess it’s fair to say I know fighting. I’ve been in the martial arts for about twenty years, earning black belts in a couple of arts and dabbling in about two dozen others. So with all of that under my belt—white, at the moment; I’ve returned to Brazilian Jiujitsu after many years off the mat—I want say a bit about what all the training has done for me as a writer.
There are some obvious benefits. Daughter of the Sword is about—duh—swords, and since I spent a little time studying kendō, iaidō, and Florentine sword fighting, I also have a sword rack in my basement. It’s handy to have a katana or two in your house when you need to know just how much space your samurai character has to swing in an average bedroom.
More important is the experience itself: not just the techniques but the feel of the sword’s weight in your hands. Writers can try to fake it, or else they can go out and do some research—as I needed to do, for example, when it came to my police detective’s pistol work. I think readers can tell when you’re faking it, so I made sure I got to spend some time with cops shooting pistols. (It really helps when one of your martial arts buddies is also a range officer.)
But that stuff only helps when writing about the weapons themselves. Martial arts have helped me write plenty of pages without fight scenes, because it turns out earning a black belt and getting published have a lot more in common than you might think (and certainly more than I’d ever expected).
First and foremost is simple pain tolerance. Everyone knows writing demands a certain degree of stick-to-it-iveness, but before I started this game I didn’t really understand how much of that was discipline and how much of it was the sheer refusal to acknowledge you’ve been hurt.
I got a very strange piece of luck right out of the gate: the first story I ever submitted was a winner in the Writers of the Future contest. Because of that, I got the idea that getting stories accepted was normal. It was only afterward that I discovered just how many rejection letters I would collect before publishing my next short story. I’ve got enough of them now to wallpaper my office.
A natural inclination for a lot of writers is to take each one of those rejections like a kick in the crotch. Fortunately for me, my best friends used to kick me in the crotch on a weekly basis. For years. I even paid money for the privilege. It’s not the sort of thing most guys are thankful for, but I’ll tell you this: rejection letters ain’t so bad after that.
Editors will beat you up in this game. Critics will too. The trick, to quote Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, is not minding that it hurts. And full-contact fighting will teach you that trick lickety-split.
Cheers Steve :o)
If you're following Steve's tour (or want to catch up), here is where he has been and where he will be over the next few days,
Oct 2: http://underthecoversbookblog.blogspot.com/
Oct 3: http://www.graspingforthewind.com/
Oct 5: http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/
Oct 8: http://www.abookobsession.com/
Oct 9: http://qwillery.blogspot.com/
Oct 10: http://www.nightowlreviews.com/nor/
Oct 11: http://allthingsuf.com/
Oct 12: http://goldiloxandthethreeweres.blogspot.com/
Labels: blog tour
Hey, I like this guy! The fact that he's studied some of those sword fighting styles is most impressive. The plot sounds pretty good too. Thanks for the heads up, I might check it out.
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Mr. Brian Auringer, 65, passed away peacefully with family by his side on October 02, 2017. Brian was the first baby born in the new Sioux Lookout Hospital on June 08, 1952. In 1981, he met his future wife Rose Callewaert and they were married for over 27 years.
With heavy hearts, we sadly announce the sudden passing of Arthur Charles Kirk on Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at the age of 87 years. He was a wonderful husband, strong and caring father, loving grandfather and true friend to all who knew him. He was best of friends with his brother Jerry. Click to Read Full Obituary.
Edna Henry It is with heavy hearts that the family of Edna Margarite Henry announce her peaceful passing at St. Joseph's Hospital with family by her side. She was born May 7, 1925 to James & Anne Kurlick in Wroxton, Saskatchewan.
Mr. Douglas Patrick O'Connor, age 59 years, resident of Thunder Bay, passed away unexpectedly at Silver Mountain, Ontario on June 1, 2017. Doug was born in Port Arthur on October 27, 1957 to Dennis and Velma O'Connor. He was raised in Port Arthur, and attended St. Margaret's School and Hillcrest High School. Click for full Obituary.
Edward (Ted) William Holseth passed away on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at St. Joseph's Hospital. Ted was born on March 19th, 1948 in Port Arthur and lived his entire life in Thunder Bay. He attended Balsam Street Public School, Hillcrest High School and Confederation College.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Robert John Meyer on Friday October 28, 2016, with his family by his side. Rob was born on May 21, 1961. He is the son of Berna and the lat Arthur Meyer. After graduating from Confederation College in Electronics Engineering Technology, Rob worked in communications at the MNR for 10 years.
Ms. Jutta Schlingmann, 61 years, resident of Thunder Bay, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. She was born to the late Lisbeth Prade and Gerhard Schlingmann, March 20, 1955, in Minden, Germany. Always one to think of others, Jutta spent much of her time making quilts or other homemade gifts to give to family and friends and their children.
It is with profound sadness that the family of Mr. Clifford Louis Johnson announce his passing April 18th, 2016 at St. Joseph's Hospice after a long illness which he fought courageously to the end. He is survived by his loving wife Susan (Ostrom) Johnson of 44 years, sons Len Johnson and Steven (Yvonne) Johnson, as well as twin brother Ron Johnson.
Derrick Jason Zale, age 51, a resident of Thunder Bay, Ontario, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, April 8, 2016 with his family by his side. Derrick showed incredible strength and courage during his 14-month battle with cancer. Derrick met the love of his life, Shirley on Oct 25, 1986. They spent 30 wonderful years together.
Donald Roger Latta, aged 69, passed away peacefully, closing his beautiful blue eyes, with his family by his side at St. Joseph's Hospice on March 20, 2016. Don was born on October 4, 1946 in Fort William, Ontario. He began working for Fort William Telephone in 1970 and retired 35 years later from TBayTel where he made life long friends.
Rick Gilmour passed away May 15, 2016 surrounded by his loving family. He was 56. Rick was born in Dauphin, Manitoba and arrived in Thunder Bay in 1970. After graduating from P.A.C.I. he had a successful 30+ year career as a lineman with Thunder Bay Hydro until the start of his all-too-short retirement in 2014.
November 22, 1954 – April 27, 2016 AKA Hank, Harry, Bear and Karhu, passed away unexpectedly at Hamilton General Hospital with family by his side. He had a love of motorcycles, football and NASCAR racing. His passion was his camp, fishing and hunting with his buddies who will sincerely miss Bear. Bear worked for Tbaytel until his retirement.
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Home / Press / Movie News and Reviews / Bilbo Baggins of ‘The Hobbit’ Has Reportedly Been Cast – Ace Show Biz (24aug09)
Bilbo Baggins of ‘The Hobbit’ Has Reportedly Been Cast – Ace Show Biz (24aug09)
04 Apr 2010 /
Tags: Movie News and Reviews
Ace Show Biz
Dropping by London’s BFI IMAX cinema to introduce ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy during a special marathon screening, Ian McKellen brings some updates for the other J.R.R. Tolkien’s adaptation.
"The Hobbit" has reportedly found the actor to play its titular role. Upon receiving an e-mail from Ringer spy Olli, The One Ring reported that actor Ian McKellen was the one who broke the news while making an appearance at a special marathon screening for the extended editions of all three "Lord of the Rings" films at London’s BFI IMAX cinema on Saturday, August 22.
According to Olli, the actor who plays wise wizard Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy revealed that he knows who will take on the starring role. However, he was keeping tight lips on whether or not "Atonement" actor James McAvoy is the one who will carry out the Bilbo Baggins character.
During his introduction for the screening, the 70-year-old McKellen also confirmed that he will be coming back as Gandalf in director Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel. The SAG Awards-winner also revealed, as reported by Olli, "he is currently re-Reading the hobbit and is expecting to be back in NZ in March" and "he should be seeing the script within the next week".
Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex has reported that "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe, "Doctor Who" lead actor David Tennant and James McAvoy were all rumored to be the potential candidates for Bilbo Baggins. However, both Radcliffe and Tennant have slammed the speculation. Radcliffe stated that he has no interest in the project, while Tennant claimed it to be plain Internet rumor.
"The Hobbit" is taken from J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel of the same title and is planned to be made into two-part movie. The movies will re-create the scenes of the novel, with additional events that make an impact to "The Lords of the Rings", such as the expulsion of Sauron from Mirkwood by The White Council.
Shooting is expected to start in March 2010 and go on for about 370 days. Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis are said to reprise their "The Lord of the Rings" roles as Lord Elrond and Gollum respectively. The first of the adventure fantasy movie is scheduled for December 2011 U.S. release, while the second one is expected to hit theaters across the U.S. a year later.
Movie News and Reviews
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Home/History News
History Newsinstrideonline2019-05-11T13:56:22-04:00
Cautious Oversight of GMO's
DNA technology has enabled scientists to genetically modify crops to enhance beneficial qualities. The skeptics are concerned about corporations focused more on their bottom line than on the health of consumers, but others are cautiously optimistic about the potential life-saving changes that are possible.
The process begins by locating the genetic sequence of a favorable trait on a strand of DNA. Scientists apply enzymes to the strand to chop it into fragments and generate copies of the targeted gene; a method that has been used in forensic DNA analysis for years.
The isolated trait is then incorporated into a plasmid; a fragment of DNA found in the nucleus of a bacteria separate from its chromosomal DNA. The plasmid is modified with the genetic sequence for the new trait and then replaced in the bacteria or into a different host.
The research involving recombinant DNA technology is carefully regulated by the FDA, the EPA, and the USDA.
The UN
The Grand Old Party
A “republic” is a form of government that empowers its citizens to vote and elect officials, an idea that America was founded on when the Revolutionary War was fought to secure independence from the monarch of Great Britain.
Abe Lincoln was the first Republican President, and the Civil War was fought during his administration in an effort to prevent the southern states from creating a separate form of government.
In the years following the war, the first of the civil rights amendments were written.
13th Amendment abolished slavery
14th Amendment safeguards the legal protections and equal freedoms of Americans
15th Amendment secures the right to vote
The responsibilities of the executive branch are delegated to the President, the Vice President, and the offices of the Cabinet.
The Constitution empowers the President to select a team of close advisers to manage the numerous agencies and programs that influence the lives of Americans every day. During the first presidential administration, George Washington established four Cabinet posts: Secretary of State, Treasury, War, and the Attorney General.
Eleven other Cabinet-level positions have been added during the twentieth century, the most recent being the Department of Homeland Security created in 2002.
In July 1863, on a battlefield in Southwest Pennsylvania, 28,000 Confederate and 23,000 Union soldiers lost their lives fighting the Battle of Gettysburg.
The 3-day war was a decisive victory for the North and the turning point of the Civil War.
In November of that year, President Lincoln traveled to Pennsylvania and delivered the Gettysburg Address to a crowd of 15,000. The President’s two-minute speech is one of the most famous in American history.
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Behind Xi Jinping ‘Smiling Diplomacy’ Is a Strategy to Stop the Revision of Japan’s Constitution
Makiko Takita, Sankei Shimbun November 14, 2017 11:15 pm Leave your thoughts
anti-Japan, ASEAN, Constitutional revision, Donald Trump, Indo-Pacific, Japan-China relation, Li Keqiang, North Korean missile, Prime Minister Abe, Senkaku, Shinzo Abe, Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty, Trump's Asian Tour, US-Japan alliance, Xi Jinping
On his trip to Da Nang in central Vietnam, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the evening of November 11th, with both leaders vowing to further improve relations between their countries. The Prime Minister called for China to play a greater role in efforts to exert maximum pressure on North Korea, as the latter has continued its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile development programs.
Abe had just launched his fourth administration following a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election. Similarly, President Xi Jinping had just been confirmed at the Communist Party Convention in October to begin his second term. The sixth meeting between the two leaders, who both recently secured their respective political bases, began with smiles. Departing from his strategy to date, Xi has changed track to employ “smiling tactics” with respect to Japan. One must wonder why, however.
Xi said, “This meeting marks a new start for Japan-China relations.”
Abe replied, “I agree completely.”
The mood continued, with the approximately 50-minute long meeting ending on the same congenial note. The often tenuous Japan-China relationship was, perhaps, showing prospects for improvement.
According to numerous sources within the government, Japan put forward the request for talks with Xi, but made no specific request with respect to the Premier of China, Li Keqiang. It was the Chinese who said, “We would like to have a meeting between Prime Minister Abe and Premier Li at the ASEAN summit in Manila.”
Although 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty, a rapid change of track toward diplomatic talks presents a risk for the Xi administration, which has heretofore focused solely on “anti-Japan” and “anti-corruption” agendas.
Despite this, a major factor in the shift toward a smiling strategy is the strengthening of Japan-US relations brought about, in part, by the arrival of President Donald Trump. For five years, the policy of “diplomacy that takes a panoramic perspective of the world map” has proven successful, with Indo-Pacific countries drawing together to contain China. The Chinese economy has also begun to fluctuate.
These are all major factors that prompted Xi to move towards repairing Japan-China relations. However, in fact, there is yet another reason: to block Japan’s constitutional revision.
Since May, when Abe announced his administration’s goal of revising Japan’s Constitution by 2020, China has repeatedly expressed its concerns regarding the revision via the Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua. Despite Japan’s explanation that any proposed change would simply enable Japan to defend itself, the Chinese have not attempted to veil their suspicions, asking, “Are you sure Japan is not just taking advantage of the North Korean situation to revise the Constitution?”
Although there is no need to be drawn to the issue of interference in domestic affairs, improving relations with China here is unavoidable, considering the North Korean situation. After all, cooperation from China, which accounts for 90% of North Korea’s trade volume, is essential in the successful implementation of economic sanctions against Pyongyang. Considering a distinct possibility of the situation deteriorating further, continued discussion amongst said countries’ leaders will be crucial.
However, the dispute over the Senkaku Islands (Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture) is a lingering issue that remains unresolved between Japan and China. Thus, relations will not be improved merely by smiling. Abe was quick to remind Xi of this fact, saying, “Without stability in the East China Sea, there will be no real improvement in Japan-China relations.
Makiko Takita is a staff writer of the Sankei Shimbun Political news department. She is contributing this report from Da Nang, Vietnam.
(Click here and here to read the original articles in Japanese.)
Makiko Takita is a political reporter with the Sankei Shimbun.
Tomioka High School Dance Club and Yoko Oginome Collaborate for Midosuji Autumn Party
Arigato, Trump-san: A Welcome Wake-up Call for Japan
Trump’s Asian Tour: Role of Japan’s Abe is to Drive a Wedge into US-China Agreement
Hiroshi Yuasa 3 Comments
President Donald Trump salutes during a welcome ceremony at U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Aiea,
Media’s Myopic View Obscures Big Picture in Sino-Japanese Relations
Duncan Bartlett Leave your thoughts
The Japanese media’s incessant focus on the links between civil servants and Shinzo Abe takes away attention from far
After Trump’s Asia Trip, A Need for Ambitious Regional Strategy
Hiroyuki Kano Leave your thoughts
Douglas H. Paal, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, spoke with the Sankei S
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Today In Jazz
Happy Birthday Ronnie Matthews, Sylvia Syms, Eddie Sauter and Wynton Kelly!
Let’s celebrate four jazz giants who were born on this day and all of whom left an indelible legacy – two pianists, a singer and a composer/arranger.
We’ll start with pianist Ronnie Matthews (1935-2008), caught in great form by an amateur videographer – the juice was flowing that night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbZoCbE1BxE
Singer Sylvia Syms (1917-92) was taken in as a teenager by Billie Holiday and Benny Carter, admired by Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte, and loved by Art Tatum. Here she is, in the wee small hours of the morning jamming with Mr. Tatum – this has never been commercially released.
Eddie Sauter (1914-81) was the most original voice in jazz composition and arranging after Duke Ellington in the 1930’s and 40’s, and has yet to be appropriately recognized for his contributions to jazz. In the early 1950’s, Sauter paired up with another vital voice in orchestrated jazz, Bill Finegan, and their madcap, unique, humorous and deep music was captured on the Abbott and Costello Show in 1953. Dig the humorous introduction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87bIc6Vls1c
Wynton Kelly (1931-71) was one of the most swinging pianists of his generation, and had a knack for providing the perfect accompaniment to whomever he was playing with. This clip from a 1959 television broadcast finds Kelly with the famous Miles Davis Quintet (John Coltrane/Paul Chambers/Jimmy Cobb). Every note is a classic:
The Jazz Museum in Harlem is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. All donations are fully tax deductible. Copyright © 2013 The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. All Rights Reserved.
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About Joe C. Davis
About the Foundation and Its History
Trustees and Staff
Grant Making Policies and Practices
How and When to Apply for a Grant
The Foundation makes contributions to charitable organizations exemplifying the core values of Joe C. Davis: the importance of personal initiative, perseverance, hard work, education, and entrepreneurship.
The Foundation’s primary areas of focus are education, healthcare, and community and social services. Geographically, the Foundation’s focus is the Nashville, Tennessee area.
The Foundation seeks to invest in organizations with strong leadership; organizations with long-term, sustainable financial models; and organizations that are the leading experts in the relevant area of service.
The Foundation supports a wide range of education-related organizations.
In recent years, the Foundation’s support of public K-12 educational programs has focused primarily on recruitment and development of top talent in the education sector, and on increasing the supply of high-performing charter schools. The Foundation’s support of private, tuition-based K-12 educational institutions is now limited to Montgomery Bell Academy and Harpeth Hall School, where the Foundation primarily funds need-based scholarships for academically promising students.
The Foundation supports a variety of early childhood programs, after-school programs, adult education programs, and workforce development programs. The Foundation has also supported a limited number of post-secondary institutions, most notably Vanderbilt University, but also a few others from time to time, particularly in specialized areas of training.
The Foundation supports a broad array of healthcare organizations and endeavors. These have included medical training, health and wellness initiatives, medical clinics serving the underinsured, addiction services, mental health services, and crisis services. Within these areas, the Foundation has, from time to time, funded facilities, research, technology, and routine services. At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Foundation has primarily supported research and medical training.
The Foundation supports a wide variety of social service organizations, with a particular focus on helping children reach their highest potential and helping adults become self-sufficient. Programming areas include such things as youth mentoring, parent education, workforce development, affordable housing, and community resource centers.
Excluded Categories
Except as may be incidental to other programs, the Foundation does not provide funding for (a) the arts, (b) environmental causes, or (c) religious activities. The Foundation also does not make grants to individuals or for the support of fundraising events or dinners.
The Foundation generally prefers to make one-time grants designed to enhance existing programs, and sometimes to create new ones if they have a long-term financial sustainability model. The Foundation will also consider capital requests, including facility funding. The Foundation will consider relatively small grant requests in support of regular ongoing operating costs; however, multiple requests from the same organization over consecutive years are reviewed to be sure the Foundation is not creating excessive ongoing dependency upon its grants.
The Foundation’s larger grants are typically made only after fairly extensive interaction between the Foundation and the grant seeker over an extended period.
© Joe C. Davis Foundation • 104 Woodmont Blvd., Suite 310 • Nashville, Tennessee 37205 • 615.352.9036
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Military Time Chart
Military Time
Home
Military Watches and Timepieces
Military watches have substantially different components as compared to civilian timepieces. They also have contributed to the evolution of the watch in many ways.
The uses to which military timepieces are put are much more widely varying than the applications that civilians use timepieces for, by and large.
There are also some professions that require a sophisticated timepiece that has superior abilities when compared to the average watch. The need for functionalities not commonly found in other time pieces stems from the applications and stresses which the timepieces are used for and must endure.
Military Watches: Built Tough
To have a watch that can withstand certain rigorous activities, the watch must be designed in a special way with special components to allow for normal functioning in extreme circumstances.
Long ago, timepieces were highly unreliable, and were not very useful for navigating the sea because the salty, damp air wreaked havoc on their delicate internal machinations. Brass was then implemented in timepieces that were to be used at sea, potentially by a navy.
The brass inner workings of the timepiece allowed it to be used reliably at sea without the excessive failures of timepieces that were created out of materials other than brass.
The utilization of brass in sea-faring instruments and timepieces represents an early advancement of timepiece technology to allow for the use of the piece in a more rigorous environment.
A Concise Guide to Military Timepieces
Watch Protection
Initially wristwatches had ceramic enamel coverings, which while clear were also delicate. To be constantly worn on the wrist the watch had to be durable. So to accommodate for this, a metal protective grill was made available.
This proved popular with military men because it increased the life of the watch by protecting against accidental damage to the enamel watch face covering.
However, this eventually proved problematic due to the glare from the sun that would reflect off of the metal grills and enamel faces. This had the drawback of potentially revealing the position of an infantryman to the enemy, even over substantial distances.
Features of Military Watches
There are several other features that military watches require. Pilots and other military personnel who must perform tasks at night require a watch that they can read while they work. For this purpose, they use watches that have illuminated bezels, numbers, or hands.
There are several ways to illuminate a watch. The watch may use slightly radioactive materials such as tritium. Tritium is produced in a nuclear reactor and decays over time as it gives off light.
Specialized Military Watches
Another use for which the military watches are required to have special construction is for use at sea. The watches of submariners must be able to handle the rigors of the environments to which they are exposed, such as frequent dampness.
Also, the watch must be constructed of special materials so as not to interfere with the submarine, nor be interfered with by the submarine itself.
Watches made for divers are another area of military time piece technology where the rigors of the environment necessitate that the watch be made to exacting standards utilizing techniques that make it able to perform its task accurately even under the added stresses of military application.
Watches for divers must be waterproof. Many watches are water resistant, but not water proof. Water resistant watches can withstand brief contact with water, but ultimately cannot be used for diving. A diver without a diving watch might quickly lose track of the time, which is key for diving.
Many aspects of diving require accurate time keeping. For example, how long a diver has been at a given depth is a critical piece of information. The diver needs to know how long they have been at a given depth in order to avoid getting extremely sick and possibly dying.
When ascending after a dive, the diver performs what are known as safety stops. These stops are where a diver stops his ascension for a specific period of time to allow for smooth decompression. If a diver did not know how long they were at a given depth or for how long they had been at a safety stop, they could face dire consequences.
To withstand complete submersion, a watch must be hermetically sealed, and it must be made of materials that can withstand the water without corroding. Further, the watch must be designed to withstand the changes in pressure that a diver is subjected to.
When moving through the water column the watch will experience drastic changes in pressure, and if the military timepiece is not designed to handle this, it will fail.
Specifications of Military Watches
The United States has been issuing specifications for watches that military personnel are to wear should meet for quite some time. The military specifications provide specific requirements for the watch to meet in order for it to be used as a military timepiece.
These requirements include a variety of things, most aspects of a watch, including things like the size of the face of the watch, the width of line markings on the face of a watch, and the shape and color of symbols on the watch face.
Military timepieces also vary greatly with regards to their functionality and quality. General-purpose watches, for example are not as durable as the watches designed for diving purposes. The cost of production can also vary greatly depending on the components of a watch, who manufactures it, and what it is designed to do.
Military watches and timepieces are currently highly sophisticated. Many civilians also collect military timepieces. They collect them for many reasons, including the fact that they are built to known specifications to perform specific functions. Buying the average commercial watch comes with some uncertainty, but a military timepiece is reliably built to exacting specifications. This way the buyer knows what they are getting.
The certainty of purchasing a military timepiece, the quality that is available, and the connection to military history are a few of the reasons for purchasing a military timepiece.
Military Alphabet (Alpha to Zulu)
Pay Charts/Rank Insignia
Star Card (Exchange Credit Program/AAFES)
Military Time Chart Copyright © 2020.
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You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Milwaukee Rising spurs steady increase in homeownership in Sherman Park
Milwaukee Rising spurs steady increase in homeownership in Sherman Park
April 1, 2016 by Brendan O’Brien Leave a Comment
New homeowner Randy Jones stands outside of his Milwaukee Rising home. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
A transformation has occurred along 46th street from Center Street to North Avenue in the heart of the Sherman Park neighborhood, where homeowners have completed various home improvement projects such as repairing their roofs and replacing gutters and windows.
The rejuvenation along this small stretch has been spurred in part by the renovation of eight homes on the street by Milwaukee Rising, a campaign to improve the real estate market in Milwaukee by addressing the disproportionate number of foreclosures in Sherman Park.
“They are reinvesting in their homes because the neighborhood will not be so transient,” said Toni Wagner, a Milwaukee Rising volunteer who has lived in Sherman Park for 45 years. “People who live in the neighborhood and invest in the neighborhood are the ones that really care about the community.”
Milwaukee Rising, created by the grassroots group Common Ground, has renovated more than 70 foreclosed, distressed homes in Sherman Park, selling more than 60 of them to individuals and families since the effort began in 2008. Its goal is to rehabilitate 100 foreclosed houses and return them to the local real estate market.
Homes in the Sherman Park neighborhood along 51st Street. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
One of Milwaukee Rising’s homes was recently purchased by Randy Jones, a 48-year-old divorcee, who looked at dozens of houses before finding his three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow. The former aldermanic candidate said the effort by Milwaukee Rising will have a long-term impact on the city.
“That’s what is going to change Milwaukee as a whole,” Jones said. “It’s going to start with homeownership. It’s about that sense of belonging and that sense of pride.”
The effort has reduced the number of abandoned homes in the neighborhood, from 300 in 2010 to about 150 in 2015. Because the remaining blighted homes are a breeding ground for crime, 30 volunteer home evaluators from Milwaukee Rising inspect each one monthly, reporting problems such as break-ins to the Milwaukee Police Department or the city.
Milwaukee Rising has received about $1 million in grants from Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo and about $500,000 in low- or no-interest loans from religious entities and Milwaukee Development Corporation. The City of Milwaukee also allocated about $4 million of federal Neighborhood Stabilization Project funds to the effort. In addition, Bank of America gave the organization 12 houses and $180,000 to rehab them.
“The banks are the ones that caused this problem, so they should be the ones to help rehab and repair these homes,” said Frank Finch III, treasurer of Milwaukee Rising.
Milwaukee Rising uses the funding to purchase properties and hire contractors to do major plumbing, electrical, foundation and general improvements to the houses. The organization then puts them back on the market and the proceeds from the sale of properties are used to pay lenders.
In addition to completing rehabs, Milwaukee Rising has provided up to $5,000 in matching grants to 40 Sherman Park homeowners to make improvements such as replacing a roof or windows. More than $200,000 has been disbursed through that effort.
“When we rehabbed a home, we went to each homeowner on the block and asked them if there was something they needed to get done on their house,” Finch said. “That was really successful.”
According to Zillow.com, which tracks the residential real estate market, the average home value in Sherman Park has decreased from $91,000 in 2006 to $51,000 in 2016. The dramatic decline has leveled off since 2012, as average prices have remained steady, between $50,000 and $61,000.
Zillow notes that foreclosures “will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years” in Sherman Park, where 15.6 per 10,000 homes are foreclosed, almost twice the rate for the entire city of Milwaukee and five times the national average.
To stem the long-term foreclosure tide in Sherman Park, homeownership is the key, according to Judy Maher, a contractor who serves as Milwaukee Rising’s project manager.
“This is making a big difference,” Maher said. “There are way too many people renting in Sherman Park who should own — plain and simple.”
Filed Under: Carousel, Home, Housing, Neighborhoods, News, North, Sherman Park
About Brendan O’Brien
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WSBK Calendar
Arai Helmet
BSB Year Book
Haslam bags points with three solid finishes in Portugal
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam finished fifth in all three races of round 10 of the World Superbike Championship at the Portmiao circuit in Portugal on Saturday and Sunday.
“It was a good fight in the final race and I felt I should have got Alex Lowes, as I had more grip than him at the end.
"That said, from half distance I sort of lost the front grip on the right side, a little bit but I felt comfortable behind Johnny and Toprak.
"After about nine laps I lost my advantage with the front so I dropped off the pace quite a lot which put me in a battle with Alex.
"I was managing the front but I got in a bit of a scuffle with Van der Mark, which lost me the tow. I managed to bridge that gap quite quickly but I was suffering just to get the thing to stop.
"I tried to pass several times into turn one. We made a lot of steps for that race with the bike balance but I am a little bit disappointed because I felt again we had the pace to go with the podium guys, especially in the first half, but just a few little niggles and mistakes just knocked me out of it. My pace in the Superpole race should have got me a better result.”
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam finished fifth, fourth and ninth respectively in the final three races of the 2019 World Superbike Championship at the Local circuit in Qatar, round 13 of the season.
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam goes in search of a winning end to the 2019 season at the Local circuit in Qatar in round 13 of the World Superbike Championship on Friday and Saturday.
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam took three top 10 finishes at the Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina in round 12 of the World Superbike Championship at the weekend.
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam goes in search of a successful debut at the Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentina in round 12 of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.
Kawasaki Racing Team's Leon Haslam finished with ninth and seventh place finishes in Sunday's two races after crashing out of Saturday's race in round 11 of the World Superbike Championship at the Magny-Cours circuit in France.
Leon Haslam © 2017
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Reprint – Photo Gallery: Sutton Bridge Lighthouse Renovation Restores View Which Inspired Sir Peter Scott
Work continues on the Peter Scott Lighthouse near Sutton Bridge - owners Sue and Doug Hilton. Picture: Matthew Usher.
Photo gallery: Sutton Bridge lighthouse renovation restores view which inspired Sir Peter Scott
By DAISY WALLAGE Monday, July 30, 2012
– with permission from EDP24 online
With an endless sky, tantalising glimpses of the The Wash and wildfowl flying overhead, this stunning, sometimes lonely view was lost for decades as time took its toll on east bank lighthouse at Sutton Bridge.
Now, after months of loving restoration, visitors can finally climb to the top and bask in the uninterrupted views that so inspired the artist and conservation pioneer Sir Peter Scott more than 70 years ago.
The view from the top. Picture: Matthew Usher.
Owners Sue and Doug Hilton bought the lighthouse, on the mouth of the River Nene, in November 2010 and are steadily achieving their goal of opening a museum and visitor centre at the site as well as restoring the landmark tower itself.
New, locally crafted steel handrails on the lighthouse stairs will allow visitors to explore beyond Sir Peter’s living room to his second floor bedroom and the lamp room during a series of open weekends next month.
“It has restored a stunning view,” Mr Hilton said. “It’s been a kind of mad but constructive whirl fitted in amongst everything else we have going on in our lives, but the lighthouse has a personality of its own and won’t be left out.”
Sir Peter, son of Captain Scott of the Antarctic, lived in the lighthouse from 1933 until the outbreak of the second world war.
It was there, surrounded by the unspoiled beauty of the marshes, that he made the transition from a wildfowler to a famous wildlife artist and writer.
The 24-year-old went on to become one of the world’s most influential conservationists, a founder member of both the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Mr and Mrs Hilton felt strangely compelled to take on the project, just as the previous owner Commander David Joel had been when he snapped up the lighthouse in 1985.
It is said Cdr Joel, himself an artist, drove 200 miles to buy the derelict lighthouse within hours of seeing it advertised and it seems the 82-year-old building still knows how to charm.
Work to restore the large ponds is only under way because workers from Birse Engineering and Fenland Ditching were so taken by the lighthouse.
The companies had been working on a Centrica project to install wind farm power cables nearby and are donating manpower, equipment and thousands of pounds worth of materials to the project.
“They had to pass the lighthouse every day and they fell in love with the place,” Mr Hilton said. “They insisted on helping with the lion’s share of the work to rebuild the ponds and on supplying clay for the new liner.
“Before the ponds were filled with a black sludge and the birds wouldn’t even go in them. We had to come up with the new designs quite quickly and it’s fantastic to see the work being done.
“We had not anticipated even starting until very much later in the year. Now when people visit they will be able to see the progress we’re making.”
The ponds were previously pumped from a ditch, but the lighthouse birds will now benefit from less salty water after a new 50m bore hole was drilled on site.
Once finished, the ponds will be a scale model of The Wash, with the four rivers leading into it, and will be used for education purposes.
“It will help schools to understand which rivers are where and they can then follow the story of where they go and what they do,” Mr Hilton said. “We are here to connect people to their surroundings for their good and that of the environment.
“The area the ponds occupy is of global significance in the conservation and environmental fields. It is where the young Peter Scott first formed ponds for the bird collection that made his realise the need for conservation on a global scale and leading subsequently to the formation of the World Wildlife Fund.
“The lighthouse birds of the 1930s also formed the original stock of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.”
Sir Peter left the lighthouse in 1939 for duty with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and found it in a poor state of repair when he returned.
Pressure to grow food during the war saw the lighthouse effectively move a third of a mile inland, as more of the coast was reclaimed from the sea.
Without the free flowing tidal pools and saltings he needed to keep his wildfowl collection on, he could never return, Mr Hilton said, and a new chapter in the lighthouse’s history began.
The couple are transforming Sir Peter’s garage and boathouse into a cafe and museum celebrating his work and with planning permission in place, they hope to open the visitor centre in August next year.
“We have been collecting display cabinets and have the biggest private collection of Sir Peter Scott memorabilia,” Mrs Hilton said.
From this weekend, the lighthouse will be open every Saturday and Sunday in August from 11am to 4pm, plus bank holiday Monday.
Entry costs £5 for adults, £4 for concessions and under 16s while children under five go free.
Find out more at www.snowgoosewildlifetrust.org.
Cape Scott Lighthouse Today
Ontario – Point Clark Lighthouse
Reprint – Restoring Canaveral Light – Brick by Brick!
This entry was posted in Automation, England, Foreign, History, Information, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Photos, Reprint, Stories, Travel, United Kingdom and tagged England, lighthouse, Lincolnshire, litehouse, restoration, saving, Sutton Bridge by retlkpr. Bookmark the permalink.
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Patty Murray, Hillary Clinton, Ralph Nader
"Senators Murray and Clinton Call On HHS To Stop Plans To Obstruct Family Planning Services" (Patty Murray and Hillary Clinton):
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) today called on the Secretary of Health and Human Services to stop misguided plans to put in place new obstacles for women accessing family planning services. This proposed rule change is a poorly-veiled attempt to roll-back women's health care options before the current Administration leaves office.
In a letter to Secretary Michael Leavitt, Senators Clinton and Murray underscored that new planned regulations will increase barriers to obtaining health care services, while weakening health care providers’ ability to obtain funding and provide services.
“It is outrageous that the Bush administration is once again putting ideology over women’s health. Instead of undercutting access to contraception and family planning services, the Bush Administration should put prevention first,” said Senator Clinton.
"On the first day of his administration, the President reinstated the Mexico City global gag clause, a harsh, anti-family planning policy that hurt the world's poorest women and children. Now, on his way out the door it appears that he is trying to limit women's health care options here at home," Murray said. "This misguided attempt to restrict health care services and limit access to contraceptives defeats our common goal of reducing the number of abortions in this country."
Senators Murray and Clinton have worked tirelessly to stop efforts by the Bush Administration to put in place ideological barriers to contraception. Senators Murray and Clinton successfully led the fight to secure an administration decision on the over-the-counter sale of Plan B emergency contraception after more than three years of Administration delay.
The text of the Senators' letter follows:
Secretary Michael O. LeavittThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services200 Independence Avenue, S.W.Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Mr. Secretary:
It has come to our attention that the Department of Health and Human Services may be preparing draft regulations that would create new obstacles for women seeking contraceptive services.One of the most troubling aspects of the proposed rules is the overly-broad definition of “abortion.” This definition would allow health-care corporations or individuals to classify many common forms of contraception – including the birth control pill, emergency contraception and IUDs – “abortions” and therefore to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it.
As a consequence, these draft regulations could disrupt state laws securing women's access to birth control. They could jeopardize federal programs like Medicaid and Title X that provide family-planning services to millions of women. They could even undermine state laws that ensure survivors of sexual assault and rape receive emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms.
We strongly urge you to reconsider these regulations before they are released. We are extremely concerned by this proposal’s potential to affect millions of women’s reproductive health.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Senator Patty Murray Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
You know, if Hillary was the nominee, she'd still be addressing this issue. That's because she doesn't need for-show travel to make herself look ready for the job. She is ready for the job. I'm reminded of the line Debra Winger says in Black Widow, "Thing is, this isn't over."
It really isn't. Barack's struggling in the polls. He's caving everytime you turn around.
Hillary's doing what she always does, rolling up her sleeves and getting down to work. It would have been great to have someone like that in the White House.
Oh well, maybe Barack will pick a good babysitter. I bet Dick Cheney's available or willing to recommend someone.
But it's probably not a good idea, when you've pissed off a number of voters by using sexism in the primary over and over, to skip being present for this issue.
"Nader makes presidential ballot in Nevada" (Las Vegan Sun):
Matt Griffin, deputy secretary of state for elections, said Friday that he has received information from the counties that Nader has nearly 5,000 signatures of registered voters on a petition to qualify for the presidential ballot. He said about 4,700 are needed to qualify for the ballot.
Nader supporters said they had 12,000 signatures. Griffin said he should receive the official numbers next week.
Nader hopes to be on the presidential ballot in 45 states by Sept. 20.
His vice presidential candidate is Matt Gonzalez, and his Nevada electors are Richard Murakami and Frank Kunovic, both of Las Vegas, and Michele Patterson, Miranda Humphrey and Thomas Farrell, all of Reno.
The Ralph Nader campaign is another worker campaign. It's not flash and sizzle. It's not hype and empty slogans. I see my support for Nader as support for someone who shares most of my beliefs and for someone who wants to work. I don't see Ralph Nader needing a 'nanny' for a vice-president. He chose someone qualified, Matt Gonzalez, who can work on issues. Barack's going to need a Cheney. A Scary Poppins. He tires so easily. Especially for such a young man.
We have had seven years of immaturity in the White House. I won't vote for four more.
Nader's making strides and his campaign is progressing. In a world with a real independent media, they'd do being cartwheels. But they can find no happiness in Ralph's success. They can only see a threat.
45 states is his goal and I think he's going to reach it. It is the true grassroots campaign. It's the one that those who support real change can get on board with.
Friday, July 18, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, who is harrassing IVAW co-chair Adam Kokesh, the White House issues a statement the State Dept doesn't want to touch, the US military announces another death, and more.
Starting with war resistance -- because Amy Goodman never can -- this was a busy week. Monday US war resister in Canada Robin Long was the subject of deportation of hearing. Which he lost. (Mainly because Judge Anne Mctavish doesn't know her job.) He was deported Tuesday from Canada with the Canadian government keeping everything hush-hush to try to clamp down on public shows of support for Robin. On Wednesday, US war resister James Burmeister faced a court-martial: "The court-martial of the kill-team whistle blower." He was busted in rank, given six months of time and stripped of his rights and benefits. The latter is especially shocking when you realize he has Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The government gladly shipped him to a war zone where he was injured and then they spat him this week by refusing to pay for the injuries their illegal war caused James -- life-long injuries. Amy Goodman (Democracy Sometimes!) continued the silence she's long maintained on James -- she never mentioned his name. James is the one who blew the whistle on the kill teams -- groups of US soldiers assigned to leave US property (such as cameras) out in the open in Iraq while snipers then wait for an unsuspecting Iraqi to touch them at which point, living up to the team name, they kill the Iraqis. It was big news and and Mark Larabee (The Oregonian) broke the news domestically July 16, 2007. That wasn't something to amplify. Apparently no one in Panhandle Media had slept with James or wanted to. If so, we could have seen the kind of embarrassing moment that had the 'left' recruiting talk show hosts not all that long ago. Call it The Critic and the Young Chippie or -- as they prepared to play it -- The Greatest All Time Threat to Democracy. Nothing gets a fire burning for our 'fearless' 'leaders' as much as the thought that one of their old 'lions' might finally get laid. So James, who was actual news, got ignored in 2007 and, if you missed it, got ignored Wednesday, Thursday and today. Free Speech isn't worth a damn when it's also Meaningless Speech -- and didn't so many prove just how meaningless they could be.
AP (Real Media) filed a better version of their earlier story, one that noted, "He said he was disturbed by a military tactic of planting equipment to lure Iraqis that American snipers could then kill. Burmeister said he complained to superior officers that the snipers couldn't know for sure whether the people they shot were actually insurgents, or presented any threat to U.S. forces." The Oregonian did a brief that noted, "Burmeister said he complained to superior officers that the snipers couldn't know for sure whether the people they shot were actually insurgents or presented any threat to U.S. forces. Eventually, the soldier from Cheshire, near Eugene, was injured by a roadside bomb and sent to Germany to recuperate. While there, he left his unit and went to Canada, where he campaigned against the use of the small kill teams." Kill teams. War crimes. But Panhandle Media had something else to cover. While whining about the silence from Real Media on some stories, they censored themselves. Call it Learned Pathetic. The only maturity in the story came from James himself. Ten months ago, Mina Al-Oraibi (Asharq Alawsat) quoted the then-in-Canada James Burmeister stating he did not regret self-checking out, "Because I feel it's the right thing to do -- even if I face prison or a dishonorable discharge from the army. I can't go back to the killing."
On Robin Long, Stefanie Fisher (Party for Socialsim and Liberation) provides a run-through, "On July 15, Robin Long became the first Iraq war resister to be deported from Canada back to the United States. In 2005, Long went to Canada because he would not fight in an 'illegal war of aggression.' Like thousands of young recruits, Long discovered that the Iraq war was based on lies only after he had joined the military. The court denied Long sanctuary based on a so-called 'lack of evidence' that he would face harsh treatment if he were sent back to the United States. The court was fully aware that Long would be unjustly tried as a deserter, could face prison time and be deployed to Iraq against his will. As an example to others, on July 16, James Burmeister, a resister who turned himself over to the U.S. government was sentenced to 9 months in jail and dishonorably discharged. Protests in the U.S. and Canada have demanded sanctuary for Iraq war resisters. Two-thirds of Canadians believe that war resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada." Jeremy Deutsch (Kamloops This Week) reports on NDP's Michael Crawford's reaction to the deportation and quoted him stating, "We have a government in Canada hell-bent on pleasing the American administration. . . . If we believe it's an illegal war, why should we not give some form of sancturary to people who are refusing to fight that war?" This follows NDP's Bill Siksay's earlier statements this week, prior to the deportation of Robin, "Stockwell Day, Diane Finley and Stephen Harper should respect the will of Parliament and the Canadian people and stop this deportation immediately. The House of Commons has passed a motion supporting a special programme that would allow conscientious objectors who refuse to serve in the war in Iraq to remain in Canada. The government must respect this action by the House and stop deportation action against Robin Long and other Iraq war resisters. The Canadian government and the Canadian people do not support George Bush's illegal war in Iraq. We must have the courage of those convictions and back them up by ensuring that Americans who take a stand against that war receive a welcome in Canada. Robin Long must be allowed to stay." Meanwhile Keith Jones (WSWS) examines the situation and concludes:
As for the Canadian government, in 2005 when the Liberals held office, it took the highly unusual step of intervening at [Jeremy] Hinzman's refugee hearing--the first for an Iraq war resister--to successfully urge the Immigration and Refugee Board to exclude any arguments concerning the legality of the US's invasion of Iraq. The pretext invoked by the government was that only the International Court of Justice at the Hague has the authority and jurisdiction to adjudicate on the legality of a war. (See "Canada denies asylum to US soldier who refused to serve in Iraq")
During the Vietnam War more than 50,000 US draft-dodgers and "deserters" found refuge in Canada. Today, however, the Canadian judiciary, immigration board, and government are determined to ensure that the country not become a safe haven for those in the US military who refuse to be party to the US's wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is not just because Canada's elite does not want to rile the Bush administration and US military. The Canadian ruling class is determined to jettison the myth of Canada as a peace-keeping nation--a myth closely bound up with Pearson and Trudeau Liberal governments' attitude toward the Vietnam War and decision to allow Vietnam war resisters to apply for landed immigrant status in Canada--because they see it as cutting across their efforts to revive Canadian militarism and use the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as a means to assert their predatory interests on the world stage.
Today, Canadian Christianity notes: "Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Canada held a public prayer vigil July 10 on behalf of Robin Long, a US war resister who was scheduled to be deported from Canada July 15. Long joined the US military in 2003, but became disillusioned with the US war in Iraq, deserted and fled to Canada in 2005. He applied for refugee status in 2006, but his final court appeal was turned down July 14. There are about 200 US resisters of the Iraq War currently in Canada. The CPT Canada vigil, which took place in Winnipeg, drew participants from the 'People's Summit for Faithful Living,' a joint meeting of delegates from Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
IVAW's co-chair, Adam Kokesh, has been regularly targeted by the US government for speaking out. Wednesday he wrote (Revolutionary Patriot) "The Cops Are Everywhere -- Especially Where I Am." Thursday he posted a video of one encounter. Friday, his report also included a police report (pages of the police report are clickable to make them larger to read) which reveals that one of the people who have been hassling/harassing him is an FBI agent. So what's going on? I have no idea. But Adam has been targeted before and there's no denying that an FBI agent is going out of his way to target Adam now.
Staying on IVAW, they've posted a copy members of Congress sent to the White House. The letter is signed by House Reps Yvette D. Clarke, John Conyers, Lynn Woosley, Barbara Lee, Jan Schakowsky, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Dennis Kucinich, James McGovern, Pete Stark, Edolphus Towns, Tammy Baldwin, William Jefferson, and Eleanor Holmes Norton. The letter [PDF format warning] reads:
We, the below signed Members of Congress, voice our support for current, present, and future members of the United States Armed Forces who oppose the War in Iraq and who are working to bring it to a speedy and safe conclusion. These brave men and women, who have served our nation so honorably, represent the best aspects of our democratic tradition. While we cannot condone the actions of any service members who translates their personal opposition to the war into a deliberate decision to go Absent Without Leave (AWOL), we offer our most sincere support to every service member affected by the War in Iraq. This war has placed many of armed service members, like Sergeant Matthis Chiroux, in an untenable dilemma. Sgt. Chiroux has served as an active duty service member for the last 5 years -- serving tours of duty in Afghanistan and the Philippines. In July of 2007, having served his country with distinction, the Sergeant was discharged to the Individiual Ready Reserves. As the civil war raging inside Iraq intensified, Sgt. Chiroux was moving on with his life and leaving behind a war with which he disagreed. Unfortunately for the Sergeant, the war's unpopularity has taken a heavy toll on the Army's recruitment efforts. As such, in February of this year, he was recalled to active duty and received his deployment orders for Iraq. We in the Congress oppose this type of forced redeployment, as well as the military's so-called 'stop-loss' policy. As such, we in the Congress reaffirm our support for ending the War in Iraq by all means available to us. We also reaffirm our support for all military members who speak out, advocate, and otherwise support efforts to bring the troops home.
If the letter seems a little weak, let's go to Howard Zinn who isn't campaigning for any office and, even if he was, could probably still tell the hard truths. From his "Memo to Obama, McCain: No one wins in a war" (Boston Globe):
For someone like myself, who fought in World War II, and since then has protested against war, I must ask: Have our political leaders gone mad? Have they learned nothing from recent history? Have they not learned that no one "wins" in a war, but that hundreds of thousands of humans die, most of them civilians, many of them children?
Did we "win" by going to war in Korea? The result was a stalemate, leaving things as they were before with a dictatorship in South Korea and a dictatorship in North Korea. Still, more than 2 million people - mostly civilians -- died, the United States dropped napalm on children, and 50,000 American soldiers lost their lives.
Did we "win" in Vietnam? We were forced to withdraw, but only after 2 million Vietnamese died, again mostly civilians, again leaving children burned or armless or legless, and 58,000 American soldiers dead.
This morning in Tucson, Arizona, the traveling White House press corps heard from Scott Stanzel, Deputy Press Secretary, regarding the continued treaty negotiations between the White House and its puppet in Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki. Stanzel stated, "And as the statement says, we have reached a point in Iraq where we can have these discussions about continuing to transition more control of the security situation to the Iraqi forces. . . . But these are aspirational goals, not arbitrary time lines based on political expediency. So we want to get to a point where we have sustainable security in the country, and our forces are able to come home and transition into a role there of more overwatch and training." What was Stanzel referring to? This statement issued by the White House Press Secretary:
President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki spoke yesterday in their regularly scheduled secure video conference, about a range of matters including the improving security situation and the performance of Iraqi Security Forces across Iraq, from Basra, to Maysan, Baghdad and Sadr City, and Mosul. The two leaders welcomed the recent visit of Prime Minister Erdogan to Baghdad and the successful visit of Prime Minister Maliki to the UAE. They also discussed ongoing initiatives to follow security gains with Iraqi investment in its people, infrastructure, cities, and towns, which will be aided by a $21 billion supplemental budget now before the Iraqi parliament.
In the context of these improving political, economic, and security conditions, the President and the Prime Minister discussed the ongoing negotiations to establish a normalized bilateral relationship between Iraq and the United States. The leaders agreed on a common way forward to conclude these negotiations as soon as possible, and noted in particular the progress made toward completing a broad strategic framework agreement that will build on the Declaration of Principles signed last November, and include areas of cooperation across many fields, including economics, diplomacy, health, culture, education, and security.
In the area of security cooperation, the President and the Prime Minister agreed that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals -- such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq. The President and Prime Minister agreed that the goals would be based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal. The two leaders welcomed in this regard the return of the final surge brigade to the United States this month, and the ongoing transition from a primary combat role for U.S. forces to an overwatch role, which focuses on training and advising Iraqi forces, and conducting counter-terror operations in support of those forces.
This transition and the subsequent reduction in U.S. forces from Iraq is a testament to the improving capacity of Iraq's Security Forces and the success of joint operations that were initiated under the new strategy put in place by the President and the Prime Minister in January 2007.
What's it mean? Nothing. BBC may come closest to that reality when they note: "The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says the announcement is designed to encourage the idea that US troops are coming home, without committing to any dates." In which case, the hope would be to lull the American people into a sense that the illegal war is drawing to a close, so everybody calm down. Who is 'everybody'? Our pathetic 'peace' organizations who are focused on Iran and have forgotten Iraq? Roger Runningen and Ken Fireman (Bloomberg News) note that "White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said the new statement doesn't reflect a shift in the U.S. position." At the State Dept today, spokesperson Sean McCormack attempted to play dumb. Responding to questions about the discussions between the puppet and the White House, McCormak first declared, "I think the -- well, the White House issued a statement about this." The next question was answered with, "And they -- the Iraqis -- also put out language." And then, "What am I going to add to the statement that has been issued?"
It's all very Nixonian, this 'plan' that no one can know about but everyone should know that peace is just around the corner. It echoes US Senator John McCain (presumptive GOP presidential nominee) claiming yesterday that the Iraq War could now be considered a 'win.' And, as with Nixon and his secret 'peace plan,' no one appears eager to probe McCain to explain what happens after a 'win'? Mitt Romney took to NBC's Today show this morning to speak vaugely of John McCain's 'goals' to end the illegal war to Matt Lauer but Matt was more interested in cracking resume jokes and asking about polls. Didn't even appear to note Romney's "sweet talk" jab at Barack ("I think in the final analysis that sweet talk is going to give into straight talk."). Maybe because Matt Lauer was too busy laying on the "sweet talk" ("Can I just recite your resume here?").
Today, James Risen (New York Times) reports that KBR's electrical work is even worse than thought -- and this was with it thought that only 13 US service members had died from being electrocuted in the showers due to cheap and shoddy work -- with people receiving daily shocks and Risen notes, "During just one six-month period -- August 2006 through January 2007 -- at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military's largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007." Meanwhile Hurriyet reports that northern Iraq was bombed today by Turkish warplanes.
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Nineveh Province car bombing that killed the driver and 3 members of the Iraqi military with seven more left wounded, an apparent assassination attempt on Laith Salih in Diyala Province -- Salih ("Awakening" Council) wasn't wounded but his brother was.
Reuters drops back to Thursday to note 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul with three more injured.
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad.
Monsters and Critics reports, " The Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency quoted a statement by the US Department of Defense saying a US soldier died of injuries after a car accident in Nineveh's capital some 400 kilometres north of Baghdad."
"Decades ago it was full of victories in the sixties and seventies," said Ralph Nader when asked about the changes in consumer advocacy. "Full of victories. You know, regulated the lack of safety in motor vehicles, flamable fabrics, Product Safety Commission, all kinds of -- going after usary interest rates for the poor and many other pieces of legislation. But now it's purely defensive. It's trying to hold the gains of the sixties and seventies and that's become a losing fight because the Democrats are not going after the Republicans on this issue, even in this campaign. The Republicans are terrible on consumer protection and the Democrats are not fighting back." Hold the line? You could apply the comments to reproductive rights (except Barack's now attacked them with his demeaning of Doe v. ). Nader was speaking to John Bachir and about the 2004 campaign (video here). But what about the consumer aspect? Yesterday the US Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement noting: "FDA is updating its warning to consumers nationwide concerning the outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul. As of today, FDA officials believe that consumers may enjoy all types of fresh tomatoes available on the domestic market, without concern of becoming infected with Salmonella Saintpaul. The agency is removing the warning that has been in place since June 7, which states that consumers should avoid certain types of fresh tomatoes due to a potential connection to the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. Consumers may resume enjoying any type of fresh tomato, including raw red plum, raw red Roma, and raw red round tomatoes. While we are changing our consumer guidance about tomatoes, we reiterate our guidance to consumers that those in vulnerable populations (infants, the elderly, and immune-compromised people) should avoid eating jalapeno and serrano peppers as the investigation continues." In what world is that acceptable? For those who remember the earlier e-coli outbreak in spinach, in March of this year Consumer Reports' blog noted "a report recently released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called 'FDA and Fresh Spinach Safety.'
The findings paint a most unappetizing picture of food safety and once again underscore the need to give the Food and Drug Administration more resources to oversee the safety of the nation's food supply. The committee's investigation was prompted by the September 2006 outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 that caused hundreds of reported injuries and several deaths—an outbreak that was ultimately traced to packaged fresh spinach. So where is the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform? June 7th was when the FDA issued their warning on tomatoes. A working Congress, a working committee would have called for public hearings immediately. But apparently the public safety takes backseat to showboating for elections so everyone has to wait until the end of July for any hearings. Jim Downing (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that "Americans have continued to get sick -- at a rate of about 20 people per day -- even after" the FDA issued their alert, even after they studied the spinach outbreak. US House Rep Diana DeGette issued a statement yesterday: "It is absolutely outrageous that we are 90 days into the salmonella outbreak and the FDA and CDC still cannot determine the source of contamination. Currently, over 1200 cases of salmonella have been reported, hundreds have been hospitalized, while the outbreak has affected 41 states, including Washington, DC and even Canada. The salmonella outbreak continues to spread, with nearly 30 cases a day, because we do not have a national, comprehensive food traceability system that would quickly track our foods from the field to the fork. . . . Now the FDA is saying that tomatoes are safe, but only because they have a short shelf life. We still don't know the source of the contamination and that is inexcusable." And it's inexcusable that Congress has done nothing but issue press statements while this has taken place. Stephen J. Hedges (Chicago Tribune) quotes a letter Senator Tom Harkin sent to Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, "It seems highly unlikely that tomatoes harvested in April would still be consumed fresh by consumers in late June." And it seems highly unlikely that an effective Congress 'addresses' this issue by sending letters instead of immediately calling hearings.
On a possibly related note, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship (PBS' Bill Moyers Journal ) point out:
But we also get into these terrible dilemmas -- where the big guys step all over everyone else and the victims are required to pay the hospital bills -- because we refuse to recognize the connection between money and politics. This is the great denial in democracy that may ultimately mean our ruin. We just don't seem able to see or accept the fact that money drives policy. It's no wonder that Congress and the White House have been looking the other way as the predators picked the pockets of unsuspecting debtors. Mega banking and investment firms have been some of the biggest providers of the cash vital to keeping incumbents in office. There isn't much appetite for biting -- or regulating -- the manicured hand that feeds them. Guess who gave the most money to candidates in this 2007-08 federal election cycle? That's right, the financial services and real estate industries. They stuffed nearly $250 million dollars into the candidate coffers. The about-to-be-bailed-out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together are responsible for about half the country's $12 trillion mortgage debt. Lisa Lerer of Politico.com reports that over the past decade, the two financial giants with the down home names have spent nearly $200 million on campaign contributions and lobbying. According to Lerer, "They've stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Republican John McCain's presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama's original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House." Last Sunday's New York Times put it as bluntly as anyone ever has: "In Washington, Fannie and Freddie's sprawling lobbying machine hired family and friends of politicians in their efforts to quickly sideline any regulations that might slow their growth or invite greater oversight of their business practices. Indeed, their rapid expansion was, at least in part, the result of such artful lobbying over the years." What a beautiful term: "artful lobbying." It means honest graft.
Meanwhile Team Nader notes:
Last week, we set a fundraising goal of $60,000 by Sunday July 20 midnight - to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in a total of 15 states.
In one week, we have raised $44,000.
Now, we need your help to raise the remaining $16,000 over the next three days - by Sunday midnight.
If only 8,000 of you, our loyal supporters, donate $2 now, we will meet this goal.
Why is it important to have Ralph Nader on the ballot in November?
Without him, the plight of the Palestinian people will not be an issue in this year's election.
How do we know?
Because Obama/McCain stand with the militaristic right wing AIPAC lobby in the United States.
Nader/Gonzalez stand with the Israeli/Palestinian peace movements.
You will be hearing a lot this weekend about Obama's upcoming trip to the Middle East.
To keep Obama's trip in perspective, check out our new video - Nader on Obama/Israel - here.
Pass it around to friends and family this weekend.
It is also important to keep in mind that Obama is to the right of some Mossad Israeli hawks. (See recent Mother Jones article here.)
Even these Mossad Israeli hawks - along with the majority of the Israeli people - would open talks with Hamas.
Obama/McCain would not.
Nader/Gonzalez would reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East.
We stand with the courageous Israeli and Palestinian peace movements.
We stand against the AIPAC militarists.
So, if you care about peace in the Middle East.
Please help us out today.
To meet our goal by Sunday night.
Together, we are making a difference.
TV: NOW on PBS will focus on "the forgotten war' Afghanistan (begins airing Friday on most PBS stations). Bill Moyers Journal (check your local listings, begins airing on PBS in most markets tonight, it also streams online -- transcript, video, audio) looks at the housing crisis and spotlights the continued decline of a once strong voice who guests on the program to talk about the 'up' of the housing crisis (for Democrats!). Gwen's fronting polls as a 'draw' for viewers of this week's Washington Week which should give everyone pause. Dan Balz is among the scheduled guests and the only one who might be able to penetrate the spin. And independent journalist David Bacon continues to explore the issue of immigration, his latest is "THE RIGHT TO STAY HOME" (New American Media). Bacon's latest book is set for release in September, Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press).
iraqjames burmeisterrobin longjeremy deutschmark larabeekeith jonesstefanie fisher
mina al-oraibi
mcclatchy newspapers
now on pbs
bill moyers journal
the new york timesjames risen
Adolph Reed Jr. and the 'movement'
"Where Obamaism Seems to be Going" (Adolph Reed Jr., Black Agenda Report):
So we "don't have time" to have the strategic political discussion about how to try to change the terms of debate during the election year, and "we don't have time" to have it between election years because (a) there are other, equally instrumental objectives that consume everyone's time as immediately more pressing - some other 8% adjustment to fight for or against - and (b) the dilettantish left persists in the belief that some gimmick - some Special Candidate, some clever slogan ("No, we're really the ones who ‘support the troops'" or "We need a policy that helps ‘working families' and the ‘middle class'") - can magically knock the shackles from the eyes of the majority that already exists as our constituency but doesn't yet know it, if we could only find the right one. Then we're back to the next election year, and some new candidate becomes the embodiment of all our hopes and dreams and the one who'll call that majority together for us. Frankly, I've begun to suspect that the election year version of the "now is not the time" argument and its sibling, the "get him elected first then hold him accountable" line, as well as their first cousin, "Well, that's what they all have to do to get elected," reflect nothing better than denial of the grim reality that we can't expect anything from them or make any demands of them. After all, how can we hold them accountable once they're in office if we can't do it when they're running, when we technically have something we can withhold or deliver?
The fact is that they know we don't have the power to make them do or not do anything and treat us accordingly, and they will until we develop the capacity to force them to do otherwise. I know this is a difficult message for those who like to believe that politics is about good people and bad people, or that writing really smart position papers that demonstrate the formal plausibility of a win/win agenda that satisfies everyone's concerns should be enough to counter the influence of those $30,000 per head corporate and hedge fund contributors, but that's just not the way the deal goes down.
I think that sketches out the biggest problem we face. Every year there's some excuse why we shouldn't call out the Democrats. Every year, there's some excuse for not doing so. I thought Cindy Sheehan had caught on to the game and how useless it was but then she ended up a Barack cheerleader. Yes, she 'awakened' again recently. But isn't it a little late?
How many times are we going to be fooled? At this point, we are begging to be fooled and tricked. We can't complain about the liars because we insist that they lie to us. We prove, over and over, that we will not stand up, that we will not demand and that we can be walked over. There is never a cost for doing any of that.
Barack used homophobia to scare up votes in South Carolina and everyone tries to pretend it didn't happen. We must not say a word! What would it mean to Barack if we did!
What does it mean to the United States when we stay silent while a candidate uses homophobia?
We're too eager to cheer and to scared to call out.
That's why the peace 'movement' has accomplished nothing and will again accomplish nothing this year.
CODESTINK is the perfect example of that.
Reader Lance e-mailed me their latest thinking I would get a laugh out of it.
I did. I see that they've finally found a Democratic male to target. Guess it was too uncomfortable for them having it pointed out that this supposedly pro-woman group ripped apart women. I also loved the signature, where Medea tried to be just 'one of the girls.' But the biggest laugh was still to come. It was time to beg Barack to stop pounding the war drums on Iran.
Beg him.
It wasn't a threat. It wasn't an ultimatum.
It was more pathetic non-action from CODESTINK. (They'll never call out Barack during the election, Jodi's put too much time and money into his campaign.)
How about, if e-activism is the only activism available, asking people to tell Barack they won't vote for him?
That would be an ultimatum.
But they can't do that because CODESTINK loves Barack.
It's so hilarious that they never made demands on the 'anti-war' Senator, just provided cover for him. You'd think a 'peace' group would want to hook up with the 'anti-war' Senator and that, if he brushed them off, they'd call him out.
But it's always been feather kisses for Barack.
They aren't an anti-war group. They are more interested in electing Barack than in ending the illegal war.
"Nader's Campaign to Receive Presidential Matching Funds" (Emily Cadei, CQ Politics):
Ralph Nader and five now-defunct presidential campaigns will receive a total of $7.4 million in public matching funds for their primary campaigns, the Federal Election Commission announced Wednesday. The funding for each candidate was determined by the amount each raised in individual contributions, up to a given limit.
There's one candidate running for the White House who will end the war. (Possibly two. As far as I know, Bob Barr hasn't stated he's not running for the White House, just for a percentage of the vote.) Ralph Nader will end the illegal war if he becomes president. But CODESTINK and all the rest that want to pretend they're against the illegal war would rather provide cover for War Hawks than do their part to get the word out on Ralph.
Resistance is futile. I don't mean that you shouldn't resist, I mean that what CODESTINK and others sell as resistance is futile. Oh, please, Barack, don't be so tough on Iran -- that's going to accomplish anything? No.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, reactions to US war resister Robin Long's deportation, today's scheduled court-martial, Katty-van-van takes it on the chin and nose, BonusGates still ignored by Panhandle Media, and more.
Starting with war resistance. As noted yesterday, US war resister Robin Long was deported from Canada. Robin's story makes the New York Times today (A14) with an article by Ian Austen and a photo by Darryl Dyck (The Canadian Press) of Sarah Bjorknas. Austen notes, "Mr. Long was expelled a day after the Federal Court of Canada rejected his request to delay his removal order pending further legal appeals. That decision and Mr. Long's expulsion were somewhat unexpected. Two other American deserters received Federal Court permission this month to stay in Canada to continue their appeals. . . . Sadia Qureshi, a spokeswoman for Diane Finley, the immigration minister, said agents from the Canada Border Service Agency sent Mr. Long back to the United States from British Columbia, where he had been living, at 9:55 a.m. local time." Petti Fong (Toronto Star) speaks with War Resisters Support Campaign - Vancouver's Sarah Bjorknas, "In Ontario, where he lived for a time, Long was engaged to be married and had a child, according to Sarah Bjorknas, one of his supporters. About 50 American deserters are currently making refugee claims to stay in Canada, said Bjorknas, and a couple of hundred are presumed to be living quietly underground." Robin and Renee had a child (the child and Renee are Canadian). That should have been enough for any Canadian court. Some form of immigration status should have been granted Robin since he was the father of a Canadian child. Check the laws -- something Judge Anna Mactavish appears not to have done. As Ruth noted last night, "Today is very sad because Robin was deported. It is also very sad because a Canadian judge decided to break up a family. I hope the young boy is able some day to ask Judge Mactavish why she sent his father out of the country." Chris Cook (Gorilla Radio) interviewed Sarah Bjorknas Monday night. UPI cites 'word warrior' army Major Nathan Banks who "said Long would be returned to Fort Knox, Ky., for disciplinary procedures, which could include prison time." Courage to Resist explains, "Courage to Resist has made civilian legal representation available to Robin and will be doing everything possible to provide him our full support. We plan to collaborate with many other groups in our efforts to help Robin in the coming weeks. Refusing to fight in an illegal war is not a crime--except under the Uniform Code of Military (In)Justice."
Liam Lahey (The Villager) explores the reactions and notes: "Dale Landry is wanted by the U.S. Air Force for refusing to fight in Iraq after serving in Afghanistan. Landry spent the night of July 14 in full uniform outside the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue in support of Long. The Parkdale resident, who turned 23 this past week, lives with two other American military personnel in a small apartment." Tom Banse (OPB News -- link has text and audio)
speaks with Iraq Veterans Against the War Ash Woolson US war resister who states, "The Canadian people are not for the war in Iraq. It seems that the government is really pushing against these veterans and it's not the people." Meanwhile Janice Tibbetts and Linda Nguyen (Canwest News Service) dig into the legal aspects: "'We've got a divided court,' said Toronto lawyer Geraldine Sadoway, whose client, Justin Colby, recently lost his refugee bid, after fleeing to Canada two years ago following a one-year stint as a medic in Iraq. Ms. Sadoway says she cannot figure out why the Federal Court rejected Mr. Colby's claim on June 26, only one week before it handed the first ever victory to deserter Joshua Key, who also served in Iraq."
Robin is from Idaho and the Idaho Statesman notes, "A Boise native is believed to be the first deserter from the Iraq war to be deported back to the U.S. from Canada. Late Tuesday, Robin Long, 25, was en route from Canada to Fort Lewis, Wash., said Army Capt. Greg Dorman. From there, the private first class will be taken to Fort Carson, Colo., where he was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which was recently renamed the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, said Dorman, a Fort Carson spokesman." Robert Matas (Globe and Mail) explains that "Canadian authorities failed to co-ordinate the deportation with U.S. military police. Mr. Long spent last night in a jail cell at the Whatcom County prison, just south of the Canada-U.S. border" and quotes police Sgt Ernie Stach declaring, "We're in the process of co-ordinating the transfer. I don't know when he will go." We know where he won't go: Fort Knox. After ignoring the story all week -- declared today, "He's expected to be returned to his unit at Fort Knox, Kentucky." Pravda on the Hudson. Linda Nguyen (Canwest News Service) quotes Fort Knox spokesperson Ryan Brus who states Long will be going to Fort Carson until a recommendation is made by the unit commander about what to do next and that he is returning in time to "witness the case of James Burmeister, an American deserter who is currently facing criminal charges at Fort Knox." July 4th, Louisville's WHAS11 reported (text and video) on James Burmeister
Renee Murphy: . . . But first here, our top story, we're looking at the charges being brought against a US soldier. Supporters say that Private 1st Class James Burmeister should be back in Oregon with his family this Fourth of July holiday but instead he is being held at Fort Knox facing a court-martial on AWOL and desertion charges. WHAS11's Kelsey Starks joins us now ith more on our top story. Kelsey?
Kelsey Starks: 23-year-old James Burmeister is being held at Fort Knox for five months now. He is charged with deserting his army unit while on leave from Iraq. Yesterday he got a court-martial date but his friends and family say because he suffers from head injuries Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after surviving a roadside bomb attack in Iraq, they're hoping some of those charges can be dismissed.
Helen Burmeister: My son is an Iraqi War veteran. And I'm very proud of him today. He fought bravely in Iraq. He followed orders. He was wounded in a roadside bomb. And he's been diagonsed with PTSD and a possible brain injury.
Kelsey Starks: Video blogger James Pence followed Helen Burmeister to Fort Knox last week where she was fighting for her son, hoping to get him out of Fort Knox. PFC James Burmeister enlisted in the army in June of 2005. Two years later while on leave he went AWOL -- Absent Without Leave -- to Canada. After ten months, he turned himself in to Fort Knox.
Nina Benson: He went AWOL after six months of being there when he was back in Germany on his rest and recuperation because he didn't feel that the treatment that he was getting for his injuries were proper -- were up to par with what he should be getting.
Kelsey Starks: Fort Knox is one of only two processing centers for army deserters. Nearly 5,000 army army soldiers were charged with deserting last year -- that's a number up 92% from 2004.
Harold Trainer: They really do need to find more solutions.
Kelsey Starks: Harold Trainer and his wife Carol [Rawert-Trainer] are following James' case very closely here in Louisville. They both served in the military during Vietnam.
Carol Rawert-Trainer: It's not rare that there are so many suffing from PTSD today that aren't getting help. That part's not rare. And it's not even rare that we have AWOLs anymore. The rare thing is how aggressive the army is going after James instead of just giving him a discharge.
Harold Trainer: Those young men and women give our country and our government a blank check when they sign to go into the military. The country and the government really needs to give them a blank check back to take care of them.
Kelsey Starks: Now a Fort Knox spokesperson did not return our phone calls this afternoon. If James is convicted of desertion, he could get a dishonorable discharge and even face time in prison. His court-martial date, by the way, is scheduled for July the 16th. Kelsey Starks, WHAS11 News.
On coverage of Robin Long, many, like the Detroit Free Press and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, cover the story in their around-the-world briefs roundup. Marcia noted The Canadian Press' article, Rebecca noted Dan Karpenchuk's report for Australia's ABC, Kat noted the roundup in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Mike noted the Bombay News Net's coverage and that instead of writing their own article Sydney Morning Herald just ran AP's -- Ruth noted NEWS.com.au which did write their own article -- while Elaine noted Al Jazeera's coverage and the idiot Suzanne Goldberg (Guardian of London) of whom Elaine points out, "Stupid Goldberg should know that it war resisters leaving the US during Veitnam were not just war resisters 'fleeing the Vietnam draft.' She should know that because war resisters -- deserters and draft dodgers -- also went to England. England had no Pierre Trudeau and would cowtow to Richard Nixon in such a craven manner that it makes Tony Blair's lackey days to the Bully Boy look almost like 'independence'." In addition, the story was picked up by Thaindian News, the BBC, and RTT among others.
In Iraq today one handed, one halted. Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports that Qadisiyah Province was handed over to Iraqi control -- or what passes for it. That's one handed. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reports that the handover of Al-Anbar Province "could be delayed because of a dispute between Sunni Arab trial leaders and politicians in the vast desert region. . . . The row hinges on who should be in charge of security in the former insurgent heartland. The council wants ultimate control, which normally happens when U.S.-led forces transfer security, while tribal leaders want Iraq's military to have the final say." Handed, halted and still the violence continues. As Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) observes today, "For all the statistics showing improved security in Iraq, many parts of the country remain astoundingly violent, places where bullet-ridden bodies turn up every day and bombs destroy lives and families in an instant." The BBC reports a Tal Afar car bombing that "targeted afternoone shoppers." Xinhua notes that 16 died and 94 were wounded. Iran's Press TV reports, "The town's mayor said all the dead were civilians."
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 Baghdad roadside bombings that left six people wounded, a Mosul roadside bombing that left two people wounded, a Mosul car bombing that claimed 2 lives with either more injured, and another (this would be the third) Mosul car bombing that killed the driver of the car and left six people wounded. CBS and AP report: "A female suicide bomber blew herself up Tuesday evening inside the Baghdad house of a municipal leader who was planning to establish a U.S.-allied Sunni group in the area" -- "Awakening" Council -- with 3 left dead (plus the bomber) and seven injured. Reuters notes a Mosul mortar attack that left two people injured and an Iskandariya roadside bombing that left one "Awakening" Council member injured.
Reuters notes 1 Iraqi soldier shot dead in Mosul and 1 Shi'ite cleric shot and Basra and left wounded.
Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Force - West Marine died of wounds he received in action against an enemy force in al-Anbar Province July 14." The announcement brought the total number of US service members who have died in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4121.
Before anything else, Martha, Shirley and Eli advise about several topics in the e-mails. First, Ava's response to one bit of b.s., "When you go out of your way to insist you're not Latino -- to the point that your statements are insulting -- you really have no right to then try to speak for Latino. Stick to Queens -- where you're still not hanging around with Latinos -- and stick to speaking for the racial group you have chosen to self-identify with. You have given up the right to speak for or to Latinos. And we don't need your lies. Hillary had huge Latino support. You can try shutting your damn mouth instead of lying. And shame on KPFA for playing that nonsense -- but note that it was a Hillary Hater who did the interview. As a Latina based in California and on the road across the country every week, I think I know my own community a little better than someone who rejected them publicly and repeatedly. Shut your damn mouth, dear." This is something we can explore further in our TV piece Sunday. And e-mail complaints about the nonsense passing for 'journalism' at too many outlets is not being ignored. The TV program (entertainment) Ava and I are reviewing this Sunday allows us to pull all the nonsense in. That includes the disaster broadcast today which included "And US war resisters may see refuge in Canada." When the piece runs (which we haven't written yet), it'll be clear why Ava and I have both alluded to things here but otherwise just walked on by them. The trash that's passed for 'news' this week fits perfectly with the program we're reviewing and we're both taking plenty of notes and reading the e-mails.
Turning to US presidential politics. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is getting back slaps and ass pats from his fawning press which refuses to note (a) he's only promising a partial-withdrawal, (b) his 'promises' are meaningless and (c) this is a reversal of his earlier statements that the US would leave (combat troops only) Iraq in 10 months. Remember that? He declared it in Houston Texas. One single sentence. Had Tom-Tom Hayden so excited he stretched that one-liner in a "Gosh, Wally . . ." column. Speaking of Jerry Mathers, Little Andy Malcolm (Los Angeles Times) blogged this morning, "A funny thing happened over on the Barack Obama campaign website in the last few days.The parts that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared. John McCain and Obama have been going at it heavily in recent days over the benefits of the surge." Does it all seem so very familiar? From the January 10th snapshot:"But since you raised the judgment issue, let's go over this again. That is the central argument for his campaign. 'It doesn't matter that I started running for president less a year after I got to the Senate from the Illinois State Senate. I am a great speaker and a charismatic figure and I'm the only one who had the judgment to oppose this war from the beginning. Always, always, always.' " "First it is factually not true that everybody that supported that resolution supported Bush attacking Iraq before the UN inspectors were through. Chuck Hagel was one of the co-authors of that resolution. The only Republican Senator that always opposed the war. Every day from the get-go. He authored the resolution to say that Bush could go to war only if they didn't co-operate with the inspectors and he was assured personally by Condi Rice as many of the other Senators were. So, first the case is wrong that way.""Second, it is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, numerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well, how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004* and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break. "This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen...So you can talk about Mark Penn all you want. What did you think about the Obama thing calling Hillary the Senator from Punjab? Did you like that?" "Or what about the Obama hand out that was covered up, the press never reported on, implying that I was a crook? Scouring me, scathing criticism, over my financial reports. Ken Starr spent $70 million and indicted innocent people to find out that I wouldn't take a nickel to see the cow jump over the moon. "So, you can take a shot at Mark Penn if you want. It wasn't his best day. He was hurt, he felt badly that we didn't do better in Iowa. But you know, the idea that one of these campaigns is positive and the other is negative when I know the reverse is true and I have seen it and I have been blistered by it for months, is a little tough to take. Just because of the sanitizing coverage that's in the media, doesn't mean the facts aren't out there. "
Bill Clinton offering some reality to the delusional. As Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon's "In Search of the Real Barack Obama: Can a Black Senate Candidate Resist the DLC?" (Black Agenda Report) documented during Barack's US Senate run, Barack loves to disappear Iraq from his campaign websites. It's a scary thought to the delusional in Panhandle Media -- the Todd Browning version. Adolph Reed Jr. (Black Agenda Report) addresses the sickness in so many so-called 'independent' 'journalists' and that includes The Peace Resister herself, Katrina vanden Heuvel:
A friend called me a few days ago from Massachusetts, astounded at a WBUR radio program featuring Glen Greenwald from Salon.com and Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, in which vanden Heuvel not only unflaggingly defended Obama's open and bald embrace of right-wing positions during the last few weeks against Greenwald's criticism, but also did it from the right herself, calling him a "progressive pragmatist." She affirmed Tom Hayden's insistence on the Progressives for Obama blog that the candidate is a progressive, but a new kind of progressive, or some such twaddle. In response to Greenwald's sharp rebuke of Obama's FISA sellout, she acknowledged that he had 'missed an opportunity to lead.' Defending his June 30 patriotism speech that included a gratuitous rehearsal of the right-wing line about anti-Vietnam War protesters from the "counterculture" who "blamed America for all that was wrong in the world" and the canard about antiwar activists "failing to honor" returning Vietnam veterans, which Obama asserted "remains a national shame to this day" despite the fact that is an utter lie, vanden Heuvel pointed again to Hayden's endorsement as a sign that Obama's cheap move must be okay because, after all, Hayden was a founder of SDS. And perhaps most tellingly, despite their disagreements, Greenwald and vanden Heuvel both supported Obama's practice of going out of his way to attack black poor people, most recently in his scurrilous Father's Day speech and again before the NAACP. (And, by the way, he grew up without a father and is running for president, no?) To vanden Heuvel, Obama's contretemps with Jesse Jackson, who, ironically, has his own history of making such attacks, around this issue reflects a "generational division" among black people, with Obama representing a younger generation that values 'personal responsibility.' She also, for good measure, asserted that Obama has been 'nailed unfairly' for his cozying up to the evangelicals and promising to give them more federal social service money. In explaining that he comes out of a 'community organizing' tradition based in churches in Chicago, she didn't quite say that the coloreds love their churches. But she didn't really have to say it out loud, did she?
Reed recommends an article with a link that's not working currently. I think this is the Liza Featherson, Doug Henwood and Christian Parenti article ("Action Will Be Taken") referred to. When Reed's hard hitting column ends, you can scroll down to comments for Tom-Tom's running buddy rushing to lie yet again. I'm really not sure, maybe this is just me, that a New Alliance Party (Marxist) member is really the person to rush to defend Barack or Tom-Tom. But have at it, Carl, it's your funeral. Meanwhile John Murphy (Dissident Voice) examines the Democrats' BonusGate scandal in Pennsylvania in light of the criminal charges that have emerged against Democrats for their illegal efforts to keep Ralph Nader off the state ballot in 2004 (Amy Goodman hasn't said one word about this since proof emerged, has she?): "The grand jury report described a 'massive' effort by House Democrats to oust the independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader from the ballot in 2004. The report also says that in 2006 the same machine was fired up again to remove Carl Romanelli, the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate. The grand jury found that as many as 50 Democrat House Caucus staff members participated in the Nader petition challenge and contributed a staggering number of man hours." Peter Jackson (AP) quotes Nader's attorney Oliver Hall stating, "We are going to aggressively pursue every avenue to oppose this judgment. It now appears to be clear that (the judgment) is the result of a criminal conspiracy." Here's a thought on the silence from the 'independent' journalists -- maybe when you devalue and disrespect democracy so much that you launch and join "Don't Run ___" campaigns, it's just a short step to breaking the law to prevent a candidate from making the ballot? Maybe their silence is due to their own guilt?
Nader is running as an independent presidential candidate this year and Heidi Przybla (Bloomberg News) reports that Morley Winograd ("former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party") could get a considerable number of votes in Michigan if his campaign gets on the ticket, "You have in Ralph Nader's candidacy a genuine Arab-American who has a lot of notoriety and publicity." Winograd estimates Nader could receive a qurter of the Arab community's vote. Kris Alingod (AHN) reports Nader is now on the ballot in 12 states.
The Nader Team notes:
Drop a ten spot on Nader/Gonzalez now.
Because that's about the price of a movie ticket.
Instead of going this weekend to see Hellboy II or Hancock.
Take that ten dollars and support Nader/Gonzalez cinema.
And catch some of our classics.
Like 1984.
Or Seven Things You Won't Hear in 2008.
Or, hear audio messages from Ralph Nader such as Nader on Iraq and Nader on Rush Limbaugh (The Kingboy of Corporatist Radio).
With Nader/Gonzalez being blocked out of the mainstream, we have to create our own media.
Thousands of Americans have learned about the Nader/Gonzalez campaign from our videos.
Sometimes, the medium is the message.
By supporting Nader/Gonzalez media, you'll be supporting the Nader/Gonzalez message - shift the power from the corporations back into the hands of the people.
And you'll be supporting our current ballot access drive. (We're approaching our goal of $60,000 by Sunday. Help us get there now.)
So, check out our new home page - featuring our video player - front and center.
Lastly, Andrea Lewis debuts as the host of the Sunday Morning Show on KPFA this weekend. The two hour broadcast (which streams online) airs Sunday from nine in the morning until eleven in the morning. Lewis was formerly co-host of The Morning Show with Philip Maldari (Aimee Allison took over for Lewis).
iraqrobin longjoshua keyian austenthe new york timesjanice tibbettslinda nguyenliam laheypetti fong
the los angeles timesandrew malcolmglen fordbruce dixonrichard a. oppel jr.the new york times
Robin Long deported
"Canada deports US deserter" (Al Jazeera):
Canada has deported a US army deserter who fled three years ago, marking the first time a resister to the US war in Iraq has been expelled from the country.
The Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) confirmed that Robin Long, 25, had been deported, but would not reveal Long's destination.
Long, who had volunteered for the US military in 2003, fled to Canada in 2005 to avoid serving in Iraq.
He claimed he would suffer irreparable harm if he were sent back to the US and said he sought refuge in Canada because the US army wanted him to participate in what he called an "illegal war of aggression in Iraq".
The ASFC arrested Long last October after his request for asylum was rejected and he was ordered to leave Canada.
25-year-old Robin Long has been deported by a heartless judge who appears to have no concerns about either the illegal war or deporting a father, thereby removing him from his child. Judge Anne Mactavish, what a piece of work you are.
What a piece of work the press is. So many ignored it and continue to do so. But let's take a movement to note that the 'movement' wasted five years jaw-boning about how it was during Vietnam with the 'draft.' As someone working on war resistance back then, let me make the point C.I.'s made loudly for the last 2 years: There is no draft today and the draft was not cited by the Canadian government (Trudeau or anyone else) in deciding to welcome US war resisters during Vietnam. Draft dodger or deserter, they welcomed you.
The 'movement' has to take some responsibility because they refused to make the most basic argument: "During Vietnam, we welcomed deserters. We need to do so today."
If you missed it, Tom Hayden took to The Nation again today. To write about war resisters? Please. Tom Hayden never gave a damn about war resisters.
Tom Hayden didn't work on the issue. He's one of the most damaging people to today's war resistance and he's so wrong in his facts because he didn't give a damn back then. He used college to get out of going and then he was too old. (There's also his underground period.)
If you want to disagree with me, you weren't active in war resistance back then. If you need to grasp the reality, go to The Nation and you'll see Tom's decided to write today about . . . Barack Obama.
Tom was always a pathetic lackey. That's all he is today.
If he were going to write on a topic today or yesterday (or Sunday for that matter) and he gave a damn about war resistance, he would have written about Robin Long.
When he doesn't bother to gas bag on it, you know he doesn't give a damn.
"US soldier who deserted over Iraq is deported" (Suzanne Goldberg, Guardian of London):
Some 200 other US soldiers are in Canada, counting on its history of welcoming 50,000Americans fleeing the Vietnam draft.
Last month, Canada's parliament urged the government to allow war resisters to remain.
However, opponents of granting refugee status to deserters argue that, unlike during the Vietnam war, the United States does not now have a military draft and members of its military are volunteers who know the potential risks.
Suzanne Goldberg is another idiot. Unlike Al Jazeera, her outlet is British. Stupid Goldberg should know that it war resisters leaving the US during Veitnam were not just war resisters "fleeing the Vietnam draft." She should know that because war resisters -- deserters and draft dodgers -- also went to England. England had no Pierre Trudeau and would cowtow to Richard Nixon in such a craven manner that it makes Tony Blair's lackey days to the Bully Boy look almost like "independence."
Goldberg's writing for an outlet that should know better. She is a stupid, stupid reporter, putting out misinformation to confuse the issue.
Also, for those foolish enough to think, "Tom Hayden was involved with Jane Fonda!" Jane Fonda was involved in the war resistance movement. It was before she and Tom got together.
Tom Hayden was not a part of that movement. It didn't spring from SDS so he couldn't hijack it. Fred Gardner was really one of the big leaders on that movement (as I remember it). There were many leaders but I would point to Fred. Now my memory isn't C.I.'s (never forgets anything) and I may be forgetting someone but Fred was an organizer, a fundraiser, a planner and did just about everything. I know he has other issues he focuses on today but I really wish he would write about this topic. It would give some reality in a land where the Tom Haydens self-presents as experts and actual participants.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, US war resister Robin Long has reportedly been deported from Canada, England wants to stay in Iraq "long-term," Barack Obama wants to get his sticky fingers on all of Bully Boy's wars and vows Afghanistan is the fight he's going to throw down in, Bully Boy gets a message from the Baath Party, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Chris Cook (Gorilla Radio) explained last night, "To recap if you've just tuned in, Robin Long the American war resister, who has been in Canada for some time, more than a year at least, was arrested last year in Nelson and has been going through these various court processes to avoid deportation. His hearing was today in Vancouver where he was petitioning for an extension so he could work on an appeal to try to stay in the country because he faces arrest in the as a deserter in the United States. Justice Mactavish in Vancouver denied that appeal so it looks like Robin Long is on his way back to America to face what passes for American justice." The War Resisters Support Campaign - Vancouver issued a call for action last night:
Supporters of Robin Long and the War Resisters coming from both sides of the border will gather in a peaceful protest under the Peace Arch at the border at 9 am Tuesday July 15. (while the Peace Arch is neutral ground, supporters should bring appropriate identification in the unlikely event they are required to pass through Canadian Customs) In the meantime, please take a moment to email or phone Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and ask him to immediately stop the deportation of U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long. (The Canadian Border Services Agency falls under his ministry). Also ask him why the federal government is refusing to respect the clearly expressed will of Canada's Parliament, that U.S. war resisters should be allowed to stay and that deportation proceedings against them should cease?In a recent Angus Reid poll, almost two-thirds of Canadians said they want U.S. Iraq war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada. Demand to know why the Harper government is unwilling to be accountable to Canadians. Minister of Public Security Stockwell Day Email: day.s@parl.gc.ca (Ottawa office); days1@parl.gc.ca (Penticton constituency office) Phone: 613.995.1702 (Ottawa); 250.770.4480 (Penticton constituency office)Fax: 613.995.1154 (Ottawa); 250.770.4484 (Penticton) Please check the War Resisters Support Campaign website for updates on Robin's status and on emergency actions. For more information about the campaign please visit: http://www.resisters.ca/
October 2, 2007, Long was arrested. October 4, 2007, he was released and Canada's CBS interviewed him (video link is on upper right hand of the page). Robin told them, "When I got arrested and was sitting in the detention cell in Nelson, I was pretty sure I was going home right away. I was pretty sure I would be deported. The way that the immigration officer made it sound, I would be deported Friday. That's not quite what happened and I'm very thankful for that." He was asked how he felt "about the challenges ahead" and Robin responded, "I have at least a couple more months in Canada and hopefully something will happen in the next couple of months within the government and maybe some kind of legal action will let us stay here other than the refugee protection. But if not I'm prepared to go back to the United States and face up to desertion. It's better than going to Iraq." The arrest was over documents sent but not received because he had moved for work. That one incident triggered everything that followed for Robin Long in spite of Canadian Judge Robert Barnes decision regarding Joshua Key's claims for refugee status issued on the Fourth of July as well as the motion the House of Commons passed June 3rd.
25-year-old Robin Long is from Boise, Idaho and enlisted in July 2003. In March 2005, he was told he'd be going to Iraq and ordered to report to Fort Carlson in April of 2005. Instead, he self-checked out. Long remained underground for two months and went to Canada only for a wedding (June, 2005). While in Canada, liking what he saw, Long decided to stay. He and his partner Renee have a son (born in Canada). The decision to deport Robin will break up a family. A detail not noted in the press coverage of the decision. Nor is it noted that, by Canadian law, as the father of a Canadian citizen, Long could apply for (and be granted) citizenship. "A good person and sort of a gentle soul" is how she's always heard Robin described, Sarah Bjorknas explained to Chris Cook last night.
Chris Cook: Is there another avenue of appeal Sarah for Robin or is he just going to be whisked out of the country as we've seen other people that Americans want to extradite done -- John Marshall comes to mind?
Sarah Bjorknas: We understand that there are no other legal avenues. And that indeed they have him and we don't know precisely where he is. They don't have to tell us where and when they move him anywhere including across the border.
Bjorknas also explained that Robin was not being extradicted. Canada doesn't (and didn't during Vietnam) have any treaty with the US that would cover military desertions.
Robert Matas (Globe and Mail) reports that Robin "was troubled by evidence of abuse of Iraqi detainees that came out in May of 2004, Mr. [Shepherd] Moss said. Mr. Long concluded the abuse was systemic and condoned by the U.S. administration, Mr. Moss said. After some soul-searching, Mr. Long decided he would not go to Iraq and would not participate or be complicit in what he believed were war crimes, the lawyer said." Jeff Hodson (Metro News) explains attorney Moss "argued Long faced lengthy jail times and could even get the death penalty. The judge ruled that a death sentence was only a 'theoretical possibility' as the last soldier sentenced to death for desertion was during the Second World War." Kim Bolan and Suzanne Ahearne (Vancouver Sun) and Brian Hutchinson (National Post) point out that Long would be the first war resister deported from Canada since the start of the illegal war. Judge Anne L. Mactavish long career has included being the president of the Human Rights Tribunal Panel back in the nineties. Apparently, that temporary post carried only temporary awareness. Bob Ages, chair of the War Resisters Support Campaign - Vancouver, tells The Canadian Press, "I don't think there's time to even file papers. We're down to the wire here. She's [Mactavish] refused us the ability to follow due process and exhaust all his legal avenues in Canada." Catherine Elsworth (Telegraph of London) notes Mactavish "rejected his last-ditch plea for a stay of his deporation order, saying he had failed to provide convincing evidence he would suffer 'irreparable harm' if he returned to the US." Apparently, Mactavish either didn't care about splitting up a family or wasn't informed of it. Canada's New Democratic Party issued the following this afternoon:
NDP MP Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas) is calling on the Conservative government to stop the deportation of American Iraq war resister Robin Long, scheduled for today.
"Stockwell Day, Diane Finley and Stephen Harper should respect the will of Parliament and the Canadian people and stop this deportation immediately," said Siksay. "The House of Commons has passed a motion supporting a special programme that would allow conscientious objectors who refuse to serve in the war in Iraq to remain in Canada. The government must respect this action by the House and stop deportation action against Robin Long and other Iraq war resisters."
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration reported to the House of Commons about the need for such a programme, and on a motion moved by MPs Olivia Chow and Siksay, the House concurred in that report.
"The Canadian government and the Canadian people do not support George Bush's illegal war in Iraq. We must have the courage of those convictions and back them up by ensuring that Americans who take a stand against that war receive a welcome in Canada," noted Siksay.
"Robin Long must be allowed to stay," Siksay concluded.
UPI 'covers' the news of the judge's ruling by undercounting war resisters. Linda Nguyen (Canwest News Services) notes, "There are an estimated 200 American army deserters who have sought refugee status in Canada." Greg Quinn (Bloomberg News), CBC, Dan Slater (Wall St. Journal), Candace Heckman (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) and AP are among the other outlets reporting on the news. Among those who have ignored it? Democracy Now!, The Progressive ("Peace and social justice since 1909" is apparently an empty slogan), The Nation and just about every outlet in Panhandle Media.
Robin Long described his position on the Iraq War, on staying in Canada and more back in October 2007:
Because I feel the war in Iraq is an illegal war of aggression and it's an indiscriminate killing of the Arab people and I believe it's all for lies and the wrong reasons so I couldn't with good conscience take part in that conflict. . . . When I joined the army, I thought that the war in Iraq was a good thing. I was lied to by my president. The reasons that were given, I thought they were valid. But just because I joined the army didn't mean I abdicated my ability to evolve intellectually and morally and what I saw in the independent media and even in mainstream media changed my view of what was going on over there and based on what I had learned I made a decision to desert. . . . When people coming back from Iraq were proud of what they had done, bragging about killing people and showing me pictures of their first kill with big smiles on their faces and that just didn't sit right in my stomach. So I made the decision then. That was probably the turning point right there.
Laura Baziuk (Peace Arch News link has text and video) descibes approximately 30 people gathering at the Peace Arch this morning to show their support for Robin Long. The group carried signs with slogans such as "ROBIN LONG BELONGS IN CANADA" and "war Resisters welcome here." Demonstrator Carleen Pickard declared, "We believe he was deported this morning so he is already in the United States." Allan Dowd (Reuters) has just had confirmation that Long is out of Canada: "The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Long's removal, but declined to give other details, citing privacy laws. Long's refugee claim had already been rejected and he could not appeal Monday's court ruling."
While Long is ordered deported, the British aren't leaving anytime soon, aren't leaving Iraq. The Independent of London notes Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced he will not set a time for withdrawal and "Mr Brown is due to deliver a statement on Iraq to MPs before the summer recess of Parliament on 22 July. Labour MPs said they were disappointed by his response." James Kirkup (Telegraph of London) explains, "Military commanders have told the Prime Minister that UK troops will have to remain in Iraq in significant numbers well into next year. The need to stay in southern Iraq to support . . . the Iraqi forces has dashed any hopes ministers had of announcing a major withdrawal from Iraq this summer." This follows Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reporting yesterday on British Maj-Gen Barney White-Spunner's declaration that the British military role in Iraq would be "long-term". Haynes also reminded that the United Nations resolution expiring on December 31st with talk of it not being renewed means the UK must come to an agreement with Iraq for the British forces to remain.
Sunday Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Ali Hameed (New York Times) reported that "the Anbar Provincial Council" was arguing that Al Anbar Province is not ready to be handled by its own inhabitants and no transfer should take place until after the elections. The elections are scheduled for October whether they take place or not -- this is a White House defined 'benchmark' that has long been delayed -- only time will tell. Withing the region, there is a split between the council and members of the "Awakening" Council -- it's a power struggle with the latter feeling the requested delay is nothing but a way to influence the upcoming elections. Al Anbar Province is a border province and an influx of Iraqi refugees (presumably from that province only, unless the rules for voting have been changed) from Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia could also effect the outcome -- a point the journalists didn't make. Today Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reports that the elections are yet again in jeopardy as a result of the Iraqi parliament being unable to reach an agreement (specifically regarding Kirkuk) and that no one is sure when the measure will come up again. While there may or may not be elections in October, the Baath Party leader issued a statement today. Nancy A. Youssef and Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) report that Izzat Ibrahim al Douri released a recording where he vowed "the Iraqi people will fight you [the US] until doomsday". They note that he was vice-president under Saddam Hussein and also the nation's military commander who became the party leader once Saddam was dead. They also noted that in today's recording Izzat Ibrahim al Douri "demanded that Bush withdraw American troops from Iraq and called on him to reveal the true U.S. troop death toll, suggesting that the American military was withholding information."
Also today, Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) reports, "Two suicide bombers posing as army recruits struck an Iraqi base just east of Baquba on Tuesday morning, killing at least 35 Iraqi recruits and wounding 63, according to the Iraqi police and medical officials in Diyala Province." BBC (link has text and video), citing Iraqi military sources, states, "The two attackers mingled with a crowd of would-be recruits at an army base in the city of Baquba and then blew themselves up". Baquba is the capital of Diyala Province and China's Xinhau notes that the province "stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border". United Arab Emirates' The National Newspaper is calling the bombings "one of the deadliest attacks of this year". Nancy A. Youssef and Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) report, "After the first bomber detonated himself at around 8 a.m., the survivors began to flee. The second bomber chased them into a corner and detonated into the crowd seconds later, said a man working at the center who wanted to be identified only as Maj. Ghassan out of fears for his safety." KUNA declares, "The second bombing targeted the crowd that rushed to rescue the victims of the first". Camilla Hall (Bloomberg News) cites Iraqi president Jalal Talabani's message on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan web site today stating at least 30 people were killed in the Baquba bombings while the US military insists the death toll was much lower. Going with "more than 30" dead, Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times -- link has AP video) notes, "The attack took place near a joint U.S.-Iraqi security station, but there were no reports of American casualties." The Times of India quotes wounded eye witness Falah Ali Hussein who states, "We were about 30 people standing at the entrance. They had just called our names when suddenly there was a big explosion." Sunday, The Gulf Times reports that "a major crackdown" on Diyala Province is about to commence. Pakistan's The Daily Mail adds today, "The Interior Ministry has not given a date for the start of the Diyala crackdown but says U.S. forces, which have been conducting operations there since January, will take part." In some of today's other reported violence . . .
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded two, a Baghdad mortar attack that claimed 2 lives and left nine wounded, a Tikrit car bombing that wounded one police officer, a Kirkuk roadside bombing that wounded five people, a Mosul car bombing that killed the occupant of the car and 1 police officer and another Mosul car bombing that left six people wounded. The Daily Mail counts three bombing in Mosul and states the worst "killed eight people and wounded a policeman at a police checkpoint, the U.S. military said." AFP reports Karim Wahid, Minister of Electricity, was targeted with a Baghdad roadside bombing that he emerged from safely; however, "three of his bodyguards" were left wounded.
CBS and AP report, "Gunmen in Baghdad also killed two members of a Sunni force allied with U.S. troops, police said." Reuters notes an armed clash in Iskandaria that resulted in 2 deaths.
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad.
In news in the US presidential race, Brett Lieberman (The Patriot News) reports, "The bonus scandal stole millions from the public, but it could end up saving third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader $81,000 in legal fees he was ordered to pay after being tossed from the Pennsylvania ballot in 2004." Barack Obama gave a speech today. Yawn. Free Speech Radio News includes the nonsense and you know they never actually LISTEN. He's promised nothing. "Can" is the word. "Can" is ability. "Can" is not a vow. That's very difficult for the insane Cult of Obama to grasp. There was nothing new offered in his dull, lip-smacking (maybe he needs to go back to wearing lip gloss?) speech. It's the same non-specific garbage he's said for 18 months now. He does not give specifics on "residual" troops left in Iraq. It's a non-plan. And his alarmist talk about "finishing" Afghanistan sounds not all that different than the current White House occupant's yammering. He wants to "fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban" and that's "a war that we have to win." Remember when people were appalled by Bully Boy speaking like? Remember when people (rightly) pointed out a 'war' on terror was like a 'war' on drugs and Americans needed to grow up and get realistic? At this point, he's even worse than John Kerry's 2004 run.
Meanwhile the Nader Team notes:
Donate $100 now.
And we'll send you an autographed copy of the DVD - An Unreasonable Man.
Autographed by Ralph Nader - the subject of this historic documentary.
All around us are people who don't want Ralph to run this year.
This movie is the perfect remedy. (Watch trailer here.)
Buy this DVD.
Show it to them, loan it to them, or just give it to them - but just make sure they see it.
Young people will learn and older people will remember what it means to stand for something, to fight for something, and to believe that your efforts will make a difference.
An Unreasonable Man is the movie that turns heads.
Show it to people who like Ralph.
Show it to people who don't like Ralph.
Show it people who think Ralph should run.
Show it to people who think Ralph should not run.
But get your own autographed copy now.
So you can show it to them all.
(Or if you already have a copy, get one as a gift.)
This limited offer is part of our ten day fundraiser.
Our goal - raise $60,000 by July 20.
To put Ralph on the ballot on 15 states by July 20.
Over the last five days, we've raised over $30,000.
So, we're halfway there.
Now, let's push it past the finish line.
Donate $100 or more by 12 midnight Sunday July 20, and we'll send you an autographed copy of this explosive documentary of Ralph's public life of citizen activism.
(Only one DVD per donation of $100 or more. If you would like two copies, please donate twice. Three copies, donate three times. Remember - only one DVD per donation of $100 or more.)
iraqrobin longjoshua keyrobert mataskatie mercerkim bolansuzanne ahearnejeff hodsonbrian hutchinson
richard a. oppel jr.the new york times
nancy a. youssef
the los angeles timesalexandra zavis
free speech radio news
Progressives Against Obama
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'Poor' Sharon Smith
C.I. here filling in for Elaine who is on vacation. An e-mail came into the public account of TCI (common_ills@yahoo.com) and I don't know if the guy is a regular reader of Elaine's or what. But he wants to know why Elaine dislikes Sharon Smith or, as he calls her "poor Sharon Smith"? The community loathes Sharon Smith. The community actively loathes Sharon Smith.
Because she's a liar and a damned liar. Because she's a sexist pig.
Short of her apologizing for her behavior, this community will never forgive her. There are some the community just rolls their eyes at but there are others who are on an active s**t list and Sharon Smith put herself there.
She did that in 2008 with her non-stop sexism while pretending to be a feminist. That's when the community turned on her. However, Elaine and I were already talking about the little stunts she was pulling in 2007. Take a CounterPunch article from March 2007 attacking Hillary with the title of "Our Bleach-Blond Thatcher? Hillary's Cojones."
That's not the headline to a piece written by a feminist.
If you can't grasp that, I won't be able to help you much because you've got serious issues; however, briefly, Hillary's a "bleach-blond"? Meow, catty girl. She's calling Hillary a bleach-blond? I must have missed her piece on the careful work done for John Edwards' hair. I'm not talking about the body, I'm talking about the fact that he used a colorist (I assume he still does) to get those browns and reds and all the rest. He uses a colorist who 'paints with all the colors of the wind'. But Hillary's the one 'feminist' Sharon Smith wants to beauty-parlor trash?
Now there's the "cojones" issue.
We've covered this before when calling out Katrina vanden Heuvel. No woman has "cojones." If she did, she'd be considered a freak.
So Hillary's a cheap bimbo (bleach-blond) and a freak.
How 'lucky' feminists were to have Sharon Smith's commentaries.
Elaine could write about this at length.
Turning to Iraq. The following exchange took place between AP's Matt Lee and Robert Wood (spokesperson) at the US State Dept briefing today:
Matt Lee: There are going to be some prisoner exchanges in Iraq. You're going to be turning over detainees that you have, or the military is, to the Iraqis. And I'm just wondering if you’re confident that these prisoners, once they’re transferred, will be well treated or not mistreated.
Robert Wood: Well, Matt, I'm not aware of any additional transfers of prisoners. You might want to check with the Pentagon. But clearly, should there be that type of a transfer, we wouldn’t do so unless we were confident that the rights of these individuals were respected and that they would be treated humanely. But that’s about the best I can tell you because I’m not familiar with this particular group of prisoners.
Matt Lee: On that subject, is that required in the agreement with Iraq, that they guarantee that those prisoners will be treated humanely?
Robert Wood: I don't know that that's necessarily in the agreement, but we certainly had assurances from the Iraqis that people that are turned over will be dealt with humanely. That's what we would expect, and I'm sure the Iraqi leadership feels the same way in terms of how it will deal with individuals. But I don't remember exactly in the agreement. You might want to go back and check, but certainly we’ve been given those assurances from the Government of Iraq about the transfer of individuals to their custody.
We'll end with Lee but moving to Iraqi prisoners. AP is reporting new claims are surfacing of abuse in Iraqi prisions (Iraqi-run):
Iraqi officials acknowledge some abuse and insist improvements are being made. The issue, however, poses a thorny question for Americans: How can the United States transfer detainees into a system where abuse has occurred?
The U.S. military says it sends Iraqi prisoners only to detention facilities approved by Iraq's Ministry of Justice.
However, Iraqi lawmakers, human rights advocates and the Human Rights Ministry claim most of the abuse is not taking place in prisons run by the Justice Ministry, but in those operated by the Interior and Defense Ministries. Prisoners there are generally accused of links to Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups.
Now we're going back to Matthew Lee (AP) who reports this evening that a US State Dept helicopter has crashed in Iraq and a"two crew members were killed" and two more people wounded (all four are unidentified at present).
This is the "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, July 17, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces multiple deaths, at least 40 pilgrims are wounded in Baghdad bombings, US war resister Robin Long speaks, increasing tensions between the north and the central government, and more.
This morning the US military announced: "BAGHDAD -- Three Multi-National Division-South Soldiers were killed when Contingency Operating Base Basra was attacked by indirect fire at approximately 9:15 p.m. on July 16. The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The incident is under investigation." The announcement brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4326. Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Shortly after the attack, the Iraqi army gave the U.S. military permission to carry out aerial searches northwest of the airport, the area from where the rockets are thought to have been launched, U.S officials said. Troops chased a car to a house, which they searched. A joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol raided another home. Three Iraqi men were briefly detained, the military said."
Violence rocked Iraq as usual today but a lot of it targeted pilgrims. Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) explains the pilgrimage "is expected to fill the streets of Baghdad on Saturday in the first major security challenge for Iraqi military forces" with "a limited curfew" being imposed and "thousands of additional Iraqi soldiers and police officers . . . on the streets". Alsumaria reports, "While thousands of pilgrims have poured in to Al Kazimiya to mark Imam Kazem Anniversary (AS), citizens are complaining about closing main roads which is usually caused by religious occasion." Muhanad Mohammed (Reuters) observes, "Despite intensive security, some bombers made it through." Turning to the reported violence today . . .
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing which wounded thirteen pilgrims, a Baghdad roadside bombing which wounded eight pilgrims, a Baghdad roadside bombing which wounded five pilgrims, another Baghdad roadside bombing which injured five pilgirms, a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured three pilgrims, a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 pilgrim and wounded six more, a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured two men, a Falluja roadside bombing which injured nine males who were playing football and a roadside bombing attack on the home of police chief Abdulsalam Khawarm in Anbar Province resulting in the deaths of two of his children and leaving eight more people injured. Reuters notes 1 dead in the Falluja bombing on the football players, a Mosul roadside bombing left two Iraqi soldiers injured and a Shirqat sticky bombing injured one police officer.
Reuters notes 1 person wounded in a Kirkuk shooting today and, dropping back to yesterday, one wounded in a Kirkuk shooting as well.
Today on the second hour of NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, Diane and the Wall St. Journal's Youchi Dreazen, the Washington Post's David Ignatius and Foreign Policy's Moises Naim discussed Iraq.
Diane Rehm: Alright and let's turn now to Iraq and the latest on violence there, David? You had three American soldiers killed Thursday after insurgents fired mortar rounds into a US base in southern Iraq. You've also got problems with the Kurds. You've got lots of issues still going on even as the US is planning its pull-out.
David Ignatius: This was a week, Diane, that reminded us of the underlying fragility of Iraq. We've gotten in the habit of not paying much attention to it. Our troops are pulling back from the cities under the timetable we agreed to with the Iraqis. And-and, these last weeks we saw in these-these bombings and the political conflicts just how easily Iraq could spin back into a very chaotic situation. Take the bombings that happened on Wednesday. By my count, there were about eleven people killed, something like fifty or sixty wounded. But what was striking was that one of the bombs was in Ramadi -- in the Sunni heartland, the area we thought had been stabilized by our counter-insurgency work. Another bomb was in Sadr City. Another was right in the heart of Baghdad, in Sadhun Street. Those latter two were really going after Shi'ites, the first, in Ramadi, was going after Sunnis. More of these bombings are going to again make Iraqis frightened that they can't be secure without militias and then you're back in the sectarian killing game and you're going to start finding fifty bodies -- dead bodies -- every morning in the morgue.
Diane Rehm: At twenty-seven [after] the hour you're listening to The Diane Rehm Show. And what's going on with the Kurds, Youchi?
Youchi Dreazen: In many ways, this is the most dangerous aspect of Iraq right now. You've had recently [June 28th] a standoff between Kurdish fighters and Iraqi national army fighters. Last year there was an incident that did not get much attention here in which US drones that were monitoring a similar standoff saw columns of armed Iraqi army soldiers and columns of Kurdish peshmerga racing towards each other. By the account of everyone who was watching it, bruising for a fight, and they stood down only amidst much mediation by US embassy and military -- as was the case here where there was US mediation. And what you have is this very thorny issue about what will be the boundaries between Kurdistan, what will be the boundaries between Arab-Iraq? How will they divide oil? How will they divide Kirkuk? These issues have been kicked down the road again and again and again. And now they're at the end of the road. They have to at some point be resolved. I think what you've seen is, when the US invaded, there was a status quo that existed under Saddam that was toppled, there was a Sunni-led status quo. Then there was a new status quo that was not sustainable where you had fighting between Sunni and Shia Arabs and the Kurds were kind of left off to their own devices in the north. Now you have a new status quo where the Shia-Sunni tensions are much reduced -- the Arab tensions -- and now their focusing much more again on the Arab-Kurdish tensions that were there under Saddam decades ago.
Moises Naim: And the Kurdish prime minister yesterday said that the Kurdish autonomous region was closer to going to war with the central government than ever before, since 2003, since the US invasion. And that points, as Youchi said, to the tensions about the divisions -- federalism, they're trying to find out what is the divisions of authority, power between a centralized government and a regional government. And this is a region that is quite different in its governance, in its function, in its economy, in its politics, than the rest of the country.
Diane Rehm: And the United States population is certainly concerned as is the Iraqi that what if the violence continues to uptick, gets worse? Do troops reinvigorate, US troops? What do you do?
David Ignatius: Well for the administration, I think there's a recognition that, as we reduce our military presence there, it is inevitable that violence will increase. That's accepted. And it's just a price of our getting out. The Iraqis want us out, we want to get out. So some increase in violence, it's understood, will happen. And the question is: Will the Iraqi forces be strong enough to contain it within acceptable levels? And what's-what's-what's your choke point? If you're President Obama and you're seeing ten people die a day, well, what do you say? Suppose it gets up to fifty, what do you - what do you do then? And that's -- it's-it's grisly. But that's the kind of decision I fear that the-the Obama administration going to have to make about Iraq over the coming year.
Moises Naim: It's very hard to imagine that there's a political environment in the United States that will support a massive increase of troops -- of US troops -- in Iraq. The-the line their will be crossed if Iran becomes very influential country in Iraq. If Iranian influence there which it hasn't seemed to be the case but that will be then the-the political base for it.
Diane Rehm: To Charlie in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Good morning, you're on the air.
Charlie: Good morning. I'd like to go back to the MidEast a little bit in terms of I think that Iraq is a lost cause. I think Sadr, Ayatollah Sadr's militia has only stood down under orders from Iran and under realization that the US military would destroy Sadr City. They will res -- they will resurge and they will take over the south and if -- have this very informal reunion with Iran. The Sunnis were bought off with US money and viagra pills for their ancient sheiks -- and that's the truth, not a joke. And the Kurds, our most loyal allies, are the largest tribe, as far as I know, on earth without a homeland. And I'm afraid that they -- especially with the oil money -- do not intend to be left behind this time. I think also I'd like one more comment, on the Gaza situation again. [. . .]
What about Gaza? This isn't the Gaza snapshot. And by bringing that up, Gaza, it's what everyone quickly glommed on after David's initial remarks on Iraq.
David Ignatius: Well, I think the -- it's too early for me at least to say that Iraq is a lost cause. One interesting fact about Iraq is that our greatest potential problem -- which is Iranian influence, Iranian support for extremist militias, like Moqtada Sadr who the caller was referring to, Iran politically is imploding. That threat, the ability of Iran to destabilize Iraq, is, I think, somewhat reduced, I want to say signifianctly reduced -- becuase of the chaose following the election. And I think you can generalize that to potential Iranian clients all ove. Political parties in Iraq that are supported by Iran must be worrying, "Holy smokes our paymaster are in trouble."
As noted in Diane's discussion, things are very tense between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government. Anthony Shadid (Washington Post) reports, "In separate interviews, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and the region's president, Massoud Barzani, described a stalemate in attempts to resolve long-standing disputes with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's emboldened government. Had it not been for the presence of the U.S. military in northern Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani said, fighting might have started in the most volatile regions." Quil Lawrence (NPR's All Things Considered) reported this afternoon on the tensions quoting Barzani, "Whoever wants to get ahead in Iraqi politics does so by criticizing the Kurds." On territorial disputes and what may have been an attempt by al-Maliki's government to enroach on Kurdish territories June 28th, Lawrence quotes Barzani stating, "Our problem is that we do not believe there is any political will in Baghdad to solve this problem." Gordon Duff (Salem-News) addresses the June 28th confrontation and offers his opinions:
News stories reporting on this conflict conveniently omit Kurdish history. Our NATO partner, Turkey, that refused to allow US troops access to Northern Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, has long been an enemy of our Kurdish allies. If Turkey had joined with the US, the military disaster that led to years of conflict might have been averted. Instead, the US depended on Kurdish armies to defeat Saddam in Northern Iraq.
Reports of Kurdish incursions in and around Kirkuk fail to mention that the Arabs in the region are remnants of Saddam's occupation forces, not residents. The efforts by the Baghdad government to continue control of this Kurdish region is driven by need to control the regions oil revenues and continue to fuel Iraq's massive corruption.
January 31st, 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces held provincial elections. The Kurdish region did not take place in those elections. Their elections take place next week on Saturday. The Economist editorializes on the elections here. UPI notes of the elections, "A quota established by the KRG sets aside 30 percent of the seats for female candidates." In reporting last week, the New York Times offered a very bad dispatch featuring all the US talking points and nothing resembling journalism -- just a concept of "bad Kurds!" which might make a few people feel better but doesn't really inform anyone. And that was their 'big' piece. Jay Garner called it out in a letter to the paper. Garner is interviewed by The Kurdish Globe today and he notes of the KRG that "
Elizabeth Dickinson: With [US Vice President Joe] Biden as the U.S. envoy for reconciliation in Iraq, what priorities should he be pushing for? Jay Garner: No. 1, a referendum on disputed lands, because I don't think you can ever have a stable Iraq as long as you have an unstable Arab-Kurdish border. No. 2, a resolution on the oil law because it's a thorn in everybody's side. No. 3, continue to exert whatever leverage we have on the Iraqi government to get these things done. Anything that happens here, whether it is Kurds versus Arabs or Shiite versus Sunni -- and those are huge flash points -- is not an Iraqi problem; it's a regional problem. It's huge. It's much greater than Iraq, because if it's Shiite-Sunni you are going to have Iranians on the side of the Shiites and you are going to have the Gulf region on the side of the Sunnis. If it's Arab-Kurdish, you are going to have an ethnic war, and lives will be gone and other countries will get involved because they are going to want to shape how it comes out. I don't think the [U.S.] administration wants to pull out in 2011, run for the presidency in 2012, and have this whole damned thing blow up on them, you know? So it is good that [U.S. President Barack Obama has] appointed Biden; it's good that he's made a special envoy; and it's good that Biden is drilling in on this. Biden is a guy that has studied a long time. He is more thoughtful about this than the other people, and I think that's a good first step. But you've got to have some leverage to execute that. So whatever leverage we have left, we need to make sure that those flash points are solved before we leave.
Garner mentioned the oil law (aka the theft of Iraqi law) and Nouri's sending messages on that today. Missy Ryan (Reuters) reports that the Oil Ministry's spokesperson Asim Jihad declared today of talk that unions might stop the British Petroleum and China National Petroleum Corporation oil deal (jointly, they were awarded a contract from the puppet government in the oil auction -- that was the only awarded contract from that auction), "The government will protect the companies." 'At all costs' was left implied.
Yesterday's snapshot noted the House Veterans Affairs Disability and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee's joint-hearing with the Subcomittee on Health. Kat covered the hearing last night and noted the discussion on rape victims. That was the first panel, Service Women's Action Network's Anuradha Bhagwati, Wounded Warrior Project's Dawn Halfaker and National Association of State Women Veterans Coordinators, Inc and the Texas Veterans Commission's Delilah Washburn. Grace After Fire's Kayla Williams raised an issue during questioning about suicide rates. Asked of the number of females, she explained she didn't know that number and then explained that the military is only tracking the suicides for those on active duty and not the number of suicides among veterans. (Or, at least only releasing the data for those on active duty.) Something to keep in mind as the Los Angeles Times reports: "About 37% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have mental health problems, a nearly 50% increase from the last time the prevalence was calculated, according to a new study published today analyzing national Department of Veterans Affairs data. The study, which examined the records of about 289,000 veterans who sought care at the VA between 2002 and 2008, also found higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression."
Turning to war resistance, last week Robin Long was released from the brig. Today he spoke on KPFA's The Morning Show "Not for a second do I regret or wish I'd done something different."
Philip Malderi: You're listening to The Morning Show on KPFA, I'm Philip Malderi. I'm joined in the studio by Robin Long. Robin was in the US army. He enlisted shortly after the Iraq War got under way in June of '03. He was guaranteed by his recruiter that he wouldn't be sent to Iraq but of course those promises were not exactly fulfilled. In 2005, realizing he had made a mistake, he went to Canada and decided to resist serving in Iraq. Canada ultimately sent him back and he went to a navy brig down in San Diego to serve a year in prison. And now he's out. He joins me in the studio. Robin Long, welcome to KPFA.
Robin Long: Good morning.
Philip Malderi: Uh, again why did you decide to join in the first place? Why don't we start there.
Robin Long: You said initially I'd joined in June. I'd actually signed up for the delayed entry program in about February. You know, I'd always grown up thinking I want to join the army and, you know, a lot of people in my family are in the military and I just thought it was something I would do my whole life and so I signed up for the delayed entry program. And shortly after we went and invaded Iraq. And at the time I actually thought, you know, this is the right thing to be doing, you know there's connections with al Q-al Qaeda and there's weapons of mass destruction there but by the time June came when I was actually, I was getting ready to go to basic training in October, but around June, I was talking to my recruiter and said, "Hey, I have-have some moral qualms with what's going on over there." And he, uh, at that time, he assured me that I wouldn't go to Iraq, I'd be sent to a nondeployable post and --
Philip Malderi: And you believed it.
Robin Long: Oh, yeah, I believed it. They-they kept true to their word. I was stationed at Fort Knox for two years but speaking out while I was there, saying stuff, that's when they decided to give me orders to go to Iraq -- the only person in my unit. I don't know if it was punishment or what it was but they, uh, they ended up sending me to a unit that was already in Iraq .
Philip Malderi: They pulled you out of your unit in Kentucky and only you and sent you to a unit that was already in Iraq?
Robin Long: I was --
Philip Malderi: But was going to send you actually?
Robin Long: Yeah, they were - they were going to send me. They were sending me to Fort Carson, Colorado to join up with Second Brigade, Second Infantry and they were already in Iraq at the time so I was just supposed to report there and meet up with them in Iraq. They'd already been there for like four months.
Philip Malderi: So what did you decide to do?
Robin Long: Well I told them when they told me where I was going that, "No, I'm not going to go there. You know, if you're going to give me these orders, I'm going to - I'm going to refuse them. I'm not going to show up at Fort Carson." They said, "Yeah, you are. You're going to show up." Eventually, you know when the time came to hop on the plane, I-I didn't, I didn't get on the plane to go to Fort Carson and it took me about two months to actually decide to go up to Canada. I lived underground in a friend's basement for-for a good two months.
Philip Malderi: So what happened in Canada? Was there a system of support for war resisters?
Robin Long: I initially went up there by myself. I didn't now anyone. I was up there for six months before I even found a group called the War Resisters Support Campaign. There based out of Toronto but they have chapters in cities all across Canada and they help with financial needs, finding you a place to stay. They raise money to-to pay for lawyers and stuff up there so there's like a legal avenue people are trying to do up there by applying for political refugee status and they just kind of help out with everything with that. So.
Philip Malderi: So where did you settle down?
Robin Long: Initially, I settled down in a little town called Marathon, Ontario on the most northern tip of Lake Superior. You don't know cold until you've lived there, negative forty for months at a time.
Philip Malderi: (Laughing) This was -- this was your punishment.
Robin Long: Yeah, you know, nice in summer time but the winter? It's definitely cold.
Philip Malderi: Uh, now, during the Vietnam war, those that can remember it, people who resisted going to Vietnam and went to Canada, the Canadian government of that time protected them and did not send them back to the States to be prosecuted. What changed? What happened this time?
Robin Long: Well, the -- the Canadian people and the majority even of Parliament still want the war resisters, actually all conscientious objectors from any war to be able to stay in Canada. Parliament voted -- has voted twice in the last two years to allow war resisters and their families to stay. But the Conservative government that is in charge -- you know, that Parliament votes on laws and everything, but the government that's in charge has to actually implement the laws. They're just ignoring the votes. And they're ignoring their constituents and what most people want. [C.I. note: No law has been passed. We'll go over that point at the end of the transcript.] So they're just acting like this vote never even happened. So it's really just the Conservatives, a Bush-supporting Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that's changed.
Philip Malderi: And how did they capture you?
Robin Long: The RNC, the Mounties, came to where I was staying and said I had a nation-wide immigration warrant, picked me up and I didn't get hand cuffed or anything, they just put me in the cop car, brought me to the Nelson city cell. I was staying in Nelson, British Columbia at the time. And took about seven days and I was handed over to the US authorities in Blaine, Washington.
Philip Malderi: And then the Army prosecuted you?
Robin Long: Yeah, they, about forty days later, they prosecuted me for desertion with intent to remain away permanently which, uh, has a maximum sentence of three years but, uh, I -- there was no refuting it. I-I had deserted. It's all paper work so to get a lesser sentence, I pled guilty to it and only received fifteen months. The judge -- because there's a pretrial agreement -- the judge what she actually does is she gives you a sentence and whichever's less, what your pretrial or what she gives you, is what you get. So she gave me thirty months and a dishonorable discharge but the pretrial gave me fifteen.
Philip Malderi: So where did you serve this time?
Robin Long: I served it down in San Diego.
To be clear, Parliament didn't pass a law. Both votes were non-binding. That's why Stephen Harper can ignore them. Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, would be forced -- as would any future Prime Minister -- to follow the two motions passed already if either had been legislation and not a non-binding motion. Why the political parties haven't pushed for a real vote on real legislation may be due to the Senate or higher up. The only one passing anything -- another reason it couldn't be a law -- is the House. Both times that the non-binding motion was brought before a body, it was brought before the House.
Canada has a bi-cameral Parliament with an upper and lower house. The Senate is the upper house and it has never voted on it. In practice, usually the Senate goes along with what the House does becuase the House is directly elected by the Canadian people. The Senate is staffed, not elected. They are rubber stamped by the Governor General of Canada . . . on the say so of . . . the Prime Minister. Meaning, Stephen Harper's recommended people since he was in power. Once recommended, they serve until they retire (with a mandatory retirement age) or die while in office. The bulk of the Senate shouldn't be Harper supporters or even Conservative Party supporters because the last decades -- as far back as the sixties have seen the Liberal Party the primary party in power. So where's the problem in the Senate?
Noel Kinsella. Who is he? He's the Speaker of the Senate. How does someone become the Speaker? In the House, they're elected. In the Senate, they're appointed. In his position, he could refuse to allow a vote or do any number of things. But it's also true that you've got barriers above him. Say the Senate went along with the House (either out of tradition or conviction), you don't have a law yet. It has to be signed off on.
The first who could sign it into law would be Michaelle Jean. She's Queen Elizabeth II's representative. Her posts is Governor General of Canada and the queen appoints her. If a bill passed both houses, Michaelle Jean could allow it to become a law, nix it or leave the issue up to the Queen. Nixing it -- no reason needs to be given -- means no law. Passing it onto the Queen who can say yea or nay. (The Queen also has two years after the Governor General to decide, no, it's not a law. It would be a law throughout that time but the Queen can reverse it.) So if we follow all of that, the ultimate reason why the House does non-binding measures may be due to the fact that they grasp the pressure from the Bush administration and now the Obama administration (which makes their opinions known through an acting ambassador, Terry Breese, because they've not filled the post of Ambassador to Canada) on Canadian officials would also be conveyed to the Queen of England who, having refused to stop the illegal war in 2003 (she could have), wouldn't allow this to become law. While the British are largely out of Iraq (approximately 400 British troops remain), they are still in Afghanistan and have had war resisters. Queen Elizabeth II is not about to go along with that (or give Canadian troops an argument for not serving in Afghansitan). Repeating because England has kept their monarchy (Canada didn't "keep it" -- they remain endentured to England because they never had a revolution which is why Queen Elizabeth is their head of state), Queen Elizabeth could have prevented England from entering the Iraq War. She didn't. It's another reason why you have rumbles of doing away with the monarchy in England.
But Canada has no real independence. If England declares war, Canada has as well, whether they delcare it themselves or not. Which means that while Canada chose not to send soldiers to Iraq, as part of England, they officially are in support of that war. (That illegal war.) And that's the difference that Philip Malderi was asking about: England didn't take part in a war on Vietnam. Not the Indochina War or the later American conflict. That's one reason why Canada could take the stand they did during Vietnam. Also true, a strong prime minister, like Pierre Trudeau, could take that stand right now. The Queen is head of state but Harper is head of government and, in a face off on a popular issue, the Queen might go along. Harper being Harper, such a face off isnt likely to take place.
The above is a very complicated process and one that's very different from the US -- which fought a war to have their independence from England and fought the 1812 war when Canada was being a proxy for England. What's not complicated is that the Iraq War is not ending. There are over 130,000 US troops in Iraq presently. So it was amazing, on allegedly left radio, Philip Malderi tried to declare that the Iraq War was winding down. Well, as a colleague of his on campus said during 2008, "Phil's no longer just drinking the Kool-Aid, he's drinking the urine." We wished that Phil could have been in Harlem Tuesday night so Carl Dix could have set him straight on the Iraq War (Dix was in a dialogue with Cornel West at Aaron Davis Hall). But Robin Long was present and tried to walk Philip through, "What's going on in Iraq, they say all combat troops are leaving but, if you look at it, they're just changing the name. They're being called the same thing they were being called in Vietnam. They're being called 'advisers' now. And we have 30 permanent bases in Iraq. Just because they're not being called combat troops, there's still a lot of people there."
Turning to TV notes. Tony Blair's appearance at The Hague may be delayed for a bit; however, the War Criminal can be found this week on your TV screen via NOW on PBS:Once one of the most dangerous and violent cities in the West Bank, Jenin was the scene of frequent battles between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters, and the hometown of more than two dozen suicide bombers.Today, however, there's been a huge turnaround. Jenin is now the center of an international effort to build a safe and economically prosperous Palestinian state from the ground up. On Jenin's streets today, there's a brand new professional security force loyal to the Palestinian Authority and funded in part by the United States. But can the modest success in Jenin be replicated throughout the West Bank, or will the effort collapse under the intense political pressure from all sides?This week, NOW talks directly with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the international community's envoy to the region and an architect of the plan. We also speak with a former commander of the infamous Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Jenin about his decision to stop using violent tactics, and to residents of Jenin about their daily struggles and their hopes for the future.To Blair, the Jenin experiment can be pivotal in finally bringing peace to the Middle East. He tells NOW, "This is the single most important issue for creating a more stable and secure world."A war criminal, an architect of the illegal war on Iraq, wants to tell the world what our "single most important issue" is and expects to be trusted? Tony Blair belongs behind bars, not on your TV screen. On PBS' Washington Week, Gwen sits around the table with USA Today's Joan Biskupic, the New York Times' Mark Mazzetti (aka The Little Asset Who Could), and Time magazine's Karen Tumulty and Hedda Hopper Lives!' Jeanne Cummings who will continue her efforts to be seen as the tabloids' new Jeane Dixon. Bonnie Erbe sits down with Bay Buchanan, Avis Jones-DeWeever, Tara Setmayer and Amy Siskind on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings, all three PBS shows begin airing tonight on many PBS stations. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:
Gun Rush Americans are snapping up guns and ammunition at an increasingly higher rate despite the economic downturn. But as Lesley Stahl reports, the economic downturn, as well as the election of Barack Obama, may be the reason for the run on guns. Watch Video
Poisoned The African lion, already down as much as 85 percent in numbers from just 20 years ago, is now in danger of becoming extinct because people are poisoning them with a cheap American pesticide to protect their cattle herds. Bob Simon reports. Watch Video
Steve Wynn The casino mogul most responsible for taking Las Vegas to new heights of gaming and glitter talks to Charlie Rose about his spectacular success and the eye disease that's slowly robbing him of his ability to see the fruits of his labor. Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, July 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
kpfathe morning showphilip maldari
liz sly
mcclatchy newspapersmohammed al dulaimythe washington postanthony shadidalsumaria
60 minutescbs news
pbsto the contrarybonnie erbenow on pbs
C.I. here filling in for Elaine who is on vacation. Mark Knoller (CBS News) reports that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, will visit the White House next Wednesday. That got pulled from the snapshot as did other things.
What got added was the section on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It was added when I raised the concerns I was hearing about Don't Ask, Don't Tell with a friend at the White House who told me that, oh, no, nothing was happening on that. You mean this year? Well not this year and not next because, after all, next year is an election year and Dems from conservative district can't risk voting in 2010 to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Me, "So you're saying nothing's happening this week, this month, this year or next year." Uh-huh. I confirmed that with another friend and people can do what they want and believe what they want. But anyone who wants to pretend that the Congress is going to pass this better be ready to admit they were wrong. Because despite Congress supposedly supporting this, it's not coming to a vote and it doesn't have the support of Barack or his 'brain for 2010's elections' David Axelrod.
So Patrick Murphy can speak on the issue all he wants -- and should continue to, maybe it'll spark something in the public which is the only real chance.
As I noted in the snapshot, I didn't plan to cover Susan Page's discussion with Patrick Murphy. I also don't dislike Patrick Murphy. I think Patrick Murphy has done some outstanding committee work and this 'I've only been in Congress two years' modesty isn't needed because he's actually working. There are people in Congress who never do anything and, compared to them, he's already packed in about ten years.
Regarding his effort, Voices of Honor, I had heard a smattering of complaints the day after the press conference. I heard more and more as the days passed. These are valid complaints. And the gym bunny (male) with the org may think trickery's the way to go but I don't think so. If we're doing something or trying to so that all Americans are equal, we don't hide that. And anytime someone does it not only makes future struggles for all groups that much more difficult, it cheapens the struggles.
The Gay Liberation Movement is an actual movement that goes back very far in this country. It predates WWII -- which allowed many LGBTs to come out to a large circle and to relocate. And it cheapens that movement, that long standing, proud movement, to not include fairness in any attempt to win equality.
There has been such a huge, huge transformation in this country as a result of that movement. When Ellen came out at the end of the 90s, it was huge. An openly gay woman was starring in a TV show on network TV (and it was a lot funnier after she came out, don't believe the revisionary history -- the best episode of the year after she came out was probably where she dreams that she lives in a world where gays are in the majority and straights are in the minority -- that was a hilarious episode and it had a lot to say but did so in a very humorous manner). But she's starring and do you grasp that you could even be openly gay on TV or radio just a few decades before?
Let's use Ramon Navarro as an example. He was a famous Mexican actor in American films. He started in silent films and he was in the silent blockbuster of Ben Hur (playing the same role Charles Heston did). He was huge and one of MGM's top money makers even after the switch to talkies. Near the end of 1968, he was brutally murdered by two young men.
The men came to his home with at least one of them -- they were brothers -- intending to get money for sex. Did he intend to put out? That's open to dispute. The older brother had turned tricks before and admitted that in court.
So they get there and they brutally murder Ramon Navarro.
And then in court they each blame the other and claim they themselves were innocent. The prosecution was fierce and they might have both gotten stiff sentences. But the defense suddenly decided to put Ramon on trial.
It didn't matter that he was a wealthy man or a respected man. It didn't matter both brothers had runs in with the law (repeatedly). The only thing that mattered, according to the defense, was that Ramon was gay -- but he didn't use that word in court, now did he? No, you could use any vulgar word back then and he did.
Each brother had their own lawyer, I believe I'm referring to the older brother's attorney. (The prosecution, by the way, now sits on the federal bench.) But Ramon was gay and a "pervert" and he was intending to corrupt the men (at least one of which had already been 'corrupted') so it was a natural response for them to brutally murder, beat to death, Ramon Navarro.
It was even okay that they went there having sought out Ramon, having called him and having suggested sex. He was the corrupter, according to the defense, and that was because he was gay and 'those people' don't have any morals, don't have any ethics, don't care about anything but corrupting.
That trial took place in California. And people felt sorry for those two killers. How sorry did they feel for those killers? The older brother got a writing award from PEN. A writing award. He's a murderer and he's getting an award. And of course they both got out quickly because they were just innocent 'straight' boys and it was all that mean Ramon Navarro, not them.
Of course he was long dead and gone when one brother was arrested, convicted and sentenced for rape and the other for child molestation.
The brothers were pure trash and that was obvious in the Navarro trial. But the defense made the issue Ramon's sexuality and it didn't matter that he had done all this charity work and that he was respected and admired. He was just a ___ (fill in a derogatory word for gay) and so the brothers weren't as guilty as they would have been if they'd done that same thing to a straight person, in fact, the defense argued, their actions were understandable.
Now I'm real sorry that some people are willing to sell out a movement because they just what they want, but that's on them.
You either make the case that it's fair or you don't. Dan Choi makes that case. He points out that this is all because his significant other is Mark and not Martha.
Dignity can't be shoved into a closet. Some don't seem to grasp that. (In any movement. I can think of several feminists who spend the activism on their knees begging instead of standing up and challenging.) If you're short sighted you might get the one thing on your checklist. But in doing so you make it more difficult for everyone else and their needs.
In closing, Ann's filling in for Mike this week and I've been way too swamped to note that at TCI so I'll note it here and hope I have time to note it tomorrow at TCI. Her three posts so far are:
Katyln Tracy
Sonali Kolhatkar forgot the forgotten war
Legal abuses by Bush and Barack
Here's the "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, July 15, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, realities about the 'movement' to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, did Mullen strong arm the Kurds, details emerge about the Iranian diplomats held hostage, and more.
Yesterday's snapshot covered the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing on women veterans health care issues. Senator Daniel Akaka chaired the committee hearing. Kat covered the hearing last night. And? Not a lot more going on. Adam Levine (CNN) filed a strong report and emphasized the GAO:
The report by the Government Accountability Office found wide variation in the medical centers' facilities and programs for female veterans. Investigators visited 18 veterans' facilities and found that basic services, like pelvic examinations, were being provided and that patients had access to female providers for gender-specific care. But the facilities were lacking in some simpler accommodations, such as the configuration of exam rooms and privacy in check-in areas. The department says it is taking comprehensive steps to improve, including programs for primary care and mental health care for female veterans, along with having a female veterans' program manager in each of its medical facilities.
McClatchy's Carrie Williams covered it with an overview of the hearing and Kimberly Hefling (AP) covered the hearing and noted, "Female veterans told the Senate Veterans' Affairs committee that VA workers need to be better educated about combat situations that women face in the two ongoing wars. Beyond privacy concerns, there are other issues as well, they said, such as a lack of child care at VA hospitals and difficulty in finding diaper-changing tables." Today the Committee released the following statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, held an oversight hearing to outline gaps in VA care for women veterans and highlight strategies to bridge those gaps. Akaka gathered a panel of women veterans and representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Government Accountability Office to share their personal experiences and views on the VA system. The witness testimony yesterday illustrated the gap between the Department's wide array of services for women veterans and the actual experiences of many women veterans.
"VA plans many valuable programs and services for women veterans. However, our witnesses demonstrated that VA must do more than just set mandates -- the Department must ensure that women veterans know about the services available to them and are given assistance to receive them," said Akaka.
Witnesses included:
• Genevieve Chase, a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, and founder and executive director of American Women Veterans. During her service in OEF, Ms. Chase was attacked by a suicide vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device (IED) and returned home with symptoms of PTSD and TBI.
• Jennifer Olds, who served during the first Gulf War. She discussed her experiences dealing with Military Sexual Trauma (MST), the difficulties of rehabilitating, and the strengths and weaknesses of the care she received at VA.
• Kayla Williams, who was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 and is currently on the Board of Directors of Grace After Fire. As a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division (Airborne Assault), she came under small arms fire and was mortared -- an experience she shares with other women veterans despite the myth that female servicemembers don't experience combat situations. She testified about VA care from her own experiences.
• Tia Christopher, a veteran and Women Veterans Coordinator for Swords to Plowshares. VA determined she has service connected PTSD associated with MST. She described for the committee the changes she has seen since her discharge eight years ago and the need for additional changes, such as child care for male and female veterans.
• Joy Ilem, a veteran and Deputy National Legislative Director for the Disabled American Veterans. She testified that when she left the service in the 1980s, there was little to no information for women veterans and that she neither recognized herself as a veteran or knew she was entitled to VA benefits for disabilities she incurred in service. Two decades later, Ms. Ilem feels that VA is finally taking steps in the right direction to address the needs of women veterans.
The Veterans Health Care Reauthorization Act (S. 252), Chairman Akaka's omnibus veterans' health care bill that was unanimously approved by the Committee earlier this summer includes provisions to help VA understand why outreach to women veterans is falling short by identifying the barriers women veterans face when seeking care from VA. S.252 would also authorize VA to:
• Implement a program to educate, train, and certify professionals to provide MST-related mental health care (more background here); • Establish a pilot program to provide child care for veterans who require intensive care and are primary caretakers; • Report to Congress whether there is at least one full-time women veterans' program manager at each VA Medical Center; and • Provide care for the newborns of eligible women veterans.
The Chairman's opening statement, as well as the witnesses' written testimony including the Government Accountability Office's audit of VA health care for women, is available here.
And we'll revisit the second panel, composed of women veternas: Grace After Fire's Kayla Williams, Iraq Veteran Project Swords to Plowshares' Tia Christopher, the VFW's Jennifer Olds, American Women Veterans' Genevieve Chase and Disabled American Veterans' Joy J. Ilem, briefly to note Senator Patty Murray's round of questions.
Senator Patty Murray: Ms. Williams, you mentioned that you were both a care giver and a care seeker. You're husband was in the military. I assume that that is fairly common for a woman to be married to a fellow military officer and be in the same position. What can be done to help us care for women veterans who are not only dealing with their own readjustment issues but our dealing with spouse or children as well?
Kayla Williams: I think that it's important that care be more comprehensive. And you're right, the percentages are very high. Among active duty enlisted married female service members, over 50% are married to other service members -- compared to only 8% of their male peers. And my husband and I were both enlisted. I know that the VA is trying very hard to do outreach. I once got a call, for example, asking if I had sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury as part of their outreach efforts to make sure that they're catching everybody. And I said, "No, I didn't but I'm glad you called because my husband did and our family is in shambles right now I don't know how to hold myself together and my family together and keep my job and I'm struggling really hard here. And he said, "Well I can't really help you with that. I'm calling to ask if you've suffered a brain injury." And that's the way that I think that we can try to make sure that we're addressing entire families. If you have one -- if you have a service member who has sustained an injury -- both while they're in the DoD and once they've transitioned to VA care -- making sure that their familiy is being taken care of is an important step. I know The VA does not cover care for family members but if they learn that the spouse is also a veteran, it's important that they take the extra step and reach out and contact them proactively and ask if they need help as a caregiver. And, of course, this does apply to both male and female spouses, it's just the number of female spouses is much higher.
US Senator Patty Murray: I hear a lot from women about the access of child care being a barrier to the VA. You, several of you, mentioned this in your testimony and I don't think a lot of people realize that you tell a woman there's no child care, they just simply don't go, they don't get their health care. Do you for all the panelists, do you think that the VA providing child care would increase the number of women veterans who go to the VA and get the care that they need? Joy?
Joy Ilem: I would say definitely. I think researchers have repeatedly shown this as a barrier for women veterans and that's the frustration, you know? How many research surveys do you have to do when women keep saying this is a barrier to access for care? And I think it was Kayla who mentioned the experience of someone who was told it was inappropriate for them to bring their child with them and some of these very personalized for appointments for mental health or other things -- it may be very difficult but they have no other choice. I think it would definitely be a benefit and we would see an increase in the number of women veterans who would probably come to VA.
Senator Patty Murray: Ms. Williams?
Kayla Williams: I definitely think that usage rates of the VA would increase if women knew that they had child care available. There are a variety of innovative ways that we could try to address the problem of women having to balance their needs of child care with their needs to get services. Among them would be increasing the availability of tele-help and tele-medicine where women don't have to necessarily go all the way to a remote facility and spend four hours trying to get to and from and then be in-care. And there are also opportunities for innovative programs. For example, the VA has small business loans available if they could provide loans to women veterans who want to provide child care facilities near VA facilities, that would be a great way to try to marry these two needs. There are also a lot of community organizations that stand ready and waiting to help that would be happy just given a small office to staff it with volunteers and be able to provide that care for the time that a woman has to be in appointment. I think, as many others have said, the specific solutions may vary by location but there are a lot of innovative way that we could forge public-private partnerships to try to meet these needs.
We'll be covering the topic again tomorrow. If you use the link in the press release from the Committee, you'll not only have their written testimony, you'll also have the option of streaming the hearing. Genevive Chase was on the second panel and she was part of last Wednesday's Voices of Honor press conference. US House Rep Patrick Murphy is gathering public attention to the need to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Monday he was on the start of NPR's The Diane Rehm Show with USA Today's Susan Page filling in for Diane.
Susan Page: Before we go to our panel, though, we're joined on the phone from Bucks County Pennsylvania by Patrick Murphy. He's the Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania's eight district and an Iraq War veteran. Congressman, thank you for joining us.
US House Rep Patrick Murphy: Thanks so much, Susan, for having me on. I appreciate it.
Susan Page: Now last week you announced that you would lead an effort to get Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. What - what would your bill do?
US House Rep Patrick Murphy: Sure. It will repeal the discrimantory practice which is in effect right now: The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy does not allow the gay soldiers to serve openly in the military. And, Susan, the reason why this policy needs to be repealed, uh, right away is because it is hurting our national security. We have let go over 13,000 troops. That's over three-and-a-half combat brigades at a time when our troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and we need every qualified and able-bodied individual to serve in our military.
Susan Page: Now what kind of experiences did you have on this issue when you were serving in Iraq?
US House Rep Patrick Murphy: Sure. Well first, you know, when I was in Baghdad as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, you know, there were obviously gay soldiers [. . .] there were gay soldiers serving with us. You know, it's, people knew it but they didn't talk about it. The fact is that our troops, when they're - when they're in Baghdad or whether they're in Kabul, Afghanistan, they don't care whether you're gay or straight, what religion you are, what color you are, what creed you are, they care whether or not you can fire an M4 assault rifle, whether or not you can kick down a door, can you get the job done. That's the important thing, not what your orientation is.
Susan Page: Now President Obama campaigned last year during the presidential election opposing Don't Ask, Don't Tell so why not have him issue an executive order that would change this policy or lift it?
US House Rep Patrick Murphy: Sure. Well first it was an act of Congress that put this all into place, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. And it will take an act of Congress to repeal it. You know, when I was a Democrat -- and I've only been in Congress, as you know Susan, for two and a half years -- you know I used to have a hard time and I used to criticize President Bush when we would pass laws and he would have these executive signing statements that basically would say, "I know Congress passed such and such, but we're going to ignore that part of it." That's not having the proper respect for co-equal government.
And it just got worse, oh so much worse. Patrick apparently believes you're Dumb Ass Stupid and unaware that Barack's doing the same signing statements today -- most recently with regards to the IMF issue in his war supplemental. And there's something really pathetic about the approach he's pushing. I'm not talking about his shameful covering for Barry O. I'm talking about this bulls**t of, "Our national interest!" What does it remind you of because it reminds me of Bette Midler in Big Business at the big stock holder meeting saying that they're appealing to your instinct to "Save your own ass!" It's really pitching it to the lowest, basest argument around and, in doing so, it's telling you a great deal about how the American people are seen. It's disgusting.
How sad that America can't be asked to do anything for equality apparently. I do wonder what that says about how we see ourselves. And, remember, on this issue, we lag behind. We're not leaders. Is that what happens when we're not leaders, we can no longer appeal to people to do the right thing? We have to be selfish and say, "It's hurting this or that?" That's a lousy argument in reality. Now we need the best military? Now? I would assume anyone serving in the eighties or seventies would assume that they needed the best military. I appreciate that Patrick Murphy is speaking of the topic (all that's taking place is speaking -- if the House wanted to vote on this, they already would have, we'll come back to that point) but I didn't "serve with gays and lesbians in the military." I am friends with gays and lesbians and I have family members who are gays and lesbians. It's not an issue that's going to come up every few years at some military reunion for me, it's a regular part of the fabric of human life. And I'm very aware that there is a growing vocal disgust within the gay community over the way this is being presented. Fair is fair, right is right. This is the United States of America and we are all supposed to be equal. Anytime that argument isn't made -- with or without 'oh the money it costs us!', it is heard by an increasingly vocal segment of the LGBT community as, "Your life is too 'icky' for us to defend on the grounds of fairness." That's offensive. And it's all the more so when it comes from a would-be gay-leader assoicated with the campign who an actual gay rights leader refers to as "The self-loathing Bette Midler freak -- who is all for that approach -- and he apparently enjoys seeing himself as 'icky' when getting 'freaky' -- but Gay Pride long ago made self-loathing unfashionable." If you want to get serious, get serious. Playing the economy card isn't getting serious. Playing the scare people with fear ("National security!") isn't getting serious. Now you can include those reasons as part of a tapestry of reasons why the policy needs to be repealed; however, if you're not also making the fairness argument, you're being insulting -- and it doesn't matter if you're straight or gay, you are being insulting to the LGBT community. The Voices org plans to go on tour. They better their act together before they do or plan to play to just straight audiences because I knew about Murphy's appearance Monday and just intended to ignore them (I also thought -- on the same broadcast -- Julian E. Barnes made an ass out of himself -- along with demonstrating he doesn't actually know the law). But I live in the Bay Area and we don't play the Plessy v. Ferguson game with each other out there. Translation, very vocal leaders from that area are complaining and raised the issue. I listened, their complaints and valid and we will cover it.
And here's the big point. Fairness needs to be argued because it is a value. An actual value. One enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. Long after Don't Ask, Don't Tell is gone, the LGBT community and other communities will still need the fairness argument for equality. So no one -- straight, gay, bi, non-sexual, what have you -- benefits when the fairness argument is tossed aside. Is it worth it, though, in the short term, when the US could see the hideous Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed. Don't Ask, Don't Tell isn't getting repealed anytime soon.
Congress doesn't give a damn about changing this policy. This is a song-and-dance to take the heat of Barack. That's the reality. I will assume Patrick is serious about this issue. Ellen Tauscher was. But the White House doesn't want this. (And I know that from friends at the White House which is another reason we're covering this topic so strongly today.) And it's not happening short of intense pressure (the October rally in DC could apply tremendous pressure). The myth is that Barry O wants to repeal it. And that he's tasked Congress with getting a bill on his desk so he can repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The reality is that House and Senate leadership (Democratic control of both houses) would be putting it to a vote immediately if that's what Barack really wanted. He doesn't want it and the leadership is attempting to bury it. The bill's written, it's called the Military Readiness Enahncement Act of 2009. Ellen Tauscher introduced it March 3, 2009. It's July 15th. There has been no vote despite the fact that there are 161 sponsors. Now that's the House. In the Senate? Allegedly the issue will be steered by Ted Kennedy. Other than Senator Roland Burris, no one in the Senate has spoken publicly in support of changing it in the last few weeks when it's been a major topic in the press. As for Kennedy leading on it? He has other issues including his own health and promoting his upcoming book. So you have a bill that, if the House leadership was serious, they'd be voting on tomorrow. They're not. The White House doesn't want it and leadership in the House is blocking a vote. (In the Senate there is no action at all.) So, sorry, we're not gong to be silent when the LGBT community is being treated as a concern only out of fear and not out of fairness. That's a short sighted argument and it really is insulting. It wouldn't cut for Civil Rights, it wouldn't cut it for universal suffrage, it wouldn't cut it to end slavery. But someone thinks it's okay to make it the sole argument for ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell? There's an LGBT history moment the country should run from: In 2010, due to national security fears, Don't Ask, Don't Tell was finally repealed. Said Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, "I don't have to like them, I don't have to respect them and you better believe I won't let them marry! But I care about national security so even these 'pervs' get my support." (Sessions didn't say that but it's not very far from what he would say if it passed.)
In the US today, the morning began with news of violence in Iraq. An apparent attack on a police checkpoint in Ramadi, capital of Anbar Province, has resulted in multiple deaths. BBC News says it was a mini-bus bombing and that the dead number 6 with an additional seventeen injured (dead actually would number seven -- it was a 'suicide' attack). AP adds that the dead include five police officers and notes that a funeral for two other Baghdad police officers -- Hussein Qassim and Jassim Shuwaili who were killed yesterday -- took place today. Reuters notes, "Salah al-Obeidi, a doctor at the Ramadi hospital, said some of the wounded were in grave condition. He said the death toll might rise." As usual the response is 'crackdown' -- closed streets, etc. In other violence today, Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad boming "targeting pilgrims" which resulted in 10 dead and another Baghdad bombing which claimed 5 lives and left thirty-four injured.
As the violence continues, word emerges that the US may be sewing more sectarian strife. Iran's Press TV reports that US Adm Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visit to the oil-rich Kirkuk Monday was "a warning to ethnic Kurds" that they should "forget their dream of annexing Kirkuk".
Last week the US military released 5 Iranian diplomats they'd been imprisoning for over two years. CNN noted that they returned to Iran Sunday where: "They were greeted at the airport by dozens of cheering men, who placed wreaths around their necks and carried them on their shoulders from the plane to the airport building, Press TV pictures showed. Some in the crowd flashed victory signs, while others took pictures of the returning men." Today Barbara Slavin (Washington Times) reports on US State Dept talk that three of the imprisoned "were held for more than two years even though they had not been involved in anti-US activities and were functioning as diplomats at the time" and that they were held to be hostages in an effort to strong-arm "Iran to reduce its support for anti-U.S. violence in Iraq." That is what is being said and it demands an independent investigation. The US is not supposed to take hostages. Diplomats have a level of immunity that was violated when the five Iranians were held.
When Robert McNamara did the world a favor and died earlier this month, Democracy Now! aired a roundtable. Historian Marilyn Young (author of many books and recently co-editor of Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam) explained of McNamara:One of the legacies is that there is none, in a sense. The first clip that you ran, you could have run it now. About Iraq, several years ago, about Afghanistan today. It's as if it doesn't go anywhere. There is knowledge, and then it's erased in between McNamara should be kind of a morality tale. During his tenure as Secretary of Defense, he initially -- he was responsible really -- for the initial escalation. In 1964, he and Bundy gave -- '65, I'm sorry -- gave Johnson what's called "The Fork in the Road Memorandum," in which they said, "Now, we have really thought this over and we have two choices. We could increase military pressure or we could negotiate." And they strongly urged the increase of military pressure and Johnson went along with that. Not that he was, you know, I think he was a little unwilling, but that is another subject. "One of the legacies," she said, "is that there is none." If you doubt her, you've slept through the news cycle.
Gordon Lubold (Christian Science Monitor) writes that four "Advisory and Assistance Brigades" are being sent to Iraq. These are military troops. But they're "advisory" and "assistance" and not "combat" troops. (As Thomas E. Ricks has noted when fully awake, there is no pacifistic wing of the military.) Lubold is very good at repeating Defense Dept propaganda, but search in vain for any clue that Lubold is educated. Apparently, he's not. Apparently, he's one more glorified general studies major. Maybe it's past time that journalism programs were dropped if this what they produce? A history major reporting the same news today would probably be likely to note that "advisors" in Vietnam just signaled further US involvement. But Lubold's not just unqualified, he's apparently an idiot or a liar. Xinhua reports the detail he leaves out, and it's a pretty big one: "However, they will also conduct coordinated counterterrorism missions." Repeating Marilyn Young on Vietnam and McNamara, "One of the legacies is that there is none."
And there's certainly no legacy of awareness as evidenced by Thomas Friedman and his ridiculous column this morning "Goodbye Iraq, and Good Luck." Does The World Is Flat And My Ass Is Huge Thomas Friedman really think the US withdrew from Iraq? Does he think that already happened? In the bad column, he retells a joke that a Kurdish leader told Mullens and company Monday in Iraq and then plays I-know-what-the-Kurd-said-but-here's-what-I-think-he-meant. (Apparently, Thomas Friedman was too busy autographing bad books and landfills to ask the man what he meant by his joke.) In his insulting interpretation, the Kurd was stating that Iraqis love to talk and talk about their suffering (which is apparently solely the fault of Saddam Hussein -- in Thomas Friedman's mind -- and has nothing to do with a six-years-and-counting illegal war or ongoing occupation). In the joke, the suffer is making a plea for compensation and has to endure retelling everything that happened to a stranger. Strange -- or maybe not so -- that Friedman didn't interpret the joke as what the average person in Iraq has to do for even a morsel today -- prostate themselves to strangers (i.e. foreigners?) to get ahead? Unlike Friedman, Diana West (Washington Times via Jamestown Sun) is aware that the Iraq War has not ended and she notes in a column today:
The first I heard about what happened to Lt. Col. Timothy Karcher, the last U.S. commander of Sadr City who recently signed over jurisdiction to Iraqis, was from a reader. He e-mailed me about my last column, which argued that "allies" don't declare victory over each other (as Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki declared "victory" over the United States), and the sooner we realize Iraq isn't our "ally," the better. It also bemoaned the U.S. military's deference to Iraq, quoting top brass beginning with Gen. Raymond Odierno and including Lt. Col. Karcher, in their execution of what I, myself, consider a futile U.S. policy to Westernize Islamic cultures. "I appreciate your fervor and feelings about Mr. al-Maliki's comments, but I must say that your biting commentary regarding the quote from Lt. Col Karcher has driven me to reply," he wrote. "You may not be aware," he continued, "but since signing over jurisdiction to the Iraqis, Lt. Col. Karcher suffered a roadside bomb attack and lost both legs. One of his men, Sgt. Timothy David of Beaverton, Mich. -- a veteran of six tours in Iraq and Afghanistan -- was killed by a second EFP."
Timothy Karcher is at Walter Reed currently. The attack which claimed Timothy David's life took place June 28th, as West observes, "two days before Iraq's 'victory' celebration".
Turning to England where an inquiry is going into the death of 26-year-old Iraq Baha Mousa in September 2003 while in the custody of British forces. Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports:Geoff Hoon, the former Defence Secretary, could be called to give evidence at a public inquiry into illegal techniques used by British forces in Iraq to prepare detainees for interrogation. A list of witnesses has yet to be finalised and his name is not believed to be on the latest draft. Asked yesterday whether Mr Hoon would be called as a witness, however, Gerard Elias, QC, counsel to the inquiry, told The Times: "Possibly." A second lawyer said: "It may well be that an application will be made to call politicians. However, it is early days."
BBC News (link has video and text) refers to Baha Mousa's death as "a stain on the British military" and that the abuse also includes abuses such as urinating on prisoners. The abuses are in violation of the Geneva Convention and BBC reports that the inquiry says they will go as high up the chain of command as necessary. Deborah Haynes reports that the UK Ministry of Defence is stating that the abuse was the result of "a lack of trained interrogators" and a 2002 MoD memo states, " "The lack of prisoner handling and tactical questioning-trained personnel within deployed force elements risks the loss of potentially accurate, timely and life-saving information/intelligence during our fighting operations ... The less well-trained our troops are, the greater the chance that they may mishandle prisoners"
We'll close with Debra Sweet's "The Urgent Need for Decisive and Principled Leadership in the Anti-War Movement" (World Can't Wait):UNITY in the antiwar movement: SAVE these dates: Monday October 5; Saturday October 17; Friday March 19, 2010 I was among the World Can't Wait supporters attending the National Assembly to End the Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan this weekend in Pittsburgh. Read the proposal World Can't Wait brought. I'm glad to be able to say that out of the Assembly came a vote and intention to support a two-week period of mass, united actions against the occupations from October 3 - October 17, 2009. Based on support of most of the participants, a demand was added to "end war crimes, including torture." This action period includes Monday, October 5 as a mass protest and non-violent civil resistance action in Washington, at the US House offices and the White House to mark the US occupation of Afghanistan, which begun that week in 2001. The period culminates with Saturday October 17th regional and local actions against the wars. October 17 is the 40th anniversary of the famous Vietnam Moratorium in 1969 that Daniel Ellsberg referred to as so huge that it forced Richard Nixon to shelve plans to nuke Vietnam.[. . .] The arguments against March 19, 2010 were that other groups need to be consulted before what is likely the largest antiwar conference of the year decides on a date; and that working people won't take off a week day to protest. As far as I'm concerned, the antiwar movement has collapsed and urgently requires decisive, principled leadership now in order not to become completely irrelevant. So I'm saying, now that we should have the necessary discussion and planning quickly, and get on it!
deborah haynes
the christian science monitorgordon luboldmarilyn youngdemocracy now
diana westthe new york timesthomas friedman
debra sweet
Adam Levine, Debra Sweet
C.I. here filling in for Elaine who is on vacation. And we're just covering Iraq tonight. Today, Kat, Wally, Ava and I attended the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing on women veterans. It's covered in the snapshot but Adam Levine's "Veterans' facilities fall short in women's treatment standards" (CNN) does a pretty solid job so I want to note that:
The report by the Government Accountability Office found wide variation in the medical centers' facilities and programs for female veterans.
Investigators visited 18 veterans' facilities and found that basic services, like pelvic examinations, were being provided and that patients had access to female providers for gender-specific care. But the facilities were lacking in some simpler accommodations, such as the configuration of exam rooms and privacy in check-in areas.
The department says it is taking comprehensive steps to improve, including programs for primary care and mental health care for female veterans, along with having a female veterans' program manager in each of its medical facilities.
They also found that the tables were feet facing the door. The gyno table. Facing the door. Get the problem? Most people -- men and women -- would grasp it immediately; however, the VA saw no problem. It had to be pointed out to them.
Now there's a development regarding a journalist who was killed at the start of the illegal war. BBC News reports, "A Spanish court has thrown out charges against three US soldiers over the death of a Spanish journalist in Iraq." The journalist is Jose Couso. He was killed April 8, 2003 at the Palestine Hotel when the US military attacked it --despite knowing journalists were staying there. A trial was ongoing but the national court stepped in to overule the presiding judge and say the court was being tossed.
I'm rushing because there's one more speaking thing tonight and it starts in about 20 minutes so I'm just going to close with this from Debra Sweet's "The Urgent Need for Decisive and Principled Leadership in the Anti-War Movement" (World Can't Wait):
UNITY in the antiwar movement: SAVE these dates: Monday October 5; Saturday October 17; Friday March 19, 2010
I was among the World Can't Wait supporters attending the National Assembly to End the Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan this weekend in Pittsburgh. Read the proposal World Can't Wait brought. I'm glad to be able to say that out of the Assembly came a vote and intention to support a two-week period of mass, united actions against the occupations from October 3 - October 17, 2009. Based on support of most of the participants, a demand was added to "end war crimes, including torture."
This action period includes Monday, October 5 as a mass protest and non-violent civil resistance action in Washington, at the US House offices and the White House to mark the US occupation of Afghanistan, which begun that week in 2001. The period culminates with Saturday October 17th regional and local actions against the wars. October 17 is the 40th anniversary of the famous Vietnam Moratorium in 1969 that Daniel Ellsberg referred to as so huge that it forced Richard Nixon to shelve plans to nuke Vietnam.
Today's "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces a death, begging is the new 'employment opportunity' in Baghdad, Jay Garner writes the New York Times, the Senate explores problems facing women veterans, and more.
"Aloha and good morning to all of you," greeted US Senator Daniel Akaka after calling to order the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing this morning. "Welcome to this important hearing on VA's health care services for women veterans. We will be looking at programs already in the works to improve access to and the quality of care and other unique issues facing women veterans. Women veterans are the fastest growing segment of veterans. In 1988, when VA first began providing care to women, they were only 4% of the veteran population. Today the percentage of women veterans is nearing 8% and expected to rise substantially over the next two decades. So it is appropriate that we ask now, 'Is VA meeting the needs of women veterans?'" Appropriate and, as Senator Roland Burris put it, "long overdue." Last week, the Boston Globe's Bryan Bender wrote of the topic . . . by speaking to one man after another (one female veteran was also spoken to). It's always interesting when the media finally gives attention to an issue effecting women to see whether or not women are allowed to speak? Women spoke to the committee today. The hearing was broken up into two panels. The first panel was composed of the GAO's Randall B. Williamson and the Veterans Affairs Dept's Patricia Hayes. The second panel was composed of women veternas: Grace After Fire's Kayla Williams, Iraq Veteran Project Swords to Plowshares' Tia Christopher, the VFW's Jennifer Olds, American Women Veterans' Genevieve Chase and Disabled American Veterans' Joy J. Ilem.
Akaka is the Chair of the Committee, Senator Richar Burr is the Ranking Member. Burr noted, "North Carolina is no stranger to this growth. My home state ranks 6th in the total number of women veterans with just over 67,000 residing there." And we'll stay with that theme a moment to note a few basics before getting into the witness testimony. Senator Burris declared at the hearing, "Tremendous progress has been made already but I am concerned that only one-third of the veterans health facilities provide for the one-stop approach, an approach which shows the highest level of customer satisfication." By contrast, the outdated approach of the VA demands women go here, go there, go to a contracted physician while male veterans generally are able to go to one facility and have their basic primary health care needs addressed. The June 3rd snapshot covered the House Committee on Veterans Affairs committee for the hearing entitled "A National Commitment to End Veterans' Homelessness" and Vietnam Veterans of America's Marsha Four addressed the ways homelessness effects women veterans differently than male veterans and she noted "that there are very few programs in the country that are set up and designed specifically for homeless women veterans that are seperate [from male programs]. One of the problems that we've run into in a mixed gender setting is sort of two-fold. One, the women veterans do not have the opportunity to actually be in a separate group therapy environment because there are many issues that they simply will not divulge in mixed gender populations so those issues are never attended to. The other is that we believe, in a program, you need to focus on yourself and this is the time and place to do your issue, your deal. Many of the veterans too come from the streets so there's a lot of street behavior going on. S ome of the women -- and men -- but some of the women have participated in prostitution and so there's a difficult setting for any of them to actually focus on themselves without having all these other stressors come into play." At the May 21, 2008 Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Senator Patty Murray observed that in today's conflict, "Some units, including military police, are using an increased number of females to fill jobs that were traditionally held by male personnel. And because of the conflicts of today, we have no clear frontlines and women, like all of our service members, are always on the frontline -- riding on dangerous patrols, guarding pivotal check opints and witnessing the horrows of war first hand." Murray also noted that despite there being 1.7 million women veterans, for some reason "only 255,00 of those women actually use the VA health care services." Why was that? In her town halls in Washington (state), Murray found out, "Some told me they had been intimidate by the VA and viewed the VA as a male only facility. Others simply told me that they couldn't find someone to watch their kids so they could attend a counseling session or find time for other care." At that hearing, the VA's Dr. Gerald Cross objected to the bill (Murray and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's bill, S. 2799, Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008) stating that including the child care option for female veterans seeking "mental health care or other intensive health care services at the VA" would "divert funds." Senator Murray pointed out that in his own opening remarks, Cross was observing that lack of child care prevents some women from access "for mental health or other intensive services -- so you identified the lack of child care as a barrier [. . .] but you're unwilling to do anything about it?" Which was the case. And, for the record, the bill, though introduced two years in a row, has never been voted on in the full Senate. This year it has passed the Committee. July 6th of this year, Murray's office noted "that she has included $2 million to begin planning and design of a Women and Children's Center at Madigan Army Medical Center. The Women and Children's Center is necessary to provide health care and services to Fort Lewis' large and growing population of women and newborns. The facility would be the Army's first Women and Children's Center."
Staying with statistics, the VA's Patricia Hayes and the GAO's Williamson both broke down the numbers in their opening remarks.
* Over 1.8 million women veterans (as of October 2008)
* Over 102,000 are veterans of the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War
* 281,000 women veterans received some form of VA healt care in Fiscal Year 2008
* Estimated median age for male veterans 61; for women 47.
Hayes further broke down what the median age of 47 means, that female veterans "are younger and have health care needs distinct from their male counterparts. [. . .] Nearly all newly enrolled women veterans accessing VA care are under 40 and of child bearing age. This trend creates a need to shift how we provide health care. [. . .] Some women report that lack of newborn care and child care forces them to seek care elsewhere." In her written testimony, but not stated in her opening remarks, Hayes noted, "VA has identified that 37 percent of women Veterans who use VA health care have a mental health diagnosis; these rates are higher than those of male Veterans. Women Veternas also present with complex mental health needs, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), military sexual trauma (MST), and parenting and family issues." Williamson did make a passing reference to MST in his opening remarks but to round that out, this is a fact sheet on MST from NOW on PBS:
27% of men have experienced military sexual trauma 60% of women have experienced military sexual trauma 3.5% of men have experienced military sexual assault 23% of women have experienced military sexual assault 11% of women have experienced rape 1.2% of men have experienced rape Service branch with the highest percentage of women reporting sexual trauma: Marine Corps 20% of women seeking care at VA facilities have experienced sexual trauma 1% of men seeking care at VA facilities have experienced sexual trauma 8.3 percentage of women report lifetime PTSD related to MST More than half of the incidents took place at a military work site and during duty hours The majority of the offenders in these cases were military personnel Factors that increase risk of sexual assault for active duty females include presence of officers who condone or allow sexual harassment and unwanted sexual attention
For more information on the topic, the May 23, 2008 broadcast of NOW on PBS featured a report by Maria Hinojosa (produced by Karla Murthy) on MST. VETVOW is an organization that addresses MST. From today's hearing, we'll note the following exchange.
Chair Daniel Akaka: Dr. Hayes, thank you for your testimony. VA is poised to make some important changes to how care is delivered to women but in fairness, we seem to have a a bit of a disconnect between mandates and what is actually happening. I'm going to ask you a series of questions about this. First, VA has mandated that all VA medical centers appoint a full time Women Veterans Program Manager. Does every VA medical center have one in place?
Patricia Hayes: VA has reported, as you know, that there are 144 out of the 144 sites that have a full time Women Veteran Program Manager. I'm in actively now in the process of verifying that. What we do know that my office has trained -- over the last three months we held three different trainings -- we trained 142 Women Veteran Program Manager over the last three months. We think it's very important to train folks, not take these brand new folks and make sure that they know what they're doing in this plan to develop health care for women.
Chair Daniel Akaka: Dr. Hayes, hopefully you've read the testimony of the second panel. Jennifer Olds details her battle with PTSD and specifically makes a case for cognitive therapy. Congress passed a law last year requiring that these state of the art therapies be available to all veterans. I suppose this is something you need to take for the record, but are all veterans with PTSD able to receive this kind of treatment?
Patricia Hayes: You're right, Mr. Akaka, that I will have to take that specifically for the record in terms of the issues about access to PTSD treatment. I think that, you know, one of the things that was pointed out in the GAO report about where there's access, it's very important that we first ask veterans what they need and that's why it's important to hear from veterans about what their struggles are and to, I think, make sure that we're addressing what that veteran needs in terms of her care. So, for example, there's been a lot of questions about residential treatment and I think when we look at women veterans we have to be aware that, for example, women with children aren't necessarily interested in going off, leaving their children and going to a residential site. So that every time we look at what we have available, we have to make sure we have available for each veteran what she might need -- whether it's intensive outpatient or residential or these tele-health, tele-medicines. Some of our veterans have rated that as very highly successful for them to be in that type of treatment. So we will take the question for the record in terms of the exact issue of where PTSD treatment is available. But I think that it needs to be couched in asking the veteran what they need and that particular issue for this veteran who is very important.
Chair Daniel Akaka: Mr. Williams, your testimony lays out that none of the facilities reviewed had fully implemented VA's policies for women's health care. Could you determine the reasoning behind this non-compliance? Was it funding, lack of training or anything else?
Randall Williamson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's very difficult sometimes to understand the reason uh -- the area referred, for example, on privacy -- assuring privacy of women veterans. Part of its due to facilities in terms of the layout that currently exists -- in trying to convert and modify that. But also, I think part of it comes down to committment at the local level. There's no doubt, I think, that the Secretary and Dr. Hayes and oterhs at the top are very committed to implementing VA policies and improving overall health care for women. But simple things -- as we visited the facility -- simple things that are easy to do like placing exam tables so the foot is away from the door, putting sanitary products in bathrooms for women, those things are easy and if they're not being done, part of that reason may come back to is there a committment at the - at the local level to ensure these policies are done?
Chair Daniel Akaka: Several witnesses on the second panel are quite critical of VA care for women. Let's take these one by one. Do you agree, as most concerned, that some service connected women veterans are without access to VA health care. Miss Williams detailed a lack of understanding on the part of VA providers. Miss Christopher found that community care is easier to access than VA care. And Miss Chase finds that generally VA plays catch up to meet the needs of VA veterans. Dr. Hayes, what is at the root of all these issues and how can we rectify them?
Patricia Hayes: I think that what is at the root of these issues really is a system that has not been responsive to the needs of women veterans. I came a year ago and launched an initiative specifically to make VA more inclusive of women veterans, to establish primary care that meets their needs so that they don't have to come for multiple visits, to make sure we reach out to those who do not have health care -- what research has shown us over and over again is that women don't know that they have VA services but it's not good enough if we reach them but we don't have the right care when they get in our front door. So we have a very intensive effort going on which started, as you saw, last year but is rolling up August 1st with every facility giving us an implementation plan for how to fix primary care for women veterans, how to make the facilities respond to environment of care issues and to develop services going forward that will meet women veterans' needs. And I think that until we do that, until we make sure that it's right, then we begin to reach out to our women veterans and welcome them back we will have a specific initiative which we identified: the need for service connected women to get their health care. And that's the first on our list when we can be sure that there's primary care for them when they walk in the door.
Ranking Member Burr caught a discrenphancy in Patricia Hayes' written testimony and oral testimony. He noted that her written testimony asserted that every facility had a Women Veteran Program Manager but she stated in her testimony that she was in the midst of verifying that, "Which is accurate, do we have them or are you in the process of verifying them?" She stated she's verifying to ensure that it's accurate prompting Burr to ask, "How long does that take?" It shouldn't take very long at all for someone in her position. It's not as if she's going to be told, "Call back." She or her staff dials each of the 144 facilities stating Hayes needs to speak to the Women Veteran Program Manager. The reply then is either to forward her call on or explain why not and if why not is "We don't have one," the count is done right then. This shouldn't take days. It shouldn't even take a full eight hour work day. "I think," she told Burr, "that we want to make sure that the person is full time and that" they are qualified "to do that job." Well, you ask them on the phone, "Are you full time?" You also ask for a resume. And you also check to see if you did, in fact, train them since Hayes claims she's been doing three months of training. She's making this far more difficult than it is and that's either because she's not grasping the task or she's attempting to mislead the Comittee. Burr pointed out that this is a VA mandate and that "I would take for granted that listed in that dictate is 'permanent, full time,' it spells out exactly what program managers are going to do." Burr also pointed out that her written testimony said that they plan to have gynecologists on site at every facility by 2012. "Why is it," he asked, "2012 and not 2009?" She strung some words together but she didn't answer the question. And again, this isn't difficult. You start hiring. The money is in the VA's budget for these positions. You start hiring. Hayes had a lot of words and they said very little.
Senator Patty Murray: Dr. Hayes, as you know, the military currently bars women from serving in combat. We all know, however, that in today's wars there is no front line on the battlefield, we know that women are serving right along side of male colleagues and they are engaging in combat with the enemy. But unfortunately the new reality of this modern warfare isn't well understood here at home including by some in the VA. This knowlege gap obviously impacts the ability of women veterans to receive health care and disability benefits from the VA. What are you doing, Dr. Hayes, to ensure that all VA staff -- both in the VHA and in the VBA -- are aware that women are serving in combat and that they're getting the health care and benefits that they've earned?
A long string of words including that providers are trained but all the staff needs to be "we have a staff sensitivity module" -- excuse me? A sensitivity module? Murray's speaking of basic facts and how they're being imparted. Hayes is talking about sensitivity training. I'm not ridiculing sensitivity training. It exists for many reasons and is needed in the work environment. But we're not talking about that. Murray raised that the DD2 14s are not being documented and that "we have people who say, 'You weren't in combat, you're a woman.'" Hayes says it saddened her that reports of that had emerged. That reports had emerged or that it took place? Murray wanted to know if the VA was working with the Defense Dept to ensure that women veterans DD2 14s were being properly documented and Hayes referred it to a colleague who babbled on. Murray stopped her to get her back on track at which point the woman stated that maybe Congress could help them because they weren't able to note combat experience for women due to guidelines. In other words, the woman always had the answer but only offered it when pressed by Murray.
The bulk of the hearing was the first panel. Moving on to the second panel. "Women need not only more gender specific care," Tia Christopher declared in her opening remarks, "but also care that is appropriate for their needs. It is essential that women who do need inpatient treatment for PTSD, whether combat or sexual assault related, receive care in a safe treatment space. A coed environment can truly be the worst thing for a woman suffering from Military Sexual Trauma (MST) and PTSD. Just having the resources is not enough, again, the quality, quantity and accessibility of that care is vital. For those who are uncomfortable receiving treatment at a VA facility, for whatever reason, funding needs to allotted for culturally competent care within the community." Geneviever Chase testified today. She was also part of last Wednesday's Voices of Honor press conference. She's also straight because Voices of Honor is gays, lesbians and straight service members coming together to stamp out the discrimination. In her opening remarks today, she explained something many men and women in the Reserves have experienced, "The reserve soldiers I served with were discharged from active service with a five-minute out-briefing and a single sheet of paper listing websites to access for VA services. What I recall from that time was being focused on overwhelming issues like finding a job and figuring out how I was going to make it in a civilian world that had become somewhat foreign to me -- not on the service related health isseus I would face in the months to come or how I would seek care for those issues." Jennifer Olds stated she experienced a similar lack of advise and information regarding what you were qualified for and she emphasized the need to get people into the VA system immediately. Kayla Williams noted several issues in her opening remarks but we'll zoom in on this because only she touched on it in opening remarks, "Other barries may disproportionately affect women. For example, since women are more likely to be the primary caregivers of small children, they may require help getting childcare in order to attend appointments at the VA. Currently many VA facilities are not prepared to accomodate the presence of children; several friends have described having to change babies' diapers on the floors of VA hospitals because the restroom lacked changing facilities. Another friend, whose babysitter cancelled at the last minute, brought her infant and toddler to a VA appointment -- the provider told her that was 'not appropriate' and that she should not come in if she could not find childcare. Facilities in which to nurse and change babies -- as well as childcare assistance or at least patience with the presence of small children -- would ease burdens on all veterans with small children."
Senator Akaka wondered how to get the message out regarding the fact that women veterans are seeing combat. Chase noted that public testimony/sharing, standing up in front of others was one way to get the word out. Williams noted PBS' Lioness documentary being shown at VAs and Joy Ilem agreed with that. Chase stated that there are many other women "serving outside the wire in combat today" and not just the one specific team documented in Lioness. Christopher noted, "To be quite frank, trainings can be very boring. Whether you're wathcing a power point or a video or listening to someone talk. I mean -- I think for it to be truly effective there needs to be dialogue and it needs to be proactive. And I think a Q&A portion when we train for Swords to Ploughshares, we open ourselves up for questions, we actually refer to it as the uncomfortable questions panel."
Senator Murray wanted to know if the panel "found that this combat experience is reflected in DD2 14s?"
Kayla Williams: My own certainly was reflected in my DD2 14. But I was awared the service medal for my time in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And also, if it ever were to become a question, I also received army medals and the paperwork that supports that details the experiences they were earned for and the way that people can show their experience. But I know that that isn't usually the case, I was just lucky enough that that was true for me.
Genevieve Chase: We, during our -- our -- when we get our DD2 14s it's on there whether or not you served and in what theater. It also states what was your job. And I was also awarded the Combat Operation Badge. That is not an automatic award. It's not an automatic entitlement. And that's submitted by your chain of command and if it's not submitted or the paperwork is lost or doesn't go through then you don't get that as well. And it also isn't a qualifer -- a lot of people don't perceive it to mean that you were actually in combat or directly engaging the enemy. So that policy needs to be changed [. . .] to reflect that women are in fact serving in combat and they are in fact on missions outside the wire. And regardless of whether or not they're going outside the wire [. . .] when you have mortars every day and you have no idea where they're coming from, that's combat.
In Iraq today, DPA reports a protest in Falluja today of over 200 people rallying "to demand the interior ministry release the city's former police chief, Colonel Faisal Ismail, and his deputy, Eissa al-Sari, witnesses told the German Press Agency dpa." Tim Cocks (Reuters) reports that the KRG is gearing up for their July 25th parliamentary and presidential election. The Kurdish region did not take part in the January 31st elections -- the ones the media was all over for weeks and weeks and insisting they proved something. Usually, they insisted, that democracy was taking root in Iraq. So what does the silence from the US media on the upcoming Kurdish elections -- taking place in eleven days -- say? Dropping back to Sam Dagher's article Friday (click here for critique). A letter on A20 (national edition) of today's New York Times addresses the article:To the Editor:Re "Defiant Kurds Claim Oil, Gas and Territory" (front page, July 10): The Iraqi Constitution, specifically Article 140, requires a vote by referendum to resolve Iraq's disputed territories. To cast this as a "threat" is unfair. The Iraqi Kurds are simply trying to carry out the constitutionally mandated referendum.Furthermore, the Iraqi Kurds are not defying Baghdad in formulating a regional constitution; they are embracing their right to create such a document, which is allowed in the Iraqi Constitution. The Kurds, who represent the most stable and progressive element of Iraq, have made it clear that they desire to be a part of a united Iraqi nation. To allow for a responsible and phased withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, which is the stated policy of the Obama administration, several issues must first be resolved, the most important of which is that of the disputed territories. Only then will a stable and united Iraq be able to thrive. Jay Garner Erbil, Iraq, July 10, 2009 The writer, a retired lieutenant general in the Army, was director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq in 2003.
Meanwhile Campbell Robertson (New York Times) reports:
The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq's neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river is significantly smaller than it was just a few years ago. Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it is now.Why is it drying up? Global warming no doubt impacts as it does everywhere. Robertson doesn't raise that. In addition, neighbors Syria and Turkey grab from the same water supply and have several dams set up. In addition, the infrastructure in Iraq was allowed to decay and was further damaged during the illegal war. In the first year of the illegal war, the paper was writing about the Tigris and the problems with it. Today's problems aren't surprising. And the US bears a larger responsibility for it than the Robertson's article is willing to acknowledge. He's also unwilling to acknowledge how little the US has done. And on what others are planning, we'll just assume he's unaware.Last month, UNICEF, now back in Baghdad, declared the start of a new water and sanitation project that would service an estimated 100,000 Iraqis and is funded with by the European Community (at an estimated cost of $10 million in US dollars).As the river dries, Iraqis lose another water supply -- already a huge, huge problem in a country where potable water has become a thing of the past. The lack of potable water and the start of summer means that the cholera outbreaks are just around the corner. Last year, a UN doctor shamefully blamed Iraqi women for the cholera outbreak. Disgracefully blamed Iraqi women -- who already suffer enough and require no additional burdens 'gifted' to them. Cholera outbreaks take place because there is no potable water. Boiling the water is a safety measure; however, it depends upon having the gas or electricity with which to boil water and it depends upon having access to a stove or other device you can boil water on. Fixing Iraq's sewer and water systems would address the issue. Providing potable water would address the issue. Iraq brought in a ton of money in 2008. Where did it go? It's one of the richest countries in the world when you grasp that it has a population of approximately 30 million (a generous estimate considering the number killed during this war and the number of external refugees). Last year's revenues more than doubled the population. So where is that money?That's a question that will be asked after the US finally withdraws, whenever that is. The item below is from [PDF format warning] the US State Dept's Iraq report for July 1, 2009 (and you can also find news on the UNICEF item in that).Villages determined to be at high risk for cholera received four solar powered water purification units. The units were provided by the PRT at the request of provincial health authorities as part of an anti-cholera campaign. Villagers will be instructed in unit operations and repairs.
And the river dries up as Jenan Hussein (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on the poverty, "Beggars have become as visible as blast walls and checkpoints in Iraqi cities. Government ministries don't have reliable statistics, partly because those who beg fear official crackdowns on their only livelihood. It's a problem the government has yet to tackle." This happens as the Oil Ministry brags it has "acheived (59.1000) million barrels with (3.378) billion dollars incomes with daily average of (4.400) barrels per day for May and the raise was (686) million dollars. In comparison with April which achieved (54.700) million barrels with (2.692) billion dollars incomes."
Sunday US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill was dangerously close to a roadside bombing.
Mike Tharp and Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) report on attempts to determine the target of a roadside bombing Sunday, "U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the incident is under investigation, stressed Monday that they didn't know whether the bomb was intended to target American Ambassador Christopher Hill. Investigators' arrival on the scene has been delayed by severe sandstorms, one official said." They also quote a PRT head in Dhi Qar Province who asks, "How can you tell foreign investors to come here, when for the first time the ambassador comes and sits down to listen to people and their ideas and you (attempt to) blow him up? These elements are few, but it is now up to Iraqi forces to go get them." The fact that a government investigation is taking place into the bombing makes it all the more shocking that yesterday's State Dept briefing did not even acknowledge the bombing (not Ian Kelly, not the reporters in attendance).
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing which left ten people injured at an internet cafe and a Mosul roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 police officer and left three more wounded.
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an attack on a Sahwa checkpoint in Baghdad in which 2 police officers were killed and a third was kidnapped, 2 civilians shot dead in Mosul and 1 woman shot dead in a Mosul home invasion.
Last night, the US military announced: "BAGHDAD – A Multi-National Division–Baghdad Soldier died the afternoon of July 13 due to a medical condition. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The names of deceased service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense Official Website at http://www.defenselink.mil/ . The announcements are made on the Website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. MND-B will not release any additional details prior to notification of next of kin and official release by the DoD." The announcement brings the total number of US service members killed in the illegal war since it started to 4323.
Meanwhile, Bob Woodruff (ABC News' The World Newser) blogged yesterday:
Entering from the North, we landed in Kirkuk but because of the sand, we could not even feed our video. I'm officially inside Iraq for the first time since I was hit and nearly killed by an IED near here 3 and a half years ago. For a long time I had been hoping to return to Iraq. Once the sand settles we will be able to see if and how Iraq has changed.
Woodruff was supposed to do his first report from Iraq (since being injured there) last night on ABC's World News Tonight; however, the sandstorms delayed it and now it's not happening. In January 2006, Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas were co-anchors of ABC's World News Tonight and he was wounded in roadside bombing in Iraq which required extensive recovery work. This is his first time back in Iraq since that bombing. Many journalists have been wounded in the Iraq War and the Iraq War is the deadliest for journalists with at least 225 killed since the start of the illegal war (we count "media workers" as journalists -- they are anywhere, but especially in a war zone and note that the June 1st death isn't included in Reporters Without Borders count so we're saying "at least"). The journalists most at risk have been Iraqi journalist (and one of the "brain drains" not written of at length re: Iraq is the large number of Iraqi journalists who have fled the country in the last six years). Foreign journalists have also risked a great deal. Along with CBS News' Kimberly Dozier, Woodruff is the most high profile US journalist wounded in the Iraq War. And NBC News' David Bloom was killed in Iraq April 6, 2003. Richard Huff (New York Daily News) explains, "Woodruff endured a year of rehab and wasn't seen on TV until ABC aired a special on his recovery a year later. [Cameraman Doug] vogt, who injuries were not as serious as Woodruff's, still works as a cameran for ABC News."
On ABC's Good Morning America today, Bob Woodruff explained he was already enroute to Afghanistan. Chris Cumo (The World Newser -- link has text and video) wrote up his on air exchange with Woodruff. Excerpt:
Chris Cuomo: Was it important to you just to be back on the ground in Iraq, and say that I've made it back?
Bob Woodruff: Part of me is really sad by it. Certainly, it's a very emotional time. But, you know, I think that the hope is, the dream is, that I will go back there -- maybe soon, maybe a month later, maybe a year from now. But I do want to go back. I really wish this had not happened, that the sandstorm had not stopped us. I wanted to come back and -- we're not able to see much of anything. But we know that the danger zone, that the violence is way down. There's a lot more hope that this country will return.
bryan benderboston globe
mcclatchy newspaperswarren p. strobelmike tharp
jenan hussein
the new york timescampbell robertsonjay garner
bob woodruffabc newsthe new york daily newsrichard huff
US military announces another death
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9. Kelly, David, Melbourne, Ian, (2014), "Smooth approximations of stochastic differential equations", Submitted, : . Cited by:
10. Santitissadeekorn, Naratip, Jones, Christopher, (2015), "Two stage filtering for joint state-parameter estimation", Monthly Weather Review, 143: pg: 2028-2042, . Cited by:
11. Santitissadeekorn, Naratip, Jones, Christopher, (2015), "A bimodality trap in model projections", Chaos, 25: pg: 036412, . Cited by:
12. Jones, C.K.R.T, Maultsby, B., (2015), "A dynamical approach to phytoplankton blooms", Discrete and Cointinuous Dynamical Systems, submitted: . Cited by:
13. Meylan, M. H., Yiew, L. J., Bennetts, L. G., French, B. J., Thomas, G. T., (2015), "Surge motion of an ice floe in waves: comparison of theoretical and experimental models", Annals of Glaciology, 56, 69: pg: 107-111, (DOI: 10.3189/2015AoG69A646). Cited by:
14. Bennetts, L. G., O'Farrell, S., Uotila, P., Squire, V. A., (2015), "An idealised wave-ice interaction model without subgrid spatial or temporal discretisations", Annals of Glaciology, 56, 69: pg: 258--262, (DOI: 10.3189/2015AoG69A599). Cited by:
15. Skene, D. M., Bennetts, L. G., Meylan, M. H., Toffoli, A., (2015), "Modelling water wave overwash of a thin floating plate", Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 777: pg: R3
16. Montiel, F., Squire, V. A., Bennetts, L. G., (2015), "Reflection and transmission of ocean wave spectra by a band of randomly distributed ice floes", Annals of Glaciology, 69: pg: 315-322
17. Bennetts, L. G., Alberello, A., Meylan, M. H., Cavaliere, C., Babanin, A. V., Toffoli, A., (2015), "An idealised experimental model of ocean surface wave transmission by an ice floe", arXiv.org:1502.07010, submitted: . Cited by:
18. Meylan, M. H., Bennetts, L. G., Alberello, A., Cavaliere, C., Toffoli, A., (2015), "Experimental and theoretical models of wave-induced flexure of a sea ice floe", Physics of Fluids, 27: pg: 041704, (DOI: 10.1063/1.4916573). Cited by:
19. Bennetts, L. G., Williams, T. D., (2015), "Water wave transmission by an array of floating disks", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A, 471, 2014069:
20. Bennetts, L. G., Peter, M. A., Chung, H., (2015), "Absence of localisation in ocean wave interactions with a rough seabed in intermediate water depth", Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics, 1: pg: 97-113
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Tag Archives: tribalism
Anthropology, Native America, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, Uncategorized
Indigenism and Native Revivalism (2018)
August 7, 2018 Jay Moody Leave a comment
The middle of the twentieth century saw an upsurge in Native Revivalism in western countries. Although exploration of ancient Western religious traditions had existed in Europe and America since at least the 17th century, it was mostly practiced by eccentrics in secrecy and never had the wider popular appeal we see today.
With the ‘back to nature’ trend sensationalized by the 1960’s Flower-Power generation many doors were opened in the realm of altered-native religion. Many hippies, realizing the difficulty of being accepted within Native American communities began a quest for connections with their own roots religion, leading them into exploring occult practices which over time progressed into the modern cultural revivalist movement.
Primarily, there are three wings within this movement. I name them as such; Paganism, Heathenism and Indigenism. On the surface, they all share many similar qualities, but represent three very different attitudes and beliefs concerning roots religion.
This subcategory is the most common in the West and represents some of the most freeform and New Age spiritual ideas. In this group we have modern witchcraft, Wicca, the Faerie traditions and eclecticism. Typically the primary political interests of Pagans in general are those concerning freedom of religion issues, gender rights and ecological concerns.
Heathenism
Heathens are more geared toward recreating or revival of older and usually extinct religions. In this category are groups such as Asatru, Imbas and other reconstructionist organizations. Politically, heathens are often concerned with preservation of indigenous European cultural traditions, historical sites and language. Generally speaking it’s also very important for Heathens to distinguish themselves from the more popular Wicca-oriented Paganism.
Indigenism
Indigenists represent living indigenous traditions of the world. These are usually people somehow connected to a traditional native or aboriginal community. This subgroup can easily stretch a bit to include communities such as the Vodoun, true Roots Rastafarians the Basques and certain Irish and Welsh communities of Europe. Indigenists are politically tend to be involved with Native sovereignty struggles, land claims issues, ecological activism and cooperative communities.
Many individuals in the movement for Native Revivalism somewhat begrudgingly accept being labeled as a ‘pagan,’ though inside they feel more drawn to heathenry’s reconstructionist goals. This yearning for an authentic connection to their indigenousness coupled with the goals of building and maintaining cooperative communities based on this separates them from the vast majority of the revivalists. But it is when all these values become strongly aligned with and guided by the concerns and struggles of indigenous people in the world that they truly become Indigenists.
Indigenism is a little known term because in North America most Indigenists are Native American or “Native Hearts.” Few if any people that are not directly involved in indigenous rights movements have ever even heard of the term. There are many dynamics and complexities involved in this philosophy. Indigenism is a spiritual perspective wrapped in a socio-political movement.
The socio-political dynamics of Indigenism and its relationship to Aboriginal people of the world is the driving force behind the movement today. This is perhaps the most rational and revolutionary perspective in circulation today for the manner in which it flies in the face of both global Capitalism and Marxism, confronting colonialism and imperialism from both camps in many parts of the world.
Spiritual Purpose
When we take notice of the similarities between Indigenous religions we are often prone to question from whence they came. Was there an original religion? The question has in many ways been a significantly motivating factor in a lot of my earlier religious pursuits. It makes for a great approach with solid, steady footsteps. It can also represent a sort of red herring. The answer to the ‘real’ question here just may be more in the modern Indigenist movement rather than in a quest for the ‘original religion.’
A particular Indigenist view on the origin of religion is such; that there is in fact only one Truth, one reality. This Truth or reality is essentially the “Sacred Mystery,” the “Great Spirit,” or the “Creator.” The ‘Creator’s’ reality is and has always been (to the indigenous) interpreted to us through our geography, ecology and community. In essence, the creator’s ‘words’ are interpreted to us by the Earth or regional ‘divinities’. Through the regional variations (or nature’s dialect) concerning the manifestation of these ‘truths’ and from our communities’ organization in coping with them we established our traditions and our religions. This accounts for the similarities as well as the differences in indigenous religion.
Example; we must have water to survive. Water is sacred. This is a common theme in most religions. But there is a very different practical and therefore spiritual perspective regarding the type of emphasis placed on water by desert peoples than by tropical islanders or swamp-dwellers (in most cases) even though the basic thematic construct is the same. Naturally, this paradigm carries over into even deeper realms of religion.
Indigenist religion is as much about physical and social action as it is about faith and philosophy. And the truth it follows is the unobtainable truth that must be pursued continually through our lives. The ‘Red Road’ doesn’t really have an end to it. It is a way of life, not just a belief system. If one gives up the pursuit, one effectively gives up the path. You put your arrows down, leave the wild hunt, succumb to stagnation and lose all the ground you’ve gained, resorting to crude methods to deal with a sophisticated life. This is why it is the ‘Way OF enlightenment’ not the ‘Way TO enlightenment.’
Political Purpose
Indigenism in America is heavily influenced by the work of The American Indian Movement, Russell Means, John Trudell, The Zapatistas, and to a lesser degree Che Guevara brought “back to the fire” (as Creeks say). It is centered on ‘tribal’ communities and around Native struggles from the Americas to Africa, Scotland, Russia, Japan, Hawaii and anywhere else the Indigenous are oppressed, disenfranchised, or dispossessed.
The Indigenist perspective stresses social decolonization, and localism rather than assimilation and globalism as a means to our survival as a species. Differences between culture and religion are to be respected because the Creator gave us different cultures and religions the same way we were given different landscapes. Indigenism stresses more self-sufficient communities, ecologically sound commerce, and gentler kind of warfare. These ideas also cut deeply into national boundaries, especially those of a colonial nature.
Importance of Indigenism
In the old days survival and self reliance was of the utmost importance to our ancestors. And in a way this should still be a core concept in our religion today. We never really know when we may be separated from the ‘tribe,’ when we may become lost in the forest, stranded on an island or a survivor of a major cataclysmic event. If an individual’s core philosophy and ‘religion’ is based on survivalist concerns and his relationship to his environment, he’ll be more prepared to face his obstacles with the heart of a warrior rather than the ass of a couch potato. Couple this with an indigenous commitment to your community and you have the foundations of true indigenous religion, the heart of the ‘original’ religion – ‘paganism’ at its core.
Indigenism is a practical philosophy and way of life respecting human nature and its response to the modern world. It is not a utopian dream. It’s not for everybody; it’s for indigenous people and those with indigenous spirits. Colonial people and their respective governments will have conflicts with this perspective, being that there is too little emphasis on control of the individual and of the land. But this is our way of life. This is our faith. And this is what motivates us to act. We live as natural people gifted with our own freedom and ingenuity, keeping our roots as firm as our branches and remaining One.
(Originally written and published in 2005, now revised for 2018)
anthropologycultureheathenismmysticismNative Americanpaganismtribalism
Anthropology, Holidays, Irish/Celtic, Native America, Religion & Spirituality, Uncategorized
June 22, 2017 Jay Moody Leave a comment
Midsummer is a traditional holiday celebrated throughout many of the world’s cultures, with ancient origins. It is the celebration of the summer solstice, an important astronomical date on the annual cycle. It is celebrated on or near the 21st of June. In many Celtic communities it is commonly celebrated on June 24th.
Due to its connection with the agricultural cycle, Midsummer is most often celebrated on the 21st of June by modern Heathens and neo-pagans as one of the eight sabbats. In Revival Druidry it is called Alban Heruin and is one of the four high holidays.
The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, with the sun at its strongest, therefore Midsummer represents the triumph of light over darkness. The solar hero born at Yule and celebrated as the child of light is now at his peak. He overthrows the oppressive king of winter and takes his rightful place upon the throne of the earth. Just as in our time today, in ancient days marriages often occurred at Midsummer.
As an agricultural holiday, in many parts of the world this is the earliest time that a harvest can be made since the springtime sowing; therefore it is a festival of first fruits. Traditional Midsummer rites are often centered on bonfires. New fires would be kindled and offerings of flowers were made to them. In many communities an effigy of a person would be burned in the bonfire. Similarly to Beltane, cattle would be driven through the smoke of the fires as a means of blessing, protecting and enhancing the livelihood of the tribe and community. Torches were lit from central bonfires and carried home where the hearth was lit. Participants would dance around these fires and tend them throughout the night. This all-night affair was commonly called “the watch,” and it was an integral part of the festivities. Near the early morning when he fires had died down some, some of the revelers would jump over the flames for good luck and to encourage the crops to grow.
Midsummer Bonfire in Freiburg im Breisgau
Similar traditions are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Native American communities such as the Creeks, Seminoles, Cherokee, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and many others of the Eastern Woodland traditions celebrate the Green Corn rite: the new fire ceremony, the New Year, the greatest fast culminating in the first feast of the year.
At this time in the environment, the wild flora is also at its peak, especially of the medicinal variety, so this holiday also has a focus on gathering and honoring medicine. Blackberries and wild plums are also ripening, making for natural symbols of this season. On the Muskogee calendar, June is Kvco Hvse or “Blackberry Sun.”
In many Germanic countries the Maypole is celebrated at Midsummer. In some communities the Maypole was left up from Beltane and burned at Midsummer. Midsummer is the height of the spiritual year. Medicine is strongest at this time. Spirits of nature and of the ancestors, both good and malevolent are very active on a Midsummer’s night which inspired one of Shakespear’s most classic works; A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
AmericaanthropologyCelticcultureheathenismIrishmysticismNative AmericanpaganismScottishtribalism
Anthropology, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, Uncategorized, Venues/Bars/Restaurants
The Tavern: Bedrock of Western Civilization
November 23, 2014 Jay Moody Leave a comment
The tavern is an intrinsic feature of Western society. Contrary to the reputation commonly associated with drinking establishments as dens of debauchery, locations inappropriate to delve into subjects of religion or politics, the whole of Western civilization in fact owes much of it existence to the local pub. The roots of this tradition run back through the centuries and helped bring Europe out of the dark ages toward the Age of Enlightenment.
Ancient Roots
The historic progenitor of the bar or nightclub in the West is the Germanic and Nordic mead hall, popular especially during the European Dark Ages. Originating in the Germanic and European longhouses, from around the fifth century onward the mead hall was the primary residence of the king or chief and his theigns or other retainers. Often the most well fortified structure in the Anglo-Saxon village, the mead hall served a similar purpose as did the keep in later medieval cities. As the preeminent building of the Dark Age kingdom, the mead hall hosted the stately ceremonies and celebrations of the community.
The mead hall played such an important part in the religious and mythological system of Western Europe that even the gods lived in halls much resembling those of the people. In Norse mythology Valhalla is Odin’s hall and home of half of the valiant dead while the other half resided in Freyja’s hall Sessrúmnir. Much of the epic poem Beowulf takes place in the mead hall named Heorot where a lot of ceremony and merry making goes on. Such examples are the basis of the Sumbel, multiple rounds of ceremonial toasting still performed today by those whom practice indigenous Germanic religions.
A Viking era styled longhouse/mead hall
The Medieval Era
As Western Europe became steadily more Christianized, amongst the aristocratic classes the Germanic mead hall along with its social and ceremonial focus was transformed into the banquet hall. But amongst the working classes and the poor, the social and ceremonial significance of the mead hall was transferred to the taverns and workhouses. In fact the word tavern is derived from the Latin taberna which was a workhouse or retail center for craftsmen as well as an apartment style lodging, housing freedmen and travelers. This is the origin of the public house or pub that is so common in Western Europe and her colonial nations.
Throughout the medieval period the public houses or taverns became centers for lodging travelers and merchants. They became the central gathering points of craftsmen seeking safety from bandits and highwaymen and thereby became the focus of trade meetings. It was within these taverns that the medieval guilds were established whereby craftsmen and artisans could share and protect the secrets of their trade such as architecture, glassmaking and other crafts. For this reason taverns and lodges became the few places in the intellectually oppressive medieval European society where freedom of speech, especially of a religious, philosophical and political nature could be exercised and protected, if only clandestinely.
There should be no wonder that during the Enlightenment era of European society that the tavern or lodge is where Freemasonry and other secretive societies emerged from the shadows. Freemasonry is the inheritor of the European architectural guilds transformed into a philosophical society complete with ancient rituals and respect for religious and political diversity. The four primary lodges upon which modern Freemasonry is established originally met at four respective taverns; the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse in London in St. Paul’s Churchyard, the Apple Tree Tavern, the Crown Alehouse, and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern.
In 1716 these four lodges gathered at London’s Apple-Tree Tavern where the first pro Tempore Grand Lodge was established, the eldest Master Mason was instituted as Grandmaster and an agreement was made to hold annual meetings amongst themselves to formalize and regularize the Craft. The following year; June 24, 1717 the four lodges met at London’s Goose and Gridiron Alehouse where the Grand Master was elected and the founding of the first regular Grand Lodge of Freemasonry was finalized.
Like Freemasonry briefly before it representatives from all over England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Brittany met at the Apple Tree Tavern on September 22, 1717 to form the Revivalist Druid order An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas (The British Circle of the Universal Bond).
The ancient tradition of the Tavern acting as meeting house for gathering warriors, the discussion of philosophy and politics continued in the American colonies. In the absence of a national media the Tavern was the primary place where early Americans heard the news and discussed their political opinions. The Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, like the Apple Tree Tavern before it was used by multiple groups and organizations. The St. Georges Society, a charitable organization devoted to assisting newly arriving poor Englishmen to the colonies was established here in 1720.
Hailed as the birthplace of American Freemasonry, in 1732 St. John’s Lodge No. 1 of the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple was established in the Tun Tavern. And like the St. George Society before, in 1747 the St. Andrew’s Society was founded here as another charitable organization, this time assisting newly arriving Scottish immigrants.
In 1756 Benjamin Franklin used the Tun Tavern as a recruiting station for the Pennsylvania Militia. In 1768 the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in the Tun Tavern’s Long Room where its officers continued to meet until 1770. This same Tun Tavern Long Room was also used by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson for the meeting house of the Continental Congress and as the recruiting station for the Continental Marines, now known as the United States Marine Corps.
Fraunces Tavern in New York played a central role in the organizing of the American Revolutionary War. The Son’s of Liberty used this tavern as a meeting place to discuss their revolutionary activities. In 1774 Fraunces Tavern hosted a tea party much like the Boston Tea Party before it, in which the patriots dressed as Indians and dumped British tea into New York harbor. And in 1776 the New York Provincial Congress met at Fraunces Tavern.
According to the Memoirs of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge; at the end of the Revolutionary War on December 4, 1783, Fraunces Tavern hosted George Washington’s victory banquet in the Long Room where this iconic general said farewell to his officers as he resigned his post in order to insure that the newly established United States did not become a military dictatorship. After the ratification of the United States Constitution, Fraunces Tavern was used to house the departments of the Treasury, War and Foreign Affairs.
Bars, pubs and taverns are the traditional establishments where the freedom to speak one’s mind and offer challenging and revolutionary ideas has been protected. Concepts like liberty, republicanism, democracy and rebellion emerged from these establishments throughout the centuries. The United States’ First Amendment freedoms owe their existence to freethinkers exercising their philosophical muscles over a pint of beer or a glass of wine. From its roots as a tribal ceremonial house to its later adaptations as a place of revolutionary thought and activism, the tavern has been the lifeblood of Western civilization.
anthropologybarsCelticcultureFolkFreemasonryIrish Pubmysticismtribalism
Anthropology, Books, Politics, Uncategorized
Ishmael, An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit: Book Review
Quinn, Daniel (1992) Ishmael, An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit, New York: Bantam/Turner Books
Daniel Quinn’s award winning novel Ishmael is a compelling exposition of the author’s social and political perspective through the eyes of a gorilla. The essential theme upon which the book is written is one that lays the blame of all our modern political and environmental perils squarely on the shoulders of the Neolithic agricultural revolution. The author’s reasoning is that agriculture is the beginning of human exploitation of the earth, other species and cultures. Quinn further asserts that the world’s modern industrial agricultural society is unsustainable and destined to disaster. With these two premises established Quinn’s argument next follows that if the human race and the earth are to survive for much longer, industrial society will have to transform itself into a less exploitative culture. Ishmael has inspired an entire cult following of neotribalists desirous of bringing Quinn’s vision of a post-industrial society established on low impact kin based communities to life.
From its very first page Ishmael swiftly moves forward with a sense of purpose and profundity. As the story opens Quinn describes the unnamed narrator’s disgust at reading an ad in the personals section of the newspaper: “TEACHER seeks student. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.” The narrator expresses his sense of disillusionment at this presumptuous author whom he figures is just another charlatan marketing a worn out fashion statement as a social and spiritual revolution. This opening acts as a hook that catches the reader by the sensation of a social revolutionary disillusioned from the experiences of one flaccid effort after another, never truly offering or accomplishing anything substantially alternative to the status quo. Although skeptical of this self-appointed guru, our unnamed narrator still decides to investigate the charlatan he’s sure he’ll meet. Surprisingly, the guru is not a man at all, but a gorilla named Ishmael capable of deep philosophical thought and communication. The lesson he seeks to impart is an accounting of the collision course upon which he sees the human race and that which he believes is the remedy for it.
The blurring of reality and absurdity is implicit in the author’s narrative bringing to life the remarkably believable character of Ishmael. The author’s deep use of metaphor begins at the title of the book and the gorilla’s name. Ishmael stands as a representative, a spokesman of sorts for the natural order of the earth, flora and fauna. While the gorilla had lived in a menagerie he began to became self aware and learned to recognize a certain sound as referring to him; Goliath. The name is strongly indicative of the manner in which gorillas, great apes, wild animals and the natural world is typically viewed by modern humans; a degraded, threatening, crude philistine to be conquered by our heroic civilization. But when Mr. Sokolow upon encountering the animal announces to him “You are not Goliath,” he is making a profound statement about his rejecting the greater society’s perception of the world. This statement is further expounded by the name which Mr. Sokolow instead chooses to bestow upon him. Transformed from the image of the hulk which tormented the Israelites Goliath is renamed Ishmael; the disinherited son of Abraham who through no fault of his own was cast out from the Israelite race, deemed as little more than “a wild ass of a man.”
Ishmael explains that all of the modern nations of the world whether England, Russia or China are descendants of these exploitative agriculturalists whom he designates Takers. Takers are acting out a myth that places them at the top of creation as the owners of the earth. A different myth is being acted out by the few societies who exist in distant tribes and bands still living similarly to the pre-agricultural Mesolithic hunters and gatherers whom he designates Leavers. Leavers do not see themselves as the masters of the earth, but as part of it. A society is always governed by a mythic theme and the difference between these two myths could not be more different. The reason Ishmael says that all our social and political revolutions have failed to stop our eventual demise is because they have all failed to reject the Taker myth and simultaneously embrace the Leaver myth.
Ishmael explains that Nazi Germany was the inevitable result of the Taker’s myth being acted out and that this myth is still being acted out through the entire civilized world’s perception of, and behavior toward the natural environment. With the gorilla as instructor we are taught that the human race broke away from a sort of mystical interspecies ecological brotherhood, setting their selves and the world on a collision course to destruction by setting themselves up as gods who know the difference between good and evil, with the power to decide who should live and who should die. Ishmael, the gorilla even uses the Genesis creation story as an example of a misinterpreted and incorrectly practiced narrative that has served to misalign the human race with the earth. The biblical fall in the garden, according to our gorilla mentor is really a story by which our pre-agricultural pastoralist contemporaries illustrated this severing from the natural order. Once humans settled down and cultivated enough food to support a growing population they became warlike and expansive.
While generally well thought out and reasonable in his approach, there are several points in Ishmael’s interpretation of events that must be questioned. He characterizes the farmers as the culture that victimizes the herding people’s and extinguishes all the other species, including the predators in their environment while completely exonerating herders for the destruction they also cause in the world. Many forests have also been destroyed in order to create pasture land to feed the herds. And there is after all a reason western folklore has always depicted the wolf as the antagonist of the shepherd. Aside from this and a few other bits of artistic license taken by the author, Ishmael is a engaging book that stimulates deep reflection on our relationship with the earth now and throughout history. To describe the course of our eventual demise Ishmael uses the image of a primitive, non-aerodynamic plane on its test flight plummeting toward the earth while the pilot looks down at the ground rushing up at him and says “well, it’s gotten me this far, no sense abandoning it now.”
Though classified as a novel, the majority of Ishmael takes the form of a dialogue between the unnamed narrator and the gorilla guru. The message Ishmael hopes to impart to the world is that the human race’s only hope in continuing to survive lies in rejecting the myth of the Takers and embracing the myth of the Leavers. The novel ends on somber tone, but one that imparts a motivating hopefulness and a sense of urgency. Ishmael is an excellent book which should be read by everyone looking for real alternatives to the modern political and ecological turmoil engulfing the world. We’re an inventive species. It’s time to invent.
anthropologybooksevolutionphilosophyreasontribalismtribeszoology
Anthropology, Religion & Spirituality, Uncategorized
Rastafari, Zion and a Religious Irony
August 25, 2014 Jay Moody Leave a comment
Rastafarian Flag
Fans of Reggae music understand how intimately tied it is to the Rastafarian movement from which it was born. Rastafari is a religion, a philosophy, a way of life and a social movement. Depending on whom you ask regarding the nature of Rasta, you’ll get a different combination of these basic premises.
Rastafari emerged from the poor black communities of Jamaica in the 1930s. The roots of the ideology lie heavily in the collective experience of slavery and Marcus Garvey’s back to Africa movement. The poor religious people in the shanty towns of Jamaica may not have known much about world history, but they understood the Old Testament stories referring to Egypt and Ethiopia were taking place in Africa; that mystical homeland that legend had endowed with mythic stature.
In 1930 an Ethiopian nobleman Ras Tafari was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, taking the name Haile Selassie I, the “Conquering Lion of Judah.” A small group of Jamaican faithful saw this as the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Revelation 5:5.
One of the elders said to me, “Don not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”
Immediately a religion converged exalting Selassie as the second coming of Jah (God), and the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. They called themselves Rastafarians, taking the Emperor’s pre-coronation name.
Rastafarians adopted the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox epic, the Kebra Negast as a scripture. This book explains how the Ethiopian people are descended from the Israelites. The story depicts the courtship of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba who, according to the text had a son named Menelik. Menelik was raised in Ethiopia with his mother. After visiting his father Solomon in Israel once, Menelik returned to Ethiopia with a population of Israelites under the protection of the Ark of the Covenant which they brought with them. For these reasons Rastafarians consider themselves to be the true Israelites and Ethiopia to be the true Zion, rather than Israel; the Zion of Judaism and Western Christianity.
For the past several hundred years in Ethiopia there lived a community of black African Jews called Beta Israel, isolated from the greater influence of Rabbinic Judaism. Rastas pointed to this community as evidence supporting their legend of an Ethiopian Zion. After Salassie I visited Jamaica in 1960 waves of Rastas began immigrating to Ethiopia where they founded Shashemene Village. The lost Israelites had begun their repatriation to Zion.
An ironic twist in this epic came in 1970 when the nation of Israel enacted the Law of Return, giving Jews and Jewish descendants the right to immigrate to Israel and gain Israeli citizenship. The Beta Israel quickly sought their right to return to their traditional homeland. During the 1980s civil war broke out in Ethiopia and famine struck the nation, threatening the Beta Israel community’s survival. In 1984 in an effort to rescue the exiled Jews, the government of Israel executed Operation Moses; evacuating thousands of Beta Israel and repatriated them to Israel. In 1991, Israel’s Operation Solomon brought the remaining Beta Israel to Israel. The entire Beta Israel community, numbering 120,000 people now lives in Israel. The lost Israelites have returned to Zion.
AfricaanthropologycultureJamaicaJudaismrastareggaetribalismzion
Anthropology, Native America, Uncategorized
Native Tribalism In The Twenty-First Century
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries “Family Values” have been at the forefront of many a politician’s rhetoric in the United States. Though these social servants may think that they mean well, in truth they often have done and do more to hinder family values than they do to help. Indigenous family values have been steadily attacked for the greater span of history, often by the goals and aims of the capitalist mainstream of American and Western society through the colonial process. It is through this process of colonialism and the perpetuation of the values inherent in this philosophy of conquest and assimilation that has brought the plague of impoverished, powerless families in crises to the world. Indigenous peoples in general have always been the primary targets of these acts of aggression against family values, and since the close of the fifteenth century, Native Americans have been the victims of this war on the family. As an Indian and a Stomp Dancer at a traditional ceremonial grounds I have some close ties to this subject as I have witnessed first hand some of the destructive policies of the government in these matters which have long standing and far reaching consequences for people of all races.
Traditionally Native Americans have lived in social organizations that anthropologists and sociologists have called bands and tribes. As Andre Cherlin points out;
Before the twentieth century, kinship ties provided the basis for governing most American Indian tribes. A person’s household was linked to a larger group of relatives who might be a branch of a matrilineal or patrilineal clan [→p38] that shared power with other clans. Thus kinship organization was also political organization. Under these circumstances, extended kinship ties reflected power and status to a much greater extent than among other racial ethnic groups in the United States. American Indian kinship systems allowed individuals to have more relatives, than did Western European kinship systems (Shoemaker, 1991). Even today, extended family ties retain a significance for American Indians that goes beyond the sharing of resources that has been noted among other groups (Harjo,1993). Kinship networks constitute tribal organization; kinship ties confer an identity.[1]
Vine Deloria Jr., renowned Native American author and former Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians develops the idea further into more practical detail;
Indian tribes have always had two basic internal strengths, which can also be seen in corporations: customs and clans. Tribes are not simply composed of Indians. They are highly organized as clans, within which variations of tribal traditions and customs govern. While the tribe makes decisions on general affairs, clans handle specific problems. Trivia is thus kept out of tribal affairs by referring it to clan solutions.
Customs rise as clans rise to meet problems and solve them. They overflow from the clan into general tribal usage as their capability and validity are recognized. Thus a custom can spread from a minor clan to the tribe as a whole and prove to be a significant basis for tribal behavior. In the same manner, methods and techniques found useful in one phase of corporate existence can become standard operating procedure for an entire corporation.[2]
However, this tribal structure has never suited the palate of Western colonialism which seeks to consolidate its power and authority over national as well as individual resources. The socialistic and communal nature of Native tribalism in America is in exact opposition to the nuclear family oriented and discriminating values of Western colonialism.
After four hundred years of struggling against the effects of colonialism; disease, wars and genocide the last free Indians in North America were forced onto reservations in1886 when Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua Apaches surrendered at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona. As soon as the federal government was convinced they had rounded up all the Indians, they forced Native communities to be defined by a set standard of perceived genetics in an attempt to undermine the integrity of the Indian tribal structure. By applying blood standards to Native Identity the federal government alienated and further factionalized Native families and communities which were often genetically mixed, while also limiting their contemporary as well as future claims to Indigenous identity and sovereignty. Ward Churchill, professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder says;
In clinging insistently to a variation of eugenics formulation — dubbed “blood-quantum” – ushered in by the 1887 General Allotment Act, while implementing such policies as the Federal Indian Relocation Program (1956-1982), the government has set the stage for a “statistical extermination” of the indigenous population within its borders. As the noted western historian, Patricia Nelson Limerick, has observed: “Set the blood-quantum at one quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed…and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will finally be freed from its persistent ‘Indian Problem’.”[3]
Though portrayed as a means of preserving tribal identity and interests, the blood quantum standards of the General Allotment Act have in fact only served to undermine tribal integrity.
Today tribal membership is determined on quite a legalistic basis, which is foreign to the accustomed tribal way of determining its constituency. The property interests of descendants of the original enrollees or allotees have become determining factors in compiling tribal membership rolls. People of small Indian blood quantum or those descended from people who were tribal members a century ago, are thus included on the tribal membership roll. Tribes can no longer form and reform on sociological, religious, or cultural bases. They are restricted in membership by federal officials responsible for administering trust properties who demand that the rights of every person be respected and whether or not that person presently appears in an active and recognized role in the tribal community. Indian tribal membership today is a fiction created by the federal government, not a creation of the Indian people themselves.[4]
Throughout the years that followed, interaction between the United States government and Native peoples the federal policy has been one of either complete destruction or dissolution of the tribal structure. Less than half a century after the last Indian wars the United States government began investigating ways to rid themselves of the impoverished, unified family-based communities surviving off of federal commodities, hopefully this time, without having to shoot anybody.
In 1947, in order to save funds and gain stronger control over tribal reservation lands, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Zimmerman was pressured to classify Indian Tribes into categories between those tribes that could be immediately terminated from federal service and those tribes who will require a decade or more of intensified programs of development in order to reach a level of assimilation to function within white society. In 1950 the House Internal Committee based their survey of Indians on The Domesday Survey of 1086 as the model for their investigation on Indian affairs and economic assets. The Domesday Survey was William the Conqueror’s survey of his recently conquered British territory and subjects nearly a thousand years earlier. The committee’s intention was to expedite the assimilation of Native Americans and the dissolution of their tribal structure, the indigenous family value. The following years between 1954 –1968 were full of Congressional cases of tribal termination.[5]
Native American communities have continuously been treated more as conquered prisoners to be assimilated rather than American citizens effectively trivializing them as human beings. While federal policy has tended to always be aimed toward unraveling the tribal structure in order to dissolve Native sovereignty all together, the media and non-indigenous society typically portray Indians in historical romance rather than in contemporary settings; showing Natives dealing with our modern day colonialism. This lack of accurate portrayal of Natives has served to keep the general populace ignorant and uninformed regarding much of the truth regarding Native America. Churchill again brings the issue into focus by explaining;
Nothing, perhaps, is more emblematic of Hollywood’s visual pageantry than scenes of Plains Indian warriors astride their galloping ponies, many of them trailing a flowing headdress in the wind, thundering into battle against the blue-coated troops of the United States. By, now more than 500 feature films and half again as many television productions have included representations of this sort. We have been served such fare along with the tipi, the buffalo hunt, the attack upon the wagon train and the ambush of the stage coach, until they have become so indelibly imprinted upon the American consciousness as to be synonymous with Indians as a whole (to nonindians at any rate and, to many native people as well).
It’s not the technical inaccuracies in such representations that are the most problematic, although these are usually many and often extreme. Rather, it is the fact that the period embodied in such depictions spans the barely three decades running from 1850 to 1880, the interval of warfare between the various plains people and the ever encroaching soldiers and settlers of the United States. There is no “before” to the story and there is no “after.” Cinematic Indians have no history before Euroamericans come along to momentarily imbue them with it, and then, mysteriously, they seem to pass out of existence altogether.”[6]
It is for these reasons that both of the United States ethnic majorities, both black and white tend to misunderstand, misrepresent, not care or consider issues of native sovereignty and the integrity of the tribal structure to be a joke. As far as most Americans are concerned Native tribalism and sovereignty does little more than stimulate the imagination. The most support and understanding or sympathizing with Native family struggles outside of Native America arises in the Mexican and Latino population who tend to feel some kinship with Indians. Native political concerns do not translate well across ethnic boundaries. Unlike issues between black and white, which tend to be focused on integration, equal opportunity and employment, few ethnic groups in the United States can identify with modern conflicts over Reservation sovereignty, treaty violations, the right to ethnic self-identification and to maintain self-governance. As Deloria explains it;
The closest parallel that we find in history to the present conditions of Indians is the Diaspora of the Jews following the destruction of the Temple … The Indian exile is in a sense more drastic. The people often live less than a hundred miles away from their traditional homelands; yet in the relative complexities of reservation and urban life, they might be two-thousand or more years apart. It’s not simply a special separation that has occurred but a temporal one as well.[7]
In less than five hundred years once powerful and highly specialized family oriented nations were reduced to ‘fourth world’ poverty .
NATIVE AMERICANS, or American Indians, suffer some of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment among racial minority groups in the United States, and conditions are even worse on Native American reservations. In 1989, 27.2 percent of Native American families lived below the poverty level while 10 percent of all American families fell into this category (U.S Bureau of the Census 1990a, Table 112). The 1989 Native American family median income was $21,619, only 67 percent of the average family median income for the total U.S. population (ibid). Census Bureau estimates of Native American unemployment rates across selected reservations in 1990 vary from 14 percent to 44 percent (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1990b, Summary Tape File 3c). The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports even higher unemployment rates for these areas, estimating rates as high as 70 percent for some reservations (Stuart 1987). Both series place reservation unemployment rates far above average rates for other races or regions.[8]
Indian tribes have been located to lands, splintered, relocated to other places and then relocated again whenever they begin to show a little too much organizational and political aptitude or when valuable resources are found on tribal lands. Native Americans are continually losing their cultures and identity through tribal dissolution and general neglect of our current political and social obstacles by the media. The loss of land and sovereignty is continuing to cripple the societies and render the individuals as little more than impoverished peoples and blood quantum standards encourage factionalism and disintegration by forcing mixed blood cousins off of tribal rolls.
The poor treatment and misrepresentation of social issues of Indigenous peoples by the colonial governments and their respective media sets a bad precedent for other nations. When the world’s Indigenous peoples are oppressed and maltreated on the land that is rightfully their own then the individuals within the colonial society themselves are subject to similar or worse treatment by their own governments. When a people whose historic and ethnic, social and religious claim to a land is undermined and effectively nullified, no one can expect to have land rights or social and religious freedom without government interference.
Native American tribalism has been an issue of trivia for western society for the past five hundred years. The colonial structure has shunned it and counterculturalists have imitated it in their defiance of their corporate culture yet, this is perhaps the most misunderstood, misrepresented and misconstrued aspect of “Indianess.” The Tribal structure of Indigenous people is the backbone of human culture from its roots to its leaves, but oddly enough this truest aspect of human nature has been enduring a wholesale eradication in the name of progress. The most unfortunate aspect of this dilemma just may be the total alienation of westernized society from its indigenous roots, its true family nature.
It would do Western societies good to pay heed to indigenous ideas and views. The world’s nations will likely never come to any justice in social reform if they do not reconsider their modern colonial perspective and come to grips with their indigenous roots.
[1] Cherlin, Adrew J., Public and Private Families, McGraw-Hill Higher Education Publishing, 2005, pg 22
[2] Deloria Jr, Vine, Custer Died For Your Sins, Macmillian Publishing, New York, 1988, pg 232
[3] Churchill, Ward, Indians Are Us, Culture and Genocide in Native North America, Common Courage Press, 1994, pg 42
[4] Deloria Jr, Vine, God Is Red, a Native View of Religion, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, 1994 pg 243
[5] Deloria Jr, Vine, Custer Died For Your Sins, Macmillian Publishing, New York, 1988, pg 60
[6] Churchill, Ward, Acts of Rebellion, the Ward Churchill Reader, Routledge, New York, 2003, pg 186
[7] Deloria Jr, Vine, God Is Red, a Native View of Religion, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, pg 249
[8] Geib, Elizabeth Zahrt, Do Reservation Native Americans Vote with Their Feet? A Re-examination of Native American Migration, 1985-1990 – Focus on Economic Sociology American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The, Oct, 2001
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Have something to share? Email info@nbjc.org to submit ideas for the NBJC E-Digest.
"Brother Outsider: Linking Racial Justice and the LGBT Equality Movement"
NBJC Hosts first LGBT-Themed CBC Issue Forum
Critically-acclaimed film PARIAH Screens in Conjunction with OUT on the Hill
Black Lesbians United Retreat
Register Today for OUT on the Hill
APPLY for HRC's HBCU LGBT Leadership & Career Summit
Md. anti-marriage-equality advocates continue with claim marriage is not a civil right
Gay Rights Linked to the Civil Rights Movement?
Influential Head of Gay Rights Lobby Resigns
A Call to Raise Awareness and End Violence Against Transgender Women of Color
Black Church's Protest of FAIR Education Act Typifies Hypocrisy
A Transgender Sister in Christ
A Breakdown of Gay Marriage Support by Religion
Black, Gay, And Jewish: I've Become A Jew!
HIV Portfolio Needed for Black Gay Men That's Rooted in Social Justice
McInerney Murder Case: Mistrial
Is marriage for white people?
Half of Pennsylvanians Favor Marriage Equality
Gay Marriage Battle Heats Up in North Carolina -- and Gets Personal
After celebrating Labor Day, remember ENDA
Discharged for Being Gay, Many Seek to Re-enlist
Ready for the D.A.D.T. Talk?
Military prepares for 'don't ask, don't tell' to end
Tammy Baldwin Announces Senate Run In Wisconsin
VIDEO: 'The Game' Says There are 'Several' Closeted Rappers, Tells them to 'Be Gay and Proud'
Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. NBJC's mission is to end racism and homophobia.
Greetings! We hope you can feel all of our excitement here at NBJC.
We’re just a few days out from the official end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discriminatory law that prohibited gay and lesbian servicemembers from serving openly and honestly in the military. NBJC, in concert with many other organizations, has worked hard to abolish this practice, and on September 20, 2011, it will become a matter of history.
We are 11 days out from the OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit and we are ecstatic about the overwhelmingly positive feedback that we’ve received. We’d love for each of you to experience the beauty and synergy of organizing, learning and fellowshipping with other Black LGBT activists in our Nation’s Capitol. Please Register TODAY!
Click below for the latest OUT on the Hill schedule of events.
NBJC has a solid team leading us into OUT on the Hill. The team consists of Executive Director - Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks; Executive Assistant - MarQuis Fair; Communications/Media Consultant - Katina Parker; Senior Fellow - Rodney Nickens, Jr.; and Operations/Logistics Manager - Nikki Hadder. We are even more thankful to have Stacey R. Long, Esq., Federal Legislative Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, overseeing the OUT on the Hill Issue Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill.
Additionally, OUT on the Hill is supported by countless dedicated volunteers and allies. We thank you, one and all.
Lastly and with utmost affection, we bid a fond farewell to Dr. Sylvia Rhue, a veteran LGBT activist whose life passion has included courageously challenging homophobia in Black churches. Sylvia served NBJC with honor for more than five years and was one of the founding Board members prior to joining the staff team. She ended her tenure with NBJC on June 30, 2011. Sylvia has moved on to pursue new directions and activities, including writing a book and a one-woman show. She will still be active in pursuing total equality for LGBT people and staying in touch with her friends and colleagues in the struggle. Sylvia will be missed, and we wish her all the best.
LGBT Congressional Staff Association Briefing
Tuesday, September 20, 2011; 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) - Orientation Theatre (South)
1st Street SE and East Capitol Street NE
Washington D.C., DC 20515
The discussion will cover homophobia and transphobia in Black America, cultural barriers to coming out, African American LGBT media images, LGBT legislation in Congress, and more.
The moderator is Robert Traynham, Washington DC Bureau Chief, Roll Call TV, The Comcast Network. Panelists include Sonia Alleyne, Editorial Director, Black Enterprise; LZ Granderson, ESPN, CNN; Hilary Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington DC Bureau; Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC); George Walker, VP of Leadership Initiatives Victory Fund, Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute; Kylar Broadus, Associate Professor, Lincoln University; and Courtney Snowden, The Raben Group. This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, email Twaun.Samuel@mail.house.gov
NBJC Hosts LGBT-Themed
CBCF Issue Forum
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Issue Forum
Friday, September 23, 2011; 9:00am - 11:50am
801 Mt. Vernon Place, NW
Washington Convention Center
From Civil Rights to LGBT Equality: African Americans and the LGBT Community at the Intersection - With the increased visibility of notable Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) personalities and more Black youth coming out every day, African American communities must rise to meet the challenge of confronting homophobia and transphobia. From bullying in schools to employment discrimination, from boys who wear pink to anti-gay preachers, from startling HIV rates to welcoming Black churches, this issue forum will generate provocative discussion about the ever-evolving Black family from an LGBT/Ally perspective. Confirmed panelists include Cheryl Kilodavis, author of the Princess Boy and proud parent to a 6-year old boy who wears pink dresses, as well as Sirdeaner Walker, mother of Carl Walker-Hoover, who committed suicide at the age of 11 because he was being bullied at school.
Sponsored by: NBJC & the National Education Association
The National Black Justice Coalition in partnership with the DC Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs will host a screening of the critically-acclaimed coming-out story Pariah on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 7pm, Regal Gallery Place, 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC.
A rousing success at its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, this deeply felt human drama is the feature debut of writer/director Dee Rees. Adepero Oduye portrays Alike (pronounced “ah-lee-kay”), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. A gifted student, Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the support of her best friend Laura (Pernell Walker), she is especially eager to find a girlfriend. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity. Spike Lee is among the feature’s executive producers.
To view the trailer click here: http://focusfeatures.com/pariah
http://blacklesbiansunited.org/overview.html
The BLU retreat is an opportunity for women of African Descent to celebrate, build community, and share good times with women who love women. In the last two years, over 300 women descended upon our 120-acre private wooded retreat in the hills of Malibu to make magic.
With registration, you will receive your BLU ALL-ACCESS PASS, which provides access to ALL retreat activities, events and workshops, including:
The Opening Ceremony, live performances, workshops and games, Afrikan dance and drumming lessons, BLU Flag Football Game and BBQ, wealth building, Black Lesbian Film Fest, Club BLU Give-Aways, and More!
Register Today for OUT on the Hill (Sept. 20-25; Washington, DC)
Please join NBJC for the Second Annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, September 20-25, 2011. This unique gathering convenes the nation’s preeminent Black LGBT activists, thought leaders, elected officials, faith leaders and youth to participate in social action on the national stage to demonstrate that all politics are local. We will educate the Obama Administration, Congressional leaders, and federal agencies on the public policy concerns of Black LGBT people and our families.
This year’s convening features the first-ever LGBT-themed CBCF Issue Forum entitled From Civil Rights to LGBT Equality: African Americans and the LGBT Community at the Intersection, a White House Issue Briefing with the Obama Administration, and several opportunities to network with Congressional leaders as well as OUT on the Hill delegates.
The OUT on the Hill registration fee covers a full basic registration for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference (CBCF-ALC). As a result, participants will have the opportunity to add their voices and perspectives to the issue forums addressing the critical challenges facing Black communities. This high-profile gathering brings thousands of African American policy makers, organizers, and concerned citizens to our nation’s capital every year.
We hope to see you on September 20th!
What: HBCU LGBT Leadership and Career Summit
When: October 27 - 30, 2011
Where: Human Rights Campaign
1640 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Who: HBCU LGBT Student Leaders
Those interested must have their applications submitted by September 12, 2011. To submit your application go to www.hrc.org/hbcu or contact Lauren Waters at lauren.waters@hrc.org or 202-572-8937.
An effective group of LGBT HBCU student leaders committed
to developing their personal leadership and career skills
A potent group of HBCU LGBT student leaders to advocate
for LGBT equality and social justice issues on campus and in
their communities
A powerful group of leaders poised to bring their whole
selves to the workplace
See yourself as a leader and social change agent
building a social justice movement and building the
LGBT and African American communities
Understand how discrimination affects you and
learn how to lead resourcefully through the
intersections of race, religion, gender identity, class,
and sexual orientation
Develop a higher skill set regarding breaking
through the internalized voices of oppression that
inhibit your leadership and career goals
Gain the skills needed to navigate your career as an
out LGBT African American leader
Increase your awareness of your unique approach to
Stand in your vision (individual and collective) as
passionate, genuine leaders
Leave feeling empowered and ready to lead
- AmericanIndependent.com
Sharon Lettman-Hicks, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a self-described “Black LGBT civil rights organization,” told The American Independent that the black-centric argument against legalizing gay marriage is no argument at all. “This conversation is getting old,” she said. “At the end of the day, one part of [same-sex-marriage] opponents’ campaign is a manipulation of words [that] trumps history. … Civil rights little ‘c,’ little ‘r’ belongs to everyone in the United States.”
- TheRoot.com
The Rev. W. Wiley, a Washington, D.C., pastor and doctor, is arguing that gay rights are linked to the black community's struggle for civil rights, according to BET. The argument stems from a project he is working on called "Gays Are Us" for the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress. He plans to use his understanding of the civil rights movement as the backdrop for the project.
- Pam’s House Blend
Joe Solmonese, head of the Human Rights Campaign, the influential gay rights group at the forefront of debate over same-sex marriage and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, recently announced his resignation. Solmonese will depart at the end of his contract in March 2012. After seven years, he said he wants to try something new but plans to remain political.
One Day Our Change Will Come: A Call to Raise Awareness and End Violence Against Transgender Women of Color
- HuffingtonPost.com
Each day, transgender women of color, like Camila and Lashai, are tragic yet shining examples of those whose lives were brutally cut short due to senseless acts of violence. Sadly, our society continues to turn a blind eye to the transgender community. As I reflect on the lives of Camila and Lashai, I feel compelled to ask the question, how long? How long must we wait for a change to come? How long must other transgender women of color, like myself, be subjected to the hands of hate, the vestige of violence, and the devastating effects of discrimination?
Black Church’s Protest of FAIR Education Act Typifies Hypocrisy
- Atlanta Post
Last week pastor Xavier Thompson of Southern Missionary Baptist Church met with other members of the Los Angeles-area clergy to pray and protest the FAIR Education Act (Senate Bill 48), which was signed into law in July by California governor Jerry Brown. The law ensures that California public schools will include the historical contributions of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people in the social science curriculum.
- Huffington Post
"Pastor, I need to know if I'm welcome in this church!" It was with these words, blurted out as she ambled across the threshold of my office doorway, that I was first introduced to Sami (not her real name), a person who was in the process of transitioning from male to female. The words barely out of her mouth, Sami plopped down on the edge of the couch adjacent to my desk and launched into her story.
-TheAtlanticWire.com
Unsurprisingly, about seven in 10 of those who aren't affiliated with any religion or who are affiliated with one other than Christianity support same-sex marriage. What is surprising is that a slim majority of Catholics and a similar-size majority of white mainline Protestants support gay marriage too. In contrast, 60 percent of black Protestants and 76 percent of white evangelicals are against its legalization.
Black, Gay, And Jewish: I’ve Become A Jew!
-Jewcy.com
"Throughout the conversion process the community aspect of Judaism was always the largest pill to swallow. Since I had refused to set foot back into my Baptist church at twelve-years-old I’ve been on a spiritual and religious path. When I found Judaism last March I knew that I found what I was looking for."
- BlackVoiceNews.com
(NNPA) The theme of this year's National HIV Prevention Conference (NHPC) could not be more timely: "The Urgency of Now: Reduce Incidence. Improve Access. Promote Equity" is a clarion call to action in the wake of the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HIV surveillance report, released on Aug. 3, 2011.
- Advocate.com
A judge has declared a mistrial in the two-month-long case against 17-year-old Brandon McInerney, who shot gay teenager Lawrence King twice in the head in February 2008. The jury couldn't decide whether to convict McInerney as an adult of first-degree murder, with hate crime charges, or of voluntary manslaughter. The former charge would have netted McInerney at least 53 years in prison, the latter only about 20.
- Salon.com
Over the past century, the institution of marriage has undergone a tremendous transformation in America -- especially when it comes to African Americans. Over the last half century, marriage rates in the black community have dwindled. Black women are more than three times as likely as white women to remain unmarried for their entire lives, and when they do marry they're more likely than any other group to marry men with lower incomes, and less education, than their own.
“The poll shows about a third (33 percent) strongly favor a constitutional amendment that would allow homosexual couples to get married and about another sixth (17 percent), said they would somewhat favor a constitutional amendment to legalize same-sex marriage,” according to the Daily Review.
"I take it personally because I like to think of myself as one of the good guys, someone who works hard, pays his taxes, stays out of trouble and tries to get along with others because everyone benefits in the end. Who wouldn't take it personally if your relationship was called "perverted" by local church leaders and politicians? They even claim that legally recognizing my relationship will cause their own marriages to collapse! In my more magnanimous moments, I have often thought that if only these conservatives knew me and my partner, they wouldn't say such things. But they don't know us and they don't care; they care only about imposing their political and religious agenda on everyone in North Carolina."
- Pridesource.com
We have jobs. We lead industries but still it remains legal in 29 states to discriminate based on sexual orientation and in 35 states to do so based on gender identity or expression. That's right. LGBT people face serious discrimination in employment, including being fired, being denied a promotion, and experiencing harassment on the job. And just like advances in the workplace led to greater civil rights in our communities, this bias in the work place helps perpetuate discrimination and homophobia.
- NYTimes.com
Bleu Copas was discharged from the Army under the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy in 2006. Now 35, he is thinking of learning yet another language but fears that he is too old to return to service.
- NewYorker.com
How do you talk about not telling, or not having told? On September 20th, gays and lesbians will be allowed to serve actively in the military. That won’t be a problem for our armed forces—it can only make it stronger, as people who are willing and able to protect us are no longer kept from doing so. But it will present gays and lesbians already in the military—and there are plenty—with some choices. Stars and Stripes interviewed service members about how and whether they’d go about telling others in their units, once they could without sanction.
- MiamiHerald.com
At Fort Jackson, it's Capt. Guy Allsup's job to ensure that recruits in Charlie Company now realize a soldier is a soldier: gay or straight. On Monday, the 29-year-old Charlotte Country Day graduate walked 231 nervous basic training recruits through scenarios. Soldiers won't be asked their sexual orientation. After Sept. 20, they won't be kicked out of the armed services simply for acknowledging they are gay. Hand-holding and other forms of public affection on base won't be tolerated. That goes for a guy and girl, or a guy and a guy.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is jumping into the race for U.S. Senate, running for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl. Baldwin is the only openly gay woman in Congress. If she wins her race in 2012, she will become the first openly gay person to serve in the U.S. Senate.
"I don’t have a problem with gay people. Like, Beyoncé should’ve said, ‘Who run the world? Gays,’ because they’re everywhere and rightfully so. Do you. It’s a free country. Be gay, you can do that...Game don’t have a problem with gay people. Game has problem with people who are pretending not to be gay."
--The Game
Turns out there are parents in the news who do the right thing. Jennifer and John of Ohio have a transgender 10-year-old child, and they support Jackie's decision to live life as a girl. Since she was 18-months-old, "it was always dancing, dress-up, " says her mother Jennifer. Jackie loved the color pink and wearing ballerina outfits. She wanted sparkles and pretty shoes.
NBJC News is distributed by the National Black Justice Coalition.
For more information, please visit www.NBJC.org.
Protect The Voting Rights Act
Minority Mental Health Month
June 2017 E-Digest: HBCU Impact!
Spring/Summer E-Digest: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Civil Rights Act
End of Summer Edition
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Crotchet midprice IDRIS MUHAMMAD
POWER OF SOUL
Idris Muhammad - drums, Grover Washington Jr. - soprano/tenor saxophone, Bob James - keyboards, Gary King - bass, Joe Beck - guitar, Ralph MacDonald - percussion, Randy Brecker - trumpet/flugelhorn.
Tracks 1&3 March 14, 1974. Tracks 2&4 March 1, 1974. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios.
CTI Master Series 505171 2
1. Power Of Soul
2. Piece Of Mind
3. The Saddest Thing
4. Loran's Dance
This album marked Idris Muhammad's debut as a leader and is described in the liner notes as " an album that should have received warmer accolades and become a classic." I would whole-heartedly agree with this summation and add that it will certainly be one of my favourite re-releases this year.
The players on this disc might be termed a "super" band. Most of the musicians heard here were on the way to becoming stars in their own spheres. Muhammad himself had played for such Broadway shows as "Hair" and had, by this time, become the house drummer for the Prestige record label. Subsequently he worked with the likes of Roberta Flack, Pharoah Sanders, George Coleman and David Murray and has become one of the most respected and in demand drummers in the business. Grover Washington Jr. at this point in time had recorded his first few hit albums on the Motown label and his career was to go from strength to strength until he became one of the few Jazz stars to achieve the type of popularity only experienced by artistes on the more commercial side of the industry. Joe Beck on guitar had already worked with Charles Lloyd, Eric Clapton and Chico Hamilton and went on to a successful career as a funk artist as well as producing and arranging for such as major performers as Frank Sinatra and Gloria Gaynor. Randy Brecker has become one of the most ubiquitous trumpet players in Jazz and Bob James is synonymous with the best of composition, production and arranging in the so called "Smooth Jazz" idiom as well as being a superb pianist.
The four tracks are all very strong. "The Power Of Soul" by J. Hendrix is a hard driving piece and features some powerful tenor playing from Grover. The rhythm section is particularly tight and forceful on this selection.
"Piece Of Mind" is a sophisticated Bob James arrangement with soprano and trumpet making the theme statement. Grover's saxophone solo is one of those free flowing expositions which were to become almost a trade mark in later years - I have always felt that he was one of the most under-rated of performers on this particular instrument. Brecker's trumpet takes over with a beautiful clarity of tone and concise ideas.
"The Saddest Thing " is a well crafted tune by Joe Beck and once again contains some great soprano playing by Washington. James and Brecker also make thoughtful and telling contributions. Grover wrote "Loran's Dance" and plays tenor here. The tune is funky and laid back, one of the high spots being Beck's wonderfully controlled guitar outing.
Idris Muhammad's influence is obvious throughout this disc - he leads, accompanies and encourages all at the same time.
Dick Stafford
D.S. is a professional reed player and teacher living in Coventry.
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CCF welcomes new Auditor General
ccf January 29, 2017 Media, Press Release
The Citizens’ Constitutional Forum welcomes the appointment of Mr. Ajay Nand as the new Auditor General.
The appointment has been long overdue and essential for a government that has been propagating the virtues of good governance practices at national, regional and international levels. CCF is thankful to the Constitutional Offices Commission for finally making an appointment to this important constitutional position.
CCF also wishes to acknowledge the work carried out by the former Auditor General Mr. Tevita Bainivanua from 2006 to 2013. The role of the Auditor General comes with a plethora of challenges in terms of ensuring the government officials, politicians and statutory institutions are held to account in every financial year. However, the CCF is confident that Mr. Nand would be able to execute his duties to the best of his expertise.
Ever since its establishment, the CCF has been advocating on good governance practices by governments and this includes the tabling of the Auditor General‘s Report in Parliament and implementation of the recommendations highlighted in the Report.
Through our Open Budget Survey, CCF has established that the Office of the Auditor General have published the audit reports only up to 2013. On the other hand, the Parliament of Fiji website has published Auditor General’s Report of Government Commercial Companies, Statutory Authorities and Municipal Councils. It is the constitutional rights of every Fijians to know whether public sector agencies have used public funds for the purposes they have been appropriated and in accordance with legislations and financial management regulations or whether there have been cases of mismanagement or ineptitude that has to be addressed.
CCF looks forward to the tabling of the Auditor General’s Report from 2014 to 2016 in Parliament after scrutiny from the Public Accounts Committee in a timely fashion.
For further information please contact CCF Communications Officer Mr. Gregory Ravoi via media1@ccf.org.fj or call 330 8379.
Auditor General CCF Fiji
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Vietnam veteran warm and comfortable in new home
When you’ve enjoyed not having a house payment for 30 years, you’ll put up with some inconveniences.
For Larry and Brenda Woods of Swanzey, a ceiling panel crashing onto their kitchen floor was one too many.
“I was watching the football game when I heard a plunk, and I look, and a panel of the ceiling came down,” says Larry. “I went to pick it up and it fell apart.”
“I said, ‘That’s it. We’re out of here.’ ”
The 40-year-old manufactured home had seen good times. It cost about $7,000 new, and the Woods paid it off in 10 years. They added a bedroom, a den and a shed in the back while raising a son and daughter there.
By 2011, those better days were gone. “I would never have people come over because of the house,” Brenda says. “It was in such bad condition, I was embarrassed.”
The roof leaked through several layers of patches. The kitchen ceiling sagged so much that the cabinet doors wouldn’t close. The floor was rotting. The town’s building inspector said the weight of a new roof would buckle the walls.
The couple briefly considered getting a home on a small plot of land and even qualified for a bank mortgage, but Pine Grove MHP had been their home since 1971, shortly after Larry returned from Vietnam. When they decided to stay put, Brenda was surprised to learn that the same bank wouldn’t finance a replacement manufactured home.
“I thought the market had changed,” she says.
The Woods knew they had another option. The previous year, Larry had co-signed a home loan from the Community Loan Fund so their son could buy the house next to theirs. They applied for their own loan and were approved on Brenda’s birthday.
Three months later, on July 2, they moved into their brand-new energy-efficient home. “It’s awesome. I still have moments when I can’t believe it,” says Brenda.
She and Larry beam when showing off their new home: A carpeted living room with ceiling fan, generous kitchen, eight-foot ceilings, windows that glide and tilt out, and what Brenda calls their “bed-and-breakfast” bedroom. They have a TV room for the grandkids, a den for Larry’s model train layout, and even a guest bathroom.
The Woods say they joked throughout their first winter in the new home: “Look at the ceiling, it’s falling in.” In their old house, Larry says, “That was the norm.”
The new norm is weather that stays outside and heat that stays inside. They’re paying a lot less both for heat and electricity. And Larry, who battles lymphoma as a result of chemical exposure in the military, shouldn’t have to shovel the roof for many winters to come.
This article was originally published in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s 2012 annual report.
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Harvard Study: Israeli Startup’s AI Tech Reduces Medical Errors, Can Save Millions
By Simona Shemer, NoCamels January 06, 2020
A hospital corridor. Illustrative. Deposit Photos
An AI-based patient safety solution developed by Israeli medical tech startup MedAware identified over 10,000 potential medical errors and adverse drug events, with an accuracy rate of over 90 percent, according to a new study co-authored by Harvard researchers.
The study, published last month by the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, analyzed MedAware’s machine learning-enabled clinical decision support platform, designed to prevent medication-related errors, at the outpatient clinics of Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. The system flagged 10,668 potential errors and adverse drug events in retrospect on 373,992 patients.
SEE ALSO: OurCrowd Launches New $50M Fund Focused On Disruptive Medical Tech
The study found that 92 percent of warnings generated by MedAware were accurate based on the data available, and 72.7 percent of those warnings were considered “clinically valid.” In addition, 68.2 percent of the warnings would not have been flagged by existing decision support systems, according to the findings.
MedAware said that the implementation of the technology at those hospitals translated to savings of some $1.3 million during the study’s duration. If one takes into account the average number of outpatient visits in the US annually, this translates to a potential cost savings of $800 million and prevention of over 13 million medication errors, MedAware argued.
An illustrative photo of a person writing in a medical chart. Deposit Photos
“This study shows that MedAware’s system performed well in identifying important medication-related errors in the ambulatory setting, and that implementing it could result in substantial cost savings,” said Dr. David Bates, a study co-author, Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Center for Patient Safety Research & Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“MedAware’s application enables systems to catch errors they didn’t know they had and which would not have been caught using existing systems—these can be very serious and have major consequences,” said Dr. Bates.
Indeed, medical errors are very dangerous. In a widely circulated study published in 2016 by the Maryland-based John Hopkins School of Medicine, researchers argued that medical error was the third-leading cause of death in the United States (after heart disease and cancer). According to the study, more than 250,000 deaths per year in the US are due to medical mistakes. The findings have been disputed and a different study published in 2019 found that the number of deaths per annum due to adverse effects of medical treatment (AEMT) including adverse drug events, medication-related errors, and medical misadventures (accidental treatment or dosage, for example) may be up to 80 times lower.
Dr. Gidi Stein
These errors are also very costly and can amount to over $20 billion per year in wasteful spending in the United States, says Dr. Gidi Stein, a practicing physician who is also CEO and co-founder of MedAware.
Dr. Stein founded MedAware in 2012 with Tuvik Beker, to detect and minimize catatrosphic medication errors and transform patient safety standards through sophisticated tech.
“When you consider that this study took place in two of the safest, most advanced outpatient clinics in the US, and there was still a positive ROI due to errors prevented, you can understand how implementing MedAware’s technology across the healthcare system has the potential to save the healthcare system hundreds of millions of dollars in outpatient settings alone,” Dr. Stein tells NoCamels.
Dr. Ronen Rozenblum, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and director of business development for the Center for Patient Safety Research & Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital was the lead author of the study. He said that MedAware “offers both measurable improvement in patient safety and significant potential cost savings to hospitals at a time when healthcare systems must find every opportunity to drive efficiencies from a financial perspective.”
“Because it is not rule-based, MedAware represents a paradigm shift in medication-related risk mitigation and an innovative approach to improving patient safety,” added Dr. Bates.
MedAware’s clinical impact in Israel
MedAware’s technology is already at work in Israeli hospitals like Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer Hospital and Assuta Ashdod Medical Center. MedAware is fully integrated into the electronic medical records system and the physician’s workflow, explains Dr. Stein.
Prescriptions deviating greatly from the spectrum of standard treatment patterns are flagged as potential errors, with high specificity and low alert fatigue. Alerts are displayed at the point of prescribing but also asynchronously, following a change in the patient’s status that might render one of the active medications dangerous to the patient.
Sheba Medical Center’s hospitalization building. Courtesy
The system covers 40 percent of the Israeli population (inpatients and outpatients), according to Dr. Stein.
“MedAware saves its users an estimated $5.5 – $8.5 dollars for each dollar spent. These savings, which over the course of time become significant, are also applicable to the Israeli market,” he adds.
SEE ALSO: Sheba Medical Center Partners With Tele-Medicine Startup For At-Home Cancer Patient Monitoring
MedAware and Sheba Medical Center published research last summer that also validated the clinical impact of the company’s platform. The findings were published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) in a study entitled, “Reducing drug prescription errors and adverse drug events by application of a probabilistic, machine-learning based clinical decision support system in an inpatient setting.”
In the study, led by Dr. Gadi Segal, head of internal medicine at Sheba, physicians analyzed results in a single medical ward after a hospital-wide live implementation of MedAware into the center’s existing electronic medical record system. The platform monitored all medical prescriptions over 16 months, with the department’s staff assessing alerts for accuracy, clinical validity, and usefulness and recording all responses of physicians to alerts in real-time.
The results of the study demonstrated a low overall burden, with MedAware-generated warnings for only 0.4 percent of all prescriptions.
“Our mission has always been simple: Improve patient safety by preventing avoidable medication-related errors and adverse drug events. We provide an essential layer of safety for providers and their patients,” said Dr. Stein
Medical Imaging Startup Aidoc Gets FDA Clearance For AI Solution To Spot Stroke
Israel's Augmedics Gets FDA Nod For AR Surgical Spine Guidance System
Israel's DarioHealth Raises $21.3M In Private Placement Offering
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Peter Hundley
Home / Peter Hundley
After a freak accident in a boxing ring, Peter “Gizmo” Hundley turned to dance to fill that competitive and athletic void he was missing. He always trained in basic ballroom in order to facilitate his boxing, but his interest to pursue Hip-Hop, Popping, Locking, House, and B-Boying grew once he became more serious and interested in dance. His style encompasses all that he has learned and trained in, giving his style of dance a very distinct feel and look. Through his dance he hopes to inspire those who never thought to look to dance as an outlet for expression, as well as, he hopes to show that positivity can come from Downtown Las Vegas, where he was born and raised. Currently he is on the active roster for High Profile, a co-director of their junior team Ground Zero and is an alumnus of FORMALity Las Vegas and EKETC. He is also a part of People of the Sun out of Las Vegas, and the Warriors crew out of Los Angeles. Other credits include: Season 2 of America’s Got Talent, Nike, Microsoft, Mattel, Tankfarm, and the MAGIC convention. 1st place finishes at Pro-Am Las Vegas, Vegas Shakedown, and XPOZ your skills hosted by KVEG 97.5 Las Vegas.
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The life, death and afterlife of Auguste Comte
One of the most lastingly popular posts on this blog* - to my continual surprise - concerns Auguste Comte, the 19th century French philosopher behind the doctrine of positivism. Five years after making that post, I finally got around to visiting his Paris apartment and the secular chapel that was opened in his honour nearly 50 years after his death. Take a look inside both here.
It was the recent Journées du patrimoine that gave me the opportunity to visit these two locations, although both can be freely visited year round. For a more authentic appreciation of the sites without the floating heritage hunters - in fact without anybody at all - it would probably be better to visit at any other time.
Even surrounded by a crowd (particularly at the chapel), the two sites tell an interesting story. It's a tale of mumification, morbid melancholia and myth making. Staying on an 'm' theme, it also centres around money...from Brazil**.
This post will not be an investigation of Auguste Comte's theories and writings (you can find other resources online for that). It is probably sufficient to say here that he went from respected philospher and promoter of social sciences to a quasi-mystical founder of the religion of humanity after meeting Clotilde de Vaux, the sister of one of his students (but you will have learnt about this story in my previous post).
It is this later period that is of interest here. He remains a respected - although largely forgotten - figure for his early writings and teachings, but the more controversial development of these theories towards a secular religion ensured that his influence lived on. His followers have dwindled since the end of the First World War, but he does retain enough importance today to sustain a small museum and a chapel in Paris.
Auguste Comte's final Paris home at 10 Rue Monsieur Le Prince in the 6th Arrondissement is now nominally a museum (and home to his archives), but also operates as something akin to a shrine to positivism and the Comtean cult. Comte initially moved into this apartment in 1841 and stayed until his death in 1857, but the apartment - and his life - changed radically shortly after he moved in.
Comte got married in 1825 to Caroline Massin - who was probably a prostitute when Comte met her - but the marriage was never a happy one (in fact, happiness was probably a rather alien emotion to Comte). A year after his marriage he was confined to a mental hospital, leaving later only with a 'not cured' note from the doctor. A further year after that he attempted to kill himself by jumping into the Seine.
Massin eventually left Comte in 1842, and there is absolutely no trace that she ever lived in the apartment in today's museum. Judging by the apartment - preserved almost exactly as it was when he died - Comte was a simple, rather austere man. The furnishings are extremely minimal - a few simple wooden tables and chairs, a writing desk propped up in front of a mirror and between two windows (which look out onto the street below) and a curious little bed behind curtains that would be more suited to a ship.
If Caroline Massin is not visible here, the ghost of Clotilde de Vaux is ever-present. After his wife left, Comte began a platonic (but extremely obsessive) relationship with de Vaux, and she regularly visited the apartment. This relationship was as intense as it was brief, with de Vaux dying of tuberculosis only a year after they first met. Continuing what became a propensity for sanctification and sacralisation by Comte and his followers, the chair that she always sat in was declared a quasi-religious relic in the apartment, and something never to be touched.
Such rituals continued following Comte's death - in the strange bed - in this apartment in 1857. Despite it only being rented accommodation (which Comte's followers helped pay for) the apartment was appropriated by his adherents soon after the announcement of his passing. The apartment became a sacred site, and a decision was taken to preserve everything and freeze the apartment in time.
At the end of the 19th century, the positivists expanded their reach beyond the apartment itself by acquiring the entire building - to better ensure the integrity of the Comtean myth. Following a decline in the number of followers - and therefore subscriptions - after the First World War, the apartment fell into disrepair, until a a Brazilian, Paulo Carneiro, dedicated much of his life (and his family's money) to renovating all of the fixtures and fittings. He also ensured that it opened as a museum (in 1968). The apartment is maintained today by the Association internationale Auguste Comte.
This attention to detail and level of preservation has made the apartment a natural location for a museum, but it is also arguably the least visited in Paris (although to be fair it is only open for 3 hours a week). Somewhat incredibly, around half of all annual visits to the apartment take place during the two 'Journées du patrimoine' in September each year, with an average of only around 10 visitors a day (each Wednesday afternoon) the rest of the year.
If Comte's apartment gives an insight into how the man lived and worked, the humanist chapel built after his death demonstrates how his teachings were appropriated. Its creation in 1903 - following plans drawn out by Comte - was also down to financial contributions from Brazil.
The very location of the chapel - at 5 rue Payenne in the 3rd arrondisement - tells us much about its purpose. Although the building itself dates back to the middle of the 17th century and was once home to the architect François Mansart, there is only one reason for the existence of a secular chapel here - Clothilde de Vaux.
Clothilde de Vaux lived - and died - in this apartment building, renting a small room on the third floor after her husband had left her. Comte visited her in the apartment, making it another sacred site for followers of the positivist doctrine. At the beginning of the 20th century, most of these were based in Brazil.
One of these followers - Raymundo Teixeira-Mendes, a key figure in the Brazilian positivist church - bought the entire building in 1903 and immediately set out to build the chapel. Although Comte had written the doctrine for the church, had described all of its ceremonies, and even what it should look like, he had never been able to construct a physical building for the religion in his own lifetime.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given Comte's simple tastes, the 'church' is rather drab, with just a touch of kitsch. It is just a single room in the apartment block, with plastic chairs that can be freely positioned to face the altar - which of course features an idolised portrait of Clothilde de Vaux.
The principal feature of the chapel - alongside the altar - are the thirteen panels on either side that represent the thirteen months of the Comtean calendar. Like most other new religions, the positivist church has its own calendar, which began on May 16th 1845, the day Comte truly fell under the charm of Clothilde de Vaux, and contains thirteen months, each of 28 days. Each month is named after a great thinker, scientist, statesman or artist, with all the days of the year also taking the names of (lesser) figures from the past.
It has to be pointed out though that these portraits are not actually very good, with William Shakespeare looking particularly unrecognisable. In fact he looks like someone has sat him down on the end of a broomstick.
In addition to the portrait of Clothilde de Vaux and the bust of Auguste Comte on the exterior of the building, the cult to these two figures is visible on another curious feature in the chapel. Once again, the freezing of time becomes a theme, with two maps of Paris on either side of the altar, capturing the city in 1846 when de Vaux died, and in 1857 when Comte died.
Although the positivist church does still exist, it is not clear how often this chapel is now used by local followers. The chapel and Comte's apartment offer a window to another time, but both seem completely lifeless today. Perhaps this should not be surprising when considering that a cornerstone of Comte's doctrine for the church was love without sex and life without any alcohol!
*You can see the list of the Top 10 most popular Invisible Paris posts in the right-hand column.
**Brazil's national motto, Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") was taken from the positivism motto, "Love as principle, order as the basis, progress as the goal". For more information on the development of postivism in Brazil, read this essay.
Posted by Adam at Friday, October 17, 2014
Attends, attends, Adam ! Un curieux lit ? Mais c'est un "lit bateau" comme c'était la mode au 19ème siècle, j'ai donné à ma fille pour ses filles les deux lits bateaux (dont un lit d'enfant) qui me venaient de mon grand'père ; dans lesquels il a dormi, puis après lui mon père ensuite mes frères puis mon plus jeune fils...
Il est toujours possible d'en acheter de ce type de nos jours....
Thank you for another fascinating blog post! I agree with Cergie, this is not such an unusual bed - it has always (since my childhood) been, to me, a typical Scandinavian bed because the early 20th century-late 19th century illustrated books my Danish grandmother had showed several of them. I always wanted one, but alas, it was not to be.
Thanks for the clarifications on the bed. Obviously not so strange then!
Et ravi de te voir ici à nouveau Lucie!
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Coalition Letter Protesting 21st Century Cures
Posted on November 30, 2016 by PCeditor
The Honorable ________
Dear Senator/Congressman ____:
The undersigned nonprofit organizations represent members of the Patient, Consumer and Public Health Coalition, which includes more than 6 million healthcare providers, public health experts, and consumer and patient advocates. We are writing to urgently express our strong opposition to the newly revised 21st Century Cures Act, both in terms of the process of trying to pass a bill without adequate time for public debate, and for specific provisions in the bill that would harm patient safety. Passing a complicated health bill in the rush of a lame-duck session is always problematic. Passing a 996-page bill that was negotiated behind closed doors and includes provisions that were never voted on before represents the kind of legislative sausage that Congress should reject.
While the bill includes some positive measures, the most important ones – funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Opioid bill that previously passed – are not guaranteed in this legislation. Unlike the earlier version of the 21st Century Cures Act that was passed in 2015, the funding is not mandated in the new version. In exchange for the hope of additional funding, the bill contains dangerous measures that would lower safety and approval standards for drugs and medical devices at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This would put all patients and consumers at risk.
For example, the bill would allow antibiotics to be approved based on minimal evidence of safety and effectiveness through a “limited population” approval pathway. The bill would not require that the antibiotics be studied on the target population that the new drugs would be approved for. In other words, it is possible that the antibiotics would not meet the urgent need that they are intended for. Unfortunately, these antibiotics could then be widely advertised and used by patients who are not likely to benefit, and could be seriously harmed by them. In the long run, that would contribute to antibiotic resistance. While the Senate version had several restrictions designed to help protect patients, the 21st Century Cures version released this past weekend does not.
The MEDTECH section of the bill would deregulate electronic medical records and decision support software. A study by the National Center of Health Research (NCHR) found that these types of health IT devices can cause life-threatening problems when they miscalculate incorrect drug dosages for chemotherapy drugs and other treatments. The Breakthrough Devices (Sec. 3051) encourages shorter and smaller clinical trials for medical devices. These smaller studies make it impossible to include sufficient numbers of women, men, seniors, and racial and ethnic minorities. Moreover, a recent study of high-risk medical devices found that the median number of participants is currently only 65 patients, which is already too small a cohort to adequately evaluate safety and effectiveness for both men and women, let alone for elderly men and women compared to young adults, or for minority populations.
The bill would also drastically lower standards by allowing companies to provide FDA with summaries of their data, instead of the data itself, as now required, when they want to sell drugs for new indications (treatments). It also encourages the FDA to make approval decisions based on “real world evidence” that is not necessarily scientifically sound. The FDA currently reviews and scrutinizes scientific data provided by companies, which is necessary to make sure the benefits outweigh the risks for any approved indication. Providing summaries would also reduce information about the possible risks to particular demographic groups, such as women or patients over 65.
The Accelerated Approval for Regenerative Advanced Therapies (Sec. 3033), creates an expedited review pathway for ‘regenerative medicine.’ This section has been promoted by extensive campaign contributions, was not in any previous version of the Cures legislation, and should not be rushed through without adequate discussion and debate.
The bill also allows off-label promotion of medical products under certain circumstances, which reduces the incentive for companies to conduct scientific research to prove that their products are safe and effective for new indications.
By lowering standards for approval of drugs and devices, and in some cases eliminating them, the bill would increase the cost of healthcare and pharmaceuticals at a time when such costs have become a grave threat to affordability of health insurance and to the survival of Medicare. The implications for patients’ health and the affordability of medical care can’t be overstated. Researchers at the best medical schools in the country already have shown that many ineffective and unsafe drugs have already been approved by FDA on the basis of the kind of preliminary data encouraged by 21st Century Cures.
This situation would worsen under the bill. For example, the National Center for Health Research assessed the cost of new, ineffective cancer drugs and found that they cost the same or more as cancer drugs that are proven to work. In addition, the bill would continue the existing pediatric priority review voucher program, even though a recent GAO review of the program concluded that the program has questionable benefit. This increases the cost of medications and undermines FDA’s ability to set its work priorities based on public health needs.
The extensive and expensive lobbying efforts in favor of 21st Century Cures have been designed to make every aspect of the bill seem bipartisan and non-controversial. If that were true, however, the bill would not have been negotiated behind closed doors and released during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That is why dozens of patient, consumer, physician, labor, and public interest groups, as well as former Members of Congress, have asked the Congress to delay consideration of the bill.
Thank you for your consideration of our views on this legislation. We must ensure that patients can trust their drugs and medical devices to improve their health rather than harm it.
Annie Appleseed
Association for Medical Ethics (AME)
Advocating Safety in Healthcare E-Sisters (ASHES)
ISMP
Jacobs Institute
Mothers Against Medical Errors
National Women’s Health Network
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Quinolone Vigilance Foundation
TMJ Association
Treatment Action Group
Washington Advocates for Patient Safety (WAPS)
WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease
For more information, please contact Jack Mitchell at jm@center4research.org.
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100km Leeds
Gateway church in Leeds takes on a mammoth challenge in aid of Home for Good.
At daybreak - 4:20am - on Saturday 23 July 2016, a group from Gateway church in Leeds, left Golden Acre park and attempted a non-stop hike around the Leeds Country Way. 100 kilometres and nearly 23 hours later, four of the walkers arrived back at Golden Acre Park at 3:00am.
Chris Frost, one of the leaders at Gateway church and one of the finishers of the challenge said, “This has to be one of the toughest mental and physical challenges we had all undertaken, covering the distance of nearly 2.5 marathons. With several people in the church adopting and fostering, we wanted to get behind these amazing people. It was such a relief to finish, but also a huge privilege to pray for kids in the care system as we walked, and raise money and awareness for the amazing work that Home for Good do in this arena.”
The walk was a part of a larger initiative: a mile for every child. Organised by Home for Good, it set out to encourage people to collectively cover 35,000 miles to represent the 35,000 children who enter the UK care system each year.
Home for Good is very grateful to the walkers and to those who kindly gave over £700 to help find a home for every child who needs one.
Fundraise for Home for Good
How Brexit is affecting vulnerable and displaced children
What will Brexit mean for unaccompanied asylum seeking children?
Stability Index 2019
Today, the Children’s Commissioner for England published the 2019 Stability Index which contains important data and findings about the experience of stability for children and young people in the care system.
Why are we rethinking orphanages?
Krish Kandiah shares about an upcoming global project
A thousand stories
Six years of the Home for Good book
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Email: liberia@un.int | Phone Nr.: (212) 687-1033, -1034 | Open Hours: 9:30 am - 5:30 pm / Mon-Fri
Liberia Permanent Mission to the UN
Mission Staff
Vivian G. Lombeh
Following First Four Years of Implementing the SDGs, Ambassador Kemayah Stresses Compelling Need for Greater and Sustained International Cooperation
Liberia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., has stressed the need for greater and sustained international cooperation for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Addressing the Ministerial Segment of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, which convened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, from July 16-18, 2019; Ambassador Kemayah said the realization of the SDGs will require not just a huge surge in financial resources, but also leveraging, and improving the capacity, skills, knowledge and technology; and all stakeholders; as referenced in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Development (FfD).
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted in 2015 establishes a strong foundation to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; through the new global framework for financing sustainable development. It aligns all financing flows and policies with economic, social, and environmental priorities.
Reflecting on the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the first four years; Ambassador Kemayah said while progress has been made on a number of the Goals; much more work needs to be done to enhance implementation and reach those furthest behind.
Said Ambassador Kemayah: "We take note of the Secretary-General’s report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and the recommendations; therein. While the report highlights progress that has been made on a number of the Goals, targets; and actions undertaken by Governments and other stakeholders over the past four (4) years; it also brings to focus the lag in implementation; and the adverse impact on the most vulnerable people; hence; indicating slow acceleration and innovation in the global response. As we transition to the next cycle, it has become more compelling to strengthen international cooperation; and engender partnerships at all levels; to accelerate progress towards implementation."
At the National level, Ambassador Kemayah informed the High-level Forum that "His Excellency Dr. George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia and the Government of Liberia, continue to make strides to address inequality; gender imbalance; youth unemployment; promote inclusiveness; and initiate programs to empower the Liberian People.
The Liberian Envoy also spoke of the provision of equitable opportunities in education; health; youth and social development; promoting an inclusive and accountable public sector; the sustainability of peace, security and democracy; and strengthening of the justice and security sectors; for shared prosperity and sustainable development".
Ambassador Kemayah then disclosed that "the Republic of Liberia under the astute Leadership of His Excellency President George Manneh Weah will present its Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the 2020 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF); consistent with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 70/1.
The Voluntary National Review (VNR) process, according to Ambassador Kemayah, will facilitate the monitoring; and evaluation of Liberia’s progress; in the implementation of the SDGs; within the context of the Government's Flagship National Development Agenda - The Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD); which places the Liberian People at its core.
On the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, Ambassador Kemayah also addressed an event on "Strengthening Partnerships to Accelerate Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 in Africa."
At the side-event organized by the African Union Observer Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Kemayah stressed that sharing of experiences and best practices, as well as devising innovative means of financing at the regional level, can provide vital support to enhance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 in Africa.
Ambassador Kemayah also emphasized the need to scale up South-South Cooperation as an important framework for developing countries, particularly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), given their potential to contribute to poverty eradication and the achievement of sustainable development.
The 2019 United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on the theme: "Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality".
The Forum reviewed in-depth the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal Four (4): Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all; Goal Eight (8): Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; Goal Ten (10): Reduce inequality within and among countries; Goal Thirteen (13): Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts; Goal Sixteen (16): Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels; and Goal Seventeen (17): Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
Ambassador Kemayah urges Ambassadors to the United Nations to continue working for sustained global peace and security during Diplomatic Mission to Israel and Poland
Ambassador Kemayah Addresses Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Conference in Ireland: Says women participation is crucial for sustenance of global peace
Ambassador Kemayah seeks investments for Liberia's Agriculture and Fishery Sectors in meeting with Norwegian Minister
Now is the time to Support Liberia: Ambassador Kemayah pleads for urgent support to Liberia's Peacebuilding efforts at United Nations
Liberia Leads Africa at the United Nations-- as Ambassador Kemayah takes over as Chairman of African Group of Ambassadors at United Nations
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Quiz Show (movie)
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Quiz Show Movie
1994 film by Robert Redford
Michael Jacobs
Julian Krainin
Michael Nozik
Screenplay by
Paul Attanasio
Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties
by Richard Goodwin
Rob Morrow
Michael Ballhaus
Stu Linder
Buena Vista Pictures
September 16, 1994 (1994-09-16)
$31 million[1]
$24.8 million[2]
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical film produced and directed by Robert Redford, and written by Paul Attanasio,[3] based on Richard N. Goodwin's memoir Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties.[4] It stars John Turturro, Rob Morrow and Ralph Fiennes, with Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria and Christopher McDonald appearing in supporting roles.[3][5][6]
The film chronicles the Twenty-One quiz show scandals of the 1950s, the rise and fall of popular contestant Charles Van Doren after the fixed loss of Herb Stempel and Congressional investigator Richard Goodwin's subsequent probe. Goodwin co-produced the film. The film received generally positive reviews and was nominated for several awards, including a Best Picture Oscar nomination and several Golden Globe Awards. It had a disappointing box office return.
In 1958, the questions and answers to be used for the latest broadcast of NBC's popular quiz show Twenty-One are transported from a secure bank vault to the studio. The evening's main attraction is Queens resident Herb Stempel (John Turturro), the reigning champion, who correctly answers question after question. However, both the network and the program's corporate sponsor, the supplementary tonic Geritol, find that Stempel's approval ratings are beginning to level out, meaning that the show would benefit from new talent.
Producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) are surprised when Columbia University instructor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), son of a prominent literary family, visits their office to audition. Realizing that they have found an ideal challenger for Stempel, they offer to ask the same questions during the show which Van Doren correctly answered during his audition. He refuses, but when he comes within reach of a game-winning 21 points on the show, he is asked one of the questions from his audition. After a moment of moral indecision, he gives the correct answer. Stempel deliberately misses an easy question and loses, having been promised a future in television if he does so.
In the weeks that follow, Van Doren's winning streak makes him a national celebrity, but he buckles under the pressure and allows Enright and Freedman to start giving him the answers. Meanwhile, Stempel, having lost his prize money to an unscrupulous bookie, begins threatening legal action against NBC after weeks go by without his return to television. He visits New York County District Attorney Frank Hogan, who convenes a grand jury to look into his allegations.
Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), a young Congressional lawyer, learns that the grand jury findings have been sealed and travels to New York City to investigate rumors of rigged quiz shows. Visiting a number of contestants, including Stempel and Van Doren, he begins to suspect that Twenty-One is a fixed operation. However, Stempel's volatile personality damages his credibility, and nobody else seems willing to confirm that the show is fixed. Fearing Goodwin will give up the investigation, Stempel confesses that he was fed the correct answers during his run on the show, and insists that Van Doren must have been involved as well. Another former contestant gives Goodwin a set of answers that he mailed to himself two days before his quiz show appearance, which Goodwin takes to be corroborating evidence.
Van Doren deliberately loses, but NBC offers him a lucrative contract to appear as a special correspondent on the morning Today show. The House Committee for Legislative Oversight convenes a hearing, at which Goodwin presents his evidence of the quiz show's corruption. Stempel testifies at the hearing but fails to convince the committee, and both NBC network head Robert Kintner (Allan Rich) and Geritol executive Martin Rittenhome (Martin Scorsese) deny any knowledge of Twenty-One being rigged. Subpoenaed by Goodwin, Van Doren testifies before the committee and admits his role in the deception. After the hearing adjourns, he learns from reporters that he has been fired from Today and that Columbia's board of trustees is going to ask for his resignation.
Goodwin believes that he is on the verge of a victory against Geritol and NBC, but realizes that Enright and Freedman will not jeopardize their own futures in television by turning against their bosses. He silently watches the producers' testimony, vindicating the sponsors and the network from any wrongdoing, and taking full responsibility for rigging the show.
Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren
John Turturro as Herb Stempel
Rob Morrow as Richard N. "Dick" Goodwin
David Paymer as Dan Enright
Paul Scofield as Mark Van Doren
Hank Azaria as Albert Freedman
Christopher McDonald as Jack Barry
Adam Kilgour as Thomas Merton
Johann Carlo as Toby Stempel
Elizabeth Wilson as Dorothy Van Doren
Allan Rich as Robert Kintner
Mira Sorvino as Sandra Goodwin
George Martin as Chairman Oren Harris
Paul Guilfoyle as Lishman
Griffin Dunne as Geritol Account Executive
Michael Mantell as Pennebaker
Martin Scorsese as Martin Rittenhome
Neil Ross as Twenty-One Announcer
Barry Levinson as Dave Garroway
Shawn Batten as Cornwall cousin
Jeffrey Nordling as John Van Doren
Carole Shelley as Cornwall aunt
Le Clonche du Rand as Cornwall aunt
Calista Flockhart as Barnard Girl
Journalist Ken Auletta, in a 1994 article in The New Yorker, noted that Redford conceded at a screening of the film that summer that "dramatic license" was taken in making Quiz Show. Redford made no apologies for the liberties, which included telescoping three years of scandal into one. Redford stated that he had tried "to elevate something so that people can see it ... otherwise, you might as well have a documentary."[7] Redford noted there had already been a documentary on the scandal, referring to the Julian Krainin-produced work for a 1992 installment of the PBS series The American Experience.[7]
In a July 2008 edition of The New Yorker, Van Doren wrote about the events depicted in the film. He agreed with many of the details. But he also said that he had a regular girlfriend (his future wife) at the time he was on Twenty-One, and that she was not present in the film depiction. Van Doren also noted that he continued teaching, contrary to the film's epilogue which stated he never returned to doing so.[8]
The film opened in limited release on September 16, 1994. After its initial run, the film grossed a domestic total of $24,822,619 and was a box office bomb.[2]
Critical reception
The film currently holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[9] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of four, calling the screenplay "smart, subtle and ruthless."[10] Web critic James Berardinelli praised the "superb performances by Fiennes", and said "John Turturro is exceptional as the uncharismatic Herbie Stempel."[11] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman highlighted the supporting performance of Paul Scofield as Mark Van Doren, stating that "it's in the relationship between the two Van Dorens that Quiz Show finds its soul."[12]
Academy Award[13] Best Picture Robert Redford, Michael Jacobs, Julian Kranin and Michael Nozik, producers Nominated
Best Director Robert Redford Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Paul Scofield Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Paul Attanasio Nominated
British Academy Film Award Best Film Robert Redford Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Paul Attanasio Won
Best Supporting Actor Paul Scofield Nominated
Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture - Drama Robert Redford Nominated
Best Supporting Actor John Turturro Nominated
Best Screenplay Paul Attanasio Nominated
Directors Guild of America Award Outstanding Directing - Feature Film Robert Redford Nominated
Paul Scofield was also nominated for the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor.
John Turturro was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.
^ Box Office Information for Quiz Show. The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
^ a b "Quiz Show (1994)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved .
^ a b "Quiz Show". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved 2016.
^ Goodwin, Richard N. (2014). Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties (Paperback ed.). New York City: Open Road Integrated Media. ISBN 978-1497676572.
^ David Ansen (September 18, 1994). "When America Lost Its Innocence--Maybe". Newsweek.
^ Maslin, Janet (September 14, 1994). "QUIZ SHOW; Good and Evil in a More Innocent Age". The New York Times.
^ a b Auletta, Ken (September 19, 1994). "The $64,000 Question". The New Yorker: 48.
^ Van Doren, Charles (July 28, 2008). "All The Answers". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2013.
^ "Quiz Show, Rotten Tomatoes". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved .
^ Roger Ebert. "Quiz Show". September 16, 1994.
^ James Berardinelli. "Quiz Show". ReelViews.
^ Owen Gleiberman. "Quiz Show", Entertainment Weekly.
^ "The 67th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2018.
Quiz Show on IMDb
Quiz Show at the TCM Movie Database
WATCH 94' CLASSIC MOVIE!! Quiz Show Full Movie Streaming Online (1994) 1080p HD Quality FREE!!
Quiz_Show_(movie)
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L 347/470
REGULATION (EU) No 1304/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 17 December 2013
on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 164 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) establishes the framework for action by the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and lays down, in particular, the thematic objectives, the principles and the rules concerning programming, monitoring and evaluation, management and control. It is therefore necessary to specify the mission and scope of the ESF, together with the related investment priorities addressing the thematic objectives, and to lay down specific provisions concerning the type of activities that may be financed by the ESF.
The ESF should improve employment opportunities, strengthen social inclusion, fight poverty, promote education, skills and life-long learning and develop active, comprehensive and sustainable inclusion policies in accordance with the tasks entrusted to the ESF by Article 162 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and thereby contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion in accordance with Article 174 TFEU. In accordance with Article 9 TFEU, the ESF should take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health.
The European Council of 17 June 2010 called for all common policies, including cohesion policy, to support the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (the 'Europe 2020 strategy'). In order to ensure the full alignment of the ESF with the objectives of this strategy, particularly as regards employment, education, training and the fight against social exclusion, poverty and discrimination, the ESF should support Member States, taking account of the relevant Integrated Guidelines and relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) and Article 148(4) TFEU and, where appropriate, at national level, the national reform programmes underpinned by national employment strategies, national social reports, national Roma integration strategies and national disability strategies. The ESF should also contribute to relevant aspects of the implementation of the flagship initiatives, in particular the "Agenda for New Skills and Jobs", the "Youth on the Move", and the "European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion". It should also support relevant activities in the initiatives on the "Digital Agenda" and "Innovation Union".
The Union is confronted with structural challenges arising from economic globalisation, technological change and an increasingly ageing workforce and growing skills and labour shortages in some sectors and regions. They have been compounded by the recent economic and financial crisis, which has resulted in increased levels of unemployment, hitting in particular young people and other disadvantaged people, such as migrants and minorities.
The ESF should aim to promote employment, improve access to the labour market, paying particular attention to those who are furthest from the labour market and support voluntary labour mobility. The ESF should also support active and healthy ageing, including through innovative forms of work organisation, promoting health and safety at work and increasing employability. In promoting the better functioning of labour markets by enhancing the transnational geographical mobility of workers, the ESF should, in particular, support EURES activities (activities of the European network of employment services) in relation to recruitment and related information, advice and guidance services at national and cross-border level. Operations financed by the ESF should comply with Article 5(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which provides that no one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
The ESF should also promote social inclusion and prevent and combat poverty with a view to breaking the cycle of disadvantage across generations which implies mobilising a range of policies targeting the most disadvantaged people regardless of their age including children, the working poor and older women. Attention should be paid to the participation of those seeking asylum and refugees. The ESF may be used to enhance access to affordable, sustainable and high quality services of general interest, in particular in the fields of health care, employment and training services, services for the homeless, out of school care, childcare and long-term care services. Services supported can be public, private and/or community-based, and delivered by different types of providers, namely public administrations, private companies, social enterprises, non-governmental organisations.
The ESF should undertake to tackle early school leaving, promote equal access to good quality education, invest in vocational education and training, improve the labour market relevance of education and training systems and enhance life-long learning, including formal, non-formal and informal learning pathways.
In addition to these priorities, in the less developed regions and Member States, and with a view to increasing economic growth and employment opportunities, the efficiency of public administration at national and regional level, as well as the ability of a public administration to act in a participative manner, should be improved. The institutional capacity of stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations, delivering employment, education, training and social policies, including in the field of anti-discrimination, should be strengthened.
Support under the investment priority "community-led local development" may contribute to all thematic objectives as set out in this Regulation. Community-led local development strategies supported by the ESF should be inclusive with regard to disadvantaged people present on the territory, both in terms of governance of local action groups and in terms of content of the strategy.
At the same time, it is crucial to support the development and competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises of the Union and to ensure that people can adapt, through acquiring appropriate skills and through lifelong learning opportunities, to new challenges such as the shift to a knowledge-based economy, the digital agenda, and the transition to a low-carbon and more energy-efficient economy. By pursuing its primary thematic objectives, the ESF should contribute to addressing these challenges. In this context, the ESF should support the labour force transition from education to employment, towards greener skills and jobs, and should address skills shortages, including those in the energy-efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable transport sectors. The ESF should also contribute to cultural and creative skills. Socio-cultural, creative and cultural sectors are important in indirectly addressing the aims of the ESF; their potential should therefore be better integrated into ESF projects and programming.
In light of the persistent need to make an effort to address youth unemployment in the Union as a whole, a Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) should be created for the most affected regions. The YEI should support, in such regions, young persons not in employment, education or training (NEET), who are unemployed or inactive, thereby reinforcing and accelerating the delivery of activities supported by ESF funding. Additional funds should be specifically attributed to the YEI and should be matched with funding from the ESF in the most affected regions. By targeting individual persons rather than structures, the YEI should aim to complement other ESF–funded operations and national actions targeting NEET, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee in line with the Council's Recommendation of 22 April 2013 on Establishing a Youth Guarantee (4), which provides that young persons should receive a good-quality offer of either employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or of leaving formal education. The YEI may also support actions to combat early school leaving. Access to welfare benefits for the young person and his/her family or dependants should not be conditional upon the young person's participation in the YEI.
The YEI should be fully integrated into ESF programming but, where appropriate, specific provisions related to YEI should be envisaged with a view to achieving its objectives. It is necessary to simplify and facilitate implementation of the YEI, in particular with regard to financial management provisions and thematic concentration arrangements. In order to ensure that the results of the YEI are clearly demonstrated and communicated, specific monitoring and evaluation, as well as information and publicity arrangements should be envisaged. Youth organisations should be involved in the monitoring committees' discussions on the preparation and implementation, including evaluation, of the YEI.
The ESF should contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy, ensuring a greater concentration of support on the priorities of the Union. A minimum share of cohesion policy funding for the ESF is established in accordance with Article 92(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The ESF should in particular increase its support for the fight against social exclusion and poverty, through a minimum ring-fenced allocation of 20 % of the total ESF resources of each Member State. The choice and number of investment priorities for ESF support should also be limited, in accordance with the level of development of the supported regions.
In order to ensure closer monitoring and improved assessment of the results achieved at the Union level by actions supported by the ESF, a common set of output and result indicators should be established in this Regulation. Such indicators should correspond to the investment priority and type of action supported in accordance with this Regulation as well as the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The indicators should be complemented where necessary by programme-specific result and/or output indicators.
Member States are encouraged to report on the effect of ESF investments on equal opportunities, equal access and integration of marginalised groups in all operational programmes.
Taking into account data protection requirements linked to collecting and storing sensitive data on participants, the Member States and the Commission should regularly evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of ESF support in promoting social inclusion and combating poverty, in particular with regard to disadvantaged people such as the Roma. Member States are encouraged to report on ESF-funded initiatives in the national social reports annexed to their national reform programmes, in particular as regards marginalised communities, such as the Roma and migrants.
Efficient and effective implementation of actions supported by the ESF depends on good governance and partnership between all relevant territorial and socio-economic actors, taking into account the actors at regional and local levels, in particular the umbrella associations representing local and regional authorities, organised civil society, economic and, in particular, social partners and non-governmental organisations. Member States should therefore ensure the participation of social partners and non-governmental organisations in the strategic governance of the ESF, from shaping priorities for operational programmes to implementing and evaluating ESF results.
The Member States and the Commission should ensure that the implementation of the priorities financed by the ESF contributes to the promotion of equality between women and men in accordance with Article 8 TFEU. Evaluations have shown the importance of taking the gender equality objectives aspect into account in all dimensions and in all stages of the preparation, monitoring, implementation and evaluation of operational programmes, in a timely and consistent manner while ensuring that specific actions are taken to promote gender equality, the economic independence of women, education and skills upgrading and the reintegration of female victims of violence into the labour market and into society.
In accordance with Article 10 TFEU, the implementation of the priorities financed by the ESF should contribute to combating discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation by paying particular attention to those facing multiple discrimination. Discrimination on the ground of sex should be interpreted in a broad sense so as to cover other gender-related aspects in line with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The implementation of the priorities financed by the ESF should also contribute to promoting equal opportunities. The ESF should support the fulfilment of the Union's obligation under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with regard inter alia to education, work, employment and accessibility. The ESF should also promote the transition from institutional to community-based care. The ESF should not support any action that contributes to segregation or to social exclusion.
Support for social innovation contributes to making policies more responsive to social change. The ESF should encourage and support innovative social enterprises and entrepreneurs as well as innovative projects taken on by non-governmental organisations and other actors within the social economy. In particular, testing and evaluating innovative solutions before scaling them up is instrumental in improving the efficiency of policies and thus justifies specific support from the ESF. Innovative solutions could include, provided they prove to be effective, the development of social metrics such as, for example, social labelling.
Transnational cooperation has significant added value and should therefore be supported by all Member States with the exception of duly justified cases taking account of the principle of proportionality. It is also necessary to reinforce the Commission's role in facilitating exchanges of experience and coordinating implementation of relevant initiatives.
With a view to fostering an integrated and holistic approach in terms of employment and social inclusion, the ESF should support cross-sectoral and territorial-based partnerships.
The mobilisation of regional and local stakeholders should help to deliver the Europe 2020 strategy and its headline targets. Territorial pacts, local initiatives for employment and social inclusion, sustainable and inclusive community-led local development strategies in urban and rural areas and sustainable urban development strategies may be used and supported to involve more actively regional and local authorities, cities, social partners and non-governmental organisations throughout the preparation and implementation of operational programmes.
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 provides that rules on eligibility of expenditure are to be established at the national level, with certain exceptions for which it is necessary to lay down specific provisions with regard to the ESF.
With a view to simplifying the use of the ESF and reducing the risk of error, and with regard to the specificities of the operations supported by the ESF, it is appropriate to lay down provisions which complement Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 as regards eligibility of expenditure.
The use of standard scales of unit costs, lump sums and flat-rate financing should lead to simplification for the beneficiary and should lower the administrative burden for all ESF project partners.
It is important to ensure the sound financial management of each operational programme and its implementation in the most effective and user-friendly manner possible. Member States should refrain from adding rules that complicate the use of funds for the beneficiary.
The Member States and the regions should be encouraged to leverage the ESF through financial instruments in order to support, for example, students, job creation, the mobility of workers, social inclusion and social entrepreneurship.
The ESF should complement other Union programmes and close synergies should be developed between the ESF and other Union financial instruments.
Investment in human capital is the main force on which the Union can rely to ensure its international competitiveness and the sustainable recovery of its economy. No type of investment can produce structural reforms unless it is accompanied by a coherent, growth-oriented human capital development strategy. It is therefore necessary to ensure that in the 2014-2020 programming period the resources intended to improve skills and raise employment levels allow action to be taken on an adequate scale.
The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission for establishing the definition of standard scales of unit costs and lump sums and their maximum amounts according to different types of operations. It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure the simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.
The Commission should be assisted in the administration of the ESF by the Committee provided for in Article 163 TFEU.
Since this Regulation replaces Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), that Regulation should be repealed. Nevertheless, this Regulation should not affect either the continuation or modification of assistance approved by the Commission on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 or any other legislation applying to that assistance on 31 December 2013. That Regulation or such other applicable legislation should consequently continue to apply after 31 December 2013 to that assistance or the operations concerned until their closure. Applications to receive assistance made or approved under Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 should remain valid,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
This Regulation establishes the missions of the European Social Fund (ESF), including the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the scope of its support, specific provisions and the types of expenditure eligible for assistance.
1. The ESF shall promote high levels of employment and job quality, improve access to the labour market, support the geographical and occupational mobility of workers and facilitate their adaptation to industrial change and to changes in production systems needed for sustainable developments, encourage a high level of education and training for all and support the transition between education and employment for young people, combat poverty, enhance social inclusion, and promote gender equality, non-discrimination and equal opportunities, thereby contributing to the priorities of the Union as regards strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion.
2. The ESF shall fulfil the missions set out in paragraph 1 by supporting Member States in pursuing the priorities and headline targets of the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (the 'Europe 2020 strategy') and by allowing Member States to address their specific challenges with regard to achieving the Europe 2020 strategy objectives. The ESF shall support the design and implementation of policies and actions in connection with its missions, taking account of the relevant Integrated Guidelines and relevant country-specific recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 121(2) and Article 148(4) TFEU and, where appropriate, at national level, the national reform programmes as well as other relevant national strategies and reports.
3. The ESF shall benefit people, including disadvantaged people such as the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, migrants, ethnic minorities, marginalised communities and people of all ages facing poverty and social exclusion. The ESF shall also provide support to workers, enterprises, including actors in the social economy, and entrepreneurs, as well as to systems and structures with a view to facilitating their adaptation to new challenges including reducing skill mismatches and promoting good governance, social progress, and the implementation of reforms, in particular in the fields of employment, education, training and social policies.
Scope of support
1. Under the thematic objectives set out in points (8), (9), (10) and (11) of the first paragraph of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, which correspond to points (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this paragraph, and in accordance with its missions, the ESF shall support the following investment priorities:
For the thematic objective 'promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility':
Access to employment for job-seekers and inactive people, including the long-term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility;
Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people, in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee;
Self-employment, entrepreneurship and business creation including innovative micro, small and medium sized enterprises;
Equality between men and women in all areas, including in access to employment, career progression, reconciliation of work and private life and promotion of equal pay for equal work;
Adaptation of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs to change;
Active and healthy ageing;
Modernisation of labour market institutions, such as public and private employment services, and improving the matching of labour market needs, including through actions that enhance transnational labour mobility as well as through mobility schemes and better cooperation between institutions and relevant stakeholders;
For the thematic objective 'promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination':
Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability;
Socio-economic integration of marginalised communities such as the Roma;
Combating all forms of discrimination and promoting equal opportunities;
Enhancing access to affordable, sustainable and high-quality services, including health care and social services of general interest;
Promoting social entrepreneurship and vocational integration in social enterprises and the social and solidarity economy in order to facilitate access to employment;
Community-led local development strategies;
For the thematic objective 'investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and life-long learning':
Reducing and preventing early school-leaving and promoting equal access to good quality early-childhood, primary and secondary education including formal, non-formal and informal learning pathways for reintegrating into education and training;
Improving the quality and efficiency of, and access to, tertiary and equivalent education with a view to increasing participation and attainment levels, especially for disadvantaged groups;
Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning for all age groups in formal, non-formal and informal settings, upgrading the knowledge, skills and competences of the workforce, and promoting flexible learning pathways including through career guidance and validation of acquired competences;
Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems, facilitating the transition from education to work, and strengthening vocational education and training systems and their quality, including through mechanisms for skills anticipation, adaptation of curricula and the establishment and development of work-based learning systems, including dual learning systems and apprenticeship schemes;
For the thematic objective 'enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration':
Investment in institutional capacity and in the efficiency of public administrations and public services at the national, regional and local levels with a view to reforms, better regulation and good governance;
This investment priority is applicable only in Member States eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund, or in Member States that have one or more NUTS level 2 regions referred to in Article 90(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
Capacity building for all stakeholders delivering education, lifelong learning, training and employment and social policies, including through sectoral and territorial pacts to mobilise for reform at the national, regional and local levels.
2. Through the investment priorities listed in paragraph 1, the ESF shall also contribute to the other thematic objectives listed in the first paragraph of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, primarily by:
Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient, resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable economy, through the improvement of education and training systems necessary for the adaptation of skills and qualifications, the up-skilling of the labour force, and the creation of new jobs in sectors related to the environment and energy;
Enhancing the accessibility of, and use and quality of, information and communication technologies through the development of digital literacy and e-learning, and investment in e-inclusion, e-skills and related entrepreneurial skills;
Strengthening research, technological development and innovation through the development of post-graduate studies and entrepreneurial skills, the training of researchers, networking activities and partnerships between higher education institutions, research and technological centres and enterprises;
Enhancing the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises, through promoting the adaptability of enterprises, managers and workers, increased investment in human capital, and support for bodies providing practice-oriented vocational education and training.
Consistency and thematic concentration
1. Member States shall ensure that the strategy and actions set out in their operational programmes are consistent with, and respond to, the challenges identified in their national reform programmes, as well as, where relevant, in their other national strategies that aim to fight unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, and also in the relevant Council recommendations adopted in accordance with Article 148(4) TFEU, in order to contribute to achieving the headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy on employment, education and poverty reduction.
2. At least 20 % of the total ESF resources in each Member State shall be allocated to the thematic objective "promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination" set out in point (9) of the first paragraph of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
3. Member States shall pursue thematic concentration according to the following modalities:
For more developed regions, Member States shall concentrate at least 80 % of the ESF allocation to each operational programme on up to five of the investment priorities set out in Article 3(1).
For transition regions, Member States shall concentrate at least 70 % of the ESF allocation to each operational programme on up to five of the investment priorities set out in Article 3(1).
For less developed regions, Member States shall concentrate at least 60 % of the ESF allocation to each operational programme on up to five of the investment priorities set out in Article 3(1).
4. The priority axes referred to in Article 11(1) shall be excluded from the calculation of the percentages specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article.
1. Common output and result indicators, as set out in Annex I to this Regulation, and, where relevant, programme-specific indicators shall be used in accordance with Article 27(4) and Article 96(2)(b)(ii) and (iv) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. All common output and result indicators shall be reported for all investment priorities. The result indicators set out in Annex II to this Regulation shall be reported in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article. Where applicable, data shall be broken down by gender.
For common and programme-specific output indicators, baselines shall be set at zero. Where relevant to the nature of the operations supported, cumulative quantified target values for those indicators shall be set for 2023. Output indicators shall be expressed in absolute numbers.
For those common and programme-specific result indicators for which a cumulative quantified target value for 2023 has been set, baselines shall be fixed using the latest available data or other relevant sources of information. Programme-specific result indicators and related targets may be expressed in quantitative or qualitative terms.
2. In addition to paragraph 1, result indicators set out in Annex II to this Regulation shall be used for all operations supported under the investment priority referred to in Article 3(1)(a)(ii) for the implementation of the YEI. All indicators set out in Annex II to this Regulation shall be linked with a quantified cumulative target value for 2023 and a baseline.
3. Together with annual implementation reports, each managing authority shall transmit electronically structured data for each priority axis broken down by investment priority. The data shall be submitted for the categories of intervention referred to in Article 96(2)(b)(vi) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013and the output and result indicators. By way of derogation from Article 50(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, data transmitted for output and result indicators shall relate to values for partially or fully implemented operations.
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION
Involvement of partners
1. The participation of the partners referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 in the implementation of the operational programmes may take the form of global grants as defined in Article 123(7) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. In such cases, the operational programme shall identify the part of the operational programme concerned by the global grant, including an indicative financial allocation from each priority axis to it.
2. To encourage adequate participation of the social partners in actions supported by the ESF, the managing authorities of an operational programme in a region defined in Article 90(2)(a) or (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or in a Member State eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund shall ensure that, according to the needs, an appropriate amount of ESF resources is allocated to capacity building activities, in the form of training, networking measures, and strengthening of the social dialogue, and to activities jointly undertaken by the social partners.
3. To encourage the adequate participation of, and access by, non-governmental organisations in and to actions supported by the ESF, in particular in the fields of social inclusion, gender equality and equal opportunities, the managing authorities of an operational programme in a region defined in Article 90(2)(a) or (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or in a Member State eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund shall ensure that an appropriate amount of ESF resources is allocated to capacity building for non-governmental organisations.
Promotion of equality between men and women
The Member States and the Commission shall promote equality between men and women through mainstreaming as referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 throughout the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the operational programmes. Through the ESF, the Member States and the Commission shall also support specific targeted actions within any of the investment priorities referred to in Article 3, and in particular Article 3(1)(a)(iv) of this Regulation, with the aim of increasing the sustainable participation and progress of women in employment, thus combating the feminisation of poverty, reducing gender-based segregation, combating gender stereotypes in the labour market and in education and training, and promoting the reconciliation of work and personal life for all as well as the equal sharing of care responsibilities between men and women.
Promotion of equal opportunities and non-discrimination
The Member States and the Commission shall promote equal opportunities for all, without discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation through mainstreaming the principle of non-discrimination, as referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. Through the ESF, the Member States and the Commission shall also support specific actions within any of the investment priorities referred to in Article 3, and in particular Article 3(1)(b)(iii) of this Regulation. Such actions shall aim to combat all forms of discrimination as well as to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities, with a view to improving integration into employment, education and training, thereby enhancing social inclusion, reducing inequalities in terms of educational attainment and health status, and facilitating the transition from institutional to community-based care, in particular for those who face multiple discrimination.
1. The ESF shall promote social innovation within all areas falling under its scope, as defined in Article 3 of this Regulation, in particular with the aim of testing, evaluating and scaling up innovative solutions, including at the local or regional level, in order to address social needs in partnership with the relevant partners and, in particular, social partners.
2. Member States shall identify, either in their operational programmes or at a later stage during implementation, fields for social innovation that correspond to the Member States' specific needs.
3. The Commission shall facilitate capacity building for social innovation, in particular through supporting mutual learning, establishing networks, and disseminating and promoting good practices and methodologies.
Transnational cooperation
1. Member States shall support transnational cooperation with the aim of promoting mutual learning, thereby increasing the effectiveness of policies supported by the ESF. Transnational cooperation shall involve partners from at least two Member States.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States with a single operational programme supported by the ESF or a single multi-fund operational programme may exceptionally choose not to support transnational cooperation actions, in duly justified cases and taking account of the principle of proportionality.
3. Member States, in partnership with the relevant partners, may select themes for transnational cooperation from a list of common themes proposed by the Commission and endorsed by the Committee referred to in Article 25 or select any other themes corresponding to their specific needs.
4. The Commission shall facilitate transnational cooperation on the common themes of the list referred to in paragraph 3 and, where appropriate, other themes selected by Member States, through mutual learning and coordinated or joint action. In particular, the Commission shall operate an EU-level platform to facilitate the setting up of transnational partnerships, the exchange of experiences, capacity building and networking, and the capitalisation on and the dissemination of the relevant outcomes. In addition, the Commission shall develop a coordinated implementation framework, including common eligibility criteria, types and timing of actions, and common methodological approaches for monitoring and evaluation, with a view to facilitating transnational cooperation.
Fund-specific provisions for operational programmes
1. By way of derogation from Article 96(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, operational programmes may set out priority axes for the implementation of social innovation and transnational cooperation as referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of this Regulation.
2. By way of derogation from Article 120(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the maximum co-financing rate for a priority axis shall be increased by ten percentage points, but shall not exceed 100 % where the whole of a priority axis is dedicated to social innovation or to transnational cooperation, or a combination of both.
3. In addition to the provision made in Article 96(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, operational programmes shall also set out the contribution of planned ESF-supported actions to:
the thematic objectives listed under points (1) to (7) of the first paragraph of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 by priority axis, as appropriate;
social innovation and transnational cooperation, as referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of this Regulation, where they are not covered by a dedicated priority axis.
Specific provisions on the treatment of particular territorial features
1. The ESF may support community-led local development strategies in urban and rural areas, as referred to in Articles 32, 33 and 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, territorial pacts and local initiatives for employment, including youth employment, education and social inclusion, as well as Integrated territorial investments (ITI) as referred to in Article 36 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
2. As a complement to ERDF interventions as referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), the ESF may support sustainable urban development through strategies setting out integrated actions to tackle the economic, environmental and social challenges affecting the urban areas identified by the Member States on the basis of the principles laid down in their respective Partnership Agreements.
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Eligibility of expenditure
1. The ESF shall provide support for eligible expenditure which, as referred to in Article 120(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, may include any financial resources collectively contributed by employers and workers.
2. The ESF may provide support for expenditure incurred for operations which take place outside the programme area, but within the Union, provided that the following two conditions are satisfied:
the operation is for the benefit of the programme area;
the obligations of the authorities for the operational programme in relation to management, control and audit concerning the operation are fulfilled by the authorities responsible for the operational programme under which that operation is supported or they enter into agreements with authorities in the Member State in which the operation is implemented provided that in that Member State the obligations in relation to management, control and audit concerning the operation are met.
3. Up to a limit of 3 % of the budget of an ESF operational programme or the ESF part of a multi-fund operational programme, expenditure incurred outside the Union shall be eligible for a contribution from the ESF provided that it concerns the thematic objectives under Article 3(1)(a) or Article 3(1)(c) and provided that the relevant monitoring committee has given its agreement to the operation or types of operations concerned.
4. In addition to the expenditure referred to in Article 69(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the purchase of infrastructure, land and real estate shall also not be eligible for a contribution from the ESF.
5. Contributions in kind in the form of allowances or salaries disbursed by a third party for the benefit of the participants in an operation may be eligible for a contribution from the ESF provided that the contributions in kind are incurred in accordance with national rules, including accountancy rules, and do not exceed the cost borne by the third party.
Simplified cost options
1. In addition to the options referred to in Article 67 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the Commission may reimburse expenditure paid by Member States on the basis of standard scales of unit costs and lump sums defined by the Commission. The amounts calculated on this basis shall be regarded as public support paid to beneficiaries and as eligible expenditure for the purpose of applying Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
For the purpose of the first subparagraph, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 24 concerning the type of operations covered, the definitions of the standard scales of unit costs and lump sums and their maximum amounts, which may be adjusted according to the applicable commonly agreed methods, taking due account of experience gained during the previous programming period.
Financial audit shall exclusively aim at verifying that the conditions for reimbursement by the Commission on the basis of standard scales of unit costs and lump sums have been fulfilled.
Where funding on the basis of standard scales of unit costs and lump sums, in accordance with the first subparagraph, is used, the Member State may apply its accounting practices to support operations. For the purpose of this Regulation and Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, such accounting practices and the resulting amounts shall not be subject to audit by the audit authority or by the Commission.
2. In accordance with Article 67(1)(d) and (5)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, a flat rate of up to 40 % of the eligible direct staff costs may be used in order to cover the remaining eligible costs of an operation without a requirement for the Member State to execute any calculation to determine the applicable rate.
3. In addition to the methods stipulated in Article 67(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, where the public support for grants and repayable assistance does not exceed EUR 100 000, the amounts referred to in Article 67(1)(b), (c) and (d) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 may be established on a case-by-case basis by reference to a draft budget agreed ex ante by the managing authority.
4. Without prejudice to Article 67 (4) of Regulation (EU) No (1303/2013), grants and repayable assistance for which the public support does not exceed EUR 50 000 shall take the form of standard scales of unit costs or lump sums in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article or with Article 67 of Regulation (EU) No (1303/2013) or flat rates in accordance with Article 67 of Regulation (EU) No (1303/2013), except for operations receiving support within the framework of a State aid scheme. Where flat-rate financing is used, the categories of costs which are used to calculate the rate may be reimbursed in accordance with Article 67(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No (1303/2013).
Pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the ESF may support actions and policies falling within its scope through financial instruments, including micro-credits and guarantee funds.
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE
The YEI shall support the fight against youth unemployment in eligible regions of the Union through providing support to actions under Article 3(1)(a)(ii) of this Regulation. It shall target all young persons under the age of 25 not in employment, education or training, residing in eligible regions, who are inactive or unemployed including the long-term unemployed, and whether or not registered as seeking work. On a voluntary basis, Member States may decide to extend the target group to include young persons under the age of 30.
For the purpose of the YEI for 2014-2015, "eligible regions" are those NUTS level 2 regions that have youth unemployment rates for young persons aged 15 to 24 of more than 25 % in 2012 and, for Member States where the youth unemployment rate has increased by more than 30 % in 2012, NUTS level 2 regions that have youth unemployment rates of more than 20 % in 2012.
The resources for the YEI may be revised upwards for the years 2016 to 2020 in the framework of the budgetary procedure in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 1311/2013. For the determination of the regions eligible for the YEI for the period 2016-2020, the reference to 2012 data in the second subparagraph shall be construed as a reference to the latest available annual data. The breakdown by Member State of the additional resources shall follow the same steps as the initial allocation in accordance with Annex VIII of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
In agreement with the Commission, Member States may decide to allocate a limited amount not exceeding 10 % of the funds under the YEI to young persons residing in sub-regions which experience high youth unemployment levels and which are outside the eligible NUTS level 2 regions.
Thematic concentration
The specific allocation for YEI shall not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the thematic concentration referred to in Article 4.
The YEI is integrated into the programming of the ESF under Article 96 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. Where appropriate, Member States shall set out the programming arrangements for the YEI in their Partnership Agreements and in their operational programmes.
The programming arrangements may take one or more of the following forms:
a dedicated operational programme;
a dedicated priority axis within an operational programme;
a part of one or more priority axes.
Article 9 and 10 of this Regulation shall also apply to the YEI.
1. In addition to the functions of the monitoring committee set out in Article 110 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, at least once per year, the monitoring committee shall examine the implementation of the YEI in the context of the operational programme and the progress made towards achieving its objectives.
2. The annual implementation reports and the final report as referred to in Article 50(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall include additional information on the implementation of the YEI. The Commission shall transmit to the European Parliament a summary of those reports as referred to in Article 53(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
The Commission shall attend the European Parliament's annual debate on those reports.
3. As from April 2015 and for subsequent years, and at the same time as the annual implementation reports referred to in Article 50(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the managing authority shall transmit electronically to the Commission structured data for each priority axis or any part thereof supporting the YEI. Indicator data transmitted shall relate to values for the indicators set out in Annexes I and II to this Regulation and, where applicable, to programme specific indicators. They shall relate to partially or fully implemented operations.
4. The annual implementation reports referred to in Article 50(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or, where applicable, the progress report referred to in Article 111(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. and the annual implementation report submitted by 31 May 2016, shall present the main findings of evaluations referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article. The reports shall also set out and assess the quality of employment offers received by YEI participants, including disadvantaged persons, those from marginalised communities and those leaving education without qualifications. The reports shall also set out and assess their progress in continuing education, finding sustainable and decent jobs, or moving into apprenticeships or quality traineeships.
5. The progress reports referred to in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall include additional information on, and assess the implementation of, the YEI. The Commission shall transmit to the European Parliament a summary of these reports as referred to in Article 53(2) of that Regulation and shall attend the European Parliament's debate on those reports.
6. At least twice during the programming period, an evaluation shall assess the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of joint support from the ESF and the specific allocation for YEI including for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.
The first evaluation shall be completed by 31 December 2015 and the second evaluation by 31 December 2018.
Information and communication measures
1. The beneficiaries shall ensure that those taking part in an operation are specifically informed of the YEI support provided through the ESF funding and the specific YEI allocation.
2. Any document relating to the implementation of an operation and issued for the public or for participants, including an attendance or other certificate, shall include a statement to the effect that the operation was supported under the YEI.
The specific allocation for YEI may be taken into account by the Member States in the calculation of the limit on the total amount of funds allocated to technical assistance for each Member State.
1. The Commission decision adopting an operational programme shall fix the maximum amount of support from the specific allocation for YEI and the corresponding ESF support, as a global amount and also by category of regions, for each priority axis. The corresponding ESF support shall at least match the support from the specific allocation for YEI for each priority axis.
2. On the basis of the amounts referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall also fix the ratio between the categories of regions for the ESF support for each priority axis.
3. Where the YEI is implemented by a specific priority axis covering eligible regions from more than one category, the highest co-financing rate shall apply with regard to the ESF allocation.
The specific allocation for YEI shall not be subject to the national co-financing requirement.
The overall co-financing rate of the priority axis fixed by the Commission decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated taking into account the co-financing rate of the ESF allocation together with the special allocation for the YEI.
In addition to Article 130 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, when the Commission reimburses interim payments and pays the final balance for the YEI by priority axis, it shall allocate the reimbursement from the budget of the Union equally between the ESF and the specific allocation for YEI. Once all resources from the specific allocation for YEI have been reimbursed, the Commission shall allocate the remaining reimbursements from the budget of the Union to the ESF.
The Commission shall allocate the reimbursement from the ESF between categories of regions according to the ratio laid down in Article 22 (2).
DELEGATIONS OF POWER AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 14(1) shall be conferred on the Commission from21 December 2013 until 31 December 2020.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 14(1) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 14(1) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council, or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Committee under Article 163 TFEU
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee (the "ESF Committee") set up under Article 163 TFEU.
2. The member of the Commission responsible for chairing the ESF Committee may delegate that responsibility to a senior Commission official. The Secretariat of the ESF Committee shall be provided by the Commission.
3. Each Member State shall appoint one government representative, one representative of the workers' organisations, one representative of the employers' organisations and one alternate for each member for a maximum period of seven years. In the absence of a member, the alternate shall be automatically entitled to take part in the proceedings.
4. The ESF Committee shall include one representative from each of the organisations representing workers' organisations and employers' organisations at Union level.
5. The ESF Committee may invite non-voting representatives of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund as well as non-voting representatives of the relevant civil society organizations to its meetings, if the agenda of the meeting requires their participation.
6. The ESF Committee shall:
be consulted on draft Commission decisions relating to operational programmes and programming in the case of support from the ESF;
be consulted on the planned use of technical assistance in the case of support from the ESF, as well as on other issues having an impact on the implementation of strategies at Union level relevant to the ESF;
endorse the list of common themes for transnational cooperation provided for in Article 10(3).
7. The ESF Committee may deliver opinions on:
questions related to the ESF contribution to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy;
issues concerning Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 relevant for the ESF;
questions related to the ESF referred to it by the Commission other than those referred to in paragraph 6.
8. The opinions of the ESF Committee shall be adopted by an absolute majority of the votes validly cast, and shall be communicated to the European Parliament for information. The Commission shall inform the ESF Committee of the manner in which it has taken account of its opinions.
1. This Regulation shall not affect either the continuation or modification, including the total or partial cancellation, of assistance approved by the Commission on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 or any other legislation applying to that assistance on 31 December 2013. That Regulation or such other applicable legislation shall consequently continue to apply after 31 December 2013 to that assistance or the operations concerned until their closure.
2. Applications to receive assistance made or approved under Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 before 1 January 2014 shall remain valid.
Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Article 26 of this Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 is hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.
References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex III.
The European Parliament and the Council shall review this Regulation by 31 December 2020 in accordance with Article 164 TFEU.
Entry in force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels, 17 December 2013.
For the European Parliament
M. SCHULZ
For the Council
R. ŠADŽIUS
(1) OJ C 143, 22.5.2012, p. 82 and OJ C 271, 19.9.2013, p. 101.
(2) OJ C 225, 27.7.2012, p. 127.
(3) Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (See page 320 of this Official Journal).
(4) OJ C 120, 26.4.2013, p. 1.
(5) Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the European Social Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1784/1999 (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 12).
(6) Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 (See page 289 of this Official Journal).
Common output and result indicators for ESF investments
(1) Common output indicators for participants
"Participants" (1) refers to persons benefiting directly from an ESF intervention who can be identified and asked for their characteristics, and for whom specific expenditure is earmarked. Other persons shall not be classified as participants. All data shall be broken down by gender.
The common output indicators for participants are:
unemployed, including long-term unemployed*,
long-term unemployed*,
inactive*,
inactive, not in education or training*,
employed, including self-employed*,
below 25 years of age*,
above 54 years of age*,
above 54 years of age who are unemployed, including long-term unemployed, or inactive not in education or training*,
with primary (ISCED 1) or lower secondary education (ISCED 2)*,
with upper secondary (ISCED 3) or post-secondary education (ISCED 4)*,
with tertiary education (ISCED 5 to 8)*,
participants who live in jobless households*,
participants who live in jobless households with dependent children*,
participants who live in a single adult household with dependent children*,
migrants, participants with a foreign background, minorities (including marginalised communities such as the Roma)**,
participants with disabilities**,
other disadvantaged**.
The total number of participants will be calculated automatically on the basis of the output indicators.
These data on participants entering an ESF supported operation shall be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(1) and (2) and Article 111(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
homeless or affected by housing exclusion*,
from rural areas* (2).
The data on participants under the two above indicators will be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The data shall be collected based on a representative sample of participants within each investment priority. Internal validity of the sample shall be ensured in such a way that the data can be generalised at the level of investment priority.
(2) Common output indicators for entities are:
number of projects fully or partially implemented by social partners or non-governmental organisations,
number of projects dedicated at sustainable participation and progress of women in employment,
number of projects targeting public administrations or public services at national, regional or local level,
number of supported micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (including cooperative enterprises, enterprises of the social economy).
These data shall be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(1) and (2) and Article 111(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
(3) Common immediate result indicators for participants are:
inactive participants engaged in job searching upon leaving*,
participants in education/training upon leaving*,
participants gaining a qualification upon leaving*,
participants in employment, including self-employment, upon leaving*,
disadvantaged participants engaged in job searching, education/ training, gaining a qualification, in employment, including self-employment, upon leaving**.
These data shall be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(1) and (2) and Article 111(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. All data shall be broken down by gender.
(4) Common longer-term result indicators for participants are:
participants in employment, including self-employment, six months after leaving*,
participants with an improved labour market situation six months after leaving*,
participants above 54 years of age in employment, including self-employment, six months after leaving*,
disadvantaged participants in employment, including self-employment, six months after leaving**.
These data shall be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. They shall be collected based on a representative sample of participants within each investment priority. Internal validity of the sample shall be ensured in such a way that the data can be generalised at the level of investment priority. All data shall be broken down by gender.
(1) Managing authorities shall establish a system that records and stores individual participant data in computerised form as set out in Article 125 (2) (d) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The data processing arrangements put in place by the Member States shall be in line with the provisions of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31), in particular Articles 7 and 8 thereof.
Data reported under the indicators marked with * are personal data according to Article 7 of Directive 95/46/EC. Their processing is necessary for compliance with the legal obligation to which the controller is subject (Article 7(c) of Directive 95/46/EC). For the definition of controller, see Article 2 of Directive 95/46/EC.
Data reported under the indicators marked with ** are a special category of data according to Article 8 of Directive 95/46/EC. Subject to the provision of suitable safeguards, Member States may, for reasons of substantial public interest, lay down exemptions in addition to those laid down in Article 8(2) of Directive 95/46/EC, either by national law or by decision of the supervisory authority (Article 8(4) of Directive 95/46/EC).
(2) The data shall be collected at the level of smaller administrative units (local administrative units 2), in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1).
ANNEX II
Result indicators for the YEI
These data shall be provided in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 50(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and in the report to be submitted in April 2015 as specified in Article 19(3) of this Regulation. All data shall be broken down by gender.
(1) Common immediate result indicators for participants
"Participants" (1) refers to persons benefiting directly from a YEI intervention who can be identified and asked for their characteristics, and for whom specific expenditure is earmarked.
The immediate result indicators are:
Unemployed participants who complete the YEI supported intervention*,
Unemployed participants who receive an offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship upon leaving*,
Unemployed participants who are in education/training, gain a qualification, or are in employment, including self-employment, upon leaving*,
Long-term unemployed participants who complete the YEI supported intervention*,
Long-term unemployed participants who receive an offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship upon leaving*,
Long-term unemployed participants who are in education/training, gain a qualification, or are in employment, including self-employment, upon leaving*,
Inactive participants not in education or training who complete the YEI supported intervention*,
Inactive participants not in education or training who receive an offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship upon leaving*,
Inactive participants not in education or training who are in education/training, gain a qualification, or are in employment, including self-employment, upon leaving*.
(2) Common longer-term result indicators for participants
The longer-term result indicators are:
Participants in continued education, training programmes leading to a qualification, an apprenticeship or a traineeship six months after leaving*,
Participants in employment six months after leaving*,
Participants in self-employment six months after leaving*.
The data for longer-term result indicators shall be collected based on a representative sample of participants within each investment priority. Internal validity of the sample shall be ensured in such a way that the data can be generalised at the level of investment priority.
(1) Managing authorities shall establish a system that records and stores individual participant data in computerised form as set out in Article 125 (2) (d) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 The data processing arrangements put in place by the Member States must be in line with the provisions of Directive 95/46/EC, in particular Articles 7 and 8 thereof.
Correlation table
European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006
This Regulation
Articles 16 to 23
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More info on Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester, New Hampshire: Quiz
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Categories: Cities in New Hampshire > Populated places in Strafford County, New Hampshire > Populated places established in 1749 > Early American industrial centers > Rochester, New Hampshire
Question 1: In the early 1900s, Rochester Postmaster Osman Warren contacted ________ to secure his help in providing financial help in building a new library.
Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse Andrew Carnegie Carnegie Mellon University
Question 2: About 6.3% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the ________, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.
Basic needs Bhutan Poverty threshold Canada
Question 3: Rochester is a city in Strafford County, ________, United States.
Manchester, New Hampshire Massachusetts New Hampshire Concord, New Hampshire
Question 4: Allard Baird, assistant general manager, the ________
Boston Red Sox all-time roster Babe Ruth Boston Red Sox 2004 Boston Red Sox season
Question 5: ________, political activist and presidential candidate
Lyndon LaRouche LaRouche movement U.S. Labor Party LaRouche criminal trials
Question 6: ________, professional hockey player, Philadelphia Flyers
New York Islanders Freddy Meyer Alexei Zhitnik 2005–06 NHL season
Question 7: Rochester passed out of the silent movie era on May 20, 1929 with the arrival of the first talking motion picture in the city, titled The Wild Party, starring ________.
Schizophrenia Clara Bow B. P. Schulberg Dorothy Parker
Question 8: The highest point in Rochester is a southern extension of Nute Ridge, at 581 feet (177 m) above ________, occupying the northern corner of the city.
Current sea level rise Sea level Physical oceanography Thermohaline circulation
Question 9: They fished, hunted and farmed, moving locations when their agriculture exhausted the soil for growing pumpkins, squash, ________ and maize.
Common bean Soybean Bean Pulse (legume)
Question 10: The Kessel Fire Brick Company was established in 1889, and at one time bricks for new buildings at ________ were made in Gonic.
Harvard Crimson Rutgers University Brown University Harvard University
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Quiet and commotion
Don't make a mistake. There's nothing wrong with commotion when it's important to make a commotion. The citizens of Egypt couldn't wait any longer to proclaim their independence. Similar uprisings seem to be happening in many places: Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Iran, and Madison, Wisconsin. No doubt other states in the US will join in soon. Sometimes making a commotion is what is necessary.
So I was juxtaposing this to a place of utter quiet that I visited recently, right near my house, at the entrance to the cemetery on my regular walk. Do forgive me for seeming to often be on the subject of cemeteries, bones, and ashes. It's just part of my current neighborhood. It can't be helped. It's part of life. I'm thinking specifically of the Chapel of Chimes, a massive building that is a columbarium, a structure for holding ashes, cremains.
This California style building was designed by Julia Morgan, the first woman licensed to practice architecture in California. She is the architect of Hearst Castle among the other 400 or so buildings she designed. The crematorium had already existed in 1909 when Morgan was commissioned in 1926 to design an expansion of the existing facility. A week or so ago, I finally entered an open door on my return walk, curious about what the inside of this beautiful building looked like.
As nothing retarded my entrance, no receptionist, no human to question me, I simply walked deeper and deeper into the interior of this remarkable place. If I could imagine going into the pyramids in Egypt, it would be something like this. Or a tiny bit the way I felt entering the megalithic tomb at Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland. I was completely alone on the inside with only light and the sound of my own movements and occasional water features in garden rooms. Granted, none of the ashes are as old as the Iron Age, but the atmosphere was as sacred and held the stories of our past.
It was like entering an ancient library, with stacks and stacks of ashes placed in thick book-like containers behind glass cases as high as 15 or 20 feet. From the Gregorian cloister entry, I had taken a small staircase that led into various rooms and alcoves, cloisters, small chapels, curved recesses, niches and hallways with moulded doorways. Then there were three levels that held the other mysterious rooms and passageways. All was beautifully lighted by large skylights that kept a soft illumination over all the areas.
Numerous artifacts appear there too. There's a display of illuminated parchment manuscripts from the 1500s, a lapis lazuli inlaid table with the Medici Crest circa 1500 and other Italian influenced treasures. The City of Oakland named this Chapel a Distinguished Landmark of the area.
But it was the silence of the place, the space, its careful beauty that struck me; it can't be captured in snapshots. Thousands of stacks of ashes of those who had thrived in the surrounding hills of California, those who had made a commotion in one way or another, who had made a river of life, a library of events and experience, who had shouted out and demonstrated for or against one thing or another, or some who had remained silent. I sensed no ghosts, just a feeling of how life continues in all its aspects. We who acknowledge these shelves of ashes standing in the river of life now, either in the thrumming crowd or solitary, will enter the library at whatever time we do. This is not sad or morbid, it's just how life is and has always been.
In the Dharma world
While we're at it, I put forward here yet another situation that troubles the Zen Buddhist world: Shambhala Sun Magazine's decision to commission John Tarrant to write a tribute of Aitken Roshi. Maybe some of you saw it and read it. I saw it on the news stand and chose not to read it. The commission was questionable to begin with since Tarrant and Aitken Roshi had been at odds with one another for many years because Tarrant had refused to comply with Aitken Roshi's request that he separate from the Diamond Sangha and/or change his behavior due to Tarrant's alleged professional psychotherapeutic, sexual, and organizational misconduct. The whole story is detailed in an open letter from Nelson Foster, Dharma heir of Aitken Roshi, and Jack Shoemaker who is Roshi's literary executor. This open letter has just been sent out over the wires and I copy it here for your education.
It is indeed a complex world we live it, but it's the one we've got. It's no fun to be saturated with these situations, but if you happened to have read Tarrant's article in The Sun, then it would be well to also read this Open Letter. Aitken Roshi was a friend of mine and I couldn't imagine doing anything to besmirch his reputation. His life was one of pure dedication to the Dharma and he deserves our highest gratitude and regard.
An Open Letter on Journalistic Integrity and the Shambhala Sun
We adopt this means, as a last resort, to air a concern about a gross failure of journalistic ethics on the part of the Shambhala Sun. The world of American Buddhist publishing has been relatively small and honorable to date, so such a failure is conspicuous and, we feel, warrants public notice and remedy. Unfortunately, as we'll report in detail below, our efforts to obtain an appropriate correction directly from the Sun came to naught. Thus our recourse to this posting.
Before proceeding to specifics, we need to make clear that, by its actions, the Sun besmirched the memory of a man we hold very dear, our late teacher, friend, and collaborator, Robert Aitken Roshi. We've pursued the matter in part out of loyalty to him, feeling an obligation to correct the worst errors of fact in the Sun article. But Aitken Roshi's reputation is probably as secure as anything in this 'burning house' can be, and what's at stake here -- integrity in Buddhist journalism -- is both larger and more imminently perishable.
The problem began with the Sun commissioning an article about Aitken Roshi from a writer who had an axe to grind, a long-alienated Dharma successor named John Tarrant. When the article was published last year in its November issue, we expressed our concerns to Sun editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod, who responded, "Of course we were aware that we were treading into dangerous territory in asking John to do this homage, and we did sound out some people to ask whether they felt it would be resented by current students of Aitken Roshi's." We have no idea whom Mr. McLeod and his staff consulted or how seriously they took the process of consultation, but we do know that they didn't speak with the people most likely to be offended and also best positioned to gauge potential negative reactions -- those of us who remained close to Aitken Roshi at the end of his life and who represent the tradition that he and his wife established, the Diamond Sangha.
Despite awareness of the risk involved, the Sun commissioned the article from Dr. Tarrant and published it without any indication of concern and without disclosing the author's estrangement from Aitken Roshi. This is the error that troubles us most. While Mr. McLeod is certainly free to choose who writes for his magazine, journalistic ethics require that periodicals disclose personal history that might compromise their writers' fairness. Lacking such information, unsuspecting readers are ill-equipped to assess the reliability of what they read.
If the Sun maintained these professional standards, it would have needed to acknowledge that Dr. Tarrant's relationship with Aitken Roshi ruptured in the late 1990s and never recovered. Concerned that Dr. Tarrant's approach to Zen had gone seriously awry, for a year Aitken Roshi discreetly pressed him to pull his group out of the Diamond Sangha. This unhappy separation finally took place in 1999 but turned out to be a prelude to an even more painful break: when repeated and persuasive allegations of misconduct on Dr. Tarrant's part -- professional (in his work as a psychotherapist), sexual, and organizational -- came to light, after private efforts to encourage resolution proved unsuccessful, Aitken Roshi and ten other Diamond Sangha teachers issued an open letter, urging their former colleague to mend his ways. Dr. Tarrant reacted angrily. Communication between the two men came to an end.
Dr. Tarrant's desire to gloss over these facts in his article is understandable, but in agreeing to write about Aitken Roshi for the Buddhist public, he forfeited the option of concealing them. Since he chose not to disclose them himself, it was incumbent on the Sun to do so, and the resulting article makes the reason for this apparent. Although the Sun advertised the story on its cover as an "homage" to Aitken Roshi and Dr. Tarrant termed it a "tribute," it bore abundant signs that its author was still hurt and angry and had seized the opportunity to take revenge on his old teacher.
It's certainly peculiar for a tribute to a Zen master to feature the assertion that he "never stopped wondering if he had indeed ever had an enlightenment experience. . . . Sometimes he was quite sure he hadn't." Even more unusual is to couple a disparaging assessment of the master's realization with a triumphant rehearsal of one's own. How could the Sun serve this up as neutral and trustworthy reporting? Dr. Tarrant tells its readers Aitken Roshi "put down other teachers, out of a kind of embarrassed competitiveness," but somehow neither he nor the Sun seems to have noticed that he was trashing his own dead teacher -- not in private conversation but publicly, in print.
Just for the record, Aitken Roshi was appropriately humble about his awakening, but he spoke of it candidly as occasion required and wrote about it openly, too. Rather than relying on Dr. Tarrant's account, we suggest that readers look up "Willy-Nilly Zen," an autobiographical piece that Aitken Roshi prepared at his teacher's behest in 1971 and later published as an appendix to his well-known book Taking the Path of Zen. As his own telling makes clear, it wasn't a big-bang experience of the sort Dr. Tarrant trumpets, but it began a process of widening insight that ultimately made him a wise, compassionate, skillful, and upright teacher. Unfortunately, a big-bang realization doesn't ensure such a result.
The Sun story is as peculiar for what it omits as for its belittlement of Aitken Roshi's awakening. An homage can ordinarily be expected to stress its subject's strengths, but Dr. Tarrant and his editor managed to overlook a characteristic absolutely central to Aitken Roshi's nature and to his teaching and writing: his emphasis on the precepts and on living out the Dharma in all its ethical dimensions. This is the contribution to Western Buddhism for which he surely was best known and will be best remembered. How Dr. Tarrant and the Sun could neglect it we can't fathom.
Altogether, the Sun "homage" bears only intermittent resemblance to the person we knew. When Mr. McLeod received our letter-to-the-editor objecting to the article's inaccuracies and taking the Sun to task for not disclosing Dr. Tarrant's broken relationship with his subject, he promptly engaged us in revising our letter for publication in the Sun. This entailed tempering the "tone" of our comments and finding adequate ways to make our point while respecting the magazine's "pretty strong policy . . . not to get into detailed public discussions of possible misconduct." (Note: the text of our original letter is attached, below.)
We tolerated this extraordinary intrusion in the content of our letter, feeling it would be worthwhile to place even a watered-down critique before Sun subscribers. Accepting as sincere Mr. McLeod's assurance, "I think you're doing the right thing in writing this, and if there's fault it's mine for putting you in this spot," we went back and forth with him by phone and e-mail, working out a text he'd be willing to print. After we acceded to his final suggestion, Mr. McLeod volunteered his satisfaction with both our collaboration and its result, so we were astounded when he wrote again, five days later, declaring that he wouldn't use our letter after all.
Instead, he proposed that we start over, taking a different tack -- "to focus the letter exclusively on how you feel John [Tarrant]'s portrayal of Aitken Roshi was not accurate, and to offer your own view of him." In this fashion, he suggested, the letter could "become a completely positive contribution, in itself an homage to and celebration of Aitken Roshi." Maybe so, but it wouldn't be our letter anymore and, in its complete positivity, would let the Sun off the hook on the point we consider most crucial: its failure to adhere to a basic principle of fairness in journalism.
In making a case for this change of direction, Mr. McLeod advanced an argument that we find untenable, to put it mildly: "we have tried not to wash the Buddhist world's dirty laundry in public -- to avoid getting into detail about difficulties and divisions within Buddhist sanghas. This is particularly important in the Sun, with a substantial non-Buddhist or beginning Buddhist audience." To the degree that this policy represents refusal to indulge in back-biting and gossip-mongering, we enthusiastically applaud it; otherwise, it seems to us that it infantilizes readers and may protect them from information that beginners actually need to be attuned to in exploring the profusion of Buddhist paths, organizations, and teachers on offer in North America today. How he applied the policy in the present instance seems utterly indefensible, for while it has shielded his readers from awareness of Dr. Tarrant's misconduct and removal from the Diamond Sangha, it hasn't spared them his biased "tribute" impugning the wisdom and character of a widely respected teacher.
Needless to say, perhaps, we declined Mr. McLeod's request, and we counterproposed that he, as editor-in-chief, publish a statement acknowledging the error of printing Dr. Tarrant's article without divulging the fact and the causes of his bitter, ten-year alienation from Aitken Roshi. Mr. McLeod subsequently negotiated and ran (in the March issue) a letter from the Honolulu Diamond Sangha board of directors that politely laments his choice of author and corrects a few of the piece's numerous misstatements. Nowhere, however, has the Sun publicly acknowledged, and taken responsibility for, the editorial failures outlined above.
We feel that these failures are serious enough to cast doubt on the journalistic integrity of the Sun, and we urge other members of the American Buddhist community to register any concerns they may have on this subject, in the hope that Mr. McLeod and his staff will remember their mishandling of this story and exercise increased care when ethical questions arise in the future. If that were to happen, in the long run this sad incident might actually have beneficial results.
Nelson Foster
Ring of Bone Zendo and East Rock Sangha
Dharma heir of Aitken Roshi
Jack Shoemaker
Editorial director, Counterpoint Press
Literary Executor for Robert Aitken
Original letter, e-mailed to Melvin McLeod on October 20, 2010:
In publishing John Tarrant's demeaning "tribute" to Robert Aitken Roshi, the Shambhala Sun has done a disservice not only to our late friend and teacher but also to its readers and the author himself. He professes surprise at discovering he had "any strong reaction" to Aitken Roshi's death, but his feelings have a long history, and anyone familiar with that history can understand how his deep-seated hurt and anger might have lingered. Sadly, they also have twisted an ostensibly warm reminiscence of his "Old Man" into a covert or perhaps unconscious score-settling. We wish Sun editors had spared everyone this beautifully crafted but badly distorted account.
Now that it's in print, readers deserve information that enables them to put it in context. Although Dr. Tarrant did enjoy a close and trusting relationship with his teacher for some time, by 1998 his approach to Zen had departed so seriously from that of the Diamond Sangha as a whole that, for the better part of a year, Aitken Roshi pressed him and his group to withdraw. After their withdrawal, in response to convincing reports of misconduct on Dr. Tarrant's part -- professional (as a psychotherapist), sexual, and organizational -- Aitken Roshi and ten other Diamond Sangha teachers issued an open letter calling on him to mend his ways. Communication between the two men ceased at that time, more than a decade ago.
Dr. Tarrant's reluctance to publicize these unhappy facts is understandable, and we take no pleasure in mentioning them, but journalistic ethics require that they be disclosed, if not by the writer himself then by the Sun. It's apparent to us that hard feelings significantly affected his portrait of his former teacher, for it bears a dim resemblance to the man we knew, each of us for longer than Dr. Tarrant did.
While faulting Aitken Roshi for "put[ting] down other teachers, out of a kind of embarrassed competitiveness," Dr. Tarrant has indulged in that vice himself, though seemingly without embarrassment. He manages to combine a glowing account of his own awakening with a disparaging account of his teacher's, even claiming that "Bob never stopped wondering if he had ever had" one. Horsefeathers. Aitken Roshi was appropriately modest about his experience, but he spoke about it publicly when circumstances warranted and wrote about it, too. Any reader who cares to look it up will find his own description of the experience and its subsequent unfolding in "Willy-Nilly Zen," an autobiographical piece he prepared in 1971 and published as an appendix to Taking the Path of Zen. Twenty-four years later, he repeated the tale at the request of a reporter in Bangkok!
We find it galling to see Aitken Roshi's humility and candor turned against him, not only in this matter but also with respect to his early uncertainties as a Zen teacher. These predate Dr. Tarrant's arrival from Australia, so he, like many others, heard about them after the fact, precisely because Aitken Roshi spoke openly about them, expressing profound gratitude for the guidance and encouragement he received from Maezumi Roshi. Anne Aitken used to lament that her husband had "no carapace," no protective covering, a trait that left him vulnerable to misrepresentation and mockery in life, as in death. It also made him approachable and inspiring, however, a man who showed by example how insight and character may mature over decades of practice. Dr. Tarrant's characterization of him as "timid and anxious" will astonish people who saw him teach confidently before large audiences in the 1980s and '90s.
Other errors of fact and interpretation we will set aside here, but we cannot close without noting a curious omission from this remembrance: it leaves utterly unmentioned the contribution to Western Buddhism for which Aitken Roshi is most widely known -- his attention to the ethical implications of practice and realization and his stress on embodying them in the social, economic, political, and environmental conditions of our day. He certainly had his share of failings, but he had greater and more important virtues than this account admits. We hope Sun readers will seek out less jaundiced appraisals of his life and work.
Ring of Bone Zendo
"The world is too much with us..."
This is the opening line of a poem by Wordsworth in which he decries materialism and says that we haven't aligned ourselves deeply enough with Nature where the true spirit is to be found. The line comes to me right now, not as Wordsworth intended, but because there are so many things going on in this difficult world, I sometimes feel I can't deal with any more. This is the feeling I get when there are reports concerning the sexual transgressions of Zen priests. Maybe some of you feel this way when you read of yet another disclosure of youths who were abused by Catholic priests. At the same time that we don't want to hear any more, we also feel that the problem has to be completely addressed until we have faced into it, aired it out completely, given the problem its full emptying.
The latest discussion concerns Dennis Genpo Merzel, the founder of the Big Mind workshops and abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center in Salt Lake City. Merzel's resignation from his teaching duties and from the White Plum Asangha, that is the turning in of his robes and his affiliation within the Maezumi lineage, was published in the latest edition of Tricycle Magazine. He has owned up to years of sexual misconduct, pledged to take up therapy, and full examination of his actions. At the same time, he has decided to continue his teaching of Big Mind which is a copyrighted program, ($50,000 per, I heard) that promises to give people an awakening experience, of some kind, or something like that. Some have suggested that the fee exploitation along with spurious claims as to the enlightenment outcome is what we should be upset about and not the sexual impropriety.
An even larger picture is the sadness that this activity has been permitted over a long period of time while many people have known about it. Merezel's Dharma brothers and sisters have not done enough to require accountability of one another. He is certainly not the only one to have been challenged by his own body and I'm sure he'll not be the last. The problem is how the larger Sangha holds the transgressor accountable because his actions injure, not only particular people, but the integrity of the Three Treasures - The Buddha, The Dharma, The Sangha.
The function of Sangha is to look out for one another and not permit one's Dharma sisters and brothers to make mistakes in Buddhism. But, this is all a messy business. Members of the Kanzeon Sangha in Salt Lake City are calling on the national priests to speak out against Merzel's actions. At the same time, Keido Les Kaye has written a letter to the Kanzeon Sangha demonstrating that an attempt was made years ago to ask Maezumi to withdraw Merzel's teaching authorization, but the request was refused. You can read the letter from Kaye in its entirety on the Sweeping Zen site so you can see for yourself how complicated and messy things can get over sexual misconduct. Letters from other priests speaking out on the issue are also found on this site. All of this, if you care to be bothered with it. At some level it's tiresome business. On another, if you succumb to gossip, it's a juicy read.
http://www,sweepingzen.com/2011/02/15/open-letters-to-kanzeon-zen-center/
I feel tired for us all. I discuss this sad business so we can be fully in the open, unlike the years of subterfuge and deception that has taken place in the Catholic church. The issues of misconduct with Zen priests has, so far, been among adults, but this doesn't lessen the unethical nature of the activity. So far, men have been the "perpetrators" and women the "victims" if we are to use these popular words, but perhaps it's a matter of time before women fall prey to the lure of sexual intrigue in the dokusan room. Frankly, most women Zen teachers I know are too damn old to be interested, and what I think is that women are far too practical for such nonsense. We're not that desperate. Not to make light of it all, bottom line is that people have been injured, not only those who were party to the behavior, but entire Sanghas far and wide have been torn apart. This is abuse of the Three Treasures, the field of Dharma that we all share. In times past, when the Sangha was abused by unethical behavior of a priest, the Buddha ousted them from the monastic community. The same was true of Sangha members. The Buddha removed them from the Sangha for certain offenses. Of course, we have the matter of religious freedom in the US and anyone, even if they have been removed from their religious affiliation, can rise again independently to promote themselves in the marketplace and take advantage of unsuspecting and vulnerable seekers. This is the great privilege of living in America.
You'll all be glad to know that it is raining in the Bay Area today and the pouring down is forecast throughout the week. A right climate for the mood. Happy Valentine's Day!
In its heyday...
Oakland City Hall
The City of Oakland, south of Berkeley and across the bay from San Francisco, became the gateway to the gold country in 1849 after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. Horses and wagons loaded with supplies would begin from this point, cross through the Sacramento Valley and reach the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in the dry brown hills on the south fork of the American River. It's familiar to me because Coloma was where I went camping in summer when my children were young. Panning for gold was grueling, backbreaking work and few actually found any nuggets to speak of. Those who worked mines and sluices made out better, but those who stood in the water and hoped something would land in their pans eventually gave up, or died trying.
Oakland very quickly became a settlement and incorporated as a city in 1852. Previously, of course, the land had been inhabited by the Ohlone peoples who were displaced by the Spanish in the 18th and 19th centuries. Then Russia began to lay claim to the land moving in from Alaska. Then in 1849, American troops conquered the territory mostly influenced by the discovery of gold. In the late 1860s, the Transcontinental Railroad completed its western journey at Oakland and the city became an important port for the delivery of supplies to the western cities.
Downtown building for offices and condos
It was also a resort area for people fleeing the cold winds of San Francisco. Ferry boats brought people across the Bay to the warmer climate and they built lovely summer homes and estates in the hill country overlooking the water and beyond the fog region that locks San Francisco into its grip in summer. After the big San Francisco earthquake in 1906, many people moved to the East Bay and it further developed.
Numerous immigrants moved to Oakland during World War II and the city became a center for industries supporting the war effort. Consequently, it has a very high ethnic diversity. While the San Andreas earthquake fault line runs through San Francisco, the equally treacherous Hayward fault runs right through Oakland. The surrounding hills make it a gorgeous place. It has a difficult reputation since there is a high level of unemployment, poverty, and crime. Although those social issues are present, it isn't the complete story as the city is also balanced by thriving neighborhoods, excellent public transportation, rich cultural opportunities, museums, music and superb regional parks. In many ways, the reputation is undeserved.
I was downtown on Thursday to have lunch with my daughter. Since I went by bus, I could enjoy a look at the magnificent buildings and architecture that grace the downtown region. I can't help feeling this is an up and coming city that will be restored to a deeper safety and will overcome its hardships. Jerry Brown was once mayor of Oakland and is now governor of the state. I have to admit he's one of a kind. The other day he needed to fly from Sacramento to Los Angeles. He demonstrates what a politician should demonstrate. He flew coach on a standard flight and sat with the real people having conversations with everyone listening to what they had to say. I suspect that's how he'll continue to travel throughout the state. He has a soft spot for Oakland and still keeps his condo at Jack London Square. He's my kind of governor.
Posted by Temple Ground Press at 11:34 PM
Celebration in Egypt
Who could stay dry eyed listening to the exultation and seeing the joy in the hearts of Egyptians as they heard the news that they had succeeded in bringing change to their country and in such a wonderful way! What a relief it was to know that there would not be further bloodshed or violence in their determination to stand firm. Everyone is praying that the transition of government will be done with maturity, balance, and wisdom. What a great historic moment! What a great cosmic moment!
Sunset and the green flash
Sunset as seen from my apartment
Years ago while I was visiting in San Francisco, my brother and I wandered down to the beach to watch the sunset. We sat on the top of sand dunes at the city beach straight down from the Sunset District, along with many others who had come to see the day close. It was a cool evening but not so very windy; the air was crystal clear. At the very second that the sun fell beneath the horizon, we saw the "green flash" and everyone on the beach gasped and then applauded. This is a rare moment and a rare thing to actually see because the conditions have be right for it to occur. The "green flash" is a phenomenon caused by refraction of light in the atmosphere. The fact that so many saw it together was clear evidence for all of us that we hadn't faked or imagined it. The phenomenon lasts only for about one second.
Angel contemplating the arrival of Spring.
From my apartment I'm seeing great sunsets, predictors of the warm weather to come. Even brilliant California doesn't usually have this kind of nearly summer weather in the middle of winter. It's somewhat disconcerting, but everyone is out celebrating. You just can't help it. But I'm also realizing, as I have for many years, that I haven't regularly seen a sunset for about 15 years. The late afternoon and evening sky is completely blocked by trees at Olympia Zen Center. Even when the light holds on until 10 p.m. there is no wide view of the sky. There may be an occasional reflection of pink, which makes me think, oh, there must be a nice sunset, but I don't actually see it. Times when I've been to the ocean, it has clouded over or rained.
My mother always thought sunset was the saddest point of the day. She felt lonely when the light began to leave. Perhaps it meant to her that life was moving along quickly and her children were growing up and growing away from her. She was affected by nature and she felt a nostalgia that nature can bring. Although she didn't express it artistically, she certainly appreciated the art that others created having been inspired by nature.
Ryokan would feel nostalgia about the elements:
Dark melancholy
Invades my heart in autumn,
When I sit alone,
Hearing a cold shower pour
Down upon rustling bamboos.
I doubt that many people who witnessed the green flash that night in San Francisco ran home to paint it or write poems about it. But, we all knew we had received something unusual, perhaps a once in a lifetime experience of it that connected us more deeply to natural life, and something larger than we are alone. We all clearly celebrated the phenomenon. I know I will never forget it, but then, I tend to feel that nature is a part of my whole being and I'm thoroughly noticing and enjoying the sunsets here. As with many, I too feel the importance of natural things such as noticing the sky, the way light falls on trees, the activity of squirrels in the garden, how trees bend and sing in the wind, and how on a gorgeous morning it moves us to say hello with a smile when we pass on the sidewalk. Ryokan writes:
On the autumn moor,
Glowing with the setting sun,
Amid late flowers
Let me stay with butterflies,
Rapt in a dream of one night.
..of one sort or another
Birds Begging at the Wharf
There is a great deal of volatile tension in the world, and much need everywhere. Even here where there is an abundance of comfort, intellect, goods, habitats, beauty, still there is the intermingling of obvious need. Riding the bus its easy to see people who are struggling. If public transportation doesn't serve to save the environment, it should serve to teach us about one another and to stay in touch with humanity.
One striking aspect of THE ODYSSEY, a reading assignment for the course I'm taking, is Homer's attention to the care of beggars. There are numerous times when Athena turns Odysseus into the guise of a beggar and he goes about the community asking for help. In ancient Greek hospitality, beggars are not denied their fair share of the banquet, and they are not turned away. The beggar may represent homelessness, powerlessness, some kind of need within that is begging for attention. When we see a beggar and are repulsed, we might be turning away from some truth about ourselves, not wanting to admit we feel we are lacking something within.
It reminds of a story of one student who was scornful of my having taken visiting students to a discount shopping store for their food rather than to one of the upscale places. It said a lot about the nature of class, money and snobbery which is also about the nature of lack. If we have money, we can easily avoid mingling with beggars and needy people. We can shop at high level stores. We can stay in our cars and not use public transportation. We can avoid mixing with minorities. But, as Zen students, and particularly as students of Ryokan, we should be able to go anywhere and not notice anything other than humanity and how to be hospitable to everyone. This includes noticing in ourselves whether we are harboring a sense of lack or something begging for attention. If we are, we can turn it into spiritual activity by seeing it for what it is and recognizing there are times when we are all beggars of one sort or another.
Steinbeck Country
Rolling hills along the way
John Steinbeck was born in the Salinas Valley and this area, the San Joaquin and the Monterey Bay area are all referred to as "Steinbeck Country." I can't go there without recalling the literature that Steinbeck produced which has enriched my experience: Tortilla Flat; The Grapes of Wrath; Of Mice and Men; Cannery Row; East of Eden; Log From the Sea of Cortez, etc. Just being in Monterey for the day on Tuesday to see some friends, makes me want to reread Steinbeck, maybe not all, but some of the works that influenced me, the kind of books one never forgets.
First glimpse of ocean from the car
Restaurant at Monterey Wharf
You don't see cactus growing outside
like this in the Pacific Northwest
Because the terrain is unique, you feel truly rooted in a sense of place which Steinbeck brought to his work. The hot, dry farmland of the Salinas Valley brings out a nostalgia in me since I was reading Steinbeck when I first moved to California and was changed by its beauty and strength. Steinbeck's subjects are often the problems of migrant workers, immigrants, the
Dust Bowl, plots set in the Great Depression. During summer and fall if you drive through the Salinas Valley and you see farm workers bent over rows and rows of crops in hot sun, you feel the echoes of Steinbeck and the workers become people who touch you with whole lives who feel and sweat and cry and sing. Because they do that backbreaking, stinging work, we can eat.
Fishermen at Monterey Bay
The route from Oakland to Monterey also follows the Mission Trail and passes by San Jose de Guadelupe, Santa Clara de Asis, and San Juan Bautista all beautiful places however much they remind of a difficult history. I didn't take the time to stop on this journey, only that I remembered where they were and recall the many times I stopped to experience the surroundings.
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The Legacy (1978) Richard Marquand, Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott, John Standing
A millionaire and a million-dollar prostitute, a star-maker and a nation-killer, a woman whose lusts are as cold as graveyard snow… Five of the most powerful people in the world, gathered in an ancient mansion to inherit a Legacy of bloodsome horror. And Maggie makes six.
An excellent little movie, though it might be wasted on anyone likely to get disappointed by 1970s special effects or confused by the intrusion of a plot. It’s a well-made supernatural re-working of Agatha Christie’s “And then there were None” (Originally “Ten Little Nigger Boys”) and starts when the descendents of a 17th century witch gather at an English country house in the hope of receiving part of the family legacy. Instead, they get a dose of poetic justice delivered from beyond the grave. Don’t expect to be scared out of your skin, just entertained for a while.
Also Known As (AKA): Convite à Morte, Psychose phase 3, Il testamento, A Herança, El legado, Das Haus des Satans, The Legacy of Maggie Walsh
BRRip 720p | MKV | 1280 x 720 | x264 @ 2560 Kbps | 1h 39mn | 1.92 GB
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded)
The.Legacy.1978.720p.mkv
1970s english english subtitles John Standing Katharine Ross Richard Marquand Sam Elliott UK USA 2020-01-07
Tagged with: 1970s english english subtitles John Standing Katharine Ross Richard Marquand Sam Elliott UK USA
Previous: Stolen Heaven (1931) George Abbott, Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louis Calhern
Next: Bôkô Kirisaki Jakku AKA Assault! Jack the Ripper (1976) Yasuharu Hasebe, Tamaki Katsura, Yuri Yamashina, Natsuko Yashiro
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler / Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922) Fritz Lang, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede-Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
La Main du Diable / Carnival of Sinners (1943) Maurice Tourneur, Pierre Fresnay, Josseline Gaël, Noël Roquevert, Fantasy, Horror
The Woman from Tangier (1948) Harold Daniels, Adele Jergens, Stephen Dunne, Ian MacDonald
The Green Glove (1952) Rudolph Maté, Glenn Ford, Geraldine Brooks, Cedric Hardwicke
Past Tense (1994) Graeme Clifford, Scott Glenn, Anthony LaPaglia, Lara Flynn Boyle
The Incredible Torture Show / Bloodsucking Freaks (1976) Joel M. Reed, Seamus O’Brien, Viju Krem, Niles McMaster, Comedy, Horror
Its Alive (1974) Larry Cohen, John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, Andrew Duggan, Horror
Mystery of the 13th Guest (1943) William Beaudine, Dick Purcell, Helen Parrish, Tim Ryan, Crime, Mystery
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Billy Wilder, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Eraserhead (1977) David Lynch, Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Sleeping Cardinal (1931) Leslie S. Hiscott, Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, Minnie Rayner
Sadomania – Hölle der Lust / Hellhole Women (1981) Jesús Franco, Ajita Wilson, Andrea Guzon, Ursula Buchfellner, Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Erotic
The Bad Seed (1956) Mervyn LeRoy, Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Crime, Drama, Horror
Murder, He Says (1945) George Marshall, Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main
Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) Gordon Hessler, Ted Bessell, Bette Davis, Sian Barbara Allen
I… comme Icare / I as in Icarus (1979) Henri Verneuil, Yves Montand, Michel Albertini, Roland Amstutz, Crime, Drama, Mystery
The Black Cat (1941) Albert S. Rogell, Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Comedy, Horror, Mystery
About Elly / Darbareye Elly (2009) Asghar Farhadi, Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Blind Woman’s Curse (1970) Teruo Ishii, Meiko Kaji, Hoki Tokuda, Makoto Satô
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, Horror
Death on the Nile (1978) John Guillermin, Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Histoire de Marie et Julien / The Story of Marie and Julien (2003) Jacques Rivette, Emmanuelle Béart, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Anne Brochet, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Doctor Bloodbath (1987) Nick Millard, Albert Eskinazi, Irmgard Millard, Joan Simon, Horror
The Secret Ways (1961) Phil Karlson, Richard Widmark, Sonja Ziemann, Charles Regnier, Adventure, History, Mystery
The Golden Mistress (1954) Abner Biberman, John Agar, Rosemarie Stack, Jacques Molant, Adventure, Horror
The Red House (1947) Delmer Daves, Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson
Gambling Lady (1934) Archie Mayo, Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien
The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1942) Herbert I. Leeds, Lloyd Nolan, Marjorie Weaver, Helene Reynolds, Crime, Mystery
The Demon (1963) Brunello Rondi, Daliah Lavi, Frank Wolff, Anna María Aveta
The Devil Commands (1941) Edward Dmytryk, Boris Karloff, Anne Revere, Amanda Duff, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Devil Plays (1931) Richard Thorpe, Jameson Thomas, Florence Britton, Thomas E. Jackson
And Then There Were None (1945) René Clair, Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Conduct Unbecoming (1975) Michael Anderson, Michael York, Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard, Drama, Crime, Mystery
The Zoo (1967) Satyajit Ray, Uttam Kumar, Kalipada Chakraborty, Nripati Chatterjee, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Dressed To Kill (1980) Criterion Collection, Brian De Palma, Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Salvatore Giuliano (1962) Francesco Rosi, Frank Wolff, Salvo Randone, Frederico Zardi
The Demon of Mount Oe / Ooe-yama Shuten-dôji (1960) Tokuzô Tanaka, Kazuo Hasegawa, Raizô Ichikawa, Shintarô Katsu, Fantasy, Horror
Dr. Cyclops (1940) Ernest B. Schoedsack, Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Horror
Picpus (1943) Richard Pottier, Albert Préjean, Juliette Faber, Jean Tissier, Crime, Mystery
Shou xing xin ren lei / Naked Poison (2000) Man Kei Chin, Sammuel Leung, Gwennie Tam, Sophie Chin Man Ngan, Horror, Thriller
Shadows in the Night (1944) Eugene Forde, Warner Baxter, Nina Foch, George Zucco
Timesweep (1987) Dan Diefenderfer, Kevin Brief, Martin English, Sandra Beer
Baby Doll (1988) Jon Bang Carlsen, Mette Munk Plum, Birgit Sadolin, John Hahn-Petersen, Horror, Thriller
Gog (1954) Herbert L. Strock, Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall
The Florentine Dagger (1935) Robert Florey, Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Crime, Drama, Mystery
The Forbidden Christ (1951) Curzio Malaparte, Raf Vallone, Rina Morelli, Alain Cuny
Escapee (2011) Campion Murphy, Dominic Purcell, Christine Evangelista, Melissa Ordway, Horror, Thriller
Psych-Out (1968) Richard Rush, Susan Strasberg, Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson
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Tag Archives: potato chips
Family Recipes from Vickie Kerr, Creator of Miss Vickie’s Potato Chips Will be in Vancouver November 19 – 22nd to Promote Her New Cookbook ‘Miss Vickie’s Kitchen’
Vickie Kerr, creator of Miss Vickie’s Potato Chips will be in Vancouver from November 19 to November 22 to promote her new cookbook ‘Miss Vickie’s Kitchen’. Vickie Kerr has always been passionate about preparing nutritious meals for her family, and it was her desire to make a healthier snack for her four young children that resulted in the recipe that launched Miss Vickie’s, one of the most successful potato chip brands in North America. Now, after more than thirty-five years preparing food for her family in her kitchen, Vickie has written her first cookbook to share her recipes.
Miss Vickie’s Kitchen is both a collection of recipes and the story of a family legacy spanning decades. The book features more than seventy recipes, from healthful salads and sides, to delicious entrées, hearty soups, and comforting casseroles, through classic desserts and preserves. Beautifully designed with full-color photographs, it offers instructions that are so simple and straightforward that even the newest cooks will feel confident getting into the kitchen. Also included are Vickie’s family stories, photos, and anecdotes that are sure to inspire readers to gather loved ones around the table for a meal prepared with their very own hands.
Vickie Kerr is a Canadian entrepreneur and creator of the Miss Vickie’s brand of potato chips. She launched the brand in 1987 after creating an original recipe that used potatoes her husband, Bill, grew on their farm. Vickie is also a dedicated home cook and advocate for the idea of creating a family legacy through food. She believes everyone can cook simple, healthy, delicious meals at home and that they are meant to be shared around the table with family and friends. This is her first book. She divides her time between Arizona and Ontario.
AN AFTERNOON WITH MISS VICKIE
On November 22, 2014, from 2:00pm-4:00pm Vickie Kerr will be appearing at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks at 1740 W 2nd Ave, Vancouver, (604) 688-6755 in Vancouver, Vickie Kerr will be signing copies of her book. The event is free and guests will be able to purchase the book on location. http://www.bookstocooks.com/events
Miss Vickie’s Chips started on Bill & Vickie Kerr’s potato farm in 1987 in Ontario
In Miss Vickie’s Kitchen
“Miss Vickie” is Vickie Kerr, the Canadian entrepreneur who created Miss Vickie’s Chips in her kitchen on the farm in 1987 in Ontario, Canada.
Vickie wanted to make healthier snack for her four young children, so she created a recipe using the potatoes her husband, Bill, grew. She left the skins on, sliced and hand-stirred them one small batch at a time. She used non-hydrogenated, 100% pure oil with no preservatives or anti-foaming agents. When the golden chips were cooked, she sprinkled them lightly with sea salt, because that’s what she always used in her own kitchen.
Miss Vickie’s business grew so successfully on the New Lowell farm that two other Miss Vickie’s potato chip kitchens had to be established to satisfy customer demand. One kitchen was located in Quebec and the other in British Columbia. By 1992, Miss Vickie’s had become a Canadian national potato chip brand!
After more than thirty-five years spent preparing food for her family in her kitchen, Vickie Kerr had the idea to write a book to compile her family’s history through the food they love to eat! The title of her book is “Miss Vickie’s Kitchen”. In addition to family recipes, Miss Vickie’s book contains a photo album and diary of the Miss Vickie’s business “start-up”, and a compilation of “Letters to Miss Vickie”. Release date: November 2014.
Website: missvickieskitchen.com
Twitter: @RealMissVickie
Facebook: Vickie Kerr, The Real Miss Vickie
This entry was posted in Miss Vickie and tagged Alberta Canola Producers Commission, Arizona, BC, blog, Canada, Facebook, Kitchen, Lesley Diana, Miss Vickie, new, North America, November, Ontario, potato chips, PR, press, publicist, Quebec, The Promotion People, Twitter, Vancouver on November 10, 2014 by press.
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Democratic Socialists of America “International Committee” denounces “reckless” withdrawal of US troops from Syria
By Genevieve Leigh
On October 24, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a statement on its website, “International Committee Statement in solidarity with Syrians.” The statement was in response to the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria a few days earlier.
Trump’s decision set off a firestorm in Washington, with the Democratic Party and dominant sections of the military and intelligence agencies vehemently opposing the troop withdrawal. The DSA’s statement fully backed the Democratic Party line, denouncing Trump’s “reckless” withdrawal of troops.
Days later and without any explanation, the DSA removed the statement from its website. (It is included below for reference).
The statement is the first to be published (though only for a few brief days) on the official DSA website from a group calling itself the “International Committee.” However, dozens of statements on international developments over the past year have been published on the committee’s own website, officially recognized by the DSA national leadership and linked on the national page.
The “International Committee”—in fact, an internal “working group” of the national DSA—is co-chaired by two individuals, Ethan Earle and Carrington Morris. Morris is best known as the managing editor for Edible Manhattan a food magazine in New York. Ethan Earle is a regular writer for the Nation and, more importantly, is a project manager for the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in New York City. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation has close ties to the Left Party (Die Linke) in Germany, which plays an important role in the German state. It is intimately integrated into the state apparatus with its representatives traveling with the German military and offering its full support for German remilitarization.
After a brief introduction reducing all of Turkish history and contemporary politics to genocide, Islamic extremism and chauvinism, the DSA statement gets to the heart of the matter: “The chaotic and unstable situation in Syria, created under the careless watch of the United States and now dramatically worsening owing to the reckless decision to abruptly withdraw from the region, has provided a window for Turkey to invade, and raises the spectre of ethnic cleansing and occupation.”
Trump’s “reckless decision” to “abruptly” withdraw from Syria … We have heard such language before. They are the sound bites taken from CIA memos and Democratic Party press statements.
In the hours after Trump’s announcement on the Syria withdrawal, Senate Democrats tweeted: “President @realDonaldTrump’s reckless decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Northern Syria has put our country in danger.”
Democratic Senator Cory Booker wrote, “This was only a matter of ‘when’ after Trump’s reckless decision to abruptly withdraw troops from Syria.” Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes from Maryland, adding his own flair, called the decision “breathtakingly reckless”.
Former vice president Joe Biden wrote of “Trump’s reckless decision to withdraw our troops from northern Syria.” Kelly Magsamen, vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued a statement calling the decision “reckless and impetuous.”
Only the most politically naïve would believe that the Democratic Party has suddenly become concerned for the “stability” of a country which they have spent the better part of a decade destroying.
The real motivation behind the Democrats’ opposition to Trump’s troop withdrawal is quite the opposite of their humanitarian posturing. They seek the continuation and escalation of their CIA-instigated war for regime change that has to date killed roughly half a million Syrians, while turning millions more into refugees.
The DSA statement completely glosses over the history of the Syrian conflict. The language, like the evocation of the undefined “Syrian people,” is carefully selected. They state that the conflict was created “under the careless watch of the United States.”
“Careless watch”? As if the CIA-instigated regime change operation in Syria, which is itself part of the broader catastrophe unleashed by American imperialism in the Middle East over the past quarter century, is a matter of inattentiveness. If only the American military and intelligence agencies had been more careful!
It was, in fact, the Obama administration that initiated the CIA-led war for regime change in Syria. Codenamed Timber Sycamore, the CIA operation was formally launched in June 2013, though the agency had been active in Syria for years. In the wake of the toppling of the Libyan government by US-NATO-led forces and the assassination of its leader Muammar Gaddafi, the CIA created a program to funnel both arms stockpiles and Islamist fighters into Syria to launch a vicious sectarian war.
The formal, and illegal, occupation of Syria began in October 2015, still under the Obama administration, without authorization from either the United Nations or the Syrian government. At its high point, the US military and its proxies controlled over roughly a third of the country, including, most crucially, Syria’s oil and natural gas fields as well as its eastern border with Iraq.
Today, the same CIA-backed Islamist militias—then hailed as pro-democracy “rebels”—are fighting alongside the Turkish army against the Kurdish militia.
The war has killed roughly 500,000 Syrians, displaced half the country’s population, reduced the city of Raqqa to rubble, and sent millions into exile.
The conflict in Syria did not simply “happen” under the passive “watch” of the US, as the DSA statement asserts. Rather, it is the direct product of the conscious intervention of the US military under the direction of the Democratic Party.
After a year in office, Trump announced the end of the CIA program in Syria—part of the administration’s effort to focus greater attention on the US conflict with China. The first troop withdrawal took effect in July 2017. The decision produced a flurry of opposition in Washington among sections of the CIA aligned with the Democratic Party, most notably John Brennan, Obama’s last CIA director.
Further opposition came from figures like former Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, who long advocated a strategy based on an open-ended US military presence in Syria aimed at overthrowing Assad and imposing a more pliant puppet regime in Damascus.
All three figures have since been removed from, or quit, their positions in the Trump administration. Exactly because of their militant pro-war stance, these same figures have been praised by the Democratic Party as great defenders of democracy in the fight against Trump.
The final paragraph of the statement reads: “We stand with all those resisting the chauvinism, nationalism and Islamist violence perpetrated by the Turkish state and military, and call on people everywhere to demand boycott and divestment of Turkish companies and to disrupt Turkish events everywhere.”
Who is the “we” who stands against chauvinism, nationalism and Islamist violence? This sweeping statement includes whole sections of the military and intelligence agencies and virtually the entire Democratic Party. Does the DSA “stand” with General “Mad Dog” Mattis in its opposition to “Islamist violence?” Does their alliance include CIA-backed militias? Or perhaps the CIA itself?
The character of an organization is defined above all by its position on international issues. If an organization accepts the prerogatives of imperialism abroad, it will accept them at home. The DSA’s support for the operations of the US in Syria brands it as a pro-capitalist appendage of the Democratic Party. It speaks not for the working class, but for privileged sections of the middle class that support imperialism and are thoroughly integrated into the apparatus of the capitalist state.
Democratic Socialists of America “International Committee Statement in solidarity with Syrians” October 24, 2019
The Democratic Socialists of America stand in solidarity with the people of Syria as they face an egregious military incursion by Turkey.
Turkey was founded on the genocide of Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks, and the ideology that led to that genocide continues to thrive in modern Turkey. The Turkish state and government is defined by highly reactionary and oppressive politics, combining Islamist extremism with nationalist chauvinism. This policy is evident in its highly oppressive treatment of ethnic minorities, activists and dissidents in Turkey today, which has seen thousands of journalists, teachers, judges and others persecuted.
The chaotic and unstable situation in Syria, created under the careless watch of the United States and now dramatically worsening owing to the reckless decision to abruptly withdraw from the region, has provided a window for Turkey to invade, and raises the spectre of ethnic cleansing and occupation.
We stand with all those resisting the chauvinism, nationalism and Islamist violence perpetrated by the Turkish state and military, and call on people everywhere to demand boycott and divestment of Turkish companies and to disrupt Turkish events everywhere.
The Politics of the Pseudo-Left
220 Why is AOC in the Democratic Party
Spain’s new PSOE-Podemos government commits itself to austerity and war
Bernie Sanders says “some wars are necessary”
999 French pseudo left appeal to Macron on austerity
After Suleimani murder, New Anti-capitalist Party backs US war on Iran
Washington escalates Mideast war threat with strikes on Iraq, Syria
New WikiLeaks documents expose doctoring of chemical weapons report to justify 2018 US attack on Syria
Trump issues hypocritical threat over Syrian offensive
New WikiLeaks documents expose phony claims of 2018 Syria chemical weapons attack
Pentagon chiefs say US troops to stay in Syria for years
War Drive in the Middle East
Washington continues war buildup against Iran
Canada’s media and political establishment endorse illegal assassination of Iranian General Suleimani
US Militarism
US official delivers Trump’s threatening message to Sri Lankan president
Trump exploits Iran war crisis to incite violence against political opponents
210 NYT endorses Warren and Klobuchar
The impeachment trial begins as Trump escalates fascistic appeals
Northam’s Virginia budget: Democrat gives a pittance to workers, lion’s share to wealthy
Jacobin Magazine and the Democratic Socialists of America
Labor Notes, DSA line up with UAW bureaucrats against GM strikers
Democratic Socialists of America launches nationwide campaign for Bernie Sanders
The Democratic Socialists of America Convention: A marketing gimmick for the Democratic Party
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New Marijuana Initiatives Loom as 3 Win Approval
Meet the Man Behind Oregon’s New Legal Pot Market
Oregon Recreational Marijuana Rules: Q&A With Liquor Control Commission Chair Rob Patridge
By KIRK JOHNSON , New York Times
ANCHORAGE — Conservative candidates garnered majorities in many elections around the country on Tuesday, but so did efforts to legalize marijuana. And the lessons of that complex pattern — with voters in Oregon, Washington, D.C., and here in Alaska approving recreational marijuana, and in Florida supporting medical marijuana — are already being absorbed for the next wave of state voter referendums, and fights, already planned for 2016.
People on both sides of the issue saw the victory in Alaska, where Republicans control most of the state government and liberal ideas rarely get much traction, as a particularly vivid signal flare.
“One of the really exciting developments from the results last night is that we have now legalized marijuana in a red state,” said Taylor Bickford, a spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the main pro-legalization group here.
To be sure, the margin of victory was smaller here than in other places, with 52 percent of the voters supporting legalization. But it was a clear majority nonetheless. About 55 percent of voters supported legalization in Oregon, and 69 percent said yes in Washington. In Florida, almost 58 percent of voters supported the first major attempt in the South to legalize marijuana for medical uses.
Florida law, though, requires a 60 percent majority for any constitutional amendment, and legalization sponsors said they were already getting ready for another attempt in 2016, a presidential election year that they said would probably draw more young voters who are generally considered a prime base of support.
In addition, voters in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada are likely to be able to vote on marijuana laws.
But the question of rules and how the laws are put into effect — in the case of Washington, use and possession of marijuana are forbidden on federal land and where Congress can step in on local matters — is complex.
None of the new laws take effect immediately, and Oregon has until January 2016 to formulate licensing policies and rules.
The rule-writing procedure will differ from that of the first states to legalize, Washington and Colorado in 2012, because regulators will have those two examples to study, said Rob Patridge, the chairman of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
Mr. Patridge, who is also a district attorney in Klamath County, near the California border, said visits to retail and growing operations in Washington State and Oregon would be part of the rule-writing agenda. The Oregon Legislature could also amend the measure even before the rules are written, he said.
“We’re going to do it Oregon’s way,” Mr. Patridge said.
Initiative 71 in Washington, D.C., allows residents to possess up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use and to grow up to six cannabis plants at home. Measure 91 in Oregon allows possession by adults of up to eight ounces and four plants. Ballot Measure 2 in Alaska allows adults to possess one ounce and six plants. In all cases, the minimum age for legal possession of recreational marijuana is 21.
But the main opposition group here in Alaska, Vote No on 2, said in a statement that even though the voting was over, the conversation was not.
“We look forward to a meaningful discussion of an Alaska-based approach to how this drug should be viewed legally and how to protect our communities and our kids from the commercialization of this substance,” the statement said.
A spokesman for the group, Charles Fedullo, said a meeting would be held on Friday to talk about next steps for volunteers to stay involved. “Right now it is just analyzing what is happening and looking for the best way forward,” he said.
© Rob Patridge 2016
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An Introduction to Psychopathy
By: Stuart F. White and James R. Blair, Posted on: September 22, 2016
Source: Wikimedia
Psychopathy is a disorder that characterizes an individual showing pronounced emotional deficits and an increased risk for displaying antisocial behavior ( Frick, 1995;Hare, 2003). The affective component of psychopathy, often called callous-unemotional (CU) traits, is the distinguishing feature of the disorder relative to other behavioral profiles associated with an increased likelihood of antisocial behavior (Blair, 2007). CU traits refer to a lack of guilt, remorse, and empathy (Frick et al., 2005).
While it is past antisocial behavior that is particularly important in predicting future criminal activity (Walters, 2003), it is CU traits that are at the core of developmental trajectory associated with psychopathy (Frick and White, 2008). The disorder is developmental. It has been shown that CU traits in particular and the psychopathy more generally are relatively stable from childhood into adulthood (Lynam et al., 2007; Munoz and Frick, 2007). In addition, the functional impairments seen in adults with psychopathy (e.g., in responding to emotional expressions, aversive conditioning, passive avoidance learning, reversal learning, extinction) are also seen in adolescents with psychopathic tendencies (see later).
Several formal assessment tools for psychopathy exist, including the Antisocial Process Screening Device (Frick and Hare, 2001) and Psychopathy Checklist – Youth Version (Forth et al., 2007) for adolescents and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare, 2003) for adults. Most research has identified three dimensions of behavior that compose psychopathy (Cooke et al., 2006; Frick et al., 2000; Neumann et al., 2006), though other models have been proposed (Cooke et al., 2006). These three dimensions are as follows: an affective factor that focuses on CU traits; an arrogant, deceitful, and narcissistic interpersonal style; and an impulsive, irresponsible, and antisocial behavior (Cooke et al., 2006; Frick et al., 2000; Neumann et al., 2006).
Psychopathy is not equivalent to the psychiatric conditions of conduct disorder (CD) or antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) as defined by DSM-5 or their ICD-10 counterparts. The diagnostic criteria for these disorders focus on antisocial behaviors rather than on etiological factors such as the emotion dysfunction seen in psychopathy (Blair et al., 2005). As such these psychiatric conditions describe individuals with difficulties in executive dysfunction (Moffitt, 1993), as well as individuals with symptoms stemming from CU traits. Consequently, individuals with psychopathy are a more homogenous group than those individuals meeting the criteria for CD and ASPD (Karnik et al., 2006). It should be noted, however, that DSM-5 includes the specifier for CD ‘with limited pro-social emotions,’ which stem directly from research on youth with CD and CU traits (Pardini et al., 2010; Pardini and Fite, 2010). Furthermore, the diagnosis of ASPD now includes components of psychopathy (APA, 2013). While the disorder of psychopathy will still not be equivalent to the DSM-5 diagnoses of CD and ASPD, there will be greater overlap in diagnostic conceptualization.
Psychopathy is characterized by an increased risk for antisocial behavior (Frick and Dickens, 2006; Hare, 2003). While several psychiatric disorders and neurological conditions, including CD and ASPD (APA, 2013), confer an increased risk of reactive aggression (Anderson et al., 1999; Leibenluft et al., 2003), psychopathy is unique in that it conveys increased risk for instrumental aggression (Frick et al., 2003). Furthermore, psychopathy is strongly predictive of institutional maladjustment and recidivism (Edens and Campbell, 2007; Walters, 2003), particularly violent recidivism (Edens et al., 2007;Hemphill et al., 1998).
Causes of Psychopathy
Behavioral genetics work in children and adolescents (for a review, see Viding and McCrory, 2012) suggests that CU traits and psychopathy are highly heritable. Various twin studies across different groups have found the genetic influences account for between 40 and 78% of the variance in CU traits in the population (Viding and McCrory, 2012). Critically, in a large twin sample, antisocial behavior in youth high on CU traits was highly heritable (h2 = 0.81), while antisocial behavior was much less heritable (h2 = 0.30) in youth low on CU traits (Viding et al., 2005).
Despite the evidence suggesting that genetics plays an important etiological role in psychopathy, relatively little is known about the molecular genetics of the disorder. Studies in youth suggest that the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene may be a risk factor for psychopathy (Sadeh et al., 2010 and Sadeh et al., 2013). Additionally,Hirata et al. (2013) report an association between the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs6269 of catechol-O-methyltransferase and CU traits in a modest sample of antisocial youth. Though these early findings are promising, they are preliminary and further work is needed. Furthermore, it is quite possible that different genotypes are associated with the various deficits associated with psychopathy (see Psychopathy by Stuart F. White, James R. Blair for more information).
Relatedly, antisocial behavior in psychopaths and youth with CD and CU traits appears to be less influenced by environmental factors than antisocial behavior in youth with low levels of CU traits. Poor parenting is less associated with antisocial behavior in youth with high levels of CU traits (Hipwell et al., 2007; Oxford et al., 2003; Wootton et al., 1997; Yeh et al., 2011). Moreover, youth with CD and high levels of CU traits are less likely to have a history of trauma than youth with CD and low levels of CU traits (Kahn et al., 2013;Kimonis et al., 2012). Critically, despite the increased genetic influence and reduced environmental influence on the development of psychopathy and CD with high levels of CU traits, this does not mean that psychopathy is genetically determined (Viding and McCrory, 2012). In fact, there have been data to suggest that socioeconomic status plays a role in the expression of genetic risk for psychopathy (Sadeh et al., 2010), though the mechanisms of this gene by environment interaction are not understood. Learn more about the pathophysiology of psychopathy, neural impairment impacts, development of psychopathy and the treatment of psychopathy in this article.
This excerpt was taken from the article White, S. F. and Blair, J. R. (2015). Psychopathy. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), Pages 451-456,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.56032-2
The article is included in the PROSE award winning International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Second Edition which offers an interdisciplinary source of social and behavioral science reference material that is broader and deeper than any other. Covering topics from Clinical Psychology to Artificial Intelligence to Neuroscience to Urban Studies to Evolution and all that is in between, it is the definitive resource for undergraduates, graduate students and researchers. Check it out here.
*See the article Psychopathy by Stuart F. White and James R. Blair for references cited in this blog
Take a look at some of the related articles from the Encyclopedia:
Dark Triad: The “Dark Side” of Human Personality by Peter K. Jonason and James P. Middleton
Personality Disorders by Peter Tyrer
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One of the dirty little secrets of the criminal justice system is implicit bias. This article by the Marshall Project shows what one district court is doing about the problem:
There’s something of a formula to the first morning of jury duty. It might involve a refresher on differences between civil and criminal cases, a little bit of shuffling between rooms, and a lot of waiting around in a generously named “Jury Lounge.” But in one federal district, the customary civics lessons for jurors have been given a twist to alert them to the hidden biases they might bring into the courtroom.
The source is a 10-minute video — believed to be the first of its kind — that since March has been shown to every prospective juror in the two federal courthouses, in Seattle and Tacoma, that serve the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The video — which cost the court $15,000 to make — complements the customary voir dire process, during which judges and lawyers question potential jurors about conflicts of interest and obvious prejudices that could prevent them from deliberating fairly. It features three speakers: the district’s U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes, Reagan-appointed Judge John Coughenour, and Jeffrey Robinson, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who started his career as a criminal defense lawyer.
“You might have a deep-seated belief that basketball is a better sport than football, and you may prefer strawberry to raspberry jam,” Robinson says in the video, describing examples of conscious — or explicit — bias. “Today, though,” he says, speaking slowly and looking directly into the camera, “I want to talk to you about unconscious bias: something we all have, simply because we’re human.”
Here's the video:
Will our District employ such a video?
Judge Milton Hirsch's Constitutional Calendar has this entry today:
On June 22, 1933, in the Limestone County, Alabama, Courthouse, Judge James Edwin Horton did one of the bravest and most principled things a judge can do.
Judge Horton had presided over the trial of Haywood Patterson, one of the "Scottsboro Boys." Patterson was a young black man charged in connection with the rape of two white women; and although it was perfectly obvious that there was no real evidence against him, he had been convicted with a recommendation for death. Horton had been cautioned by an emissary from the state capitol that if he were to grant the defense motion to set aside the verdict and order a new trial, there would be no chance of his being re-elected. "What does that have to do with the case?" he replied.
On that warm day in June, Judge Horton read aloud in open court every word of his order. It took over an hour. The defense motions were granted.
As he knew he would be, Horton was defeated overwhelmingly in 1934, and never served as a judge again. Haywood Patterson was re-tried in a case presided over by Judge William Callahan, who instructed the jury, inter alia, that if there was evidence of intercourse between a white woman and a black man, the intercourse was presumed as a matter of law to be rape.
If you'd like to be added to Judge Hirsch's email list, contact him at milton.hirsch@gmail.com
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Bully Pulpit Games Announces Night Witches
Mar 22nd, 2014 · 1 Comment
Bully Pulpit Games Takes To The Air With “Night Witches” New Tabletop RPG Shines Spotlight On Little-Known WW2 Story Chapel Hill: Bully Pulpit Games is proud to announce their latest roleplaying game, Night Witches. The game focuses on female bomber pilots who flew for the Soviet Union during World War Two — the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known to the Germans they harassed as “Night Witches”....
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Installations Gadget Guide for Mutants & Masterminds Green Ronin Publishing [visit their website here] has released a new superhero Gadget Guide for Mutants & Masterminds – Installations. Written by Steve Kenson, it’s available for purchase from the Green Ronin Publishing webstore. Webstore: Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Installations (PDF) From hidden caves and arctic...
Fiasco, Legend, Fate and Shaintar
Gen Con Fiasco Playset Bully Pulpit Games has released their latest playset for Fiasco, consisting of a series of stories surrounding Gen Con in Dangerous Games. Written by Matt Forbeck, it’s available for download from the Bully Pulpit Games website here. Gen Con. The largest tabletop gaming convention in the Western Hemisphere. A gathering of the particular branch of the geek tribe that likes...
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Media Center Catalog
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DVD (CHUWOO) Church History, Vol 2; From Pre-Reformation to the Present Day
Woodbridge, John
Zondervan, 2017
CCH — Church/Christian History
Church Growth; Church History
# Copies:
Church History, Volume Two Video Lectures features 22 lessons (on 3 DVDs) and offers a unique contextual view of how the Christian church spread and developed from Reformation times to the present. It did so not in a vacuum, but in a setting of times, cultures, and events that both influenced and were influenced by the church. These lectures help explore the integral link between the history of the world and that of the church.
A companion to the widely used textbook Church History, Volume Two by John D. Woodbridge and Frank A. James III, the lectures feature the authors teaching through each chapter in the book. Designed with the student in mind, each lecture is approximately 20 minutes in length. The lectures recount the ups and downs, the triumphs and struggles, of the Christian movement. Primary attention is given to the history of Christianity in the West, but developments in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America are also covered.
Useful for traditional students, students in distance and online courses, and independent learners alike, these lectures provide a full introduction to church history from the period just prior to the Reformation through the next five hundred-plus years.
Session Titles and Runtimes:
1 - European Christianity in an Age of Adversity, Renaissance, and Discovery (1300-1500) (25 min)
2 - The Renaissance and the Christian Faith (37 min)
3 - Luther's Reformation: A Conscience Unbound (35 min)
4 - The Swiss Reformations: The Maturation of International Calvinism (33 min)
5 - Radicals and Rome: Responses to the Magisterial Reformation (30 min)
6 - Reformations in England: The Politics of Reform (16th Century) (25 min)
7 - Refining the Reformation: Theological Currents in the Seventeenth Century (35 min)
8 - Christianity in an Age of Fear, Crisis, and Exploration (17th Century) (24 min)
9 - Christianity and the Question of Authority (17th Century) (34 min)
10 - Christianity under Duress: The Age of Lights (1680-1789) (33 min)
11 - Christianity in the Age of Lights (1): The British Isles (1680-1789) (30 min)
12 - Christianity in the Age of Lights (2): The Kingdom of France (1680-1789) (28 min)
13 - Christianity in the Age of Lights (3): The Continent of Europe (1680-1789) (36 min)
14 - Christianity in an Age of Revolutions (1770-1848) (35 min)
15 - Adjusting to Modernization and Secularism: The Rise of Protestant Liberalism (1799-1919) (38 min)
16 - Nineteenth-Century Christianity in the British Isles: Renewal, Missions, and the Crisis of Faith (36 min)
17 - The Christian Churches on the European Continent (1814-1914) (31 min)
18 - Global Christianity: A Re-Centered Faith (20th and 21st Centuries) (17 min)
19 - Modern Theological Trajectories: Spiraling into the Third Millennium (20th and 21st Centuries) (32 min)
20 - Catholicism and Orthodoxy: Collision to Collegiality (20th and 21st Centuries) (30 min)
21 - Contemporary American Evangelicalism: Permutations and Progressions (20th and 21st Centuries) (38 min)
22 - Christianity and Islam: The Challenge of the Future (21st Century) (19 min)
Chapter 3 Luther's Reformation 34:58: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BhTi0HAghk
Adult (30-65); Adult (65+)
East Ohio Conference UMC - Media Center
Susan Arnold, Media Center Director
PO Box 2800 8800 Cleveland Ave NW
Phone: 800-831-3972 OR 330-499-3972 x139
Fax: Open M-F 8:30am-4:00pm
Email: SArnold@eocumc.com
Data updated 1/17/2020 2:24:46 PM.
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Home › Opinions › We Must Retain Our Progressive Spirit ›
We Must Retain Our Progressive Spirit
By Reed Anfinson
Swift County Monitor-News
When we look at the now vacant lot where the Benson Power electric generation facility once sat, it’s easy to think about the loss. A 12-year-old $230 million energy facility employing more than 45 people and paying $832,000 in real estate taxes to local governments has been dismantled.
But there is encouragement future in the words of the state’s leaders who came to Benson 12 years ago to celebrate the grand opening of what was then known as Fibrominn.
“There is a long tradition in this part of the world of progressive politics and progressive leaders. It is appropriate that this would be the place where we would have this kind of revolution,” U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson said at the grand opening.
“Benson is a pretty remarkable town,” then U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said. “Here in the heartland of western Minnesota, you are at the forefront of energy innovation.”
In his speech to Benson, then Gov. Tim Pawlenty quoted futurist Peter Drucker, who said, “The things that got us here will not get us there.”
He went on to say, “Drucker said the best way to predict the future is to go out and invent it yourself. There is a lot of wisdom in that statement. So, the town of Benson and its partners, and this region are seizing the future, inventing it themselves. Rather than have events and circumstances just come and plow into them, they are creating a future that is forward-looking, that has momentum, that brings capital investment and jobs to greater Minnesota, which are desperately needed.”
Pawlenty’s quoting of Drucker was unintentionally prescient. He would never have imagined Fibrominn’s quick demise.
Though Benson Power is gone, our spirit and leadership must persist as we move forward.
Benson is receiving $20 million from Xcel Energy over four years, with $10.5 million already in the bank, to pursue its next innovative economic development project. It’s compensation for the early closing of the power plant, the loss of the jobs, loss of economic vitality, and loss of real estate taxes that come with the closing of Benson Power. If used wisely, those funds allow us to build an even better future.
It now looks nearly certain that the Brightmark Energy project won’t be the part of Benson’s future we had hoped it would be. Rather than bemoan the lost opportunity, city leaders are hard at work with the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) finding another buyer and developer for the site.
At one of its meetings this past year, Swift County’s commissioners were asked what the most critical strategic challenges our county faces in the coming years.
“The number one problem in our society is that we spend 99 percent of our time talking about what the problem is and 1 percent of the time trying to find a solution,” Commissioner Eric Rudningen, District 5-Kerkhoven, said. We couldn’t agree more with an added twist.
Local leaders tend to spend 80 percent of their time talking about the problems, 19 percent on possible solutions, and 1 percent implementing the answers they explored. Too often, that 1 percent effort evaporates over a short time to zero. Too often, there is a lack of will, focus, or support for doing what is needed to effect meaningful change.
Through the efforts of its council and City Manager Rob Wolfington, our city is quietly moving forward pursuing leads. Our future economic development is going to be a combination of nourishing from within and being open to the new entrepreneurs.
Realities and an open mind
This past summer, the City of Benson and Swift County were approached by entrepreneurs inquiring about starting a business here. It was encouraging news for a rural community trying to bring new businesses and employees to rural Minnesota. Those who approached our local economic development people were unique – none had a command of the English language.
America, and to a slower degree Minnesota, has been changing demographically in the past decade. Rural Minnesota has been much slower to change than the metropolitan areas of the state. But we had better prepare ourselves for change if we want to grow and thrive in the next decade.
We’ve shown we have the potential to be welcoming. Mi Mexico and J&J Chinese run respected and well-patronized business in Benson.
In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau projected that by 2044 white Americans would represent fewer than half the population of America. It was a projection that stunned some, made a few feel threatened, and welcomed by others.
Recent U.S. Census data show the wave of demographic change occurring in America will lead to the demographic changes projected for 2044 is building. This past June, the Census Bureau showed that among Americans 15 years old or younger, whites account for 49.9 percent of the population – less than half.
We must prepare ourselves to welcome newcomers of all ethnic backgrounds if we want our area to grow. We’ve already seen the children of immigrants in our schools. It’s a beautiful sight to see them playing, laughing, and smiling with their new friends. If only adults could be so open and welcoming.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” It is a famous line from the newspaper cartoon series Pogo. In it, Pogo is looking at a wooded area strewn with junk as he holds a metal-tipped pickup stick. It’s Earth Day. The phrase is a recognition that humans are the cause of Earth’s most significant challenges.
In small town America, we apply this reference to residents who insist on driving out of town to shop in malls, big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and buy groceries in chain-owned stores. Now it also applies to those who purchase what is readily available locally through Amazon.
We recently met a driver for UPS while dining out who gave us some insight into just how pervasive Amazon’s sales are in rural Minnesota. He said that 60 percent of the deliveries he makes are Amazon packages. We have met the enemy.
Newspaper A Civil Place For A Civic Conversation
Sorting Truth From Lie in Political Campaigns
Peterson’s Impeachment Vote Fits His District, But...
Civility Essential For A Healthy Democracy
Swift County Monitor News
101 12th St. So.
Benson, MN 56215
Email: ads@monitor-news.com
Copyright 2012 | Swift County Monitor News | All Rights Reserved
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ASimSports
Yet another sports commentary site. We're totally better than the other ones, though.
World Cup 2022 Qualification Status
Bowl Games 2010: Actually, Now It’s 2011 But Let’s Just Roll With It
Well, it’s all going downhill now. The predictions are still here. Let’s get this over with.
As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.
Noon: Texas Tech vs. Northwestern (TicketCity Bowl @ Dallas, TX; ESPNU): This is definitely one of those occasions where I look back at the predictions I made and wonder what, if anything, I was thinking. Okay, well, neither of these teams are exactly world beaters. But I have TTU by 13 here and by golly I guess I’ll stick to it.
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: TTU beat Michigan State 44-31 in last year’s Alamo Bowl. For the first time in their history, Northwestern has made three bowl games in a row. They were last seen in last year’s Outback Bowl, a thrilling 38-35 loss to Auburn.
1:00:
Florida vs. Pennsylvania State (Outback Bowl @ Tampa, FL; ABC): I’ll spare you the usual platitudes about Urban Meyer and Joe Paterno. I expect this to be a pretty tight game, as both teams have unstable QB situations and neither has done much to impress on offense. I like UF in a close one.
Previous meetings: Just two: the 1962 Gator Bowl and the 1997 Citrus bowl. Florida won both games.
Last bowl game: Florida pounded Cincy 51-24 in last year’s Sugar Bowl, and this year is their 20th consecutive bowl (good for second longest in the country). Penn State beat LSU 19-17 in last year’s Capital One Bowl.
Alabama vs. Michigan State (Capital One Bowl @ Orlando, FL; ESPN): Nick Saban made a name for himself back at MSU. I’ve maintained all year that this year’s Alabama team is not last year’s Alabama team, and they finally got around to proving me right. That said, I think they’re still good enough to be a slightly overrated Michigan State.
Last bowl game: Alabama played in last year’s national championship game, which they won over Texas, 37-21. Sparty appeared in last year’s Alamo Bowl, where they lost 41-31 to Texas Tech.
1:30: Mississippi State vs. Michigan (Gator Bowl @ Jacksonville, FL: ESPN2): Dan Mullen has the Bulldogs going in the right direction. Not that I think Michigan is going in the wrong direction, and I can’t really understand why RichRob is under such intense heat. (General twitter consensus seems to be that he’s out.) I don’t really think this game will help his cause, as I don’t think the Wolverine defense will be able to make the couple of stops they need against MSU’s explosive offense.
Last bowl game: Miss State was last seen in the 2007 Liberty Bowl, in which they beat Central Florida 10-3. Michigan, which had gone to a bowl every year from 1975 to 2007, is back in the fold. They won that 2007 Capital One Bowl 41-35 over Florida.
5:10: Wisconsin vs. Texas Christian (Rose Bowl @ Pasadena, CA; ESPN): I’ve had an extremely hard time reading this game. Wisconsin has run over a lot of teams, but those were teams like Indiana and Purdue. TCU has one of, if not the, top defenses in the country and a decent offense to go with it. I’m predicting TCU here, but I don’t feel great about it.
Previous meetings: Precisely one, in 1970. They tied 14-14 in Madison.
Last bowl game: TCU lost year’s Fiesta Bowl, 17-10, to Boise State. Meanwhile, I’m sure Wisconsin is just glad to be somewhere other than Orlando, the site of their last two bowl games. They won last year’s Champs Sports Bowl over Miami 20-14.
8:30: Oklahoma vs. Connecticut (Fiesta Bowl @ Glendale, AZ; ESPN): Well, most of the other games I’ve felt really good about have been absolute busts so far this year. But this is easily the biggest on-paper blowout of the bowl season. If UConn wins it may be the upset of the year. It may even be a minor victory if they can even keep it within a couple of scores.
Last bowl game: OU beat Stanford 31-27 in last year’s Sun Bowl, helping us erase the memory of the awful 2008 edition. UConn meanwhile makes their third straight bowl, and they beat South Carolina last year in the papajohns.com Bowl, 20-7.
This entry was posted in bowl games, bowl predictions, college football on December 31, 2010 by ASimPerson.
Bowl Games 2010: You Hopefully Can Start Watching Bowl Games Now
The last couple of days have had some real blowouts, haven’t they?
I haven’t been doing so well myself, either. After a blazing 5-2 start, I’ve gone 2-5 in the last seven games to drop me to an even 7-7. Let’s hope things improve.
As usual, all times Eastern and predictions wrong.
Noon: Army vs. Southern Methodist (Armed Forces Bowl @ Dallas, TX; ESPN): Perhaps this isn’t a terribly great place to start, but you go to the couch with the bowl games you’ve got… or something like that. Army’s stats against teams that are worth a darn are pretty abysmal. Now, I’m not sure if SMU is worth a darn, but I’m reluctantly going to take the Ponies here.
Previous meetings: These teams have met exactly twice. The first meeting was in 1928, which Army won 14-13. The second was in 1967, which Army also won, 24-6.
Last bowl game: Army breaks a pretty long bowl drought, which dated back to the 1996 Independence Bowl. They lost to Auburn 32-29. SMU broke their own bowl-less streak last year, beating Nevada 45-10 in the Hawaii Bowl.
3:20: Kansas State vs. Syracuse (Pinstripe Bowl @ New York, NY; ESPN): There may not be snow on the ground in the House Steinbrenner Built, but it’ll still be cold, with a projected high of 40 tomorrow in the Bronx. (Of course, at least the field fits (barely) in this particular ballpark.) Syracuse’s 5th ranked defense is somewhat deceiving considering their competition, which is why I like K-State here. This could be low scoring but I don’t think it’ll be low scoring enough for the Orange to win. But hey, at least they probably won’t give up 51 like last time (see below).
Previous meetings: These teams have met twice previously, both in bowl games. The first meeting was the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, which K-State won 35-18. The second was the 2001 Insight Bowl, which KSU lost 26-3.
Last bowl game: Kansas State’s last bowl the 2006 Texas Bowl, where the lost 37-10 to Rutgers. Meanwhile, Syracuse provides one of my favorite cautionary tales, most recently demonstrated by Tennessee in a classic case of “you don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone”. Syracuse got pounded by Georgia Tech 51-14 in the 2004 Champs Sports bowl, and I’ll never forget the in-booth interview with Syracuse’s then new athletic director, who basically fired long time coach Paul Pasqualoni on air. What followed was the Greg “Gerg” Robinson era, which was probably most notable for a Syracuse blogger’s longing for the now-defunct International Bowl than anything else. (Indeed, in the first two years of the post-Gerg era the ‘Cuse has already won more games than they did during his four year tenure.)
6:40: Tennessee vs. North Carolina (Music City Bowl @ Nashville, TN; ESPN): This game happened essentially because of a game that won’t happen next year: Tennessee had a home-and-home with UNC starting next year but backed out to soften the schedule. (They don’t really even deny it, but it’s late so you can Google that yourself.) This was something of a lost season for UNC, but they pulled through and got to a bowl. Tennessee finished strong, but you should finish strong when your last four games are Memphis, Ole Miss, Vandy, and Kentucky. I think the Tarheels are an overall better team and I like them here.
Previous meetings: These teams have played each other 28 times, but they haven’t met since 1961. The first meeting was a 1908 contest the Vols won 12-0, while the last was won by the Tarheels 22-11. Tennessee holds a 20-7-1 overall record in the series.
Last bowl game: Tennessee inexplicably appeared in last year’s Chick-fil-a Bowl, where they were pounded 37-14 by Virginia Tech. UNC appeared in both of the last two Car Care Bowls, and even appeared in the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl (without appearing in a bowl in between), making this their first trip to a different bowl since the 2001 Peach Bowl. Carolina lost last year’s Car Care Bowl 19-17 to Pittsburgh.
10:00: Washington vs. Nebraska (Holiday Bowl @ San Diego, CA; ESPN): Husky Stadium is, generally, considered one of the loudest venues in major college football. Which doesn’t seem to help the eponymous home team much, especially back in September when Nebraska pounded them in Seattle. In certain situations, bowls don’t mind re-matches of oft-met or regular season foes. This isn’t one of them. I’m not big on “moral victories” but it will be one for Washington if they don’t get blown out here. I picked Nebraska to only win by 10 because I’m not sure of Taylor Martinez’s ankle, or after this Big 12 Championship Game, his brain, but we’ll see.
Previous meetings: September 18th of this year was the most recent meeting between these two, where U-Dub got pounded 56-21. They’d met 7 times before this year, in 1925, 1926, 1967, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 1998. Including this year, Nebraska holds a 4-3-1 series lead.
Last bowl game: Nebraska won last year’s Holiday Bowl, beating Arizona 33-0. Meanwhile, Washington is making their first postseason appearance since the 2002 Sun Bowl, which they lost to Purdue 34-24.
Noon: Clemson vs. South Florida (Car Care Bowl @ Charlotte, NC; ESPN): I have Clemson by the thinnest of margins here. Which Clemson team you get on a given day is always something of a crapshoot. I expect this game to be pretty low scoring, but provided the Tigers show up they should win.
Last bowl game: Clemson won last year’s Music City Bowl 21-13 over Kentucky, while USF won the last-ever International Bowl over Northern Illinois, 27-3.
2:00: Miami vs. Notre Dame (Sun Bowl @ El Paso, TX; CBS): It’s Catholics vs. Convicts again! Well, kind of, since the one thing that could be said about Randy Shannon was that he did generally keep his guys out of trouble. (I’ll spare you a “speaking of trouble” segue that has to due with the players not being allowed to cross the border into Jaurez.) Motivation will be a factor here, I suspect, but the problem is I’m not sure whom it’ll be in favor of. I’m going with “da ‘U'” for now.
Previous meetings: These two former independent powers first met in 1955, which Miami lost 14-0. The real fun began in 1971, when they played each other every year until 1990, when Miami lost 29-20 in South Bend. ND leads the overall series 15-7-1.
Last bowl game: Miami lost last year’s Champs Sports Bowl to Wisconsin 20-14. Notre Dame didn’t go to a game last year even though they could have, so their last appearance was the 2008 Hawaii Bowl, which blew out the home team 49-21.
3:30: Central Florida vs. Georgia (Liberty Bowl @ Memphis, TN; ESPN): In addition to the uniforms, George O’Leary has done his best to recreate late-90’s Georgia Tech down at Central Florida. (Hopefully the administration is actually keeping the kids eligible this time.) If he could also recreate great victories over UGA that would also be just peachy. I’ve cheekily picked the Knights, who’ve actually been pretty decent this year. Well, at least in C-USA. I’m not terribly comfortable with this, of course, but hey, UGA’s lost 6 games this year and I’m pretty sure they could out-athlete any of those teams, A.J. Green or no, except maybe Auburn.
Previous meetings: Once, in what was presumably a guarantee game in 1999. Georgia won 24-23.
Last bowl game: UGA beat Texas A&M in last year’s Independence Bowl, 44-20. UCF lost last year’s St. Petersburg Bowl 45-24.
7:30: Florida State vs. South Carolina (Chick-fil-a Bowl @ Atlanta, GA; ESPN): It’s the ACC-SEC runner-up show-down! Nonetheless, this should be a pretty decent matchup of two teams that can score and old visor wearin’ ballcoach against his former arch-rival. Also, South Carolina has Marcus Lattimore, who is pretty much the human personification of a freight train. As a freshman, hopefully he’s been able to use the break to recharge a bit. Also, while they may not have been able to stop Cam Newton (hardly something unique to them) South Carolina’s defense has held up well against other opponents. Suffice it to say, I like the Gamecocks here.
Previous meetings: These two have played 18 times, all between 1966 and 1991. FSU won the 1991 contest 38-1 and holds a 15-3 series lead. The Gamecocks haven’t beaten FSU since 1984.
Last bowl game: FSU won last year’s Gator Bowl 33-21 over WVU, and also owns, by far, the longest consecutive bowl streak in the country at 29 years in a row. South Carolina, meanwhile, lost last year’s papajohns.com Bowl to UConn 20-7.
Bowl Games 2010: Winding Toward the New Year
I’m off to a much better start this year as compared to last, but will it hold up over the next week (when the vast majority of games are)? Stay tuned and see!
8:30: Florida International vs. Toledo (Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl @ Detroit, MI; ESPN): It’s tough to really do predictions for these sorts of games, as they’re not exactly teams I spend every week of the season watching. When it comes to teams like this, one has to sort of ignore how badly they get beat up by the teams they collect checks from and look at their conferences, which is the reason why I like Toledo here.
Previous meetings: Somewhat surprisingly, these teams have met twice, with FIU winning at Toledo in 2008 but losing at home last year, 41-31.
Last bowl game: Given their short history (DI-A since 2004) it’s perhaps not a surprise this is FIU’s first bowl game. Toledo had a pretty good thing going back in the late-90’s and early 2000’s but they haven’t been a bowl since the 2005 GMAC Bowl, wherein they beat UTEP 45-13. This is also their 4th appearance in what used to be the Motor City Bowl, which they last made the trip to in 2004.
5:00: Georgia Tech vs. Air Force (Independence Bowl @ Shreveport, LA; ESPN2): As all three of my readers have probably noticed, I generally avoid picking Tech games. This is mostly because of two reasons. First, well, it’s just bad form to root against your own team, even if logically they are underdogs. Second, I don’t generally like picking them to win because I think it’ll jinx them even though I know better. So, when it comes to situations like this, I decide the latter is the lesser of the two evils and predict a narrow win for the good guys. We’ll see if it works.
Most of the talk surrounding this game has been related to the two option offenses playing each other in a bowl game that could actually run under three hours. This is possible, for sure. But these are also two different option offenses. Georgia Tech runs what Paul Johnson calls the “spread option”, which is an option offense run from the “flexbone” formation that has more in common with the run-n-shoot principle of “getting the ball to players in space” than with the 1970’s Oklahoma wishbone (or the 1950’s GT wishbone, for that matter). Air Force will also run some flexbone, but they have a more “pure” historical option family tree and also mix in some option plays from other formations, from the classic wishbone and I-formations to the shotgun.
Georgia Tech will be missing at least 5 players. The first and foremost is senior QB Josh Nesbitt, who is still out from the broken arm he suffered in the Virginia Tech game. Tech will also be missing two starters and two backups due to academic issues. Mario Edwards is the missing starting safety, which is bad due to the general lack of talent and depth on defense. Stephen Hill has not had a great year, but he is a tall physical presence at WR that will be missed.
Air Force has given up around 22 points per game but allows close to 5 yards per carry. While they shut down the Navy offense earlier this year (which is still very similar to Tech’s) I’m not sure how much of that was AF or how much was bad play on the part of the Midshipmen. Tech’s defense isn’t very good, but you already knew that.
So what do I expect here? Well, anything really. I’m just going to pull for the Jackets and hope for the best.
Previous meetings: Georgia Tech has played Air Force 3 times overall, all from 1977-1979. Air Force was pretty bad back then and GT made quick work of them, to the tune of a 3-0 record by which GT outscored them 93-24. The 1978 game in Colorado Springs featured GT running back Eddie Lee Ivory setting what was then the NCAA single-game rushing record.
Last bowl game: Georgia Tech is making its 14th consecutive bowl appearance, a streak which dates back to the 1997 Carquest Bowl. Only 4 other schools have as long or longer streaks (Georgia, VPI, Florida, and FSU). GT played in last year’s Orange Bowl and lost 24-14 to Iowa. Meanwhile, AF is in its 4th consecutive bowl game, the previous three of which were the Armed Forces Bowl. Last year they pounded Houston 47-20.
6:30: West Virginia vs. North Carolina State (Champs Sports Bowl @ Orlando, FL; ESPN): Despite his general lack of coaching prowess, I’m not sure anyone really deserves the treatment Bill Stewart has gotten lately from the WVU athletic department. That’s part of the reason why I’ve picked them to win. The other is that West Virginia has quietly had an awesome defensive year. They rank 3rd in the country in total defense and have allowed an average of less than 13 points per game. I think NCSU will manage to score more than that, but one side has a great defense and is playing for their embattled coach, while the other had a shot at getting to the ACC title game but blew it in an inexplicable loss to Maryland.
Previous meetings: These schools have met a total of 9 times in what appear to be one off home-and-homes and a couple of Peach Bowls. The first meeting was in 1914, which NC State won 26-13. They would meet again in 1917 and then in three straight years from 1953-1955. Then there were the 1972 and 1975 Peach Bowls, after which they’d get together for a home-and-home in 1978 and 1979, the last of which WVU won 38-14. They haven’t met since. Overall, WVU holds a slim 5-4 lead in the series.
Last bowl game: West Virginia has a decent little streak going, starting with the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, which they lost to UVA 48-22, and lost to FSU last year in the Gator Bowl, 33-21. NCSU last went bowling in 2008, when they lost 29-23 to Rutgers in the papajohns.com Bowl.
10:00: Missouri vs. Iowa (Insight Bowl @ Temple, AZ; ESPN): Iowa’s had a boatload of issues so far this offseason, while Mizzou hasn’t. Missouri also still boasts a pretty good offense and had decent, if not great year, while Iowa’s was mostly disappointing. Going with the Tigers here.
Previous meetings: These two met 7 times from 1902 to 1910 and haven’t played each other since. In what was surely an exciting game, Mizzou won the 1910 game 5-0 and holds a 4-3 lead in the series.
Last bowl game: This will be Mizzou’s 4th straight bowl game. They lost 35-13 to Navy in last year’s Texas Bowl. This would be Iowa 10th straight game, but they didn’t go to one in 2007. They beat Georgia Tech 24-14 in last year’s Orange Bowl.
2:30: Maryland vs. East Carolina (Military Bowl @ Washington, DC; ESPN): I’ve got Maryland here, mostly due to the non-strength that is ECU’s defense. With the 108th ranked defense nationally, even the Terps should be able to put up some points here.
Last bowl game: Maryland was last seen in the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl, where they beat Nevada 42-35. This is ECU’s 5th straight bowl game, and last year they lost 20-17 to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
6:00: Baylor vs. Illinois (Texas Bowl @ Houston, TX; ESPN): I normally say about these sorts of games “which Illinois team will show up here?” but I think that’s an ultimately futile effort. That said, Illinois’s wins include both directional Illinoises, Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, and Penn State. Baylor faded down the stretch, but at least they didn’t lose to Minnesota. Taking the Bears here.
Previous meetings: These teams have met exactly once, in a 34-19 Baylor win at Illinois in 1976.
Last bowl game: Baylor, as you might’ve heard, has not been very good for most of the of the past two decades. Their last bowl appearance was actually with the SWC, when they lost 10-3 to Washington State in 1994 Alamo Bowl. This is Illinois’s first bowl since the Zooker’s magical run to the 2007 Rose Bowl, where they (unsurprisingly) got pounded by USC 49-17.
9:15: Arizona vs. Oklahoma State (Alamo Bowl @ San Antonio, TX; ESPN): Arizona actually has a decent offense and defense, but OSU has a serviceable defense and the nation’s leading offense. Most notably, the the Wildcat defense got torched by fellow offensive juggernauts Stanford and Oregon, so there’s not reason Oklahoma State shouldn’t be able to do the same.
Previous meetings: These two have met 6 times and are 3-3 all-time. All 6 meetings were between 1931 and 1942, the last of which Arizona won 20-6.
Last bowl game: This is Arizona’s third straight bowl game. They got blown out 33-0 in last year’s Holiday Bowl. This is OSU’s 5th straight game (their only miss of the past decade was in 2005). They lost 21-7 to Ole Miss in last year’s Cotton Bowl.
On TV This Weekend: Playoffs?!?
I meant to include this in my bowl post but I completely forgot! Probably because I won’t be able to watch these games, but alas I will do my duty and bring them to you here.
Right now, of course, there’s Eastern Washington and defending champs Villanvoa on ESPN2 in a semifinal match.
11:00: Delta State vs. Minnesota-Duluth (Division II Championship @ Florence, AL; ESPN2): All the marbls here once again in Florence. Both these teams are prior champions (Delta St. in 2000, Duluth in 2008) so they’ve got the credentials.
Noon: Georgia Southern @ Delaware (ESPNU): This is the other DI-AA semifinal. Supposedly due to the confluence of Christmas and New Year’s Day on consecutive Saturdays this year the title game won’t be held until January 7th. Whatever you say, NCAA. Anyway, this will be Southern’s 4th game to Delaware’s 3rd, a consequence of the 20 team bracket this year (in which Delaware was also the third seed).
3:30: Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. Mount Union (Division III Championship @ Salem, VA; ESPNU): Business as usual in the Division III final. These two have met every year since 2005, and both have been dominant in their runs to the title game once again.
I also wanted to comment on UMass saying they’re trying to join the MAC for 2013. That’s a long ways off, but the MAC goes to 14 teams that could resolve some of their infamous scheduling issues with 13 teams. To create balanced divisions, I suspect one of the Ohio teams would be asked to move to the west. But, still, the NCAA has to lift its moratorium for schools trying to make the jump to I-A (which is also an issue for the schools the WAC wants to invite).
This entry was posted in college football, On TV This Weekend on December 17, 2010 by ASimPerson.
Bowl Games 2010: Opening Slate
It’s that time of the year again, folks! I had an abysmal year last year (50% overall) so I’m hoping to improve on that this year. For now, we’ll start with this year’s pre-Christmas bowls.
2:00: Texas-El Paso vs. Brigham Young (New Mexico Bowl @ Albuquerque, NM; ESPN): UTEP had a fairly typical year for UTEP, beating up on patsies and getting an inexplicable win over a C-USA favorite (in this case, their win over SMU). BYU’s year appeared to be going off the rails until they rediscovered their offense. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is also when they started playing the bottom dwellers of the Mountain West, though they did put up a fight in their 1-point loss to bitter rivals Utah. That said, I’m buying stock in the BYU offensive renaissance and hoping to see it pay off against UTEP.
Previous meetings: These former WAC foes met every year from 1966 to 1998 (skipping 1995), and BYU holds a commanding 28-7-1 lead, including a 31-14 win in their last meeting in 1998.
Last bowl game: This is BYU’s 6th straight bowl game, a streak starting in 2005 with a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl. Every trip thereafter also was to the Las Vegas Bowl, so this marks the first time since 2001 they’ve gone somewhere else. Last year, they trounced Oregon State 44-20. Meanwhile, this is UTEP’s first trip to a bowl since the 2005 GMAC Bowl, which they lost to Toledo 44-13.
5:30: Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois (Humanitarian Bowl @ Boise, ID; ESPN): Northern Illinois was having the season this year. The kind of year where everything was coming together, including an undefeated run through the MAC and a rushing offense that just ran every which way against everyone. Well, except Miami (of Ohio) in the MAC title game, which they lost. Then they lost their coach to a team they beat this year. I think Fresno is probably more talented, but let’s face it, no matter what they say this is a major let down.
Previous meetings: Somewhat surprisingly, these schools have met 4 times, though not since 1991. The series is split at 2-2.
Last bowl game: Fresno sports a 3 game bowl streak coming into this one, starting with a (sigh) 40-28 win over Georgia Tech in the 2007 Humanitarian, and then two trips to the New Mexico Bowl, where they lost last year to Wyoming 35-28. NIU has a two year bowl streak, including last year’s 27-3 loss in the last ever International Bowl.
9:00: Ohio vs. Troy (New Orleans Bowl @ New Orleans, LA; ESPN): Troy didn’t win the Sun Belt this year, but they still get to go New Orleans. There’s worse things in the world. Ohio heads down from the MAC thanks to some last minute bowl swapping shenanigans. Troy had a relatively disappointing year (mostly because they’re favorites for the Sun Belt crown every year these days). Ohio lost their shot at the MAC East due to a shocking upset of them by Kent State, allowing Miami to sneak in and then upset NIU. Crazy. Anyway, Troy doesn’t play much defense seemingly but they do score a whole ton of points and I don’t think the Bobcats will be able to keep up. Both teams may score more than 30 though.
Last bowl game: Ohio lost last year’s Little Ceasar’s Bowl 21-17 to ex-MAC team Marshall and Troy lost last year’s GMAC bowl 44-41, but extends their bowl streak to three. In fact, including this year is Troy’s 5th bowl game. Not bad for a program that started playing major college football in 2001.
8:00: Southern Mississippi vs. Louisville (St. Petersburg Bowl @ St. Petersburg, FL): Even if that league is the Big East, giving up less than 20 points per game is a pretty good defense. And that’s exactly what Louisville’s done. Southern Miss can score, but they’ve struggled a tad against better opponents. I expect a 17-14 like contest here.
Previous meetings: These two played every year from 1978 to 2002 first as independents, and then as members of the old pre-Big East poached Conference USA. Southern Miss leads the all time series 15-8-1. They last met, though, in 2009 where Louisville won 25-23.
Last bowl game :Louisville was last seen beating Wake Forest 24-13 in the 2006 Orange Bowl, where after they disappeared into the wilderness. Southern Miss is would be there in the consecutive bowl game lists, having been every year since 1997 except for 2001 (though since they were 6-5, they would’ve gone these days, but that’s another discussion). Anyway, the last two years they were in the New Orleans Bowl, where they lost to Dwight Dasher and MTSU last year 42-32.
8:00: Boise State vs. Utah (Las Vegas Bowl @ Las Vegas, NV): Boise recovered from their disastrous loss to Nevada by getting back to what they did several other times this year: pound their WAC opposition into the dust. Utah, meanwhile, has only two losses but I feel they’re very telling: a blowout losses to TCU and Notre Dame. Not encouraging. I like Boise in a rout here (and with the current line I even have Boise covering the 18).
Previous meetings: Their last meeting was in a 2006 game at Utah, which Boise won 36-3. The two also met in 1998 and 1999, with Boise winning both those encounters as well.
Last bowl game: Utah beat Cal in last year’s Poinsettia Bowl, and has been to a bowl every year since 2003. Boise beat TCU in last year’s Fiesta Bowl and sports its own streak dating back to 2002. (It’d be two games longer if they had to gone to a bowl in 2001, which they didn’t despite being 8-4.)
8:00: Navy vs. San Diego State (Poinsettia Bowl @ San Diego, CA; ESPN): San Diego State is pretty decent this year, which is why you keep hearing Brady Hoke come up in coaching rumors. I ordinarily like Navy teams in bowl games, but I don’t think SDSU will be taking anything for granted against the home crowd, and should have a size advantage on the lines and the passing game that can expose Navy’s secondary. I don’t think SDSU will win going away, but I think they will win.
Previous meetings: They’ve met twice, in 1994 and 1997. SDSU won both games, the latter 45-31 and the former 56-14. Remember, Navy wasn’t very good back then.
Last bowl game: Navy defeated Missouri 35-13 in last year’s Texas Bowl, and has gone to a bowl every year since 2003. Meanwhile, this is SDSU’s first appearance since the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl, which they lost to UNC 20-13.
8:00: Hawaii vs. Tusla (Hawaii Bowl @ Honolulu, HI; ESPN): Both these teams can score. Hawaii, of course, likes to throw the ball and the Tulsa defense has been awfully obliging this year, yielding 305.7 yards/game (good for 119th nationally). Tulsa may keep it close early put Hawaii should be able to pull away.
Previous meetings: Hawaii is 5-2 all-time against Tulsa, with all but their first appearance in 1992 coming from Tulsa’s stint in the WAC. Their last meeting was in 2004, a 44-16 Hawaii win.
Last bowl game: Hawaii was last seen in a 49-21 loss to Notre Dame in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl. Their sub-.500 record in 2009 snapped a modest 3-game streak. Tulsa also lost their 4-game streak last year, with their last bowl appearance in the 2008 GMAC Bowl, in which they handily beat Ball State 45-13.
The bowl predictions page should be updated with all predictions soon!
Bowl Predictions
Football TV Guide
Basketball TV Guide
Past and Future Schedules
Query a College Football Series
RIOT Baseball Magic Numbers
Old Blogger Site
-January (1)
Bowl Games 2019: Final
+December (9)
+November (12)
+October (4)
+February (1)
+January (1)
+July (3)
+June (1)
+May (1)
+March (2)
+December (10)
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GT Basketball! 2019-2020
Record: 8-9 (3-4)
1/18: vs. Virginia (8:00 PM, ACCN)
1/22: @Louisville (7:00 PM, RSN)
1/25: vs. North Carolina State (4:00 RPM, RSN)
1/28: vs. Morehouse (7:30 PM, ACCNX)
2/1: @Notre Dame (Noon, RNS)
2/4: vs. Virginia Tech (7:00 PM, ESPN2/U/ACCN)
2/8: @Pittsburgh (2:00 PM, RSN)
2/12: vs. Louisville (8:00 PM, ACCN)
2/19: @Wake Forest (7:00 PM, RSN)
2/22: @Syracuse (4:00 PM, RSN)
2/25: vs. Clemson (9:00 PM, ESPN/2/ACCN)
2/29: vs. Miami (6/8:00 PM, ACCN)
3/4: vs. Pittsburgh (9:00 PM, RSN)
3/6: @Clemson (7:00 PM, ESPN2)
US Men’s National Team – All Matches
vs. Costa Rica (International Friendly @ Carson, CA; 3:55 PM, TV TBD)
vs. Netherlands (International Friendly @ Eindhoven, Netherlands; 12:45 PM, TV TBD)
vs. Honduras (CONCACAF Nations League Final Championship Semi-finals @ TBD; Time TBD, TV TBD)
2022 World Cup Qualifier Guides
Next Matchday: March 23 (CAF Second Round, CONEMBOL)
Status of all FIFA Members
Confederation guides
Next matchday in parenthesis
AFC – Asia (June 6)
CAF – Africa (March 23)
UEFA – Europe (March 25, 2021)
CONCACAF – North America (August 31)
CONMEBOL – South America (March 23)
OFC – Oceania (TBD)
For more, click this for all posts tagged “2022 World Cup”
US Women’s National Team At the 2019 World Cup
Current Status: Final
vs. Thailand (W 13-0)
vs. Chile (W 3-0)
vs. Sweden (W 2-0)
vs. Spain (W 2-1)
vs. France (W 2-1)
vs. England (W 2-1)
vs. Netherlands (W 2-0)
Atlanta Braves 2020 Schedule
Record: 0-0
Upcoming Games:
3/26: @Arizona
3/30: @San Diego
4/1: @San Diego
4/3: vs. Miami
4/6: vs. San Diego
4/9: @Miami
4/10: @Miami
4/13: @New York Mets
4/17: vs. San Francisco
4/21: vs. Arizona
4/24: vs. New York Mets
4/27: @Cincinnati
5/1: @New York Mets
5/4: @Philadelphia
5/10: vs. Miami
5/12: vs. Boston
5/15: @San Francisco
5/18: @St. Louis
5/25: vs. St. Louis
5/29: @Seattle
6/1: @Los Angeles Dodgers
6/5: vs. Philadelphia
6/9: vs. Washington
6/10: vs. Washington
6/12: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
6/16: @Boston
6/19: @Washington
6/22: vs. Philadelphia
6/29: @Texas
7/1: @Texas
7/3: vs. Los Angeles Angels
7/6: vs. Pittsburgh
710: vs. Chicago Cubs
7/11: vs. Chicago Cubs
7/17: @Colorado
7/21: @Oakland
7/27: vs. Cincinnati
8/3: @Chicago Cubs
8/17: vs. Milwaukee
8/21: @Philadelphia
8/25: vs. Oakland
8/27: vs. Colorado
9/1: @Washington
9/4: @Pittsburgh
9/7: vs. New York Mets
9/15: @Milwaukee
9/25: vs. Houston
All times Eastern. Most TV coverage is regional.
Football! 2019
Record: 3-9, 2-6 ACC
@Clemson (L 52-14)
vs. South Florida (W 14-10)
vs. The Citadel (L 27-24)
@Temple (L 24-2)
vs. North Carolina (L 34-22)
@Duke (L 41-23)
@Miami (W 28-21)
vs. Pittsburgh (L 20-10)
@Virginia (L 33-28)
vs. Virginia Tech (L 45-0)
vs. North Carolina State (W 28-26)
vs. Georgia (L 52-7)
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How do you take your money out of the bank before Jade Helm ushers in Martial Law?
© www.cryptlib.com
Who holds the key to YOUR money?
As Jade Helm forces are preparing to tighten the martial law noose around our collective necks, most Americans are on the verge of losing everything. [...]
With each passing day, as martial law draws near, your opportunity to get your money out of the bank is growing far less likely with each day you delay in taking your money out of the bank. This is the single most requested topic that people have asked me to comment on.
A Partial Awakening of the American People
Many of the citizens of our country are finally awakening to the unfolding tyranny. Yesterday, I received 37 emails from readers that in some form were asking me what they should do with their money because their investigations and observations agreed with mine in that the United States is headed towards an economic meltdown followed by martial law.
Take the Bulk of Your Money Out of the Bank
As the country races toward martial law and financial collapse, here are several major reasons to take the majority of your money out of the bank while leaving just enough in the bank to conduct business and to pay your bills.
Common Sense Dictates Taking Your Money Out of the Bank
Would you work for 50% over the next five years in order to keep your job? For most, the answer is a resounding, NO! Well, if you keep the majority of your money in the bank, that is precisely what you are doing.
If we take the word of the government that inflation is only about 5%, coupled with the fact that your savings account only pays a quarter of a percent in interest, it is foolish to leave your money in the bank. Ten thousand dollars in your bank account, today, will lose over half its value in less than five years. And in reality, most of you should be aware that inflation is closer to 12-14% because the government does not count the price of food and gas into their inflation figures, as if we do not have to eat or drive to work.
There are number of factors which lead to inflation, most of which end up putting money in the hands of the interlocked banking, oil and defense industry interests. When one understands what a mistake it was to abandon the gold standard and take on unlimited debt so that the aforementioned special interests could receive sweetheart deals courtesy of the U.S. government, one then understands that by putting most of your money into the bank, you are investing in your financial demise.
The Unsound American Economy Will Lead to a Banking Collapse
Presently, the United States has an $18 trillion dollar deficit, a $240 trillion dollar unfunded liability and credit swap derivatives debt in excess of $1 quadrillion dollars. The only backing that the U.S. dollar enjoys is the Petrodollar and that practice is being eroded by the Russian and Chinese led charge away from the dollar and into gold. There will soon come a tipping point where the American economy will die a sudden and violent collapse as the currency hyper-inflates.
It is far more likely that an economic collapse will be contrived instead of following the natural path listed above because the timing and severity could be controlled by the banksters.
When the Collapse Comes, You Will Not Get Your Money Out of the Bank
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that when you put money into the bank, you have transferred ownership of that money to the bank. This ruling represents government sponsored theft in the highest order, yet most of us are unaware that this happened.
As previously reported, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on November 10, 2014, ran a joint exercise simulating how they would prop up a large bank (e.g. Bank of America) with operations in both countries that has landed itself in trouble. Also taking part in the "bank failure drill," which included a cyber attack upon several banks, was Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and the heads of a large number of other regulators, in a meeting hosted by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Also, as previously reported, on the morning of November 16, 2014, the G20 fulfilled the mandates of anew investment program. This new program creates a whole new paradigm and set of rules whereby banks will no longer recognize your deposits as money. Russell Napier is declaring November 16th as "the day money died."This declaration by the G20 declared your bank account to not be money and therefore, the FDIC does not technically insure your money because it is not money in the eyes of the government.
In April of 2013, the banksters began to seriously manipulate the price of gold as evidenced by the actions of "Goldman Sachs who told their clients earlier that they recommend initiating a short COMEX gold position." After investors were duped into panic selling, the banksters bought up massive sums of gold. The banksters were buying gold while getting out the American Stock Market and the megabanks. Why? Because the dollar is going to collapse and the banksters are seeking safe havens for their wealth. This move should have been a huge red flag for all bank depositors.
When Taking Your Money Out of the Bank, Be Cautious!
George Soros won't go to prison for taking his money out of the bank, but you could, if you are not very careful.
In a clear escalation in the ongoing war on U.S. citizens, the Justice Department has recommended that bank employees snitch on customers attempting to withdraw more than $5,000. The banks and the Justice Department knows what is coming and they are going to keep you from withdrawing as little of your money as possible.
Under present laws, it is permissible to withdraw $5,000. However, with the recent Justice Department dictatorial decree, if you do withdraw that much money, you find two cops sitting in your driveway waiting for you. And with the Civilian Asset Forfeiture laws in place, it is not likely that the recently withdrawn money will ever see the inside of your home.
It is mind boggling regarding how few people are preparing to act to preserve what assets they have remaining by removing their money from the bank. Because you have put your money in the bank, you no longer own your money. Taking what was your money out of the bank is no longer a matter of walking up to your friendly teller with a withdrawal slip and the teller cheerfully honors your request and you calmly exit the bank with your money in tow. In fact, your teller is trained to look for certain indicators in any cash withdrawal of any significance.
As you move to withdraw the bulk of your money, there are three federal banking laws that you should be cognizant of: Cash Transaction Report (CTR), a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and structuring.
Federal law requires that the bank file a report based upon any withdrawal or deposit of $10,000 or more on any single given day. The law was designed to put a damper on money laundering, sophisticated counterfeiting and other federal crimes. To remain in compliance with the law, financial institutions must obtain personal identification, information about the transaction and the social security number of the person conducting the transaction.
Technically, there is no federal law prohibiting the use of large amounts of cash. However, a CTR must be filed in ALL cases of cash transaction regardless of the reason underlying the transaction.
Before proceeding with the planed withdrawal of your money, I would strongly suggest that you read the following federal guidelines as it relates to CTRs as produced by the The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). All the federal regulations contained in this article are elucidated in this series of federal reports.
Structuring and SAR
There will undoubtedly be some geniuses whose math ability will tell them that all they have to do is to withdraw $9,999.99 and the bank and its protector, the federal government, will be none the wiser. It is not quite that simple. Here are a few examples of structuring violations that one should be aware of:
1. Joe has obtained $15,000 in cash from selling his truck. He knows that if he deposits $15,000 in cash, his financial institution will be required to file a CTR. Instead he deposits $7,500 in cash in the morning with one financial institution employee and comes back to the financial institution later in the day to another employee to deposit the remaining $7,500, hoping to evade the CTR reporting requirement. Joe should have used multiple accounts to conduct this transaction.
2. Sally needs $16,000 in cash to pay for supplies for her arts and crafts business. Sally cashes an $8,000 personal check at a financial institution on a Monday. She subsequently cashes another $8,000 personal check at the bank the following day. Sally is careful to have cashed the two checks on different days and structured the transactions in an attempt to evade the CTR reporting requirement. Sally should have made irregular deposits on staggered days.
3. A married couple, John and Jane, sell a vehicle for $12,000 in cash. To evade the CTR reporting requirement, John and Jane structure their transactions using different accounts. John deposits $8,000 of that money into his and Jane's joint account in the morning. Later that day, Jane deposits $1,500 into the joint account, then $2,500 into her sister's account, which is later transferred to John and Jane's joint account at the same bank. Again, John and Jane should have used multiple banks.
The aggregate total of the three transactions totals more than the $10,000 threshold, therefore, a SAR would be filed by the bank and you would be the subject of a federal investigation as all three of the above cases clearly violate the federal banking laws related to structuring. It is a federal crime to break up transactions into smaller amounts for the purpose of evading the CTR reporting requirement. In these instances, the bank is required to file a SAR which serves to notify the federal government of an individual's attempt to structure deposits or withdrawals by circumventing the $10,000 reporting requirement.
Structuring transactions to prevent a CTR from being reported can result in imprisonment for not more than five years and/or a fine of up to $250,000. If structuring involves more than $100,000 in a twelve month period or is performed while violating another law of the federal government, the penalty is doubled.
Much like the enforcement of our tax laws, the federal government's enforcement of its banking laws as it relates to CTRs, SARs and subsequent structuring is quite draconian. Civilian asset forfeiture laws come into play. The government can seize your bank accounts while it determines if a crime has been committed. The government can literally seize your assets in perpetuity without an order of the court. Of course, you could try and sue but you will be up against the deep pockets of the federal government and the case could take years. By the time your case is decided, the financial banking crisis that you are so desperately trying to avoid by withdrawing your money, could be over. So, proceed with caution.
Withdrawing Your Money From the Bank
The best way to avoid getting your money caught in the bank in the midst of a bank run would be to not let the lion's share of your money ever cross the bank. The simplest way to accomplish this is to prevent any form of deposit from going automatically into your account, as much as it is possible.
Secondly, you need to begin to pay cash for everything. Let's say that every 30 days, Bob cashes his check at the bank from his work worth $5,000 net pay. Bob leaves just enough in the bank to be able to conduct normal banking business. Bob walks out of the bank every month with the majority of the cash from his check. Bob should begin to pay cash for as much as he can, such as eating out, paying the electric bill (pay the bill in person), buying groceries, etc. When it becomes necessary to make a "big ticket" purchase, Bob could temporarily leave more in the bank to cover the writing of a check.
You would also be wise to open multiple banking accounts ranging from the big five megabanks to your local credit unions. You could withdraw much smaller amounts until the sum total of your accounts is greatly diminished and is in your possession. To open the accounts, simply write a personal check from your home bank. Of course, in these cases, the bank could hold the check for 15-30 days.
I cannot promise you that if you become the target of federal investigators, that you will not have your every financial move scrutinized and the feds will eventually discover the aggregate patterns of withdrawal. People who I interviewed told me that they believe that the federal government is in the process of getting the banking computers to "talk" to each other in a way that would reveal structuring.
If you ever become the target of a federal investigation, do not under any circumstances allow yourself to be interviewed by federal officials without an attorney present. In many cases, people go to jail and pay huge fines, not because they have committed a federal crime, but because federal officials state that they have lied or misled them. And if you do not have an attorney present, it is your word versus the federal government.
Where to Put the Money You Are Able to Withdraw From the Bank
There is some wisdom in putting your money where the elite do. Goldman Sachs shorting gold in April of 2013 (described earlier in this article), should be motivation enough the average person to convert their dollars into gold. And to do so, one does not even need to withdraw money from bank. One simply needs to write a check to the broker and this totally negates structuring, SARs and CTR reports.
The fact that the Federal Reserve spent several months purchasing mortgage backed securities should provide another clue as to where the elite think which assets will hold their value in a post-collapse economy. Start with paying down your mortgage. In a post-collapse nation, as long as you can pay your property taxes, you will hang on to your home. If you have discretionary income, real estate is the second best investment behind previous metals.
Please keep in mind that this is a post collapse strategy, there is no prevention for what is coming.
Certainly, you should purchase supplies that will sustain life (e.g. food, water, guns) with cash only. You do not want to leave a trail of what survival assets you have accumulated. For all other investments, write checks and bleed your account down to a servicable level.
The time to have acted to protect your earnings was two years ago when the elite began buying gold in earnest.
The forces of Jade Helm are engaged in massive and monumental preparations. Although not guaranteed, there is a danger that this summer will see a collapse of the dollar and your assets will be gone forever. Once Jade Helm 15, or something that follows on its heels, is in place and martial law is in effect, you will not have this opportunity again.
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Is the federal government ready for war against the American people?
© Liberty Beat
Prior to even the beginning of the Jade Helm provocation strategically announced months in advance for the purpose of triggering reactionary alarm amongst US citizenry fearing martial law and FEMA roundups that the feds have been planning for years (see 2010's FM 39.40 manual here), and now police killings in cities nationwide are ramping up urban tensions to the point that civil unrest is opportunistically providing the feds their sought after excuse to possibly declare martial law even before Jade's "summer games" commence mid-July throughout the US Southwest.
By design events are being staged in Baltimore and now Detroit with yet another police killing that may incite public protest and civil unrest that then "justify" calling out the National Guard.
Michael Snyder just wrote an article entitled "Are We Being Psychologically Conditioned to Accept Martial Law in America?" He documents firsthand accounts that the Baltimore police authorities may have purposely attempted to bait high school students into violence and that the mayor ordered police to stand down while the city began burning before they were finally dispatched to the scene when conditions had already unraveled out of control.
It also comes out that while pandemonium in Baltimore broke out, various state National Guard units across the nation were simultaneously undergoing training to quell civil unrest. It's all going down like perfectly planned clockwork. When police and military are training to gear up for civil unrest, somewhere in the country a major flare-up just happens to co-occur. This "coincidence" keeps recurring.
At the dog and pony show at the Bastrop County public hearing in Texas earlier this week, Lt Col. Lastoria, the Special Ops Jade Helm spokesman, admitted that during any military exercise an order to suddenly go live may be made at any time. And the feds wonder why there's such an uproar over Jade Helm. Tick, tick, tick as the time bombs go off in cities across the nation, almost as if in preparation synchronized just in time for Jade Helm 15 to go live.
Citizen participant Bob Wells wrapped up the Bastrop County Q & A session with the following comment:
It's the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany: You get the people used to the troops on the street, the appearance of uniformed troops and the militarization of the police...They're gathering intelligence. That's what they're doing. And they're moving logistics in place for martial law. That's my feeling.
Everywhere you look nowadays Americans are witnessing their police militarily clad in full riot/combat gear armed with automatic weapons waging urban warfare that's effectively brought US Empire wars home to roost right here in the streets of America. Our nation observed its first taste of martial law when the entire city of Boston went into complete lockdown in the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, yet another of the ongoing federally executed false flags specifically designed as the dry run Beta test on how Americans would react to unprecedented martial law conditions in an entire major metropolitan area. In the meantime, over the last couple decades the federal government has been militarizing local police forces across the nation with sweet deals arming them for domestic combat with war weapons and materials direct from US Empire war zones.
At the same time, we've observed US law enforcement brutally murdering unarmed Americans with little to no provocation at alarming rates... from a police ambush overkill caught on youtube last year of an unarmed mentally ill man peacefully camping out in the hills outside Albuquerque to cigarette street vendor Eric Garner senselessly choked to death in New York City to a defenseless baby in a crib nearly blown away by a police stun grenade in their home invasion drug raid in Georgia by another militarized police zealot to the unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson last summer to another unarmed black man attempting to run away shot in the back by a trigger happy cop in South Carolina earlier this month to the even more recent victims in Baltimore and now in Detroit and coming next to a US city near you.
© Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times
Demonstrators marched in Baltimore on Thursday in protest of the death of Freddie Gray.
A just released New York Times article cites the F.B.I.'s account of justifiable homicides by police officers since 2009 ranging from 397 to 461 in 2013. Criminologists and law enforcement experts agree the F.B.I. numbers are notoriously low, with other accounts considered more accurate ranging near 1100 deaths by police action per year. Last year when so many high profile cases made headlines were not included in this latest report. Additionally, mainstream media purposely tends to minimize the rising incidence of police murder. It's also important to note that the FBI only includes "justifiable homicides." For obvious reasons law enforcement avoids self-incrimination by failing to even track unjustified police killings much less track the race of those victims killed.
Young black males in America are obviously targeted for racial profiling and excessive violence far more than any other American. The increasing protests and tensions around the nation have as much to do with the police murdering more innocent Americans every year as what appears to be institutionalized lethal racism (that some have even called ethnic cleansing) as well as both law enforcement and the Justice Department's permissively unacceptable response in their gross failure to hold homicidal police officers accountable. Consistently the thin blue line protects criminals in its own ranks, backed just as consistently by the feds' protection. What does that tell you?
Over aggressive police on steroids who swore oaths to protect US citizens are instead brutally murdering them, not unlike the latest designated terrorist fake enemy on steroids ISIS who are actually US paid mercenaries fighting as US proxy war allies, yet for shock and awe effect are allowed to continue in full world video display busily beheading Christians and reporters. There's a definite crime syndicate link between the US government, the criminal activities of US law enforcement including the US intelligence community and the crimes against humanity committed by Senator McCain's friends ISIS. This international crime cabal pretending to be the US government is directly or indirectly responsible for all of this appalling bloodshed.
Led by the F.B.I. and emboldened by the practice experience gained in 2011 having systematically attacked and destroyed the nationwide Occupy movement, a nationalized movement to unleash increasingly hostile, mostly white police forces on mostly innocent, darker-skinned US citizens has led to the exponential rise of unarmed Americans being killed at the brutal hands of the US police state demonstrating by its actions that it's at war with its own people. The number of murdered Americans killed in this US police state war since 9/11 now exceeds the total number of US soldiers killed in action in Iraq. Since that number compiled a year and a half ago was 5000, taking into account the rash of recent deaths, in all likelihood more Americans have been killed by police than in America's two longest wars combined. As such, Americans are now 55 times more likely to die as US police state casualties than by so called foreign terrorists.
A 2008 US Army War College report sounded an alarm for the military to be prepared to suppress civil uprisings in America. Activist-journalist Chris Hedges wrote that the Army monograph warned:
'Violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,' which could be provoked by 'unforeseen economic collapse,' 'purposeful domestic resistance,' 'pervasive public health emergencies' or 'loss of functioning political and legal order.' The 'widespread civil violence would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.'
John W. Whitehead astutely pointed out that virtually every government agency unrelated to either the armed forces or law enforcement has morphed into a militarized SWAT team army:
Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Education Department. As of 2008, '73 federal law enforcement agencies... [employ] approximately 120,000 armed full-time on-duty officers with arrest authority.' Four-fifths of those officers are under the command of either the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice. Whitehead goes on to list the enormous stockpiling of bullets and guns that some of these "noncombatant" agencies have been accumulating. The ominous conclusion can only be that they will be used against fellow American citizens.
Ever since the inside 9/11 job when the US-Israeli crime syndicate assassinated 3000 Americans on US soil, the federal government has used "national security" to covertly strip away all our rights to privacy, all our civil liberties as well as our rights to due process. Meanwhile abroad, the US government unleashed its global agenda to destabilize nations and economies around the world, illegally invade, occupy, and murder millions of innocent civilians in the Middle East and North Africa in a heinous blood for oil endgame laying waste of one failed state after the next. By imperialistic design the King Midas touch in reverse has been in effect in every nation the US Empire intervenes, from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen to Ukraine. This list of nation fatalities just keeps growing with no end in sight.
Throughout this calculated worldwide destruction the feds have been claiming the outright lie that their war on terror is making the world saferwhen in fact it's had just the opposite effect. The so called al Qaeda/ISIS "terrorist enemy" has only grown stronger and taken control over more territory in yet more countries than ever before (of course all the while secretly created, armed, trained, financed, supplied and supported by treasonous criminals in Washington and Tel Aviv). Squandering and decimating the US middle class tax base by choosing to wage its longest, most costly wars in US history at the sacrificial expense of its own people, the Ponzi scheme debtor economy lies choking, stagnant, long broken and unsustainable. As the bubble of the Federal Reserve's band-aid tactic relying on printing unlimited fiat money out of thin air to keep it going nears ready to burst, the United States of America and the American way of life now teeters on the brink of total collapse.
Hence, the tightening of the noose with fed up Americans sick and tired of being brutally victimized and betrayed by its crime cabal government that's now out to kill us law abiding citizens using the excuse of martial law to go on the offensive to quell the very civil unrest that the federal government intentionally created and caused in the first place. Washington's been not-so-covertly preparing for this day of reckoning ever since 9/11 to wage war against its own people. And through globalization what's been tragically happening here in the US has also been taking place insidiously throughout the industrial world - in Canada,Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel and most all of Europe. All these Western nations are controlled by the same oligarch globalists whose NWO agenda successfully fabricated and invented their war on terror in order to enact counterterrorism laws completely draconian in nature that effectively destroy our freedoms while enslaving us in the twenty-first century version of George Orwell's totalitarian nightmare come true.
Right now the globalists are pushing through the passage of their Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that's also being kept secret under the worn out "national security" lie. The actual reason is our treasonous government is promoting a treaty that allows foreign corporations to literally override American law. Bloomberg faults TPP as nothing more than "a corporatist power grab." Ron Paul believes that TPP would severely undermine our national sovereignty bringing us one huge step closer to the New World Order of a one world government.
It's up to us citizens to resist the tyranny of a government loyal to its oligarch puppet masters. We must prepare for the impending US collapse by banding together as resourceful neighbors, developing and joining local food co-ops to feed and sustain ourselves. We should begin implementing local and statewide currencies and banking institutions that are responsive to the needs of the community residents. Stop patronizing the big banks. Continuing to be dependent on the central banking cabal will only push us into further debt while having ripped us off for centuries. Placing your money in local credit unions or smaller banks is the way to go. The state of North Dakota has led the way with starting its own state bank. Local bartering of goods and services can further promote community cohesion and independence.
Another defense against the totalitarian assault is at the battlefront where each state declares its own independence and fundamental rights from the federal tyrannical government. We currently have the required two-thirds majority of states calling for an unprecedented Constitutional Convention. It can be the tipping point to take back our local and regional power from the abusive feds by repealing the Patriot Act along with the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that eliminates our due process. We need to hold the judges and politicians who've betrayed the US Constitution that they swore oaths to protect, defend and uphold. They should be prosecuted for breaking the federal law prohibiting them from violating their sworn oaths.
Unfortunately the war against us has only just begun. We still have our Second Amendment right to defend ourselves, our families and our homes. Neighbors can stand together in solidarity supporting and defending their communities. We still have the World Wide Web and the power to instantaneously connect and unite in opposition against those bent on destroying us. A number of religions and churches preach to members that they are doing God's will when challenging their government when it oversteps its bounds and becomes oppressive and authoritarian.
We need to reach out to our brothers and sisters in uniform as members of both the armed forces and law enforcement and support them in acting on their conscience that may require them to willfully disobey unconstitutional orders from their command that could potentially be to kill their fellow citizens. Time and again in the past our brave military soldiers have stepped up and refused to comply with treasonous, morally reprehensible orders to do the evil bidding of their psychopathic leaders. Those nuclear armed warhead cruise missiles intended for preemptive strike on Iran in 2007 that were illegally ordered from high up in the Bush regime to be transported from a North Dakota airbase to a Louisiana airbase readily come to mind.
Similar to what the late great Nelson Mandela spearheaded in South Africa after the fall of his nation's sinister apartheid government, a truth and reconciliation commission can be set up to facilitate and motivate defectors inside the government to come forth to expose evildoing as well as to cease and desist the current diabolical agenda promoting world war and potential nuclear, biological and/or chemical annihilation of humanity.
Since so many of us citizens of the world are facing the exact same brutality and destruction from traitors within our respective crime cabal governments, we need to stand up in worldwide solidarity to fight for truth, international peace and global justice. In the face of these darkening clouds on our horizon, rather than cower in fear, passivity or continue sticking our heads in the sand in denial, as empowered, mindful citizens of the world we must realize that together we can collectively make a difference. We must choose light over darkness and life over death. The very survival of our human species may be riding on what we the people of this earth can do at this critical, dramatic late hour during these most dangerous, harrowing times.
Dead zones: Places where no animal can survive found in Atlantic Ocean
© NASA Earth Observatory
Example of an ocean eddy (not from the study) as seen from space.
A team of German and Canadian marine biologists have for the first time ever witnessed so-called 'dead zones' in the Atlantic Ocean - places where no life can thrive, owing to there being almost no dissolved oxygen in the water.
Zones depleted of oxygen do exist in nature and have previously been discovered along populated coastal areas off the eastern and southern coasts of the United States and the Baltic Sea. But this is the first time such a place has been observed in the open ocean.
In a paper published in the journal , researchers outline the existence of pockets of low-oxygenated patches of water in the Atlantic Ocean.
They are vast - sometimes 100 square miles in size. They travel constantly and are also seasonal. One of the biggest ever discovered forms each year in the Gulf of Mexico.
What makes these things tick is a hodge-podge of nutrients and microbes delivered from elsewhere. It's a cyclical process: the nutrients are food for algae blooms, which in turn get devoured by microorganism. This creates waste, which is then eaten by other microbes. This process uses up a lot of oxygen, creating oxygen-free pockets.
The nutrient run-off here is a means of transportation. But if you're an animal or fish, there are only two options: moving and surviving, or staying and dying.
Dead zones are normally found in shallow water, where not a lot of mixing takes place. The Atlantic Ocean is obviously very different, which creates a puzzle.
Researchers found that these particular dead zones masquerade as 'eddies' - basically huge underwater ocean cyclones that spin into a vortex, practically no different to how weather sometimes acts above ground. They can twist uninterrupted for months on end. The spinning vortex creates a wall around the central core - a process, which quickly depletes oxygen from it, and so, a dead zone is born.
study author Johannes Karstensen of the University of Bremen says in the press release of the journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).
What surprised him and the team was that the levels of oxygen depletion found previously in dead zones were way off: before the study, common estimates put dissolved oxygen at around 1 milliliter per liter of seawater. Karstensen and team though found the lower end of the spectrum in the Atlantic to contain only 0.3 milliliters.
The intensity of the phenomena is dependent upon the speed of the eddy, chemical concentration, weather patterns and the Earth's rotation.
The researchers worry that the existence of dead zones even at the center of the Atlantic could have an effect on people living on land, particularly in Cape Verde.
Kartsensen explains.
Michigan, Texas, Mississippi, California, Idaho and Washington all jolted by significant earthquakes
© USGS
Did you know that Michigan was just hit by the worst earthquake that state has seen in more than 60 years? In recent days, there has been a series of alarming earthquakes all over the United States. Of course none of these earthquakes was anything like the massively powerful quake that just crippled the entire nation of Nepal, but many are concerned that these earthquakes could be a sign of what is to come.
All over the planet, seismic activity is increasing. In fact, I recently wrote about how the number of volcanoes erupting right now is greater than the 20th century's average for an entire year. At the same time, the surface of the sun has become very, very quiet. As you will see in this article, there are scientists that link the two.
It is believed that times of very low solar activity have something to do with a rise in seismic activity, and there is one scientist that is claiming that solar activity is declining faster "than at any time in the last 9300 years" right now. So what does this mean for the future of our planet?
Before we get to that, let's review some of the very unusual earthquake activity in the U.S. that we have been witnessing lately.
As I mentioned above, the state of Michigan was just hit by the worst earthquake that it has seen in more than 60 years...
If you thought you felt an earthquake on Saturday — you did. And it was one of the strongest quakes ever experienced in Michigan. Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, said an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 and a depth of focus of 5.9 km was measured around 12:23 p.m. about nine miles southeast of Kalamazoo, near Galesburg. Dozens of residents in several different regions beyond Kalamazoo — from Mount Pleasant and Sterling Heights to Lansing and even as far as Cleveland, Ohio — called the WWJ Newsroom and reported feeling a rumble and the ground shake for between five and 10 seconds.
If that was all that happened, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But at the same time, unusual earthquakes are striking all over the country. For instance, check out what just happened in Texas...
North Texas was rattled once again with an earthquake early Sunday morning.
The USGS confirmed that the 3.2 magnitude earthquake struck about two miles north-northeast of Irving at about 10:11 a.m.
NBC 5 viewers reported feeling the earthquake in Irving, Dallas and here at the NBC 5 studios in Fort Worth near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
This follows a string of earthquakes in the area just last month.
And nobody really ever thinks of Mississippi as a place for earthquakes, and yet the state was just hit by two of them. According to the USGS, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake and a magnitude 3.2 earthquake shook up the residents of Canton, Mississippi over the weekend.
In addition, on Sunday morning Los Angeles was hit by a magnitude 3.8 earthquake...
A shallow magnitude 3.8 earthquake was reported Sunday morning one mile from View Park-Windsor Hills, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 4:07 a.m. PDT at a depth of 5.6 miles.
The quake was classified by the USGS as "light" but was felt over a wide area of the L.A. basin.
Not to be outdone, the Bay area in northern California was hit by a magnitude 4.0 earthquake on Sunday afternoon...
A 4.0 magnitude earthquake rattled San Francisco Bay Area residents Sunday afternoon.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake hit about one mile south of the city of Concord.
Of course it is not really a great surprise for California to get earthquakes. The state had been fairly quiet for several decades, but everyone knows that it is just a matter of time before "the big one" comes. Could these mid-size quakes be a sign that the region is starting to wake up?
Meanwhile, sizable quakes are also being reported in regions of the country that are not typically known for seismic activity. In fact, northern Idaho was jolted by two substantial earthquakes on Thursday night...
Two earthquakes — a magnitude 4.1 and a 4.2 — jolted north Idaho on Thursday night, with residents from northeastern Washington to northwestern Montana saying they felt the tremors.
It is fairly easy for scientists to explain the earthquakes in California. But what is with the quakes in Michigan, Mississippi and Idaho? Something very unusual appears to be happening.
At the same time, volcanic activity is rising all over the planet. In fact, scientists believe that a submarine volcano off the northwest coast of the United States may have just erupted...
More than 80 scientists from around the world gathered in Seattle last week to discuss a thrilling development: For the first time, seafloor instruments were providing a real-time look at the most active, submarine volcano off the Northwest coast — and all signs indicated it might erupt soon. But even the researchers most closely monitoring Axial Seamount were stunned by what happened next. Beginning Thursday, April 23 — the day after the workshop ended — the new sensors recorded 8,000 small earthquakes in a 24-hour period. The volcano's caldera, which had been swelling rapidly from an influx of magma, collapsed like a deflated balloon. "All the alarm bells were going off," said Oregon State University volcanologist Bill Chadwick, who along with a colleague predicted last year that the volcano would erupt in 2015. "It was very exciting."
And one of the largest volcanoes in Hawaii is spewing lava for the first time in more than 30 years...
For the first time in more than 30 years, lava is flowing on the floor of Halema'uma'u crater in Hawaii.
Kilauea volcano's volatile lava lake spilled over the rim of a deep vent within Halema'uma'u crater several times overnight, lapping onto the edges of the vent like an overflowing pool.
So what is causing all of this to happen?
Well, could you believe that it is because the sun is being too quiet right now?
For a long time, scientists have known that there is a link between activity on the sun and seismic activity on our planet...
A 1967 study published in the Earth and Planetary Science journal, stated: "Solar activity, as indicated by sunspots, radio noise and geomagnetic indices, plays a significant but by no means exclusive role in the triggering of earthquakes."
A 1998 report by a scientist from the Beijing Astronomical Observatory... "Earthquakes occur frequently around the minimum years of solar activity."
As reported on NewScientist.com and numerous other science sites, including Space.com, the sun has recently entered into its lowest (minimum) actively levels in four centuries, coinciding with an increase in global seismic activity. "Solar activity is declining very fast at the moment," Mike Lockwood, professor of space environmental physics at Reading University, UK, told New Scientist. "We estimate faster than at any time in the last 9300 years."
So why aren't we hearing anything about this in the mainstream media?
In recent years, the sun has become extremely quiet, and now things have gone to a whole new level. In fact, it is being projected that we could shortly see a sun that is "completely blank"...
Everyone knows that high solar activity has a profound effect on the space around Earth. Less well known is that *low* solar activity can be equally transformative. This week, the sun is plunging into a quiet state with almost no sunspots. Only a few dark cores are peppering the face of the sun, and they are so small you might have trouble finding them in this April 30th image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory: Almost no sunspots = almost no solar activity. The sun's X-ray output has flatlined, and NOAA forecasters estimate a scant 1% chance of strong flares in the next 24 hours. If the sunspot number continues to drop, the sun could become completely blank.
If we have indeed entered a time of decreased solar activity, that could mean that seismic activity on our planet will continue to increase.
This is something that I have been warning about for a long time. I believe that we are going to see enormous natural disasters both inside the United States and all over the planet during the next few years. I believe that at some point we are going to see natural disasters that are so dramatic that they will literally change the geography of nations.
So what do you think? Do you believe that we have entered a time of increased seismic activity? Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below...
USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 4.0 - San Francisco Bay Area
37.968N, 122.030W
Universal Time (UTC): 3 May 2015 22:13:19
Time near the Epicenter: 3 May 2015 15:13:19
Location with respect to nearby cities:
1 km (1 mi) S of Concord, California
3 km (2 mi) NE of Pleasant Hill, California
7 km (4 mi) NNE of Walnut Creek, California
8 km (5 mi) WNW of Clayton, California
82 km (51 mi) SW of Sacramento, California
Israel, like America, allows their cops to brutalize anyone with dark skin and the people are fed up
Ethiopian protesters scuffle with Israeli security forces in the city of Tel Aviv, on May 03, 2015, during a demonstration against police brutality and institutionalized discrimination.
Israeli police forces have clashed with Ethiopians protesting against the Tel Aviv regime's racism and police brutality. Sunday's clashes erupted in the city of Tel Aviv on Sunday as Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of Ethiopians, who had taken to the streets to voice anger against institutionalized discrimination and police violence.
Some demonstrators threw stones and glass bottles after attempting to storm the municipality building. According to local media reports, at least 20 policemen and several protesters were injured during the clashes.
Demonstrators were chanting and holding up signs reading, "A violent policeman must be put in prison" and "We demand equal rights".
The event's organizers reportedly put the number of people attending the rally at 10,000. Ethiopian demonstrators blocked major arteries and junctions in central Tel Aviv, vowing to continue rallies until their demands are met.
They are calling for an investigation into racism and violence exercised by Israeli police against Africans. A similar march was held on April 30 in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) during which Israeli security forces clashed with the Ethiopian protesters. The rally was held after a video emerged earlier showing an Ethiopian being beaten by police in a racist attack.
Ethiopians have long complained about unfair treatment and police violence in Israel. Thousands of Jews of Ethiopian origin, who are living in the occupied Palestinian territories, are treated as third-class citizens.
Unbelievable: Young girl dies while in police custody, cops offer no explanation, media silent
Shenenque Proctor, 18 years old at the time of her death
A young African American woman from Brighton, Alabama recently died in police custody. Police have still refused to provide any reasonable explanation for the cause behind her death. We were among the first and only news sites to report on the death of Sheneque Proctor. But we honestly expected mainstream coverage of the tragic death of this 18-year-old woman to follow, especially given how widely our report on her death circulated.
We are used to being among the first to cover cases of police brutality and injustices, only to see the mainstream, corporate media catch on weeks or sometimes months later. But this time something is different. Unlike our early coverage of John Crawford, or Tamir Rice, the story of Sheneque Proctor continues to be ignored by the mainstream media, in spite of the numerous similarities to high profile cases like that of Eric Garner.
A new petition has begun circulating in response to Proctor's death at the hands of police officers. Many have begun referring to Proctor as the "female Eric Garner," not to diminish her unique life, personality and death, but instead to highlight how the media is ignoring the death of an African American woman with asthma in police custody.
The petition demands a federal and state investigation into the death of the 18-year-old, who died in the Bessemer City Jail after she was arrested on November 1st. She was at a Bessemer hotel at a party with friends when police arrived and arrested her for "disorderly conduct," according to her aunt, Tracy Rodda. Early the next morning, Proctor was found dead in her jail cell, after having complained of problems with asthma which police apparently refused to take seriously.
Bessemer City Attorney Shan Paden commented, "I know the case. I know we had a death in the jail. Erring on a conservative side, not to protect the city but to protect the rights of an 18-year-old, the city of Bessemer will not disclose any information."
The petition was created on Change.org last Monday, but has received relatively little attention. The petition explains the following about Sheneque Proctor's death and links it to unrest throughout the nation.
"The death of Black Men like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice is a clear indication that Black Lives are in jeopardy from Police who have declared it open season on Black Men," Karen Jones of Montgomery Alabama writes, in her description of the petition.
"Insult over injury, no indictment and a video which clearly shows officers using a choke hold on Eric Garner who loudly and clearly stated that he could NOT breathe was not enough to save his life," according to the online petition.
"Yet in Alabama where most of the historical landmark Civil Right Movements...we have lost an 18-year-old Black young woman under the hands of Bessemer Police," the petition continues.
Proctor's family says that she suffered from asthma, and had complained of being treated violently by Bessemer Police officers who made the arrest.
After Proctor made complaints, she was found dead in her jail cell the next morning, but Bessemer authorities refused to comment on the case. All media inquires have been referred to the State Bureau of Investigations, which spokeswoman Robyn Bryan said "is looking into the case."
"This family deserves some answers," the petition declares. "We don't need another 'I can't breathe' story. Her life mattered and still matters to her family. They deserve answers from the State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI."
The petition demands that State Senator Quinton Ross, State Representative Alvin Holmes and U.S. Representative Terri Sewell "request both State and Federal investigations in the death of this 18 year old Black female."
"We don't know what happened," said Proctor's mother Scherita to reporters. Her family is encouraging people to sign the petition and help put the pressure on for a thorough investigation.
3.2 magnitude earthquake rattles North Texas
© WFAA
A 3.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Las Colinas in Irving on May 3, 2015.
The WFAA newsroom received multiple reports of an earthquake in Irving and Northwest Dallas on Sunday morning shortly after 10 o'clock.
The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed the tremor at 10:11 a.m. and initially measured it as a magnitude 3.1, but later revised the intensity to 3.2.
"We felt it in the middle of 9:30 mass at Christ the King Church in Dallas," Joyce Aldaba said.
Its epicenter was just southwest of the intersection of Highway 114 and Rochelle Boulevard in Northwest Dallas.
"My apartment just shook," tweeted WFAA anchor Marcus Moore. "Not fun!"
WFAA's Facebook page was immediately inundated with comments, like this one from Bruce Crone: "Man, did I feel that one!!! Seems like the biggest one that I have felt!!!!"
The strongest recent quake recorded in North Texas since 2010 was measured at 3.6 magnitude on January 7. There have been four earthquakes from 3.3 to 3.5 magnitude in the same area since 2012, and more than 60 quakes measured since 2010.
But Sunday's tremor clearly raised concerns for a lot of people.
"MacArthur and 183. Apartments shook hard!" wrote Samantha Guzman on the WFAA Facebook page.
Llaloha Lennick said she felt it in Northwest Dallas near Love Field.
"Story and Walnut Hill, lasted a few seconds, very strong!" Taylor Amanda Dorris wrote.
Niki McClure said she was at David McDavid Honda in Irving. "Biggest one I've felt yet," she wrote. "Feels like a big truck backed into the building."
Tonya Parker Wyatt at MacArthur Boulevard and Shady Grove Road had a similar assessment: "Felt like a car went through our apartment building, and the windows rattled," she wrote.
Other commenters said they could feel the earth move in East Dallas, Euless, Arlington, Carrollton, Farmers Branch and Fort Worth. Several Facebook posters worried about possible damage to their home foundation, but there were no immediate reports of structural damage or injuries.
Last month, an SMU study said drilling activities were the likely cause of a swarm of recent earthquakes in the Azle area. The cause of the quakes in the Irving-Dallas area remains under investigation.
Credible evidence that Saudi's are using US made cluster munitions in Yemen
© HRW.org
An expended BLU-108 canister from a CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon found in the al-Amar area of al-Safraa, Saada governorate, in northern Yemen on April 17, 2015.
The Saudi-led bombing campaign against rebels in Yemen is using U.S.-supplied cluster munitions, endangering civilians and violating an international arms treaty, Human Rights Watch warned on Sunday.
According to the group, there is "credible evidence" that cluster bombs have been used in recent weeks as part of coalition airstrikes in Yemen's northern Saada governorate, a Houthi stronghold that borders Saudi Arabia. Through analysis of satellite imagery, Human Rights Watch charges that the weapons landed on a "cultivated plateau, within 600 meters of several dozen buildings in four to six village clusters."
Cluster bombs, which are composed of hundreds of submunitions, pose a long-term threat to civilians because they are designed to explode after spreading over a wide area. Often, the submunitions do not explode, causing the bombs to become de facto landmines.
Over one hundred countries signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions banning their use. However, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen all abstained from signing on.
According to a U.S. Defense Department contract, Saudi Arabia purchased 1,300 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed cluster munitions from Textron Defense Systems, which is based in Wilmington, Mass. The shipment was meant to be completed by December 2015. Additionally, the UAE received an unknown number of CBU-105 from Textron Defense Systems in June 2010, HRW reports.
"Saudi-led cluster munition airstrikes have been hitting areas near villages, putting local people in danger," said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. "These weapons should never be used under any circumstances. Saudi Arabia and other coalition members - and the supplier, the US - are flouting the global standard that rejects cluster munitions because of their long-term threat to civilians."
Baltimore cop pepper sprays passive protester wearing 'F*ck the police' t-shirt, flings him to the ground
© AP video screengrab
Baltimore man on ground after being pepper sprayed.
In dramatic footage captured by the Associated Press, an unidentified Baltimore protester wearing a "F*ck the police" t-shirt is pepper sprayed before being dragged to the ground by his hair.
As the man stands impassively in the street with his arms at his side, an officer walks up to him and, without provocation, sprays his face with pepper spray. As the man attempts to shake it off, not even reaching upwards to his face, the officer then grabs him by his hair and flings him to the ground as fellow officers swarm all over him.
After being dragged to the sidewalk another officer pours water on his face as he lays moaning on the ground, his hands bound behind him.
Leaning against the wall next to the man is a protest sign reading "Amnesty 4 Jailed Youth."
According to the Associated Press, the man was reportedly on the street after the 10PM curfew.
Watch the video below uploaded to YouTube by the Associated Press:
Sucking spoilt milk from a bloated dead sow
With US GDP growth 'officially' back where it belongs, in the Arctic zone close to freezing on the surface but much worse in real life, for reasons both Albert Edwards and Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (not exactly a pair of Siamese twins) remarked this week; that is, excluding the "biggest inventory build in history, the economy contracted sharply", it's time for everyone to at long last change the angle from which they view the world, if not the color of their glasses.
But 'everyone' will resist, refuse and refute that change, leaving precious few people with an accurate picture of the - economic - world. Still, for you it's beneficial to acknowledge that very little of what you read holds much, if any, truth or value. This is true when it comes to politics, geopolitics and economics. That is, the US is not a democracy, it is not the supreme leader of the world, and the American economy is not in recovery.
Declining business investment, a record inventory build and extreme borrowing to hold share prices above water through buybacks, it all together paints a picture of a very unhealthy if not outright dying economy, and certainly not one in which anything at all is recovering. But how are you supposed to know?
The entire financial media should change its angle of view, away from the recovery meme (or myth), but the media won't because the absurd one-dimensional focus on that perpetuated myth is the only thing that makes the present mess somewhat bearable, palatable and, more importantly, marketable, to the general public.
This has the added simultaneous benefit of keeping that same general public from understanding how sinister the myth really is; it can only be upheld by greatly increasing the debt levels which burden their shoulders, in hidden ways. If the media can no longer keep the consequences of the debt increases hidden, the game is up.
And there are undoubtedly many people who find it more important right now to profit from the whole scale distortion by central banks of what were once the financial markets, than they find it to know the truth and understand the system they owe their gains to. But that may no be all that smart; they risk losing their gains again overnight. You can't rely on what you don't understand. So here are a notes:
1 - There are no markets anymore (and therefore no investors either).
There are ways to make money, but that's not the same thing. Markets must of necessity reflect - the performance of - underlying economies, and to even pretend today's markets do that is preposterous. Financial markets these days exclusively reflect central banks' pumping money into their respective bankrupt banking systems, a practice poetically known as QE. Markets need to be functional in order to be called markets and if they don't we should find another term to label them with.
Or, in other words, present day western economies - and their former markets - are being artificially propped up by either making already poor people poorer today, making them poorer tomorrow, or both. It's the only way left to make things look passable. And those who still desire in these non-markets to call themselves 'investors' are merely little piglets sucking spoilt milk oozing from the teats of their mother sow's long-dead bloated corpse.
2 - You have no idea what anything is truly worth.
Central bank stimulus across the globe has fully demolished price discovery. And whether you like it or not, financial markets can not and do not function without it. Lots of people try to make us believe that central bank announcements have momentarily taken the place of price discovery, but that is nonsense. And if you don't know what any asset is really worth, how can you be sure you want to own it other than for myopic short-term reasons?
3- There is no recovery now, and there's not one around the corner.
The weight of our debt, just to name one thing, has kept us from turning that corner for 7-8 years now, and the weight is getting more forbidding, not less. Publishing falling unemployment numbers while out-of-labor-force data rise (to a record 93 million working age Americans today) is an insult to everyone's intelligence, not a sign of economic health. Whatever is seen as recovery or expansion is a testament to the power of illusion and propaganda, not the power of the economy. If you choose to look at the world from a point of view that focuses only on recovery, you're not going to understand what is happening, because there is no recovery anywhere in sight.
4- You can't trust anything your government and media say.
The entire apparatus is geared towards selling you a doctored image of the world you live in, instead of presenting you with reality. Not because as Jack Nicholson said "You can't handle the truth", but because you knowing the truth is not in the interest of those who run governments, nations and supranational organizations. You're caught in a trap somewhere between Goebbels and Orwell, and it takes a lot of energy to escape it, energy you will be inclined and tempted to instead use to improve your position inside the trap. Just like everyone else does. We are social animals, we are disposed to do as those around us do.
As I said above, you can't trust anything you hear or read about politics, geopolitics and economics:
- The US is not a democracy. You can't have a democracy and SuperPacs at the same moment. For the hundredth time: if you allow money into your political system, it will end up buying the entire system. And if you allow endless amounts of money to enter it, that process is greatly accelerated.
- The US is not the supreme leader of the world. Today's world doesn't allow for a supreme leader. Neither does it need one. Countries like Russia and China will not tolerate American supremacy to dictate what they do. Not economically, and not militarily. This is very hard to stomach for parts of American society, but they're going to have to get used to it. Going to war over these issues is pointless. Unfortunately, it increasingly looks like the entire globe will have to find that out the hard way. The very hard way.
- The American economy is not in recovery. I already mentioned the creative jobs numbers accounting. Also, without Fed intervention, asset prices (bonds, stocks, real estate..) would be much lower. This would have been a lot healthier for everyone, except for banks and their shareholders. But once QE is unleashed, there is no smooth exit possible. It will need to continue until it self-implodes.
At present, Japan is leading the way to economic self-immolation, but the US and Europe must inevitably follow. The only thing that helps is what the banks most resist: restructuring, cutting the leverage from the debt. But all we get is fantasy stories about how the crisis was left behind. Stories that of course all 42 million or so Americans on foodstamps and tens of millions of otherwise underpaid can confirm. Why am I even trying to show that, and why, there is no recovery?
We need to start thinking from the perspective of what we can and must do if and when that elusive and illusionary recovery is not going to happen. Decisions made from that point of view will substantially differ from those taken in order to 'produce' the recovery, which is the only perspective that exists in politics, media and indeed the minds of 99% of the population today.
We need to think about how we're going to lay a foundation, as solid as we can, under our societies now, with the means we still possess to achieve that, knowing there will be times when those means will be increasingly less available. We're not doing that, because we focus only on a world that does manage to attain a recovery. We truly think the world is one-dimensional.
Which is why, among other things, we strive to make individuals richer, and fail to see that this makes communities and societies poorer. Everything seems fine as long as we deny the bigger picture, and because we like things to look fine, we stick to that one dimension of our world that is ourself. And ignore each other.
Death toll exceeds 7,000 with 14,000 injured; 101-year old man pulled from rubble alive in Nepal
© Reuters/Adnan Abidi
An earthquake victim walks past a collapsed temple in Sankhu, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
The death toll after the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal last week, has reached at least 7,040, officials said.
A spokesperson from the National Emergency Operations Centre confirmed the death toll on Sunday. The number of injured has climbed to 14,123, with 6,512 of theses currently being treated in hospital.
The death toll will be "much higher," warned Nepal's Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat.
"There are still villages where we know that all houses have been destroyed, but haven't yet been able to reach. The aftershocks have not receded and we expect the final casualty numbers to climb much higher," he said.
Earlier, Nepal police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam spoke of 7,056 dead and 14,227 injured.
"We are continuing our search and rescue operations, " Bam said on Saturday.
Nepal's Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal added there is little hope of finding any more survivors: "Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility."
About 100 people in neighboring India, China and Bangladesh were also victims of the quake.
Miraculous survivors in Nepalese earthquake
However, police and army managed to rescue several survivors almost eight days after the earthquake struck. At least three people were pulled from rubble in Sindhupalchowk district, northeast of the capital Kathmandu, a home ministry official said.
Also a 101-year-old has been rescued from the rubble of his house after it collapsed, Arun Kumar Singh, a local police official told AFP.
"He was brought to the district hospital in a helicopter. His condition is stable," Singh said. "He has injuries on his left ankle and hand. His family is with him."
Rescuers have managed to pull out the bodies of 50 people from the area hit by a strong avalanche on Mount Everest. This includes several foreign trekkers. None of the corpses have been identified, Pravin Pokharel, deputy superintendent of police in the northern district of Rasuwa, said on Saturday.
© Reuters/Danish Siddiqui
A man arrives to feed pigeons at a temple damaged after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 3, 2015.
About 200 others, including villagers and trekkers, are still missing in the area, Uddhav Bhattarai, the senior bureaucrat in the district, told Reuters.
"We had not been able to reach the area earlier because of rains and cloudy weather," he said.
About 8 million people in Nepal (population of 28 million) have been affected, the UN said, adding that at least 2 million people still need tents, drinking water, food and medicine.
Some 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged and survivors are afraid to go home, fearing aftershocks.
"Hospitals are overflowing, water is scarce, bodies are still buried under the rubble and people are still sleeping in the open," Rownak Khan, UNICEF's deputy representative in Nepal, said in a statement, "This is a perfect breeding ground for diseases."
UNICEF added that children may be most vulnerable in the quake aftermath.
"With the monsoon season only a few weeks away, children will be at heightened risk of diseases like cholera and diarrhea infections, as well as being more vulnerable to the threat of landslides and floods," the UN body said.
On Sunday, Nepalese authorities shut Tribhuwan International Airport, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, to large planes flying in relief supplies and aid workers, officials said. According to Birendra Shrestha, the airport manager, big jets are now banned due to runway deterioration. Medium and small-size planes are still being permitted to land.
Perception management: Deceptive labeling tricks and hidden ingredients in processed foodstuffs
You've probably heard that avoiding processed foods is one of the keys to staying healthy, but do you understand why, exactly?
Scottish author Joanna Blythman has written a behind-the-scenes exposé book, Swallow This: Serving Up the Food Industry's Darkest Secrets, that delves into the details of what makes processed food the antithesis of a healthy diet.
If you have any concerns about the food you're eating, this is a must-read book. It will radically increase your appreciation of just how processed your food really is and enlighten you to many of the deceptive tricks the industry uses to fool you.
It's quite challenging to avoid processed foods as nearly all of us eat at restaurants occasionally. The only question is how much? After you read this book, I guarantee your motivation to avoid processed food will skyrocket.
Joanna is an award-winning investigative journalist, and that background served her well as she literally went undercover to get the inside scoop on what's really going on in the processed food industry. She actually carefully worked her way in and became an insider able to attend many of the member-only conferences.
"I have been writing about food for over two decades," Joanna says. "I've written six other books. They've dealt with the production side of food: how and what goes on in fields, what goes on in farms, how to tell a good chicken from a bad chicken, that kind of thing.
But I just knew that we weren't getting the full story. It wasn't about the production end. It was at the processing end.
We know quite a lot about how chickens are reared for our tables, but we don't know very much, or anything really, about how chickens nuggets are produced in a factory. I knew that we had to get to this information about processed food."
Going Undercover...
Getting such information is easier said than done, considering how the food industry has created a near-impenetrable wall of security around its manufacturing activities.
Companies hide behind the rationale that processing methods are trade secrets, and that they're merely protecting proprietary information from competitors.
"They've gotten away with that for years. What that means is that unless you're a food industry insider, you're just not going to know what's happening behind the scenes," Joanna says.
So, to get the inside scoop, Joanna assumed a fake identity and managed to convince a smaller food manufacturer to provide her with a professional cover. Using that cover, she got an inside look into the "core" of the food manufacturing industry. And what she learned was surprising to say the least.
For starters, what non-insiders do not know is that there are a multitude of chemicals used in food that do not have to be in any way disclosed, as they're considered "processing aids." So besides preservatives, emulsifiers, colors, and flavors, which are generally listed, there are any number of others that you'll never find out the details about.
"I realized that there's so much going on behind the scenes of food manufacturing. Most consumers, we haven't got a clue, and we are not allowed to know. You can't even trust things that would seem to be the healthy choice," she says.
This is disconcerting, as many health conscious consumers now take the time to carefully read food labels. But what Joanna's research reveals that there's an array of additives that will never make it onto the label.
Surprising Truths the Processed Food Industry Hides from You
Do you eat processed meats like hamburgers, thinking you're eating mostly real beef? Chances are you're way off in your assumption. One type of meat process involves soaking butchered carcasses in hot water with added enzymes. This has the effect of releasing about another five percent of meat-like substance from the carcass.
This is then added into cheap burgers, sausages, and other processed meat products. Enzyme-treated blood products are also routinely added to lower-end processed meat products.
"What really got me were the things that seemed to be really natural... For example, I was amazed to find that there is a kind of coloring known as the cloudifier. It makes your juice look as though it's got more real fruit juice in it because it creates that hand-pressed, natural look," she says.
Enzymes are used in a number of different ways in food processing. For example, when eggs are pasteurized, they lose their color. An enzyme is therefore added that brings back the color of the egg.
There are at least 150 enzymes being used in food manufacturing, and they're rarely ever listed on the label. According to Joanna, there's typically at least one enzyme-modified ingredient in every processed food. Breads usually have five enzyme-modified ingredients.
Enzymes by themselves aren't intrinsically toxic. They're merely functional proteins composed of natural amino acids. But what they do is they mask and deceive you about the underlying process, fooling you into believing that you're buying something that you really aren't.
"The classic one is a mature cheese flavor. If you matured cheese the proper way, then you have cheese. You keep it for three months or six months, even longer, to develop that nice, mature flavor. But you can do that in a few days with an enzyme. You can create a fake flavor."
Most Processed Food Is an Imitation of the Real Thing
The goal of food technologists is to reduce the amount of real ingredients by finding cheap substitutes that mimic the authentic food. In doing so, chemicals and processes are used that turns the end product into something that looks, smells, and tastes like "good food," but really is anything but. Rarely is real butter used for example, because it's expensive. So they use additives that make the food taste like butter, but at a fraction of the cost.
"But they will still put in enough butter that they can put on the 'made with butter' label," Joanna notes. "Another thing I discovered is that most processed food wouldn't look at all attractive if it didn't have colorings added. It would be gray and beige...
Flavorings do two jobs in processed food. They cover up the unpleasant taste that comes as a result of processing. Flavor masking is one of the main reasons why food industries use flavorings. But they also use flavorings to try and give food flavor when it's been through a manufacturing process that has totally stripped it of flavor.
They have to try and add back something that sort of resembles the flavors that have gotten lost. Because food processing is high temperature and high pressure. Something has to be done to them to make them taste better again. That's the logic of flavoring and coloring."
What You Need to Know About the Clean Label Concept
She also exposed the industry concept of "Clean Label." The food industry realizes that consumers don't like long chemical-sounding names on the ingredients list. These names are known as "label polluters."
To avoid having to list the chemical names of additives, they invented a Clean Label concept, which is aimed at removing all the old additives and long chemical names, and replacing them with ingredients that sound better. "Carrot concentrate" instead of "coloring" is one example of a Clean Label swap.
A related issue is the extraction methods used for these healthy-sounding extracts. While antioxidants are healthy, plant-derived antioxidants are typically extracted from the whole food using toxic organic solvents like hexane, which you cannot remove. Those solvents remain in the ingredient, and they're not required to disclose any of this.
Perception Is Everything
The processed food industry is primarily driven by the perception of wholesomeness. The moment the food industry finds out that a labeled ingredient is perceived poorly, they will either rename it, or find an alternative that may be just as bad, or worse, that doesn't have that negative association.
"Perception is a really good word for understanding what the food manufacturing industry is up to," Joanna says. "They have this thing called perceived naturalness. Their whole job is to try give you ingredients that sound natural, but actually aren't the same as natural. Another one is fresh-like quality. The industry doesn't talk about fresh any longer. They talk about a fresh-like quality.
There are number of technologies that they can use behind the scenes and mainly on labels that will give products this fresh-like quality. Everything [related] to naturalness and freshness is being manipulated constantly. On my desk, at the moment, I have some chocolate chip muffins that I bought six weeks ago. I've got them on my desk and they have not changed in any way. They look identical. I'm keeping them as a sort of science project to see how they eventually, if they ever, change."
There's actually a whole section in the book dedicated to processed baked goods. Many grocery stores now have bakeries, where fresh bread is baked every day. But what many do not realize is that nothing is baked from scratch.
As Joanna says, these bakeries are little more than "tanning salons" for processed frozen products pre-cooked in factories thousands of miles away. Another factoid: When baked goods are sold loose this way, they do not require an ingredient label. So that's another way they can get away with not disclosing what the ingredients are.
"One of the reasons I started writing the book is because I knew that if I made a muffin at home, it didn't taste anything like a bought one. I wanted to find out why. It's really interesting to find out why because the ingredients are completely different and the processes are completely different. And these are great lies perpetuated by food manufacturers—that what goes on in the factory is just a scaled up fraction of home cooking. But that really is a lie. It's quite a different activity."
The Foxes Are Watching the Hen House
If you're like most people, you probably think there's someone somewhere looking out for the consumer's best interest. If something is sold as food, it surely cannot be hazardous. Can it? In truth, it just might be... More often than not, government oversight committees are usually manned by members of the industry, who have a vested interest in commercializing these chemical ingredients; or they're academics who appear on first glance to be independent but actually, in their day job, are getting a lot of funding from food companies.
Most of the research used to establish safety is also done by the industry itself, which structures the research to show that its products are safe. What's worse, no one is really looking at the health effects of exposure to toxins from processed foods.
"What happens to people who eat large quantities of processed food, maybe people who really based their diets on that? No one is doing any research on that," Joanna says. "There are all these assumptions that chemicals are fine in small quantities, but that's not really looking at the cocktail effect for people, particularly children, who are obviously more prone to being affected by chemical overload. No one is looking at that at the moment."
Avoiding processed foods is one of the most important changes you can make if you want to improve your health or prevent or address disease. If there's any question in your mind at all as to the reasons for reverting back to whole, minimally processed foods, I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of Joanna's book, Swallow This: Serving Up the Food Industry's Darkest Secrets as it will radically increase your understanding, and secondarily your motivation and desire to avoid these toxic foods.
As an undercover insider, Joanna reveals details about the food processing industry that you simply cannot get anywhere else. Read it, and pass it around. Create awareness that will eventually, hopefully, inspire more people to make the switch to a more wholesome, health-preserving diet. If we don't buy these foods, food manufacturers will have to stop producing it, and healthier whole foods will again become the norm.
As Joanna says, "we've got to catch up with the industry because they really bypass our comprehension of what they're doing to our food. The take home message for me is that, in Europe, we have this idea that processed food is getting better. Everything is going a little bit not more natural, and actually, that's wrong.
And we really can't trust our regulators to get it right. We have to adopt our own, what I call PPP: Personal Precautionary Principle. You are the only person who's going to really bother to think about these issues to deal with your food. You can't rely on anyone else doing it for you."
In the future, Joanna is considering writing another book on food processing, delving into newer processing technologies and synthetic biology, called SynBio. The use of completely artificial biology is also disconcerting, and an area that is as unregulated as the old Wild West.
Synthetic biology is basically like an extreme form of genetic engineering, which obviously carries a number of unknown risks. And, like genetically engineered foods, most people have no idea synthetic biology is even used, or that they may be eating it on a regular basis. To learn more about Joanna's work, see her website, JoannaBlythmanWriting.com. It contains all of her journalism, covering all of her seven books.
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Random Facts About.... The Ark In Space
The Doctor In The TARDIS > Forum > Travels In Time And Space > The Infinite Quest > Season 12 > The Ark In Space > Random Facts About.... The Ark In Space
Author Topic: Random Facts About.... The Ark In Space (Read 130 times)
If you know anything random or interesting about The Ark In Space then this is where you need to come to share that randomness with the forum
Kovarians-Eye-Patch
Favourite Companion: Martha Jones
Re: Random Facts About.... The Ark In Space
Part one is the first time only the regular cast has appeared in an episode since The Edge Of Destruction
There were rumours that this story influenced the ideas behind the film Alien. There are similarities but I'm not sure there were any actual connections in that respect.
Quote from: Kovarians-Eye-Patch on July 01, 2012, 10:44:07 pm
You never know. Ridley Scott did have connections with Doctor Who back in the 60's so it could be possible. He was meant to set design one of the first stories. The Daleks I think. Or maybe The Edge Of Destruction. Or both?
That's not to say he stole an idea of course!!
Quote from: Peri-Peri on July 02, 2012, 09:26:42 pm
Dan O'Bannon, who wrote the film, has said "I didn't steal Alien from anybody. I stole it from everybody!" He cites a number of stories and films from the 50s and 60s, but doesn't mention Doctor Who. Of course, the main similarity is the way the eggs are laid and hatch, and as the Doctor points out, that's very similar to certain terrestrial insects.
Vira was meant to be black but the director vetoed the idea.
Aneurin
Favourite Companion: River
Formally River Song
Quote from: Exterminate on July 03, 2012, 09:01:23 pm
Because he found a better actor who happened not to be black, right? ...Right? *facepalm*
Quote from: Aneurin on July 04, 2012, 08:22:41 pm
Beware low-flying pigs.
I may be wrong on this (I'm basing it on my own estimates) but I believe this story introduces the longest period in the show's history in which the TARDIS (or its console, at least) is never seen - 11 episodes (The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and the first three episodes of Revenge of the Cybermen). The only other TARDIS-free stories I can think of are Mission to the Unknown, The Silurians, The Mind of Evil, The Daemons & The Sea Devils, though Ambassadors of Death, Inferno and Day of the Daleks (I believe) only show the console.
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Home Featured WBUR producer speaks about career in journalism
WBUR producer speaks about career in journalism
by Sophie Murthy October 24, 2018
written by Sophie Murthy October 24, 2018
Dan Guzman, senior producer of WBUR’s Morning Edition, spoke about his career in journalism X-block Thursday, Oct. 18 in 310.
Guzman had worked in cable news for 13 years and switched to radio news at WBUR six years ago. Guzman primarily discussed his current work at WBUR.
His job as a producer is to organize the information that is reported on Morning Edition, a radio show that runs from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. He uses information from WBUR’s reporters, new sources, press releases, and social media to compile the news for every show.
Explaining his decision to speak to aspiring journalists at North, Guzman said, “I like talking about what I do. I like journalism because it’s something everyone takes a part in. Journalism, no matter how people get their news, is something everyone consumes.”
Guzman gave advice on the basic skills needed to be a journalist. “Make sure you read and learn about the world, whether that’s Worcester or the other side of the world. Listen to what people are telling you because we don’t have enough of that in the world.”
Throughout the talk, students were given the opportunity to ask questions about Guzman’s career and experiences in journalism. “I thought it was interesting to see how people whose jobs are to inform the world think,” said sophomore Juliette Catlin.
Sophomore Dani Imperato said that she found the talk educational and helpful for anyone interested in journalism. “The meeting was very informational and told us a lot about what it is like to be a journalist. I learned lots of information about broadcast journalism, and that you don’t need to go to college for journalism to be a journalist.”
According to Guzman, the career path to becoming a journalist can vary greatly. “Anyone can more or less be a reporter. You never know who you’re going to meet and what their life experiences are.”
careerDan Guzmanjournalismjournalistreporterwbur
Sophie Murthy
Freshmen elect student council representatives
Carpentry students install senior gift benches on Main Street
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Beyond Bollocks
Jul 23, 2015 | Total Bollocks |
In a new Hollywood development, movie moguls have described as “totally false” allegations that a petition signed by over five hundred film stars, directors, writers and assorted hangers on had been sent to Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9/11, condemning his terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, as these had caused severe trauma to their egos by implying that Hollywood was utterly insignificant. Neither did this non-existent document call upon Al Qaeda to consider Los Angeles as a future target, due to its greater concentration of important public figures essential to the US’ cultural existence. Indeed, the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild has moved quickly to scotch reports that many of its members had suffered breakdowns and had been forced back into therapy, their sense self-worth destroyed by the terrorists’ decision to ignore them.
The Guild also denied that several of its members had campaigned against Guantanamo Bay, demanding that they be incarcerated there for their anti-war stances. The agents of George Clooney, Barbara Streisand and Sean Penn, amongst others, have poured scorn on claims that their clients had written to the government, complaining that the authorities’ failure to arrest them was an insult to their radical politics and part of a conspiracy to marginalise left of centre political activity in the US. According to highly placed sources in the film industry, Matt Damon did not claim that he deserved to be locked up in Camp X-Ray as making films like Syriana was every bit as subversive as blowing up buildings and hijacking airliners. He also, at no time, complained that the government was undermining his credibility by denying him the chance to become a martyr for his ‘art’.
Meanwhile, in the UK, ITV bosses have denied that they had grounds for suspecting that disgraced former This Morning weatherman Fred Talbot might have been a sex offender several years before his conviction for historic sex offences earlier this year. “It is completely untrue that there is video footage from 2008 of Fred Talbot leaping about the giant map of the UK floating in a Liverpool dock, pointing at the various locales with his penis as he gave the forecast,” a spokesperson has said, in response to tabloid reports. “There is also no evidence that he ever manipulated his scrotum on air into shapes representing the weather forecast symbols for clouds.” Nevertheless, a video has been posted on several internet forums which appears to show Talbot – who was convicted for sexual offences committed whilst working as a teacher at a private boys school, prior to his weather forecasting days – pushing his penis down over his testicles and kinking it a bit, apparently to represent the weather symbol for lightning. He is also seen pointing his penis down over his scrotum and urinating to represent the rain symbol and masturbating to represent snow. The ITV spokesperson has dismissed the video as ‘fake’, pointing out that if it really depicted a professional weather forecaster, they would surely also be able to simulate ‘wintry showers’ with their genitals.
Back in the world of Hollywood gossip, online rumours that Mel Gibson might be about to join the Scientologists have been scornfully dismissed by the secretary of the East Willisden branch of his fan club. “Look, Mel might be an anti-semite, a misogynist, allegedly violent to women and a racist, not to mention a drunk, but Hell, at least he’s not a Scientologist,” asserted fifty five year old Mary Mount-Camel. “OK, he has his own crazy religion, which seems to be based on some extremist version of Catholicism, but it isn’t Scientology. Indeed, in this respect, I think Mel deserves our praise – he’s not lazy like other showbiz loonies, who just jump on someone else’s mad religion bandwagon. Oh no, Mel has the balls to devise his own craziness. In this respect is probably only rivalled by Charlie Sheen!” Mount-Camel has also waded in to defend Gibson against claims of anti-semitism on the part of screenwriter Joe Ezterhaus. “It’s quite ridiculous for him to allege that Mel rejected one of his scripts because Ezterhaus is Jewish,” she says. “Clearly, anyone familiar with the work of Ezterhaus, the ‘fucking genius’ screenwriter, (as the late Bill Hicks once disparagingly described him), who gave us such classics as Basic Instinct, (to be fair, that probably is his best work), and Burn, Hollywood, Burn, would have to conclude that Gibbo rejected his script because it was shit.”
If you have any unsubstantiated rumours, grainy videos, out of focus and obviously faked photos or dubious tape recordings concerning the debauched behaviour of celebrities, send them to us at the usual e-mail address. Remember, just because its not true doesn’t mean its a lie, it could just be – Total Bollocks!
PreviousLong Live the Queen!
NextSpeaking Ill of the Dead
Little Miss Strange
The Sleaze's legal advisor (on the basis that she once worked for the Legal Aid Board), Little Miss Strange's legal advice usually consists of "Don't do that, you'll be arrested - or go blind". She is currently bringing a law suit against Sandra Bullock in an attempt to force the popular US actress to undergo plastic surgery, on the basis that Miss Bullock's appearances in films such Miss Congeniality 2 and Speed 2 is damaging Miss Strange's reputation as a human being. Voted by school classmates "The girl most likely to have her bottom spanked by a rich pervert", Little Miss Strange enjoyed a career as a rock chick before joining The Sleaze, playing lead guitar for heavy metal giants Neptune's Hammer. However, she was forced to quit the band after setting fire to her Stratocaster during a guitar solo on the infamous 'Throbbing Gristle' tour - the resultant singing of her pubic area left her wearing a merkin spun from the hairs of Frank Zappa's beard for six months afterwards. Her other achievements include coming second in the "Miss Spankable Bottom" contest at the Bognor Regis Butlin's in 2002. Whilst she still hasn't had said bottom spanked by a rich pervert, she has had it leered at by a middle aged lecher she was later to know as Doc Sleaze. Little Miss Strange is a recluse, and cannot be reached by any means (although the Doc might just pass on a message).
Long Live the Queen! July 16, 2015
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Mad Doctors April 1, 2003
Blue Heaven January 18, 2016
Banking on Fear October 20, 2008
Well Hung Parliament May 16, 2010
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UA System announces tuition freeze for in-state students
University of Alabama System Chancellor Finis E. St. John announced today that the System Office will propose a freeze on in-state tuition at all three campuses for the 2019-2020 academic year at the June meeting of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees, effective with the Fall 2019 semester.
“For the first time in over 40 years, all three of our campuses will have no tuition increase for Alabama residents,” St. John said in remarks at the UAH Institutional Board meeting today.
He said the decision to freeze in-state tuition Systemwide has been a long desired, yet elusive, goal of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. St. John praised campus leadership for their tireless efforts to make the tuition freeze a reality.
St. John had a clear message for students, parents, government leaders and the citizens of Alabama: “We hear the needs of our students and their families, and we will continue to make their concerns our highest priority in the months and years ahead.”
The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System is responsible for reviewing and approving tuition for the three campuses.
Link to official press release
UAB’s inaugural Grand Challenge
Mona Fouad, M.D., director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, and her team received UAB’s first Grand Challenge award with their “Healthy Alabama 2030: Live HealthSmart” project. Dr. Fouad’s team will receive a three-year, $2.7 million award from the university to fund the initial effort.
2019 McMahon-Pleiad Prize
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Review: Blood of Heirs
January 17, 2019 January 18, 2019 Three Crows 0 Comments olivia hofer
by Olivia Hofer
In her debut, Alicia Wanstall-Burke forgoes creating epic conflicts and sprawling wars fought to defeat a dark lord and instead focuses on two young characters, their immediate family, and the social structures they live in. Despite the relatively small scope, Wanstall-Burke creates an exceptional emotional impact through her powerful characters and manages to capture the reader’s imagination from the very first chapter.
Both arcs are independent of each other and don’t converge in this first instalment, but at no point does the narrative feel disjointed. Despite living in completely different areas of the world Wanstall-Burke created, they both face parallel personal issues.
The fantasy genre offers varied ways to examine, comment and critique our own society. Besides the shared coming of age elements, both characters are trapped in a rigid system with familiar and well-known rules. Lidan is the oldest daughter of a clan leader, who, despite multiple wives, does not have a male heir. In a progressive world Lidan would be her father’s heir, but here women don’t become leaders, and her father still hasn’t given up hope for a son.
The second protagonist, Ranoth, is the son of a Duke and eager to prove to his father that he can lead an army, but once he gets his opportunity, he suffers a crushing defeat. In this world magic is outlawed, and not only does Ranoth fail as a commander, but he discovers his own magical powers, and in the eyes of his own people turns into an enemy they fear. Condemned to death, Ranoth has no other choice but to flee.
Blood of Heirs is well-executed, with smooth, pleasing prose and will bring a nostalgic comfort to the fantasy fan who grew up reading novels like The Black Company or even the less dark Wheel of Time
Both characters become the victim of tradition, authority and patriarchy. They’re torn between defying a rigid system and fulfilling the expectations of their parents and society. Unfortunately, Wanstall-Burke fails to dig deeper and explore these themes further, and as a consequence, neither the character development nor the plot are ground-breaking or innovative. Despite this, Blood of Heirs is well-executed, with smooth, pleasing prose and will bring a nostalgic comfort to the fantasy fan who grew up reading novels like The Black Company or even the less dark Wheel of Time which examine similar themes such as forbidden magic.
One aspect that sets Blood of Heirs apart from many similar novels is the world building. While science fiction often depicts planets with just one defining characteristic—think ice planets or desert planets—the fantasy genre often shows a world with an even technological development. How often do we encounter yet another version of medieval Europe? Looking at our own world, we know that parts of it can go through an industrialised revolution while simultaneously in other parts, cultures hunt with bows and arrow.
In Blood of Heirs an example of this can be seen by the regional divide, where iron is extremely rare in the south: Lidan’s clan use mostly stone-based weaponry, and they live in a way that is reminiscent of the Bronze Age. Further to the north, however, Ranoth has access to siege weapons and iron swords. The culture here lives in what could be described as a medieval area. Unfortunately, Wanstall-Burke, at least so far, has not explored the consequences of a world with varying technological and industrial advancements. Hopefully, the sequel will examine the clash of cultures, especially because our history suggests it won’t end well for Lidan’s part of the world. Much of the book feels like set-up for the sequel. Now the foundation is laid, and the characters and world are established, it remains to be seen whether the author manages to delve deeper into the aforementioned themes. If she does, it’ll be exciting to watch this series grow. While Blood of Heirs is not a must-read, Wanstall-Burke is an author who has the potential to become a name we recognise.
Olivia Hofer – is a gay writer, originally from Switzerland, but moved to the UK a few years ago to be with her partner. Follow her on twitter @vinjii or read her reviews at books-in-blankets
← Review: Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Hardwired: Gender bias in robots and artificial intelligence →
Hardwired: Gender bias in robots and artificial intelligence
January 21, 2019 January 30, 2019 Three Crows 0
Interview with RJ Barker
October 3, 2018 January 4, 2019 Three Crows
Review: Uncanny Collateral by Brian McClellan
May 6, 2019 July 22, 2019 Three Crows 0
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Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE
Within the framework of his official visit to the United Arab Emirates, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on March 26 held talks in Dubai with the UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Navruz celebrations are taking place in every corner of the country
Navruz is widely celebrated in Uzbekistan.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks with Kazakhstan’s President over the phone
Today, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In step with the times: President acquainted with the installation of the second combined-cycle plant in Navoi TPP
The Navoi Heat Power Station is the major source of electricity and heat supply in the province, itself one of the most industrialized regions of the country, as well as to the consumers of adjacent areas.
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan receives Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
On March 7, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received the Co-Chairman of Uzbekistan – Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Maxim Oreshkin.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev Conveys Sincere Condolences to Ethiopian President and UN Secretary General
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has expressed earnest condolences to the President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde and the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the death of passengers, including 19 staffers of the UN system, and the crew of the airplane that crashed March 10 soon after taking off from Addis Ababa airport.
Tashkent to host the First International Half Marathon
Tashkent International Half Marathon 21 kilometers in length will be held on March 24, at the intersection of Afrosiyob and Beshyogoch streets.
President gives instructions for tourism development and an ecological city construction in Chartak
The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev became familiar with Chortoq Resorts Health Improvement Center, which is being built in Chartak district.
Pilgrimage tourism and new prospects for tourism industry
Bukhara hosted the First International Forum “Ziyorat tourism” (Pilgrimage tourism).
Implementation of the tax concept and effectiveness of household land use are critically analyzed
On February 22, a meeting on analysis of effectiveness of activities carried out within the framework of the Concept for improvement of the tax policy and identification of important tasks for the future was held under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
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Woodchester: A Gothic Vision: The Story of William Leigh, Benjamin Bucknall and the Building of Woodchester Mansion, by Liz Davenport
Penelope Harris, MA MHMA
[Victorian Web Home —> Victorian Architecture —> Gothic Revival —> Book Reviews]
Cover of the book under review.
Woodchester is a fascinating Gothic mansion in the Cotswolds, unique in its incompleteness. But it has, fortunately, a wealth of surviving documentation. This has enabled author Liz Davenport to study it in great detail, and provide a full chronological and factual account of its history. The result is more a biography of the Leigh family to whom it belonged, than the story of a Gothic folly, and the narrative starts slowly, with an account of how the Leighs amassed their fortune. But in the ninth of Davenport's topic-specific sections, details begin to emerge of the complicated construction of this extraordinary house.
From the start, the process was beset with difficulties: financial mis-management, wide-spread ill-health, a young and inexperienced architect, and the failure of offspring to share their father's aspirations. The pace quickens towards the end, with the demise of the Leigh family, leaving one grandson an alcoholic in a lunatic asylum, and another a drug addict in Australia. When the middle grandson, who inherited the property, advocated making the incomplete mansion his future marital home, the result was perhaps not unexpected — a broken engagement.
The scene is set, then, with an in-depth account of the origins of the Leigh family, depicting their amassment of a fortune, largely gained through generations of overseas foreign trade, and in particular their interest and investments in Australian property from 1837. They were Protestant by birth, but their home was close to Oscott College, now the seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, and they were drawn towards Catholicism. This provided the raison d'être for the building work which they themselves embarked on. Noted for his philanthropy, Leigh initially wished to support the Anglican Church in Australia, but his charitable impulses were diverted towards the growing Catholic population in both Australia and England.
William Leigh (photograph kindly provided by the author).
Chapter III opens with the purchase of Woodchester Park in 1845, where Leigh aimed to create a Catholic community in the Cotswolds. Advice was first sought from A. W. N. Pugin, who described Woodchester Mansion as "wretched" and advocated demolition. Leigh's thoughts then turned to a community, with church and monastery, to be served by the Passionists. Pugin considered all this to be too ambitious for the budget and site, and withdrew from any involvement. However, by this time, Leigh was already consulting Charles Hansom, whose estimate for the church was considerably lower. The foundation stone of the church was laid by Bishop Ullathorne in 1846. Through Ullathorne, Leigh paid for a design by Hansom for work in Australia, seeing it as a model church for "the New World." Others followed. Leigh was careless of cost and had high expectations. The interior of Leigh's Church of the Annunciation near Woodchester, designed by Hansom, "resembled the new House of Lords." The east window above the altar was painted by William Wailes, there is a doom painting above the chancel arch and floor tiles were by Minton. This impacted upon the Mansion, where the builder was personally out of pocket and work was at risk of stopping.
With the death of Father Dominic Barberi, the Passionist Provincial, the Passionists concluded that the Woodchester community was too small to sustain the number of services Leigh sought. Ullathorne suggested replacing them with Dominicans, who were based at Hinckley in Leicestershire, where the Hansoms had previously resided. Their requirements were more costly than the Passionists, which further impacted upon Leigh's work at the Mansion. The final cost, partly funded by Leigh, was around £20,000. As Davenport frequently points out, Leigh was not careful in his budgeting and typically overspent.
Chapter VI gives details of Charles Hansom's background and refers to two plans dated 1857, elevations for "The Great House" for "W. Leigh, Esq., Woodchester Park." They are marked "J. & C. Hansom, Architects, Clifton," and signed by Charles. Two further drawings from the partnership in 1858 show the chimneys and the elevation of a window. Another two, this time marked "J. A. Hansom & Son," are dated August and September 1859. The design went through many changes, with the front and the rear being built at different times. However, slow progress was also dictated by the availability of Leigh's finances, and especially hampered by his perfectionist stance. When he considered work to be inferior, it was undone and re-done. By 1866 Charles had withdrawn from the project, leaving his assistant, Benjamin Bucknall, in charge. The main plans were drawn up by Hansom, but Bucknall was responsible for the ornamentation. He lived at nearby Stroud and converted to Catholicism. Bucknall was greatly influenced by Viollet-le-Duc, who he visited on several occasions and much of whose work he translated into English.
An intricate description of the Mansion, which, apart from necessary remedial work, has remained unchanged over the years, is given in Chapter IX. The property was built almost entirely of rectangular blocks of ashlar limestone, with minimal use of timber and metal, which has aided its long-term survival. Specific features selected by Davenport are the high vaulting, the clock tower and quality sculpture, especially the gargoyles, used to throw the rainwater clear of the foundations. Many of the floor boards have never been installed. Based on Hansom's church at Minchinhampton, the chapel in the mansion is notable for its high tierceron vault. This adds to the monastic-domestic feel of the building.
By 1866 rooms in the South front had been demolished and materials, as well as furniture, sold to raise funds. Despite the sale of Australian property, shortage of funds, deaths of relatives and Leigh's own poor health, meant that work on the mansion drew to a close. Nevertheless, he continued to look after his estate and built further small houses and farm buildings, designed by Bucknall. Work finally ceased with the death of William Leigh in 1873, by which time he had spent £16,000 (around three quarters of a million pounds today) on the mansion. He was concerned for the future of the property as his son refused to make a will. Bucknall suggested either demolishing the chapel to introduce fresh air and overcome stagnation, completing certain wings of the house for letting, or possibly building a new property. He felt leaving an incomplete building would "cast a perpetual gloom over the park." Details of Bucknall's career are given, firstly in Swansea, and thence, for health reasons, relocation to Algiers. Here he changed his style from neo-Gothic to neo-Moorish and successfully built villas for in-coming British residents.
During the 1880s, Willie, Leigh's son, undertook excessive borrowing, doubling his father's debts. He seemed unable to comprehend the seriousness of the situation and continued to overspend. On his death, the property passed to his middle son, Vincent. Due to World War I and declines in value of land and income, the estate was offered for sale in 1921. After completion, it transpired that the actual purchaser was Blanche Leigh, who had gone behind her brother's back, not wishing the property to be lost to the family. Blanche and her sister Beatrice were capable business women, who subsequently managed the local Catholic Primary School. By 1936 it was agreed to put the whole estate on the market. The conditions of sale included a dedicated Catholic House, thus ensuring a strong Catholic element for the future. However war intervened. From 1942 the property was used for military training and then resold. It was granted Grade I listed status in 1987, thus ensuring that basic maintenance is carried out. The property is carefully managed, with a conservation group and SSSI status ensuring the integrity of the grounds and a safe home to renowned colonies of Lesser and Greater Horseshoe Bats.
Davenport, a knowledgeable and devoted Trustee of Woodchester, has made good use of the archives of the late Stephen Leigh, great-great-nephew of William Leigh, adding these to her own extensive researches. She combines a wealth of facts with a sense of a family drama. The incomplete state of the Mansion, largely at the expense of the Catholic community, facilitates an assessment of the methods of construction, how work was planned and how it progressed. It suffered from its damp location, and its design, perhaps due to the involvement of different architects and disjointed progress, is unorthodox. Plumbing was somewhat basic and inadequate. The narrative does not always show Bucknall in a good light, mainly with reference to not coping well with the dampness, poor sanitation and poor design of staircases, though he was working in a very difficult situation. However, Davenport praises his vaulting and high-quality carving.
It would be good to have some more information about the people, the "additional small houses" and general working of the estate, which did, after all support Leigh's indulgences. The method of production might not be favoured by everyone, but external photographs belie the internal state and it does permit the inclusion of numerous illustrations, the cost of which would have been prohibitive in printed format. On balance, Pugin was right — the project was impractical from the start — but the book is well worth investigating. Incidentally, proceeds from it will go to the Woodchester Mansion Trust, registered charity 900315.
(Book under review) Davenport, Liz. Woodchester: A Gothic Vision: The Story of William Leigh, Benjamin Bucknall and the Building of Woodchester Mansion. Kindle Edition. ASIN: B077VSF1J3. £7.50.
Created 28 February 2018
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Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Victorian Stained Glass —> William Morris —> Morris & Co. —> Next]
The Annunciation, in the south window of the chancel of G. F. Bodley's All Saints, Selsley, Gloucestershire, designed by William Morris in 1862 as part of a collaborative scheme of Morris & Co. stained glass windows here, with the partners starting with the Creation in the West rose window, and coming to the Annunciation in the chancel, most probably with the bird, at least, designed by Philip Webb, who is also credited with the "overall design" of the stained glass scheme (Jenkins 263). According to David O'Connor, the design for this window was based on Van Eyck's "great Ghent altarpiece, the Adoration of the Lamb. But it is so fresh and distinctive that any such influence has been thoroughly subsumed in the Morris & Co. production.
Photograph by Dr. Jim Cheshire, who retains the copyright. Dr. Cheshire has most generously shared his photographs of the church with us, and provided caption material. Commentary and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
All Saints, Selsley, designed by G. F. Bodley (this provides a list of links to other beautiful Morris windows in All Saints)
"Church of All Saints." Historic England. Web. 25 June 2018.
Jenkins, Simon. England's Thousand Best Churches. Rev. ed. London: Allen Lane, 2004.
O'Connor, David. "Morris stained glass: 'an art of the Middle Ages.'" In William Morris and the Middle Ages: A Collection of Essays together with a Catalogue of works.... Ed. Joanna Banham and Jennifer Harris. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984. 31-46.
Created 25 June 2018
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Home Conditions & Treatments Adult Health Library Dermatology
THURSDAY, March 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Abuse during childhood can cause structural changes in the brain that increase a person's risk of severe and recurrent depression, a new study reveals.
The findings "add further weight to the notion that patients with clinical depression who were mistreated as children are clinically distinct" from people who didn't suffer such trauma in early life, said study leader Nils Opel. He's a psychiatric researcher at the University of Munster in Germany.
The research included 110 people, aged 18 to 60, who were hospitalized with major depression. The severity of their depression was assessed while in the hospital and again two years later.
Patients also completed a questionnaire that asked about early life trauma, and underwent an MRI scan to assess their brain structure.
Seventy-five patients had at least one relapse of depression within two years of their hospitalization, Opel's group reported March 21 in The Lancet Psychiatry. Of those, 48 had one relapse; seven had two; six had three; and 14 had so many they were considered chronically depressed.
Mistreatment in childhood was significantly associated with the tendency of depression to relapse, the researchers said.
Also, MRI scans suggested that both childhood abuse and recurring depression are associated with similar reductions in the surface of a brain area -- the insular cortex -- that helps regulate emotion and self-awareness, the study authors said.
This brain change could raise the risk of recurring depression, the researchers noted. And they added that childhood abuse (which can include emotional, sexual or physical mistreatment or neglect) is already one of the strongest known risk factors for major depression.
"Given the impact of the insular cortex on brain functions such as emotional awareness, it's possible that the changes we saw make patients less responsive to conventional treatments," Opel said in a journal news release.
Dr. Robert Glatter is an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City who often helps treat child abuse cases and people suffering from depression. He said that the new study "provides ongoing evidence of the plasticity of the brain during childhood, and how emotional abuse leads to structural and functional changes, which have lifelong and life-altering consequences."
And according to study author Opel, knowledge gained in this study might someday "be translated into special attention, care and treatment that could improve patient outcomes."
Prior studies have suggested a link between abuse and changes in brain structure, and others have found an association between abuse and major depression.
But the German team said theirs is the first study to directly connect child abuse, changes in brain structure and the clinical course of depression. It is also the first to identify brain changes that may play a role.
One expert who reviewed the new findings did offer up a caveat, however.
Rosemarie Basile directs psychology services at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. She called the findings "promising," but she noted that the study didn't account for any trauma people experienced in adult life, as well, so that could skew the results.
Lianne Schmaal, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia, wrote an editorial that accompanied the study. She said one important question that needs to be answered is whether the structural brain changes are permanent, or whether they normalize over time with remission of depression.
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on depression.
SOURCES: Robert Glatter, M.D., emergency physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Rosemarie Basile, Ph.D., director of psychology services, rehabilitation medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, New York City; The Lancet Psychiatry, news release, March 21, 2019
Absence Seizures
Anatomy of the Brain
Anatomy of a Child's Brain
Bullies: Helping Your Child Cope
Depression Quiz
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It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Nor did it matter that the game was close and that this was a chance to beat a big city team.
Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before. Only this time it was different.
"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said.
Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.
It was a Saturday night in February 2009, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states.
Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight against cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam. Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off her life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.
"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve." Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players.
Early in the second quarter, Womack saw Franklin enter the gym. He had come there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on. The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.
"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said.
"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."
There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws. Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points to allow Franklin to play. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief on the court by playing.
Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play." I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, "We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."
That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up. He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim. His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand. It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on. They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands.
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."
Milwaukee Madison rallied and broke the game wide open in the second half to win 62-47 with Franklin scoring 10 points.
"I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."
DeKalb went home with a loss, that night. "This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night." It was a moment when a team and a player decided there were more important things in life than winning and having good stats.
Note: Carlitha Franklin was laid to rest that Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there. "Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is." The Knights were 6-11 in the season and they were beaten badly by Milwaukee Hamilton in a lop sided 71-36 loss the following week. It wasn't greatest season for the team. "Maybe we don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."
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Team Photo Pictures
Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run-Walk 2015
How do you Find Your Picture? There are several ways!
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Your finishing time is based on the clock start time and not necessarily on your RFID/Chip time.
Race Final Results
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View the entire picture gallery for this race.
#22 #23 #6449 #16689
#252 #226 #240
My time is based on the time offset from the start of the race. We typically have a photographer slightly before the finish line.
So, if you finished the race in exactly 30 minutes, you should look between 29 and 30 minutes because that's when you passed the photographers.
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Don't put in any letters, just the number. Example: E426 should just be 426.
If there are 5,000 images of a race you can go right to the 2500th
picture using the below form.
Do you know the name of the picture?
It should look like TSP_XXXXXX.JPG, where the X's are numbers.
TSP_ .JPG
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Domestic Violence Help
Carol’s Work to Help Divorcees and Peaceful River Massage
Asani – Women Who Sing
The Godmother of Rock & Roll – Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Remembering Natalie
WMTS Gear
historical women
Dorothy Layne McIntyre – One of the First Female Pilots
December 14, 2011 December 2, 2011 tomaca
reposted from http://IforColor.org
Dorothy Layne McIntyre enrolled in West Virginia State College where she completed a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She was accepted into the Civilian Pilot Training Program offered by the college where she received a pilot’s license from the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) in 1940, becoming one of the first black licensed pilots among American women. This accomplishment fulfilled a lifelong dream that began as a child.
Mrs. McIntyre was born on January 27, 1917 in LeRoy, New York to Lena Hart Layne and Clyde Edward Layne. When she was young her mother passed away, leaving Dorothy and her older sister, Ruth, to be raised by their father. The two girls lived with their grandparents until their father was remarried to Mae Alexander. Together, the new couple had a son, Clyde Edward.
Growing up in what Mrs. McIntyre described as an area that “wasn’t as segregated as the South,” she would attend annual air shows at the LeRoy Airport, which began her love for flying and aviation. On occasion, she would take flights with aviators in the area.
During the 1939-1940 school year, the CAA introduced a cadet flying program at the her college that permitted one woman to train with each group of 10 male students.Mrs. McIntyre eagerly applied and was accepted for the program which was being conducted at Wertz Airport in Charleston, West Virginia.
“When they brought the flying course to the school, a lot of people applied. You had to be strong in math and science skills and you had to pass the physical, which was very strenuous,” said Mrs. McIntyre.
After graduating from college in 1941, Mrs. McIntyre logged additional flight hours in Rochester, New York and Cleveland, Ohio. During World War II she taught aircraft mechanics at the War Production Training School No. 453 while working full-time as a secretary for the Baltimore Urban League in Baltimore, Maryland. She applied for admission to WASP, a program staffed by women pilots who ferried bombers during the war, but was denied because of her race.
Upon graduation from college, Mrs. McIntyre was hired to work as a bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio. She soon met and married Francis Benjamin McIntyre. It was during her husband’s tour of duty overseas in World War II that Mrs. McIntyre moved to Baltimore to live with her sister. During her lifetime, she had successful careers as an independent accountant, bookkeeper, social worker and a Cleveland Public School teacher, from which she retired in 1979.
Mrs. McIntyre is a member of the Tuskegee Airman’s Alumni Association and was profiled in the 2001 publication of the book Distinguished African Americans in Aviation. She was also the subject of the dance production, Take-Off From a Forced Landing, created by her daughter, award-winning choreographer, Dianne McIntyre. Among her many awards and honors is the Bessie Coleman Award, inclusion in the International Women’s Air and Space Museum at the Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport, induction into the Cleveland Educators and Alumni Hall of Fame, and recognition by the Tuskegee Airmen North Coast Chapter 17. Mrs. McIntyre has two daughters, Dianne and Donna, two granddaughters and three great grandchildren. Her husband passed away in 2006. She currently makes a few appearances at functions and gives informal, impromptu speeches. She continues to live in Cleveland, Ohio.
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=772
http://avstop.com/history/blackwomenpilot/dorithylayne.htm
http://www.visionaryproject.org/mcintyredorothy/
http://www.wrhs.org/index.php/library/Archive/AA_Archives/MS42364823
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/01/arts/review-dance-dayton-troupe-returns-to-a-favorite-summer-haunt.html
http://www.spoke.com/info/p6UtH6O/DorothyLayne
Distinguished African Americans in aviation and space science
VIDEO LINKS:
http://www.casttv.com/video/59noy7/dorothy-layne-mcintyre-going-to-airshows-as-a-child-video
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Title: Find a Grave
Subject: Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Pershing House, Angel of Grief, Peabody, Kansas, Richard Armstrong (Hawaii)
Collection: Genealogy Websites, Internet Properties Established in 1995, Online Person Databases
.com.findagravewww
Commercial?
Ancestry.com, Inc.
Jim Tipton
2,599 (August 2015)[1]
Find A Grave is a commercial website that allows the public to access and add to an online database of cemetery records.
Content and features 2
The site was created in 1995 by Salt Lake City resident Jim Tipton, who sought a site to cater to his hobby of visiting the burial sites of celebrities.[2] He later added an online forum.[3] It was launched as a commercial entity in 1998, first as a DBA[4] and then incorporated in 2000.[5][6]
The site later expanded to allow non-famous graves in order to have online visitors pay respect to their deceased relatives or friends.
On September 30, 2013, Ancestry.com announced its acquisition of the company. Tipton said of the purchase that Ancestry.com had, "... been linking and driving traffic to the site for several years. Burial information is a wonderful source for people researching their family history ..." Ancestry.com planned to bolster the resources dedicated to Find a Grave to "... launch a new mobile app, improve customer support, introduce an enhanced edit system for submitting updates to memorials, foreign-language support, and other site improvements."[7]
As of June 2015, the site contained over 132 million burial records[8] and 75 million photos[7] worldwide.
Content and features
The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from around the world. American cemeteries are organized by state and county, and many cemetery records contain Google Maps (with GPS coordinates supplied by contributors) and photographs of the cemeteries. Individual grave records contain some or all of the following data fields: dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs (grave marker, the individual, etc.), and contributor information.[9]
Interment listings are provided by individuals,[10] genealogical societies,[11] and the International Wargraves Photography Project.[12]
Find A Grave.com's current headquarters in Provo, Utah
Contributors must register as members to submit listings, which are called memorials on the site. Upon submitting a listing, that member becomes the manager of the listing, but may transfer management. Only the current manager of a listing may edit the listing. Members and non-members may send correction requests regarding listings. Members and non-members can submit notations, which consist of images or pictures or flowers, flags, religious symbols, etc., which are posted on the individual listings, usually including a message of sympathy or condolence. Managers of listings may connect them via hyperlink to listings of deceased spouses and parents for genealogical purposes. Members may also request photos of graves, which other members may then fulfill.[13]
Find A Grave also maintains links to memorials of famous persons such as Medal of Honor recipients,[14] religious figures,[15] educators[16] and miscellaneous other celebrities. Find A Grave exercises editorial control over these listings.[17]
Canadian Headstones
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
Tombstone tourist
^ "Findagrave.com Site Info".
^ "Find A Grave Contributor: Jim Tipton". Find A Grave. 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
^ Maynard, Meleah (February 16, 2000). "Grave Matters: Minnesota's dead are only a click away". City Pages (Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota: citypages.com). Retrieved September 8, 2012.
^ Utah Secretary of State Entity No. 2442925-0151 Retrieved November 11, 2011
^ Delaware Department of State: Division of Corporations Entity File No. 3168328 Retrieved November 11, 2011
^ a b "Ancestry.com Acquires Find A Grave". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
^ "Find a Grave". Find A Grave. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
^ Find A Grave: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) www.findagrave.com
^ Loudon, Bennett J. (August 30, 2011). "Civil War history carved in stone in Pittsford". Democrat and Chronicle (Gannett). Retrieved September 28, 2011.
^ Moody, Sharon Tate (January 24, 2010). "Find A Grave can shorten the search".
^ Find A Grave: Member Record number 46770518 (1.6 million records)
^ "'"Find A Grave FAQ: 'How do I submit a photo request?. Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
^ "Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor Recipients". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
^ "Claim to Fame: Religious figures". Findagrave.com. 1954-10-11. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
^ "Claim to Fame: Educators". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
^ "Famous Bio Guidelines". Findagrave.com. 1935-05-02. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
Colker, David (August 26, 1997). "Web site answers grave concerns about stars". (subscription required)
Johnstone, Nick (July 14, 2004). "Why I love ... findagrave.com".
Cobbs, Chris (July 12, 2001). "Web site attracts millions of grave-seekers".
Gammage, Jeff (August 1, 2005). "Find VIPs (and others) who R.I.P. through online cemetery".
Dehler, Tamie (October 13, 2007). "Genealogy: 'Find a Grave' tremendous on many different levels".
King, Peter (October 2, 2009). "Tip: Find a Grave has info you're dying to know". ()
Silverman, Lauren (March 14, 2010). "Tracking Down Relatives, Visiting Graves Virtually".
Articles containing potentially dated statements from August 2015
Articles containing potentially dated statements from June 2015
Pages with login required references or sources
Official website not in Wikidata
Genealogy websites
Internet properties established in 1995
Online person databases
Relational model, Acid, Database normalization, Sql, Parallel computing
Hostname, World Wide Web, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, File Transfer Protocol, Web browser
United Kingdom, Germanic languages, British Empire, Angles, West Germanic languages
Culture, Religion, John Steinbeck, Archaeology, Slovakia
Ascension Parish Burial Ground
Find a Grave, Trinity College, Cambridge, St John's College, Cambridge, Queens' College, Cambridge, Cambridge Apostles
Pershing House
Find a Grave, World War II, American Civil War, World War I, Texas
Angel of Grief
Find a Grave, Stanford University, Evanescence, Nightwish, San José, Costa Rica
Peabody, Kansas
Marion County, Kansas, Find a Grave, Kansas, Kansas House of Representatives, World War II
Richard Armstrong (Hawaii)
Find a Grave, Marquesas Islands, Pennsylvania, Princeton Theological Seminary, Presbyterianism
Copyright © World Library Foundation. All rights reserved. eBooks from World eBook Fair are sponsored by the World Library Foundation,
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Project:1867 – Trials and Tribulations
There was much more to the Upper Canada Rebellion than just the armed engagements that I discussed in the past three entries. Underlying the entire year of 1838 the government continued to operate and the biggest issue facing them would be prosecuting the rebels and their American allies after their capture. The whole matter would have been a lot cleaner if an actual war was declared. The treatment of Prisoners of War was an internationally understood law, but to the British, there was no war, they were dealing with a rebellion. And in the case of the Upper Canada Rebellion, the Provincial Government and the Family Compact desired to exact some form of revenge against the prisoners. The biggest problem facing the government and the courts would be the lack of laws to prosecute both the British subjects but also the foreign agitators who had taken up arms against the government on behalf of and with the rebels. The only law on the provincial books was the 1804 Alien Sedition Act which, as the name implies could only be used against non-British citizens. The government scrambled to create two laws to work through the backlog of prisoners awaiting trial from the 1837 uprisings alone, and on the 12th of January 1838 passed them both. An Act to Provide for the more Effectual and Impartial Trial of Persons Charged with Treason and Treasonable Practices in this Province for British Subjects charged with High Treason. An Act to Protect the Inhabitants of this Province Against Lawless Aggressions from Subjects of a Foreign Power at Peace with Her Majesty to take care of the Americans and any other non-British citizen allied with the Rebel cause. Both bills granted any judge or jury several sentences for those charged under the acts, exile to the United States, life imprisonment either in the Kingston Penitentiary, or on Van Dieman’s Land, today Tasmania, and at the maximum, death by hanging. Bond-Head would not have a chance to sign the bills into law, and both laws generated a great deal of debate at the Colonial Office, but ultimately the new Governor, Sir George Arthur, granted both bills Royal Assent in March 1838. As the former governor Van Dieman’s Land, Arthur earned a fearsome reputation for his liberal use of the gallows to enforce the laws of the penal colony. And while the Colonial Office warned against the same level of hangings in Upper Canada to prevent the creation of martyrs, but Arthur would take his direction from the Provincial Government, specifically the Family Compact.
The Historic Goderich Goal was built in the aftermath of the Rebellions and provided more regional jails for prisoners. It operated from 1842 to 1972 and is a museum today.
Mamiya m645 – Mamiya-Sekor C 35mm 1:3.5 N – Ilford HP5+ @ ASA-400 – Kodak HC-110 Dil. H 10:00 @ 20C
But for those languishing in prison awaiting trial, the laws would come too late. Most of the rebel leaders were out of reach in the United States, but the Provincial government did have three rebel leaders in custody and wanted to make an example out of them. One, Anthony Van Egmond had slipped out of their reach when he passed away due to age combined with injury and illness. And despite the pleas of his family to move to better conditions the government refused. The ironic thing is that if Van Egmond had gone to trial, it is likely he would have hanged as a traitor. The courts turned their attention to the other two leaders they had in custody, Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount. The families of both men were waging a battle to have the men freed and cleared of all charges, both Peter and Samuel even had submitted pleas for mercy to Sir George Arthur, which included them admitting their guilt. Both men knew that if the governor ignored their pleas they would stand trial as having pleaded guilty they would not have a lawyer present in the courtroom, they would face Chief Justice John Beverly Robinson alone. But Arthur had already spoken to Robinson about the situation ignored their pleas. I wouldn’t imagine that the Chief Justice took pleasure in handing down the death sentence on both men, but he took the opportunity to lecture both men on the error of their ways. He explained that they had rebelled out of jealousy, not oppression and they were derelict in their duty to God and the Crown. Even with their death assured many signed a petition asking for mercy to be had and life imprisonment or even exile. When asked to build the gallows, the foreman of the Toronto Gaol refused to put a hand to it, stating they (Peter and Samuel) had done nothing he would have done. The gallows were built without his help and on the 12th of April 1838 the men hanged. Lount’s final words were Be of good courage boys. I am not ashamed of anything I’ve done, I trust in God, and I’m going to die like a man. They would be the first to die from the rebellion, and even the Americans had reason to fear the gallows, as President Martin Van Buren stated that the American government would not interfere or assist any Americans captured while participating in the rebellion.
A Plaque located near the site where Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount were hanged at the intersection of Toronto and King Streets in Toronto, Ontario.
Mamiya m645 – Mamiya-Sekor C 150mm 1:3.5 N – Ilford FP4+ @ ASA-125 – Blazinal (1+25) 9:00 @ 20C
The fact came into clear focus after the Short Hills Raids. The American leader of the raiders, James Morreau, stood trial at the end of July 1838 in Niagara. Under the law, Morreau faced a felony charge rather than high treason because of his citizenship. The Crown had the evidence to convict beyond a shadow of a doubt, and Morreau had nothing to defend himself or prove his innocence. It took the jury only a few minutes to return a guilty verdict, and the judge handed down a death sentence. Morreau made no complaint or plea for mercy his only request being that he spend his final days with a fellow prisoner and American Linus Miller. The two men would spend the days deep in discussion of their actions, the trials, reading scripture or in prayer. On the day of his execution, Morreau felt ready to die, assured in the righteousness of his action he would refuse his last words. The rebels did lay out plans to rescue both Morreau and Miller but did not have the manpower to execute the plan. But the simple threat of rescue would be enough to keep the locals from volunteering to do the deed when the usual hangman fell ill the grim task falling to the sheriff on the 30th of July. Samuel Chandler and Benjamin Wait stood before the court on the single charge of high-treason, a charge that could send both men to the same gallows that Morreau hanged from. Both men presented a strong defence, Chandler’s being that he tried to stop the violent attack on the Lancers in June and made attempts to release the captured men. It took far longer for the jury to find both men guilty, but they also included a request for mercy. The judge had no plans to show mercy as he stated that leaders of a rebellion deserved no mercy and issued a death sentence. Sarah Chander, Samuel’s daughter and Maria Wait, Benjamin’s wife took up the cause of the men. They prevailed themselves on any who would listen from George Arthur to Governor-General John Lambton. Lambton being far more liberal and merciful listened to the two women and overruled the death sentence, and ordered the men imprisoned on Van Diemen’s Land. From Niagra, they were moved to Kingston and then transferred to a prison hulk at Portsmouth in England. It would not be until the 18th of July 1839 that Benjamin and Samuel arrived in Hobart. Linus Miller would also come on the 12th of January 1840. Life on the prison island was backbreaking, labour was hard and discipline swift and brutal. And while Miller proved a problematic prisoner and tried to escape, as punishment Miller saw a transfer to the maximum security prison at Port Arthur. Wait and Chandler however proved model prisoners and as a result, earned a great deal of freedom, and used that freedom to formulate their escape. Unknown to them, Maria and Sarah still worked tirelessly to gain the men a proper pardon and release, they would prevail upon Marshall Spring Bidwell, William Lyon MacKenzie, John Lambton, even Queen Victoria. Ultimately the Queen lay the matter of a pardon at the feet of Sir Charles Poulett Thompson, Lord Sydenham the Governor-General of the Province of Canada, and the women managed to secure a petition signed by Sir Allan Napier MacNab and Colonel John Prince, and in 1841, Sydenham would agree to the pardon. But for Benjamin and Samuel, they had already arranged for their escape with the aid of some American whalers, and arrive in New York City in July 1842.
The front gates of the historical Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario. The jail closed in 2013 and now offers tours.
Mamiya m645 – Mamiya-Sekor C 45mm 1:2.8 N – Ilford HP5+ @ ASA-200 – Pyrocat-HD (1+1+100) 9:00 @ 20C
And while even the rebellion had ended, not all wanted the violent revolution to end. And some decided the best way to let the British Authorities they were still around decided to destroy Brock’s Monument on Queenston Heights. The monument, erected in 1824 memorialised General Sir Isaac Brock as the Saviour of Upper Canada, due more to his action at Detroit rather than his death at Queenston Heights. The monument to the rebels showed the might of the British Empire and Authority over Canada. On the 17th of April 1840, an explosive charge did considerable damage to the monument but failed to bring it down. Blame initially landed on Benjamin Lett, a known rebel sympathiser but never actually joined the rebel cause, but had a connection to the murder of a militia officer and kidnapping of a second both officers had been part of the Caroline Affair. But the court could not prove Lett’s direct involvement with the destruction of the monument, and he was released. He continued to conduct acts of terror, blowing up Lock 37 of the Welland Canal and the attempted destruction of the SS Great Britan. Both Samuel and Benjamin’s families would join them in the United States in 1843. Linus Miller also saw pardon and returned to the United States writing a book on his adventures. Samuel would move from New York to Grand Rapids Michigan, living as a farmer and miller. Benjamin would capitalise on his experiences and put everything into a book; however, Maria would die in childbirth in 1843, Benjamin remarrying in 1845 and moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Chandlers moved to Iowa where Samual was instrumental in setting up several Freemason Lodges. Lett’s luck would run out, and he was arrested in the early 1850s and would die under suspicious circumstances in 1858. Construction of a grander monument to General Sir Issac Brock saw completion in 1859 and dedicated a year later by Prince Edward, Prince of Wales and the future King Edward VII. The Linus, Samuel and Benjamin would die in 1860, 1866, and 1895 respectively.
The modern Brock Monument on Queenston Heights is the second memorial to the War of 1812 general after the first was destroyed in an act of violence against the British Government.
Mamiya m645 – Mamiya-Sekor C 150mm 1:3.5 N – Ilford FP4+ @ ASA-100 – Kodak D-23 (Stock) 6:00 @ 20C
In 1957 the demolition of the last section of the King Street Gaol took place, today the only reminder of the prison is courthouse park and a small plaque on the building located at the intersection of Toronto and Court Street dedicated to Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount. While their bodies were buried without ceremony, the Rebellion Memorial in the Toronto Necropolis acts as a grave marker to the men. A memorial to the Short Hill raids and the rebellion, in general, stood in Niagara Falls near the Honeymoon Bridge from 1938 to 1964 and would be moved to Toronto and installed at the MacKenzie House Museum in the early 1970s, you can view two of the panels there today. Brock’s Monument stands as a centre point to Queenston Heights and is visible to all who drive along the Niagara Parkway or those making the crossing at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, during the spring and summer you can climb the monument. Van Dieman’s Land ceased to be a prison colony in 1853 taking on the current name of Tasmania three years later and today is a province of Australia. Hobart remains the provincial capital, and a monument to the Canadian political prisoners stands in Prince’s Park today. The prison at Port Arthur stands as a ruin and is a historical site and museum. In Canada, the Kingston Penitentiary closed in September of 2013 and is available for public tours; the death sentence laws saw repeal in both Canada and Great Britain in the middle of the 20th Century.
In: Project:1867
Tagged: Acts of Confederation, Anthony Van Egmond, Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, believeinfilm, Benjamin Waite, blazinal, Canada, Canadian History, Courts, filmisalive, filmisnotdead, goderich, Hanging, History, Ilford FP4+, Ilford HP5+, James Morreau, Justice, kingston, Kodak D-23, Kodak HC-110, Law, Linus Miller, Mamiya m645, Mamiya-Sekor, ontario, Patriot War, Peter Matthews, Political History, prison, Project:1867, Pyrocat-HD, Queenston, rodinal, Samuel Chandler, Samuel Lount, Short Hill Raids, Toronto, Van Dieman's Land
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5 Kids Books to Make You Feel Better About the World
by megan · Published November 27, 2016 · Updated November 26, 2016
This has been a tough month to say the least. I think it took me about a week post-election to not be bursting into tears at any given moment. Grief has been an apt description for my feelings. In the past, after the death of someone close to me, I’ve found myself walking around in a daze. The world is going on, but inside my head I feel this voice screaming, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED? HOW CAN YOU BE GOING ON WITH LIFE?”. That was similar to my sentiments on November 9, and in the days since, I’ve certainly found myself holding close to family and friends.
Much has been said about the election aftermath and “What now?”, and better said then by me. I will say that while I do not plan to block out the world for the next four years (although it did cross my mind), I have needed to take a bit of a media hiatus, at least from political news. I’ve taken comfort in binging “Gilmore Girls” episodes and have welcomed the distraction of the end-of-semester crunch time.
Throughout my life, books have been a refuge for me during tough times. In the days after the election, with emotions still raw, these children’s books were a consolation and reminded me that there was still good in the world. Hope these suggestions help you when you need a source of comfort.
1. Its Okay To Be Different by Todd Parr
A colorful story of love and acceptance, regardless of what you look like or where you come from.
2. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz
No joke, I read this when I have an exceptionally bad day or am really down in the dumps. I always feel like poor Alexander would definitely understand, after the day he’s had of gum in his hair, disappointing shoe shopping, and toy-free bowls of cereal.
3. Ishi: Simple Tips from a Solid Friend by Akiko Yabuki
This book was a new discovery for me. While it’s often shelved in the children’s book section, it is just as much a book for adults. The simple pictures and wisdom are poignant and peaceful.
4. Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, illustrated by Leslie Staub
A touching reminder that we’re all connected regardless of our differences.
5. Best Friends for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
One of my favorite books from childhood. I dug out the well-loved copy that my preschool teacher gave me when my youngest sister was born. I love the illustrations; I love the story. It reminds me how important your friends and family are, even if you have to be patient with them sometimes.
BONUS: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
Not a picture book, but I’m including it here because it was the best book I read this year and also the most important. Required reading for everyone and it could not be a more timely.
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ISLAMIZATION IN BOSNIA: SARAJEVO'S CONVERSION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 1461-1604
Norman, York
Associate Professor of History, State University of New York, Buffalo
The rise of Ottoman Sarajevo in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is emblematic of a unified new Muslim community whose conversion to Islam and booming social and economic growth unified both the city and its hinterland. Primarily based on a wide array of Ottoman administrative sources, this monograph builds on earlier studies of Sarajevo and other Ottoman cities to analyze the critical social and economic factors behind these developments.
Numerous references to manumitted slave converts to Islam can be found among Sarajevo’s pious foundations. Many of these manumitted slaves held hereditary posts in the pious foundations, thus becoming part of the urban elite. In the countryside, Muslims dominated rural elites from the initial Ottoman conquest onwards. The peasants and petty nobility converted much more gradually. Their steady conversion can be partially tied to the practice of disproportionately distributing privately-held arable land to Muslims and Muslim converts.
These new converts became critical participants in the city’s newly emerging economy. The manumitted slaves who staffed the pious foundations often distributed cash credit at interest to the merchantry and urban notables, helping fuel further economic development. Arable land holders often used their privileges to sell their lands to the highest bidder. The state, which often sanctioned such purchases, helped promote higher grain production and the expansion of urban elites into the countryside.
Islam, Islamic Studies, Bosnia, Sarajevo, Christian-Muslim relations, Eastern Europe, Balkans, nationalism, religion, religious history, World History, Economic History, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman History, Turkish Studies
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9/11 Redpills
DTOM's blog post 9/11 Redpills
FLASHBACK - The official 2001 FBI docs on Urban Moving Systems and the 9-11-2001 Dancing Israelis incident
Will US forces aid Al Qaeda in Syria on the anniversary of 9/11?
Fourteen Incredible Facts About 9/11
Watch: Richard Gage Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth - cspan video
Israel did 9/11 - ALL THE PROOF IN THE WORLD
WORTH REMEMBERING ON 9/11
How they EASILY Rigged the WTC Towers for Demolition (WATCH THIS)
Flashback: Netanyahu claimed to have predicted WTC attacks
By: malterwitty
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called a press conference on September 11, 2001, at a time when he did not hold a political position, and announced that he had predicted attacks on the World Trade Center six years before they had taken place.
Netanyahu distributed to the reporters copies of pages of his 1995 book, Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism.
“After an interlude of several years in which the vigil against terrorism was relaxed, new forces of domestic and international terror have emerged,” Netanyahu wrote in the book’s prelude. “Chief among them are the various strains of militant Islam, which likewise see their ultimate destiny as leading to a final confrontation with the Great Satan, the United States.”
Later in the book, Netanyahu suggested that the Iranians might use militants loyal to them in the West to plant a nuclear bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center.
PREPARING THE WTC FOR DESTRUCTION
What are the odds that an avant garde Austrian art group was given access to the 91st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center to remove windows, erect platforms outside the structure and leave material that could only be viewed by a close passing helicopter on a clear day? Well they are 100%.
What are the odds the art troupe are named after an explosive called Gelatin? What are the odds this group is sponsored by a cultural group who has an Israeli agent as a member who lived blocks from Mohammed Atta the terrorist who hated modern art and crashed an aircraft into it? Well they are 100%.
What are the odds that the markings on the cases that lined the walls of the space they were using were the same markings used for a special fuse holder assembly that allows for complex wiring? Well they are 100% too.
World Trade Center’s Infamous 91st-Floor Israeli ‘Art Student’ Project
In the period leading up to 9/11, a group of Israelis (non-U.S. citizens) managed to secure “temporary construction” passes to perform work on the 91st floor of Larry “pull it” Silverstein’s leased WTC 1. These passes gave them access to the entire WTC complex. The pretense was an art project called the “B-Thing” and the group is called Gelatin.
After securing their passes, Gelatin proceeded to remove the heavy WTC windows of an office space on the 91st floor and reportedly constructed a prefab balcony outside of the building. Then they stretched “putty” around the windows and filmed it by helicopter as a stunt shown here. On Aug. 18, 2001 The New York Times even felt strangely compelled to cover this story and considered it newsworthy, or a backstory.
9/11 Attacks and Investigation Images
9/11 To Be Honest ... FEMA Arrived In New York City On Monday Night
We NEED To Talk About 911 - LIVE with Press For Truth (AMA)
9-11 Research : An Attempt to Uncover the Truth About September 11th, 2001
We all know the official story of September 11th: four jetliners were hijacked by groups of four and five Arabic men armed with box cutters, who proceeded to fly three of the four jets into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Subsequently the World Trade Center Towers, weakened by the impacts and fires, collapsed into piles of rubble. The FBI had compiled a list of hijackers within three days, and it was so obvious that Osama bin Laden had masterminded the operation from caves in Afghanistan, that there was no need to seriously investigate the crime or produce evidence. The "retaliatory" attack on the Taliban would soon commence.
Is this story true? Its central assumptions have never been tested by an official government body whose members lack obvious conflicts of interest. There are numerous red flags in the official story, which requires a long series of highly improbable coincidences. Questioning that story is an act of responsible citizenship.
9/11 War Games
TRANSCRIPT AND MP3: https://www.corbettreport.com/911warg... Little did we know at the time, 9/11 was not a normal day of blue sky aviation. On the contrary, it was one of the busiest days in the history of American aviation, a dense forest of live fly exercises, drills, simulations, fake radar injects and utter confusion. And that was before the attacks even began. This is the story of 9/11 that you didn't watch unfold on your TV that fateful day in 2001. This is the story of the 9/11 War Games.
911 - Press for Truth
This documentary presents the many-faceted events that led up to, and then scrutinizes, the 9/11 Comission hearings. Massive injustices and mis-representations are brought to light and "exposed" by respected members of the mainstream American media, and from the families themselves in the narrative of events that shaped most greatly our world today; "9/11: Press for Truth" The families present their 2 1/2 year struggle to create an investigation and inquiry into the events of 9/11 -- which was at first heavily resisted and even explicity prohibited by the President and Vice-President. For an example of contrast in funding; the internal disruption of a Clinton-Lewisnki "sex scandal" the event was awarded a budget of 100 million dollars in total. Initially the 9/11 Comission was only alotted 3 million dollars and their time-limit was severly cut beyond the expecations of those who brought it into existence.
War by Deception
By: dawson
911 is the Litmus Test
By: judeye
There is one thing that defines everyone over the course of these early years of this new century. That thing is the 9/11 attack. Everyone in government and every field of endeavor the world over is defined by their position on this event. It is not necessary to know the truth. It is only necessary to know the extent of the lies in order to define any leader in any position anywhere in the world. By what they have said and by what they have not said, one can accurately judge who is an enemy of the peoples of the world. One can accurately determine who is a tool of the psychopaths or one of them.
September is the season for 9/11 propaganda and this year is no exception!
FEMA was in New Yorkthe Night Before 9/11
However, Kenney is complaining about not getting full access to the site until "today". Kenney talks about a Monday, a Tuesday, and "today". That's three days.
If the above recording was made on Wednesday, September 12th as claimed, then the explanation that Kenney was simply confused about the days doesn't work, because there is one more day than can be accounted for.
Some news sources went to great lengths to dismiss Kenney's remarks, but the cover story was blown when Rudolph Guliani testified before the 9/11 Commission:
Eyewitness Reports Of ExplosionsBefore WTC Collapses
Edmund McNally, WTC 2 victim, 97th floor
Edmund McNally phoned his wife Liz twice following the aircraft impact. Mr McNally said in his second phone call "Liz, this was a terrorist attack. I can hear explosions below me.''
Louie Cacchioli, a firefighter assigned to Engine 47 in Harlem
On the last trip up a bomb went off. We think there was bombs set in the building.
Kim White, WTC 1 survivor, on 80th floor at time of impact
We got down as far as the 74th floor [...] Then there was another explosion, so we left again by the stairwell.
9/11 Firefighter Blows WTC 7 Cover Up Wide Open!
Israeli Truck Bombs On 9/11
9/11 Was an Israeli Job
Thanks to courageous investigators, many anomalies in the official explanation of the events of 9/11 were posted on the Internet in the following months, providing evidence that this was a false flag operation, and that Osama bin Laden was innocent, as he repeatedly declared in the Afghan and Pakistani press and on Al Jazeera.[1] The proofs of this appalling fraud have been accumulating ever since, and are now accessible to anyone willing to spend a few hours of research on the Web. (Although, while preparing this article, I noticed that Google is now making access to that research more difficult than it was five years ago, artificially prioritizing anti-conspiracy sites.)
Citing ‘Conclusive Evidence’ of Explosives, Families of Victims File Petition to Re-Open 9/11 Investigation
Seventeen years after Sept. 11, Al Qaeda may be stronger than ever
In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, the United States set out to destroy Al Qaeda. President George W. Bush vowed to “starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest.”
Seventeen years later, Al Qaeda may be stronger than ever. Far from vanquishing the extremist group and its associated “franchises,” critics say, U.S. policies in the Mideast appear to have encouraged its spread.
With the Anniversary of 911 coming, it makes me wonder when the truth will surface. So many questions that go unanswered..
With the Anniversary of 911 coming, it makes me wonder when the truth will surface. So many questions that go unanswered.. so many things presented as fact that are Scientifically and Logistically Impossible. Mueller knows a great deal about .. after all he helped cover it up!
Facts That Disprove the Official 9/11 White House “Conspiracy Theory”: Why Are Good Americans Silent?
Millions of clear-headed people all over the world have gradually begun to disbelieve the Big Lies about 9/11 and have started to pay attention to the evidence that disproves the lies, even though they are big ones. The truth has a way of getting out – albeit usually too slowly – and thus these truth-seekers have seen through the propaganda that launched and perpetuated the lies. These clear-headed folks, with the unassailably truthful facts on their sides – all easily provable in a court of law – are naturally wondering what is going on with the perpetuation of the White House 9/11 Myths, and why has the truth been forbidden to be spoken of in average newspapers and media outlets like the ones in my home town?
Billions have seen the suffering, despair and slaughter of innocent Muslim women, children and old men that have been driven from their homes by US soldiers and their lethal high-tech weaponry.
"The Ship That Won't Sink!"Landmark Conference
An all day live-streamed landmark conference bringing together for the first time superior authorities on two of America's most revealing events, the attack upon the USS Liberty and the attack upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Knowing the facts about these two events will prove:
The attack upon the USS Liberty was not a matter of mistaken identity, but rather an attempt to bring America into the Six-Day War on behalf of Israel by sinking the ship and blaming it on Egypt.
This attack has initiated an American undeclared state of war with Israel which has never been resolved.
All control points necessary to destroy the World Trade Center, damage the Pentagon, blame it on others, destroy the evidence, prevent investigations and litigation and maintain the myth, were and remain occupied by Zionists.
Optional Banner:
WRH breaking
Israelis Admit on Live TV they had Prior Knowledge To 9/11 ( 911 & The Dancing Jews )
The Corbett Report ep.311 - 9/11 Suspects
9/11 Suspects: The Dancing Israelis
Lucky Larry Silverstein is BACK!!!
By: Cactus Moon
Lucky Larry makes my blood boil . He had lunch everyday in the towers but not the day of 9/11 . His kids also had jobs there but didn't go to work luckily . Lucky larry looks like gollum from lord of the rings.?
The FBI Shutdown of Arab Muslim Web Sites in the Days Leading up to 9/11
Lots of social media deplatforming. Lots of war gaming. Half of the country in a collective hysteria. #TDS
Three of the links have disappeared since this was posted. Snapshots are at archive.org
https://web.archive.org/web/20021126092848/http://www.islam-online.net...
https://web.archive.org/web/20010909215638/http://www.techtv.com/news/...
https://web.archive.org/web/20010918221141/http://aztlan.net/fbishut.htm
Lawyers Petition for 9/11 Grand Jury
At Least 7 of the 9/11 Hijackers are Still Alive
A Saudi embassy official said it was difficult to know for certain whether the hijackers used bogus names. "You cannot throw a stone in Saudi Arabia without hitting an Al Ghamdi," he said, referring to the alleged last name of three of the hijackers.
'Never Forget': Gov't Said The Air Was Safe, Now Thousands Of 9/11 First Responders Have Cancer
As Americans prepare for the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, nearly 10,000 first responders and New York City residents have reported 9/11-related cancers.
Odigo Workers Received Warning of 9/11 Attacks
The Five Dancing Israelis Arrested On 9-11
Several of the detainees discussed their experience in America on an Israeli talk show after their return home. Said one of the men, denying that they were laughing or happy on the morning of Sept. 11, "The fact of the matter is we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event."
How did they know there would be an event to document on 9/11?
9/11 Security Courtesy of Marvin Bush
Marvin P. Bush, the president’s younger brother, was a principal in a company called Securacom that provided security for the World Trade Center, United Airlines, and Dulles International Airport.
Who Told Giuliani the WTC was Going to Collapse on 9/11?
“I went down to the scene and we set up headquarters at 75 Barkley Street, which was right there with the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, the Head of Emergency Management, and we were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was going to collapse. And it did collapse before we could actually get out of the building, so we were trapped in the building for 10, 15 minutes, and finally found an exit and got out, walked north, and took a lot of people with us.”
The OEM Issued a WTC Collapse Warning
Why didn't the 9/11 Commission mention this?
How Did the WTC Fires Burn for Months?
“I knew what they were standing on top of,” Giuliani says. “They were standing on top of a cauldron. They were standing on top of fires 2,000 degrees that raged for a hundred days. And they put their lives at risk raising that flag.”
9/11 Radio Transmissions of WTC 2 Firefighters
The firefighters report only isolated pockets of fire, so where was the all-consuming inferno?
Also of note is the fact that these transmissions were made seconds before WTC 2's collapse. There were supposedly massive structural failings occurring in this section of the building at this time yet no mention is made of this. The firefighters should have been broadcasting warnings of a fiery hell which was causing structural failures, instead they are calmly preparing to move up to the 79th floor.
A final point to note is New York's Office of Emergency Management issued a collapse warning five minutes before WTC 2 came down.
1. How did the OEM know something that the firefighters didn't?
2. Why weren't warnings broadcast to firefighters over the radio?
“Never Forget”: Gov’t Said the Air Was Safe, Now Thousands of 9/11 First Responders Have Cancer
In less than two weeks the corporate media and conniving politicians will put on their “Never Forget” pins and release the obligatory condolences to the family members of the 9/11 victims. There will be TV specials and special edition magazines and newspapers to commemorate the terror attack. -- But will these displays pay tribute or raise awareness about the plight of the first responders? Will these photo ops actually question the official story of 9/11? If the answer is no, if the American public is still not ready to challenge the establishment lies surrounding September 11, 2001, then we have moved no closer to truth and these men and women are dying in vain. On the 17th anniversary of 9/11 remember to question the official story.
Inside the mind of a CIA intelligence analyst
By: cyberknight
The role of a CIA intelligence analyst is to be the first line of defense for the United States by researching and gathering information on whatever or whoever they are assigned to at the time.
Aug 31 18:06
CIA AND SAUDI ARABIA CONSPIRED TO KEEP 9/11 DETAILS SECRET, NEW BOOK SAYS
By: Blacklistednews
It’s easier to bury uncomfortable facts than to confront them. So this September 11, the ceremonies marking the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., will simply honor the dead. In Manhattan, tourists and mourners will gather where the World Trade Center Towers once stood, lowering their heads in memory of the 2,606 who perished there. The services won’t reflect the view that the attacks might well have been prevented.
Waxing Indignant Over 911 Truth
Federal Grand Jury Petition Filed for New 9/11 Investigation
Good news has finally come along for the many people who know office fires cannot bring down modern steel framed skyscrapers, and it’s good news for the rest of the world as well. On April 10th of this year, the non-profit Lawyers Committee for 9-11 Inquiry filed a petition with the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Manhattan, formally requesting that he present to a grand jury, as a U.S. Attorney, extensive evidence of federal crimes relating to the destruction of three World Trade Center high-rises on 9/11/2001. The petition cites broad and conclusive evidence, providing proof of explosives and incendiaries employed at ground zero to bring down the twin towers and WTC Building 7.(1)
The petition cites broad and conclusive evidence, providing proof of explosives and incendiaries employed at ground zero to bring down the twin towers and WTC Building 7.
Note: There is no moral or legal time limit on truth!
Hunter S. Thompson on 9/11 + More (2002)
Rare Amateur 9 11 Footage With Audio Not Shown On TV
My Daughter Molested by TSA; Me Nearly Arrested for Objecting
By: dissident84
By Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
"...How would you feel if your young daughter or grand-daughter was forced to submit to a woman grabbing her genitals?”
His face darkened: “I wouldn’t like it; I don’t like it at all.”
“It’s sick what our country has become,” I added.
“It sure is,” he agreed. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s policy.”
I know some who will read this will smugly scoff that I should not fly at all. But is that a solution? We go around the world bombing for “peace and democracy,” while at home middle aged women sexually assault little girls in plain sight “for our own good.” To “keep us safe.” But hey, it’s “just policy.”
9/11 Judge Forbids Use of FBI Interrogations at Gitmo
By: Old_Logan
The judge in the death-penalty trial of those accused of carrying out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. has ruled that prosecutors may not use key FBI interrogations conducted at the Guantanamo prison soon after years of CIA black site abuse ended.
(*Another Judge that needs to get Swapped Out . P.O.T.U.S. Trump beli~eves Torture Works !)
Nearly 10,000 People Cancers Linked to Toxic Dust Caused by 9/11
TOXIC LEGACY Poisonous dust from 9/11 attack has given almost 10,000 New Yorkers cancer
NEARLY 10,000 people have suffered cancers linked to the toxic dust and smoke resulting from 9/11.
With the 17th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks a month away, the federal World Trade Center Health Program has counted 9,795 first responders and other New Yorkers with cancer deemed 9/11-related.
Almost 10,000 people have a cancer diagnosis that is somehow linked to breathing in hazardous particles following the September 11 Twin Tower terrorist attack in New York City, the Post has learned.
Passports Damaged In Kerala Floods
(*have a better chance in a fire that could melt steel girders ?)
Censorship PURGE points to imminent false flag violence before mid-term elections… bigger than 9/11?
The coordinated de-platforming effort is clearly directed by the deep state to eliminate a prominent, dissenting voice in preparation for unleashing a history-shaping false flag attack that’s likely going to be bigger than 9/11.
REPOST - The following Fox and NBC live news coverage is from the crash site of United Flight 93 on 9/11…the reporters were not following a script. The footage was never seen again on television
The crash site was hastily staged… reporters simply described what they saw. No plane…no people.
The following Fox and NBC live news coverage is from the crash site of United Flight 93 on 9/11...the reporters were not following a script. The footage was never seen again on television
Pro-Choicers Bully Teen Cancer Patient For Asking Texas Governor To Outlaw Abortion
By: pooja
Abortion advocates have resorted to bullying a cancer-stricken teen because he dared to ask Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to outlaw abortion.
Earlier this year, 16-year-old Jeremiah Thomas asked that Gov. Abbott grant his wish to outlaw abortion after being diagnosed with an extremely aggressive bone cancer. The request was made through the "Make a Wish Foundation."
"For my wish, I wanted to talk to you and discuss a bill of abolition [to end abortion]," said Jeremiah in a video to Abbott. "Sir, you would be representing the demands of Texans if you would pass this bill. We could end abortion here and now."
Legendary journalist Seymour Hersh on novichok, Russian links to Donald Trump and 9/11
In a rare interview, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh talks about his illustrious career and how he believes the official versions of some the biggest news stories of our time just don’t add up
FBI TOLD FORMER AGENT NOT TO HELP 9/11 VICTIMS BUILD CASE AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA
A retired FBI counterterrorism agent with a notable role in the story of 9/11 says the FBI’s Office of the General Counsel told him not to cooperate with attorneys representing 9/11 victims in their suit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, because it could harm U.S.-Saudi relations.
Why am I still in Guantánamo after 14 years?
I am officially a prisoner of war, though the only battle I ever fought back home, as a taxi driver in Karachi, was the rush hour traffic. I was mistaken for an extremist, captured by Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s government and sold to the CIA for a bounty in 2002. I’ve now been detained at Guantánamo, without trial, for nearly 14 years.
President Trump’s lawyers argued in court this month that I and other Guantánamo prisoners who have filed habeas corpus petitions could be held by the U.S. government for a hundred years, if that is how long the “conflict” lasts.
Webmaster's Commentary:
The American Deep State can never, ever admit that they have done anything, or signed off on anything, which is completely, utterly morally wrong; with the indefinite imprisonment of prisoners of war at Gitmo, it has done something horribly wrong.
One of the pillars of American law used to be a right to a fair trial, even for POWs; but that will not happen for the men accused of crimes they may well not have committed. They will simply rot in prison, with no chance of a trial, because there has been enough discovery by their attorneys, at this point, to establish reasonable doubt in the minds of these military judges.
So these men will not be tried: because if they were able to prove their innocence against the charges leveled against them, the American Deep State would have to admit that it had been wrong, and caused something wrong to happen to them.
And in this same insane, Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", gestapo-like, Unhinged, Surveilled State of Amerika, the following occurred just last week: Joe Biden's Niece gets probation in a $110,000 credit card case.
Nice to be connected to the elite in this country, isn't it?!? Far better than being a Middle Eastern POW who knows that they will rot and die in jail at Gitmo, because the American Deep State "Never Makes Mistakes" with whom it imprisons.
US Senators Claim 9/11 Classified Docs May Reveal Terrorists' Foreign Ties
A new US Senate resolution calls for declassifying all 9/11-related materials because the documents may expose hitherto unknown ties between terrorists and foreign countries, five lawmakers said in a press release.
"Tens of thousands of pages of documents from the Department of Justice and other agencies relating to the September 11 attacks currently remain classified even though… [they] could reveal unknown connections between terrorists and foreign nations," the release said on Tuesday.
Translation: "We're gonna say Iran did 9-11!" -- Official White Horse Souse
Jul 31 16:44
Someone designs a bunch of experiments to debunk 911 official story.
Google/Youtube is top loading ‘official 911 story’ videos to the top of results & burying/deleting good quality debunking videos these days making them impossible to find via bookmarks or Google search.
A PERMANENT EMERGENCY: TRUMP BECOMES THIRD PRESIDENT TO RENEW EXTRAORDINARY POST-9/11 POWERS
President Trump has become the third president to renew a post-9/11 emergency proclamation, stretching what was supposed to be a temporary state of national emergency after the 2001 terror attacks into its 17th year.
But the ongoing effects of that perpetual emergency aren't immediately clear, because the executive branch has ignored a law requiring it to report to Congress every six months on how much the president has spent under those extraordinary powers, USA TODAY has found.
Exactly 16 years ago Thursday, President Bush signed Proclamation 7463, giving himself sweeping powers to mobilize the military in the days following terrorist attacks that crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field. It allowed him to call up National Guard and Reserve troops, hire and fire military officers, and bypass limits on the numbers of generals that could serve.
These powers should be immediately rescinded, because 9/11 was an inside job, engineered to get the general public to buy off on an invasion of Afghanistan, because the Taliban refused to lease their oil pipelines for what Bush's DC felt was a "reasonable" amount of money.
9/11 Index of What Really Happened
9/11 Experiments: The Great Thermate Debate
Thermite and the WTC Collapses
The temperature at the core of "the pile," is near 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to fire officials, who add that the fires are too deep for firefighters to get to.
FEMA was in New York the Night Before 9/11
As a footnote, the following videos show a huge convoy of trucks and heavy equipment heading through New York on 9/11 to assist in the WTC wreckage clean up immediately after the collapse of WTC 7. It defies belief that this could have been coordinated in less than 6 hours.
When you compare the reaction to the "unexpected events" of 9/11 to that of the expected events of Hurricane Katrina there is only one conclusion that can be drawn. 9/11 was not an unexpected event, it was meticulously planned.
How did the OEM know something that firefighters in WTC 2's impact area didn't?
Why weren't all firefighters warned?
Marvin P. Bush, the president’s younger brother, was a principal in a company called Securacom that provided security for the World Trade Center, United Airlines, and Dulles International Airport. The company, Burns noted, was backed by KuwAm, a Kuwaiti-American investment firm on whose board Marvin Burns also served. [Utne]
According to its present CEO, Barry McDaniel, the company had an ongoing contract to handle security at the World Trade Center "up to the day the buildings fell down."
The company lists as government clients "the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S Air force, and the Department of Justice," in projects that "often require state-of-the-art security solutions for classified or high-risk government sites."
American Evangelicals Have Been Hoodwinked Into a Big Lie About Israel and the Rapture
By: blackbird9
"I am convinced that Cyrus Scofield was an agent of the Rothschilds and that his reference Bible was deliberately used to blind Christians to what the true nature and purpose of the soon-to-be modern state of Israel was. And it worked—BIG TIME."
The Computer Crimes of 9/11: How Critical U.S. Airport Computers Were Compromised with Israeli Spyware
Israeli Transtech Control "Airfield Management" software provided by a senior Israeli spymaster was running on the computer systems of many of the airports and U.S. Air Force bases involved in the events of 9/11.
"The deathly precision" and "magnitude of planning" behind the 9-11 attacks would have needed "years of planning." Such a sophisticated operation would require the "fixed frame" of a state intelligence organization, something not found in a "loose group" of terrorists like the one allegedly led by Mohammed Atta while he studied in Hamburg.
- Eckart Werthebach, former president of German intelligence service to Christopher Bollyn, December 2001
"It's really a big breakthrough to have a company from Israel controlling so many airports."
- Simcha Ohrenstein of Transtech Control Ltd., "Israeli firm keeps airports safe," Jerusalem Post, June 18, 2004
"Trojan horse espionage is part of the way of life of companies in Israel. It’s a culture of spying."
Robert Steele: 9/11 Truth Letter of Transmittal to President Trump
On 15 February 2016, speaking to a wildly enthusiastic crowd in Bluffton, South Carolina, you promised that under your watch, We the People would “find out who really knocked down the World Trade Center.” Throughout the campaign you were alone among prominent public figures to express skepticism on 9/11 by observing that the same builders who constructed the Twin Towers were now working for you and that the design of the buildings made it impossible for planes to have brought them down and that something else had to be involved, such as bombs. You were right on the mark!
It is now known that the 9/11 Commission was a complete cover-up, similar to the Warren Commission in the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy by a multiplicity of actors including Zionists, led by Lyndon Baines Johnson with the collaboration of the leaders of the CIA, FBI, and the Secret Service.
Defense lawyers say CIA Director Haspel tainted the 9/11 trial
Defense lawyers in the Sept. 11 trial have for years argued, mostly unsuccessfully, that a series of remarks by political leaders dating back to the Bush administration have contaminated the possibility of finding an impartial jury of U.S. military officers in the death-penalty case.
This week, lawyers for the accused lead 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed took aim at remarks the new CIA Director Gina Haspel made in her Senate confirmation hearings — and asked the trial judge to either dismiss the charges or remove the possibility of a death penalty because of alleged unlawful influence.
The only case they have against Khalid Sheik Mohammed is a confession extracted under torture.
VIDEO - "Lock Her Up!" chant breaks out as Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at @tpusa Student Leadership Summit.
sleepy session chuckles
Flashback 2009 - David Ray Griffin on the 9/11 Cell Phone Calls: Exclusive CBC Interview
A professor emeritus of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at the Clarement School of Theology in California for 30 years , David Ray Griffin has today, through his books and lectures, become better known as one of the leading voices of the "9/11 Truth Movement."
Unhinged MSNBC Contributor Cited 9/11, Pearl Harbor and Kristallnacht to Assess Trump-Putin Summit
Mueller's FBI ignored Al Qaeda connection years before 911
Talking 9 11 with Ryan Dawson TPS #88
What If Everything We’ve Been Told Is A Lie?
What if everything we’ve been told about 9/11 is a lie? What if it wasn’t 19 Muslim terrorist hijackers that flew those planes into the Twin Towers and Pentagon? What if the Muslims had nothing whatsoever to do with the attacks on 9/11? What if everything we’ve been told about the reasons we invaded two sovereign nations (Afghanistan and Iraq) is a lie? What if the 17-year-old, never-ending “War on Terror” in the Middle East is a lie? What if our young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have given their lives in America’s “War on Terror” died for a lie? What if G.W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump have been nothing but controlled toadies for an international global conspiracy that hatched the attacks of 9/11 as nothing more than a means to institute a perpetual “War on Terror” for purposes that have nothing to do with America’s national security? Would the American people want to know? Would the truth even matter to them?
Gohmert_Mueller_UNMASKED.pdf
Sitting Congressman Gohmert (former judge) formally accuses Mueller of being a traitorous murderer and 9/11 conspirator! -
Abandoned in space in 1967, a U.S. satellite started transmitting again in 2013
By: lookout
After learning that a satellite that’s been silent for decades has suddenly started sending out new signals you may, of course, suspect that the device has been hijacked by aliens now trying to communicate with Earth. Perhaps they’re warning us that they are planning an invasion!
It’s possible such thoughts ran through the mind of Phil Williams, an English amateur radio astronomer based in Cornwall, who was the first person to pick up the strange signals coming in as “ghostly sounds” in 2013. It turned out that the transmitted messages were coming from an abandoned LES1 satellite, but experts needed three more years to authenticate that this was indeed the American satellite that was “lost” in 1967.
The United States has spent at least $2.8 trillion on counterterrorism since 9/11 - The task still consumes a sixth of America’s annual discretionary spending
911: The impossible Cell Phone calls
I chat to Frederick C. Blackburn (also known as blackbird9) who studied engineering and then became an electrical engineer and had a career in IT. He had a Top Secret clearance in the USA. He gave lectures to: Military and Naval Intelligence personnel as well as NSA, CIA and FBI personnel about cell phone and other technology.
We discuss his specialist knowledge with regard to cell phones and why the cell phone technology of 911 did not allow cell phone calls to be received from people in planes. On 911 there were between 15-40 alleged cell phone calls from people on aircraft before the planes crashed into the Twin Towers or elsewhere. Frederick explains why those phone calls were impossible. 911 changed his life because he realised immediately that the collapsing towers as well as the cell phone calls were utterly impossible.
911 COVER UP: SYRACUSE’S SMULLEN SHIFTS STORY ON SERVICE TO SAUDIS
The director of a national security studies program at Syracuse University has given conflicting statements about his work for the Saudi embassy in Washington. Interviewed last month about the seeming conflict of interest with his duties at Syracuse, where he leads instruction of U.S. national security officials, Smullen repeatedly asserted he had not yet been asked to do anything for the kingdom.
Empire Unmasked Trailer 1
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theempireunmasked?
Better than my first movie War by Deception
Trump Had Foreknowledge of 911 In 2000: Morning Joe MSNBC [2015]
Trump had intimate foreknowledge Israel's premeditated attack on 911, including Israeli trained patsy to take the fall for the whole event, Osama Bin Laden, as revealed in Trumps 2000 book, "The America We Deserve."
"One day we're told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama Bin-Laden is public enemy number one, and U.S. jetfighters lay waste to his camp in Afghanistan... He escapes back under some rock, and a few news cycles later it's on to a new enemy and new crisis."
Donald Trump, January, 2000
AN AMERICAN CENTURY OF BRUTAL OVERSEAS CONQUEST BEGAN AT GUANTÁNAMO BAY
IT IS A testament to the Washington establishment’s rhetorical dexterity that it labeled Guantánamo Bay home of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. U.S. leaders meant, of course, to refer to the hundreds of non-Americans detained at the base over the past 16 years. But a closer look at the history of Guantánamo tells a different story — one in which the United States, beginning 120 years ago this June, used the enclave in southeastern Cuba to launch decades upon decades of terroristic overseas conquest.
A " take the high moral ground" country would let go of Guantanamo, and give it back to the Cuban government long ago; however, unfortunately, at this time in its history, the US is not that country.
Torture of prisoners of war goes unabated, both at Gitmo, I was force-fed at Gitmo; what guards are now doing is far worse and at Emerati "Dark Sites" in Yemen.
Yemeni prisoners say the Emeriati offices sexually torture them
Torture rarely produces actionable intelligence, but produces, instead, false confessions, in order to get the torture to stop, and adds "depth and dimmension" to the agendas created with which to support and justify the Unhinged, Surveilled State of America's endless wars on hapless countries which have never done anything to us, but just happen to sit on resources, like oil, rare earth minerals, or opium poppies, which the US government wishes to expropriate.
I would like to politely point out that such torture, particularly in Yemen, is being done under the watch of Gina Haspel, CIA Director, who just assured Congress that she would no longer allow torture, if she got confirmed to the post of CIA director.
Unfortunately, it is painfully apparent that with Ms. Haspel, that public posture, and reality, have utterly no meaningful relationship whatsoever in her world.
Kosherising the 9/11 Truth Movement
1. The Mossad’s motto is ‘by way of deception’ and false flag operations are deeply rooted in the Mossad’s modus operandi.
2. The prime beneficiary of 9/11 has been Israel. It was Zio-cons who pushed for the so-called ‘war against terror.’ In the name of democracy and Coca Cola the English speaking empire has been fighting Zionist conflicts for almost two decades.
3. Most important, be aware that controlling the opposition is at the core of Zionist survival strategy.
The last point is one of the most important conclusions I draw in my latest book, Being in Time - a Post Political Manifesto.
LEAKED EMAILS REVEAL PRO-SAUDI INTRIGUE AT 2016 GOP CONVENTION, ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS 9/11 DOCUMENTS
Late last week Middle East Eye published the bombshell contents of newly leaked emails which confirm that "the relationship between the Emiratis and the president’s [Trump's] inner circle was cemented earlier than previously thought." And this follows previous emails which we've reported on here.
The new batch of emails shed further light on UAE and Saudi efforts to penetrate the Republican platform in 2016, which the emails show "was altered to remove a call for the publication of 28 pages of allegedly incriminating documents from the 9/11 inquiry" — and attempts to prevent Trump from making any remarks that could potentially embarrass Saudi Arabia, specifically (as one email reads) "the issue of her [Hillary Clinton] taking Saudi Arabian money".
I have almost all but given up on the American political process, because of the naked corruption evidenced by both sides of the aisle.
I wish Mike and I could claim asylum, or citizenship, in a country which doesn't stoop to war crimes through which to achieve its geopolitical agendas (as in the US government enabling the Saudi government with war crimes in Yemen), but we are, unfortunately, both too old, and too broke, to make something like this happen.
FLASHBACK ---- Trump attacks Bush on 9/11, Iraq
CBS REP'S DEBATE
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Flight crew incapacitation involving a Pilatus PC-12, 185 km SW of Wiluna, WA, on 12 August 2018
On 12 August 2018, a Pilatus PC-12 was being used to transport a patient from Wiluna, Western Australia (WA) to Jandakot, WA. It departed Wiluna at about 2053 Western Standard Time.
About 40 minutes into the flight, the pilot felt ill and vomited. During this time, the autopilot was engaged. After vomiting, he felt considerably better and was able to continue the flight to Jandakot. The only time that the pilot was not monitoring the flight instruments was whilst he was physically ill.
The pilot took sick leave for the rest of his shift and a Designated Aviation Medical Examiner (DAME)[1] checked him before he returned to work again.
It was reported that the pilot had been unwell for the previous few days and had reported for duty on the day of the incident saying that he felt well again.
Safety action
As a result, of this occurrence, the aircraft operator has advised the ATSB that they are taking the following safety actions:
The operator will update their manuals to reinforce the need to take the time to recover from illness. If a pilot reports in sick at the start of a shift, they will be required to remain on sick leave for the rest of the shift unless a DAME deems that they are fit for work. They will incorporate this change into the next edition of their manuals, which they will publish in due course.
The operator has already included this information in their pilots’ briefs and a formal written notification, by email, has been sent to all pilots in the organisation.
This incident highlights the importance of flight crew being adequately recovered from illness before returning to work. This is particularly pertinent for single-pilot operations.
Designated aviation medical examiners (DAMEs) are practitioners approved to perform medical examinations to meet the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act 1998, the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 and the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.
Date: 12 August 2018 Investigation status: Completed
Time: 130 WST
Location (show map): 185 km SW of Wiluna
Release Date: 17 December 2018 Occurrence category: Serious Incident
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd
Wiluna, WA
Last update 17 December 2018
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Andrea and Lucie are coming to Turkey for victory!
They have ambitious plan for the WTA Tour Championships at Istanbul, Turkey. Czech pair, who is the second best pair in the world at the moment, wants to fight for victory!
“Of course we know that the other three pairs had an excellent season too. But we played three tournaments in the hall this season and we won all of them. So we would like to keep it to be unbeaten also in Istanbul,” Andrea smiled.
The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for four top-ranked pairs on the Women´s Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Apart from the Czech players the first duo of the world, Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani will introduces in Turkey. Further American pair Lizel Huber and Lisa Raymond will play in Istanbul. Last duo comes from Russia, Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko.
The tournament system itself is simple – on Thursday the both semi-finals will be chosen right on the court.
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Roberta Gambarini
& Friends
Valentine's Celebration
Quincy Jones Presents:
Sheléa
Quincy Jones Presents: Sheléa
Showtime: 10:30PM
[ Complete Show Schedule... ]
With a voice that stirs the soul and hands that glide effortlessly over the keys, Sheléa represents a return to true artistry that has garnered attention and adoration from legends throughout the music industry. Her sultry sound is an exciting oasis in an age of Auto-Tune. Blending traditional pop, jazz, R&B and soul, Sheléa brings a contemporary edge to classics and a classic touch to contemporary pop standards.
In the 2019-20 season, Sheléa debuts with the Seattle Symphony and Naples Philharmonic and tours internationally and in the U.S. with her own band. She stars in the upcoming Lifetime biopic based on gospel group the Clark Sisters, executive produced by Queen Latifah.
Sheléa began as songwriter/vocalist with legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Her early career experience led to writing and producing for Chanté Moore’s album Love the Woman and recording vocals on major motion picture soundtracks for Hotel Rwanda, Akeelah and the Bee and Be Cool. In 2008, Sheléa teamed up with the Grammy Award-winning Take 6, singing “Someone to Watch Over Me” for their Grammy-nominated album The Standard. She went on to compose and perform the theme song “Love Fell On Me” for SONY’s Jumping the Broom (2011) starring Angela Bassett. Sheléa’s debut album Love Fell On Me was released in 2014, featuring heavyweights Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight and Narada Michael Walden. The single “I'll Never Let You Go” peaked at #22 on the Billboard R&B charts and charted for 22+ weeks.
As Sheléa’s profile grew in the world of R&B, it quickly became clear that her enormous talent was destined to transcend the confines of any single Billboard chart, musical genre, or label. In 2012, Sheléa performed at the White House to honor composers Burt Bacharach and Hal David with the Gershwin Prize. The success of that appearance led to a standing-ovation performance at the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Awards singing the classic “Anyone Who Had a Heart” honoring the late Hal David. Sheléa was later invited back to the Library of Congress where she performed with Narada Michael Walden for ASCAP's We Write the Songs. While rehearsing for this event, Sheléa made a lasting impression on husband-and-wife songwriting duo Alan and Marilyn Bergman, musical legends and paragons of the contemporary American Songbook, especially the catalogue of Barbra Streisand (one of Sheléa’s greatest musical inspirations).
Over the last several years, Sheléa’s star has continued to rise. In 2015, she headlined a tour with Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright and Norman Brown, and soon after joined mentor Stevie Wonder for his Songs in the Key of Life tour. In 2016, Sheléa returned to the White House to perform with Anthony Hamilton as part of PBS’ Smithsonian Salute to Ray Charles. That same year, Sheléa made her acting debut in the HBO Emmy-nominated film All the Way. In 2017, Sheléa had the distinct honor of being selected by Quincy Jones to be the first vocalist for his jazz club Q’s Bar and Lounge at the Palazzo Versace Dubai where she performed a month-long residency. Word quickly spread and Sheléa’s international appeal made the club the premiere choice for entertainment. Later that year, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a tribute performance to Jimmy Webb. Demand for Sheléa has continued to grow over the past year with tours including Kirk Whalum’s Gospel According to Jazz; An Intimate Evening with David Foster: Hitman Tour; and the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour.
Sheléa has shared her talents at numerous charitable events in support of causes that hold personal importance. In 2012, Sheléa joined Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Joan Osborne, Patti Austin, and the South African Children’s Choir at the Kennedy Center to perform for the UN International AIDS Conference. A staunch advocate of female empowerment, she appeared at the global launch of One Billion Rising headed by Eve Ensler, performing the anthem “Break the Chain,” closed the 2016 TEDWomen Conference in San Francisco, and performed for the National Women’s History Museum honoring Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Dolores Huerta. As a member of the Recording Academy, Sheléa was a guest speaker at the 2018 Grammy Museum Summer Sessions, sharing her insights with high school students on the value of music, the craft of songwriting, vocal technique, and overall professional development.
In 2019, Sheléa starred in the concert special QUINCY JONES PRESENTS: SHELÉA broadcast on PBS, joined by special guests David Foster and Greg Phillinganes. Sheléa also released her much-anticipated third album Pretty World: Through the Eyes of Alan and Marilyn Bergman (Breath of Life Records/Universal). The album consists of 11 songs handpicked by the Bergmans, including never-before released songs and a new arrangement of “Make Me Rainbows” which Sheléa debuted at the ASCAP Jazz Awards honoring Marilyn Bergman. Sheléa is joined on the album by some very special guests who have been instrumental throughout her career including Stevie Wonder, Kirk Whalum, Take 6, and Greg Phillinganes.
Sorry, but a Javascript-enabled browser is required to email me.
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DreamWorks Animation cleaned up at the box office this weekend...
"Monsters Vs. Aliens" ended Sunday with a monstrous take of $58.2 million dollars. Katzenberg's little firm has been delivering quite a bit of a challenge to the Mouse and Lamp with its stream of hits over the last couple of years. Granted, the quality of stories haven't been as high as Pixars, but the box office has more than equaled Emeryville.
I saw MvA over the weekend and fully enjoyed it. While the story was good, it ain't "Kung Fu Panda," but was a fun escapist night at the movies. Those of you that are fans of old sci-fi 50's films or cheesy monster films of that era should really enjoy it. But as it stands for me, Panda is still the only Pixar-quality film they've produced. From what I hear the sequel is working out very good, story-wise.
Here's hoping that future films like "Master Mind" and "Truckers" build on the base that DW has constructed over the last few years...
Posted by Honor Hunter at 5:24 AM
Labels: Animation, Dreamworks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, Pixar, Truckers
Caught a 3D viewing with the kids on Saturday. Didn't care for it much. Aside from the eye candy, it felt like Saturday Morning Cartoon-quality.
When the president went up to address the alien ship, I new we were in trouble. The theater was practically full--late arrivals couldn't find 3 seats together. But when the president started playing a few bars from Beverly Hills Cop, you could have heard crickets in the theater.
That character was just a complete waste of space. Identical buttons for nuclear missiles and cappuccino. Hmmmmmm...wonder where this gag is headed... Ugh!
I'm not a Dreamworks 'hater' and the big box office was inevitable. (Great concept & marketing.) But the execution was less than mediocre, IMO.
I agree with tjkraz. The concept of Monsters Vs. Aliens has a ton of potential... in the hands of any other studio. This was an extended big budget Saturday Morning Cartoon that went for the absolute most obvious gags (with a few adult skewing jokes that weren't even funny and just came out abrupt, crass, and innappropriate. Yes, we get it, the 50 foot girl has giant boobs).
As far as parodying monster and alien movies. It had a few shots and a few sounds and a few music cues that parodied them, but, really, there wasn't much there. It was a huge missed oppurtunity.
The action set pieces were big cool fun but the "monsters" didn't do crap. Susan was the only threat to the Alien. The others were there to make stupid jokes and get knocked to the side. Anyway, it's still Dreamworks 4th best movie in my opinion. But that's REALLY not saying much.
Disneytom said...
Sorry, but Kong-Fu Panda is not Pixar quality, I think it lacks story and heart, it's just a kids movie... Sorry to say, but I really did not enjoy it at all...
Brian Griffin said...
I wish to add here as well I too believe Kung fu Panda to be very much beneath the Pixar product level, and I watched the movie on this website's recommendation.
Pixar is making amazing movies - one after another; Dreamworks is making film.
Sheriff Buzz said...
I agree with Honor. Kung Fu Panda was a film that rose about the normal DreamWorks production line. I actually liked it better than Wall-E and I didn't think I would. I was hoping it would continue with Monsters, but it appears that although it's pretty good, it's not as good as Panda.
Took our girls to see it yesterday and thought it was just ok. Great visually but the story and execution left a bit to be desired. Overall it just couldn't keep mine, or the kids, attention for the full time.
DW just seems to hire whoever is famous to do voices and then market the crap out of that. Most of the time the voices are either terrible, or take you right out of the movie. At least pixar goes for VOICES, even when they DO hire a celeb (tom hanks).
elite medium said...
You mean like Reese Witherspoon who is playing the princess in The Bow and the Bear for Pixar?
Oh wait, that's the same person whose VOICE is in Monsters Vs. Aliens.
Reese Witherspoon was the only person in the cast that was mediocre. Everyone else was great! Well, except that the movie wasn't very good.
I really enjoyed this movie. It wa sa fun diversion ona Saturday afternoon. it's not Pixar quality as it lacks the heart. That said, i feel like Dreamworks has really foudn their niche. They do amazing pop culture pieces well. You can expect some well-designed characters, and funny pop-references and enjoy an hour and a half. I'm really looking forward to Master Mind and Crood (Sp?0 for this reason. Theyf ill a hole that Disney and Pixar can't which makes it awesome.
Rodan said...
What is the matter with simple escapist fun? Why does a 3-D cartoon have to be this well-written saga. It is a glorified cartoon and that's ok.
There's nothing wrong with 3-D escapist fun. But wouldn't you rather see high-quality 3-D escapist fun instead?
Also, I'm not so sure I agree with your detective work there Honor, you said the box office of Dreamworks films has more than equaled Pixar (i.e. Emeryville, where their studios are located) but that's really not true.
Average gross of Pixar's films = $236 Million
Avgerage gross of Dreamwork's CG films = $180 Million
The fact is, aside from the Shrek franchise, Dreamworks has never had a film break the $200 million mark whereas every single one of Pixar's films in the past decade has.
In other words, even Pixar's least successful films make more money then the most Dreamwork's best non-Shrek films. Of course Pixar's films would probably make even more money if it wasn't for Dreamworks but I really don't think they lose any sleep over them. Of course it's another story if you compare the grosses of Dreamworks and actual Disney films.
I liked the first Shrek and I liked Kung Fu Panda. But MvA looks awful. I used to rush out and see just about every movie toon that came out.
Dreamworks has cured me of that.
Enough with the Dreamworks bashing, time for some people to breath deeply into a brown paper bag. There's room for Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks and guess what, competition makes for better product. Just enjoy the fact we get to see these movies in the theater and let the rest of the baggage go. This is the same type of rhetoric tossed around long ago when Don Bluth Studios was making animated features along side Disney, history repeating.
Opinions are just that, opinions and you know what they say, “Opinions are like (fill in the blank), everyone has one but we think everyone else’s stinks”.
"The fact is, aside from the Shrek franchise, Dreamworks has never had a film break the $200 million mark"
Uh, Kung Fu Panda made $215 Mil domestic Luke, and the rest of your numbers and logic could use some double checking as well.
I really enjoyed MvA, it was a lot of fun and my kids really enjoyed it too.
MvA was meh. I never need to see it again. It was a big budget Saturday Morning cartoon. Enjoyable for a little bit. But hey, did anyone see that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs trailer with it??? Oh man, that looks so great! My kids were bouncing off the walls over that trailer. They are more excited about that movie than Monster Vs. Aliens (Yes, even AFTER the movie they were still talking about the trailer and not the silly sludge they just saw)
And Pixar has never had a film break the $400 million mark, unlike Dreamworks. But why mention that little statistic huh Luke?
Sorry, it should have said "The fact is, aside from the Shrek franchise, Dreamworks never had a film break the $200 million mark until Kung Fu Panda".
The rest of the math is spot on, heck if you don't believe me check the numbers for yourself. As for why I didn't mention that Pixar has never had a film top $400 Mill. it's the same reason why I didn't mention how Pixar's lowest grossing film still made $160 Mill, which is about what Dreamworks films make on average, I simply couldn't mention every statistic out there.
However, my whole point was that on average Pixar films make significantly more than Dreamwork's, which is absolutely true. The numbers prove it: $236 vs. $180.
I'm not saying that they're crappy movies or that Dreamworks should stop making them or anything just that they don't usually make as much money as Pixar's.
Luke your numbers are still wrong, Box Office Mojo puts DW's films at an average of $149 Mil and Pixar at $236. I'll include the links at the end...
And what kind of logic is "Of course Pixar's films would probably make even more money if it wasn't for Dreamworks." So what! The opposite of that is true too, if Pixar wasn't around Dreamworks would make more too. It's a non-sequitur.
And you should rephrase "even Pixar's least successful films make more money then the most Dreamwork's best non-Shrek films," to read "Pixars least successful film made more money than the Dreamworks films that made less money than Pixar's worst film." Because that is what you are saying and that is about how logical it sounds.
I graduated in the top 80% of my class. Do you know what that means?
DW's BO: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dwanimation.htm
Pixar BO: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=pixar.htm
I didn't include Dreamworks 2D films, that's why Box Office Mojo's averages are different from mine. Heck, my Dreamwork's average was more generous than their's. Go ahead and use the lower figure if you want, it just makes the discrepancy even more glaring.
A Man Called Horse said...
"I graduated in the top 80% of my class. Do you know what that means?"
That you graduated from public school?
I just added up the numbers for myself and if you omit their 2D films then Dreamworks' films earn an average of $183, 194, 906. Which is $53, 673, 216 less than Pixar's. If you guys are arguing over who's films do better at the box office it's pretty clear that Pixar has the edge.
elite medium, I said pixar hires people for vocal talent, whether they are celebrities or not. My point is that DW focuses their marketing on who is doing the voices, where pixar focuses on stories. This is because DW are so sucky that they have to market the fact that "hey that seth rogen kid is in it!, he's cool right? come see this movie then because the cool guy is in it!" They did the same thing with Kung Fu Panda and Jack Black.
Pixar does have better numbers, no argument there. I even corrected his figures in favor of Pixar. That wasn't the point, it was the way Luke was "reporting" them.
If you are talking about a studio's average BO for films, but excluding half of them you need to say so from the start. It's like saying "Ford makes more money on cars than Chevy does." And then saying well I wasn't counting SubUrbans.
Throwing inaccurate numbers and vague statements around to sell your point- dude come on.
"There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics."
... and to clarify, just in case... I'm not inferring that Luke was lying. I don't think he was.
Well, I thought it was pretty clear we were comparing CG films here, and I don't see how using a more generous figure for Dreamworks, which actually works against my argument amounts to "throwing inaccurate numbers and vague statements around to sell your point." I mean you say your problem was "with the way I reported things" yet there you go complaining about how the numbers being innaccurate again even though others have agreed they're quite accurate.
LOL, I like how he suddenly changes the topic to cover up the fact that he was too dumb to realize why the numbers didn't match BOM's.
I think poole summed it up very well. Pixar has always focused on the story, it is the heart of their films, and the reason they make them to begin with. For Dreamworks, however, story is simply one more hurdle to jump over before they can get all these stars together to make them piles of cash. I believe this is reflected, more often than not, in the quality of their films.
The numbers (besides your original mistake of KFP #'s) are accurate, if you only count CG. Which you never said in the original post.
I knew exactly why your numbers didn't match BOM's. That's what I pointed out, you need to say what you are comparing or not comparing.
I like how you suddenly change the argument to an ad hominem "too dumb to realize," approach.
Don't get me wrong the Shrek films suck artistically but why do you feel the need to compare DW's only on a non-Shrek film basis? It doesn't seem relevant to compare the two, money wise, while leaving out the most lucrative property? That's what I meant logic wise.
Those averages I gave actually did include the Shrek films. I just stated that they'd be even lower without them. So while part of my argument did center on Dreamworks without Shrek, I wasn't comparing them only on a non-Shrek basis.
Anyway, it sounds like we're more or less in agreement that Pixar's movies typically make more money, so I think we can effectively end this debate.
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IndyCar Friday Press Conference
Rookie sensation Santino Ferrucci
1st - Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing
2nd - Marcus Ericcson, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
4th - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
THE MODERATOR: We have NTT IndyCar Series rookie Santino Ferrucci, who is driving like anything but a rookie. You've had a great success rate this season. Fourth place, tied your season best last week at Pocono. I would think you feel pretty good about this practice session.
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, it's all about momentum. I feel like we've been doing a really good job, especially on the ovals lately. Makes a difference, especially coming down to the end of the championship for us to win the rookie title, obviously coming into the top 10 in points.
Just keep staying on our game, staying consistent, doing what we can do.
THE MODERATOR: Also joined by Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, the series points leader. Best first pitcher we've seen all week. Good throw last night.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, thank goodness. Why don't they let you warm up? Kind of cruel actually. Hey, you get to do this really cool thing, but you got to wing it right off the start.
No, it was great. We had a really fun time. Actually got to stay for most of the game. It was an interesting game. There was a guy that ran on the field, there was a fight, a couple home runs. It was like a really good ballgame, good night for baseball.
Yeah, we had fun. A great cross promotion. I thought there were a lot of fans there that came up and said they were excited about the race here. It's great to see sports cross over. You got guys that love baseball and motorsports. Hopefully get a lot of people out tomorrow night.
Everyone here at Worldwide Technology Raceway has done a good job of promoting this event. I think everyone looks forward it. Really has a good reputation, which is what you want when you come to racetracks, feel positive about what the event is, the track itself, being excited to drive it.
It's been a great addition to our calendar the last few years.
THE MODERATOR: We're joined also by Marcus Ericsson, a first timer at this racetrack, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Did you expect to be second out of the box?
MARCUS ERICSSON: I don't know what I expected. A couple months ago coming here doing a test, every track I been to prior to an event, we've been right up there. I was expecting to be competitive, but still only practice once. We'll see in qualifying where we really stand.
For sure the car was really good to drive. I thought the driving was really good as well. The Arrow guys have done well so far.
THE MODERATOR: You've been pretty strong yourself, Marcus. Have the ovals been surprising how strong it's been?
MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I mean, I went into the season with no experience on ovals. Didn't know what to expect. But I felt really comfortable straightaway. The guys again have really helped me to get up to speed, get comfortable, given me a very nice car to drive.
Unfortunately there have been a couple of mistakes from my side when we had some really good runs, like the 500 and Iowa, which if you only look at the results our oval record is maybe not that great. I think the actual pace we've shown has been really, really strong.
I've been saying, hopefully we can put a whole weekend together, really get a good result out of it. I think that would be nice. I think we have the possibility this weekend.
THE MODERATOR: Josef, you won here in 2017. This has to be a place where you think in this championship stretch that you've got circled pretty highlighted place of the three left.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I hope they're all three good. They need to be. If we're just good here, so-so everywhere else, I think it's going to be tough, especially with double points at Laguna. Can't just be here.
We've got to be on it for the last three races. Just the way this championship is run, you can't get comfortable. I think it's hard to points race, at least completely points race. You got to kind of do your thing still, keep trying to maximize the results every weekend.
I do feel positive about here. Last year we had a bit of a bobble with the new aero kit introduction. We didn't roll off great. It was kind of a fight to get where we were last year. Then you throw in the rain with a lack of time, I just don't think we hit it perfectly off the box.
Today the car was stellar right out of the pits. I'm happier with this. A lot more like 2017. I think we've got it in a really good window. Now we'll fine-tune it. See what race running brings this evening. I think that will be another challenge. I think for qualifying we'll have a good car to go up and challenge everybody.
Yeah, I feel confident. I think we've got something to fight for this weekend with PPG and Chevrolet.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it for questions.
Q. Josef, in spite of what you just said about you've got to be good here, everywhere, from here till the end, don't you think you kind of put your championship competitors in a situation where they kind of have to win out in order to catch you?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, they definitely don't have to win out, no. Not necessarily. If I finish 15th and Rossi finishes third, you do that a couple races in a row, we're pretty much like neck-and-neck going into Laguna. Laguna, you could have a 60-point lead going in there and you still have to have a pretty good day. You can't walk the thing. Probably have to finish 11th or 10th, which is still hard. It's not easy to show up and finish in that spot.
To me it's still wide open, mainly because of double points. I don't love it because it's tough that it puts that much emphasis on a season finale. We all know the score going into the season. We know how the game works. I think you got to play to how the championship is laid out.
Unless you have a hundred-point lead, you're not going to be comfy going into the finale.
Q. And it’s new track for everyone.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It's an oddball. We don't know what that's going to bring. We could be terrible there. If we are scrapping to finish 10th, we have a 40, 50-point lead, that's not enough. It's funny this points discussion. It is super close, in my opinion, still, amongst everybody.
THE MODERATOR: The top eight in this session, .16 separation. Very close.
From left, Newgarden, Ferrucci and Ericsson
Q. Santino, shortly before the practice was over, you said to the interviewer that the team gave you a stable car. Does it mean there's not major changes for qualifying?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: I think being a rookie, Marcus would probably agree, the worst thing you want to have is a car you have to consistently work and fight. For someone like Josef it's probably a lot less of a task, he knows the tracks, what's going to happen.
For us to learn and build confidence, you have to have something where the rear is really secure, you have the ability to push in the corners.
Obviously going into qualifying, you take a little bit more risk, you change the aero balance a touch. We're not going to sit here and make a string change now or a rocker change, nothing major. You're looking at half a turn of front wing at the most, go in and qualify the car, see where we end up.
Q. Marcus, when you made the switch from Formula 1 to IndyCar, you know ovals are part of the racing calendar. How did you prepare for the season when you've never been on ovals before?
MARCUS ERICSSON: Watched a lot of videos, spoke to a lot of drivers, mainly my teammates in James and Robby and Jack. That was very helpful.
But in the end of the day I think ovals being so different from anything else, you just have to get out there and drive. Every oval, every test, every race just been a learning process. I feel more and more comfortable.
But to be honest, I really like it from the start. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if I would hate it or love it, whatever. I really enjoy it. I have so much fun out on every oval we've been to so far.
The racing is amazing. To be in them speeds, fight, you need to calculate with the pit streams and everything with the timing. It's a different type of racing which I find very, very fun. Also to watch the races after, it's a lot of action going on.
I really find it fun, a lot of fun.
Q. Santino, after what happened at Pocono, the Rookie of the Year battle has been cut down. What is your mindset going into that as far as what it will take to take down Felix?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think Felix is kind of in a similar situation as me at Ganassi. Has a really experienced teammate in Scott, as I have with Sebastien. Knows it's going to come down to consistency and being on your game.
For us finishing in the top 10 is good as a rookie. Tough to fight for top fives, wins. Not really something you expect out of your first season. I keep going off of the completing laps. I'm not really looking forward into Portland or Laguna. I know the car is going to be somewhat decent if not really good. I just want to take one race at a time and focus on what's at hand and go from there.
Q. Marcus, given the recent developments with the team, do you expect to still either be with the current team or still in IndyCar next year full-time?
MARCUS ERICSSON: I don't know, to be honest. I think these final races are very important for me. As far as I know the team has not made any decisions on the driver lineup. It's all very important now for me to really show what I can do on the track. Every chance I get to go out there on the track, it's an opportunity for me to show what I can do.
Yeah, that's all I know. But for me, my goal and my desire is to be in IndyCar next year 100%. I love the series. I love the racing. I want to be here for a long time. That's my goal.
For sure, these last three races are going to be very, very important for me.
Q. Santino, your tenure in Europe, when you first came here in IndyCar, do you feel you were under the microscope where people are waiting for you to slip up? Do you feel pressure that would not give them ammo to turn on you basically?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: No. I mean, I'm comfortable here. This is my home basically as much as I've raced in Europe. I know Josef and obviously Marcus raced in Europe for most of their career. Coming back, it's more of a personal challenge more than anything to show that, you know, you can drive a racecar, you can drive it fast.
I've also just been enjoying myself. I've been more myself, more open, had a lot more fun being back stateside than I ever had in Europe. Quite frankly, the reason I got into motorsports, racing. I've loved everything this year, everything that's happened.
Q. Some of the criticism isn't about your driving. People know you can drive. You're validating that expectation that you can contend for wins. A lot of the criticism has been behavioral stuff. Do you feel like you owe anyone an apology? Do you regret anything that happened while in Europe?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Nope. I mean, obviously you're in a different place mentally. Nothing you can do about it. You're under a super high stress microscope from Formula 1, which is obviously a pinnacle of motorsport. You come here, get to be yourself.
I don't feel any of that pressure. Quite frankly, this is like a family to me. These guys have been great to me all year long. I don't feel like anyone's really judged me coming back home and racing IndyCars. I feel like we've had a really strong year and can continue to capitalize on that.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you.
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CIBJO CONGRESS 2019
MY CIBJO
ABOUT CIBJO
DO’S & DON’TS GUIDE
GEMSTONES GUIDES
RETAILERS REFERENCE GUIDE
RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS GUIDES
CARBON FOOTPRINTING & OFFSETTING
6-LESSON CSR COURSE
CIBJO CONGRESSES 2004-2013
WJCEF
SUSTAINABLE JEWELLERY
A 10-YEAR JOURNEY (VIDEO)
VOICES OF CIBJO
‘WE AS AN INDUSTRY SHOULD PROVIDE MORE GUARANTEES TO THE FINAL CONSUMER’
The perspective of the President of the World Diamond Council
Stéphane Fischler, the president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), is a third-generation diamantaire from Antwerp, Belgium, who began working in his family-owned company in 1979. He has a long history of public service in the diamond and jewellery industries.
He was among the founders of the WDC in 2000, serving as member of its steering committee until 2008, including a term as vice president starting in 2006. In 2012 he was invited to re-join the reconstituted WDC, and was elected its vice president in September 2016. In June of this year, he took over the presidency of the World Diamond Council. His mandate will end in May 2020.
Mr. Fischler also is chairman of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the primary umbrella organisation representing Belgian diamond sector, having first been elected to the post in June 2012, and re-elected for two-year terms in 2014 and again in 2016.
In 2008, he was elected chairman of the International Diamond Council (IDC), a diamond grading and nomenclature body affiliated to the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA). He resigned he position in 2015 and was asked to remain on as IDC vice president.
Mr. Fischler is currently vice president of SBD, the Belgian diamond manufacturers’ association; treasurer of IDMA; and a member of the Board of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). He has been member of the board of the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) since 2006 and was it elected vice president in 2012.
Earlier this year, Mr. Fischler played a key role in the creation of the CIBJO European Jewellery Guild, which was formally established in Vicenza in September.
Mr. Fischler spoke to VOICES OF CIBJO on a wide range of topics, including the Kimberley Process and World Diamond Council, the integrity of the supply chain in the diamond and jewellery sector, cooperation between CIBJO and IDC, and the future role of the CIBJO European Jewellery Guild.
The World Diamond Council was established to represent the industry in the campaign to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds. According to the accepted definition of conflict diamonds, does such a trade currently exist, and are there regions where the potential for such a trade remain high?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: The KP was created to address a very specific issue. It was designed to create a platform or mechanism to stop the funding of conflict and violence by rebel groups against legitimate governments from being fuelled by diamonds. Today, 99 percent of all diamonds in the trade come from a conflict-free source.
However, the importance of the KP and the WDC remains crucial when it comes down to the future of the product we represent, as there are still areas where diamond mining may take place that suddenly becomes involved in armed conflict. There will always be new challenges, and we stand ready to address them.
How relevant is the current definition of conflict diamonds, and, if it is lacking, how may it be improved?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: The idea of the KP has always been very narrow: to create a platform or mechanism to stop conflicts fuelled by diamonds. The mission has been completely accomplished.
The WDC has taken a very clear position, expressed in Vicenza in 2012, supporting a broadening of the scope of the certification scheme, focused on preventing the escalation of violence in mining areas. At the same time, we need to talk more inside the industry about how to provide confidence in all spheres—providing adequate protection to all stakeholders and in particular the most vulnerable.
We as an industry should provide more guarantees to the final consumer. That is our responsibility.
The Kimberley Process has in the past struggled to find consensus on a number of issues, including the definition of conflict diamonds. In its current structure, do you feel that it is able to resolve contentious matters. If not, how may this be remedied?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: As the KP is comprised of representatives from 81 governments, 40-plus industry groups and many non-government organizations (NGOs) and associations, of course consensus building among such a diverse group is more complex than with other smaller and simpler organisations. The KP is no different than any other international process, where a very large amount of countries is involved, each with its own specificity and interest, and where politics do play a major role.
Factoring in these complexities, the KP has created a set of processes and protocols that help overcome these challenges such as review visits and the peer review mechanism. Though there is always room to improve the efficiency of conflict resolution and decision making within the KP, we have seen important progress using our processes, for example bringing back Ivory Coast after its exclusion within the process.
Having said that, the KP has been so far comparatively very successful. I hope that an inclusive and respectfully managed process can achieve further progress.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is essentially government run and monitored, while more contemporary responsible sourcing systems, like Dodd Frank in the United States and the more recent conflict minerals regulation in Europe shift the responsibility to companies, often applying the OECD due diligence guidance. Do you think the pendulum has moved, and how may this affect what is expected from the diamond industry?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: Ensuring that conflict stones remain out of the global diamond supply chain is a responsibility that is shared by all parties, not just governments. It starts at the beginning with those that focus on mining and discovery, through groups that handle rough and polished, and extends through manufacturing and retail right to the end consumer. The main task of the diamond market is to show that it is able to self-regulate, as is the case with the WDC System of Warranties, and ensure the integrity of entire sales chain.
In terms of the way in which its chain of supply is monitored, should the diamond sector be treated differently to other sectors in the greater jewellery industry? If so, why?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: I believe the diamond industry has been at the vanguard of these issues well before precious metals and other gems.
We are happy to note the impressive efforts made especially by the precious metal industry.
The World Diamond Council’s statutes definitely describe its area of interest as conflict diamonds and matters related to the Kimberley Process. How do you see the World Diamond Council as evolving, and where does it take its place among the other representative organisations active in the gemstone and jewellery industry?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: Indeed, the mandate of the World Diamond Council is focused on the rough diamond supply. As well as having created the System of Warranties to complement the KPCS, the WDC provides the only platform for members to discuss important issues pertaining to conflict diamonds and the KP, as we represent the entire diamond pipeline through our association.
The WDC allows the international diamond industry to have a single, united voice that is representative of the entire diamond supply chain, from mine to retail.
In practice, the WDC is actively involved in the work of the KP, providing the functioning of the KP Administrative Support Mechanism, for example. It is involved in the daily work of all KP Working Groups, among other things participating in review visits and missions to KP participating countries, providing technical expertise to the monitoring teams as needed, and chairing the KP’s Working Group of Diamond Experts-WGDE.
In one sentence, our role is to ensure that the end product, manufactured out of the raw material and set in jewellery, is untainted.
What is the role played by the representative organisations within the World Diamond Council, and, given the fact that each represents many companies, should they have a status that is different from those WDC members that are individual companies?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: The WDC is indeed the only representative industry organization representing the whole of the diamond value chain. Continuous dialogue with all industry stakeholders is key to the WDC. We talk and listen to our members, whether they represent many companies on individual companies.
Since last year the WDC has been developing an active communications strategy in order to better inform the industry and our members, and make clear what the KP and the WDC are doing to support diamond mining countries and their populations and keep the supply chain conflict free.
The role of representative organizations, member of the WDC, is to ensure proper education and support within its very vast membership for the industry self-regulatory mechanisms.
There has been concern expressed in the industry that cumbersome and sometimes expensive due diligence compliance systems may have the effect of pushing some of the smaller players out of the business, because they lack the necessary financial means and personnel. Is such concern justified and how does once prevent such a situation?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: We are very much aware of this concern. Consumer interest in the origin of diamonds grows. This is largely due to the new information environment in which we live. An important challenge for the diamond market is to show that it is able to self-regulate and ensure the entire sales chain. The industry is very much focused on ensuring ethical practices from mine to retail.
I believe the self-regulation in place throughout the industry is not burdensome and constitute an impediment to growth. It is our common responsibility to provide adequate support to those experiencing difficulties in understanding or implementing to proposed processes.
You played an active role in the establishment of the CIBJO European Jewellery Guild, which was established earlier this month to provide a united voice for members of the industry in Europe. What do feel that a body of this type will be able to achieve?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: It is an idea that, together with Benadette Pinet-Cuoq, Gaetano Cavalieri and Charles Chaussepied, we took to fruition. It has been long overdue and I believe will contribute to streamline and benefit the European industry’s effort in achieving a constructive dialogue with the European Union, and enhancing European value addition.
At the upcoming CIBJO Congress in Bangkok, there will once again discussion about the CIBJO Blue Book relative to the International Diamond Council’s grading system. As a past IDC chairman, how do you view this relationship?
STÉPHANE FISCHLER: I can definitely say, and it is my personal opinion that we are now at a point where the two major nomenclature organisations must be focused on building a unified foundation for the benefit of our industry.
Steven Benson2017-12-07T11:56:14+00:00
Retailer’s Guide to Trust
PEOPLE: OUR GREATEST ASSET
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Is It Time for a Data Sharing Clearinghouse for Internet Researchers?
Apr 10, 2018 11:18 AM PST
By Nick Feamster
Today's Senate hearing with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg will start a long discussion on data collection and privacy from Internet companies. Although the spotlight is currently on Facebook, we shouldn't forget that the picture is broader: companies from device manufacturers to ISPs collect network traffic and use it for a variety of purposes.
The uses that we will hear about today are largely about the widespread collection of data about Internet users for targeted content delivery and advertising. Meanwhile, yesterday Facebook announced an initiative to share data with independent researchers to study social media's impact on elections. At the same time Facebook is being raked over the coals for sharing their data with "researchers" (Cambridge Analytica), they've announced a program to share their data with (presumably more "legitimate") researchers.
Internet researchers depend on data. Sometimes, we can gather the data ourselves, using measurement tools deployed at the edge of the Internet (e.g., in-home networks, on phones). In other cases, we need data from the companies that operate parts of the Internet, such as an Internet service provider (ISP), an Internet registrar, or an application provider (e.g., Facebook).
If incentives align, data flows to the researcher. Interacting with a company can work very well when goals are aligned. I've worked well with companies to develop new spam filtering algorithms, to develop new botnet detection algorithms, and to highlight empirical results that have informed policy debates.
If incentives do not align, then the researcher probably won't get the data. When research is purely technical, incentives often align. When the technical work crosses over into policy (as it does in areas like net neutrality, and as we are seeing with Facebook), there can be (insurmountable) hurdles to data access.
How an Internet Researcher Gets Data Today
How do Internet researchers get data from companies today? An Internet operator I know aptly characterizes the status quo:
"Show Internet operators you can do something useful, and they'll give you data."
Researchers get access to Internet data from companies in two ways: (1) working for the company (as an employee), or (2) working with the company (as an "independent" researcher).
Option #1: Work for a Company.
Working for a company offers privileged access to data, which can be used to mint impressive papers (irreproducibility aside) simply because nobody else has the same data. I have taken this approach myself on a number of occasions, having worked for an ISP (AT&T), a DNS company (Verisign), and an Internet security service provider (Damballa).
How this approach works. In the 2000s, research labs at AT&T and Sprint had privileged access to data, which gave rise to a proliferation of papers on "Everything You Wanted to Know About the Internet Backbone But Were Afraid to Ask". Today, the story repeats itself, except that the players are Google and Facebook, and the topic du jour is data-center networks.
Shortcomings of This Approach. Much research — from projects with a longer arc to certain policy-oriented questions — would never come to light if we only relied on company employees to do it. By the nature of their work, however, company employees lack independence. They lack both autonomy of selecting problems and in the ability to take positions or publish results that run counter to the company's goals or priorities. This shortcoming may not matter if what the researcher wants to work on and what the company wants to accomplish are the same. For many technical problems, this is the case (although there is still the tendency for the technical community to develop tunnel vision around areas where there is an abundance of data, while neglecting other areas). But for many problems — ranging from problems with a longer arc to deployment to those that may run counter to priorities — we can't rely on industry to do the work.
#2: Work with a Company.
How this approach works. A researcher may instead work with a company, typically gaining privileged access to data for a particular project. Sometimes, we demonstrate the promise of a technique with some data that we can gather or bootstrap without any help and use that initial study to pique the interest of a company who may then share data with us to further develop the idea.
Shortcomings of this approach. Research done in collaboration with a company often has similar shortcomings as the research that is done within a company's walls. If the results of the research align with the company's perspectives and viewpoints, then data sharing is copacetic. Even these cooperative settings do pose some risks to researchers, who may create the perception that they are not independent, merely by their association with the company. With purely technical research risks are lower, though still non-zero: for example, because the work depends on privileged data access, the researcher may still face challenges in presenting the research in a way that could help others reproduce it in the future.
With technical work that can inform or speak to policy questions, there are some concerns. First, certain types of research or results may never come to light — if a company doesn't like the result that may result from the data analysis, then they may simply not share the data, or they may ask for "pre-publication review" for results based on that data (this practice is common for research that is conducted within companies as well). There is also a second, more subtle concern. Even when the work is technically watertight, a researcher can still face questions — fair or unfair — about the soundness of the work due to the perceived motivations or agendas of cooperative parties involved.
Current Data Sharing Approaches are Good, But They are Not Sufficient
The above methods for data sharing can work well for certain types of research. In my career, I have made hay playing by these rules — often working with a company, first by demonstrating the viability of an idea with a smaller dataset that we gather ourselves and "pitching" the idea to a company.
Yet, in my experience, these approaches have two shortcomings. The first relates to incentives. The second relates to privacy.
Problem #1: Incentives.
Certain types of work depend on access to Internet data, but the company who holds the data may not have a direct incentive to facilitate the research. Possible studies of Facebook's effect on elections certainly fall into this category: They simply may not like the results of the research.
But, there are plenty of other lines of research that fall into the category where incentives may not align. Other examples range from measurements of Internet capacity and performance as they relate to broadband regulation (e.g., net neutrality) to evaluation of an online platform's content moderation algorithms and techniques. Lots of other work relating to consumer protection falls into this category as well. We have to rely on users and researchers measuring things at the edge of the network to figure out what's going on; from this vantage point, certain activities may naturally slip under the radar more easily.
The current Internet data sharing roadmap doesn't paint a rosy picture for research where incentives don't align. Even when incentives do align, there can be perceptions of "capture" — effectively shilling an intellectual or technical finding in exchange for data access.
It is in the interests of everyone — the academics and their industry partners alike — to establish more formal modes of data exchange when either (1) there is determination that the problem is important to study for the health of the Internet, or for the benefit of consumers; (2) there is the potential that the research will be perceived as not objective due to the nature of the data sharing agreement.
Problem #2: Privacy.
Sharing Internet data with researchers can introduce substantial privacy risks, and the need to share data with any researcher who works with a company should be evaluated carefully — ideally by an independent third party.
When helping develop the researcher exception to the FCC's broadband privacy rules, I submitted a comment that proposed the following criteria for sharing ISP data with researchers:
Purpose of research. The data satisfies research that aims to promote security, stability, and reliability of networks. The research should have clear benefits for Internet innovation, operations, or security.
Research goals do not violate privacy. The goals of the research does not include compromising consumer privacy;
Privacy risks of data sharing are offset by benefits of the research. The risks of the data exchange are offset by the benefits of the research;
Privacy risks of the data sharing are mitigated. Researchers should strive to use de-identified data wherever possible.
The data adds value to the research. The research is enhanced by access to the data.
Yet, outlining the criteria is one thing. The thornier question (which we did not address!) is: Who gets to decide the answers?
Universities have institutional review boards that can help evaluate the merits of such a data sharing agreement. But, Cambridge Analytica might have the veneer of "research," and a company may have no internal incentive to independently evaluate the data sharing agreement on its merits. In light of recent events, we may be headed towards the conclusion that such data-sharing agreements should always be vetted by independent third-party review. If the research doesn't involve a university, however, the natural question is: Who is that third party?
Looking Ahead: Data Clearinghouses for Internet Data?
Certain types of Internet research — particularly those that involve thorny regulatory or policy questions — could benefit from an independent clearinghouse, where researchers could propose studies and experiments for independent evaluation and have them evaluated and selected by an independent third party, based on their benefits and risks. Facebook is exploring this avenue in the limited setting of election integrity. This is an exciting step.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Facebook's meta-experiment on data sharing plays out, and whether it — or some variant — can serve as a model for Internet data sharing for other types of work writ large. In purely technical areas, such a clearinghouse could allow a broader range of researchers to explore, evaluate, reproduce and extend the types of work that for now remains largely irreproducible because data is under lock and key. For these questions, there could be significant benefit to the scientific community. In areas where the technical work or data analysis informs policy questions, the benefits to consumers could be even greater.
By Nick Feamster, Professor at Princeton University
Related topics: Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation, Privacy
Infostack framework Michael Elling – May 16, 2018 1:39 AM PST
The FCC should be tasked with collecting data to ensure that pricing more or less aligns with marginal costs so that from a societal perspective supply clears demand efficiently. This is accomplished by mandating interconnection as far out and down in the stack as possible and then guiding, not regulating, interconnection agreements. Very quickly horizontally scaled business model will develop (more along the lines of the OSI, not IP stack) with settlements that flow both north-south and east-west. In today's internet there is no settlements flowing east-west and there is a tendency towards monopoly north-south, such as AWS, to maintain an early lead or monopoly in the application layer. So the north-south flow is broken by the lack of east-west settlements.
A referential framework that captures geodensity, network boundaries and traffic flows east-west, along with a network function/protocol stack resembling the OSI model north-south, and finally application/market segment differences along a 3rd vector/axis is referred to as the informational stack, or Infostack: http://bit.ly/142RTFk
Data gathered in such a reference framework could be aggregated, keeping private critical corporate and individual data. Moreover such data should be freely and easily accessible, making the job of the regulator as a monitor and adjudicator should disputes arise that much easier. Of course the regulator would need to develop its own analytical group to maintain objective. But in the process, competitive forces (pricing, rates of investment, technology propagation and duration, capacity utilization, etc...) would be more transparent serving society's goals (primarily market driven universal service) better.
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Keeping IT Industry Developments in Context
Aug 06, 2009 8:08 AM PST
By Bill Thompson
The announcement that Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt is standing down from the Apple board hardly came as a surprise.
Google's Android is already powering smartphones that offer an open alternative to Apple's iPhone, while the recent announcement of plans for Chrome OS, an operating system that will directly challenge Mac OS, makes Google a direct competitor to Apple in its core market.
Apple's recent decision to keep Google Voice out of the iPhone App Store must surely have increased tension on the board, and may have been the last straw.
The move not only annoyed customers, who wanted to take advantage of the single phone number and voice-over-IP calls it offers, but has also invited the attention of the US Federal Communications Commission, which has asked Apple, Google and network provider AT&T to provide it with details of their decision making process.
The ongoing Federal Trade Commission investigation into his position and that of the other joint Apple/Google director, Arthur Levinson, may also have been preying on Schmidt's mind, although it seems the investigation will continue even after his departure.
Schmidt's status on the Apple board may have gone from 'it's complicated' to 'single', but reports that this marks the beginning of all-out war between Google and Apple seem to exaggerate the real importance of the separation, and also to misstate the current state of affairs in the IT industry.
From the inside the competition between Google and Apple, and between either of them and Microsoft, is bitter and intense, as is the rivalry between SAP and ORACLE, two large companies that dominate the corporate computing space but rarely get a mention in more consumer-oriented technology coverage.
But the US-based computing industry is one of the bastions of free market capitalism and we should expect companies to undermine each other, attack each other, use dirty tricks to try to obtain monopolies and ally together in anti-competitive cartels which keep prices up, reduce choice and limit consumer freedom. It's all part of the great game.
Yet even though individual companies are trying to gain market share and the vast riches that will come from having a dominant position in particular sectors of the technology market, they share an ideological commitment to the increased penetration of computer technology in society, to building a world that is completely dependent on the systems, services, tools and hardware they are capable of providing.
That shared ideology is far more significant than the specifics of particular alliances or clashes over certain parts of the market. Google's Chrome OS, for example, is really just a minor adjustment of pieces on the chess board of the modern computing industry, neither a declaration of intent against Microsoft or an attempt to annex GNU/Linux into Google's worldview.
It may perhaps change the way the industry evolves, because the widespread availability of a lightweight network-oriented operating system might give strength to those inside Microsoft working on the company's cloud computing strategy, but that does not affect the larger project of embedding information technology in all aspects of our lives.
The same can be said of the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo!, whereby Microsoft's Bing search engine will power Yahoo! search while Yahoo!'s sales team sell Microsoft online advertising. Sad though it is to see Yahoo! drop out of the search space it does not affect the growing importance of search in our online lives. That will continue to grow whether Google or Bing or some small upstart like Cambridge-based True Knowledge dominates the market in ten years time.
The current state of the IT industry is similar to that of the oil industry in the latter part of the 19th century, when the availability of oil-based products was starting to transform the wider economy in a way that increased the need for and then created a complete dependence on those same products.
We are bootstrapping a new world, one in which information technology and computational systems are as deeply embedded in our society as the scientific method or religious belief seem to be, and the precise names of the gods we worship is less important than our presence in the church of technology.
So we should keep developments in the IT industry in context. Schmidt's departure from Apple is mildly interesting, but matters little compared to the impact that the landfall of the Seacom fibre-optic cable in Kenya will have on the world once access speeds increase, prices fall and reliability increases to the point where connectivity can be assumed there.
Apple, Google and Microsoft are pieces on the chess board, but the board remains no matter how they are moved or which of them is captured, and we should not allow their manoeuverings to distract us from appreciating the game as a whole.
By Bill Thompson, Journalist, Commentator and Technology Critic. Visit the blog maintained by Bill Thompson here.
Related topics: Web
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Edmund C. Moy, Director of United States Mint: Biography, Speeches and Statements
President George W. Bush appointed Edmund C. Moy to the position of Director of the United States Mint in 2006. Director Moy was officially sworn into his five year term on September 5, 2006.
The Mint Director serves as chief officer of the United States Mint and operates under the directions of the Secretary of the Treasury, currently Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
As the 38th Director of the Mint with a term ending in 2011, Moy is in charge of the world’s largest organization that manufacturer coins and medals. (Although the term of Mint Director was not initially set, the Act of Feb. 12, 1873, established a five year term without reappointment restrictions.)
Moy’s responsibilities are significant when it comes to money production. In FY 2005, the United States Mint manufactured more than 15 billion circulating coins, and generated revenue of $1.77 billion that contributed $775 million in earnings to the United States Treasury. In FY 2006, it produced 16.2 billion coins for circulation and contributed another $750 million to the Treasury.
Moy’s Biography: Career prior to the Mint
According to the U.S. Mint website, prior to becoming Director, Mr. Moy was Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel at the White House.
He was responsible for recommending candidates for political appointments by President Bush for U.S. Departments of:
Health and Human Services,
Labor,
Energy, and
the Environmental Protection Agency.
Moy also was responsible for political appointments in independent agencies, including:
The National Endowment for the Arts,
National Mediation Board,
Social Security Administration,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
National Labor Relations Board,
Tennessee Valley Authority, and
the Farm Credit Administration.
Moy served on a panel in the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was responsible for staffing high-ranking positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Also according to the United States Mint’s official biography of Moy, his previous years included:
Between the two Bush administrations: Moy spent eight years working in the private sector with venture capital firms and entrepreneurs. He was also on the board of several companies and nonprofit organizations.
1989 to 1993: Moy was appointed during the President George H. W. Bush administration as Director of the Office of Coordinated Care Policy and Planning at the federal Health Care Financing Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
1979 to 1989: Moy was a sales and marketing executive for Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin.
Moy is a native of Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1979 with majors in economics, international relations and political science.
Speeches and Statements by Mint Director Ed Moy
The following links are shortcuts to several speeches and statements by Director Moy:
Moy Testimony on ‘The State of U.S. Coins and Currency’ – July 2010
Moy Testimony before House for ‘Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008’
Moy’s remarks at the Artistic Infusion Program Symposium in Philadelphia
Director Moy’s presentation at the FIDEM “Art Of The Medal” conference in Colorado Springs
2006 Annual Report: Director Moy’s Letter
March 11, 2008: Moy Testimony before House for ‘Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008’
Chairman Gutierrez, Ranking Member Paul, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me here today. I welcome the opportunity to testify on the “Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008,” H.R. 5512. It is based, in part, on the recommendations of the Treasury Department’s proposal, introduced as H.R. 3330, to reduce the cost of coinage. You are to be commended, Chairman Gutierrez, for your leadership on this matter and for providing an opportunity here today for open, public debate on what the right course of action should be.
Mr. Chairman, as I have met with you and many of your colleagues on this subcommittee to discuss the spiraling costs of our Nation’s coinage, I have heard only support and encouragement to come forward with a solution to address this problem. Portions of this legislation would take a major step toward achieving such a solution. I support it with two specific objections which, if addressed, will ensure that the legislation will not delay or offset the significant savings to our taxpayers that this measure otherwise promises.
Section 3 of H.R. 5512 assigns the responsibility for determining the metal content (“weight and composition”) of all circulating coinage – the one-cent, 5-cent, dime, quarter-dollar, half-dollar and dollar coins to the Secretary of Treasury. This is the approach recommended by the Treasury Department to fairly and efficiently manage the highly technical evaluations of alternative metals using the public process and public protections afforded by the Administrative
Procedures Act.
All other statutory provisions applicable to coinage – denominations, size, required inscriptions and other factors are unaffected. This authority should be employed to anticipate and prepare for a timely change in materials to avoid unnecessary costs borne by the taxpayers. Under current law, we have evaluated alternatives from a cost standpoint, but without more express permission from Congress, we are reluctant to proceed unilaterally to fully evaluate and test alternatives in the production setting and marketplace.
The Department of the Treasury is requesting the ability to determine the metal content of the Nation’s coinage because it would ultimately result in significant taxpayer savings by providing the Department with the flexibility to respond to changing market conditions through an open, fair and deliberative process. Thus, the Department and the United States Mint can support the “Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008,” but only if two specific objections—that I will mention throughout my testimony—are removed or addressed.
Saving Taxpayers Money
Producing lower denomination coins under their face value is now a common problem experienced by mints worldwide, exacerbated in the United States by the higher volume of coins we produce for the American economy. The current situation is unprecedented. Never before in our Nation’s history has the Government spent more money to mint and issue a coin than the coin’s legal tender value.
The rising prices of nickel, copper, and zinc have dramatically increased the costs of producing our Nation’s circulating coinage. The problem we face today is clear, and it is not going away unless we act: some of the coin alloys specified in our current laws are no longer economical for Americans. For instance, in Fiscal Year 2007, it cost 1.67 cents to make each one-cent coin and 9.53 cents to make each five-cent coin.
As a result, with each new penny and nickel we issue, we also increase the national debt by almost as much as the coin is worth, and these losses are rapidly mounting. Current law forces the United States Mint to make coins at a loss to the taxpayer.
However, the Department of the Treasury has decades of proven success in determining the materials for our highest and lowest coin denominations, and now is simply proposing to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars per year by determining the materials for the other coin denominations.
We anticipate that, by changing the compositions of just the 5-cent and one-cent coins to less expensive materials, we can save the Nation up to $30 million for the one-cent coin and up to $70 million for the 5-cent coin. That’s a cumulative annual savings of $100 million without compromising the utility of these coins.
Saves Taxpayer Money Through Increased Flexibility
Our first major objection to H.R. 5512 relates to the provision mandating five years of consecutive losses (as stated in Section 3(c)(1)) because it deprives the United States Mint of needed flexibility to act as quickly as possible to save the taxpayer money.
H.R. 5512 assures that a significant portion of the $782 million in seigniorage we returned to the taxpayer in FY 2007 would be put at risk over time as we helplessly watch our seigniorage evaporate and then become negative for five years before the Secretary can change coinage materials.
This is because section 3(c)(1) prohibits a change in coinage material until the taxpayers have sustained five consecutive years of losses from the respective coin denomination. This guarantees that the taxpayers must suffer losses, when the better course of action is to anticipate and prevent such adverse taxpayer consequences.
Similarly, the five-year loss test in H.R. 5512 also prevents consideration of the benefits of making changes to the materials of all the coins commonly used in vending machines and other coin-operated devices. While our present problem and need is to address only the penny and nickel, the intent of the Treasury proposal is to enable the United States Mint to change the materials used for all denominations, when necessary. That means taxpayers could see a potential savings on all denominations.
It would also minimize the potential impact on the vending and coin handling industries. The problem with the bill we are discussing today, H.R. 5512, is that it addresses one denomination at a time based on the volatility of metal prices. The vending and coin handling industries would potentially have to repeatedly face costly changes denomination by denomination.
The United States Mint is required by law to produce coinage to meet the needs of commerce. In this vein, we need to avoid the inclination to focus on the one-cent and five-cent coins just because their production costs exceed their face values. Rather, we need to consider the relationship of new materials for all of our coins. Regardless of the relationship between production costs and face value, any change in production processes or materials that lowers the cost to produce coinage saves the taxpayer money.
Finally, the five-year loss test in the bill contradicts the view that the Government should take prompt and decisive action to prevent avoidable losses to the taxpayer, rather than sustain years of unrecoverable expenses. The five-year rule significantly restricts the United States Mint’s ability to take advantage of advancements in material technologies to benefit the American taxpayer. We, therefore, cannot support this provision and, accordingly, recommend that you remove section 3(c)(1) from the bill.
Any change that lowers the cost to produce coinage preserves seigniorage and saves the taxpayer money. We need that flexibility to respond whenever appropriate. Thus, delegating authority to the Department of the Treasury without a prescribed period of sustained losses solves the current dilemma of inability to respond to changing metal prices.
Our second objection to H.R. 5512 is the requirement in section 4 that mandates the production of one-cent coins made primarily of steel 180 days after the enactment of this legislation, without first obtaining any public input. It restricts the United States Mint’s flexibility to ascertain and employ the most cost-effective material and production process timeframe.
Although plated steel appears to have merit as a viable low-cost alternative, this has not been proven. Mandating a primarily steel penny eliminates any consideration of other alternatives that may prove more cost effective, either now or in the near future. Furthermore, requiring the use of steel exposes the United States Mint to the same vulnerability of volatile metal prices that we currently experience.
The Canadian example of a similar coin cited in H.R. 5512 does not reveal that Canada has the flexibility to change back and forth between orders for its traditional zinc penny and the steel penny based on the prevailing cost and availability of these metals. This flexibility, interchangeability, and co-circulation are all essential factors to manage costs and to be able to reliably supply the necessary volumes this denomination requires.
However, if a steel penny is mandated, there are practical considerations that make this mandate imprudent. Because steel is significantly harder than zinc, die life is a major factor that will determine whether appreciable cost reductions can even be achieved. It would make little sense to reduce the cost of materials used in the penny, only to have the manufacturing costs of producing replacement dies for the penny increase dramatically with no ultimate benefit to the taxpayer.
The United States Mint anticipates a reasonable timeframe to make these critical decisions to be 18 to 24 months to properly implement this mandate and do our part to bring a penny made primarily of steel to the marketplace. This includes engaging in an open process to gather suggestions from the public that should take about two months.
We estimate needing three to five months to be able to determine specifications for a cost effective copper-plated steel penny blank that has a potential of reducing the cost of that denomination. Potential vendors supplying penny blanks to the United States Mint will need up to a year and a half or more to make the arrangements to procure steel feedstock and make investments in machinery necessary to be fully capable of producing penny blanks at the capacity required by the United States Mint.
An open, competitive procurement process can take about two months to complete. If the change is
required within 180 days, production of pennies will be limited to the capacity level of the blanks supplier at that time. This reduced production capacity will potentially result in a coin shortage.
Prescription of exact material and production timeframe denies flexibility, interchangeability and co-circulation, which are all essential to the United States Mint’s maximizing cost savings for the taxpayer.
Therefore, we cannot support the provision that summarily mandates conversion to a steel-plated penny and, accordingly, recommend that you remove section 4 from the bill.
Congressional Precedent Exists for Delegating the Authority to Select Coinage Materials to the Department of the Treasury.
I want to stress that delegating the authority to test and select alternative materials to the Secretary of Treasury is a sound, legal, and proven approach to determining the composition of our Nation’s coinage. Do not be swayed by some critics who have raised concerns that it would be unprecedented or unconstitutional because it would cede Congress’s authority to decide the weight and composition of circulating coins to the United States Mint.
Twice in the last 50 years, the Government took action to protect our taxpayers from needlessly bearing the increased costs of coinage materials. In 1965, as the value of silver climbed because of industrial demand, Congress approved a change in the composition of the dime, quarter-dollar, and half-dollar coins from silver to cupro-nickel clad. Similarly, in 1974, Congress granted to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to vary the copper-zinc alloy of the one-cent coin.
After several years of rising copper prices, again because of industrial demand, the Secretary exercised this authority in 1982, changing the alloys in the one-cent coin to its present composition of copper-plated zinc. So, history and economic reality tell us why we are in the current situation, and also tell us that it will recur in the future if we fail to act. That is why we seek a durable solution that will substantially reduce the cost our citizens must pay for the Nation’s coinage now and in the future.
Congress has already delegated the authority to select the composition of some coins to the Department of the Treasury and the United States Mint. We have capably coined and regulated money under laws passed by Congress since 1792. Most recently, just 11 years ago, Congress passed the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997, which granted to the Secretary of the Treasury the sole discretion to select the materials for the $1 coin. Thus, the Department’s current proposal builds on these precedents established by Congress. Indeed, it does no more and no less than the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997 did for the $1 coin.
Saves Taxpayer Money Through Open, Fair, and Deliberative Process
By delegating the authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to select circulating coinage compositions, Congress can be assured such changes will be made effectively. The United States Mint would accomplish these changes by employing an open, public process to determine new coinage materials.
Specifically, we will seek public and industry comment to ensure consideration of all factors relevant to the acceptability of new coinage materials, including physical, chemical, metallurgical and technical characteristics; material, fabrication, minting, and distribution costs; material availability, sources of raw materials, and environmental impact; coinability; durability; effects on sorting, handling, packaging and vending machines; appearance; resistance to counterfeiting; and commercial and public acceptance.
Once the agency has a comprehensive inventory of these factors and their relative significance, the United States Mint would then employ an objective, competitive, and public process to solicit and evaluate proposals for new coinage materials.
Circumventing such a process prior to changing the composition of the one-cent coin not only belies the Treasury proposal’s intent to use an open and public process to select all coinage materials, but also is inconsistent with the process that is outlined in section 3(a) of this bill.
Together, as we consider alternative metals for our Nation’s coinage, I want to stress our strong preference for engaging in the open deliberative process set out in Section (3)(a), that provides for public input, as well as an opportunity to test available options and fully evaluate the alternatives; this applies to the penny no less than the other denominations.
This process will allow us to address the following three central issues: continuing volatility of metal prices, coin material uniformity and use among denominations, and providing taxpayers the best result for their investment in coinage.
The Department of the Treasury and United States Mint support H.R. 5512, but only if the objectionable provisions are removed or addressed. We are then prepared to implement this legislation as expeditiously as possible. Our intent is to enable the United States Mint to be pro-active, versus reactive, in efficiently serving the American public in making the Nation’s coinage.
Due to the volatile nature of metal prices, the taxpayer will be better served by a nimble, flexible United States Mint which can address the problem in its entirety, not piecemeal.
We want to get this done right, and we know that the Congress, the public, and the many stakeholder industries and interests share that view and want to contribute their expertise and perspective. We expect, and welcome, your subcommittee’s oversight at every step in this process.
We appreciate your attention to this issue. I hope that the Committee will consider the improvements I have suggested; they will help ensure that that we achieve a result that will serve the best interests of the country.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the time you have provided me today.
March 20, 2008: Moy’s remarks at the Artistic Infusion Program Symposium in Philadelphia
It’s great to be here with you today to talk about the future of American coinage and answer any questions you have for me. I’m also interested in hearing what you think of this year’s symposium so far. This is the first time we have offered our AIP participants some in-depth workshops on the process of rendering artistic expression into beautifully designed coins.
This is part of my focus on achieving design excellence — consistently beautiful coins that are the highest expression of American heritage.
Will the world look back 100 years from now and declare it to be the unsurpassed Golden Age of American coin and medal design? This is the challenge I put before you today. I have directed a number of steps in order to achieve design excellence.
Step 1 – We made it a permanent part of who we are in the United States Mint’s mission statement: The men and women of the United States Mint serve the nation by exclusively and efficiently creating the highest quality, most beautiful and inspiring coins and medals that enable commerce, reflect American values, advance artistic excellence, educate the public by commemorating people, places and events and fulfill retail demand for coins.
Step 2 – We made it an integral part of where we are going, via the United States Mint’s vision statement: "To embody the American spirit through the creation of our nation’s coins and medals." We made it integral by making it one of the United States Mint’s five key strategic goals – Goal No. 3 – Achieving greater excellence in coin and medal design.
Step 3 – I made a public statement at the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress in September, an international announcement to the world community of numismatists that I expect the United States Mint to lead the world in a neo-renaissance of coin design.
Step 4 – We have formed a Design Excellence Working Group made up of a representative from the director’s office, the associate director of sales and marketing and the associate director of manufacturing. This group is developing a white paper on what measures we should take to achieve a neo-renaissance in coin and medal design at the United States Mint.
Step 5 – We are addressing the past so we can focus on the future, via the Ultra High Relief Project.
The 1907 Saint-Gaudens Liberty $20 Gold Piece (known popularly as the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle) has come to signify great art and great American coin art. In 2009, the United States Mint will re-create the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle in Ultra High Relief, 27 millimeters in diameter with Roman Numerals, extremely close in design to the original 1907 gold piece. Americans will want to own this coin not only for its very high relief but also for its rare beauty and history.
Everyone is always comparing new coins to the iconic coins of the Golden Age of American coin design, especially Saint-Gaudens. So we are haunted by the constant reminder of one of the United States Mint’s greatest disappointments — when we could not deliver on Saint-Gaudens’ vision of Ultra High Relief and had to compromise art for production.
We have the technology now that we didn’t have in 1907. So I have laid down this new challenge for the beginning of this new century, to take up the vision of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and the art of Ultra High Relief one more time, and this time finish what was started in 1907.
We will make a few bows to modernity: The coins will bear the revised date in Roman numerals in 2009. We will use the same font and location of "In God We Trust" from the 1908 Double Eagle on the new coin’s reverse. Modern equipment also may create a slightly raised edge. By producing an Ultra High Relief Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, we will put our design past to rest so we can concentrate our focus on our design future.
Here are the five principles for the Neo-Renaissance of coin design:
1. Our coins and medals shall look American.
Since I became Director, I have reflected seriously on what makes coins "American." My friend Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, lectured last year on the subject of American Art and the American Spirit while in Shanghai. He studied three groups of art from early America, the Civil War era and the 20th century, which he believes embody the American spirit. Great art from each of these periods varies greatly in style and composition, yet each expresses the same things about the United States as a civilization:
America’s democratic character – its preference for simplicity, its ideal of equality.
The importance we place on freedom.
Our admiration for our greatest leaders – who are noble but humble (Alexander Gardner’s photo of Abraham Lincoln).
The struggle to be as great as our principles (Martin Puryear’s sculpture "Ladder for Booker T. Washington").
The never-ending drama of the "American experiment."
The courage, determination, and sacrifice required by those who have defended America’s founding principles ("Washington Crossing the Delaware").
The strength of character Americans believe is essential to upholding and realizing our ideals.
Our work on the Little Rock Central High School Desegregation Silver Dollar is very American art. It shows our democratic character, our struggle to improve our society, and the never-ending drama of the American experiment, yet it is able to depict its living participants so well, they can identify themselves without seeing a portrait.
2. Our coins and medals shall reflect the artistic period they were created in.
This winter, the associate directors for manufacturing, and sales and marketing and I visited three mints in Europe. We visited La Monnaie de Paris (the French Mint), which has produced the best art medals ever minted. We also visited the medallic art school connected to the Italian Mint and the Vatican for its history of minting medals for the popes.
French and Italian medals reflect the character and nature of the country that struck them. They reflect something of the age in which they were made – baroque, art deco and modern. You can immediately distinguish between an Italian art deco and a French art deco coin or medal.
Our goal is to have American coins instantly recognizable for their origin and era in the same way that European coins are. The forward-facing portrait of Thomas Jefferson on our Westward Journey Nickel Series is a great example. Not only was this the first time a forward facing portrait was done on a circulating coin, it was also symbolic of Jefferson’s forward facing policy of westward expansion.
3. Our coins and medals shall tell a story.
The main reason why I think the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle was such an iconic coin was that it told the story of an America at the beginning of the 20th century. Liberty strides confidently and powerfully forward in a Greco-Roman inspired gown away from the U.S. Capitol in the background, with a torch to light the way in her front hand and an olive branch in her back hand.
The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle demonstrates that liberty is central to the American spirit, has its roots in Greek and Roman civilization, is beautiful and attractive to all and, having been established in America, is marching forward into the world. Wherever Liberty goes – when preceded by God or knowledge – peace and victory follow.
On the reverse, a young eagle flies during a sunrise. This is America, young and strong, in its ascendancy with a bright future before it.
Let’s not over-rely on portraiture. When we have to do it, let’s tell a story, too, and not make it a photographic image. When we don’t have to do a portrait, let’s not do one. Have we moved too far toward realism vs. artistic creativity and what makes coins American? I believe we have.
Our Congressional gold medal honoring the Tuskegee Airmen does exactly this. There is symmetry between the three pilots in profile on the obverse and the three planes used on the reverse.
4. Our coins and medals shall advance our craft.
Let’s have the United States become known as an innovator. Where we have flexibility, let’s explore allegory. Let’s allow our design dreams to push our technological abilities to the cutting edge. If low relief is not required, let’s explore using relief as part of our artistic expression. We have unlimited design opportunities with our 24-karat gold and our platinum coins. Let us not waste those opportunities.
5. Our coins and medals shall be beautiful.
Our canvas is small and circular but uncommon beauty can exist in any size and shape. Will our coins and medals be favorably compared with the Italian Renaissance, whose designs were considered the pinnacle of medallic design, so much so that they inspired Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create the Eagle and Double Eagle?
The designs of the best Renaissance medals were simple and well-executed, and spoke volumes. They were proportionate to the size of the medal and designed to maximize their circular nature.
I am the 38th Mint Director and my goal is that the 57th Mint Director in the 22nd century will want to recreate the Neo-Renaissance in coin design that began with us. I want to surpass the Golden Age of coin design which began at the start of the 20th century. If the 20th century continues to be called the Golden Age, I want the 21st century to be known as the "Platinum Age" of coinage. That is my charge to you.
September 19, 2007: Director Moy’s presentation at the FIDEM “Art Of The Medal” conference in Colorado Springs
Thank you, Ken, and good morning everyone. I am delighted to be here and want to begin by congratulating FIDEM, its President Carlos Baptista de Silva, and its Honorary President Lars Lagerquist on the 70th Anniversary of FIDEM and the 30th Anniversary of the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress.
I also want to say thank you to the ANA and its President Barry Stuppler for hosting this event and inviting me to participate. The United States Mint has enjoyed an excellent relationship with the American Numismatic Association for many years and is delighted to take part in the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress. This is my second visit to the ANA museum, and I am looking forward to attending the FIDEM show there and seeing your theme, Passages to Reconstruction, carried out in many beautiful medallic sculptures on display.
As the 38th Director of the United States Mint, I’d like to say “welcome” to all the artists from other nations around the world as well as to our American medallic artists, including Don Everhart and Jim Licaretz of the United States Mint. I also wanted to say a special hello to Don Scarinci, who serves on our Citizens Coin Advisory Commission. I have read Don’s treatise on arts medals and for those who will attend his seminar, you are in for a special treat.
I have been Director for more than a year now and am enjoying every aspect of it.
On a personal level, it has been wonderful to have my father stop complaining about my not going to medical school. Now he can brag to his friends that his son “finally has a job where he makes a lot of money.” And of course, my Chinese friends have renamed me from Moy Goon Fong to “Moy Ca-Ching.” My really hip friends have taken that a step further – “Moy Bling Bling.”
Inspiring Excellence
I accepted this invitation because I wanted to talk to you about my ambitions and goals for coin and medal design at the United States Mint. First, I want and intend to spark a Neo-Renaissance of coin design and achieve a new level of design excellence that will be sustained long after my term expires. I believe design excellence at the United States Mint is something medallic artists and your organization can influence. Second, I want you to know the first steps that we are taking to make vision into reality. Finally, I want to invite you to contribute to our efforts to create a renaissance in coin design.
A Strategic Vision for the United States Mint
America’s coins and medals should be beautiful and meaningful though they will never be art for art’s sake. My first strategic plan for the United States Mint is almost complete and our vision (idealized final state) for the United States Mint is “to embody the American spirit through the creation of our nation’s coins and medals.” One of our five goals is to “achieve greater excellence in coin and medal design.”
Few things are more personal than currency – it is part of what defines America. That’s what Saint-Gaudens illustrated so well – his 1907 Double Eagle says so much about the U.S. at the turn of the century and what it aspired to be.
The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is a sculpture executed on a small circular surface. On the obverse, Saint-Gaudens shows us Liberty, personified by a beautiful woman striding powerfully forward wearing a Greco-Roman gown, leading the way with a torch in her front hand and an olive branch in the back hand. From this design we intuit that liberty is central to the American spirit, has its roots in Greek and Roman philosophy, is beautiful and attractive to all, and wherever Liberty goes, when preceded by God, peace follows.
On the reverse is a young eagle flying during a sun rise. This is America, young and strong, in its ascendancy with a bright future before it. An artistic triumph, the coin succeeds because it so completely embodies the American spirit of the age.
From my perspective, that is what makes a coin produced in the U.S. great: truly American, capturing our national psyche, and a stunning piece of art. My dream and hope is that there will be a new renaissance in American coin and medal design at the beginning of this new millennium and that the world will reflect back 100 years from now and say that the beginning of the 20th century was great, but the 21st century was even better.
The Artistic Infusion Program (AIP)
We have begun taking some small steps toward our vision. The United States Mint began a program in 2004 called the Artistic Infusion Program, AIP for short, intended to shake things up and bring new energy to coin design at the United States Mint. Several hundred applications were accepted from artists representing a broad spectrum of mediums including painting, sculpture, graphic design and drawing and illustration.
In the first class we had 24 artists who worked on designs for the Westward Journey Nickel Series” and 50 State Quarters® Program. In 2005, we added some designers to the class and had them submit designs for a wide range of coins – a nickel, quarters, the American Eagle Platinum Coin program and the Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative coins.
The 2007 class has seven Master designers, seven Associates and four students and they are being invited to submit designs on an ever wider range of coins and medals. To date, AIP artists have won 33 of 53 commissions and have brought new ideas and vitality to our artistic efforts.
When I became Director, I wanted to inspire all of these artists–the current class of Artistic Infusion Program artists and the sculptor/engravers who are employees of the United States Mint. All the artists were invited to submit designs for the First Spouse coins and medals, the companion series to the Presidential $1 Coin Program. So I took them to the White House to look at the First Ladies’ portraits first hand. I wanted them to see original source material and the White House is the largest repository of First Lady portraits.
I took them to the National Gallery of Art where a friend of mine is a curator of Italian Renaissance Art and whose doctoral dissertation was on Renaissance medals. She led a private tour to look at the collections, both on display and in storage. Because Saint-Gaudens was so inspired by the classicism, balance, and proportion of Renaissance medals, I wanted our artists to see first hand what the fuss was all about.
I also took everyone to the State Department where one of the Nation’s best collections of early American decorative art resides. We took a look at the diplomatic reception rooms – which were richly paneled with moldings from several historic homes. They contained a set of Paul Revere’s silver and housed the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
What’s Good About Current Coin Design
What’s good about current coin and medal design at the United States Mint? We do a good job of commemorating people, places and events – our country’s history and culture–and we keep getting better at it. Our best work establishes an emotional connection: The Norman Borlaug and Tuskegee Airmen Congressional Gold Medal obverses have received praise. Both are by Phebe Hemphill, one of our newer sculptor/engravers, who is capturing the essence of the person or event as well as the image.
AIP artist Richard Masters’ gave us a wonderful evocation of the walk of nine black teenagers into segregated Central High School on the Little Rock Central High Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Silver Dollar obverse. Don Everhart’s Statue of Liberty design–the reverse on the entire Presidential $1 Coin series–is another example of exemplifying the American spirit.
And using the Statue of Liberty on the reverse was a creative way to make sure that liberty was on the coin, in symbol if not in word. His Dolley Madison First Spouse obverse also captures the energy of James Madison’s vivacious wife. These are a just a few examples of how overall our designs are improving.
We are also proud of the result of interesting design innovations like the forward-facing Jefferson nickel, so appropriate in showing a forward thinking president who had the foresight to expand our country westward through the Louisiana Purchase. And importantly, breaking from the tradition of using a profile, a forward-facing subject brings a 21st century perspective to an historic era. We are raising the bar of what we will and won’t except. We’ve redefined our aesthetic standards upwards, employing digital engraving and encouraging free form.
Annually, we are designing two commemorative coins or coin series which authorize surcharge funds for organizations – the commemoratives provide some flexibility within the preferences of the recipient organizations. Three rotating design coin programs offer varying degrees of design flexibility:
The five annual state quarters are, generally speaking, up to the states. They give us five themes in narrative form, we produce designs and then the Governor recommends a finalist. Then the Secretary of the Treasury approves that choice.
The four coins in the Presidential $1 Coin Series to be produced annually through at least 2016 call for portraits of the Presidents, and our Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee is rightly insisting those portraits be of the Presidents at the same age as when they held office.
The four First Spouse Coins and medals have to be portraits on the obverse but offer some flexibility on the reversebut the design needs to be emblematic of the life and work of the First Spouse.
We are nearly always carrying out special coin legislation. Currently, it is the new Lincoln Penny four-coin series for 2009 to commemorate various stages of Lincoln’s life on the 200th anniversary of his birth. There is variety in these Congressional commissions but not a lot of flexibility.
Congressional Gold Medals offer the most flexibility in terms of relief, if not subject matter. The Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal will be unveiled in mid-October, and we think the obverse by Don Everhart captures the peace and joy of the 14th Dalai Lama’s personality. The reverse inscription is the work of Joseph Menna, a medallic sculptor who is also our number one digital engraving expert.
Design Excellence Despite Constraints
For rotating designs, one-of-a-kind medals and circulating coins, we possess good everyday skills, well above functionality and getting better all the time.
We are not yet at the highest point of our reach in medal or coin design. Of course, there are considerable constraints – for instance when Congress mandated the first American 24-karat gold coins in 1996, they also dictated the design – the James Earle Fraser buffalo and Indian head design from 1906. It’s a beautiful design but leaves no room to grow from the experience and strive for new excellence.
Despite these constraints, wherever the United States Mint maintains flexibility, I want to spark a new awakening of excellence in coin design, and embody the American spirit in new and renewed allegorical or iconic symbolism. The 24K gold coin and bullion program is a golden opportunity for this. After the first year, the 24K gold coins and platinum designs are not dictated by Congress.
Another opportunity is in my own Mint Director’s medal. I have been bombarding Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti with ideas. I have been impressed with the great sculptor Frederick Hart, whose most famous work is Ex Nihilo, Maquette, which graces the National Cathedral’s west façade. His work is modern yet classical, allegorical yet approachable. So one idea I have shared with John and his team is to have an incomplete portrait of me on the obverse. I do not feel that God is finished, and I know I am far from perfect. My portrait should reflect that.
For my reverse, some of the ideas that I have shared include a modern rendition of Lady Liberty to represent the era during which I served as United States Mint Director. This modern rendition would feature liberty, personified by a beautiful woman, but more multi-ethnic in character because today, liberty is not a Caucasian concept. And compared to Saint-Gauden’s vision, I would put Lady Liberty on a diet and make her more muscular as liberty at the beginning of the 21st century has a much more muscular and forceful presence in the world. And because I serve a President who believes that liberty is God’s gift to the world and not just western civilization, I recommended a wardrobe change to a gown that was less Greco-Roman and more minimalist. Because the Director’s medal has fewer statutory constraints than our circulation coins, I would like to see higher relief, so it becomes more like an arts medal and less like a big circulating coin.
Near-Term Opportunities for Great Design
In recent American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin designs, allegorical figures have made a welcome return to American coinage with reverses representing the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The next American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin designs will focus on America’s founding documentsthe Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The goal is not to show the documents themselves but to evoke iconic images of the intelligence and spirit of the Americans who created them and the values that sustain those documents today. Some of the opportunities we have in the near-term to raise the bar of design excellence in American coinage and medallic art include Congressional Gold Medals, national medals and the 2008 American Bald Eagle commemorative – celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act – which will show the evolution of the eagle from hatchling to adult.
Invitation to American Medallic Artists
Of course, the bar that was set by Saint-Gaudens and others in the early 20th century is very high and hard to reach. But by assembling the right talent, providing the right inspiration, communicating American values and evoking the American spirit, we can spur a Neo-Renaissance in American coin design. We will allow the golden age of coin design to inspire and guide us but the future is not in recreating the past. It is in striving to uniquely capture the start of a NEW millennium.
Within natural constraints, I intend to lead the United States Mint to create the best, most beautiful coins and medals in the world, and some of the finest in history. At the next call for artists in the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, I invite you to apply and help us take coin and medal design to the next level.
Again, my congratulations to you and to FIDEM on your history of achievement in medallic artistry. Thank you for inviting me to open the 30th Art Medals World Congress.
Dear Collectors, Customers and Colleagues,
In the closing month of Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, I had the honor of being sworn in as the 38th Director of the United States Mint. I am both pleased and fortunate to begin my tenure at the helm of a venerable, 214-year old American institution that is widely recognized as the world’s premier manufacturer of coins. While the United States Mint has a long and rich history, let me assure you that we are also strongly positioned to fulfill the needs of the nation now and in the future.
During FY 2006, we focused our efforts on three key areas —revenue growth, increased efficiency, and commitment to our employees. I am proud to report to you that we made progress in each of these areas. Key achievements for the year included:
Transferring $750 million to the Treasury General Fund;
Producing 16.2 billion coins for circulation;
Serving the needs of our collectors by launching several exciting new products and recording $1.04 billion in numismatic sales;
Improving our efficiency by transferring some human resource, procurement and e-travel functions and setting the stage for transferring some transactional activities in accounting to a Center of Excellence shared service provider —the Administrative Resource Center of the Bureau of the Public Debt;
Increasing the safety of the work environment for our employees by reducing lost-time accidents by 22 percent;
Achieving a top ranking in the American Customer Satisfaction Survey for the seventh consecutive year.
We are also very proud of the new products we launched in FY 2006. The beautiful designs and expert work-man ship were extremely well received by the public, a testament to the care and dedication of all United States Mint employees. The new products included:
The 24-Karat American Buffalo Gold Coin —the first pure gold coin ever produced by the United States Mint;
American Eagle Anniversary Sets —gold and silver coin sets celebrating the 20th anniversary of the American Eagle Coin Program;
The 50 State Quarters®Program coins for West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado and North Dakota;
The last 5-cent coin in the Westward Journey Nickel Series™ —“Return to Monticello”; and
The Benjamin Franklin Commemorative Silver Dollars honoring the tercentenary of the birth of one of our nation’s founding fathers.
FY 2006 was not without its challenges — by the fourth quarter, steeply rising metal prices had pushed the cost of manufacturing the one-cent and 5-cent coins above face value. Although circulating coin production actually increased over the previous year, there remains continuing uncertainty on future demand levels for circulating coinage. FY 2006 also heralded the beginning of an organization-wide restructuring effort to reorient our workforce to the business requirements of the future and refocus on mission-critical objectives.
We will be facing these challenges for some years into the future, and we remain fully committed to fulfilling our mission to the nation. We will continue our efforts to modernize our coin production materials and technology; increase the flexibility and future capability of our workforce; and respond to the opportunities presented to greatly expand our numismatic business.
We look forward to a busy and exciting FY 2007 at the United States Mint as we prepare for the launch of five new 50 States Quarters coins; commemorative coins honoring the San Francisco Old Mint, the Jamestown 400th Anniversary, and the Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 50th Anniversary;and new products authorized by the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.
These include circulating $1 coins honoring the Presidents of the United States, featuring four coins each year minted in the order that they served. The year 2007 will feature Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison. The Act also authorizes the mintage of complementary gold bullion coins and bronze medals honoring the spouses of the presidents.
Our FY 2006 successes included continuing to meet the demands for circulating coinage, delivering beautiful products to our customers, and achieving exceptional results for the American people. These successes are a result of the outstanding contributions of our workforce. We stand ready to provide the nation with an even stronger FY 2007.
Edmund C. Moy
Director United States Mint
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Posted on January 31, 2016 January 31, 2016 by esonnenberg
Collaboration through reinterpretation
Hi all! I’m Eric, and I’m in my second and (knock on wood) final year in the MLS program, focusing primarily on archives and special collections. Like many of you, my background is not in libraries; I got my undergrad in English and then worked for several years in international education and development. I’m currently working on a metadata-focused project in the University Archives at UMBC, and a digitization project at UMD’s Special Collections in Performing Arts. My interests in this field are broad but I ideally hope to work with arts-related materials (in particular music or film), and am interested in the digital humanities in general, so I was excited to hear about this course.
This week’s readings were a great overview of the challenges involved in digital and new media arts preservation. Re-Collection in particular raised intriguing questions in each chapter. I appreciated that the readings overall covered the gamut from detailing current preservation problems, to discussing the issues involved on a more theoretical level, to reviewing individual case studies and detailing efforts to create more standardized guidelines to assist preservationists. Anchoring the big theoretical questions in specific real-world examples and institutions helped to connect the readings to the work I’m doing now, and the materials and institutions I hope to be involved with in the future.
The case studies in Re-Collection and the Fino-Radin article, however, also show how dauntingly complex these issues can quickly become when you get down to the details of a specific work. While I’m interested in the possibilities of emulation, the sheer number of different technical formats seems to make it inevitable that many of these works will be impossible to save in their original form, so I was particularly inspired by the reinterpretation section of Ippolito and Rinehart’s four preservation techniques.
I found the concepts for new media metadata formats intriguing, in particular Rinehart’s proposals for a “score” for new media artworks. The comparisons to musical notation (which also came up in the Smithsonian survey interviews), as well as the links to preservation issues for other performance-based art forms like dance and theater, are great examples of how reinterpretation can work as a method of preservation. I think this avenue is particularly exciting because it offers not just an opportunity to better preserve the work for future generations, but also to encourage the development of new art both now and in the future by making these works available for use and reinterpretation by other artists. The potential ability of cultural institutions to facilitate this dynamic opens up possibilities to connect libraries, archives, and museums to communities of artists and fans in a richer and more collaborative way. Looking forward to exploring all this more during the course!
2 Replies to “Collaboration through reinterpretation”
bham says:
Eric – like you I also enjoyed the comparisons of new media artworks to musical scores and performances. I think it highlights the two integral parts of a new framework when it comes to preserving new media artworks: the artworks themselves and the technology used to preserve it. Both of these aspects can be perceived in continuously changing ways. For instance, viewing the artwork as a comprehensive performance encompasses the single instances the work was “performed” or viewed, the conceptual motives driving the artwork, and the physical media used for the work. Looking at the metadata as a musical score involves thinking about the various aspects of the work and leaving behind the best blueprint to recreate or reinterpret that work. Additionally, thinking about the various technologies used for that media and how to best preserve those technologies and the context surrounding their use for the future can be a complex process – not just keeping the hardware in storage, but using the different methods suggested in the readings such as emulation, migration, and reinterpretation. This is why I think thinking of the works as performances encourages us to “meet the work on its own terms” (like the Smithsonian interviews suggest) when it comes to its preservation.
aerogers says:
Perhaps I’m too optimistic in my views of what scripters/coders have the time and ability to do, but I think that emulation stands perhaps a better chance than one might think, even in wake of the number of scripts and technologies (and there are a lot)! Thinking back to Koebler’s article from last week, Mozilla and Google were working to make sure that Flash files could be played in browsers moving forward, effectively emulating the SWFs using Javascript and HTML5. It’s interesting, as a gamer, to talk about emulation as a way of preserving things; that comment in the book was what really had me thinking about the functionality of the things we curate.
I think the metadata section pairs nicely here; while getting artists to use such formats might be challenging at first, I think that certain things might push creators to move towards collecting such information– for instance, SEO (search engine optimization) is certainly on the minds of people who work on the internet, and if Google is more able to “read” such metadata (and I think this would be the case), then people would be more likely to use these systems. AND, if people use metadata like a score, it would hopefully lead to easier emulation down the line, as specific technologies change, but there would still be some underlying scripts that would remain constant.
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Home→Board of Directors→Meet Your Board→Jonathan Palmer
Director of Communications and External Relationships
Jonathan Palmer (a.k.a. JP) was appointed to the Board of Directors for the newly created Communications and External Relationships Division (formerly Data Transmissions, formerly Membership Communications), and later was elected to the position. In this capacity as Director, he oversees public relations and marketing efforts, including the WebTeam, Social Media, Photography, Creative Services, Advertising, and Publications Departments.
JP attended his first CONvergence in 2010, and promptly fell down the rabbit hole in love with CVG. In 2011, h began volunteering as the Subhead of Artist Alley, staying in that position until taking over as Co-Head of Dealer’s Room in 2015.
Aside from an extensive collection of superhero posters, props and colognes, JP has over 20 years experience in public and nonprofit management. He has worked in the nonprofit, public and private sectors and bring experience and networks from all three. From managing a $27M federal program to an 86 year old historic nonprofit organization, his experience and networks in fundraising, government relations, and public relations will help support CONvergence and the great work it does.
In his own words, he has lofty ideals, but is committed to purpose. When he plays, he plays hard. When he works, he doesn’t “play at all”.
Favorite Quote: “If you will practice being fictional for awhile, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.” — Richard Bach, Illusions
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Rationalize that!
If I could take one word back from the English language, change its common meaning without anyone noticing, it would be: rationalize.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's cool that English words evolve over time, even when it's due to error. (Hey, that's how evolution works, right?) I don't mind that it's now OK to say literally when you mean figuratively or nonplussed when you mean unperturbed. I don't even really care about the plundering of philosophical terms like begs the question, which now means something completely different in the vernacular (raises the question) than it does when we use it in informal logic (takes for granted the point at issue).
But rationalize? Come on. Certainly the obvious and intuitive meaning of rationalize is: to make more rational. But today the term has come to mean almost exclusively the opposite: to make something appear rational, when it is not. Dude, you know this is bullshit, you're just rationalizing.
Well, before I explain why I really find this meaning irritating, I have to admit that it isn't quite as perverse as I make out. The suffix 'ize' means 'to cause to be or be like'. And, of course, once you dance into the semantic cloud of similarity and appearance, it is a small step from 'be like' to 'seem like.' Still, while the word rational isn't the only term to suffer izing in this way (moralize, criminalize, glamorize), it's worth noting that the vast majority of words that endinize do not experience this reversal of meaning.
OK, so what particularly bothers me about the ordinary meaning of the term is this: absent it's negative connotation, rationalization would be the absolutely best word in the English language for describing what philosophers are generally up to. The aim of philosophy is just to make the world a more rational place. We examine systems of thought (scientific, religious, moral, aesthetic, legal, political, etc.) and we try to make them more reason friendly.
Take normative ethics. What's up with that? Well, basically we have a bunch of different ways of thinking about morality which often produce contradictory moral judgments. Philosophers are trying to rationalize the conceptual framework of ethics, so that competent users will more often arrive at the same answers to the same questions.
Or pick a topic in metaphysics, say free will. Here we have a term in wide use, one that seems to be critical to our ascriptions of moral responsibility, but for which the most common meaning involves the attribution of supernatural abilities to human beings. Since we have fairly recently learned that humans are not supernatural beings, but exceedingly clever apes, we need to figure out how to rationalize the concept of free will; we need to make it compatible with what we know to be our true cognitive and behavioral capacities.
Or take my favorite area, philosophy of science. Within almost every scientific discipline there are tribes that disagree with each other, not just about empirical matters, but about terms and concepts. Physicists mostly agree about how to take measurements, but they do not agree about what a measurement is. Biologists all agree that species evolve, but they do not agree about what a species is. Economists agree that they study the behavior of agents under conditions of scarcity, but they do not agree what an agent is. Science is still remarkably under rationalized.
Note, when I say it's the business of philosophy to rationalize conceptual frameworks, I don't mean that this is always a necessary or useful thing to do. The world benefits a great deal from people thinking differently about things, and part of what makes this possible is under rationalization. In a prematurely rationalized system, everyone is on the same page, but it is the wrong page, and we can no longer turn it.
So is this just a rant, or is there any realistic hope of retrieving the word rationalize and purging it of its overwhelmingly negative connotations? I think there is a ray of hope. Today it is increasingly common to speak of the goal of rationalizing industries. This is a term of art from economics. It describes the aim of eliminating inefficiency, the friction that impedes smooth commerce. It is particularly descriptive of the aims of the knowledge economy, which focuses on eliminating barriers to effective communication. Everyone knows that it is fantastically easier today to make appointments, purchases, travel arrangements and financial transactions than ever before. Economists say that this is because these processes have all been rationalized to a significant degree.
Why not summon this use of the term back into common usage?
Dude, why is instant replay being used so much more in sports these days to review the calls of umpires and referees? Well, clearly, they are rationalizing the officiating process. You say that like it's a good thing. Well, of course it is, you want to get the call right don't you? I don't know, I kind of like the human element, maybe we're over rationalizing?
Did you hear they've eliminated toll booths on the Golden Gate Bridge? Yeah, it's cool. They're really starting to rationalize highway transportation. Can't wait for robot cars. Ick, not me. I really like traffic jams and car crashes. Keeps life interesting you know?
Hey, do you use Venmo? Oh, hell yes, it's awesome! Totally rationalizes payback. Get it. Oh, I don't know. I don't think I want payback rationalized. I like the old days when you could bum money and then just, like, forget about it.
So talk like this from now on, I beseech you. Do your part to cleanse rationalization of its contronymity! Of course, I know this won't appeal to everyone, especially those who like to think of philosophy as having more profound aims than making our reasoning spaces more user friendly. But once rationalization has come to mean something good again, there's nothing preventing us from running with it. Deep rationalization, anyone?
G. Randolph Mayes
Emrys May 19, 2014 at 5:08 PM
Nice reflection. Contronyms are peculiar; you'd think they'd be selected out in the course of linguistic evolution. The fact that they aren't shows that evolution isn't always a rationalizing process. The term 'rationalization' is unusual in that both senses were made popular by theoreticians. Max Weber (and perhaps Marx before him) talked about the rationalization of society as a key part of modernization. Freud talked about patients rationalizing neurotic behaviour.
G. Randolph Mayes May 19, 2014 at 7:03 PM
Nice point Emrys. Or maybe contronyms actually provide that little bit of slop in the system we need to protect it from crystallizing into an over rationalized framework.
Kyle Swan May 19, 2014 at 10:13 PM
Awesome. I love rationalizing. But you forgot to suggest a replacement for, e.g., the awful casuistry that often goes on in ethics. Wait, oops, there isn't anything necessarily illicit about doing one's moral reasoning from cases. Should we bring back 'sophistry' to refer to all the bad stuff?
G. Randolph Mayes May 20, 2014 at 9:58 AM
Whoa, hadn't thought about that! I think the problem is in the ambiguity of the suffix. Interesting that Herbert Simon chose satisfice rather than satisfize. I wonder if it was to avoid the suggestion that satisficing is a bad thing. How about 'rationalate?' That has a meretricious ring to it.
Scott Merlino May 20, 2014 at 10:44 AM
Fun post Randy. Really, philosophers should just let it go. ‘Bad’ is “good” and ‘hot’ is “cool” - even ‘nerd’ and ‘geek’ are now the opposite of pejorative. We philosophers do not use the term rationalize in the way you want to recover. I’m OK with saying that “rationalizing is bad” and but giving rational (non-emotional) reasons for conclusions or reasonableness is good. Contranyms are great when you want to be ironical, which, by the way, we have to realize that most people do not ever actually do in the traditional sense of the term. Maybe it is time to retire ‘irony’ in its original sense. Isn’t it kind of a genetic fallacy to insist on a return to the earliest senses of a term or even its concept?
G. Randolph Mayes May 20, 2014 at 11:45 AM
Scott, you are a defeatist bastard. But yes, I agree with the genetic fallacy part, and no part of my view is based on a preference for original meanings, or even any dislike for contranyms or polysemy in general. I just like this word, would prefer that the positive meaning were the more common one, and think that it would be valuable to bring that meaning back into ordinary usage because it gives people a way of understanding all the changes they see going on around them.
Scott Merlino May 20, 2014 at 1:28 PM
True that. To be honest, I do not like the word 'rationalize' probably because of its more recent, consensus usage. By the way, I also dislike the old philosophers' word 'ratiocination' so maybe a bit of my disdain for old school 'rationalize' is caused by its roots. I bet you like that word though - such a codger. My beef is with another -ize word: 'utilize' - it just means "use" so just use 'use.'
Yeah, that''s a good one. Utilize should be contronymized and forced into service as 'make to appear useful.' Is there a word meaning that already?
Administration... I think.
Speaking of administration and the abuse of language (yes, I did just create my own segue), but pertinent to the concern you raise here, Randy, I have this thought: because we've made words like rationalize and argument and judgment into their opposite (make to appear rational what is not, make to appear logical what is just your opinion, make to appear to be based on relevant criteria what is just your judging of me), we are left with the unfortunate phrase 'evidence-based decision-making'. I swear, every time I hear that now I feel like I want to say, "I feel like, no... just because." Is the alternative 'magic-eight-ball-based decision-making'?
Yeah, nice point Chris. We also have as neologisms phrases like 'evidence-based medicine' and 'evidence-based social policy' and I think, there is a semi-interesting story to tell here. I'm inclined to think it's not so much that people didn't appreciate that evidence for such endeavors would be a mighty fine thing, as that evidence was simply not available in the past, so we were forced to do these things on the basis of common sense, intuition, and the advice of people who claimed to be experts. But I also think that it took a while before people really began to understand what it would be like to give evidence for things like this. In a sense, they weren't fully understood to be empirical questions. And I think that accounts partly for the 'Well, duh!' experience we have. Its also typical of philosophical insights, right? Invisible or ridiculous before they are accepted, and so patently obvious afterwards that we wonder what people could have been thinking.
What are you reading this summer?
What is so philosophical about measurement?
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Barney Frank, the Occasional Libertarian
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave a resoundingly libertarian interview to NPR’s “All Things Considered” Friday evening. Frank has introduced a bill to repeal last year’s ban on online gambling. As he did in this 2003 Cato Policy Forum, he made his argument in libertarian terms. From the Nexis transcript:
ROBERT SIEGEL: First of all, what is your motive here Is it libertarian Is it to achieve more revenues for the government by taxing activity What is it
Rep. FRANK: It’s libertarian. I am appalled at the notion that the government tells adults that they cannot do certain things with their own money on their own time in ways that do not harm anybody else because other people disapproved of them. …
But my motive is overwhelmingly that I just don’t want to see the government telling people what to do….
SIEGEL: How much money would taxing Internet gambling bring in to the federal government
Rep. FRANK: Well, in the bill I am - not a lot - I really want to make it very clear, that’s not my major focal point here. Potentially this could be a useful source of revenue just like any other business. But I do want to stress, my main motivation here is that I do think I should mind my own business and I want to deal with the environment, and I want to deal with economic problems, and I want to deal with poverty and all these other things. But I spend a lot of energy trying to protect people from other people. I have none left for protecting people from themselves.
In between those segments, Frank said that we allow lots of things over the Internet–like wine sales–that are appropriate for adults but not for children. And he said that conservatives want to ban things they think are immoral, and liberals want to ban things they think are “just tacky.”
It’s good to hear an elected official use the word libertarian, and use it correctly, and apply it to issues. Would that more of his colleagues would do so. I’m reminded that seven years ago I did a libertarian rating of Congress. Frank did better than most Democrats, and indeed better than most Republicans (including 7 of the 11 members of the Republican Liberty Caucus Advisory Board). But he voted to restrict steel imports, restrict gun sales and gun shows, and implement the restrictive “Know Your Customer” bank regulations, and he opposed a tax cut. So his commitment to not telling what people to do with their own lives and their own money seems limited.
This year, as Financial Services chairman, he’s demonstrating his interventionist tendencies as well as his sometime libertarian instincts. He wants to push all workers into government health care, to regulate corporate decisions about executive compensation, to put more obstacles in the way of free trade across national borders, to keep Wal-Mart from creating an internal bank clearinghouse to hold down its costs. Not to mention expanding anti-discrimination rules to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Frank told another journalist:
“In a number of areas, I am a libertarian,” Frank said. “I think that John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ is a great statement, and I was just rereading it.
“I believe that people should be allowed to read and gamble and ride motorcycles and do a lot of things that other people might not want to let them do.”
Would that the Republicans who once took Congress on the promise of “the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money” also reread (or read) “On Liberty” and take its message to heart. And would that Barney Frank come to realize that adults should also be free to spend the money they earn as they choose and to decide what contracts, with foreign businesses or local job applicants, they will enter into.
Posted on April 30, 2007 Posted to Cato@Liberty,Civil Liberties,Government & Politics,Libertarian Philosophy
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