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metaLAB (at) Harvard
Sarah Newman
Creative Researcher at metaLAB at Harvard University, and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Working primarily in the area of installation art, she develops projects that deal with technology’s role in culture, examining the significance of our current moment both playfully and critically. Newman holds a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology; she has exhibited work in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Berlin, and Rome, and has held artist residencies in Germany and Sweden. Her current work explores the social and philosophical dimensions of artificial intelligence, the curious intersections of the human and the nonhuman, and using art as a means of public engagement and dialogue.
Understanding Ourselves and AI through Art
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Histoires extraordinaires (Baudelaire translation of Poe)
Histoires extraordinaires (Spirits of the Dead) is a 1968 French "omnibus" film comprising three segments which premiered on 17 May 1968.
American International Pictures distributed this horror anthology film featuring three stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by European directors Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. Jane Fonda, Alain Delon, Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, and Terence Stamp are among the stars. The English language version features narration by Vincent Price.
1.1 "Metzengerstein" segment
1.2 "William Wilson" segment
1.3 "Toby Dammit" segment
All three segments are based on stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. The original stories were "Metzengerstein", "William Wilson" and "Never Bet the Devil Your Head".
"Metzengerstein" segment
At the age of 22, Countess Federica inherits the Metzengerstein estate and lives a life of promiscuity and debauchery. While in the forest, her leg is caught in a trap and she is freed by her neighbor Baron Wilhelm, whom she has never met because of a long-standing family feud. She becomes enamored with Wilhelm, but he rejects her for her wicked ways. His rejection infuriates Federica and she sets his stables on fire -- Wilhelm is killed attempting to save his prized horses.
One black horse somehow escapes and makes its way to the Metzengerstein castle. The horse is very wild and Federica takes it upon herself to tame it. She notices at one point that a damaged tapestry depicts a horse eerily similar to the one that she has just taken in. Become obsessed with it, she orders its repair. During a thunderstorm, Federica is carried off by the spooked horse into a fire caused by lightning that has struck.
"William Wilson" segment
During the 19th century, northern Italy is occupied by Austrian forces. A man named William Wilson rushes to confess to a priest (in a church of the "Città alta" of Bergamo) that he has committed murder. Wilson then relates the story of his cruel ways throughout his life. While playing cards, his doppelgänger, also named William Wilson, convinces people that Wilson has cheated at cards. In a rage, the protagonist Wilson stabs the other. After making his confession, Wilson commits suicide by jumping from the tower of "Palazzo della Ragione" but finally seen with a knife stuck on his breast.
"Toby Dammit" segment
see Toby Dammit
Former Shakespearean actor Toby Dammit is losing his acting career as he is tempted by alcohol. He agrees to work on a film where he will be paid with a Ferrari. After helping a young girl who has lost her ball, Dammit begins to have visions of the girl and the ball. After being awarded his Ferrari at a large ceremony, Dammit rushes, inebriated, in his new car. Workers try to get Dammit to stop the car at a fallen bridge across a ravine, but Dammit speeds ahead. When his car reaches the other side, Dammit's head has been cut off by a wire that was stretched across the ravine. The young girl is seen again.
Roger Vadim's segment was filmed just after Vadim had completed shooting on his previous movie Barbarella, which also starred Jane Fonda. Scriptwriter and novelist Terry Southern, who had worked on the screenplay for Barbarella, travelled to Rome with Vadim and according to Southern's biographer Lee Hill, it was during the making of this segment that Peter Fonda told Southern of his idea to make a 'modern Western' movie. Southern was enthusiastic about the idea and agreed to work on the project, which eventually became the renowned independent film Easy Rider.<ref>Lee Hill - A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern (Bloomsbury, 2001)</ref>
Louis Malle accepted the job of directing the segment “William Wilson” in order to raise money for his next film Le Souffle au coeur (Murmur of the Heart). The financial process of raising money for Murmur took him three years after completing “William Wilson” and in the meantime he shot two documentaries about India. Malle stated that he did not considered his collaboration in Histoires Extraordinaires a very personal one and that he agreed to make some compromises with the producer, Raymond Eger, in order to make the film more attractive to mainstream spectators. Malle’s original conception of the film was closer to Poe’s tale than the final result. The most important changes were: casting Brigitte Bardot in the role of Giuseppina with the purpose of adding some erotic touches to the film, the inclusion of the dissection scene, and a somewhat explicit use of violence in some scenes.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Spirits of the Dead" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
Retrieved from "http://artandpopularculture.com/Spirits_of_the_Dead"
This page was last modified 23:00, 6 December 2012.
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The Best Picture Winners: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Jerry Roberts | December 20, 2017
Oscar’s 90th birthday is just around the corner and to celebrate, every other day from now through March 4th, I will be taking a look at each and every film selected for his top award – the good, the bad and the sometimes not-so deserving.
God love The Academy for trying to stay topical.
Between 1979 and 1981 the divorce rate in The United States was at an all-time high. So, it must have given the voters of The Academy much pleasure in selecting a film for its Best Picture award that looked the subject squarely in the eye. At the time, Kramer vs. Kramer was heavily lauded for taking a stand on the emerging cultural shift in the traditional gender roles that were occurring in the country.
Kramer vs. Kramer was based on a sudzy melodramatic best seller (which I’ve read) by a magazine publisher turned novelist named Avery Corman – who also wrote the book “Oh, God!” Kramer told the story of work-obsessed family man, Ted Kramer (Best Actor winner Dustin Hoffman) whose wife Joanna (Supporting Actress winner Meryl Streep) suddenly walks out one day because she she needs to find herself, leaving Ted to raise an eight year-old son that he hardly knows.
The movie is really held up by two fine performances, first by Hoffman as a befuddled man who can work wonders on the job but is totally out to sea when it comes to dealing with the simplest domestic issue; and by Streep as a woman whose inward trajectory never really seemed prepared for motherhood.
Yet, while I admire the film’s goals, I’m always a little put off by how super-satisfied the script is that in the end it has proven that a man can do a woman’s job just as well as she can. Also, I’m a little put off by the court decision which allows that Joanna should be given sole custody of their son Billy on the basis of the fact that she’s the mother, and a child needs his mother. But . . . she walked out! She left! She abandoned her family! Why is she given custody? That’s a point that I never really understood and, yes, I know it ends with her doing the right thing, but her initial decision should have come with far more bitter consequences.
Share Filed in: The Best Picture Winners
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Stephen C. Higgins, Esq.
Tampa Criminal Attorney Working In Hillsborough County
Lawyer Stephen Higgins | Featured Attorney Criminal Defense
Lawyer Stephen Higgins | Lawyer DUI
Stephen Higgins has been passionately defending individuals charged with criminal offenses since shortly after graduating from Rutgers Law School in Camden, New Jersey, in 2004. During his career as a criminal defense attorney, Stephen has been recognized by AVVO, a lawyer rating service, with a “Superb – 10.0” rating by his peers and clients. He has also been interviewed by local print and television media regarding DUI and other traffic-related matters.
Stephen’s introduction to the criminal defense world came during his judicial internship with the Honorable Freda Wolfson, United States District Court Judge in Camden, NJ. During the trial of several alleged drug ‘kingpins,’ he came to appreciate the value of an aggressive, knowledgeable and passionate criminal defense lawyer. That experience has helped shape the zealous attorney he is today and embodies the lawyer he strives to be.
Stephen focuses his practice on defending those charged with various types of criminal offenses, including DUI, drug possession, theft, fleeing to elude, leaving the scene of an accident, assault and battery, probation violations and traffic tickets. On any given day, Stephen can be found in the courthouse advocating for his clients’ rights, exuding the skills and characteristics that not only make him a successful attorney, but that also form the basis of a trusting, respectful relationship between him and his clients.
Stephen is originally from Essex, Connecticut and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. In 2004, he graduated with a J.D./M.B.A. from Rutgers Law School and Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He began his career with Brown & Connery in Westmont, New Jersey and, in 2005, moved to Florida to work with Finebloom & Haenel, PA.
Stephen is a member of the Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars. He is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of Florida, state courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the District Courts of New Jersey. Stephen is also a member of the Hillsborough and Sarasota County Bar Associations, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Stephen Corrigan Higgins
View lawyer’s profile
Contact us about your legal matter today!
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Regional history/
4810 Czech Republic/
4811 Czech Republic 01 (an4811)
4811 Czech Republic 01
The Augustinian Province of Bohemia, or now more popularly called “the Czech Augustinian Province,” has Mary as its principal patroness under the title of Mother of Consolation. In December 1604 the Bohemian (Czech) Province was created upon the personal recommendation of the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, Rudolf II, who ruled 1576 – 1612. It must be remembered that in the early seventeenth century the Kingdom of Bohemia comprised not only the Czech-Moravian heartlands but also Upper Silesia, Lower Silesia and both Lusatias which now embraces large sections of southwest Poland and southeast Germany.
During the late Middle Ages shortly after the Augustinian General Chapter at Milan in 1298, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Upper-Lower Silesia, Styria and Carinthia were organized and remained as districts under the administration of the large Augustinian Province of Bavaria. Inevitably, with the daily advance of the Ottoman Turks and the inroads of the Protestant Reformation, governing such a wide territory became virtually impossible for the successive Augustinians who occupied the office of Bavarian Provincial. The first contact with humanism in Germany was brought about by the emperor Charles IV (1346-1378), and he sought to incorporate it into German culture, in the hope of establishing a national German culture.
As its Chancellor the University of Prague had John of Neumarkt (Novoforo), played a key role in the imperial organization of this centre of culture. A number of Augustinians were counted among the friends of John. Most notable among these was Nicholas of Laun O.S.A.. For a number of years he was the Provincial of the Bavarian Province, and recognized as far-sighted and diligent in this capacity. He brought the Province to a new period of growth after the damage caused by the Black Death in the years 1348 – 1351. He reorganized the house of St Thomas in Prague, making it one of the principal centres of formation and culture north of the Alps.
Photos (at right)
Picture 1: Former Augustinian monastery at Ceska-Lipa, Czech Republic.
Picture 2: Former Augustinian church at Rocov, Czech Republic.
Picture 3: Former Augustinian church and monastery at Rocov, Czech Republic.
The Augustinians of this community had frequent contact with their brothers in Italy, in particular with the Augustinian friary of Santo Spirto in Florence. They were acquainted with the tendencies of humanism and these stimulated in them new ideas as well as confirming them in their Augustinian orientation. They certainly were the persons most responsible for the diffusion of humanism in Bohemia at the time. In their libraries, along with theological works, there were not a few classical authors and writings by some of the first humanists. Laun enjoyed great favour at the court in Prague, for Charles IV referred to him as "our chaplain-counsellor, Ioyal and dear to us." When Charles was crowned King of Bohemia in 1347, Laun was called upon to deliver the congratulatory discourse. As the first master of Paris among those called to the new University in Prague, Laun for a time was the only one able to promote students to the grade of doctor in theology. He died in 1371 as auxiliary bishop of Ratisbon.
In 1370 the previously-mentioned chancellor John of Neumarkt invited John Klenkok O.S.A. to teach at the University in Prague. Klenkok was a renowned moralist from the Augustinian Province of Saxony. Before his teaching career with the Augustinians in Oxford, where he obtained his baccalaureate and doctorate, he had pursued the study of law in Bologna. While there he became famous for his opposition to the Speculum Saxonum, at that time still the prevailing code in Saxony; Roman law had been established in Saxony but played only a subsidiary role.
The theological works of Klenkok are medieval both in base and in form. However, the diligence of the author in identifying the patristic texts that he cites, comparing them with the original, indicating the book and chapter of the citation and applying the same rule to the texts of medieval theologians, constituted an undeniable step forward. The friendship of Klenkok with Neumarkt is clear in a letter of recommendation written on his behalf when he undertook the journey to the Augustinian General Chapter in Florence in 1371. Neumarkt stated that the Augustinian was his "dear associate and companion." Klenkok died in 1374 in Avignon. The chancellor spoke also of Angel of Dobeln (Dobelin) in similar words in a letter successfully sent to the academic authorities of the University of Paris (where the Augustinians had their famed studium generale to accommodate him) in support of the advancement of his Augustinian friend to the degree of doctor of theology.
Dobelin's Lectura super IV libros Sententiarum ("Lectures about Book Four of the Sentences of Peter Lombard"), preserved in the university library in Jena (Ms. E1ect. Fol. 47), cannot provide a complete picture of the author and his scholarly interests, but there are at least some clearly humanistic tendencies, as when he delays over a passage of the Paradiso of Dante (fol. 10r). The work also reveals that he was a doctor of theology at the University of Paris in 1379 when Luigi Marsigli O.S.A. of Florence was also there. From 1392 on he taught with his Augustinian colleagues at the University of Erfurt, that is, from the year of its foundation, and he served as the first dean of its theological faculty.
It would seem that he was well regarded within the Order, since he was chosen to be one of the theologians representing the Order at the Council of Constance at the conclusion of the Great Western Schism. As previously mentioned, one of his sermons at the Council merited the praise of Martin V for its oratorical perfection. He died in 1420. A major administrative change happened between 1568 and1578, when Styria (Steiermark) and Carinthia (Karntern) in what is now contemporary Austria were excised from the Province of Bavaria and erected into an autonomous Province of Bohemia by the Prior General. The neighboring region of Austria was in such a precarious state that by 1600 it consisted of only two impoverished monasteries, Vienna and Baden.
Photos (at left)
Picture 1: A former Augustinian abbot at Brno, the geneticist Gregor Mendel O.S.A.
Picture 2: The present Augustinian abbot at Brno, Czech Republic.
Picture 3: Augustinian monastery and minor basilica, Brno, Czech Republic.
To remedy this situation, Felix Milensius O.S.A., an energetic friar and historian, was appointed by the Prior General, Hippolytus Fabriani O.S.A. on 9th October 1602 as his personal “Vicar General for Germany and other northern lands.” Milensius was authorized to implement much needed administrative restructuring. He wasted no time in doing do; he soon separated the two languishing Austrian monasteries from Bavaria by uniting them with the stronger Bohemian district then consisting of St Thomas and St Catherine monasteries in Prague, Domazlice, Sopka-Melnik, Ceska Lipa, Rocov, Pivon and Biele-pod-Bezdezem. Not everything went according to his expectations, however; Milensius unsuccessfully attempted to include in this union the monastery of St Thomas (Brno) and its dependent house of Jevicko.
After much wrangling, in 1608 the insistent Moravians were permitted by the subsequent Prior General, John Baptist d’Aste O.S.A., to establish their own Moravian vicariate. The Augustinian community of St Thomas in Brno was singularly honored in 1611 when Cardinal Dietrichstein conferred on the Prior, Jan Vincenzo Barnabe di Fiume O.S.A. and his successors, the rare privilege of wearing the episcopal regalia; this was later ratified by Pope Innocent XIII in 1721. The regional autonomy of the Moravian Augustinians was further confirmed in 1752 when the “Perpetual Prior,” Mathias Pertscher O.S.A., obtained from Pope Benedict XIV the singular abbatial title and dignity. Henceforth the Augustinian Prior of the Moravian Augustinians in Brno would be episcopally consecrated and appointed for life, becoming an “abbot” similar to the Benedictine tradition. This privilege still exists, with the Augustinian leader at the Augustinian monastery in Brno the only abbot in the Order of St Augustine.
Image (above): Unvieling of a statue of Augustine at the monastery in Prague.
With Emperor Rudolph II’s support, in 1604 a “Union Chapter” of Augustinians gathered at St Thomas Monastery in Prague. On 1st December 1604 the meeting elected Jan Krtitel Svitavsky O.S.A. (Johannes Baptista Chrystellius) of Bochova, as the first Provincial of Bohemia-Austria. This unlikely union of such disparate cultures and diverse areas lasted until 1626 when Prior General Jerome de Ghettis O.S.A. allowed the disgruntled Austrians to separate from Bohemia, which then comprised some fifty friars precariously surviving in seven houses the exactions and ravages of the Thirty Years War (1618 –1648).In addition to the pastoral work in the ministry of the sacraments the Augustinian friars in these houses often served as teachers in the schools run by the various monasteries. Saint Thomas in Prague also had a parish hospital and asylum for the homeless and aged. Some friars, too, became military chaplains and domestic praeceptors in the households of prominent families.
Assistance was given the Irish Franciscans (Hyberni) who, unable to effectively speak the paramount Czech or German languages in Prague (Hyberni) petitioned such prominent Augustinians as Ambrose Wilde, to act as Festival Preachers in the Czech language for the faithful gathered for liturgy in the great Franciscan church located just outside the Powder Gate in Prague.
In addition to teaching duties in their own internal school, other Augustinians in St Thomas were professors of Theology and Canon Law in the Charles University. Saint Thomas Church was a known cultural center with, as mentioned above, an internal house of studies organized by the Order in 1347 for its own postulants and students. In fact, the first Rector of the first central European University (now known as the Charles University) was Nicholas of Louny O.S.A., the Augustinian intellectual, personal friend of Emperor Charles IV and missionary in Poland and Lithuania, later bishop in Regensburg. This Augustinian tradition of public teaching at a high level continued locally until the suppression under Emperor Joseph II (r.1780-1790).
For the Augnet gallery on the Augustinians of the Czech Republic (Brno and Prague), click here.
St Thomas’ Church Prague. Some tourist photos taken on Palm Sunday, April 2011.
http://wersthungarianadventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/prague-st-thomas-church-and-palm-sunday.html
(Continued on the next page.)
4802 Africa
4803 Asia-Pacific
4804 Algeria
4808 Benin
4810 Czech Republic
4814 Congo
4827 Hungary
4840 Iran
4848 Kenya
4851 Korea
4852 Latin America
4857 Macau
4858 Malta
4878 Middle East
4876 Tanzania
4877 Wales & Scotland
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Blurblogs
angelchrys's blurblog
I am the Queen of Awesome. My words do not represent my employer, but I bet you already knew that.
Deadstock 1986 Super Mario Bros. Slippers Are A Modern Masterpiece by Luke Plunkett
Tuesday January 28th, 2020 at 9:24 PM
Imagine, it’s 1986, you’re a grown-ass adult living in Japan and after a hard day’s salaryman/womanning you get home to your apartment, kick your shoes off at the door and slip on these beautiful babies.
Facebook’s Clear History tool is now available to everyone by Dami Lee
The Verge - All Posts
Image: Facebook
Facebook’s Clear History tool is now available in all countries, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post today. It’s part of a new section in your settings called “Off-Facebook activity,” and it lets users see which third-parties have shared user interactions with the social network — even when they’re not using Facebook directly.
Off-Facebook activity is the information that businesses and websites share with Facebook based on your interactions with those sites or apps. The Clear History tool can be helpful if you’re constantly getting ads for something you were just looking at online or being served suggestions for things Facebook thinks you might be interested in. Besides clearing your history, the new section also includes options to view your information by category, download the information, and select how off-Facebook activity can be managed in the future.
The tool was first announced at the company’s annual F8 developer conference in 2018 in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and it first rolled out to three countries after facing months of delays. Facebook says the unexpected delays were due to technical challenges related to how the company stores data on its servers.
”Off-Facebook Activity marks a new level of transparency and control,” Zuckerberg wrote today. “We’ve been working on this for a while because we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible.”
In an initiative to mark Data Privacy Day, Facebook is showing users a prompt in the News Feed to review their privacy settings, directing them to a Privacy Checkup tool. The tool takes you through a tour of who can see your information, an option to turn on two-factor security, and which apps use your Facebook account to log in. Notably, it doesn’t point users to the new Off-Facebook activity introduced today. It’s also not the easiest tool to find as it’s buried in the side menus. Here’s a direct link, or you can find it in Settings —> Your Facebook Information —> Off-Facebook Activity.
Zach Sullivan is the first-ever pro ice hockey player to come out as bisexual by Vic Parsons
Tuesday January 28th, 2020 at 10:04 AM
PinkNews – Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service
Ice hockey player Zach Sullivan has come out as bisexual to mark the sport’s first Pride weekend.
Sullivan, who plays for UK team Manchester Storm, said he was coming out in the hope it would “help others”.
Believed to be the first professional ice hockey player to come out as bisexual, the 25-year-old said he hopes his decision “will give other hockey players around the country the same confidence to do the same”.
“I’m not doing this in the hope of any publicity. I’ve always been a very private guy, but I realise that I have a unique opportunity to do some good,” he said.
In a statement on Twitter, Zach Sullivan, who is from Redhill in Surrey, said he had “battled with mental health problems” but made the decision to go public “with the support, understanding and acceptance” of his family, friends and teammates.
“I finally feel ready to says; I’m bisexual,” Sullivan wrote.
“I have never been more proud to wear a jersey before, especially one that celebrates all gender identities and sexualities.”
#PrideWeekend #ICanPlay #YouCanPlay @officialEIHL @Mcr_Storm pic.twitter.com/2FH6AtDZ4f
— Zach Sullivan (@ZachSully11) January 26, 2020
Zach Sullivan’s statement was released over the Elite Ice Hockey League’s first-ever Pride weekend.
Sullivan’s coming out has been met with widespread support, including from Manchester Storm’s captain, Dallas Ehrhardt.
“We couldn’t be happier for our teammate and we 100% have his back,” said Mr Ehrhardt.
“The hockey world is a tight-knit supportive community and when something as important like this happens, the whole sport gets better.”
Manchester Storm’s head coach Ryan Finnerty said it was a “historic moment” because Sullivan is believed to be the first professional ice hockey player to come out while still playing.
“His strength and courage will inspire the youth of tomorrow,” he added.
In Manchester Storm’s game against Dundee on Sunday, the players wore rainbow-coloured Pride jerseys to celebrate inclusion and diversity.
The post Zach Sullivan is the first-ever pro ice hockey player to come out as bisexual appeared first on PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service.
Animal Crossing Fans Are So Desperate For News That They’re Analyzing Obscure Stickers by Ethan Gach
Monday January 27th, 2020 at 6:40 PM
Earlier today, fans spotted some Animal Crossing: New Horizons decals for the Switch on the Japanese HMV store website. Eager fans are now pouring over them trying to figure out which new characters will be in the game.
Stephen King Pens Op-Ed Clarifying Diversity Comments
We like it when we see someone in the public eye learn from a mistake and use that to educate others, so we’re happy that author Stephen King has taken the time to correct and expand on some comments he made in the wake of the Oscars’ continued failure to produce a diverse field of nominees.
On January 14, the day after the Oscars nominations were announced, King tweeted a few comments on the nominations and, in part due to the fact he didn’t thread his tweets (it’s okay Stephen, it happens to the best), one tweet in particular blew up and engendered a great deal of criticism, including from us here at TMS.
Today, King published an Op-Ed in the Washington Post to explain this and clearly state that “The Oscars are rigged in favor of white people.” He rightly states of social media: “Lines of belief are drawn with indelible ink, and if you step over them — wittingly or otherwise — you find yourself in the social-media version of the stocks and subject to a barrage of electronic turnips and cabbages.”
King noted the above tweet and added: “I also said, in essence, that those judging creative excellence should be blind to questions of race, gender or sexual orientation,” but he clarifies. “I did not say that was the case today, because nothing could be further from the truth. Nor did I say that films, novels, plays and music focusing on diversity and/or inequality cannot be works of creative genius.”
This is true but it’s certainly not how the comments came across – or at least how the isolated tweet came across. That’s not just a flaw in the sentiment, but also a flaw in social media, which reduces nuanced arguments to soundbites and responses by way of gif, not discussion.
King, however, goes on to make it clear that his ideal world, where he and all academy members would view art from a purely artistic point of view and not even think of “diversity” does not exist. It’s really important for him to say this, and to note, correctly, that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is overwhelmingly white and male in their demographics, even if there has been positive movement in recent years.
But as King succinctly puts in it: “Not good enough. Not even within shouting distance of good enough.”
King does what a lot of men don’t and calls out not just the membership of the Academy but the fact that the majority of the best picture nominees “are what my sons call ‘man-fiction.’ There are fights, guns and many white faces.” Add into this the fact that the while, male academy might not see the non-white, not-male films and even if they do, they might not get them.
Without using the term, King acknowledges his own privilege: “Where am I in this diversity discussion? Fair question. The answer is white, male, old and rich.” But he also notes, again without using the word, that he’s an ally that has written strong female characters and stood up for colorblind casting. But that still all comes from a privileged perspective in a racist, sexist world.
King clearly states what he was trying to get across two weeks ago: “as with justice, judgments of creative excellence should be blind. But that would be the case in a perfect world, one where the game isn’t rigged in favor of the white folks.”
Again, I’m glad that King is taking the time to clarify and state in no uncertain terms that a world where we valued art only on its merits would be great, but we aren’t there yet. He even, sort of, alludes to the fact that our subjective responses and valuations of art have to do with our own privilege or life experiences and we need a diversity of perspective in order to honor diverse art.
Overall, it’s heartening to see a man in power use his platform to grow and support marginalized voices, in his way. We won’t make progress without privileged people acknowledging that the world is unfair and needs to change. This is a good stand to take.
(Image: ENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
If you connect the stations where the Picard-branded Metrocards... by ajlobster
Friday January 24th, 2020 at 2:08 PM
Fashion It So
If you connect the stations where the Picard-branded Metrocards are available, it makes the Starfleet insignia.
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Varanus bengalensisBengal Monitor
By Kathleen Farmer and Eric Wright
Geographic Range
Lifespan/Longevity
Communication and Perception
Ecosystem Roles
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Bengal monitors or common Indian monitors (Varanus bengalensis) occur across much of southern Asia. Compared to other varanid lizards, Bengal monitors have a much larger geographic range, where they are considered less restricted both geographically and environmentally. This species is widely distributed from Afghanistan to Java, including southeastern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, southern Nepal, Bhutan, and China, North and South Vietnam, Laos, and islands in the Strait of Malacca and the Greater Sunda Islands. In Iran they are generally restricted to southeastern regions in close proximity to rivers that drain into marshes or shallow lakes, rather than seas, they are particularly common along the River Gartatab. In Afghanistan, Bengal monitors are limited to the Kabul River Valley in the extreme southeastern part of the country. (Auffenberg, 1994; Pianka, 1995)
Biogeographic Regions
Unlike other varanid lizards, Bengal monitors have the ability to cope with a broad range of environments, from deserts to rainforests to habitats having seasonally snowy winters. However, generally they are found in areas with continuously warm climates, with mean annual air temperatures of approximately 24 C. Most of southern Asia experiences seasonal monsoons and wind patterns influenced by neighboring seas and mountains. Thus, precipitation across much of the range for Bengal monitors is highly variable. Some habitat areas are relatively arid, with mean precipitation less than 200 mm per year. Other habitats are considerably more humid, with annual rainfall reaching 2,200 mm per year. The most common tropical forest habitats for Bengal monitors are deciduous, semi-deciduous, evergreen tropical forests, and thornbrush. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Habitat Regions
Terrestrial Biomes
savanna or grassland
scrub forest
Range elevation
0 to 1500 m
0.00 to 4921.26 ft
Adult Bengal monitors are generally grey or greenish-grey in color, with a ventral pattern of grey to black crossbars from the chin to the tail. These markings are generally darkest in the western parts and lightest in the eastern parts of the geographic range. These ventral markings typically become lighter, and the ground color darker, with age. Thus, adults display a less pronounced, less contrasting pattern than younger Bengal monitors.
In the wild, the heaviest recorded male Bengal monitor weighed 7.18 kg, though captive individuals have been reported to reach 10.2 kg. In the wild, males generally weigh 42% more than females. Males of the same snout to vent length (SVL) as females are typically 9.2% heavier. Young Bengal monitors, on average, weigh 0.078 kg. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Other Physical Features
heterothermic
male larger
Range mass
7.18 (high) kg
15.81 (high) lb
Range length
61 to 175 cm
24.02 to 68.90 in
Development in Bengal monitors begins with a variable length incubation period. Laboratory investigations have shown this incubation period to range from 70 to 327 days. The length of incubation depends largely on mean egg temperature. However, even within a single brood, there can be variations of up to 105 days from first to last hatching. High incubation temperatures typically lead to shorter development times, but also may skew sex ratios or cause developmental defects.
Bengal monitors are relatively long-lived varanids. As such, this species does not reach sexual maturity until 2.5 to 3 years. Most produce one clutch of offspring each year for the remainder of their lives. Environmental influences play an important role in body size and overall length in Bengal monitors. In general, longer individuals are found in areas with greater soil moisture, such as marsh environments, whereas shorter individuals often occur in surrounding forests. In addition, those found on the small islands in both the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand have been found to become sexually mature at a much smaller size than those from the nearby mainland, reaching reproductive maturing with SVLs as low as 23.3 cm. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Development - Life Cycle
temperature sex determination
Chemical cues play an important role in the ability of males to recognize receptive females. These chemical cues are produced by the female, from glands located in skin of the abdomen. In captivity, females show the greatest chances of successful copulation by mating with only one or two individual males in successive years, though they still may be courted by several other males. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Mating System
polygynandrous (promiscuous)
In females, the reproductive cycle is annual. Follicles mature only during one part of the year, shortly before ovulation. Follicles and ovaries reach their largest size during the months of July and August for those individuals in the western part of the species range, and from October to December for those in more southern areas such as India and Sri Lanka. Yolk deposition in an egg has no correlation with the ovulatory phase in females, but it does correlate with fat accumulation. (Auffenberg, 1994)
There are three major phases in the reproductive cycle of female V. bengalensis: previtellogenesis, recrudescence, and ovulation. During the previtellogenesis phase, the ovaries are small and inactive. This stage usually occurs during the fall months, usually September through March. Females forage less during this time for individuals in more southern regions, while those in more northern regions do not forage at all. A return to foraging in the spring initiates oogenesis. This phase is also characterized by regressed oviducts and nonsecretory epithelial and gland cells, which are used to attract mates. In the second phase of the reproductive cycle, called recrudescence (or true vitellogenesis), the ovarian follicles will fully mature with the completion of yolk deposition. This phase occurs in the premonsoon period, from April to June. In a short time, the ovaries increase in size and change from a pearly white to a deep yellow color. A mature preovulatory ova has a mean diameter of 17.8 mm. The oviducts will also increase in width and secretions will start to flow into the oviductal lumen. The last phase of the reproductive cycle, ovulation, is characterized by the movement of the egg from the upper part of the oviduct to the lower portion after fertilization has occurred. Once the egg reaches the lower portion of the oviduct, a shell will form around each egg. Ovulation begins in June, but reaches full force in July. The most successful copulation occurs slightly before or after ovulation has reached its peak. Egg laying will occur two weeks after copulation, usually during the months of July, August, and early September. By the last week of October, both sexes are largely inactive with size and sperm production heavily reduced in the male and new follicles for the next year appearing in the ovaries of the female. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Usually, mature females of V. bengalensis will produce only one clutch annually. However, in some areas where the environment experiences two monsoon seasons, some females may lay two clutches annually. If two clutches are laid, there are 23 to 30 days between the first egg laying and breeding for the second clutch. Data also suggests that those females from more mesic environments have a higher proportion of pregnancies than those from xeric areas. This may be due to the longer breeding periods in more mesic environments as well as higher food abundance, which has an effect on fat production. In captive species, day length also had an effect on courtship and breeding patterns. When day length was artificially lengthened, combat among males occurred as early as April and courtship initiation and breeding began earlier. The average number of eggs laid per year is 20, of which about 80% typically hatch. This results in about 16 young per female per year. Additionally, because V. bengalensis has a large clutch size relative to most tropical lizards, neonates are subject to relatively high predation rates. Because of predation, roughly half of the offspring do not live past the age of two. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Both males and females become sexually mature at approximately 2.5 to 3 years of age, both in the wild and in captivity. In both sexes, the onset of sexual maturity is linked to a body mass greater than 0.4 kg. In female Bengal monitors, reproductive efforts occur throughout most of their life span. After reaching sexual maturity, females remain reproductively active for the remainder of their lives, which may extend to 27 years. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Key Reproductive Features
iteroparous
seasonal breeding
oviparous
Breeding interval
Female Bengal monitors that live in environments that experience two monsoon seasons may lay two clutches annually while those in one monsoon areas lay just one clutch annually.
Breeding season
Individuals mate in June, July, and early August and the shelled eggs are laid any time from July through early September. The incubation period is from 4 to 8 months.
Average number of offspring
Range gestation period
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
2.5 to 3 years
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
In varanid species, the bulk of parental investment occurs through the materials and energy supplied prior to hatching. This includes resources provided for egg, embryonic, and initial post-hatching development. For example, during embryonic development the yolk supplies the fetus with nutrients required for growth. Females typically create and spend a large amount of time in the nest. She devotes energy to ensuring eggs are protected from predators, such as other monitors, and have proper incubation conditions in order to increase the offsprings' chances of survival. After their lengthy incubation period, however, neonates have very little yolk remaining when they hatch from the egg. This means that new hatchlings must locate food resources quickly and independently. It is interesting to note that females in captivity will frequently retain the eggs longer, spending additional time searching for an appropriate nesting medium. This makes the egg shells thicker than usual. Thicker shells require greater movement and strength on the part of the offspring to break out of the egg. Thus, small yolk food reserves also affect hatchling success. There are no reports showing sufficient evidence that female varanids provide additional care for offspring after laying eggs and hiding them in the nest. In fact, both males and females often eat eggs of other monitors. There also is evidence that females sometimes eat their own eggs. Data suggest that mean egg size and hatchling size are reduced in xeric habitats. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Parental Investment
no parental involvement
pre-fertilization
pre-hatching/birth
Like many other large predators, V. bengalensis is relatively long-lived. This species is relatively unaffected by drought or daily variations in rainfall, so population sizes remains fairly stable from season to season. Mortality rates are highest for neonates, due to predation, with only about half surviving past the age of two and reaching sexual maturity. For captive individuals, the longest recorded life span was about 22 years. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Age estimates in reptiles are obtained by counting bone layers. Reptiles, including V. bengalensis have annual cyclic bone growth that can be estimated by staining methods. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Average lifespan
Status: captivity
In the wild, Bengal monitors are almost completely solitary. Much of the daytime is spent in constant movement, searching for food. Bengal monitor are more likely to interact with one another during the peak breading season, when males compete for mates. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Key Behaviors
terricolous
Like most varanids, Bengal monitors use primarily scent as their main method of communication and perception. They “taste” the environment around them by constantly flicking their highly sensitive tongues while moving their head from side to side. This is useful in tracking prey and mates and in signaling between monitors of the same species. It has been documented in the wild that V. bengalensis spends large amounts of time examining the droppings of other Bengal monitors that have passed through their territory. Even though they are solitary creatures, scent messages in feces are said to be important in communication. The scent perceived by one monitor from another can inform of hostile intentions or to stay away from the particular territory. (Auffenberg, 1994)
There is a diverse range of intraspecific communication exhibited by V. bengalensis through touching, biting, clawing and wrestling. Being solitary predators, roughly three quarters of encounters begin as purely investigatory and the remaining quarter are for the purpose of sex and courtship. Conflict between males, whether over food or mating, usually results in an initial investigation through acquiring each others scents and their intent. Conflict typically involves vocalization which is usually a hissing noise accompanied by the monitor inflating its upper body to appear larger. Tail-slapping and whipping is also common behavior between males and sometimes females to establish dominance. Encounters between males can lead to wrestling in which case both males stand on their hind legs and embrace each other while thrashing their heads and upper bodies. Occasionally biting and clawing can occur during wrestling but it is usually collateral damage rather than intentional. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Other Communication Modes
scent marks
Perception Channels
The diet of Bengal monitors is almost strictly carnivorous. They consume almost anything that is smaller than themselves and that they can easily overpower. They are known to scavenge carcasses of previously felled animals. Their documented observed prey species list is considerable, containing roughly 200 species. Common prey include: annelids, insects, amphibians, smaller reptiles, birds, small mammals, and eggs. Cannibalism of eggs, hatchlings, and even adults has been noted, although predation on adults is rare. As with most varanids, they swallow prey whole but are also capable of ripping and tearing flesh from larger animals and carcasses. At smaller body sizes for Bengal monitors, various beetles species represent the largest portion of their diet, averaging 52.8%. The second largest component of their diet is made up of orthopteran insects at 9.5%. The remainder of their diet is made up of other insects, crabs, rodents, reptiles, spiders, birds and almost any other animal they can reasonably consume. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Primary Diet
eats terrestrial vertebrates
insectivore
eats non-insect arthropods
Animal Foods
terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Predation on V. bengalensis does occur despite the fact that they themselves large predators. Species that prey upon V. bengalensis include other Bengal monitors, pythons and other large snakes, eagles, mongooses, wild and domesticated dogs, feral cats, and even humans. Most predation occurs early in life as eggs, hatchlings, and juveniles, while only a small portion of predation involves fully grown adults. (Auffenberg, 1994)
Known Predators
Bengal monitors (Varanus bengalensis)
python species (Python)
birds of prey (Accipitridae)
mongooses (Herpestidae)
feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
feral cats (Felis domesticus)
Bengal monitors are primary predators of many smaller animals in the ecosystems they inhabits. Juveniles are preyed upon by larger predators, including other monitors. There are four tick species known to infect Bengal monitors, including: Aponommon gervaisi, A. varanensis, A. laeve, and Amblyomma helvolum. In addition, trematodes, cestode worms, nematodes, filarial worms, and sporozoan protozoans are known to infect these monitors.
Commensal/Parasitic Species
Aponommon gervaisi
Aponommon varanensis
Aponommon laeve
Amblyomma helvolum
Bengal monitor population declines for this species are largely due to the commercial exploitation of their skins for leather products. In addition, various parts of their bodies are used in some village medicines. Monitors in general, also are eaten by human populations in some parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. (Auffenberg, 1994)
body parts are source of valuable material
source of medicine or drug
controls pest population
There are no noted negative impacts of Varanus bengalensis on humans. Bengal monitors are not large enough to attack any livestock nor do they eat any human cultivated crops. They may eat any small mammals that they can easily catch, so may pose a threat to small domestic animals. (Auffenberg, 1994)
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, V. bengalensis is a species of Least Concern. This is based on its wide geographic range. However, there are increasing pressures on the species. They are hunted for their meat, skins, and for use in medicine. Due to expanding human habitation and urbanization, the range threats to their population are likely to increase in the future. (Papenfuss, et al., 2010)
US Federal List
State of Michigan List
No special status
Kathleen Farmer (author), Radford University, Eric Wright (author), Radford University, Christine Small (editor), Radford University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
an animal that mainly eats meat
flesh of dead animals.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
a substance used for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease
union of egg and spermatozoan
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
native range
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.
found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
polygynandrous
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
an animal that mainly eats dead animals
communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them
scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.
breeding is confined to a particular season
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
lives alone
Living on the ground.
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
tropical savanna and grassland
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
temperate grassland
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
uses sight to communicate
Auffenberg, W. 1983. Notes on feeding behaviour of Varanus bengalensis (Sauria: Varanidae). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 80/2: 286-302.
Auffenberg, W. 1994. The Bengal Monitor. Gainesville, Fl: University Press of Florida.
Auffenberg, W. 1981. Combat behaviour in Varanus bengalenisis (Sauria: Varanidae). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 78/1: 54-72.
Auffenberg, W. 1979. Intersexual Differences in Behavior of Captive Varanus bengalensis (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Varanidae). Journal of Herpetology, 13/3: 313-315. Accessed February 04, 2011 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/1563325.
Auffenberg, W. 1983. The food and feeding of juvenile Bengal monitor lizards (Varanus bengalensis). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 80/1: 119-124.
Bohme, W. 2003. Checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (family Varanidae). Leiden, 341/25: 4-43.
Duengkae, P., Y. Chuaynkem. 2009. Observations of basking in Varanus bengalensis nebulosus from northeastern thailand. Biawak, 3/3: 88-92.
Gupta, D., A. Sinha. 2001. Notes on the burrows of Varanus bengalensis in and around Agra. Zoos' print journal, 16/12: 651-654.
Lauprasert, K., K. Thirakhupt. 2001. Species diversity, distribution and proposed status of monitor lizards (Family Varanidae) in southern Thailand. The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University, 1/1: 39-46.
Loop, M. 1974. The Effect of Relative Prey Size on the Ingestion Behavior of the Bengal Monitor, Varanus bengalensis (Sauria: Varanidae). Herpetologica, 30/2: 123-127.
Losos, J. 1988. Ecological and evolutionary implications of diet in monitor lizards. Journal of the Linnean Society, 1988/35: 379-407.
Papenfuss, T., S. Shafiei Bafti, M. Sharifi, D. Bennett, S. Sweet. 2010. "Varanus bengalensis" (On-line). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed April 04, 2011 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/164579/0.
Pianka, E. 1995. Review: Lizards observed. Science, 268/5217: 1636.
Sweet, S., E. Pianka. 2003. The Lizard Kings. Natural History, 112/9: 40-45.
Wikramanayake, E. 1992. Energy and water turnover in two tropical varanid lizards, Varanus bengalensis and V. salvator. Copeia, 1992/1: 102-107. Accessed February 04, 2011 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/1446540.
Wikramanayake, E., G. Dryden. 1993. Thermal Ecology of Habitat and Microhabitat Use by Sympatric Varanus bengalensis and V. salvator in Sri Lanka. Copeia, 1993/3: 709-714.
Class Reptilia turtles, snakes, lizards, and relatives
Reptilia: information (1) Reptilia: pictures (8805) Reptilia: specimens (170) Reptilia: sounds (676)
Order Squamata
Squamata: pictures (985) Squamata: specimens (7)
Family Varanidae
Varanidae: information (1) Varanidae: pictures (17)
Genus Varanus
Varanus: pictures (17)
Species Varanus bengalensis Bengal Monitor
Varanus bengalensis: information (1) Varanus bengalensis: pictures (2)
To cite this page: Farmer, K. and E. Wright 2012. "Varanus bengalensis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed January 29, 2020 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Varanus_bengalensis/
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A Testimony to Be HeardThe story of thousands of women who experienced war crimes
Yu Ha-eun | theodora93820@Hotmail.com
SHE HAD just turned 15. It was a cold winter day in 1941 when two men dressed in military uniforms knocked on her door to inform her of a new job opening at a factory far away. She could earn money for her family, they said, and could come back home if she felt homesick. With not much choice, the teenage girl agreed and followed the two men - a decision which marked the beginning of her own tragedy. She arrived at a storage area in Busan, where 20 girls around her age were sitting quietly, waiting for ”work“ to start. Of course, they had yet to realize what was awaiting them; they still thought they were there as factory workers. It was only after she was raped by a military man that she realized: she was now a sex slave. This is the heartbreaking story of a young girl, named Kim Bok-dong.
Their story
The phrase “comfort women,” or “military sex slaves” according to the official UN term, stands for the girls and women forced into prostitution corps created by the Japanese Empire during the years 1930-1945. The same term is also known as *wi-an-bu* in Korean, a word directly translated from the Japanese word for “prostitutes.” The number of Japanese military comfort women was around 200,000, yet 80% of them are believed to have been of Korean origin. Females aged from 11-year-old girls to 30-year-old women from countries under Japanese imperial control were either abducted from their homes or even volunteered to go abroad, lured with false promises of new “job positions” available in foreign lands. Soon, they were taken to comfort stations in territories occupied by the Japanese to satisfy the lust of Japanese military men.
The young comfort women back then are now grandmothers willing to tell their story and let the world know about this dark episode in East Asian history that often goes untold. According to their testimonies, the comfort stations were always filled with animal-like men, making it impossible to even count the number of sexual assaults the women were forced to deal with from morning till late at night. One girl, they recall, asked a cleaning woman to bring her something that would help her die on the spot. The girl handed her \1, the precious money her mother had given her before she left home. The woman returned with a bucket of alcohol, which the girl drank hoping to die as soon as possible. Of course, she failed to kill herself, and had to go back to work from the very next day. She was enraged, because she could not die.
Almost three out of four comfort women died during the war and the remaining survivors were left infertile due to sexual trauma or sexually transmitted diseases. Even when the women escaped and returned back to Korea, they had to pretend as if nothing had happened. They were back in a society that valued the integrity and purity of women, and their story was simply unacceptable. In the animation “Her Story,” one of the girls musters the courage to tell her mother about her horrible experiences during the past 8 years. Yet her mother refuses to believe her story which “cannot be true, and must not be true” and tells her daughter to leave their home. The girl carries her physically and psychologically damaged self to the suburbs, and lives as if nothing happened.
Taking courage to make history known
The appalling individual ordeal of the Japanese military’s comfort women was first revealed to the public in 1991. Just before the 46th anniversary of Korea’s independence, a grandmother named Kim Hak-soon went to the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery (Korean Council) and became the first Korean woman to testify about the issue in public. She then released her testimony on paper, disclosing all the painful details about her life as a comfort woman. Kim also took the issue to the Japanese courts in order to receive official acknowledgement. Her testimony received attention both domestically and internationally, and around 235 women followed Kim’s example to testify also about their former lives as comfort women.
Kim’s bravery became a stepping stone for greater action regarding the issue of comfort women. In 1988, the world’s first museum with the theme of sexual slavery was created in Gwangju with the name “Historical Museum of Sexual Slavery by the Japanese Military.” A few years later, in June 1992, the “House of Sharing” was opened as a residence for the comfort women who lost their families during the war and remains home to 8 grandmothers to this day. Ever since 1992, there have also been weekly Wednesday protests in front of the Japanese Embassy, where the surviving grandmothers gather with a large crowd to demand acknowledgement, an official apology, compensation, and accurate factual records of the events in Japanese history textbooks. A former comfort woman, Kim Bok-dong, once said “Do not hate people even if you hate their crimes. If the Japanese acknowledge the fact that they used us as comfort women and apologize, it shall be enough. I want to live in peace before I die.”
The Wednesday protests have been going on for 22 years, and the Wednesday of Sep. 25 marked the 1,093th protest in front of the Japanese Embassy, catching the media’s attention as the longest demonstration in history. On Dec. 14, 2011, a statue resembling a young comfort woman was placed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to mark the 1,000th Wednesday protest. Kim (activist, Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery) says that “At each Wednesday protest, I wish there will be no protest the following week. I hope the issue is resolved soon, so that the grandmothers won’t have to come out every week to shout out for the same cause.”
Why not apologize?
Starting from the creation of the Korean Council in 1990, Koreans have been requesting an official recognition and apology for the comfort women from the Japanese government. At first, Japan refused to acknowledge the existence of comfort women, but Kim Hak-soon’s testimony worked against their claims. As a result, the Japanese government has acknowledged the existence of comfort women, but still denies that they were coerced into prostitution, citing lack of official evidence. They claim that they cannot take official responsibility for a policy that lacks historical evidence and have tried to cover up the issue by offering grants to the victims. The Korean grandmothers, however, rejected the grants and continued to demand an official apology. “The grandmothers are not seeking financial compensation,” says Choi Jong Kun (Prof., Dept. of Political Science and Int. Studies). “What they are seeking is official recognition by the Japanese government to get their long lost honor and youth back.” From the perspective of the comfort women, “efforts to buy indulgence with money might even be conceived as an insulting gesture to erase their past through the power of money. You cannot buy their lost youth with material goods,” says Choi Jae-hyung (Jr., UIC, Dept. of Political Science and Int. Relations).
While the Japanese government refuses to recognize its responsibility for the war crimes, the issue of comfort women is being brought to a broader international stage. In 1993, the issue was included in the World Conference of Human Rights held in Vienna, and in 2003, the UN Convention against Women’s Discrimination called on the Japanese government to “take responsibility for the comfort women issue.” A few years later in 2007, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution that called on Japan to “formally apologize and accept historical responsibility.” 23 countries followed suit, galvanizing movements around the globe. Around that time, a Japanese military official publically admitted his involvement in the sexual assaults during the war, but Shinzo Abe once again refused to take responsibility. Tokyo has also claimed that since the comfort women existed before the UN convention against torture in 1987, their cases are not subject to the convention.
In a recent speech, Hashimoto Toru, mayor of Osaka, stated that "to maintain discipline in the military it must have been necessary at that time. For soldiers who risked their lives when bullets were flying around like rain and wind, a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyone." His claims caused great controversy worldwide, as they were seen to be representative of the Abe administration’s perception of the crimes committed during the war. Some also claim that the women were simply paid to produce physical labor for Japanese companies and that those who faced sexual assaults were simply more unfortunate than others. According to Choi Jung Kun, however, “the country used the women forcefully as products of the war. Some believe it was commercial or even volunteer prostitution, but the very fact that comfort women systems were created by the Japanese government is unacceptable.”
Then why is the Japanese government so reluctant to acknowledge their role? According to Choi, the main reason is legitimacy. That is, if Tokyo were to confirm the fact that the Japanese government was behind the comfort women system, they would eventually have to acknowledge everything including their forgotten past, inhumane war crimes, the Dokdo issue and other political controversies. Their legitimacy would eventually be gone. “Everything, including the legitimacy that the country of Japan has built over the years, would collapse like a domino,” says Choi. “The foundations of the whole nation would crumble and Japan would be unable to keep the low profile it has maintained over the years.” Cho Yoon-sook (participant, East Asian History Debate Forum) also believes that if the government planned to take responsibility for such an embarrassing issue, then Japanese citizens would protest and take action in order to prevent it from happening. She also claims that there could be economic reasons. As Japan is heavily concerned with the international image of its companies, if the government admits to having launched a comfort women system, the image of the country as a whole would go down, leading to boycotts of Japanese products.
Echoes for an international awakening
While the Japanese government is yet to acknowledge its involvement in the comfort women system, other governments around the world have succeeded in raising public awareness of the issue on an international level. As Choi Jae-hyung asserts, “Perhaps now is the time for international civic groups and NGOs to take up the matter and indirectly influence Japan through their actions.” According to Hans Schattle (Prof., Dept. of Political Science & Int. Studies), the grandmothers have been visiting universities abroad to share their stories. “Their story is getting more attention through the word of mouth, media and education. Since the issue of comfort women is actually one of the few cases in history with very few shades of gray, individuals show sympathy for the grandmothers’ cause and repulsion for the acts by the Japanese. Global awareness about the issue is growing.” Heather Evans (former volunteer, House of Sharing), says that “when you work with the *halmunis*, you feel sad and angry for the current situation, but also inspired by their courage and determination. This is an issue connected with current situations all across the globe, and everyone should be ready to take action.”
In 2011, a short animation film resembling Kim Hak-soon’s tragedy was released with the title “Her Story.” The movie was included in various international movie festivals, spreading the story of the comfort women abroad. Moreover, a peace statue honoring the victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery was set up in Los Angeles, in front of Glendale’s main library in July 2013 and caught worldwide attention. “I don’t see this as a monument designed to shame Japan,” said Laura Friedman, member of the Glendale council. “The monument is meant to remind people of the tragedy that 13- or 14-year-old girls were forced to become comfort women and the horrors of the war.” In the meantime, Aug. 14, 2013 was declared as the first “UN Comfort Women Day,” in remembrance of Kim Hak-soon’s first testimony, and people in 17 cities from 9 different countries participated in various events regarding the issue.
This August, UNESCO also held an East Asian History Debate Forum, during which many discussions focused on the issue of comfort women. According to Cho, “Everyone, including Japanese students seemed to realize the severity of the problem, and showed sincere interest in taking action to help. When the other participants of the forum heard that I would be attending this week’s Wednesday protest, they all sent me inspiring messages in their own languages via Facebook and made a poster from different locations.” Hyun Ji-hye (participant, East Asian History Debate Forum) noticed that although the Japanese students knew about the existence of comfort women, they had never heard of any details, since they are not included in Japanese textbooks. “They were shocked after learning the grandmothers’ stories, and cried a lot when they met one of them in person at the House of Sharing. They seemed determined to go back and raise awareness in Japan. This is how internationalized the issue has become,” she says.
Yoon Mi-hyun, (Representative, Korean Council) still remembers the first Wednesday protest that took place 22 years ago. At first, she says, the grandmothers used to hide their faces during each demonstration to protect themselves from the criticisms and gaze of the public. However, according to Yoon, “although we might not have succeeded in earning a sincere apology from the Japanese government yet, the grandmothers have now realized that they have nothing to be ashamed of.” Most importantly, they have been able to heal their past traumas through the Wednesday protests and the public encouragement. Next Wednesday, the grandmothers will once again gather in front of the Japanese Embassy to ask for a humble apology for their lost youth. “We cannot know how the issue will evolve in the future,” says Choi Jae-hyung. “Yet, let us hope that the grandmothers will finally be able to accept themselves not as comfort women, but as beautiful women.”
Yu Ha-eun의 다른기사 보기
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"Of the House of David"
Of all the men in the Old Testament, few are spoken of with such reverence and honor as King David—shepherd, psalmist, soldier, and king. With God’s mighty power behind him, he slew a bear and a lion to save his father’s sheep, toppled a wicked giant with a single stone, slaughtered thousands of godless Philistines, and united the children of Israel under a monarchy of righteousness and justice. The Bible mentions David some 1,048 times. He wrote 73 of the psalms and stands as the major character in approximately 62 chapters of the Old Testament. Anyone who has ever read the Good Book cannot help but know the name of David—a man said to be “after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). And those familiar with the modern-day nation of Israel know that its flag proudly bears a symbol known as the Star of David.
Yet, if the Bible is removed from the discussion, David—King of Israel—vanishes into the shadows of secular history. At least he did for almost 3,000 years. David’s name and story were conspicuously missing from either archaeological evidence or the testimony of history. His name was so absent, in fact, that for many years skeptics had dubbed David’s life as fantasy and his deeds as legendary. After all, every nation needs a hero who slays giants. The Saxons had Beowulf, the Greeks had Hercules, and the Jews had David. David’s daring deeds and courageous conduct were relegated to the fabled heaps of legend and myth.
But a find unearthed in Palestine in 1993 changed David’s status in secular history forever. Professor Avraham Biran, director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at Hebrew Union College, was digging at a site in northern Israelite known as Tel Dan. There he unearthed a 3,000-year-old black basalt obelisk inscribed by one of the enemies of the ancient nation of Israel. The obelisk explained that Ben Hadad, King of Damascus, had defeated the Israelites and taken many of them captive. But the most amazing aspect of the obelisk is that it plainly states that the Israelite monarch defeated by Ben Hadad was “of the house of David.” This serves to confirm the biblical usage of this very designation (cf. 1 Kings 12:19; 14:8; Isaiah 7:2; et al.). And, for the first time in secular history, David appears connected to Israel from a historical standpoint. The implications of the stone cannot be ignored. If a king—any king—reigned who belonged to the “house of David,” then there must have been a real, historical David who established such a house and began the dynastic name.
The story of David thus has assumed a new place in the halls of history. No longer can David, King of Israel, be relegated to the status of myth or legend. Instead, he takes his rightful place beside the other documented kings of ancient history. David lived, just as the Bible had stated. And once again, the Bible remains the anvil on which the blows of the skeptic fall in vain.
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21 Reasons to Believe the Earth is Young
The age of the Earth, according to naturalists and old-Earth advocates, is 4.5 billion years.1 Young-Earth creationists contend that the Earth is on the order of thousands, not billions, of years old. Is there evidence to support the young-Earth creationists’ premise?
First, as we have shown elsewhere, the biblical narrative implies that the Universe was created with an immediate appearance of age in many ways.2 Adam and Eve were not mere zygotes, but walking, talking, working, and procreating individuals. The trees of the Garden were bearing fruit so that Adam and Eve could eat from them, light from distant stars was viewable on Earth, and daughter elements3 were possibly in the various rocks. That said, while certain attributes of the Earth would appear old, the biblical model suggests that other features of the Universe would highlight its youth. Here are 21 such examples:
#1: Bible Teaching
If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then whatever it teaches can be known to be true—including what it teaches about the age of the Earth. The evidence indicates that the Bible is in fact God’s Word.4 Simple addition of the genealogies in Genesis 5 reveals that from Creation to the Flood was 1,6565 years, give or take a few years.6 The genealogies of Genesis 11, which do not use precisely the same terminology as that of Genesis 5,7 account for roughly 400 to 5,000 years, ending with the birth of Abram.8 From Abram to Christ is roughly 2,000 years, and from Christ to present day is roughly 2,000 years. Therefore, the age of the Earth is 6,000-10,000 years.
Paleontology/Archaeology
#2: Polystrate Fossils
Perhaps the most widely used argument for a millions-of-years-old Earth historically has been the rock layers of the geologic column. It would take millions of years for the thousands of meters of material beneath us to accumulate and lithify—or so the argument goes. Is that true? A polystrate fossil is a single fossil that spans more than one geologic stratum. Many polystrate tree trunk fossils have been discovered, as well as a baleen whale, swamp plants called calamites, and catfish.9 Polystrate fossils prove that both the rock layers of the geologic column and the surfaces between them do not require millions of years of slow and gradual accumulation and lithification. After all, how could a tree escape its inevitable decay while sticking out of the ground for millions of years with its roots dead and lithified, while it waited to be slowly covered with sediment? Polystrate fossils provide evidence that the rock strata have formed rapidly—fast enough to preserve organic materials before their decay.
#3: DNA in “Ancient” Bacteria Support a Young Earth
In 2000, a bacterium was discovered that is thought to be from the Permian Period of Earth’s history—250 million years ago. The problem is that, according to geomicrobiologist of the University of Bristol John Parkes, “[a]ll the laws of chemistry tell you that complex molecules in the spores should have degraded to very simple compounds such as carbon dioxide” in that amount of time,10 and yet the bacterium’s DNA was still intact. Further, the “Lazarus” bacterium actually revived in spite of its supposed great age. Not only was the bacterium revived, but analysis of its DNA indicated that the bacterium is similar to modern bacteria—it had not evolved in “250 million years.”11 Critics verified that the DNA of the bacterium does in fact match that of modern bacteria, but respond that “unless it can be shown that [the bacterium] evolves 5 to 10 times more slowly than other bacteria,” the researchers’ claims should be rejected.12 So according to critics, the evidence does not match the “theoretical expectations for ancient DNA” predicted by the evolutionary model. Therefore, the bacterium cannot be ancient regardless of the evidence.13 Another plausible option: the bacterium is not 250 million years old.
#4: Human Population Statistics
Evolutionists argue that humans (i.e., the genus homo) have been on the Earth for roughly two to three million years. Using statistics, one can arrive at an estimate for how many people would be predicted to be on the Earth at different points in history. For example, accounting for factors such as war, disease, and famine, and assuming humans have been on the planet for only one million, rather than two to three million, years, we find that there should be 102,000 people on the planet today.14 There are, however, not even 1010 people on the Earth. In fact, if three-feet-tall humans with narrow shoulders were squeezed into the Universe like sardines, only 1082 people could fit into the entire Universe. It would take 101,918 (minus one) other Universes like ours to house that many humans.
It might be tempting to argue that the Earth could only sustain roughly 50 billion people, resource-wise, and therefore, all humans above that number would die off. If that were the case, however, there should be evidence that the Earth’s resource capacity had been met many times in the past in the form of billions upon billions of hominid fossils. Hominid fossils, however, are acknowledged to be “hard to come by.”15 In fact, “meager evidence” exists to attempt to substantiate the origin of the entire genus homo.16 Even after over a century of searching for homo fossils, one evolutionary scientist admitted several years ago, “The fossils that decorate our family tree are so scarce that there are still more scientists than specimens. The remarkable fact is that all the physical evidence we have for human evolution can still be placed, with room to spare, inside a single coffin.”17 Is belief in an old Earth reasonable or irrational? Ironically, if our calculations are adjusted based on the predictions of the biblical model, roughly 4,350 years ago18 a Flood ensued that wiped out man from the face of the Earth. If the planet then began to be repopulated by six people (namely the sons of Noah and their wives), statistics show that there should be roughly 6.7 to 8.1 billion people on the planet today. As of today, the U.S. Census Bureau documents that the world’s population is 7.5 billion people.19
#5: Carbon-14 in “Ancient” Fossils and Materials
At current rates, it takes 5,730 years for half of the radioactive element carbon-14 (C-14), from an organic sample like a bone or piece of wood, to break down into its daughter element, nitrogen-14. With such a “short” half-life, after 57,300 years (10 half-lives), less than 0.1% of the original C-14 atoms are left in any specimen. Current technology does not allow scientists to detect C-14 in specimens thought to be older than 60-100 thousand years in age—all of the measurable carbon-14 is gone.20 If C-14 is detected in any uncontaminated specimen, therefore, the specimen cannot be older than 100,000 years (assuming, as evolutionists do, a constant nuclear decay rate of C-14 into nitrogen-14—an assumption which would not hold in the biblical Flood scenario). The discovery of C-14 in fossils that are believed to be 10’s to 100’s of millions of years old is, predictably, shocking to those who accept the conventional dating scheme and its underlying techniques. No matter how much care is taken to ensure that the specimens have not been contaminated, the fossils still reveal the presence of C-14. Fossilized wood from the Cenozoic era (up to 65 million years old, conventionally), fossilized wood, dinosaur fossils, and ammonite shells from the Mesozoic era (66-252 million years old, conventionally), and fossilized wood, reptiles, and sponges from the Paleozoic era (252-541 million years old) have been discovered with C-14 present.21 Similarly, coal from the Paleozoic era (thought to be 40-320 million years old), and even diamonds thought to be billions of years old, have yielded C-14 upon examination.22 It is notable that regardless of where the specimens are found in the geologic column, the C-14 ages all fall within the range of 10-60 thousand years old (again, assuming a constant nuclear decay rate). While one might predict that deeper in the strata would correspond to an older age, the depth in the strata does not appear to correlate to the measured age of the specimen, supporting the creationist contention that the entire fossil record and geologic column from the Paleozoic up into the Cenozoic era likely formed during the single year of the biblical Flood. The geologic column and fossil record are not a record of life through time, but of death during the Flood a few millennia ago.23
#6: Soft Tissue/Blood Vessels in Dinosaur Fossils
The last uncontested dinosaur fossil is found in the Cretaceous period of the geologic column, below the K-Pg boundary that marks a mysterious extinction event that wiped out some 70% of the planet’s species. The dinosaur era (i.e., the Mesozoic) extends from roughly 252 million years ago to the K-Pg boundary, roughly 65-66 million years ago according to the evolutionary timescale. Obviously, no flesh could conceivably survive 100,000 years without decay, much less one million years, much less 65 million years, much less 200 million years. As of 2005, however, many dinosaur fossils have been “cracked open” and studied, only to find collagen and blood vessels with red blood cells intact, original proteins, and soft, stretchy, flexible tissue. The list has grown to include T-rex, hadrosaur, mosasaur, triceratops, thescelosaurus, psittacosaurus, archaeopteryx, and seismosaur fossils.24 While certain sterile conditions could conceivably preserve organic remains for hundreds or thousands of years, the fossils being studied were not discovered in sterile, laboratory environments, but rather harsh environments like the mid-western U.S., with large temperature differentials, erratic weather, and climate conditions that accelerate decay. No reasonable explanation has been offered, and yet the evidence has continued to mount.25 The most plausible explanation is that the geologic strata that host the dinosaurs do not date to 66+ million years ago, but rather, to a few thousand years ago.
#7: Human/Dinosaur Co-existence
According to the evolutionary, old-Earth timeline, dinosaurs went extinct some 65 to 66 million years ago. Modern-day mammals and many other living organisms did not yet exist, since they are not found in the strata that house the dinosaurs. Humans (i.e., the genus homo) only arrived on the scene two to three million years ago according to that paradigm. No human, therefore, ever saw a dinosaur. If, however, evidence was discovered that proves humans and dinosaurs in fact co-existed in the recent past, then the evolutionary timeline telescopes down millions of years and the geologic strata in which the dinosaurs are found are shown to represent a time period in the not-too-distant past. Sure enough, physical, historical, and biblical evidences are available to substantiate the co-existence of humans and dinosaurs in the recent past.26
#8: Tightly Folded Rock Strata
If the rock layers of the geologic column represent millions of years of slow accumulation, lithification, and erosion, one would expect the layers beneath the surface layer to be “brittle,” as rock layers are today. Plate movement would, therefore, result in the fracturing of those rock layers, rather than bending them—rocks do not bend, but rather, break. In several places on the Earth, however, rock layers have been discovered that are bent and folded at radical angles without fracturing (e.g., the Tapeats Sandstone and Muav Limestone of the Grand Canyon27). These thick layers of sediment that eventually lithified—representing millions of years of time, conventionally—must have been laid down rapidly and had not yet had enough time to lithify before being bent by the rapid plate movement predicted to occur during the Flood.
#9: Rapid “Slow” Processes
Any old-Earth/evolutionary dating technique relies on the uniformitarian assumption: whatever processes we witness occurring today must be used to explain the past. If petrifying a tree, forming oil, carving a canyon, transforming the parent isotopes of a radioactive rock into their daughter elements, or moving a continent several miles would take millions of years at the lithification, transformation, erosion, decay, and “drift” rates we see today, then the Earth must be at least millions of years old. If, however, each of these processes are shown to occur rapidly under catastrophic conditions (as predicted by the young-Earth biblical model), then those processes cannot be used to prove an old Earth. Sure enough, as creationists have predicted would be the case, each of these processes has been empirically verified as occurring rapidly under catastrophic conditions like those of the biblical Flood model. Petrification has been found to be able to occur in mere months to a few years under catastrophic conditions.28 Oil has been shown to form in hundreds to thousands of years.29 The rapid carving of canyons has been verified to occur under catastrophic conditions as well.30 Studies have verified that the nuclear decay rates of radioactive materials can be accelerated under catastrophic conditions,31 and evidence for the rapid movement in the past of the plates upon which the continents reside has been verified as well.32 If each of the chronometers that are said to prove “old” ages of the Earth is contradicted by the evidence, then where is the evidence of an old Earth?
#10: Amount of Salt in the Sea
Ocean water is salty. Each year, hundreds of millions of tons of sodium are added to the oceans and only about 27% of it is removed by other processes, leaving an annual accumulation of 336 million tons of sodium.33 Starting with a zero sodium content in the sea and using the old-Earth assumption of uniformitarianism, the current concentration of sodium in the ocean would be reached in only 42 million years. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, however, the ocean is 3.8 billion years old.34 The response to this fact, as must be the case in other examples in this list, would obviously be that accumulation and/or dissemination rates must have been different in the past. The average salt accumulation, however, would have to be over 90 times slower than present rates in order to accommodate the alleged age of the ocean. This conjecture simply does not hold up under scrutiny and, even if it did, it would merely prove the creationist contention that uniformitarianism is not a reliable assumption. Present processes are not the key to understanding the past and, therefore, no old-age dating technique can be trusted, since they all rely on uniformitarianism. Since the Flood happened, catastrophism, not uniformitarianism, is a more reasonable assumption in interpreting physical evidence. Intimately tied to catastrophism are rapid processes and, therefore, young ages.
#11: Amount of Sediment on the Sea Floor
As water and wind scour the continents each year, 20 billion tons of material is estimated to be deposited in the oceans.35 As the tectonic plates of the Earth move, subduction occurs, with one plate slowly diving under another towards the mantle. One billion tons of material is estimated to be removed from the sea floor each year from that process,36 leaving 19 billion tons of sediment accumulating each year on the ocean floor. On average, the sediment thickness on the ocean floor is 1,500 feet.37 Based on the current rate of sediment deposition, however (i.e., assuming uniformitarianism once again), the sediment on the ocean floor would accumulate in only a small fraction of the alleged 3.8 billion year age of the ocean (i.e., 0.5% or 19 million years).38 The average annual sediment accumulation would have to be 197 times smaller to match an ocean age of 3.8 billion years. The amount of sediment on the sea floor simply does not support a billions-of-years-old ocean, but fits well with a young Earth when the accelerated erosion rates during and immediately after the Flood are accounted for.
#12: Lack of Erosion Evidence Between Strata
When making a multi-layer cake, the adjoining surface between layers is smooth. If you made your cake outside over several weeks, waiting several days between new layers and leaving the cake open to the elements in the meantime, the surface of each layer would exhibit the indicators of time—decay, loss of cake from scavengers, erosion from rain water, etc. Similarly, if geologic strata are formed over millions of years, the surface between adjoining layers would not be smooth, but would exhibit proof of time passing in the form of, for instance, erosional and depositional surfaces. However, the layers, by in large (e.g., at the Grand Canyon), display smooth contact surfaces—indicating rapid deposition without enough time for erosion.39 Those surfaces which show evidence of erosion match the type of erosion that would be predicted if the lower surface had not yet lithified when a rapid erosion event occurred above the surface, prior to further rapid deposition. Bottom line: the Grand Canyon exhibits evidence of a young Earth.
#13: Helium in Zircon Crystals
Zircon crystals are considered to be some of the oldest minerals on Earth—thought to be billions of years old. They are very hard and resistant to deterioration, and are also able to preserve their contents well, making them safer from contamination. Within zircon crystals, a portion of the zirconium atoms are replaced by uranium while the crystals grow. As radioactive uranium-238 decays into its daughter element, lead-206, alpha particles are released that combine with nearby electrons. Helium is subsequently formed, which can then be detected in zircon crystals. While zircon crystals are able to preserve their contents well, helium is known to behave as a “slippery” material. Helium atoms are small and are in constant motion as gas particles. They are, therefore, hard to contain, and they diffuse quickly.40 Upon examination of zircon crystals that are thought to be 1.5 billion years old, however, scientists have discovered the presence of unusually high concentrations of helium.41 If the crystals were billions of years old, the helium should have been diffused from the crystals and released into the atmosphere, since high concentrations of helium can only be sustained, theoretically, for a few thousand years without significant diffusion. The presence of high concentrations of helium illustrates the fact that at some point(s) in the relatively recent past, the nuclear decay rate of uranium-238 was accelerated, producing larger amounts of helium that have not yet had time to diffuse. If radioactive decay rates were accelerated at some point in the past (e.g., during the Flood), then radioactive materials will appear deceptively old, while actually being relatively young.
#14: “Orphan” Radiohalos
As a radioactive atom of uranium decays into polonium within a solid crystalline material, alpha particles are released and “halos”42 form, marking the different stages of nuclear decay. Parentless radiohalos, however, are found in many granitic rocks, implying accelerated nuclear decay in the past and a young age for the Earth.43
#15: Clastic Dikes
In sedimentary rock strata, open fractures often exist, and in some cases, other sedimentary material is injected into those cracks at a later time, filling them with a different type of sedimentary rock. These are called clastic dikes. The Ute Pass fault, west of Colorado Springs, for example, exhibits over 200 sandstone dikes, some of which are miles in length. The dikes are comprised of Cambrian Sawatch sandstone (allegedly 500 million years old) that injected rock from the Cretaceous period (allegedly 65-66 million years old).44 Is it reasonable to presume that 500-million-year-old sediment remained unlithified for over 400 million years while Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous strata were laid down on top of it before intruding into the Cretaceous strata? Or is it more reasonable to infer that the layers of the geologic column from the Cambrian to the Cretaceous were laid down rapidly on top of one another during a global, aqueous catastrophe before they had lithified? Then, during the rapid uplift of the Rocky Mountains later in the Flood, the Cambrian Sawatch material was injected through the overlying layers forming the clastic dikes of the Ute Pass. Bottom line: the geologic column was formed rapidly—the Earth is young.
Astronomy/Astrophysics/Geophysics
#16: Faint Young Sun Paradox
As the hydrogen within the Sun fuses into helium, the Sun gradually increases in temperature. Calculations show that (at current rates) 3.5 billion years ago, the Sun would have been 25% dimmer and would have heated the Earth less, dropping Earth’s temperature some 31oF. Earth would have been below freezing!45 According to contemporary thinking, however, Earth, initially molten, was hotter, not colder, prior to 3.5 billion years ago, and was gradually cooling, not heating up.46 Not only is there no evidence that Earth was ever frozen, but if it had been frozen 3.5 billion years ago and beyond, according to evolutionists, life could not emerge 3.5-4 billion years ago since it relies on liquid water.
#17: Rapid Decay Rate of Earth’s Magnetic Field
Scientists have been measuring the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field with precision since 1835. The magnetic field is decaying at an exponential rate with a half-life of roughly 1,100 years.47 By implication, when we follow the exponential function back in history, doubling the Earth’s magnetic field intensity every 1,100 years, we reach a point 30,000 years ago when the Earth’s magnetic field strength would have been comparable to that of a neutron star,48 creating immense heat that would have prohibited life from existing and possibly even compromised the internal structure of the Earth. The Earth cannot be millions of years old.
#18: Lunar Recession Rate
The Moon is presently moving away from the Earth at a rate of approximately 4 cm per year.49 The recession rate is not linear. As the Moon moves further from the Earth, it recedes slower. Based on the equation that describes the Moon’s recession rate, scientists can calculate where the Moon would have been compared to the Earth at different times in history. For example, 6,000 years ago, the Moon would have been 750 feet closer to the Earth than it is today—resulting in little effect on the Earth. If, however, the Moon has the contemporary age of 4.5 billion years old, there is a significant problem, because 1.55 billion years ago the Moon would have been touching the Earth.50 It would be physically impossible, therefore, for the Moon to be older than 1.55 billion years old based on the known recession rate of the Moon. In response, those who wish to maintain the contemporary belief in deep time must argue that present recession rates did not hold in the past.51 In so doing, however, they abandon uniformitarian thinking (i.e., “the present is the key to the past”) which undergirds every deep time dating technique. They are, therefore, once again admitting that every evolutionary dating technique is suspect and does not prove an old Earth.
#19: Atmospheric Helium Content
Helium is gradually accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere as radioactive isotopes beneath the Earth’s surface decay, emitting alpha particles that attract electrons and form helium. The amount of helium in the atmosphere has been measured, the rate at which helium is introduced in the atmosphere has been measured, and the theoretical rate of helium release to space has been calculated as well. Using the typical old-Earth assumption of uniformity over time, it is easy to calculate an upper limit on the age of the atmosphere. The atmosphere can be no older than two million years—as opposed to the alleged age of 4.5 billion years.52
#20: Spiral Galaxies
Earth is located in the Milky Way Galaxy—a spiral galaxy. According to the Big Bang model, galaxies began forming within a billion years after the Big Bang, making many of them over 12 billion years old. Of all of the galaxies that scientists have observed, some 77 percent of them are spiral galaxies.53 The oldest spiral galaxy is thought to be roughly 11 billion years old.54 If you have ever sprinkled cinnamon on a hot, foamy drink and then stirred the drink with a straw or stick, you will notice the formation of the characteristic spiral galaxy shape. You may also notice that the portion of the spiral that is closer to the center rotates faster than the portion of the spiral that is close to the edge of the cup. That “differential rotation” causes the arms of the spiral to begin blurring closer to the center of the spiral over time. After a few rotations, the center of the spiral is no longer recognizable. Similarly, spiral galaxies are spinning slowly. If spiral galaxies are as old as is claimed by secular cosmologists, after a few hundred million years the arms of the spirals should no longer be recognizable—and yet many of them are. Space.com admits: “The exact mechanism for the formation of the spiral arms continues to puzzle scientists. If they were permanent features of the galaxy, they would soon wind up tightly and disappear in less than a billion years.”55 Apparently, the observational evidence does not harmonize with the deep time proposition of the Big Bang model.
#21: Comet Contradiction
The solar system is comprised of hundreds of thousands of objects that are orbiting the Sun. Over 3,000 of those objects are comets.56 Comets are balls of ice and dirt moving through space in elliptical orbits around the Sun. They are believed to be “leftovers from the material that initially formed the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.”57 As comets in their orbit move close to the Sun, solar winds and radiation from the Sun “blow” material from the comet, creating the characteristic tail we observe. Since material is removed from a comet with each cycle around the Sun, obviously the comet will eventually disintegrate—completely sublimating. The typical lifespan of a comet is 10,000 years.58 How, then, can the solar system be 4.6 billion years old if thousands of comets—thought to have formed when the solar system formed—are still orbiting the Sun? Scientists speculate the existence of a source for new comets that lies outside of the solar system, but no observational evidence has substantiated that claim. The biblical model, of course, provides a plausible explanation that harmonizes with the evidence: the solar system is less than 10,000 years old.
This list is but a small sample of the available evidences for a young Earth. Keep in mind that the assumption of uniformitarianism undergirds many of the arguments in this list. Uniformitarianism is a fundamental assumption of evolutionary dating techniques, not of the biblical Creation model. The creationist would argue that uniformitarianism is extremely unreliable due to the effects of catastrophic phenomena (especially that of the Flood; cf. 2 Peter 3:3-6). The biblical Creation perspective advocates, instead, catastrophism as the reliable way to interpret scientific evidence from the past. By illustrating that uniformitarianism simultaneously proves a young Earth (according to the examples above) and disproves a young Earth (according to standard evolutionary dating techniques), the unreliability of uniformitarianism is substantiated. The old-Earth advocate is forced to abandon uniformitarianism, or be guilty of holding to it blindly without evidence of its reliability. In abandoning uniformitarianism, however, the person who believes in an old Earth has now yielded his primary evidence for an old Earth and must embrace the contention that one simply cannot know the age of the Earth using science. We would concur with that conclusion, but remind the old-Earth advocate that while science cannot provide the age of the Earth, there is another source of information that can provide its age. Recall the first point in our list: since we can know that the Bible is from God, what it says is true. It gives us enough information to know the relative age of the Earth, on the order of thousands, not billions, of years.
There is never a reason to doubt the Bible. True science will always support it. If the Bible indicates that the Earth is young, then a fair, thorough assessment of the evidence will substantiate that truth, even if assessing the evidence requires time and effort. That evidence is readily available.
1 For a response to old-Earth dating techniques, see Jeff Miller (2013), “Don’t Assume Too Much: Not All Assumptions in Science Are Bad,” Reason & Revelation, 33[6]:62-70.
2 Eric Lyons (2011), “Common Sense, Miracles, and the Apparent Age of the Earth,” Reason & Revelation, 31[8]77-80.
3 In radioactive decay, a radioactive element (the parent) decays into another element (the daughter) over time. When dating a rock, geologists assume that there was initially no daughter elements present in the rock—only parent elements when the decay began. That assumption is then used to determine, at today’s decay rates, how long it would take for the rock to have the quantity of daughter element that it currently contains.
4 Kyle Butt (2007), Behold! The Word of God (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
5 Assuming the Masoretic text is correct (as opposed to the Septuagint or Samaritan Pentateuch).
6 Unless Adam had Seth on Adam’s birthday, Seth had Enosh on Seth’s birthday, Enosh had Cainan on Enosh’s birthday, etc., each patriarch’s age is being rounded by, potentially, a few months.
7 Eric Lyons (2002), “When Did Terah Beget Abraham?” Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=624.
8 The genealogy terminology of Genesis 11 is not precisely the same as that of Genesis 5. As highlighted in Lyons, 2002, the patriarch years before the birth of the next patriarch could refer to the number of years up to the firstborn son (similar to Moses’ terminology in the same context concerning Shem and Abram). If so, then the number of years between the firstborn’s birth and the ancestor of Christ listed is unknown. If each patriarch listed is a firstborn son, then simple math yields roughly 390 years from Shem to the birth of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. If, however, there is a span of time between the date of the firstborn son and the actual ancestor of Christ (who may not have been the firstborn), the time between Shem and Terah’s sons grows. As an upper limit, if every patriarch in Genesis 11 continued to live to 900 years (like the patriarchs of the pre-Flood world, Genesis 5), then the “missing” years add up to a potential addition of 4,410 years (an extreme, unlikely scenario). Upper and lower limits, therefore, are placed on the potential length of time between the Flood and the birth of Terah’s children: between 390 and 4,800 years.
9 Michael J. Oard and Hank Giesecke (2007), “Polystrate Fossils Require Rapid Deposition,” CRS Quarterly, 43[3]:232-240, March; John Morris (2011), The Young Earth (Green Forest, AR: Master Books), pp. 102-105; Andrew Snelling (1995), “The Whale Fossil in Diatomite, Lompoc, California,” Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, 9[2]:244-258.
10 As quoted in Andy Coghlan (2000), “Eternal Life,” New Scientist, On-line, October 18, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn82-eternal-life/.
11 Russell Vreeland, William Rosenzweig, and Dennis Powers (2000), “Isolation of a 250 Million-Year-Old Halotolerant Bacterium from a Primary Salt Crystal,” Nature, 407:897-900, October 19.
12 D.C. Nickle, G.H. Learn, M.W. Rain, J.I. Mullins, and J.E. Mittler (2002), “Curiously Modern DNA for a ‘250 Million-Year-Old’ Bacterium,” Journal of Molecular Evolution, 54[1]:134-137.
14 Jeff Miller (2011), “Population Statistics and a Young Earth,” Reason & Revelation, 31[5]:41-47, http://apologeticspress.org/pub_rar/31_5/1105w.pdf.
15 Mariette DiChristina (2012), “The Story Begins,” Scientific American, 306[4]:4, April.
16 Kate Wong (2012), “First of Our Kind,” Scientific American, 306[4]:31, April.
17 Lyall Watson (1982), “The Water People,” Science Digest, 90[5]:44, May.
18 Keep in mind that the Flood could have been a few hundred years further back in history than 4,300 years ago.
19 "U.S. and World Population Clock” (2018), United States Census Bureau, November 2, https://www.census.gov/popclock/.
20 Sarah Zielinski (2008), “Showing Their Age,” Smithsonian Magazine.com, July, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/showing-their-age-62874/.
21 Andrew Snelling (2011), “Carbon-14 in Fossils and Diamonds,” Answers Magazine, On-line, January 1, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/carbon-14/carbon-14-in-fossils-and-diamonds/; Brian Thomas and Vance Nelson (2015), “Radiocarbon in Dinosaur and Other Fossils,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, 51[4]:299-311.
22 Don DeYoung (2008), Thousands…Not Billions (Green Forest, AR: Master Books), pp. 45-62.
23 Note that radiocarbon dating does, in fact, sometimes result in ages of materials that exceed 10,000 years. Radiocarbon dating, however, is understood to be suspect for objects thought to be older than roughly 3,000-4,000 years old [cf. George H. Michaels and Brian Fagan (2013), “Chronological Methods 8—Radiocarbon Dating,” University of California Santa Barbara Instructional Development, http://archserve.id.ucsb.edu/courses/anth/fagan/anth3/Courseware/Chronolo-gy/08_Radiocarbon_Dating.html]. Further, biblical creationists argue that radioactive decay rates were apparently accelerated during the Flood and afterward, possibly up to 1,500-1,000 B.C., making all dating techniques unreliable for ages beyond that time. See DeYoung for evidence of accelerated radioactive decay in the past.
24 Kevin Anderson (2017), Echoes of the Jurassic (Chino Valley, AZ: CRS Books); Brian Thomas (2015), “Solid Answers on Soft Tissue,” Answers Magazine On-line, January 1, https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/when-did-dinosaurs-live/solid-answers-soft-tissue/.
25 Cf. Creation Research Society Quarterly (2015), 51[4] and Anderson for in-depth discussion and responses to proposed explanations.
26 Eric Lyons and Kyle Butt (2008), The Dinosaur Delusion (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
27 Andrew A. Snelling, “Rock Layers Folded, Not Fractured,” Answers 4, No. 2 (April-June 2009):80-83; Morris, pp. 108-113.
28 H. Akahane, et al. (2004), “Rapid Wood Silicification in Hot Spring Water: An Explanation of Silicification of Wood During the Earth’s History,” Sedimentary Geology 169(3-4):219-228, July 15; Alan Channing, Alan and Dianne Edwards (2004), “Experimental Taphonomy: Silicification of Plants in Yellowstone Hot-Spring Environments,” Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 94:503-521, http://www.rcn.montana.edu/Publications/Pdf/2004/ChanningEdwards%202004%20Experiment-al%20taphonomy.pdf.
29 Borys M. Didyk and Bernd R.T. Simoneit (1989), “Hydrothermal Oil of Guaymas Basin and Implications for Petroleum Formation Mechanisms,” Nature, 342:65-69, November 2.
30 John Morris and Steven Austin (2003), Footprints in the Ash (Green Forest, AR: Master Books), pp. 74-76; “A Geologic Catastrophy” (2005), Glacial Lake Missoula and the Ice Age Floods, http://www.glaciallakemissoula.org/story.html; James O’Connor and Richard Waitt (1995), “Beyond the Channeled Scabland,” Oregon Geology, 57[5]:100-103, https://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/og/ogv57n05.pdf; Michelle Roberts (2007), “Texas Set to Open New Canyon to Public,” Canyon Lake Gorge, The Associated Press, October 5, https://www.canyonlakeguide.com/helpful_info/gorge.htm; Sigrid Sanders, et al. (2017), “Providence Canyon,” New Georgia Encyclopedia On-line, July 26, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/providence-canyon.
31 Steve Reucroft and J. Swain (2009), “Ultrasonic Cavitation of Water Speeds Up Thorium Decay,” CERN Courier, June 8, http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/39158; Cf. DeYoung.
32 Ross Mitchell, David Evans, and Taylor Kilian (2010), “Rapid Early Cambrian Rotation of Gondwana,” Geology, 38[8]:755-758; Paul Garner (2011), The New Creationism (Carlisle, PA: EP Books), pp. 187-189.
33 Steven Austin and D. Russell Humphreys (1990), “The Sea’s Missing Salt: A Dilemma for Evolutionists,” Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Creationism, ed. R.E. Walsh and C.L. Brooks (Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship), 2:17-33.
34 “Why Do We Have Oceans?” (no date), National Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/why_oceans.html.
35 John Milliman and James Syvitski, “Geomorphic/Tectonic Control of Sediment Discharge to the Ocean: The Importance of Small Mountainous Rivers,” The Journal of Geology, 100 (1992): 525-544.
36 William Hay, James Sloan II, and Christopher Wold (1998), “Mass/Age Distribution and Composition of Sediments on the Ocean Floor and the Global Rate of Sediment Subduction,” Journal of Geophysical Research, 93[B12]: 14,933-14,940.
37 “Deep-Sea Sediments” (2018), Encyclopaedia Britannica On-line, https://www.britannica.com/science/ocean-basin/Deep-sea-sediments.
38 NOTE: One ft3 wet gravel is approximately 126.1 pounds, and the surface area of the ocean is roughly 139 million square miles. The total weight of the sediment on the ocean floor is, therefore, 3.665(1017) tons.
39 Steven Austin (1994), Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe (Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research), pp 42-43.
40 Consider a child’s helium balloon. The helium, being “slippery,” gradually escapes the balloon, but it does so through the rubber itself, not through the knot at the base of the balloon.
41 DeYoung, pp. 65-78.
42 Rings of color that surround a radioactive mineral.
44 Steven Austin and John Morris (1986), “Tight Fold and Clastic Dikes as Evidence for Rapid Deposition and Deformation of Two Very Thick Stratigraphic Sequences,” First International Conference on Creationism, ed. R.E. Walsh, C.L. Brooks, and R.S. Crowell (Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship), pp. 3-13, http://static.icr.org/i/pdf/technical/Tight-Fold-and-Clastic-Dikes-Rapid-Deposition-Deformation.pdf.
45 Danny Faulkner (2012), “#4 Faint Sun Paradox,” Answers Magazine On-line, October 1, https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/sun/4-faint-sun-paradox/.
46 Eric McLamb (2011), “Earth’s Beginnings: The Origins of Life,” Ecology On-line, September 11, http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/10/earths-beginnings-origins-life/.
47 D.R. Humphreys (2016), Earth’s Mysterious Magnetism and that of Other Celestial Orbs (Chino Valley, AZ: Creation Research Society), p. 57.
48 Earth’s magnetic field strength is roughly 0.5 G at the surface, while a neutron star’s magnetic field strength is at least 108 G [“Earth’s Magnetic Field” (2018), Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations, Harvard University, https://sciencedemonstrations.fas.harvard.edu/presentations/earths-magnetic-field; A. Reisenegger (2003), “Origin and Evolution of Neutron Star Magnetic Fields,” International Workshop on Strong Magnetic Fields and Neutron Stars, http://www.if.ufrgs.br/hadrons/reisenegger1.pdf.].
49 David Powell (2007), “Earth’s Moon Destined to Disintegrate,” Space.com, January 22, https://www.space.com/3373-earth-moon-destined-disintegrate.html.
50 Don DeYoung (2008), “Tides and the Creation Worldview,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, 45[2]:100-108.
51 E.g., F.R. Stephenson, “Tidal Recession of the Moon from Ancient and Modern Data,” Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 91:141, http://adsbit.harvard.edu/full/seri/JBAA./0091//0000136.000.html.
52 Larry Vardiman (1990), The Age of the Earth’s Atmosphere (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research).
53 Nola Taylor Redd (2013), “Spiral Galaxy Facts & Definition,” Space.com, August 15, https://www.space.com/22382-spiral-galaxy.html.
54 Calla Cofield (2017), “Oldest Spiral Galaxy Ever Seen May Reveal Secrets About the Milky Way,” Space.com, November 7, https://www.space.com/38690-oldest-spiral-galaxy-ever-seen-detected.html.
55 Redd, emp. added.
56 “Solar System Profile” (2018), ThePlanets.org, https://theplanets.org/solar-system/.
57 Charles Choi (2017), “Comets: Facts About the ‘Dirty Snowballs’ of Space,” Space.com, October 23, https://www.space.com/53-comets-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html.
58 “How Long Does it Take for Comets to ‘Melt’?” (2013), TheNakedScientists.com, April 4, https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/how-long-does-it-take-comets-melt.
Suggested Resourses
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Category: Productions
Copacabana – October 2011
Orchestrations by Andy Rumble Originally produced in the United States by Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh, PA. Van Kapalan, Executive Producer,...
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – October 2010
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a yee-haaing, thigh slapping trip down memory lane that is sure...
Return to the Forbidden Planet – October 2009
Doctor Prospero worked late one night developing a formula which could change the world. However, his wife Gloria...
Summer Holiday – October 2008
Based on the classic Cliff Richard film, Summer Holiday will transport you back to the swinging sixties as it...
Thoroughly Modern Millie – October 2007
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Serving with determination, making racquet
Published on Friday, February 25, 2011 by The Norseman Staff
As players continue to volley back and forth at a rapid pace, there’s not a lot of down time during a tennis match. Competitors must stay on their toes in a sport where reaction and anticipation mean everything.
Tennis also provides an opportunity for students to have a release from the average school day by allowing them to step onto the court and channel their energy elsewhere.
“Being able to just hit the ball as hard as I can; just going out there and being good at something [is the best part of tennis],” senior Shawn Greinert said. “You don’t have to sit in the classroom, you don’t have to think about everything; you just go out there and play. It’s enjoyable.”
The sport appears to have noticeable influence on the students when they step on to the court and develop a competitive spirit.
“Tennis has influenced me by making me a more competitive person, because normally I’m like this sweet little nice girl who never says anything bad about anybody and when I get on the court, [I become] a completely different person,” senior Kayla Seigert said.
In preparation for district, the tennis team goes through a variety of training methods to better their playing abilities.
“We do various drills and play matches, and usually have games on Friday,” Greinert said. “During the season, though, it’s just really aimed at getting better for district.”
Even though many players start off playing for power, they soon learn that tennis is a game of finesse.
“[The most difficult part for student athletes is] understanding that you don’t have to hit the ball hard to win a point; [they just] have to be able to keep the ball in play,” Coach Randy Stewart said.
Even though the fall season didn’t go as well as the team would have hoped, it should act as a great foundation for the spring.
“We ended up tying for fourth at district,” Stewart said.
Already, students are considering how upcoming competitions may or may not turn out, depending on the skill of the players.
“My prediction is that our team will have a lot of fun, and the upper classmen will probably do better than the underclassmen just because they have more experience and have been on varsity longer,” Seigert said.
Hopefully, for any upcoming seasons, the students will gain a better understanding of what ‘school spirit’ really is.
“The main thing they need to do is to go out and do more on their own; playing only for the school and only for school matches and only for school practice. Just to get them to understand why they’re trying to play like they are,” Stewart said.
Students needing more information about joining the team next year can contact Coach Stewart or talk to members of the tennis team.
Categories: Sports | Tags: main, tennis, Volume 40 Number 3
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HealthEquity Creates Employment Opportunities in Rural Utah
HealthEquity, Inc. (NASDAQ: HQY), a nationwide health savings account administrator, […]
_November 29, 2016
HealthEquity, Inc. (NASDAQ: HQY), a nationwide health savings account administrator, announced a new hiring initiative to meet both their needs and those of residents in Carbon County, Utah.
The Draper-based company plans to employ more than 28 permanent, benefited positions in Carbon County—where the unemployment is 5.8 percent. The remote employees will be offered the same wages and benefits as employees based along Utah’s Wasatch Front.
“HealthEquity’s innovative approach is improving lives beyond the Wasatch Front,” said Gov. Gary R. Herbert. “I applaud them for their efforts, and I challenge other growing companies to look to rural Utah for business growth and expansion.”
In December 2015, HealthEquity announced it would expand its Draper headquarters to create up to 200 jobs in Utah within six years. With the addition of the new team members based in Price, HealthEquity has surpassed their goal and added 207 new jobs in less than a year.
“Providing job opportunities in Price gives us a unique opportunity to help strengthen the local economy,” said Natalie Atwood, senior vice president of people at HealthEquity. “We are thrilled to be part of such a worthwhile initiative and are ready to fully integrate the new employees into our HealthEquity team.”
HealthEquity partnered with Utah-based Accelerant to hire, train and manage logistical aspects of their initiative in Price. Accelerant has been actively advocating with Utah corporations to consider how rural workforce can and will play a significant role in filling both current and future demand for talent. Accelerant’s business model facilitates and helps de-risk solutions for companies who recognize the opportunity and are looking to develop high performance, diversified and scalable teams.
“Utah’s growing companies need skilled employees,” said Joel Smith, CEO of Accelerant. “Our experience with HealthEquity in partnering on this initiative has been incredible. The talent found has exceeded expectations. To be able to provide high quality personnel on one hand, and new employment opportunities to change people’s lives on the other, has been deeply gratifying.”
How Utah Draws Companies to the State – KCPW »
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Murray Lerner; September 12th re-release of Festival! by Criterion Collection
Published September 18, 2017 | By cavehollywood
By Harvey Kubernik © 2017
Joni Mitchell Live Scheduled for 2018 release is a Murray Lerner documentary about Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now: Joni Mitchell Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Murray Lerner passed away on September 2nd in New York City at age 90.
Courtesy of MLF Productions, Inc
Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on May 8, 1927, raised in New York City, and a graduate of Harvard University English major in 1948, Lerner’s award-winning and trend-setting musical documentaries include examinations of Isaac Stern, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, the Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Jethro Tull, the Who and Leonard Cohen.
Scheduled for 2018 release is a Lerner’s documentary about Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now: Joni Mitchell Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.
Also allegedly readied for February 2018 is Lerner’s complete one-hour film of the Doors’ set at the 1970 Isle of Wight.
On September 12th, Criterion will release a director-approved special edition of Festival! It’s a new reconstruction and remastering of the monaural soundtrack utilizing the original concert and field recordings and presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray DVD.
The disc will also feature When We Played Newport, a new program incorporating archival interviews with Lerner, music festival producer George Wein, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Pete Seeger, and Peter Yarrow. In addition, there’s also a new feature Editing Festival, with Lerner, associate editor Alan Heim, and assistant editor Gordon Quinn.
There’s also a selection of complete outtake performances, including Clarence Ashley, Horton Barker, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, and Odetta. Package booklet text has an essay by critic Amanda Petrusich and artist bios by folk music expert Mary Katherine Aldin.
Over the years I interviewed Lerner a few times.
My brother Kenneth and I hosted a question and answer session with Lerner one evening in Hollywood at the American Cinematheque Egyptian Theater in August 2010 as part of Martin Lewis’ Mods and Rockers film series.
I cited Murray’s landmark movie Festival! in my 2017 book, 1967 A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love. Lerner’s voice is also quoted in my 2014 book on Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows.
In 2008 I talked to Murray by telephone about his The Other Side Of The Mirror-Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Festival 1963-1965 DVD released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. Jeff Rosen serves as executive producer and filmed Lerner for a bonus feature interview contained in the package. Lerner’s Newport DVD premiered at the 2007 New York Film Festival.
In 1967 Lerner’s documentary Festival!, lensed between 1963 and 1966 at the Newport Folk Festival, was theatrically released. The movie spotlighted performances by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Donovan, the Staples Singers, Judy Collins, Howlin’ Wolf, Judy Collins, Mississippi John Hurt, Peter, Paul & Mary, Johnny Cash, Son House, Mimi & Dick Farina, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Joan Baez.
This Oscar-nominated film was the first of the movie house documentaries on counter-culture music festivals, preceding both the Monterey International Pop Festival and the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival.
Festival! received honors at every major international film festival, including Manheim, San Francisco, Mar del Plata, and Venice. It was distributed on DVD in 2005 by Eagle Rock Entertainment.
Murray Lerner’s filmmaking career began from “industrial cinema.” In 1980 he produced and directed the Academy-Award winning From Mao To Mozart: Isaac Stern In China about violin virtuoso Isaac Stern’s 1979 goodwill tour of Red China.
In 1995 Lerner released his long awaited Message To Love: The Isle of Wight Festival from 1970 featuring the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Leonard Cohen, Moody Blues, Tiny Tim, the Doors, Taste, Free, Jethro Tull, and other acts.
It’s a fascinating document of the plagued 1970 Isle of Wight Festival attended by some 600,000 people, the vast majority of whom refused to pay for their admission. A sophisticated analysis and look of the darker side of the period’s festival culture and location-dependent events.
Equally memorable are Lerner’s fully realized and updated stellar documents of the complete performances, Listening To You: The Who At The Isle Of Wight Festival (1996), Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight (2002), and Nothing is Easy: Jethro Tull at the Isle of Wight (2005).
Lerner produced and directed the revealing film in 2004 about Miles Davis, Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue, dramatizing the constantly innovative musician’s transition to his electric period. It earned the Canadian Banff Award.
In 2007 Lerner co-produced and was a director on Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who, that premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and debuted on cable television in November on VH-1. In November 2007 it was issued on DVD.
In 2009 I spoke with Lerner about his Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.
Murray Lerner is the forgotten Godfather of outdoor culture music cinema let alone the singular force that shaped a new film genre who was still active in the frame game at age 90.
Lerner is the person who stuck both his neck and camera out for rock ‘n’ roll and in the process forged alternative screening outlets and distribution for his work which inspired film students, budding independent room workers and future moviemakers since 1967.
Producers and directors of music-driven documentaries hawking their wares owe both psychic and fiscal debts to Lerner’s trailblazing path that enabled music product screen exhibition over the last half century. Lerner taught at Yale and helped establish a film studies program.
In 1972 Lerner’s office sent me a single reel tape copy of Festival! to show to students at a rock music upper division literature class at San Diego State University. The first accredited course in the United States.
When watching and absorbing Murray’s panoramic musical library of moving images and icons, it’s quite obvious we always had a poetry head and storyteller for 50 years behind the camera.
Lerner loved folk music and literature, His life and career trek is a hydra-headed poetic and retail blend of Oscar Micheaux and Homer, four-walled by AIP’s James H. Nicholson, Samuel Z. Arkoff and Roger Corman.
His influential camera techniques and distribution outlets for his products informed all rock ‘n’ reel filmusic documentarians who followed, like Andrew Solt and Malcolm Leo who would produce and direct This Is Elvis and Imagine: John Lennon.
“Murray Lerner,” praised filmmaker Solt, “was a very interesting and important figure in visual music history!”
The Other Side Of The Mirror-Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Festival 1963-1965 is 83 minutes of filmed Dylan verbal and grammatical anarchy in chronological order, 70% available here for the first time.
It opens a window into a critical epoch in American cultural history as reflected in the musical transformations of Dylan’s watershed performances in 1963-1965 at the Newport Folk Festival. It’s a delight to check out Dylan from folkie to front man for the electric revolution of American Top 40 popular music.
The most extraordinary aspect is watching Lerner’s work capture this unbelievable moment in time where the young artist shows up from nowhere
Courtesy of Criterion
then projects his own voice, his stage presence, his ability to deliver his art, but watching the audience’s reaction over the same period of time. As if everyone was in complete lockstep. That Dylan’s own personal growth mirrored the desire and the needs of an audience to have him there physically as well at the exact time. It was Dylan on the big screen just before both the distortion and benefits of fame.
A lone wolf himself, Murray Lerner visually is very sensitive to Dylan’s personal magnetism particularly that wonderful paradox of his assertive, even aggressive self-confidence combined with his physical presentation. Dylan on screen is a small delicate person but as soon blow you away as look you. Dylan’s uncanny abilities establish a compelling and distinctive vocal stylist.
The Other Side Of The Mirror-Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Festival 1963-1965 has no sense of director Lerner asserting a point of view of what this DVD means. It just gives you what happened. This is all the existing footage edited together to be as coherent as true to the moment as possible. Any dueling narratives between director and stage subject are not on display. Watch it and see what you think. Lerner captures the faction (fact and action) of Dylan’s seismic stage performances, especially the 1965 culture-shaping offering of “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Murray Lerner and Harvey Kubernik Interview
Q: Is there any sort of general philosophy that guides you in preparation of a documentary film subject?
A: I tend to make documentary films after thinking about it and researching it and having a concept in mind and finding iconic images that resonate with that concept. That’s the way I work. When it came to Festival! when I started to go up there and look, I went up for the Newport festival. I was a folk music fanatic.
Before then, I did some industrial films, an underwater feature, Secrets Of The Reef. It actually played in theatres successfully, at least in one theater, the Baronet, and then Jacque Cousteau came along with The Silent World and that was the end of our distribution. (laughs). We didn’t have any people in our movie. Ours was anthropomorphism and it was a negative word. I had done a number of industrial films with sophisticated photography and editing before I did Festival!
Q: This Newport Dylan DVD is a different sort of film, in a sense, from what you usually direct.
A: We decided on no narration, no pundit interviews, and no interviews with Dylan. Nothing except the experience of seeing him…That to me is exciting. Just the clear experience gives you everything you need. I felt that when I screened the music of The Other Side Of The Mirror, because his touted metaphorically as the mirror of his generation, and I thought no, he’s beyond that. He always takes the generation beyond that, and he’s like on the other side of the mirror, but I also felt the wonderous quality of his imagination took us like Alice to a new world on the other side of the mirror. I felt to break that would be bad.
Dylan’s songs and his ideas were so powerful that my thesis, or premise, was that once I got you involved in him and you were also seeing a change in his imagination going in his music that you wouldn’t want to leave it. Either I pulled you into it or I didn’t. If you weren’t pulled into his music and took this journey with him then you’re not going to like the film. Nothing you say is gonna make you like it more.
Q: Was it by decision you chose to shoot Festival! and The Other Side Of The Mirror Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival in black and white?
A: I had a choice for black and white over color, and it was a major decision in the face of a lot of negativity. First of all, I thought at that time you could really get good color in the original but you couldn’t get good color duplicates. That the prints, which is, after all, that was going to be what you were going to show, and also the contrasts were too great, and the blacks wouldn’t have any detail in it. As a matter of fact, I was a fanatic about that, and I earlier had done an industrial film, which became a big hit in that industry, Unseen Journey, and I couldn’t stand the idea of Kodachrome prints, so I actually talked the people to pay to me to going to Technicolor, and doing three strip prints. And it worked. It was beautiful and I shot it in 35mm to begin with. But the 16 mm prints were also great, so I was really in to thinking about those things in a way.
I wasn’t influenced by any filmmakers, maybe Bert Stern and Jazz On A Summer’s Day, also shot at Newport in the late 50s, largely because of his use of telephoto lenses, which I fell in love with.
I have this theory. Color is perception but black and white is judgment. We see the world in color but the imagination does not necessarily work in color. And there is a sense that black and white as taking place in a way outside of realism. Since black and white never looks the way the world really is the conscious or unconsciousness comparison between the world that you see it and the way the world as it is in a color movie doesn’t ever happen. You don’t hold black and white to the same standards. There is an artificial, as in art element to black and white that separates it. The music is so colorful and powerful. Dylan’s 1963-1965 music was colorful, confrontational in a way, and with a tendency toward the mythic. Take me through the filming process?
A: Shooting Dylan in daylight, 1963 and ’64 is one thing, but 1965, evening, gives you a feeling of professionalism and not stardom yet, commanding an audience, whereas the other way he’s kind of part of the audience almost, you know. He’s a nervous flat-pick seeking youth, when you get to the black and white on stage. Because the lighting is more contrasty and so forth. I was able to listen to the music and see it as well. My thought about filming music has always been, or filming anything that has sound or motion, that you have to put yourself into it and then forget yourself, be part of it. I’m good at conversations and interviews. I’m a part of it.
At Newport we did pick up shots, we showed the audience and the community, because that was the relationship that we wanted to build up at that time. There was an audience involvement in this thing and there was a message of the audience that they were putting out. The basic thing is I become part of what I film. So it doesn’t matter what it is. Also, I’ve always felt, since I started film, that music should be the spine of a film. Not only music within a film but a musical structure for a film.
Q: How did you get the initial Newport gig that resulted in 1967’s theatrical release of Festival! which later utilized excerpts in your 2007 Dylan at Newport DVD item?
A: Through debt and through cajoling people to help. (laughs). There weren’t a lot of obstacles to shoot Festival! Once it got rolling then the obstacles were different people associated with the festival who had their own favorites to make a film. I had to overcome that. Anyway, I was determined to get it initially released theatrically. I knew there the workshops and live performances that were interesting and cinematic.
Festival! was released only theatrically in America in 1967 and not in DVD until 2005. The ‘Dylan thing’ began to grow on me.
As I thought about it, ‘What a great thing to see and to show the change and to show how he related to his own artistic development and consciousness.’ I felt it was one of those things I should just do. There is no way to describe it otherwise or prove how powerful it would be. So, I funded a draft edit myself, and took it some doing to find all this material in our outtakes, since they were very scattered, and I didn’t have much money when we made Festival! Then we had to rush to finish that film. You know, we might have a piece of one song in one place without the track, and a track in a third or fourth place. A lot of lip reading and eye matching.
We worked from a word print at that time and a little negative. Maybe 1973, ’74. For Festival! we had a crew of 3 and used Plus-X and Tri-X film. The rest of the crew used Arriflexes cameras I used an Auricon camera for several reasons. Once in a while I had to hand hold twelve hundred foot magazines, which is difficult. Another reason I used the Auricon was because we couldn’t do slating. We couldn’t synchronize it. Auricons could do single system sound. So, there is some sound on some negative. I thought of it a little later in the game but it was a clever idea, so it tells you where you are at with the camera.
Howard Alk my editor also worked on Dont Look Back with D.A. Pennebaker. Howard got it going. Howard was working with me when he had to leave to do Dont Look Back. Festival! was the first of those counter-culture music films.
And, music was always my passion for the soundtrack of a film. For the form of a film, when I did Festival! it was the form of the film should also be musical and it should be like experiencing a piece of music in addition to being about music. It seemed to work.
At the Venice Film Festival people in a 1,000 seat theater really got up and applauded. I was alone. I was brought up to think that things should be well exposed, in focus, and you can hear the sound. I had no encounters with Dylan except through Howard Alk. He was great. A marvelous human being. You had to stand up to him with a powerful personality.
So, every time I told him to change something, a storm would come over the room that we were in. But I stuck to my ground and that’s why he needed a director like me.
If you look at the editing of Festival! you will see how sophisticated it is. He’d carry over the tiny sound from one thing to another. It was a three picture two sound movieola and we spent most of our time repairing the film.
Howard called me up and said ‘why don’t we edit this in Woodstock?” and I said, ‘No!” ‘Cause I would have a lot of powerful voices around me. “How ‘bout Martha’s Vineyard?” It was edited for two summers at Martha’s Vineyard, then he saw a film I did about Yale, finish that. I had to deal with Albert Grossman for clearances. It took a while to convince Al who was not a control freak. Not the slightest influence in the editing. As time went on each artist was different. Dylan was a buddy of Howard Alk. Howard had their ear and a friend of Dylan, and had known Grossman from Chicago.
The concept was that going beyond the entertainment value of the music that was the music being used was a crucible for creation of a counter-culture and a message. The prize I got at Venice was not only for a form of entertainment but a means of an expression of youth. That’s what I wanted to do and look for stuff like that helped me do that. So, when I did an interview, I had that in mind. Like in the new Newport DVD and in Festival!
I interview Joan Baez in the car. She did a good one because she discusses what the kids ask. Joan could make fun of Bob on stage because they were close. I think they thought of themselves, and the crowd did as well as the king and queen of Newport. The movie I really wanted to make was about all the tension backstage from the other performers and managers. (laughs).
Q: Festival! was always well received when it played. Universities and midnight movie screenings.
A: It had more festival showings than any. San Francisco, Argentina, In Italy Federico Fellini the director gave me his phone number…but I never called him. I always admired him. I was rather shy at the time. At Venice, it sounds crazy, but there were a lot of big wigs there, Pasolini, Antonioni, my film was the most popular of the festival. It was a hit. [Receiving the San Giorgio Prize, an award from 1956-1967 to artistic works that contributed to the progress of civilization]
Festival! was not just about Dylan. They loved Baez and the rest of it. The whole crowd at Venice got up and danced in the aisles it was amazing. It was thrilling. It’s always been available for schools and screenings and before a Festival! DVD it was on videotape. I was determined not to let it die through mail order and schools. We never made any money. I was a terrible self-promoter and this was before DVD and cable TV.
Q: In Festival! and once again in the Newport DVD, the live footage of “Maggie’s Farm” was so powerful to see in a theater originally, and now on DVD. I dug seeing the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, too.
A: I knew the Butterfield band and had done some industrial film with some of their music. On stage Paul came alive. He’s not performing with Dylan together in the 1965 set because Paul mentioned something like it wasn’t right to have two stars on stage at the same time. I interviewed Mike Bloomfield in Festival! talking about (Paul) Butterfield. I wanted to show in the movie that this was a movement for white kids and white people to get into the blues. Bloomfield and Butterfield were iconic figures in my mind.
Q: You appreciated Dylan moving into electric rock ‘n’ roll from an acoustic setting.
A: I felt that electricity was needed to distribute the music in a wide basis, radio and television. Then, once it happened, the hunger for the feeling that electricity gave people listening to it was more than volume. I think electric music gets into your body, and enters into your nerves quite deeply, and almost puts you into a trance. It’s hypnotic. I’ve always felt this and this was the feeling I had when I watched Bob. And I was excited by it. I not only appreciated the changes I loved it! I really was mesmerized and hypnotized by “Maggie’s Farm” on many levels. As I was filming it I knew it was a gateway to a new culture in the form of based on the older culture, and I thought this was it.
I was mesmerized by electric music. By Paul Butterfield earlier in the thing and Howlin’ Wolf played with a band. But what Dylan did the electricity got into your bones. I was both in the pit and on the stage. In the DVD we didn’t use ‘Phantom Engineer’ (It Takes A Lot To Laugh A Train To Cry)” because I didn’t think it was up to the standard of ‘Maggie’s Farm” and “Like A Rolling Stone,” to be honest with you. ‘Stone’ is too big a climax to extend it with something not as good.
I knew it was going to be a major breakthrough. It was a mixture of booing, applause and bewilderment. I was intensely involved in the filming so I didn’t pay much attention to what the audience was doing. I was hypnotized in a way by the electric music and had to get the shot. And, the interesting thing about “Maggie’s Farm” which was a breakthrough musically, but the lyrics were expressing the same kind of idea that he wasn’t gonna be a conformist. And in a way, ‘Maggie’ Farm’ was a symbol for America working. We’re all working on “Maggie’s Farm.’”
Q: What impressed you the most about Dylan as a poet?
A: The words just fell on his music. I knew that when I saw him walk in a room at a party around 1962 for Cynthia Gooding. He came in and pulled out his guitar, played a few songs about New York, packed it up and split. He intrigued me. At Harvard university I majored in English and my main interest was modern American poetry. T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. And their technique of two opposite symbols creating a third idea. Two different images, the unexpected juxtaposition of two different images for the third idea. Which guided me into filmmaking.
Q: What is the genesis of your Newport DVD?
A: Jeff Rosen loved Festival! ever since it came out and we became friends. He directed and filmed the interview with me in the Newport DVD. An associate of mine. He loved my Miles Davis’ film. How we got to the Dylan thing. Someone who shall remain nameless, an attorney I was dealing with in L.A. about the Isle Of Wight, saw some papers, turned out to be a Dylan freak, played the guitar, I showed him a copy of my work print from 1973, ’74, a draft edit, and told him not to ever show it to anyone because Dylan would be annoyed if it ever came out bootlegged.
Then, years later, Jeff Rosen called me up and said, ‘we’d like to buy your Dylan footage.’ ‘what do you mean?’ ‘I have a copy of this thing you did.’ I was annoyed. (laughs). But it turned out to be good. Jeff had a long range view of what turned out to be No Direction Home. I have some footage in No Direction Home which he twisted my arm to buy. (laughs). So, I said OK, “and he made a few good suggestions, but it had to be released after No Direction Home. I was at time in conflict licensing things from my work. Absolutely. Always in conflict. (laughs). What did happen when I revisited it I saw I had a real film there. Not just a series of shots. But in chronological order. Once the New York Film Festival took it I knew I had a film.
Q: What was the one thing you learned from your Newport documentary which you applied to the Isle of Wight shoot?
A: First of all, on the technical side, I learned and made sure everyone examine and perfect their equipment so that they were sharp to be on a very literal level. Sharp when they were close in and wide angle. Very often when you go to a wide angle it can lose focus. So I had them check their cameras for that problem and fix it. And, going from there, I had to call them all together and explain what I don’t like. I don’t like, and some of them did it anyway, I don’t like fast pans, fast zooms.
I said, “If you are panning over to a musician that is playing but you don’t see because he comes in after the musician is on go slow.” You’ll hear the person and it will be more dramatic than if you swish the camera or zoom in. That is one of the big things. And, I ‘Close Up! Close Up! I don’t mind looking into the lights for effect. A bunch of stuff I directed them to do. I took special shots, positions.
Like with the Doors, I took the shots from behind looking into the lights. The idea is to be musical in the movements and try and move with the music.
When I showed some films a few years ago in Hollywood at the Egyptian Theater, the Who at the Isle of Wight, Andrew Loog Oldham was there and commented, “You were part of the band.” That’s what you gotta do.
I personally have a technique where I practice the choreography of the camera. Everyday for about an hour before I shot, having an assistant stand by and I would focus, zoom and figure out how big the moves had to be to get the result I wanted so I could do it myself. And I practiced all of that. And I kind of instilled that sense that of the choreography of the camera being part of the concert. For the most part, in the planning stages, I picked positions to shoot. And I told people, “You concentrate on the close up and you concentrate on something else.”
Q: Your Message To Love music documentary shot in 1970, thankfully released commercially in 1995, included the Who’s cover of Mose Allison’s “Young Man’s Blues” and Townsend’s “Naked Eye.”
The DVD also birthed a retail relationship with the band that exists at the moment with the release of the Who’s Amazing Journey 2007 documentary that you’ve co-produced and co-directed.
But, there was like a 20 year period, before the Betamax and VHS-formats, the growth of home video market, and the DVD as a viable format where we could not find your catalogue and music documentary products, largely because the market had not been developed yet to distribute your things. Man, talk about being early on the scene. Message To Love emerged as a joint venture with Castle Communications and BBC in association with Initial Film and Television.
A: (laughs). The thing that got me re-introduced known again, was my Isle of Wight Feature that took a long time to get made. Dylan had played at the 1969 Isle of Wight festival, not at Woodstock that same summer.
Bert Bock was the agent got him to go. Bert was sorta acting as Dylan’s manager at the time, not Albert Grossman. The Foulk bothers were looking for a performer a headliner for my film. Bock was a great fan of my Newport film. And he called would you like to rent us the Newport film to show at the Isle of Wight? I responded and suggested, “Why not make another film?” OK. That was part of it. And, actually, they did license my film, and if you watch my film once in a while there are two big projectors sitting there. (laughs).
What happened at that festival was you couldn’t show a film because there was chaos. I did get a check but it took four months to bounce. (laughs). In those days the English currency regulations were such you weren’t allowed to send money abroad except under certain conditions. I decided to shoot Isle of Wight in color and duplications of color were OK.
I predicted what would happen. Conceptually, I thought the counter-culture, having followed it, was being co-opted commercially, kids were getting angry and I knew there would be tremendous tension and anger. I knew it was brewing, and one of the people interested in it was in England. I got an English crew of about 9. After I did it, and Howard helped me edit a little initially, a “demo” reel, but then he moved to the west coast to live on Dylan’s property editing Renaldo & Clara. It was really exciting.
Everyone loved it but wouldn’t back it. They didn’t think the music would sell they didn’t think the political aspect would sell. But I knew the Who, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, the Doors were potent performers on stage and on camera. Absolutely. And, there was a feeling “Oh well. These are older acts.” Which I never agreed. The people who control this media they just say…
Looking at the Who through a lens was incredible. We all felt it was almost a religious experience. You’ve seen my Who film from the Isle of Wight. That was really incredible. And the crowd was with it, and of course, except for me, the crew was British, and they knew their music quite well. I had a great chief camera man. Nick Noland, an incredible find, another one like Howard Alk. He did a lot with the counter-culture.
And Jethro Tull lept off the screen with “My Sunday Feeling.” I finally got to put their full set out from the Isle of Wight a couple of years ago. I interviewed Ian Anderson 30 years later, a land squire, still a musician. I’ve done a number of interviews, like with Ian, and the people who played with Miles Davis at Isle of Wight, 30 years later.
The Message To Love festival film documentary was both a harder and easier sale. I got the financing from a fellow Jeff Kempton who followed the production many years from Castle to Eagle Vision. BBC put up half the money. Initial Films for BBC to do it. They didn’t bother me at all. It took a lot of money on my part to keep showing this demo reel of the Isle of Wight. (laughs).
I remember Haskell Wexler, a friend of mine, he said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to you but you’ve got to promise never to mention the Isle of Wight again. (laughs).” That was then. It really was an interesting journey. It ended up being the last live performance of the Doors. The mood of it. I had met (Jim) Morrison before, and he said, “you can film but you’re not gonna get an image because we keep the lights low.” “I’ll get an image.” (laughs). I pointed toward the light. It was very simple.
From the Newport festivals on I decided I wanted to show something behind the scenes in the music business. Not just the festival, because I saw the festivals were not quite as loving and peaceful as it seemed. Every night there would be big meetings at Newport until two or three in the morning arguing about who was gonna be next and the order of the lineup, all of that. And you never saw that and I was startled. How many blacks? How many Appalachian singers? This and that. So I decided I would like to turn the cameras the other way at some point. And then when I saw Woodstock, I decided I had to because I thought it was phony. So that made me determined to do it.
And then by chance, really, when (Bob) Dylan was breaking up with (Albert) Grossman, and Bert Block, who became an agent for (Kris) Kristofferson, at the Isle of Wight festival, he came to me. He had been Grossman’s partner and now was with Jerry Perenchio’s Chartwell Artists) He liked my movie Festival! He said these the promoters from England came to America and asked him to get the performers for the 1970 Isle of Wight, an island off Southern England. They wanted to run and screen ‘Festival.”
So I said fine, ‘But I’d really like to make a film.” OK. That started me down this path. And they did make a deal with me to license “Festival.” They even rented two projectors and in the Tiny Tim scene you can see them. They had rented the projectors but the guys in charge fled, they were really afraid of staying in the festival grounds ‘cause they were worrying about the atmosphere. They refused to work it. So they gave me a check for licensing which took at least three months to bounce. That was the first one. It was organized by Ronnie, Ray and Bill Foulk, and Rikki Farr (compere) did the stage introductions.
I decided to do a film and the promoters I got them in touch with ABC Films at the time and they decided it wasn’t a good enough deal. So then we started to negotiate and talk. Everyone wanted to do this film and they were willing to do it with me. And I organized an English crew. And I had one person from staff, a guy who had been my assistant on a lot of shoots.
I had a loose outline between the idealism of the music and the commercialism of the music business.
In the 2007 Who documentary, I conducted the new interviews with everyone. Pete Townshend is not only bright, but perceptive, and he’s thought a lot about issues that I’ve thought a lot about, the meaning of rock ‘n’ roll. Anyone who thinks about it has to think, ‘why is this so powerful?” ‘Why do millions of people respond to it all over the world.’ And then the bigger question I ask people I want to make a film about is “what is music?” That really throws people when I ask them that. Why is it so powerful? And Townshend realizes that the audience is part of the music. At least that’s the way he plays and they play. He doesn’t speak the way you want him to. I mean he can throw you! (laughs).
Q: Your films on Bob Dylan and Miles Davis are time capsules. Dylan at Newport before he went electric was like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz before the road became color. Before it was post-War America, where nothing had sorted itself out yet, by the time Dylan went electric, everything changes. Between 1963-1964 people started screaming for him. The electric set demonstrates paramountly that Dylan was his own man. That he was not going to wait for anyone.
It reminds me of the famous line by Miles, that my brother Ken told me, when someone came up to Miles and said ‘I’ve grown up with your music and now that you’re playing this electric stuff I just don’t get it.” And, Miles looked at him and said, ‘what do you want me to do? Wait for you?”
That’s what great artists do by definition. They’re not being held back by their audience.
A: In my Miles Davis film, I thought the change in Miles Davis was very similar to the change in Bob Dylan and the hostility that he encountered as for them going electric. Because of Dylan, and I read a lot about Miles going electric, it took a lot of courage on his part to go electric. That music at the Isle of Wight was cinematic, Like Dylan earlier at Newport. Dylan was at the absolute height of the involvement and the charisma. Absolutely. Of course he has words and Miles doesn’t. It’s a big difference for me. Shooting Miles I knew I had an important moment, especially in a rock music setting. That’s the point, again.
Q: You have a Hendrix Isle of Wight title I’ve always liked. What was the magic of this guy on film or the amazing qualities he had? I have a theory some of it had to be because he was left-handed and we see your film different.
A: (Laughs). No one has ever said that and you might be right. That’s interesting. I have to think about it. I felt that the thing about him was that I felt he was talking through his music. His music talked to us. Those were his lyrics in a way. His narration. And he was talking to us through music. And he was expressing himself that way. He wasn’t just accompanying a song. He was unusual and so intensively evolved. It was incredible. The volume of the sound.
Q: And, there is also Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight – 1970. A full-length DVD out in 2010.
A: I shot color for the Cohen and the Isle of Wight performers. It was high-speed Ectochrome reversal. And I’m glad I did it because the color lasts a lot better in reversal. The camera people I had were with their own cameras for the most part but they used Arriflexes, and the clas and a new camera, the main camera man used an Aaton, a kind of avant garde camera at the time.
Q: The Isle of Wight footage and the Cohen section you seem to capture close ups and focus on the dramatic aspect of faces, Cohen, some band members, female background singers is terrific.
A: Yes. I always use very very long lenses as an adjunct to my photography. I believe in the long shot because I would like the thing to feel musical and not jumpy. I think film is visual music. And it should be, and I believe in editing that way. You can moments where you are doing quick montage. Most of the time you need to relax.
I like really long and before anyone ever did it I used 2,000 millimeter lenses and for crowd shots, moving in slow motion on Broadway. A lot of unusual stuff. I love people coming towards the camera and coming into close up. And then I got a 600 millimeter lens for my 16 millimeter camera, played around with it during Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee at Newport. Real close ups.
Q: At the August 31, 1970 Isle of Wight music festival on a small island off the southern coast of England Leonard Cohen was billed with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, the Who, the Doors, the Moody Blues, Jethro Tull and Jimi Hendrix. But the crowd, alas, had its own agenda, metastasizing into a heaving, barreling beast, crushing the gates and fences, rubbishing the prim seaside community.
The throng numbered 600,000 and Cohen was at the epicenter of the event which now had fire and smoke encroaching structures and equipment. When Cohen and his band, which included Bob Johnston and Charlie Daniels, finally took to the stage, it was two o’clock in the morning.
My brother Kenneth Kubernik described the scene remarkably well after viewing your Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight-1970 DVD in my book on Leonard, Everybody Knows.
“The punters, restless in the aftermath of Jimi Hendrix’s incendiary performance, were instantly tamed by this unkempt, unprepossessing gentleman, adorned in pajama bottoms (he’d been having a nap backstage and barely answered the bell to perform). As poised as Caesar before his legions, Cohen took command of his ‘Army’ – his group’s nickname – and held the half million attendees in thrall.
“Documentarian Murray Lerner captured it all on film. The resulting 2009 DVD – Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight – 1970 – demonstrated his gift for conjuring magic out of mayhem. The oft-derided listless baritone voice, the plodding rhythms and the deathly pallor of the lyrics conspired to produce a hypnotic calm.”
A: I first heard Cohen as a literary character, a poet. And then in the late sixties a couple of his records on the radio. I heard his debut LP. He came out acoustic and walked out with guitar.
“I felt hypnotized. I felt his poetry was that way. I was really into poetry and that is what excited me about him. To put music to poetry was like hypnotic to me.
When he told the audience before a number, how his father would take him to the circus as a child. He didn’t like circuses, but he liked when a man would stand up and asking everyone to light a match so they could see each other in the darkness. ‘Can I ask of you to light a match so I can see where you all are?’
But when he sang the lyrics of the songs they took over and he had ‘em in the palm of his hand. Even removing myself from being the director how this guy could walk out and do this in front of 600,000 people? It was remarkable. It was mesmerizing. And the banter was very much in tune with the spirit of the festival. And, more particularly what he said, you know. ‘We’re still a weak nation and we need land. It will be our land one day.’ It was almost biblical.
When he did ‘Suzanne’ he said, ‘Maybe this is good music to make love to.’ He’s very smart. He’s very shrewd. The other thing he was able to do, the talking, I think the audience was able to listen to him. They heard him and felt he was echoing something they felt. The audience and I were mesmerized. It was incredible and captivating. That night, Leonard was on some sort of mission. His band was called the Army.
My film shows the roles of the background singers. Sure, Ray Charles and Raylettes, and the Cohen singers had beautiful skin. They were a balance to him up there and the fact I was jealous of the guy that this guy was able to get all these women. (laughs). And he’s up there very late at night, the morning, unshaven. The music is great.
The Isle of Wight journey was worth it. That was the most exciting event I’ve ever been to. ‘Cause it was so all encompassing. And new. In terms of the possibility of the crowd killing us and always living on the edge of that precipice.
And I was always thinking, in relationship to the performers, ‘What’s my role in what they are singing about? How do I fit into that?’ I change with each one as I am watching them. Like with the Moody Blues, I liked their music. It was different and interesting, and like Leonard Cohen, it had an undercurrent of mysticism to it.
I thought the Isle of Wight1970 and the Cohen footage had touched the deep chord of people. I realized how deep it was and I was startled how prophetic it was. I was proud and excited at what I had done.
I’ve gone to some Cohen concerts over the last twenty years. Really incredible. It was hard to believe it was the same person. The songs hold up. I was really excited he was so good. I really was. His talent hasn’t diminished, especially in terms of songwriting.
On stage I thought he was overdoing it in terms of his own energy. But there’s a mysterious quality to it and we don’t really know why it works. I just thought it’s amazing and I like some of the songs and some of them I had not heard. I really liked it and said to myself it is amazing he can still be doing this. He knows what he is doing and you do sense, when I went to the Beacon and Radio City Theaters, you sense there is a kind of formula to what he was doing. That part was not as good. His so called off the cuff remarks were the same at both.
Isle of Wight, Leonard was much different than Miles, Jimi, the Doors and the Who. Because the talking on stage was very insightful of him, you know. He must have understood that by talking and speaking to them it gave him, or put him in touch or gave him a kind of camaraderie with the crowd that no one else tried to do. Maybe he felt he needed it and he may have.
Leonard also had that fabulous guy, the producer who was in his band, Bob Johnston. I had quite a time over decades later getting him to be interviewed for the DVD.
All performers have a common thread of some kind or they wouldn’t perform.
A: Leonard, on stage and in film is different than Bob Dylan.
Q: Can you compare and contrast them
A: If I can. Dylan depends on music in a way that Cohen doesn’t, I think. It stands on its own more than Dylan does, I think. Dylan is brilliant. I trust in a sense whatever he says. He actually likes to tour and he likes the involvement with the crowd. You never know what he really thinks. He loves teasing people.
Q: What about Joni Mitchell from Isle of Wight?
A: I’m very excited about the possibility of the Joni Mitchell one. The whole set. I’ve been dealing with Elliott (Roberts). There are a few more Isle of Wight things I’d like to do. Like the Doors.
Q: What is happening with the Isle of Wight Doors’ footage? Their last live show.
A: I’ve just licensed “Break On Through” for a Doors’ compilation, Re-Evolution. I’ve tried to put out the Doors’ set. It was dark but that was the mood. And the darkness is interesting I think.
Morrison said to me, “You can film but you’re not gonna get an image but we’re not gonna change our lighting.” “I’ll get an image.” I did.
I met and knew (Jim) Morrison earlier at the Atlanta Film Festival. I was showing “Festival,” it won an award and they had a film [Feast of Friends] they had made played. We talked at the party afterwards, we had both won awards but they were bullshit awards. Mine was for the best music. What does that mean? At the party and I really gave it to the organizer out loud a hard time, told him what I felt about him, and they came up to me and said, “We agree with you.” I got friendly and tried to help them distribute their film.
Q: You have witnessed and participated in the development of the rock and music documentary over 50 years. Like D.A. Pennebaker. Have you done panel discussions with him in front of film students? I’ve been attending some of these events, and unlike the sixties and seventies, most of the students and wannabee filmmakers in the audience at the question and answer session now want to know about royalty points on the back end of movie deal and not curious about film stock, lenses or concepts to creating a story.
A: The best one of those was at the Santa Fe New Mexico Film Festival. A documentary panel. Pennebaker was there. (Ricky) Leacock was there. I was there. It was a seminar type thing where people would question us afterwards, you know. It was all about how do you get the money? Not about creative stuff but financial. One kid said to Pennebaker, “How do you get the money to finance a film?” And without missing a beat he said, “Marry a rich woman.”
Harvey Kubernik is the author of 12 books, including Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows, and Neil Young, Heart of Gold. In April 2017, Sterling published Kubernik’s 1967 A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love.
Harvey Kubernik’s literary music anthology Inside Cave Hollywood: The Harvey Kubernik Music InnerViews and InterViews Collection, Vol. 1 will be published in late 2017, by Cave Hollywood. Kubernik is also writing and assembling a multi-voice narrative book on the Doors scheduled for publication last quarter 2017.
In November 2006, Kubernik was invited to address audiotape preservation and archiving at special hearings called by The Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California.
During July, 2017, Harvey Kubernik was a guest speaker at The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Library & Archives Author Series in Cleveland, Ohio discussing his 2017 book 1967 A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love.
The Kinks- The Mono Collection Now Out
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Steely Dan and Walter Becker Interviews
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Category Archives: Visual Art
New Arts Faculty & Staff for 2016-2017 School Year
Posted on August 30, 2016 by galane
As the departments within the fine arts continue to change and develop, the needs of these departments also change. Several of our departments are proud to present new faculty and staff members – from Administrative Assistants, to Specialty Instructors, to added professors! Below you will see the list of these talented professionals who have joined or been promoted within the Belhaven Arts family.
Dr. Owen Rockwell has been named Specialty Instructor of Dance and Music, previously serving as an adjunct faculty member for several years at BU. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BM, MM) and received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Southern Mississippi. He was formerly on the music faculty at Jackson State University and the New England Music Camp, and has worked as a freelance performer and music educator in Central Illinois, Nashville, Washington, D.C., and New York City. He also performs regularly as a percussionist with the Mississippi and Meridian Symphonies, as well as serving as the drummer for First Baptist Church of Madison and the Vibe Doctors jazz trio. Owen accompanies modern dance technique classes and provides leadership for the musicians in the Dance Department. He also teaches applied percussion, percussion ensemble, percussion methods, and popular music within the Music Department.
Dr. Rebecca Geihsler, a native of New Orleans, has served as an Adjunct Music Professor in Voice, Popular Music and Music History since 2009. This year, she has been named as Specialty Instructor in Music. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Centenary College of Louisiana, a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance and Doctor of Arts in Pedagogy from the University of Mississippi where she held a University Fellowship and an Assistantship in Opera. Dr. Geihsler has been a finalist in both State and Regional NATS Student Auditions and represented the University of Mississippi in performances at the National Opera Association Convention and the Midwest Opera Festival. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lamda and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Being superwoman, Dr. Geihsler not only teaches voice and music history at Belhaven, but also does Crossfit and takes care of her six children.
Mr. Christopher Phillips has named Specialty Instructor in Music. He is a native of Alabama, studied church music at Samford University in Birmingham, and continued there to complete his master’s in music education; both degrees included a vocal performance emphasis. Chris serves as Director of Worship at Lakeside Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brandon, MS and has been leading worship in local churches throughout the Southeast for the last 25 years. With energy and joy, Chris seeks to invite the people of God to exalt their Lord and Savior and to edify one another. One of his greatest passions is the cultivation of corporate worship that is deeply rooted in Scripture, covenantal focused, and wonderfully creative. As a teacher, Chris employs a student-focused, collaborative philosophy. He believes every classroom or rehearsal space should be an environment of joy and safety in which both talking and listening are equally valued. Chris’ genre of choice for page and screen is science fiction. His musical interests range from Bluegrass to Beethoven with an occasional dose of Mongolian Throat Singing. He practices moderate coffee snobbery. Chris continues teaching voice and worship arts, and will conduct both the Concert Choir and Chorale.
Mrs. Erin Scheiwe Rockwell has been named Associate Professor of Dance, previously serving as Specialty Instructor and prior to that as adjunct at BU. Erin earned an MFA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach and a BA in Dance from St. Olaf University. She obtained her comprehensive Pilates teacher training with dance specialization through Body Arts and Science International and taught Pilates and modern dance at CSULB. Her choreography has been presented nationally by several dance companies, schools, and festivals. Throughout her career, Rockwell’s interest in technology has inspired her to direct and edit several short dance films and to fuse screendance within her stage choreography. Erin is co-founder of Front Porch Dance, a Mississippi based contemporary dance company. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses including modern dance technique, improvisation, choreography, and dance-and-technology. Also, she and her husband Owen also had their first child, Isabella, this summer. Congratulations to the Rockwells!
Mrs. Elizabeth Sweatt has been named Specialty Instructor of Dance. She served as an adjunct in the Dance Department from 2010-2012. Elizabeth received her BFA in Dance from Belhaven University and performed professionally with Ballet San Antonio and TALK Dance Company. She recently returned to Jackson after living and teaching in Japan where her parents were missionaries. Elizabeth will teach ballet, pointe, and modern dance courses and will co-direct the BU Dance Ministry Ensemble. Come see the Dance Ministry Ensemble in concert on February 10 and 11. Welcome back, Elizabeth.
Ms. Mia Whitehead has been named Specialty Instructor of Dance, previously serving as an adjunct. Mia danced professionally with Ballet San Antonio, TALK Dance Company, and Front Porch Dance. She also served as the dance instructor for the USA International Ballet Competition’s outreach program, CityDance, in Jackson for several years. Mia teaches ballet and pointe technique courses and co-directs the Dance Ministry Ensemble at Belhaven. Come see the Dance Ministry Ensemble in concert on February 10 and 11.
Ms. Amy Smith just completed her sixth year as Box Office Manager at New Stage Theatre. She now joins Belhaven as the Administrative Assistant for the Theatre, Graphic Design and Arts Administration department. She stage managed shows such as Almost, Maine and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress for New Stage’s Unframed Series, Rabbit Hole (2010 SETC Winner) for Actor’s Playhouse, and Die Fledermaus for Mississippi Opera. Amy also directed The Light in the Piazza for the Belhaven University Music Department. She recently played “Liddie” in the world premiere of Running Mates, written by Beth Kander and is a founding member of the Misfit Monkeys Improv Troupe. When not at the theatre, Smith is playing with her three Weimaraner dogs, Dutch, Lily Belle, and Batty, and is a member of Bellwether Church. Amy loves returning to Belhaven, having such fond memories from when she was a theatre student here. She is enjoying getting to know the faculty in each of her departments and is looking forward to when the students return!
Hearty and well-deserved congratulations to all!
Posted in Arts Administration, Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre, Uncategorized, Visual Art | Leave a comment
Art Professor Releases Photography Book
Posted on June 2, 2016 by galane
Ms. Gretchen Haien, Associate Professor of Art and teacher of Photography, is releasing a book in the near future, entitled Incidentals: Seven Years of Photography. In her own words the purpose of the book is “to educate and uplift – to share, as a photographer, what I have learned from life and my life experiences as an artist.” In addition to being a faculty member at Belhaven, Ms. Haien is also an alumna, graduating with a BA in Art from BU and a BFA in photography from Louisiana Tech University, and began teaching at Belhaven in 2007. Incidentals will be presented and released at the Mississippi Book Festival on August 20th of this summer.
Posted in Visual Art | Leave a comment
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Forkland man guilty of killing wife at Livingston High School
A Forkland man avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to killing his wife at Livingston High School in 2010. Telvin Gray, 35, shot his wife Starrick Gray outside of the school where she taught special education. He was angry with her because she had announced her intentions to divorce him, said 17th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Greg Griggers. After shooting his wife three times in the face and once in the abdomen, Gray led police on a chase to… Read More »
Police: Man rapes woman after following her home
A woman told police that someone followed her from a club and raped her in her driveway Thursday night. The woman, 23, told officers that she spoke to the acquaintance at the club, said Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Capt. Loyd Baker. She left alone, he said. She pulled up at her residence on 41st Avenue Northeast and the man entered the passenger door of her car and raped her, he said. The identity of the man is unknown… Read More »
Jury convicts Uniontown man of manslaughter
A jury found a Uniontown man guilty of manslaughter after a two-day trial in Perry County Circuit Court. Lamar Montrell Williams, 30, was accused of shooting into a crowd outside Lee’s County Inn on Perry County Road 1, south of Uniontown. Jonathan Butler, 29, of Orrville, was killed and four others were injured. Witnesses testified during the trial that Williams raised a handgun and started shooting into a crowd during the early morning hours of March 20, 2011, according to… Read More »
Tuscaloosa County man charged with vehicular homicide in death of his wife
A Tuscaloosa County man has been charged with causing the death of his wife in an April car crash. Marcus Deondrell Wilder, 29, was arrested Tuesday and charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and eight counts of third-degree assault. A Tuscaloosa County grand jury that met in July found that Wilder was driving recklessly, speeding, improperly passing and driving in the left lane of Gainesville Road when the crash occurred. His wife Misty Leigh Smith, 28, of… Read More »
Several fires reported in Uniontown
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 12:10 by crime.beat
The Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating several fires that happened in Uniontown during the last week. Several structures burned over the weekend and last week, said Stephen Holmes, spokesman for the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office. Causes of the fires are still undetermined. “The number of fires in such a short sequence of time raises some red flags,” he said. Holmes was unsure how many fires had been set. Calls to Uniontown City Hall were referred to the… Read More »
Residential burglary suspects caught on tape
Monday, November 26, 2012 at 12:39 by crime.beat
Tuscaloosa Police often release surveillance photos of burglaries and thefts from businesses, but not private residences. The department released photos Monday that were captured during the burglary of a home on University Circle. The house near the University of Alabama campus is equipped with security cameras that were able to provide police with clear images of the burglars. Several people were asleep in the house off 12th Avenue near Bryant Drive when two men entered during the early morning hours… Read More »
Police search for Walmart shoplifters
Investigators have released surveillance photos of a man who stole luggage from Walmart earlier this month. The man took two suitcases from a shelf at the Walmart on Skyland Boulevard at 2:45 p.m. on Nov. 17, a Saturday. Surveillance video shows the man meeting with another person and leaving the store without paying.Both suspects left the store in a red truck, said Tuscaloosa Police Sgt. Brent Blankley. Anyone who can identify the man in the photo released Monday is asked… Read More »
Police seek man who stole cell phone
Police are searching for a man who took a forgotten cell phone from a cart at Dollar General. A woman told Tuscaloosa Police that she left her phone in a cart at the Dollar General on Culver Road around 9 a.m. Saturday. It was gone when she returned for it. Investigators reviewed security video that shows a man wearing glasses and a dark shirt take the phone and put it in his pocket. Anyone who can identify the man is… Read More »
FBI seeks suspect in Vance bank robbery
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 10:52 by crime.beat
The FBI has released surveillance photos of man suspected of robbing the First Financial Bank in Vance on Friday. The man is around five, feet 10 inches tall, has a slender build and a brown beard. He was wearing a dark gray toboggan, form-fitting black sunglasses, blue jeans and a light gray hoodie sweatshirt with “AERO” across the front. He may have been driving a white mini-van, according to a news release from the FBI’s Birmingham office. The FBI released… Read More »
Authorities: Tuscaloosa teen who escaped is armed and dangerous
TUSCALOOSA | Authorities are searching for a teenager who escaped from a state detention center and is considered armed and dangerous. Brandon Kyle Evans, 16, is one of three teens who attacked staff members at the Mount Meigs youth facility on Saturday night. One worker was beaten and lost a thumb and some teeth in the attack, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. The teenagers took keys from a staff member, crashed a vehicle through a gate and escaped.… Read More »
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Zenyatta Video the Perfect Holiday Gift
17 October, 2017 6:40 PM
The new "Zenyatta: Queen of Racing" video is out, but I must issue a warning to all those who purchase it. If you were a fan of Zenyatta, have plenty of tissues close by. You're going to need them. If you weren't a fan of Zenyatta, have them close by anyway, because you will be by the end.
The memories keep coming throughout, reminding us that Zenyatta was so much more than a racehorse. She was a spiritual force who affected people unlike any other Thoroughbred.
From the powerful opening to the even more powerful conclusion, you will be swept away once again by the equine miracle that was Zenyatta and the love and admiration she brought out in people, especially those to whom she was such an inspiration.
In this 87-minute video, produced and directed by Edward Kip Hannan, written by Jay Hovdey along with Hannan, and with Zenyatta's owner Jerry Moss serving as executive producer, the viewer is treated to all of Zenyatta's races, either in their entirety or most of the race, behind the scenes shots of the great mare taken at her familiar Barn 55 at Hollywood Park, some of which were taken by trainer John Shirreffs, and insightful interviews with Shirreffs, Moss and his wife Ann, Dottie Ingordo, wife of Shirreffs and Moss's longtime racing manager, and Zenyatta's late exercise rider Steve Willard.
It all comes together in the vast tapestry that was Zenyatta's amazing career, in which she won her first 19 starts before suffering a narrow heartbreaking defeat in the Breeders' Cup Classic, which many believe was her greatest performance.
The film is enhanced by the perfect blend of dramatic and soul soothing music, including that of Sting and the Police, whose album Zenyatta Mondatta inspired the filly's name.
The opening focuses on Zenyatta being one of the rare Thoroughbreds in history to be captured in bronze. When it makes its dramatic transition with the simple words, "This is the story of Zenyatta," the first of the goosebumps begin.
We are taken to the sales ring and watch Zenyatta sell for a mere $60,000 because she was gangly back then with rash on her neck, and are then treated to a montage of the great moments that will follow.
Perhaps the greatest line of all the interviews was Dottie Ingordo telling how Zenyatta grew into the "person" they hoped she'd be. She immediately caught her faux pas with an "oops," explaining how they always thought of her as a person. I'm glad they left that as is.
Some of the great moments are the actual race calls of Zenyatta's races, especially the emotional outbursts by Hollywood Park announcer Vic Stauffer, as Zenyatta's heroics kept pushing him to new limits of excitement and forced him to run out of superlatives. He actually nailed it in her second career start when he said, "Here is a future superstar, followed by a "Wow!" and a "Holy Mackerel." He eventually surrendered and told the crowd after one of her races, "How do you spell perfection? Why try. Just enjoy her."
You see many scenes of Zenyatta at home, drinking her Guinness and later on the remarkable throng of fans that gathered at her barn, many of whom had their picture taken with her. Her groom Mario Espinoza said they would get 200 visitors a day. Shirreffs also reveals one of the many inspirational stories behind Zenyatta and could barely get the words out.
As you watch all of Zenyatta's races crammed in the 87 minutes you truly get to see what an amazing machine she was. It didn't matter where she was or how far back, that devastating move and burst of speed in the stretch, combined with that gargantuan stride always managed to get her home first, and with her ears pricked. You once again will be amazed how she managed to catch St. Trinians in the Vanity Handicap and Switch in the Lady's Secret Stakes after looking hopelessly beaten just yards from the wire. But with that stride and desire, nothing was ever hopeless with Zenyatta.
The highlight obviously was her Breeders' Cup Classic victory and that memorable "Un-be-lievable" call by Trevor Denman, and the hysteria that followed; all of it captured in dramatic fashion. Moss and the others discuss the decision to keep her in training as a 6-year-old, mainly because of how well she was training.
But the video saves the best for last, in which you relive the days leading up to her career finale in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. But be aware, after all the emotional, poignant moments of the video, it's going to be difficult seeing her get beat, coming so close, and watching Mike Smith shedding tears for her; feeling he let her down. To this day there are many people who cannot bear to watch that race. But in one person's opinion, it was that race, run on dirt, in which she fell some 20 lengths back and then encountered traffic that stamped her true greatness, just as it did Seattle Slew after his gallant defeat in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Who can forget that amazing day after the Classic when people gathered outside the fence on Longfield Avenue to get close to her, as she remained outside most of the day, often being brought close up to the people, who reached in to touch her, just as they did on that freezing cold night at Keeneland after she came home for good on her way to Lane's End Farm. Both are captured in the video.
You will also be moved by Ann Moss showing off the mass volumes of cards, drawings, letters, and gifts of all kinds, which arrived by the thousands, and will join the Zenyatta team at their table at the Eclipse Awards and at Zenyatta's induction into the Hall of Fame, as Jerry Moss gave a heartfelt speech, while Shirreffs wiped away the tears. And of course, there is the unveiling of Nina Kaiser's magnificent statue of Zenyatta, which people still visit every day at Santa Anita to have their photo taken with the great mare, some leaving flowers.
You definitely will need those tissues during the final moments, between the music that accompanies the shots of Zenyatta romping about the field as a broodmare with her buddies and frolicking in the snow, to the tender shots of her with her newborn foal.
The video reveals this amazing horse in such detail, while telling every aspect of the Zenyatta story, you will walk away privileged to have witnessed it, whether on TV or in person.
Credit to all those involved for bringing the great Zenyatta back into our homes and more important back into our heart.
Filed under: Zenyatta, Breeders' Cup Classic, John Shirreffs, lane's end farm, hollywood park, Dottie Ingordo, Jerry Moss, Steve Willard, Ann Moss
Memories of Derby Trails Past
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Getting Ready For Yet Another Early Goodbye
A Case of Vino
Tales from the Triple Crown
Thoroughbred Legend: Dr. Fager
Thoroughbred Legend: John Henry
Thoroughbred Legend: Kelso
Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments
Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
2013 Triple Crown Preview
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Breeders' Cup Classic
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Cars for real men
As many drivers, as many tastes - the car market offers a model suitable for everyone and it is beautiful. There are special cars, however, called "cars for real men". What makes them stand out and what is worth knowing about them?
Cars for real men?
What is meant to be "for real men" or "for real women" is discussed today with a pinch of salt. Choosing a car is a matter of taste, character, needs and lifestyle. True enthusiasts, however, like expressive models, dedicated to a specific group of recipients or associated with a specific climate. Here are five models that are often referred to as "cars for real men". Why would I do that? It's worth seeing!
Ford pick-up type (F series)
A series of American monsters, inseparably associated with films directly from the Far West. Fordy pick-ups are a wide range of car models. The largest of these is the F-550, while the smallest is the F-150. The Ford of the F series looks powerful and impressive. It is solid, slightly angular and really reliable. Although it is difficult to imagine moving around a city, it works perfectly in the field or at work. Ford Ford is often said to be a car for real men.
Another option among the "male" cars is the classic, well-known and recognizable Ford Mustang. It does not belong to cars that are pleasant and comfortable to drive. Its angular shapes translate into a specific way of guiding. The latest models still have a lot in common with absolute classics. Passionate fans love the Ford for its distinctive sound and powerful, powerful engines. Despite the high level of combustion, Mustangs can be found relatively often. In almost 90% of cases, men are behind the wheel.
The Nissan GT-R
It's a car for a player and a talker. Its performance and technical parameters are similar to those offered by Porsche, but the price is much more affordable. The Nissan has a unique on-board computer, created by the best computer game specialists. It is not surprising that the vast majority of the owners of these cars are men. Driving a model so packed with electronics is a real fun. Aesthetic, achievable, ideal for garnetters - that's the Nissan GT-R.
A sporting classic of the genre, which for years has been determining the social status of the leader. The Porsche 911 is a machine with constant, excellent performance, reliable, but less and less unique and more and more often found on the streets. Despite the streamlined, shapely shapes of Porsche, men are much more likely to choose than women. What does this car communicate? Sportiness, dynamics, speed and... a fat wallet.
BMW 1 M Series Coupe
Something special for drivers who have to combine their passion for extraordinary cars with practicality. It's a car with impressive performance and great workmanship. At the same time it can accommodate almost everything - shopping, family holidays, trips to the city are not scary. The BMW 1 M Coupe is a "family car" that accelerates to a hundredth in less than 5 seconds.
Healthy sportsmen's cocktails - how to...
What to eat after strength training?
Men's bicycle to the city - what to...
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Category Archives: Drones
Development, testing, deployment, and use of drones.
Drones, Middle East
Why Unmanned Systems Are The Go-To Option for Gray Zone Ops in the Gulf
August 6, 2019 Guest Author Leave a comment
Securing the Gulf Topic Week
By Heiko Borchert
Current incidents in the Arabian Sea should be seized as an opportunity to advance naval conceptual thinking about unmanned maritime systems in gray zone operations. Gray zone activities are an astute object for concept development, as they “creep up on their goals gradually,” rather than involving decisive moves, as Michael Mazarr has argued. In response, Mazarr contends, gray zone operations will “call for a greater emphasis on innovation” as these operations take different forms and intensities and thus require varied responses. This coincides with the general need to devote more attention to concepts development that drives the use of new naval technologies such as unmanned systems.
Applying Unmanned Systems to Gulf Security
Maritime stability in the Arabian Sea has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of weeks. In response to the Iranian seizure of the Stena Imperio, a Swedish oil tanker under British flag, London reached out to different European capitals in view of establishing a maritime protection mission escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
This incident and prior events in the Arabian Sea such as harassing commercial vessels with speedboats and assaults on commercial vessels are a perfect illustration of so-called gray zone activities. Located between war and peace, gray zone activities involve “coercive actions to change the status quo below a threshold that, in most cases, would prompt a conventional military response,” as Lyle J. Morris and others have suggested.
These activities raise an obvious question: How best to respond? Staying out of the region for an interim period, as the British government has advised U.K. shipping, has been interpreted as a watershed moment “when the UK admits it can no longer protect its merchant vessels.” But even if political support for the maritime protection mission matured, the question would remain if there were enough adequate platforms to do the job.
Deploying big capital ships or surface combatants to escort merchant vessels might send a strong message of resolve to Iran, but doubts remain if this approach is adequate. Past experiences in the Arabian Sea have made it clear that naval vessels remain vulnerable to speedboats operating at a high tempo in distributed maneuver operations. While this is certainly only one method of attack, it is most important for strategic communication. Small boats successfully attacking or deterring prestigious naval ships delivers a message that all gray zone actors want to convey.
It is time to supply navies with an additional option using unmanned systems. Unmanned maritime systems (UMS) have been developed and used for quite some time, but right now, the majority of unmanned maritime systems are used for mine countermeasures. There is an obvious operational need to do the job, concepts of operations are in place, and technology is mature. This makes a perfect fit, but more can be done.
Unlike gray zone activities in the South China Sea that involve the building of artificial islands to underline sovereignty claims and the use of naval militia and the coast guard to intimidate neighbors, Iran’s actions are of a different quality. In the Arabian Sea, mosaic defense emphasizes mass, speed, and surprise. Unmanned maritime systems would be ideal to respond because they can be built to be lost. This levels out current asymmetries between speed boats and big capital ships and denies the adversary the offensive on strategic communications. This attrition-like role is only one mission UMS could play in future maritime protection missions. Overall, the mission envelope could be much broader.
First, assuming that a maritime protection mission depends on persistent situational awareness and understanding, unmanned systems can be used to collect intelligence and provide reconnaissance. For this mission the emphasis should be on closing the sensor chain from seabed activities through the undersea world to the sea surface into airspace and space. In all of these domains unmanned systems are already in use, but more needs to be done to fuse data to augment the existing Recognized Maritime Pictures (RMP), for example to detect anomalies stemming from adversarial behavior at sea.
Second, unmanned systems at sea can push the defense perimeter out. Forward deployed unmanned surface vehicles (USV) could be used to intimidate an adversary’s embarking speed boat fleet thus delaying the launch of operations and creating “noise” that would send alarms to the RMP. A more wicked though not yet technically mature option would focus on very small, mine-like unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). These assets could be deployed covertly by submarines or by air assets. These UUV could turn into a sort of adhesive explosives that stick to boats running over them, thus rendering them dysfunctional.
Third, unmanned maritime systems could be used for deception operations. A swarm of USV could enter a theater of operation disguised as a big capital ship on the adversary’s sensors. As the adversary prepares to counter the ship the USV swarm would disperse into many different smaller platforms thus out tricking the adversarial defense posture. A similar mission can be envisaged for the underwater domain where UUV are already used to imitate the signature of submarines.
Fourth, USVs could constitute the outer ring of maritime protection missions. Robust platforms could be equipped with remote-controlled weapon stations, like the Protector USV developed by Rafael Advanced Systems, to engage incoming speed boats or flying platforms. In addition, USV could be used to deploy electronic counter-measures, for example, to jam adversarial sensors and take out communications between unmanned aerial assets and the respective control units.
While some of these ideas are closer to reality than others, what matters most is that concepts and operational requirements need to drive the use of unmanned maritime systems in gray zone operations. So far, the discussion about UMS mainly focuses on providing solutions to meet the needs that emerge in naval warfare areas such as mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, or anti-surface warfare. However, gray zone activities cut across all of these tasks. Adequate responses need to adopt a more horizontal approach, as well looking at the technological building blocks that can be used for all missions. Here, the most recent decision of Belgium and the Netherlands to develop a toolbox of unmanned systems for mine-countermeasures shows the way to the future. This approach could be turned into a holistic concept to deal with UMS for maritime gray zone activities.
Putting extra emphasis on innovation and concepts development also opens up avenues for fruitful cooperation with the Gulf states that step up efforts to expand their own naval capabilities while at the same time ramping up efforts to establish a local naval industrial base. Involving them from the start would make sure that specific regional requirements could be adequately addressed while at the same time contributing toward building up local technology expertise in important areas and incentivizing the establishment of local capabilities and concepts. In the long run this joint approach could help shoulder the burden to provide maritime stability in one of the world’s most pivotal regions.
Dr. Heiko Borchert runs Borchert Consulting & Research AG, a strategic affairs consultancy.
Featured Image: A Bladerunner craft fitted with the MAST system. (Wikimedia Commons)
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U.S.-China Tensions and How Unmanned Military Craft Raise the Risk of War
July 16, 2019 Guest Author 1 Comment
This article originally featured in the Nikkei Asian Review under the title, “US-China tensions — unmanned military craft raise risk of war,” and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here.
By Evan Karlik
The immediate danger from militarized artificial intelligence isn’t hordes of killer robots, nor the exponential pace of a new arms race.
As recent events in the Strait of Hormuz indicate, the bigger risk is the fact that autonomous military craft make for temping targets – and increase the potential for miscalculation on and above the high seas.
While less provocative than planes, vehicles, or ships with human crew or troops aboard, unmanned systems are also perceived as relatively expendable. Danger arises when they lower the threshold for military action.
It is a development with serious implications in volatile regions far beyond the Gulf – not least the South China Sea, where the U.S. has recently confronted both China and Russia.
If China dispatched a billion-dollar U.S. destroyer and a portion of its crew to the bottom of the Taiwan Strait, a war declaration from Washington and mobilization to the region would undoubtedly follow. But should a Chinese missile suddenly destroy an orbiting, billion-dollar U.S. intelligence satellite, the White House and the U.S. Congress might opt to avoid immediate escalation.
“Satellites have no mothers,” quip space policy experts, and the same is true for airborne drones and unmanned ships. Their demise does not call for pallbearers, headstones, or memorial statues.
As autonomous systems proliferate in the air and on the ocean, military commanders may feel emboldened to strike these platforms, expecting lower repercussions by avoiding the loss of human life.
Consider when Chinese naval personnel in a small boat seized an unmanned American underwater survey glider in the sea approximately 100 kilometers off the Philippines in December 2016. The winged, torpedo-shaped unit was within sight of its handlers aboard the U.S. Navy oceanographic vessel Bowditch, who gaped in astonishment as it was summarily hoisted aboard a Chinese warship less than a kilometer distant. The U.S. responded with a diplomatic démarche and congressional opprobrium, and the glider was returned within the week.
U.S. Navy oceanographic gliders record temperature and salinity, and are remotely piloted from a round-the-clock operations center in Mississippi. (U.S. Navy photo)
Lately, both Chinese and Russian navies in the Western Pacific have shown themselves bolder than ever. Early in June, south of Okinawa, the Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov came within tens of meters of the U.S. guided-missile cruiser Chancellorsville.
In September 2018, the American destroyer Decatur conducted a freedom of navigation transit near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea; it nearly collided with a Chinese destroyer attempting to ‘shoulder’ the American vessel off its course through these hotly contested waters.
In coming years, the Chinese military will find increasingly plentiful opportunities to intercept American autonomous systems. The 40-meter prototype trimaran Sea Hunter, an experimental submarine-tracking vessel, recently transited between Hawaii and San Diego without human intervention. It has yet to be used operationally, but it is only a matter of time before such vessels are deployed.
The U.S. Navy’s nearly $3 billion ‘Ghost Fleet’ initiative aims to develop a total of 10, 2,000-ton unmanned warships. Boeing recently edged out Lockheed Martin to begin construction of four extra-large unmanned undersea vehicles, each capable of transiting twelve thousand kilometers autonomously, for $43 million.
China’s navy may find intercepting such unmanned and unchaperoned surface vessels or mini-submarines too tantalizing to pass up, especially if Washington’s meek retort to the 2016 glider incident is seen as an indication of American permissiveness or timidity.
With a captive vessel, persevering Chinese technicians could attempt to bypass anti-tamper mechanisms, and if successful, proceed to siphon off communication codes or proprietary artificial intelligence software, download navigational data or pre-programmed rules of engagement, or probe for cyber vulnerabilities that could be exploited against similar vehicles.
No doubt Beijing is closely watching how the Trump administration responds to Iran’s downing of a Global Hawk surveillance drone on June 20, assessing U.S. willingness to punch back in kind, or to escalate.
Nearly 100,000 ships transit the strategically vital Singapore Strait annually, where more than 75 collisions or groundings occurred last year alone. In such congested international sea lanes, declaring a foreign navy’s autonomous vessel wayward or unresponsive would easily serve as convenient rationale for towing it into territorial waters for impoundment, or for boarding it straightaway.
More than 4,000 AI and robotics researchers have joined an open letter advocating a ban on autonomous offensive weapons that function without human supervision, and this past March, the U.N. Secretary-General decried such machines as “politically unacceptable, morally repugnant,” and worthy of international prohibition.
Such limits or controls on artificial intelligence would be immensely more difficult to verify when compared to existing inspection regimes for nuclear missiles or centrifuges. In the meantime, urgent action is needed.
A memorandum of understanding signed five years ago by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Chinese defense ministry, as well as the collaborative code of naval conduct created at the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium, should be updated with an expanded right-of-way hierarchy and non-interference standards to clarify how manned ships and aircraft should interact with their autonomous counterparts. Without such guidance, the risk of miscalculation increases.
An incident without any immediate human presence or losses could nonetheless trigger unexpected escalation and spark the next conflict.
We should fear that, much more than killer robots.
Evan Karlik is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. He served last year as a Defense Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives. His views are his own and are in no way intended to reflect the official position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
Featured Image: (Feb. 1, 2019) The Sea Hunter, an entirely new class of unmanned sea surface vehicle developed in partnership between the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).(U.S. Navy photo)
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Why We Will Never See Fully Autonomous Commercial Ships
June 25, 2019 Guest Author 8 Comments
By Commander David Dubay, USCG
The world will never see fully autonomous transoceanic commercial cargo ships. In fact, autonomous vessels are likely to operate in only very limited situations. In recent years, the prospect of fully autonomous vessels has become a hot topic for commercial shipping. The same fast-paced advances in technology that have led to projects to automate vehicles in every other sector of the transportation industry have also found their way to the shipping industry. Advances in camera technology, sensors, electromechanical actuators, and satellite technology appear to promise a world in which ships will soon traverse the oceans without a human on board. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Comité Maritime International (CMI) are already exploring how autonomous vessels would fit into the existing framework of international maritime law.
Yet, while it is laudable to plan for the future, autonomous vessels operated by computers and remote operators quite simply pose too many vulnerabilities and they likely will prove too expensive to replace today’s manned vessels. The professional merchant mariners who operate ships today are the crucial on-scene decision makers, repairmen, and physical security providers who make commercial shipping secure, efficient, and inexpensive. Once we get past the promises and hyperbole, the risk of collisions, legal liabilities, and environmental calamity will ensure that some critical number of humans will persist onboard ships. Advances in technology will continue to make shipping safer and more efficient, but they will not eventually replace the human masters and crews that serve on today’s commercial vessels.
Despite all the excitement, the benefits of autonomous ships are still very much up for debate. For shipping companies, a switch to autonomous vessels promises cost savings from not having to pay for a master and crew, and perhaps from increased safety. But scores of new operators and technicians would be required to make a system of autonomous vessels work. The equipment to automate a ship will be extremely expensive and would introduce many new potential points of failure into commercial shipping. Autonomous vessels may reduce the number of accidents caused by human negligence, however, the relative safety of autonomous vessels versus manned vessels is pure speculation at this point. Autonomous ships could potentially be more efficient if the space for the crew could be dedicated to additional cargo. But ships will still likely need to have systems and controls in place to allow them to be operated with human master and crew when there are system failures. Autonomous vessels may result in better working conditions overall in the shipping industry as they would eliminate the need to find workers to fill the many difficult and hazardous jobs at sea. But the elimination of merchant mariner jobs would be a tremendous financial blow to those workers in those jobs today.
Recent articles have proclaimed that autonomous vessels are here or just on the horizon and seem to take the adoption of autonomous vessels as a certainty. At an initial glance, the future of autonomous vessels appears very promising. For small vessels the technology that is needed to automate a vessel is here today and is available enough that even a hobbyist can build an autonomous vessel. In 2017, SEA CHARGER, a small solar powered and unmanned home-built boat successfully completed a trip from California to Hawaii using GPS and a satellite modem for guidance and connectivity. And companies in the shipping industry are already using technologies that could eventually be used to automate larger vessels. The newest vessel of the the Red and White Fleet, a San Francisco charter boat company, is a hybrid diesel electric with a 160 kilowatt lithium ion battery pack that provides enough power for the ship to do a one-hour Golden Gate cruise on battery power alone.
One present obstacle for automating larger vessels is battery technology. At the outset, today’s batteries simply do not have the energy density necessary to power larger commercial vessels. Higher capacity and more powerful electric batteries that are powerful enough to move larger ships will likely be developed in the future. However, current battery technology has limitations. Lithium ion batteries, the type used for automated vehicles and aircraft, can explode if overcharged and further, large lithium ion batteries need to be temperature controlled to work properly.
Even more challenging obstacles to the success of autonomous vessels will be the expense and complexity of designing such systems. The technical challenge of operating a large cargo ship autonomously on the open oceans for days or weeks at a time will require a command and control system that does not exist today and may be impractical to build. Seamanship and navigating a ship safely is a challenge with a full complement of crew members on board. Automated ships will require command centers, computers, advanced satellite communications systems, other electronic devices, remote operators, and other technicians. Autonomous vessels would save money by not having a crew, but shipping companies will in many cases be simply replacing merchant mariners with other workers, most likely more expensive technical workers, who will work in offices on land or will be on call to assist autonomous ships across the oceans. Shipping companies will likely need multiple redundant command centers to provide the robust level of connectivity required for the safe and secure operation of these ships.
All of this advanced technology will be very expensive and much of the expense will be the cost of designing and operating a system capable of providing the propulsion, navigation controls, and stopping power necessary to operate a ship continuously in the harsh ocean environment. Weather, wind, waves, fog, obstructions, marine mammals, salt water, weather, birds, other ships, sounds, and almost anything else imaginable is encountered out on the open ocean. An autonomous ship will require incredibly complex technology to withstand the chaos of the ocean environment and enable a ship to respond remotely to any incident or emergency. It is still an open question whether today’s controls and communications technologies are sufficiently robust and capable so as to be relied on for commercial shipping in place of a human crew.
The most serious concern regarding autonomous vessels is the one that will very likely keep them from ever being employed: the risk of exploitation by adversaries, hackers, terrorists, criminals, and other malign actors. Autonomous vessels’ dependence on the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace infrastructure coupled with the lack of any human on-scene responders will provide an opportunity for others to interfere with these ships and potentially use them as weapons or for profit. The challenge for system designers is that the characteristics or features that make an automated system feasible for commercial application, such as standardization, continuous communications, and periodic updates, also provide exploitable opportunities for bad actors. Autonomous commercial cargo vessels would provide too easy a target of opportunity for theft, misuse, interference, or worse.
Some reality must be injected into the debate over autonomous ships. It is a truism that electronic and mechanical systems will eventually fail. For vital applications where human lives are at risk such as for aircraft, system engineers design in wide tolerances, safeguards, and multiple levels of redundancy to ensure an adequate margin of safety. The challenge in designing autonomous vessels is building both a safe and secure system that will function effectively in all ocean and maritime conditions without human beings on board and one that is not capable of being exploited by bad actors. Such a system, even if possible to build, would likely be too expensive for companies to build and operate compared to human crew. As a result, autonomous vessels are extremely unlikely to displace the human network of maritime professionals that have always made the maritime transportation system safe and secure.
Commander David Dubay is a Military Professor of International Law and Associate Director for the Law of Maritime Operations, Stockton Center for International Law, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. The views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, or the U.S. Naval War College.
Featured Image: HMM Dream (Wikimedia Commons)
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Unmanned Systems Week Wraps up on CIMSEC
May 13, 2019 Dmitry Filipoff Leave a comment
Last week CIMSEC published articles submitted in response to our call for articles released in partnership with the Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems program office. Authors discussed how to experiment with unmanned systems, how unmanned systems can contribute to amphibious assaults and fleet air defense, among other operational and developmental questions. We thank the authors for their excellent contributions.
“Create an Unmanned Experimental Squadron and Learning System” by Dustin League and LCDR Daniel Justice
“…we propose that the Navy revisit history and revitalize the complex learning system it used to exploit an earlier set of new capabilities prior to World War II. Specifically, we call for the Navy to accelerating standing up a dedicated experimental squadron with the purpose of exploring advanced tactics for employing unmanned systems in a series of tactically challenging, objective-based exercises.”
“Unmanned Units Need Tenders for Distributed Operations” by Griffin Cannon
“Looking to the past, the precedent of the Pacific War, in which fleet tenders provided engineering support to a mobile fleet, suggests a path forward. Basing a support and sustainment model for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) on 21st century tenders would both fulfill the unique support needs of USVs and help build the ability to fight and deter a war in the Pacific.”
“Autonomous Pickets for Force Protection and Fleet Missile Defense” by 1st Lt. Walker D. Mills
“In all cases, the ability to form a protective perimeter of unmanned systems beyond the edge of the fleet would significantly boost survivability and increase options for the fleet commander by lowering risk. A flotilla of autonomous pickets, armed with effective CIWS and multi-spectrum missile countermeasures, can function as a powerful yet affordable force multiplier. Such a force would provide the Navy with an increased ability to operate and project power inside an anti-access, area-denial (A2/AD) network and help the fleet weather storms of missile salvos. “
“Accelerating the Renaissance of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Assault Forces” by George Galdorisi
“The ship-to-shore movement of an expeditionary assault force was—and remains—the most hazardous mission for any navy. The value of real-time ISR and IPB is difficult to overstate. It is this ability to sense the battlespace in real time that will spell the difference between victory and defeat. For this reason, it seems clear that the types of unmanned systems the Department of the Navy should acquire are those systems that directly support naval expeditionary forces that conduct forcible entry operations. “
“Providing Secure Logistics for Amphibious Assault with Unmanned Surface Vehicles” by Neil Zerbe
“…the Navy would be better served by embracing the always successful “crawl, walk, run,” method and use commercial off-the-shelf technology to evolve an already proven logistics capability before committing to ambitious plans with unmanned surface ships that aren’t yet on the drawing boards. Far from distracting Navy officials from these more lofty ideas for using unmanned systems, demonstrating this capability in Navy-Marine Corps exercises would likely accelerate the Navy’s embrace of unmanned systems.”
“The Case for Unmanned Surface Vehicles in Future Maritime Operations” by Wayne Prender
“While it is encouraging to see Navy plans to move quickly to bring initial Medium and Large USVs into the fleet, other unmanned platforms are equally ready for such an approach. Innovation is the key to shaping tomorrow’s Navy, and getting USVs of all shapes and sizes to the fleet for Sailors to try out is the best approach to achieving it.”
Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Nextwar@cimsec.org.
Featured Image: PEARL HARBOR (Nov. 2, 2018) The medium displacement unmanned surface vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter is moored onboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Sea Hunter’s arrival in Hawaii demonstrates that MDUSVs are capable of deployed blue-water operations, enabling a new class of naval system. Highly autonomous USVs like Sea Hunter are creating a new paradigm for Navy surface forces, as they are capable of carrying a variety of payloads and performing many missions, including independent operations from manned Navy ships. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Nathan Laird/Released)
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Challenges to Cross-Disciplinary Curricula: Data Literacy and Divergent Disciplinary Perspectives
by Karen Swan, Philip J. Vahey, Sri International, Ken Rafanan, Tina Stanford, Sri International
"... “We use data every day—to choose medications or health practices, to decide on a place to live, or to make judgments about education policy and practice. The newspapers and TV news are full of data about nutrition, side effects of popular drugs, and polls for current elections. Surely there is valua ..."
“We use data every day—to choose medications or health practices, to decide on a place to live, or to make judgments about education policy and practice. The newspapers and TV news are full of data about nutrition, side effects of popular drugs, and polls for current elections. Surely there is valuable information here, but how do you judge the reliability of what you read, see, or hear? This is no trivial skill—and we are not preparing students to make these critical and subtle distinctions. ”-- Andee Rubin, 2005
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and
by Yochai Benkler , 2006
"... This is a visionary book written by a man on a mission. It articulates one possible answer to the question of what might come after the proprietary-based knowledge-based economy that currently exists in advanced countries. Benkler is professor of law at Yale Law School and one of the most ardent pro ..."
and culture play a central role. This has become feasible because the capital required for social production and exchange in the networked information economy is relatively cheap and widely distributed. Much of the book argues the perceived advantages of the networked information economy from a multi-disciplinary
An ecological perspective on health promotion programs
by Kenneth R. Mcleroy, Daniel Bibeau Phd, Allan Steckler Drph, Karen Glanz, Kenneth R. Mcleroy, Daniel Bibeau, Department Public Health - Health Education Quarterly , 1988
"... During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in societal interest in preventing disability and death in the United States by changing individual behaviors linked to the risk of contracting chronic diseases. This renewed interest in health pro-motion and disease prevention has not been ..."
During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in societal interest in preventing disability and death in the United States by changing individual behaviors linked to the risk of contracting chronic diseases. This renewed interest in health pro-motion and disease prevention has not been without its critics. Some critics have accused proponents of life-style interventions of promoting a victim-blaming ideology by neglecting the importance of social influences on health and disease. This article proposes an ecological model for health promotion which focuses atten-tion on both individual and social environmental factors as targets for health promo-tion interventions. It addresses the importance of interventions directed at changing interpersonal, organizational, community, and public policy, factors which support and maintain unhealthy behaviors. The model assumes that appropriate changes in the social environment will produce changes in individuals, and that the support of individ-uals in the population is essential for implementing environmental changes.
AgentSpeak(L): BDI Agents speak out in a logical computable language
by Anand S. Rao , 1996
"... Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) agents have been investigated by many researchers from both a theoretical specification perspective and a practical design perspective. However, there still remains a large gap between theory and practice. The main reason for this has been the complexity of theorem-prov ..."
Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) agents have been investigated by many researchers from both a theoretical specification perspective and a practical design perspective. However, there still remains a large gap between theory and practice. The main reason for this has been the complexity of theorem
Inducing Features of Random Fields
by Stephen Della Pietra, Vincent Della Pietra, John Lafferty - IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE , 1997
"... We present a technique for constructing random fields from a set of training samples. The learning paradigm builds increasingly complex fields by allowing potential functions, or features, that are supported by increasingly large subgraphs. Each feature has a weight that is trained by minimizing the ..."
the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the model and the empirical distribution of the training data. A greedy algorithm determines how features are incrementally added to the field and an iterative scaling algorithm is used to estimate the optimal values of the weights. The random field models and techniques
Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm
by Robert M. Entman - Journal of Communication , 1993
"... In response to the proposition that communication lacks disciplinary sta-tus because of deficient core knowledge, I propose that we turn an osten-sible weakness into a strength. We should identify our mission as bring-ing together insights and theories that would otherwise remain scattered in other ..."
In response to the proposition that communication lacks disciplinary sta-tus because of deficient core knowledge, I propose that we turn an osten-sible weakness into a strength. We should identify our mission as bring-ing together insights and theories that would otherwise remain scattered in other
The interdisciplinary study of coordination
by Thomas W. Malone, Kevin Crowston - ACM Computing Surveys , 1994
"... This survey characterizes an emerging research area, sometimes called coordination theory, that focuses on the interdisciplinary study of coordination. Research in this area uses and extends ideas about coordination from disciplines such as computer science, organization theory, operations research, ..."
processes that can be used to manage them. A variety of processes are analyzed from this perspective, and commonalities across disciplines are identified. Processes analyzed include those for managing shared resources, producer/consumer relationships, simultaneity constraints, and tank/subtask dependencies
String theory and noncommutative geometry
by Nathan Seiberg, Edward Witten - JHEP , 1999
"... We extend earlier ideas about the appearance of noncommutative geometry in string theory with a nonzero B-field. We identify a limit in which the entire string dynamics is described by a minimally coupled (supersymmetric) gauge theory on a noncommutative space, and discuss the corrections away from ..."
counterpart. We obtain a new perspective on noncommutative gauge theory on a torus, its T-duality, and Morita equivalence. We also discuss the D0/D4 system, the relation to M-theory in DLCQ, and a possible noncommutative version of the six-dimensional (2, 0) theory. 8/99
The market for corporate control: The scientific evidence
by Michael C. Jensen, Richard S. Ruback - Journal of Financial Economics , 1983
"... This paper reviews much of the scientific literature on the market for corporate control. The evidence indicates that corporate takeovers generate positive gains, that target firm shareholders benefit, and that bidding firm shareholders do not lose. The gains created by corporate takeovers do not ap ..."
teams compete for the rights to manage corporate resources. 1. The analytical perspective 1.1. Definition Corporate control is frequently used to describe many phenomena ranging from the general forces that influence the use of corporate resources (such as legal and regulatory systems and competition
FAST VOLUME RENDERING USING A SHEAR-WARP FACTORIZATION OF THE VIEWING TRANSFORMATION
by Philippe G. Lacroute , 1995
"... Volume rendering is a technique for visualizing 3D arrays of sampled data. It has applications in areas such as medical imaging and scientific visualization, but its use has been limited by its high computational expense. Early implementations of volume rendering used brute-force techniques that req ..."
casting algorithms because the latter must perform analytic geometry calculations (e.g. intersecting rays with axis-aligned boxes). The new scanline-order algorithm simply streams through the volume and the image in storage order. We describe variants of the algorithm for both parallel and perspective
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A Soul heals by Growth and Purification It is irrelevant whether the person has any conscious awareness of their spirituality, or not. People, who seek to gain a deeper comprehension of life and like exploring new possibilities, heal faster, and they grow spiritually.
The path to fulfilment is unique in each case If a person becomes aware of their spiritual path, their healing can accelerate. Personal relationships, employment, career, hobbies, attitude to money, and all other aspects of life can be relevant, and are expected to be dealt with in an appropriate order. All life’s experiences, positive, as well as negative, need to be viewed as positive stimuli with regards to own progress. Even if some people’s actions seem to have a negative impact on desires and expectations, it still has a positive purpose. Personal failures and disappointments facilitate purification, or they are a form of pay-backs. The ego, avoidance of “risks”, and jealousy stand in the way of Soul healing. No one is allowed to suffer undue harm, and due “harm” heals the Soul. Life is a succession of lessons and tests. Comparing own circumstances with those of others is meaningless, because different people have different lessons to learn.
Wilfully harming others “through the ether” is not possible. Any such suggestions are illogical. Those, who suffer with nightmares, usually accompanied with visions of deep purple colours, are reminded by their own Soul about own negative deeds, including from a distant past. If a certain type of experiences tends to produce anxieties without an apparent reason, the person is purifying from having perpetrated, or having assisted in the perpetration of a negative act, in a similar context. This can go away faster, if the person realises the connection, and if he or she makes a conscious effort to make amends. Sometimes all that is required is to acknowledge a mistake, and genuinely to regret. Denial and blaming others are counter-productive, and they are a form of self-harm. Insisting on having the right to act incorrectly, or even unjustly towards others, is a form of suicide.
If the anxieties are further accompanied with the visions, it could be in dreams, of people the person knows, the transgression may have occurred in relation to them, but more often, individuals appearing in visions mirror own characteristics. People usually do not feel good in company of those other people in whom they subconsciously recognise own flaws. It can be hard to acknowledge unattractive traits in one-self, but easy to see them in others.
An understanding of the laws of spirituality helps people to heal, if they can relate the theory to practice. When a person reaches the point of recognising him or herself as an immortal Soul on the path to previously unknown opportunities, life with all of its tribulations, becomes but a liberating experience. If you are used to conceptual thinking, study the Cathar Testament. For an introduction into spirituality: What is Spirituality
Superstitions are a form of ignorance Superstitions may be connected to certain religions, and they can be an exciting subject to people unable of reaching logical conclusions on the less tangible aspects of life, but superstitions are incompatible with true spirituality. Anything that does not make sense has no place in the thinking of an intelligent person with the genuine desire to connect with God.
People, who perceive the outside world as an opportunity to act to the highest good of everyone, grow best. More advanced Souls subconsciously think and act with the good of others in mind.
Making mistakes does not stand in the way of growth. The correction of mistakes is an essential part of healing. A perfect Soul will not incarnate, unless it is to show the way. Coinciding with the start of the second phase of humanity in 2014, the return of a Divine Soul had been predicted for the beginning of the 21st century.
Healing brings relief and sometimes also new stimuli If a previously blocked area of life, one in which the person may have felt “stuck”, reopens with new possibilities, it would be a sign that they have made a progress in terms of having learned a lesson, or that they have purified in relation to a relevant transgression. The release may be accompanied with new inspiration, and there may even be an influx of additional energy. Many Souls experience euphoria when departing from incarnation and it is a sign of the goals set for the lifetime being reached. Opportunities to incarnate are precious, and a wise Soul will fill its lifetimes with as effective lessons and tasks, as it can muster.
Procrastination does not heal the Soul and a betrayal of moral or ethical goals amounts to an injury. If there is no continuation of the Soul, any of its useful energy is recycled in the creation of new Souls.
Everyone thinks about spirituality at a level into which he or she has matured It is important to be aware of the differences.
Forcing on others the belief about a possibly higher form of life over and above the life in a body is out of order. If a person believes that they will die in every sense at the point of their physical death, it is almost certainly the correct assumption in relation to them. Everyone is the master of their own fate as a human being, and as a Soul. Of the first phase of humanity which has concluded in 2014, only a minority of Souls secured for themselves eternal life in bliss. The majority are dying in body and in Soul. The incoming second phase will lead the Spiritual Age, and it will be more successful.
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Conservation Without Borders
I truly love getting to know my colleagues and fellow impassioned veterinarians, conservationists, animal care professionals and advocates. It is one reason why I sought a career in academia–whereas for some, graduating from veterinary school closes a chapter in life they will never care to look back upon, for me it was a bittersweet time. I loved the feeling of camaraderie and support being in an academic environment as much as I loved (and still love) the challenge and excitement of learning. It’s no surprise that I returned to my alma mater for a PhD program shortly after graduation, and thought I would pursue a career in academia. As all good journeys do however, my path took me not where I had intended to go, but rather where I was supposed to go, which unfortunately led me away from a career working with or in close connection with my colleagues. Instead I forged a path alone, creating a nonprofit to serve my niche of wildlife conservation and One Health in Africa, and over time found myself working more and more remotely from my professional peers and colleagues. Most of my daily communication with colleagues for the last several years has been through a computer! Over time I have sincerely missed the company of my peers, and have found much joy interviewing colleagues old and new through my podcast, Conservation Without Borders. It is so much fun to chat with people whose work I admire, and to meet new colleagues and make new friends each time I record an episode. I wanted to showcase their work to the world, and hope you will enjoy the show as much as I do!
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WAR SHIP DISCOVERED OFF HAWAII
The sunken USS Kailua is surprisingly intact, including the ship's wheel, for a vessel that was sunk with a torpedo. / UH HURL/ NOAA
US researchers re-discover an intact World War II ship 60 years after it sunk off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii
Researchers from the University of Hawaii (UH) and NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries announced the discovery of the World War II ship last Friday. The ship was torpedoed and sunk in 1946 and its location had been unknown since.
The research team found the wreck approximately 20 miles off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii in 600m-deep waters and were surprised by its level of preservation. The wreck sits upright on the seabed with its solitary mast and wheel still in place. 'The upper deck structures from the bow to the stern were well-preserved and showed no sign of torpedo damage,' submersible pilot Terry Kerby from the University of Hawaii's Undersea Research Laboratory, said in a statement. 'It is always a thrill when you are closing in on a large sonar target with the Pisces submersible, and you don't know what big piece of history is going to come looming out of the dark.'
'The identification of the wreck was easy, not only because of its unique form, but also because the Navy's identification number of IX-71 was still painted on the bow,' said James Delgado, director of the Maritime Heritage Program.
This is an archive image of the USS Kailua, 1943 / Naval History and Heritage Command
Launched in 1923 under the name Dickenson, the vessel was used to transport and maintain sumbarine telecommuncation cables around the Midway and Fanning Islands in the North Pacific Ocean before arriving in Hawaii in 1941. After the bombing of Pearl Habour in December 1941, the Dickenson was chartered by the British telecommunictions company Cable and Wireless Ltd to evacuate employees from Fanning Island. The war marked the end of the Midway Island telecommunications network and the Dickenson was chartered by the US Navy to service network cables in the South Pacific under the name USS Kailua (IX-71). Having no use for the ship after the war, the vessel was sunk by a torpedo off the Oahu coast without noting its exact location.
'We plan to nominate the wreck to the National Register of Historic Places,' said Delgado. 'Wrecks such as this remind us of special places in the ocean, like the monument, that connect all of us to them as refuges, sanctuaries and museums beneath the sea.'
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LIVE STREAM: Philadelphia 76ers Vs Houston Rockets
UncategorizedBy DDot Omen November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
LIVE STREAM: Milwaukee Bucks Vs Orlando Magic
Mike Milan “Masquerade”
New MusicBy DDot Omen November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Mike Milan (@MikeMilan) resurfaces with this entrancingly wavy sound bed provided by Marvlu$ caleld “Masquerade”. This will be apart of his anticipated project, YOUTH. Listen below. https://soundcloud.com/mikemilan/masquerade
VIDEO: Rihanna “What Now” Behind The Scenes
Behind The Scenes, New Video, New VideosBy DDot Omen November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Rihanna (@Rihanna) takes us on the set for the making of her video “What Now”, which is a single from Unapologetic. Watch below.
Jhené Aiko “Sail Out” EP First Week Projections
DAILY DOSEBy DDot Omen November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Jhené Aiko (@JheneAiko) is making waves with her first official retail project Sail Out EP. The beautifully pint sized smoky voiced singer has been on a hot streak since signing to No I.D.’s label ARTrium and Def Jam. Jhené enlisted the likes of Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul and more to assist on this body…
Kid Ink “Just Do It” ft. Eric Bellinger
Kid Ink (@Kid_Ink) linked with Eric Bellinger, one of the up and coming crooners making noise these days for this new offering called “Just Do It”. Although, it won’t be on Kid Ink’s debut album “My Own Lane” on January 7th, you can still listen below.
Shyst Red ft. Wale & Kevin Gates “Face Down”
New MusicBy Smithalar November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Shyst Red (@shystred) calls upon Wale (@Wale) and @Kevin_Gates for his new KE On The Track produced single “Face Down”.
Eminem “Marshall Mathers LP 2” Debuts At #1; First Week Sales
Album, DAILY DOSE, Hip-Hop NewsBy DDot Omen November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Eminem blows all his rap peers out the water with the second installment of his 2000 sophomore album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Em took a path less beaten in terms of production and featured appearances but nonetheless it was still enough to move 779,677 units first week. This makes it the highest first week…
Bun B Discusses The Epilogue & Freestyles On Sway In The Morning
Freestyles, Interviews, New VideoBy Smithalar November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
Bun B (@BunBTrillOG) sat down with Sway on Shade 45 recently to discuss his new album The Epilogue which dropped a couple days ago before giving his views on the rap game and spitting a few bars. Check it below.
VIDEO: SZA “Ice Moon”
Music Video, New VideoBy Smithalar November 13, 2013 Leave a comment
TDE’s recent signee SZA (@justsza) releases the official visuals for her S track “Ice Moon”. Keep an eye out for Z dropping soon.
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24 EXPLORATIONS IN TURKESTAN.
While it may be desirable later to make as precise a determination as possible of the geological date and of the physiographic surroundings of human monuments or artifacts, it did not seem advisable to combine detailed local observations with a general reconnaissance during our first season in the field. My work was therefore directed to gaining a broad view of the region and its development, from which it should he possible to plan and direct a series of more thorough studies regarding the subdivisions of later geological time, in case such studies are to be undertaken in the coming years. It is a matter of regret that, owing to the deficient representation of Russian material in our libraries, it has not been possible to make as full a study of the work of earlier observers as was desired in the preparation of this report.
THE CASPIAN REGION.
The region traversed naturally divides itself into three parts : The sea on the west, the mountains on the south and east, and the plains between the two. The waters of the Caspian are gathered in an area of relative depression ; the mountains are the scene of active erosion because of their relative elevation ; the rivers strive to carry the waste of the mountains down the very gentle slope of the plains and deposit it in the sea. The climatic changes, well proved to have taken place over other parts of the world in later geological times, may be believed to have had their effect in this region also. The Caspian is known to have stood at a greater height and to have covered a much larger area in Quaternary time, especially to the east and north, as is attested by its abandoned strands and shell deposits ; the existing glaciers of the eastern mountains have been longer than they are now, as proved by their abandoned Quaternary moraines, reported by various explorers ; the rivers between the mountains and the sea must have, in some way appropriate to themselves, responded to these varying conditions at their two extremities, and hence even in the strata of the plains some record of Quaternary climatic variations may be discovered.
There can be no question, however, that the record of Quaternary climatic variations on the plains would be of much more difficult recognition than in the mountain valleys on the east, or around the great sea basin on the west. It was for this reason that my reconnaissance was directed chiefly to the Caspian shorelines and to the extinct glaciers of the Tian Shan, and that the study of the plains was left to a later year.
THE TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY CASPIAN.
The existing Caspian Sea is the successor of the expanded water body of late Tertiary time which made the Black, the Caspian, and the Aral basins confluent and which laid down a series of stratified deposits, known as the (Tertiary) Aralo-Caspian formation, apparently the equivalent of the Congerian or Politic stage of Europe. These deposits are now more or less deformed and eroded ; for example, near Baku and next eastward in the Apsheron peninsula, where the Caucasus range
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History of transgender people in the United States
Title: History of transgender people in the United States
Subject: LGBT history in the United States, Fakaleiti, Ex-gay movement, Gender archaeology, Other gender
Collection: Lgbt History, Lgbt History in the United States, Transgender in the United States
The Transgender Pride flag, created by openly transgender American woman Monica Helms.
This article addresses the history of transgender people in the United States.
Prior to 1800 1
1950s and 1960s 3
Housing 10
Identity and status issues 11
Marriage and parenting 12
Violence against transgender people and their partners 13
Notable American transgender people 14
Prior to western contact, many American Native tribes had third-gender roles. These include "berdaches" (a derogatory term for people assigned male at birth who assumed a traditionally feminine role) and "passing women" (people assigned female at birth who took on a traditionally masculine role). The term "berdache" is not a Native American word; rather it was a European definition covering a range of third-gender people in different tribes. The proper term for these individuals is Two-Spirited. Not all Native American tribes recognized transgender people.[1]
Joseph Lobdell (born in 1829 as Lucy Ann Lobdell), lived as a man for sixty years and due to this was arrested and incarcerated in an insane asylum. He was, however, able to marry a woman.[2]
During the American Civil War (1861–1865) at least 240 people assigned female at birth are known to have worn what was traditionally men's clothing and fought as soldiers. Many may have worn men's clothes because they weren't allowed to fight and this was their only means of participating in the war effort. Some of them were transgender and continued to live as men throughout their lives.[3] One such notable soldier was Albert Cashier.[4]
Jennie June (born in 1874 as
Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL
Articles with dead external links from July 2014
WorldHeritage articles needing page number citations from November 2010
LGBT history in the United States
Transgender in the United States
Agender (genderless)
Bigender (bi-gender)
Cisgender / cissexual
Hijra
Queer heterosexuality
Third gender / Third sex
Trans man
Trans woman
Trigender (tri-gender)
Transgender youth
Gender/sexuality questioning
Ambiphilia / Androphilia / Gynephilia
Genderism
Non-binary discrimination
Postgenderism
Transfeminism
Legal aspects of transsexualism
Gender-neutral toilets
Rights organizations
LGBT events
LGBT-related films
Transgender portal
Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography, by Susan Stryker (2000)
How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States, by Joanne J. Meyerowitz (2004)
The Transgender Studies Reader, by Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle (2006)
Transgender History, by Susan Stryker (2008)
Transgender Rights, by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang and Shannon Price Minter (2006)
Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man, by Chaz Bono (2011)
^ Katz, J. (1976) Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company
^ Kate Bornstein. A Strange Sort of Being": The Transgender Life of Lucy Ann / Joseph Israel Lobdell, 1829-1912 (9780786448050): Bambi L. Lobdell: Books""". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
^ "CWN Book Reviews". Civilwarnews.com. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
^ "TransActive - Transgender History: People & Cultures". Transactiveonline.org. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
^ a b "Earl Lind (Ralph Werther-Jennie June): The Riddle of the Underworld, 1921". OutHistory. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
^ Pareene, Alex. "Why the T in LGBT is here to stay - LGBT". Salon.com. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
^ Lehrman, Sally (May–June 1997). "Billy Tipton: Self-Made Man". Stanford Today Online. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
^ John T. Mcquiston. "Christine Jorgensen, 62, Is Dead; Was First to Have a Sex Change - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
^ Staff report (April 4, 1959). Bars Marriage Permit; Clerk Rejects Proof of Sex of Christine Jorgensen. New York Times
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^ Spence, Rebecca (December 31, 2008). "Transgender Jews Now Out of Closet, Seeking Communal Recognition". The Jewish Daily Forward.
^ Joe Eskenazi & Ben Harris (August 17, 2007). "Blessed are the transgendered, say S.F. rabbi and the Reform movement". Jweekly.
^ "Blessed are the transgendered, say S.F. rabbi and the Reform movement | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". Jweekly.com. 2007-08-17. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
^ Joshua Lesser, David Shneer and Judith Plaskow (2010). Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible. New York: NYU Press. p. 27.
^ Tate, Julie. "Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years", The Washington Post, August 21, 2013.
^ For those who have undergone gender transition, what are the differences you've experienced in how each gender is treated socially?. Quora. Retrieved on 2015-04-22.
^ Solomon, Brian. "Jennifer Pritzker Becomes First Transgender Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
^ Vallejos, Jorge Antonio (July 29, 2009). "Portraits of Black Trans Men".
^ Moore, Lisa (September 15, 2007). "thank you".
^ Sibery, Michelle (September 15, 2007). "Framing race, sexuality".
^ Robie, Tehea (October 20, 2010). "Kortney Ryan Ziegler's Crying Room".
^ "Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Ph.D". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
Current issues of gender inequality in the United States for transgender individuals
History of the transgender movement in the United States
List of transgender-rights organizations in the United States
Transgender people's legal rights in the United States
Kortney Ryan Ziegler is an award-winning filmmaker,[248] visual artist, writer,[249] and scholar based in Oakland, California.[250][251] His artistic and academic work focuses on queer/trans issues, body image, racialized sexualities, gender, performance and black queer theory. Ziegler is also the first person in history to receive the PhD of African American Studies from Northwestern University.[252]
Lana Wachowski is the first major Hollywood director to come out as transgender.[84] She came out in 2012 while doing publicity for her movie Cloud Atlas.[83]
Max Wolf Valerio is a Native American poet, memoir writer, essayist and actor. His 2006 memoir The Testosterone Files describes his experience as a female-to-male transsexual.
Jennifer Pritzker came out as transgender in 2013 and thus became the world's first openly transgender billionaire.[247]
Amy Beth Prager is an MIT alumna in applied mathematics and computational science who does research in gender issues in mathematics and computer science education.[246]
Billy Martin, known professionally as Poppy Z. Brite, is an American author. He initially achieved fame in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections. Martin's recent work has moved into the related genre of dark comedy, with many works set in the New Orleans restaurant world. Martin's novels are typically standalone books but may feature recurring characters from previous novels and short stories.
Chelsea Manning is a United States Army soldier and whistleblower who was convicted in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after providing WikiLeaks the largest set of classified documents ever leaked to the public.[245]
Caitlyn Jenner is an American former track and field athlete and current television personality. Jenner came to international attention when, while still publicly identifying as a man, she won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal. Subsequently she starred in several made-for-TV movies and was briefly Erik Estrada's replacement on the TV series CHiPs. Jenner was married for nearly 24 years to Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian); the couple and their children appeared beginning in 2007 on the television reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Following her divorce in 2015, Jenner came out in a television interview as a transgender woman.[118] On June 1, 2015, Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) revealed her new name, Caitlyn, officially.[119] Many news sources have described Jenner as the most famous openly transgender American.[120][121][122]
Elliot Kukla is a rabbi at the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center.[238][239] He came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006.[240][241] He was the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Reform Jewish seminary Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Later, at the request of a friend of his who was also transgender, he wrote the first blessing sanctifying the sex-change process to be included in the 2007 edition of the Union for Reform Judaism's resource manual for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inclusion called Kulanu.[242][243][244]
Stephen Ira, the son of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, is an openly transgender and gay man.[237]
Laura Jane Grace is the first major rock star to come out as transgender, which she did in 2012.[82] She is the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! [82]
Laverne Cox is an American actress, reality star, and transgender activist.[231][232][233] Cox has a recurring role in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black as Sophia Burset, a transgender woman who went to prison for credit-card fraud, and is the hairdresser for many of the inmates. Cox is best known for her role on Orange Is the New Black, for being a contestant on the first season of VH1's I Want to Work for Diddy and for producing and co-hosting the VH1 makeover television series TRANSform Me (which made her the first African-American transgender person to produce and star in her own TV show).[234][235] Cox was on the cover of the June 9th, 2014 issue of Time, and was interviewed for the article “The Transgender Tipping Point" by Katy Steinmetz, which ran in that issue and the title of which was also featured on the cover; this makes Cox the first openly transgender person on the cover of Time.[107][108][236] Later in 2014 Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy in an acting category: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black.[109][110][111] She did not win, however.[112]
Lynn Conway, a computer scientist noted for the Mead & Conway revolution in VLSI design and the invention of generalized dynamic instruction handling, came out as transgender in 1999.[220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227][228] Her transition was more widely reported in 2000 in profiles in Scientific American and the Los Angeles Times, and she founded a well-known website providing emotional and medical resources and advice to transgender people.[228][229] Parts of the website have been translated into most of the world's major languages.[230]
Jennifer Finney Boylan is an author, political activist, and professor of English at Colby College in Maine. Her 2003 autobiography, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, was the first book by an openly transgender American to become a bestseller.[218] In 2013 Boylan was chosen as the first openly transgender co-chair of GLAAD's National Board of Directors.[219]
Chaz Bono became a highly visible transgender celebrity when he appeared on the 13th season of the US version of Dancing with the Stars in 2011. This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.[79] He also made Becoming Chaz, a documentary about his gender transition that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) acquired the rights to the documentary and debuted it on May 10, 2011.
Ben Barres, M.D., Ph.D. is Chair of the Neurobiology department at Stanford University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the interaction between neurons and glial cells in the nervous system.
Notable American transgender people
In 2014 California became the first state in the U.S. to officially ban the use of trans panic and gay panic defenses in murder trials.[217]
In 2009, due to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act being signed into law, the definition of a federal hate crime was expanded to include those violent crimes in which the victim is selected due to their actual or perceived gender or gender identity. Previously federal hate crimes were defined as only those violent crimes where the victim is selected due to their race, color, religion, or national origin.[216]
In 2008 Angie Zapata, a transgender woman, was murdered in Greeley, Colorado. Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a bias-motivated crime, because he killed her after he learned that she was transgender. Andrade was the first person in the US to be convicted of a hate crime involving a transgender victim.[215] Angie Zapata's story and murder were featured on Univision's "Aqui y Ahora" television show on November 1, 2009.
In 2002 Gwen Araujo, a transgender woman, was murdered in California by four men after they discovered she was transgender. The case made international news and became a rallying cause for the transgender and ultimately the larger LGBT community.[207][208][209][210][211][212][213][214] The events of the case, including both criminal trials, were portrayed in a television movie, A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story.[209][211]
In 1999 Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman, began dating PFC Barry Winchell. Word of the relationship spread at Winchell's Army base, where he was harassed by fellow soldiers and ultimately murdered.[201] Winchell's murder and the subsequent trial resulted in widespread press coverage[202] and a formal review of the US "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) military policy, ordered by President Bill Clinton.[203][204][205] The case became a prominent example used to illustrate the failure of Don't Ask, Don't Tell to protect LGBT service members.[202] Addams' and Winchell's romance and the crimes of their abusers are depicted in the film Soldier's Girl, released in 2003. A subsequent New York Times article, "An Inconvenient Woman", documented the marginalization and misrepresentation of transgender sexuality even by gay rights activists.[202][206]
The [42]
In 1995 in Washington, D.C. Tyra Hunter, a transgender woman, died after being denied medical care by ER staff due to her gender identity.[199][200] In 1998 her mother was awarded $2.8 million after the District of Columbia was found guilty of negligence and malpractice in Tyra's death. The Chicago area organization T.Y.R.A. (Transgender Youth Resources and Advocacy) was created in her memory.
In 1993 Brandon Teena, a transgender man, was raped and murdered in Nebraska. In 1999 he became the subject of a biopic entitled Boys Don't Cry, starring Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena, for which Swank won an Academy Award.
Violence against transgender people and their partners
In 2008 Thomas Beatie, an American transgender man, became pregnant, making international news. He wrote an article about his experience of pregnancy in The Advocate.[193] The Washington Post blogger Emil Steiner called Beatie the first "legally" pregnant man on record,[194] in reference to certain states' and federal legal recognition of Beatie as a man.[193][195] Beatie gave birth to a girl named Susan Juliette Beatie on June 29, 2008.[196][197] In 2010 Guinness World Records recognized Beatie as the world's "First Married Man to Give Birth."[198]
The 2005 case re Jose Mauricio LOVO-Lara, 23 I&N Dec. 746 (BIA 2005)[192] considered marriage under federal law, as it pertains to immigration. The Board of Immigration Appeals (a federal body under the US Department of Justice) ruled that for purposes of an immigration visa: "A marriage between a postoperative transsexual and a person of the opposite sex may be the basis for benefits under ..., where the State in which the marriage occurred recognizes the change in sex of the postoperative transsexual and considers the marriage a valid heterosexual marriage."
In 2002 transgender man Michael Kantaras made national news when he won primary custody of his children upon divorce; however, that case was reversed on appeal in 2004 by the Florida Supreme Court, upholding the claim that the marriage was null and void because Michael Kantaras was still a woman and same-sex marriages were illegal in Florida.[189] The couple settled the case with joint custody in 2005.[190][191]
In the 2001 case In re Estate of Gardiner (2001)[187] the Kansas Appellate Court applied a different standard to the marriage of transgender woman J'Noel Gardiner, concluding that "[A] trial court must consider and decide whether an individual was male or female at the time the individual's marriage license was issued and the individual was married, not simply what the individual's chromosomes were or were not at the moment of birth. The court may use chromosome makeup as one factor, but not the exclusive factor, in arriving at a decision. Aside from chromosomes, we adopt the criteria set forth by Professor Greenberg. On remand, the trial court is directed to consider factors in addition to chromosome makeup, including: gonadal sex, internal morphologic sex, external morphologic sex, hormonal sex, phenotypic sex, assigned sex and gender of rearing, and sexual identity". Gardiner ultimately lost her case in the Kansas Supreme Court, which declared her marriage invalid.[188]
In the 1999 case Littleton v. Prange, 9 SW3d 223 (1999),[186] Christie Lee Littleton, a post-operative female transsexual, argued to the Texas 4th Court of Appeals that her marriage to her deceased male husband was legally binding and she was entitled to his estate. The court decided that Littleton's gender corresponded to her chromosomes, which were XY (male). The court subsequently invalidated her revision to her birth certificate, as well as her Kentucky marriage license, ruling "We hold, as a matter of law, that Christie Littleton is a male. As a male, Christie cannot be married to another male. Her marriage to Jonathon was invalid, and she cannot bring a cause of action as his surviving spouse." Littleton appealed to the Supreme Court but it denied her writ of certiorari on October 2, 2000.
Also in 2014, Google Plus introduced a new gender category called "Custom", which generates a freeform text field and a pronoun field, and also provides users with an option to limit who can see their gender.[185]
Also in 2014, Facebook introduced dozens of options for users to specify their gender, including a custom gender option, as well as allowing users to select between three pronouns: “him,” “her” or “their.” [183] Later that year Facebook added a gender-neutral option for users to use when identifying family members, for example Parent (gender neutral) and Child (gender neutral).[184]
Also in 2014, the Social Security Administration (SSA) stated that although its "past policy was to refer all marriage-based claims involving transgender individuals for a legal opinion from the Regional Chief Counsel[,] [o]ur new policy allows us to process most claims...without the need for a legal opinion." [181] This change came soon after Robina Asti, a 92-year-old transgender woman, was denied survivor benefits by the SSA for two years after her husband's death, benefits she finally received on February 14, 2014.[181][182]
In 2014 the American Medical Association adopted a policy stating that transgender people should not be required to undergo genital surgery in order to update legal identification documents, including birth certificates.[180]
In 2013 the Social Security Administration (SSA) removed its requirement that transgender people wanting to amend their gender on a Social Security card provide proof of gender reassignment surgery, instead stating that a transgender person wanting to amend their gender on a Social Security card must provide a passport or birth certificate reflecting their accurate gender, or a certification from a physician confirming that the individual has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition.[179]
In 2012 the Veterans Health Administration declared that transgender veterans are able to change the gender marker on their medical records by providing a physician’s letter confirming gender reassignment.[178]
In 2011 the Social Security Administration (SSA) ended the practice of allowing gender to be matched in its Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS). Therefore, the Social Security Administration no longer sends notifications that alert employers when the gender marker on an employee's W-2 does not match Social Security records, a practice that "outed" some transgender Americans in the past.[177]
In 2010 the State Department amended its policy to allow permanent gender marker changes on passports where a physician states that "the applicant has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender".[175] The previous policy required a statement from a surgeon that gender reassignment surgery was completed.[176]
In 2003 Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a rabbinic ruling on the status of transsexuals. The ruling concluded that individuals who have undergone full sexual reassignment surgery, and whose sexual reassignment has been recognized by civil authorities, are considered to have changed their sex status according to Jewish law. Furthermore, it concluded that sexual reassignment surgery is an acceptable treatment under Jewish law for individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria.[174]
Identity and status issues
In a memo made public in 2015, officials issued guidance for Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel directing staff to house transgender immigrants in sex-segregated housing that corresponds with their gender identity.[173]
In 2012 United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced new regulations that require all housing providers that receive HUD funding to prevent housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.[171] These regulations went into effect on March 5, 2012.[172]
Also in 2015, the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives adopted “Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People” at the Association's 123rd Annual Convention.[170] Such guidelines set ideals to which the American Psychological Association encourages psychologists to aspire.[170] According to the “Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People”, psychologists who work with transgender or gender nonconforming people should seek to provide acceptance, support and understanding without making assumptions about their clients’ gender identities or gender expressions.[170]
Also in 2015, new guidance was issued from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury declaring that when, "an attending provider determines that a recommended preventive service is medically appropriate for the individual – such as, for example, providing a mammogram or pap smear for a transgender man who has residual breast tissue or an intact cervix – and the individual otherwise satisfies the criteria in the relevant recommendation or guideline as well as all other applicable coverage requirements,the plan or issuer must provide coverage for the recommended preventive service, without cost sharing, regardless of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender of the individual otherwise recorded by the plan or issuer."[168][169]
In 2015, a federal court first confirmed that the Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination against transgender people by any health care provider accepting federal funds.[167] Specifically, in the case of a young transgender man who said he was badly mistreated in a Minnesota hospital, the court ruled that Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits gender identity discrimination under the umbrella of sex discrimination, and that by accepting Medicare and Medicaid funds the hospital was subject to the law.[167]
Also in 2014, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced an end to the ban on transition-related healthcare in Federal Employee Health Benefits plans (FEHB).[165] This decision did not mean FEHB insurance providers were required to cover transition-related healthcare, only that they could if they wanted.[165] But in 2015, it was announced that effective January 1, 2016, insurance companies that participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program must include transition-related coverage.[166]
In 2014 it was decided that transgender people receiving Medicare may not be automatically denied coverage by them for sex reassignment surgeries; this was decided in a ruling on the case of Denee Mallon, a transgender woman, but it applies to all transgender people receiving Medicare and not just her.[164]
Starting in January 2014, each American state must have a Health Benefit Exchange where individuals and families can buy health care plans, and no state's exchange may discriminate against consumers on the basis of gender identity.[163]
Also in 2013, at the request of a panel of endocrinologists, U.S. News and World Report, for the first time in its hospital rankings, assigned additional points to hospitals that had programs designed to meet the needs of transgender youth.[156]
In 2013, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was released. This edition eliminated the term "gender identity disorder," which was considered stigmatizing, instead referring to "gender dysphoria," which focuses attention only on those who feel distressed by their gender identity.[104]
Also in 2012, the American Psychiatric Association issued official position statements supporting the care and civil rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.[162]
Also in 2012, Beth Scott, a transgender woman from New Jersey, successfully appealed Aetna's decision not to cover her mammogram because she is transgender. Aetna eventually paid the cost of her mammogram and agreed to ensure that transgender people can access all necessary sex-specific care, such as prostate exams and gynecological care, regardless of whether they are categorized as male or female in insurance records.[161]
In 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's ban on sex-based discrimination, which will take effect by January 2014, "extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity." [160]
Also in 2011, the Veterans Health Administration issued a directive stipulating that all transgender and intersex veterans are entitled to the same level of care "without discrimination" as other veterans, consistent across all Veterans Administration healthcare facilities.[159]
In 2011, the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health published the first-ever protocols for transgender primary care.[158]
In 2009 America's professional association of endocrinologists established best practices for transgender children that included prescribing puberty-suppressing drugs to preteens followed by hormone therapy beginning at about age 16.[156] In 2012 the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry echoed these recommendations.[156]
In February 2007 Norman Spack co-founded Boston Children’s Hospital's Gender Management Service (GeMS) clinic; it is America's first clinic to treat transgender children.[156][157]
In 1980, transgender people were officially classified by the American Psychiatric Association as having "gender identity disorder."[10]
Also in 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a Guide to Restroom Access for Transgender Workers, which provides guidance to employers on best practices regarding restroom access for transgender workers.[155]
Also in 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled for the first time that Army-imposed restroom restrictions on a transgender civilian employee (Tamara Lusardi) violated the sex discrimination provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[154]
Also in 2015, the Justice Department announced that it had filed its first civil lawsuit on behalf of a transgender person (Rachel Tudor); the lawsuit was United States of America v. Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the Regional University System of Oklahoma, filed in federal court in that state.[153]
In 2015 the Army issued a directive that protected transgender soldiers from being dismissed by mid-level officers by requiring the decision for discharge to be made by the service's top civilian for personnel matters.[149] Later that year, the Air Force stated that for enlisted airmen, there was no outright grounds for discharge for anyone with gender dysphoria or who identified as transgender, and that a person would only be subject to eviction from the Air Force if his or her condition interfered with their potential deployment or performance on active duty.[150] Later in 2015, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed a memorandum directed to the chief of Naval operations and commandant of the Marine Corps stating: “Effective immediately, separations initiated under the provisions of the reference for service members with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria, who identify themselves as transgender, or who have taken steps to externalize the condition, must be forwarded to the assistant secretary of the Navy (manpower and reserve affairs) for decision.”[151] Still later in 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the creation of a Pentagon working group "to study over the next six months the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly."[152] He also stated that all decisions to dismiss troops with gender dysphoria would be handled by the Pentagon's acting under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness (Brad Carson).[152]
Also in 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder stated that the Justice Department’s position going forward in litigation would be that discrimination against transgender people is covered under the sex discrimination prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[148]
Also in 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed two lawsuits against companies accused of discriminating against employees on the basis of gender identity; these lawsuits were the first Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) action taken by the federal government on behalf of transgender workers.[145] The lawsuits were filed for Amiee Stephens and Brandi Branson, both transgender women.[146] The clinic being sued on behalf of Branson settled with her in 2015, admitting no wrongdoing but agreeing to pay her $150,000 in backpay and damages and agreeing to implement gender identity nondiscrimination protections and trainings for employees.[147]
Also in 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13672, adding "gender identity" to the categories protected against discrimination in hiring in the federal civilian workforce and both "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" to the categories protected against discrimination in employment and hiring on the part of federal government contractors and sub-contractors.[144]
In 2014 the Labor Department extended nondiscrimination protections to its transgender employees.[143]
In 2013 the Freedom to Work, is the first time in history that the EEOC has investigated allegations of anti-transgender harassment and ruled for the transgender employee.[103]
Also in 2012, the FAA's Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners modified its medical certification procedures for transgender pilots to only require current clinical records, an evaluation from a psychologist or psychiatrist with experience in transgender issues, and, if the pilot has had surgery, a post-operative report. Transgender pilots were previously required to undergo additional psychological tests such as personality, projective, and intelligence tests that cisgender pilots were not required to undergo.[142]
Also in 2012, Kylar Broadus, founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition of Columbia, Missouri, spoke to the Senate in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.[140][141] His speech was the first-ever Senate testimony from an openly transgender witness.[141]
In 2012 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission expanded upon these individual court cases by ruling that Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) does prohibit gender identity-based employment discrimination as sex discrimination.[102] The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission declared, "intentional discrimination against a transgender individual because that person is transgender is, by definition, discrimination 'based on ... sex' and such discrimination ... violates Title VII".[102] This ruling was for a discrimination complaint filed by the Transgender Law Center on behalf of transgender woman Mia Macy, who had been denied a job due to her gender identity.[102] The ruling opens the door for any transgender employees or potential employees who have been discriminated against by a business hiring 15 or more people in the US based on their gender identity to file a claim with the EEOC for sex discrimination.
In 2011 Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman, won a lawsuit against then-Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby. Brumby fired Glenn in 2007 for deciding to transition genders on the job, and a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that Brumby had wrongly fired Glenn.[139]
In 2010 the Obama administration explicitly banned gender identity-based discrimination on the federal jobs web site USAJobs.[138]
Also in 2008 the first ever U.S. Congressional hearing on discrimination against transgender people in the workplace was held by the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.[137]
In 2008 the District Court of DC ruled in favor of Diane Schroer, who was denied a position as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress after revealing that she would be transitioning from male to female.[136] The Court agreed that Shroer's case fell under sex discrimination regulations.[136]
In August 2005, it was revealed that New Jersey Public School teacher ″Mr. Herb McCaffrey″ had secretly become ″Ms. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey″ in the middle of the previous school year, becoming the first openly transgender teacher in New Jersey in over thirty years–Paula Grossman had tried unsuccessfully to teach in a town near McCaffrey's district in 1971. Because she was non-tenured, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey was forced to hide her identity until the end of that 2005 school year and only revealed her changed name and status publicly that summer. After controversy ensued, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey successfully kept her 5th grade teaching job. Ms. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey still teaches in Mendham Boro, New Jersey as of 2005.[124]
In the 2004 case Smith v. City of Salem 378 F.3d 566, 568 (6th Cir. 2004) Smith, a female transsexual, filed Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) claims of sex discrimination and retaliation, equal protection and due process claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and state law claims of invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy. On appeal, the Price Waterhouse precedent was applied: "[i]t follows that employers who discriminate against men because they do wear dresses and makeup, or otherwise act femininely, are also engaging in sex discrimination, because the discrimination would not occur but for the victim's sex". This was considered a significant victory for transgender people, as the case reiterated that discrimination based on both sex and gender expression is forbidden under Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), opening the door for more expansive jurisprudence on transgender issues in the future. This case did not, however, eliminate workplace dress codes, which frequently have separate rules based solely on gender.
Mary Elizabeth Clark served as a United States Navy chief petty officer (E-7), serving as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare, before she underwent sex reassignment surgery; knowing of her past,[132] a U.S. Army Reserves recruiter signed her up for the Army, which she enlisted in in 1976.[133] A year-and-a-half later she was discharged from the Army when her history became known to higher-ups. She brought suit against the Army and won a settlement of $25,000 and an honorable discharge.[134][135]
In 1971, Bernardsville, New Jersey junior high music teacher Paula Grossman was fired from her position of 14 years after openly transitioning and announcing her identity as a woman. She appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1976 refused to hear the case.
In 2015, Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools was introduced; it is a first-of-its-kind publication for school administrations, teachers, and parents about how to provide safe and supportive environments for all transgender students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.[131] Its authors are the Transgender Youth Project Staff Attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Gender Spectrum’s Senior Director for Professional Development and Family Services, the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Human Rights Campaign.[131]
Also in 2014, Transgender Studies Quarterly, the first non-medical academic journal devoted to transgender issues, began publication, with two openly transgender coeditors, Susan Stryker and Paisley Currah.[113][130]
Also in 2014 Mount Holyoke became the first Seven Sisters college to accept openly transgender students.[117]
Also in 2014, guidelines were issued by the U.S. Department of Education stating that transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX, and instructing public schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity in single-sex classes, so that a student who identifies as a transgender boy is allowed entry to a boys-only class, and a student who identifies as a transgender girl is allowed entry to a girls-only class.[129] The memo states in part that "[a]ll students, including transgender students and students who do not conform to sex stereotypes, are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX. Under Title IX, a recipient generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity in all aspects of the planning, implementation, enrollment, operation, and evaluation of single-sex classes."[129]
In 2014 Mills College became the first single-sex college in the U.S. to adopt a policy explicitly welcoming openly transgender students.[116] The policy states that applicants not assigned to the female sex at birth but who self-identify as women are welcome, as are applicants who identify as neither male or female if they were assigned to the female sex at birth.[116] It also states that students assigned to the female sex at birth who have legally become male prior to applying are not eligible unless they apply to the graduate program, which is coeducational, although female students who become male after enrolling may stay and graduate.[116]
In 2013 California enacted America's first law protecting transgender students; the law, called the School Success and Opportunity Act, declares that every public school student in California from kindergarten to 12th grade must be “permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” [105]
In 2012 Campus Pride, founded in 2001, issued its first list of the most welcoming places for trans students to go to college.[126][127][128]
In 2011 the FAIR Education Act (Senate Bill 48) became law in California, requiring the inclusion of political, economic, and social contributions of transgender people (along with lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and people with disabilities) in California's textbooks and public school social studies curricula.[125]
In August 2005, it was revealed that New Jersey Public School teacher ″Mr. Herb McCaffrey″ had secretly become ″Ms. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey″ in the middle of the previous school year, becoming the first openly transgender teacher in New Jersey in over thirty years Because she was non-tenured, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey was forced to hide her identity until the end of that 2005 school year and only revealed her changed name and status publicly that summer. After controversy ensued, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey successfully kept her 5th grade teaching job. Ms. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey still teaches in Mendham Boro, New Jersey as of 2005.[124]
Sandy Stone is an openly transgender woman whose essay, titled “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto,” and published in 1987 in response to the anti-transsexual book Transsexual Empire, has been cited as the origin of transgender studies.[123]
Following her divorce in 2015, Caitlyn Jenner came out in a television interview as a transgender woman.[118] On June 1, 2015, Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) revealed her new name, Caitlyn, and her use of female pronouns officially.[119] Many news sources have described Jenner as the most famous openly transgender American.[120][121][122]
In 2014 openly transgender people became more visible. That year Laverne Cox was on the cover of the June 9, 2014, issue of Time, and was interviewed for the article “The Transgender Tipping Point" by Katy Steinmetz, which ran in that issue and the title of which was also featured on the cover; this made Cox the first openly transgender person on the cover of Time.[106][107][108] Later in 2014 Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy in an acting category: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black.[109][110][111] She did not win, however.[112] Also that year Transgender Studies Quarterly, the first non-medical academic journal devoted to transgender issues, began publication with two openly transgender coeditors, Susan Stryker and Paisley Currah.[113][114] Also in 2014 a wooden racket used by openly transgender tennis player Renée Richards and the original transgender pride flag created by openly transgender activist and Navy veteran Monica Helms, as well as items from Helms’s career in the service as a submariner, were donated to the National Museum of American History, which is part of the Smithsonian.[115] But perhaps the most important change in 2014 was that Mills College became the first single-sex college in the U.S. to adopt a policy explicitly welcoming openly transgender students, followed by Mount Holyoke becoming the first Seven Sisters college to accept transgender students.[116][117]
Another important change that year was that California enacted America's first law protecting transgender students; the law, called the School Success and Opportunity Act, declares that every public school student in California from kindergarten to 12th grade must be “permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” [105]
Another significant change for transgender people occurred in 2013 when the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was released. This edition eliminated the term "gender identity disorder," which was considered stigmatizing, instead referring to "gender dysphoria," which focuses attention only on those who feel distressed by their gender identity.[104]
There were also two important advances in equal opportunity employment for transgender people at this time. In 2012 the Freedom to Work, is the first time in history that the EEOC has investigated allegations of anti-transgender harassment and ruled for the transgender employee.[103]
Three groups - the Girl Scouts, the [99] Also in 2011, the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance changed its policy to include transgender and bisexual players.[100] In 2012 the Episcopal Church in the United States approved a change to their nondiscrimination canons to include gender identity and expression.[101]
[98][97] became the first openly transgender contender for the U.S. Olympic team, but he failed to qualify and did not go to the Olympics.Keelin Godsey In 2012 [96][95] There were also two firsts for transgender people in sports in the 2010s.
[92] 2012 also saw the country's first government-funded campaign to combat anti-transgender discrimination, held by the D.C. Office of Human Rights.[91] As for political organizations fighting for LGBT rights, in 2012
In the early 2010s transgender people also made more inroads in politics. In 2010 Amanda Simpson became the first openly transgender presidential appointee in America when she was appointed as senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.[85] Also in 2010, Victoria Kolakowski became the first openly transgender judge in America.[86] In 2012 Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender person elected as a state legislator in United States history. However, she resigned before she was sworn in and was never seated. It was revealed that she was a convicted felon and was still on probation, having served four months in Belknap County House of Corrections following a 2008 credit card fraud conviction. It was later determined that she was ineligible to serve in the New Hampshire State Legislature.[87][88][89] Previously, in 1992 Althea Garrison had been elected as a state legislator, serving one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, but it was not publicly known she was transgender when she was elected.[90]
In the 2010s openly transgender people became increasingly prominent in entertainment. Chaz Bono became a highly visible transgender celebrity when he appeared on the 13th season of the US version of Dancing with the Stars in 2011, which was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.[79] He also made Becoming Chaz, a documentary about his gender transition that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) acquired the rights to the documentary and debuted it on May 10, 2011. Also in 2011, Harmony Santana became the first openly transgender actress to receive a major acting award nomination when she was nominated by the Independent Spirit Awards as Best Supporting Actress for the movie Gun Hill Road.[80] In 2012, Bring It On: The Musical premiered on Broadway, and it featured the first transgender teenage character ever in a Broadway show - La Cienega, a transgender woman played by actor Gregory Haney.[81] That same year singer Tom Gabel made headlines when she publicly came out as transgender, planning to begin medical transition and eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace.[82] She is the first major rock star to come out as transgender.[82] Perhaps most notably, famous director Lana Wachowski, formerly known as Larry Wachowski, came out as transgender in 2012 while doing publicity for her movie Cloud Atlas.[83] This made her the first major Hollywood director to come out as transgender.[84]
Politics increasingly began to include openly transgender people. In 2003 Theresa Sparks was the first openly transgender woman ever named "Woman of the Year" by the California State Assembly,[65] and in 2007 she was elected president of the San Francisco Police Commission by a single vote, making her the first openly transgender person ever to be elected president of any San Francisco commission, as well as San Francisco's highest ranking openly transgender official.[66][67][68][69] In 2006 Kim Coco Iwamoto was elected as a member of the Hawaii Board of Education, making her at that time the highest ranking openly transgender elected official in the United States, as well as the first openly transgender official to win statewide office.[70][71] In 2008 Stu Rasmussen became the first openly transgender mayor in America (in Silverton, Oregon).[72][73] In 2009 Diego Sanchez became the first openly transgender person to work on Capitol Hill, where he worked as a legislative assistant for Barney Frank.[74] Sanchez was also the first transgender person on the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Platform Committee in 2008.[75][76] In 2009 Barbra "Babs" Siperstein was nominated and confirmed as the first openly transgender at-large member of the Democratic National Committee,[77] and in 2012 she became the first elected openly transgender member of the DNC.[78]
The American transgender community also achieved some firsts in religion around this time. In 2002 at the Reform Jewish seminary Reconstructionist Rabbinical College which addressed the psychological, legal, and religious issues affecting people who are transsexual or intersex.[57] Also in 2003, Reuben Zellman became the first openly transgender person accepted to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he was ordained in 2010.[58][59][60] Elliot Kukla, who came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006, was the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.[61] HUC-JIR is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal workers in Reform Judaism. In 2007 Joy Ladin became the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution (Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University).[62][63] Emily Aviva Kapor was ordained privately by a Conservadox rabbi in 2005, but did not begin living as a woman until 2012, thus becoming the first openly transgender female rabbi.[64]
Transgender people also made groundbreaking strides in entertainment. In 2004, the first all-transgender performance of the Vagina Monologues was held. The monologues were read by eighteen notable transgender women, and a new monologue revolving around the experiences and struggles of transgender women was included.[52] In 2005 Alexandra Billings became the first openly transgender woman to have played a transgender character on television, which she did in the made-for-TV movie Romy and Michelle: A New Beginning.[53] From 2007 to 2008 actress Candis Cayne played Carmelita Rainer, a transgender woman having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (played by William Baldwin), on the ABC prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money.[54][55][56] The role made Cayne the first openly transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in prime time.[54][55][56]
Transgender history also began to be recognized. In 2008 Cristan Williams donated her personal collection to the Transgender Foundation of America, where it became the first collection in the Transgender Archive, an archive of transgender history worldwide.[49][50] In 2009 the Committee on Lesbian and Gay History, an affiliated society of the American Historical Association, changed its name to the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History.[51]
Transgender visibility in the LGBT community also gathered force in the 2000s. In 2002, Pete Chvany, Luigi Ferrer, James Green, [48] In 2005 transgender activist Pauline Park became the first openly transgender person chosen to be grand marshal of the New York City Pride March, the oldest and largest LGBT pride event in the United States.
At this time the transgender community became more visible. A high school teacher in Lake Forest, IL, Karen Kopriva, became the first American teacher to transition on the job in 1998. There was considerable media uproar, but when another teacher followed the next year in a different suburb hardly anyone noticed. The [42] The most prominent version of the Transgender Pride flag was created in 1999 by the American trans woman Monica Helms.[43] The flag was first shown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000. In 2012 Spokane Trans created their own version of the transgender pride flag. They describe it on their web site as follows: "The top two stripes represent male (blue) to female (pink). The purple represents non-binary and genderqueer people (as the genderqueer flag colors are green, white and purple) the thin white stripe represents all people as well as the “line” trans* folks cross during their transition. Then the female (pink) to male (blue) along the bottom."[44] In 2009 the International Transgender Day of Visibility was founded by Rachel Crandall, also the founder of TransGender Michigan; it is an annual holiday occurring on March 31, dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide.[45][46]
[38] PFLAG established its Transgender Network, also known as TNET, in 2002, as its first official "Special Affiliate," recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as its regular chapters.[39] The LGBT rights group
Several transgender organizations were founded in the 1990s and early 2000s. Transgender Foundation of America was founded in 2001.[35] In 2003 the National Center for Transgender Equality[36] and the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) were founded.[37]
[34] most famous, and pre-eminent such conference in the United States.[33] It is the largest,[33][32] 1991 was also the year of the first
In 1991 a transgender woman named Nancy Burkholder was removed from the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival when security guards realized she was transgender. After that there were demonstrations against the Festival's women-born-women only policy. These demonstrations were known as Camp Trans.[29] The last Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was held in 2015.[30]
The term "transgender" as an umbrella term to refer to all gender non-conforming people became more commonplace in the late 1980s.[27] In 1987 Sandy Stone, an American transgender woman, published the essay “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto,” in response to the anti-transsexual book Transsexual Empire.[28] Her essay has been cited as the origin of transgender studies.[28]
The collective responded in turn by publicly defending Stone in various feminist publications of the time. Stone continued as a member of the collective and continued to record Olivia artists until political dissension over her transgender status, exacerbated by Janice's book, culminated in 1979 in the threat of a boycott of Olivia products. After long debate, Stone left the collective and returned to Santa Cruz.
Masculine behavior is notably obtrusive. It is significant that transsexually constructed lesbian feminists have inserted themselves into positions of importance and/or performance in the feminist population. Sandy Stone, the transsexual engineer with Olivia Records, an "all-women" recording company, illustrates this well. Stone is not only crucial to the Olivia enterprise but plays a very dominant role there. The...visibility he achieved in the aftermath of the Olivia controversy...only serves to enhance his previously dominant role and to divide women, as men frequently do, when they make their presence necessary and vital to women. As one woman wrote: "I feel raped when Olivia passes off Sandy...as a real woman. After all his male privilege, is he going to cash in on lesbian feminist culture too?"[26]
The 1970s also saw conflict between the transgender and lesbian communities in America. A dispute began in 1973, when the West Coast Lesbian Conference split over a scheduled performance by the lesbian transgender folk-singer Beth Elliott.[23] Elliot had served as vice-president of the San Francisco chapter of the lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis, and edited the chapter's newsletter, Sisters, but was expelled from the group in 1973 on the grounds that she was not really a woman.[24][25] In 1977 some lesbians protested the fact that lesbian transgender woman Sandy Stone was employed at Olivia Records.[25] In 1979 lesbian radical feminist activist Janice Raymond released the book The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male, which she framed as a critique of a patriarchal medical and psychiatric establishment, and which maintains that transsexualism is based on the "patriarchal myths" of "male mothering," and "making of woman according to man's image." Janice claimed this was done in order "to colonize feminist identification, culture, politics and sexuality," adding: "All transsexuals rape women's bodies by reducing the real female form to an artifact, appropriating this body for themselves .... Transsexuals merely cut off the most obvious means of invading women, so that they seem non-invasive." In particular, Janice mounted an ad hominem attack on Sandy Stone in The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male.[26] Janice accused Stone by name of plotting to destroy the Olivia Records collective and womanhood in general with "male energy." In 1976, prior to publication, Janice had sent a draft of the chapter attacking Stone to the Olivia collective "for comment", apparently in anticipation of outing Stone. Janice appeared unaware that Stone had informed the collective of her transgender status before agreeing to join. The collective did return comments to Janice, suggesting that her description of transgender and of Stone's place in and effect on the collective was at odds with the reality of the collective's interaction with Stone. Janice responded by increasing the virulence of her attack on Stone in the published version of the manuscript:
Also in 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a transgender plaintiff, Paula Grossman, in a sex discrimination case involving termination from her teaching job after sex reassignment surgery.[22] Another sex discrimination case in 1984, Ulane v. Eastern Airlines Inc. 742 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir. 1984), concerned Karen Ulane, a transsexual pilot. The Seventh Circuit denied her Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) sex discrimination protection by narrowly interpreting "sex" discrimination as discrimination "against women", and denying Ulane's womanhood.
In 1976 the first case in the United States that found post-operative transsexuals could marry in their post-operative sex was decided. In the New Jersey case M.T. v. J.T., 140 N.J. Super. 77, 355 A.2d 204, cert. denied 71 N.J. 345 (1976), the court expressly considered the English Corbett v. Corbett decision that disallowed such a marriage, but rejected its reasoning.
Other legal cases continued to consider the issue of changing the gender marker on one's official documentation, but cases in this period also considered other issues of anti-transgender discrimination. In 1975 in the case of Darnell v. Lloyd, 395 F. Supp. 1210 (D. Conn. 1975), a Connecticut court found that substantial state interest must be demonstrated to justify refusing to grant a change in sex recorded on a birth certificate. However, in 1977, in the case K. v. Health Division, 277 Or. 371, 560 P.2d 1070 (1977), the Oregon Supreme Court rejected an application for a change of name or sex on the birth certificate of a post-operative transsexual, on the grounds that there was no legislative authority for such a change to be made.
A few other scattered positive developments also occurred in this period. In 1975 Minneapolis became the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection legislation.[10] In 1977 Renee Richards, a transgender woman, was granted entry to the U.S. Open (in tennis) after a ruling in her favor by the New York Supreme Court. This was considered a landmark decision in favor of transgender rights.[21]
In 1986 transgender activist Lou Sullivan founded the support group that grew into FTM International, the leading advocacy group for female-to-male transgender individuals, and began publishing The FTM Newsletter.[10]
Another significant event for activism occurred in 1979, with the first Phyllis Frye (who in 2010 became Texas's first openly transgender judge [20]) and three other activists, but no transgender people spoke at the main rally.
[10] Transvestite activists [10] Many support organizations for male cross-dressers began in the 1970s and 1980s, with most beginning as offshoots of Virginia Prince's organizations from the early 1960s.
In 1968 a transgender person again sought a change of name and sex on their birth certificate in the case of Matter of Anonymous, 57 Misc. 2d 813, 293 N.Y.S.2d 834 (1968). The change of sex was denied, but the name change was granted. The same occurred in the case of Matter of Anonymous, 64 Misc. 2d 309, 314 N.Y.S.2d 668 (1970).
In 1966 the first case to consider transsexualism in the US was heard, Mtr. of Anonymous v. Weiner, 50 Misc. 2d 380, 270 N.Y.S.2d 319 (1966). The case concerned a transsexual person from New York City who had undergone sex reassignment surgery and wanted a change of name and sex on their birth certificate. The New York City Health Department refused to grant the request, and the court ruled that the New York City and New Jersey Health Code only permitted a change of sex on the birth certificate if an error was made recording it at birth, so the Health Department acted correctly. The decision of the court in Weiner was affirmed in Mtr. of Hartin v. Dir. of Bur. of Recs., 75 Misc. 2d 229, 232, 347 N.Y.S.2d 515 (1973) and Anonymous v. Mellon, 91 Misc. 2d 375, 383, 398 N.Y.S.2d 99 (1977).
Though transgender activism began on a larger scale in this period, it was also a period of heavy discrimination for those who were known to be transsexual, a term that was coined by cisgender American physician Harry Benjamin in 1957.
Aside from activism, transgender people also gained some exposure through popular culture, in particular Andy Warhol. In the 1960s and early 1970s the transgender actresses Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling were among Warhol's Warhol Superstars, appearing in several of his films.
Transgender people were also heavily involved in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York. These riots are widely considered to have begun the LGBT rights movement in America. A transgender woman, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, was a leader in the riots,[15] but was struck on her head by a police officer and was taken into custody. While in prison, she reported that a corrections officer broke her jaw.[16]
The following year, in 1966, one of the first recorded transgender riots in US history took place. The [14]
In 1965 150 gender non-conforming people came to Dewey's Coffee Shop in Philadelphia to protest the fact that the shop was refusing to serve young people in "non-conformist clothing".[11][12] After three protesters refused to leave after being denied service they, along with a black gay activist, were arrested. This led to a picket of the establishment organized by the black GLBT population. In May another sit-in was organized and Dewey's finally agreed to end their discriminatory policies.[13]
In the late 1960s in New York, Mario Martino founded the Labyrinth Foundation Counseling Service, which was the first transgender community-based organization that specifically addressed the needs of female-to-male transsexuals.[10]
In 1960 Virginia Prince began another publication, also called Transvestia, that discussed transgender concerns. In 1962, she founded the Hose and Heels Club for cross-dressers, which soon changed its name to Phi Pi Epsilon, a name designed to evoke Greek-letter sororities and to play on the initials FPE, the acronym for Prince's philosophy of "Full Personality Expression". Prince believed that the binary gender system harmed both men and women by keeping them from their full human potential, and she considered cross-dressing to be one means of fixing this.[10]
In 1952, using Virginia Prince's correspondence network for its initial subscription list, a handful of other transgender people in Southern California launched Transvestia: The Journal of the American Society for Equality in Dress, which published two issues. The Society that launched the journal also only briefly existed in Southern California.[10]
Virginia Prince, a transgender person who began living full-time as a woman in San Francisco in the 1940s, developed a widespread correspondence network with transgender people throughout Europe and the United States by the 1950s. She worked closely with Alfred Kinsey to bring the needs of transgender people to the attention of social scientists and sex reformers.[10]
The most famous American transgender person of the time was [9]
The 1950s and 1960s saw some of the first transgender organizations and publications, but law and medicine did not respond favorably to growing awareness of transgender people.
Billy Tipton (born in 1914 as Dorothy Lucille Tipton) was a notable American jazz musician and bandleader who lived as a man in all aspects of his life from the 1940s until his death. His own son did not know of his past until Tipton's death. The first newspaper article about Tipton was published the day after his funeral and was quickly picked up by wire services. Stories about Tipton appeared in a variety of papers including tabloids such as the National Enquirer and Star, as well as more reputable papers such as New York Magazine and The Seattle Times. Tipton's family also made talk show appearances.[7]
In 1895 a group of self-described androgynes in New York organized a club called the Cercle Hermaphroditos, based on their wish "to unite for defense against the world's bitter persecution".[6]
United States Air Force, American Revolutionary War, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina
Psychiatry, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Arlington County, Virginia, United States, Choosing Wisely
Christianity, American Civil War, World War I, Barack Obama, Chicago
Fakaleiti
Gender identity, Third gender, Gender studies, Fa'afafine, Gender
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Gender identity, Third gender, Dmoz, Homosexuality, Heterosexuality
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Gender, Intersex, Gender identity, Third gender, Society
Other gender
Gender identity, Third gender, Man, Two-Spirit, Gender studies
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Wikipedia: Star Wars
Filed under: — admin @ 12:55 am
This article is about the Star Wars media franchise. For the original 1977 film, see Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. For the U.S. military program popularly referred to as “Star Wars”, see Strategic Defense Initiative. For other uses, see Star Wars (disambiguation).
The Star Wars logo as seen in all films
Star Wars Portal
Star Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded since that time. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars, but later had the subtitle A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels. Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, initially spawning two sequels. Twenty-two years after Star Wars was released, Lucas began the release of a second trilogy as a prequel to the original trilogy.
The franchise has spawned other media including novels, television series, video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series’ fictional universe. As of 2008, the overall box office revenue generated by the six Star Wars films has totalled approximately $4.3 billion, making it the 3rd highest grossing film series.[1]
1.1 Original trilogy
1.1.1 Box office performance
1.2 Prequel trilogy
3 Feature films
3.1 Plot overview
3.2 Themes
3.4 Future releases
4 Expanded Universe
4.1 Literature
4.3 Fan works
George Lucas is the creator of Star Wars.
In 1971, Universal Studios agreed to make American Graffiti and Star Wars in a two-picture contract, although Star Wars was later rejected in its early concept stages. American Graffiti completed in 1973, and a few months later, Lucas wrote a short summary called “The Journal of the Whills”, which told the tale of the training of apprentice C.J. Thorpe as a “Jedi-Bendu” space commando by the legendary Mace Windy.[2] Frustrated that his story was too hard to understand, Lucas then wrote a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars, which was a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress.[3] By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay, which added elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a young boy as the protagonist, named Annikin Starkiller. For the second draft, Lucas made heavy simplifications, and also introduced the young hero on a farm as Luke. Annikin became Luke’s father, a wise Jedi knight. The “Force” was also introduced as a supernatural power. The next draft removed the father character and replaced him with a substitute named Ben Kenobi, and in 1976 a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography. The film was titled “Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars.” During production, Lucas changed Luke’s name to Skywalker and altered the title to just “The Star Wars” and finally “Star Wars”.[4]
At this point, Lucas was thinking of the film as the only entry that would be made — the fourth draft underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film that ended with the destruction of the Empire itself, as the Death Star was said to achieve; possibly this was a result of the frustrating difficulties Lucas had encountered in pre-production during that period. However, in previous times Lucas had conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. The second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about “The Princess of Ondos”, and by the time of the third draft some months later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster, and hired him to write these two sequels — as novels.[5] The intention was that if Star Wars was successful — and if Lucas felt like it — the novels could be adapted into screenplays.[6] He had also by this point developed a fairly elaborate backstory — though this was not designed or intended for filming; it was merely backstory.[7]
When Star Wars was successful, Lucas decided to use the film as a springboard for an elaborate serial, although he considered walking away from the series altogether.[8] However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center — what would become Skywalker Ranch — and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent for him.[9] Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the sequel as a novel, but Lucas decided to disregard that for filming and create more elaborate film sequels; the book was released as Splinter of the Mind’s Eye the next year. At first Lucas envisioned an unlimited number of sequels, much like the James Bond series, and in an interview with Rolling Stone in August of 1977 said that he wanted his friends to take a try directing them and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory where Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke’s father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel. Later that year, Lucas hired sci-fi author Leigh Brackett to write “Star Wars II” with him. They held story conferences together and in late November 1977 Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called “The Empire Strikes Back.” The story is very similar to the final film except Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke’s father. In the first draft that Leigh Brackett would write from this, Luke’s father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke.[10]
Darth Vader had a lasting impact on the series and on popular culture.
Brackett finished her first draft of Empire Strikes Back in early 1978; Lucas has said he was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her she had died from cancer.[11] With no writer available, Lucas had to write his second draft himself. Here Lucas finally made use of the “Episode” listing in the film — Empire Strikes Back was Episode II.[12] As Michael Kaminski argues in The Secret History of Star Wars, the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions to take the story in.[13] Here he made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader says he is Luke’s father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles of the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts in the same month[14] — April 1978 — which both retained the new Vader-as-father plot.[15] He also took this darker ending farther by imprisoning Han Solo in carbonite and leaving him in limbo.[16]
This new storyline where Darth Vader was Luke’s father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that this was a plot point that had ever seriously been considered before 1978, or even thought of before then, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke’s father;[17] there is not a single reference to the Vader-as-father plot point before 1978. After the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back where Lucas first introduced this point, he reviewed the new backstory he had now created: Annikin Skywalker is Ben Kenobi’s brilliant student, has a child (Luke) but is swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who was now a Sith and not just a politician), battles Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and is wounded but resurrected as Darth Vader; meanwhile Kenobi hides Luke on Tatooine while the Republic becomes the Empire and Vader has hunted down the Jedi knights.[18] With this new backstory, Lucas decided to film this as a trilogy — moving Empire Strikes Back from Episode II to Episode V in the next draft.[19] Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing Raiders of the Lost Ark, was then hired to write the next drafts, and was helped by additional input from director Irvin Kershner. Kasdan, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the new, darker storyline, and brought the series far away from the light adventure roots it had existed as only a year earlier.[20]
By the time of writing Episode VI — Revenge of the Jedi, as it was then known — in 1981, much had changed. Making Empire Strikes Back was a stressful and costly work, and Lucas’ personal life was disintegrating. Burnt-out and not wanting to make anymore Star Wars films, he vowed to be done with the series in a May 1983 interview with Time magazine. Lucas’ 1981 rough drafts of Revenge of the Jedi had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke — and in the second script, the “revised rough draft”, Vader was turned into a sympathetic character. Lawrence Kasdan was hired to take over once again, and in these final drafts Vader was explicitly redeemed, and finally unmasked. This change in character would provide a springboard for the “Tragedy of Darth Vader” storyline in the prequels.[21]
Box office performance
Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Reference
United States Foreign Worldwide All time domestic All time worldwide
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope May 25, 1977 $460,935,665 $337,000,000 $797,900,000 #2 #19 [22]
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back May 21, 1980 $290,158,751 $243,700,000 $533,800,000 #30 #48 [23]
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi May 25, 1983 $309,125,409 $263,700,000 $572,700,000 #24 #42 [24]
Star Wars film series $1,060,219,825 $844,400,000 $1,904,400,000
Darth Maul is the main antagonist of Star Wars: Episode I
After losing much of his fortune as a divorce settlement in 1983, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars, and had unofficially cancelled his Sequel Trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi.[25] However, the prequels, which were quite developed, remained fascinating to him. After Star Wars became popular once again, following in the wake of Dark Horse’s comic line and Timothy Zahn’s trio of novels, Lucas saw that there was still a large audience. His children had begun to grow older, and with the explosion of CG technology he was now considering returning to directing.[26] By 1993 it was announced, in Variety among other sources, that he would be making the prequels. He began outlining the story, now offering that Anakin Skywalker would be the protagonist rather than Ben Kenobi and that the series would be a tragic one examining his transformation to evil. He also began to change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals — at first they were supposed to be a “filling-in” of history, backstory, existing parallel or tangential to the originals, but now he began to see that they could form the beginning of one long story: beginning with Anakin’s childhood and ending with Anakin’s death. This was the final step towards turning the franchise into a “Saga”.[27]
In 1994, Lucas began writing the first screenplay, titled Episode I: The Beginning. At first it was planned to write and then film the three prequels at once, but this was changed, possibly because the writing process took much longer than first thought. Although Lucas initially planned on having others write and direct, he kept writing on his own, and eventually decided to direct the film as well. In 1999, Lucas announced he would be directing the next two films as well, and began working on Episode II at that time.[28] The first draft of this was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish up his draft.[29] Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film “Jar Jar’s Big Adventure.” By now the backstory had undergone large changes — Ben Kenobi had discovered Anakin as an adult in Episode I’s first draft, but he was changed to be a young student, and Anakin a child, and in Episode II the Clone Wars were decided to be a personal manipulation of Palpatine’s.[30] At the time of the original trilogy, Lucas came up with ideas for this war: in Empire Strikes Back it was decided that Lando was a clone and came from a planet of clones that caused a war,[31] but later a different version was decided wherein “Shocktroopers”, including Boba Fett waged war against the Republic from a distant galaxy but were then repelled by the Jedi knights.[32]
Lucas began working on Episode III even before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles.[33] As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot.[34] Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin’s fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and Dooku killed by Anakin as a first act towards the dark side.[35] Lucas’ first draft was written in 2003, and is largely similar to the film, though much simplified. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin’s character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side — he would now turn out of a quest to save Padme from dying, rather than the previous version where that was one of the reasons and genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished through editing and new and revised scenes filmed in additional pick-ups in 2004.[36]
Lucas often exaggerated the amount of material he wrote for the series; much of it stemmed during the post–1978 period when the series grew into a phenomenon. Michael Kaminski explained that these exaggerations were both a publicity and security measure. He rationalized that since the series’ story radically changed throughout the years, it was always Lucas’ intention to change the original story retroactively because audiences would only view the material from his perspective.[37][38]
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace May 19, 1999 $431,065,444 $491,314,983 $922,379,000 #5 #7 [39]
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones May 16, 2002 $310,675,583 $337,600,000 $648,200,000 #22 #32 [40]
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith May 19, 2005 $380,262,555 $468,200,000 $848,462,555 #8 #16 [41]
Star Wars film series 1,122,003,582 1,298,114,983 2,419,041,555
R2-D2 is a robotic droid in the Star Wars universe.
The events of Star Wars take place in a fictional galaxy. Many of the main characters in the film are essentially identical to humans, though alien creatures are commonplace, as are robotic droids built generally to serve their owners. Space travel is common, with many planets in the galaxy members of a Galactic Republic, later the Galactic Empire. One of the prominent elements of the Star Wars series is the “Force” — an omnipresent form of energy which can be harnessed by those with unique abilities. It is described in the first film as, “an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.”[42] Those who can use the Force can perform feats of telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control, as well as amplifying certain physical traits, such as reflexes. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side, which, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi Knights, who use the Force for good, and the Sith Lords, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy.[43][30][38][42][16][44]
Main articles: Star Wars original trilogy and Star Wars prequel trilogy
The Star Wars franchise began as a film series. The initial trilogy comprised three films: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as “Episode V” and “Episode VI” respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles. Once Star Wars became a success and sequels were realized, Lucas numbered the initial film as the fourth episode in his series, and gave it the subtitle A New Hope when the film was re-released in 1981.[42][16][44]
In 1997, to correspond with the twentieth anniversary of the release of Star Wars, Lucas released “Special Editions” of the three films to theaters. The re-releases featured alterations to the original films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas continued to make changes to the original trilogy for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the trilogy on September 21, 2004.[45]
On May 19, 1999, Lucas released the first of the long-awaited prequel trilogy, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This was followed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2005.[46] On February 12, 2008, the official Star Wars website announced that a new film will be released in theaters on August 15, 2008. The CGI animated film will be about the clone wars.[47]
The prequel trilogy follows the upbringing of Anakin Skywalker, a child of parthenogenesis who is discovered by Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn. He is believed to be the “Chosen One” foretold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force. The Jedi Council, led by Yoda, sense that his future is clouded with fear, but reluctantly allow Jinn’s apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Skywalker after Jinn is killed. At the same time, the planet Naboo is under attack, and its queen, Padmé Amidala, seeks the assistance of the Jedi to repel the attack. Sith Lord Darth Sidious secretly planned the attack to give his alias, Naboo Senator Palpatine, a pretense to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate. The remainder of the prequel trilogy chronicles Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, as Sidious attempts to create an army to defeat the Jedi and lure Skywalker to be his apprentice. Amidala and Skywalker fall in love and eventually she becomes pregnant with twins. Skywalker soon succumbs to his anger, culminating in a lightsaber battle between him and Kenobi. Kenobi leaves Skywalker for dead, but Sidious arrives shortly after to save him and put him in to a suit of black armor that keeps him alive.[38]
Tatooine’s sunset has two suns, the result of a binary star system. This shot from A New Hope is alluded to in Attack of the Clones and Return of the Jedi, and recreated as the final shot of Revenge of the Sith.
The original trilogy begins nearly 20 years later as Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, nears completion of the massive Death Star space station which will allow him to crush the rebellion which has formed against his evil empire. He captures Princess Leia Organa who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with his counterpart C-3PO, escape to the planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin, and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers a message put into the robot by Princess Leia, who asks for assistance from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke knows of a Ben Kenobi and asks his uncle if there is any relationship between the two. His uncle dismisses the idea, but leads Skywalker to Ben Kenobi who confirms that he is Obi-Wan. Kenobi tells Luke of his father’s greatness, but says that he was killed by Vader.[48] Kenobi and Skywalker hire pilot Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to the rebels. Kenobi begins to teach Skywalker about the Force, but is killed in a showdown with Vader during the rescue of Princess Leia. His sacrifice allows the group to escape with the plans that allow the rebels to destroy the Death Star.[42]
Vader continues to hunt down the rebels, and begins building a second Death Star. Skywalker travels to find Jedi master Yoda to become trained as a Jedi, but is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by capturing Solo and the others. Vader reveals that he is Skywalker’s father and attempts to turn him to the dark side. He escapes, and returns to his training with Yoda. He learns that he must face his father before he can become a Jedi, and that Leia is his twin sister. As the rebels attack the new Death Star, Skywalker confronts Vader under the watch of Emperor Palpatine. Instead of convincing Skywalker to join the dark side, Skywalker defeats Vader and is able to convince him that there is still some good in him. Vader kills Palpatine before succumbing to his own injuries, and the second Death Star is destroyed.[44]
See also: Philosophy and religion in Star Wars and The Force (Star Wars)
Star Wars features elements such as (Jedi) knights, witches, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre.[49] The Star Wars world, unlike science-fiction and fantasy films that featured sleek and futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas’ vision of a “used universe” was further popularized in the science fiction-horror films Alien,[50] which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner, which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future. Lucas made a conscious effort to parallel scenes and dialogue between films, and especially to parallel the journeys of Luke Skywalker with that of his father Anakin when making the prequels.[43]
All six films of the Star Wars series were shot in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The original trilogy was shot with anamorphic lenses. Episodes IV and V were shot in Panavision, while Episode VI was shot in Joe Dunton Camera (JDC) scope. Episode I was shot with Hawk anamorphic lenses on Arriflex cameras, and Episodes II and III were shot with Sony’s CineAlta high-definition digital cameras.[51] Lucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on A New Hope. The enormity of Burtt’s accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him a Special Achievement Award because they had no award for what he had done.[52] Lucasfilm developed the THX sound reproduction standard for Return of the Jedi.[53] The scores for the six Star Wars films were composed by John Williams. Lucas’ design for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts. Williams’ ‘Star Wars’ theme has become one of the most famous and well-known musical compositions in modern music history.[54]
At a ShoWest convention in 2005, Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release the six films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007.[55] However, by January 2007, Lucasfilm stated on StarWars.com that “there are no definitive plans or dates for releasing the Star Wars saga in 3-D.” At Celebration Europe in July 2007, Rick McCallum confirmed that Lucasfilm is “planning to take all six films and turn them into 3-D,” but they are “waiting for the companies out there that are developing this technology to bring it down to a cost level that makes it worthwhile for everybody”.[56]
Lucas has hinted in the past that he will release future, more definitive editions of the six Star Wars films on a next-generation home-video format.[57][58] There have been discussions that he will take this opportunity to make any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his films for this final release. An altered clip from The Phantom Menace included in a featurette on the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith (in which a computer generated Yoda replaces the original puppet) appears to be a sign that the “archival” editions are indeed in the works.[59] Lucasfilm Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward confirmed that Lucasfilm is likely to do even more work on the films (possibly digital contemporization of the original trilogy), stating “As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done.”[60]
Main article: Star Wars Expanded Universe
The term Expanded Universe (EU) is an umbrella term for officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. The material expands the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 140 years after Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in Marvel Comics’ Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues of the series having been an adaptation of the film), followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster’s novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye the following month.[61]
Lucas retains artistic control over the Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing devotes efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across companies.[62] Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn’s novel Heir to the Empire before being used in The Phantom Menace. A character introduced in Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars series, a blue Twi’lek Jedi Knight named Aayla Secura, was liked enough by Lucas to be included as a character in Attack of the Clones.[63]
To date, four films and three animated series have been produced for television, with a live-action series and a 3D CGI animated series in pre-production. Lucas has played a large role in the production of the television projects, usually serving as storywriter or executive producer.[64] Star Wars has had numerous radio adaptations. A radio adaptation of A New Hope was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively. The series also used John Williams’ original score from the films and Ben Burtt’s original sound designs.[65]
Main articles: List of Star Wars books and List of Star Wars comic books
Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first film, with the 1976 novelization of Star Wars (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and credited to Lucas). Foster’s 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, was the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the films, this additional content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series. Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original series (1977–1983) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1991, however, Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire, set between Episodes V and VI, and accompanying video game and comic book series.[66]
LucasBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 20 years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. However, several significant events which occur during the course of this series (such as the death of Chewbacca) have sparked fan criticism.[citation needed] For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The Jedi Apprentice series follows the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi before Episode I. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker after Episode I and before Episode II. The third and currently on-going series is The Last Of the Jedi series which follows the adventure of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the adventures of a surviving Jedi almost immediately after Episode III.
Marvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. They also published a Star Wars newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Steve Gerber, and Archie Goodwin, the latter under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the very popular Dark Empire stories.[67] They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe. There have also been parody comics, including Tag and Bink.[68]
Main articles: Star Wars computer and video games, List of Star Wars video games, and Star Wars Trading Cards
Since 1982, dozens of video games have been published bearing the Star Wars name, beginning with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Since then, Star Wars has opened the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person shooter games, roleplaying games, RTS games, and others. Two different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed for the Star Wars universe: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, and one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s. The best-selling games so far are the Lego Star Wars and the Battlefront series, with 12 million and 10 million units respectively. [69][70]
The latest released game was Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. LucasArts is also currently developing a next-gen Star Wars game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii. The game,of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, takes place in the largely unexplored time period between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and casts players as Darth Vader’s “secret apprentice” hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and will be released in September 2008.[71][72]
Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first ‘blue’ series, by Topps, in 1977.[73] Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare ‘promos’, such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II ‘floating Yoda’ P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more. While most ‘base’ or ‘common card’ sets are plentiful, many ‘insert’ or ‘chase cards’ are very rare.[74]
Main article: Star Wars fan films
The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own apocrypha set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films. In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.[75]
While many of the serious fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way.[76] Lucasfilm’s open support and sanction of fan creations is a marked contrast to the attitudes of many other copyright holders. Some owners, such as Paramount Pictures with the Star Trek properties, have been known to actively discourage the creation of such works by fans.[77]
Main article: Cultural impact of Star Wars
The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern global pop culture. Both the films and characters have been parodied in numerous films and television. Notable film parodies of Star Wars include Hardware Wars, a 13 minute 1977 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody, and Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic.[78][79] Lucasfilm itself made two mockumentaries, Return of the Ewok (1982), about Wicket W. Warrick’s actor Warwick Davis, and R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002), which depicts R2-D2 “life story”.[80][81] There have also been many songs based on, and in, the Star Wars universe. “Weird Al” Yankovic recorded two parodies: “Yoda” and “The Saga Begins”.[82]
When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled “Star Wars,” implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Ronald Reagan’s acting career. According to Frances Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he “thought the name was not so bad.”; “‘Why not?’ he said. ‘It’s a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'”[83] This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an Evil Empire, which was taken from the opening crawl to A New Hope, while the term he used for the Contras, “freedom fighters”, was taken verbatim from the opening crawl to The Empire Strikes Back.[84]
Star Wars on Wikimedia Commons
Star Wars on Wikiquote
Cast of Star Wars
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
Physics and Star Wars
Star Wars locations
Star Wars creatures
Star Wars vehicles
Star Wars conflicts
Star Wars items
Dates in Star Wars
Star Wars, religion, and philosophy
Bortolin, Matthew (2005-04-25). The Dharma of Star Wars. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861714970.
Decker, Kevin S. (2005-03-10). Star Wars and Philosophy. Open Court. ISBN 0812695836.
Porter, John M. (2003-01-31). The Tao of Star Wars. Humanics Trade Group. ISBN 0893343854.
Snodgrass, Jon (2004-09-13). Peace Knights of the Soul. InnerCircle Publishing. ISBN 0975521470.
Staub, Dick (2005-03-25). Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0787978949.
Joseph Campbell’s influence on Star Wars
Campbell, Joseph (1991-06-01). The Power of Myth. Anchor. ISBN 0385418868.
Henderson, Mary (1997-11-03). Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Bantam. ISBN 0553102060.
Larsen, Stephen (2002-04-01). Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. Inner Traditions. ISBN 0892818735.
Categories: Star Wars | Sequel films | Space operas | Space Westerns
Hidden categories: Semi-protected | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2008
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Canadian Week in Review 25 November 2013
I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too
No new websites this week.
A number of Canadian provinces have been updates on the FamilySearch Wiki website -
Alberta Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Alberta
British Columbia Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/British_Columbia
Canada Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Canada
New Brunswick Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador Wiki
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Newfoundland_and_Labrador
Nova Scotia Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Nova_Scotia
Ontario Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ontario
Prince Edward Island Wiki
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Prince_Edward_Island
Quebec https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Quebec
Saskatchewan Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Saskatchewan
Dalnavert Museum's glimmer of hope: Historic site would be kept open to public http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/dalnavert-museums-glimmer-of-hope-232304961.html I did not know that Dalnavert Museum was once the home of Hugh John Macdonald, the son of Sir John A. Macdonald. He was twice elected as a Conservative MP and was briefly the minister of the interior in 1896. And the members of the board want to keep the museum open to the public.
Q & A: Heritage Minister Tony Ince on Bluenose II http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1168125-q-a-heritage-minister-tony-ince-on-bluenose-ii-restoration A staff reporter of the online Herald News asked some questions about the Bluenose II to the Nova Scotia Heritage Minister.
Bank of Canada: Add women from Canadian history to Canadian bank notes http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/bank-of-canada-add-women-from-canadian-history-to-canadian-bank-notes In 2011, the government put The Famous Five women on our 50-dollar bill, but nothing has been done since then. Why?
History comes alive in street names http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1169063-history-comes-alive-in-street-names Liverpool, Nova Scotia is visited to see the history of two of its streets.
Macdonald & Laurier Days
Macdonald & Laurier Days, the first two prime ministers of Canada, is a website brought to us by The Historica-Dominion Institute.
The ‘days’ referred to are the days of the birthdays – February 11 for Sir John A. Macdonald and November 20 for Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
It is quite a delightful site to read some of their speeches on the site, a quiz, and to see some political cartoons.
In addition to this page, you can also read about Sir Wilfrid Laurier at
Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/primeminister/p/pmlaurier.htm
Sir Wilfrid Laurier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Laurier
Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 02 December 2013.
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Home » Why Taller?
Why getting taller?
Due to the nature of gender stereotypes, men often feel pressured to be "a man", just as women are pressured to be "feminine". For this, in part, women have to "look good", and men need to be tall. If a man isn't tall enough, he can always get help by wearing our height increasing shoes.
Interview Wedding Ceremony Party
Graduation Socialization Higher Incomes
Appearance More Confident Stand Straighter
Tall Guys Get the Girls
Short Men Less Likely to Marry, Have Kids
Jan. 12 — If it seemed as if the tall guys got all the girls in high school, it wasn’t your imagination. New research suggests taller men are more likely to marry and tend to have more children than short guys.
What’s behind the phenomenon — whether women prefer taller men or those men are simply more outgoing — is up for debate. But the numbers clearly stack up against shorter guys.
Polish and British scientists studied the medical records of about 3,200 Polish men ages 25 to 60 and found that childless men were on average 1.2 inches shorter than men who had at least one child.
Bachelors were about an inch shorter on average than married men. That was true even after researchers took into account the fact that men’s heights increased in recent decades because of better nutrition and health care.
20- to 50-Year-Olds
The records, which were collected in Wroclaw, Poland, from 1983 to 1989, showed that tall men in their 20s, 30s and 40s all had more children than their shorter peers.
Height didn’t seem to matter for men in their 50s. Robin I.M. Dunbar of the University of Liverpool said that is because those men came of age after World War II — a catastrophe that claimed the lives of many Polish men and reduced women’s mating options.
However, Dunbar said the numbers clearly show that women favor taller men — something that other research suggests is true across all cultures.
“Basically, height is a proxy for other variables that women find desirable — men who can protect them, provide them with resources, have good social status and aren’t easily dominated by other men,” said Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology and the study’s co-author.
The findings were published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.
Abnormal Sizes Scrapped
Out of the military service records of 4,400 men, the researchers excluded men who were abnormally short or tall. The average height of the 3,200 men whose records were part of their final sample was 5-foot-6.
The researchers meant to study men whose height and reproductive success were not so gargantuan, or so small, as to have skewed their results. Their methodology would have excluded someone like Wilt Chamberlain, the 7-foot-1 basketball star who bragged of sleeping with 20,000 women.
While other studies have shown that taller-than-average men have higher incomes and social status than shorter men, this study is the first to demonstrate a direct link between height and reproductive success, said David Buss, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Evolutionary Trait
Buss, who has written two books on human mating habits, said the female preference for taller males harkens back to the earliest stages of human evolution. That was a time when prehistoric women chose mates who could offer them the best protection and provide for their needs.
“This study shows that even in modern times the kind of selection we might think of as prehistoric continues to operate,” he said.
Dunbar said he undertook the research after noticing that in personal ads men advertised their height only if they were tall or taller than average.
“You didn’t see any advertisements saying, ‘I’m 5-foot-3, give me a call,”‘ he said.
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Building A Pipline for Bilingual Behavioral Health
The Denver Foundation
When Yajaira Johnson-Esparza was searching for an internship on her path to becoming a licensed clinical psychologist, she was searching for an organization that shared her mission: to work with Spanish-speaking immigrants in the U.S.
She found Salud Family Health Centers. Founded in 1970 in Fort Lupton, Salud now has 13 clinics throughout Colorado and a mobile unit that brings health care directly to all who need it, especially people with low incomes and migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
Johnson-Esparza completed her internship at Salud and was hired in 2015 as part of a three-year project funded by a Colorado Health Access Fund grant to offer integrated behavioral and physical health care. Now she practices mainly at Salud’s Commerce City clinic, where she also supervises students on the path toward becoming licensed psychologists.
The Colorado Health Access Fund grant allowed Salud to hire Johnson-Esparza and two other behavioral health providers. Salud is now able to cover their salaries without the grant’s support. Salud also streamlined its referral process for behavioral health services and offers psychological testing and evaluations to help improve its overall care.
Jonathan Muther, vice president of medical services at Salud, said the Colorado Health Access Fund has allowed clinics to help patients get behavioral health care more quickly and consistently. Having psychologists in the same clinic as primary care providers lets people access care without having to search for a provider, deal with the complexities of insurers, or face the stigma that can come with seeking help in specialized settings.
Providers hired through the grant have reached more than 1,500 people: 801 in Brighton, 258 in Commerce City, and 595 in Frederick. The grant also allowed Salud to build a stronger pipeline of Spanish-speaking bilingual providers, he said, including by forging relationships with universities in Puerto Rico and Chile.
According to the U.S. Census, there are just 5,000 Hispanic psychologists in the U.S. — just 5 percent of all psychologists — while people of Hispanic origin make up nearly 18 percent of the U.S. population. In Colorado, Hispanics make up about 21 percent of the total population.
“For a long time, I was the only Spanish-speaking student in my program. It was hard to find supervision,” Johnson-Esparza said. Working at Salud has been a different experience. “I’m a little spoiled – it seems like the norm.”
Johnson-Esparza said a psychologist who speaks the same language as patients and understands their cultural backgrounds makes a difference.
She recalled a patient who had migrated from Central America. She was struggling to manage her diabetes, and at the same time was referred to Johnson-Esparza to help work through conflict with her daughter.
“Sometimes people are not adhering to their treatment not because they don’t want to, but because they have a lot they’re trying to deal with, including cultural issues and issues related to families,” she said. After six sessions of therapy, the woman began managing her diabetes more consistently.
Johnson-Esparza said patients regularly tell her they appreciate speaking with someone who “gets” them and their problems.
“It’s important for patients to feel they have a shared experience,” she said
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Details about the project team
Collective Custom Build is part of the Motivating Collective Custom Build practice-based research project within the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Home Improvements Knowledge Exchange based at the University of Sheffield.
Motivating Collective Custom Build is led jointly by the University of Sheffield School of Architecture, Ash Sakula Architects and Design for Homes.
Get in touch via collectivecustombuild@sheffield.ac.uk, or via Twitter @CoCuBuild.
If you have any queries about the research, require further details or wish to collaborate on future research projects, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at collectivecustombuild@sheffield.ac.uk.
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Summary, Report, Library
A full project report is available below, along with an executive summary and access to the Zotero Bibliographic Library used for the project. Please contact us using the links below if you have any queries.
Click to download an executive summary of Motivating Collective Custom Build
Click to download a printable copy of the Full Report as a PDF.
Zotero Library
Zotero Bibliographic Library
Access our Zotero Bibliographic Library
Images and other credits
This project would not have been possible without a diverse range of collabrators:
Web Design: Sam Brown with Hush
Animation: Ash Sakula with Wrench & Franks
Consultation: Design for Homes
Research lead: Dr Cristina Cerulli and Prof. Fionn Stevenson - SSoA
Production: Sam Brown - SSoA
Thumbnails:
About Us - Authors.
Outputs - Advanced Shipping Egypt http://fahed-mm.wix.com/fahed-911#!door-to-door-service
Credits - VehicleHi www.vehiclehi.com/Motorcycles/bookshelf/books_stores_bookshelf_blurred_1920x1080_wallpaper_889/download_2560x1440
UK Housing Crisis - Shadow Chronicle http://shadowchronicle.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/uk-madness-tyranny-and-war/
Around The World - Authors.
Self-Provided Housing - John Broome http://www.jonbroome.co.uk/files/33.img.jpg
Succesful Examples - Alex Steenfeldt http://designbristol.ning.com/photo/ashley-vale-self-build-st
Unmet Demand - Authors.
Added Value - Dreamstime http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-2-plus-2-equals-5-image9364763
Defining Collective Custom Build - Authors.
Pioneers & Partnerships - Authors.
Emerging Independent Schemes - Hockerton Housing Project / Aecom http://www.hertslink.org/buildingfutures/16557273/16771823/16771888/
Emerging Developer Enbled Schemes - bloc http://www.dreamplot.net/about-us/
Emerging Supported Community Schemes - Build It http://www.self-build.co.uk/homes-heroes
Statute & Policy - RPND http://rpnd.co.uk/law/
Popular Culture - Authors.
Active Industry - NaSBA http://www.nasba.org.uk/
Political Wave - UK Parliament http://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/5126281594/
Next Steps: Public Sector - Authors
Next Steps: Private Sector - NaSBA / Self Build Portal - http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/latest-news/206-new-guide-custom-build-growth
Next Steps: Groups - Sam Frost http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/01/cohousing-community-stroud
UK Housing Crisis
Just over 100,000 new homes were built in England in each of the last ...
In the UK our housing needs are not being met. We are not building enough homes and the ones we are building, generally, are not meeting the needs of their occupants or of the communities within which development takes place (Banham et al., 2012; Burgess et al., 2010).
Just over 100,000 new homes were built in England in each of the last two financial years, whereas official projections expect more than 232,000 new households each year up to 2033 (Pawson and Wilcox, 2012, p. 4). On top of this, the housing stock we are building does not meet basic space requirements (Banham et al., 2012, pp. 2–3; 7)and is not resilient enough to meet key challenges such as the changing needs of an ageing population (Hughes, 2012), addressing the affordability of housing for younger people (Pennington et al., 2012), and essential targets for reductions in energy usage and the carbon footprint of development (DCLG, 2007a, p. 9; Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 5)1.
In ‘A Right To Build - The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry’ (2011), Parvin et al. conduct a thorough deconstruction of the UK housing market, observing that the UK housing crisis is both long-term and wide-reaching - a crisis of un-availability, un-desirability, un-affordability, un-sustainability and unsociability - and as much a crisis of who is building our houses as of what we are building (Ibid. 2011). The authors describe the UK housing market is a complex and controversial system, widely accepted to prioritise supply-side economy and short-term asset-value as a speculative investment over long-term sustainability or actual use value as housing (Ibid. 2011, p. 15) and go on to describe how the UK has come to be dependent upon a small number of large volume house-builders to deliver the bulk of our housing; a condition that has its roots in increasing industrialisation and the rise of consumerism prevalent in recent decades, and one that illustrates the divorce of the producers of housing from its user beneficiaries. The observation is made that consistent under-supply of housing - where ‘big-provider’ models failed to meet demand even in times for boom-time prosperity - is symptomatic of a market dependent upon speculation on ever-increasing property values in order to function. It is also observed that - because speculative housing is built to sell, rather than to live in - volume house-building is a production process that more or less stops if the market falls (Ibid. 2011, p. 32), as it did following the 2008 financial crisis in the UK.
The house-building industry has become fixated with scale, requiring delivery by large companies that are able to spread risk of operating in a volatile market more widely. Parvin et al. conclude that we need ‘some kind of quiet, but profound industrial revolution in housebuilding’ in order to develop ‘more rational, sustainable models of housing production which are viable in an age of scarce resources, and better suited to our policy goals of energy-efficiency, quality, affordability and strong community’ (Ibid. 2011, p. 12).
There is indeed a broader consensus beyond Parvin at al. that we need a radical change in the way we procure housing, in order to provide greater consumer choice and stimulate a competitive environment for private house-building, as well as developing alternative routes to affordable and social housing (Barlow et al., 2001; Barker, 2004; Parvin et al., 2011; DCLG, 2011; Miles and Whitehouse, 2013; HM Treasury, 2013, pp. 39–43). In acknowledging the need for a more diverse housing market, we are experiencing the end of the big house-builder era (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 17) and have an opportunity to develop alternatives, such as ‘self-provision’, defined by Parvin et al. as describing:
“…any process whereby those who will be living in the dwellings take responsibility for procuring their own home. This includes not just those who physically construct the structure themselves, but also those who contract certain tasks out to professionals but retain the central role of carrying the financial risk for the project and having control over design decisions.”
(Ibid. 2011, p. 30).
Out-lining large-scale ‘self-provision’ as an alternative to speculative volume house-building, Parvin et al. note that self-provided housing can be a route to higher quality and less energy-hungry dwellings as part of a more resilient housing supply, unlocking financial investment and supporting the function of communities whilst making available a more diverse and generous housing stock that remains affordable in the long-term (Ibid. 2011, pp. 30–35).
This research has found that a greater fulfilment of self-provision depends largely on the development of alternative models for delivery at scale, that can be achieved through a combination of strong political leadership and innovative partnerships that enable alternative financial models for the procurement of housing.
Fig.1 - A Brief History of Post War Housing - Showing housing supply (broken down into sector) against average house price and political leadership since 1945, prepared by Parvin et al. (2011, p. 10)using data from The Calcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery (DCLG, 2007a). The graph shows the sharp decline in the production of housing in recent few years as well as the rapid ascent of average house-prices.
[1] Whilst the UK moves ever closer to the legally-binding commitment to reduce total household greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050 (DECC, 2013, p. 3), and the target for every newly built home to be carbon neutral by 2016 (DCLG, 2007b, p. 5; Zero Carbon Hub, 2013a), Miles & Whitehouse (2013a,) describe how most housing is built by house-builders who currently have no interest in the performance of the new homes in use beyond the provisions of the normal structural warranties and generally unlikely to see any commercial advantage in constructing new homes to a level of performance above the basic requirements set by Regulations. (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013a, p. 5), whilst the Zero Carbon Hub observes a growing realisation that homes designed to meet current and future standards of energy performance may fall short of expectations (Zero Carbon Hub, 2013b, p. 1).
PDF Chapter Summary
A Right To Build
Dig deeper into the UK Housing Crisis in ‘A Right to Build – The Next Mass Housebuilding Industry’ by Architecture 00:/ and the University of Sheffield, including a short chapter on ‘Who Builds Our Houses’ - pp.11-19 and pp.7-10
A Right To Build - Digest
Read a digest of A Right To Build appearing in the RIBA Journal
UK Housing Review
Find more facts about the state of UK Housing in the UK Housing Review Briefing Paper 2012 from the Chartered Institute of Housing
Laying The Foundations
Read 'Laying The Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England' by central Government
Building For Life
Read the Building For Life criteria referenced in DCLG’s ‘Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England’
Future Homes Commission
Read the Future Homes Commission report 'Building the homes and communities Britain needs'
A Case For Space
Read a report on space standards in UK housing by the Royal Institute of British Architects
View the website - and short animated film - for the Yes To Homes campaign which seeks to overcome NIMBYism in relation to local home-building
Home Ownership and Renting
Watch this video from the Office for National Statistics that details a century of home ownership and renting in the UK
Government Stimulus
Read an article by Will Hutton on how 'political cowardice stops us from solving our wretched housing crisis'
...a shaky industry
Read Phil Oakley's article on why house-building as we know it is a shaky industry that won’t last
Banham, J., Graef, R., McDonald, M., Faulkner, K., 2012. Future Homes Commission - Building the homes and communities Britain needs. RIBA, London.
Barker, K., 2004. Barker Review of Housing Supply - Final Report. HM Treasury, London.
Barlow, J., Jackson, R., Meikle, J., 2001. Homes to DIY for - The UK’s self-build housing market in the twenty-first century. Jospeh Rowntree Foundation, York.
Burgess, G., Monk, S., Whitehead, C., 2010. How can the planning system deliver more housing? Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research / Jospeh Rowntree Foundation, Cambridge, UK.
DCLG, 2007a. The Calcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery. Department for Communities and Local Government, London.
DCLG, 2007b. Building A Greener Future: Policy Statement. Department for Communities and Local Government.
DCLG, 2011. Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England. Department for Communities and Local Government, London.
DECC, 2013. The Carbon Plan: Delivering our Low Carbon Future. Department for Energy & Climate Change, London.
HM Treasury, 2013. Investing in Britain’s Future. HM Treasury, London.
Hughes, N., 2012. A Better Fit? - Creating housing choices for an ageing population. Shleter, London.
Miles, J., Whitehouse, N., 2013. Offsite Housing Review. Construction Industry Council / University of Cambridge / Oxford Brookes Unversity, Cambridge, UK. / Oxford, UK.
Oakley, P., 2013. Avoid housebuilders - the rally is built on shaky foundations [WWW Document]. URL http://moneyweek.com/uk-property-housebuilders-rally-built-on-shaky-foundations-60800/ (accessed 10.6.13).
Parvin, A., Saxby, D., Cerulli, C., Schneider, T., 2011. A Right To Build - The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry. Architecture 00:/; University of Sheffield School of Architecture, Sheffield; London.
Pawson, H., Wilcox, S., 2012. UK Housing Review - 2012 Briefing Paper. Chartered Institute of Housing, Coventry.
Pennington, J., Ben-Galim, D., Cooke, G., 2012. No Place To Call Home - The Social Impacts of Housing Undersupply On Young People. Institute for Public Policy Research, London.
Zero Carbon Hub, 2013a. Zero Carbon Hub - About [WWW Document]. URL http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/about.aspx (accessed 7.11.13).
Zero Carbon Hub, 2013b. The Performance Challenge - A programme to close the gap between designed and as-built performance. The Zero Carbon Hub, Milton Keynes.
Contact us via email or twitter
Please contact us via collectivecustombuild@sheffield.ac.uk
Follow us on Twitter via @CoCuBuild
Volume house-building is not normal. The UK is dependent on ...
The UK is dependent upon volume house-building[1] due to a complex range of interdependent factors including industry culture and lack of diversity in procurement and financial models. However, this remains unusual in the world context.
In other countries, it is relatively common for people to build their own homes and for self-provision[2] to represent a pervasive and viable procurement route for housing alongside buying - or renting - an existing or speculatively built property. In Austria, for example, self-provision accounts for up to 80% of housing supply (NaSBA, 2008, p. 10); in Germany, around 60%(NaSBA, 2011 IN; McVitty and Building Societies Association, 2012); Hungary, 52%; France, 38%; Sweden, 30%; and in the ‘transition countries’ of Eastern Europe, self-provision generally represents over 50% of housing supply (Dol and Haffner, 2010 IN; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 16).
Self-provision is commonly acknowledged to represent between 7% (Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013; Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 25)and 10%(McVitty and Building Societies Association, 2012; NaSBA, 2008, p. 10)of new-build UK housing supply[3], although the figure varies significantly between the devolved regions of the UK, as low as 4% in Wales and as high as 25% in Northern Ireland (AMA Research, 2011 IN; Architecture Centre Network, 2012).
Although precise comparative evidence is relatively out of date[4], the pervasiveness of self-provision in housing supply internationally is confirmed anecdotally and acknowledged by the central UK Government (DCLG, 2011), which published its own research into international self-build housing practices (NaSBA, 2011, pp. 6–7; Owen et al., 2011), in association with the National Self Build Association (NaSBA), in the preparation of its most recent Housing Strategy (DCLG, 2011).
Fig.2 - The proportion of all homes delivered by self-build in the UK is low - Illustration taken from the Self Build Government-Industry Working Group report ‘An Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing’, published by NaSBA (2011, p. 6)which represents the 'ubiquitous blue graph' (See NaSBA 2008, p.10 for an example) that usually forms part of the introduction to presentations by the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and, increasingly, other significant individuals and organisations within the sector. It is based upon relatively out-of-date comparative data from the 1990s, although the figure for the UK is corroborated by regular domestic market research(Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013).
Dol et al.(2012)observe that ‘historic developments within the housing and planning systems, the propensity of the government to provide housing, and the emergence of large volume housebuilders and/or local commitments to the ethos of home ownership may all be important factors’ that why often quite similar countries have such large differences in the incidence of self-provided housing, although definitive answers remain unclear (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 16).
In a significant number of comparable countries - such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Australia, Ireland and the USA - the pervasiveness and resilience of self-provision as a means of procuring housing is dependent upon a number of critical factors:
1. Popular Culture and Know How about Self-Provision - In many cases, self-provision has remained a part of popular culture, representing a ‘normal’ thing to do[5]. The means of accessing land, finance and development partners is more widely known amongst citizens. This results in relatively healthy proportions of home that are self-procured, like, for instance, 80% of homes in Austria. NaSBA also attribute regional variation of the pervasiveness of self-provision within the UK to local cultural tradition, for example, in the way that local planning policy in Northern Ireland- in which self-provision contributes around 25% of housing supply (AMA Research, 2011 IN; Architecture Centre Network, 2012)- is more likely to be ‘light touch’ and reflect a cultural heritage of self-provision (NaSBA, 2011, p. 6).
2. Culture of the Industry - In comparable countries, like Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, the supply-chain for the house-building industry is more visibly orientated towards self-provision, with ‘home manufacturers’ and small builders being more familiar with dealing directly with clients on a ‘custom build’ basis. Offsite manufacturing is also much more common - including partnerships between home manufacturers and designers - and forms part of a supply-chain set up to directly serve self-providers. This represents a significant enabling factor, saving time and money on site and reducing risk to self-providers (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013 IN; Self Build Portal, 2013).
3. Leadership and Political Will - In comparable countries, strong, local political leadership is often a critical factor in creating opportunities for self-provision on a large-scale. This is usually achieved through the allocation of land by local authority for self-provided house-building. Anecdotally, local authorities in comparable countries - such as the Netherlands and Germany - are also used to using their land-holdings and powers of land allocation to achieve wider policy objectives beyond providing housing[6], and are more used to dealing with individual households or self-providing groups directly in terms of land sales, managing development or providing infrastructure (Brinkley, 2013; Brown, 2013; Hill, 2013; Zogolovitch, 2013a),
[1] Please refer to ‘UK Housing Crisis’ in this study.
[2] Please refer to ‘Self-Provided Housing’ in this study.
[3] It is possible to account for the discrepancy between figures using separate auditing for the UK and for England, with the 10% figure normally representing an average of the figures for the devolved regions of the UK. England is below the UK average, typically cited as 7%, whilst Northern Ireland is significantly above average at 25%, dragging the figure upwards.
[4] Although Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research produces up-to-date, quarterly figures for self-build completions in the UK, most sources regularly quote data from the 1990s when making international comparisons. The original data, appears in Duncan and Rowe (1992), and is referenced by the Building & Social Housing Foundation (Eccleshare et al., 2005). It is this latter study that has significantly influenced advocacy work conducted by the National Self Build Association(NaSBA, 2008, 2011), that has in turn influenced reports and policy documents issued by the UK Government(DCLG, 2011). It forms the basis of the 'ubiquitous blue graph' (See NaSBA, 2008, p. 10 for an example.)that usually forms part of the introduction to presentations by the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and, increasingly, other significant individuals and organisations within the sector. The most up-to-date survey of available comparative data for self-provided housing between the UK and Europe exists in the Centre for Housing Policy’s ‘Build-it-yoursel?’ report, published jointly by the University of York and Lloyds Banking Group (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 16), which references data from Housing Statistics In The European Union 2010 by Dol and Haffner (2010). However, this data uses a definition of self-provision that varies from country to country and generally restricts such definitions to include only single private dwellings. As such, the available data is unlikely to reflect the true extent of comparable self-provided housing between European countries. Available comparative data for countries beyond the European Union seems to be restricted to that used by NaSBA, derived from the work of Duncan & Rowe (1992).
[5] This has been particularly well-documented in Germany (Chan, 2010a, 2010b; NaSBA, 2011, p. 6)and Argentina (Redstone, 2012; Redstone et al., 2013), whilst the National Self Build Association and Self Build Government-Industry Working Group highlight the occurrence of self-provision in Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands and the USA (NaSBA, 2011, pp. 6–7).
[6] An example of this would be the way that local authority used house-building to directly ‘skill-up’ local ‘building comunities’ (self-building groups that form development companies with assistance from the municipality) in order to build local development capacity through policy. The strategy is implemented by making use of a Städtebauliche Entwicklungsmassnahme ("Urban Development Act", S165 BauGB) which allows a municipality to remain in control of the development process. This mechanism can be invoked by a Local Authority "wherever it is required to serve public needs ... especially an increased need for housing and employment opportunities" (BauGB S165.3.2) and "where the same objectives cannot be achieved through conventional contracts (with a developer) (BauGB S165.3.3)". (CABE, 2011).
The UK and Germany
Read an interview with Mark Brinkley - author of the popular Housebuilder’s Bible and House 2.0 blog – on the comparisons between the UK and Germany in terms of self-provision
International Lessons
Read ‘Lessons From International Self-Build Housing Practices’ by the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
An Action Plan...
Read the pages comparing the UK to the rest of the world in terms of self-provided housing on p.6 of the Self-Build Government-Industry Working Group’s ‘An Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing’
UK Market Research
Access the latest UK Self Build Market Research from Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research
AMA Research, 2011. Self Build Housing Market Report - UK 2011-2015 Analysis. AMA Research Ltd, Cheltenham.
Architecture Centre Network, 2012. Self Build Information Sheet. Architecture Centre Network, Online.
Brinkley, M., 2013. HPH019 : How Does Self Build in the UK Compare to Germany? with Mark Brinkley, Author of The Housebuilder’s Bible.
Brown, C., 2013. Igloo Regeneration and Custom Build Enabling, part of Green Sky Thinking at Ash Sakula Architects, Wednesday 17th April, 2013.
CABE, 2011. Case Study - Tübingen-Südstadt - Design Process [WWW Document]. URL http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/tubingen-sudstadt/design (accessed 7.11.13).
Chan, W., 2010a. The Phenomenon of Building Group (Baugruppen) in Berlin: What changes when a community starts building? (Master Thesis). Dessau Institute of Architecture (DIA) Graduate School at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, Dessau, Germany.
Chan, W., 2010b. What changes when a community starts building? - The phenomenon of building groups (Baugruppe) in Berlin (Master Thesis (Presentation)). Dessau Institute of Architecture (DIA) Graduate School at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, Dessau, Germany.
Dol, K., Haffner, M., 2010. Housing Statistics in the European Union 2010. Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom relations / OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Hague.
Dol, K., Lennartz, C., De Decker, P., 2012. Self-provided housing in developed societies, in: Smith, S., Elsinga, M., Fox Mahoney, L., Seow Eng, O., Wachter, S., Ronald, R. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Housing & Home - Volume 6. Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 310–315.
Duncan, S., Rowe, A., 1992. Self-Help Housing - Working Paper 85. Centre for Urban and Regional Research / University of Sussex.
Eccleshare, P., Harris, C., Riffat, S., 2005. Environmentally Sustainable Housing in the East Midlands. Building and Social Housing Foundation / University of Nottingham / Centre for Alternative Technology, Nottingham.
Hill, S., 2013. Interview with Stephen Hill at Motivating Collective Custom Build stakeholder workshop, at Ash Sakula Architects, London, 25th February 2013.
Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013. UK Self-build Market Report Q1 2013. Homebuilding & Renovating.
McVitty, H., Building Societies Association, 2012. UK consumers adopt self-build but lag behind Europe [WWW Document]. URL http://www.bsa.org.uk/mediacentre/press/self_build_toolkit.htm (accessed 11.6.13).
NaSBA, 2008. Selfbuild as a volume housing solution. National Self Build Association, Swindon.
NaSBA, 2011. An Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing - The report of the Self Build Government-Industry Working Group. NaSBA, Swindon.
NaSBA, DCLG, 2011. Lessons From International Self Build Housing Practices. National Self Build Association / Department for Communities & Local Government, London.
Owen, S., DCLG, NaSBA, 2011. Lessons From International Self Build Housing Practices. National Self Build Association / Department for Communities & Local Government, London.
Redstone, E., 2012. Fideicomiso! Architect’s Journal.
Redstone, E., Adamo, S., Kohn, D., Robinson, D., Donald, A., 2013. Venice Takeaway International Exchange #4 - Fideicomiso! Putting Architectre at the Heart of Housing.
Self Build Portal, 2013. New report suggests self build can treble in size [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/latest-news/168-new-report-suggests-self-build-can-treble-in-size (accessed 12.6.13).
Wallace, A., Ford, J., Quilgars, D., 2013. Build-it-yourself? - Understanding the changing landscape of the UK self-build market. Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York; Lloyds Banking Group, York.
Zogolovitch, G., 2013a. Interview with Gus Zogolovitch of Solidspace at Ash Sakula Architects, 2nd April 2013.
Zogolovitch, G., 2013b. How can we deliver large scale self-build?
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Self-Provided Housing
The sector already exists in the UK and can be helped to grow ...
Whilst the UK is largely dependent upon a small number of volume house-builders to deliver the bulk of our housing, they are not the only people building houses.
Besides Private Registered Providers of Social Housing (PRPSHs)[1] - such as Housing Associations[2] and organisations formerly referred to as Registered Social Landlords (RSLs)[3] - who continue to build a significant number of homes on both a for-profit and non-profit basis[4], there are also considerable numbers of private self-providers and small private builders[5] who build only a few homes per year, yet collectively represent an established sector, described by Parvin et al. as’ house-building’s long-tail’ (2011, pp. 7–9)[6].
Fig.3 - Who Builds Our Houses? - The distribution of power in Britain’s housing supply. (House-builders along the horizontal axis by the number of houses they completed in 2006.), prepared by Parvin et al. (2011, pp. 4–5), excluding Northern Ireland, using data collected from the National Housebuilding Council, Calcutt Review, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor.
Although self-provided housing is by no means a new phenomena[7], Parvin et al. also offer the most comprehensive definition of self-provision, and its renewed relevance as an idea for increasing the supply of housing in the UK is discussed in the ‘Defining Collective Custom Build’ [SB1] chapter of this research:
“…regarding any process whereby those who will be living in the dwellings take responsibility for procuring their own home, including not just those who physically construct the buildings, as well as those who contract certain tasks out to professionals but keep a central role, carrying the financial risk for the project and having control over design decisions.”
(Parvin et al., 2011, p. 30)
Collectively, self-providers - whether groups of people or individual households - already build as many homes as the largest volume house-builder[8], a fact acknowledged by the central UK Government[9]. Parvin et al. (2011)point out that growing the self-provided housing sector is the most obvious route to creating a more diverse and stable housing market that is less prone to speculation and volatility and claim that self-provision is intrinsically more capable of delivering housing of high-quality, affordability, sustainability and resilience (Ibid. 2011, p. 9). If enabled correctly by local authority and central Government policy, by the development of new models for procurement and by investment in supply chains, self-provision could contribute significantly to the production of large volumes of high-quality, affordable homes across the UK (NaSBA, 2008; Morton, 2013, p. 5; Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013)[10].
Although it is widely accepted that no single solution will solve the UK housing crisis on its own, it is clear that a greater diversity in the housing market will make housing supply more resilient, increasing consumer choice in the supply of new housing as well as stimulating innovation in the mainstream housing industry (Barlow et al., 2001, p. 32). Diversity is desirable on two levels; both in diversifying the range of housing suppliers and by derivation, the supply of new housing stock:
1. Diversifying Suppliers - A diverse range of housing suppliers procuring housing via a range of for-profit, non-profit and self-provided financial models represents a more resilient market, more able to deliver consistent volumes of overall production in times of economic uncertainty. Where one model becomes unviable, others may become more viable and more able to harness investment where access to the usual means such as cheap credit and generous mortgages become constrained.
2. Diversifying Stock - A diverse range of suppliers will produce a diverse range of new-build property types, available on a range of tenures which - combined with renovations and the available existing housing stock - means that households are more likely to be able to procure a property that suits their needs, affordably and in a location that supports a sustainable and economic lifestyle.
In other countries - such as Germany, where up to 60% of housing is self-provided (NaSBA, 2011, p. 6)- a more pervasive self-provided housing sector also has the added effect of raising quality across the housing market as a whole, as speculative house-builders must complete commercially on quality in order to offer a superior product to that which can be self-provided relatively easily (Brinkley, 2013).
Parvin et al. (2011, p. 30)also describe how self-provision is more likely to result in better quality housing through the simple fact that user-led cost-benefit evaluation prioritises long-term use value over short-term financial or political asset value:
“There are two key reasons … Firstly, because the design decisions are taken by the long-term user, this extends the cost equation to take in the whole life-cycle of the building. For example, money invested in increased energy performance of the building fabric is offset against reduced energy bills in the future – so decisions to invest up-front in better insulation (which would be irrational for a speculative housebuilder) become rational ones for a self-provider, who has a stake in long-term as well as short-term savings. A similar principle can apply to qualitative choices. For example, a canny speculative developer might realise that by lowering the ceiling heights of a dwelling, he can save, say, two thousand pounds. In itself this is not much, but multiplied across an entire development, it yields a significant extra margin. By contrast, a self-provider would probably not see that two thousand pound saving as a worthwhile economy.
Secondly, a self-provider may also (inadvertently) make ‘irrational’ design choices which favour increased use-value, because they are making those decisions within what behavioural economists might refer to as a ‘social norm’ rather than a pure ‘market norm’. In other words, as they design, the self-provider is not only calculating the cost of the project and protecting its long-term asset-value, but also imagining their home as a place to live. We’re human – we simply can’t help ourselves: “I really want big south windows because I like to sit in the sun.’... ‘I’m a guitarist, so I need somewhere to practice without disturbing the neighbours”...”
Many sources frequently acknowledge that ‘scaling up’ self-provision to form a viable mainstream procurement method requires some form of enabling support, and needs to be delivered on multi-unit sites, rather than as one-off, detached, individual dwellings, which currently represent the majority of ‘self-builds’(Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2012).
Parvin at al.’s ‘Catalogue of Self-Provided Housing’(2011, pp. 50–51) illustrates the range of different types of ‘self-provided housing’, however, it is the collective forms - that afford multi-unit, self-provided housing developments - that are of interest to this study:
Fig.4 - Catalogue of Self-Provided Housing - This chart is taken from ‘A Right To Build - The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry’ (Parvin et al. 2011, pp.50-51) and illustrates a comprehensive model for describing the spectrum of self-provided housing in terms of Land Ownership, Project Management, Design, Construction and Ownership, highlighting, for each model, whether each of these aspects is led by the private sector, the users or the public/not-for-profit sector.
[1] Registered Providers of Social Housing can be non-profit or for-profit, and are defined by HM Revenue and Customs as replacing Registered Social Landlords in England (not Wales) under the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008(HM Revenue & Customs, 2013),
[2] “Housing associations are the main providers of new not-for-profit housing in England, with around 3.5 million people living in housing association accommodation. They are also known as registered social landlords (RSLs) or Private Registered Providers of Social Housing (PRPSHs). Housing associations do not make a profit. Any money they do make is put back into improving existing homes and helping to build new ones”. (Shelter, 2013a).
[3] Shelter define RSLs as ‘a housing association or other organisation that provides housing at lower rents than private landlords and is registered with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Regulation Committee’. Registered social landlords are also known as private registered providers of social housing (PRPSHs)’.(Shelter, 2013b)
[4] Parvin et al. point out that although these organisations might be more socially-minded, they still predominantly build houses as assets - all be it political ones rather than financial ones. Success is measured by indicators such as the ‘number of affordable homes built’, rather than by their use-value as homes to live in, and as such are as prone to cost-benefit evaluation that prioritises supply-side economy over end-user utility, and exhibit similar deficiencies to volume house-builder products.
[5] According to representatives of the house-building and construction industries, a ‘small-builder’ builds 31 homes or less per year (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013).
[6] Parvin et al. refer to Anderson’s concept of the ‘long-tail’ and observations concerning the ‘prosumer revolution’ (Anderson, 2010 IN; Parvin et al., 2011, p. 8), which describes how many small producers can have an affect comparable to a few large ones. It is also possible to read about Anderson’s interpretation of ‘the Long Tail’ directly in his original article for Wired magazine (Anderson, 2004).
[7] Please refer to Barlow et al. (2001, p. 15)for an account of the history of self-provision in the UK, including reference to the well-documented activities of the community architecture movement and rise in popularity of the Segal Method of self-build construction in the 1980s, a comprehensive exploration of which is beyond the scope of this study.
[8] Total house-building completions for England in 2012-13 was either 115,600(DCLG, 2013a, p. 5)or 108,190(DCLG, 2013b) according to the Department for Communities & Local Government. Homebuilding & Renovating record 10,940 self-build completions for the year 2012-13 (9.5-10.1% of the total)(Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013), whilst figures stand at 12,637 (10.9-11.7%) for Barratt Developments (Barratt Developments Plc, 2013), 10,886 (9.4-10.1%) for Taylor Wimpey(Taylor Wimpey Plc, 2013, p. 18) and 9,903 (8.6-9.1%) for Persimmon (Persimmon Plc, 2013, p. 2).
[9] The figure of 13,800 “custom build” completions is given for the year 2010/11, described by the Department for Communities & Local Government as “as many new homes each year as each of our volume housebuilders” (DCLG, 2011, p. 14)
[10] Morton (2013), particularly, describes self-provision, enabled by a mechanism that facilitates compulsory land sales directly to ‘self-builders’ where local authorities fail to meet their housing targets, as being capable of delivering 210,000 homes per year by 2014 (Morton, 2013, p. 5), in comparison to the approximately 110,000 homes currently delivered annually across all sectors (DCLG, 2013b).
A Right To Build - The Long Tail...
Read in detail about the long-tail of self-provided housing in A Right To Build - pp.7-10
Catalogue of Self-Provided Housing
View the Catalogue of Self-Provided Housing from A Right To Build - pp.49-51
Homes To DIY For
Read about the history of self-provided housing in the UK on p.15 in ‘Homes to DIY For’, a research publication by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
10-Point Plan To Boost Self-Build
Read the '10-Point Plan To Boost Self Build' prepared by a round-table of industry experts
Read NaSBA's An Action Plan To Promote The Growth Of Self Build Housing
Volume Self-Build
Read NaSBA's 'Self-Build As A Volume Housing Solution'
Anderson, C., 2004. The Long Tail, in Wired (Online) Issue 12:10. Wired.
Anderson, C., 2010. The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand. Cornerstone Digital, London.
Barratt Developments Plc, 2013. Financial Highlights: Annual Results for the year ended 30 June 2012 [WWW Document]. URL http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/barratt/en/investor/performance/highlights (accessed 6.21.13).
DCLG, 2013a. The New Homes Bonus. Department for Communities and Local Government, London.
DCLG, 2013b. Table 209 House building: permanent dwellings completed, by tenure and country. Department for Communities and Local Government, London.
HM Revenue & Customs, 2013. Registered Providers of Social Housing [WWW Document]. URL http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/social-housing.htm (accessed 7.10.13).
Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013. A 10-point plan to boost self-build. Homebuilding & Renovating, Birmingham.
Morton, A., 2013. A Right To Build - Local homes fror local people. Policy Exchange, London.
Persimmon Plc, 2013. Creating sustainable shareholder value - Annual Report 2012. Persimmon Plc.
Shelter, 2013a. Housing Associations [WWW Document]. URL http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/finding_a_place_to_live/housing_associations (accessed 7.10.13).
Shelter, 2013b. A-Z of Housing Jargon - Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) [WWW Document]. URL http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/downloads_and_tools/a_to_z/r# (accessed 7.10.13).
Taylor Wimpey Plc, 2013. Creating Value, Delivering Quality - Annual Report and Accounts 2012. Taylor Wimpey Plc.
There are a number of successfully completed schemes - both in the UK and internationally - that ...
There are a number of successfully completed schemes - both in the UK and internationally - that can be broadly categorised by the three families of Collective Custom Build[1].
In the UK, most established models are of the Independent Group Custom Build or Supported Community Custom Build variety. There is a rich, if relatively niche history of independent ‘group self-build’ in the UK, and according to the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) there have also been around twenty multi-unit ‘self-build’ projects delivered by Housing Associations, Registered Providers or councils over the last thirty years, working in partnership with 3rd sector organisations such as the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) or private sector organisations like D&O Management Services Ltd. These organisations help to set up the scheme, recruit the participants and ‘drive’ them to completion (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 10). By contrast, it has only been possible to identify two clear examples of completed developer-enabled schemes in the UK.
There are many more schemes now at a developmental stage as the momentum grows with Collective Custom Build. Wallace et al. observe that new models of group or multi-unit schemes are emerging led by developers or local authorities in particular, which represent a diverse range of pilot initiatives and are likely to grow in the short-term as a response to Government initiatives (2013, p. 8), such as the National Planning Policy Framework[2] and HCA Custom Build Homes Fund (HCA, 2012, 2013a)[3].
NaSBA confirms that large numbers[4] of local authorities that are looking to initiate or deliver schemes (Stevens, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c)and given the pace at which new schemes are coming forward, this may well have increased by the date of publication of this report. There is anecdotal evidence from a range of developers and house builders of all sizes, including national companies, who are attracted by the opportunity to develop new products and services for self-builders of all types (NaSBA, 2011a, p. 9). Additionally, this study has observed significant interest amongst private companies in the opportunities presented by Collective Custom Build in particular[5] and there are a number of developers actively promoting Custom Build or ‘volume self-build’ services (Igloo, 2013; HAB, 2013; Urban Self Build, 2013; Fairgrove Homes Ltd, 2013; Solidspace, 2013; Concept2 Group, 2013 and others).
There are a number of important international reference points for Collective Custom Build, with key examples such as the Homeruskwartier in Almere, Netherlands and Vauban, in Frieburg, Germany frequently cited in published literature and recognised as offering opportunities for learning by central Government and industry bodies[6]. The Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) points out that European examples are particularly relevant points of reference, because they too are governed by EU State Aid, which controls how governments can support projects financially (HCA, 2012, p. 9)and regulates initiatives that may distort trade between member states.
Some international instances of Collective Custom Build - such as the German Baugemeinschafte or “building-community” (id22 et al., 2012, p. 105; Chan, 2010a, 2010b; Stevens, 2013c)and Argentinian Fideicomiso (“trust”) models (Redstone et al., 2013; Redstone, 2012; CASS, 2013)- better represent broader phenomena in popular culture, where the means of accessing custom built housing is widely known and schemes are predominantly procured as group or multi-unit schemes.
However, it is important to note that UK models of Collective Custom Build differ slightly but significantly from those in Europe and the US, where many self-provided houses are either pre-fabricated in factories and sold to owners who have a serviced plot and foundations in place, or built by home-manufacturers and small-builders who are used to dealing directly with self-providing land-owners. The key differentiator for the UK is the prohibitive cost and complexity of obtaining a plot of land, serviced or otherwise, and there is consensus across the literature that access to land -particularly serviced plots - is one of the biggest barriers to a greater fulfilment of self-provided housing in the UK, alongside access to finance and the establishment of a self-provided housing industry (Parvin et al., 2011a; NaSBA, 2011a, 2012; Wallace et al., 2013; Morton, 2013 and others.).
Although successfully completed Collective Custom Build schemes are commonly led by one particular stakeholder group, a critical factor for success - in the UK and internationally - is often an innovative enabling partnership between self-providing groups, public sector enablers and private development partners. Strong, local political leadership is also commonly cited as a major motivating factor.
[1] The three main categories of Collective Custom Build are: Independent Group Custom Build; Developer Enabled Custom Build; and Supported Community Custom Build. Please refer to ‘Defining Collective Custom Build’ in this study for a more detailed discussion.
[2] See The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) overview of the NPPF (RTPI, 2013).
[3] Please refer also to ‘Statute & Policy’ in this study.
[4] NaSBA Chair, Ted Stevens gives the figure of ‘around 20 housing associations and 45 local authorities’ are looking at some form of self-build delivery (Stevens, 2013a).
[5] Evidence for this is anecdotal and is drawn from interaction in sessions at workshops specifically for this research (Ash et al., 2013; Brown et al., 2013)and significant industry events, such as: the ‘Sustainable Self Build & Renovation’ seminar stream at the EcoBuild 2013 exhibition in London, 5th-7th March 2013 (EcoBuild, 2013; specifically Stevens, 2013b, 2013d; Hill, 2013a; Everard, 2013); the Green Sky Thinking series of workshops and seminars held across London, 15th-19th April 2013 (Green Sky Thinking, 2013; specifically Brown, 2013); events held nationally as part of National Self Build Week, 4th-12th May 2013 (National Self Build Week, 2013; specifically Stevens, 2013c); and a seminar organised by the Urban Design Group on Alternative Housing Models in London on 23rd May 2013 (Urban Design Group, 2013; specifically Zogolovitch, 2013; Brenton, 2013; Devlin, 2013; Moore, 2013; Hill, 2013b).
[6] The Homeruskwartier in Almere, Netherlands, and the Vauban district of Freiburg, Germany, feature frequently as points of reference in a number in key sources (Parvin et al., 2011a; DCLG, 2011a; Owen et al., 2011; NaSBA, 2011a, 2013a; Roberts, 2012 and others.)as well as in presentations available via the Homes and Communities Agency, originally presented at the HCA Custom Build Workshop in Middlesborough on 29th January 2013 (HCA, 2013a, 2013b).
Lancaster Cohousing - Independent
The Lancaster Cohousing project at Forgebank, on the outskirts of the village of Halton in Lancaster is a certified Passivhaus / Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 and Life Time Homes, affordable community housing project, which has evolved through a participatory design process with the individual householders and Eco Arc Architects (Jennings et al., 2012).
41 zero carbon homes and additional communal facilities - such as guest bedrooms, a play room and some workshops/offices in a converted mill building - have been built on a riverside site, costing between £100-300k each (Stevens, 2013a). The houses roughly match or slightly exceed the cost of a ‘normal’ home of equivalent size in the surrounding area, but offer vastly improved environmental performance – leading to reduced running costs - and access to shared facilities in a prime location (NaSBA, 2011b, p. 9). The project has taken a relatively long time to complete, beginning in 2004 and finishing in 2013.
The site was purchased by a Cohousing Company established to procure and manage the development, after the site had been reposed from its former owners by a Receiver. The group also accessed a full package of professional consultancy support including architectural design, structural and environmental engineering, quantity surveying and project management (Jennings et al., 2012).
Importantly, with this assistance, the group were able to make the site work much more effectively than would be possible through ‘normal’ development practice, which would have prioritised direct individual access to the street and sought to provide a car parking space outside each dwelling. Instead, the group chose to share access to a car pool, restricting vehicle parking to one portion of the site (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 7).
A contractor built out the scheme to a design specified by the eventual occupants, who occupy the majority of the homes as leasehold, having sold off a small number of properties as freehold in order to part finance the project (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 7).
The total cost of the project was around £8 million. A portion of this was forward-funded by the members, who ‘loaned’ the Cohousing Company up to 30% of the projected total cost of their homes to help buy the site and provide development finance. Additional finance came from a loan via the ethical lender, Triodos Bank, which helped to provide bridging finance, covering the initial funding gap and allowing construction work to start, reaching a peak overdraft of around £4million. As each home has been completed the members have paid the rest of the purchase cost, either from savings or via mortgages offered by the Ecology Building Society (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 7).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013a).
Springhill Cohousing - Independent
Springhill Cohousing in Stroud, Gloucestershire, was the first new-build cohousing scheme to be completed in the UK.
Co-designed with architects Architype, the group were able to procure housing on a steeply sloping site in the centre of the town, not immediately attractive to a mainstream housebuilder. The award winning scheme (Stevens, 2013a)features a total of 35-units comprising a variety of dwelling types, including flats, terraces and semi-detached homes in a largely car free development (NaSBA, 2011b, pp. 8–9)[1], opting for a system of narrow pedestrian streets that was crucial in unlocking the potential of the site for housing development (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 54).
Springhill’s cohousing creates a unique collective lifestyle: the residents cook meals together at least four-times a week, and there are regular coffee mornings, sing songs, tai chi groups, films, parties and group celebrations (Stevens, 2013a)in the common house, which forms a core component of the Cohousing agenda. Representing the hub of the community and a communal extension to the residents’ private living space, the three-storey building comprises communal kitchens, dining, workshops, a games room and communal laundry facilities. The collective living spaces allow larger one-off events to be held in the common house, and private dwellings to be smaller, and cheaper (Stevens, 2013a).
The Cohousing ethos extends to other aspects of the development. Residents of the scheme are committed to reducing their environmental impact. There are community recycling and composting schemes, and much of the site’s electricity is generated with photo-voltaic solar arrays. While many residents own cars, cars are kept away from the interior of the site, and a car-sharing scheme is in operation for more-occasional motorists.
The ownership model is aimed at creating the most equitable distribution of housing costs. In exchange for an initial £5,000 equity stake, every Cohousing group member was made a director of a special purpose ‘Development Company’, ensuring all members were equally involved in commissioning the construction.
The Development Company purchased the land together, ensuring that individual plot costs were kept relatively low. The plots were priced on a £/m2 basis, so each resident pays according to the size of their house. The value of each square metre was defined as a division of the total build cost, including the common house, services, landscaping. This prevented the build from running out of money before the common house and the landscaping were complete.
Built with a £4.2m loan – some homes were purchased outright, whilst others remain for rent. Typically, each home has cost a little less than similar homes nearby (Stevens, 2013a). The cohousing group also makes a commitment to providing affordable housing, and three housing units are subsidised in perpetuity at 15% below market value (Hunter, 2012, pp. 108–110).
Ashley Vale, Bristol - Independent
Procured by the Ashley Vale Action Group (AVAG), established to resist what it saw as a problematic development proposed by a volume housebuilder, the Ashley Vale scheme consists of 26 new detached and semi-detached houses and bungalows as self build and self finish, with a shared garden, Home Zone, recycling facility, three workspace units and a community room (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 5).
Bounded by railway lines, allotments and a nature reserve, the scheme was enthusiastically supported by the local authority as an alternative to the volume housebuilder proposals. The scheme was built over five or six years on a former scaffolding yard close to the centre of Bristol, and has won numerous planning and urban design awards (Stevens, 2013e), including a Building for Life Award (NaSBA, 2011b, p. 8), and a CABE award in 2010 for its urban design and sustainability credentials (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 5)which acknowledges its distinct character with a mix of scales, architectural styles and materials, and pleasant public spaces, adding that for a city site [the scheme] has a rural feel (CABE, 2011a).
The group of around 30 families raised the deposit for the site between them, before dividing the site into individual plots (Parvin et al., 2011b, p. 54; Stevens, 2013e), whilst typical homes cost less that £100k (Stevens, 2013e), whilst average serviced building plots cost £35,000 (in 2001) (NaSBA, 2011b, p. 8). The self-finish options accessed cost savings of around 20% of the total cost (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 17).
A recent quality of life survey shows people are happier and feel safer in the self-built neighbourhood of Ashley Vale when compared to the wider city of Bristol, attributable to the social value of neigbourliness generated through self-provision (Clarke, 2012 IN: ; Moulding, 2012, p. 33).
The LLDC have written a synopsis of Ashley Vale on p.22 of their report Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – here (Roberts, 2012, p. 22).
Read a CABE case study of Ashley Vale, including lots of pictures, descriptions of the site and design process, and evaluation – here (CABE, 2011a).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013b).
The Ashley Vale Action Group have written a comprehensive account of their experience of community planning and consultation days – here (Leach et al., 2000).
The Threshold Centre, Dorset - Independent
Created jointly with housing association, Synergy Housing, this project provides 14 cottages of mixed tenure – some for co-ownership, some for rent (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 7)- grouped around an old barn, which has been converted into a common house, supporting a lifestyle for residents based on Cohousing values.
The project was facilitated by strong local authority support and a grant from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), with the authority keen to support another Cohousing project in the area. The partnership appears to have been very successful, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the group were very positive about the involvement of the Synergy HA as the development partner (Hill, 2013c).
Holy Island of Lindisfarne Development Company Trust (HILDCT) - Independent
The Holy Island of Lindisfarne Development Company Trust (HILDCT) is a well-established Community land Trust (CLT), formed in 2000 in response to the severe shortage of affordable housing for local Islanders. The Development Company Trust was formed in order to purchase land and procure housing which could then be sold or rented to local people (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 56).
The HILDCT began as an Independent Group Custom Build, and transitioned to Supported Community Custom Build for a second phase. The first development wasprocured with financial support from the Tudor Trust and a mortgage from the Triodos Bank, which it paid bank through rent charged on the dwellings constructed.
A second scheme, referred to as Green Lane, was begun in 2009 and developed with support from the Four Housing Group (4HG) Housing Association, in the form of Project Panagement services and a Clerk of Works on site, and by underwriting the Trust and enabling it to receive a loan for a third of the development cost from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), the first such instance of a grant being paid by the HCA to a CLT. Further finance was again secured from Triodos Bank, and paid back through rent from tenants, whilst the final third of development costs were met by a grant from the Tudor Trust (Peacock, 2011).
The HILDCT won an award for Rural Housing from the HCA in 2010 (Peacock, 2011).
Coin Street Community Builders - Independent
Coin Street Community Builders have developed a mixed-use community in the heart of London where innovative social housing developments, commercial and cultural organisations exist side by side (CABE, 2011b).
Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) was established, in 1981, by members of the local community who were fighting to have control over their neighbourhood, the residential elements of which were threatened by office development. They won planning permission for five housing co-ops, commercial and leisure facilities and open spaces for the community. Due to CSCB’s vision and determination Coin Street is now a thriving mix of social housing, businesses and public spaces that have been delivered as a long term project by and for local people (CABE, 2011b).
The original blueprint is still being followed by CSCB today, and so far four out of the five housing co-ops and a neighbourhood centre have been built. Open spaces and parks have also been established. Another housing co-op will be developed specifically for older residents and a swimming pool will be built in the near future (CABE, 2011b).
Read a CABE case study of Coin Street Community Builders, including lots of pictures, background to the development process, and evaluation – here (CABE, 2011b).
Hockerton Housing Project – Independent
Completed in 1998, five families built a terrace of earth sheltered homes with a ‘green’ off-grid solution as the main design driver. The families worked collectively to build the shells, before finishing their own homes independently, at a total cost of around £90k per home. A second phase of seven new homes is planned for 2013 and 2014 (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 5; and; Stevens, 2013e).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013c).
Findhorn Foundation - Independent
The Findhorn Foundation, near Forres in Scotland, represents one of the earliest self-build communities in the UK having constructed 44 homes over a 30-year period (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 5; Stevens, 2013e), beginning in the late 1980s with a small area of eco-housing known as the Bag End Cluster, built to what is still a very high ecological standard (Selfbuild Central, 2009).
Most homes were developed individually with a ‘green’ agenda, although a recent project resulted in a terrace of three homes constructed together. The new homes form part of a larger community, and have won an award from the United Nations (Stevens, 2013e).
Designers, Eco Arc, have also recently completed work on the Lancaster Cohousing scheme (Selfbuild Central, 2009),
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013d).
D & O Management Services Ltd. – Developer
D&O Management Services Ltd are a private sector organisation that typically recruit people who already have good construction skills and don’t require much training or support(NaSBA, 2013b, p. 10, p.10). The company then assists them in building their own homes, typically establishing a specific Self Build Housing Association for each scheme comprising recruited project members, whom it continues to assist post completion. The Housing Association effectively becomes a one-off development company. Perhaps unusually, the developer pays consideration to the mix of group members, stating that they ‘recruit the best possible mix of members who will one day be neighbours and part of [the] community’[1].
D&O also retain a range of expertise ‘in house’ to facilitate design and procurement, including architectural design, and project management, that helps to ‘de-risk’ self-build in the eyes of lenders and planning authorities. In addition, the company negotiates and arranges the finance for the project, as well as identifying a suitable site and negotiating its purchase on behalf of the Association. The company state that these services, as well as the support they provide in terms of auditing each project using their in-house Quantity Surveyor, greatly assist in ‘de-risking’ self-build from the point of view of lenders and planning authorities – with a complete breakdown of the actual costs of the scheme at the outset of the project providing an estimate of the property value on completion. The company also undertakes all the necessary work of sorting out the technicalities of a housing development including VAT arrangements, certification and a Surveyor's inspections, and arranging project insurance which includes Contractors All risk, Public Liability, Personal Accident and Life Insurance.
When the scheme is completed, each member purchases their new home with mortgages under the advice and guidance of an Independent Financial Advisor[2].
D & O place great emphasis on the importance of positive group dynamics in their model of Developer Enabled Custom Build, stating:
“An ideal group has to be balanced with a mixture of skills and professions as well as complementary interests and attitudes. Many things are taken into account when allocating the membership of a scheme. You obviously need skilled tradesmen however, equally important, there should be someone experienced at administration and book-keeping. Group members come from a variety of professions and walks of life but they each have something to offer to the success of the project.
Seems like a good idea? It is!! But it needs experienced, professional guidance to ensure success and that's where D & O Management Services Limited come in.”
(D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013b)
D & O appears to have a rich and proven track record, delivering a number of successful completed schemes, typically between 10 and 20 units in size, although the largest consists of 35 units. In addition, schemes are built quicker than anticipated, with almost every scheme completed in under 12 months, and representing a typical cost saving of 30-40% on market value. In some cases, a cost saving of over 50% has been compared to market value (D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013c).
The D & O Management Services Ltd schemes show considerable innovation and adaptability in how they bring forward development on a wide range of otherwise challenging sites upon which normal, speculative development was unfeasible or simply unlikely.
The Colton Self Build Ltd scheme in Leeds was developed in a sensitive planning context on a sloping site unattractive to larger developers, whilst a scheme at Tong successfully took on an old dairy farm in a strict conservation area. Further schemes were delivered as part of a larger housing development, usually the first phase, alongside national house-builders as part of housing estate development initiated by local authority through land allocation. In some cases, D & O Management Services Ltd acquired sites from large developers who did not see a future for a site they owned if it were to be developed speculatively (D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013c).
Construction, however, is generally very traditional, with limited sustainability credentials over and beyond that required by building regulations.
NaSBA have written an overview of D&O’s 35-unit Sapley Self Build project at Heaton in Bradford – here (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 10).
Visit the D & O Management Services website – here (D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013a).
Read about all of D & O Management Services completed projects – here (D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013c).
[1] (D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013a)
O & H Developments - Developer
O&H started its corporate life in the construction and sale of residential apartments and houses in London, but has also facilitated a small number of serviced self-build plots as a master-developer in larger developments, with a design code and links to small builders, kit home suppliers and enabling project managers (NaSBA, 2011a, p. 9).
LILAC, Leeds - Supported
The Low Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) initiative in Leeds is an example of the pubcli sector assisting an otherwise independent group.
LILAC is a pioneering project that has delivered a community of 20 homes on redundant school site close to Leeds city centre, with a strong ‘green’ and affordable agenda, recently completed at the time of writing. The project has already received high-profile visits from Self-Build Industry Champion, Kevin McLoud and current Housing Minister Mark Prisk (UK Cohousing Network, 2013), testament to the important precedent it sets for the capacity of independently-led, group self-provided housing projects to deliver sustainable affordable housing in partnership with local authority and central Government.
The project took six years from inception to completion, and has been built to high ecological standards using off site manufacturing principles, namely the Modcell system of panel-based straw-bale construction. The self builders helped make up the pre-fabricated wall panels, then a main contractor was hired to assemble these and complete the main construction work (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 13).
The new homes are owned and managed by a fully mutual co-operative housing society – known as a Mutual Home Ownership Scheme (MHOS) - which ensures rents are fair and makes ownership affordable, and are built around a community ‘common house’ designed with shared cooking, laundry, leisure and meeting facilities (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 13), which forms a core component of the Cohousing ethos around which the group was formed (Cohousing.org, 2013).
Each resident has a lease that gives them a say in the management of the MHOS. Under the terms of the lease, members pay an equity stake to the co-operative and retain equity in the scheme. After deductions for maintenance, insurance etc, these payments pay the overall mortgage for the whole development. The amount each resident pays every month and the number of equity stakes they hold depends on how much they earn. Monthly payments are set at around 35% of each resident’s net income (NaSBA, 2013a, p. 13).
The development was self-funded by its members with assistance from the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Leeds City Council has also supported the project by offering the group a deferred purchase option on a former school site in its ownership (Greenland, 2013), whilst the Homes & Communities Agency provided £420k in financial support to fund the clean-up of the site (Stevens, 2013e).
The LLDC have written a synopsis of LILAC on p.22 of their report Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – here (Roberts, 2012, p. 22).
Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) - Supported
The Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) is a 3rd sector organisation with a long history of supporting community ‘self-build’.
CSBA schemes are intrinsically affordable housing projects, and they often involve long term unemployed people who receive training and learn useful skills that may help them get future work. The downside is that the support and training they sometimes need can mean that there are limited cost savings (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 10).
The CSBA has completed a number of projects around the UK since its foundation in 1989 (Community Self Build Agency, 2013), including the Mia Court scheme at Ryecroft in Essex (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 12), with the Warden Housing Association[1]. A significant number of schemes completed throughout the 1990s involved the architectural practice, Architype, which developed expertise in assisting Supported Community Custom Build projects through the facilitation of co-design with groups and supporting training initiatives.
… with the Accord Housing Group
Pensnett Self Build at Swann Lane in the West Midlands was co-ordinated with the CSBA
where the self build group fitted out the shells of 14 contractor constructed properties in partnership with Accord Housing Association (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 12)a Housing Association that supports community groups by supplying land, in-house design and project management services, finance and its off-site manufacturing capability (NaSBA, 2011b, p. 9).
It is developing a co-ownership form of mutual tenure that will make it easier for groups to finance self build, self erect or self finish projects. It can deliver affordable self build schemes on land transferred at a discounted or zero value and has also used a ‘sweat equity’ development model to enable people to gain equity in the homes they build, up to a limit of 80% (NaSBA, 2011b, p. 9).
…with Homes for Heroes, Bedminster, Bristol
More recently, the CSBA has coordinated the West Street project in Bedminster, Bristol, which provides 14 two bedroom homes for former servicemen and has been supported by the Homes & CommunitiesAgency (HCA), Knightstone Housing Association and Bristol City Council. Completed in 2012, ten of the residents were involved in the construction work, which was managed by lead contractor Leadbitter (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 10)and there are plans for further Supported Community Custom Build schemes that involve ex-servicemen in their procurement and construction, addressing significant homelessness amongst returning servicemen and providing access to training in construction skills and long term employability in civilian society.
Walter’s Way, Honour Oak Park, London Borough of Lewisham
Walter’s Way is perhaps the most famous ‘group self-build’ project (Walter Segal Self Build Trust, 2013a).
In the mid-1970s, the London Borough of Lewisham decided - by one vote - to experiment with the now famous Segal method of self-build construction on pockets of land too small, awkward or sloping, to fit its own building programme. Although two and a half years of delay followed, due to difficulties in integrating the ‘non-standard’ development model with standard ways of financing, providing or controlling buildings, the project is widely acknowledged for its positive outcomes for the majority of those involved (Ward, 1995).
The LLDC have written a synopsis of Walter’s Way on p.21 of their report Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – here (Roberts, 2012, p. 21).
Angell Eco Self Build (AESB), Brixton, London, UK.
Angell Eco Self Build (AESB) is a self build group that carried out a ten house build in
partnership with Lambeth Council, Presentation Housing Association, Lambeth Council, Higgins Construction and Mode 1 Architects, and with support and advised from the CSBA. The houses are situated in South London, in Angell Town, Brixton (Community Self Build Agency, 2011).
The group consisted of ten households with between three to six people per family and a total of twenty five children. All of these households were in housing need and are overcrowded, and 94% of the adults on the scheme were from black and ethnic minority backgrounds (Community Self Build Agency, 2011)
It created a sustainable community of highly motivated people, personal and social capacity by education and training in building and other practical skills, as well as teamwork (Community Self Build Agency, 2011).
This creative and innovative scheme began building in April 2005 with the foundations, shell and 1st fix work carried out by the contractor, Higgins Construction. The self-builders then followed on site in February 2006 to carry out the 2nd fix work of carpentry, decorating, kitchen fitting and tiling and completed shortly before Christmas in December 2006 (Community Self Build Agency, 2011).
Read more about the Angell Eco Self Build project – here (Community Self Build Agency, 2011)and here (London21.org, 2013).
CSBA schemes involving Architype[2] - Diggers Self Build, Hedgehog Housing Cooperative and others.
A number of other significant schemes – involving the CSBA and architects Architype - are listed by the Walter Segal Self Build Trust including the All-Hands project in Bromley, Marks Tey in Colchester, Chinbrook Meadows, Peckham Consortium Self-Build and two-phases of the Fusions Jameen project in London[3].
Historically - and along with Walter’s Way in Lewisham - the Diggers Self Build[4] and Hedgehog Housing Cooperative[5] projects represent the most widely-known ‘supported community self-build’ group projects. Both relied heavily on the involvement of the CHISEL and South London Family Housing Associations, a self-build enabling role played by architects Architype, and a Self-Build-To-Rent model of tenure.
The Diggers Self Build project represents a self-provided-for-rent neighbourhood procured by a Housing Association but with strong involvement of users (members of a residents’ co-op) in design, planning and construction, using the Segal construction method (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 56).
The Hedgehog Housing Co-Op project began 1996 when a group of ten local families (who were all without permanent housing) worked with the council and the CBSA to construct some simple timber framed properties. All the homes are for rent, at a discounted level to reflect the work the self builders put in (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 10). The project has been featured on Grand Designs.
Darwin Road, in Tilbury, London represents an example of self-provision-for-rent with training. Although procured by a Housing Association, the development offered local people the opportunity to train and achieve construction qualifications while constructing a home, which they then went on to rent, thus combining investment in both physical and social benefits (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 56). This project enabled ten young unemployed people to build their own homes and also provided NVQ training. The scheme, which was supported by New Essex Housing Association, helped several of the self builders find paid work (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 12).
Read about the Community Self Build Agency on the Spatial Agency database – here (Awan et al., 2011).
Browse Community Self Build Agency projects – here (Community Self Build Agency, 2013).
[1] Now operating as Home.
[2] See (Architype, 2013)
[3] See (Walter Segal Self Build Trust, 2013b)
[4] See (Architype, 2013; Walter Segal Self Build Trust, 2013c)
[5] See (Architype, 2013; Bradshaw, 2013; Grand Designs Revisited, 2001; Selfbuild Central, 2013)
Cornwall CLT Ltd - Supported
Cornwall CLT Limited (CCLT) is a charitable organisation established in 2007 to provide good quality affordable housing to meet local needs either directly or by assisting local community land trusts to become established (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a).
CCLT was established as part of the Cornwall Community Land Trust Project set up and hosted by Cornwall Rural Housing Association, and is run by a voluntary Board of Management, employing one full time member of staff. The Cornwall Rural Housing Association continue to provide additional administrative support (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a).
Since 2007, CCLT has facilitated the delivery of affordable housing for key workers in a number of localities around Cornwall, including the St Minver CLT and St Just-in-Roseland CLT. These key schemes described on the website of the Cornwall Rural Housing Association (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013b)and the Self Build Portal (Self Build Portal, 2013e).
It is worth noting that the CCLT programme has considerable political support in Cornwall Unitary Authority, who maintain a £2-4million revolving loan fund to finance self-provided housing schemes within the county and are seen as pace-setters in supporting community-led housing development (Stevens, 2013e). Community-development expert, Stephen Hill, points out that the Community Land Trust mechanism is key was key in enabling elected members to support self-provided housing initiatives, as it ensured there is a mechanism to protect the land in perpetuity (Hill, 2013c).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study of the St Just-in-Roseland CLT, covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013f).
Isle of Anglesey County Council - Supported
NaSBA describe the initiative enabled by the Isle of Anglesey County Council as:
“Originally launched in 2005, nineteen subsidised plots have been made available in Anglesey thanks to a scheme that is supported by the local county council and a rural housing association.
All 19 plots have now been sold, and most of the homes are now completed. To ensure the whole project looks consistent the council employed a local architect to come up with a ‘pattern book’ range of different sized homes. The self-builders select one of these, but can then tweak the design and layout to suit their specific needs. The architects also help manage the work once the self-builder gets on site.
In addition to the cost of the plot all of the self-builders are required to pay £3,000 towards the cost of architectural services, planning and building control and administrative costs.
Typically, self-builders could obtain a plot for around a quarter of its normal value, at around £16,500. The council then ‘held’ a legal charge on the remaining 75% of the value of the plot, and if the self builder moved on and sold their home they had to pay back 75% of the land value to the council.
By helping families get over the initial financial hurdle of funding a building plot the project has shown how public sector bodies can help deliver affordable homes for local people. The plots are only available to people who have lived locally for at least five years, and they were carefully allocated by the housing association to those that would benefit the most .”
(NaSBA, 2013a, p. 16)
Homeruskwartier District, Almere, Netherlands – International
The Homeruskwartier District in Almere, Netherlands, is the largest self-build experiment in the world. The 100-hectare site to the south west of the city was reclaimed from the sea in the 1950s, and has since been masterplanned by the local authority into a four self-build districts of around 750 self-build plots per district. By early 2012, around 1000 homes had been completed (Hunter, 2012, p. 107; Stevens, 2013e)over a three-year period, an achievement due in no small part to the proactive approach adopted by the local authority in terms of leadership, and by the local mayor in particular (NaSBA, 2013b, p. 6).
Whilst of considerable scale, the initiative in Almere can be categorised as Enabled Self Build within the Supported Community Custom Build definition, as the local authority has adopted the specific enabling strategy of making plots available directly to individuals and self-providing groups.
At Almere, the definition of self-build is quite broad, and includes a relatively low proportion of ‘DIY self-builders’ alongside an established supply chain to serve the self-provided market, which includes architects, kit home firms and contractors familiar with, and equipped to service the demand and provide lots of options, and many offer fixed price deals offering greater certainty to self-builders ad lenders (Stevens, 2013d).
There is also an area master-planned specifically for housing developers, who assemble groups of people who want to live in cheaper, higher density typologies, like apartment blocks. Forming groups allows residents to build at higher densities and extract even greater savings from the land. One group of 25 self-providers formed a company and hired an architect to design a block of flats together. This enabled them to build their flats for around £70,000 each including land (Hunter, 2012, p. 107).
The local authority installs the infrastructure for the whole district: roads, street furniture and utilities. Each plot comes a building passport, which acts as a building permit, preventing the need for formal planning permission. This specifies any restrictions placed on development on that particular plot, such as the height, any gaps required between homes, and the line of the front and the back of the properties. Beyond this, the owners are allowed to indulge their own creativity. While this may sound like a recipe for disaster, many commentators have been impressed with the architectural diversity:
“…the amazing thing is it is a fabulous place. A place full of people and families who want to build a bespoke home based on their own requirements, and a place where the residents share resources and knowledge from day one. Some of the homes are self-built, but most are built by main contractors with an architect in tow for people who are too busy or don’t have the skills to build it themselves. Yes, some of the homes are ‘expressive, unusual and individual’, but as a collective place they work. They are not a product of ‘the system’ they are above it, beneath it – hell, they’ve bypassed it.”
(Urban Self Build, 2012)
Although homeowners are free to build whatever they please, the majority of homeowners build quite contemporary homes, typically out of brick. A large proportion of self-providers have also chosen to build kit-homes (Hunter, 2012, p. 107). The early indications are that Homeruskwartier has been very successful. And has attracted worldwide attention. Like the UK, the housing market in the Netherlands is in a depression, with the volume-housebuilders’ producing relatively low volumes of housing. Despite this, the self-provision in Almere has continued to build houses at greater volumes, and seems to be weathering the financial storm far better than the private sector (Self Build Portal, 2013g).
The Self Build Portal has a case study of the Homeruskwartier in Almere, NL, including site history, planning and construction arrangements, finance and long-term outcomes – here (Self Build Portal, 2013g).
The LLDC have written a synopsis of Homeruskwartier in Almere, NL on p.19 of their report Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – here (Roberts, 2012, p. 19).
The satellite and internet-based TV channel, Selfbuilder TV, has a feature on Almere, which can be viewed here (Hutchinson, 2012)
Read about the important lessons to be learned from Almere, including finance, planning and operating at scale, on p.15 in Laying The Foundations – A Housing Strategy for England – here (DCLG, 2011b, p. 15).
See the slides from Ted Stevens’ presentation at EcoBuild 2013, ‘How they do large-scale self build in the Netherlands’ – here (Stevens, 2013d).
Baugemeinschafte, Germany - International
Baugruppen - General
Germany has a cultural tradition of self-provision through building co-operatives that appears far more prevalent in contemporary society than in the UK.
The city of Berlin in particular is currently experiencing a surge in co-housing communities and communal living groups (Stryker-Härtel, 2007), springing from roots in the Commune Movement, which saw building cooperatives form, firstly, in the late 1960s as an expression of a political motivation, and later more generally motivated by the opportunity to reduce living costs and by the benefits of multi-generational housing (Chan, 2010a, pp. 16–20).
Developers - sometimes led by architects and other deisgn profesisonals -and communities have been working together to reduce building cost by cutting out the middle-men when designing new neighbourhoods (BBC Two, 2013). Where no satisfactory, affordable property is available, independent citizens are taking matters into their own hands and forming building co-ops (Chan, 2010b, p. 72), often called Baugruppen (building groups), or Baugemeinschaften (building communities) to collectively self-provide multi-unit schemes, often in the form of apartment blocks that respond to a particular housing need or design goal such as multi-generational living or low energy usage.
A particular demographic in the city – where birth rates and marriage rates are low, the average age of the population is increasing and 95% of the population rent – is seeing the working-age demographic invest in their retirement plan by self-providing housing in a transition from rental to the security of ownership (Chan, 2010b, p. 48).
These cooperatives have clear advantages when compared with conventional real estate development. Buildings of the same or better quality, procured as Baugruppen, cost as much as 25% less per unit (up to 40% less per m2) (Chan, 2010b, pp. 42–46)compared to purchase from real estate developers, by-passing the costs and accrued interest usually added to the base build-cost of the scheme to cover advertising during the marketing phase, property acquisition taxes and general profit- and risk-based surcharges (‘developer’s profit’) .
Members of co-housing groups are also able to get a customized, ecologically optimal house that includes community spaces they have helped design, all in cooperation with others who also care deeply about the project, and for less money – at the wholesale price (Stryker-Härtel, 2007). In some cases – such as schemes with aspirations for low-energy usage – there are Government subsidies available that translate into low-interest development loans and mortgages available through relatively mainstream banks., such as KfW and GLS Bank (Chan, 2010b, pp. 49–50)
Baugemeinschaft often form around specific agendas – for example, the Muggelhof is for elderly women; Möckernkiez is led by a group that all have children with some form of disability and specialist learning or mobility needs; Zur Bose is a group who preference mixed use live/work units; and Solar Klima is the first Passivhaus block from a group with a strong green agenda (Stevens, 2013c).
The Baugruppen model is also observed in the largely self-provided developments in Quartier Vauban, Freiburg, and Tübingen-Südstadt. Similarly to Almere, an an eco-system of support agents has developed in response to the demand –for example, the WohnPortal Berlin web-resource provides an ‘interface for creative self-organization in Berlin and Brandenburg…to network diverse urban actors, together approaches to sustainable urban development and innovative forms of housing to be developed’ (Wohnportal Berlin Gbr, 2013a), whilst there are also supporting companies, like SmartHoming (SmartHoming, 2013), that ‘hand-hold’ groups through the development process, helping with legal form, building warranty and arbitrating services.
Example: Quartier Vauban, Freiburg, Germany
Quartier Vauban is located 3 miles to the south of central Freiburg, and on 35 hectares, now provides homes for around 5,000 people, constructed between 1993 and 2006 (Stevens, 2013e).
Led and supported by the local authority, large plots at in Quartier Vauban, Freiburg, were sold to and co-developed by Baugruppen according to strict performance guidelines. Though often lauded as an example of sociable and ecological urban design, the self-provision engine which drove much of the development is often overlooked (Parvin et al., 2011b, p. 55)in this innovative development where the owners secured custom built homes and cost savings of about 25% through a broad spectrum of self-build and self-finish options (Self Build Portal, 2013h).
Freiburg is often described as the most sustainable city in Europe, and Collective Custom Build - and self-finish - homes were a key ingredient (Stevens, 2013e).
Read a CABE case study of Vauban, including lots of pictures, background to the development process, and evaluation – here (CABE, 2011c)
Example: Tübingen-Südstadt, Germany
The housing market is tight. Families are increasingly priced out by buy-to-let for student rental, and the loss of families and middle income groups to surrounding villages is perceived as a persistent problem (CABE, 2011d).
In 1990 the French military decided to leave its base in the Südstadt. This offered a welcome opportunity for the municipality to develop the 65ha brownfield site as a mixed-use urban quarter, which was to provide space for 6,500 inhabitants and 2,000 workplaces. In 2006 the project is nearing completion, with 1,100 residential units built so far, accommodating a population of 3,600 (CABE, 2011d).
Tübingen is a university town 80km south of Stuttgart. Its population is 87,000 and has been growing for a long time, mainly due to in-migration. A further 8,000 inhabitants are expected by 2020. In Germany the quarter is widely known for its strong and vital community, its distinct urban character and a vibrancy which is unusual for new-build developments. These characteristics are primarily attributed to an innovative development process in which land is acquired and assembled by the municipality and then sold to building partnerships, groups of usually 5-30 parties (individuals, flatshares, couples or families) who themselves commission an architect and a contractor with the design and construction of their homes. Thus no private developer is involve, resulting in significant cost savings. The concept was unique at the time but has now been imitated by a number of other municipalities such as Kassel, Freiburg, Trier and Hamburg.” (CABE, 2011d).
Read a CABE case study of Tübingen-Südstadt – here (CABE, 2011d)
The LLDC have written a synopsis of Tübingen-Südstadt on p.20 of their report Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – here (Roberts, 2012, p. 20)
Read more about the Phenomenon of Baugruppen in Winnie Chan’s thesis from the Dessau Institute of Architecture, including a variety of case studies – here (Chan, 2010a)
Read about the pros and cons of Baugruppen, including case studies, at Winnifired-Härtel’s web-page – here (Stryker-Härtel, 2007)
Wohnportal Berlin has a searchable database of projects – here (Wohnportal Berlin Gbr, 2013b)
L’Espoir Molenbeek, Belgium - International
L’Espoir Molenbeek – Molenbeek, Belgium - International
The L’Espoir Molenbeek development is considered a pilot project in Belgium. Led by the equivalent of a Housing Association, the principal aim was the creation of affordable housing for 14 low-income families in a particular neighbourhood, based upon the guiding principals of citizen participation, sustainable architecture, and innovation in social housing provision – a ‘third way’ between classic social rents or direct help with housing acquisition.
As a pilot, the project depended upon innovative partnerships, delivering a timber-frame Passivhaus residential building of 14 duplex units over 4 storeys (7 with access to gardens; 7 with access to terraces), and is acknowledged for its unusually short construction time (completed in just under a year), good cooperation in the diverse design and construction team, and on-schedule delivery in 2010 with very few problems, 7 years after the idea was conceived.
A number of partnerships were needed to drive the project, including two housing associations already working in the area to support low-income families in accessing housing and a social credit agency, pooling resources from organisations that had very little in their own right. Residents also have access to a ‘solidarity savings pot’, allowing any member to draw on common resources to meet large expenditures, a key innovation highlighted in the self-providing group’s extensive reflective account of their experience of building their own homes (L’Espoir Molenbeek, 2013).
Visit the L’Espoir Molenbeek webpage and read a comprehensive account of the project from the point of view of residents and the housing association -in Dutch – here (L’Espoir Molenbeek, 2013).
Across the USA - International
There is significant precedent in the USA of collective custom build groups – usually associated with the cohousing movement – seeding community development on larger development sites (Hill, 2013d).
UK house-builders that also build in North America comment that they hardly ever build there, unless they have a pre-sale. This allows them to build to a high degree of customer choice in specification, and with the customer paying for construction as the work proceeds, profit margins are lower but more predictable – and housing development is hardly ever speculative.
Their business operations are thus much less dependent on cash flow requirements, quality is determined by the customer, and profit margins are lower but more certain and predictable. Land value is thus not used to cover the imperfections of the market to match product with buyer, or the inefficiencies of housing finance and construction in the way that it is in the UK.
In a presentation about Resident-Owned Communities in Europe and the USA as part of the Sustainable Self-Build and Renovation seminar stream at Ecobuild 2013, Stephen Hill highlighted the acknowledged value of cohousing groups in the development models used by US house-builders (Hill, 2013d).
Fideicomiso, Buenos Aires, Argentina - International
Fideicomiso are legal trusts that have developed in Argentina to challenge models of conventional speculative housing development (CASS, 2013; Redstone et al., 2013). They also occur in other Latin American countries, and are sometimes more fully called fideicomiso financieros – or financial trust[1]. In Buenos Aires in particular, fideicomiso is so widespread it has become a common term for marketing and purchasing a particular type of apartment. It is perhaps the equivalent of purchasing an apartment ‘off-plan’ in the UK (Redstone, 2012).
The model has its roots in a kind of ‘consortium’ method of building houses that has long been part of Argentinean culture. In Argentina, it is relatively normal for someone to approach an architect and invest directly in the building of their own house – much more so than in the UK – and the knowledge of how to access housing in this way is part of popular culture there. The country does not have a mortgage-market or any form of credit-lines for procuring buildings and so ‘normal’ routes to financing housing acquisition from a UK perspective, are simply not available. Add to this the observation that following the 2001 financial crisis, trust in Argentina’s banks is very low and real estate is seen as a safer investment. In the wake of this crisis, the development of fideicomiso saw entrepreneurial architects form groups of investors looking to build apartment blocks and engage in development with them as co-investors.
There are certainly some parallels between fideicomiso and models of collective self-provision of housing known in the UK – although the key difference lies in who initiates the project. Self-provided implies there is a community ready to build, while fideicomiso involves bringing people together. In terms of the UK context, commentators such as independent curator and researcher Elias Redstone believe that both approaches will be able to co-exist and complement each other.
Fideicomiso has had particular success in Buenos Aires, where the city’s predominantly flat and standard-sized building plots of 8.66m x 15m and easily understood, light-touch planning and design codes mean that architects and co-investors can be relatively sure of what development will be permitted.
Fideicomiso has traditionally been accessed by higher-middle class citizens with the income and capital to invest in such a project. Although Sebastian Adamo – of Argentinean architectural practice, Adamo Faiden – states that individual user-requirements are often looser and easier to incorporate into a design than one-off commissions for luxury houses, rather than complexity being a compounded by multiple voices. The relationship between architect and investor is different to that between architect and client. Seeing the project as an investment also means that build-times are relatively short (12-18months from inception), a characteristic partially attributable to the fact that the architect also leads the development. Whilst in the UK perhaps there is a perception that a great deal of time is needed for protracted negotiation and to establish where risk lies, the fideicomiso model means that from the start there is a strong buy-in to the design by users, who in part approach a particular architect for their brand - and as such already accept their detailed decisions beyond the minimums of floor area, location and key features such as balconies. The procurement process is quicker because – to some degree – the design is ‘off-the-peg’.
Additionally, apartments are not always for user-occupation – some are sold on to finance literally ‘higher architecture’ – apartments, or ‘houses in the sky’ on the upper floors with bigger floor areas and more attention paid to detail that the smaller, market-sale units on the lower floors.
Architects working with fideicomiso almost seem to commit to a neighbourhood – if they are approached by someone who wants to build in a different neighbourhood, it is common for them to be referred to an architect-developer who is operating there. In this way, a circle of trust develops between architect-developers.
There is also an established culture of architects working entrepreneurially here - in part precipitated by the lack of the usual credit-lines for building procurement and associated broad spectrum of actors involved in real-estate investment, but also by the economic and political instability in Argentina, meaning investors need quick projects amidst changing circumstances.
[1] See the Wikipedia entry for ‘Fideicomiso’ (Wikipedia, 2013)
Quinta Monroy, Iquique, Chile - International
‘Half and half’ housing concept designed by Elemental Architects, Chile, whereby the basic house infrastructure is planned and built by a public organisation, leaving half of each plot available for gradual self-provision by the user (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 56).
Self Build Portal
Read about successful schemes via the Self Build Portal, as well as wider information about self-build and Custom Build
NaSBA Case Studies
Find a comprehensive overview of completed schemes in NaSBA's Practice Guide 'How The Public Sector Can Help People Build Their Own Homes'
International Examples
Read about successful international examples in 'Lessons From International Self Build Housing Practice' by NaSBA and DCLG
View further case studies via the Selfbuild Central website
Community Self Build Agency
View successful projects completed by the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA)
Cohousing Cultures
Read about successful collective custom build schemes across Europe related to the Cohousing movement
Visit the LILAC website to learn about a successful Low Impact Living Affordable Community procured as collective custom build.
Hedgehog Housing
Watch this episode of Grand Designs Revisited to learn about the social and professional dynamic of the Hedgehog Housing Co-Op supported community custom build project
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Hill, S., 2013a. We are the 75% - Resident-owned communities in Europe and the USA.
Hill, S., 2013b. Market Failure – Who are the real “Clients of Place”?
Hill, S., 2013c. Interview with Stephen Hill at Motivating Collective Custom Build stakeholder workshop, at Ash Sakula Architects, London, 25th February 2013.
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Zogolovitch, G., 2013. How can we deliver large scale self-build?
Unmet Demand
There is evidence of a huge, general aspiration amongst UK citizens ...
There is evidence of a huge, general aspiration amongst UK citizens to build their own homes (NaSBA and Ipsos MORI, 2013a; DCLG, 2011a, p. 14; Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3); an aspiration that can be qualified as well as quantified, and that - with the right kind of enablement and understanding of motivational factors for key stakeholders - has the potential to translate into effective demand[1] for Collective Custom Build in the UK housing market (Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16).
Although there is a historical precedent in the UK of self-provision lowering the threshold of access to housing for a wider range of people (Barlow et al., 2001, p. 15), at its current scale the ‘self-build’ housing market is widely regarded as meeting only the needs of older, more affluent households with relatively high levels of housing equity and/or high incomes, who typical build an individual, detached, one-off home (Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16; Barlow et al., 2001, p. 15).
As well as meeting the needs of more affluent groups of people seeking homes that support a particular lifestyle choice, enabled and assisted forms of Collective Custom Build could contribute significantly to fulfilling the central Government pledge to ‘…create a self build revolution where building your own home is not just the preserve of the privileged few’ [2], by removing cost and complexity barriers and lowering the entry threshold to home-ownership for lower and mid-income households.
[1] In ‘Build-It-Yourself?’, Wallace et al. discuss the difference between the general aspiration to self-provide and an effective demand for opportunities to self-provide from customers ready and able to commit financially to self-provision (Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16).
[2] Former Housing Minister for the UK Government, Grant Shapps MP IN: (Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 2).
Evidence - Research + Figures
The Building Societies Association (BSA) suggest that between 50-70% of people would like to build their own home (Building Societies Association, 2011; IN Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16). In its more recent ‘Lending Information for Self-Build in the UK’ report, the BSA goes on to state that:
‘…there is now reliable evidence of growing public demand for this type of housing which, if met, will enable the sector to grow significantly and in turn make a greater contribution to the number of new homes built across the country.’
(Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3).
Central Government also acknowledges this unmet demand in its most recent Housing Strategy, citing the results of a YouGov survey over half of all respondents would be ‘interested in doing a custom build’:
“There are over 100,000 people looking for building plots across the country and we know from recent market research that one in two people would consider building their own home if they could.”
(DCLG, 2011b, p. 14)
By the time of the publication of the HCA Custom Build Homes Fund Prospectus a few months later, this acknowledgement had generalised - in its ministerial foreword - to broadly state that ‘most people in the UK would build their own home if they had the chance’ (HCA, 2012, p. 3), a figure given more precisely as 53% by Housing Minister Mark Prisk, in his speech to the Council of Mortgage Lenders in 2012 - adding that two thirds of the people who want to build their own home want to within the next two years (Prisk, 2012).
More recent research undertaken by Ipsos MORI in January 2013 on behalf of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) found that approximately 6 million people (1 in 8) in the UK expect to research how to build a home for themselves in the next 12 months, and around 1million (1 in 50) expect to make serious moves to act upon that research - such as purchasing a building plot, seeking detailed planning consent or starting construction work - during the same period (NaSBA and Ipsos MORI, 2013b).
Other sources cite figures of 400,000 people searching Rightmove - and 100,000 people using other plot-finding websites such as Zoopla - as evidence that significant numbers of people are interested in sourcing land for self-build in the UK (Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16).
Although evidence of demand for self-provision in general can be taken to some extent as demand for Collective Custom Build, Ted Stevens, Chair of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) identifies specifically that - of those that want to build their own home - 1-in-4 would like to do it as part of a group (Stevens, 2013a). This could indicate that as many as 1.5million people, or almost 3% of the current UK population of 51 million people[1], express an aspiration to self-provide housing through some form of Collective Custom Build.
[1] Figures are for those aged 15+ and eligible for Ipsos MORI’s Capibus study (Ipsos MORI, 2013a). Population figures are derived from 2011 Census estimates. Calculation based on 25% of 6 million people aspiring to build their own home.
Profiling Collective Custom Builders
Whilst there is relatively little robust market research into the likely demographic profile of collective custom builders, there is some consensus anecdotally that those aspiring to provide their own homes, together, fall broadly into two categories:
Older, more affluent households - looking to build their dream home and unsatisfied with the prospects of long-term care and isolation associated with an ageing population; motivated by desire for an individual personalised home and by the security of owning a home that they can stay in for longer as they age; often asset-rich and commonly referred to as ‘Empty-Nesters’ or ‘Baby Boomers’.
Younger, less affluent households - for whom access to housing is currently limited, and for whom motivation stems from economic need and the prospect of cost-savings resulting from working together.
Both profiles have an interest in building homes together as part of a collective development - rather than as individual, one-off homes - in order to meet some or all of their goals.
Older, more affluent households - Asset-Rich ‘Empty-Nesters’ and ‘Baby Boomers’
Wallace et al. observe that ‘older, ‘empty nest’, existing homeowners on higher incomes’ are most likely to ‘self-build’ and list quantitative evidence – based upon average build costs for self-build and average house prices - that confirms this observation (2013a, p. 16). These households are described by the Building Societies Association as ‘well capitalised married couples, many with no children, who are home owners aged between 35 and 54’ (2012, p. 8), often have ‘higher-incomes, and/or high levels of housing equity to begin with’ (Barlow et al., 2001, p. 15)and are ‘interested from the point of view of desire and future security’ - (Stevens, 2013b).
In particular, there is a growing interest in co-operative models of housing that support alternative lifestyles - such as cohousing[1] - from people that are asset-rich and concerned by a lack of ‘neighbourliness’ in society and by long-term prospects of isolation in old age. This type of household is also able to invest now in homes that may afford them a better quality of life in old-age in the context of a generally ageing population and anticipated future scarcity of local government resources.
Writing in The Guardian, Chief Executive of the Hanover Housing Association, Bruce Moore, describes a growing interest in co-operative housing options that ‘involves older people forming communities, offering mutual support while maintaining a strong emphasis on independence’ (Moore, 2013a, ; also 2013b). Hanover are developing three cohousing projects with older people, and Moore goes on to add:
“Baby-boomers do not want to live in old people’s homes…the rise of personalisation across social care and healthcare needs to be matched by new attitudes to how we enable older people to make housing choices and be regarded as consumers rather than recipients of welfare.”
(Moore, 2013a)
There are a number of international examples where Collective Custom Build projects have been delivered for this type of group – especially in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany and the USA. In Barnet in North London a group of elderly women are building a 25-home mutually supportive retirement project in partnership with Hanover Housing Association (NaSBA, 2013, p. 13).
Younger, less-affluent house-holds - Young People and the ‘squeezed middle’.
There is growing acknowledgement that building homes together is of interest to households who would normally be termed ‘first-time buyers’; typically younger households, described by NaSBA Chair Ted Stevens as ‘in their 20’s, 30’s or 40’s…who often struggle to afford new homes…with budgets typically between £100-200k and who are driven by the opportunity to have a say in the home they really want and by the potential cost benefits’ (Stevens, 2013a).
Faced with high levels of youth unemployment, stagnant wages and tuition fees, this generation of young people face different challenges to their parents. Although 88% of young people aged 18–30 want to own their own home in 10 years’ time, in the wider context of high prices for homeownership and rentals, insufficient homes and rising living costs, homeownership is thought to be unattainable for a majority - and around 50% are thought to consider the prospect of home-ownership unrealistic (Pennington et al., 2012).
The definition of this demographic is expanded by the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) self-providing group as the ‘squeezed middle’ - key workers, or people trying to get a first foot on the housing market, not limited by age-range and who require ‘intermediate housing’ as a way to access long term sustainable housing, and who can’t afford to buy on the open market(Interview with LILAC member IN: Neil and Iredale, 2013).
This type of collective custom builder are typically on a tight budget, and described by Wunderlich and Campbell as being likely to exploit the opportunity to invest ‘sweat-equity’ – managing the construction or doing some of the construction or fit-out work themselves - in order to bring costs down (Wunderlich and Campbell, 2013). They may also have young children - or be likely to have them in the near future - and want flexibility to expand their homes at a later date (Ibid. 2013).
Although Barlow et al. (2001) note that by the 1990s, the self-build sector had predominantly come to serve higher income households, it also describes the historic capacity of self-build to meet the needs of lower to mid-income households (Barlow et al., 2001, p. 15), confirmed by Duncan and Rowe (1993) who describe the significant role self-build can play for less affluent households.
Analysis of the types of households served by a community self-build project in Bristol suggests that a wide range of budgets and property sizes were being met (Broer and Titheridge, 2010 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013a, p. 16), indicating that a Collective Custom Build has some potential to lower the entry threshold to self-provided housing for a wide range of people.
[1] Please refer to ‘Alternative Development Models’ in this study.
Ipsos MORI
View the digested results of the Ipsos MORI survey, conducted on behalf on NaSBA, that reveals 6 million people in Britain would like to build their own home
Ipsos MORI - datatables
...or view the data tables for the ‘survey of self-build intentions’ directly
Build-It-Yourself? - Report
Read about the aspiration and demand for self-build in ‘Build-It-Yourself? - Understanding the changing landscape of the UK self-build market’, a report by the University of York Centre for Housing Policy, Lloyds Banking Group and Buildstore
Build-It-Yourself? - Survey
…and view the accompanying report ‘Build-It-Yourself? – Supplementary Report and Survey Results - The results of a survey of people engaging with self build’
Building Societies Association
Read the Building Societies Association (BSA) report ‘Lending Information for Self-Build in the UK’ (2012)
Download the latest Download the latest UK Self-build Market Report from the Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research Press Room
Read 'Laying The Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England' in which central Government acknowledges the significant demand for self-build
View NaSBA Chair, Ted Stevens’ presentation to the HCA Custom Build Workshop in Middlesborough on 21st January 2013, in which he talks about likely self-build demographics in ‘Introducing the Self Build Revolution’
Broer, S., Titheridge, H., 2010. Eco-Self-Build Housing Communities: Are They Feasible and Can They Lead to Sustainable and Low Carbon Lifestyles? Sustainability 2, 2084–2116.
Building Societies Association, 2011. Lending information for self build in the UK. Building Socieities Association, London.
Building Societies Association, 2012. Lending information for self build in the UK. Building Socities Association, London.
Ipsos MORI, 2013. Housing Survey of Self-Build Intentions 2013 - Tables. Ipsos MORI.
Moore, B., 2013a. Baby boomers don;t want to live in older people’s homes. The Guardian.
Moore, B., 2013b. Housing Associaton Perspective.
NaSBA, 2013. How the public sector can help people build their own homes - A Practice Guide - 1st Edition. NaSBA, Swindon.
NaSBA, Ipsos MORI, 2013a. Survey of self-build intentions. National Self Build Association / Ipsos MORI.
NaSBA, Ipsos MORI, 2013b. Press Release - One in eight Brits expect to research or plan building their own home in the next 12 months.
Neil, A., Iredale, T., 2013. Sunday Politics Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, 17/03/2013.
Prisk, M., 2012. Speech made to the annual conference of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 7th November 2012 at the QEII Conference Centre, London.
Wallace, A., Ford, J., Quilgars, D., 2013a. Build-it-yourself? - Understanding the changing landscape of the UK self-build market. Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York; Lloyds Banking Group, York.
Wallace, A., Ford, J., Quilgars, D., 2013b. Results of a survey of people engaging with self-build. Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York; Lloyds Banking Group, York.
Wunderlich, M., Campbell, K., 2013. Bringing Custom Build to Life - Urban Pioneers in Middlehaven.
Collective Custom Build has the potential to improve the quality, affordability, sociability and sustainability of housing, as well as ...
By procuring housing through innovative enabling partnerships that include end-users and by placing use-value - rather than asset value - at the heart of decisions about the procurement of housing, alternative models of housing provision, like Collective Custom Build, offer an opportunity to generate value beyond merely an increase in housing supply, such as providing meaningfully affordable housing, strengthening local communities and economies and engaging people with an environmental agenda.
Whilst no single procurement route represents a panacea for a problematic house-building industry, as a form of self-provided housing Collective Custom Build has the potential to improve the quality, affordability, sociability and sustainability of housing, as well as offering greater certainty for the producer.
Chair of the National Self-Build Association, Ted Stevens, illustrates the benefits of self-provision in general as offering an opportunity to:
“…provide affordable bespoke-designed market housing, promoting design quality and environmental sustainability [as well as] driving innovation in building techniques and entrepreneurialism...‘self-build’ [also] tends to be greener, as end-users invest in reducing the on-going running costs of their future homes, and it supports local economies as each self-built home spends around £50,000 on materials and supports an average of seven construction jobs for a year. It also gives people more choice and better value; and it makes housing affordable for a new generation.”
(Stevens, 2013a).
Conversely, Parvin et al. describe the often intangible and difficult-to-evaluate costs attributable to poor housing supply - both n terms of quantity and quality - drawing attention to key issues such as:
“ … rising inequality, homelessness, poor health, time-poverty, depression and low self-esteem (even for the wealthy) are likely direct consequences [of such a poor housing supply]. It is easy to overlook these costs, because many of them are impossible to measure: how can the loss to a family be calculated when a parent has to commute for several hours per day, or see their children only at weekends? There are also indirect consequences arising from competition for housing, such as hamstrung local labour markets, or rising support for far-right political parties in white working class neighbourhoods.”
(Parvin et al., 2011a, pp. 16–17)
Whilst these statements serve well as illustrations of the range of possible benefits of self-provided housing it can be difficult to articulate the added value of a particular type of housing delivery, like Collective Custom Build, over others, as value is often specific and contingent in relation to the context in which it is articulated.
Parvin et al. (2011a)go on to argue that the process through which houses are procured is as important as the outputs themselves, articulating the term ‘value architecture’ to describe the way that the direct users of housing procure long-term use value in their assets rather than merely short-term exchange value:
“Every process by which housing might be procured has a basic ‘value architecture’: in the way that the design and procurement process structurally tends towards maximising certain kinds of value at different stages. In this context, the word ‘value’ expands to take in not just financial asset value (also known as ‘exchange value’), but also other forms of value, be they short-term, long-term, economic value, utility value, or other, less measurable value sets which are nonetheless universally acknowledged, such as social status, a sense of belonging, or pride … In order to understand housing, therefore, we need to understand the basic value-architecture of the processes by which housing might be produced.”
(Ibid. 2011a, p. 23)
And illustrating a typical user-driven, use-value-based decision:
“…a self-provider may also (inadvertently) make ‘irrational’ design choices which favour increased use-value … In other words, as they design, the self-provider is not only calculating the cost of the project and protecting its long-term asset-value, but also imagining their home as a place to live. We’re human – we simply can’t help ourselves: “I really want big south windows because I like to sit in the sun.’... ‘I’m a guitarist, so I need somewhere to practice without disturbing the neighbours”…”
A self-provided value architecture, described by Parvin et al. as procuring long-term use value more effectively than a speculative house-building model of housing delivery that procures short-term exchange value, is structurally more able to deliver higher-quality, less energy-hungry dwellings that can achieve long-term affordability whilst also unlocking investment from self-providers themselves and supporting the development of functioning communities and a more resilient housing supply (Ibid. 2011a, pp. 22–35).
Added value, in this sense, is often discussed as ‘social value’ – defined by Social Enterprise UK as “‘the additional benefit to the community from a commissioning/procurement process over and above the direct purchasing of goods, services and outcomes” – and is commonly related to concepts such as well-being, life-satisfaction and happiness, as well as to aspirations to increase the capacity for these afforded by society.
In ‘The Social Impact of Housing Providers’, Fujiwara notes that there is evidence to suggest that people with higher well-being are more productive and creative at work, are more altruistic in that they are far more likely to give up their time to help others (both at work and in private life), and they also tend to be healthier, in that they are less likely to catch a range of different viruses and - even if they do - heal much quicker. These findings have important implications for health expenditures, absenteeism at work, productivity and economic growth and charitable giving – which are clearly important for any society – and housing provision, as both product and process, has huge capacity to deliver social value and societal well-being (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 45).
Pete Gladwell of Legal & General Property highlights why considering social value is of paramount importance to today’s’ housing industry and how understanding and reporting on the social value of housing providers’ activities can provides a starting point from which the social, financial and economic returns can be balanced and assessed:
“The recent financial crisis has left many established investment paradigms in tatters, and yet provided fruitful ground for those who wish to seize this opportunity to reprioritise the purpose and values of the financial industry. The single-handed and relentless pursuit of short-term financial gain has been discredited and widely disparaged, but in turn governments have struggled to reassert social priorities on the world of finance … those stewarding the pensions and investments of others [should] look more deeply than financial returns to assess how they are best able to deploy that capital to benefit society, in the fulfilment of their fiduciary duty. For an institution to have a Corporate Social Responsibility department tacked on is no longer enough - this requires social impact to be evaluated by every investment professional, in every investment decision.”
(Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 7)
Social Enteprise UK go on to observe that:
“Whilst there are many examples of providers delivering social value available to illustrate this, there is no authoritative list of what these benefits may be. The reason for this flexible approach is that social value is best approached by considering what is what beneficial in the context of local needs or the particular strategic objectives of a public body. In one area, for example, youth unemployment might be a serious concern, whilst in another, health inequalities might be a more pressing need.”
Writing specifically about housing associations, Fujiwara observes that consideration of how social value can be generated through the provision of housing is needed – principally from providers of social housing - in order to meet the obligations presented by the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012[1]. Fujiwara draws particular attention to methods of evaluating social value, such as Wellbeing Evaluation and Social Return on Investment, that seek to articulate social value in financial terms, in order to make it easier to consider in investment terms, and notes that there is a clear need for social value auditing to be considered by whole organisations, rather than just community investment teams, in order to provide key stakeholders in the housing industry with the information they need to balance competing demands for investment across their businesses.
[1] The Public Services (Social Value) Act was passed at the end of February 2012 and under the Act, for the first time, all public bodies in England and Wales are required to consider how the services they commission and procure might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area. You can read a brief guide to the Act from Social Enterprise UK (Social Enterprise UK, 2012a), who have also produced a guide to implementing the Act (Social Enterprise UK, 2012b).
Government acknowledges that self-build homes are often distinguished by their excellent quality and design (Prisk, 2012; UK Cohousing Network, 2013a), whilst Wallace et al. consider the current concentration of house-building into ever smaller numbers of firms to be problematic, as it does not deliver the necessary new supply in sufficient numbers, and typically produces poor housing design and poor customer satisfaction(2013, p. 17).Parvin et al. (2011a, p. 32)take space provision as a general indicator of ‘generosity’ and state that the average size of a self-provided home is significantly more generous than the UK new-build average[1], whilst Barlow et al. also observe that self-provision results in houses which are generally of a higher-quality and larger size than speculative houses (Barlow et al., 2001).
Parvin et al. also note that the attention to the value of houses as places to live also translates into a greater interest in technical innovation, either in terms of services, construction materials or overall space design (2011a, p. 32), whilst self-providers also design for their individual family needs, which may include:
“… highly customised provisions for, say, a disabled user, but also might include features that a speculative housebuilder would rarely provide, such as the ability to convert part of the house into an annexe, or a space for working or practicing a hobby.”
The Construction Industry Council acknowledges that self-builders are likely to have a focus on the overall quality of their development including cost and performance in use and build quality (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 16), which it describes in contrast to volume house-builders with ‘no particular interest’ in higher quality or faster build times (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 5).
A post-occupancy study of the Stroud Cohousing scheme[2] - the first new-build cohousing scheme in the UK, built in 2004 - by the Institute of Sustainability found that a Building Use Survey (BUS)[3] ranked the homes as the highest-ranking development in the BUS database at the point of survey. The scheme had relatively low carbon emissions when compared to UK benchmark and exhibited few thermal anomalies in the external envelope, indicating good build quality. Comments collected as part of the study also highlighted the residents’ awareness of the shortfalls in construction, indicating a high level of forgiveness resulting from their involvement in the self-providing process (Pasquale, 2013).
Some sources also describe how a more diverse housing market would ‘drive up quality’ across the industry (Brinkley, 2013; Stevens, 2013b), illustrated by Parvin et al. (2011a, p. 34)as:
“The presence of a large self-provided sector would, undoubtedly, drive the speculative market to compete more vigorously on quality. But recognising the potential in this paradigm shift, many of the existing large housebuilding companies will alter their business model to serve and profit-from the self-provided sector as much as compete with it. The transition from a speculative-housebuilding-only world to a more diverse range of housing models can therefore be gradual, competitive and surprisingly permissive.”
[1] “The average size of a self-provided home is 218m2. If we adjust this figure to take account of the fact that self-provided houses tend to be 3-4 bedroom houses (3.75 bedrooms on average),11 an equivalent 2.5 bedroom house would have an area of 145m2 That’s significantly more generous than the UK new-build average of 82.7m2.” (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 32 using data from Buildstore “Self build moving centre stage” (Buildstore, 2009) and the Italian Housing Federation “Housing Statistics in the EU” (Italian Ministry of Infrastructure, 2006))
[2] See (Architype, 2013).
[3] See http://www.busmethodology.org.uk/process/ for an overview of the BUS survey and its use in assessing the quality of buildings.
Whilst a well-established and industry-recognised definition of ‘sustainable’ already exists within the Code for Sustainable Homes (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 9), the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires a much more holistic consideration of the social, economic and environmental benefits of development, against which many collective self-build schemes can be considered as highly sustainable (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 9), typically placing value on reduced impact of the development as a whole.
The Lancaster Cohousing development, for example, places great emphasis on reducing reliance on individual ownership of vehicles and other products such as washing machines and lawnmowers (Self Build Portal, 2013a), illustrating the potential of collective forms of self-provision to ‘reduce the amount of ‘clutter’ and unnecessary stuff that individual householders tend to acquire’. (UK Cohousing Network, 2013b).
Wallace et al. point out, however, that environmental ideals may not be the prime motivator for all self-builders, citing the Office for Fair Trading’s observation that meeting the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes was a burden for some self-builders (OFT, 2007 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17). However, it is likely that requirements will be much less onerous if access to support in meeting these requirements from planning and design professionals can be facilitated by some kind of enabling arrangement, either from a private developer, local authority or third-sector organisation.
However, the financial rewards for self-providers who build sustainably are still very tangible – in that, as users of the product being produced they benefit directly from investment in energy-saving measures such as higher-than-normal levels of insulation, passive-solar design and renewable technologies – and an aspiration to procure housing that supports a sustainable life-style is often a founding principal of Collective Custom Build Groups[1].
[1] See the LILAC project (LILAC, 2013; UK Cohousing Network, 2013a), Lancaster Cohousing (Jennings et al., 2012; Lancaster Cohousing, 2013; Self Build Portal, 2013a), and Ashley Vale self-build neighbourhood (CABE, 2011; Leach et al., 2000; Moulding, 2012; Self Build Portal, 2013b)among others.
Long-term Affordability
One of the issues often framed as a benefit of self-provision is the lack of involvement by developers on a speculative basis, resulting in cost savings of around 20-30% due to the absence of ‘developer’s profit’ - added to reward the developer for the risk of development. In self-provided models, this reward is retained by the self-provider; and this can result in a more economic building or a building of much higher specification that would otherwise be affordable – or even a combination of the two. The Policy Exchange, for instance, argues that homes which might be put on the market for £220,000 by a developer could be “self-built” for £130,000 – with the added bonus that they would be specially designed for the family which moves in (Morton, 2013, pp. 4–5), and Parvin et al. (2011a, p. 33)describe how the overall cost of a self-provided home to the user can be significantly lower than an equivalent market home would be.
“Although at present self-provided housing may be less cost-efficient in terms of pure construction, the overall cost of a self-provided home to the user is significantly lower than an equivalent market home would be, because there is no marketing cost, and no profit margin going to external shareholders. This means that even where the self-provider buys the land, the overall cost of the project is around a third less than the equivalent cost on the market. The financial cost of the project can also be massively reduced through users investing so-called ‘sweat equity’: taking on work which would otherwise have be paid for (whether it be project management or actual construction tasks) and doing it for yourself.”
(Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 33).
Some groups, such as the Ashley Vale Action Group, which procured a self-built neighbourhood at Ashley Vale, in Bristol, cite cost savings enabled through working together as a critical factor for the success of their project (Moulding, 2012, p. 35); whilst - in assessing the feasibility of delivering affordable housing at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - the London Olympic Development Corporation (LLDC) found that Collective Custom Build housing could provide homes that are more affordable on a per-square-metre basis than developer-led speculative housing, by providing an avenue to homeownership for those who would not otherwise be able to afford to live in a given area, stating:
“…encouragement and guidance of custom-builders to form co-operative groups could make custom-build more accessible, without creating different classes of housing or an ‘affordability’ threshold. Custom-build groups can acquire homes of greater value than they would as individual households, and for much less than the equivalent market value of each property.”
(Roberts, 2012, p. 10)
Wallace at al point out that UK and international reports suggest that individuals are motivated to self-build because they obtain a bespoke home that meets their individual needs and aspirations at a cost unavailable in the wider housing market (Brown, 2007; Building Societies Association, 2011; Dol et al., 2012; IN: Wallace et al., 2013, pp. 17–18), whilst an unpublished DCLG survey, cited by the Building Societies Association, National Self Build Association and current Housing Minister, Mark Prisk, found that one in two people see self-build as a less-expensive route into homeownership (Building Societies Association, 2011 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17).
Additionally, the potential for alternative ownership and land tenure arrangements, such as mutual home ownership[1] and community land trusts[2], means self-provided housing can be intrinsically more affordable on a permanent basis (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 33), principally by separating the cost of homes from the cost of the land they are built on.
Indeed, some models of Collective Custom Build have been developed to specifically address the issue of localised affordability, or rather, the lack of local, affordable homes. Providing affordable housing – and maintaining affordability in perpetuity – is a founding principle of some groups, such as the LILAC project in Leeds (LILAC, 2013), and the East London CLT initiative in Bow, east London (East London Community Land Trust, 2013), and the Building Societies Association notes that ‘self-build’ presents a particular opportunity to make housing affordable for a new generation of homeowners and ‘first time buyers’ (Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3)
This differentiates it from many of the ‘affordable housing’ mechanisms which we have relied on over recent years, such as shared ownership and shared equity schemes, many of which could be better described as ‘the temporary mitigation of unaffordability’ (Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 33).
[1] See ‘Popular Culture’ in this study.
[2] See (Parvin et al., 2011a, pp. 33–34)and ‘Popular Culture’ in this study.
Resilient Supply and Unlocking Investment
Parvin et al. point out that at a time when lending from banks is low, self-builders can actually give an extra boost to the housing supply (and wider economy) because of the capital they already own and bring to the project, including “the financial capital they bring through savings, mortgages, rent and sweat equity” and also the “individual and collective social and environmental capital”; their knowledge, their contacts, their determination to succeed and their commitment to a more sociable, sustainable lifestyle, which shapes the places they build (2011a, p. 33).
Drawing on evidence from multiple recessions (Barlow et al., 2001; IN: Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 33), Parvin et al. also note that self-providers continue to build houses during periods of economic uncertainty:
“Because speculative housing is built to sell, rather than to live in, it is a production process that more or less stops if the market falls. As such it is highly vulnerable to market volatility, and economic cycles of boom and bust. By contrast, self-providers are building to live in houses rather than sell them (even if they plan to sell at some point in the future) so generally they continue to build through economic downturns if they can.”
Parvin et al. also note the wider benefit to housing supply in the UK:
“Even when these houses come to be sold to others, they are more generous and characterful, qualities which are highly desirable to prospective buyers in the secondhand market. The potential benefits [of a range of customised homes becoming part of the UK housing stock] which might accrue are not just to market quality, but also to the economy as a whole, if our dwellings become more generous providers of space, including spaces which are not strictly programmed for consumption, but useable for hobbies or new business … [then] thousands more UK homes [might have] ‘spare’ workspace to support fledgling inventions and enterprises.”
Wallace et al. (2013)cite a quote by Ambrose that describes how self-provision in groups, such as Collective Custom Build, can unlock housing development in the context of scarce resources:
“[First] … that if there is very little or no public money, then ingenuity and new practices have to the extent that is possible, to serve instead. The second is that if community and resident participation can be achieved, and if the people who have a direct interest in improving their homes and immediate environment can be drawn into the process, then the ‘release’ and organisation of individual and group energies can help to bring about desired outcomes even in periods of great financial stringency.’
(Ambrose, 1994, p. 192, IN:; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 18)
Collective Custom Build also has some value in tipping difficult sites into viability, and in turn increasing the volume of housing produced. Anecdotal evidence suggests that by securing a sale up front – by giving an option to a self-providing group on the first phase of a site – house-builders could seed the delivery of housing across the wider site with high-quality dwellings and an attractive, established community. Hill states that this is often that case in North American, where volume house-builders will hardly ever start building without a secured sale (Hill, 2013a)and Collective Custom Build groups such as Cohousing groups are beginning to see the value they offer to developers in terms of marketing, seeding a sense of community, identity and place that in turn helps to sell further phases of speculatively built houses (Hill, 2013b).
‘Self-build’ in general can also be the only solution in situations where speculative builders have withdrawn completely from the local market, as observed in Scotland by Clapham et al. (Clapham et al., 1993 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013, pp. 17–18), and as is resolutely the case in the Middlehaven district of Middlesbrough, which formed the focus of an HCA Custom Build Workshop in January 2013 (HCA, 2013).
'Liveable' Communities
As Parvin et al. note, building housing which supports strong community interaction has, for a long time, been a key objective in housing policy, but usually as a rhetorical addendum to housing policy, rather than a practical structuring mechanism for it (2011a, p. 33). Campaigns and organisations, such as Shelter, and the Campaign To End Loneliness note that housing provision has the capacity to support the development of community friendship ties that in turn play a qualitative role in improving the general quality of life, that can also generate quantifiable long-term savings in welfare spending: on crime, street maintenance, childcare and care of the elderly which result from the mutual support given by friends and neighbours.
“One of the key structural weaknesses of the speculative housing delivery model is that because end-users have no role in the production process, it isolates them as individuals. Your neighbour is simply whoever you end up buying the house next-door to. Policymakers and architects have therefore been on a steep uphill struggle trying to support any community cohesion at all. They have tried to do so largely on the supposition that somehow the design of three-dimensional objects in a certain way can engender positive community interaction. To some extent it can, but speculative housebuilders are naturally cautious about taking unconventional design decisions that may help do this (such as creating no-car zones between front doors). Not knowing their buyer, they tend towards a lowest-common-denominator sales offer: high-security; high-privacy; clearly delineated ownership; minimum-effort access. Self-provided housing (particularly group self-provided housing or co-housing) forms relationships through the actual process of making a place, rather than expecting the product alone to engender community relationships in spite of the isolating procurement process. This also means that design questions can be negotiated, and users can co-design the kind of neighbourhood they want to live in.”
The rewards of building a community, creating shared spaces and resources are described by Ted Stevens, Chair of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) as ‘infinite’ (UK Cohousing Network, 2013b), and there is considerable anecdotal evidence to suggest that the process of designing, procuring and/or physically buildings together can generate a wealth of social value, expressed primarily as feelings of neighbourliness among group members (Ash et al., 2013; Brenton, 2013; Brinkley, 2013; Hill, 2013c, 2013d; Stevens, 2013c). People in Britain are living longer, and increasingly, spending their last years alone and describing themselves as lonely (Khaleeli, 2013)and some sources highlight the particular opportunity for models of mutual living, like Cohousing, to address the issue of isolation in an ageing population (Brenton, 2013; Moore, 2013a, 2013b).
Collective Custom Build represents a route to more stable communities. Ted Stevens suggests that self-builders don’t just build a home, but create sustainable communities; putting down deep roots and moving on average only once every 25 years compared to the national average of once every 6 years (Stevens, 2013b), whilst Scheurer and Newman suggest that relationships are also built when people engage with the self-build process, resulting in ‘conflict tested’ communities in which bonds formed between neighbours are stronger than in other types of communities (Scheurer and Newman, 2009 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17).
Some sources also acknowledge the role that stable ‘self build’ communities have to play in ‘placemaking’ or community building, as people participate in the planning of their immediate neighbourhood and many self-builders value this aspect of the group-builds (Parvin et al., 2011b and ; Cerulli and Field, 2011; Hill, 2009; Broer and Titheridge, 2010; OFT, 2007; IN: Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17).
A recent study by researchers at Exeter University also showed that quality of life was perceived to be better in neighbourhoods that feature a significant collective self-built development - such as Ashley Vale in Bristol - when compared to the wider city (Clarke, 2012; IN: Stevens, 2013d). The London Legacy Development Corporation, evaluating the feasibility of offering Custom Build housing as part of the London 2012 Olympic park, lists a number of other, wider community benefits that could be achieved using such a strategy:
1. Sharing of land costs, construction costs, and professionals’ fees, makes the whole process more affordable for individuals. Large groups can benefit from economies of scale and their combined strength as a purchasing unit. Risk is aggregated between members, making the group a more attractive proposition for lenders.
2. A group can pool their knowledge and skills, supporting and motivating each other. By becoming a single ‘client’, they make large savings by sharing overheads (time and money). Members of a group with specific construction skills can also put in sweat-equity, significantly reducing the up-front cost.
3. A community network is formed ‘incidentally’ by the process of working together as a group. This can lead to a lasting mutual involvement in the governance of, and care for the neighbourhood and perhaps each other. In this sense we can think of building community social ties as a being a positive side-effect of building the houses themselves, or vice versa.15
4. Building as a group opens the door to new collaborative tenure / ownership models, such as a community land trust, or mutual home ownership.
5. Group custom-build can achieve higher densities than individual custom-build. This is important in making efficient use of land, and also allows custom-builders to afford sites at a cost comparable to a developer of high-density housing.
Collective Custom Build can also facilitate greater public participation in planning and development decisions and often empowers groups of people to take ownership of where they live. Research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also suggests that ‘self-build’ in general can be a route to involving local people in decision making about housing delivery (Burgess et al., 2010, p. 6)and that there is potential for local housing trusts, community land trusts and self-build to not only deliver more housing but also to empower local communities (Burgess et al., 2010, p. 7)and is acknowledged as an integral component of central Government’s localism ambitions (Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3).
Mechanisms that enable self-provision of housing can also empower local communities and make the planning process more effective in meeting people’s needs (Falk and Carley, 2012; Boonstra and Boelens, 2011; Burgess et al., 2010; IN: Wallace et al., 2013), and moreover, as Wallace et al. highlight, citizen activism and engagement with the planning and development process were critical in the success of major international self-build developments at Vauban in Freiburg ,Germany (Bagaeen, 2006; Scheurer and Newman, 2009; IN: Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17), and the Homeruskwartier at Almere in the Netherlands (Qu and Hasselaar, 2011 IN: ; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 18).
Measuring Social Value
Significant, recent work on measuring social value has been conducted by Fujiwara and the Housing Association’s Charitable Trust (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013), building on guidance included in the HM Treasury’s ‘Green Book’ of guidance on evaluating and auditing Government initiatives ((Fujiwara & Campbell, 2011) IN: HM Treasury, 2003, pp. 57–59)and recent calls from academics and public sector organisations for further research in the field (Chevin, 2013; Parvin et al., 2011a, p. 33).
In this research, Fujiwara and HACT monetise the value of a number of factors related to housing quality and housing tenure that impact on well-being, deriving values for different indicators of housing quality, such as the value associated with the lack of neighbour noise or with a lack of problems related to damp and condensation - and non-housing ‘interventions’ - meaning any type of project, programme, policy or change made by a housing provider (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, pp. 9–10). They also conduct a review of the literature on ways to measure social impact on welfare, and non-welfare-related outcomes such as housing quality, comparing techniques such as Social Return on Investment (SROI), Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA).
Discussing the theory of evaluation, Fujiwara and HACT state:
“The welfare economic theory on valuation that underpins CBA[1] and SROI[2] analysis is that developed by John Hicks and others (Hicks & Allen, 1934). This states that the value of a good or service is subjective and should reflect the utility that people derive from it, where utility refers to the notion of underlying welfare or wellbeing. In other words, a monetary value should reflect the change in an individual’s utility or wellbeing due to experiencing or consuming of the good.”
(Ibid. 2013, p. 11)
Fujiwara and HACT use the Wellbeing Valuation (WV) method to account for social value[3]. In terms of housing, this method looks directly at how people’s self-reports of their levels of wellbeing are affected by housing conditions and attaches a monetary value to this impact (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 11), estimating the value of things to individuals by assessing the impacts they have on people’s wellbeing (Ibid. 2013, p. 44),
This method is relatively new and has been gaining popularity in the academic literature and is now recognised by the UK HM Treasury Green Book guidance on policy evaluation ((Fujiwara & Campbell, 2011) IN: HM Treasury, 2003, pp. 57–59). In essence, the WV approach derives monetary values for different goods and services, like health, housing and social relationships, by estimating the amount of money required to keep individuals just as happy or satisfied with life in the absence of the good[4]- i.e., to keep their wellbeing constant (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 22).
Fujiwara points out that we must recognize the fundamental normative (or philosophical) arguments and assumptions we have made when thinking about social value and wellbeing - and that how we measure wellbeing consequently matters for how we measure social value and make social decisions (Ibid. 2013, p. 44),
Deciding what outcomes matter (i.e., social value, asset value, income or exchequer value) and then conceptualising how to measure the benefit of these outcomes (for example, are we concerned with the satisfaction of people’s preferences, rights or life satisfaction, or a combination of all?) are major challenges for housing providers of any kind.
The study provides an informative - rather than definitive - analysis about the value created by non-housing interventions, considering key housing factors that influence social value:
Lack of space
Neighbour noise
Street noise
Poor lighting
Bad heating
Local environment (pollution)
(Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 13)
The study aligns these variables - taken from BHPS data[5] - with other benchmarks, such as United Nation’s definition of adequate housing[6], and discusses them alongside non-housing ‘interventions’ made by organisations such as Housing Associations that can add social value, such as:
Jobs and training
Learning and skills
Promoting independence
Safer, stronger communities
Creating better places to live
The social impact of these is discussed in relation to housing factors that enter our experiences – those that impact on life satisfaction and happiness, and Fujiwara notes that ‘…of all the housing problems, neighbour noise has the largest negative effect on both life satisfaction and happiness and is the second most important determinant of people’s desire to move house’(Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 21).
A worked example of how social value can be calculated using the Wellbeing Valuation method, taken from Fujiwara is given below:
“ Example value of good quality Housing Association home
· In this example we assume that a housing organisation builds or provides an additional 1,000 good quality homes, which accommodate people who would otherwise have been in poor quality private sector accommodation.
· This intervention would have a value of £973 per person per year and assume that on average two people live in these new homes.
· These 1,00 homes would have a total value of £1.95m per year to these 2,000 people
· These houses would continue to have this value in subsequent years provided that they were kept in good condition.
· The overall value to society of this intervention could be understood by comparing the costs of building and maintaining the houses to the value that people place on the housing for the life of the houses. “
A further example, relating to the Wellbeing Evaluation of employment is:
“… below we will derive an indicative value for employment, which will show the value individuals attach to being employed, will be a useful gauge of the value created by HA’s employment and enterprise services only if we can make some assumptions about how many additional people an association helped get in to employment.
For example, the study found that unemployment works out at a cost of about £8,700 per year, using the WV approach and note that this is in addition to the loss of wage income and hence should be seen as the non-financial costs of unemployment (i.e., they relate to the emotional costs of unemployment).
(Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, pp. 31–33)
The method is also used to evaluate health problems - with depression or anxiety estimated at around £43,453 per person per year, almost twice the figure associated with the next most significant value, associated with alcohol or drug-related problems (Ibid. 2013, p. 33).
Fujiwara draw attention to the emergence of innovative methodologies – using resources such as WikiVOIS[7] and Community Insight mapping tool[8] – that are capable of building a common language for evaluating social value, but agree with Parvin et al. (2011a, p. 33) and Chevin (2013)in noting that further work is needed in developing practical tools to enable housing providers to make use of the insights in this and follow-up research, to support decision making and impact reporting within their organisations, particularly a robust model capable of integrating the social value metrics being generated by current and ongoing research with asset valuation models used by housing providers (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 47).
[1] Cost-Benefit Analysis
[2] Social Return On Investment
[3] A central assumption of the wellbeing valuation approach is that measures of wellbeing (here life satisfaction) are good proxies of an individual’s underlying utility. In this sense, the utility function and its level sets (the indifference curves) can be directly observed and it is possible to estimate the marginal rates of substitution (MRS) between income and the non-market good to provide an estimate of value. For example, if a 20% reduction in local crime rates increases the life satisfaction of an individual by 1 index point and an increase in household income of £5,000 p.a. also increases their life satisfaction by 1 index point, then we would conclude that the value of the 20% reduction in crime to them is £5,000 per year (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 48).
[4] Fujiwara and HACT use the term ‘good’ to refer to any product service or experience that we are trying to value - Page 22.
[5] BHPS data is generated by the British Household Panel Survey, a long-running study that collects socio-economic information of private households in Great Britain.
[6] Please refer to (Fujiwara and HACT, 2013, p. 13)for an overview of comparisons, or to UN Habitat’s ‘The Right To Adequate Housing’ (2009) available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS21_rev_1_Housing_en.pdf
[7] The WikiVOIS database as been initiated by the SROI Network and aims to provide a comprehensive database of tools and terms for measuring social value. Please visit http://www.wikivois.org/index.php?title=Main_Page to find out more.
[8] Community Insight is a Geographic Information System (GIS) based tool providing online community mapping and reporting for housing providers, developed by the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT). For more information, please visit http://www.hact.org.uk/communityinsight .
Social Impact of Housing Providers
Read a report entitled 'The Social Impact of Housing Providers' produced by Daniel Fujiwara and the Housing Associations' Charitable Trust to learn about ways to evaluate social value in housing provision
Value Architecture
Read about 'value architecture' and why who builds our houses matters as much as what they build, in 'A Right To Build - The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry', pp.21-35
Senior Cohousing
Read a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that outlines the benefits of cohousing for elderly people, drawing on examples from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands to learn lessons for the UK
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Hill, S., 2013c. We are the 75% - Resident-owned communities in Europe and the USA.
Hill, S., 2013d. Market Failure – Who are the real “Clients of Place”?
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Defining Collective Custom Build
Collective Custom Build initiatives can be understood as a form of self-provided housing, often representing ...
Enabling groups of people to come together in order to provide their own homes collectively or as part of a multi-unit site is commonly viewed as the most viable way to ‘scale-up’ self-provision as a mainstream procurement route for housing in the UK[1].
There is some disparity in the terms used to refer to collective forms of self-provision, which this study aims to clarify by offering an initial definition that embraces the recent political and commercial attention paid to the idea of self-provided housing, most notably the increasingly frequent use of the term ‘Custom Build Homes’ (DCLG, 2011, pp. 14–16)in reference to self-provision[2].
Collective Custom Build initiatives can be understood as a form of self-provided housing[3], often representing unique products of particular stakeholder partnerships that respond to local contexts, broadly categorised as one of three main types;
1 - Independent Group Custom Build – in which a group of people come together to provide housing primarily for themselves to occupy, but which may also include a proportion for sale or for rent. The group leads and project manages the project. Projects are usually initiated by a group of citizens who form around a core idea or principle, such as an aspiration to provide affordable homes, or the lifestyle ideals of the Cohousing movement[4].
Please refer to ‘Examples of Independent Group Custom Build’ below.
2 – Developer Enabled Custom Build – in which a private developer or house-builder will build homes specifically for known occupants on a ‘multi-unit site’. Projects are initiated, led and project managed by a private company in one of two general forms:
a). Custom Build Developer or Home Manufacturer - directly constructing homes on behalf of customers who have specified a custom-designed home, usually on relatively small sites, or as smaller schemes within larger developments;
b) Development Manager - receiving a fee in return for overseeing the Custom Build process and managing supply chains on large sites as well as facilitating access to financial advice and other professional support. Development Management can also happen on small sites, or on a number of dispersed sites under a single development framework.
The developer will usually deal with customers as individuals within the ‘group’ scheme and the level of ‘collectiveness’ experienced by the group is dictated by the process by which the developer manages the group. Generally, the developer also takes responsibility for the infrastructure and urban form of the site and may also offer part-built options - such as ‘serviced plot’, ‘slab only’, ‘water-tight shell’ or ‘self-finish’ - in which the self-provider takes responsibility for completing a degree of the work on their home in return for cost savings.
Please refer to ‘Examples of Developer Enabled Custom Build’ below.
3 - Supported Community Custom Build – in which a Local Authority, Registered Provider of Social Housing, 3rd sector organisation or special-purpose partnership - support a group of people to provide their own homes. There are a number of sub-categories of Supported Community Custom Build:
a) Enabled Community Custom Build[5] - The group can be formed by a particular organisation with the specific purpose of constructing homes, usually for people in housing need, such as those facing long-term unemployment or homelessness.
b) Assisted Community Custom Build - A group has already formed independently but requires significant assistance from public or 3rd sector organisations in order to make a project viable.
c) Large Scale Enabled Custom Build - A local authority or other body provides the political leadership and land allocation to bring forward self-provision on large strategic sites, or across a number of smaller, dispersed sites under a single framework.
Please refer to ‘Examples of Supported Community Custom Build’ below.
Whilst there is some disparity and inconsistent use of terms across both academia industry publications[6], these definitions correlate strongly with those used by key sources: the Self Build Portal uses ‘Independent community collaboration’, ‘Developer led group project’ and ‘Supported community self build group’(Self Build Portal, 2013a), whilst the Building Societies Association, which represents lenders, uses the same categories - adding that contractors, as well as developers can lead ‘developer-enabled’ projects. As organisations representing, respectfully, the industry-supported portal for information of the self-provided sector and an umbrella organisation supporting lenders to provide finance for self-build, this correlation is relatively significant.
This study has found that partnerships play a critical role in developing initiatives in what is still considered to be an emerging sector and it is worth noting that the definitions given above are necessarily somewhat blurry when it comes to classifying Collective Custom Build initiatives. As such, each distinct case typically has its own set of conditions, derived from the combination of stakeholders, the level of direct involvement of each stakeholder with the procurement process, and the array of constitutional and statutory tools employed to facilitate the project[7].
Fig.5 - Types of Collective Custom Build - Diagram by the authors.
[1] A number of sources support this observation anecdotally, including a number of ‘Custom Build Developers’ and the UK Government’s Homes & Communities Agency (HCA). However, as an emerging field of study m there is very little evidence in published literature.
[2] Please refer to ‘Disparity in terms’ discussed in this section for a fuller account of the terms used to refer to collective forms of self-provision’.
[4] Cohousing is a way of living which brings individuals and families together in groups to share common aims and activities while also enjoying their own self-contained accommodation and personal space. The main features of cohousing communities are:
They are set up and run by their members for mutual benefit; Members are consciously committed to living as a community; Developments are designed to encourage social contact and a sense of neighbourhood among members; Common space facilitates shared activities like community meals and other amenities like laundries, heating systems, guest rooms, transport, etc may be shared (UK Cohousing Network, 2013a)
[5] It is worth noting that the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) differentiates between ‘Enabled Self Build’ and ‘Enabled / Assisted Community Housing’, and can usefully illustrate the subtle yet significant difference between enabling and assisting, describing the former as ‘a relatively new phenomenon that usually involves the council seconding staff to work alongside a community group to help them plan and redevelop their area’ (NaSBA, 2013c, p. 6); whilst the latter can ‘often involve the council providing financial guarantees and other support and may even ‘parachute in’ an independent specialist, consultant or enabling team to accelerate the process of community-led development’ (NaSBA, 2013c, p. 8).
[7] See the National Self Build Association’s Practice Guide, ‘How the public sector can help people build their own homes - 1st edition’(NaSBA, 2013a)for an overview of 16 distinct conditions likely to be encountered by individuals and organisations engaging with self-provided housing, including different forms of ‘enabling’ and varying degrees of direct self-provider involvement with the house-building process. These include:
1) Identities and constitutions likely to be employed by, or be useful to self-providing groups (Cohousing; Community Land Trusts; Mutual Home Ownership Societies; and Housing Trusts);
2) Tools available to local authorities and other public sector organisations that can support self-provision (Land designation or allocation policies; Neighbourhood Development Plans / Orders; Providing serviced plots for sale);
3) Terms referring to the level of direct involvement with the procurement process experienced by self-providers (DIY Self Build; Self-Convert or / Self-Refurb; Self-Finish; Enabled/Assisted Community Housing; Self Build with Construction Training; Kit / Manufactured Home Solutions)
The NaSBA definitions are important in understanding that each Collective Custom Build project has a specific identity, resulting from the specific partnership and combination of conditions unique to - and derived from - its particular context. For example, a cohousing group might approach their local authority with plans they have commissioned themselves, to build out a parcel of land allocated for self-provision, within a larger developer-led scheme.
Independent Group Custom Build - Examples
Examples[1] of this type of Collective Custom Build are The Yard at Ashley Vale in Bristol, procured by the Ashley Vale Action Group (CABE, 2011; Self Build Portal, 2013b), the Hockerton Housing Project (Self Build Portal, 2013c), the Findhorn Foundation (Self Build Portal, 2013d; Selfbuild Central, 2009), the Lancaster Cohousing (Jennings et al., 2012; Lancaster Cohousing, 2013; Self Build Portal, 2013e)development at Forgebank, Lancaster, Springhill Cohousing (Springhill Cohousing, 2013)in Stroud.
The Self Build Portal describes the benefits of Independent Group Custom Build as being:
- One of the lowest cost routes to self build - typically saving around 40% on plot costs and 10% on building costs.
- Sociable; collective custom builders get to know their neighbours as they build
- Remaining flexible in most cases in terms of individual design and construction.
- Offering an opportunity to influence the wider area, such as including communal play areas for children, allotments and other urban realm features within the overall scheme.
(Self Build Portal, 2013f)
However, it also describes the challenges as:
- It can take a long time to get a group together, and to get a clear consensus on how to use a larger site; sometimes there can be disagreements that are tricky to resolve.
- It can be difficult to raise the finance to buy a larger site. Some people may let others down - for example they may not finish their home as fast as everyone else, or 'pull their weight' on communal tasks.
(Ibid. 2013f)
For fuller details on completed and emerging schemes please refer to ‘Successful Examples – UK and International. And ‘Pioneers & Partnerships’.
[1] Some sources would also include the Low Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) scheme in Bramall, Leeds (LILAC, 2013)as an Independent Group Custom Build project, although for this study it is included as an example of Assisted Community Custom Build due to the significant assistance that the otherwise independent, self-formed group received from the local authority - who made land available - and the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), who provided a grant to remediate the land and enabled development to take place. Please refer to ‘Examples of Supported Community Custom Build’ in this section.
Developer Enabled Custom Build - Examples
Examples of emerging Custom Build Developers and Home Manufacturers include Fairgrove Homes’ ‘Custom Build’ service (Fairgrove Homes Ltd, 2013), Urban Self Build’s ‘Your Home Your Way’ service (Urban Self Build, 2013); SolidSpace’s ‘self-build service’(Solidspace, 2013); and HAB’s recent expansion to offer a ‘one-stop-shop for Self-build and Custom Finish projects’ (HAB, 2013; Rankin, 2013).
Examples of emerging larger scale Development Managers offering Custom Build on larger scale ‘multi-unit sites’ include Igloo Regeneration’s Custom Build Enabling model (Brown, 2013; Igloo, 2013), for which the developer takes a fee for managing the development framework, marketing and supply chain for a large site, within which smaller Custom Build Developers and Home Manufacturers deliver smaller schemes; and the Archihaus factory-manufactured PassivHaus product (ArchiHaus, 2013; Hines and Carlsson, 2013); and the CornerstoneZED-developed Bickleigh Down project (Bickleigh, 2012; Everard, 2013),
Large-scale models involving both types of Developer Enabled Custom Build could also be delivered by large volume house-builders, although there is currently no evidence of such initiatives beyond general interest in exploring the viability of the Collective Custom Build model.
The Self Build Portal describes the benefits of Developer Enabled Custom Build, to the collective custom build ‘customer’, as being;
Relatively simple and risk-free;
Offering a say in the design; or choice from a range of designs;
- Cheaper than buying something ‘off-the-shelf’ from a conventional house-builder, especially if self-finish and other ‘sweat-equity’ options are considered, which can result n savings of between 10-20%.
(Self Build Portal, 2013g)
However, it also describes the challenges as being;
- A relatively undeveloped market;
- Sometimes being more expensive, as the developer will want to recover their costs and make a fair profit.
(Ibid. 2013g)
Supported Community Custom Build - Examples
Historically, the Diggers Self Build(Architype, 2013; Walter Segal Self Build Trust, 2013)and Hedgehog Housing Cooperative(Architype, 2013; Bradshaw, 2013; Grand Designs Revisited, 2001; Selfbuild Central, 2013)projects represent the most widely-known Supported Community Custom Build projects and both relied heavily on an enabling role played by architects Architype, and the involvement of CHISEL and South London Family Housing Associations to deliver a Self-Build-To-Rent model of tenure.
The third sector organisation, the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) has also enabled a significant number of schemes, usually in partnership with Housing Associations and Local Authorities[1] and is an active lobbyist of local authorities and housing associations to include self-building provision within their housing strategies. The CSBA can secure funding, liaise with training organisations to include options to gain National Vocational Qualifications, and work with architects to design housing with appropriate construction techniques for self-provision (Awan et al., 2011).
Other more recent examples of large-scale enabling include Cherwell District Council’s Build! Programme (Build! Programme and Cherwell District Council, 2013)and Cornwall CLT Ltd (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a), an umbrella organisation supporting the development of local community land trusts with support from Cornwall Unitary Authority’s Revolving Loan Fund(Moore and Northcott, 2010, p. 38)and the Cornwall Rural Housing Association(Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013b), whilst the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) development in Bramall, Leeds (LILAC, 2013)is an example of otherwise independent, self-formed group that has been assisted significantly by their Local Authority - who made land available - and by the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), who provided a grant to remediate the land and enabled development to take place.
The Self Build Portal describes the benefits of Supported Community Custom Build, some of which it shares with Independent Group Custom Build, as being;
- Enabling people on low incomes to build a home – either for rent, part ownership or full ownership, by working as part of a group to minimise costs.
- Sociable; collective custom builders get to know their neighbours as they build.
- Offering an opportunity to influence the wider area, such as including communal play areas for children, allotments and other urban realm features within the overall scheme(Self Build Portal, 2013f).
- Offering the opportunity to learn construction skills that may in turn lead to increased chances of securing a job in the building industry afterwards
(Self Build Portal, 2013h).
However, it also cites the challenges as being:
- It can take time to get a group together, and to get a clear consensus on how to use a larger site; sometimes there can be disagreements that are tricky to resolve.
- It can be difficult to raise the finance to buy a site or to get funding or a donated site via a social landlord. Sometimes projects also need grants to be secured to make them fully viable and this can be challenging
- Some people may not ‘pull their weight’;
- It requires a commitment to work typically 20 hours a week for 46-60 weeks
[1] Please refer to the Community Self Build Agency website for an overview of significant projects (Community Self Build Agency, 2013)and to De Souza 2013 for an overview of their most recent project in Bedminster, Bristol (De Souza, 2013).
Disparity In Terms
It is worth some discussion of the disparity in the range of terms currently used to refer to nuanced forms of self-provided housing; particularly the inter-changeability of the terms ‘self-build’ and ‘custom build’.
Anecdotally Interchangeable terms
The phrases self-build and ‘custom build’ are often used synonymously, and are commonly freely interchangeable, although there is disparity and inconsistency in many sources.
Industry expert, Stephen Hill, describes self-build simply as a means of procurement (Hill, 2013), whilst the Office of Fair Trading defines self-build house-building activity as “any instance where a person is involved…in the production of their new home rather than buying from a speculative homebuilder”(OFT, 2007 IN; NaSBA and DCLG, 2011, p. 3).
However, there is some consensus that both self-build and custom build are better understood as forms of self-provided housing as discussed previously in this study; defined by Parvin at al. as:
In the academic literature
To date, there is relatively little academic analysis of Custom Build as a distinct field, beyond the definition of self-provided housing described above by Parvin et al. (2011a).
Wallace et al. (2013) note that the UK Government’s 2011 ‘Laying The Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England’ changed the terminology from self-build to custom build (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 11), and situates custom build as a form of enabled- self-build within the Self Build Portal’s seven ‘routes to building your own home’(Wallace et al., 2013, pp. 11–12).
Bomken et al. (2013) – focusing on developer-led models - attempt to articulate the complexity and diversity of the custom build sector in a ‘Generic Plan of Custom Build Routes’ (Bomken et al., 2013) highlighting that custom build can understood as offering a matrix of opportunities for users to benefit from direct involvement in the procurement of their housing, covering ‘sweat equity’ – the direct input of physical or other work in return for equity – and financial risks, as well as a variety of combinations of the two in varying degrees of magnitude; an ‘enabling partner’ taking on the remaining work and/or risk. Focussing on developing a sustainable delivery model for affordable housing at scale via a Community Land Trust for the North East of England, the study maps out developer-led custom build processes against the RIBA Workstages, which represent the industry-standard framework for procuring buildings and development.
Fig.6 - Generic plan of custom-build routes (Bomken et al., 2013)- Custom build can understood as offering a matrix of opportunities for users to benefit from direct involvement in the procurement of their housing, covering ‘sweat equity’ – the direct input of physical or other work in return for equity – and financial risks. The study maps out developer-led custom build processes against the RIBA Workstages, which represent the industry-standard framework for procuring buildings and development.
Disparity in terms - Government & Industry
The term custom build has arisen relatively recently in the housing industry due to use by Government bodies such as the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) in the Custom Build Homes Fund Prospectus[1] (HCA, 2012)and industry bodies such as the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) to refer to cases of self-build where a group of people are involved, or where multiple units brought forward on the same site (Stevens, 2013a). Whilst custom build appears to have been adopted as the universal, official term, many sources still frequently use self-build as an anecdotal term of reference.
Whilst some sources consider ‘custom build’ simply as the Government name for the self-build sector (McVitty and Building Societies Association, 2012), there is some consensus that custom build is a term ‘used more accurately to reflect the variety of ways in which people can have their own home built for them’, whilst self build is used to describe ‘homes which are largely built as a DIY project’ (NaSBA, 2012, p. 2). In a recent seminar presentation at the Ecobuild 2013 trade show the NaSBA Chair, Ted Stevens, effectively defined custom build as simply ‘scaled-up’ self-build, describing self-build as “’when individuals create a new home to their own design – either literally building it themselves or (more usually) working with an architect or builder/developer” and custom build as ‘“becoming recognised as the larger scale form of self build – where groups of people are involved, or a number of self build plots are delivered on a single site” (Stevens, 2013a, 2013b).
As a result, custom build is most commonly understood to refer to self-provision that involves some form of enabling role, played by a developer or other support organisation and delivering ‘multiple units’, rather than the common perception of self-build as ‘single, new-build one-off homes’ (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 3). Collective Custom Build schemes are equally likely to combine multi-unit dwellings, such as flats, maisonettes, and terraces alongside detached and semi-detached homes, and are seen as the most viable model for ‘scaling up’ self-provision as a mainstream housing option.
The HCA - in its Custom Build Homes Fund Prospectus - defines Custom Build Homes as:
“… homes built or commissioned by individuals or groups of individuals for their own use, either by building the home on their own or working with builders. Group custom build projects are where developers build group schemes for clients on multi-unit sites or where registered housing providers work with self-organised community groups and a developer or contractor to bring forward a multi-unit custom build home project.”(HCA, 2012, p. 6)
However, the definition of the term Custom Build – and specifically Collective Custom Build - should be kept necessarily broad to avoid the term being co-opted by private developers or political parties, and remain inclusive of independent group self-providing initiatives that commission housing custom-designed to suit their needs and lifestyles.
[1] Please refer to ‘Statute & Policy’ in this study for a fuller explanation of the significance of the HCA Custom Build Homes Fund.
Typical Stakeholders
The National Self Build Association (NaSBA) provide an illustrative ‘map’ of the wider self-providing sector in which Collective Custom Build sits, including the ‘self-build media’ and non-physical components, such as the aspiration for self-provision evident in the general public:
Fig.7 - Key stakeholders in the self-build sector (NaSBA, 2011, p. 18)
As a model of housing procurement, Collective Custom Build tends to involve any number of stakeholders typically involved with the UK house-building industry, in a variety of capacities, including:
Private Companies; Developers, House-builders, and ‘Supply-Chain’ businesses, such as Main Contractors, Sub-Contractors, Builder’s Merchants, Materials and Product Suppliers, Package Builders, Kit Home Manufacturers;
The Public Sector: everyone from Local Authorities (typically council leaders, elected members and officers in Planning, Housing and Estates) to central Government agencies such as the Land Registry, HMRC, and Homes & Communities Agency (HCA);
Third Sector[1]: usually Registered Providers of Social Housing (RPs), including Housing Associations, and organisations formerly referred to as Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) as well as other Private Registered Providers of Social Housing (PRPSHs). Third Sector stakeholders in housing can also include homelessness and ‘self-help’ housing organisations, like the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA)[2];
Beneficiaries: private self-organised community groups; public-sector organised community groups; or groups of individual house-holds assembled by a Developer partner on a ‘multi-unit site’;
Land-owners: Public, Private or Corporate, which may include any of the above;
Professional Advisors: Architects/Designers, Estate Agents, Solicitors, Planning Consultants, Engineers (structural, services, environmental, etc.), Building Control Advisors, Financial Advisors, Surveyors (wildlife, archaeology, etc), Project or Construction Managers;
Lenders: Mortgage Providers, Building Societies, Banks;
Umbrella Organisations: principally industry bodies, such as the National Self Build Association (NaSBA)[3], but also including organisations such as the UK Cohousing Network[4] and National CLT Network[5], or more regional support networks such as the Land Society[6] or Cornwall CLTs Ltd[7], who could also be described as part of the Third Sector.
[1] The Third Sector Research Centre has published a series of scoping papers on Third Sector housing (Third Sector Research Centre, 2013a), including an analysis of the various sub-sectors (Third Sector Research Centre, 2013b), but doesn’t refer to Registered Providers or Registered Social Landlords directly.
It also uses the 2009 Communities & Local Government (CLG) definition to define the Third Sector, which may need updating in recognition of the consensus among secondary sources that obtaining a consistent definition of the Third Sector is problematic(DBIS, 2013, p. 5). The 2009 CLG definition describes the Third Sector as comprising ‘…nongovernmental organisations that are value driven and which principally reinvest their surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives. It includes voluntary and community organisations, charities, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals. We also include housing associations within the third sector’ (CLG (2009) IN: Third Sector Research Centre, 2013b, p. 4).
[2] Please refer to the Community Self Build Agency’s website (Community Self Build Agency, 2013), or read an analytical account via the Spatial Agency database of alternative housing and ‘other ways of doing architecture’ (Awan et al., 2011).
[3] Please refer to the NaSBA website for further information (NaSBA, 2013b).
[4] Please refer to the UK Cohousing Network website for further information (UK Cohousing Network, 2013b)
[5] Please refer to the National CLT Network website for further information (National CLT Network, 2013)
[6] Please refer to the Land Society website for further information (The Land Society, 2013)
[7] Please refer to the Cornwall Rural Housing Association website for further information on Cornwall CLTs Ltd. (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013b)
Custom Build Routes
View the 'Generic Plan of Custom Build Routes' by Bomken, Crilly and Lemon, illustrating varying levels of risk and sweat equity possible with Custom Build
Self Build Portal - Independent
Visit the Self Build Portal's pages on Independent Community Collaboration
Self Build Portal - Developer
Visit the Self Build Portal's pages on Developer-led Group Projects
Self Build Portal - Supported
Visit the Self Build Portal's pages on Supported Community Self Build Groups
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Bickleigh, 2012. Bickleigh Down Eco Village [WWW Document]. URL http://www.bickleigh-eco-village.com/ (accessed 6.13.13).
Bomken, Y., Crilly, M., Lemon, M., 2013. Sustainable delivery model for affordable housing at scale - Conference presentation at Procure, Produce, Perform: An International Conference on Affordable Sustainable Housing, University of Sheffield, 7th January 2013. Presented at the Procure, Produce, Perform: An International Conference on Affordable Sustainable Housing, University of Sheffield, Sheffield.
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Self Build Portal, 2013h. Self Build Portal - Supported community self build group [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/supported-community-self-build-group (accessed 11.6.13).
Springhill Cohousing, 2013. Springhill Cohousing [WWW Document]. URL http://www.therightplace.net/coco/public/ (accessed 11.6.13).
The Land Society, 2013. The Land Society [WWW Document]. URL http://www.landsociety.org/ (accessed 6.23.13).
Third Sector Research Centre, 2013a. TSRC - Housing [WWW Document]. URL http://www.tsrc.ac.uk/Research/ServiceDeliverySD/Housing/tabid/614/Default.aspx
Third Sector Research Centre, 2013b. Briefing Paper 10 - Housing Scoping Papers Overview. Third Sector Research Centre.
UK Cohousing Network, 2013a. Frequently Asked Questions - About Cohousing [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/faq#t72n664 (accessed 7.11.13).
UK Cohousing Network, 2013b. Welcome to the UK Cohousing Network [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/ (accessed 5.29.13).
Walter Segal Self Build Trust, 2013. Diggers, Brighton [WWW Document]. URL http://www.segalselfbuild.co.uk/projects/diggers.html (accessed 11.6.13).
Statute & Policy
There have been a number of recent developments in central Government policy and statutory legislation that ...
There have been a number of recent developments in central Government policy and statutory legislation that not only create favourable conditions for, but could also be fulfilled by, the continued development of Collective Custom Build housing as viable, mainstream way of procuring housing.
- The publication of ‘Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England’ by the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG), which includes references to ‘self-build’ and is evidence that central Government acknowledges the need for a different way to deliver housing (DCLG, 2011, pp. 1–4);
- The introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (DCLG, 2012)[1] which places a duty on local authorities to identify and provide for those that wish to build their own homes;
- The launch of the Custom Build Homes Fund (HCA, 2012)by the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), which makes financial incentives available to ‘multi-unit’, ‘custom build’ pilot schemes;
Some sources also highlight the opportunities presented by the recent redefinition of the Community Right To Build to include access to a dedicated support fund for community groups that wish to develop designs and build houses[2] (GOV.UK, 2013), and the underlying framework presented by the Public Services (Social Value) Act (UK Government, 2012), which helps local authorities account for social value when auditing an evaluating proposals and decisions and offers an opportunity to support local, independent housing solutions over those from volume house-builders[3].
Many recent developments can are attributable – directly or indirectly – to the activity of the Self-Build Government-Industry Working Group, which published An Action Plan to Promote the Growth of Self-Build Housing (NaSBA, 2011), in association with the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) in 2011. The ‘Action Plan…’ principally encourages local authorities to use self-build as a way of helping to deliver sustainable, affordable housing, and includes research conducted by the DCLG to understand how the self-build sector operates in Australia, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Scotland and the US (Owen et al., 2011).
Since the launch of ‘An Action Plan…’ and the subsequent publication of the Housing Strategy, the Working Group has been working to progress the main recommendations set out in An Action Plan… , under the new identity of the Self Build Implementation Group, and with the support of NaSBA. On the 19th April 2012, NaSBA presented ‘A Progress Report to Government on the Implementation of the Action Plan to the Minister for Housing and Local Government’ (NaSBA, 2012). The Progress Report describes initiatives such as meetings with contractors and lenders, special workshops for planning officers and the preparation of a comprehensive Self Build Portal[4] to assist all future would-be self-builders. In addition more than £100,000 worth of support has also been provided by many of the self- build industry’s leading organisations to help fund some of these initiatives (Ibid. 2012, p. 3), and NaSBA continues to monitor the growth of the ‘self-build’ sector in association with the Self Build Implementation Group.
[1] Read a commentary on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) from the Royal Town Planning Institute in (RTPI, 2013).
[2] Specifically, this now includes pre-application support from consultants, such as architects, sustainability specialists and developers as eligible costs in preparing schemes.
[3] A guide to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 is available in (Social Enterprise UK, 2012). Chevin notes that under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, organisations like housing associations must define the social and economic value and impact of the services they offer, when tendering for a contract from a local authority or another relevant body (Chevin, 2013, p. 31). The HM Treasury also provides advice on how to account for social value in auditing and evaluating its investments and decision-making, in its Green Book (HM Treasury, 2003), which has a recently updated section on the topic taking into account the latest available research.
[4] This initiative has since been launched - see www.selfbuildportal.org.uk (Self Build Portal, 2013).
Laying The Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England
In Laying The Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England, central Government acknowledges the need for a different way to deliver housing(DCLG, 2011, pp. 1–4)and sets out a policy ambition of increasing self-build homes from 100,000 to 200,000 over the next decade (Ibid. 2011, p. 9).
The Self-Build Government-Industry Working Group’s An Action Plan to Promote the Growth of Self-Build Housing directly influenced the development of the Housing Strategy, securing the inclusion of an entire section on Custom Build (NaSBA, 2011, pp. 14–16)- a newly introduced term referring generally to ‘self-build’ - driving a shift in the terminology used within the house-building industry to refer to self-provided housing. The Housing Strategy also included the announcement of the £30m Custom Build Loan Fund and the policy of making public land available for self-builders, both of which were direct recommendations of the Self-Build Government-Industry Working Group.
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
The Self-Build Government-Industry Working Group’s An Action Plan to Promote the Growth of Self-Build Housing also directly influenced the final form of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published on 27 March 2012 (DCLG, 2012)[1]. The NPPF is a key part of central Government’s planning reforms, designed to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, to protect the environment and to promote sustainable growth (GOV.UK, 2012; RTPI, 2013), reportedly simplifying the number of policy pages about planning from more than 1000 pages of planning guidance to around 50 (McCann, 2012).
The framework acts as guidance for local planning authorities and decision-takers, both in drawing up plans and making decisions about planning applications (GOV.UK, 2012)and therefore has significant influence in how Local Authorities deliver planning policy.
Paragraph 159 of the NPPF places a duty on local authorities to assess the local needs of ‘those that want to build their own home’ alongside the needs of other distinct groups, as well as make provision for that demand. It also introduces the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) and Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) as the means of carrying out these duties, describing the duty as being to:
Paragraph 159 of the NPPF describes the duty as being to:
‘…prepare a Strategic Housing Market Assessment to assess their full housing needs, working with neighbouring authorities where housing market areas cross administrative boundaries. The Strategic Housing Market Assessment should identify the scale and mix of housing and the range of tenures that the local population is likely to need over the plan period which:
- …meets household and population projections, taking account of migration and demographic change;
- .addresses the need for all types of housing, including affordable housing and the needs of different groups in the community (such as, but not limited to, families with children, older people, people with disabilities, service families and people wishing to build their own homes); and
- …caters for housing demand and the scale of housing supply necessary to meet this demand.’
(Emphasis added: DCLG, 2012, pp. 38–39)
The significance of the inclusion of a reference to self-build in the NPPF is highlighted by Ted Stevens, Chair of the National Self Build Association, who states:
“Self Build/Custom Build is set to grow in a new planning policy context. It’s real Localism; the Big Society in action. It gives people more choice and better value and it makes housing affordable for a new generation. Innovative group projects deliver fantastic communities that we can all learn from.”
(Stevens, 2013a)
There is some anecdotal uncertainty from local authorities in applying SHMAs and SHLAAs in practice and available guidance on what constitutes evidence of demand is described as very open and discretionary[2].
[2] Evidence drawn from Motivating Collective Custom Build Focus Group workshop, held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London on 18th May 2013 (Brown et al., 2013).
HCA Custom Build Homes Fund
The Custom Build Homes Fund was announced as part of Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England, which established £30 million of support, made available to provide short-term project finance to ‘custom build’ sector on a repayable basis and designed to unlock ‘group Custom Build Home projects which can experience difficulties in accessing conventional loan finance’ (DCLG, 2011, p. 15).
The Custom Build Homes Fund is intended for group Custom Build Projects, which it defines as:
’…where developers build group schemes for clients on multi-unit sites or where registered housing providers work with self organised community groups and a developer or contractor to bring forward a multi-unit custom build home project.’
(HCA, 2012, p. 6).
As such, it has been criticised for preferencing Custom Build Developers over independent self-providing groups[1].
The Revolving Loan initiative is supported by a programme of land promotion, with agencies such as the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) and Greater London Authority (GLA) looking at bringing sites forward across the country specifically for ‘self-build’, with particular preference for multi-unit proposals to be delivered on those sites (Stevens, 2013b).
The latest comprehensive spending review[2] from central Government has further consolidated the role of the HCA, now designated as the single point of contact for centralised disposal of Government land holdings to ensure land is released efficiently (HM Treasury, 2013, pp. 41–42). This new status could enhance its capacity to make land available specifically for Collective Custom Build schemes, particular large-scale enabled schemes led jointly by local authorities and private developers, which offer the most promising opportunity to test continental models of volume self-provision in the UK.
[1] Significant concerns were raised in response to a presentation by Andy Nelson of the HCA on the progress of the Custom Build Homes programme at EcoBuild 2013 who, - although describing the progress of the programme as meeting expectations - could not confirm whether any independently-established self-providing groups had been able to access support (Nelson, 2013).
[2] Also referred to as the CSR, or Spending Round.
NPPF
Refer to paragraph 159 in the NPPF which places a duty on local authorities to address the needs of people wishing to build their own homes
NPPF - RTPI
Read a commentary on the implications of the NPPF from the Royal Town Planning Institute
Visit the Homes & Communities Agency's 'Custom build' pages to download the 'Custom Build Homes Fund Prospectus' or make an application for support
Investing In Britain's Future
Read the HM Treasury's 'Investing In Britain's Future' report, which details support for housing made available in the latest Government Spending Round
Community Right To Build - Locality
Read an explanation of how the Community Right To Build works from Locality
Community Right To Build - Government
Read the Department for Communities & Local Government documentation about the Community Right To Build
Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 - Guide
Read a brief guide to implementing the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 written by Social Enterprise UK
Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 - Act
Read the official legislation behind the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
read the HM Treasury's Green Book, giving guidance on appraisal and evaluation in government, which includes specific up-to-date guidance on how to account for social value in decision making
DCLG, 2012. National Planning Policy Framework.
GOV.UK, 2012. Policy Paper - National Planning Policy Framework [WWW Document]. URL https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework--2 (accessed 5.31.13).
GOV.UK, 2013. News Story - Funding boost for aspiring self-builders [WWW Document]. URL https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-for-aspiring-self-builders (accessed 6.23.13).
HM Treasury, 2013. Investing In Britan’s Future - Spending Round 2013. Crown, London.
McCann, K., 2012. Government announces National Planning Policy Framework. Guardian Professional.
Nelson, A., 2013. £30m HCA funding for custom build housing - seminar presentation at Ecobuild 2013, 05/03/2013.
Self Build Portal, 2013. The Self Build Portal - The Gateway to more Custom Build Homes [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/ (accessed 5.29.13).
Social Enterprise UK, 2012. Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 - A brief guide. Social Enterprise UK, London.
UK Government, 2012. Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
There is a growing awareness - and application - in mainstream popular culture of alternative means of production and consumption ...
There is a growing awareness - and application - in mainstream popular culture of alternative means of production and consumption. Groups of people are finding new ways to come together - both digitally and physically - to engage directly in the means of production and consumption of products that would ordinarily be expected to be provided entirely by others, and to emphasise participatory governance and user-led procurement.
Interest is growing in alternative models of housing development whereby a community group takes the lead in developing housing. Groups often form – or consolidate themselves – around a core idea such as self-providing affordable homes[1], a strong environmental agenda[2], or simply through a shared community of need or interest, such as groups of single-parent families[3]. In many cases, the procurement of a bespoke housing solution is often integral to the wider lifestyle or economic aspirations of the founding group’s members.
Becoming constituted as a legal entity is commonly cited as a critical factor in enabling community groups to interact with legal, financial, institutional and other professionals within the construction industry[4]. The lack of such a constitution - and means to consolidate potentially fractious group dynamics - in a group that seeks to self-provide housing can be seen as a barrier to ultimate success.
Some alternative development models have established precedent bases in the UK and are represented by national ‘umbrella organisations’. In particular, the Cohousing movement has an established support structure in the form of UK Cohousing Network (UK Cohousing Network, 2013a), which maintains links with other national and international organisations, as does the Community Land Trust movement, via the National CLT Network (National CLT Network, 2013). These organisations offer support to groups in becoming constituted, although there is an acknowledged need for localised, on-the-ground support in the form of other umbrella organisations that can provide face-to-face support. Examples of these - such as Cornwall CLT Ltd (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a; and Moore and Northcott, 2010), and The Land Society (The Land Society, 2013)in Devon – have successfully supported community groups in taking ownership of land and building houses, whilst emerging initiatives exist in Bristol (Bristol CLT, 2013), London (East London Community Land Trust, 2013)and the North East of England (Bomken et al., 2013).
Other constitutional models, such as Mutual Home Ownership Societies (MHOSs) are less established in the UK, but still have representative precedent examples, such as the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) scheme in Leeds (LILAC, 2013).
There is also a growing interest in the potential for ‘crowd-funding’[5], ‘pro-suming’[6] and models of collaborative consumption[7] - ideas already familiar in other fields, such as the music and hospitality industries[8] - to offer an opportunity to overcome the organisational challenge and financial risk traditionally associated with ‘group self-build’, particularly with regard to the difficulty of obtaining land, finance and planning permission (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 8). Whilst these models are untested in relation to procuring buildings, their potential is clear when considered in relation to alternative development models that allow groups to form in the physical - and legal - world, such as Cohousing, Community Land Trusts and MHOSs.
Some developers are already trying to harness the power of these technologies to help groups of custom builders coalesce. Custom Build Developer, SolidSpace, has set up a web-based system that - as well as allowing prospective customers to express an interest in having a house custom built for them[9] - also enables them to identify themselves on an ‘Opportunity Map’, revealing their location in relation to other interested households, and to development sites ‘scouted’ or secured by the developer, as well as allowing them to outline the extent of the area in which they would like to live (Solidspace, 2013b). Solidspace them use their expertise in identifying and securing development sites, whilst the group – made up of individuals – finances the project up front, sharing the risk of development with the developer and benefitting from the associating reward of cost savings. Developer HAB - famously associated with broadcaster Kevin McCloud - is using online investment website Crowdcube to raise finance for its Custom Build venture, in which it will help - and sometimes form - groups of people to directly procure customised homes (HAB, 2013; Ramchurn, 2013), whilst Brickstarter is an initiative that seeks to create an online platform for making suggestions about how to improve neighbourhoods or environments and then turn those proposals into projects (D. Hill, 2013; see also McGuirk, 2013).
There is clear potential for these models - with the right amount of supported - to provide a conduit for pro-development, community-led dialogue and models of ownership and governance that reflect aspirations for ‘resident-owned communities’, described by community-development expert Stephen Hill as:
”[an aspiration for qualities such as]…neighbourliness; shared spaces; sustainable buildings; energy efficiency; limited car usage; food growing; genuine and permanent affordability; public benefit…and for these qualities to be normal.”
(S. Hill, 2013a)
The mainstream application of such models could be politically desirable - offering an opportunity to overcome NIMBY-ism[10] and offer a politically-popular alternative to speculative house-building as well as a framework for on-going community participation in local governance.
[1] Providing affordable homes was a key objective of the Low Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) group in Leeds, and of the St Minver CLT group in Rock, Cornwall, amongst others.
[2] The Lancaster Cohousing group set out to develop higher-performance energy-efficient, Passivhaus homes, which ultimately cost the same as an equivalent property in the area of an inferior specification.
[3] The LUU ‘Baugruppen’ in Berlin has been formed by a group of single-parent families seeking mutual support (Chan, 2010, p. 59).
[4] This point was discussed at length during the Motivating Collective Custom Build stakeholder workshop, held at Ash Sakula Architects in London on 25th February 2013 (Ash et al., 2013), and has been corroborated in a number of presentations - and accompanying Q+A sessions - made by key figures connected to the housing industry (S. Hill, 2013a, 2013b; Moore, 2013; Urban Design Group, 2013 and others.)
[5] The Wikipedia entry for ‘Crowdfunding’ - citing Ordanini et al. (2011)- describes it as ‘the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations’. The concept is sometimes alternately referred to as ‘crowd financing’, ‘equity crowdfunding’ or ‘crowd-sourced fundraising’ (Wikipedia, 2013a).
[6] The ‘prosumer revolution’ is described by Parvin et al. as being represented by platforms such as YouTube, Wordpress, Lulu, MySpace, AirBnB, Kickstarter and Wikipedia, that - driven largely by the internet and technologies that make it easier for ordinary people to both communicate and to produce things for themselves - empower large numbers of dispersed ‘prosumers’ that together form a powerful, high-volume sector of producers with the ability to aggregate their knowledge and collective purchasing power , (Parvin et al., 2011, pp. 8–9).
[7] The Wikipedia entry for ‘Collaborative Consumption’ - citing Botsman and Rogers (2010)- describes collaborative consumption as ‘a class of economic arrangements in which participants share access to products or services, rather than having individual ownership’, adding that it is often enabled by technology and peer communities (Wikipedia, 2013b).
[8] Zogolovitch highlights that Custom Build - facilitated by models of ‘collaborative consumption’ facilitated by digital technology and online platforms is likely to offer a credible alternative model for production and consumption in the house-building industry in the same way that AirBnB does for the hotel industry, that Youtube does for the broadcasting industry and that iTunes and others do for the music industry (Zogolovitch, 2013). Parvin et al. add Wordpress, Lulu and Wikipedia as examples that have introduced ‘prosuming’ - where producers are also consumers - to the journalism and publishing industries (Parvin et al., 2011, pp. 8–9). Facebook and Twitter represent tools that groups are able to use to meet each other, exchange ideas and consolidate themselves.
[9] Interested parties first fill out a fairly normal online form. See (Solidspace, 2013a).
[10] Based upon an acronym for the phrase ‘Not-In’My’Back’Yard’.
Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighbourhoods and are consciously committed to living as a community (Cohousing.org, 2013). LaFond et al. also add that ideally-defined Cohousing aims to ‘develop inclusive living environments and new, attractive qualities of life’, and implies that the group are experimenting with ecological building and models of mutual consumption that save energy and other resources (LaFond et al., 2012, p. 17).
Notably, Cohousing developments include private homes that contain all the features of conventional homes, but residents also have access to extensive common facilities such as open space, courtyards, a playground and a common house. The physical design of a cohousing development encourages both social contact and individual space (Cohousing.org, 2013; Devlin, 2013).
Originating in Denmark, with the first residents moving into a purpose built cohousing community at Saettedammen in the late 1960s - the concept of “living community” has spread worldwide. At the time of writing, there are 14 cohousing communities in the UK, hundreds across Denmark and the Netherlands and around 130 in the United States (UK Cohousing Network, 2013b, p. 3). Many more are in development in the UK and around the world, including Canada, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and elsewhere (Cohousing.org, 2013).
Notable UK examples of Cohousing groups that have provided all or some of their own housing include the Low Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) in Leeds, the Threshold Centre in Gilllingham and the Lancaster Cohousing group in Lancaster.
The Cohousing Groups Directory - an online map maintained by the UK Cohousing Network[1] - not only identifies emerging groups, but also provides a conduit through which interested individuals and organisations can engage with groups and the UK Cohousing Network as an umbrella organisation (UK Cohousing Network, 2013c)
[1] see www.cohousing.org.uk/groups
Community Land Trusts
A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a local non-profit organisation created to act as the steward of land and buildings, on behalf of a community, holding it ‘in common’ so it can remain permanently affordable (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 103).
CLTs can be a critical part of the mechanism for providing permanently affordable, sustainable new communities, with application in suburban and urban, as well as rural contexts. In particular, they can allow Local Authorities and other public bodies to sell or lease public land in such a way as to ensure that it continues to offer affordable, sustainable housing in community interest (Ibid. 2011, p. 104).
Notable UK examples where CLTs have been critical in facilitating collective self-provision of housing include a number of schemes supported by the umbrella organisation, Cornwall CLT Ltd, such as St Minver and St Just-in-Roseland CLTs (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a, 2013b). The UK’s first urban CLT – the East London CLT - has recently been granted stewardship of a large site in Bow, east London, UK, upon which it intends to build houses for its members, as well as some that will be rented affordably to others (East London Community Land Trust, 2013).
Mutual Home Ownership Societies
A Mutual Home Ownership Society (MHOS) model allows a group to collectively own equity – or shares – in a co-operative that - in turn - owns their homes, rather than owning houses individually (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 109). Essentially, the co-operative is a development company that can purchase land and build houses and, as a constituted entity, can negotiate the basis on which they pay for land (e.g. slowly, over time) with the land-owner (e.g. a Local Authority). The MHOS model can allow individual households who could not otherwise afford it, to attract finance, build their homes and own a shares in them over time (Ibid. 2011, p. 109).
The strength of the MHOS model - set out by co-operatives expert David Rodgers in 2009, in a report entitled ‘New Foundations’ (Rodgers, 2009)- is that it separates the value of the land from the value of the houses built on it. This means they are not treated as speculative properties, but as consumer durables, like cars and dishwashers, with a certain useful lifetime and an initial cost which must be paid-off over a period of time (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 110)creating the opportunity to ensure they remain affordable despite volatile fluctuations in the land values.
MHOSs are less established in the UK, but still have representative precedent examples, such as the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) scheme in Leeds (LILAC, 2013)
Combining Development Models
It is widely acknowledged that there are no prescriptive, defined ‘types’ of self-provided development and that various models – or parts of models – can be combined to open up a ‘new field of possibility for ways of developing housing using self-provided models’ (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 124).
For example, the LILAC self-providing group are a Cohousing group that also uses a Mutual Home Ownership Society model to equitably facilitate access to housing for its members. Similarly, a Cohousing group might form to develop housing that affords a ‘neighbourly’ lifestyle, representing a constituted group of people that might build homes on land owned by a Community Land Trust, which may involve some of or all of the same group of people, and be formed to hold ownership of land in perpetuity on behalf on the local community, of which the Cohousing group are a part. A Community Land Trust could also be established to provide homes for affordable rent, providing housing for individuals and house-holds beyond the immediate membership of the CLT, as is the case with proposals made by the East London CLT (East London Community Land Trust, 2013).
In ‘A Right To Build – The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry’, Parvin et al. explore three scenarios under which housing can be developed using a combination of alternative development models (Parvin et al., 2011, pp. 123–143)whilst Hunter develops a series of similar models in ‘Self Provided Housing - The long tailed future of housebuilding’ (Hunter, 2012, pp. 69–91).
UK Cohousing Network
Read about successful examples of collective custom build associated with the Cohousing movement in the UK
National CLT Network
Find out about Community Land Trusts by visiting the National CLT Network's website
A Right To Build - Models
View three near-future scenarios for self-provided housing using alternative models for development on pp.122-143 in 'A Right To Build'
A Right To Build - 'Prosuming'
Read more about the ‘prosumer’ revolution and its relevance to the house-building industry on pp.8-9 in ‘A Right To Build – The Next Mass-Housebuilding Industry’
Read Chris Anderson’s 'The Long Tail' to understand the growth of ‘prosumer’ habits of collaborative consumption
Brickstarter - Article
Read Justin McGuirk's article about Brickstarter in the Guardian
Brickstarter - Homepage
...or visit the Brickstarter homepage directly
Botsman, R., Rogers, R., 2010. What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. Harper Business, New York.
Bristol CLT, 2013. Bristol CLT [WWW Document]. URL http://bristolclt.org.uk/ (accessed 7.19.13).
Chan, W., 2010. The Phenomenon of Building Group (Baugruppen) in Berlin: What changes when a community starts building? (Master Thesis). Dessau Institute of Architecture (DIA) Graduate School at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, Dessau, Germany.
Hill, D., 2013. Brickstarter [WWW Document]. URL http://brickstarter.org/brickstarter-prototype-sketches-questions/ (accessed 6.23.13).
LaFond, M., Honeck, T., Suckow, C., 2012. Self-organised, community-orientated, sustainable, in: CO Housing Cultures - Handbook Fro Self-organized, Community-orientated and Sustainable Housing. Jovis, Berlin, pp. 17–25.
McGuirk, J., 2013. Brickstarter: crowd-funding takes to the streets. The Guardian.
Ordanini, A., Miceli, L., Pizzetti, M., Parasuraman, A., 2011. Crowd-funding: transforming customers into investors through innovative service platforms. Journal of Service Management 22, 443–470.
Ramchurn, R., 2013. Roberts: “Custom-building will change the landscape of suburban Britain”. The Architect’s Journal Online.
Rodgers, D., 2009. New Foundations - Unlocking the potential for affordable homes. The Co-operative Party, London.
Solidspace, 2013a. Solidspace - Register your interest [WWW Document]. URL http://www.solidspace.co.uk/index.php?pid=homesmenuregister (accessed 12.6.13).
Solidspace, 2013b. Opportunity Map [WWW Document]. URL http://www.solidspace.co.uk/index.php?pid=mapgroupselfbuild (accessed 12.6.13).
UK Cohousing Network, 2013a. Welcome to the UK Cohousing Network [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/ (accessed 5.29.13).
UK Cohousing Network, 2013b. Cohousing - a new tradition of neighbourly living.
UK Cohousing Network, 2013c. Cohousing Group Directory [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/groups (accessed 5.29.13).
Wikipedia, 2013a. Crowdfunding [WWW Document]. URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdfunding (accessed 7.19.13).
Wikipedia, 2013b. Collaborative Consupmtion [WWW Document]. URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_consumption (accessed 7.19.13).
Active Industry
Collective Custom Build is part of a growing ‘self-build’ industry that is established, identifiable and ...
Although often described as ‘niche’ and perceived as small and somewhat professionally disparate, Collective Custom Build is part of a growing ‘self-build’ industry that is established, identifiable and active - and that already contributes over £3billion annually to the national economy (Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3), building approximately 7% of all new housing in the UK(Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013a).
The National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and Self Build Portal[1] provide the sector with a recognisable industry body and common point of access for information, whilst significant sectors of the construction industry - such as offsite manufacturing[2] and the ‘lending landscape’ of banks, building societies and mortgage providers[3] - already see Collective Custom Build as an important emerging market worthy of attention.
As the Collective Custom Build sector of the self-provided housing industry develops, key stakeholders from the house-building and general construction industries are forming new partnerships, innovating across sectors to share risk and work mutually to respond to emerging opportunities.
[1] See www.nasba.org.uk and www.selfbuildportal.org.uk
[2] The ‘Offsite Housing Review ‘published by the Construction Industry Council (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013)makes a number of recommendations for ‘building better houses, faster’ (Ibid. 2013, p. 2), and defines ‘offsite’ as ‘involving substantial factory manufacturing intervention to add to project value’ (Ibid. 2013, p. 4). As counter-point to the common perception of the house-building industry as resistant to change, it points out that a number of offsite solutions are already extensively used within the house-building industry, and makes significant reference to both the opportunities presented to the sector by the ‘self-build’ market, and the need to diversify the skill-base of the UK’s construction workforce with regard to workmanship and higher environmental performance standards.
[3] Significant recent research into the role of and opportunities for financial institutions with regard to self-build, published by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, was commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group and given a high-profile Parliamentary Launch, hosted by Richard Bacon MP, Chair of the newly formed All-Party Group on Self-Build. See ‘Build-it-youself? - Understanding the changing landscape of the UK self-build market’ (Wallace et al., 2013).
The National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and the Self Build Portal
The National Self Build Association (NaSBA) represent an active and accessible industry body, actively engaging in advocacy and research to support the development of the sector.
Current industry initiatives include:
National Self Build Week – the first of which took place in London in 2013, in partnership with the large construction industry trade show, Grand Designs Live (NaSBA, 2013a).
Self Build Portal – an industry-funded, web-based, central point of access about how to understand promote and develop self-provided housing (Self Build Portal, 2013; Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 10).
Campaigning / Publication – a series of campaigning and educational articles in key self-build magazines, for instance on the impact of the Community Infrastructure Levy (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 10).
Offsite Manufacturing and Collective Custom Build
Some sources draw particular attention to the opportunities afforded by advances in offsite manufacture to de-risk individual and collective self-build schemes from the point of view of lenders and development partners, and grow the Collective Custom Build sector by establishing supply chains orientated towards the needs of collective custom builders. Offsite-manufactured ‘flat-pack’ homes are described by various sources as offering cost-savings and faster build times, as well as allowing greater control over build quality, which in turn can lead to increased environmental performance and longevity, and reduced occurrence of defects (Bomken et al., 2013; Wainwright, 2013; Stevens, 2013; NaSBA, 2013b; Parvin et al., 2011; Owen et al., 2011; ArchiHaus, 2013; BoKlok, 2013; ModCell, 2013; Urban Self Build, 2013 and others).
The ‘Offsite Housing Review ‘published by the Construction Industry Council (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013)makes a number of recommendations for ‘building better houses, faster’ (Ibid. 2013, p. 2), and defines ‘offsite’ as ‘involving substantial factory manufacturing intervention to add to project value’ (Ibid. 2013, p. 4). As counter-point to the common perception of the house-building industry as resistant to change, Miles and Whitehouse point out that:
“… a number of offsite solutions are already extensively used within the house-building industry. For example almost all new low-rise homes will be built using factory manufactured truss-rafters for the construction of pitched roofs. Similarly there is ubiquitous use of factory-finished windows and doors and there is, of course, significant use of factory manufactured timber-frame walling systems of various forms. Accordingly there is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that the house-building industry is receptive to the use of offsite construction solutions where it is in their commercial interests to do so.”
(Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 4)
The report also makes significant reference to both the opportunities presented to the sector by the ‘self-build’ market, and the need to diversify the skill-base of the UK’s construction workforce with regard to workmanship and higher environmental performance standards.
“With volume house-builders predicting they could increase production only to around 100,000 new homes per year using traditional methods of site-based construction and acknowledgement that the traditional skill-base of the UK construction workforce is in long term decline, there is a clear opportunity to develop new technological solutions to housing delivery that also diversify the labour market.”
(Ibid. 2013, p. 4)
Offsite manufacturing of housing is already well-established in a wide range of other countries. Japanese prefabricated house manufacturers, for example are described by Parvin et al. as more like electronics or car manufacturers[1] in the degree of quality and customisation offered (2011, p. 53). An established ‘home manufacturing’ sector is also widely cited as a critical factor in the success of large-scale, self-provided housing development at the Homeruskwartier in Almere, Netherlands, as well as in much of the rest of Western Europe, Scandinavia, and North America (Miles and Whitehouse, 2013, p. 15), with established offsite home manufacturing industries typically found in any housing market that has an established self-provided housing sector. A recent proposal in the Dutch city of Nijmegen seeks to prototype innovative working partnerships between architects and ‘kit-home manufacturers’ to develop volume-build models of affordable housing (Wainwright, 2013).
In the UK, the BoKlok prefabricated system offered by IKEA has the potential to offer high environmental performance at an affordable price, but so far has only been used in speculative development (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 53), whilst the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) self-providing group has successfully used the ModCell system (ModCell, 2013; Roberts et al., 2010)of straw-bale and timber panels - fabricated in a locally-deployed ‘flying-factory’- to construct their Collective Custom Build scheme in Leeds (LILAC, 2013).
[1] According to Parvin et al. some companies are indeed electronic or car manufacturers who have diversified into the housing market (Parvin et al., 2011, p. 53).
Visit the National Self Build Association's website to find out more about their work
Visit the Self Build Portal to access a wide range of information about self-provided housing
Offsite Housing Review
Read the Offsite Housing Review from the Construction Industry Council (CIC)
BoKlok, 2013. BoKlok [WWW Document]. URL http://www.boklok.com/ (accessed 6.17.13).
Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013a. UK Self-build Market Report Q1 2013. Homebuilding & Renovating.
Homebuilding & Renovating Market Research, 2013b. Press Room [WWW Document]. URL http://www.homebuilding.co.uk/press-room (accessed 6.23.13).
ModCell, 2013. ModCell [WWW Document]. URL http://www.modcell.com/ (accessed 6.17.13).
NaSBA, 2013a. National Self Build Week [WWW Document]. URL http://www.nasba.org.uk/nsbw (accessed 5.29.13).
Roberts, H., Beadle, K., Mander, T., Parnaby, R., Walker, P., White, C., 2010. BaleHaus: A low carbon solution for buildings using prefabricated panels made from renewable materials., in: Proceedings of the 9th International Detail Design in Architecture Conference 2010: Innovative Detailing: Materials & Construction Methods for a Low Carbon Future. Presented at the 9th International Detail Design in Architecture Conference 2010: Innovative Detailing: Materials & Construction Methods for a Low Carbon Future - University of Central Lancaster, University of Central Lancaster, Lancaster.
Stevens, T., 2013. How they do large scale self build in the Netherlands - Presentation in the Sustainable Self Build & renovation seminar stream at EcoBuild 2013, London.
Wainwright, O., 2013. Flatpack homes offer Dutch first-time buyers chance to get on housing ladder. The Guardian.
Political Wave
There is a political wave of support for self-provided housing solutions - such as Collective Custom Build – which is due in ...
There is a political wave of support for self-provided housing solutions - such as Collective Custom Build – which is due in no small part to the added value that can be achieved in terms of other policy objectives by procuring housing in this way – such as providing meaningfully affordable housing, strengthening local communities and economies and engaging people with an environmental agenda.
Successive Housing Ministers have voiced support for the ‘self-build’ sector, described as a reflection of the Government’s Localism agenda[1] (Building Societies Association, 2012, p. 3; Stevens, 2013a, 2013b)and central Government shows clear intention to implement the recommendations of the Government-Industry Self-Build Working Group, which secured consideration for ‘Custom Build’ in the latest UK central Government Housing Strategy (DCLG, 2011)[2] and prompted the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) to actively engage in research about self-build housing practices internationally (Owen et al., 2011).
At the time of writing, there has been a public commitment to form an All Party Group on Self-Build and Independent Housing[3] to ‘raise awareness and promote a better understanding of the Self-Build sector among MPs’[4], whilst the Communities and Local Government Select Committee has already made an inquiry into, and report on, the financing of new housing supply - highlighting that ‘Government, local authorities and lenders must work together to remove the barriers that currently restrict self-build and commit to getting pilot schemes underway very quickly’ (Betts, 2013). The committee also recommended that Government ‘establish a fund to incentivise local authorities to support pilot "volume self build" schemes by allocating sites and taking a flexible approach to planning’, adding that there is ‘no reason why the first pilots could not be up and running in two years' time [by]…2014’ (Communities and Local Government Committee, 2012).
There is also serious speculation in central Government as to the role that policy can play in developing a more diverse housing market. Think-tank, the Policy Exchange recently proposed a self-build policy that it argues could be as big and popular as Right-to-Buy[5], detailing the political value in adopting a policy that could be both effective and popular:
“This policy would supply around 110,000 new self-build homes in its first full year. It would create a new broad base of support for housing. Each local authority should create a new waiting list for those who want a self-build plot. Households could register on it and transfer plots they obtained to immediate family members; siblings, parents, children and step-relatives. Whole families would support more homes because it could benefit a close family member. This new approach is easy to summarise: popular homes. This scheme ensures voters who become home0owners connect it with government action on their behalf.
This proposal represents a last chance to turn around housing before 2015. It should facilitate the building of more than 210,000 homes a year in 2014. But that is only the beginning. Over time, it could help millions of families to build the decent family home they need and want. It would do so while making building more homes into a politically winning move. This self-build policy could be as big and popular as Rights-to-Buy. It could be the next phase in this country’s story of home ownership. It could be a major boost to growth while actually gaining votes.”
(Morton, 2013, p. 5)
Whilst such proposals remain as speculation, A Right To Build is indicative of the fact that self-provision is being taken seriously by central Government as part of the future of housing supply in the UK.
It should be noted that ‘self-build’ - in the context of an evident housing crisis acknowledge across political parties - represents a particularly active and contested political field. The idea of supporting people in building their own homes has cross-party appeal, resonating equally well with both free-market and social democrat politics, and it is therefore reasonable to suggest the development of viable strategies for self-provision - such as Collective Custom Build - will remain resilient through shifts in the party-political landscape.
[1] Within the localism framework, represented by the Localism Act 2012 and National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), local authorities are encouraged to respond to their community’s needs and preferences, including the needs of those that wish to build their own homes.
[2] See also ‘Statute & Policy’ in this study.
[3] All Party Groups (APGs) are informal, cross-party, interest groups that have no official status within Parliament and are not accorded any powers or funding by it. They should not be confused with select committees, which are formal institutions of the House. There are a great number of APGs. They cover many and diverse fields such as health, education and transport. Some exist to foster links with other countries and parliaments, others to address a particular issue, and a couple exist mainly for social reasons (eg some sports groups). Some APGs have existed for many decades whereas others come and go in response to issues of the day. APGs are essentially run by and for Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. Mostly they are run by backbenchers, though ministers may also be officers or members of APGs and many groups choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities (UK Parliament, 2013).
It is also worth noting that All Part Parliamentary Groups also exist for Sustainable Housing, Housing & Care For Older People and a variety of other groups focusing on social cohesion, the built and natural environments (UK Parliament, 2013), which could be said to have complimentary agendas to the Self-Build and Independent Housing group.
[4] Richard Bacon MP, introducing the ‘Build-it-yourself?’ report by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York (A. Wallace, J. Ford, and D. Quilgars, 2013), at a parliamentary launch in London on 16th May 2013. However, as of June 7th 2013, the Group does not yet appear on Parliament’s official Register of All Party Groups (UK Parliament, 2013).
[5] The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large discount, the home they are living in. There is also a Right to Acquire for assured tenants of housing association homes built with public subsidy after 1997, at a smaller discount. It is estimated that approximately 2 million homes in the UK have been sold in this manner since 1980.
CLG Select Committee
Read the Communities & Local Government Select Committee report on its inquiry into the financing of new housing supply
Policy Exchange - Report
Read the Policy Exchange’s proposals for how to deliver more local homes for local people in 'A Right To Build - local homes for local people'
Policy Exchange - Infographic
...or view an infographic of the Policy Exchange ‘s ‘A Right To Build’
Read the 'Build-It-Yourself?' report launched in Parliament, prepared by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, Lloyds Banking Group and Buildstore
A Progress Report...
Read 'A Progress Report to Government On The Action Plan To Promote The Growth Of Self Build Housing', made by NaSBA to central Government
Betts, C., 2013. Communities and Local Government Committee publishes report on new housing supply [WWW Document]. URL http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/communities-and-local-government-committee/news/new-housing-supply-report/ (accessed 6.23.13).
Communities and Local Government Committee, 2012. Communities and Local Government Committee - Eleventh Report Financing of new housing supply. UK Parliament, London.
Stevens, T., 2013a. Interview with Ted Stevens, Chair of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA).
Stevens, T., 2013b. Introducing the Self Build Revolution - Presentation to the HCA Custom Build workshop in Middlesborough, 29th January 2013.
UK Parliament, 2013. Register of All-Party Groups [WWW Document]. URL http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/contents.htm#subjectGroups (accessed 6.23.13).
Pioneers & Partnerships
In almost all cases, such pioneering partnerships aim to share the risk of a pilot project and ...
A number of pioneering schemes are coming forward across the UK that seek to deliver self-provided housing at scale through a Collective Custom Build route, enabled by partnership between key stakeholders in the construction industry. Wallace et al. observe that these represent a diverse range of pilot initiatives, which are likely to grow in the short term as a response to Government initiatives in the field (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 8)
In almost all cases, such pioneering partnerships aim to share the risk of a pilot project and work mutually to access resources, such as finance, or expand capacity to deliver projects that no single partner would be able to deliver alone.
As Wallace et al. observe, partnership working and/or special purpose development ‘consortia’ have the potential to overcome barriers that currently limit the scaling up of self-provision (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 8), such as access to short-term development finance to get pilot schemes off the ground, access to suitable development land, capacity to carry out both physical construction work, design and administrative duties associated with construction, and the capacity to form, manage, direct, serve professionally or otherwise support a group of people, who may represent a client or beneficiary with more than one point of contact, and a very different dynamic to an individual representative.
One of the main benefits attached to partnership is the ability to draw in funding from diverse sources, acknowledged by the Ashley Vale Action Group as a critical factor for success in their self-build neighbourhood at Ashley Vale in Bristol, which included contributions from individuals within the self-building group (Moulding, 2012, p. 35). Bristol City Council also highlight the strategic value in partnering with the Community Self Build Agency to deliver Collective Custom Build at the West Street Community Self-Build Project for returning service veterans facing a high likelihood of unemployment and homelessness, citing the CSBA’s capacity to access sources of finance unavailable to the local authority[1].
Custom Self Build Ltd is an example of a developer that specifically markets their ability to partner with local authorities and registered providers to deliver ‘self-build’ housing, usually on ‘multi-unit sites’, offering leadership and support throughout the entire duration of a project. They describe the mechanism for facilitating partnership as a partnering or management form of contract, with the developer acting as Principal Contractor (Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013), but have yet to fully complete a Collective Custom Build scheme. Private development company, D & O Management Services Ltd - who have completed a number of multi-unit schemes in which they have assisted formerly unacquainted groups of people, usually working in the building trades to form project specific housing associations and build homes - highlight the importance of positive group dynamics and the value that experienced developers can bring to Collective Custom Build partnerships:
(D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013)
In other schemes, the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) has been a critical partner in facilitating access to land or development finance and other grants, both for successful built schemes such as the LILAC development in Leeds, and for other developer-enabled proposals via the Custom Build Homes Fund[2], through which it provides short-term development finance to multi-unit schemes (HCA, 2012, 2013).
Particular attention has been paid to the capacity of Housing Associations and interest groups such as Community land Trusts, working together, to build affordable housing (Peacock, 2011)and a recent report commissioned by the Smith Institute, entitled anticipates that the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 [3] will promote new partnerships across the range of housing association activity (Chevin, 2013, p. 31). Chevin goes on to note:
“One of the recurring themes of this report is the need for housing associations to forge new relationships and partnerships. The consensus among interviewees is that working more closely with local authorities will be of critical importance, as councils explore their own new-found freedoms. Both councils and associations will need to work more closely with their tenants, especially over managing the impacts of welfare reforms”.
There is particular acknowledgment that pioneering, large-scale, international schemes have been the product of specific partnerships emerging from their local context, often led by the public sector. The Homeruskwartier in Almere, NL, is frequently referenced for the way the local authority promoted land through allocation for self-build, producing an urban design and facilitating the sale of serviced-plots direct to self-providers, whilst the plots themselves were developed out largely by private individuals or groups, supported significantly by commercial, developer-led ‘home manufacturers’(Stevens, 2013; NaSBA, 2013; Brown, 2013; Self Build Portal, 2013b; DCLG, 2011).
At Vauban, for example, an urban extension to the city of Freiburg in Germany, the success of developing a sustainable urban neighbourhood - with high concentration so of self-build apartment blocks for young families - was a product of the availability of public land, a sympathetic political climate and the presence of a strong local environmental industry (Kasioumi, 2010 IN:; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 17). Within the overall scheme – made possible by partnerships between local authority and local developers and supply chains, and driven by strong political leadership – other, specific partnerships delivered building-scale or street-scale Collective Custom Build schemes (Hill, 2013a, 2013b).
There is significant anecdotal evidence to suggest the emergence of a Custom Build Enabler - as a commercial service encompassing some degree of skill in participatory design facilitation, alongside a sensitivity to group dynamics and comprehensive development management credentials – is both essential to fulfilling the potential of Collective Custom Build and an inevitable consequence of its continued development as a sector (Hill, 2013c; Brown, 2013). This role demands a complex and socially-and-culturally attuned set of skills, and it is not yet clear which – if any – profession currently possesses the appropriate range, or whether any evolving profession should align itself with the public, private or 3rd sector.
It has also become evident that whilst there is a general will to engage in partnerships amongst stakeholders in the construction industry, translating that will into effective partnerships relies on the development of legal, contractual and organisational frameworks for partnering, and consensus as to what constitutes reliable evidence of demand for Collective Custom Build[4].
Although many agencies are breaking ground in the field, it is observed that they are often doing so individually, with limited opportunity to share knowledge and experience. Wallace et al. note that there is a clear role for Government to play in evaluating emerging schemes and models, as well as promoting horizontal sharing of good practice among key industry stakeholders (Wallace et al., 2013, p. 8).
Please refer to the following pages for examples of emerging Collective Custom Build schemes and partnerships.
[1] Interviews conducted for this study by the authors, which in turn were corroborated at the Motivating Collective Custom Build focus group workshop, held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London, 18th June 2013 (Brown et al., 2013).
[2] Successful applicants to the HCA’s Custom Build Homes Fund include Urban Self Build’s proposals at Hempstead Green in Peterborough (Urban Self Build, 2013; Self Build Portal, 2013a)and Fairgrove Homes’ proposals in Derbyshire (Fairgrove Homes Ltd, 2013; McKenna, 2013). To date, the HCA confirm that there have been fifteen successful applicants, although not all have completed the necessary procedures to begin development and draw down their loans (Nelson and Chettle, 2013; Nelson, 2013).
[3] Chevin notes that under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 housing associations must define the social and economic value and impact of the services they offer, when tendering for a contract from a local authority or another relevant Body (Chevin, 2013, p. 31).
[4] For example, developers may require some robust evidence of demand for Collective Custom Build from local authorities before entering into partnership. The lack of consistent terms of reference when discussing ‘evidence of demand’ between key stakeholders - and particularly between local authorities and private developers - was a significant talking point in the Motivating Collective Custom Build focus group workshop, held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London, 18th June 2013 (Brown et al., 2013).
Read about innovation in the self-build sector in terms of finance and partnership-working in Build-It-Yourself?, a report by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, Lloyds Banking Group and Buildstore
Visit the LILAC website to learn about the pioneering partnerships involved in a successful Low Impact Living Affordable Community.
Lessons From LILAC
Read some Lessons From LILAC about partnerships and pioneering Post Carbon Cities in an article by Paul Chatterton
Homes For Heroes
Read about the pioneering cross-sector partnership that delivered Homes For Heroes in Bristol, in 'Build It' magazine
Tomorrow's Housing Associations
Read about the need for partnership working in 'Socially-hearted, Commercially-minded: A Report On Tomorrow's Housing Associations' report by Denise Chevin
Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013. Custom Self Build [WWW Document]. URL http://www.customself-build.com/ (accessed 12.6.13).
D & O Management Services Ltd, 2013. What is Group Self Build Housing? [WWW Document]. URL http://www.doselfbuild.com/2378.html (accessed 6.25.13).
HCA, 2013. Homes & Communities Agency: Custom Build [WWW Document]. URL http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/custom-build (accessed 10.6.13).
Kasioumi, E., 2010. Sustainable Urbanism: Vision and Planning process through an examination of two model neighbourhood developments. Berley Planning Journal 91–114.
McKenna, M., 2013. Fairgrove Homes marks first loan under the Custom build programme with exhibition in Morton, Derbyshire [WWW Document]. URL http://www.housingexcellence.co.uk/news/fairgrove-homes-marks-first-loan-under-custom-build-programme-exhibition-morton-derbyshire (accessed 11.6.13).
Nelson, A., Chettle, S., 2013. Interview for Motivating Collective Custom Build, held at the Homes & Communities Agency, London, on 13th March 2013.
Self Build Portal, 2013a. Case Study - Hempstead Green [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/hempsted-green-peterborough (accessed 12.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013b. Self Build Portal - Almere, Holland [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/homeruskwartier-district-almere (accessed 12.6.13).
Emerging Independent Schemes
Many groups are currently in the process of developing their proposals and applying for ...
It is difficult to identify many emerging, entirely Independent Group Custom Build schemes in the academic literature[1], as most emerging schemes involve some form of partnership to overcome key prohibitive barriers, such as access to land or finance, or organising as a group. For example, the Land Society in Devon, and Conrwall CLTs Ltd. In Cornwall continue to assist a significant number of local groups and interested individuals to form Community Land Trusts and find sites on the edges of rural towns and villages, and many of these groups are currently in the process of developing their proposals and applying for planning permission (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a, 2013b; Fox, 2013; Moore and Northcott, 2010; T. Stevens, 2013a; The Land Society, 2013).
Additionally, a significant number of Cohousing groups are in the process of looking for a site and developing proposals[2].
A joint venture between two organisations - Ecomotive and Wu Wo - has established the online Community Build portal to allow people to search for other people, form groups, search for land and manage their communications and negotiations for buying land. The portal also uses an online map to identify groups and to date has registered a significant number of groups or individuals wishing to form a group[3].
Some existing independent groups - such as the Hockerton Housing Project[4] - have plans to extend their schemes, or build second phases..
[1] Lack of academic literature of ‘emerging’ subjects is attributable to the slow response time that conventional academic publication channels have – hence they are not always appropriate to capture ‘emerging’ things while they are emerging.
[2] The Cohousing Groups Directory - an online map maintained by the UK Cohousing Network - not only identifies emerging groups, likely to develop largely Independent Group Custom Build schemes, but also provides a conduit through which interested individuals and organisations can engage with groups and the UK Cohousing Network as an umbrella organisation - see www.cohousing.org.uk/groups (UK Cohousing Network, 2013)
[3] See www.communitybuild.org.uk/find-group
[4] The Hockerton Housing project has already completed a scheme in Nottinghamshire as an independent self-providing group (Self Build Portal, 2013), and has plans to begin a second phase of development in the near future. (Hockerton Housing Project, 2013).
CommunityBuild
Visit the www.communitybuild.org.uk to find land or a group
UK Cohousing Network - Map
Use the interactive map hosted by the UK Cohousing Network to find groups at varying stages of forming, finding land or building their own homes
Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a. Cornwall Rural Housing Association [WWW Document]. URL http://www.crha.org.uk/ (accessed 6.17.13).
Fox, A., 2013. Community Land Trusts in practice.
Hockerton Housing Project, 2013. New eco self-build partnership applies for planning permission [WWW Document]. URL http://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/category/eco-homes/new-build/ (accessed 7.19.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013. Case Study - Hockerton [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/hockerton-housing-project (accessed 12.6.13).
Stevens, T., 2013a. New Ways of Delivering Self Build Housing - seminar presentation at Ecobuild 2013, 05/03/2013.
UK Cohousing Network, 2013. Cohousing Group Directory [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/groups (accessed 5.29.13).
Emerging Developer Enabled Schemes
There are a number of innovative Developer Enabled Custom Build schemes coming forward around the country that ...
There are a number of innovative Developer Enabled Custom Build schemes coming forward around the country that, although they yet to complete any dwellings, have reached significant stages of development at the time of writing.
Custom Build Developers take either a Development Management role, facilitating access to supply chains and other aspects of development on larger multi-unit sites, or a role more accurately described as that of a Home Manufacturer, supplying homes, with varying opportunities for custom specification and often involving some degree of pre-fabrication, directly to individual households or groups. In some instances, developers may provide a service that is a combination of the two roles, whilst the examples listed below also include initiatives set up by kit-home manufacturers, who, although more traditionally understood as part of the supply chain, are piloting more comprehensive services, either directly to self-providers or to Custom Build Developers.
Whilst the provision of serviced plots, with or without a house, is the most common business model, some developers are also actively seeking out and supporting local people to start off new developments as a group scheme (NaSBA, 2011, p. 9). Custom Build Developers will often make quite extensive use of social media to market their services – mostly via blogs and twitter – and other web-based technology, such as Google Maps to facilitate interaction with potential Custom Build customers. As a marketing strategy, this correlates closely with the aspiration to offer a product tailored to individuals and maintain the ‘friendly face’ to development.
However, many smaller developers offering Custom Build are only loosely ‘collective’ in their approach, despite being developing ‘multi-unit’ schemes. Most can be understood as the development of ‘self-build’ villages or streets, selling serviced building plots or a choice of pre-designed houses ‘off-plan’ to individuals. There is often some room for further customisation, with customers able to take existing house designs – which tend to have pre-approval in terms of planning permission – and alter it them using their own architect.
Groups of people that engage with emerging forms of Developer Enabled Custom Build tend not to know each other before buying-in to the development and, generally, don’t experience the development as ‘collective’. It could be observed that this version of Custom Build differs from traditional speculative house-building in that the developer secures sales before taking on the additional risk of constructing dwellings, passing on a cost-saving – and the opportunity for limited customisation – to individual customers on a multi-unit site. This model has significant overlaps with off-plan development models, but with a greater focus on customers – who would live in the development - rather than on investors.
The Self Build Portal makes relatively frequent announcements[1] about emerging schemes, led by developers on multi-unit sites, and features a small number of case studies of ‘developer-led group projects’ currently underway (Self Build Portal, 2013a).
[1] See www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/latest-news
Development Manager - Igloo Regeneration
Igloo Regeneration has recently acquired a former Trevenson Park tin mine site in Cornwall from the HCA and plans to build a wide range of around 70 custom built homes in 2014/15 (NaSBA, 2013, p. 14), for which it will manage the development, including establishing a supply chain of ‘home manufacturers’ from which individuals and groups will be able to make specific arrangements for the procurement of their homes. Although the site will be ‘multi-unit’, the developer does not plan to target groups specifically in its marketing.
Anecdotally, Igloo are in negotiations with several local authorities and the Homes & Communities Agency to pilot Developer Enabled Custom Build on a number of large sites around the country, replicating key elements of the Homeruskwartier development at Almere in the Netherlands. There is considerable anecdotal evidence to suggest that a large scheme equivalent to the Homeruskewartier, if demonstrated as viable and successful, will catalyse something of a revolution in the house-building industry in the direction of greater diversity and business models placing greater emphasis on supporting enabled forms of self-provision.
Development Manager - HAB Housing
HAB Housing are famously known as the development company founded by broadcaster Kevin McCloud, who is also the central Government’s ‘Self Build Champion’, writing forewords to a number of significant publications by the Homes & Communities Agency and the National Self Build Association (HCA, 2012; NaSBA, 2011, 2012, 2013). Whilst HAB has previously completed a number of housing schemes, it now sees itself as the ‘bridge between the custom-builder and the volume house builder’(Ramchurn, 2013)and aims to become a ‘one-stop-shop for Self-build and Custom Finish projects ’(HAB, 2013).
The most innovative aspect of HAB Housing’s model is likely to be the way in it is ‘crowd-funding’[1] the initial investment required to establish its Custom Build service, although it remains to be seen whether it applies the same innovative principals to funding individual developments.
[1] See relevant section in this study.
Development Manager - SolidSpace
Solidspace markets itself around the particular architectural idea of split-level open-plan living(Solidspace, 2013a), including renovations and new-builds of both the speculative and custom build variety.
A Solidspace director is also vice-chair of NaSBA, and Solidspace is developing a business strategy for supporting collective custom build, using their website as a ‘match-making’ service for those interested in custom build to form a group around a particular site opportunity for multi-unit or collective delivery. As well as filling in a web-based form to express an interest (Solidspace, 2013b), prospective custom builders can identify themselves on an ‘Opportunity Map’ that reveals their location in relation to other interested households and ‘scouted’ or secured sites, as well as allowing them to outline the extent of the area in which they would like to live(Solidspace, 2013c).
If enough interest is evidenced in a particular area, Solidspace will use their expertise as developers in finding land and negotiating prices to secure a multi-unit site on behalf of a group of individuals, using up-front deposits to finance the purchase of the site(Zogolovitch, 2013).
The company has yet to complete any dwellings on site.
Development manager - Custom Self Build Ltd.
Custom Self Build Ltd is a Development Contractor that specialises in multi-unit self-build housing projects across England; acquiring, designing, building and project managing residential schemes for self-builders and aiming to ‘make self-build simpler’(Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013a).
The company will typically develop freehold homes for individual households, but also construct new homes for Registered Providers who support skills training through the construction work(Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013a), which is seen as a core element of the business(Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013b).
In the private model, deposits are first paid by buyers to secure their plot, before consultation with the local authority, site surveys and detailed designs are begun. Customers have a wide range of choices of design to choose from, rather like a menu in a restaurant. The completed ‘shell’ comes with the planning obligations and council levies, roads, sewers and utilities in place, and the company provide support right through to completion and Building Control ‘sign-off’(Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013c).
Custom Self Build Ltd can also partner or ‘co-work’ with Local Authority and Registered Providers on sites where public land and buildings are made available to the company. A structured build programme enables mostly young adults (but not exclusively) to learn a trade, new team working skills and a new positive route to providing both housing and training as ‘assisted’ self builders, who also attend a trades or technical course at college (or similar establishment), and help to construct their own home by attending site alongside their site based ‘mentor’ for a minimum number of hours each week. Custom Self Build offer leadership and support throughout the entire duration of the project, acting as Principal Contractor, usually under a partnering or management form of contract(Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013b).
Development Manager - bloc plot
Plot, a subsidiary of developer bloc, publicise themselves as a Partnership Development Company set up to ‘break down the barriers to people who are interested in custom and self-build opportunities’(bloc, 2013a).
Bloc place an emphasis on Partnership working and aim to facilitate access to a range of services for self-providers, including providing serviced plots with or without planning approval, carrying out project management and/or construction, and accessing professional and financial services and information(bloc, 2013a), collecting these services at dreamplot.net(bloc, 2013a)where interested parties can also search for a plot in England & Wales, Scotland or Internationally and access a guide to ‘the self-build process’.
Bloc’s service seems to be marketed at individuals, with plots delivered on multi-unit sites, and currently offer plots in Lancaster, Cheshire and France(bloc, 2013b)and is currently on site with a14 home custom build scheme alongside the canal at Aldcliffe Road in Lancaster(NaSBA, 2013, p. 14).
Development Manager - Wellstride
Welsh low-volume house-builder Wellstride is offering Custom Build at its ‘self-build village’ Church View in Bedwellty, Wales(Wellstride Limited, 2013).
A 13 acre site in Bedwellty was acquired in 2005 by a joint venture between an investor and local housebuilder, and promoted exclusively as an enabled development for 118 self build plots, some of which are reserved for ‘affordable housing’. Partly as a strategy to reduce overhead and cash flow risk in the downturn, the approach now aims to yield premium plot prices. Purchasers buy serviced plots, subject to a strict construction management code agreed with the Council, and can draw on the joint venture or other local contractors as required. Typical fully serviced plots cost £105,000(NaSBA, 2011, p. 9).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering history, planning and construction, finance, time-scale, long-term outcomes and learning points – here (Self Build Portal, 2013b), but at the time of writing the project is on hold.
Home Manufacturer - Fairgrove Homes Ltd
Although the Fairgrove model of Developer-Led Custom Build involves the initial purchase of land by the developer, no homes are built until a group of people can be identified to buy them. Fairgrove will then build from a discrete, pre-determined range of options, allowing some customization by the end-user within the planning permission already given in the original application for the site(McKenna, 2013).
Fairgrove Homes are also one of the first successful applicants to the HCA Custom Build Homes Fund to kick-start projects in Morton, Derbyshire(HCA, 2013, 2012).
Fairgrove Homes are also developing a small site of three custom build homes at Hucknall, also in Derbyshire. The serviced plots (each with planning permission for four or five bed homes) start at £150,000. A range of standard house types can be constructed on the plots (and the potential owners can adjust the internal layout). Homes can be built to waterproof stage (typical cost then will be £357,500), or built out to completion (typical cost £425,000). The company has another site nearby where nine more modest homes are planned. Serviced plots here will start from £78,000(NaSBA, 2013, p. 14).
The company has yet to complete any dwellings on site at the time of writing.
Home Manufacturer - Urban Self Build
The Urban Self Build model offers three choices to Custom Build customers under the banner ‘your home your way’; building a design ‘off-plan’ that already has planning consent using traditional or ‘turn-key’ packages, adapting a permitted design within a design code agreed with the Local Authority, or gaining their own detailed planning permission within the agreed design code on a serviced plot(Urban Self Build, 2013a).
Urban Self Build are also a successful applicant to the HCA Custom Build Homes Fund, to kick-start a project at Hempstead Green in Peterborough(Urban Self Build, 2013b).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study covering key points – here(Self Build Portal, 2013c)and although the partners have completed multi-unit self-build schemes in previous incarnations, Urban Self Build has yet to complete any dwellings on site at the time of writing.
Home Manufacturer - CornerstoneZED
CornerstoneZED is a social investment company formed in a partnership between environmentally-orientated ‘enabling’ and commercial developer ZEDprojects(ZEDfactory, 2013)and social investor and mutual fund Cornerstone(Cornerstone, 2013).
CornerstoneZED is leading the Bickleigh Down Eco Village(Bickleigh, 2012)project near Plymouth in Devon, which will provide 91 homes and is one of the largest self build developments in the UK(NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
There will also be a kit home assembly facility (which will create 33 jobs), a green building store, cafes, shops and business space (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
The energy efficient kit homes have been designed so that each can generate enough income from the solar power they produce to cancel out any utility bills (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
The house design offers self builders lots of choice over size, layout and finish as it is based on a flexible kit of panels. Cornerstone is also exploring the possibility of a ‘self finish’ option – where it constructs the homes to watertight stage, and self builders finish them off. Work is expected to begin on site in summer 2013 (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
Home Manufacturer - Kingspan Potton
Kingspan Potton are one of Britain’s leading kit home suppliers and it regularly works with land owners or local authorities to provide tailored solutions to specific challenges. Although the organisation is best known for its larger bespoke homes it can also provide (via the Kingspan connection) much more modest and affordable homes too (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
Home Manufacturer - Boklok
This is a division of Ikea that works with contractor Skanska to provide modestly priced ‘flat packed’ homes. It has completed one UK project so far (57 homes in Gateshead where two bed townhouses cost from £125,000 each) (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15), although this development was procured speculatively.
Home Manufacturer - Concept 2 Group
Concept2 Group offer Custom Build (‘chosen by you’) alongside Bespoke (‘working with you’) and Premier (‘made for you’) homes(Concept2 Group, 2013), describing a range of ‘flexible build options’ including serviced plots with or without outline and/or detailed planning permission, watertight shell, fully finished, or varying extents of interior décor, alongside a number of flexible purchase options. The company also offers to find land on behalf of custom builders.
Concept2 Group offer little indication of their capacity to support a collective custom building group and like other Custom Build Developers, its service seems to be marketed at individuals, and may or may not be delivered as part of a multi-unit site.
NaSBA - Private Sector
Read a Practice Guide from the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) entitled 'How Private sector builders and developers can get involved in delivering more Custom Build Homes'
Igloo Regeneration
Learn about Igloo Regeneration's Custom Build Enabling model
HAB Housing
Read about HAB Housing's crowdcube campaign to establish a Custom Build business model - and watch a video pitch by director Kevin McCloud
SolidSpace
Visit SolidSpace's website and see how prospective custom builders can become part of a group scheme
Custom Self Build Ltd
Visit Custom Self Build Ltd's website to learn about how they can partner with the public sector
bloc plot
Learn about developer bloc's recently established 'plot' service for Custom Build
Wellstride
Learn about the opportunities offered by developer Wellstride
Fairgrove Homes
Visit the website of Fairgrove Homes to understand the service offered by a Custom Build Developer
Urban Self Build
Learn about the Custom Build Developer service offered by Urban Self Build
CornerstoneZED
Learn about the Bickleigh Down Eco Village project led by development partnership CornerstoneZED
Barratt Homes
Read about Barratt Homes' developing self-build strategy via the Self Build Portal
bloc, 2013a. bloc: plot [WWW Document]. URL http://www.blocgroup.org/#/plot (accessed 12.6.13).
bloc, 2013b. Available Plots - Find Your Plot [WWW Document]. URL http://www.dreamplot.net/available-plots/ (accessed 12.6.13).
Cornerstone, 2013. Cornerstone - Who we are [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cornerstoneassets.co.uk/who-we-are/ (accessed 6.13.13).
Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013a. Custom Self Build [WWW Document]. URL http://www.customself-build.com/ (accessed 12.6.13).
Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013b. Custom Self Build as a volume builder of “Affordable Housing” [WWW Document]. URL http://www.customself-build.com/affordable_housing.html (accessed 12.6.13).
Custom Self Build Ltd, 2013c. New homes for the next generation [WWW Document]. URL http://www.customself-build.com/new_homes.html (accessed 12.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013b. Case Study - Wellstride [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/wellstride (accessed 12.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013c. Case Study - Hempstead Green [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/hempsted-green-peterborough (accessed 12.6.13).
Solidspace, 2013a. Solidspace [WWW Document]. URL http://www.solidspace.co.uk/ (accessed 12.6.13).
Solidspace, 2013b. Solidspace - Register your interest [WWW Document]. URL http://www.solidspace.co.uk/index.php?pid=homesmenuregister (accessed 12.6.13).
Solidspace, 2013c. Opportunity Map [WWW Document]. URL http://www.solidspace.co.uk/index.php?pid=mapgroupselfbuild (accessed 12.6.13).
Urban Self Build, 2013a. Urban Self Build - your home your way [WWW Document]. URL http://www.urbanselfbuild.com/ (accessed 11.6.13).
Urban Self Build, 2013b. Urban Self Build - USB Developments... [WWW Document]. URL http://www.urbanselfbuild.com/selfbuild.html (accessed 11.6.13).
Wellstride Limited, 2013. TheHouseIBuilt.com [WWW Document]. URL http://www.thehouseibuilt.com/location/ (accessed 11.6.13).
ZEDfactory, 2013. ZEDprojects - About [WWW Document]. URL http://www.zedfactory.com/zed/?q=node/172 (accessed 6.13.13).
Zogolovitch, G., 2013. Interview with Gus Zogolovitch of Solidspace at Ash Sakula Architects, 2nd April 2013.
Emerging Supported Community Schemes
Around 20 housing associations - and 45 local authorities - are currently looking at some form of self-build delivery ...
There are a number of emerging Supported Community Custom Build proposals currently being explored and implemented by public and third sector organisations, or by development partnerships.
According to Ted Stevens, Chair of the National Self Build Association, around 20 housing associations - and 45 local authorities - are currently looking at some form of self-build delivery (Stevens, 2013). Given the growing momentum and noise around the idea, and pace at which new schemes are coming forward, this is likely to have increased since the time of writing.
Examples include smaller-scale ‘Enabled’ and ‘Assisted’ Community Custom Build proposals as well as likely large-scale models currently in development. Some pioneers in the field - such as the partnership between Bristol City Council, Knightstone Housing Association and the Community Self Build Agency - have already completed schemes and are planning further developments.
Assisted Community Custom Build - The Land Society
The Land Society is a non-profit, rural housing initiative, established as an umbrella organisation to support the development of local Community Land Trusts and involving – to date – approximately 80 families in around a dozen small villages across Devon.
The Land Society seeks to assist small groups of local people, on modest incomes, in getting together, in groups of between 5 and 20 households, to deliver a new, two-or-three-bed home whilst attending a part time training course at local college. Properties work out at Works out at around £100k including land, all materials and training (Stevens, 2013)typically less than half the price of an existing property in the area of the same size (Stevens, 2013). At present around 15 parish councils in Devon have projects in the pipeline, with the first homes due to go on site at the end of 2013 (NaSBA, 2013, p. 16). Many local authorities across Devon support the project and so far around 150 families have signed up (Ibid. 2013, p. 18).
Community Land Trusts are seen as a key mechanism for maintaining affordability in perpetuity, and are able to take ownership of parish council land to build homes, whilst the Land Societies latest initiative is to develop a low cost sustainable eco-home that is purpose designed to be very easy for novice self builders to construct (Self Build Portal, 2013).
The Land Society starts by organising local public meetings, and then helps potential self builders to identify and acquire a suitable site; generally land adjacent to the village but not identified for open market development. The Society offers £10,000 from the total budget of each home towards the cost of each plot, so if five homes are going to be built on an acre of land, the land-owner will receive no more than £50,000. To date it has not proved to be difficult to secure low cost sites in rural Devon (NaSBA, 2013, p. 18).
A Community Land Trust is then created, which holds the Option on the land, becomes the ‘developer’, employs the Land Society to handle everything, and ends up owning 25% of each home. This, the planning rules and the allocation policy ensure that the homes will always remain affordable should any of the self builders decide to move on at a later stage. Those that want to take part must pay a £5,000 deposit, but this is all the cash they have to put down as the initiative values the self builders’ efforts, doing all the construction work, as being worth 25% of the total cost of the project. This means they do not have to raise a normal deposit as they would if they had a conventional mortgage (NaSBA, 2013, p. 18).
The self builders are supported by a part-time training course and plenty of technical help on how to build their home from start to finish, delivered by one of eight local Further Education partner colleges across the South West. The normal course lasts a year for those that are building their homes in their spare time, although a shorter course may be set up for those that are able to build on a full-time basis. The course covers 12 main stages of building work. Materials are delivered to the site at each of the 12 stages of the build – but only once the previous stage has been signed off for all the houses. The team from the Land Society provides technical support and monitors the quality of the work (Ibid. 2013, p. 18).
At the end of the project, participants own 25% from the ‘sweat equity’ of building their own house, buy the next 50% using a mortgage at a cost of around £590 per month, and the remaining 25% is held by their local CLT in perpetuity. By comparison; a typical three bedroom home in rural Devon costs about £750 a month to rent, and well over £200,000 to buy (Ibid. 2013, p. 18).
The Self Build Portal has a written case study, covering history, planning and construction, how it works and progress updates – here (Self Build Portal, 2013).
Assisted Community Custom Build - K1, Cambridge
Orchard Park is a sizable urban extension located in the north of Cambridge, being taken forward with Cambridge City Council as land-owner. Most of the area has already been developed with conventional house-builders. However it has been difficult to achieve sufficient interest and values for the last remaining parcels, due to the economic climate (Hill, 2013a, 2013b; Roberts, 2012, p. 22).
This project has been supported by Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, who have jointly funded an enabling team with representatives from specialist consultancies - Instinctively Green, C20 Future Planners and Cambridgeshire Architectural Research. NaSBA describe the initiative as follows:
“The councils identified a site for potentially 40 homes on the northern edge of Cambridge and the consultants have been recruiting local people to form a group. They are also running ‘visioning workshops’ to help the potential residents decide exactly what they want to build, and they have been developing detailed costing and feasibility studies. The consultants have also identified some keen contractors who will build the whole development (the contractors will also partly fund the construction work). The residents will then take out mortgages to repay the builders. The aim is to get everything sorted and start on site in mid-2013, with completion a year later.”
(NaSBA, 2013, p. 8)
The London Legacy Development Corporation – conducting their own research into Custom Build precedent initiatives - have written a synopsis of Orchard Park in their report ‘Custom-Build Housing: An alternative model for development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’:
“In 2010 the City Council decided to proceed with the disposal of the K1 site in Orchard Park by way of an enabled self build co-housing scheme. This involves providing houses in partnership with an established house builder for outright individual ownership with collective ownership of the public realm. This approach is a version of the model used in Tubingen in Germany, where a developer carries out the enabling role as local authorities in the UK are not often in a position to undertake development risks. The developers interested in this approach are likely to be smaller or niche house-builders with an interest in higher quality or more sustainable homes. They will forego some of their usual profit as the project risks are shared across the future households involved, and the profit may come on the build cost rather than the scheme overall.
The City Council has begun to establish a group of residents for K1, building on local interest from existing cohousing groups and housing co-operatives. The City Council then plans to procure a development partner to design and build a scheme in close liaison with the confirmed and committed K1 co-housing group. The development partner would develop an integrated housing and landscape vision and sell to the individual purchasers in the usual way.
Purchasers arrange their own mortgages and pay for homes on completion. Each sale document would require purchasers to become members of a not for profit Resident Management Company, which would own the common areas and benefit from covenants requiring households to pay a service charge for the upkeep and development of the common areas and maintenance charges. Following initial soft market testing, 7 households have expressed strong interest in the scheme. A further 13 are interested but have questions regarding the finer detail. The next step is to ensure that a suitable housebuilder is procured in the enabling role.”
(Roberts, 2012, p. 22).
Assisted Community Custom Build - Others
A number of other Assisted Community Custom Build initiatives are also emerging.
In Barnet in North London a group of elderly women - called Older Women’s Cohousing, or OWCH - are building a 25-home, mutually supportive retirement project in partnership with Hanover Housing Association (NaSBA, 2013, p. 13).
In Northumbria, Allendale Community Homes has established a CLT, bought a site and then entered into a lease-and-leaseback agreement with Homes for Northumberland (HfN) to build 22 two and three bed houses, apartments and bungalows. The project was enabled by a HCA grant and long term loan secured by HfN that the CLT would have been unable to obtain itself. The head lease will be surrendered when the CLT is able to refinance the outstanding loan on its own account (NaSBA, 2011, p. 9).
In Scotland, the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust provides low cost loans to help self builders get their projects off the grounds – typically it offers between £5,000 and £20,000 (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
Enabled Community Custom Build - Build! Programme
Cherwell District Council no longer owns any housing stock of its own (Cherwell District Council, 2013)but its Build! Programme aims to offer affordable rented homes, affordable home ownership (shared ownership and equity loans) and homes sold on the open market (Build! Programme and Cherwell District Council, 2013).
To date, the Build! Programme has completed a number of predominantly self-finish projects, such as those at Juniper Court and West Street in Banbury, that are bringing vacant homes back into use using co-ordinated sweat-equity of people on Cherwell’s housing waiting list (NaSBA, 2013, p. 11).
At Newton Close in Bicester, twenty one self finish homes are being delivered here as part of a much larger self build initiative piloted by Cherwell District Council. The council is currently looking for potential residents and is keen to recruit people with existing construction trades. Work is due to start in early 2014 and the homes will be available on a part rent/ part ownership arrangement (NaSBA, 2013, p. 17).
Annecdotal evidence suggests that Cherwell may well be the location for the first UK-equivalent of the large-scale, local authority enabled self-build development at the Homeruskwartier in Almere, the Netherlands, whilst the authority is widely considered a pace-setter in facilitating opportunities for citizens to provide their own homes, an accolade commonly attributed to its proactive Housing Team and enthusiastic elected Mayor.
Enabled Community Custom Build - Urban Pioneers, Middlesborough
A number of sources suggest that Custom Build – of other property types as well as homes – is a central strand of the regeneration strategy for the Middlehaven district of Middlesborough (Bomken et al., 2013; HCA, 2013; NaSBA, 2013, p. 6; Wunderlich and Campbell, 2013). NaSBA describe the inititave as:
“ … [involving] a prominent site near the River Tees, where space to accommodate around 15 large building plots (or roughly 40 homes/work spaces) have been identified on either side of a new park close to the town’s distinctive Transporter Bridge. The team behind the initiative is the HCA and the local council, and it is seeking to attract go-getters who are looking for an affordable site to build a home on. In addition to providing the land at zero initial cost, it is also offering loans and technical assistance to those interested in taking part.
A master plan has been drawn up for the area, and the new self build homes are seen as a way of stimulating interest and getting some building/economic activity underway. Each of the fully serviced plots is 15x30m (so they could take more than one home) and those that get involved can build pretty much what they like – a one-off home for themselves, an office or work spaces, a mixture of both or small developers can construct a terrace or a block of flats.
The land is offered on a ‘deferred payment’ basis (so its effectively free up front, though this approach means the value of the land can be realised at a later stage). The council and the HCA are paying for the provision of services, and are supporting the project by agreeing to take payment for the land later on. They are also considering offering three of the plots for free, as a way of generating interest and encouraging people to come forward with their proposals. There will be a set of simple rules or a basic design code, but the team doesn’t want to make this too onerous as it’s looking for innovative proposals and creative ideas to kick start regeneration.”
Enabled Community Custom Build - London Legacy Development Corporation
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) is in a unique position – and example of a specially created planning authority, tasked with the regeneration of a significant area of east London associated with the creation of the London 2012 Olympic Park, and simultaneously landowner, regeneration agency, and planning authority. The LLDC is keen to explore whether self-build or custom build homes can be included in the transformation of the Olympic Park from Games mode to Legacy mode, which includes a commitment to provide a significant amount of housing across the Park. It has hired a team to assess demand levels and then work out what type/size of homes might be included, how to identify potential would-be self builders and how to fund the scheme (NaSBA, 2013, p. 8).
Enabled Community Custom Build - Others
A number of other Enabled Community Custom Build initiatives are emerging across the country.
Stoke City Council. Shropshire County Council[1], Teignbridge District Council[2], Hastings Borough Council[3] and Orkney Island Council[4] are all known to be pursuing Custom Build strategies, or enabling self-builders directly through land allocation, and short summaries feature in recent NaSBA publications.
‘Self-finish’ is a popular custom build strategy for Local Authorities, probably due to its potential to reduce some of the risk. For example, four ‘shell finish’ homes are being constructed by the Orwell Housing Association, at Elizabeth Way in Felixstowe, aimed at local families on modest incomes. Potential residents have been involved in discussions about the design and interior layout options. More than 30 families enquired about securing one of the homes. Contractors are now constructing the shells to ‘first fix’ stage, at which point the self builders will finish them off. The housing association believes many of the potential residents will have contacts in the construction trade that will help them get good deals on materials and thereby make additional savings
They also believe the four residents will do a lot of skill swapping – so if one ends up being a plasterer, and another an electrician, they will both work on each other’s houses to mutual benefit. A rough estimate suggests that the finished two-bed dwellings will be worth £135,000 to £140,000, and the finished three-bed homes about £155,000 The ‘self finishers’ will save between 5 and 25% on this – depending on how much work they end up doing (NaSBA, 2013, p. 17).
[1] Shropshire County Council - People in housing need are able to build a house as their plot is treated as an exception site. The house must be less than 100m2 (internal area) and legal agreements are required to ensure it remains ‘affordable’ in perpetuity. This policy is providing 10% of the affordable housing in the area, with a steady stream of 20 to 25 homes per year coming forward (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
[2] Teignbridge District Council are using land designation to support collective custom build. This part of the UK is in high demand from would-be self builders, but suitable building plots are not easy to find. The council has little land of its own that it can offer up, so it has introduced a requirement that 5% of all sites of 20+ homes must be set aside for self builders. The first project affected by this policy - at Kingsteignton – has already identified eight potential plots for self builders. The council is also enthusiastically supporting the Land Society – a not for profit organisation that is helping to provide low cost self build homes in a number of villages across the council’s patch. The Society has teamed up with South Devon College to provide a bespoke self build training course as part of this initiative and more than 150 families have signed up for it. In addition the council is setting up a fighting fund to help it purchase land that it can then split up into serviced plots and sell on to self builders (NaSBA, 2013, p. 15).
[3] Hastings Borough Council - Two serviced plots are being sold at Ore in a pioneering scheme organised in conjunction with the HCA. In total there is scope to build around ten homes on the land (NaSBA, 2013, p. 16).
[4] There is a long tradition of providing serviced plots in the Highlands and Islands. This latest initiative is for ten plots at the settlement of St Margaret’s Hope, where the plot prices will be between £30,000 and £37,000 (NaSBA, 2013, p. 16).
Build! Programme
Learn about the Build! Programme via Cherwell District Council's 'Housing' pages, widely regarded as leading the field in terms of local authority innovation
The Land Society
Learn about how the Land Society supportspeople in housing need in towns and villages to self build their own affordable homes
Cornwall CLTs Ltd
Read about Cornwall CLTs Ltd. as an example of an umbrella organisation that can help independent groups to find land and establish collective custom build projects
Cambridge K1
Learn about the Cambridge K1 project where around 40 householders are coming together with the support of dedicated professionals
Read about Middlesborough Council's Urban Pioneers regeneration programme
LLDC
Read about the London Legacy Development Corporation's plans for Custom Build in the London 2012 Olympic Park transformation
Mark Brinkley
Read an article by self-build journalist and author Mark Brinkley on why 'community self-build' is the only route to self-provision at scale
Cherwell District Council, 2013. Housing [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cherwell.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1791 (accessed 11.6.13).
Hill, S., 2013a. Market Failure – Who are the real “Clients of Place”?
Self Build Portal, 2013. Community Eco-homes Devon [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/community-eco-homes-devon (accessed 12.6.13).
Stevens, T., 2013. Introducing the Self Build Revolution - Presentation to the HCA Custom Build workshop in Middlesborough, 29th January 2013.
Next Steps: Public Sector
What you can do to support Collective Custom Build
This study has also found that the most effective strategy in successful examples has been the identification and establishment of partnerships between organisations from different sectors, in order to work mutually and overcome significant barriers, such as identification and access to suitable land, access to finance - particularly short-term development finance - forming and maintaining a successful Collective Custom Build group, and negotiating planning and other statutory obligations.
Whilst it is beyond the scope of this study to analyse the implications of specific recommendations, A number of recent publications by key sources have recommended specific actions that could be taken by Public Sector organisations - such as Housing Associations, other Private Registered Providers of Social Housing, and Local Authorities at all levels - to enable the greater fulfilment of Collective Custom Build (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013; NaSBA, 2013, 2012a, 2012b, 2011; Parvin et al., 2011; Self Build Portal, 2013; Wallace et al., 2013).
It is widely accepted that Local Authorities may be instrumental in delivering a change in volume, and that partnership working and/or consortia could also overcome obstacles that currently limit scale (Hill, 2013a; NaSBA, 2013, 2012b, 2011, 2008; Parvin et al., 2011, p. 152; Stevens, 2013a, 2013b; Wallace et al., 2013, p. 8). Whilst the Self Build Portal[1] web-platform is designed to inform the general public about how they can access self-provided housing, the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) publish specific guidance for Planners (NaSBA, 2012b)[2] and the Public Sector (NaSBA, 2013)on the next steps they can take. Specifically, ‘How The Public Sector Can Help People Build Their Own Homes - A Practice Guide’ (NaSBA, 2013)outlines sixteen distinct conditions likely to be encountered in relation to ‘self-build’ - such as forms of constitution, and terms that describe the level of direct involvement by self-providers in building their own homes - and makes specific recommendations as to how ‘councils and registered providers’ can provide support in each case.
Generally, sources that advocate for a wider fulfilment of self-provided housing encourage public sector organisations to enable Collective Custom Build by making land, development finance or technical support available to developers and independent groups, specifically for the purpose of self-provision. NaSBA identify six key strategies that can achieve these aims:
1. Training Up Staff - principally by encouraging officers, councillors and general staff - as well as embryonic self-providing groups - to become familiar with existing schemes, by visiting them in order to understand how they operate and identify the qualities of the end result, as well as to become aware of governance models such as Cohousing, Community Land Trusts and Mutual Home Ownership Societies (MHOSs).
2. Identifying Suitable Land - by checking land-holdings and considering buying more land specifically for self-provision[3], as well as making public sector land available for self-provision through land allocation via the adoption of Neighbourhood Plans and Neighbourhood Development Orders. This strategy can apply particularly to ‘unconventional’ pieces of land on which development is unviable using ‘normal’ means.
3. Promoting & Disseminating - by ensuring projects have strong local political support and providing leadership, as well as providing a platform for evaluation and the sharing of knowledge between projects.
4. Developing a Self-Build / Custom Build Strategy - perhaps by providing short-tern development finance or financial guarantees to groups or developers, and by adopting a relaxed, supportive and flexible attitude to proposals, such as allowing extra time to raise money to buy land, or accepting Design Codes as part of planning applications. Public sector organisations are also encouraged to consider partnering directly with independent groups and developers / kit home manufacturers - or third sector organisations such as the Community Self Build Agency - to set up partnerships that have the capacity to make developments viable.
5. Measuring Local Demand -by conducting Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMAs) and Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessments (SHLAAs), through consultation or by using housing waiting lists to identify potential groups of people that could be enabled to provide their own homes. Local Authorities are relatively free to set their own standards against which they measure demand, and the HM Treasury also provides guidance on how to account for social value when auditing and evaluating decision making (HM Treasury, 2003, pp. 57–67).
6. Empowering People & Communities to Do It Themselves - by providing in-kind support and assistance with aspects of developing proposals, such as design and planning consultancy, or seconding talented ‘enablers’ into a community organisation to help it decide its optimum governance structure, apply for grants, work out what it wants to build and steer it through the planning and finance process.
(NaSBA, 2013, p. 19 - headings - and details throughout)
Wallace et al. also note that although a number of Local Authorities are ’testing the market’ for self-provision at a relatively small scale by making land available through land allocation, there is a need for large-scale pilot schemes on a scale similar to those in evidence in the Netherlands and Germany (Ibid. 2013, p. 8), to test the ‘mainstream’ delivery of self-provided housing initiatives such a Collective Custom Build,
The establishment of a Local Authority-run Revolving Fund is cited by some sources as stimulus for Collective Custom Build that is likely to be both effective and relatively easy to establish(Hill, 2013a; Parvin et al., 2011; Stevens, 2013a, 2013c). Indeed, the HCA’s Custom Build Homes Fund is designed as a pilot scheme and intended to demonstrate the viability of providing this kind of support to Local Authorities, encouraging them to set up their own funds (HCA, 2012). Cornwall Unitary Council is one example of a Local Authority that has a long-standing revolving fund with which it has successfully supported multi-unit self-provided housing developments in partnerships with Cornwall CLTs Ltd and Cornwall Rural Housing Association (Cornwall Rural Housing Association, 2013a, 2013b; Moore and Northcott, 2010; Stevens, 2013a).
A number of sources also state that there is a real opportunity for Collective Custom Build to provide a more meaningful route to affordable housing, particularly when considered in conjunction with governance models such as Community Land Trusts that can separate the price of a home from the value of the land that it is built on (East London Community Land Trust, 2013; Hill, 2013a, 2013b; Parvin et al., 2011).
The Community Self-Build Agency (CSBA) has a long and proven track record in partnering with Local Authorities and Registered Providers to deliver community self-build projects that have an emphasis on training - particularly for groups of people in severe housing need such as young unemployed and homeless people, and returning service veterans - and are actively seeking opportunities to develop further projects[4].
Further recommendations from key sources are summarised below.
[1] Please visit www.selfbuildportal.org.uk
[2] NaSBA also intends to publish guides for Developers and Lenders and to update these guides periodically in line with developments in the self-provided housing sector.
[3] Acquiring land by a reverse-auction process is a specific recommendation made by think-tank Policy Exchange in ‘A Right To Build - Local Homes for Local People’ (Morton, 2013).
[4] Please see www.communityselfbuildagency.org.uk/ for further information or to make contact.
A 10-Point Plan To Boost Self Build
A Self-Build Industry Round Table Meeting[1], held at a major trade-show in 2013 made the recommendation that Local Authority should seek to encourage and support small-scale development on sites of up to thirty homes to stimulate the ‘small-builders’ and build a greater volume of high-quality, sustainable homes with greater value to local economies (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 4). In a report entitled ‘A 10-Point Plan To Boost Self-Build’, the Round Table also made the following recommendations that it states ‘should not require primary legislation, but seek to build on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and add further clarification and guidance on how it should be interpreted and implemented by local authorities. There is also scope to implement some of the changes by reviewing the outdated-but-not-revoked ‘Planning System: General Principles’’(Ibid. 2013, p. 4):
1. 1. Allow Sites for 1-30 Units to Be Classed as Minor Development
2. Local Authorities Should be Encouraged to Allow Small-Scale Greenfield Windfall Sites
3. Extend the ‘Help to Buy’ Scheme to Include ‘Help to Build’
4. Remove Affordable Housing Contributions/Section 106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy On Minor Development Schemes
5. Allow Only Sites with Planning Permission to be Counted as ‘Deliverable’ Within the Five-Year Supply Requirement
6. Ensure Neighbourhood Plans Cannot Be Taken Into Account Prematurely
7. Reduce the Cost of Putting Forward Planning Applications for Minor Development Proposals
8. Ensure the Target-Driven Culture Does Not Lead to Unnecessary Refusals
9. Ensure Determination Targets Do Not Lead to Refusals
10. Provide Further Guidance Notes on Interpretation of the National Planning Policy Framework in relation to Sustainability and Rural Exception Sites.
Further detail about each of these proposals - and the arguments for them - can be found in the ’10-Point Plan To Boost Self-Build’ (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013).
[1] The Self-Build Industry Round Table Meeting was hosted by publisher Homebuilding & Renovating on the day prior to the 2013 National Homebuilding & Renovating Show at the NEC, Birmingham, and included “14 key self-build leaders” including “planners, finance providers, package suppliers, custom builders, and providers of building materials (some, but not all of whom, were members of the National Self Build Association, NaSBA)” and asked them to share what they saw as the main issues holding their industry back (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013, p. 2).
Build-It-Yourself? - Recommendations
Enabling support for Collective Custom Build from key industry stakeholders, including Local Authority and central Government, is viewed as a critical factor for increasing the number of successful schemes - either through assisting and ‘smoothing a path’ for otherwise independent groups, or by initiating projects and forming groups specifically to build homes. Reflecting on their findings, Wallace et al. conclude that:
‘Most group self-build housing was led by a community group [and] often formed organically – although strong individuals were instrumental. The present complicated and lengthy procurement methods are likely to mean that these models will remain small scale and a ‘niche’ market unless their development is specifically supported in the future’.
(Wallace et al., 2013, p. 7)
Wallace et al. also make a number of key recommendations that target Lenders, central Government, Local Authorities and Developers specifically (2013, pp. 7–9):
- Government should maintain their enabling role by co-ordinating reform of existing processes to facilitate scale models. They should signal their on-going support for the sector beyond 2015 (the end date for key initiatives), recognising that it takes time to achieve a step change in a previously limited sector of the housing market. Government should commission an evaluation of emerging models of procurement to facilitate better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and longer-term viability. There are also opportunities for the Government to initiate more opportunities for sharing evidence of good practice, particularly in relation to local government.
- Local authorities should consider the extent to which they can use planning agreements to embed self-build sites within speculative developments and, where appropriate, consider the benefits of supporting the sector to provide ‘more affordable’ housing for local people. The opportunities to expand this model from its more traditional rural location to urban areas should be explored. They should seek to address those aspects of the planning process that particularly constrain self builders. There may also be opportunities for local authorities to make land available and to designate a proportion as self-build plots.
- Developers and registered providers should recognise the social and economic benefits of working with prospective residents/purchasers to enable them to procure and/or customise their homes. There are also opportunities to work collaboratively as enablers to provide packaged solutions of professional services to help self-builders overcome the ‘silo’ approach that currently characterises and slows the self-build process.
- Lenders should provide additional guidance to potential self-builders about the criteria for funding. They should appraise the risks that pertain to the different procurement models and consider whether products can be tailored to reflect the different risk profiles. They should work across the industry to smooth lending processes to the sector and consider working in consort with other lenders, developers, housing associations or local authorities to effect the delivery of large-scale self-build sites. They should also consider the development of more accessible products for individual customers.
(Wallace et al., 2013, pp. 8–9)
A Right To Build - Recommendations
Parvin et al. (2011)suggest and illustrate a number of ‘near-future scenarios’ in which self-provided housing could be ‘scaled up’ as a mainstream option, including details of the roles required of key stakeholders, such as Local Authorities, other public and third sector organisations, developers and self-providing groups (Ibid. 2011, pp. 125–143)[1]. The study also includes an ‘index of key actions’ required to create the conditions for each scenario (Ibid. 2011, p. 152).
Specific recommendations for central Government and the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) are:
- A National Self-Provided Housing Agency[2] - Continue to pull together experts, lenders, private sector companies and self-provision organisations at a national level through a central agency, in order to serve as a resource for local authorities, private sector companies and communities, as suggested by Hill et al. Of course the aims and agendas of these actors will not always cohere into a single clear message, however, their collective aim should be to make different models of mass self-provision as normal, accessible, easy and risk-free as possible, for everyone involved.
- Research - Gather together ongoing research and evidence of the externalities and public value outcomes which emerge from pioneer projects. This should also include a watchfulness for external negative consequences, such as social exclusion.
- Develop Standard Models - Create, communicate and support standard legal, financial and planning models, which are backed by partnerships.
- Set Up Revolving Funds - Establish catalyst funds for communities, groups or organisations trying to develop self-provided housing schemes with limited capital resources, but good prospects of long-term revenue.
- Public Land Assets - Pioneer the sale and use of public land assets for self-provision models. These should include Self-Build Zones, assembled around Local Development Orders and development partnerships.
(Ibid. 2011, p. 152)
Parvin et al. also have specific recommendations for Local Authorities and Planners:
- Land and market assessments - Include demand for self-provided housing types in Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMAs) and Strategic Housing Land Area Assessments (SHLAAs), so that land can be allocated proportionately to its market share, as advocated by the Office for Fair Trading.
- Public land disposal - In the interests of achieving the best public value outcomes, local authorities should consider making sites or plots for self-provided housing a standard component of all public land disposals. This might include slow ‘geared’ land purchase, rather than single one-off payment. Even where there may be a disparity between the financial yield offered by self-provision and conventional market purchase, an evidenced case should be sought and put forward that the disparity be considered a form of investment in place-making outcomes (this might be guaranteed, for example, by the formation of a CLT).
- Section 106 and CIL - Where small self-provided housing schemes need support, local authorities should consider exemption from external Affordable Housing contribution or CIL. Alternatively, they can make this easier for self-providers to finance by deferring CIL payments until after completion.
- Use of public land - Seek to design legal arrangements and contracts allowing licensing of public land, which may include rents geared up over time with the resident’s ability to pay.
- Land through planning conditions - Seek legal and professional advice on the capacity to make land (and / or infrastructure) for self-provision models (including self-finish) part of a Section 106 planning requirement on large sites for private development.
(Ibid. 2011, pp. 152–153)
[1] The scenarios explored by Parvin et al. include Suburban Co-housing, Urban Community Land Trusts and Self-Build Zones (Ibid. 2011, pp. 125–143).
[2] It should be noted that this already exists to a large degree in the form of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA), although Parvin et al. suggest that its capacity should be wider than advocacy and representation. Please see www.nasba.org.uk for further information.
NaSBA - Contact
Contact the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) via its website to see what they can do to support public sector initiatives
NaSBA Guide - Planning
Read ‘Planning for Custom Build Housing - A Practice Guide - 1st Edition’ by the National Self Build Association (NaSBA)
NaSBA Guide - Public Sector
Read advice from the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) on how the public sector can help people build their own homes
Find out more about Collective Custom Build - and self-build in general - via the Self Build Portal
Read guidance from the HM Treasury on how to consider social value when evaluating and auditing projects and initiatives on pp.57-58 of the 'Green Book'
Build-It-Yourself?
Read about the influence of the public sector on the lending landscape of finance and self-provision
Hill, S., 2013b. Interview with Stephen Hill at Motivating Collective Custom Build stakeholder workshop, at Ash Sakula Architects, London, 25th February 2013.
NaSBA, 2012a. A progress report to Government on the implementation of the Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing. NaSBA, Swindon.
NaSBA, 2012b. Planning for Custom Build Housing - A Practice Guide - 1st Edition. NaSBA, Swindon.
Stevens, T., 2013b. How they do large scale self build in the Netherlands - Presentation in the Sustainable Self Build & renovation seminar stream at EcoBuild 2013, London.
Next Steps: Private Sector
What you can do to enable Collective Custom Build
A number of key publications have recommended actions that could be taken by Private Sector organisations such as developers, house-builders and small-builders to enable the greater fulfilment of Collective Custom Build (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013; NaSBA, 2013, 2012a, 2012b, 2011; Parvin et al., 2011; Self Build Portal, 2013; Wallace et al., 2013).
Whilst the Self Build Portal[1] web-platform is designed to inform the general public about how they can access self-provided housing, the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) publish specific guidance for Planners (NaSBA, 2012b)[2] and the Public Sector (NaSBA, 2013)on the next steps they can take and plan further guidance for Lenders and the Private Sector.
Although aimed primarily at the Public Sector, ‘How The Public Sector Can Help People Build Their Own Homes - A Practice Guide’ (NaSBA, 2013)outlines sixteen distinct conditions likely to be encountered in relation to ‘self-build’ - such as forms of constitution, and terms that describe the level of direct involvement by self-providers in building their own homes - and makes recommendations that could also be applied by private sector organisations
A number of private companies are diversifying as Custom Build Developers and Development Managers in order to respond to the opportunities presented by Collective Custom Build, and are actively seeking development partners to explore how self-provision could mix with traditional house-building development (Fairgrove Homes Ltd, 2013; HAB, 2013; Igloo, 2013; Solidspace, 2013; Urban Self Build, 2013 and others).
A number of key sources make specific recommendations for the private sector, which are discussed below.
Wallace et al. have undertaken a thorough examination of the lending market for self-build and make specific recommendations for developers and private sector lenders[1], highlighting the significant opportunities that exist in the sector (2013, pp. 7–9)as well as the need for specific support for ‘group self-build housing’ if it is to gain wider market traction:
[1] Wallace et al. also make specific recommendations for central Government and Local Authorities (see Wallace et al., 2013, pp. 7–9).
Parvin et al. also recommend a series of key actions that could be taken by private sector developers, land-owners, contractors, consultants and manufacturers:
- Self-provided plots as ‘seed’ development - Develop business models which use plot-promotion on part or all of sites as a means to catalyse placemaking and de-risk the initial phases of development, or to shift from short to long-term revenues
- Take out market risk - Seek to partner with local authorities and self-providing groups to deliver houses, effectively as a form of pre-sales. This will require new ways of working for users who are leading projects, and new ways of eliminating risk.
- Innovation - Innovate to capitalise on the latent-desire to self-provide by designing processes and products which makes self-provision easier, less risky and more sustainable. Design-in capacity for the investment of user ‘sweat equity’ where appropriate. This may include sharing risk for fees at the initial stages of a project.
- Communication - The shift towards a mass-micro operating model means communicating with non-professionals as much as professionals, without ‘dumbing down’ the full complexity of options or reverting to a ‘consultation’ mindset. Clear user-facing interfaces of all kinds, throughout the process are required to allow self-providers to make informed decisions.
(Parvin et al., 2011, p. 153)
NaSBA - Information
Access a range of information available from the National Self Build Association, aimed at the public and private sector
Read 'Build-It-Yourself? - Understanding The Changing Landscape Of The UK Self-Build Market' by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York to understand the role of lending institutions with regard to Collective Custom Build
Read about the experience of a UK-based Custom Build Developer, visiting Europe’s largest self-build housing development at Almere in the Netherlands
Urban Self Build, 2013. Urban Self Build - USB Developments... [WWW Document]. URL http://www.urbanselfbuild.com/selfbuild.html (accessed 11.6.13).
Next Steps: Groups
Next steps for groups that want to build their own homes
A number of key publications have recommended actions that could be taken by independent groups of people that wish to build their own homes to enable the greater fulfilment of Collective Custom Build (Homebuilding & Renovating, 2013; NaSBA, 2013, 2012a, 2012b, 2011; Parvin et al., 2011; Self Build Portal, 2013a; Wallace et al., 2013).
This study has also found that the most effective strategy in successful examples has been the identification and establishment of partnerships between other-wise independent groups and organisations from public, private and third sectors - often termed ‘development partners’ - in order to work mutually and overcome significant barriers, such as identification and access to suitable land, access to finance - particularly short-term development finance - forming and maintaining a successful Collective Custom Build group, and negotiating planning and other statutory obligations.
A number of sources suggest that the most effective course of action that can be taken by a self-providing group is to become constituted - adopting a governance structure and identity that enables the group to act as a legal entity and engage formally with stakeholders in the construction industry, such as planners, developers and other agencies (Hill, 2013a, 2013b; Self Build Portal, 2013b; Stevens, 2013a). Learning points highlighted by existing case studies - such as the Ashley Vale Action Group (Moulding, 2012; Self Build Portal, 2013e), and the Low-Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC, 2013)- suggest that this is crucial in securing development partners and overcoming significant barriers facing groups that want to build their own homes.
Other sources suggest that groups should pro-actively lobby Local Authority, both in identifying potential sites and asking for technical support, as well as highlighting that the Authority has a duty under the NPPF to both assess the demand of - and plan for - those that wish to build their own homes[1] (Self Build Portal, 2013b; Stevens, 2013a, 2013b). Groups can also approach developers with the proposition that they become the first phase of an otherwise ‘normal’ development, seeding the project with an attractive community that attracts other customers, an idea familiar to UK house-builders who also conduct business in North America (Hill, 2013a, 2013b).
The Self Build Portal provides some ‘next steps’ for groups and individuals wishing to find, initiate or join an ‘independent community collaboration’[2], ‘supported community self-build group’[3] or ‘developer-led group project’[4] (Self Build Portal, 2013b, 2013c, 2013d). Groups should read about and learn from case studies and precedent examples of groups of people coming together to build their own homes, including visiting schemes and meeting the people that were instrumental in initiating the project.
There are also emerging means of access for individuals that wish to find or form a group in order to self-provide housing. For example, CommunityBuild.org.uk[5] provides a ‘match-making’ service for independent groups, as well as a map-based database for identifying land (CommunityBuild, 2013), Some ‘Custom Build Developers’ - who offer to manage a Custom Build process on behalf of individual households on multi-unit sites - also offer some form of match-making service (see Solidspace, 2013a, 2013b)and do not work out working for already-formed groups of people, whilst some - such as HAB Housing[6] - offer the opportunity to become an investor in the company itself (HAB, 2013).
Existing umbrella organisations, such as the National CLT Network[7] and UK Cohousing Network[8] already offer support to groups - and individuals wishing to join a group - in becoming established and developing a project. In most cases they can also make connections with local sources of support (National CLT Network, 2013; UK Cohousing Network, 2013).
Groups can also seek financial advice or assistance from ‘ethical lenders’ such as the Triodos bank[9], or the Ecology Building Society[10] who have specific agenda of lending to community projects and have supported a number of the innovative Collective Custom Build schemes discussed in this study. The Tudor Trust (Tudor Trust, 2013)for example, were instrumental in bringing forward schemes with the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne Development Company, a constituted group of self-providers set up to manage a Community Land Trust in partnership with a local housing association (Peacock, 2011).
Parvin et al. (2011)also suggest and illustrate a number of ‘near-future scenarios’ in which self-provided housing could be ‘scaled up’ as a mainstream option, including details of the roles required of key stakeholders, such as Local Authorities, other public and third sector organisations, developers and self-providing groups (Ibid. 2011, pp. 125–143)[11]. The study also includes an ‘index of key actions’ required to create the conditions for each scenario (Ibid. 2011, p. 152).
Parvin et al. recommend a series of key actions that could be taken by self-providing groups:
- Co-operate - Connect with other groups, organisations and networks to share and aggregate knowledge, risk and market power.
- Establish a ‘constitution’ - It is often remarked upon that the slowness and difficulty of initiating self-provision schemes is a major cause of pessimism for self-providing groups. Yet equally, it is also highlighted that the long pre-project interval is necessary to calmly establish common aims and design principles, as well as equitable systems for making decisions.
- Appoint a project manager - The occasionally conflicted and adversarial nature of the design process is more or less inevitable, and perhaps important. Thus it has been suggested from a number of sources that the appointment of a neutral project manager is a worthwhile investment in terms of overall savings, and helpful in bringing building procurement expertise which extends to, for example, whole life-cycle costing etc. This may or may not be the architect.
- Design process as well as product - As well as negotiating the design of the ‘finished’ houses and neighbourhood, explore ways of reducing cost, risk and financial thresholds through the design of the houses, including density, degrees of individual customisation and scope for allowing members of the group with relevant skills to invest ‘sweat equity’ in a fair, verifiable way.
- Innovative Models - Investigate innovative procurement and tenure models which suit the situation and the aims of the project, possibly including Community Land Trusts and mutual home / land ownership, or equitable ways of co-investing in neighbourhood infrastructure, such as shared resources or micro-regeneration.
[1] Please refer to ‘Statue & Policy’ in the study.
[2] Please visit www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/independent-community-collaboration
[3] Please visit www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/supported-community-self-build-group
[4] Please visit www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/developer-led-group-project
[5] Please visit www.communitybuild.org.uk
[6] Please visit www.habhousing.co.uk
[7] Please visit www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk
[8] Please visit www.cohousing.org.uk
[9] See www.triodos.co.uk/en/personal/
[10] See www.ecology.co.uk/
[11] The scenarios explored by Parvin et al. include Suburban Co-housing, Urban Community Land Trusts and Self-Build Zones (Ibid. 2011, pp. 125–143).
Visit the Self Build Portal to explore the different ways you could get involved in a Collective Custom Build scheme or start your own
Read 'A Right To Build - the Next Mass Housebuilding Industry' to understand the UK housing market and the opportunities for self-provision
CommunityBuild, 2013. CommunityBuild - Bringing people and land togther [WWW Document]. URL http://www.communitybuild.org.uk/ (accessed 7.22.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013b. Self Build Portal - Independent Community Collaboration [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/independent-community-collaboration (accessed 12.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013c. Self Build Portal - Supported community self build group [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/supported-community-self-build-group (accessed 11.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013d. Self Build Portal - Developer led group project [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/developer-led-group-project (accessed 12.6.13).
Self Build Portal, 2013e. Case Study - Ashley Vale [WWW Document]. URL http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/ashley-vale (accessed 12.6.13).
Stevens, T., 2013a. Presentation at Self Build Talk & Debate at RCKa Architects, Clerkenwell, London, 9th May 2013.
Tudor Trust, 2013. The Tudor Trust [WWW Document]. URL http://tudortrust.org.uk/ (accessed 6.25.13).
UK Cohousing Network, 2013. Welcome to the UK Cohousing Network [WWW Document]. URL http://www.cohousing.org.uk/ (accessed 5.29.13).
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The Self Build Portal - established and maintained by the National Self Build Association - collates uptodate information about self-build and Custom Build. Use the Self Build Portal to explore what your next steps might be.
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Collective Custom Build is part of the Motivating Collective Custom Build practice-based research project within the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Home Improvements Knowledge Exchange based at the University of Sheffield. Motivating Collective Custom build is led jointly by the University of Sheffield School of Architecture, Ash Sakula Architects and Design for Homes.
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Liz Williams LiveJournal
Buy "Darkland" HERE via PanMacmillan
Being the daughter of a Gothic novelist and part-time conjuror, not to mention having a background in History and Philosophy of Science, has obviously blessed British SF/fantasy author Liz Williams with a tremendous imagination and talented writing abilities. While “Darkland” is my first exposure to the author, Liz Williams has also written “The Ghost Sister” and “Empire Of Bones”, both of which were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Inspector Chen series, which I hope to check out at some point, the Arthur C. Clarke-shortlisted “Banner of Souls”, and various other novels & short stories.
Marketed mainly as science fiction, “Darkland” is an interesting combination of various themes, concepts and genres. For starters, the story is set in a “far-distant future”, where mankind has long left Earth to colonize numerous other planets with the narrative divided between two characters: a first-person view of Vali Hallsdottir, Skald assassin/operative, and the third-person view of Ruan. With Vali’s accounting we’re briefly introduced to the Muslim-influenced planet Nhem, where women are treated as nothing more than animals or property, as well as her home world of Muspell where we get to visit the Skald's base of operations and get a taste of the treacherous continent Darkland. For Ruan, readers are taken back to the planet of Mondhile, or Monde D’Isle, which was first introduced in Ms. Williams’ debut “The Ghost Sister” and is a much more archaic world where genetically altered humans live in harmony with their primal sides. Through events that I won’t detail, the two characters converge on Mondhile and mayhem, revenge and awakening ensues.
As mentioned above, there’s a lot of intriguing elements in play throughout “Darkland”. For instance, while set in a futuristic timeline, technological advancements are noticeably restrained. Sure, you have space ships, pulse guns, map implants, tabulas that translate languages and various other little gizmos, but for the most part, it’s nothing on the scale of most SF that I’ve read. In contrast, Mondhile could almost be described as a fantasy setting, with clan villages, people using bows & arrows, and just an overall medieval vibe. Still, while outlandish scientific principles may be lacking, Ms. Williams more than makes up for it by creating imaginative & terrifying ecosytems like the one found on Mondhile, a trait that I would liken to the estimable Neal Asher. In addition, a host of other fascinating concepts comprise “Darklands” including the Seith (a sort of psychic awareness or sixth sense that the Skald use), the ability to turn on/off a creature’s self-awareness, and the Vitki, a genetically altered race of enigmatic beings who consider them selves superior to humans and utilize their own form of seith. As far as themes, sex is prominently depicted, in a much harsher light though, as well as women’s roles, which range wildly from the restricted Nhemish and female-dominated Skald, to Vitki who see women as nothing more than breeders and the Mondhaiths who exist on more equal terms with their men as hunters & warriors.
Of course, having all the best ideas in the world wouldn’t matter if the author is unable to piece everything together into a coherent and entertaining story. Fortunately, Liz Williams accomplishes this with flying colors. Not only does she deftly manage the contrasting point of views with excellent command, her prose as a whole is lush and refined. Characterization is solid for the most part with the tougher-than-she-looks, haunted-by-demons Vali getting the bulk of the development including relevant flashbacks, though I would have liked to see further exploration of such interesting secondary players as Frey or Gemaley, and I also thought that certain relationships between characters felt rushed. Overall though, Ms. Williams’ writing is polished and kept me engaged through out the book, and should appeal to fans of Jack Vance & Ursula K. Le Guin, a couple of the author’s notable influences.
In short, I greatly enjoyed “Darkland”. I thought it was an intelligent, well-crafted work of fiction containing elements of science fiction and fantasy that is as much about entertaining the reader with pulse-pounding action and thrills as it is about challenging the reader’s perceptions with provocative concepts. About the only thing I didn’t like was that the book concluded with an obvious cliffhanger ending that will be picked up in a future novel. Fortunately, I have that said novel in hand, and look forward to continuing Vali’s adventures in “Bloodmind”, which I hope to review shortly. In the meantime, I’d recommend picking up “Darkland” and any other Liz Williams novel that you can find. While I haven’t read any of her other works, from the research that I’ve done, it seems like Ms. Williams does a great job of exploring different ideas/themes with each of her books, and for the most part is positively reviewed…
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In assessing GBH and/or ABH there is a consideration as to the extent of the injury caused, only. If the injured person ameliorates the situation the aggressor gets a lighter sentence, even if it could have been worse, (she says, with irritation).
I think the point is also that in the event of future incidents, and for purposes of disclosure of convictions, it needs to be made clear that one is dealing with a violent thug, not a rubbish driver.
BroJames wrote: »
I think that while the cyclist is clearly vulnerable in relation to the driver, he was not vulnerable in the sense of being (e.g.) elderly or disabled, which is I think, what the law intends.
I'd still argue it in court.
Also I don’t think the court would find this was premeditation in the way that, say, lying in wait for him the next day would have been.
He literally drove down the road, turned around, and drove back to find the cyclist and run him over. This wasn't a reaction. This was an action, premeditated and deliberate.
Life disqualification is not AFAICT an available sentence, although an extended retest to obtain a new licence again should have been (maybe was) required.
If you google 'lifetime driving ban uk', you see that in rare cases, the courts can impose a lifetime ban. Normally this is at the end of a horrendously long series of driving offences. I don't know whether there's a deterrent effect to be had in slapping them down more regularly, but I'd be willing to give it a punt.
I thin @Alan Cresswell when you get somebody doing something like firing a gun at a person, you’re starting to get into an area where the circumstances might enable a jury to infer intent to kill or to cause gbh.
Lyda Shipmate
I think a two ton vehicle deliberately aimed at a person on a bike infers intent to kill or cause gbh.
But, driving a ton or more of metal at someone, at speeds highly likely to cause death or serious injury, isn't a circumstance which might enable a jury to infer intent to kill or to cause gbh?
Lyda wrote: »
It does, but attempted murder requires a specific intent to kill. Not to severely injure. Not even with complete indifference to the distinct possibility of killing. You have to specifically intend to kill.
Intent to kill or cause GBH, even with intent to endanger life isn't enough. You have to act with the specific intent that your victim will not come out of it alive.
It doesn't matter that much. GBH with intent to endanger life carries a possible life sentence, I gather. The problem here is that the guy wasn't charged with it. They never are.
And even if it didn't, it would get some idiots off the road.
I also hold that people who drive while disqualified should serve the rest of their ban behind bars.
Yes. I see the force of the argument, but using cars to knock people off mopeds is a tactic being used by the Met. It’s controversial because it is dangerous, but I guess there’s rarely if ever intent to kill or to cause GBH. With a car, a defendant might just say, ‘I meant to knock him off his bike and give him a fright.’ Evidence of multiple attempts, or other things might undermine that claim, but I suspect a jury might accept it. I don’t think the same sort of thing could be said about firing a gun at someone.
It’s controversial because it is dangerous
Kind of my point. It is dangerous. Some senior figures in the force think it's too dangerous. It won't be long before they kill someone, and the practice will be banned.
I think it's intended to appeal to the "who cares if some scumbag robbers get killed?" lowest common denominator element. Sort of an English version of Duterte.
I agree it’s dangerous, and because of that someone might get killed (although their chances on a speeding moped might not be much better if a stinger was used).
All I’m arguing is that it is not too hard to argue that the act was done with a lesser intention than to kill or cause GBH, and since actual GBH was not caused, the slightly lesser charge of GBH without intent wouldn’t stand either.
In those circumstances the penalties for dangerous driving (though less than GBH) are greater than ABH because they are as severe in terms of sentencing possibilities and include the motoring penalty of removal of licence. (The confiscation of the vehicle as an instrument of crime could have happened in either case.)
ETA It’s perfectly fair to argue that the law should be changed (and there are arguments either way), but as it stands ISTM that it was sensibly applied.
...He literally drove down the road, turned around, and drove back to find the cyclist and run him over. This wasn't a reaction. This was an action, premeditated and deliberate. ...
Agreed. Mr. Nodder should have had some jail time.
I'm guessing from the judge's reasons that the defendant's personal circumstances ("learning difficulties", OCD, etc.) were factors that kept him out of actual jail.
@BroJames I'm curious: is the 8-month jail sentence mentioned as the basis for 18-month suspended sentence purely theoretical, or could someone actually get 8 months for this kind of offence?
No. I’m pretty sure someone could get 8 months* and, depending on the circumstances, even longer. (*although there is something of a push against short custodial sentences now as being counterproductive)
In California purposefully running someone down with a car is felony assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, you can do up to four years in prison and you lose your driver's license for life. People do get booked for this - here's an example from a few days ago.
sionisais Shipmate
Ruth wrote: »
It used to be in the UK until the 1920's, but IIRC there was a householder qualification in force for jury service and the kind of people who got hauled up for offences against the person (I think that's the term) were exactly those who would decide their fate. Naturally, they weren't going to send their chums from the golf club, the Masons and the chamber of commerce down, so motoring offences were introduced. After all, it wasn't the driver's fault, it woz the car wot dun it.
Penny S Shipmate
I would have thought that it would be proper to look into exactly what his learning difficulties are and whether they affect his driving ability, rather than using them as a defence.
Penny S wrote: »
Yes, that would seem fairly basic.
It's not a defence -- after all, he pled guilty to the offence. I'm not 100% sure what "leaning difficulties" means in UK English, though I'm guessing from the way it was used here that it refers to a broader intellectual deficit and not just some specific disability. The sentencing judge seems to have thought that this and his apparently nontrivial mental health issues would have made him particularly vulnerable in custody. That's not a get out a jail free card, but it's a relevant consideration in choosing between two otherwise appropriate sentences. I would guess that the sentencing judge may also have thought that these factors may have contributed to the commission of the offence, thereby reducing his overall level of culpability compared to an offender who did not have these disabilities. It doesn't excuse, but it can mitigate.
Sentencing is far from an exact science and reasonable people in different jurisdictions (or even in the same jurisdiction) can have widely divegent views of what offences should attract what punishments. Judging from what @BroJames posted upthread the sentence imposed here appears to have been well within the range of sentences that would be imposed for similar offences (including offences not involving a car) in the U.K.
Do you mean:
Gee your honour, when I was I was in the midst of a road rage caused by my learning problems I chased a guy with my car with intent to harm him. I wouldn't have done that except I am learning disabled.
Please have mercy me because if I go to jail my learning disability means others will harm me.
Or do you mean something else? And don't you have protective custody in the UK?
I don't live in the UK, so I have no idea.
Both factors I mentioned can be mitigating factors in Canada, and yes, we do have protective custody here.
There are many jurisdictions with more hard-ass views on sentencing than Canada and the UK, our neighbor to the south, for starters. Perhaps you would find their attitudes more to your liking.
That's not it. It's consequences and response equal to the harm caused.
Here's a short video of what happens when an idiot driver is an idiot. Hit and run. Careless. And bad infrastructure.
Mr Clingford Shipmate
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-48146526/highgate-hit-and-run-cctv-shows-cyclist-thrown-into-air
Bloody cyclists, always getting in the way of veering cars.
It was almost bloody pedestrians for me last night. Coming back from a club run, I checked as I crossed the side road that neither car coming from behind me wanted to turn left. The first one (not indicating) went straight on. The second one (also not indicating) had to swerve hard to avoid me because I was already half way across the junction. Then had the temerity to beep me, rather than stopping and apologising profusely.
I would have given chase, but I'd just done 8.5 miles at a fair clip and was knackered...
...I would have given chase, but I'd just done 8.5 miles at a fair clip and was knackered...
A splendid example of moasting!
The second one (also not indicating) had to swerve hard to avoid me because I was already half way across the junction.
Come on Doc - you know the blinky orange things aren't for telling other people where you want to go - they're the universal sign for "I'm just popping in to this shop for a few minutes, so it's OK for me to block everyone's access for a while."
Or "In case you haven't noticed, I'm turning into this road. Shame you're already crossing it."
I would have left a nasty dent in their bonnet. Which they probably would have blamed me for.
If someone uses a car as a deadly weapon not unlike a gun, I sure as hell want him off the street for a while. What is your solution?
At a junction. When crossing the road, look out for traffic turning into the road, especially from behind you. If you have started crossing and traffic wants to turn into the road, you have priority and they should give way
"Should" being the word...
I've forgotten the details of this case, including what the accused actually pled to, but as I recall it was something along the lines of an assault, and certainly not something along the lines of attempt murder. If the Crown were in a position to prove the latter there's no doubt he would be spending significant time as a guest of Her Majesty. Likewise if he were to start to make a habit of this.
Along with "Should have read the Highway Code and know you had right of way". But, it seems many drivers never bother with such things as reading the Highway Code.
The Rogue Shipmate
/Pedant The Highway Code said you have priority, not right of way. /Pedant
Twilight Shipmate
Twilight wrote: »
Nicotine has been proven to increase attention and focus on tedious, repetitive tasks. I think that added bit of stimulation and alertness is more than enough trade off to the tiny bit of attention needed to flick the ash. I don't smoke but I'm glad the long haul truckers do.
That is complete bollocks. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance. As it leaves the body smokers get withdrawal symptoms, which is why they get agitated an hour or so after their last cigarette and find it hard to concentrate. This is why nicotine gives the illusion that it adds stimulation & alertness and also acts as a stress reliever. The only reason the lack of alertness and the stress are there in the first place is because a smoker is going through withdrawal.
No it is not bollocks and there is no illusion Nicotine is very helpful with concentration. Your hypothetical problem of the smoker having withdrawal problems while driving isn't likely to happen very often because addicted smokers rarely run out of cigs. They also usually have ashtrays placed strategically so that they don't need to take their eyes off the road to look for it, their hand knows where it is. As for smokers causing litter, yes some do, just as some drinkers throw their beer bottles out the window. It doesn't mean all drinkers aren't litter bugs.
Nicotine the work drug.
You can both be right, although I'd worry that the stimulant effect of nicotine is counteracted by the irregular and disturbed sleep also caused by nicotine.
Yeah. Better luck next time, buddy. Practice, practice, practice.
balaam Shipmate
Double bollocks.
That is a research done on only 15 people who are all smokers. To be significant it needs a larger sample size and a control on non smokers. You'd need to be able to prove that nicotine causes an increase in concentration in non smokers to show that Spikes assertion that nicotine gives the illusion that it adds stimulation & alertness and also acts as a stress reliever.
That link proves two thirds of bugger all. I'm with Spike on this.
Well it's definitely more significant than all your links saying nicotine has no stimulating effects on the brain and it's only an illusion. You might have noticed the article starts out saying "many studies say" and I've seen many of those studies as far back as 1993 when I was researching prior to quitting smoking. Next you'll be saying caffeine doesn't have any stimulating effects, we just think it does if we try to give it up. Maybe you don't think stimulants exist at all?
Tobacco causes cancer. So almost everything the medical community has ever said about tobacco, and it's components, is negative. The last thing they want to do is indicate to young people that they might do better on a test if they have a cigarette first. I wouldn't either. For one thing nicotine is as addictive as heroin and I wouldn't want anyone to have that first hit. However, the fact remains that nicotine has a stimulating effect on many people's brains.
If people didn't hate smokers with the slavering prejudice of Puritans against suspected witches it might be possible to discuss this.
My understanding of nicotine is that in the short-term it is a stimulant but in the longer term it is a depressant. So, if you want to maintain stimulation, you have to chain smoke, or something close to it. That can lead to insufficient sleep and a host of problems.
Experienced smokers unconsciously learn to use it to their own best advantage. Short quick puffs for stimulation, long slow drags to calm themselves. Along with the chemical effects are a number of physical habits that the smoker finds helpful -- for example; something to do with the hands can help with general anxiety, and the oral satisfaction can help with dieting. When I quit smoking I was surprised to find how much I missed having an excuse to leave the party for a few minutes to step out back into the dim quiet.
Nicotine being as addictive as heroin is often said. I've never seen anything in a study which compares the two credibly. The mechanisms by which they affect physiology and neurology is rather different. And the social cues and behaviour attached to smoking make it quite quite different.
Addictions can be very difficult with the combination of physical, psychological and social aspects all reinforcing, depending on the substance or behaviour. I've wondered if driving road rage is an addictive behaviour pattern: angry at feeling delayed and bothered by perceived slights by others, elated when gaining the open road or arriving. All the while affecting physiology. One emotional state is replaced by another in a behavioural scene, feelings go from bad to good (or stay bad or become worse), and then it's all relived in memory or fantasy. Until the next trip.
Climacus Shipmate
On sharing the road, 92 yos on mobility scooters are added to the mix:
Bruce then calls triple-zero while following the scooter moving in and out of the service lane and the busy flow of traffic.
"He's on the Monash outbound, I tried to pull him over but he told me to f*** off," Bruce tells the triple-zero operator.
Around Lincoln Center/Fordham University/Juilliard in New York City, college-age bicyclists routinely run red lights and scream at pedestrians attempting to cross the street with the "Walk" light. Sorry, kids, I'm in a wheelchair, and I'm limited in my ability to yield the right-of-way to entitled boys and girls with the bucks for pricey bikes and not enough sense to wear helmets.
Because it always annoys me, I'm responding to @Rossweisse re helmets and cycling.
The obsession over helmet wearing and their grossly exaggerated benefits has killed cyclists by allowing governments to avoid the only true safety measure which is not putting cyclists in roadways with drivers. Data such as this link show that overall hospital admissions increased after helmet laws even as helmet wearing increased. Of all the lives allegedly saved, more would have with more attention on infrastructure and less on wearing a foam hat.
Yes individual cyclists can be bad. Behaviour change is not encouraged my helmets. Drivers consistently worry about being delayed. Cyclists consistently worry about being killed. Pedestrians and cars don't mix either. Which is why there is separated walking spaces where cars are not supposed to be. Cyclists are stuck between with no safe places to travel. The general message from everyone is that cyclists should buy cars or walk and stop pretending a bicycle is a legit transportion method.
Oh and re red lights, are those driver red lights, pedestrian red lights or bicycle red lights? A cyclist isn't a driver, a pedestrian nor a canary.
To be fair, in the UK at any rate red lights apply to everyone using a vehicle on the road, which includes cyclists, which is why I always observe them. However, NoProphet's point is basically sound concerning helmets. The countries with the lowest cyclist KSI rates are not those with mandatory helmet laws but those with decent infrastructure.
i.e. not like what we get here in most of the country. I present for your entertainment http://wcc.crankfoot.xyz/facility-of-the-month/index.htm
Lest it be thought these are extreme examples, they aren't. They are absolutely routine.
It's quite simple. A helmet helps reduce head injuries if a cyclist comes off their bike, it doesn't prevent injury. Infrastructure that gives cyclists safe space (which would include maintenance of cycle lanes so they aren't blocked, covered in rubbish, full of pot holes etc) reduces the number of accidents - no accidents = no injuries.
We have separate cycle lanes in the CBD, recently built and well maintained, and still I was almost run over by two cyclists when I was walking along the footpath.
I am not generally anti-cyclist, until I injured my knee I cycled everywhere myself, but in the case of those two idiots I was less than impressed.
I don't mind skate boards because I can hear them coming (the footpaths are made with a block effect, rather than being smooth), but cyclists sneak up silently, especially for those of us with a hearing disability.
Which sounds sensible. And let's continue to be sensible. Any high speed impact to the head probably will be less significant if a person is wearing a helmet. But consider that if the reason we are supposed to wear helmets while biking is to prevent serious head injury on the off-chance we get into a crash, then why is it acceptable for pedestrians and drivers to go about without helmets? Anyone wearing a helmet will have less severe head injury within any activity of they're wearing a helmet. Why has cycling been singled out as an activity in need of head protection? Particularly considering that the proportion of head injuries suffered by cyclists are smaller than those suffered by drivers. Studies are frequently cited to show that helmeted cyclists who are hospitalized are far less likely to have serious head trauma than bare-headed cyclists that have been hospitalized. But so few peds and drivers wear helmets we don't have comparisons to those people. We can certainly reason that helmeted drivers and pedestrians should be less likely to receive serious head trauma than bare-headed ones can't we? Same as the cyclists.
Plus we've information that requiring helmets makes cycling seem more dangerous than it really is, is associated with reduced amount of cycling (rather startling reductions), and drivers pass helmeted cyclists more closely. But I do think helmets in cars are an important public health issue. I've seen prototype proposals for airbag helmets for drivers (and cyclists), and airbags for pedestrians, though for peds they're in a waist belt to prevent hip fractures. For drivers they are associated with seat belts,head rests and other airbags, for cyclists with a scarf thing worn around the neck.
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Charles Griffes
We know that the young musician from Elmira, NY, had a thing for men in uniform, because he wrote about it in his meticulously kept diaries. Subsequent studies abroad opened his mind to the emerging European homophile movement of Edward Carpenter, Magnus Hirschfeld, Oscar Wilde and André Gide, and he began to feel more comfortable with his sexual orientation. Nevertheless, once he returned to the United States in 1907 to take a job as a teacher at the Hackley School for Boys* in Tarrytown, NY, he became more circumspect and lived out the remainder of his short life as a closeted man. His departure from Europe was necessitated by the death of his father, leaving the young Griffes to support his widowed mother and other family members.
A brilliant concert pianist and composer, Charles Griffes (1884-1920), pronounced GRIFF-ess, was one of the first American composers to adapt avant-guard influences that were championed by Debussy and other Europeans. Called an "American Impressionist" by critics who didn't know how else to categorize him, he wrote highly listenable and sophisticated classical music that received praise from critics and composers, most notably by Stokowski, Busoni, Pierre Monteux and Prokofiev. His symphonic works received performances by the prestigious New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras.
His home-town music teacher financially supported his flight from Elmira to study piano and composition in Berlin, Germany, while he was still in his late teens. During his time in Europe he had affairs with several men, most notably Emil Joel, an older fellow student. Over a period of four years Joel guided Griffes’ artistic development, procured concert tickets and introduced him to such prominent musical figures as Richard Strauss, Enrico Caruso, Ferrucio Busoni, and Engelbert Humperdinck, with whom Griffes studied music. Joel even supported Griffes financially, enabling him to extend his time in Europe by a year.
As comfortable as he became among his peers in gay circles, Griffes never divulged his orientation to straight friends or associates. There was too much at stake for a man who had to support himself, especially when the job he held until his untimely death was at a boys’ school. Griffes was in a precarious position when he became infatuated by one of his male students. No man of his time and position could have been openly gay without public disgrace. Nevertheless, he was constantly frustrated that gay men could not meet openly in public.
*The Hackley School (shown at right) is a private, exclusive all male prep school in Tarrytown, NY. Internationally renowned gay architect Philip Johnson was a 1923 graduate just three years after Griffes's death. Most of the students go on to attend Harvard University.
However, Griffes was able to sneak away from Tarrytown to sample the gay life of NYC. He was known to patronize the Lafayette Place and Produce Exchange bath houses, for reasons that were obvious. He even entered into an intimate relationship with Officer John Meyer, a married New York policeman (remember that fetish for men in uniform).
Griffes composed song cycles, piano pieces, orchestral works and chamber music, much of the latter written as incidental music for stage plays. It is astonishing that he was able to do this while holding down a full-time job on the faculty of the Hackley School*. He composed, performed, arranged, revised and orchestrated everything, acted as his own agent and overcame difficulties with his publisher (G. Schirmer), all without outside assistance. Unable to afford editors or copyists, he had to correct proofs and prepare copies of his own large orchestral scores against the mounting deadlines that came with his enhanced reputation.
His most enduring compositions are "The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan" (1917), "The White Peacock" (1915), "Poem for Flute and Orchestra" (1918), and "Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes" (1916-1920). He also wrote a bold, passionate and difficult "Sonata for Piano" (1918).
Warning: this performance of The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan starts very softly and slowly:
Tragically, at the height of his fame, Griffes contracted influenza in 1919. Shortly after a Carnegie Hall performance of his music, he collapsed at the Hackley School for Boys in early December and was subsequently hospitalized. He died on April 20, 1920, only 35 years old, and his funeral was held in New York City. Musicologist B. Collins relates a poignant tale about the funeral service, held at the Church of the Messiah at Park Avenue and 34th Street. Unexpectedly, the strains of a Bach chorale wafted from across the street, where a music festival was being held in the 71st Regiment armory. Standing on the parapets of the armory building, a choir of trombonists played a sort of “accidental” requiem. Both the sight and sound of the performance would have pleased Griffes, as all of the trombonists were in uniform. The building that replaced that church is a structure that now hosts rehearsals of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.
Griffes had kept a diary in German in which he reported on his various forays to bathhouses and other favorite gay-friendly haunts. Unfortunately, several of the diaries were destroyed by his sister after his death to prevent widespread knowledge of Griffes's gay recreational New York City life, his attraction to men in uniform, and his long-term relationship with a married policeman. At the time of his death he was working on a festival drama based on the poetry of Walt Whitman.
Note: Most of the information for this post comes from biographical studies by Howard Pollack, B. Collins and Thomas Riis.
Posted by Terry at 11:23 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Charles Griffes, Composer, Pianist
Dominick Dunne
No one could drop names like the bisexual celebrity chronicler Dominick Dunne (1925-2009). For a quarter of a century he contributed regular columns to Vanity Fair magazine. The year after VF relaunched in 1983, Dunne began his career at the magazine with a gut-wrenching dispatch from the trial of his daughter’s killer. As VF’s resident diarist, he hobnobbed with legends of Hollywood and high society and chronicled the great scandals of the times. He contributed articles about Claus von Bülow, Imelda Marcos, the Lyle and Erik Menendez murder trial, Adnan Khashoggi, William Kennedy Smith’s rape trial, the death of multi-billionaire banker Edmond Safra, Brooke Astor’s neglect by her son, Phil Spector’s murder trial, the Princess Diana inquest, the O.J. Simpson trial, and even Monica Lewinsky. Dunne came to own this sort of gossipy reporting, and no one has emerged to take his place. He reported on the underbelly of the world of the rich and famous, but his reports were aimed at the literary and social elite. His monthly column provided an insider’s glimpse into high society, captivating VF’s readers. Justice, a collection of articles that had appeared in Vanity Fair, was published in 2001.
Shortly after Dunne died at age 83, his son Griffin outed him as a bisexual during an interview on Good Morning America, as he was promoting his father’s last book, Too Much Money. In the semi-autobiographical book Dunne wrote, “I’m nervous about the kids, even though they are middle aged men now, not that they don’t already know. I just don’t talk about it. It’s been a life-long problem.” In Frank Langella’s just published tell-all, Dropped Names – Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them, Langella devotes a chapter to Dunne, who commiserates with the author about the agonies of being a closeted gay man.
Griffin said it was just like his dad to “finally come out and then leave. It was hardly a big deal either way.” His son said that when Dunne was getting stem cell treatments in Germany to fight his fatal cancer, a man named Norman was “looking after him,” and that they obviously had a “long loving relationship.”
Dominick with wife Ellen and their three surviving children (two others had died in infancy): Griffin, Dominique, and Alexander (photo from the early 1960s).
Dunne was married for 11 years and was the father of five children, only three of whom lived to adulthood. Born into a wealthy family in Hartford, Connecticut, at age 19 Dunne was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in World War II, for saving the life of a wounded comrade. His family, however, was outside full acceptance by the New England old money society. A Catholic family surrounded by wealthy Protestants, the Dunnes were also considered nouveau riche – two major strikes against them. Dunne’s grandfather, who ultimately became a tycoon, had worked as a butcher. Of his grandfather, Dominick wrote: “He was simply a remarkable man, my grandfather. He was knighted by the Pope for his philanthropic work, but he never forgot he had been born poor. Never!”
Dominick’s father, dismayed by his son’s artistic leanings, called him a sissy and beat him for it, once so viciously that his left ear swelled to three times its size and turned purple. Throughout adulthood, Dominick remained partially deaf in his left ear.
In 1965 his marriage to socialite Ellen Beatriz Griffin ended in divorce. He began his career in New York as stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show but moved his family to Hollywood in 1957, where he worked as a television executive producer. He subsequently produced feature films, including the gay-themed classic, The Boys in the Band (1970). Dunne threw grand parties attended by celebrities such as Dennis Hopper, Natalie Wood, Tuesday Weld, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen. Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol became an unmanageable part of his life, and in 1974 he escaped to a cabin in Oregon (without a phone or television), where after six months he regained sobriety and began a career as a writer, at the age of 50. When he learned of his brother’s suicide, he moved back to New York City.
Eight of his books became best sellers, and it is for his career as a novelist and investigative journalist that he is best remembered. Several of his books were made into TV movies, and he became the master American chronicler of crime and celebrity.
On Halloween of 1982, Dunne was informed that his actress daughter, Dominique (best known for her portrayal of the teenage daughter in Poltergeist) had been found strangled. Her assailant was her ex-boyfriend, John Sweeney, a chef in Los Angeles. Dunne wrote about the murder trial in the newly relaunched magazine Vanity Fair. He was a regular contributor to VF for 25 years. On the basis of dollars per word, Dunne became the highest-paid magazine writer in America.
In August of 2009, Dunne lost a long battle with bladder cancer while in residence at his East Side apartment in NYC. He was survived by two sons, Alexander and Griffin, who has acted in films such as An American Werewolf in London and After Hours.
Dunne’s country house in Hadlyme, Connecticut, was featured in Architectural Digest in May, 1992. The colonial-style home on five acres included a garage apartment, which Dunne turned into an office and work space for writing. Although he lived alone, he had frequent house guests from all over the world and made close connections with local citizens.
Labels: Author, Dominick Dunne, Journalist, Writer
Christopher Isherwood & Don Bachardy
The distinguished English-born writer Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986), shown at right, and American painter Don Bachardy (b. 1934) were open about their homosexual relationship, regardless of the controversies their life together caused. Mid-twentieth-century America was a time when gay relationships were not acceptable, and their 30-year age difference brought on additional problems that had to be addressed when they settled into Isherwood’s home in Santa Monica, California.
They became a high profile, openly gay couple during the age of McCarthyism, when homosexuals were being driven out of the government and Hollywood. Young Don often felt disregarded by Chris's famous friends, who thought of him as a “child prostitute” (Bachardy’s own words).
Nevertheless, Bachardy stuck around and pursued a career as a portrait artist, painting and drawing every day. His first one-man exhibition was held in 1961 in London. Finding a vocation gave Don a sense of fulfillment and independence. He began to realize that he could function independently, which made him question whether he wanted to stay with Isherwood. Don toyed with leaving the relationship and striking out on his own, but decided not to, as he realized his love for Chris was too important. Their relationship lasted for thirty-two years, until Isherwood’s death.
From 1930 to 1933 Isherwood had lived in Berlin, where he felt released from the social and sexual inhibitions that stifled his development in England. Isherwood’s novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) was subsequently adapted as the musical Cabaret, which was produced in both Broadway (1966) and film (1972) versions. This movie, starring Liza Minelli, put Isherwood on the map, expanding his celebrity beyond literary circles.
In 1939, Isherwood emigrated to the United States with W. H. Auden. Auden stayed in NYC, but Isherwood settled in Los Angeles, where he began writing film scripts; in 1946, he became a U.S. citizen. He loved California and never regretted leaving England. Seven years later, he met college student Don Bachardy on the gay portion of beach at Santa Monica on Valentine’s Day, 1953. Don was 18, and Chris was 48, but Don’s boyish appearance actually made him look even younger (see photo at left). When they moved in together, their neighbors were aghast. Don’s father, who was younger than Isherwood, was so taken aback by the age disparity, that he didn’t speak to Isherwood for 15 years. He was ultimately won over, and eventually Don’s father, a skilled mechanic, was working under the hood of Isherwood’s car.
Isherwood took Bachardy under wing and educated him personally. “Chris was completely responsible for my becoming an artist,” says Don. In addition to supporting him through art school, “financially and emotionally,” Isherwood also introduced Bachardy to great literature. “He gave me Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises,' Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby,' and Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' to start, and I just went from there.” Don has said that Isherwood “never gave me bad advice.” The influence on Don by Chris cannot be overstated. Don even affected Isherwood’s English accent to the point that friends could not tell them apart on the telephone.
Chris & Don – A Love Story (2007): This documentary film (available on DVD and on-line streaming) depicts the remarkable life of Don Bachardy and his relationship with Isherwood. They call each other Dobbin and Kitty, and the movie includes footage shot by Chris and Don in the 1950s as well as interviews with Leslie Caron, John Boorman and Liza Minnelli.
In the opinion of important literary critics, Isherwood's finest achievement was his 1964 novel, A Single Man, which depicted a day in the life of George, a middle-aged, gay Englishman who is a professor at a Los Angeles university, mourning the loss of his lover, Jim, who had died in a car crash. This book was made into a film of the same name in 2009; Colin Firth, its star, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and the movie was the directorial debut of Tom Ford.. Don Bachardy had a cameo in the film and is credited as a creative consultant; he portrayed a professor in the teacher’s lounge, to whom Firth says "Hello, Don". A Single Man was Isherwood’s personal favorite of his nine novels. The book is a meditation on the temporality of life, but is also filled with humor, compassion and intelligence. Chris also enjoyed praise from his peers. Gore Vidal called Isherwood “the best English prose writer of the 20th century.”
During the 1970s, Chris and Don began to collaborate on various writing projects, such as “Frankenstein: The True Story”, an unusual take on Mary Shelley's famous novel. In 1981, Isherwood was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and Bachardy nursed him throughout the course of the disease. For the last six months of Isherwood’s life, Don gave up painting any one else but Chris (see photo). What began as way to spend more time together quickly became the project of a lifetime, lasting until the very end. Don still lives in the Santa Monica home on Adelaide Drive that they shared for decades.
After Chris’s death, Don engaged in painting a series of portraits of Angelina Jolie. Bachardy's career has continued to flourish, and a number of books about Bachardy's art have been published, the latest of which is Stars in My Eyes. Bachardy's work resides in important permanent collections around the world, including the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Smithsonian Institution, and The Norton Simon Museum.
Posted by Terry at 12:00 AM No comments:
Labels: Artist, Author, Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, Painter, Screenwriter, Writer
“Never pass up the opportunity to have sex or appear on television.” – Gore Vidal
UPDATE: Gore Vidal died on July 31, 2012, at the age of 86, at his Hollywood Hills home of complications from pneumonia.
One of America’s great overachievers, Gore Vidal (b. 1925) is hard to categorize. He’s a novelist, social critic, playwright, essayist, mystery writer (as Edgar Box), pulp romance writer (as Katherine Everard), adventure writer (as Cameron Kay), screenwriter, ex-pat jet setter, literary critic, congressional candidate, political activist, and actor – for starters. He is cantankerous, opinionated, gruff and completely inflexible.
Now in his late eighties, he still makes the news. A couple of months ago his affirmation of the salacious details revealed in Scotty Bowers’ recent Hollywood memoir (Full Service) had Vidal’s name cropping up all over the Internet.
The grandson of a U.S. Senator, Vidal entered the army during World War II while in his teens. Although he rose to the rank of sergeant, he has had no subsequent formal higher education. Because Vidal felt uncomfortable living in the U.S. with its homophobic attitudes and extreme conservatism, he lived mostly in Italy from the mid 1960s, from where he wrote many stinging rebukes about American hypocrisies. Vidal shared his life with his companion Howard Austen, who died of brain cancer in 2003. For 30 years they lived in a villa perched on a cliff in Ravello, Italy, high above the Amalfi coast (see photos below). Austen and Vidal met in 1950 at New York City's Everard Baths. The pseudonym Vidal used as a romance writer, Katherine Everard, sprang from that encounter.
Guests of Vidal and Howard Austen at Villa La Rondinaia (Swallow’s Nest, above) in Ravello included Italo Calvino, Hillary Clinton, Gianni Agnelli, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Rudolf Nureyev, Lauren Bacall, Paul Newman, Leonard Bernstein, Peter O'Toole, Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams and Princess Margaret, to name just a few. In 1983, the town council of Ravello gave Vidal honorary citizenship. It was Howard Austen who oversaw the decoration and furnishing of the house and cared for the grounds. Austen, a fine cook, felt at ease entertaining some of the world’s most famous people. The 6-acre property is spread over 20 terraced levels, and Vidal’s bad knees led to his selling his Amalfi Coast home of thirty years, when he could no longer walk to the piazza. This stark white villa, shown atop the sheer stone cliff in the photo below, was recently sold to a hotelier for $17 million.
Austen was Vidal’s companion for half a century. He ran their households in Italy and California, handled the finances, travel arrangements and all the day-to-day details that freed up Vidal’s schedule so that he had time to devote to writing, reading, politics and other ambitious projects. In short, Howard made Gore Vidal’s career and lifestyle possible.
The City and the Pillar (1948), written when Vidal was just twenty-three years old, is the story of professional tennis player Jim Willard, a man who never outgrew his boyhood crush on his best friend Bob Ford. That men who enjoyed sex with other men could go undetected in straight circles was an idea that shocked and outraged many of the novel’s readers and critics. The New York Times was so put off by the forthright writing about homosexuals that it refused to review Vidal’s next five books. Although Vidal vehemently (and frequently) declared that there is no such thing as a homosexual identity because everyone is bisexual to some degree, The City and the Pillar was the first mainstream coming-out novel. Twenty years after its initial publication, Vidal published The City and the Pillar with a different ending. Most of Vidal's subsequent literary works had prominent gay characters and gay themes, opening up the path for other writers to expanded gay visibility in mainstream fiction.
In Myra Breckinridge (1968), Vidal created further controversy by writing the first book in which the main character undergoes a clinical sex-change, resulting in a sharp satire of contemporary mores. It was made into a dreadful mess of a film (1970) that starred Raquel Welch in the title role. It was released with an “X” rating, not surprising for its time. It contained a lesbian scene and archival footage of Hollywood classic film stars, many of whom sued to have themselves removed from the film. Because Shirley Temple was a U.S. ambassador upon the film’s release, the White House demanded that footage from her movie Heidi be excised. It seemed everyone wanted to distance himself from this film, including Gore Vidal, who disowned it, calling the movie “an awful joke.” While the film version was an uncontested disaster, many critics consider Myra Breckinridge to be Vidal’s best novel.
A youthful Gore Vidal, in photo at right.
Two Sisters (1970) was a successful effort both in experimental point of view and in realistic representation of homosexual identity. Vidal wrote himself into the book as one of the two main narrators. Many of Vidal’s later writings contained autobiographical elements.
He is a distant cousin of Al Gore, Jr., Vice President of the U.S. (1992-2000), a fact known by few people. Gore Vidal grew up in Washington, DC., so he has had an inside track on politics for his entire life. His father was a member of Roosevelt’s cabinet and his grandfather a senator from Oklahoma. Gore Vidal shared a stepfather with Jackie Kennedy. In his book Point to Point Navigation (2006), he criticizes George W. Bush’s America as it sank deeper into war, debt and autocratic rule. The title refers to the dangerous feat of steering a ship without benefit of a compass, a nod to Vidal’s WW II military service.
Vidal’s career has been marked by many acrimonious elements. His feuds with Norman Mailer and Truman Capote made the tabloid gossip columns. Nonetheless, his 75+ year career has yielded 25 novels, five plays, several screenplays for television and film, over 200 essays, and two memoirs – across all genres. An ultimately unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Congress in 1960 (“You’ll Get More with Gore”), earned support from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. He also lost a 1982 bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate, and the same result came from a run for the office of the Governorship of California. He achieved celebrity status and counted among his friends many of the world’s richest and most powerful people. He also acted in two films (Bob Roberts in 1992, Gattaca in 1997) and appeared in many television interviews and documentaries. It is easy to forget, among all this career clutter, that Vidal was one of the first mainstream men of influence to embrace homosexuality and celebrate bisexuality. And for that, we are all of us in debt to this man.
Posted by Terry at 6:39 PM 3 comments:
Labels: Activist, Actor, Gore Vidal, Playwright, Politician, Polymath, Screenwriter, Socialite, Writer
Renaissance artist Michelangelo (1475-1564) was born in Florence as Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. His statue of David (1504) in Florence and his frescoes in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel (1512), which took four years to complete, are among the most famous works of art in the western world. He worked until a few days before his death at the age of eighty-eight, leaving an important legacy in sculpture, painting, drawing, and architecture. So great was his fame that he was the first Western artist of whom a biography was published during his lifetime.
Many of his drawings, paintings and sculptures are of a homoerotic nature, and he had relationships with many of his young models: Gherardo Perini, the nobleman Tommaso Cavalieri, Cecchino dei Bracci and a young male prostitute by the name of Febo di Poggio. He referred to Febo as a “little blackmailer,” because Febo demanded money, clothes, and assorted gifts in return for his love. Perini lived with Michelangelo for more than ten years. Bracci was only thirteen when the sixty-six year old Michelangelo fell in love with him. Two years later, when Bracci died, Michelangelo was so devastated that he wrote epitaphs for the youth’s tomb for an entire year, such as this example:
The earthy flesh, and here my bones,
Deprived of handsome eyes, and charming air,
Do yet attest how gracious I was in bed,
When he embraced, in whom my soul now lives.
Well, there you have it. Michelangelo’s correspondence, poetry and diaries that refer to his passion for young men were suppressed for centuries, and his love poems written to Cavalieri were censored by his publisher, who changed the gender from male to female in order to avoid scandal. Michelangelo was himself quite secretive, burning all of his personal drawings and papers before he died. In one sonnet Michelangelo wrote that the highest form of love cannot be for a woman, because “a woman is not worthy of a wise and virile heart.”
Michelangelo painted and sculpted a lot of beefcake. The Sistine Chapel ceiling is awash in paired male nudes. There are 48 naked boys depicting cherubs alongside 24 mostly naked youths, 16 adult male nudes supporting the Medallions, 16 bronze male nudes flanking the Ancestors, plus the famous 20 Ignudi (seated males) depicted as young, completely naked men. None of these figures has any relevance to a Christian narrative. They are on the ceiling because Michelangelo was besotted with masculinity. Pure and simple. Even his female figures had rather masculine bodies, differentiated from the men only by their longer hair.
After 1534, Michelangelo turned his attention almost exclusively to architecture. He became the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which had already been under construction for forty years. The massive dome he designed for St. Peter’s is among the greatest architectural and engineering feats of its time; Michelangelo’s red chalk drawing of its trademark radial columns was not unearthed in the Vatican archives until 2007.
Posted by Terry at 10:23 PM No comments:
Labels: Architect, Michelangelo, Painter, Poet, Sculptor
Filmmakers Rob Williams & Rodney Johnson
Here’s a gay movie plot that sounds intriguing:
Doug (Eric Dean at top) is dating two very different men – 50-year-old Jacob (Michael Nicklin, middle) and 30-year-old Colton (Benjamin Lutz, bottom). What Doug doesn’t know at first is that the two men are father and son.
Writer/director Rob Williams and his partner, writer/producer Rodney Johnson, are making this movie, to be called The Men Next Door.
In 2005 they co-founded Guest House Films, which has since produced five queer features: Long Term Relationship (2006), Back Soon (2007), 3-Day Weekend (2008), Make the Yuletide Gay (2009) and Role/Play (2010). The sequel to Make the Yuletide Gay is currently in pre-production. From writer/director Rob Williams on his newest project, The Men Next Door: “I can’t wait to get on set with these three actors – individually, they are each extremely talented and charismatic, but when we put them together during the audition process, we immediately saw something special that should translate into amazing on-screen chemistry.”
Principal photography on The Men Next Door is expected to begin this month and will be distributed by Los Angeles based Guest House Films after a film festival run.
Writer/producer Rodney Johnson (at right) is a descendant of both Chief Sitting Bull and Edith Wharton. I swear I’m not making this up. He is the author of a young adult series of books featuring a Lakota teen solving mysteries on the Rosebud Indian reservation. As a screenwriter, he worked on the cult hit Wasabi Tuna and the Lifetime Original Movie “Queen Sized,” starring Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray) and Annie Potts. As a freelance writer, Rodney also worked for the Disney Channel, Toon Disney and Jetix.
Writer/director Rob Williams (at left) graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in finance, and received an MBA in marketing from the University of Texas. Following a move to Los Angeles, he worked in the public relations field for over a decade. But when he realized the industry seemed to be lacking in creativity, he began studying screenwriting at the Twin Bridges Screenwriting Salon. At present Rob is working on his first novel (stay tuned). After the release of their first three Guest House films, Rob and Rodney were named to Instinct magazine’s “Leading Men of 2008” for their contributions to gay cinema. They live in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where they are pursuing numerous projects.
Have a look at Role/Play (above), a Guest House Films 2010 release (1 hr. 24 minutes):
Plot summary: An outed soap opera actor (played by Steve Callahan, on his back above) hides out at a queer Palm Springs resort, where he finds himself staying next door to a gay marriage activist (Matthew Montgomery, on top), whose very public male/male marriage has recently failed. Written and directed by Rob Williams and shot on location at the Alexander Inn in Palm Springs. Williams and Johnson self-distributed Role/Play through Guest House Films.
Click this link to see the entire film (free of charge):
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3607143193/
Labels: Film maker, Producer, Rob Williams, Rodney Johnson, Screenwriter
Dropped Names – Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them
I just finished this gossipy, entrancing memoir from stage and screen actor Frank Langella (b. 1938), best known for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in both the play and film versions of Frost/Nixon, and for his performance of the title role in Dracula, again both on stage and screen.
For years there has been speculation about Frank Langella’s likely bisexuality, and his recent memoir does little to dispel the rumors. The entire thing reads like a worldly, mannered gay man dishing the dirt – albeit a guilty pleasure of a book that is extraordinarily well written. All but one of his subjects is deceased, and the one still alive is 102 years old – Bunny Mellon, a fabulously wealthy, cultured and well-connected woman whose acquaintance changed his life (she lives about 30 miles from me on a 4,000 acre Virginia estate with a private jet strip). Frank was working at the bottom of the totem pole alongside Bunny’s 19-year-old daughter Liza in 1961 painting scenery at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts. Mrs. Mellon met Frank when she came by to pick up her daughter for a picnic, and she immediately took him into her privileged circle, acting as his private tutor into the world of the rich and famous.
Not only did Langella meet Noel Coward, JFK and Jackie – even the Queen of England and the Queen Mother – through Mrs. Mellon, she taught him how to be comfortable among such luminaries. Her advice on how to handle himself at cocktail parties with people he didn’t know: “It’s very simple. Just repeat the last few words of whatever has just been said to you in the form of a question, and you’ll have no trouble. For instance, if someone has just said to you, ‘I just went to an art show and saw the most fascinating painting’, you then say, ‘Oh really, the most fascinating painting?’, and you’ll be off and running.”
When Frank once mispronounced the last name of French philosopher Descartes as “Dess-cart-tees”, Mrs. Mellon said, “Frank, would you read that passage again? It was so interesting, particularly the part that refers to Descartes” (correctly pronouncing the name as Day-KAHRT). Of that incident, Frank writes: “She had found a way to correct my ignorance and preserve my dignity as casually as if she were opening a packet of sugar. What she had done, of course, was open my mind. And into it, she began to pour generous granules of knowledge in all the arenas I needed it most.”
Langella relates that when Bunny Mellon was at the White House redesigning the rose garden for JFK and Jackie (Mellon was and still is an authority on gardening), Bunny and Jackie were waiting for a White House elevator. When the door opened, Bunny stepped back to let Jackie enter first.
“What are you doing?” Jackie asked.
“Well, you’re the First Lady.”
“Oh stop that nonsense and get in,” replied Mrs. Kennedy.
Several years ago, a theater writer was granted an interview with Langella. His publicist laid down the rule that "You will not ask Mr. Langella ANYTHING about his personal life!" Langella is known for being pathologically secretive about his private life, and I interpret that as meaning he has a lot to hide. He may guard his own privacy, but he certainly spills the beans on dozens of actors and actresses, both gay and straight, in this juicy memoir. A review by Michael Ladenson stated, "As several of the memoir's gay characters circle around his charismatic young self, Mr. Langella flirtatiously leaves open the possibility that he played both sides of the street. As he basks in Noel Coward's attentions, feeds shrimp to Roddy McDowall, and commiserates with Dominick Dunne about the agonies of being a closeted gay man, Langella hides coquettishly behind his fan in a way that seems rather archaic in 2012."
Langella adored Jill Clayburgh and Raul Julia, who starred with him on stage in Noel Coward’s Design For Living. Also a friend of Al Hirschfeld, Langella is among the three actors depicted in this illustration of their Design for Living roles. Of Raul Julia, Langella writes, “In this era when young male stars seem a sexless set of store-bought muscles set below interchangeable screw-top heads with faces of epic blandness – sheep trying to look like bulls – Raul defined real masculinity.” It’s obvious Langella and Julia had huge crushes on each other. Describing one such "homoerotic moment" (Langella’s words), Frank writes about the night, when it was just Raul and Frank in the room, that Raul dropped trou to show Frank his new kind of ultra-comfortable underwear – boxer briefs – which Frank had not seen before.
“I want us to be friends,” said Raul.
“Me too,” replied Frank.
Raul got drunk, Frank stayed sober. When it became late and Frank walked to the door to leave, Frank recalls Raul’s send off:
“Good night, Frank. I love you – you are my boyfriend.”
Well, there you have it.
During the run of Design for Living, as Raul was changing his shirt, Clayburgh rushed over and started clawing at his chest, and soon they were involved in passionate embraces. Feeling somewhat left out, Langella insinuated himself into the mix: "We became a pulsating Oreo cookie with nothing remotely chaste about where our hands and mouths wandered. It was fast, hot and dirty."
Let me pause right now to state that I read every page of this book.
This memoir lays bare the outsized egos, eccentricities, crushing insecurities and unflattering habits of household name stars, as only an insider can do. Now 74 years old, Langella also counterbalances these stinging reminiscences with charming, poignant tales of affection and love for those worthy of it. When JFK jumped onto Bunny Mellon’s coffee table in Cape Cod to dance as Noel Coward played his songs on the piano, Jackie sang along, knowing all the lyrics by heart. Before boarding his helicopter, President Kennedy turned to Langella and asked, “What do you think, Frank? Should I keep my day job?”
For younger readers, this memoir will be a great introduction to all the famous stage and screen icons every gay man should know about. Among the things I like about this book is the fact that Langella is not reticent in telling unflattering tales about himself, and it is surprisingly bereft of the author’s own ego. He can also be charmingly coy at times. Writing about Roddy McDowall: "This was a man who, no matter what the occasion, clearly always wanted a return invitation." McDowall once came over to Frank's table at a restaurant and said, "Hello, darling Frank. Look at that face! I've just got to photograph it." In wrapping up that story, Langella writes, "He never did. I'd had my picture taken enough times by then to satisfy my curiosity about what might develop."
Well, then.
Dropped Names is so well written, that I wonder if Langella employed a ghost writer. Whichever – you will not be bored.
Dropped Names – Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them, by Frank Langella, was published last month. Available in hard cover and e-reader formats.
Frank Langella in Dracula (1979 film version)
Posted by Terry at 5:33 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Actor, Frank Langella
James Ivory & Ismael Merchant
California-born film director James Ivory (b. 1928, shown at left) and Indian-born producer Ismail Merchant’s collaboration with Merchant-Ivory Productions resulted in films that won six Academy Awards. Merchant (1936-2005) and Ivory were long-term life partners, and their professional and romantic relationship lasted for more than forty years – from the early 1960s until Merchant’s death. They enjoyed a lavish lifestyle together on their 40-acre country estate in the Hudson River Valley north of NYC. They also maintained apartments in London and New York City.
Ismail Merchant (below), born and educated in Bombay, went to the U.S. to earn an MBA from New York University. He met James Ivory in 1961 at a New York City screening of Ivory’s film about Indian art miniatures, and the two became instant friends. Merchant recalled, “Some people meet and part ways, others bond together on a lifelong stream. I guess you could call our relationship destiny.”
Ivory was born in California and educated at the University of Oregon before attending the University of Southern California Film School. He wrote, photographed, and produced “Venice: Theme and Variations”, as a thesis film for his degree in cinema. This film was named by The New York Times as one of the ten best documentaries of 1957.
In 1961, Ivory created Merchant Ivory Productions with Ismail Merchant (right) and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who served as the screenwriter for many of their films. Jhabvala, who was married to an Indian man, lived in the New York City apartment above the one occupied by Merchant and Ivory. Of his partnership with Ivory and Jhabvala, Merchant once commented, “It is a strange marriage we have at Merchant Ivory...I am an Indian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!” Merchant raised the money, squeezed the budgets (no Merchant-Ivory film has ever cost more than $3.2 million) and cajoled top talent to work for a pittance. He also sheltered Ivory from the exigencies of the marketplace, leaving the director free to work with the actors, including high-profile stars such as Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, James Mason and Julie Christie. “We offered them quality,’ says Ivory. The camaraderie on the sets was enhanced by Merchant’s skilled cooking, usually preparing huge Indian meals for the cast and crew. Merchant has published several cookbooks, each covering an aspect of Indian cuisine.
There is no arguing with success. While their first film premiered in 1963, their first real commercial winner was The Europeans, adapted from the Henry James novel. A Room with a View (1985), based on the book by E. M. Forster, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three; it won many other awards at home and in the U.K. and Italy.
Maurice (1987) – pronounced Morris – received a Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival, Best Film Score for Richard Robbins and Best Actor Awards for co-stars James Wilby and Hugh Grant (seen in photo above).
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990) was adapted from novels by Evan S. Connell; it received an Oscar nomination and awards from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Ivory directed another Forster-adapted film, Howards End (1992), and it was nominated for nine Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three; the film also won Best Picture at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, as well as awards for Best Picture, Best Actress for Emma Thompson and Best Director for Ivory from the National Board of Review; the Directors Guild of America gave its D.W. Griffith award, its highest honor, to Ivory for this film.
The Remains of the Day (1993), was in turn was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, who co-starred in Howard’s End, were reunited in working in this film.
Taking a break from filming historical novels, Merchant Ivory Productions had a success with Le Divorce (2003), which Jhabvala adapted from the 1997 novel by Diane Hohnson; despite tepid reviews, the film grossed $13 million on a budget of $3 million. The final Merchant-Ivory film was The White Countess (2005).
MAURICE (1987) deals with the subject of coming of age as a homosexual in a restrictive society; the novel by E. M. Forster was so scandalous that it was not published until after Forster’s death. This clip features scenes of Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder, a gameskeeper, who climbs a ladder into the bedroom (and bed) of Maurice, portrayed by James Wilby. Their sex scene begins at the 7:15 timing mark. Both actors are straight men, so don’t get your hopes up.
Labels: Director, Film maker, Producer
American composer Lou Harrison (1917-2003) was known for his melodic and lyrical musical style and the use of instruments from the East, especially the Javanese gamelan. He explored diverse interests, including puppetry, the Esperanto language, tuning systems, the construction of musical instruments and dance. He was also an activist for political causes, especially pacifism, the ecological movement and gay rights.
Born in Portland, Oregon, his family moved to the San Francisco area when he was a child, and he lived most of his life on the west coast. Harrison attended San Francisco State University, where he studied with gay composer Henry Cowell, who gave him an 1871 nine-foot Steinway grand which had been the favorite piano of Percy Grainger. Among Harrison’s compositions from that time is a large body of percussion music that showcases Western, Asian, African, and Latin American rhythmic traditions. Later works embraced ethnic musical folk cultures of Mexico, American Indians and the Far East.
He also developed friendships and professional relations with important gay composers and musicologists. Harrison studied the works of American composer Charles Ives, some of whose musical manuscripts he later edited. Harrison conducted the premiere of Ives’s Symphony No. 3, and when that composition won the Pulitzer Prize, Ives gave half the prize money to Harrison. He also worked with gay composer John Cage, with whom he wrote Double Music (1941) for four percussionists. During World War II, Harrison moved to New York and wrote music criticism for the Herald Tribune. Although Harrison was welcomed into the NYC musical circle of gay composer and critic Virgil Thomson, who promoted his works, he decided that he did not enjoy living in a crowded and stressful big city.
A few years later he moved to North Carolina, where he taught at Black Mountain College, the experimental arts college where John Cage and gay choreographer Merce Cunningham also worked. In 1947 Harrison suffered a nervous breakdown and moved back to California. Harrison found it hard to support himself with his music, and took a number of other jobs to earn a living, including stints as a record salesman, florist, animal nurse, and forestry firefighter.
At the age of 50 he found his life partner, William Colvig (on right in photo), a rugged outdoorsman whom he met at a performance of his own music at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco. Although not a composer, Colvig was a musician who had a knack for mechanical things (his profession was as an electrician). They lived in a cabin in the woods outside of Aptos, California, southeast of Santa Cruz, where together they developed and built musical instruments, including three gamelan. A gamelan is a set of instruments that includes xylophones, metallophones, drums, gongs, bamboo flutes and strings that are both bowed and plucked – all of them incompatible with Western music tuning systems. The two men, both distinguished by beards and long hair, remained partners until Colvig's death in 2000. Friends often commented that the pair looked like “mountain men,” while others noted an alarming physical similarity between Harrison and Col. Sanders, of KFC fame.
Lou Harrison House (below) in Joshua Tree, California:
The straw-bale house, not fully completed until 2002, was designed and built by American composer Lou Harrison and his partner Bill Colvig. Today it is used by composers and other artists in residence to work on projects:
Harrison wrote Young Caesar (1971), an opera that deals with homosexuality and the clashes between the East and West. He accepted commissions from both the Portland and Seattle Gay Men’s Choruses. In 1995 Harrison wrote "Parade for MTT" for the San Francisco Symphony’s celebration of the inauguration of openly gay music director Michael Tilson Thomas. MTT holds that position to this day. Harrison wrote symphonies, works for chamber orchestra, many concerti and dozens of compositions for gamelan. He taught in California at Stanford, Cabrillo College, Mills College, USC and San Jose State, where he was composer-in-residence.
Harrison died in 2003 from a heart attack in Indiana, at the age of 85, while traveling to a festival of his own music at Ohio State University. Celebrated as one of America's most venerated composers, and sometimes dubbed the "Santa Claus" of new music for his white beard, portly physique and ready laugh, he was mourned by music lovers the world over. Fortunately, his 300+ musical compositions continue to delight, challenge and inspire listeners of serious music.
First Concerto for Flute & Percussion (1939):
Labels: Activist, Composer, Lou Harrison, Musician, William Colvig
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Project Blue Beam coming to you Soon
End Times and Current Events > Forum > General Category > False Religions > UFO/Watcher Theology > Project Blue Beam coming to you Soon
Author Topic: Project Blue Beam coming to you Soon (Read 5441 times)
We all know about Project Blue Beam by now, lets watch some info about this future Illuminati planned event.
http://www.thewatcherfiles.com/bluebeam.html
Re: Project Blue Beam coming to you Soon
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/projectbluebeam25jul05.shtml
Project Blue Beam
By Serge Monast
Forward courtesy of Tim White <phantom469366@yahoo.com>
[Note: Serge Monast and another journalist, both of whom were researching Project Blue Beam, died of "heart attacks" within weeks of each other although neither had a history of heart disease. Serge was in Canada. The other Canadian journalist was visiting Ireland. Prior to his death, the Canadian government abducted Serge's daughter in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing his research into Project Blue Beam. His daughter was never returned. Pseudo-heart attacks are one of the alleged methods of death induced by Project Blue Beam.]
The infamous NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] Blue Beam Project has four different steps in order to implement the new age religion with the Antichrist at its head. We must remember that the new age religion is the very foundation for the new world government, without which religion the dictatorship of the new world order is completely impossible. I'll repeat that: Without a universal belief in the new age religion, the success of the new world order will be impossible! That is why the Blue Beam Project is so important to them, but has been so well hidden until now.
Engineered Earthquakes & Hoaxed 'Discoveries'
The first step in the NASA Blue Beam Project concerns the breakdown [re-evaluation] of all archaeological knowledge. It deals with the set-up, with artificially created earthquakes at certain precise locations on the planet, of supposedly new discoveries which will finally explain to all people the "error" of all fundamental religious doctrines. The falsification of this information will be used to make all nations believe that their religious doctrines have been misunderstood for centuries and misinterpreted. Psychological preparations for that first step have already been implemented with the film, '2001: A Space Odyssey;' the StarTrek series, and 'Independence Day;' all of which deal with invasions from space and the coming together of all nations to repel the invaders. The last films, 'Jurrassic Park,' deals with the theories of evolution, and claim God's words are lies. http://i.am/jah/evolut.htm
Hoaxed "Discoveries'
What is important to understand in the first step is that those earthquakes will hit at different parts of the world where scientific and archaeological teachings have indicated that arcane mysteries have been buried. By those types of earthquakes, it will be possible for scientists to rediscover those arcane mysteries which will be used to discredit all fundamental religious doctrines. This is the first preparation for the plan for humanity because what they want to do is destroy the beliefs of all Christians and Muslims on the planet. To do that, they need some false 'proof' from the far past that will prove to all nations that their religions have all been misinterpreted and misunderstood.
The Big Space Show in the Sky
The second step in the NASA Blue Beam Project involves a gigantic 'space show' with three-dimensional optical holograms and sounds, laser projection of multiple holographic images to different parts of the world, each receiving a different image according to predominating regional national religious faith. This new 'god's' voice will be speaking in all languages. In order to understand that, we must study various secret services' research done in the last 25 years. The Soviet's have perfected an advanced computer, even exported them, and fed them with the minute physio-psychological particulars based on their studies of the anatomy and electromechanical composition of the human body, and the studies of the electrical, chemical and biological properties of the human brain. These computers were fed, as well, with the languages of all human cultures and their meanings. The dialects of all cultures have been fed into the computers from satellite transmissions. The Soviets began to feed the computers with objective programs like the ones of the new messiah. It also seems that the Soviets - the new world order people - have resorted to suicidal methods with the human society by allocating electronic wavelengths for every person and every society and culture to induce suicidal thoughts if the person doesn't comply with the dictates of the new world order.
There are two different aspects of step two.
The first is the 'space show.' Where does the space show come from? The space show, the holographic images will be used in a simulation of the ending during which all nations will be shown scenes that will be the fulfillment of that which they desire to verify the prophecies and adversary events.
These will be projected from satellites onto the sodium layer about 60 miles above the earth. We see tests every once in a while, but they are called UFOs and "flying saucers" sightings.
The result of these deliberately staged events will be to show the world the new 'christ,' the new messiah, Matraia (Maitreya), for the immediate implementation of the new world religion. Enough truth will be foisted upon an unsuspecting world to hook them into the lie. "Even the most learned will be deceived."
The project has perfected the ability for some device to lift up an enormous number of people, as in a rapture, and whisk the entire group into a never-never land. We see tests of this device in the abduction of humans by those mysterious little alien greys who snatch people out of their beds and through windows into waiting "mother ships." The calculated resistance to the universal religion and the new messiah and the ensuing holy wars will result in the loss of human life on a scale never imagined before in all of human history.
The Blue Beam Project will pretend to be the universal fulfillment of the prophecies of old, as major an event as that which occurred 2,000 years ago. In principle, it will make use of the skies as a movie screen (on the sodium layer at about 60 miles) as space-based laser-generating satellites project simultaneous images to the four corners of the planet in every language and dialect according to the region. It deals with the religious aspect of the new world order and is deception and seduction on a massive scale.
Computers will coordinate the satellites and software already in place will run the sky show. Holographic images are based on nearly identical signals combining to produce an image or hologram with deep perspective which is equally applicable to acoustic ELF, VLF and LF waves and optical phenomena. Specifically, the show will consist of multiple holographic images to different parts of the world, each receiving a different image according to the specific national, regional religion. Not a single area will be excluded. With computer animation and sounds appearing to emanate from the very depths of space, astonished ardent followers of the various creeds will witness their own returned messiahs in convincing lifelike reality.
Then the projections of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, etc., will merge into one after correct explanations of the mysteries and revelations will have been disclosed. This one god will, in fact, be the Antichrist, who will explain that the various scriptures have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and that the religions of old are responsible for turning brother against brother, and nation against nation, therefore old religions must be abolished to make way for the new age new world religion, representing the one god Antichrist they see before them.
Naturally, this superbly staged falsification will result in dissolved social and religious disorder on a grand scale, each nation blaming the other for the deception, setting loose millions of programmed religious fanatics through demonic possession on a scale never witnessed before. In addition, this event will occur at a time of profound worldwide political anarchy and general tumult created by some worldwide catastrophe. The United Nation even now plans to use Beethovan's 'Song of Joy' as the anthem for the introduction for the new age one world religion. If we put this space show in parallel with the star wars program we get this: combination of electromagnetic radiation and hypnosis which have also been the subject of intensive research. In 1974, for instance, researcher G. F. Shapits, said of one of the research proposals that, '...in this investigation it will be shown that the spoken words of the hypnotist may also be converted by electromagnetic energy directly and to the subconscious part of the human brain without employing any mechanical device for receiving or transcording the message, and without the person exposed to such influence having a chance to control the information input consciously. It may be expected that the rationalized behavior will be considered to have been taken out of their own free will.'
Anyone investigating so-called 'channelling' phenomena right now would be wise to take this area of research into consideration. It will be noted that those who think of themselves as 'channellers' has escalated rapidly since this type of research was conducted. It is uncanny how similar their messages are, despite which entity they claim to be their source of divine guidance. It would suggest any individual considering the credibility of channelled information should be discerning and critically evaluate where the message they are receiving originates, and if the messages are specifically beneficial to the new world order.
The Sydney Morning newspaper published an item on March 21st, 1983 which announced that the Soviets were invading the human mind, the article having been submitted to the foreign editor by Doctor Nathan Abnuengy, assistant professor in the faculty of agriculture in Asia. It is worth quoting the article at length even though his grammar is a little old. This article relates to the Soviets who created the supercomputer we were discussing earlier and which is really important because these types of computers can be run through satellites and through space. The computers were fed with all the different languages and their meanings, the dialect of all peoples were fed to the computers with objective programs. But we are no longer talking about the Soviets; we are talking about the United Nations, the minions of the new world order, who are feeding the computers with the necessary information.
The editor of the column in which the article appeared even states that the piece made points too important to ignore. I think it is possible that the persons who have created this mega-mind-control-program could sell the software to an organization and not be aware that the client might use the program and data to enslave all of humankind. Just imagine how far they have advanced since that article was published!
Artificial Thought & Communication
The advancement of techniques propel us toward the third step in the Blue Beam Project that goes along with the telepathic and electronically augmented two-way communication where ELF, VLF and LF waves will reach each person from within his or her own mind, convincing each of them that their own god is speaking to them from the very depths of their own soul. Such rays from satellites are fed from the memories of computers that have stored massive data about every human on earth, and their languages. The rays will then interlace with their natural thinking to form what we call diffuse artificial thought.
That kind of technology goes into the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s research where the human brain has been compared to a computer. Information is fed in, processed, integrated and then a response is formulated and acted upon. Mind controllers manipulate information the same way a computer for grammar manipulates information. In January 1991, the University of Arizona hosted a conference entitled, 'The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Current and Emergent Phenomena and Biomolecular Systems.' What does that mean exactly? It means this: We refer to one paper that was delivered at the conference which stands out for its different attitude towards the development under discussion at that time. It was, in effect, a protest and chilling warning to the attending scientists about the potential abuse of their research findings.
Their findings, of course, stated that the United States has already developed communications equipment which can make the blind see, the deaf hear and the lame walk. It can relieve the terminally ill from pain without the use of drugs or surgery. I'm not talking about science fiction. A man might retain the use of all his faculties right up to the moment of his death. This communications equipment depends upon a completely new way of looking at the human brain and neuromuscular systems and radiation pulses at ultra-low frequencies. Some of this equipment is now operational within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It will never be used to make the blind see, the deaf hear and the lame walk because it is central to the domestic political agenda and foreign policy of George Bush and his puppet-masters of the new world order.
Domestically, the new communications equipment is being used to torture and murder persons who match profiles imagined to be able to screen a given population for terrorists; to torture and murder citizens who belong to organizations which promote tolerance and peace and development in Central America; to torture and murder citizens who belong to organizations who oppose the development and deployment of nuclear weapons, and to create a race of slave cult automatons, or what is popularly called 'the Manchurian Candidates.' Overseas experimentation is taking place on hostages held by the United States and Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Finland and France. Additionally, there has been a long series of bizarre suicides among British computer scientists, all of whom have had some connection to the United States Navy.
What is possible to ask before such a psychology of terror is this: would any government, corporation or psychiatrist wilfully promote such horror today? The answer is quite obviously, 'Yes.'
Government agencies and the corporations that work with them toward new world order are prepared to promote anything that will help them achieve their objective of total social control. As for the question of why: For one thing, if you terrify the public and make them fear for their safety, they will allow you to implement draconian law enforcement practice, disarm them and keep extensive records on them, and they only have to tell you that it is all to protect you, of course. Secondly, it promotes the decay of the present democratic forms of political systems, and leads societies to search for alternative methods of political ideology. Of course, the alternative has already been planned. It is called the new world order and it will not have your safety or interests at heart. As George Bush said: 'Read my lips.' Fear has always been used by powerful elite to control and subjugate the masses.
The old maxim, 'divide and conquer', is being played out to the limit worldwide to ensure that everyone is frightened for their personal safety, and to be suspicious of everyone else. This, too, is mind-control. To go further in regard to the new technology which is at the base of the NASA Blue Beam Project, we have to consider this statement by psychologist James V. McConnell which was published in a 1970s issue of Psychology Today. He said, 'The day has come when we can combine sensory deprivation with drug hypnosis and astute manipulation of reward and punishment to gain almost absolute control over an individual's behavior. It should then be possible to achieve a very rapid and highly effective type of positive brainwashing that would allow us to make dramatic changes in a person's behavior and personality.'
Now, when we talked before about that kind of ray and the telepathic and electronically augmented communication, the kind of rays that are fed from the memories of computers which store massive data about humans, human language and dialects, and we said that the people will be reached from within, making each person to believe that his own god is speaking directly from within his or her own soul, we refer to that kind of technology and that kind of thinking that same psychologist was espousing, that is: we should be trained from birth that we should all do what society wants us to do rather than what we want to do for ourselves; that because they have the technology to do it, no one should now be allowed to have their own individual personality. This statement and these ideas are important because it is the basic teaching of the United Nations that no one owns his or her own personality. And that same psychologist claims that no one has any say-so about the kind of personality they acquire and there is no reason to believe you have the right to refuse to acquire a new personality if your old personality is considered 'antisocial.'
What is important in this declaration is that the new world order will be set up over the current system, meaning the old way of thinking and behavior and religion will be considered the 'old' and incorrect way of thinking and that they can change it at one of the eradication camps of the United Nations to make sure that anyone with this 'antisocial' behavior will be disposed of quickly so that other modified individuals will be able to fulfill the needs and agendas of the new world order without being distracted by the truth.
With that in mind ^
Mayan Documentary Will Show Evidence of Alien Contact, Says Mexico (Exclusive)
A new documentary about Mayan civilization will provide evidence of extraterrestrial contact with the ancient culture, according to a Mexican government official and the film's producer.
"Revelations of the Mayans 2012 and Beyond," currently in production, will claim the Mayans had contact with extraterrestrials, producer Raul Julia-Levy revealed to TheWrap.
"Mexico will release codices, artifacts and significant documents with evidence of Mayan and extraterrestrial contact, and all of their information will be corroborated by archaeologists," said Julia-Levy, son of actor Raul Julia.
In a release to TheWrap, Luis Augusto Garcia Rosado, the minister of tourism for the Mexican state of Campeche, said new evidence has emerged "of contact between the Mayans and extraterrestrials, supported by translations of certain codices, which the government has kept secure in underground vaults for some time."
He also spoke, in a phone conversation, of "landing pads in the jungle that are 3,000 years old."
Raul-Julia claims there is proof that the Mayans had intended to lead the planet for thousands of years, but were forced to escape after an invasion by "men of dark intentions," leaving behind evidence of an advanced race.
"The Mexican government is not making this statement on their own -- everything we say, we're going to back it up," he said.
The film will be directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo, who won the Humanitas Prize for "Those Who Remain" in 2009 and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for International Documentary for "In the Pit" in 2006. Juan Diego Rodriguez Gonzalez will serve as the Guatemalan executive producer, and Eduardo Vertiz as the Mexican executive producer.
And yes, they expect people to take this seriously, because the messages he plans to impart are crucial to human survival, Julia-Levy insisted.
When Julia-Levy, producer Ed Elbert and co-producer Sheila McCarthy announced the Mexican cooperation with their documentary to TheWrap in August, they were circumspect about claims of alien contact, with Julia-Levy admitting he'd been ordered not to say anything about it.
Also for that article, Rosado brushed off a question about alient contact and said his country wa simply offering the filmmakers' access to previously unexplored sections of a Mayan site at Calakmul (left).
Now, not only has Rosado changed his tune, but the Guatemalan government has joined the project, as well, giving access to artifacts and newly discovered prophecies
While the Guatemalan government is not offering information about aliens, it has joined Mexico in supporting the project. "Guatemala, like Mexico, home to the ancient yet advanced Mayan civilization … has also kept certain provocative archeological discoveries classified, and now believes that it is time to bring forth this information in the new documentary," Guatemala's minister of tourism, Guillermo Novielli Quezada, said in a statement.
He said the country was working with filmmakers "for the good of mankind."
Raul-Julia claims that the order to cooperate came directly from the country's president, Alvaro Colom Caballero.
Guatemala is the site of a large number of pre-Columbian Mayan settlements in the Mirador Basin, including the extensive and highly organized city of El Mirador (detail, left; exterior on previous page).
In a curious aspect of the new announcement: Guatemalan minister Quezada is quoted as referring to “'Mirador,' the largest pyramid in the world."
But Mirador is not the name of a pyramid. It's the name of the entire settlement, which includes several pyramids, the largest of which is La Danta -- a fact one would expect the Guatemalan minister to know.
"Revelations of the Mayans 2012 and Beyond" begins shooting on Nov. 15 and is due for a theatrical release in late 2012, before the end of the Mayan calendar.
While doomsday scenarios focus on the calendar ending on Dec. 21, 2012, many scholars point out that it simply resets for another 5,126-year cycle on that date.
http://www.disclose.tv/frameset.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewrap.com%2Fmovies%2Fcolumn-post%2Fguatemala-cooperate-doc-about-mayans-and-aliens-31162
« Last Edit: October 01, 2011, 05:20:34 am by Dok » Report Spam Logged
Well, eventually, they'll learn those weren't space aliens that came calling!
Beta Testing Project Bluebeam Holographic Technology?
LG Optimus Hyper Facade
Mayan filmmaker offers photo as proof of aliens, says Hawking agrees
The filmmakers behind "Revelations of the Mayans 2012 and Beyond," who said that their film will reveal evidence of contact between the Mayans and extraterrestrials, have now released to TheWrap what they claim is photographic evidence of a pre-Mayan, alien civilization.
And they claim they've got Stephen Hawking on their side.
Producer Raul Julia-Levy supplied a photo (left), which he says was taken in southern Guatemala in the 1930s, showing a head carved in the jungle.
The monument, according to an accompanying letter by archaeologist Hector E. Mejia, dates back to between 3,500 and 5,000 B.C. and is evidence of a superior civilization unlike any known to have lived on Earth.
Mejia described the photograph as being "of a bust which at first glance can be seen to have an elongated cranium and fine characteristics which are not consistent with pre-Hispanic races of America."
"I certify that this monument presents no characteristics of Maya, Nahuatl, Olmec or any other pre-Hispanic civilization," he wrote. "It was created by an extraordinary and superior civilization with awesome knowledge of which there is no record of existence on this planet."
The photo is one of several purported pieces of evidence that will be shown in Julia-Levy's documentary, which he is making with the cooperation of the Mexican and Guatemalan governments keyed to 2012, the date the Mayan calendar ends.
"This explains who we are," said Julia-Levy, the son of actor Raul Julia. "This explains why these big f---ing monuments are all around the world."
And Julia-Levy then passed along a direct quote that, he claimed, came from no less than Stephen Hawking, whom he said "is going to work with us" and will be included in his film: "'I warn humanity that aliens are out there. Just because the aliens were friends with the Mayans doesn't mean they are our friends. Humans should avoid contact with aliens at all costs.'"
An email sent to a representative for Hawking asking about the authenticity of the quote was not answered.
Hawking has in the past said that that alien life is likely to exist in the universe ("to my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly natural"), and has speculated about the dangers of contact.
"If aliens ever visit us," Hawking has said, "I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
TheWrap has been unable to unearth any instances of Hawking saying anything about the aliens ever contacting or being friends with the Mayans.
But Julia-Levy insisted that the words are Hawking's. He also claimed government conspiracies surrounding the photo and the head it depicts: After the photo was taken in the late 1930s, he said, it was published only once, in a magazine that was then immediately withdrawn from circulation by "the government of England."
He also said the head depicted in the photo, 17 meters (51 feet) tall and six meters wide, is no longer in the Guatemalan jungle but has been moved to the United States and hidden.
"I was informed by officials in the government of Guatemala that the U.S. government brought it here," he said.
According to Meija, "The creative style is not consistent with the civilizations that inhabited the southern coast of Guatemala prior to the arrival of the Spaniards ... It is indisputably pre-Olmec and pre-Maya ...
ne can assign an age between 3,500 and 5,000 BC."
Mejia is a licensed archaeologist affiliated with the Atlas Arqueological de Guatemala and the Institute of Anthropology and History in Guatemala, and with the University of San Carlos. His statement was written in Spanish; TheWrap had it translated.
Mejia goes on to compare it to other monuments, including "the Moais of Easter Island," "the Pascual Abaj monument ... in Guatemala" and "the Great Sphinx in Egypt." He said it was "created by an extraordinary and superior civilization" that "settled in the south of Guatemala and from there shone its light and knowledge on the hunter gatherers who were its first students and received its teachings."
rest: http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=678294
I get a chuckle reading this stuff, watchng them try to explain these discoveries. It seems man is starting to uncover pre-flood evidence and they think it's aliens! Well, in a way they were alien to man, but they weren't little greenmen, but I believe were fallen angels dabbling in man's business, so much so, it led to the flood.
They have found massive stone structures just off the coast of Japan recently that are HUGE, and if they are natural formations, I'd be extremely shocked because they look man-made, in water I think about 100 feet deep. When I first saw video of these things, my immediate first thought was structures. There are several other underwater discoveries of late, one being in the Med, off Turkey I think.
These "discoveries" I think may be part of prophecy in that it says there will be signs and wonders.
I can't see the scientific community being willing to release to the public discoveries that prove biblical prophecy, but it could happen, which could be a lead up to the revealing of the Ark of The Covenant and the rebuilding of the temple. No question the meetings and arguing would go on for months if not years before a "deal" could be reached to rebuild the temple. But there is a very good reason why Jesus tells usall to "Watch".
I find the initial video in this thread confusing as it states that the earthquakes and digs will try to prove present religions wrong, but then go on to state that blue beam will try to reveal the coming of Christ.
Quote from: Believer on October 29, 2011, 06:28:07 am
That's what they're trying to do - they manufacture earthquakes via HAARP and then make these "discoveries" of "bodies" from millions of years ago, and use this to try to disprove Christianity(ie-if they "discover" a million year old body after an "earthquake" happens, and they try to come off like the earth is billions of years old, hence "evolution" is correct, hence trying to debunk Genesis 1). Also, they've had a hand in movies like "Jurassic Park" that further promotes the evolution theory.
As for Blue Beam "revealing" the coming of Christ - this is the last stage in Blue Beam when they blow out the "night of a 1000 stars" which will usher in this 7 year tribulation(or in their own thinkings, a OWG-utopia with Maitreya[who calls himself the christ] at the head). It will be at this time when voice will be projected into people's ears like their own god is talking to them.
Be thankful to the Lord - Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice, so we won't be affected by this!
Ultimately, what they're trying to do is discredit Christianity, and are implementing it in stages.
At the very end, they plan to put up holographic images of whatever god each nation worships - in the ME arab countries, it will be the 12th Iman, in Israel, it will be 'the messiah', in China and other Asian countries, it will be Buddha, in India/Pakistan, Krishna, Mexico/South America, probably the 'virgin mary', in America, Jesus. Concerning the last one, as we all know, scripture states when Jesus comes back, he will be doing so in flaming fire with 1000s of his saints and angels. He won't be just merely sitting up there in the sky starring down and doing nothing.
And yes, even Luciferians have their own version of Christ, but it's not the Jesus Christ the Son of God.
I understand that, BornAgain, but the video is stating that they are trying to discredit each religion, so why would they then try to deceive by using the same basic elements of each religion within the blue beam spectrum. All past religions are either discredited and then the blue beam will come as the religion they are trying to replace each with; that would make more sense and give this new one world religion more credit. Do you understand what I am saying?
Hunt for Ancient Indonesian Pyramid
Finding pyramids in Indonesia, Hilman said, would rewrite the history of the archipelago, and possibly the world.
“We could prove that our ancient civilizations were much more advanced than previously believed, even long before the Majapahit,” he said referring to one of the archipelago’s oldest and biggest known kingdoms.
“We [showed ministry officials] geological and geophysical research, which indicate that ancient ruins lie beneath the mountains,” he said.
Teguh Rahardjo, deputy minister for research and technology, said his office would look into the findings before deciding whether to get involved in the project. “But of course we support this kind of research,” he said.
full: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/presidential-staff-member-backs-hunt-for-ancient-indonesian-pyramid/498855
This right here is a perfect example of Hoaxed Discoveries.... or not...
ET Mummy Found In Egypt
Buried in a dark corner of the Cairo Museum is a mummy that could change the world and our view of humanity's place in the universe. Tucked away from the political turmoil on the streets and the rising surge of the Muslim Brotherhood is a mummified creature from the stars. Entombed thousands of years ago with the body of a Pharoah, the small, frail-looking creature is easily recognizable to any present day UFO investigator: the body of an alien, mummified Grey.
What secrets did the Egyptian High Priests bury with their dead as they sent them into the afterlife on their voyage to the stars? Precious jewels, gold, food, the personal possessions of the deceased including the most devout slaves—and sometimes an alien—were all stored in the dead's subterranean Ark of the Ages.
The ancient Egyptians were artists and meticulous chroniclers of history. They adorned the walls of the tombs of the mighty with a record of the great person's life, deeds, accomplishments. The paintings on the walls of the tomb also recorded for the gods the worthy one's relationships and momentous occassions.
Especially relationships with the Sky Gods and the meetings between gods and humans.
Mummified Grey discovered in sarcophogus
Photographic evidence of an mummified Egyptian mummy sealed withing an ancient sarcophogus and entombed with a Pharoah, has been revealed by researcher David Innis at forbiddenknowledge.com.
Innis writes in part:
"What you are about to see is something you have never heard of....What you haven't been told is that when the boy-king Tutankhamun's mummy was unearthed by Howard Carter and his team back in the 1920s there was buried, along with all of the priceless gold artifacts, two 'baby' mummies. One of these mummies is an alien Grey!"
The short article is accompanied by photos alleged to be of the Pharoah and the two small companion mummies.
Photo series of sarcophagus and child (top), Grey (bottom)
Enlargement of the Grey's mummified head
Photo of alleged alien mummy unwrapped on research table at Cairo University
full story with pics: http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1776/359/ET_Mummy_Found_In_Egypt.html
We'll likely see more of this in the months, days ahead before the strong delusion gets unleashed...
I dont see how this is a hoax.
Guess what i watched on tv many years back about a story concerning the Soviet Russians (Remember the relationship between Egypt and Communist Russia?) Well a team of Russian archaeologists went to Egypt and found a small grey alien and somehow got it back to Moscow. I think from memory they told people it was only a mummy but the Russians knew it was an alien. I dont know where the thing is today It makes you wonder what they are keeping secret.
Hmm, disclosure muuhhh agggggh eeeeeEEEEAA SPACE BRAH!!!!!!
Throwin’ it back to Egypt and beyond!
i was hoping to find a video or article about the alien grey that the Russians stole, and have been distracted, any helps?
Quote from: tennis shoe on February 28, 2012, 09:45:24 pm
That is one of the shows that got me interested in the weird stuff and new age beliefs. The original opening would just draw you in, throw in Leonard Nimoy and In Search of..., i was just hooked.
Quote from: Christian40 on February 29, 2012, 03:36:00 am
The “Project ISIS” it is a presumed project, inserted in a secret Soviet dossier, whose conclusions would bring to believe that Egypt has been founded by the extraterrestrials. In the Egyptian mythology, the first Pharaoh was Osiris. I believe that not only Osiris that he was, an extraterrestrial that would have brought the humanity to the civilization. After his death was mummified and buried in a secret place. Then the tomb would have been open, and from there it was born “Project ISIS”. When the Soviets discovered and they opened the TOMB , many of them died for unknown causes. The little ones remained ,not only they would have recovered the body of an “extraterrestrial” mummified, but they would have withdrawn numerous technological devices deposed beside to the presumed " GOD spatial”. This event brought some members of the belonging ones to the project to form a group similar to a cult, devoted to adore the extraterrestrial as God and accordingly the presumed “visitor of the stars” HE tried to help them to restore the control of the human kind. A project of search, conducted by the KGB, denominated “Project Isis” it would have had inside person responsible, as Nikita Krusciov. The heart of the results of this project would have been, as preoperating above, the discovery of a sarcophagus Egyptian, that contained the mummy of an alien humanoid, arrived in Egypt in 10.500 before Christ.
The age of mummy has been established, over that with the C14, also with the alignment of the stars to the epoch. The Russian have had to recreate through the computer the exact position of the stars, during the construction of the pyramids. They has shown this animation ,and they has shown that the alignment of the stars, with the three pyramids of Giza it went up again really to that date. The video shows the recovery of the mummy “alien”, long around two meters and its head it has been reconstructed to the computer. The Russian have so overdraft that was identical to that of the notorious “Grey.”
Thanks i will watch the vid
Quote from: Christian40 on March 02, 2012, 03:09:30 am
Kidding Gullible Believers: The Truth Behind the “KGB UFO Files”
by Antonio Huneeus
FATE Magazine, January 1999
Reprinted by permission
Hollywood loves sequels, so it shouldn't be surprising, after the high-ratings hoopla surrounding the Ray Santilli "alien autopsy" footage a couple of years ago, that a new UFOlogical blockbuster was recently unleashed.
On September 13, cable network TNT broadcast The Secret KGB UFO Files, a slick and entertaining 90-minute program produced by Associated Television International and hosted by Roger Moore. Several Russian and American experts were interviewed, including this columnist.
The show got off to a good start, showing three very interesting gun camera films taken from three different UFO scramble missions involving MIG fighters. These films are titled "Declassified Soviet Government Material," and Moore stated that the Soviet Air Force footage was "obtained by a group of Russian UFOlogists and declassified by the USSR's Ministry of Defense." This UFO footage is very dear: One shows two dark oval objects merging in the air and another depicts a cylindrical object moving at incredible speed.
The bulk of the program, however, devoted to a more dubious endeavor: an alleged UFO crash and alien autopsy footage, in all its glory or infamy. The key expert was Verniamin G. Vereschagin, a Russian UFOlogist and author whom literally no one in the international UFO field had ever heard of.
Vereschagin had quite a story to tell. According to him, many residents of the Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg) region in central Russia had seen UFOs and later an explosion on November 27,1968. The event was allegedly published in the Soviet-controlled Sverdlovsk newspaper. In the spring of 1969, farmers in the area of Berezovsky found strange debris and contacted the KGB. When a crashed disc was discovered in the forest, Soviet troops were called in. KGB cameramen filmed the site and the troops' activity, and later, the autopsy of an alien occupant.
I feel entitled to comment at some length about this affair because of my involvement in the show. The producers used a sound bite of me endorsing the film: "This is the best footage of an alleged crashed UFO or dead alien that I've seen so far." But they conveniently left out my preceding line (which was tacked on later): "If this is real, and I do not have the elements to make that judgment...'" I was interviewed for more than half an hour about the general history of UFOs in Russia, but other than my short comment on the 1986 Dalnegorsk incident and physical evidence, they used only my remarks on the film.
http://dagmar.lunarpages.com/~parasc2/nb/articles/kgbUFOhoax.htm
Yeah it is always difficult to believe everything from Russia, but the country has been swamped with UFO's.
Quote from: tennis shoe on March 02, 2012, 08:55:19 am
It doesnt matter if it was true or not. It was presented AS TRUTH, and it stuck in the minds of the people that saw it. Thus putting it in peoples head that the bodies of aliens have been found before, and that they have been here before, thus reinforcing Project Blue Beam, or the Grey Agenda.
So i watched the vid:
Dr Ivanovich says in the video that the alien came to earth in about 11000BC and then died in about 10000BC. I think he is telling lies their because how would he know? Plus the film contradicts him later saying that Egypt civilization didn't begin until 2500BC! We are young earth creationists. We believe the earth is only about 6000 years old. The Soviet Union turned to psychics to try to get new technology. I think that the Pyramids are used to deceive people into believing that aliens come from other other planets far away, it could have been the giants who built them, it's still a mystery. In the film it says that Giza is the center of the world, i have always thought it to be Jerusalem. I dont know much about Roger Moore, just what is his agenda for this video?
The supposed UFO crash in 1968 in Sverdlovsk (Berezovsky) Russia and subsequent alien autopsy in "The secret KGB UFO Files" TV documentary by TNT with Roger Moore (James Bond 007) hosting, is a confirmed hoax. http://www.hyper.net/ufo/hoaxes.html
Since the publication of my January 1999 column on "The Secret KGB UFO Files" broadcast by TNT in September 1998, every new item uncovered confirms that the so-called KGB crashed UFO and alien autopsy footage is a one-hundred-percent hoax. The main investigator of this pseudo-TV documentary is the Moscow researcher Boris Shurinov, one of Russia's veteran ufologists and author of two books (one in Russian, the other in French) about UFOs in Russia. I've met Boris twice, at the International UFO Symposium in San Marino, and also at the 1999 UFO Congress at the University of Santiago in Chile, where he denounced the Roger Moore KGB hoax. http://boris-shurinov.info/uftnt/tnt2.htm
THE SECRET KGB UFO FILES
The program was primary based on the rolls of films allegedly smuggled from Russia, allegedly from KGB archives, set of af the documents allegedly purchased on the "black market" for $10,000
I AM AFRAID TO DISAPPOINT EVERY FELLOW UFO RESEARCHER BUT AFTER VERY INTENSIVE INVESTIGATION I MUST TELL YOU...These "KGB secret footages and documents" is a very elaborate hoax (or "entertainment program"
The producers and especially their Russian counterparts must be congratulated for their amazing job!Everything was staged absolutely perfectly.
http://members.tripod.com/~A_U_R_A/Alexhoax.html
Quote from: Mark on March 03, 2012, 04:09:19 am
Television is still trying to float this idea today. But I’m seeing quite a bit of skepticism on the net over it.
About 2 years ago, AFAIK, Youtube started spawning “professional” channels. People were hired to make entertaining youtube vids, particularly in the area of comedy. Since there’s obviously money behind this, I believe this move to the net is in response to declining television viewership. Note that this is part of the elite plan according to an insider back in 2001.
Posted by John Titor on 02-09-2001 02:02 PM
24. Yes, there is an entertainment industry. Again, it is very decentralized. The technology to express yourself with video is so readily available that many people do it all by themselves or in small groups. Much of the distribution is over the web. I would compare it theater here.
At the same time, both governments and the MIC have overtly expressed interest in controlling what people see and read on the web.
It is true that people will still tend to see something and run with it as true without checking any other sources. This is evident in the scourge of spam e-mail that spawns sites like Snopes.
IMO, professional think tanks are still studying people’s reactions to net info for the purposes of perception management. Distribution of money, or lack thereof is still a strong control mechanism for human behavior.
Is holographic 4D imaging more entertaining? Do you want to go there?
Amazing City Of Giants Found Off Georgia Coast
A gigantic walled city off the coast of Georgia has been found near Sapelo Island. The city is thought to be older than the famous Egyptian Pyramids of Giza. Ancient American Indian legends refer to the walled city where the giants 'with hair like red flames' dwelled. Across the tribal lands of what is now the South and Southwestern United States, the red-haired giants were known and feared. The legends claim the city was destroyed by pieces of the Moon falling to Earth.
The Sapelo Shell Ring Complex
Archeologists have made an amazing underwater find about six hours off the coast of Georgia—a legendary, ancient walled city discussed by many Native American tribes over sputtering campfires for untold generations.
The Sapelo Shell Ring Complex, as it's called, is older than many of the structures of ancient Egypt. The city is at least 4,400 years old, and perhaps much older than that.
The city was constructed on land before the seas rose to swallow it up, so it was likely built during one of the last smaller Ice Ages before the icecap retreated (creating the stories of the Great Flood).
That places the origin of the city and its heyday in the middle of the period when giants ruled parts of the Earth from South and Central America to southern North America, parts of Asia, and pockets of Eastern and Western Europe.
While most Homo Sapiens at the time were barely five feet tall, and many were in the four-foot range, the giants were big even by modern day standards.
The race of giants, according to Native American tales, recovered skeletons, and ancient tools, towered far above average humans. The men were as tall as 10 to 12 feet and many of the women reached nine feet or taller.
REST IF TRUE: http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1848/873/NL/Amazing_City_Of_Giants_Found_Off_Georgia_Coast.html
Quote from: Mark on March 07, 2012, 01:56:48 pm
I wanted a seperate post for this, but i think it belongs here.
Some of the giant skeleton photos on the web are proving to be doctored hoaxes. For instance, this photo…
…traced back to this photo:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/giant_human_skeleton
So what does this mean? The Bible says they were there. I have also read about past discoveries of giant remains that got sent to the Smithsonian only to end up “disappeared”.
Here’s my take. Since more info about this is emerging on the internet, the only way that TPTB can keep people in disbelief is to intentionally mix obvious hoaxes in. For somebody viewing this, they would tend to take the all-or-nothing approach to the subject. This technique definitely muddies the waters.
Another article I stumbled upon takes the position that ALL the unusual skull findings are hoaxes. It’s written from a secular point of view. I’m not sure how a “horned skull” could be faked though. I suspect this is also a blend of real/hoax.
Top Ten Skull Hoaxes
by Kate Mulcahy
Skulls are an interesting part of the skeleton, because they give us an idea of what the face of its owner was like. To those who study them, skulls can also give a wealth of information about diet, lifestyle, health, age, and even brain size. Throughout history, many strange skulls have been discovered which seem to go against all previous knowledge. Sometimes such skulls lead to better understanding in various fields, but unfortunately there have always been those who enjoy fabricating unusual skulls for attention and profit. These skulls fall down in the face of proper testing, yet they persist until the fraud is discovered and can be of great interest. This is a list of hoax skulls, mistaken skulls, and unusual or misleading practices pertaining to skulls.
http://listverse.com/2012/02/26/top-10-skull-hoaxes/
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About ENLACE
MARCOS, Ángel
Home page > ARTISTS > MARCOS, Ángel
Medina del Campo, Valladolid - 1955
In Cuba 23
Laserchrome on paper mounted on Plexiglas. 2008. 124 x 165 cm
Born in Medina del Campo, Valladolid in 1955. Despite initially working as an advertising photographer and practicing industrial photography, by 1984 he began to show certain signs of the changes that would occur in his professional path with “Estampas personales” (“Personal Images”), prioritizing the reproduction of reality, to the detriment of mere documentation. It wasn’t until 1992, however, when he was given a job on the Teatro Calderón in Valladolid, that he would immerse himself in artistic photography, deciding to dedicate himself full-time to this discipline. His work has focused since the very beginning on landscapes and travel, not only from a physical standpoint but also as a personal quest and effort to attain consciousness. Based on his immediate surroundings, he created works such as “Paisajes”(“Landscapes”) in 1997, where Marcos reconnected with nature, the nooks and crannies of his childhood, recreating his memories. That same year, with “Los bienaventurados” (“The Blessed Ones”), the human figure erupted into his work, portraying prostitutes, children, and elderly persons squatting in two abandoned buildings, a project about cruelty, sadness, poverty, exclusion, and all those things that, despite being practically right in front of us, we never see.
In 1999, with “Obras póstumas” (“Posthumous Works”), his reenactments gave way to photographs of people reflected in screens inserted in real physical spaces involving narration. In 2000, with “La Chute” (“The Fix”), Ángel focused on people as his sole protagonists, as well as relationship problems.
In 2001, he traveled to New York, where he undertook a project that would wind up turning into another, longer-term effort. “Alrededor de un sueño” (“Around a Dream”) was focused primarily on the hopes and needs of that city’s residents and the relationship between them and all-mighty advertising, contrasting the desire for success and power with stories of failure and frustration among the city’s homeless population and its poor areas.
In 2002-2003, with “Rastros” (“Traces”), he returned to his more immediate surroundings and the recovery of his memory, introducing objects into those landscapes the artists was so familiar with, in Medina del Campo and its surrounding areas.
The following year, he traveled to Havana, focusing on the same themes as in his trip to New York, investigating the slogans and icons of the revolution while simultaneously contrasting and uniting this project with the work he had previously done with “En Cuba” (“In Cuba”).
To complete this project, there was no better place to visit than China, a communist country that had thrown its doors wide open to capitalism. He traveled there in 2007, spending a month in the urban hubs and surroundings of Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shangai. “China” is a wide-ranging photo and video project in which he accentuated the sharp contrasts between the past and the future. Continuing with this same theme, he traveled to Las Vegas the following year, resulting in “Un coup de dès” (“A Throw of the Dice”), landscapes where figures vanish into the city’s glowing signs and bright lights.
With his installation “La mar negra” (“The Black Sea”), he explored the phenomenon of immigration, focusing on immigrants from Senegal who come (or try to come) to the Canary Islands in search of the better world promised by the Internet and satellite TV. He captured the two extremes: the Christians’ port at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he witnessed the arrival of the small canoes full of Senegalese immigrants; and Sant Louis, where the boats set sail.He confronts us with the causes that drive immigrants to undertake this voyage, often risking their own lives.
BÁSTER, Enrique
BEDIA, José
BENDAYÁN, Christian
CAMEJO, Luis E.
CAMPOREALE, Sergio
CARRANZA, José Luis
COLECTIVO MR
DE FELIPE, Antonio
ESTÉVEZ, Carlos
GONZÁLEZ, Roberto
GUTIERREZ, Marcela
LÓPEZ, Aarón
MASI, Diego
MASOCH, Carlos
MIÑO, Jorge
PAREJA, Antonio
PATRUCCO, Pablo
PÉREZ CASTRO, Douglas
POBLET, Mabel
QUIJADA, Christian
QUINTANA, Carlos
RIWNYJ, Martín
RONCOLI, Claudio
RUBÉN, Eduardo
RUNCIE TANAKA, Carlos
SALAZAR, Hugo
VIGIL, Jorge
Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Av. Camino Real 1123 San Isidro, Lima 27 - Perú
Phone: (51 1) 222 5714
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Diseño web camaleon comunicación
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The large erf at the southern extremity of Market Square, on which Urquhart House stands today, was granted in freehold to Johan Hendrik Greyling on 1 January 1806, which places it amongst the earliest plots transferred into private ownership in Graaff-Reinet. Greyling sold the property to Jan Cornelis in 1821 for 36 000 Gilden, which seems to suggest that the house had already been erected on the plot. The house was built between 1806 and 1821.
Another noteworthy owner of the property was Charles James Spiller, an 1820 Settler and secretary of the local Midland Agency and Trust Company until his tragic murder in May 1866. After changing hands a number of times the house (with the erf) was purchased by a prominent businessman, David Sebastian Martin Casper Carel Schultz. It was during his period of ownership that the house accommodated Clegg’s Midland Hotel.
Schultz was probably instrumental in “modernizing” the house towards the end of the nineteenth century. The gables were clipped, the former thatched roof was removed and replaced by a corrugated iron roof and a timber verandah was added, all to comply with the fashion of the time. Schultz’s deceased estate sub-divided the large erf in 1912, the portion with the house on it being bought by Herbert Urquhart M.B.E., a well-loved Graaff-Reinet businessman, and longest serving mayor in the history of the town, holding office for 21 consecutive years from 1915 to 1936. The municipality purchased the property from the Urquhart Estate in 1964.
Monday - Thursday 08:00 – 13:00
Saturdays Closed two Saturdays per month (Contact Museum for schedule)
Archival repository
Genealogical research inquiries
Guided tours on request
Educational tours on request
Research: By prior arrangement only. A research fee is applicable.
Collection of Victorian furniture
Merino room and farm implements
Peach – pip floor
An archival repository.
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The Kaiser Retires
After his win today Michael Shumacher announced his retirement. Finally. He was a hell of a driver but also a hell of a bad sport. From the link above:
On pure talent and accomplishments alone, Schumacher belongs in the same bracket as the very best in the history of the sport – the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna… But greatness is about more than ability and trophies. It is also about character and integrity, and that is where Schumacher’s claim falls down.
But with all the wonder of Schumacher’s talent, and his down-to-earth private persona, comes a dark side. The two are inseparable. And that is what tarnishes his legacy… Too often – particularly so for one of his talent – Schumacher has relied on the unfair advantage to win, either created by himself with controversial manoeuvres on the track or in various means by his backers off it… Sadly, the length of the list of these incidents rivals that of his best drives.
And in this second article, some quotes from various driver.
I think we lose and we will miss a great champion on the track. He beat all the records so he has the best numbers in Formula One but I think maybe F1 will focus more on sport after that.—Fernando Alonso
He’s done some fantastic drives, he’s made some stupid mistakes. He’s not a great in my mind like [Juan Manuel] Fangio, but is one of the most talented drivers.—Stirling Moss
The last stars I saw in F1 were (Ayrton) Senna and, even if he won only one world championship, Jacques Villeneuve. If we want, we could also add (Juan Pablo) Montoya. Now, instead, we have only champions.—Flavio Briatore
He’s one of the best examples of what happens these days in too many sports, the loss of honor and gentlemanly behavior to an unrestricted quest for wins and dollars. He used his influence in his team and with the FIA the way athletes from other sports have used drugs, to gain an unfair advantage on top of his great talent, tainting his whole career.
#motorsports
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TechTechnology
Russian competition watchdog opens investigation into Booking.com
FILE PHOTO: a pair of Sunglasses with a logo on it Booking.com the new Booking.com customer’s site in Tourcoing, France, on October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – the Russian Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS), which is an investigation into the hotel’s booking web site Booking.com the regulator said on Monday.
The FAS said that the company had asked it to do, hotels, and hostels for the same price at the rival’s reservation web sites Booking.com.
Booking.com do not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If it is found to be in violation of the Russian anti-monopoly legislation in which the company may be faced with a fine of between 1% and 15% of the turnover is generated in Finland.
Russia’s investigation follows a lawsuit against the company in the European Union, for instance, in the last week is dedicated to bringing the practice in line with the eu consumer protection law.
Reporting Nadezhda Tsydenova; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Maria Kiselyova and David Goodman
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FILE PHOTO: A man walks along a 5 G in Monaco on November 28, 2019. (REUTERS photo/Eric Gaillard/File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will on Wednesday announce the guidelines by which the EU countries have the right to...
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NASA’s Chandra spots ” of mega-clusters of galaxies, in the creation of the beautiful image
to connectVideoFox News Flash, important news, Jan. 28 Fox News Flash-main news, Jan. 28, here. Check out what to click on Foxnews.com. In a rare clash between the four clusters can be seen in this image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory...
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Chair of the primary U.S. House subcommittee on eyes of online voting changes to the content
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2 for the satellites, it will just prevent us from getting all over Pennsylvania on Wednesday
to connectVideoFox News Flash, important news, Jan. 28 Fox News Flash-main news, Jan. 28, here. Check out what to click on Foxnews.com. It’s a bit too close for comfort. The two faulty satellites, apparently, the zoom next to each other on a...
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PIENI L'ANIMO (On the Clergy in Italy)
Pope Pius X
Encyclical promulgated on 28 July 1906.
To the Venerable Brethren, the Archbishops, and Bishops of Italy.
Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Blessing.
1. Our soul is fearful of the strict rendering that We shall one day be called upon to make to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Pastors, concerning the flock He entrusted to Our care. We pass each day with great solicitude in preserving as much as possible the faithful from the dangerous evils that afflict society at the present time. Therefore, We consider addressed to Us the words of the Prophet: "Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet."[1] Accordingly, sometimes by speech and sometimes by letter We constantly warn, beseech, and censure, arousing, above all, the zeal of Our Brethren in the Episcopate so that each one of them will exercise the most solicitous vigilance in that portion of the flock over which the Holy Spirit has placed him.
2. The cause which now moves Us to raise Our voice is of very serious importance. It demands all the attention of your mind and all the energy of your pastoral office to counteract the disorder which has already produced the most destructive effects. If this disorder is not radically removed with a firm hand, even more fatal consequences will be felt in the coming years. In fact, Venerable Brethren, We have letters, full of sadness and tears, from several of you, in which you deplore the spirit of insubordination and independence displayed here and there among the clergy. Most assuredly, a poisonous atmosphere corrupts men's minds to a great extent today, and the deadly effects are those which the Apostolic Saint Jude formerly described: "These men also defile the flesh, disregard authority, deride majesty."[2] That is to say, over and above the most degrading corruption of manners there is also an open contempt for authority and for those who exercise it. What overwhelms Us with grief, however, is the fact that this spirit should creep into the sanctuary even in the least degree, infecting those to whom the words of Ecclesiasticus should most fittingly be applied: "Their generation, obedience and love."[3] This unfortunate spirit is doing the damage especially among young priests, spreading among them new and reprehensible theories concerning the very nature of obedience. In order to recruit new members for this growing troop of rebels, what is even more serious is the fact that such maxims are being more or less secretly propagated among youths preparing for the priesthood within the enclosure of the seminaries.
3. We therefore consider it Our duty, Venerable Brethren, to appeal to your conscience to see that you do not spare any effort and with a firm hand and constant resolve you do not hesitate to destroy this evil seed which carries with it such destructive consequences. Never forget that the Holy Spirit has placed you to rule. Remember Saint Paul's command to Titus: "Rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise thee."[4] Be firm in demanding that obedience from your priests and clerics which is a matter of absolute obligation for all the faithful, and constitutes the most important part of the sacred duty of priests.
4. Take the proper means necessary for the diminution of these quarrelsome souls. Bear well in mind, Venerable Brethren, the Apostle's warning to Timothy: "Do not lay hands hastily upon anyone."[5] In fact, haste in admitting men to Sacred Orders naturally opens the way to a multiplication of people in the sanctuary who do not increase joy. We know that there are cities and dioceses where, far from there being any reason to lament the dearth of clergy, the clergy greatly exceed the needs of the faithful. Venerable Brethren, what reason is there for imposing hands so frequently? In those places where the lack of clergy is no sufficient reason for haste in so important a matter and the clergy are more numerous than the requirements demand, nothing excuses from the most delicate caution and the greatest exactitude in selecting those who are to receive the sacerdotal honor. The eagerness of the aspirants is no excuse for haste. The priesthood that Jesus Christ instituted for the salvation of souls is by no means a human profession or office which anyone desiring it for any reason can say he has a right to receive. Therefore, let the Bishops call young men to sacred orders, not according to the desires or pretexts of the aspirants, but, as the Council of Trent prescribes, according to the needs of the dioceses. In this task they can select only those who are really suitable and dismiss those who have inclinations contrary to the priestly vocation. The most dangerous of these inclinations are a disregard for discipline and that pride of mind which fosters it.
5. In order that young men who display qualities suitable for the sacred ministry may not be lacking, Venerable Brethren, We wish to insist most earnestly on what We have already frequently pointed out. That is to say, you have a very serious obligation before God of guarding and fostering most solicitously the proper conduct of the seminaries. Your priests will be as you have trained them. The letter of December 8, 1902, which Our most prudent Predecessor addressed to you as a testament from his long Pontificate is very important.[6] We desire to add nothing new to it; We shall merely remind you of the rules it lays down. We especially recommend the immediate execution of Our orders, published through the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, on the concentration of the seminaries especially for the study of philosophy and theology. In this way the great advantage resulting from the separation of the major and minor seminaries and the no less great advantage of the necessary instruction of the clergy will be secured.
6. Let the seminaries be jealously guarded in order that a proper atmosphere will be maintained. Let them always be destined exclusively for preparing youths, not for civil careers, but for the noble vocation of being ministers of Christ. Let philosophy, theology, and the related sciences, especially Sacred Scripture, be studied along the lines of pontifical directives: according to the teaching of Saint Thomas which Our venerable Predecessor so often recommended, and We Ourselves recommended in the Apostolic Letter of January 23, 1904.[7] Therefore, let the Bishops exercise the most prudent vigilance towards the professors' teachings. Let them recall those who run after certain dangerous novelties to their sense of duty. If they do not profit from these warnings, let them be removed—cost what it may—from their teaching position. Young clerics are forbidden to frequent the universities unless the Bishops think there are very good reasons and necessary precautions have been taken. Seminarians are absolutely forbidden to take part in external activities. Accordingly. We forbid them to read newspapers and periodicals, excepting, in the case of the latter, those with solid principles and which the Bishop deems suitable for their study. Let discipline continue to be fostered with renewed vigor and vigilance. Finally, in every seminary there must be a spiritual director. He is to be a man of extraordinary prudence and experienced in the ways of Christian perfection. With untiring zeal he must train the young men in solid piety, the primary foundation of the spiritual life. Venerable Brethren, if these rules are conscientiously and religiously followed they will be your sure guarantee of seeing a clergy growing up around you which will be your joy and your crown.
7. If these instructions are not observed, the problem of insubordination and independence which We now lament will be even more aggravated by some of the younger clergy and cause even more harm. This is especially so since those who are subject to this reprobate spirit are not lacking, and, abusing the sacred office of preaching, they are its outspoken promoters and apostles, to the detriment and scandal of the faithful.
8. On July 31, 1894, Our Predecessor, through the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, called the Bishops' attention to this very serious problem.[8] The regulations and norms set up in that Pontifical document We now affirm and renew, commanding the Bishops to form their conscience according to it, lest the words of the Prophet Nahum might be applied to any of them: "Thy shepherds have slumbered."[9] No one can have the faculty of preaching "unless he first be approved of in life, knowledge and morals."[10] Priests of other dioceses should not be allowed to preach unless they have testimonial letters from their own Bishop. Let the subject of their sermons be that which the Divine Savior indicated when He said: "Preach the gospel[11] . . . teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."[12] Or, according to the Council of Trent, "announcing to them the vices they should avoid and the virtues they should follow in order to escape eternal punishment and attain heavenly glory."[13] Therefore, let those arguments better suited to journalistic campaigns and lecture halls be completely banished from the holy place. Let moral preaching be preferred to sermons which are, to say the least, fruitless. Let the preacher speak "not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power."[14] The principal source, therefore, from which preaching will derive its strength will be the Sacred Scriptures, understood not according to the private judgment of minds very frequently blinded by passions, but according to the traditions of the Church and the interpretations of the holy Fathers and Councils.
9. According to these rules, Venerable Brethren, you should judge those to whom you will entrust the ministry of the divine word. Whenever you find any of them departing from these rules, being more concerned with their own interests than those of Jesus Christ and more anxious for worldly applause than the welfare of souls, warn and correct them. If that proves insufficient, be firm in removing them from an office for which they have proven themselves unworthy. You should be especially diligent in employing this vigilance and severity since the ministry of preaching belongs in a special way to you, and is one of the chief functions of the Episcopal Office. Whoever outside your rank preaches, he does so only in your name and in your place. It follows, therefore, that you are always responsible before God for the way in which the bread of the divine word is distributed to the faithful. In order to remove all responsibility from Our shoulders, We notice and command all Ordinaries to discontinue or suspend, after charitable warnings, any preacher, be he secular or regular, and even if it be during a course of sermons, who does not completely obey the regulations laid down in the above-mentioned Instruction of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. Better by far would it be if the faithful were satisfied with the simple homilies and explanations of the Catechism their parish priests offer them than to attend sermons that do more harm than good.
10. Another field where the junior clergy find a wide scope and great stimulus for maintaining and advocating exemption from every bond of legitimate authority is the so-called Popular Christian Action. This action, Venerable Brethren, is not in itself reprehensible, nor by its nature does it lead to contempt of authority. Many, however, misunderstanding its nature, have voluntarily abandoned the rules laid down for its promotion by Our Predecessor of immortal memory.
11. You are aware that We are referring to the Instruction on Popular Christian Action which, by command of Leo XIII, the Sacred Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs issued on January 27, 1902, and which was sent to each one of you to carry out in your dioceses.[15] For Our part, We maintain and, with the fullness of Our power, We renew these instructions with each and every one of their regulations. Similarly We confirm and renew all the orders We issued in the motu proprio of December 18, 1903, on Popular Christian Action[16] along with the Circular Letter dated July 28, 1904, of Our beloved son, the Cardinal Secretary of State.[17]
12. Concerning the founding and directing of newspapers and periodicals, the clergy must faithfully follow Article 42 of the Apostolic Constitution "Officiorum," namely, "Clerics are forbidden to direct newspapers or periodicals without the previous consent of the Ordinaries."[18] Similarly, without the previous consent of the Ordinary, no cleric can publish any kind of writing, be it concerned with a religious, moral, or merely technical subject. Before the founding of circles and societies their rules and constitutions must be examined and approved by the Ordinary. No priest or cleric can lecture on Popular Christian Action or any other subject without the permission of the Ordinary of the place. Language which might inspire aversion for the higher classes is, and can only be regarded as, altogether contrary to the true spirit of Christian charity. Likewise, all terms smacking of an unhealthy novelty in Catholic publications are condemnable, such as those deriding the piety of the faithful, or pointing out a new orientation of the Christian life, new directions of the Church, new aspirations of the modern soul, a new social vocation of the clergy, or a new Christian civilization.
13. While it is a very praiseworthy thing for the clergy, and especially the younger clergy, to go to the people, nevertheless, they must proceed in this matter with due obedience to authority and the commands of their ecclesiastical superiors. In devoting themselves according to this submission to the cause of Popular Christian Action, their noble duty must be "to rescue the children of the people from ignorance of spiritual and eternal things, encouraging them by their kindness to live honestly and virtuously; to strengthen adults in the faith, fortifying them in the practice of the Christian life by removing all contrary influences; to foster among the Catholic laity those institutions which are really instrumental in improving the moral and material welfare of the masses; and above all, to defend the principles of evangelical justice and charity, applying equally to everyone the rights and duties of civil society. . . Let them, moreover, be ever mindful that even among the people the priest should inviolately preserve his novel character as a minister of God, being placed at the head of his brethren for their salvation.[19] In devoting himself to the people should he do anything contrary to the dignity of the priesthood or ecclesiastical duties or discipline, he must be rebuked."[20]
14. Moreover, Venerable Brethren, in order to erect an effective bulwark against this extravagance of thought and extension of the spirit of independence, by Our authority, We absolutely forbid all clerics and priests to give their names in the future to any society that does not have Episcopal approbation. In a very special manner, under penalty of exclusion from Sacred Orders for clerics and suspension "ipso facto a divinis" for priests, We forbid them to become members of the National Democratic League, whose program was issued from Roma-Torrette on October 20, 1905. Its statutes were published the same year by the Provisional Committee of Bologna without the name of their author.
15. Being concerned about the present state of the Italian clergy and the importance of the subject, the solicitude of Our Apostolic Office demanded Us to issue these directives. We must now once again arouse your zeal, Venerable Brethren, in order that these arrangements and regulations will be quickly and fully carried out in your dioceses. Prevent the evil where fortunately it has not yet appeared. Suppress it immediately where it is beginning to spring up. Wipe it out with a firm and resolute hand where unfortunately it has already ripened. Making this a matter of conscience for you, We pray that God will fill you with the spirit of prudence and necessary firmness. For that reason, from the bottom of Our heart, We impart to you the Apostolic Blessing.
Given at Saint Peter's, Rome, on July 28, 1906, the third year of Our Pontificate.
1. Is. 58: 1.
2. Jude 8.
3. Ecclus. 3:1.
4. Titus 2:15.
5. I Tim. 5:22.
6. Cf. ASS, 35:257 ff.
9. Nahum 3:18.
10. Council of Trent, Sess. V, c. 2, "De Reform."
11. Mark 16:15.
12. Matt. 28:20.
13. Loc. cit.
14. I Cor. 2:4.
15. Cf. ASS, 34:401 ff.
17. Cf. ASS, 37:19 ff.
18. January 25, 1897. Cf. ASS, 30:39 ff.
19. St. Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care, 2:7.
20. Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII, "Fin dal principio," December 8, 1902. Cf. ASS, 35:257 ff.
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QUEMADMODUM (Pleading For the Care of the World's Destitute Children)
Encyclical of His Holiness promulgated on 6 January 1946
To the Venerable Brethren: The Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops and other Ordinaries Having Peace and Communion With the Apostolic See.
1. While the terrible war raged We used all Our powers of persuasion and appeal to bring to a speedy end a conflict which had lasted all too long and to secure an agreement guaranteeing justice, equity and right. The same way now that fighting has ceased, but peace has not yet been restored, in virtue of Our apostolic office, We are leaving nothing undone to provide timely relief for so many ills and all possible comfort for the accumulated miseries that weigh on not a few nations. But of the almost countless ills born of the dire struggle none so hurts or so wounds Our paternal heart as that which involves a host of innocent children, millions of whom it is estimated are in many countries without the necessities of life and are suffering from cold, hunger and disease. Often, too, in their utter dereliction they feel the want not only of food, clothes and shelter but also of the affection which their tender years so need.
2. As you know, Venerable Brethren, We have done all that We could to solve this problem. And We gladly take this occasion to express Our sincerest gratitude to those through whose liberality We have been able to alleviate somewhat the need of these infants and children. We know, too, that many have individually or as members of societies and organizations undertaken to help or are already actively at work. To these, worthy of all praise as they are, We pay due tribute and pray God to bless their activities, their plans for the future, their achievements.
3. But since help of this kind is entirely inadequate to the immense task, We have deemed it Our duty to turn to you and paternally urge you to take to heart the extremely grave plight of these needy children, leaving nothing undone that may contribute to ease their lot and bring relief.
4. We ordain, therefore, that in each of your dioceses you assign a day on which public prayers will be offered to appease God's anger and on which through your priests you will admonish the faithful of this urgent need and exhort them to support by their prayers, good works and offerings every movement that is directing its forces fully and effectively for the succor of needy and abandoned children.
5. This is a problem, of course, which touches all citizens, whatever be their views, if
only their hearts respond to the appeals of nature and religion. But it belongs, in a special sense, to Christians who should see stamped on these poor destitute little brothers the image of the Divine Child and who are bound to heed those words: "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me" (Matt. 25, 40).
6. Let all remember and reflect that these children will be pillars of the next generation and that it is essential that they grow up healthy in mind and body if we are to avoid a race infected with sickness and vice. Nobody should hesitate, then, to contribute time and money to a cause so opportune and essential. Those who are themselves less wealthy should give what they can with open hand and willing heart. Those who live in luxury should reflect and remember that the indigence, hunger and nakedness of these children will constitute a grave and severe indictment of them before God, the Father of mercies, if they harden their hearts and do not contribute generously. All, finally, should be convinced that their liberality will not be loss but gain, for we can safely say that one who gives from his means to the poor is lending to God Who, in His own time, will repay his generosity with abundant interest.
7. We firmly trust that, as in Apostolic times, when the Christian population of Jerusalem was subjected to poverty and persecution, the rest of the faithful throughout the world contributed their prayers and material aid. (Cf. I Cor. 16,1) so now, too, all will be inspired and animated by the same charity and will help as much as they can. This they should do, as We have said, especially by fervent prayer to our most merciful Redeemer. For, as you know, fervent prayer carries with it a mystic power that penetrates Heaven and calls down supernatural light and Divine impulses to illumine men's minds and incline their wills to good, to persuade and move them to charity.
8. Let us recall that in every age the Church has exercised the most diligent care of the young and has rightly deemed this as an official mission assigned in a very special way to her charity. And as she did this and continues to do it, she undoubtedly was following in the footsteps and obeying the injunctions of her Divine Founder, Who, gently gathering the children around Him, said to the Apostles who rebuked their mothers: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10, 14). For Christ, as Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo the Great, very well says, "loves childhood which He had first assumed in mind and body. Christ loves childhood, the school of humility, the norm of innocence, the model of meekness. Christ loves childhood towards which He directs morality, to which He leads back the old age of men. Those whom He calls to His eternal kingdom above He inspires to follow His example" (Serm. XXXVII C. 3, ML 54, 258 C).
9. In the light of such words and sentiments, Venerable Brethren, you see with what love, diligence and care the Church looks after infants and children following the lead of her Founder. While she exercises all possible care to see that they be provided with food, shelter and clothing for their bodies, she does not ignore or neglect their souls which—born, so to speak, from the breath of God—seem to portray the radiant beauty of Heaven. Her first care and endeavor is, then, to preserve their innocence from stain and provide for their eternal salvation.
10. Accordingly, there are numberless institutions and organizations to educate the young, form them to solid virtue, and satisfy their needs in education as they grow in mind and body. In this important field, as you know, many Religious Orders and congregations of men and women are laboring with admirable zeal and effect, and their prudent, alert, devoted activity is making a magnificent contribution to the progress of Church and State. This is being done not only in civilized countries, with large and excellent results, but also among uncultured peoples or those which the light of Christian truth has not yet reached, where missionary endeavor and, especially, the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood, rescues so many children and infants from the slavery of the devil and of wicked men, procuring for them the freedom of the children of God, and trains them to be members of civilized society.
11. But at this tragic moment of history, when—alas—material and spiritual ruins are piled high, these providential charitable enterprises, which, perhaps, seemed capable of dealing with normal needs of this kind are certainly inadequate. For, Venerable Brethren, We almost seem to see with Our own eyes the vast hosts of children weakened or at death's door through starvation. They hold out their little hands asking for bread "and there is no one to break it unto them" (Lam. 4, 4). Without home, without clothing, they shiver in the winter cold and die. And there are no fathers or mothers to warm and clothe them. Ailing, or even in the last stages of consumption, they are without the necessary medicines and medical care. We see them, too, passing before Our sorrowful gaze, wandering through the noisy city street, reduced to unemployment and moral corruption, or drifting as vagrants uncertainly about the cities, the towns, the countryside, while no one—alas— provides safe refuge for them against want, vice and crime.
12. How, then, can We desist, Venerable Brethren, when We love those children of Ours so intensely in the heart of Jesus Christ (Philip 1, 8); how can We desist from appealing again and again to you all individually and collectively and to all throughout the world who, like you, are inspired with a sense of mercy and piety, so that the full force of Christian charity—and it is a mighty force—may be pooled by willing and generous souls in order to mitigate and relieve their piteous condition.
13. Let us use all the means that modern progress offers or recommends. Let new methods be devised which may, through the cooperation of all provide an effective remedy for present ills and for those which are feared in the future. Thus, may it speedily come about that with God's help and inspiration the snares of vice, which hold so many derelict children as an easy prey, may give way to the attraction of a virtuous life; that their blank idleness and gloomy sloth may give way to honest and cheerful employment; that for their hunger, starvation and nakedness they may have adequate relief from the Divine charity of Jesus Christ, which should be most alive, eager and strong among His followers at a time like this.
14. Such a change will contribute most effectively not only to the increase of the Catholic Religion and of Christian virtue but also to the good of the human family at large and of civil society. For, as all know, there would not be such a mass of delinquents in the common jails if greater and more suitable measures were taken to prevent especially juvenile delinquency. And if everywhere there grew up a healthy, honest and industrious youth, it would be easier to find citizens remarkable for their probity, fortitude and other mental and physical qualities.
15. This was Our purpose, Venerable Brethren, in writing to you this Encyclical about so grave a question, committing to you the task of communicating Our paternal exhortation in the way you consider most suitable to your flocks. And We firmly trust that this, Our exhortation and appeal, will meet with a ready answer from all and with generous contributions and collaboration.
16. Inspired by this hope, as a pledge of heavenly graces and a sign of Our special benevolence with all affection in the Lord, We impart the Apostolic Benediction to you all, Venerable Brethren, to the flocks committed to your care, and especially to those who have already, in any way, served this cause and to those who will serve it in the future.
Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the 6th day of January, Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the year 1946, the seventh of Our Pontificate.
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Date(s): December 1827 to June 6, 1828
Location(s): CHATHAM, Georgia
Tag(s): Economy, Migration/Transportation
In the Antebellum South, before railroads were widely used, Southern societies did not encounter people from other places very often. An anonymous man wrote a letter to the editor of The Argus in the summer of 1828, and in his etter he clearly demonstrated his inherent mistrust of outsiders. This man owned a boarding house and was writing to the paper in search of a solution to a problem he had run into with one of his boarders-a Yankee. This Yankee had requested that the boarding house owner post a large packet of letters to Blossomdale, Vermont, free of charge. The boarding house owner wrote, Now, Mr. Printer, can you tell me where Blossomdale village is, and how I am to get these letters there, without paying postage? Is it on this earth, or in the West Indies, or that Moon? Obviously flummoxed, this boarding house owner allowed his previous misconceptions about Yankees (or, in his mind, the others) to turn this situation into a huge, public ordeal as opposed to a small matter between a boarder and the boarding house owner. Southerners were trained from a young age to mistrust those from outside of the South, particularly northerners. An algebra book used widely in the South included problems where southern students were asked to calculate the speeds of two different Yankee soldiers running away from battle, and the profit a Yankee trader made on selling bad pork. Inculcated early with this mistrust, it is little wonder that the boarding house owner acted as he did. These fears and misunderstandings grew through the subsequent thirty years and exacerbated the escalating conflict between North and South, to the point that, by the early 1860s, some southerners saw themselves as a separate race from northerners. They saw the differences in race between northerners and southerners not as biological factors but factors inherent in their characters. This idea of separate races clearly stemmed from the misguided fears of southerners so inherent in southern society.
Savannah (GA) Argus, June 6, 1828.
Stephen V. Ash, A Year in the South 1865 (New York: Perennial, 2004), 159-164.
Robert B. Bonner, "Roundheaded Cavaliers?," Civil War History Vol. 48, No. 1 (2002): 34-59.
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Gavin Burrow - NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY (NPL) SCOTLAND
Gavin has recently joined NPL Scotland as Product Manager for the Advanced Manufacturing sector. NPL is the UK's National Measurement Institute, and is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards, science and technology available. NPL Scotland is a joint venture between NPL and the University of Strathclyde that heralds a step change in developing metrology capability in Scotland. NPL Scotland will be at the forefront of delivering consultancy, metrology services, in-company support, and a wide range of metrology training to industry.
Previously he was a Project Manager at the CENSIS Innovation Centre facilitating and driving collaborative R&D projects developing new products and capabilities around sensor and imaging technology. Gavin’s experience also includes development and manufacture of electro-optical defence products at Thales UK, high-reliability fibre-optic products at Agilent Technologies and high-volume electronics at IBM.
HUGH GILL - THE ENGINEER WHO DEVELOPED THE MULTI-ARTICULATING BIONIC HAND
Hugh is VP of R&D Upper Limb Prosthetics and Managing Director at Touch Bionics, Ossur. Hugh's most prominent contribution has been in developing the partial and full hand multi articulating prosthetics products for Touch Bionics of Livingston. This has revolutionised the capability of those who lose a hand. The engineering behind this is now at the front end of high technology - encompassing robotics, wireless communication, i-phone apps, advanced myoelectric sensors that pick up microvolt signals from muscles beneath the skin, and the covering, or cosmesis, for durability, appearance and elasticity, a major material advance. Over 5000 patients have been fitted with i-limb hands and over 700 partial hand patients. Hugh has led the technological developments creating a major impact on many patients throughout the world. Hugh was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame in 2013 and was awarded the Fletcher of Saltoun in 2017. Hugh has 16 patents.
DOUGLAS ANDERSON– THE INVENTOR OF THE WORLD'S FIRST ULTRA-WIDEFIELD RETINAL IMAGING SYSTEM
Douglas is the founder of Optos Plc. When Douglas Anderson's five-year old son suffered a detached retina, and lost his sight in one eye, Douglas decided to try to develop a better device for detecting early stage eye problems. After many years of development, working with colleagues, he succeeded in designing and patenting a scanning laser ophthalmoscope that enabled eye care practitioners to capture a digital ultra-wide-field image of the retina in a single scan. Such has been the effectiveness of the device that it has created a paradigm shift in clinical thinking, enabling not just better and earlier diagnosis but rapidly increasing the understanding of how diseases develop such as to provide the basis for innovative new treatments.
JAMES GOODFELLOW – THE INVENTOR OF THE AUTOMATED TELLER
James Goodfellow is one the inventor of automated teller - what we now call the automated telling machine (ATM), which is spread throughout the world and has been a transformative technology with an estimated 3 million machines. It has become an essential part of modern life. The ATM is listed in National Geographic's 2015 publication "100 events that changed the world", but wrongly naming another Scot, John Shepherd-Barron, whose claim in 2005 had been widely publicised but had prompted James Goodfellow to make his prior patents known, after which he was recognised with his OBE. James Goodfellow is now generally accepted as being the inventor of the ATM. More recently, his 2000 patent for an LCD pad, A4 or Paperback size, wirelessly connected to a home PC, acting as dumb terminal, providing touch sensitive input and LCD display output remotely sounds very familiar.
Dr. Pete Loftus
Pete is Head of Measurement Engineering in Rolls-Royce plc. He has spent 37 years with the company working in the measurement field. With a first degree in Physics and a Masters in Gas Turbine Engineering he has focussed on the application of measurement capability in high integrity product design, production, and through life support looking to exploit a core technology base and skill set in a very wide variety of contexts from characterising material properties to on-wing inspection and machinery control and diagnostics. His early work was in testing where he holds some patents on innovative test measurement techniques but he rapidly moved into the challenges of managing engineers and engineering. He is President of the European Institute for Gas Turbine Instrumentation, Vice Chair of the ASME Turbo Expo Controls, Diagnostics and Instrumentation Committee, and The NCSL International European Region Deputy. In his spare time he is a Group Scout Leader and Engineering Ambassador.
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The Illinois Valley Soil and Water Conservation District (IVSWCD), established on December 13, 1949, covers the Illinois River watershed in Josephine County. The 75-mile-long Illinois River rises in California, flows northwest through its 628,000-acre watershed (most of it in Oregon), and discharges into the Rogue River.
The watershed supports diverse native plant species, including 20 conifer trees, 29 broad leaved trees, and scores of rare endemic wildflowers. The watershed elevations range from 7,055 feet on Grayback Mountain to 380 feet at the mouth of the Illinois River near Agness. The valley floor sits at from 1,200 to 1,600 feet, and the average annual precipitation varies from 40 to 160 inches.
The district is one of 45 SWCDs chartered under the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ORS 568) to protect the state’s renewable natural resources. In 1994, Josephine County combined the IVSWCD with the Illinois Valley Watershed Council (IVWC) under “The Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds” (ORS 541.388). In addition to its other responsibilities, the IVSWCD manages the 172-acre Thompson Creek Woodland Conservation Tract, along with other projects funded by federal, state, and private grants.
The IVSWCD covers 524,000 acres, 80 percent in public and 20 percent in private ownership. The watershed is 89 percent forested, and 8 percent is used for agriculture (including 11,660 acres with irrigation water rights). With a relatively small area claimed by water rights (2 percent), arable soils are at a premium, since water is not limiting. Most of the valley’s soil contains gravels, cobbles, and stones derived from granitic bedrock to the east and ultramafic bedrock to the west.
Land use in the district includes logging, livestock ranches, pastures, vineyards, orchards, row crop and truck farms, mining, public parks, the Wild and Scenic Illinois River, and the Red Buttes and Kalmiopsis Wilderness Areas. The 2000 census reported a population in the IVSWCD of about 15,500, with most people living in Cave Junction, Selma, O’Brien, Kerby, Holland, and Takilma.
The Illinois Basin presents several land-use challenges in the twenty-first century, including water quantity and quality, soil conditions, invasive species, endangered species, and the threatened coho salmon. The IVSWCD is responding to those concerns by planting trees, testing wells and assessing groundwater, replacing irrigation ditches with pipelines, monitoring streams, and stabilizing stream banks. As a result of those efforts, salmon habitat is improving and irrigation is more efficient.
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Gnosall Parish Council
(Including the wards of Moreton and Knightley)
Our Mission is to improve the quality of life for those who live and work in the Parish of Gnosall and those who visit it.
at: Brearley Room
on: 21/08/2019 Time: 07:30
for: 2.30 hours
Contact Pat 01785 824203
Copyright © 2020 Gnosall Parish Council | Privacy Policy
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XI JIMPING, DAVOS AND THE WORLD IN 2017 / THE FINANCIAL TIMES COMEMNT & ANALYSIS
| Etiquetas: Davos, Populism, Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, Davos and the world in 2017
There is a tidiness that disappears when rules are replaced by competing powers
by: Philip Stephens
Xi Jinping’s call for a 'new model of international relations' no longer looks like an attempt to overturn the western liberal order © AFP
Xi Jinping is heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Perhaps his trip tells us only than that the Chinese president has succumbed to the vanity that compels global elites to parade their wisdom over champagne and canapés in a small Swiss ski resort. And yet Mr Xi’s top billing at next month’s gathering also says something about the world. President-elect Donald Trump wants the US to shrug off its global responsibilities. China may grab the opening to move centre stage.
The populism that has unnerved the west during 2016 has scarcely been a match for the revolutionary tumult that gripped Europe in 1848. Though it ended in bitter disappointment for the revolutionaries, that year’s “spring of nations” struck at the foundations of the ancien regime. Today’s insurgents have grabbed power through the ballot box.
That said, a post-cold war generation lulled into believing that order and predictability are part of the state of nature has been badly shaken. Power is no longer where we thought it was. Even before the dust settles on the spreading populism that gave Mr Trump his victory and Britain, well, Brexit, we can see a different landscape taking shape.
The US president-elect still has everyone guessing. Each tilt towards a more temperate stance on domestic or international affairs is matched by angry late night tweets from the top of Trump Tower.
No one ever accused Mr Trump of campaigning in poetry. As time passes, it seems even less likely that he intends to govern in prose.
Amid the swerves and the Twitter fusillades there are one or two constants. Billionaires will pay less tax and foreign policy will be unashamedly nationalist. Mr Trump belongs to a club of Americans that sees global rules and fixed alliances as a subtraction from, rather than an addition to, US power. Multilateralism is for wimps. Geopolitics is no different from business.
Mr Trump wants to make deals.
He is right, of course, to think that the US can more than stand its ground in a world in which might replaces rules as the currency of international relations. The US is still the sole superpower — the reference point for everyone else’s foreign policy. On the other hand, discarding allies and making deals with the likes of Russian president Vladimir Putin is unlikely to advance US strategic interests.
Here lies the opportunity for Mr Xi in Davos. China’s distrust of the post-cold war order long predates Mr Trump. But it is a US president who is now bringing down the curtain on the Pax Americana. Set against Mr Trump’s embrace of “America First” trade and security policies, Beijing’s call for a “new model of international relations” no longer looks like an attempt to overturn the western liberal order.
To the contrary, China can cast itself as a guardian of global governance and the torchbearer for the open trading system. Mr Xi champions the Paris climate change accord, defends the international community’s nuclear deal with Iran and expands trade liberalisation in Asia and, hey presto, the bad guy is suddenly the good guy. As for China’s military manoeuvres in the South China Sea, it is the president-elect who now threatens to upend a decades-long Sino-US understanding that has kept the peace in the Taiwan Strait.
The first step to understanding the unravelling of the global order is that the new geopolitical landscape will not be drawn in straight lines. There is a tidiness about multilaterism that disappears when shared rules are replaced by the interplay of competing powers. Perhaps Mr Trump imagines a great power condominium of the US, China and Russia. The snag is their interests collide more often than coincide. Striking a bargain with Mr Putin about Syria would see the US handing a victory to Iran. Abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will encourage America’s regional allies to integrate economically with China.
No, the new order will be replete with jagged edges, regional pacts and overlapping, sometimes contradictory, alliances. India will claim its place at the table. So too will Europe.
Mr Trump has not had much time for his Nato allies. And the lazy thing to say is that Europe will continue to be consumed in 2017 by domestic troubles. Growth is not fast enough to quell the anger of those left behind by globalisation; migration supplies ammunition to the populists; Brexit will suck up political energy. Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s xenophobic National Front, hopes to harness the momentum of Mr Trump and the Brexiters in her bid for the Elysée Palace.
Were Ms Le Pen to win the presidency, the game might well be up. There is, though, another plausible if not yet probable scenario that sees the start of a European revival, in which economic recovery picks up speed and migration stabilises. Most importantly, a victory for the Republican candidate François Fillon in France and a fourth term for Germany’s Angela Merkel restores the Franco-German motor of European co-operation.
Either way, there is no room for neatness in the world’s new design. There is, though, an opportunity for China. Classical geopolitical theory has it that, in a collision between established and rising powers, the upstart is the destabilising force. When the elites of Davos gather for their annual fest of self-congratulatory backslapping, it would be something of an irony were Mr Xi to appear as the voice for stability.
DONALD TRUMP´S MILITARY GOVERNMENT / THE NEW YORK TIMES OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Donald Trump, U.S. Economic And Political
Donald Trump’s Military Government
By GORDON ADAMS
Gen. Michael T. Flynn in Afghanistan in 2009. Credit Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images
Washington — A new president, swept into office on a tide of fake news and media manipulation, surrounds himself with generals: his adviser on foreign policy, the defense minister, his minister of the interior and the further possible appointments of foreign minister and intelligence director.
If this happened in a third world country, the United States, as a global promoter of democracy, would warn against it. America has frequently urged the militaries of other countries to stand down and stay in barracks. The United States supports civilian control; the military’s job should be to provide military advice, not make policy and govern.
Yet these admonitions do not now seem to apply at home. Having roundly criticized generals during the campaign, President-elect Donald J. Trump is now surrounding himself with them.
The issue is not about getting good military advice to the president. The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act made the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff the principal military adviser to the president for that purpose. The president regularly listens to uniformed officers in the Situation Room and the Pentagon.
Marine Gen. James N. Mattis aboard the U.S.S. Peleliu in 2001. Credit Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency
As much as Americans like and respect their generals, civilian control of the military has nothing to do with the personal merits or otherwise of particular flag officers. They may be smart (David H. Petraeus), bold (James N. Mattis), temperamental (Michael T. Flynn) or quietly competent (John F. Kelly). There is not just one kind of general.
The larger principle goes back to the founding of the republic: Civilians should oversee the military, and the president is the commander in chief. The founders worried about the influence that a military with excessive power could have on America’s young democracy.
The issue is the same today. It’s not the risk of a military coup; it is what I call the “velvet militarization” of American foreign and national security policy over the next four years.
Military officers do view the world differently. Their experience has necessarily produced in them what psychologists sometimes call a “professional deformation,” a necessary conditioned way of looking at the world that is structured, hierarchical, strategic and operational. It focuses on the uses of military force.
Military officers are “can do.” Operational problems require operational solutions — fix the problem, and done. Fundamentally, military deterrence and combat are what they do, generally well.
Gen. John Kelly at the Pentagon in 2016. Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press
Civilian analysts, strategists and diplomats focus on statecraft: how to wield the foreign policy tool kit to achieve national goals and protect American interests. They focus on broader strategy, diplomatic nuance, setting one sticky problem aside to make progress on another.
Both skill sets, military and civilian, are important. The president and his staff coordinate between the two. But filtering all policy decisions through a military lens will compromise the balance in decision making that good statecraft requires.
More fundamentally, our older democracy is in trouble. Over the past 70 years, the military has become the dominant institution in how the United States engages with the world, especially since Sept. 11, the so-called global war on terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Special Operations forces are now deployed to more than 80 countries, the counterterrorism apparatus has expanded across the country, and the military conducts cyberwarfare abroad.
Like water to a fish, our militarized medium has become invisible to us. To have generals in charge of the foreign and national security policy agencies looks normal. While it is true that the strategic failure behind the two biggest operational failures of the past 15 years, Iraq and Afghanistan, was a civilian responsibility, it seems ironic that the careers of the three officers so far appointed by Mr. Trump — Generals Mattis, Flynn and Kelly — were bound up with those debacles. If General Petraeus were nominated as secretary of state, that would make four.
It is important for the president to surround himself with senior cabinet-level advisers who are not military men. The president will need that balance, as well as the capabilities of all America’s foreign policy institutions. The challenges he will encounter are broader than the military view can encompass. And most solutions are not military.
Putting military officers in charge of the entire architecture of national security reinforces the trend toward militarizing policy and risks cementing in place “the military-industrial complex” that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of. To borrow the psychologist Abraham H. Maslow’s words, if all the men around President Trump are hammers, the temptation will be “to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
Gordon Adams, a professor emeritus at American University’s School of International Service, is a co-editor of “Mission Creep: The Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy.”
THE TRUMP BOOM ? / PROJECT SYNDICATE
| Etiquetas: Donald Trump, Economics, Financial Markets, U.S. Economic And Political
The Trump Boom?
CAMBRIDGE – After years of hibernation, will the US economy rouse itself for a big comeback over the next couple of years? With an incoming Republican administration hell-bent on reflating an economy already near full employment, and with promised trade restrictions driving up the price of import-competing goods, and with central-bank independence likely to come under attack, higher inflation – likely exceeding 3% at times – is a near-certainty. And output growth could surprise as well, possibly reaching 4%, at least temporarily.
Impossible you say? Not at all.
The economy already seems to be growing at a 3% annual clip. And even steadfast opponents of President-elect Trump’s economic policies would have to admit they are staunchly pro-business (with the notable exception of trade).
Consider regulation. Under President Barack Obama, labor regulation expanded significantly, not to mention the dramatic increase in environmental legislation. And that is not even counting the huge shadow Obamacare casts on the health-care system, which alone accounts for 17% of the economy. I am certainly not saying that repealing Obama-era regulation will improve the average American’s wellbeing. Far from it. But businesses will be ecstatic, maybe enough to start really investing again.
The boost to confidence is already palpable.
Then there is the prospect of a massive stimulus, featuring a huge expansion of badly needed infrastructure spending. (Trump will presumably bulldoze Congressional opposition to higher deficits.) Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, economists across the political spectrum have argued for taking advantage of ultra-low interest rates to finance productive infrastructure investment, even at the cost of higher debt. High-return projects pay for themselves.
Far more controversial is Trump’s plan for a massive across-the-board income-tax cut that disproportionately benefits the rich. True, putting cash in the pockets of rich savers hardly seems as effective as giving cash to poor people who live hand to mouth. Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, memorably spoke of “Trumped-up trickle-down economics.” But, Trumped-up or not, tax cuts can be very good for business confidence.
It is hard to know just how much extra debt Trump’s stimulus program will add, but estimates of $5 trillion over ten years – a 25% increase – seem sober. Many left-wing economics commentators, having insisted for eight years under Obama that there is never any risk to US borrowing, now warn that greater borrowing by the Trump administration will pave the road to financial Armageddon. Their hypocrisy is breathtaking, even if they are now closer to being right.
Exactly how much Trump’s policies will raise output and inflation is hard to know. The closer the US economy is to full capacity, the more inflation there will be. If US productivity really has collapsed as much as many scholars believe, additional stimulus is likely to raise prices a lot more than output; demand will not induce new supply.
On the other hand, if the US economy really does have massive quantities of underutilized and unemployed resources, the effect of Trump’s policies on growth could be considerable. In Keynesian jargon, there is still a large multiplier on fiscal policy. It is easy to forget the biggest missing piece of the global recovery is business investment, and if it starts kicking in finally, both output and productivity could begin to rise very sharply.
Those who are deeply wedded to the idea of “secular stagnation” would say high growth under Trump is well-nigh impossible. But if one believes, as I do, that the slow growth of the last eight years was mainly due to the overhang of debt and fear from the 2008 crisis, then it is not so hard to believe that normalization could be much closer than we realize. After all, so far virtually every financial crisis has eventually come to an end.
Of course, all of this is an optimistic spin on a Trump economy. If the new administration proves erratic and incompetent (a real possibility), dejection will quickly overwhelm confidence. But beware of pundits who are certain that Trump will bring economic catastrophe. On election eve, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman unequivocally insisted that a Trump victory would lead to a stock-market collapse, with no recovery in sight. Investors who relied on his insights lost a lot of money.
At the risk of hyperbole, it’s wise to remember that you don’t have to be a nice guy to get the economy going. In many ways, Germany was as successful as America at using stimulus to lift the economy out of the Great Depression.
Yes, it still could all end very badly. The world is a risky place. If global growth collapses, US growth could suffer severely. Still, it is far more likely that after years of slow recovery, the US economy might at last be ready to move significantly faster, at least for a while.
http://prosyn.org/7UL8lUf
THE YEAR POPULISM WENT MAINSTREAM / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Populism, U.S. Economic And Political, World Economic And Political
The Year Populism Went Mainstream
In regard to trade and immigration, words like ‘nationalism’ are no longer taboo.
By William A. Galston
Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci in New York, Dec. 2. Photo: Zuma Press
The axis of politics shifts when dissenting views enter the mainstream. On populist issues such as trade, immigration and national sovereignty, this process is visibly under way.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., on Monday at a convention of No Labels, a bipartisan organization that promotes cooperation between the political parties to achieve core national goals, Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci argued that in the wake of World War II the U.S. built an international architecture designed to promote global economic recovery and market economies’ ability to resist pressure from the Soviet Union. In strictly economic terms, this structure was tilted against the U.S., but as the world’s dominant economy it was a price its creators were willing to pay in exchange for promoting key geopolitical objectives.
In the circumstances they faced, Mr. Scaramucci said, “they did the right thing for the world.”
But seven decades after the end of the war, the U.S. faces new economic challenges. Our manufacturing base has been “hollowed out,” he declared, and it is now time to “rebalance” our economic relations with the rest of the world.
No one in the incoming administration, he insisted, is looking for protectionism or tariffs. But it is reasonable for the next president to activate a mechanism in the North American Free Trade Agreement that has never been seriously used to review arrangements that are more than two decades old. The overall objective is to boost the incomes and purchasing power of middle- and working-class families. If we won’t, he concluded, “Nothing else is going to work.”
The day Mr. Scaramucci spoke, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a pillar of the establishment, published an opinion piece in the New York Times titled “It’s Time for a Reset.”
He began by noting that this year has witnessed the breakdown of the international postwar consensus that “reducing trade barriers increases prosperity and promotes peace.”
I suspect that Mr. Summers and Mr. Scaramucci would disagree about the extent that responsible nationalism could rebuild a labor-intensive manufacturing economy in the U.S. But on the big picture, it is hard to see much daylight between them. Populism on trade has gone mainstream.
Later in the No Labels convention, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair reflected on the lessons he had learned in recent years. “Along with the economy,” he said, “we have to pay attention to culture and identity,” and we need to fashion policies that take these concerns into account. Mr. Blair cited Canada as a model of immigration policy that promotes cultural integration as well as economic growth. Venturing into a minefield, he said that the main problem of integration we face is with “part” of the Muslim community. The only way of dealing with this problem is to put it on the table honestly. If we are worried about extremism, he declared, we need a policy on extremism, and “political correctness can’t get in the way.”
To construct an effective response to this challenge, Mr. Blair said, we must return to the first principles of liberal democracy, which draws a line between the public and governmental, on the one hand, and the private and communal, on the other. On one side of the line is the “space of legitimate diversity,” and on the other side, the “common space.” In the common space are our core values—democracy, individual liberty, and the rights of women, among others. We have a right to expect that anyone coming to a liberal democracy will respect them, and we have a right to use government to enforce them. Diversity cannot mean that anything goes, even in the name of religious liberty.
His readers probably expected a staunch defense of the existing order. He did not offer one.
Instead, he said, “We need to redirect the global economic dialogue to the promotion of ‘responsible nationalism’ rather than on international integration for its own sake.” Economic diplomacy should now focus on measures that “increase the range of policies that governments can pursue to support middle-class workers domestically.”
To be sure, Mr. Blair is not a newcomer to the imperative of cultural integration. Nonetheless, during his decade at the helm, he was the principal architect of a welcoming immigration policy that rapidly changed the face of Britain. When nearly all the founding members of the European Union exercised their right to slow immigration from former communist bloc countries, the New Labour government did not—a decision that Mr. Blair’s principal EU adviser has defended on moral and geopolitical rather than economic grounds. The consequence: The “Polish plumber” became as iconic in British politics as the extremist imam, setting the stage for this year’s Brexit vote.
When Mr. Blair invoked the need to give culture and identity their due, he laid the foundation for a revised approach to immigration that takes into account a society’s ability to absorb demographic change—another example of populist sentiments entering the mainstream.
XI JIMPING, DAVOS AND THE WORLD IN 2017 / THE FINA...
DONALD TRUMP´S MILITARY GOVERNMENT / THE NEW YORK ...
THE YEAR POPULISM WENT MAINSTREAM / THE WALL STREE...
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WITH TRUMP, THE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY FRAMEWORK IS AT RISK / THE FINANCIAL TIMES COMMENT & ANALYSIS
| Etiquetas: China, Europe Economic and Political, Russia, U.S. Economic And Political, World Economic And Political
With Trump, the US foreign policy framework is at risk
America has been a voice for liberty, open doors and leader of the free world
by: Robert Zoellick
Now that president-elect Donald Trump has selected his national security team, what course will he set? In a recent interview Henry Kissinger, the US secretary of state in the 1970s, cautions that “America has conceived of foreign policy as a series of discrete challenges to be addressed as they arise on their merits rather than as part of an overall design”. Mr Trump, the deal-by-deal negotiator, may prefer to run a case-by-case foreign policy.
For 70 years, US international problem-solving has taken place within the framework that the US created after the second world war and then adapted. That framework is now at risk. States created in the Middle East in 1916 have broken down into a life-and-death struggle among sects and tribes, manipulated by local would-be hegemons. The new battleground supplies a cause and base from which radical Islamic terrorists reach around the world. The chaos has triggered a destabilising migration to the EU. Furthermore, countries in the region — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran — have struggled unsuccessfully to transition to modern market economies, raising the risk of an even larger upheaval.
The European integration project that has been the foundation of transatlantic strategy since the Marshall Plan is fragmenting. Neither Britain nor the EU has a constructive plan for Brexit. Fearful populist-nationalists in eastern Europe recall destructive movements of the 1920s and 1930s. The eurozone is struggling. Even stalwarts of the European project, such as the Netherlands and Italy, are losing faith.
Seizing opportunities, Russia has extended its power in the Middle East and Europe with a mix of military force, brute threats, cyber attacks and disinformation. President Vladimir Putin wants to protect Russia’s southern flank from Islamic dangers, repel European influence and constrain the US within a system of competing powers.
The strategic question in Asia is whether China will demand regional dominance or an adaptation of the current order to reflect Beijing’s power and interests. Mr Kissinger believes that China’s preferred system is one of tributary states. President Xi Jinping moved promptly at the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to fill the vacuum created by Mr Trump’s abandonment of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The world is highly alert to signals from the US. Before long, Mr Trump and his team will be tested by crises, as all presidents have been. Their responses need to reflect a strategic framework of US interest and leadership.
History offers insights. First, the US needs continental security. In the 19th century, the US expanded its territory to assure safety. For the past 80 years, since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy”, the US has worked to build a stronger North America with Canada and Mexico — as a continental base for global power projection.
Second, the US relies on strong, resilient and confident alliances across the Atlantic and Pacific.
These ties enable the US to safeguard interests on the western and eastern shores of the vast Eurasian expanse. Nato and the evolving Pacific alliance network encompass America’s closest partners. The US also enjoys special ties to Israel and states in the Gulf, and has been building a partnership with India.
Third, America needs to modernise international economic ties to advance both national interests and global growth. The US needs rules on trade, capital flows, investment, exchange rates, the digital economy and intellectual property that will enable America’s private sector dynamism to shape the world’s economic system.
Fourth, the US should be alert to changes in the western hemisphere, in concert with Latin American friends. Since the 1820s, the US vision of a New World of republics that can shape the Old has waxed and waned. In coming years, new leadership in Brazil and Argentina offers opportunities. Cuba and Venezuela are also ripe for change.
Fifth, the US needs to invest in superior military punch and technology, while following Theodore Roosevelt’s guidance on defence diplomacy: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
Finally, history recounts how the American Experiment became American Exceptionalism.
Across different eras, the US has stood as a “Shining City on the Hill”: an architect of open doors for private sector initiative, a voice for liberty and human rights and the leader of the free world.
Amid the uncertainties of this new era, the Trump administration will need to match power with purpose. Mr Kissinger observed: “Trump has not put forward a worldview.” Now is the time.
The writer is a former president of the World Bank, US trade representative and deputy secretary of state
THE AGE OF HYPER-UNCERTAINTY / PROJECT SYNDICATE
| Etiquetas: U.S. Economic And Political, World Economic And Political
The Age of Hyper-Uncertainty
BERLIN – The year 2017 will mark the 40th anniversary of the publication of John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Age of Uncertainty. Forty years is a long time, but it is worth looking back and reminding ourselves of how much Galbraith and his readers had to be uncertain about.
In 1977, as Galbraith was writing, the world was still reeling from the effects of the first OPEC oil-price shock and wondering whether another one was in the pipeline (as it were). The United States was confronting slowing growth and accelerating inflation, or stagflation, a novel problem that raised questions about policymakers’ competence and the adequacy of their economic models. Meanwhile, efforts to rebuild the Bretton Woods international monetary system had collapsed, casting a shadow over prospects for international trade and global economic growth.
For all these reasons, the golden age of stability and predictability that was the third quarter of the twentieth century seemed to have abruptly drawn to a close, to be succeeded by a period of greatly heightened uncertainty.
That’s how things looked in 1977, anyway. Viewed from the perspective of 2017, however, the uncertainty of 1977 seems almost enviable. In 1977, there was no President Donald Trump.
Jimmy Carter may not go down in history as one of the best US presidents, but he did not threaten actions that placed the entire global system at risk. He did not turn his back on America’s international commitments such as NATO and the World Trade Organization.
Nor did Carter go to war with the Federal Reserve or pack its board with sympathetic appointees willing to sacrifice sound money to his reelection prospects. On the contrary, he appointed Paul Volcker, a towering pillar of monetary stability, as chairman of the Board of Governors. And although Carter did not succeed in balancing the federal budget, he didn’t blow it up, either.
Whether Trump slaps a tariff on Chinese goods, repudiates the North American Free Trade Agreement, packs the Federal Reserve Board, or undermines fiscal sustainability remains to be seen.
Conceivable outcomes range from mildly reassuring to utterly catastrophic. Who knows what will happen? By today’s standards, Carter was the embodiment of predictability.
In 1977, moreover, the prospects for European integration were rosy. Denmark, Ireland, and, most notably, the United Kingdom had recently joined a rapidly growing European Community. The EC was attracting members, not losing them. It was a club that countries sought to join precisely in order to achieve faster economic growth.
Moreover, to buttress its common market, the EC had just established a regional monetary system, the suggestively named “snake in the tunnel.” While this was far from a perfect monetary system, it had one very positive attribute: countries could leave in hard economic times, and rejoin if and when the outlook brightened.
In 2017, in contrast, negotiations over Brexit will continue to cast a dark cloud of uncertainty over the European Union. How those negotiations will proceed and how long they will take are anyone’s guess. Moreover, the main questions raised by Britain’s decision to leave – whether other countries will follow and, indeed, whether the EU itself has a future – remain far from resolved.
Meanwhile Europe’s monetary house remains half built. The eurozone is neither appealing enough to attract additional members nor flexible enough to grant troubled incumbents a temporary holiday, in the manner of the currency snake. The euro will likely survive the year, inertia being what it is. Beyond that, it is difficult to say.
In 1977, uncertainties emanating from emerging markets were not on commentators’ radar screens. Developing countries in Latin America and East Asia were growing, although they depended increasingly on a drip feed of foreign loans from money-center banks. China, still largely cut off from the world, did not figure in this discussion. And even if something went wrong in the Third World, developing countries were simply too small to drag down the global economy.
The situation today couldn’t be more different. What happens in China, Brazil, or Turkey doesn’t stay in China, Brazil, or Turkey. On the contrary, developments in these countries have first-order implications for the world economy, given how emerging markets have accounted for the majority of global growth in recent years. China has an unmanageable corporate-debt problem and a government whose commitment to restructuring the economy is uncertain.
Turkey has a massive current-account deficit, an erratic president, and an unstable geopolitical neighborhood. And if political scandals were export goods, Brazil would have a clear comparative advantage.
Although The Age of Uncertainty was about much more than the year 1977, it captured the tenor of the times. But if Galbraith were writing the same book in 2017, he probably would call the 1970s The Age of Assurance.
http://prosyn.org/6pU2UIX
A GEOPOLITICALLY SIGNIFICANT PRICE FOR OIL / GEOPOLITICAL FUTURES
| Etiquetas: Oil and Energy, Russia
A Geopolitically Significant Price for Oil
We do the math on the oil price Russia needs to be sustainable.
By Jacob L. Shapiro
We published our 2017 forecast earlier this week, and one of our predictions is that Russia is in for a difficult year economically. This is because Russia’s economy depends significantly on oil.
The price of oil thus far in 2016 has averaged roughly $34.39 a barrel, a far cry from just two years ago, when oil prices were more than double that figure. According to Russia’s Federal Customs Service, oil-export revenue accounts for 26 percent of total revenue from Russian exports. For an economy in which exports make up almost 30 percent of GDP, that is fairly significant.
Russia has already seen this problem manifest in its ballooning 2016 budget deficit. The budget deficit was $25 billion in 2015, or 2.6 percent of total GDP, according to Russia’s Finance Ministry. But Russia’s finance minister said last September that 2016 budget deficit projections had been revised upward, potentially reaching 3.7 percent of Russia’s GDP by year’s end. This is the reason Russia has been dipping into reserve funds and slashing social services and pension benefits across the board.
A great deal of ink has been spilled over the rise in oil prices since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to production cuts on Nov. 30. Leaving aside that oil has not actually surged upwards – the price for Brent crude at closing on Dec. 14 was only 11 percent higher than on Nov. 28 – instead of speculating on the gyrations of the market it is more interesting to figure out the exact oil price that would be geopolitically significant from Russia’s point of view. Russia’s finance minister said last January that Russia could balance its budget if oil reached $82 a barrel, but we have a doctrinal distrust of politicians’ statements, so we wanted to see if we could discover a similar figure – or a more accurate one – on our own.
Russia reports oil-export revenue in both metric tons and dollars. According to Russia’s Federal Customs Service, from January to October 2016, Russia exported $59.6 billion worth of oil, or approximately 213 million metric tons of crude. Converting metric tons to barrels for crude oil is not simple, as each type of crude differs in density; the generally accepted conversion rate for metric tons to barrels is 7.33 (according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy). By analyzing Russia’s export statistics this way, it is possible to make two observations. One is that in the first 10 months of 2016, Russia produced almost 5 percent more oil than it produced in all of 2015, which means it needed to sell more this year than the previous year. The other is that we can roughly estimate that Russia thus far this year has exported approximately 5.13 million barrels of oil per day.
From here we have to make a bit of a leap. Russian statistics show that Russia exported $76.7 billion of oil in 2015, when the average price was $41.85. With data from just the first 10 months of 2016, we have to do a little guesswork. But let’s assume for the sake of argument that in November and December of this year, Russia will have exported the average value it exported in the first 10 months of the year (in reality it probably will be a little more), meaning that total Russian oil exports in 2016 will be approximately $71.52 billion. We also must factor in recent comments by Russia’s energy minister that indicate Russia has, at least verbally, agreed to coordinate its oil production with OPEC’s cuts by reducing production by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2017. We’ll leave the details of when this cut will be implemented (or whether it actually will be implemented) for another time. For now, if we assume that all of that production is removed from Russia’s average production next year, we conclude that Russia will export roughly 4.8 million bpd of oil next year.
The Kremlin is reflected in the polished company plate of state-controlled Russian oil giant Rosneft in Moscow. DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images
As stated above, Russia expects to run a budget deficit of $48.1 billion in 2016. If Russian oil exports are valued at $71.52 billion in 2016, that means Russia would have to export $48.1 billion more oil in order to break even just on its budget deficit. When you do the math, that comes out to approximately $68 a barrel, assuming daily production of 4.8 million barrels. That is a little lower than Russia’s finance minister suggested earlier in the year, but that is not overly surprising. The State Duma in Russia recently approved next year’s budget, and parts of it, such as certain types of defense spending, are not publicly reported.
The finance minister may know of other costs that must be factored in that we don’t, or he may simply have wanted to lower expectations.
What this means is that Russia needs oil prices to increase by about 30 percent from the current position just to break even on the budget. Even that much of a rise would not solve Russia’s economic problems. It would only mean that Russia would be able to continue current levels of spending – which already include cuts to various social services – without having to dip into various reserve funds. Russia’s Finance Ministry has already indicated it expects one of those funds to be spent covering the budget deficit in 2017, which Russia expects to slightly decrease to 3 percent of GDP.
A significant increase in oil prices in 2017 at this point seems unlikely. The market is oversupplied, growth projections for major economies in the world are stagnant at best, and the higher the price increases, the more likely it is that the United States will increase production. OPEC and other oil exporters participating in production cuts may be able to make a dent in oversupply (assuming they break historical precedent and don’t cheat on the quotas), but they won’t be able to solve the problem entirely nor prevent other countries from increasing their own production. Getting caught up in the swings of the market can be addictive, and since we care about such things because of what they will mean geopolitically, we discipline ourselves as much as we can. The above logic shows why oil prices would have to be maintained over at least $68 a barrel for a sustained period before we start getting too excited.
FORECASTING RUSSIA IN 2017 / MAULDIN ECONOMICS
| Etiquetas: Economics, Russia
Forecasting Russia in 2017
By George Friedman and Jacob L. Shapiro
One of the biggest challenges in writing forecasts is clearly communicating our predications for the coming year. There is a certain level of background and analysis that goes into forecasting geopolitics, but often, that background and analysis can serve as either an intellectual crutch or a way of using a lot of words without actually making a call one way or another.
That’s why our annual forecasts go through multiple phases of editing. Our forecast for 2017 was published just this week. But our work on the forecast began in early October, with a massive 50-page document filled with questions, research, and findings. This master document was then scrutinized, debated, and whittled down, sharper and sharper… until what was left (hopefully) was a concise description of the world in 2017, as we see it.
We aim for accuracy, and as you can see from previous report cards on our work, we are pretty good at what we do. Our full report card for 2016 will be published next week, but in the meantime, subscribers can check out our mid-year evaluation here.
But another aim that is almost as important is to be very clear about what we are forecasting. We would rather be wrong and have made a clear forecast than offer a vaguely worded “prediction” that is unfalsifiable.
Therefore, we spend less time explaining how we arrived at a given conclusion, and more time clearly stating what we think is going to happen and how that will shape the world. A forecast is not an analysis—it is the culmination of analysis. That means that a certain amount of information about how we arrived at a particular forecast is always left out. If it weren’t, the forecast would read like a volume of Tolstoy, and no matter how brilliant Tolstoy was, his writing style is not well suited for forecasting.
We’ll kick off this series by looking at the current situation in Russia, which we believe is in for a difficult year.
Russia’s Military Capability
We began the forecasting process with Russia by looking at the country’s military capability. Russia has intervened in Syria to great fanfare, and while it has demonstrated undeniable improvements in some of its capabilities, the Russian military is far weaker than most make it out to be. Our 2016 forecast predicted a frozen conflict in Ukraine, and we came to the conclusion that this frozen conflict will be formalized in 2017 by answering a very basic question: What is the Russian military capability in Ukraine and in general?
The answer is found not by looking at events pertaining to the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, but rather the performance of the Russian military in the 2008 Georgia War. Russia achieved all of its strategic objectives in that five-day war, but serious deficiencies in Russian capabilities were revealed. Operational and tactical logistics left much to be desired, as the Russians had serious difficulties maintaining supply lines for food, fuel, and ammunition. Much of Russia’s military equipment was old and falling apart, Russian suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and electronic warfare capabilities were deficient, and use of precision-guided munitions was rare.
Joint operational planning between different services was either nonexistent or ineffective.
After the war, Russia set out on an ambitious and vast military modernization program, reforming everything from doctrine to training to weapons. Russia set clear goals for reducing the number of conscript soldiers to professionalize the force. The 10-year State Armaments Program, announced by President Vladimir Putin in 2010, allocated 19.4 trillion rubles (worth $698.4 billion at the time) to revamp the equipment and weapons used by the Russian armed forces, and Russia’s military expenditures have been increasing both in absolute terms and as a percent of Russia’s GDP ever since.
Russia has taken some impressive steps forward. In 2008, it is unlikely Russia could have fielded a force and deployed it in Syria as it did in 2015. Of all the weapons Russia used in Syria, roughly 20% have been precision-guided munitions, which shows progress… but it also shows how much room Russia has to grow. Russia has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to help with intelligence gathering, and both SEAD and joint inter-service operations have improved. According to Russian military officials, conscripts in the military have been reduced from roughly 600,000 in 2011, to 200,000 by the end of 2016.
These improvements and the media campaign around the Russian intervention, however, obscure the two most important elements to consider in evaluating the Russian military.
First, despite these improvements, Russia has neither the military capability nor the political capital to conquer Ukraine, even if it wanted to. Russia beat Georgia because Georgia is a small country and Russia could overwhelm the Georgians with larger numbers. Ukraine is eight times the size of Georgia in terms of total land and can field a much larger infantry force. Many of Russia’s Rapid Reaction Forces that would be mobilized in such an action still consist of significant numbers of conscripts. Even if Russia could blitz its way to Kiev, it couldn’t hold the country, considering the long supply lines and Ukraine’s large, hostile population. And if the US or NATO decided to intervene, Russia would require even greater forces.
Second, Putin and the Russian government are aware of these limitations. Since 2008, they have been doing everything possible to modernize the Russian armed forces and to reach, if not parity, then a level of strength that could give them more strategic options.
That has meant increasing military spending.
While Russia was flush with oil money, that was a perfectly logical plan. But Russia was not expecting oil prices to collapse in 2014. Russia had planned a budget on the then-conservative estimate that oil wouldn’t fall below $82 a barrel. Oil has averaged between $34 and $35 a barrel in 2016, and there’s no reason to expect the oversupplied market to give Russia significant relief in the coming year. Modernizing Russia’s forces is one of the top priorities for the government in the next three years, but it’s not clear if Russia has the money to spend.
The Russian Economy
The main issue for Russia in 2017 is not going to be a military one. Russia does not want to get bogged down in Syria, so it will be looking to extricate itself from that conflict. Russia cannot fix its Ukraine problem through force, so it will try to reach a settlement that will allow the status quo to remain in place. As long as Kiev remains neutral and not a basing point for major US and NATO assets, the Russians will be content, though uncomfortable. The problem for Russia is that its economy is in a shambles, and it is trying to pour money into modernizing the military at the same time that disturbing cracks in the Russian economy are beginning to show. Let’s look at two graphics that demonstrate just how challenging the current situation is.
This is a simple chart of the exchange rate between the ruble and the dollar in the last five years. Since July 2014, the ruble has lost almost 50% of its value. In 2010, Putin promised to spend 19 trillion rubles on upgrading the Russian military, which was equivalent to almost $700 billion at the time. Today, 19 trillion rubles is worth only $303 billion. Real wages have been declining since 2014. Inflation, at this time last year, was almost 13%, and though it has stabilized around 6% in recent months, the ruble is still under a lot of pressure.
This graphic shows the current state of Russia’s regional budgets, and the picture is not pretty. Major oil-producing regions as well as Moscow are doing all right, but large swaths of the rest of the country are running regional deficits. The central government in Moscow is also struggling, reportedly cutting all federal ministry budgets by 10%. While spokesmen in Russia’s Defense Ministry have said that defense spending will be cut by 5%, this is impossible to confirm because some parts of the Russian budget are classified and those defense expenses are likely hidden. Russia’s Ministry of Finance says that Russia’s Reserve Fund (which totaled 28.6 billion rubles in 2008) will be fully spent by the end of 2017 and that the country will start dipping into its National Wealth Fund to cover its budget deficits.
In addition to these larger indicators, we have seen disturbing smaller indicators of a struggling economy. A few weeks ago, protests occurred in one oil-producing region in Ural Federal District due to economic dissatisfaction, and in another region due to unpaid wages and malfunctioning heating equipment shortly before winter came in earnest. Russia has been shutting down banks at an increasing rate and blaming them for irresponsible lending practices.
This has prompted over 2.7 million more people to apply for deposit insurance in the last five years than the previous five years, which could be a sign that the banking sector is under severe pressure.
These are the basic building blocks, and once they were identified, the forecast essentially wrote itself. Having defined Russian military capabilities, we were able to identify Russia’s political and strategic objectives in Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere in the year ahead.
You’ll read in detail in The World in 2017:
Why the International Monetary Fund is wrong predicting that the country is on the upswing
The trends that are telling us the Russian economy hasn’t yet hit rock bottom
Two economic challenges that could push Russians over the edge… and contribute to the country’s collapse by 2040
What it all means for Russia’s international relationships and actions in the year ahead
How these events will affect other key players on the world stage in 2017—and why you need to know about it
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THE FINANCE INDUSTRY TEN YEARS AFTER THE CRISIS / THE ECONOMIST
| Etiquetas: Banks And Banking, Central Banking, Credit Bubbles, Financial Markets, Stock Markets
The finance industry ten years after the crisis
Buddy, can you spare a Daimler?
MANY people complain that the finance industry has barely suffered any adverse consequences from the crisis that it created, which began around ten years ago. But a report from New Financial, a think-tank, shows that is not completely true.
The additional capital that regulators demanded banks should take on to their balance-sheets has had an effect. Between 2006 and 2016, the return on capital of the world’s biggest banks has fallen by a third (by more in Britain and Europe). The balance of power has shifted away from the developed world and towards China, which had four of the largest five banks by assets in 2016; that compares with just one of the biggest 20 in 2006.
The swaggering beasts of the investment-banking industry have also been tamed. The industry’s revenues have dropped by 34% in real terms, with profits falling by 46%. Return on equity has declined by two-thirds. Staff are still lavishly remunerated, but pay is down by 52% in real terms. (Perhaps it is time for a charity single: “Buddy, can you spare a Daimler?”) The relative importance of different divisions has also shifted, with the revenues of the sales, trading and equity-raising departments shrinking more than the merger-advice or debt-raising divisions.
This last change reflects market developments. In 2016 stockmarkets were smaller, as a proportion of GDP, than they were in 2006, despite the record highs on Wall Street; that was because Europe and Asia have not performed as well. Both government- and corporate-bond markets were bigger than they were a decade earlier. Although the crisis started because of overindebtedness, corporate-bond issuance has doubled in real terms over the decade, while the volume of stockmarket flotations has fallen by half.
Meanwhile the game of “pass-the-parcel” of assets around the markets has speeded up; trading volumes in equities, foreign exchange and derivatives have increased in real terms. In the corporate-bond market, trading in American securities has grown but trading in European debt has declined.
In the midst of the crisis, central banks stepped in with quantitative-easing programmes to buy financial assets. This has had profound effects, most notably in the bond markets, where yields have fallen to historic lows (and hence prices have risen). In contrast to equities, the value of both corporate and government bonds is significantly higher, relative to GDP, than it was ten years ago.
This has proved to be a pretty decent climate for money managers, who earn fees based on a percentage of the assets they invest. The industry’s pre-tax profits rose by 30% between 2006 and 2016, despite the growing market share of low-cost index-tracking funds at the expense of actively managed ones. At the other end of the cost spectrum, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital have all increased their assets, relative to GDP. The asset-management industry has become more concentrated. The 20 largest firms control 42% of assets, up from 33% a decade ago.
Overall, the authors of the report remark that “it is perhaps surprising how little has changed”.
It may be less surprising if you consider that finance has two faces: first, as a driver of the economic cycle via credit expansion; and second, as an instigator of crises when creditors lose confidence. If markets are plunging and banks failing, as they were in 2008, it is understandable that the authorities do all they can to stabilise markets and rescue banks. As Tim Geithner, a former treasury secretary in America, put it: “The truly moral thing to do during a raging financial inferno is to put it out.”
By making the banks take on additional capital, the authorities have at least made the system less likely to suffer an exact repeat of the last crisis. But the world is still marked by a combination of high asset prices and high levels of debt. Outside the financial sector, there is even more debt than there was ten years ago; the combined total of government, household and non-financial debt levels are 434% of GDP in America, 428% in the euro zone and 485% in Britain.
In other words, the borrowing has been shifted to other parts of the economy; but that makes the finance industry no less vulnerable. A sudden fall in asset prices, or a sharp rise in interest rates, would reveal the jagged rocks beneath the surface. Central banks know this; that is why they are so cautious about unwinding monetary stimuli. At the heart of the next economic crisis will be the finance business; that is something that has not changed in the past decade.
THE INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. TAX REFORM / PROJECT SYNDICATE
| Etiquetas: Tax Reform, U.S. Economic And Political
The International Consequences of U.S. Tax Reform
Martin Feldstein
CAMBRIDGE – The United States Congress is likely to enact a major tax reform sometime during the next six months. Although the new rules will apply only to American taxpayers, they will have important consequences for companies and markets around the world.
The most important changes will apply to US corporations rather than to individual taxpayers.
Of these reforms, the one with the most obvious and direct international impact will be the change in the taxation of US corporations’ foreign subsidiaries.
The current US rule is unique among all major advanced economies. Consider the example of a subsidiary of a US corporation that earns profits in Ireland. That subsidiary pays the Irish corporate tax at Ireland’s low 12% rate. It is then free to reinvest the after-tax profits in Ireland, in financial securities, or in operating businesses anywhere in the world – except the US.
If the foreign subsidiary’s parent company brings the after-tax profits back to the US to invest or distribute to its shareholders, it must pay the current US corporate tax rate of 35% on its original pre-tax Irish profits, with a credit for the 12% that it has already paid.
Because of this 23% penalty on repatriation, US companies generally choose not to repatriate the profits of their foreign subsidiaries. The Treasury Department estimates that these subsidiaries have accumulated $2.5 trillion of offshore profits.
Congress is now likely to adopt the “territorial” method of taxing the profits of US corporations’ foreign subsidiaries. Under the territorial method, which virtually every other advanced economy uses, US corporations will be able to repatriate their foreign subsidiaries’ after-tax profits with little or no extra tax.
Congress is also likely to enact a “deemed repatriation tax” on the $2.5 trillion of profits that have been accumulated abroad but never subject to US tax. Although the details of this provision have not been decided, the basic idea would be to levy a tax of about 10% on the untaxed overseas profits, to be paid over a period of years. In exchange for this new tax liability, a US corporation could repatriate those accumulated profits whenever it wanted to do so.
The shift to a territorial tax system is likely to have important effects on US corporations’ behavior. A large share of their foreign subsidiaries’ future profits, which would be retained abroad under current law, are likely to be returned to the US, reducing investment in Europe and Asia. A portion of the $2.5 trillion of past profits now held abroad would be repatriated as well.
Moreover, US corporations will no longer have an incentive to shift their country of incorporation to other countries in order to be able to distribute their foreign-earned profits to their shareholders. At the same time, foreign companies will have an incentive to shift their headquarters to the US, where they could enjoy the advantages of being a US corporation without incurring the current tax penalty.
Although the shift to a territorial system of taxation would have the most obvious foreign impact, the planned reduction in the corporate tax rate may have an even larger effect. The 35% statutory tax rate on corporate profits is one of the highest among all developed countries.
The congressional proposal would reduce the corporate rate to 20%. President Donald Trump has called for a 15% rate.
A lower corporate tax rate and the shift to a territorial system would increase the flow of capital to investment in US corporations from abroad and from capital investments in owner-occupied housing and in agriculture. This would raise productivity and GDP, leading to increases in tax revenue that would partly offset the direct effect of the corporate rate reduction.
But, because corporate tax revenue is now about 1.6% of GDP, the direct effect of halving the tax rate would reduce revenue by about 0.8% of GDP, or $160 billion a year at the current level of output.
The US cannot afford such a large increase in the fiscal deficit. And, because few features of the corporate tax law can be changed to reduce that revenue loss, I think the corporate tax rate will be reduced to about 25%. That would still be substantially less than the current rate and in line with the OECD average.
Corporate tax rates have been declining around the world in recent decades. The US rate was previously 50%, and rates in the other OECD countries were substantially higher than the current 25% average. It is certainly possible that the reduction of the US rate will cause other developed countries to reduce their corporate tax rates to improve their relative attractiveness to internationally mobile capital.
In short, the congressional legislation that is likely in the months ahead will change the tax rules for US companies, but it will also have important effects on international capital flows. It could also have significant effects on tax rules around the world.
Martin Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and President Emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research, chaired President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984. In 2006, he was appointed to President Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and, in 2009, was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Currently, he is on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Group of 30, a non-profit, international body that seeks greater understanding of global economic issues.
PLAYING THE PART IN NAFTA NEGOTIATIONS / MAULDIN ECONOMICS
| Etiquetas: Canada, Mexico, NAFTA, Trade, U.S. Economic And Political
Playing the Part in NAFTA Negotiations
By George Friedman and Allison Fedirka
As the fourth round of NAFTA negotiations comes to an end, the agreement’s survival has once again been brought into question. US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike a new deal with just Canada. Mexico downplayed the threat, saying it would walk away from negotiations if the new terms brought by the US put it at a disadvantage. For their part, the Canadians have been quiet, keeping their cards much closer to their chests.
All this commotion belies the fact that no NAFTA member is likely to walk away from the deal. The economic realities and commercial interests that led to its formation in the first place still incentivize cooperation, no matter how much any side postures.
An Apparent Advantage
Still, at first the glance, the United States appears to have the upper hand. It boasts the largest economy in the world and accounts for about a quarter of global gross domestic product. Exports account for only roughly 12% of its GDP, according to the Department of Commerce, so the US has the benefit of a strong consumer class to boost economic activity when international demand is low. Easy access to such a large and vibrant consumer market has enabled Mexico and Canada to build up their economies without having to trade much with each other. In Mexico, on the other hand, exports account for about 38% of GDP, and about 81% of those go straight to the United States. Exports account for 31% of Canada’s GDP, according to the World Bank, about 76% of which go to the US. Exports are simply more important to the Canadian and Mexican economies than they are to the US’s.
In keeping with this apparent advantage, there are a few areas in which the United States could hurt Mexico if Washington decided to restrict trade or impose tariffs.
These include gasoline, steel, agriculture, and automobiles. Though Mexico produces crude oil, it relies on imports for most of its refined gasoline. Last year, according to Pemex, Mexico imported 62% of its gasoline, mostly from the US. Mexico is a net consumer of steel, importing about 40% of it from the US. (By comparison, the US sells just 4% of its steel to Mexico.) Mexico relies on the US for 85% of its total soybean supply and almost exclusively on the US for corn—a staple of the Mexican diet—accounting for a third of the country’s total supply. In automobile production, Mexico and the US have very integrated supply chains such that either one has the potential to disrupt the other.
Canada’s major vulnerability is in oil. Oil is Canada’s most important export, and the US is practically Canada’s only customer. Meanwhile, some 40% of the oil the US imports comes from Canada, but that number is declining. Over the past 20 years or so, Canada has been developing oil production capabilities as manufacturing fell. For a few years, before the US shale revolution and the fall of oil prices, oil production was a boon to the Canadian economy. Since around 2014, however, the oil sectors in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador have declined dramatically.
At a national level, the US dominates its northern and southern neighbors. But a closer look at state economies shows a different dynamic. California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, for example, rely heavily on trade with Mexico. They have a combined GDP of $4.5 trillion, or roughly a quarter of the country’s GDP, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Mexico, moreover, is among the top three export destinations for 33 of the 50 US states. Canada is the main destination of exports for 35 states and a vital source of oil to the US Midwest.
Similarly, the US business community has warned that major changes or dissolution of the trade agreement would be disruptive. Leading the charge is the US Chamber of Commerce, which has said that a US withdrawal from NAFTA would have catastrophic economic consequences for businesses. The American Farm Bureau Federation, meanwhile, acknowledges that despite competition of some products among the three nations, US farmers still rely heavily on trade for the sale of their goods. US agriculture exports to Mexico have nearly quintupled since NAFTA started, amounting to $17.9 billion last year. Even some members of the US automotive industry have urged caution in the renegotiations and that major changes are unnecessary.
NAFTA is going to be renegotiated, of course. Such agreements tend to be modernized to reflect new business practices, technological changes, different investment policies, and amendments to intellectual property law. But the consequences of walking away from the agreement entirely outweigh the political and economic benefits from staying in. As talks address the more contentious topics, the rhetoric surrounding the negotiations will likewise become more vitriolic. But this is just one act in the theater of negotiations, and all sides are playing their part.
THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR INFLATION TO KICK IN / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
| Etiquetas: Economics, Inflation, World Economic And Political
The World Is Waiting for Inflation to Kick In
If economic growth keeps accelerating, it could finally push inflation higher
By Ben Eisen
Investors wondering whether inflation will pick up soon should keep an eye on the outlook for global growth.
The economy, sluggish in the years after the financial crisis, has accelerated this year. The International Monetary Fund projected global growth of 3.6% this year and 3.7% in 2018. The latest projections, released last week, raised estimates by 0.1 percentage point from the July forecast and would be faster than 2016’s 3.2% rate.
The lack of growth in many parts of the world since the financial crisis hampered the demand that tends to push up prices. In turn, inflation has remained low across developed economies, failing to pick up as much as central banks would like. But now, as noted in the Journal’s Morning MoneyBeat newsletter Monday, some policy makers are citing growing demand around the world as one factor that could push up consumer prices.
“Inflation will start to come in that environment,” Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney said in a television interview Friday. “It is not surprising given the big shock we have all been through and the coordinated opening up of output gaps that it is taking a little longer, but we are moving in the right direction.”
Some economists say that the spread of globalization in recent decades means inflation is determined at a more global level than it used to be. For example, companies can go further afield in search of cheap labor, giving them more options to make their products without paying higher wages. In this environment, it would take a pick-up in growth across the world to cause a sustained lift in prices.
Low inflation has confounded economists and stymied efforts to unwind years of easy-money central bank policies. The Federal Reserve targets a 2% annual inflation rate but prices have only briefly risen by that much or more.
An index of U.S. consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy categories, rose just 0.1% in September from a month earlier and 1.7% from a year earlier, data showed Friday. Gasoline prices jumped after recent hurricanes but much of that is expected to be temporary.
Expectations for future inflation are also flagging. Consumers in a University of Michigan sentiment survey said they expect inflation of 2.3% annually over the next year, according to data released Friday, the lowest level of the year and down from 2.7% in September’s reading.
Over the weekend, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen said the “biggest surprise in the U.S. economy this year has been inflation.” And outside of the U.S., European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned Friday that inflation remains too low.
But some measures of consumer prices have started to pick up. A gauge of U.S. business prices, the producer-price index for final demand, rose 0.3% in September from a month earlier, topping expectations, data showed last week.
If economic growth keeps accelerating, it could push inflation higher. That would be a welcome occurrence for the many economists and policymakers who have been waiting for it to happen.
THE FINANCE INDUSTRY TEN YEARS AFTER THE CRISIS / ...
THE INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. TAX REFORM ...
PLAYING THE PART IN NAFTA NEGOTIATIONS / MAULDIN E...
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ALIENATING IMMIGRANTS: IS GERMANY LURCHING TO THE RIGHT? / DER SPIEGEL
| Etiquetas: Germany, Immigration, Politics
Alienating Immigrants
Is Germany Lurching To the Right?
Right-wing agitators are heating up the discussion about immigration in Germany and filling it with hate. Last week's resignation of national football player Mesut Özil over concerns about racism is spurring a necessary and emotional debate about social cohesion in the country.
By Matthias Bartsch, Maik Baumgärtner, Anna Clauß, Georg Diez, Maximilian Popp and Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt
"Munich is diverse:" Protesters at a demonstration in the Bavarian capital
Geisenhausen is a village in Bavaria, a bastion of support for the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party. It's also the place where retiree Karl Meyer boarded a train to Munich with anger in the pit of his stomach. He had painted a sign with a Bavarian swear word and a boat on which it said "Christian Social Inhumanity" with stick figures clinging to its sides.
Meyer, 67, a trained heating installer, wanted to protest in the state capital against "the nationalism that has brought so much calamity into the world" and against the representatives of the CSU, whom he feels no longer represent him. "I favor a different kind of country," says Meyer. His dialect betrays the fact that he lives in Bavaria, but he is trying to hide his origins. "I'm ashamed to be Bavarian," he says.
Just over a week has passed since the protest, and the country has quickly moved on to a different topic, with the resignation of Mesut Özil from the national football team dominating the headlines. But Karl Meyer can't forget the protest, attended by several tens of thousands of people, so quickly, because it was only the second in his life. He had only gone to a protest once before, against a nuclear power plant located near his village.
Now, he once again finds himself sitting in Geisenhausen and looking to Munich and Berlin with a mixture of astonishment and anger: He has read in his local newspaper that the economy grew by 2.2 percent in 2017 and that the unemployment figures in June are lower than at any other time since German reunification. And still all this hate. He doesn't understand where it's coming from.
At the moment, right-wing agitators are shaping the discourse in Germany. They want to "dispose of" fellow citizens in Anatolia or spur a "conservative revolution." But they are also being countered by members of the radical left, who, like a small number of the protestors on July 22 in Munich, believe that we are on the verge of seeing a "Fourth Reich" take power. The many people at the center of German society are having difficulty understanding the aggressive tones the debate is starting to take.
Among those at the center of society are people with and without immigrant backgrounds, third-generation immigrants who are self-evidently integrated but are now asking themselves if they are truly wanted in this country, people working to help refugees who have the feeling they need to justify their work, but also people who voted for conservative parties and dislike the polarization. And high-ranking government representatives who are worried about the country's social cohesion, like Andreas Vosskuhle, the president of the Federal Constitutional Court, who has complained of an "unacceptable" rhetoric being used by leading CSU politicians.
"Our skill within the Christian Democrats was always being able to hold together different directions. We failed to do this in the conflict during the last few weeks," says German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, which shares power at the national level with the CSU, it's Bavarian sister party.
A sizeable majority of Germans are concerned. According to one poll, commissioned by DER SPIEGEL several days ago, over two-thirds of Germans decry the coarsening of the political debate. Just as many respondents are seeing a rightward tilt in German politics.
A Necessary Debate
The uncertainty can be felt everywhere in German society -- in families, where parents and children debate about refugee policy, in schools fighting against anti-Semitism and racism, and in Bavarian government offices, where the cross must now be affixed as a symbol of what state officials regard to be the "Leitkultur," or guiding culture. With the discussion surrounding Özil, the insecurity has once again grown a bit greater.
"I am a German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," the professional football player tweeted on July 22. Within just a few days, he became a personality upon whom people could project their feelings, with some viewing him as a spoiled millionaire and others as a victim of prejudice.
Most Germans now view Özil critically. According to a DER SPIEGEL poll, 58 percent of people do not believe the footballer was treated disrespectfully and in a racist manner, and only 27 percent regret his resignation from the national team.
But Özil's resignation is merely an opportunity for a necessary debate about marginalization and social cohesion.
Germany has been debating whether it is a country of immigration since the first guest workers arrived from Turkey and Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. With the reform of citizenship rights in 2000, which made it possible for children born here to foreign parents to receive a German passport, the question seemed to be answered with a "yes."
And now? The frustration and sense of being affronted described in Özil's statement of resignation are familiar to many people with an immigration background. The children of immigrants still feel that they are placed at a disadvantage when it comes to school, apartment hunts or the job market. And given the continuing battle over refugee policies, anti-migrant reflexes have grown stronger and not weaker.
There is a double alienation at work: Migrants are feeling alienated by Germany because parts of Germany are alienating themselves from migrants.
A Rightward Tilt?
Gerd Thomas has been involved with the FC Internationale Berlin football club for 15 years, first as a coach, and later as chairman of the board. There is no advertising on the team's jersey, just the slogan: "No racism." The club includes people with roots in more than 70 countries.
"Sports has an integrative power -- it brings people together and helps solve conflicts," Thomas says. At least, that's how it should be. But even in his milieu, he sees how things quietly change. How the language in everyday interactions has become rawer. "At all levels," he says. "What happens in the subway and the schoolyard, is also manifested in the sports clubs."
The right-wing is in the process of establishing ways of thinking and terms that were, until recently, still publicly unacceptable. On talk shows, Muslims are increasingly talked about as threats, with discussions of "asylum tourists" and a supposed "anti-deportation industry." When anti-immigrant Pegida protesters in Dresden shout, as they did recently, that refugees should be left to "drown," it hardly causes outrage anymore.
But voices from the center of society are also getting drowned out in the media discourse. Even agitators within the CSU party have since recognized the problem. They now claim they want to adopt more moderate language moving forward.
The buzz term "concerned citizens" once referred almost exclusively to people who harbor prejudice against foreigners and consequently want to seal the country's borders from outsiders. But there are also other types of concerned citizens who worry about values like solidarity and worldliness and the sometimes overly discredited "welcoming culture." The latter is a reference to the intially warm reception given by many Germans to the hundreds of thousands of refugees who came to the country in 2015 and 2016.
'It's Painful To See This Populism Take Hold'
Karl-Heinz Höflich, 62, sees himself with some justification as a man of the center, part of a group currently being discussed constantly in Berlin political circles. He's an office manager in a forestry office, a grandfather, a member of the Christian Democrats, a Catholic and the chairman of the parish council in Rückers, a village of 1,900 inhabitants near Fulda in the central state of Hesse. For some time now, he has had the feeling that many politicians no longer think of people like him when they refer to the middle class. He believes they are instead talking about other people: those who are much louder than him, or those who complain about the "asylum-seekers" on social networks. "It's painful to see this populism take hold," he says.
When asylum-seekers moved into the neighborhood in 2016, Höflich was immediately ready to help -- as a Christian, but also because he was curious about them as people. He listened to their stories and organized an aid group called Rückers Active together with other local residents. They invited refugees to the village festival and the locals to a meet-and-greet day where the asylum-seekers cooked dishes from their home countries.
Höflich says he has "lots of good memories" from that time. He helped a young Afghan man battle his way through the German bureaucracy, language courses and vocational training. In terms of grander scale politics in Berlin, however, he says the focus is no longer on making integration easier for new arrivals. "Instead, they talk amost exclusively about crime, abuse and keeping people out," says Höflich.
He blames the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for ratcheting up the unpleasant rhetoric. But he also accuses his own party, the CDU, of too often allowing itself to be driven by the populists. And this, he says, is starting to rub off on broader segments of the population. He says that some people who provide assistance to refugees have been forced to justify themselves to acquaintances for supporting the asylum-seekers. "It's outrageous," Höflich says.
The help being provided for the refugees receded around the country after the first massive wave of refugees entered Germany during the summer of 2015. But that "welcoming culture," as it has been called by many, also hasn't disappeared as the debates of recent weeks might lead one to believe. According to a study conducted by pollster Allensbach for the German Family Ministry, one-fifth of Germans are still involved in helping the refugees. Some give donations, while others help, for example, by teaching German. Since 2015, a total of 55 percent of the population above the age of 16 has gotten involved in one form or another, according to Allensbach.
Companies Hope for Change
"I'm very concerned about the heated debates of recent weeks," says Antje von Dewitz. She says people are more focused on fears and no longer on the potential opportunities that immigration can provide for Germany.
Dewitz, 45, is the head of the outdoor outfitting company Vaude. Twelve refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Nigeria work for her company at Tettnang near Lake Constance in the southern state of Baden Württemberg. They make bicycle bags or sew tents in the repair workshop, and one is apprenticing as an industrial clerk.
At the peak of the refugee crisis, Dewitz says she acted out of a feeling of responsibility above all. Shortly afterward, the company was looking for employees for a new manufacturing site, and tailors and welders were especially hard to find. During an open house event at the company, around 100 refugees visited, all looking for jobs.
The company organized German lessons for the new employees, and helped them deal with bureaucracy and the search for apartments. Integration, says Dewitz, requires effort, and there were concerns among the employees. But now, she says, the new arrivals have become some of the company's most important employees.
There's just one hitch: Half of the 12 employees have had their asylum claims rejected and now face deportation. Dewitz views the development not only as a human drama but also as an economic fiasco. She says her company stands to lose as much as a quarter-million euros if it loses the workers.
Dewitz and representatives of 100 other companies have founded an initiative that is calling for migrants to be permitted to stay in the country if they have employment contracts. She has even written a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel. During his visit to the company, Baden-Württemberg state Governor Winfried Kretschmann was told, "You can't deport our colleagues." The company head knows that refugee laws aren't meant to draw new members of the workforce into the country, and that not everyone who makes it to Germany can stay. But as long as there is no real immigration policy here, she says, a transitional regulation could also be implemented -- a pragmatic move. "Politics is currently dominated by fears and, as such, is no longer capable of shaping politics," Dewitz says. "These fears lead to the threat of stagnation."
Executives with large companies are also worried about the shift to the right. But only a few, like Siemens head Joe Kaeser, are willing to engage openly in the debate.
When Alice Weidel, the head of the AfD's parliamentary group, recently spoke in the federal parliament about "headscarf girls" and "knife men," Kaeser responded on Twitter. "We'd rather have 'headscarf girls' than a 'League of German girls'," he tweeted. "With her nationalism, Ms. Weidel is damaging the reputation of our country in the world, which is the main source of German prosperity."
Kaeser encouraged the heads of other firms listed on the DAX index of German blue chip companies to found an initiative against right-wing populism, but found few supporters, as he revealed in July at a reception held by a Munich association of business reporters. He recalled how the head of one car company told him he feared he would sell fewer vehicles if he positioned himself against the AfD. Kaeser was criticized mercilessly after his tweet, and he and his family received threats on social media. But that, he says, is no reason to stay quiet about racism.
In Munich, Kaeser drew comparisons to the Nazi period. Back then, he said, too many people remained silent. He even explained how his uncle had been murdered at the Dachau concentration camp for refusing to join the Hitler Youth. "Maybe it's time to once again nip things in the bud," he said. Kaeser is the chairman of Germany's largest multinational engineering company. If a man like him is drawing parallels between contemporary Germany and the Nazi period, then something must be going wrong.
A Different Possible Future
For years, Germany seemed to be on a different track. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder introduced an immigration law in 2005 that, for the first time, made integration the responsibility of the government. Under Chancellor Merkel, the German Conference on Islam was established, the hurdles for the immigration of skilled workers from non-EU countries were lowered and the door was opened for well-integrated youths and, later, for people with tolerated residence statuses, to remain in the country. "In the approximately one-and-a-half decades since the turn of the century, more things were done in the area of immigration and integration policy than in the four decades that preceded it," says immigration researcher Klaus Bade.
Groups like the DeuKische Generation, an organization of youths with Turkish roots, have helped people with immigrant backgrounds become more visible in the public sphere. In Mesut Özil, the grandson of a Turkish guest worker, who was born and grew up in Gelsenkirchen -- a national-team player, World Cup-winner -- diverse Germany had found a poster boy. In 2010, he even received a Bambi media award for "integration."
But this idea of a German inclusiveness is now being challenged by the right more than ever. Before the rise of refugee numbers in 2015, immigration policies were largely focused on attracting highly skilled workers to Germany. Now, suddenly, the country finds itself in the position of having to integrate 1 million new arrivals from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
For a while, it seemed as though Germany would pass the stress test ("We can do it," as Merkel famously said at a press conference in August of 2015). But the fact that Merkel never explained how, has made it easy for AfD to hijack the subject. The atmosphere has darkened as a result. And even though she won't openly admit it, Merkel has almost entirely reversed the liberal refugee policies she set in place during the summer of 2015.
The desire of many to seal the country off from migrants has contributed to the fact that Germany still hasn't passed an immigration law creating uniform rules for the entry of job-seeking migrants. It has also led to a situation in which the Europeans work with despots like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who, in the medium-term, is himself causing people to flee, and with countries like Libya, where refugees are exposed to inhumane conditions.
More than before, immigrants today feel they need to justify their German identity. Sawsan Chebli, a senior official in the government of the city of Berlin and the daughter of Palestinian refugees, wrote on Twitter: "Will we ever belong? My doubts grow greater every day."
For enemies of democracy like Erdogan, these kinds of identity crises are opportunities to further drive a wedge through societies, even from afar. Since the resignation, Erdogan has called Özil and praised him for his "national and patriotic" position. "I kiss his eyes."
Of course, if Özil wanted to be taken more seriously as a leader in the fight against prejudice, he also could have made an additional statement at that point, at the latest, pointing to the democratic deficits in Turkey. But he hasn't.
In Germany, however, his resignation could ultimately represent a kind of therapeutic shock. If Özil sets off a sustainable debate about racism and social cohesion with his statement, then we will have done a bigger service to the nation than he did by scoring all of his goals as a member of the national team.
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CHINA, THE U.S. AND THE OIL BLAME GAME / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
| Etiquetas: Oil and Energy
China, the U.S. and the Oil Blame Game
By Nathaniel Taplin
Investors in the black stuff found themselves with a big black eye Tuesday. U.S. oil prices dropped by more than 7%, the worst one-day fall since 2015 following a bearish report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and more Twitterbluster on oil supply from President Trump.
The market’s main focus has been on what the report had to say about oil supply, particularly figures that showed rising production in Russia and from other OPEC members more than offsetting cuts from sanction-hit Iran. More worrying is what the report didn’t say. In particular, its estimates for demand growth next year from China, the world’s second-biggest consumer, are starting to look a little too rosy.
An oil tanker at China’s Ningbo Zhoushan port. OPEC’s demand-growth estimate for China might be a little too rosy. Photo: china stringer network/Reuters
Chinese oil consumption has held up well given the country’s softening growth. Data for October released Wednesday hint at choppier waters ahead: investment in real estate, the main bright spot in the economy this year along with exports, was up just 7.7% from the same time last year, its slowest rate since December. Retail sales also weakened again, after a late summer bounce.
OPEC has penciled in slower growth in oil demand from both China and the U.S. next year. But it is still forecasting Chinese demand to rise by 340,000 barrels a day in 2019, not much below its estimate of a 390,000 gain this year. For the U.S. it predicts a much sharper slowdown in demand growth: a 240,000 barrels a day gain in 2019 against an estimated 410,000 rise this year.
China has managed to defy doom-mongers so far, and its economic data paint a mixed picture: industrial output accelerated in October, for instance. But oil demand growth there is already running well above its long-term average, leaving plenty of downside potential. Chinese apparent demand—refinery runs plus net oil-product imports—rose nearly 8% on the year in the third quarter. Over the five years to October, that growth rate was less than 3% a month on average.
For now, demand growth in both the U.S. and China still looks decent. But the U.S. economy is still roaring along, and consumer confidence is at its highest since 2000. In China, retail sales are growing at their slowest since the early 2000s, private businesses are struggling to get loans and tariff rates on Chinese goods entering the U.S. are about to jump sharply again.
If there is a big hit to oil demand globally next year, it looks likely to come from across the Pacific rather than the U.S.
TRUMP´S DIMINISHING POWER AND RISING RAGE / PROJECT SYNDICATE
| Etiquetas: Donald Trump, Rage, Systemic Risk, U.S. Economic And Political, World Economic And Political
Trump’s Diminishing Power and Rising Rage
The coming months may be especially dangerous for America and the world. As US President Donald Trump’s political position weakens and the obstacles facing him grow, his mental instability will pose an ever-greater danger.
NEW YORK – The drama of Donald Trump’s presidency has centered around whether an extremist president would be able to carry out an extremist policy agenda against the will of the majority of Americans. So far the answer has been no, and the midterm elections make it far less likely. Yet Trump’s rising frustrations could push him over the edge psychologically, with potentially harrowing consequences for American democracy and the world.
None of Trump’s extremist policy ideas has received public support. The public opposed last year’s Republican-backed corporate tax cut, Trump’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), his proposed border wall with Mexico, the decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement, and the imposition of tariff increases on China, Europe, and others. At the same time, contrary to Trump’s relentless promotion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), the public favors investments in renewable energy and remaining in the Paris climate agreement.
Trump has tried to implement his radical agenda using three approaches. The first has been to rely on the Republican majorities in the two houses of Congress to pass legislation in the face of strong popular opposition. That approach succeeded once, with the 2017 corporate tax cut, because big Republican donors insisted on the measure, but it failed with Trump’s attempt to repeal Obamacare, as three Republican senators balked.
The second approach has been to use executive orders to circumvent Congress. Here the courts have repeatedly intervened, most recently within days of the election, when a federal district court halted work on the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project strongly opposed by environmentalists, on the grounds that the Trump administration had failed to present a “reasoned explanation” for its actions. Trump repeatedly and dangerously oversteps his authority, and the courts keep pushing back.
Trump’s third tactic has been to rally public opinion to his side. Yet, despite his frequent rallies, or perhaps because of them and their incendiary vulgarity, Trump’s disapproval rating has exceeded his approval rating since the earliest days of his administration. His current overall disapproval rating is 54%, versus 40% approval, with strong approval from around 25% of the public. There has been no sustained move in Trump’s direction.
In the midterm elections, which Trump himself described as a referendum on his presidency, the Democratic candidates for both the House and Senate vastly outpolled their Republican opponents. In the House races, Democrats received 53,314,159 votes nationally, compared with 48,439,810 for Republicans. In the Senate races, Democrats outpolled Republicans by 47,537,699 votes to 34,280,990.
Summing up votes by party for the three recent election cycles (2014, 2016, and 2018), Democratic Senate candidates outpolled Republican candidates by roughly 120 million to 100 million. Nonetheless, the Republicans hold a slight majority in the Senate, where each state is represented by two senators, regardless of the size of its population, because they tend to win their seats in less populous states, whereas Democrats prevail in the major coastal and Midwestern states. Wyoming, for example, elects two Republican senators to represent its nearly 580,000 residents, while California’s more than 39 million residents elect two Democratic senators. Democrats win more votes, but Republicans win more seats.
Without control of the House, however, Trump will no longer be able to enact any unpopular legislation. Only policies with bipartisan support will have a chance of passing both chambers.
On the economic front, Trump’s trade policies will become even less popular in the months ahead as the American economy cools from the “sugar high” of the corporate tax cut, as growing uncertainty about global trade policy hamstrings business investment, and as both the budget deficit and interest rates rise. Trump’s phony national-security justifications for raising tariffs will also be challenged politically and perhaps in the courts.
True, Trump will be able to continue appointing conservative federal judges and most likely win their confirmation in the Republican-majority Senate. And on issues of war and peace, Trump will operate with terrifyingly little oversight by Congress or the public, an affliction of the US political system since World War II. Trump, like his recent predecessors, will most likely keep America mired in wars in the Middle East and Africa, despite the lack of significant public understanding or support.
Nonetheless, there are three further reasons to believe that Trump’s hold on power will weaken significantly in the coming months. First, Special Counsel Robert Mueller may very well document serious malfeasance by Trump, his family members, and/or his close advisers. Mueller kept a low profile in the run-up to the election. We will most likely hear from him soon.
Second, the House Democrats will begin to investigate Trump’s taxes and personal business dealings, including through congressional subpoenas. There are strong reasons to believe that Trump has committed serious tax evasion (as the New York Times recently outlined) and has illegally enriched his family as president (a lawsuit that the courts have allowed to proceed alleges violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution). Trump is likely to ignore or fight the subpoenas, setting the stage for a major political crisis.
Third, and most important, Trump is not merely an extremist politician. He suffers from what author Ian Hughes has recently called “a disordered mind,” filled with hate, paranoia, and narcissism. According to two close observers of Trump, the president’s grip on reality “will likely continue to diminish” in the face of growing political obstacles, investigations into his taxes and business dealings, Mueller’s findings, and an energized political opposition. We may already be seeing that in Trump’s erratic and aggressive behavior since the election.1
The coming months may be especially dangerous for America and the world. As Trump’s political position weakens and the obstacles facing him grow, his mental instability will pose an ever-greater danger. He could explode in rage, fire Mueller, and perhaps try to launch a war or claim emergency powers in order to restore his authority. We have not yet seen Trump in full fury, but may do so soon, as his room for maneuver continues to narrow. In that case, much will depend on the performance of America’s constitutional order.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development andProfessor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University,is Director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development andof the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His books include The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, The Age of Sustainable Development, Building the New American Economy, and most recently, A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism.
EUROPE SHOULD WORK WITH IRAN TO COUNTER U.S. UNITERALISM / THE FINANCIAL TIMES OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Europe Economic and Political, Iran, U.S. Economic And Political, World Economic And Political
Europe should work with Iran to counter US unilateralism
Iranian president warns that the Trump administration endangers world stability
President Hassan Rouhani: 'Iran believes in multilateralism and is prepared to join other peace-loving nations in this path' © Don Emmert/AFP
The world faces a myriad of challenges, including economic issues, social crises, the predicament of refugees, xenophobia, terrorism and extremism.
Europe has not been exempt, and has been confronted by these problems almost daily. Over the past two years, US foreign policy has emerged as a new and complicated problem, as America creates new challenges on a variety of fronts in international relations.
We see US complicity in the daily atrocities in Yemen and in the humiliation and gradual perishing of the great nation of Palestine, which has daily inflamed the emotions of one-and-a-half billion Muslims.
We believe the American government has explicitly supported criminal groups like Isis, who value no human principles, exacerbating the problems of our region.
More broadly, US president Donald Trump’s approach to matters of trade, international treaties and the humiliating manner in which he treats even America’s allies, illustrates how US foreign policy has posed new challenges to the global order.
In brief, the US administration’s policies of unilateralism, racial discrimination, Islamophobia, and the undermining of important international treaties, including the Paris Climate Accord, are fundamentally incompatible with multilateralism and other socio-political norms valued by Europe.
There is another critical matter aggravating transatlantic relations: the Iran nuclear deal. Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it was the product of two years of intensive negotiations between Iran and six other countries, including three from Europe.
As an annex to UN Security Council Resolution 2231, this agreement enjoys the approval of the overwhelming majority of the international community and, as part and parcel of international law, imposes certain obligations on all the members of the UN.
Unfortunately, the US, through raising unfounded claims and in complete disregard for its international obligations, has abandoned the nuclear agreement and imposed extraterritorial and unilateral sanctions on Iran and, by extension, other countries.
The US is, in effect, threatening states who seek to abide by resolution 2231 with punitive measures. This constitutes a mockery of international decisions and the blackmailing of responsible parties who seek to uphold them.
The nuclear accord is recognised as a great victory for diplomacy in our time. That is why the EU is working with other nations around the world — with the exception of a very few — to save this great achievement.
Since the US withdrew, we have held constructive talks with the remaining JCPOA participants. Their support has been valuable, but it is essential that the European parties, as well as China and Russia (known as E3+2), present and implement their final proposed package of measuresto compensate for and mitigate the effects of America’s newest unilateral and extraterritorial sanctions before they are imposed.
This historic agreement can only survive if the Iranian people can witness and enjoy the benefits it promised.
The recent decision of the International Court of Justice and its provisional measure against US unilateral sanctions reaffirms the legitimacy of Iran’s position, and the illegality of these oppressive sanctions.
Disregarding the binding and mandatory nature of the provisional measure demanded by the ICJ would undermine confidence in international treaties. That would create a major challenge with possibly dangerous and negative consequences for regional and international peace and security.
The nuclear deal demonstrated that Iran is committed to reason and dialogue. We have initiated political consultations with Europe on key issues of mutual interest, especially on regional crises, with the aim of finding appropriate solutions.
In today’s tumultuous world, the only way to overcome difficulties is through concerted international efforts based on mutual interests, and not the short-sighted demands of one or a few states. Unilateralism is fatal; while multilateralism is the only appropriate, inexpensive and effective course of action.
Europe’s tradition of multilateralism positions it well to play an important role in reinforcing peace and stability, in line with its identity and interests. Iran believes in multilateralism and is prepared to join other peace-loving nations in this path.
Cooperation between Iran and Europe will secure the long-term interests of both parties, and ensure international peace and stability.
The writer is president of the Islamic Republic of Iran
ABOUT THE COMING RECESSION / SEEKING ALPHA
| Etiquetas: Recession, U.S. Economic And Political
About The Coming Recession
by: Larry Kummer
- This month’s sharp drop in stock prices has raised fears about the US economy?
- Are these fears warranted?
- Is the expansion “old”?
- How can we predict the next recession?
The US and global stock markets have fallen, with the usual hysterical headlines (it is up 6.1% before dividends over 12 months, up 0.6% YTD, down 7.3% from the October 3 peak). Are equity investors telling up something about the economy? The answer might shake America - businesses, households, and Washington DC.
This expansion has run for 112 months counting from the 2009 trough (the second longest), and 130 months from 2007 peak (the longest) - using the NBER's data since 1854. It continues to run strong. When will the growth end? What happens then?
Do economic expansions grow old and die?
Glenn D. Rudebusch summarized economists' answer in "Will the Economic Recovery Die of Old Age?" (San Francisco Fed's Letters, 4 February 2016. He gives two graphs answer the question. First, a simple mortality table shows that people grow old and die.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
See the same graph for economic expansions. They aged and died before the Great Depression and WWII. But that taught economists about the value of economic stabilizers (e.g., unemployment insurance), plus fiscal and monetary stimulus. Since then, the odds of recession ending each month increase only slightly over time. That is progress!
Non-economists cosplaying economists in the news often say that this expansion is "living on borrowed time." That is false. Also, it is not a recovery. Almost all measures of economic activity long-ago passed their previous peaks. This is an economic expansión.
What kills expansions?
People often confuse signs of a slowdown (e.g., consumer confidence falls, economic activity slows) with the factors that cause the slowdown. Such as economic or political shocks. A partial list includes trade wars, real wars, monetary policy (excessive rate increases by the Fed, restrictions on lending, breaking growth of the money supply), fiscal policy (large cuts in spending, large tax increases), and popping of big investment bubbles. As with most disasters, multiple errors are usually necessary (a dozen mistakes, plus an iceberg, sank the Titanic).
There are many links that can break in our complex world.
Two causes are especially common in the post-WWII era. First, the Fed brakes too hard to prevent "overheating." Sometimes, overheating means a rapid rise of inflation. Sometimes, it means full employment forcing businesses to share productivity growth with their workers. "Profit inflation" is good in bankers' eyes. "Wage inflation" is bad!
Second, "imbalances" in the economy. These can be excessive growth in government, consumer, or business borrowing - which ends suddenly, creating a shock. Or sector imbalances - such as the tech boom and the regional real estate boom-bust cycles.
The slow growth in real GDP after the 2008-2009 bust - roughly 2.5% from 2010 to 2017 - created few imbalances. Optimists cheered as the dawn of a new age the Q2 growth of 4.2% (SAAR) and Q3's 3.5%. Just as they did in 2014: Q2 of 5.2% and Q3 4.9%. But those micro-booms fizzled. As this one might: estimates for Q4 are about 2.7% - despite the GOP's massive debt-fueled fiscal stimulus (quite mad to do late in an economic expansion, when we should be reducing the Federal deficit).
Recessions and depressions are normal!
Thou know'st it's common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.- Queen Gertrude to Hamlet (Act I, scene 2).
Something will eventually end an expansion. Expansions are part of the business cycle, along with recessions - and depressions. They do not represent God's judgement on our moral faults, or failure to follow the One True Simple Ideology of Economics. They are similar to weather: to be prepared for in advance, to be mitigated when they strike, and learned from afterwards (to do better next time).
The US economy has been in a recession roughly 20% of the time since 1854. Depressions were frequent before the creation of the Fed and use of fiscal stabilizers.
© Siri Wannapat | Dreamstime.
A look at our future
First, the bad news. Economists have little ability to predict recessions. Surveys of economists' consensus forecast have never successfully predicted a recession. For example, look at the predictions made in February 2008. The consensus forecast for real GDP in 2008 was +1.8%; actual was -0.1%.
Their forecast for 2009 was +2.8%; actual was -2.4%. The recession had begun in December 2007.
Some economists expected a recession (but being pros, were vague about when). I have found nobody that predicted the collapse of the global banking system, which turned a US real estate downturn into the Great Recession.
With that out of the way, let's look at some indicators. There are many quantitative indicators. My favorite is the Econbrowser Recession Indicator Index created by James Hamilton (econ prof at UC San Diego). The probability that Q2 was a recession was 1.1%. That's reassuring - if you worried about that.
Then, there are the US leading indicators and the OECD's Composite Leading Indicator (shown for the major nations and regions). They nicely show were we are; none are reliable guides to the future.
All look OK today.
There are many methods for predicting recessions. None work well. Many of the best look at the shape of the yield curve. See this graph from Cyrille Lenoel's "Predicting recessions in the United States with the yield curve" in the National Economic Review, May 2018. Data as of March 2018. Backtesting shows this model's predictions of a recession are correct 69% of the time (accuracy), but it predicts only 35% of recessions (sensitivity). The odds of recession in the next 12 months is rising fast.
For more about this indicator, and what it is telling us, see this dark but clear report: "Forecasting the Next Recession: The Yield Curve Doesn't Lie" by Guggenheim Investments, 29 October 2018 - "Our Recession Probability Model and Recession Dashboard continue to suggest a recession is likely to begin in early 2020. Investors ignore the yield curve's signal at their peril."
Some forecasters rely on quantitative methods and personal skill. Such as the team at the Economic Cycle Research Institute. Their co-founder, Lakshman Achuthan, gave a warning in the New York Post, October 24.
"The economy has been boosted by massive fiscal stimulus - plus an energy boom for the ages - steering it clear of recession risk. But it's remarkable that it is already in a slowdown that not many see - certainly not the Fed."
Their reports look at some darker aspects of recent data. They noticed that Real GDP has been wonderful, but growth of real GDI (gross domestic income) has been slowing since Q2 of last year. Housing construction is weak.
There are other signs of slowing. Sales of light vehicles have been flattish since June 2014.
There is another indicator "flashing red", described by Achuthan on October 26.
"Notably, the combined debt of the US, Eurozone, Japan, and China has increased more than ten times as much as their combined GDP [growth] over the past year. …the world's largest economies are generating debt 10X faster than economic growth. Adding debt at that pace, if it continues, will boost the debt-to-GDP ratio at an alarming rate.
"Remarkably, then, the global economy - slowing in sync despite soaring debt - finds itself in a situation reminiscent of the Red Queen Effect we referenced 15 years ago, when tax cuts boosted the US budget deficit much more than GDP. As the Red Queen says to Alice in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass.
'Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!'"
But stock prices predict recessions!
But they don't. There is a low correlation between stock prices and GDP, or anything else (on an ex ante basis), or stock market traders would be richer than stockbrokers (they're not).
Investors in stock and bonds have no special insights, either as individuals or crowds. My favorite example was their inability to see WWI as it began.
On the other hand, a stock market crash would have only a small effect on the economy. Watch the banks! If they crumble, the economy crumbles too (as it did after 1929+ and 2008-2009).
We need a long warning because we are unprepared for a recession. Monetary policy is the fast and effective method to fight a recession. But with rates so low, that cannot help much. Fiscal policy is the second big tool. Trump's tax cuts, part of the GOP's long-term effort to make the rich richer - and bleed the Federal government - will make that more difficult to use. The April 9 CBO report gave this chilling warning.
"CBO estimates that the 2018 deficit will total $804 billion, $139 billion more than the $665 billion shortfall recorded in 2017. …In CBO's projections, budget deficits continue increasing after 2018, rising from 4.2% of GDP this year to 5.1% in 2022 (adjusted to exclude the shifts in timing). That percentage has been exceeded in only five years since 1946; four of those years followed the deep 2007-2009 recession."
Keynes recommended running deficits during recessions - countercyclical stimulus - with surpluses during expansions. The GOP keeps cutting taxes during expansions, sending the Federal deficit skyrocketing. Reagan did it. Bush Jr. did it. Now Trump has done it.
The Federal deficit was 1.1% of GDP in 2007. It zoomed in the recession as tax receipts crashed and expenditures rose (e.g., unemployment and welfare payments, and later the fiscal stimulus).
We will begin the next recession with a deficit of 4-5%. That is insane. The politics of stimulus programs will be complex. If we have a Republican President and Congress, the US economy might have a bad time. That is guaranteed if Trump is President.
What might happen in a recession?
I wrote several posts about that during the 2015-2016 slowing, when the theory about a "stall speed" of the US economy (below which it would fall into recession) made a recession appear likely. This proved that there is no stall speed. The most valid is that the big victim of the coming stock market crash will be the San Francisco Bay Area. It sells dreams for money, an industry that I expect to crash hard in the next recession. The accelerating exodus of middle-class families makes the region even more vulnerable.
Beyond that, we can only guess. Much depends on the nature of the downturn and the government's response. The private and public pension systems are already weak, despite the long expansion. A stock market crash and long recession will push many past the point of recovery, as the date at which their cash flows turn negative approaches (i.e., more payments than contributions). Also, boomers have saved too little for retirement, and too much of that is in real estate and stocks - both probably severe casualties of a long recession.
My best guess: it won't be pretty. My advice: expect the unexpected.
DO I NEED A BUDGET? / CASEY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL MAN
| Etiquetas: Investment Strategies, Savings
Do I Need a Budget?
Jared Dillian
Editor, The 10th Man
I am a bit like the Joker. Do I look like a guy with a plan?
The problem with plans is that people interpret them a little too rigidly. I know of a situation where a woman budgeted x for groceries, and her bill at the checkout line came to x + $20. She stood there and said “I can’t afford my groceries” because she went over her budget by $20.
That is the type of stupid stuff that happens when you put people on a budget.
The problem is, some people need to obey stupid rules, because they have zero discipline.
Unless they follow a budget to the penny, they are going to spend like sailors. I am sorry that these people exist. As many others have observed before me, rules are for the stupid.
Even though I am not high on budgets, I am high on radical saving, so I like a simple heuristic such as save as much as humanly possible or save until it hurts. That usually does a better job than an actual budget, and is a lot less work. Of course, that works for me because saving comes naturally to me in the first place, so it might not work for everyone.
What does saving until it hurts look like in practice?
You are driving down the road. You are thirsty. You think of stopping at Burger King and getting a large Diet Coke, but you are saving as much as humanly possible, so you don’t spend the $2.50 and you keep driving, and you stay thirsty.
Basically, if you are saving as much as humanly possible, you will experience discomfort. Physical discomfort. That is when you know you are doing it right.
You will go to a restaurant and get the cheapest thing on the menu, whether you like it or not. That is mild discomfort.
You will go to Dick’s Sporting Goods for a pair of running shoes and get the $39 shoes instead of the $129 shoes. That is mild discomfort.
You will buy a gently used car that is one year old rather than a new car. No new car smell. That is mild discomfort.
The goal is to save and save and save so you can reach a point where you no longer have to experience discomfort. If you are thirsty, you can buy the Diet Coke. The $2.50 will not be a big deal.
I can speak from experience—it is nice when you get there. But I was once forced to make those economic choices.
Some People Don’t like Discomfort
Some people are never willing to make any sort of economic sacrifice. Hey, a wine fridge sounds like a good idea. Hey, the panoramic sunroof sounds like a good idea.
My story is one of economic sacrifices. I lived far below my means during a time when it was expected I would live far above my means. When I was at Lehman Brothers, I bought a tiny, cheap house in a neighborhood that was not even really up-and-coming. I famously bought Men’s Wearhouse suits. I brought cans of Chef Boyardee to work for lunch. I was comically miserly.
Interestingly, it ended up being necessary. Lehman went bankrupt, my stock vaporized, my income disappeared, and I had to start from zero. But I had a seven-figure bank account from what I had saved in the good years, and that meant I was able to take risk—at a point in time where nobody was in the mood to take risk.
Dave Ramsey has an expression for this: “Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else.” I have my disagreements with Mr. Ramsey but I like this turn of phrase.
You can’t spend your whole life in doomsday-prepping mode. I have some relatives who were prodigious savers all their lives, never allowing themselves any extravagance, and they are now too old and physically infirm to enjoy their wealth.
There are two types of people in this world: people who spend too much, and people who spend too little. Sometimes, the latter are even more frustrating than the former.
Some people say that budgets give people good habits. I am not so sure. Budgets are good for people who follow rules.
But what if there are no rules? There are no rules in life. If you make more money, are you going to change the rules, to allow the occasional extravagance? Who gets to change the rules?
If you change the rules, are you cheating on the budget?
This is why I hate budgets.
Some people inherit a ton of money and never spend a minute of their lives in discomfort. That does not apply to most of us. Unless you are blessed with unlimited resources, you are going to spend at least some of your life in a state of discomfort.
Better to do it while you are young, when you are better able to bear it.
What Happens After That
Only after you have established good saving habits should you start investing.
THE NEUROSCIENCE OF HATE SPEECH / THE NEW YORK TIMES OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Human Being, Psychology
The Neuroscience of Hate Speech
Humans are social creatures who are easily influenced by the anger and rage that are everywhere these days.
By Richard A. Friedman
Do politicians’ words, the president’s especially, matter?
Since he has been in office, President Trump has relentlessly demonized his political opponents as evil and belittled them as stupid. He has called undocumented immigrants animals. His rhetoric has been a powerful contributor to our climate of hate, which is amplified by the right-wing media and virulent online culture.
Of course, it’s difficult to prove that incendiary speech is a direct cause of violent acts. But humans are social creatures — including and perhaps especially the unhinged and misfits among us — who are easily influenced by the rage that is everywhere these days. Could that explain why just in the past two weeks we have seen the horrifying slaughter of 11 Jews in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, with the man arrested described as a rabid anti-Semite, as well as what the authorities say was the attempted bombing of prominent Trump critics by an ardent Trump supporter?
You don’t need to be a psychiatrist to understand that the kind of hate and fear-mongering that is the stock-in-trade of Mr. Trump and his enablers can goad deranged people to action. But psychology and neuroscience can give us some important insights into the power of powerful people’s words.
We know that repeated exposure to hate speech can increase prejudice, as a series of Polish studies confirmed last year. It can also desensitize individuals to verbal aggression, in part because it normalizes what is usually socially condemned behavior.
At the same time, politicians like Mr. Trump who stoke anger and fear in their supporters provoke a surge of stress hormones, like cortisol and norepinephrine, and engage the amygdala, the brain center for threat. One study, for example, that focused on “the processing of danger” showed that threatening language can directly activate the amygdala. This makes it hard for people to dial down their emotions and think before they act.
Mr. Trump has managed to convince his supporters that America is the victim and that we face an existential threat from imagined dangers like the migrant caravan and the “fake, fake disgusting news.”
Were the men arrested in the synagogue shootings and bombing attacks listening? Robert Bowers, for example, apparently blamed Jews for helping transport members of the Central American migrant caravan. It seems he did not think the president was going far enough in protecting the country from invaders. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” he wrote online before the murderous rampage. And Cesar Sayoc Jr., accused of mailing bombs to CNN, echoed the president in a tweet: “More lies con job Propaganda bye failing failing CNN garbage.”
But you don’t have to be this unhinged to be moved to violence by incendiary rhetoric. Just about any of us could be susceptible under the right conditions.
Susan Fiske, a psychologist at Princeton, and colleagues have shown that distrust of a out-group is linked to anger and impulses toward violence. This is particularly true when a society faces economic hardship and people are led to see outsiders as competitors for their jobs.
Mina Cikara, a psychologist at Harvard and a co-author of that study, told me that “when a group is put on the defensive and made to feel threatened, they begin to believe that anything, including violence, is justified.”
There is something else that Mr. Trump does to facilitate violence against those he dislikes: He dehumanizes them. “These aren't people,” he once said about undocumented immigrants suspected of gang ties. “These are animals.”
Research by Dr. Cikara and others shows that when one group feels threatened, it makes it much easier to think about people in another group as less than human and to have little empathy for them — two psychological conditions that are conducive to violence.
A 2011 study by Dr. Fiske and a colleague looked at “social cognition” — the ability to put oneself in someone else’s place and recognize “the other as a human being subject to moral treatment.” Subjects in the study were found to be so unempathetic toward drug addicts and homeless people that they found it difficult to imagine how those people thought or felt. Using brain M.R.I., researchers showed that images of members of dehumanized groups failed to activate brain regions implicated in normal social cognition and instead activated the subjects’ insula, a region implicated in feelings of disgust.
As Dr. Fiske has written, “Both science and history suggest that people will nurture and act on their prejudices in the worst ways when these people are put under stress, pressured by peers, or receive approval from authority figures to do so.”
So when someone like President Trump dehumanizes his adversaries, he could be putting them beyond the reach of empathy, stripping them of moral protection and making it easier to harm them.
If you still have any doubt about the power of political speech to foment physical violence, consider the classic experiment by the Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in the early 1960s studied the willingness of a group of men to obey an authority figure.
Subjects were told to administer electrical shocks to another participant, without knowing that the shocks were fake. Sixty-five percent of the subjects did what they were told and delivered the maximum shock, which if real could have been fatal. The implication is that we can easily be influenced by authority to do terrible harm to others — just by receiving an order.
Now imagine what would happen if President Trump actually issued a call to arms to his supporters. Scared? You should be.
Richard A. Friedman is a professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at the Weill Cornell Medical College, and a contributing opinion writer.
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THE NEUROSCIENCE OF HATE SPEECH / THE NEW YORK TIM...
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THE LIBERTARIAN FANTASIES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES / THE FINANCIAL TIMES OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Bitcoins, Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies, Digital Currencies, Fiat Money, Science And Technology
The libertarian fantasies of cryptocurrencies
Digital money needs tough regulation rather than bleating in favour of ‘innovation’
“Move fast and break things” was the famous motto of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder. Among those broken things have been norms of trustworthiness essential to democracy. An activity as dependent on trust as democratic politics is money and finance. This is why developments here cannot be left to the greed and fanaticism we see in the world of cryptocurrencies. Careful assessment needs to be made of this world and its relationship to the broader one of digital money. Change is indeed on the way. But it cannot be left to happen.
The cryptocurrency movement would reject that, because its roots lie in anarchistic libertarianism, as Nouriel Roubini of New York University argues. This ideology also beats in the hearts of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. They are not altogether wrong: the state can be a dangerous monster. But it is also essential: it is humanity’s ultimate insurance mechanism.
The world of anarchy is one of competing bandits. It is far better to have just one, as the late Mancur Olson argued in Power and Prosperity. Moreover, he added, liberal democracy helps tame that bandit. States exist to provide essential public goods. Money is a public good par excellence. That is why dispensing with the role of governments in money is a fantasy. The history of the so-called cryptocurrencies demonstrates this.
Money is a store of value, a unit of account and a medium of exchange. To be a really good currency, it needs to be durable, portable, divisible, uniform, limited in supply and acceptable.
How do cryptocurrencies measure up against these requirements? They are clearly neither a store of value nor a good unit of account, as their vast swings in price show. They are not a good medium of exchange, because law-abiding people and businesses do not want to own assets that are, by virtue of their anonymity, ideal for criminals, terrorists and money launderers. While an individual cryptocurrency can be limited in supply, the aggregate supply is infinite; according to the International Monetary Fund: “As of April 2018, there were more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies.” There could just as easily be 1.5m.
The best way to view cryptocurrencies is as speculative tokens of no intrinsic value. One could have value if it became the currency of choice of a jurisdiction. Yet there is a compelling reason why, in normal circumstances, people use the currency of their own government: they need to pay taxes. To do that, they need to render money the government accepts — principally, deposits denominated in national currency at banks with accounts at the central bank. This, in turn, is the government’s bank. The state can enforce this: that is why it is the state. You may have an online existence. But you also have a physical body, which the government can put in prison if you don’t pay your taxes. This is why the state can enforce its domestic monetary monopoly. Only those operating in the shadows would seek to operate outside this framework — and even they will find it very dangerous.
As the Financial Times’ Izabella Kaminska and Martin Walker of the Center for Evidence-Based Management argued in evidence for the House of Commons Treasury committee, so far the cryptocurrency craze has made online criminality easier, created bubbles, fleeced naive investors, imposed grotesque waste in so-called “mining”, offered funding for malfeasance and facilitated tax evasion. What is the social value in any of this? There is no good case for new anonymous currencies. Cryptocurrencies are not yet important. But they need tough regulation. It is no longer enough to bleat in favour of “innovation” or “freedom”.
Whatever the dangers of cryptocurrencies may be, “distributed ledger technology” including “blockchain” might prove valuable in making activities dependent on safe record-keeping, notably finance, more efficient and secure. A huge number of experiments is under way. A recent Geneva Report on the Impact of Blockchain Technology on Finance, argues that such technology can “mitigate the ‘cost of trust’” and so “lower overall costs, reduce economic rents and create a more secure and fairer financial system”. That would be welcome, if true. Let us experiment. But all the important public policy requirements of transparency and financial stability must continue to apply.
One of the most important potential innovations in the broad area of digital money is potentially the opposite of cryptocurrency: central bank digital money, perhaps as a substitute for cash and possibly as something more radical than that. Analysis at the IMF and the Bank of England demonstrates that we need to be clear about what central bank digital money is to achieve, how it relates to cash or bank deposits, and whether it could be a substitute for central bank reserves, which at present can only be owned by commercial banks.
Replacing cash with digital tokens of some kind would be relatively simple. It would mainly raise questions about the degree of anonymity of such replacements. Far more potentially revolutionary and destabilising possibilities would arise if the public at large were able to switch from deposits at commercial banks to absolutely safe accounts at the central bank. This radical idea has obvious attractions since it would remove the privileged access of one class of businesses, banks, to the monetary services of the state’s bank. But it would also transform (and surely destabilise) today’s monetary system, in which the state seeks to guarantee and regulate a money supply largely created by private banks and backed by private debts. Yet the revolutionary fact is that it would now be easy for everybody to hold an account at the central bank. Technology is eliminating the historic difficulties over such access.
As everywhere else, innovation is transforming monetary possibilities. But not all changes are for the better. Some seem clearly for the worse. The right way forward is to reject libertarian fantasy, but not change itself: our monetary system is far too defective for that. We should adapt. But, history reminds us, we must do so carefully.
HOW VENEZUELA ALIGNED THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE / GEOPOLITICAL FUTURES
| Etiquetas: Latin America Economic And Political, The Western Hemisphere, Venezuela
How Venezuela Aligned the Western Hemisphere
The U.S. finds itself aligned with the region. Can it capitalize on the opportunity?
By Allison Fedirka
In the Western Hemisphere, it’s Venezuela versus just about everybody. The fallout from the country’s crisis has evolved beyond a confrontation with the United States over sanctions to a hemispheric – even global – melee. The most notable result has been the emerging political and diplomatic alignment against Caracas among states throughout the Americas, including the U.S. Washington has historically strong-armed its policies into practice across the region, fostering resentment toward the U.S. throughout Latin America. But in Venezuela’s demise, the U.S. and other American countries have found common ground, and it has resulted in a remarkable shift in how the U.S. relates to Latin America, at least for the time being. Alignment on Venezuela may open the door for further U.S. alignment with the region – as long as Washington can avoid alienating itself once again.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s acting president within hours of Guaido’s announcement that he had assumed the role. On this front, the U.S. is in lockstep with much of the region. Within the Lima Group, a coalition of states in the Western Hemisphere, there’s been overwhelming support for democratic political transition in Venezuela. Like the U.S., the majority of members recognize Guaido. Beyond the Lima Group, the list of countries recognizing Guaido has grown by the day and now includes former backers of President Nicolas Maduro such as Ecuador. Others, like Uruguay and Mexico, have taken a more neutral stance, favoring dialogue over new elections and choosing not to recognize Guaido. Maduro still has some allies, of course, including Bolivia, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Two factors have shaped the convergence of regional interests over Venezuela. First, the decline of the “pink tide” – a wave of populist governments elected in several Latin American countries – brought to power governments that were ideologically opposed to the Maduro regime’s socialist policies. While the U.S. has been a longtime critic of the governments of Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, it was not until populist governments throughout the region started losing at the ballot box that the U.S. found allies in this fight. Second, the spillover from the Venezuelan crisis – particularly the immigration issue – thrust a sizable financial and social burden on its neighbors, which were ill-equipped to handle the fallout. Venezuela’s quick stabilization and immediate access to aid are the keys to stemming the migration. The U.S., too, needs a stable Venezuela – both for regional security and to satisfy business interests in the oil sector. This consensus may seem perfectly sensible. But to fully appreciate just how remarkable the alignment of the U.S. and over a dozen regional states truly is, it’s important to understand the history of the United States’ relations with Latin America.
An Interventionist History
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, U.S. interventionism largely defined Washington’s relationship with the rest of the Western Hemisphere. In fact, from 1898 to 1994, the U.S. government was behind 41 changes of government in the region. From the onset of the Spanish-American War to the start of World War I, in particular, the U.S. intervened to forcibly install and control friendly governments in the region. U.S. forces occupied independent Cuba, its Marines held the Port of Veracruz in Mexico, and U.S. troops were on the ground to help Panama gain independence from Colombia.
World Wars I and II provided a reprieve. The U.S. was focused on the Northern Hemisphere’s conflicts, and the Southern Hemisphere took a back seat. But with the onset of the Cold War, its interventionism came back with a vengeance, propelled by the United States’ imperative to keep Soviet influence out of the Western Hemisphere. The strategy, known as “hemispheric defense,” was focused on preventing Soviet-aligned states from encircling the U.S.; Washington needed to avoid a situation where it would have to make good on its threats to launch a nuclear response. So, the United States launched massive covert campaigns to overthrow governments seen as too friendly toward Moscow, eradicate Soviet sympathizers and bolster dissident militants. The notorious Operation Condor in the Southern Cone epitomized these efforts, but they played out across the región.
With this track record, it’s unsurprising that the U.S. has had a strained relationship with its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. Many of the anti-communist regimes that the U.S. helped install and prop up brutally repressed their constituents, and Washington’s economic development plans for the region in the 1980s and 1990s fell flat. Many blamed the U.S. – not mistakenly – for the political violence and economic hardships that plagued the region. This resentment laid the foundation for the rise of leaders like Chavez, who garnered public support by vilifying the United States and promising to chart a course free from U.S. “tyranny and imperialism.”
The United States managed to maintain relatively good ties, built on economic and security cooperation, with countries like Peru and Colombia through the 1990s and into the 21st century. But even in these friendlier countries, the governments had to recognize domestic concerns over capitulating to and aligning too closely with the U.S. But as the Soviet threat receded, the United States’ need to employ force in the region decreased. As its use of force waned, so too did populist, anti-imperialist sentiment. Populist regimes faded away with the emergence of a struggling global economy, and ties between the U.S. and the rest of the hemisphere became less antagonistic.
Playing a New Role
Washington now finds itself in a novel situation – aligned with governments and popular opinion across the Americas – and it must tread carefully if it hopes to maintain these newfound ties. The Lima Group has come out against military intervention in Venezuela, so any use of force there would be damaging to relations across the region. If it reverts to its old tactics, the U.S. will be perceived as blatantly disregarding other countries’ positions on regional affairs, and it will lose the credibility it has gained through its handling of the situation in Venezuela thus far. This could cause Latin American countries to turn toward other potential partners like China or Russia – players the U.S. is actively trying to keep out of its neighborhood.
To navigate this veritable minefield, the U.S. devised a twofold approach. First, it took steps behind the scenes to bolster political opposition and encourage a political transition. Then, it rolled out an international campaign to garner support for regime change and reform. It’s necessary to show the world that the international community – and not just the United States – is driving this effort. This strategy also gives regional actors like Colombia and Brazil an opportunity to shape the process and emphasizes that Venezuelans themselves are pushing for change, which helps legitimize any future government. Conveniently, this all helps keep the U.S. in good standing in the region while laying the groundwork for a pro-U.S. leader to take over in Venezuela and accept U.S. investment in reconstruction efforts.
This two-pronged approach has played out through soft power maneuvers designed to cripple the regime and build an anti-Maduro coalition within the international community. The U.S. government has placed sanctions and visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials; U.S. companies have reinforced official policies (Bank of America, for example, blocked Venezuelans’ use of credit and debit cards); and the U.S. has given Guaido and his interim government access to U.S.-based Venezuelan government bank accounts. The U.S. strategy was also crafted to put Maduro in impossible situations. When the U.S. sent aid to Venezuela, Maduro had to decide whether or not to accept it; taking aid from an adversary would undermine his regime but rejecting it would deny food and medicine to hungry, sick Venezuelans. (Notably, the U.S. delivered this aid to neighboring Colombia to avoid trespassing on Venezuelan territory.) One of the most controversial U.S. moves was reaching out to members of the Venezuelan military. It’s not clear exactly which groups the U.S. is engaging with, but this outreach complements the opposition’s courtship of junior and enlisted military members. Only the military has the firepower and capacity to oust Maduro – something the U.S. doesn’t want to do itself.
The United States is in uncharted territory. Its interests are suddenly in sync with those of many Latin American states. If the U.S. is able to capitalize on this moment and work with its regional partners to help Venezuela through a political transition, it could usher in a new era in American relations. Whether this alignment extends to only a single issue or represents a more permanent shift is yet to be seen.
THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF JAPAN´S 20 YEARS WITH ZERO INTEREST RATES / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
| Etiquetas: Japan, Monetary Policy, Negative Interest Rates
The Myths and Legends of Japan’s 20 Years With Zero Interest Rates
Japan’s two decades of zero interest rates just haven’t stimulated enough
By Mike Bird
A time traveler from 1999 would find some familiar comforts in 2019: overalls have made a comeback, Pokémon is wildly popular and interest rates in Japan are still stuck around zero.
The apparent continuity—in economic policy as well as fashion—isn’t all it seems. The simple narrative that Japan has pursued over two decades of uninterrupted stimulus hides several changes in monetary policy. More worryingly for investors, the tendency of Japan’s fiscal guardians to run policy too tight shows little sign of fading.
The Bank of Japan’s stop-start approach is most obvious in the fact that it has actually raised interest rates three times since 1999: in 2000, 2006 and 2007. It was slower than its global peers to unleash the monetary bazooka following the financial crisis, with its balance sheet remaining roughly flat between 2005 and 2012. Even the idea that it has since been on an asset-buying spree needs more nuance. The BOJ has slowed its pace of government bond purchases to less than 30 trillion yen ($270.95 billion) a year, still hefty but far below its official target of 80 trillion yen.
If Japanese monetary policy has been less loose than assumed, the Ministry of Finance should shoulder more blame for the lack of a sustained recovery. Its consistent push for austere policies might seem sensible, with a government debt pile climbing toward 250% of GDP. But the government’s net interest payments peaked as a proportion of its revenue in the 1980s, and currently run at a fraction of 1% of Japanese economic output—a burden the nation can easily bear.
In trying to avoid a debt disaster that has never come, Japan’s fiscal authorities have fueled the slow-burning crisis of the last 20 years: persistently low demand, stagnant wages and rock-bottom inflation expectations. Corporate goods prices rose by just 0.6% in the year to January, according to data released Wednesday, the slowest increase in two years.
The past is present: a Pikachu Carnival Parade in Yokohama, Japan, in 2017. Photo: Akio Kon/Bloomberg News
There is some good news. Basic wage growth is now at its highest since the late 1990s. Women have entered the workforce in droves and the number of job vacancies per applicant has reached multidecade highs. Corporate governance reforms offer some hope for Japanese stocks, currently trading at their cheapest in six years.
Investors may remain reticent about Japan until policy makers show they are willing to change.
The current plan to raise the country’s consumption tax in October—a move that’s likely to crimp demand—isn’t encouraging. Unless Japan’s bureaucrats start working in closer harmony, its experiment with zero interest rates could stretch well into a third decade.
WHY A BOMB LIKE THE ONE THAT BLEW UP MARKETS IN 2008 MAY BE TICKING RIGHT NOW / MARKET WATCH
| Etiquetas: Derivatives, Financial Markets, Investment Strategies, Leveraged Loans, Stock Markets
Why a bomb like the one that blew up markets in 2008 may be ticking right now
It’s been a banner year for stocks already. In fact, if we could just shut the whole thing down for the next 10 months, we’d be looking at double-digits returns on the S&P 500 SPX, +0.39% for 2019.
No complaints with that kind of annual performance.
Alas, it doesn’t work that way, and, needless to say, there are plenty of things that could go sideways before the bell rings in 2020. One of the risks could come from a familiar source: leveraged loans.
Read: Leveraged loans are in uncharted territory and that’s a big risk, Moody’s says
In our call of the day, Satyajit Das, a former banker who was once hailed as one of the world’s 50 most influential financial figures, says we could be facing a bomb similar to the one that exploded in the market a decade a year ago.
“Financial markets have short memories,” Das wrote in an opinion piece for Bloomberg over the weekend. “Of late, they’ve convinced themselves that collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are much safer instruments than the collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, on which they’re based and which helped precipitate the 2008 crisis. They’re wrong — and dangerously so.”
CLOs are similar to CDOs, in that each pools multiple loans to create synthetic, bond-like investments. It’s wonky stuff, but, basically, CLOs are set up to be a safer way to increase the leverage on a portfolio of debt. Instead of mortgages, subprime and otherwise, in CDOs, CLOs repackage corporate loans, and consumer credit, such as car loans.
“Nevertheless, many risks remain,” Das warned. “How safe or not CLOs are is contingent on several factors: the credit quality of the underlying loans — as judged by the risk of default and the extent of loss if there is a default — as well as the correlation between default and losses within the portfolio.”
There’s currently $700 billion in outstanding CLOs around the world right now, with annual new issues of more than $100 billion, similar to what we saw in the infamous subprime CDOs in 2008.
Das said many aspects of the risks aren’t fully understood. For instance, the credit quality of loans packaged in most CLOs is below investment grade and the borrowers are highly leveraged, which increase the risk of higher losses.
“Investors assume that the portfolios are safer because they’re diversified,” he wrote. “Yet, relative to mortgages, corporate-loan portfolios typically are made up of fewer and larger loans, which increases concentration risk. Leveraged loans are highly sensitive to economic conditions and defaults may be correlated, with many loans experiencing problems simultaneously.”
As we’ve seen before, the nasty unwind can spiral out of control quickly in the face of a downturn.
“The risk is that CLOs will create adverse feedback loops,” Das said. “Falling prices, rising spreads and tightening credit availability will cause credit markets to seize up. Tighter credit will feed into the real economy, setting off losses, selling and price declines.” That’s when the fear contagion kicks in, he continued, as the financial position of banks is questioned and depositors refuse to fund banks.
“There are too many parallels to 2008 for comfort. Investors, many with uncertain expertise and weak holding power, have increased their exposure in the search for higher returns,” Das warned. “Built into this speculative episode, like its predecessors, is a euphoric flight from reality and a blindness to risks that continue to rise.”
Looks like that “blindness to risks” is about to spill over into Monday’s session, as stocks are setting up for a nice start to the week.
THE LIBERTARIAN FANTASIES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES / TH...
HOW VENEZUELA ALIGNED THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE / GE...
THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF JAPAN´S 20 YEARS WITH ZER...
WHY A BOMB LIKE THE ONE THAT BLEW UP MARKETS IN 20...
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Effect on Respiratory Function of the General Adult by Gait Training Based on the Way in a Speed Pattern
속도 방식에 따른 보행훈련이 일반 성인의 호흡기능에 미치는 영향
Jeong, Hyung-Yoon (Physical therapy center, Bu-an Dream Hospital) ;
Cho, Woon-Soo (Department of physical therapy, Nambu University) ;
Choi, Ah-young (Department of physical therapy, Nambu University) ;
Kim, Yong-Seong (Department of physical therapy, Nambu University)
정형윤 (부안 드림병원 물리치료실) ;
조운수 (남부대학교 물리치료학과) ;
최아영 (남부대학교 물리치료학과) ;
김용성 (남부대학교 물리치료학과)
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gait training based on the way in a speed pattern on the respiratory function of general adults. A total of 37 people were divided into three groups to conduct fast, standard, and interval gait training. For gait training, a treadmill was used. Three groups were trained for 60 minutes, three times per week, for a period of 6 weeks. Inspiration pressure, maximum inspiration volume, and the size of diaphragm movement were measured. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to compare times, groups, and interactions. For inspiratory pressure, maximum inspiration volume, and size changes in diaphragm movement, there were significant differences depending on the time and interaction between times and groups. For size changes in diaphragm's movement, there was a significant difference between interval gait training group and standard gait training group. Therefore, interval gait training had effects on size changes in diaphragm movement.
Diaphragm movement;Gait training;Inspiration pressure;Inspiration volume;Respiratory function
Supported by : 남부대학교
T. Troosters, R. Casaburi, R. Gosselink, D. Marc, "Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease", American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol.172, No.1, pp.19-38, 2005. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1164/rccm.200408-1109SO https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.200408-1109SO
R. P. Onders, M. Elmo, C. Kaplan, B. Katirji, R. Schilz, "Extended Use of Diaphragm Pacing in Patients with Unilateral or Bilateral Diaphragm Dysfunction: A New Therapeutic Option", Surgery, Vol.156, No.4, pp.776-786, 2014. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2014.07.021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2014.07.021
H. Kaneko, M. Otuska, Y. Kawashima, H. Sato, "The Effect of Upper Chest Wall Restriction on Diaphragmatic Function", Journal of Physical Therapy Science, Vol.22, No.4, pp.375-380, 2010. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1589/jpts.22.375 https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.22.375
K. Kim, R. J. Park, & S. S. Bae, "Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise ; Maximal Voluntary Contraction" , J Kor Soc Phys Ther, Vol.17, No.3, pp. 311-327, 2005.
P. W. Hodges, S. C. Gandevia, "Changes in Intra-Abdominal Pressure during Postural and Respiratory Activation of the Human Diaphragm", Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol.89, No.3, pp.967-976, 2000. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1152/jappl.2000.89.3.967 https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.2000.89.3.967
S. H. Kim, J. H. Yoon, & H. H. Lee, "Analysis of Energy Expenditure According to Variable Speed and Stride Length During Treadmill Walking", Journal of Korea Sports Medicine, Vol.23, No.3, pp.293-299, 2005.
S. H. Cha, Y. S. Ji, Y. K. Jeon, & D. B. Lee, "Change of Cardiovascular Function to Walking Type", Journal of the Korean Society for Wellness, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 49-59, 2015.
H. I. Lee, "The Effect of Artificial Change of Velocity in Walking Exercise on Energy Consumption, Oxygen Consumption, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Awareness of Exercise and Respiratory Exchange Ratio", Kun-kook University, Dissertation of Master's Degree, 2015.
S. N. Nam, & M. J. Sung, "The Study for Treadmill Exercise using Virtual Reality Simulation Program View of the Physiology", The Korean Journal of Physical Education, Vol.44, No.5, pp. 391-399, 2005.
K. Yaffe, D. Barnes, M. Nevitt, L. Y. Lui, & K. Covinsky, "A Prospective Study of Physical Activity and Cognitive Decline in Eldery Women; Women Who Walk", Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol.161, No.14, pp. 1703-1708, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.161.14.1703
J. K. Jun, S. K. Lee, & H. G. Park, "Cardiorepiratory Responses to the Types and Speeds of Walking", Exercise Science, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 289-300, 2004.
H. G. Kang, J. B. Dingwell, "Separating the Effects of Age and Walking Speed on Gait Variability", Gait & Posture, Vol.27, No.4, pp.572-577, 2008. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2007.07.009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2007.07.009
M. J. Chung, M. J. J. Wang, "The Change of Gait Parameters during Walking at Different Percentage of Preferred Walking Speed for Healthy Adults Aged 20-60 Years", Gait & Posture, Vol.31, No.1, pp.131-135, 2010. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.09.013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.09.013
H. C. Lee, "A Study of Healthy Promotion of Aged People by Analysis of a Gait", Seo-nam University, Dissertation of Master's Degree, 2005.
J. W. Yoon, "The Effect of Core Stability Exercise for Inspiratory Competence in Patient with Stroke", Yong-in University, Dissertation of Master's Degree, 2013.
M. S. Kang, "The Effect of Exercise Intervention Method on Diaphragm Movement and Respiration Function of Child with Cerebral Palsy", Yong-in University, Dissertation of Doctoral Degree, 2015.
W. K. Kim, "The Effects of Cardiorespiratory Response and Energy Economy to Walking Exercise with Added Diet Shoe Weight, and 8 Weeks Walking Exercise", Korea Sports Research, Vol.16, No.4, pp. 113-122, 2005.
G. C. Lee, & Y. H. Joo, "The Effects on Body Composition, Physical Strength and Cardiopulmonary of Middle-men of Aerobic Exercise", Theses Collection, Vol.24, pp. 519-536, 2002.
J. E. Cho, "Effects of Inspiratory Muscle Training on Inspiratory Function, Diaphragm Thickness, Walking Endurance, and Fatigue in Patients with Chronic Stroke", Sam-yook University, Dissertation of Master's Degree, 2016.
M. Y. Jang, & G. C. Kang, "The Effects of Prolonged Training Cardiorespiratory Function and Muscular Power & Muscular Endurance on the Performance of a Long Distance Runners", Korean Journal of Physical Education, Vol.40, No.3, pp. 731-746, 2001.
C. K. Won, "The Effect of Complex Training on Muscle Strength and Cardiorespiratory of High School Sprinters", Mok-won University, Dissertation of Master's Degree, 2011.
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Paul Alan Laughlin's
Biographical Page
(Please scroll down.)
Both a program of study and a career in any
academic field is called a "curriculum,"which is a
Latin term meaning "a circular course." It is a good word,
for any intellectual pursuit worth its salt will bring us back
to the perfect wisdom with which we started,
yet enhanced somehow by the laps we've made.
- Sri Abhidharma Satyananda
(Swami Mahajnana)
Dr. Laughlin is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio, where he taught Comparative Religions and American Religious History, with a concentration in 19th Century American Metaphysical Religions. A native of Northern Kentucky, he is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Cincinnati in classical Latin and Greek studies, and holds the Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees in Religion from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Laughlin has published numerous books and articles on a wide range of topics in religious studies, his most recent major projects being Remedial Christianity: What Every Believer Should Know about the Faith, but Probably Doesn’t (Polebridge Press, 2000), and Getting Oriented: What Every Christian Should Know about Eastern Religions, but Probably Doesn't (Polebridge Press, 2005). A former United Methodist minister and now an ordained Unity minister and an accomplished jazz pianist, Dr. Laughlin is a frequent guest speaker, workshop leader, and musician at churches and conferences all over the country. Paul is enjoying his retirement with his wife Donna in Upper Arlington (Columbus), Ohio. They are both life-long amateur "ham" radio operators (N8ZQ and WA3ZBU, respectively), and maintain an elaborate radio "shack" in their home. As for Paul's age, let's just say that he was born in the Chinese Year of the Dog.
For a more detailed account of his career, see his curriculum vitae (Latin for "more than you want to know") here.
Up to Top of Page
Back to Paul's Home Page
Page Last Updated: March 13, 2006
Webmaster: Paul Alan Laughlin
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Words A—Z
Luminous Connections
: to join (yourself) with another person, group, etc., in order to get or give support
Source: www.merriam-webster.com
Ally (v.): 14th century, Middle English alien, from Anglo-French alier, from Latin alligare “to bind to,” from ad + ligare “to bind” (related to ligature).
“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.”
Rumi (1207-1273, 13th century Persian mystic, Sufi master, and poet who continues to have an enduring influence in the US and around the world)
Bio Source:
www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140414-americas-best-selling-poet
“There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965, British, journalist, historian and prime minister, who rallied his people during WWII and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory)
www.biography.com/people/winston-churchill-9248164
“The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.”
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971, born Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian, ethicist, public intellectual, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years; also best known for writing the “Serenity Prayer.”)
www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/05/Obama.theologian/
“There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematician that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one.”
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1926, one of the dominating figures of the London literary scene in the early twentieth century)
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/g-k-chesterton
“A woman watches her body uneasily, as though it were an unreliable ally in the battle for love.”
Leonard Cohen (b. 1934, Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and novelist, who explored religion, politics, loneliness, sexuality, and personal relationships)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen
“When black women are down with you and in your corner, you have an ally that will move Heaven and Earth.”
Tyler Perry (b. 1969, American actor, producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, specializing in the gospel genre)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Perry
“I realized quickly what Mandela and Tambo meant to ordinary Africans. It was a place where they could come and find a sympathetic ear and a competent ally, a place where they would not be either turned away or cheated, a place where they might actually feel proud to be represented by men of their own skin color.”
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013, South African activist and former president, who helped bring an end to apartheid and was a global advocate for human rights)
www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela
— G.K. Chesterton
Every once in a while I have the opportunity to go shop at a really great authentic farmer’s market, which are chock-full of not only great nutritious foods, but also great salt-of-the Earth knowledge.
One of my stomping grounds is run by these wonderful women who make and sell their honey, jams, home-made quilts; grow their own organic produce, and produce their own organic soaps.
The first time I went, I have to admit, I felt a little lost. For some reason, it took me a bit to understand all of what I was seeing. But, the more I visited the more I began to ask questions, and these women began to share some of their secrets; like how to make kale chips, or that light blue eggs have much less cholesterol than whites or browns. (And I didn’t even know there was any such thing as light blue eggs.)
Trish, who sold a plethora of local honey, had different variations from derived from the nectar of holly, wild flowers, or orange blossoms. She also had a blend of honey from all the four seasons, which I purchased to guard against allergies. In addition, she combined her honey with pecans or with garlic.
Trish said garlic by itself boots our immune systems, and so did honey, but when garlic allies with honey their potency multiplies ten thousand fold.
That’s why G.K. Chesterton’s quote so resonates. When we find our beloveds, whether they are family members, soul mates, or communities we can then ally our capacities to create and to love at exponential proportions. And when we do we can accomplish anything.
Stay well, strong and curious, sojourners!
Miraculously Yours, Tonya
Explore Related Words:
Acquaint
© 2015 LUMINOUS WORDS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL CONTENT IS ORIGINAL UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION.
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History of Randolph County, Missouri
664 HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY and stock raising until his death in 1899. Mrs. Mikel survives and makes her home with her son, Charles W. There were the following children in the family: Charles, of this review; Robert, of Moberly; James, of Marshalltown, Mo.; Bessie, deceased; Annie, the wife of Frank Cobb, of Moberly; Thomas, deceased; one child that died in infancy; Bessie J., deceased; John W., of Moberly; and Jessie, the wife of Harry Miles, of Granite City, Ill. Charles W. Mikel was reared on the farm and attended the district school and later the high school in Huntsville. Until he was 24 years old, he remained at home helping his father on the farm. He then engaged in the livery business at Renick where he remained until 1907. That year, Mr. Mikel came to Moberly and entered the employ of the Brown Shoe Company; he started in at a dollar a day and was advanced to fore- man and when he resigned in 1919 he was getting a salary of $200 a month. That year he opened a brokerage office at Room 200, Tedford Building, Moberly, where he has since been engaged. Sept. 10, 1902, Mr. Mikel was married to Miss Cynthia A. Patton, the daughter of John and Missouri Ann (Carney) Patton, both natives of Randolph County. Mr. Patton was one of the early settlers here, the patent to his land west of Huntsville being signed by President Andrew Jackson. Mr. Patton was a veteran of the Civil War. Mrs. Mikel died April 12, 1919 and was buried at Fort Henry. She was the mother of the following children: Leon, deceased; Harold and Marjory, both at home. Mr. Mikel is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Modern Wood- men; he belongs to the Christian church and is a Republican. He is a wide awake business man who is making good in his present business and is a man who supports all movements for the development and im- provement of Moberly and Randolph County. Lute A. Malone, one of the prosperous and substantial farmers of Jackson township, is a native son of Randolph County. He was born on a farm five miles south of Huntsville, Nov. 2, 1866, and is a son of Thomas and Malinda (Jackson) Malone, both also natives of Randolph County. Thomas Malone was born in 1845 and his wife in 1844 and they were married in this county Sept. 21, 1865. The father was reared and edu- cated here and was a general farmer and stock raiser. He owned 80 acres of land south of Huntsville, where he lived until 1907, when he re- tired and went to live with his children. He died in 1917. He was a
Title History of Randolph County, Missouri
Creator Waller, Alexander H.
Subject Randolph County (Mo.)--History
Randolph County (Mo.)--Biography
Source Topeka : Historical Publishing Company, 1920.
County Randolph County (Mo.)
Coverage Missouri -- Randolph County;
Contributing Institution Missouri State Library
Copy Request Contact Missouri State Library at (573) 751-3615 or libref@sos.mo.gov.
Transcript 664 HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY and stock raising until his death in 1899. Mrs. Mikel survives and makes her home with her son, Charles W. There were the following children in the family: Charles, of this review; Robert, of Moberly; James, of Marshalltown, Mo.; Bessie, deceased; Annie, the wife of Frank Cobb, of Moberly; Thomas, deceased; one child that died in infancy; Bessie J., deceased; John W., of Moberly; and Jessie, the wife of Harry Miles, of Granite City, Ill. Charles W. Mikel was reared on the farm and attended the district school and later the high school in Huntsville. Until he was 24 years old, he remained at home helping his father on the farm. He then engaged in the livery business at Renick where he remained until 1907. That year, Mr. Mikel came to Moberly and entered the employ of the Brown Shoe Company; he started in at a dollar a day and was advanced to fore- man and when he resigned in 1919 he was getting a salary of $200 a month. That year he opened a brokerage office at Room 200, Tedford Building, Moberly, where he has since been engaged. Sept. 10, 1902, Mr. Mikel was married to Miss Cynthia A. Patton, the daughter of John and Missouri Ann (Carney) Patton, both natives of Randolph County. Mr. Patton was one of the early settlers here, the patent to his land west of Huntsville being signed by President Andrew Jackson. Mr. Patton was a veteran of the Civil War. Mrs. Mikel died April 12, 1919 and was buried at Fort Henry. She was the mother of the following children: Leon, deceased; Harold and Marjory, both at home. Mr. Mikel is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Modern Wood- men; he belongs to the Christian church and is a Republican. He is a wide awake business man who is making good in his present business and is a man who supports all movements for the development and im- provement of Moberly and Randolph County. Lute A. Malone, one of the prosperous and substantial farmers of Jackson township, is a native son of Randolph County. He was born on a farm five miles south of Huntsville, Nov. 2, 1866, and is a son of Thomas and Malinda (Jackson) Malone, both also natives of Randolph County. Thomas Malone was born in 1845 and his wife in 1844 and they were married in this county Sept. 21, 1865. The father was reared and edu- cated here and was a general farmer and stock raiser. He owned 80 acres of land south of Huntsville, where he lived until 1907, when he re- tired and went to live with his children. He died in 1917. He was a
- Frontispiece
Index to Illustrations and an Illustration
Chapter II. Indians
Chapter III. Early Explorations and Settlements
Chapter IV. Louisiana Purchase
Chapter V. Admission and Organization of State
Chapter VI. Early Conditions
Chapter VII. Early Settlements in the Boonslick Country
Chapter VIII. Characteristics and Customs of Pioneers
Chapter IX. Pioneer Settlers of Randolph County
Chapter X. Organization of Randolph County
Chapter XI. Early Wars
Chapter XII. Physical Features and Natural Resources
Chapter XIII. Township Organization
Chapter XIV. Townships
Chapter XV. Townships, Continued
Chapter XVI. Townships, Continued. Moberly
Chapter XVII. Townships, Continued, Huntsville and Salt Spring Township
Chapter XVIII. Medical Profession
Chapter XIX. Bench and Bar of Randolph County
Chapter XX. Early Churches
Chapter XXI. Transportation
Chapter XXII. Miscellaneous
Chapter XXIII. Biographical
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Shabbat Ki Tisa
February 23, 2019: Parashah Ki Tisa
Torah: (Shemot) Exodus 30:11 – 34:35
Halftorah: 1 Kings 18:1-39
Read the Commentary
Vision for Israel- providing humanitarian aid for the people of Israel
find out more info...
Olga Meshoe counters arguments that Israel is an apartheid state
i-Africa: Bringing Israeli Innovation to African Villages
Origins of the Word Palestine - A History Lesson - must be learned
Honest Reporting - Defending Israel from Media bias
Israel Today: News from Israel
The new face of IDF - Israeli Defense Forces
Miqedem - New Messianic music
Israel uncovered Hezbollah terror tunnels at the border with Lebanon
December 10: Archaeologists: We’ve located biblical city of Sodom
Archaeologists believe they have found the ancient city of Sodom, whose destruction is described in the Bible. They say it was caused by a meteorite. Archaeologists excavating the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam in Jordan believe it to be the biblical city of Sodom, destroyed some 3,700 years ago.
Kristallnacht - Night of Broken Glass
November 9/10, 1938
News that I would have never wanted to present:
Pittsburgh shooting Massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue; 11 dead, may their memory be for a blessing: Police audio of capture - BBC News.
WATCH: Remembering the 1973 Yom Kippur War
The Israelis who sacrificed everything to save the only Jewish nation: between 2,521 and 2,800 were killed in action, an additional 7,250 to 8,800 soldiers were wounded and some 293 Israelis were captured.
September 5/6 - WATCH: Remembering 11 Israeli Athletes Murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics
The Israeli athletes who were massacred: wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, weightlifter Yossef Romano, sharpshooting coach Kehat Shorr, track and field coach Amitzur Shapira, fencing master Andre Spitzer, weightlifting judge Yakov Springer, wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund, wrestlers Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin, and weightlifters David Berger and Ze'ev Friedman.
August 15 - WATCH: Israel on alert on northern border
Tuesday marked 12 years to the day that the Second Lebanon War ended, and trouble is brewing again on that border, with the war in Syria creating a whole new set of security challenges. A weapons pipeline extending from Iran all the way to Lebanon has rearmed Hezbollah.
Weekly Parashah
— Parashat Ki Tisa — “When You Elevate”
Haftarah: 1 Kings 18:1-39
"You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life. It is these that bear witness of Me [Yeshua]" John 5:39
"YESHUA — THE NEW MISHKAN"
This Parashah starts with a concept that is lost in our society.
Shemot 30:13-16: “This they shall give, everyone who passes among those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary; a half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Everyone who passes among those who are counted, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for your souls. And you shall take the atonement money of the people of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial to the people of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.”
This passage says that everyone should give an offering to the Lord, but not only that, it says that we all are equal in God's eyes. We all have to contribute equally for the maintaining of our place of worship, the place from where we receive spiritual nourishment, the rich should not give more and the poor should not give less. In our society we think that the one who has more should contribute more, but this was not so under the Mosaic covenant. Everyone had to be an equal partner in building and maintaining the Mishkan, regardless of his social or economic status, by offering annually a half a shekel.
But this offering was not an ordinary offering. The beginning verse says in Hebrew: “Ki tisa et-rosh bnei Yisrael” literally: “when you elevate the heads of the sons of Yisrael” implying that the entire nation was to be “elevated” to a spiritual level in which the offering was to be made for a sacred cause. The entire nation of Yisrael was to come together for a common goal, to make atonement for their souls. But why half a shekel? The rabbis’ interpretation is that no Jew is complete unless he joins with others. As long as we are in isolation, each of us is only “half” thus lacking a spiritual completeness.
On the same line of thought, the Jewish apostles thought that we, too, as believers, are to come together for the uplifting of one another and not be "half shekel" believers. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16) “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging [one another].” (Hebrew 10:24) We need the support and the encouragement of one another. God did not give us the “half a shekel” to hoard it for ourselves, but to use it for His glory. If we receive equal blessings from our place of worship shouldn't we equally participate in building it?
Being equal in supporting our place of worship does not mean that we have equal calling, for the Torah further says in Shemot 31:2-3: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Yehudah. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship.” God called by name and gave Bezalel ben Uri, ben Hur, a godly spirit, with wisdom and understanding to build the Mishkan, its vessels and the priestly garments. So, too, you are called by name to participate in the building of the new Temple of the body of believers: “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Messiah.” (Ephesians 4:11-12) The true enjoyment of our God given gifts comes not from possessing them, but from using them as God intended — in things that count for eternity, in the service for the saints, for one another.
Then the Torah introduces another interesting concept somehow also lost in our society. Shemot 31:13: “However My Shabbats you shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am YHVH (Yehovah) Who makes you holy.” “However,” implies that it does not matter how worthy is the work of building the Mishkan it must be stopped and not done on Shabbat. It implies that obeying God’s commandments is more important than the object itself. The holiness comes from God - He makes us holy - not the building, not the altar or the priestly vestments. He is Holy and He is the only One who is Holy, and other persons, places or things are only holy as He has touched them, choosing them for His service. For example, Torah is not holy because of the parchment that it is written on, but it is holy because in it we find God's holy words. Oftentimes we elevate persons, projects and objects to the status of idols, disregarding God's priorities.
One such priority is to observe the Shabbat in which we reconnect with God, in which we put aside all earthly preoccupations and concentrate on the spiritual ones. Shemot 31:16: “And the sons of Israel shall observe the Shabbat, to celebrate the Shabbat throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.” Which in Hebrew is: “V’shamru Bnei Yisrael et haShabbat la’asot et haShabbat l’dorotam brit olam” — this Hebrew line became a beautiful worship song for the Friday night service. Please click here to hear the chanting of this "V'Shamru" prayer.
From other Biblical prophetic passages this word “everlasting” means forever - during the Biblical times, during the Talmudic times, during the New Covenant times, during the Millennium and during the Eternity. Our goal as individuals and as a congregation of Messianic believers is to bring the Good News to the Jewish people, and the first step in doing that is to observe the Shabbat, “the most vital force in Jewish life.” Without observing the Shabbat, we will always be outsiders, trying to “convert” them to a foreign religion.
But what does it mean to observe the Shabbat? It means to worship the Lord on the day that He chose, on the day that He sanctified, as it is explained in Isaiah 58:13-14: “If you restrain your foot because of the Shabbat, from pursuing your own pleasures on My holy day; and call the Shabbat a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor pursuing your own pleasures, nor speaking of vain matters; Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Ya’akov your father.” It is a day to put aside all vain preoccupations, the profane - don’t even talk about them - and concentrate on doing the sacred by worshiping the Creator of the universe, and you will be rewarded with peace, joy and the heritage of Ya’akov. Why Ya’akov and not Avraham? Because from Ya’akov came the twelve tribes which formed the Jewish nation. Avraham had Yitzhak and Ishmael, and Yitzhak had Ya’akov and Esav, but Ya’akov, who later was renamed Yisrael, is the true father of the Jewish nation and thus the Jewish heritage. Observing the Shabbat not only preserves this Jewish heritage — the rich root of the olive tree of which Rav Shaul writes in the letter to the believers in Rome, chapter 11 — but also becomes a witnessing tool for God as the creator of the universe, for the concept of Shabbat comes only from the Torah.
But, just as in our day-and-age, while we are in a spiritual uplifting state and delight ourselves in the Lord, haSatan is prowling around to see if he might somehow devour your joy (1 Peter 5:8), so, too, the Israelis experienced such an attack. While Moshe was on top of the mountain talking with God, something incomprehensible happened among the Jewish people, the sin of the Golden Calf. A cursory reading may seem as mass idol worship, but a careful analysis of the text reveals a different story.
Written by Katriel
Is Messianic Judaism Biblical Judaism?
What is the Jewish Calendar?
The Jewish Holy Days are the seven God's Holy Days.
The Shabbat is the seventh day which God sanctified and set apart for worship.
Tzedakah, the righteous giving.
Since all English Bibles are translations and thus reflect the translator' understanding of the original languages, culture, and theology, this translation reflects the Jewishness of the faith by incorporating the Jewish names, Jewish customs and traditions.
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The Commies Are Here!
On a nondescript evening in 1775, the name Paul Revere became immortalized when he set about his famous ride to warn one and all that the redcoats were coming. A clear and present danger was evident, and Paul Revere took it upon himself to do his utmost to warn his countrymen, hoping that they would rally, mount a defense, and do something other than roll over and show the whites of their bellies.
It is far easier to point to a physical threat, warn people, and have them respond, than to warn of a theoretical threat that you see growing and metastasizing but which, as yet, poses no imminent threat.
Granted, it was much harder to warn people about a resurgence of Communism twenty years ago, especially when you insisted that the resurgence would take place in the Land of the Free, rather than some former Communist bloc country somewhere far away. Although still largely skeptical, the mockery and derision seems to have lessened because people can’t deny what they are seeing with their own eyes any longer.
What seemed like a far-fetched fairy tale less than a decade ago has become a disturbingly vivid reality. Communism has been re-branded, and is now the darling of the young, the intellectual class, and anyone who likes the idea of free stuff without once wondering where all this free stuff is coming from or who is paying for it.
Before having to answer a dozen e-mails about how it’s not Communism but rather Democratic Socialism, as someone who grew up in a Communist country, please understand that the difference between the two is whether or not absolute power has been attained. As has been the case time and again, they play nice until they no longer have to play nice.
Once a Democratic Socialist attains power, that’s when they pull off the mask to reveal the full-fledged Communist underneath. The notion of the newly branded Communism is so appealing to the unmotivated and lazy that save for the shenanigans of the Democratic National Committee, a man who didn’t hold a job until the age of 40 but who believes everything should be free, would have been the presidential nominee of said party.
Although I wish we still had enough time for me to say ‘the Commies are coming!’ the truth of it is that they’re already here, and with the aid of a whorish media more than happy to push their propaganda, and an entire generation ignorant of what Communism really is, open Socialists, Communists, and haters of freedom are being elected to office in the house of representatives, as well as in the senate of these United States.
If we continue to be indifferent to the ever growing embrace of this dangerous ideology, it is inevitable that the boot of raging impotence will be firmly planted upon our necks sooner rather than later. Everyone wakes up eventually. For most, it’s simply too late.
Posted by Michael Boldea Jr. at 10:01 AM
The Macabre & The Grotesque!
Worse By Far!
A Recent Interview
Foolish Sheep and Wounded Shepherds!
Tightening Screws & Silent Sheep
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More info on Native Americans in the United States
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Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States , including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii . They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. The terminology used to refer to Native Americans is controversial.
European colonization of the Americas led to centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Most of the written historical record about Native Americans was made by Europeans after initial contact. Native Americans lived in hunter/farmer subsistence societies with significantly different value systems than those of the European colonists. The differences in culture between the Native Americans and Europeans, and the shifting alliances among different nations of each culture, led to great misunderstandings and long lasting cultural conflicts.
Estimates of the pre-Columbian population of what today constitutes the United States of America vary significantly, ranging from 1 million to 18 million.
After the colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the United States of America, the ideology of Manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. In the late 18th century, George Washington and Henry Knox conceived of the idea of "civilizing" Native Americans in preparation of American citizenship.
Assimilation (whether voluntary as with the Choctaw,
or forced) became a consistent policy through American administrations. In the early 19th century, most Native Americans of the American Deep South were removed from their homelands to accommodate American expansion with some groups presently residing in Alabama, Florida, Lousianna, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. By the American Civil War, many Native American nations had been relocated west of the Mississippi River. Major Native American resistance took place in the form of "Indian Wars," which were frequent up until the 1890s.
Native Americans today have a unique relationship with the United States of America because they can be found as members of nations, tribes, or bands of Native Americans who have sovereignty or independence from the government of the United States. Their societies and cultures still flourish amidst a larger immigrated American populace of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European peoples. Native Americans who were not already U.S. citizens were granted citizenship in 1924 by the Congress of the United States.
Further information: Models of migration to the New World, Paleo-Indians, Lithic period in Canada and Pre-Columbian
According to the still-debated New World migration model, a migration of humans from Eurasia to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which formerly connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait . Falling sea levels created the Bering land bridge that joined Siberia to Alaska , which began about 60,000 - 25,000 years ago. The minimum time depth by which this migration had taken place is confirmed at 12,000 years ago, with the upper bound (or earliest period) remaining a matter of some unresolved contention. These early Paleoamericans soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. The North American climate finally stabilized by 8000 BCE; climatic conditions were very similar to today's. This led to widespread migration, cultivation of crops, and subsequently a dramatic rise in population all over the Americas.
The big-game hunting culture labeled as the Clovis culture is primarily identified with its production of fluted projectile points. The culture received its name from artifacts found near Clovis, New Mexico ; the first evidence of this tool complex was excavated in 1932. The Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and also appeared in South America. The culture is identified by the distinctive Clovis point, a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute, by which it was inserted into a shaft. Dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B.P. (roughly 9100 to 8850 BCE).
Numerous Paleoindian cultures occupied North America, with some restricted to the Great Plains and Great Lakes of the modern United States of America and Canada , as well as adjacent areas to the west and southwest. The Folsom Tradition was characterized by use of Folsom points as projectile tips, and activities known from kill sites where slaughter and butchering of bison took place. Folsom tools were left behind between 9000 BCE and 8000 BCE. Poverty Point culture is an archaeological culture whose people inhabited the area of the lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf Coast. The culture thrived from 2200 BCE- 700 BCE, during the late Archaic period. Evidence of this culture has been found at more than 100 sites, from Poverty Point, Louisiana across a 100-mile range to the Jaketown Site near Belzoni, Mississippi .
According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation accounts. The Na-Dene people occupied much of northwest and central North America starting around 8000 BCE. They were the earliest ancestors of the Athabascan- speaking peoples, including the present-day and historical Navajo and Apache. Their villages were constructed with large multi-family dwellings, used seasonally. People did not live there year round, but for the summer to hunt and fish, and to gather food supplies for the winter. The Oshara Tradition people lived from 5500 BCE to 600 CE. The Southwestern Archaic Tradition was centered in north-central New Mexico , the San Juan Basin, the Rio Grande Valley, southern Colorado , and southeastern Utah .
The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures refers to the time period from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland" was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites dated between the Archaic period and the Mississippian cultures. The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE.
The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations, who were connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System. At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the Southeastern United States into the southeastern Canadian shores of Lake Ontario . Within this area, societies participated in a high degree of exchange with the highest amount of activity along the waterways serving as their major transportation routes. The Hopewell exchange system traded materials from all over the United States.
Coles Creek culture is an archaeological culture from the Lower Mississippi valley in the southern present-day United States. The period marked a significant change in the cultural history of the area. Population increased dramatically. There is strong evidence of a growing cultural and political complexity, especially by the end of the Coles Creek sequence. Although many of the classic traits of chiefdom societies were not yet manifested, by 1000 CE the formation of simple elite polities had begun. Coles Creek sites are found in Arkansas , Louisiana , Oklahoma , Mississippi , and Texas . It is considered ancestral to the Plaquemine culture.
Hohokam is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological traditions of the present-day American Southwest. Living as simple farmers, they raised corn and beans. The early Hohokam founded a series of small villages along the middle Gila River. The communities were located near good arable land, with dry farming common in the earlier years of this period. Wells, usually less than deep, were dug for domestic water supplies by 300 CE to 500 CE. Early Hohokam homes were constructed of branches bent in a semi-circular fashion and then covered with twigs, reeds and heavily applied mud and other materials at hand.
Although not as technologically advanced as the Mesoamerican civilizations further south, sophisticated pre-Columbian sedentary societies evolved in North America. The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of the Long House" was a politically advanced and unique social structure whose confederacy model contributed to political thinking during the later development of the democratic United States government. Their system of affiliation was a kind of federation, a departure from the strong monarchies from which the Europeans came. Long-distance trading did not prevent warfare among the indigenous peoples. For instance, archaeology and the tribes' oral histories have contributed to an understanding that the Iroquois' conducted invasions and warfare about 1200 CE against tribes in the Ohio River area of present-day Kentucky. Finally they drove many to migrate west to their historically traditional lands west of the Mississippi River. Tribes' originating in the Ohio Valley who moved west included the Osage, Kaw, Ponca and Omaha . By the mid-17th century, they had resettled in their historical lands in present-day Kansas , Nebraska , Arkansas and Oklahoma . The Osage warred with native Caddo-speaking Native Americans, displacing them in turn by the mid-18th century and dominating their new historical territories.
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name archeologists have given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies and mythology of the Mississippian culture, which coincided with the people's adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from 1200 CE to 1650 CE. Contrary to popular belief, this development appears to have no direct links to Mesoamerica. It developed independently, with sophistication based on the accumulation of maize surpluses, more dense population and specialization of skills. This Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the religion of the Mississippian peoples, and is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood.
The Mississippian culture created the largest earthworks in North America north of Mexico, most notably at Cahokia , based on a tributary of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. Its 10-story Monks Mound has a larger circumference than the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan or the Great Pyramid of Egypt . The six-square mile city complex was based on the people's cosmology and had more than 100 mounds, oriented to their sophisticated knowledge of astronomy. It included a Woodhenge , whose sacred cedar poles were placed to mark the summer and winter solstices and fall and spring equinoxes. Its peak population in 1250 CE of 30,000-40,000 people was not equalled by any city in the present-day United States until after 1800. In addition, Cahokia was a major regional chiefdom, with trade and tributary chiefdoms ranging from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
European explorations
Further information: European colonization of the Americas
After 1492 European exploration of the Americas revolutionized how the Old and New Worlds perceived themselves. One of the first major contacts, in what would be called the American Deep South, occurred when conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed in La Florida in April of 1513. Ponce de León was later followed by other Spanish explorers, such as Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539.
From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native Americans declined in the following ways: epidemic diseases brought from Europe; genocide and warfare at the hands of European explorers and colonists; displacement from their lands; internal warfare, enslavement; and a high rate of intermarriage. Most mainstream scholars believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives because of their lack of immunity to new diseases brought from Europe. With the rapid declines of some populations and continuing rivalries among their own nations, Native Americans sometimes re-organized to form new cultural groups, such as the Seminoles of Florida.
Impact on Native Populations
The lack of hard evidence or written records has made estimating the number of Native Americans living in what is today the United States of America before the arrival of the European explorers and settlers the subject of much debate. A low estimate arriving at around 1 million was first posited by anthropologist James Mooney in the 1890s, computing population density of each culture area based on its carrying capacity.
In 1965, American anthropologist Henry Dobyns published studies estimating the original population at 10 to 12 million. By 1983, however, he increased his estimates to 18 million. He took into account the mortality rates caused by infectious diseases of European explorers and settlers, against which Native Americans had no natural immunity. Dobyns combined the known mortality rates of these diseases among native people with reliable population records of the 19th century, to calculate the probable size of the original populations.
Chicken pox and measles, though common and rarely fatal among Europeans, often proved deadly to Native Americans. Smallpox proved particularly fatal to Native American populations. Epidemics often immediately followed European exploration and sometimes destroyed entire village populations. While precise figures are difficult to determine, some historians estimate that up to 80% of some Native populations died due to European diseases after first contact. One theory of Columbian exchange suggests explorers from the Christopher Columbus expedition contracted syphilis from indigenous peoples and carried it back to Europe, where it spread widely. Other researchers believe that the disease existed in Europe and Asia before Columbus and his men returned from exposure to indigenous peoples of the Americas, but that they brought back a more virulent form. (See Syphilis.)
In 1618–1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans. Historians believe Mohawk Native Americans were infected after contact with children of Dutch traders in Albany in 1634. The disease swept through Mohawk villages, reaching Native Americans at Lake Ontario in 1636, and the lands of the Iroquois by 1679, as it was carried by Mohawks and other Native Americans who traveled the trading routes. The high rate of fatalities caused breakdowns in Native American societies and disrupted generational exchanges of culture.
Between 1754 and 1763 many Native American tribes were involved in the French and Indian War/Seven Years War with French forces against British Colonial militias. Native Americans fought on both sides of the conflict over Western US Territories; the greater number of tribes, unwilling to be subjugated, fought with the French, while fewer tribes fought with the British to prove assimilation and loyalty in support of treaties, many of which were later dishonored. Though there is some evidence of biological warfare with pox infected blankets at Pontiac's Rebellion, the contact of trade and combat provided much greater exposure to disease.
Similarly, after initial direct contact with European explorers in the 1770s, smallpox rapidly killed at least 30% of Northwest Coast Native Americans. For the next 80 to 100 years, smallpox and other diseases devastated native populations in the region. Puget Sound area populations once as high as 37,000 were reduced to only 9,000 survivors by the time settlers arrived en masse in the mid-19th century.
Smallpox epidemics in 1780–1782 and 1837–1838 brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the Plains Indians. By 1832, the federal government finally established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans (The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832). It was the first program created to address a health problem of Native Americans.
Animal introductions
With the meeting of two worlds, animals, insects, and plants were exchanged between two. The horse, pig, and cow were all old world animals that were introduced to Native Americans who never knew such animals.
In the sixteenth century, Spaniards and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. The early American horse was game for the earliest humans and was hunted to extinction about 7,000 BC, just after the end of the last glacial period. The reintroduction of horses resulted in benefits to Native Americans. As they adopted the animals, they began to change their cultures in substantial ways, especially by extending their ranges. Some of the horses escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild.
The reintroduction of the horse to North America had a profound impact on Native American culture of the Great Plains. The tribes trained and used horses to ride and to carry packs or pull travois. They fully incorporated the use of horses into their societies, including expanding their territories, exchanging goods with neighboring tribes, hunting game (especially bison) and conducting warring raids.
Foundations for freedom
For some Europeans, Native American societies reminded them of a conception of a golden age known to them only in folk history.
The political theorist Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that the idea of freedom and democratic ideals was born in the Americas because "it was only in America" that Europeans from 1500 to 1776 knew of societies that were "truly free."
The Iroquois nations' political confederacy and democratic government have been credited as influences on the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.
Historians debate how much the colonists borrowed from existing Native American governmental models. Several founding fathers had contact with Native American leaders and had learned about their style of government. Prominent figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were more involved with their stronger and larger native neighbor—the Iroquois. John Rutledge of South Carolina in particular is said to have read lengthy tracts of Iroquoian law to the other framers, beginning with the words "We, the people, to form a union, to establish peace, equity, and order..."
Colonials revolt
During the American Revolution, the newly proclaimed United States competed with the British for the allegiance of Native American nations east of the Mississippi River. Most Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, hoping to use the American Revolutionary War to halt further colonial expansion onto Native American land. Many native communities were divided over which side to support in the war. The first native community to sign a treaty with the new United States Government was the Lenape. For the Iroquois Confederacy, the American Revolution resulted in civil war. The only Iroquois tribe to ally with the colonials were the Onondaga.
Frontier warfare during the American Revolution was particularly brutal, and numerous atrocities were committed by settlers and native tribes alike. Noncombatants suffered greatly during the war. Military expeditions on each side destroyed villages and food supplies to reduce the ability of people to fight, as in frequent raids in the Mohawk Valley and western New York. The largest of these expeditions was the Sullivan Expedition of 1779, in which American colonial troops destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages to neutralize Iroquois raids in upstate New York. The expedition failed to have the desired effect: Native American activity became even more determined.
The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris , through which they ceded vast Native American territories to the United States without informing the Native Americans, leading immediately to the Northwest Indian War. The United States initially treated the Native Americans who had fought with the British as a conquered people who had lost their lands. Although many of the Iroquois tribes went to Canada with the Loyalists, others tried to stay in New York and western territories and tried to maintain their lands. Nonetheless, the state of New York made a separate treaty with Iroquois and put up for sale of land that had previously been their territory. The state established a reservation near Syracuse for the Onondagas who had been allies of the colonists.
The United States was eager to expand, to develop farming and settlements in new areas, and to satisfy land hunger of settlers from New England and new immigrants. The national government initially sought to purchase Native American land by treaties. The states and settlers were frequently at odds with this policy.
Transmuted Native America
European nations sent Native Americans (sometimes against their will) to the Old World as objects of curiosity. They often entertained royalty and were sometimes prey to commercial purposes. Christianization of Native Americans was a charted purpose for some European colonies.
United States policy toward Native Americans had continued to evolve after the American Revolution. George Washington and Henry Knox believed that Native Americans were equals but that their society was inferior. Washington formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process.
Washington had a six-point plan for civilization which included,
1. impartial justice toward Native Americans
2. regulated buying of Native American lands
3. promotion of commerce
4. promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Native American society
5. presidential authority to give presents
6. punishing those who violated Native American rights.
Robert Remini, a historian, wrote that "once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans."
The United States appointed agents, like Benjamin Hawkins, to live among the Native Americans and to teach them how to live like whites.
Portrait of Native Americans from the Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Iroquois, and Muscogee tribes in American attire.
Photos date from 1868 to 1924.
In the late eighteenth century, reformers starting with Washington and Knox, supported educating native children, in efforts to "civilize" or otherwise assimilate Native Americans to the larger society (as opposed to relegating them to reservations). The Civilization Fund Act of 1819 promoted this civilization policy by providing funding to societies (mostly religious) who worked on Native American improvement.
After the American Civil War and Indian wars in the late 19th century, Native American boarding schools were established, which were often run primarily by or affiliated with Christian missionaries. At this time American society thought that Native American children needed to be acculturated to the general society. The boarding school experience often proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity and denied the right to practice their native religions, and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Native American identities and adopt European-American culture. There were documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse occurring at these schools.
Native Americans as American citizens
In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney expressed that since Native Americans were "free and independent people" that they could become U.S. citizens.
Taney asserted that Native Americans could be naturalized and join the "political community" of the United States.
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans. Prior to the passage of the act, nearly two-thirds of Native Americans were already U.S. citizens.
The earliest recorded date of Native Americans' becoming U.S. citizens was in 1831 when the Mississippi Choctaw became citizens after the United States Legislature ratified the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Under article XIV of that treaty, any Choctaw who elected not to move with the Choctaw Nation could become an American citizen when he registered and if he stayed on designated lands for five years after treaty ratification.
Through the years, Native Americans became US citizens by:
1. Treaty provision (as with the Mississippi Choctaw)
2. Registration and land allotment under the Dawes Act of February 8, 1887
3. Issuance of Patent in Fee Simple
4. Adopting Habits of Civilized Life
5. Minor Children
6. Citizenship by Birth
7. Becoming Soldiers and Sailors in the U.S. Armed Forces
8. Marriage to a US citizen
9. Special Act of Congress.
American expansion justification
In July 1845, the New York newspaper editor John L. O’Sullivan coined the phrase “Manifest Destiny,” to explain how the "design of Providence" supported the territorial expansion of the United States. Manifest Destiny had serious consequences for Native Americans since continental expansion implicitly meant the occupation of Native American land. Manifest Destiny was an explanation or justification for expansion and westward movement, or, in some interpretations, an ideology or doctrine which helped to promote the process of civilization. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious and certain. The term was first used primarily by Jacksonian Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory , the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession).
The age of Manifest Destiny, which came to be known as "Indian Removal", gained ground. Although some humanitarian advocates of removal believed that Native Americans would be better off moving away from whites, an increasing number of Americans regarded the natives as nothing more than "savages" who stood in the way of American expansion. Thomas Jefferson believed that while Native Americans were the intellectual equals of whites, they had to live like the whites or inevitably be pushed aside by them. Jefferson's belief, rooted in Enlightenment thinking, that whites and Native Americans would merge to create a single nation did not last, and he began to believe that the natives should emigrate across the Mississippi River and maintain a separate society.
Indian Appropriations Act of 1871
In 1871 Congress added a rider to the Indian Appropriations Act ending United States recognition of additional Native American tribes or independent nations, and prohibiting additional treaties.
U.S. government authorities entered into numerous treaties during this period but later violated many for various reasons. Other treaties were considered "living" documents whose terms could be altered. Major conflicts east of the Mississippi River include the Pequot War, Creek War, and Seminole Wars . Notably, a multi-tribal army led by Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, fought a number of engagements during the period 1811-12, known as Tecumseh's War. In the latter stages, Tecumseh's group allied with the British forces in the War of 1812 and was instrumental in the conquest of Detroit . St. Clair's Defeat (1791) was the worst U.S. Army defeat by Native Americans in U.S. history.
Native American Nations west of the Mississippi were numerous and were the last to submit to U.S. authority. Conflicts generally known as "Indian Wars" broke out between American government and Native American societies. The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) was one of the greatest Native American victories. Defeats included the Creek War of 1813-14, the Sioux Uprising of 1862, the Sand Creek Massacre (1864) and Wounded Knee in 1890. These conflicts were catalysts to the decline of dominant Native American culture. By 1872, the U.S. Army pursued a policy to exterminate all Native Americans unless or until they agreed to surrender and live on reservation "where they could be taught Christianity and agriculture."
Removals and reservations
In the nineteenth century, the incessant westward expansion of the United States incrementally compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west, often by force, almost always reluctantly. Native Americans believed this forced relocation illegal, given the Hopewell Treaty of 1785. Under President Andrew Jackson, United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans relocated to the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary and many Native Americans did remain in the East. In practice, great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties.
The most egregious violation of the stated intention of the removal policy took place under the Treaty of New Echota, which was signed by a dissident faction of Cherokees but not the elected leadership. President Jackson rigidly enforced the treaty, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees on the Trail of Tears. About 17,000 Cherokees, along with approximately 2,000 enslaved blacks held by Cherokees, were removed from their homes.
Native American Removal forced or coerced the relocation of major Native American groups in the Eastern United States , resulting directly and indirectly in the deaths of tens of thousands. Tribes were generally located to reservations where they could more easily be separated from traditional life and pushed into European-American society. Some southern states additionally enacted laws in the 19th century forbidding non-Native American settlement on Native American lands, with the intention to prevent sympathetic white missionaries from aiding the scattered Native American resistance.
Traditions of Native American Slavery
The majority of Native American tribes did practice some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America; but none exploited slave labor on a large scale. In addition, Native Americans did not buy and sell captives in the pre-colonial era, although they sometimes exchanged enslaved individuals with other tribes in peace gestures or in exchange for their own members. In fact, the word "slave" may not even accurately apply to these captive people.
The situation of enslaved Native Americans varied among the tribes. In many cases, enslaved captives were adopted into the tribes to replace warriors killed during a raid. Other tribes practiced debt slavery or imposed slavery on tribal members who had committed crimes; but this status was only temporary as the enslaved worked off their obligations to the tribal society.
Among some Pacific Northwest tribes, about a quarter of the population were slaves. Other slave-owning tribes of North America were, for example, Comanche of Texas, Creek of Georgia, the Pawnee, and Klamath.
European enslavement
When Europeans arrived as colonists in North America, Native Americans changed their practice of slavery dramatically. They found that British settlers, especially those in the southern colonies, purchased or captured Native Americans to use as forced labor in cultivating tobacco, rice, and indigo. Native Americans began selling war captives to whites rather than integrating them into their own societies. As the demand for labor in the West Indies grew with the cultivation of sugar cane, Europeans enslaved Native Americans for export to the "sugar islands." Accurate records of the numbers enslaved do not exist. Scholars estimate tens of thousands of Native Americans may have been enslaved by the Europeans.
The slave trade of Native Americans lasted only until around 1730, and it gave rise to a series of devastating wars among the tribes. The Indian wars of the early 18th century, combined with the increasing importation of African slaves, effectively ended the Native American slave trade by 1750. Colonists found it too easy for Native American slaves to escape, and the wars took the lives of numerous colonial slave traders. The remaining Native American groups banned together to face the Europeans from a position of strength. Many surviving Native American peoples of the southeast joined confederacies such as the Choctaw, the Creek, and the Catawba for protection.
Native American women were at risk for rape whether they were enslaved or not, as in many southern communities, there were a disproportionate number of men in the early colonial years. Both Native American and African enslaved women suffered rape and sexual harassment by slaveholders.
Native American adoption of African slavery
Native Americans resisted Anglo-American encroachment on their lands and maintained cultural ways. Native Americans interacted with enslaved Africans and African Americans on many levels. Over time all the cultures interracted. Native Americans began to slowly absorb white culture Native Americans shared some experiences with Africans, especially during the period when both were enslaved.
The five civilized tribes tried to gain power by owning slaves, as they assimilated some other European-American ways. Among the slave-owning families of the Cherokee, 78 percent claimed some white ancestry. The nature of the interactions among the peoples depended upon the historical character of the Native American groups, the enslaved people, and the European slaveholders. Native Americans often assisted runaway slaves. However, they also sold Africans to whites, trading them like so many blankets or horses.
While Native Americans might treat enslaved people as brutally as Europeans did, most Native American masters rejected the worst features of southern white bondage (Chattel Slavery). Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, bondage created destructive cleavages among Native Americans. It added to a class hierarchy that seemed related to European ancestry, but was based on the transfer of social capital as a result of such heritage. Proposals for Indian Removal heightened tensions of cultural changes due to the increase in the number of mixed-race Native Americans. Full bloods sometimes tried harder to maintain traditional ways, including control of land. The more traditional members who did not hold slaves often resented the sale of lands to Anglo-Americans.
King Philip's War
King Philip's War sometimes called Metacom's War or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies from 1675–1676. It continued in northern New England (primarily on the Maine frontier) even after King Philip was killed, until a treaty was signed at Casco Bay in April 1678. According to a combined estimate of loss of life in Schultz and Tougias' "King Philip's War, The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict" (based on sources from the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Census, and the work of Colonial historian Francis Jennings), 800 out of 52,000 English colonists of New England (1 out of every 65) and 3,000 out of 20,000 natives (3 out of every 20) lost their lives due to the war, which makes it proportionately one of the bloodiest and costliest in the history of America. More than half of New England's ninety towns were assaulted by Native American warriors. One in ten soldiers on both sides were wounded or killed.
The war is named after the main leader of the Native American side, Metacomet, Metacom, or Pometacom, known to the English as "King Philip." He was the last Massasoit (Great Leader) of the Pokanoket Tribe/Pokanoket Federation & Wampanoag Nation. Upon their loss to the Colonists and the attempted genocide of the Pokanoket Tribe and Royal Line, many managed to flee to the North to continue their fight against the British (Massachusettes Bay Colony) by joining with the Abanaki Tribes and Wabanaki Federation.
Many Native Americans served in the military during the Civil War., the vast majority of whom siding with the confederates. By fighting with the European-Americans, Native Americans hoped to gain favor with the prevailing government by supporting the war effort. They also believed war service might mean an end to discrimination and relocation from ancestral lands to western territories. While the war raged and African Americans were proclaimed free, the U.S. government continued its policies of assimilation, submission, removal, or extermination of Native Americans.
General Ely S. Parker, a member of the Seneca tribe, created the articles of surrender which General Robert E. Lee signed at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Gen. Parker, who served as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's military secretary and was a trained attorney, was once rejected for Union military service because of his race. At Appomattox, Lee is said to have remarked to Parker, "I am glad to see one real American here," to which Parker replied, "We are all Americans."
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba, Philippines and Puerto Rico. Theodore Roosevelt actively encouraged intervention in Cuba. Roosevelt worked with Leonard Wood in convincing the Army to raise an all-volunteer regiment, the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. The "Rough Riders" was the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry and the only regiment to see action. Recruiters gathered a diverse bunch of men consisting of cowboys, gold or mining prospectors, hunters, gamblers, and Native Americans. There were sixty Native Americans who served as "Rough Riders."
Some 44,000 Native Americans served in the United States military during World War II. Described as the first large-scale exodus of indigenous peoples from the reservations since the removals of the 1800s, the international conflict was a turning point in Native American history. Men of native descent were drafted into the military like other American males. Their fellow soldiers often held them in high esteem, in part since the legend of the tough Native American warrior had become a part of the fabric of American historical legend. White servicemen sometimes showed a lighthearted respect toward Native American comrades by calling them "chief."
The resulting increase in contact with the world outside of the reservation system brought profound changes to Native American culture. "The war," said the U.S. Indian commissioner in 1945, "caused the greatest disruption of Native life since the beginning of the reservation era", affecting the habits, views, and economic well-being of tribal members. The most significant of these changes was the opportunity—as a result of wartime labor shortages—to find well-paying work. Yet there were losses to contend with as well. Altogether, 1,200 Pueblo people served in World War II; only about half came home alive. In addition many more Navajo served as code talkers for the military in the Pacific. The code they made was never cracked by the Japanese.
Native Americans today
Portrait of Native Americans from various bands, tribes, and nations from across "Indian country."
In 1975 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act was passed, marking the culmination of 15 years of policy changes. Related to Indian activism, the Civil Rights Movement and community development aspects of social programs of the 1960s, the Act recognized the need of Native Americans for self-determination. It marked the U.S. government's turn away from the policy of termination; the U.S. government encouraged Native Americans' efforts at self government and determining their futures.
There are 562 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own government, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal), to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency).
Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the US Federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the US still wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to US law. True respect for Native American sovereignty, according to such advocates, would require the United States federal government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives." Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by a foreign power, whether the US Federal Government, Canada, or any other non-Native American authority.
According to 2003 United States Census Bureau estimates, a little over one third of the 2,786,652 Native Americans in the United States live in three states: California at 413,382, Arizona at 294,137 and Oklahoma at 279,559.
As of 2000, the largest tribes in the U.S. by population were Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo. In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.In addition, there are a number of tribes that are recognized by individual states, but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state.
Some tribal nations have been unable to establish their heritage and obtain federal recognition. The Muwekma Ohlone of the San Francisco bay area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition. Many of the smaller eastern tribes have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. The recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent.
Native American struggles amid poverty to maintain life on the reservation or in larger society have resulted in a variety of health issues, some related to nutrition and health practices. The community suffers a disproportionately high rate of alcoholism.. In addition, some studies have found high rates of heart disease, diabetes, drug addiction, mental illness and suicide. Agencies working with Native American communities are trying better to respect their traditions and integrate benefits of Western medicine within their own cultural practices.
This Census Bureau map depicts the locations of Native Americans in the United States as of 2000.
In July 2000 the Washington state Republican Party adopted a resolution recommending that the federal and legislative branches of the U.S. government terminate tribal governments . In 2007 a group of Democratic Party congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to "terminate" the Cherokee Nation. As of 2004, various Native Americans are wary of attempts by others to gain control of their reservation lands for natural resources, such as coal and uranium in the West.
In the state of Virginia , Native Americans face a unique problem. Virginia has no federally recognized tribes. Some analysts attribute this to work by Walter Ashby Plecker, who as registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics vigorously applied his own interpretation of the one-drop rule. He served from 1912-1946. In 1920 the state's General Assembly passed a law recognizing only two races: "white" and "colored". Plecker believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" by intermarriage with African Americans and, further, that some people with partial black heritage were trying to pass as Native Americans. To Plecker, anyone with any African heritage had to be classified as colored, regardless of appearance and cultural identification. Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored", and gave them lists of family surnames to examine for reclassification based on his interpretation of data and the law. This led to the state's destruction of accurate records related to Native American communities and families. Sometimes different members of the same family were split by classification as "white" or "colored". There was no place for primary identification as Native American. However, in 2009, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee endorsed a bill that would grant federal recognition to tribes in Virginia.
To achieve federal recognition and its benefits, tribes must prove their continuous existence since 1900. The federal government has maintained this requirement, in part because through participation on councils and committees, federally recognized tribes have been adamant about groups' satisfying the same requirements as they did.
In the early 21st century, Native American communities remain an enduring fixture on the United States landscape, in the American economy, and in the lives of Native Americans. Communities have consistently formed governments that administer services like firefighting, natural resource management, and law enforcement. Most Native American communities have established court systems to adjudicate matters related to local ordinances, and most also look to various forms of moral and social authority vested in traditional affiliations within the community. To address the housing needs of Native Americans, Congress passed the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA) in 1996. This legislation replaced public housing, and other 1937 Housing Act programs directed towards Indian Housing Authorities, with a block grant program directed towards Tribes.
Societal discrimination, racism and conflicts
Perhaps because the most well-known Native Americans live on reservations relatively isolated from major population centers, universities have conducted relatively little public opinion research on attitudes toward them among the general public. In 2007 the non-partisan Public Agenda organization conducted a focus group study. Most non-Native Americans admitted they rarely encountered Native Americans in their daily lives. While sympathetic toward Native Americans and expressing regret over the past, most people had only a vague understanding of the problems facing Native Americans today. For their part, Native Americans told researchers that they believed they continued to face prejudice and mistreatment in the broader society.
Conflicts between the federal government and Native Americans occasionally erupt into violence. Perhaps the more notable late 20th century event was the Wounded Knee incident in small town South Dakota . During the period of expanding civil rights protests, activist members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) had taken control of Wounded Knee . They were protesting issues related to Native American rights and the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. On February 27, 1973, federal law enforcement officials and the United States military surrounded the town. In the ensuing confrontation, two members of AIM were killed and one United States Marshal was wounded and paralyzed. Leonard Peltier, an AIM activist and leader of the event, was arrested and charged, and at trial convicted of causing the uprising that resulted in the attack on the US marshal. He was sentenced to life in prison.
In 2004, Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas ) introduced a joint resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 37) to “offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States” for past “ill-conceived policies” by the United States Government regarding Indian Tribes. The United States Senate has yet to take action on the measure.
In 2007, AIM activist John Graham was extradited from Canada to the US to stand trial for killing N.S. Mimaq in 1975. The Native American woman activist was killed years after the Wounded Knee standoff, allegedly for having been an FBI informant at the time.
Native American mascots in sports
The use of Native American mascots in sports has become a contentious issue in the United States and Canada . Americans have had a history of "playing Indian" that dates back to at least the 1700s. Many individuals admire the heroism and romanticism evoked by the classic Native American warrior image, but numerous Native Americans think use of items associated with them as mascots is both offensive and demeaning. While many universities (for example, North Dakota Fighting Sioux of University of North Dakota) and professional sports teams (for example, Chief Wahoo of Cleveland Indians) no longer use such images without consultation with Native American nations, some lower level schools and sports teams continue to do so.
In August 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned the use of "hostile and abusive" Native American mascots in postseason tournaments. An exception was made to allow the use of tribal names as long as approved by that tribe (such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida's approving use of their name for the team of Florida State University .) The use of Native American-themed team names in U.S. professional sports is widespread. Examples are mascot Chief Wahoo and teams such as the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, considered controversial by some.
Depictions by Europeans and Americans
Native Americans have been depicted by American artists in various ways at different historical periods. During the sixteenth century, the artist John White made watercolors and engravings of the people native to the southeastern states. John White’s images were, for the most part, faithful likenesses of the people he observed.
Later the artist Theodore de Bry used White’s original watercolors to make a book of engravings entitled, A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia. In his book, de Bry often altered the poses and features of White’s figures to make them appear more European. During the period when White and de Bry were working, when Europeans were first coming into contact with native Americans, Europeans were greatly interested in in native American cultures. Their curiosity created demand for a book like de Bry’s.
Three centuries later, during the construction of the Capitol building in the early nineteenth century, the U.S. government commissioned a series of four relief panels to crown the doorway of the Rotunda . The reliefs encapsulate a vision of European—Native American relations that had assumed mythic historical proportions by the nineteenth century. The four panels depict: The Preservation of Captain Smith by Pocahontas (1825) by Antonio Capellano, The Landing of the Pilgrims (1825) and The Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians (1826–27) by Enrico Causici, and William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians (1827) by Nicholas Gevelot. The reliefs present idealized versions of the Europeans and the native Americans, in which the Europeans appear refined and the natives appear ferocious. The Whig representative of Virginia , Henry A. Wise, voiced a particularly astute summary of how Native Americans would read the messages contained in all four reliefs: “We give you corn, you cheat us of our lands: we save your life, you take ours.” While many nineteenth-century images of native Americans conveyed similarly negative messages, artists such as Charles Bird King sought to express a more balanced image of Native Americans.
During this time there were writers of fiction who were informed about Native American culture and wrote about it with sympathy. One such writer was Marah Ellis Ryan.
In the 20th century, early portrayals of Native Americans in movies and television roles were first depicted by European-Americans dressed in mock traditional attire. Examples included The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1957), and F Troop (1965-67). In later decades, Native American actors such as Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger television series (1949-57) came to prominence. Roles of Native Americans were limited and not reflective of Native American culture. In the 1970s some Native Americans roles were improved in movies: Little Big Man (1970), Billy Jack (1971), and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) depicted Native Americans in minor supporting roles.
In addition to overtly negative depictions, Native people on US television have also been relegated to secondary, subordinate roles. During the years of the series Bonanza (1959-1973), no major or secondary Native characters appeared on a consistent basis. The series The Lone Ranger (1949-1957), Cheyenne (1957-1963), and Law of the Plainsman (1959-1963) had Native characters who were essentially aides to the central White characters. This characterization was also a feature of later television pilots and shows such as How the West Was Won. These programs resembled the “sympathetic” yet contradictory film Dances With Wolves of 1990, in which, according to Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, the narrative choice was to relate the Lakotas story as told through a Euro-American voice, for wide impact among a general audience.
During the 1990s, several major films were released in which Native Americans were portrayed with historical accuracy and a sense of cultural continuity: Dances with Wolves (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and Geronimo: An American Legend (1993). All employed Native American actors, and had accurate portrayals of culture and languages.
In 2004, Co-Producer Guy Perrotta presented the film Mystic Voices: The Story of the Pequot War (2004), a television documentary on the first major war between colonists and Native peoples in the Americas. Perrotta and Charles Clemmons intended to increase public understanding of the significance of this early event. They believed it had significance not only for northeastern Native Peoples and descendants of English and Dutch colonists, but for all Americans today. The producers wanted to make the documentary as historically accurate and as unbiased as possible. They invited a broadly based Advisory Board, and used scholars, Native Americans, and descendants of the colonists to help tell the story. They elicited personal and often passionate viewpoints from contemporary Americans. The production portrayed the conflict as a struggle between different value systems that included not only the Pequots, but a number of Native American tribes, most of which allied with the English. It not only presents facts, but also seeks to help the viewer better understand the people who fought the War.
In 2009, We Shall Remain (2009), a television documentary by Ric Burns and part of the American Experience series, presented a five-episode series from a Native American perspective: it represented "an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project." The five episodes explore the impact of King Philip's War on the northeastern tribes, the "Native American confederacy" involved in Tecumseh's War, the forced relocation known as Trail of Tears, the pursuit and capture of Geronimo and the Apache Wars, and concludes with the American Indian Movement's involvement at the Wounded Knee incident and the resurgence in modern Native cultures afterward.
Terminology differences
Common usage in the United States
Native Americans are also commonly known as Indians or American Indians, and have been known as Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, Colored, First Americans, Native Indians, Indigenous, Original Americans, Red Indians, Redskins or Red Men.The term Native American was originally introduced in the United States in preference to the older term Indian to distinguish the indigenous peoples of the Americas from the people of India, and to avoid negative stereotypes associated with Indian. Because of the widespread acceptance of this newer term in academic circles, some academics believe that Indians should be considered as outdated or offensive. People from India (and their descendants) who are citizens of the United States are known as Indian Americans or Asian Indians.
Criticism of the neologism Native American, however, comes from diverse sources. Many American Indians have misgivings about the term Native American. Russell Means, an American Indian activist, opposes the term Native American because he believes it was imposed by the government without the consent of American Indians. He has also argued that this use of the word Indian derives not from a confusion with India but from a Spanish expression En Dio, meaning "in God". Furthermore, some American Indians question the term Native American because, they argue, it serves to ease the conscience of "white America" with regard to past injustices done to American Indians by effectively eliminating "Indians" from the present. Still others (both Indians and non-Indians) argue that Native American is problematic because "native of" literally means "born in," so any person born in the Americas could be considered "native". However, very often the compound "Native American" will be capitalized in order to differentiate this intended meaning from others. Likewise, "native" (small 'n') can be further qualified by formulations such as "native-born" when the intended meaning is only to indicate place of birth or origin.
A 1995 US Census Bureau survey found that more Native Americans in the United States preferred American Indian to Native American. Nonetheless, most American Indians are comfortable with Indian, American Indian, and Native American, and the terms are often used interchangeably. The traditional term is reflected in the name chosen for the National Museum of the American Indian , which opened in 2004 on the Mall in Washington, D.C. .
Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau has introduced the "Asian-Indian" category to avoid ambiguity.
Gambling industry
Gambling has become a leading industry. Casinos operated by many Native American governments in the United States are creating a stream of gambling revenue that some communities are beginning to use as leverage to build diversified economies. Native American communities have waged and prevailed in legal battles to assure recognition of rights to self-determination and to use of natural resources. Some of those rights, known as treaty rights, are enumerated in early treaties signed with the young United States government. Tribal sovereignty has become a cornerstone of American jurisprudence, and at least on the surface, in national legislative policies. Although many Native American tribes have casinos, the Impact of Native American gambling is widely debated. Some tribes, such as the Winnemem Wintu of Redding, California , feel that casinos and their proceeds destroy culture from the inside out. These tribes refuse to participate in the gambling industry.
Society, language, and culture
Ethno-linguistic classification
Far from forming a single ethnic group, Native Americans were divided into several hundred ethno-linguistic groups, most of them grouped into the Na-Dené (Athabaskan), Algic (including Algonquian), Uto-Aztecan, Iroquoian, Siouan-Catawban, Yok-Utian, Salishan and Yuman-Cochimí phyla, besides many smaller groups and several language isolates. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the great linguistic diversity present in North America.
The indigenous peoples of North America can be classified as belonging to a number of large cultural areas:
Early Indian languages in the US
Alaska Natives
Arctic: Eskimo-Aleut
Subarctic: Northern Athabaskan
Californian tribes: Yok-Utian, Pacific Coast Athabaskan, Coast Miwok, Yurok, Palaihnihan
Plateau tribes: Interior Salish, Plateau Penutian
Great Basin tribes: Uto-Aztecan
Pacific Northwest Coast: Pacific Coast Athabaskan, Coast Salish
Southwestern tribes: Uto-Aztecan, Yuman, Southern Athabaskan
Central United States
Plains Indians: Siouan, Plains Algonquian, Southern Athabaskan
Northeastern Woodlands tribes: Iroquoian, Central Algonquian, Eastern Algonquian
Southeastern tribes: Muskogean, Siouan, Catawban, Iroquoian
Of the surviving languages, Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5 million speakers of Nahuatl); Nadene comes in second with approximately 180,200 speakers (148,500 of these are speakers of Navajo). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the Kickapoo) with two outliers in California (Yurok and Wiyot); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and western Canada through Washington , Oregon , and California to the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico (with one outlier in the Plains).Another area of considerable diversity appears to have been the Southeast; however, many of these languages became extinct from European contact and as a result they are, for the most part, absent from the historical record.
Cultural aspects
Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes.Early hunter-gatherer tribes made stone weapons from around 10,000 years ago; as the age of metallurgy dawned, newer technologies were used and more efficient weapons produced. Prior to contact with Europeans, most tribes used similar weaponry. The most common implements were the bow and arrow, the war club, and the spear. Quality, material, and design varied widely. Native American use of fire both helped provide insects for food and altered the landscape of the continent to help the human population flourish.
Large mammals like mammoths and mastodons were largely extinct by around 8,000 B.C. Native Americans switched to hunting other large game, such as bison. The Great Plains tribes were still hunting the bison when they first encountered the Europeans. The Spanish reintroduction of the horse to North America in the 17th century and Native Americans' learning to use them greatly altered the natives' culture, including changing the way in which they hunted large game. (Evidence of pre-historic horses prior to the arrival of the Spanish has been found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, CA .) In addition, horses became such a valuable, central element of Native lives that they were counted as a measure of wealth.
Gens structure
Early European American scholars described the Native Americans as having a society dominated by clans or gentes (in the Roman model) before tribes were formed. There were some common characteristics:
The right to elect its sachem and chiefs.
The right to depose its sachem and chiefs.
The obligation not to marry in the gens.
Mutual rights of inheritance of the property of deceased members.
Reciprocal obligations of help, defense, and redress of injuries.
The right to bestow names on its members.
The right to adopt strangers into the gens.
Common religious rights, query.
A common burial place.
A council of the gens.
Tribal structure
Subdivision and differentiation took place between various groups. Upwards of forty stock languages developed in North America, with each independent tribe speaking a dialect of one of those languages. Some functions and attributes of tribes are:
The possession of the gentes.
The right to depose these sachems and chiefs.
The possession of a religious faith and worship.
A supreme government consisting of a council of chiefs.
A head-chief of the tribe in some instances.
Society and art
The Iroquois, living around the Great Lakes and extending east and north, used strings or belts called wampum that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.
Pueblo peoples crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. Kachina dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits. Sculpture was not highly developed, but carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroidered decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were high-quality pottery and formalized pictorial arts.
Navajo spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating sandpainting. The colors—made from sand, charcoal, cornmeal, and pollen—depicted specific spirits. These vivid, intricate, and colorful sand creations were erased at the end of the ceremony.
Chippewa baby waits on a cradleboard while parents tend rice crops (Minnesota, 1940).
Native American agriculture started about 7,000 years ago in the area of present-day Illinois. The first crop the Native Americans grew was squash. This was the first of several crops the Native Americans learned to domesticate. Others included cotton, sunflower, pumpkins, tobacco, goosefoot, and sump weed.
Agriculture in the southwest started around 4,000 years ago when traders brought cultigens from Mexico. Due to the varying climate, some ingenuity was needed for agriculture to be successful. The climate in the southwest ranged from cool, moist mountains regions, to dry, sandy soil in the desert. Some innovations of the time included irrigation to bring water into the dry regions and the selection of seed based on the traits of the growing plants that bore them. In the southwest, they grew beans that were self-supported, much like the way they are grown today.
In the east, however, they were planted right by corn in order for the vines to be able to "climb" the cornstalks. The most important crop the Native Americans raised was maize. It was first started in Mesoamerica and spread north. About 2,000 years ago it reached eastern America. This crop was important to the Native Americans because it was part of their everyday diet; it could be stored in underground pits during the winter, and no part of it was wasted. The husk was made into art crafts, and the cob was used as fuel for fires. By 800 A.D. the Native Americans had established three main crops — beans, squash, and corn — called the three sisters.
The agriculture gender roles of the Native Americans varied from region to region. In the southwest area, men prepared the soil with hoes. The women were in charge of planting, weeding, and harvesting the crops. In most other regions, the women were in charge of doing everything, including clearing the land. Clearing the land was an immense chore since the Native Americans rotated fields frequently. There is a tradition that Squanto showed the Pilgrims in New England how to put fish in fields to act like a fertilizer, but the truth of this story is debated. Native Americans did plant beans next to corn; the beans would replace the nitrogen which the corn took from the ground, as well as using corn stalks for support for climbing. Native Americans used controlled fires to burn weeds and clear fields; this would put nutrients back into the ground. If this did not work, they would simply abandon the field to let it be fallow, and find a new spot for cultivation.
Europeans in the eastern part of the continent observed that Natives cleared large areas for cropland. Their fields in New England sometimes covered hundreds of acres. Colonists in Virginia noted thousands of acres under cultivation by Native Americans.
Native Americans commonly used tools such as the hoe, maul, and dibber. The hoe was the main tool used to till the land and prepare it for planting; then it was used for weeding. The first versions were made out of wood and stone. When the settlers brought iron, Native Americans switched to iron hoes and hatchets. The dibber was a digging stick, used to plant the seed. Once the plants were harvested, women prepared the produce for eating. They used the maul to grind the corn into mash. It was cooked and eaten that way or baked as corn bread.
No particular religion or religious tradition is hegemonic among Native Americans in the United States. Most self-identifying and federally recognized Native Americans claim adherence to some form of Christianity, some of these being cultural and religious syntheses unique to the particular tribe such as the various forms of the Native American Church. Traditional Native American ceremonies are still practiced by many tribes and bands, and the older theological belief systems are still held by many of the "traditional" people. These spiritualities may accompany adherence to another faith, or can represent a person's primary religious identity. While much Native American spiritualism exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself, certain other more clearly-defined movements have arisen among "traditional" Native American practitioners, these being identifiable as "religions" in the clinical sense. Traditional practices of some tribes include the use of sacred herbs such tobacco, sweetgrass or sage. Many Plains tribes have sweatlodge ceremonies, though the specifics of the ceremony vary among tribes. Fasting, singing and prayer in the ancient languages of their people, and sometimes drumming are also common.
The Midewiwin Lodge is a traditional medicine society inspired by the oral traditions and prophesies of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and related tribes.
Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as the Native American Church. It is a syncretistic church incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from Christianity. Its main rite is the peyote ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs included Wakan Tanka. In the American Southwest, especially New Mexico , a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by Spanish missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the Pueblo people are regularly part of Masses at Santa Fe 's Saint Francis Cathedral . Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda, New York and the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York ).
Native Americans are the only known ethnic group in the United States requiring a federal permit to practice their religion. The eagle feather law (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain eagle feathers for religious or spiritual use. Native Americans and non-Native Americans frequently contest the value and validity of the eagle feather law, charging that the law is laden with discriminatory racial preferences and infringes on tribal sovereignty. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans.
Most Native American tribes had traditional gender roles. In some tribes, such as the Iroquois nation, social and clan relationships were matrilineal and/or matriarchal, although several different systems were in use. One example is the Cherokee custom of wives owning the family property. Men hunted, traded and made war, while women gathered plants, cared for the young and the elderly, fashioned clothing and instruments and cured meat. The cradleboard was used by mothers to carry their baby while working or traveling. However, in some (but not all) tribes a kind of transgender was permitted; see Two-Spirit.
At least several dozen tribes allowed polygyny to sisters, with procedural and economic limits.
Apart from making home, women had many tasks that were essential for the survival of the tribes. They made weapons and tools, took care of the roofs of their homes and often helped their men hunt bison.In some of the Plains Indian tribes there reportedly were medicine women who gathered herbs and cured the ill.
In some of these tribes such as the Sioux girls were also encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight. Though fighting was mostly left to the boys and men, there had been cases of women fighting alongside them, especially when the existence of the tribe was threatened.
Native American leisure time led to competitive individual and team sports. Early accounts include team games played between tribes with hundreds of players on the field at once .. Jim Thorpe, Notah Begay III, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Billy Mills are well known professional athletes.
Native American ball sports, sometimes referred to as lacrosse, stickball, or baggataway, was often used to settle disputes rather than going to war which was a civil way to settle potential conflict. The Choctaw called it ISITOBOLI ("Little Brother of War");
the Onondaga name was DEHUNTSHIGWA'ES ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic versions classifed as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern.
The game is played with one or two rackets/sticks and one ball. The object of the game is to land the ball on the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The game involves as few as twenty or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The goals could be from a few hundred feet apart to a few miles; in Lacrosse the field is 110 yards. A Jesuit priest referenced stickball in 1729, and George Catlin painted the subject.
Individual based
Chunke was a game that consisted of a stone shaped disk that was about 1–2 inches in length. The disk was thrown down a corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. The disk would roll down the corridor, and players would throw wooden shafts at the moving disk. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.
U.S. Olympics
Jim Thorpe, a Sauk and Fox Native American, was an all-round athlete playing football and baseball in the early 20th century. Future President Dwight Eisenhower injured his knee while trying to tackle the young Thorpe. In a 1961 speech, Eisenhower recalled Thorpe: "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."
In the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe could run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds. He could long jump 23 ft 6 in and high-jump 6 ft 5 in. He could pole vault 11 feet, put the shot 47 ft 9 in, throw the javelin 163 feet, and throw the discus 136 feet. Thorpe entered the U.S. Olympic trials for both the pentathlon and the decathlon.
Billy Mills, a Lakota and USMC officer, won the Gold medal in the 10,000 meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was the only American ever to win the Olympic gold in this event. An unknown prior to the Olympics, he had finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials.
Traditional Native American music is almost entirely monophonic, but there are notable exceptions. Native American music often includes drumming and/or the playing of rattles or other percussion instruments but little other instrumentation. Flutes and whistles made of wood, cane, or bone are also played, generally by individuals, but in former times also by large ensembles (as noted by Spanish conquistador de Soto). The tuning of these flutes is not precise and depends on the length of the wood used and the hand span of the intended player, but the finger holes are most often around a whole step apart and, at least in Northern California, a flute was not used if it turned out to have an interval close to a half step.
Performers with Native American parentage have occasionally appeared in American popular music, such as Robbie Robertson (The Band), Rita Coolidge, Wayne Newton, Gene Clark, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Blackfoot, Tori Amos, Redbone, and CocoRosie. Some, such as John Trudell, have used music to comment on life in Native America, and others, such as R. Carlos Nakai integrate traditional sounds with modern sounds in instrumental recordings. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of recent music by Native American performers young and old, ranging from pow-wow drum music to hard-driving rock-and-roll and rap.
The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the pow-wow. At pow-wows, such as the annual Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque , New Mexico , members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Familiar pow-wow songs include honor songs, intertribal songs, crow-hops, sneak-up songs, grass-dances, two-steps, welcome songs, going-home songs, and war songs. Most indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community.
Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include pottery(Native American pottery), paintings, jewellery, weavings, sculptures, basketry, and carvings. Franklin Gritts, was a Cherokee artist, who taught students from many tribes at Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University ) in the 1940s, the Golden Age of Native American painters.
The integrity of certain Native American artworks is now protected by an act of Congress that prohibits representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist.
The Inuit, or Eskimo, prepared and buried large amounts of dried meat and fish. Pacific Northwest tribes crafted seafaring dugouts 40–50 feet long for fishing. Farmers in the Eastern Woodlands tended fields of maize with hoes and digging sticks, while their neighbors in the Southeast grew tobacco as well as food crops. On the Plains, some tribes engaged in agriculture but also planned buffalo hunts in which herds were driven over bluffs. Dwellers of the Southwest deserts hunted small animals and gathered acorns to grind into flour with which they baked wafer-thin bread on top of heated stones. Some groups on the region's mesas developed irrigation techniques, and filled storehouses with grain as protection against the area's frequent droughts.
In the early years, as these native peoples encountered European explorers and settlers and engaged in trade, they exchanged food, crafts, and furs for blankets, iron and steel implements, horses, trinkets, firearms, and alcoholic beverages.
Barriers to economic development
Today, other than tribes successfully running casinos, many tribes struggle. There are an estimated 2.1 million Native Americans, and they are the most impoverished of all ethnic groups. According to the 2000 Census, an estimated 400,000 Native Americans reside on reservation land. While some tribes have had success with gaming, only 40% of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate casinos. According to a 2007 survey by the U.S. Small Business Administration, only 1 percent of Native Americans own and operate a business. Native Americans rank at the bottom of nearly every social statistic: highest teen suicide rate of all minorities at 18.5 per 100,000, highest rate of teen pregnancy, highest high school drop out rate at 54%, lowest per capita income, and unemployment rates between 50% to 90%.
The barriers to economic development on Native American reservations often cited by others and two experts Joseph Kalt and Stephen Cornell of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at Harvard University , in their classic report: What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development, are as follows (incomplete list, see full Kalt & Cornell report):
Lack of access to capital.
Lack of human capital (education, skills, technical expertise) and the means to develop it.
Reservations lack effective planning.
Reservations are poor in natural resources.
Reservations have natural resources, but lack sufficient control over them.
Reservations are disadvantaged by their distance from markets and the high costs of transportation.
Tribes cannot persuade investors to locate on reservations because of intense competition from non-Native American communities.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is inept, corrupt, and/or uninterested in reservation development.
Tribal politicians and bureaucrats are inept or corrupt.
On-reservation factionalism destroys stability in tribal decisions.
The instability of tribal government keeps outsiders from investing.
Entrepreneurial skills and experience are scarce.
Tribal cultures get in the way.
One of the major barriers for overcoming the economic strife is the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience across Indian reservations. “A general lack of education and experience about business is a significant challenge to prospective entrepreneurs,” also says another report on Native American entrepreneurship by the Northwest Area Foundation in 2004. “Native American communities that lack entrepreneurial traditions and recent experiences typically do not provide the support that entrepreneurs need to thrive. Consequently, experiential entrepreneurship education needs to be embedded into school curricula and after-school and other community activities. This would allow students to learn the essential elements of entrepreneurship from a young age and encourage them to apply these elements throughout life.”. One publication devoted to addressing these issues is Rez Biz magazine.
Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans
Interracial relations between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans is a complex issue that has been mostly neglected with "few in-depth studies on interracial relationships". Europeans relational impact was wide spread and marriages was immediate. One of the first documented cases was recorded in Post-Columbian Mexico where a Spanish man (Hernán Cortés) and a Native American woman (Rebecca/Malinal/Malinche) birthed the first multi-racial Native American.
Native American and African relations
Although not as significant as contact with Europeans, Africans had some interaction with Native Americans. The earliest record of African and Native American contact occurred in April 1502, when the first Africans were brought to Hispanola to serve as slaves.
Often Native Americans resented the presence of African Americans. In one description the "Catawaba tribe in 1752 showed great anger and bitter resentment when an African American came among them as a trader." The Cherokee had the strongest color prejudice of all Native Americans to gain favor with Europeans. The hostility has been attributed to European fears of a unified revolt of Native Americans and African Americans: "Whites sought to convince Native Americans that African Americans worked against their best interests." In 1751, South Carolina law stated: "The carrying of Negroes among the Indians has all along been thought detrimental, as an intimacy ought to be avoided." Europeans considered both races inferior and made efforts to make both Native Americans and Africans enemies. Native Americans were rewarded if they returned escaped slaves, and African Americans were rewarded for fighting in "Indian Wars".
"Native Americans, during the transitional period of Africans becoming the primary race enslaved, were enslaved at the same time and shared a common experience of enslavement. They worked together, lived together in communal quarters, produced collective recipes for food, shared herbal remedies, myths and legends, and in the end they intermarried." Because of this many tribes encouraged marriage between the two groups, to create stronger, healthier children from the unions. In the eighteenth century, many Native American women did marry freed or runaway African men due to a large decrease in the population of men in Native American villages. In addition, records also show that many Native American women actually bought African men, but unknown to European sellers the women freed and married the men into their tribe. It was also beneficial for African men to marry or have children by a Native American woman because children born to a mother who was not a slave were free. European colonists often requested the return of any runaway slaves in treaties. In 1726, the British Governor of New York exacted a promise from the Iroquois to return all runaway slaves who had joined up with them. In the mid 1760s, Huron and Delaware Native Americans were also requested to return runaway slaves however no record of slaves being returned occurred. Ads were used to request the return of slaves.
Slave ownership was prevalent among a few Native American tribes, especially in the southeast where the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek lived. Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, bondage practices created destructive divisions among Native Americans. Among the Cherokee, records show that slave holders in the tribe were largely the children of European men that had showed their children the economics of slavery. As European expansion increased more African and Native American marriages became more prominent.
Family of mixed African and Native American heritage, c.
A few historians suggest that most African Americans have Native American heritage Based on the work of geneticists, a PBS series on African Americans explained that while most African Americans are racially mixed, it is relatively rare that they have Native American ancestry. According to the PBS series, the most common "non-black" mix is English and Scots-Irish. However, the Y-chromosome and mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) testing processes for direct-line male and female ancestors can fail to pick up the heritage of many ancestors. (Some critics thought the PBS series did not sufficiently explain the limitations of DNA testing for assessment of heritage.) Another study suggests that relatively few Native Americans have African-American heritage. A study reported in The American Journal of Human Genetics stated, "We analyzed the European genetic contribution to 10 populations of African descent in the United States (Maywood, Illinois; Detroit; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans; and Houston) ... mtDNA haplogroups analysis shows no evidence of a significant maternal Amerindian contribution to any of the 10 populations."
Researchers caution that genetic ancestry DNA testing has limitations and should not be depended on by individuals to answer all their questions about heritage. Testing cannot distinguish among separate Native American tribes. Nor can it be used alone to assert membership in a tribe.
Native Americans and assimilation acceptance with Europeans
European impact was immediate, widespread, and profound—more than any other race that had contact with Native Americans during the early years of colonization and nationhood. Europeans living among Native Americans were often called "white indians". They "lived in native communities for years, learned native languages fluently, attended native councils, and often fought alongside their native companions."
Early contact was often charged with tension and emotion, but also had moments of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy. Marriages took place in both English and French colonies between European men and Native women. On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe, and they had a child called Thomas Rolfe.
Intimate relations among Native American and Europeans were widespread, beginning with the French and Spanish explorers and trappers. For instance, in the early 19th century, the Native American woman Sacagawea, who would help translate for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was married to French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau. They had a son named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. This was the most typical pattern among the traders and trappers.
Many settlers feared Native Americans because they were different. Their ways seemed savage to whites, and they were suspicious of a culture they did not understand.
A Native American author Andrew J. Blackbird in 1897, found that white settlers introduced some immoralities into Native American tribes.
He wrote in his book, History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan,
"The Ottawas and Chippewas were quite virtuous in their primitive state, as there were no illegitimate children reported in our old traditions. But very lately this evil came to exist among the Ottawas-so lately that the second case among the Ottawas of Arbor Croche is yet living in 1897. And from that time this evil came to be quite frequent, for immorality has been introduced among these people by evil white persons who bring their vices into the tribes."
The U. S. government had two purposes in mind when making land agreements with Native Americans. First, they wanted to open it up more land for white settlement.
Second, they wanted to ease tensions between whites and Native Americans by forcing Natives to use the land like whites did. The government had a variety of strategies to accomplish these aims; many treaties required Native Americans to become farmers in order to keep their land. Government officials often did not translate the documents Native Americans were forced to sign, and native chiefs often had little or no idea what they were signing.
For a Native American man to marry a white woman he had to get consent of the parents as long as "he can prove to support her as a white woman in a good home".
In the early 1800s, Shawnee Native American Tecumseh and blonde hair & blued eyed Rebbecca Galloway had a inter-racial affair. In the late 19th century, three European-American middle-class female staff married Native American men met during the years when Hampton Institute ran its Native American program.
Charles Eastman married his European-American wife Elaine Goodale whom he had met in Dakota Territory when Goodale was social worker and the superintendent of Native American education for the reservations. They had six children together.
Blood Quantum
Lillian Gross, described as a "Mixed Blood" by the Smithsonian source, was of Native American and European/American heritage.
She identified with her Cherokee culture.
Intertribal mixing was common among Native American tribes, so individuals could be said to be descended from more than one tribe. Bands or entire tribes occasionally split or merged to form more viable groups in reaction to the pressures of climate, disease and warfare. A number of tribes traditionally adopted captives into their group to replace members who had been captured or killed in battle. These captives came from rival tribes and later from European settlers. Some tribes also sheltered or adopted white traders and runaway slaves and Native American-owned slaves. Tribes with long trading histories with Europeans show a higher rate of European admixture, reflecting years of intermarriage between European men and Native American women. A number of paths to genetic diversity among Native Americans thus existed.
While in recent years some commentators have suggested high rates of admixture between Native Americans and African Americans, genetic genealogists have found lesser frequency. Literary critic and author Henry Louis Gates, Jr. cites experts who argue that only 5 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5 percent Native American ancestry (equivalent to one great-grandparent). Of course this means that a greater percentage could have a very small percentage of ancestry, but it also suggests that past estimates of admixture may have been too high. As some genetic tests assess only direct male or female ancestors, individuals may not discover Native American ancestry from other ancestors. Among an individual's 64 4xgreat-grandparents, direct testing yields DNA evidence of only two.
In addition to limitations if only direct male and female lines are tested, DNA testing cannot be used for determining tribal membership because it can not distinguish among Native American groups. Native American identity has historically been based on culture, not just biology. The Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB) notes that:
"Native American markers" are not found solely among Native Americans.
While they occur more frequently among Native Americans they are also found in people in other parts of the world.
Geneticists also state:
not all Native Americans have been tested especially with the large number of deaths due to disease such as small pox, it is unlikely that Native Americans only have the genetic markers they have identified, even when their maternal or paternal bloodline does not include a non-Native American.
To receive tribal services, a Native American must belong to and be certified by a recognized tribal organization. Each tribal government makes its own rules for citizens or tribal members. The federal government has standards related to services available to certified Native Americans. For instance, Federal scholarships for Native Americans require the student to be enrolled in a federally recognized tribe and have at least one-quarter Native American descent (equivalent to one grandparent), attested by a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood card. Among tribes, qualification may be based upon a required percentage of Native American "blood", or the "blood quantum" of an individual seeking recognition.
To attain certainty, some tribes have begun requiring genealogical DNA testing, but this is usually related to proving parentage or direct descent from a certified member. Requirements for tribal membership vary widely by tribe. The Cherokee require documented genealogical descent from a Native American listed on the early 20th century Dawes Rolls. Tribal rules regarding recognition of members who have heritage from multiple tribes are equally diverse and complex.
Tribal membership conflicts have led to a number of activist groups, legal disputes and court cases. One example are the Cherokee freedmen, descendants of enslaved African Americans once held by the Cherokees, who were granted citizenship in the Cherokee nation as freedmen after the Civil War, by federal treaty. The Cherokee nation has recently excluded them from the roles unless individuals can prove descent from a Cherokee Native American (not just freedman) on the Dawes Rolls.
In the 20th century, an increasing number of Caucasian-Americans have seemed more interested in claiming descent from Native Americans. Many people have claimed descent from the Cherokee.
Notable Native Americans of the United States
Swimmer was a noted Cherokee cultural preservationist
In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of American Indian or Alaska Native descent. This population is unevenly distributed across the country. Below, all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are listed by the proportion of residents citing American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:
Alaska - 13.1%
New Mexico - 9.7%
South Dakota - 8.6%
Oklahoma - 6.8%
Montana - 6.3%
North Dakota - 5.2%
Arizona - 4.5%
Wyoming - 2.2%
Oregon - 1.8%
Washington - 1.5%
Nevada - 1.2%
Idaho - 1.1%
North Carolina - 1.1%
Utah - 1.1%
Minnesota - 1.0%
Colorado - 0.9%
Kansas - 0.9%
Nebraska - 0.9%
Wisconsin - 0.9%
Arkansas - 0.8%
California - 0.7%
Louisiana - 0.6%
Maine - 0.5%
Michigan - 0.5%
Texas - 0.5%
Alabama - 0.4%
Mississippi - 0.4%
Missouri - 0.4%
Rhode Island - 0.4%
Vermont - 0.4%
Florida - 0.3%
Delaware - 0.3%
Hawaii - 0.3%
Iowa - 0.3%
New York - 0.3%
South Carolina - 0.3%
Tennessee - 0.3%
Georgia - 0.2%
Virginia - 0.2%
Connecticut - 0.2%
Illinois - 0.2%
Indiana - 0.2%
Kentucky - 0.2%
Maryland - 0.2%
Massachusetts - 0.2%
New Hampshire - 0.2%
New Jersey - 0.2%
Ohio - 0.2%
West Virginia - 0.2%
Pennsylvania - 0.1%
District of Columbia - 0.3%
Puerto Rico - 0.2%
In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about less than 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent. This population is unevenly distributed across 26 states. Below, are the 26 states that had at least 0.1%. They are listed by the proportion of residents citing Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander ancestry, based on 2006 estimates:
Hawaii - 8.7
Utah - 0.7
Alaska - 0.6
California - 0.4
Nevada - 0.4
Washington - 0.4
Arizona - 0.2
Oregon - 0.2
Alabama - 0.1
Arkansas - 0.1
Colorado - 0.1
Florida - 0.1
Idaho - 0.1
Kentucky - 0.1
Maryland - 0.1
Massachusetts - 0.1
Missouri - 0.1
Montana - 0.1
New Mexico - 0.1
North Carolina - 0.1
Oklahoma - 0.1
South Carolina - 0.1
Texas - 0.1
Virginia - 0.1
West Virginia - 0.1
Wyoming - 0.1
Haplogroup Q1a3a is a Y Chromosome haplogroup generally associated with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Q1a3a-M3 mutation is on the Q lineage roughly 10 to 15 thousand years ago, as the migration throwout the Americas was underway by the early Paleo-Indians.
American Indian College Fund
Black Indians
Civilization Fund Act
Classification of Native Americans
Company/product names derived from Indigenous peoples
Eagle feather law
European colonization of the Americas
Federally recognized tribes
Gallery of Native Americans with facial hair
Genocide reference by L. Frank Baum
Indian Campaign Medal
Indian Claims Commission
Indian Massacres
Indian old field
Indigeonus American Haplogroup Q1a3a
Indian Removal
Indian Reorganization Act
Indian reserve
Indian tribe
Inter-Tribal Environmental Council (ITEC)
Lamanite
List of English words from indigenous languages of the Americas
List of Indian reservations in the United States
Lists of Native Americans
List of pre-Columbian civilizations
List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
Medicine wheel
Mississippian culture
Mound builder
NAFPS
Native American gambling enterprises
Native American mascot controversy
Native American mythology
Native American name controversy
Native American pottery
Native American tribes in Nebraska
Native Americans and World War II
One-Drop Rule
Population history of American indigenous peoples
Pre-Columbian Africa-Americas contact theories
Rez Biz magazine
Seminole Wars
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
Sports team names/mascots derived from Indigenous peoples
Treaties of the United States
Uncontacted peoples
Unrecognized tribes
Wíčazo Ša Review
Ehlers, J., and P.L. Gibbard, 2004a, Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 2: Part II North America, Elsevier, Amsterdam. ISBN 0-444-51462-7
Dyke A.S. & Prest V.K. (1986). Late Wisconsinian and Holocene retreat of the Larentide ice sheet: Geological Survey of Canada Map 1702A
Dickason, Olive. Canada's First Nations: A History of the Founding Peoples from the Earliest Times. 2nd edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1997.
J. Imbrie and K.P.Imbrie, Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery (Short Hills, NJ: Enslow Publishers) 1979.
Hillerman, Anthony G. (1973). "The Hunt for the Lost American", in The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian Country Affairs, University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-0306-4.
^ Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p418.
Deloria, V., Jr., (1997) Red Earth White Lies: Native Americans and The Myth of Scientific Fact.
Leer, Jeff, Doug Hitch, & John Ritter. 2001. Interior Tlingit noun dictionary: The dialects spoken by Tlingit elders of Carcross and Teslin, Yukon, and Atlin, British Columbia, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory: Yukon Native Language Centre. ISBN 1-55242-227-5.
Chenault, Mark, Rick Ahlstrom, and Tom Motsinger, (1993) In the Shadow of South Mountain: The Pre-Classic Hohokam of 'La Ciudad de los Hornos', Part I and II.
# Wright, Ronald. (2005) Stolen Continents: 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas, Mariner Books. ISBN 0618492402; ISBN 978-0618492404
"Osage", Oklahoma Encyclopedia of History and Culture, accessed 26 Oct 2009
The Wild Frontier: Atrocities During the American-Indian War
Native Americans - Huron Tribe
"Indian Mixed-Blood", Frederick W. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, 1906
Minority Politics in Albuquerque - History
Smallpox: Eradicating the Scourge
The Story Of... Smallpox—and other Deadly Eurasian Germs
[Guenter Lewy, "Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?"], History News Network, 11-22-04
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More info on Sudan Airways Flight 109
Sudan Airways Flight 109: Map
Sudan Airways Flight 109 was a scheduled flight from Amman , Jordan , to Khartoum International Airport , Sudan , by way of Damascus , Syria . At approximately 17:00 UTC on 10 June 2008 it crashed on landing in Khartoum .
The Airbus A310 broke apart and subsequently caught fire. The flight had previously diverted to Port Sudan due to weather at Khartoum. This was the second plane crash in Sudan in two months; in May 2008, a plane crash in the southern part of the country killed 24 people, including members of the autonomous Southern Sudanese government.
The police chief in the area attributed the accident to bad weather. He said the weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire." BBC News reported that there was a sandstorm in the area at the time of the crash, however, other sources say the plane landed safely, but the right engine exploded ten seconds after landing, before it had come to a full stop.
Many of the casualties were reported to be children with disabilities and seniors returning from treatment in Amman.
A death toll of 120 given earlier by officials was later said to be incorrect. Major-General Mohamed Osman Mahjoub told Reuters that authorities had so far counted 123 survivors from 217 people on board the plane and that 28 bodies were in the local mortuary. That would leave 66 people unaccounted for.
This assessment rose to "at least 28" dead, while 171 passengers survived, and 14 still were missing according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Abdel Hafiz Abdel Rahim. Earlier reports indicated 13 crew survivors and one crew missing.
By June 11, the CAA assessed that there were thirty dead, including one hostess, while the 178 known survivors included ten crew. Six passengers remained unaccounted for.
Aircraft history
Airbus A310-324 hull number 548 was built in 1990 and first flew on 23 August of that year under test registration F-WWCV. It served with Singapore Airlines from 1990 until 2001 under registration 9V-STU. It was then re-registered to Air India as VT-EVF from 2001 until 2007. It was again re-registered to Sudan Airways as ST-ATN from 14 September 2007. It was delivered to Sudan Airways on 1 December 2007.
The aircraft carried $16 million in insurance on its hull.
Notable passengers
Abbas al-Fadini (Member of the Parliament of Sudan) - Survived unscathed
Sudan Airways' only flight from Amman to Khartoum is an A310 operating flight 109.
"Sudan plane crash: 100 feared dead" The Telegraph
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More than 30 years ago, a group of distinguished citizens of varying ages, including several seniors, gathered to found a Hall of Fame dedicated to honoring senior citizens of the State of Maryland who have made exemplary contributions to society. The Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame was incorporated in January 1987. It serves to recognize, acknowledge, and honor the volunteer civic and humanitarian accomplishments and achievements of individual Maryland senior citizens.
Each year, nominations are accepted and reviewed by the Selection Committee. Maryland senior citizens 65 years of age or older who have made outstanding volunteer contributions affecting the lives of people in the State of Maryland are eligible. A maximum of 50 qualified nominees are inducted into the Hall of Fame each year..
Recipients are inducted at the Annual Awards Luncheon held in October. All inductees receive a membership certificate, the official MSCHF lapel pin, and are featured in the annual coveted Blue Book. A copy of the book is presented to each honoree; and a copy is placed in the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame archives at the University of Baltimore’s Langsdale Library.
Of these recipients, a maximum of five are also selected to receive the prestigious GERI Award. As the arts and sciences have their Grammy, Emmy, Tony, and Oscar, so do the senior citizens of Maryland have their GERI — the geriatric “Nobel Prize” for extraordinary humanitarian community service.
The Story of the GERI Award
An original sculpture of baby’s hand in the palm of an adult hand was specially designed to represent the admired philosophy of our maturing population, namely, to give meaning and worth to the later years. Thus, the hand of the older person holding the hand of the child signifies understanding and love between generations. The GERI symbol depicts the intrinsic value of service to others regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, or handicapping condition.
GERI is a tangible expression of the leaving of a memory, a legacy, indeed a shining symbol of the fundamental value of giving and serving. The tenderness of the child is entwined with the strength and wisdom of the older person.
The Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, Inc., seeks to immortalize men and women and to record their names in the Archives of the Hall of Fame for all time because of their caring and volunteer efforts in improving the lives of others.
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Back Results list
Communication Disorders in Spanish Speakers Theoretical, Research and Clinical Aspects Edited by: José G. Centeno, Raquel T. Anderson, Loraine K. Obler
Paperback PDF
- Aims to bridge the gap in the literature on Hispanic individuals for student clinicians and professionals
- Links empirical and theoretical bases to evidence-based practices for child and adult Spanish users
- Applies advancements in clinical communication research on Spanish speakers to clinical practice and brings cross disciplinary input to the clinical and research-solving process for Spanish speakers
Spanish speakers, whether in monolingual or bilingual situations, or in majority or minority contexts, represent a considerable population worldwide. Spanish speakers in the U.S. constitute an illustrative context of the challenges faced by speech-language practitioners to provide realistic services to an increasing and diverse Spanish-speaking caseload. There is still considerable paucity in the amount of literature on Hispanic individuals with clinical relevance in speech-language pathology. Particularly lacking are works that link both empirical and theoretical bases to evidence-based procedures for child and adult Spanish users with communication disorders. Further, because communication skills depend on multiple phenomena beyond strictly linguistic factors, speech-language students and practitioners require multidisciplinary bases to realistically understand Spanish clients’ communication performance. This volume attempts to address those gaps. This publication takes a multidisciplinary approach that integrates both theoretical and empirical grounds from Speech-Language Pathology, Neurolinguistics, Neuropsychology, Education, and Clinical Psychology to develop evidence-based clinical procedures for monolingual Spanish and bilingual Spanish-English children and adults with communication disorders.
To say that this book is welcomed is without a doubt an understatement. Apparently, from the book’s earliest beginnings, Drs. Centeno, Anderson and Obler chose to focus on the big picture, selecting their contributors to include impressive sampling of the best researchers and thinkers in the field. They have been successful in producing a true Sourcebook, which deserves the attention of anyone who is serious about understanding the special strengths and problems facing language and speech disordered Spanish speakers. This is monumental and desperately needed achievement.
- Audrey Holland, Ph.D., Regents' Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Arizona
Timely and important are apt descriptors for Studying Communication Disorder in Spanish Speakers: Theoretical, Research, and Clinical Aspects. The global presence of Spanish speakers, as well as their significant representation in the U.S. population, heralds the need for such an in depth treatment of these topics. With clear focus on clinical interventions for Spanish-speakers with communicative disorders, this volume broadens the dialogue to include life-span cognitive-linguistic and psychosocial perspectives. Readers from multiple disciplines, backgrounds, and interests have reason to look forward to this volume as an often-referred-to and highly valued resource.
- Joyce L. Harris, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
This landmark volume celebrates the major achievements in research on communication disorders in Spanish speakers. The evidence-based approach to theoretical and clinical question will appeal to speech-language pathologists, cognitive neuropsychologists, applied linguists, educational psychologists and many others. It also sets the standard for future cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic studies of communication disorders.
- Professor Li Wei, PhD, University of London
José G. Centeno, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Program at St. John’s University, New York City. He has worked extensively as a bilingual speech-language pathologist and published on bilingualism issues in Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S. and on stroke-related language impairments in monolingual Spanish speakers. His current research and professional interests focus on stroke-related impairments and aspects of service delivery in monolingual Spanish/bilingual Spanish-English adults.
Raquel T. Anderson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. She has worked with both monolingual Spanish and bilingual English-Spanish preschool and early elementary school children with language learning disorders. She has published in the areas of language impairment in Spanish-speaking children, with a special focus on children with specific language impairment (SLI). Her current research is in first language loss and grammatical skill in bilingual Spanish-English speaking children with SLI.
Loraine K. Obler, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor in the Programs in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Linguistics at the City University of New York Graduate Center. She began publishing on bilingualism and the brain in 1977. Her books include The Bilingual Brain: Neuropsychological and Neurolinguistic Aspects of Bilingualism (with Martin Albert), Language and the Brain (with Kris Gjerlow), Bilingualism Across the Lifespan: Acquisition, Maturity and Loss (with Kenneth Hyltenstam), and Agrammatic Aphasia: A Cross-language Narrative Sourcebook (with Lise Menn). Her current research interests include L2 performance under stress, L2 acquisition by talented/limited language learners, and aphasia therapy for bilinguals.
Postgraduate, Research / Professional, Undergraduate
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Michael R. Baye
Nash-Equilibrium.com
Michael R. Baye & Jeffrey T. Prince, Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2017.
Michael R. Baye & John Morgan (eds.), The Economics of E-Commerce , Edward Elgar, 2016.
Michael R. Baye & David E. M. Sappington (eds.), Information Economics , Volumes 1-4. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Michael R. Baye & Jeffrey T. Prince, Study Guide for Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
Michael R. Baye, Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Michael R. Baye, Student Workbook for Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Organizing the New Industrial Economy. Amsterdam: Elsevier/JAI Press, 2003.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: The Economics of the Internet and E-Commerce. Amsterdam: Elsevier/JAI Press, 2002.
Michael R. Baye and Jon P. Nelson (eds.),Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Advertising and Differentiated Products. Amsterdam: Elsevier/JAI Press, 2001.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Industrial Organization. Amsterdam: Elsevier/JAI Press, 2000.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Oligopoly. Greenwich: JAI Press, 1999.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Contests. Greenwich: JAI Press, 1998.
Michael R. Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Auctions. Greenwich: JAI Press, 1996.
Michael R. Baye and Dennis W. Jansen. Money, Banking and Financial Markets: An Economic Approach. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1995.
Michael R. Baye and Dan A. Black, Consumer Behavior, Cost-of-Living Measures, and the Income Tax. New York: Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, 1986.
Michael R. Baye,
Elwert Professor of Business
Department of Business Economics and Public Policy
1309 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, IN 47405-1701
mbaye@indiana.edu
Hodge Hall, Room 3080T
Kelley School of Business Profile
Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
Patrick Scholten
Content, Design, and Programming Copyrighted ©2010. All rights reserved.
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Home / Currents • Opinion / The Dilemma of the Fourth of July
The Dilemma of the Fourth of July
by Mark Charles / Currents, Opinion / 04 Jul 2019
“Not Your Savage” Mark Charles
Editor’s Note: This commentary was published in observance of the Fourth of July holiday in 2015. Native News Online is republishing it again this year.
The other day I was eating dinner with my wife in a restaurant located in Gallup New Mexico, a border town to the Navajo reservation. Gallup was recently named “Most Patriotic Small Town” in a nationwide contest. Soon after sitting down I noticed that we were seated at a table directly facing a framed poster of the Declaration of Independence.
The irony almost made me laugh.
When our server, who was also native, came to the table, I asked if I could show him something. I then stood up and pointed out that 30 lines below the famous quote “All men are created equal” the Declaration of Independence refers to Natives as “merciless Indian savages.”
The irony was that the restaurant was filled with Native American customers and employees. And there in plain sight, a poster hanging on the wall was literally calling all of us “savages.”
The server was concerned that I might be upset so after our dinner the manager of the restaurant came to our table and asked if everything was OK. I showed her the quote and assured her that I was not trying to cause problems. After more than a decade of living on the Navajo Nation, I have become used to such offenses when I travel outside of our reservation. After the manager left, I noticed that another Native couple seated near us had taken interest in our conversation. So I invited them over and showed them the same offensive line hanging over our table. They were astounded that throughout their entire education they were never told the Declaration referred to Natives in such a way.
If the poster had labeled any other group of people as “savage”, or if the source of the words was anything else besides one of our country’s founding documents, the restaurant in question would have long ago been sued and the parties responsible for hanging the poster most likely disciplined. But because the targeted group was Natives, the source was the Declaration of Independence and the responsibility for hanging the poster belonged to the restaurant’s national corporate offices; not only is the poster still hanging today, but on July 4th the entire nation will celebrate the message of this poster and the signing of this Declaration. For we have declared it a national holiday complete with fireworks, parades and speeches.
This is the dilemma that Native ‘Americans’ face every day. The foundations of the United States of America are blatantly unjust. This land was stolen. Native peoples, Africans and many other minority communities have long been recipients of systemic racism. And the roots of it are right there for the entire world to see, printed in many of our founding documents; like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and United States Supreme Court case rulings.
We announce it. We flaunt it. We celebrate it.
As a nation we embrace this history because we are largely ignorant of the true nature of our past and have never been held accountable for our actions. As Americans we celebrate our foundations of ‘discovery’ and cling to our narrative of ‘exceptionalism’ because we have been taught that this nation was founded by God on a principle of freedom for all.
But the reality is that the United States of America exists because this land was colonized by Europeans who used a Doctrine of Discovery to dehumanize, steal from, enslave and even commit cultural genocide against indigenous peoples from both the “New World” and Africa.
Georges Erasmus, an Aboriginal leader from Canada, said, “Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”
Those are wise words that get to the heart of our national problem regarding race. On days like Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, the United States of America celebrates its history. But a majority of our citizens celebrate in ignorance. After traveling throughout the country and educating audiences on the Doctrine of Discovery and its influence on our nation, I would estimate that less than 3% of Americans know this history or understand its impact on the current-day situation of Native peoples.
As a nation, the United States of America does not share a common memory, and therefore struggles to have true community.
So this Fourth of July I invite every American to start their day by learning about the Doctrine of Discovery. Allowing the reality of the dehumanizing nature of this doctrine to temper your celebrations.
You can still light your fireworks and eat your BBQ as you celebrate a hard fought victory over the British. But at the end of the day, I humbly ask you to conclude your celebrations with the following prayer.
“May God have mercy on the United States of America and give us the courage necessary to create a common memory.
Mark Charles (Dine’) is a candidate for the President of the United States.
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MarkCharles
DALE HARRIS CPM WELDTECH., LLC 5 years ago
why; This article smacks of pure………… honesty. Therefore it will be overlooked as; just another complaining Indian. Ummm; make that one complaining Indian and one white guy.
If it’s not time to be truthful then when is it?
When the US is handed over to the UN; then, they will tell the truth and it won’t matter except to those who what to say; ” see, we were right! “
Barbara Renick 5 years ago
When the WM first came to these lands, he first spread the word about the God of love and compassion. We learned the very dark side of the story brought to us relates to the Fallen Angel, Lucifer.
Native Americans north and south are a colonized people with colonized minds at every level. Many Natives replaced their traditional beliefs with foreign ideas, and a culture of greed. Destroyed from without and within made Native Americans easy to control.
The killing spree that brought tribes to their knees could only be accomplished by the actions of the Dark Angel, especially the slaughter of children as at Sand Springs where children’s bodies were mutilated. The cruelty set upon the California Indians where the first Governor promoted total extermination, and the rampant kidnapping of children and using them in every immoral way is the kind of education that was intended to be kept hidden, but there it all is, fully-documented for all of us to learn about if we just take the time to care enough to learn, and offer prayers for them, and healing prayers for all of our people as they continue to struggle with the historical realities of life in America after first welcoming the newcomers who pretended to come in peace.
Emily 7 months ago
Barbara Renick, the story of Lucifer is wrong. Lucifer was never a demon spirit. Lucifer portrays all mankind who have fallen from the grace of God. The killing and is still today the spirit of murder called satan. I am a believer of our Christ the Atonement made for all mankind. The light in the darkness. My ancestors were annihilated, and brought into a “RELIGION,” which was not to be. I am Anishinaabe (first nations), but I see no race. I only see confused people trying to bring back what was truly stolen, the identity of who we really are. Sons of God. Many Native Americans as the European call us are from the many tribes of Israel. Similarities of culture traditions are of Israel. I ask what tribe are you from? Be blessed.
blueskyler 5 years ago
Just goes to show use racism is bread not only through black and white. It a vicious virus that needs to be stomped out.
I think it is wise to put the fourth of July in prospective. We as non natives have been taught a very sanitized history of the United State, without mentioning the Genocide and deceit perpetrated against native people, and this continues even to this day. I personally don’t celebrate it because of the hypocrisy that the holiday represents. I would support any movement that address the wrong that have been done and true reparations to the native people of this land.
Sandi Billington 5 years ago
Thank you for this article! I have many feelings for Natives and what the colonists, and beyond did to them. I also did not learn of these things till later on in my life! I seriously did not know. How, I have to wonder. There should have been clues somewhere, but I’m afraid I missed them as well. It makes me quite ill to read the things I am finding now! But your publication and others, and people I am slowly getting to know, are truly giving me the info I feel I need to know finally. I can only say I’m sorry, for what it’s worth! This one referring to Natives as such in the Declaration is a terrible surprise! I will have to come to terms with this also! I am very sorry.
Bettie saccardo 5 years ago
There has been such a controversy over the AP US History classes because “they show America in a bad light”. No it’s just scratches they surface of the real story of America. My students were shocked to learn that Columbus wasn’t a nice guy and Andrew Jackson committed genocide. It’s not what they are taught. History is what it is good and bad and as a teacher I can’t “whitewash” it just to make it “patriotic”. Unless we understand the real history of this country we will continue to oppress. Great article.
Archie Ross 5 years ago
Thank you for the very informative article. While I think I am generally aware of the atrocities committed against native Americans the reference in the Declaration of Independence to savages is either new to me or something I conveniently forgot.
Kathy Bradshaw 5 years ago
Much of the history books are white washed, they are fiction being taught so that people would learn to be racists. It is time that those books be thrown out and the real truths be told. Though i doubt that would ever happen until those who believe what history books tell them stop following blind fiction.
Rick 5 years ago
Trista 5 years ago
In order to create a balance in the room while not running from the truth and ugliness of history, perhaps a great piece of Native American art should hang next to that frame, something that recognizes “savage” and transforms it into something constructive, powerful and transcendent. When I was a very little girl my mother taught me what happened to the First Peoples of the United States right up to the 20th century when her grandmother was bringing Native people food and clothes who were occupying the last little bit of land that they could have in our town. Always with Native people’s side of the story and the passage of time in mind on walks in the woods or drives through town she would point out the various houses where George Washington stayed; churches that were designed backwards in case there was an attack from the local Natives. She told me all of this with a very notable and real distaste for history as we’re taught it. It wasn’t long before I realized the morbidity in celebrating “Independence” Day the way this country does. I’m glad Mark pointed this out to everyone, find a great artist to contribute a wonderful piece for this restaurant!
I just wanted to follow up with Donna Nesset. I follow you 100% I have never thought of Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Columbus Day etc; as a holiday. I have never celebrated it, never intend to and I have always discouraged others from celebrating it. I just wanted to add that I’m sorry if any bit of my post above is unwelcome especially in using the word “Native” or “First People,” for whatever it’s worth, I had/have the best intentions.
Paul Anderson 5 years ago
I am surprised that it was noticed. When Thomas Jefferson made copies to distribute to his fellow invaders he sent his slave out to distribute them. Now image that a person that was considered property was trusted with such a valued piece of paper.
donna nesset 5 years ago
I DO NOT celebrate, The 4th July, Thanks giving Columbus day..Or cinco de mio… Why ? Native people lost our freedom, on that day. The 4th of July. Thanksgiving. The day we give thanks.. SO Thanks, for Taking everything. we had. So I could Raised in poverty and hunger While you got fat of my food.. Thank you for Sending me to a Indian boarding school . SO I could Become A 5 yr old sex object.. . Thank you for Bullying and making fun of me. Now that, I AM disable Because, of the abuse.. Columbus, Didn’t Discover Anything. And you don’t EVEN get the day off from work or school.. Nothing to celebrate, Their. I dont do Cinco de mio. BECAUSE Im not hispanic.. I AM Native, Indian. or. What ever you want to call me. And as A Real NATIVE.. I would Like to celebrate, Native , holidays Of our Great leaders .. How ABOUT IT // Lets get that way ya ha.. Day Going.
Deborah Pacheco 5 years ago
I agree with Donna Nesset. I don’t celebrate the 4th of July because it’s not a day of freedom for Native Americans, it was a day when a foreign occupying people announced to the world that they had taken over someone else’s land. I certainly don’t celebrate Columbus Day. What’s happened to Native Americans that has us celebrating US holidays like Veteran’s Day? And has a group of Native Women folding a US flag in a ceremony? That’s our enemy’s flag not ours! Yes, I understand that many Native Americans have fought in US military to protect our land, what little we have left, and fought bravely. But wake up People. We are a separate People, with a separate identity.
Sylvia Baird 5 years ago
So should the white side of me be terrible to the Indian side? It’s hard enough dealing with what one of my people did to my other people. There are many arguements to this, but I feel you are just a little to full of hate for listening.
robert fairbanks 5 years ago
The Declaration of Independence is NOT a founding document of The United States of America. The USA did not exist when is promulgated. Get your history correct
Gary Straub 5 years ago
And the relevancy of that rude intrusion is?
If you don’t see the relevancy, you must not understand “American” history very well. Please, as a matter of courtesy, explain why my comment is “rude.’
“it was” promulgated.
margie davis 5 years ago
In the movie “Smoke Signals,” one character refers to the 4th as “white peoples’ independence day.” He asks his son, “Are ya feelin’ independent?” Still worth asking.
Sharon Beauchemin 5 years ago
I agree with what you said. I’m a white female with a little Indian blood in my family. But I don’t know a lot about how it is for you but I have a interest to learn. I have given a little help with a little money to a school on a res. But now I wonder if that was best?. I feel you are right, but people just don’t care .
Bob 5 years ago
Why, Why do people like you live hundreds of years ago? Why do people like you let something that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago effect you. Here’s some history for you. Almost every group of people have been damaged, hurt, been slaves, mistreated, killed, hung, captured, etc.etc.etc. Yes even white people have been slaves, even Irish people have been slaughtered, even Blacks have been treated less than human. BUY WHY OH WHY do any people decide to try and relate what happened hundreds even thousands of years ago effect then in 2015. My theory is that people like you who are always blaming the past is nothing more than a crush to the present. If ONLY we weren’t slaves 300 years ago we would be successful. If only a piece of paper did’t make us feel like dogs I would be a huge success in life. So I ask again when will it stop, when will the Indians, Blacks, Mexicans, all stop whining about things that happened hundreds of years ago. Do yourself a favor, learn from the Jews, who were treated FAR FAR worse than the Indians, Blacks, Whites, Irish, Polish, Chinese. What the Jews did was get stronger not sit around and whine for hundreds of years. Note that all your indian whining is falling on deaf ears. Now go out and do some good in the world and live in the present rather than crying and bitching about a piece of paper hanging on the wall.
Leanne Estrada 5 years ago
Because Bob, you need to go home! So since you are so living in the present you shouldnt mind relocating to your home, where ever the hell that may be! Since all of your kind are so living in the present then let the piece of paper burn, along with the flag! Oh, Gee! Did I just say something offensive? Well stop living in the past! Live in the present! SMH! Such sad ignorance!
Mark Adkins 4 years ago
Bob, you call these Native people “whiners” for highlighting the atrocities committed by your invading European ancestors against the Native Americans. Odd thing to say, since it’s pretty evident that those who are whining and crying the loudest over this issue are Euro-Americans like you who cannot deal with any criticism of the naked-aggression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, land-theft, mass incarceration, and discrimination that your people have been perpetrating against the Native Americans for over 400 years now. Any time that a Native American dares to bring up your atrocious behavior, you Euro-Americans literally have a conniption, a “hissy-fit” as it were, followed by a diatribe about how “everyone in the world has experienced similar atrocities in history.” BS.
You mention the Jews in particular, claiming that they suffered far worse than the Native Americans ever did. Again, BS. The Native Americans numbered at least 15 million in America alone when the Europeans began their invasion. Now, 400 years after Jamestown, there might be 3 million surviving Native descendants in America. When have Jews been so thoroughly destroyed through genocide? The Nazis murdered 6 million of them, but there are 15 million+ surviving Jews in the world. When the Jews wanted to reclaim their ancestral homeland of Israel, after having lost it 2000 tears ago when the Romans drove them out, America assisted them in that endeavor — beginning in 1948 and continuing to the present, with our giving them $3 billion+ annually — resulting in a mass displacement of the Palestinians who had settled the land of Palestine in the interim. The consequences of Islamo-terrorism against America have been horrid due to our support for Israel, but with 80% of Americans being Judeo-Christians who believe that God promised the Jews the land of Israel, their support for Israel is absolute, no matter the suffering of the Palestinians or the resulting terrorism. But on the other hand, when the Native American tribe of Cherokees tried to establish their own country on their own land in America, your President Andrew Jackson and his racist supporters shot that idea completely down, even ignoring a US Supreme Court decision that favored the Cherokee people over the Euro-Americans, and they forced the Cherokee, and most other tribes in the American East, out of their lands and onto Indian Territory, with over 10,000 dying along their respective “Trails of Tears” during the implementation of Jackson’s ethnic-cleansing Indian Removal policy. Even today, American Jews are treated much better than are Native Americans, even in the homeland of the Native people. So save your crap when comparing the plight of the Jews to the plight of the Native Americans. There is no comparison.
Bear in mind that America is the ancestral homeland of the Native Americans, and your people are a relatively recent foreign presence here who, regarding a significant portion of the country, are illegally occupying stolen land acquired through the violation of over 250 treaties. One treaty in particular, the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, was ruled valid by a 1980 US Supreme Court decision, granting legal possession of the Black Hills to the Lakota people. But your US Government is ignoring the SCOTUS ruling by refusing to return the land to them, and instead offered them a paltry $105 million, when in fact the Black Hills are probably worth multi-$trillions, and is the sacred land of the Lakota…as sacred to the Lakota as is Jerusalem to the Jews.
So, Bob, with your European people and your government continuing to crap on Native people on every way possible, how can you expect us to forgive you, and put it all behind us and move on, while the hate is all around us? Here a suggestion: How about you European people begin the healing process with Native Americans by honoring all of those violated 250+ treaties, which would require you to actually follow your own law of the land? That would be a good start.
The 4th of July- The celebration of the U.S. Constitution- The commemorative statement is one which has boggled my mind for years yet I have always settled to participate and celebrate the signing of our constitution on behalf of the fireworks and exciting experiences for my children! Deep inside my gut, I have a separate and solemn feeling that is one of sadness and frustration! Will I live to see my children’s children presented with a true heartfelt apology from the US government? I pray that they will not have to feel inferior or insignificant, that they will live peacefully with respect and confidence! Is that really too much to ask for? Just a thought!
the 4th of july doesn’t celebrate the US Constitution. Get your history straight.
kitti st john 5 years ago
I was raised with my mother’s family…not on the rez…in Miami…a dichotomy for sure…I went to school…all my after school friends were cubano…they only spoke spanish…I only spoke american…we played jacks…jump rope. and hop scotch. Counting games…and I don’t remember that as being a problem…somehow we understood each other…when I was @ home my family was decidedly native in their ways…trying to assimilate into America…in the workforce…I didn’t know about history. I listened to conversations around the dinner table…that was all I knew…for some strange reason…I wasn’t comfortable about the pledge of allegiance…it didn’t seem right to me…I knew better then to say anything about it…obviously it seemed important to everyone else…the best I could do was to stand…hand over heart…and mouth the words as if I were speaking…I didn’t want to disrespect others…it meant something to them…I was only 6 yo…I still don’t issue make …but…I get the dichotomy of feelings…on both sides…there are so many diverse cultures here now…all with their own traditions…it was important to my mother to raise me mainstream…but my heart and soul is with her people…their history and traditions…thanksgiving to me truly is a native american holiday…look @ what’s on the table…not only is it native food…but it ended up saving all of Europe from starvation. ..that’s powerful ( and quite delicious)…there was no pharmacy…until Europe interacted with original americans…aspirin…quinine…native barks now known as Dr pepper…cola…rootbeer…surgery wasn’t possible without discovering the “aines”.. in fact even in today’s world your remedies are superior…the old way of farming is without doubt one of the most effective and efficient modes I’ve ever seen…3 seeds…conserving land…water…each plant working synergistically with each other…they sure haven’t improved on that…we have so many holidays now…and we keep adding more. ..I just enjoy the fireworks and socializing…it’s like mouthing the pledge of allegiance…anyone who studies history…knows who the true savages were…their descendents are in Congress today…
Lee 5 years ago
Thank you. My heart aches for my ancestors and even for myself as I humbly face the history of my people. I will continue to listen and believe and change. I hope the new common history comes quickly – we are all ready.
Sadiya Patel 5 years ago
I’m not Native American, but I have never know that the Declaration refers to them in such a crude way. That’s extremely unjust as well as heartbreaking that not many people know about that.
Barb Walker 5 years ago
And the Constitution defines an African American as .7 of a man.
Jayna Sheats 5 years ago
I totally agree and support the author. We expect continued apology from the Germans, criticize the Japanese for not doing as much, and more harshly criticize the Turks for refusing to recognize their genocide. But we are officially completely silent about our own, which is qualitatively not any different.
We cannot change the past. The living native Americans should not simply expect our sympathy and welfare checks. We should engage with them in a dialog about how we can do something for the people and other denizens of the earth that would be a suitable memorial to those who were sacrificed before.
Samuel Phillips 5 years ago
The declaration of independence is old, very old and not by any means how we are thinking today. There may be the quote but it’s stupid to assume it’s in there to mock native’s.
We accept with loving arms here in Canada and the States along with every race, it will take a long time to change such a delacate document but it’s not impossible. There is racism and people still think it but we’re definitly getting better and those ARE NOT the modern day words of Americans.
Sam., you have good thoughts, but your are wrong.
Jacob B 5 years ago
An interesting article, sir; however, what is more interesting is that you do not repeat the quote from the declaration. Respectfully, I disagree with you, although I will agree that the term was an unfortunate one, yet was not a blanket statement against all Native Americans.
The quote is: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
This is part of the grievances levied against King George III in that he incited Native American Tribes to fight the Colonists. Once again, it only refers to the Tribes fighting the Colonists and is not a blanket statement.
That’s a really good joke, Jacob. And, a very ignorant one at best. Did the concept of “merciless Indian Savages” cease with the original colonies. Of course, not. Ask the Cheyenne, for example, or any of the California tribes that were entirely removed from the face of the earth. How about those “merciless Indian Savages,” removed to the Indian territory in the 1830s so they would not scare the shit out of the whiteskins that wanted their land. (And took it again after the Territory was renamed Oklahoma). If it was not a “blanket statement” (covering everything), then I don’t understand the idiom. Please explain.
Nicholas 5 years ago
Thank you Mark for bringing this to our attention …and bringing light to the truth
Thomas Jefferson wrote that line in the Declaration of Independence as an example of why the colonists wanted to separate from England. He knew the Natives were not “merciless Indian savages.” He knew about the agriculture developed here and that only Natives knew how to grow nutritious foods which fed our people for centuries, and ultimately saved themselves from starvation. His inclusion of Natives into the US Constitution eleven years after 1776, in the Commerce Clause and definition of treaties as the “Supreme Law of the Land” proves that we were formidable allies/foes when necessary. Fourth of July marks the beginning of the documented love/hate relationship the new USA had entered into with Native nations.
George Carter 4 years ago
Aho brother! Good words.
Tom Fox 4 years ago
Thank you for educating me on that, I knew about the Doctrine of discovery but didn’t know about the quote about ‘merciless savages’ in the Declaration of Independence. So more proof that racism stares us in the faces everywhere we look but we don’t even realize it because we’ve been so indoctrinated into this Greco-Roman European thinking. Thank you again and keep talking, writing and sharing.
DouGlas Palenshus 4 years ago
Yes, your work is appreciated Mark Charles. I’m in the greater Seattle area; please let me know if I can assist in facilitating this “series of national conferences” in this area.
David Yazzie Jr. 4 years ago
Well written and documented. Keep it up.
Sara Barger 2 years ago
Thank You, Mark Charles! We go on celebrating this day without regards to our Nations history, Independence of the individual (or a people group) and current situation of families being locked up on our soil…Our America. I would ask you to consider a day of lament and action. Now, I hope (if this what you chose to do) you have a fun and safe day with families and friends but I ask you to think about the people who don’t have that choice and haven’t had that choice throughout our history. Here are just a few examples:
Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, Donation Law Act, The American Homestead Act, Slavery, Segregation, Jim Crow (past and present), Mass Incarceration, Japanese internment camp, Chinese Exclusion Act, Mexican Repatriation 1930’s (the current removal, will be the 4th in our history). These are only a few examples. There are many, many more.
I don’t say this to shame people, but to wake people up in hopes to call attention to the people who don’t see freedom and independence in the same way that I have the privilege to. I will not forget or dismiss it to the past because it does not affect me, a-matter-of-fact I have benefited from it because of the color of my skin. I have the responsibility to remember. I do not have the answers on how we can fix it because it is broken nor do I forget that as a woman my freedoms I have now are only because of the woman that came before me. I can suggest that we all have a responsibility to learn the true history of our Nation AND listens to voices of those that have been intentionally pushed in the margins AND these voices should ALWAYS have a seat at the table when Decision are being made.
Christina Fields 2 years ago
A great read on this “Fourh of July”. Thank you.
Diana 2 years ago
This article really touched me. Thank you for helping me underatand more. I am a proud Latina. My roots are of people of the land.
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North Carolina v. Burgess
GROVER CLEVELAND BURGESS, JR.
Appeal by defendant from Washington, Judge. Judgment entered 19 February 1981 in Superior Court, Caswell County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 5 January 1982.
Vaughn, Judge. Judges Webb and Hill concur.
Defendant makes several assignments of error. We hold that none of them disclose prejudicial error.
Defendant first excepts to the admission of testimony of two State witnesses. On direct examination, Liles testified without objection to a phone conversation he had had with Stevenson concerning the tractors: "I told Mr. Stevenson that they were hot and he stated that his friend in Siler City did not care if the price was right."
Later, an S.B.I. agent testified to statements given to him by accomplices to the theft of the tractors. He repeated Liles' statement which contained the following: "I also told Gerald Stevenson that the tractors were stolen. He told me that he would call his friend up in the county and see if he wanted them. . . . After a few minutes Gerald Stevenson called me back and said. . . ." At that point, defendant objected.
The jury was excused while the judge heard arguments on the objection. The judge excluded testimony of the agent which included statements to which Liles had not previously testified. He overruled, however, defendant's objection to the above-quoted testimony. The court ruled the agent's testimony was admissible for corroboration. Defendant then moved to strike Liles' previous testimony. The court denied the motion. When the jury returned, the agent testified that Liles had told him, "After a few minutes Gerald Stevenson called me back and said that his friend wanted the tractors and didn't care if they were hot or stolen at that price."
To review the court's rulings, we must first determine whether Liles' testimony on direct examination was admissible. His testimony as to what Stevenson told him concerning defendant was clearly hearsay. As such, defendant had the right to object to its admission. Failure to object in apt time to inadmissible evidence, however, constitutes a waiver. State v. Neal, 19 N.C. App. 426, 430, 199 S.E.2d 143, 145 (1973). Usually, "apt time" to object is when the question calling for inadmissible evidence is asked. State v. Bost, 33 N.C. App. 673, 236 S.E.2d 296, cert. denied, 293 N.C. 254, 237 S.E.2d 537 (1977). Where the admissibility of evidence becomes apparent only upon the answer, the proper objection is a motion to strike. State v. Neal, supra. The present defendant failed to object immediately to the question or to move to have Liles' answer struck.
Defendant did not move to strike Liles' testimony until the S.B.I. agent testified. A motion to strike is addressed to the discretion of the trial court. Stein v. Levins, 205 N.C. 302, 171 S.E. 96 (1933); State v. Bost, supra. In State v. Beam, 45 N.C. App. 82, 262 S.E.2d 350 (1980), we held that a motion to strike, made after other questions were asked, would not relate back to earlier answers. It was, therefore, clearly proper for the present court to deny defendant's motion to strike made after several other witnesses had testified.
Concluding that defendant waived any objection he may have had to Liles' testimony by his failure to act timely, we next address defendant's objection to testimony by the S.B.I. agent. The State prefaced its questioning by stating the agent's testimony was admitted solely for the purpose of corroboration. The court, therefore, properly sustained objections to that part of the agent's testimony which introduced new evidence. Defendant, however, had earlier allowed Liles to testify that Stevenson had told him defendant did not care if the tractors were stolen. Since we have held that previous testimony admissible, testimony by the agent to a similar statement by Liles was properly admitted for corroborative purposes. As such, it came in not to prove the truth of the matter asserted but to prove the statement was in fact made. There was no hearsay violation. 1 Stansbury, N.C. Evidence § 141 (Brandis rev. 1973). See also State v. Madden, 292 N.C. 114, 232 S.E.2d 656 (1977); State v. Miller, 288 N.C. 582, 220 S.E.2d 326 (1975).
Defendant next argues the court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial. The S.B.I. agent testified concerning statements Inman had given him. He stated that Inman had said he became upset when defendant originally refused to purchase the tractors. The agent continued:
"I believe it was the next day that he said that there was a contact made and Mr. Burgess stated that he would give, I think that it was fifteen hundred dollars for the tractors. And that Mr. Inman stated that when he went down and met Mr. Burgess on the pull-off, off 421, I believe that he told him that you know that it cost him fifteen hundred ...
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New Light Missionary Baptist Church
518 North 6th Street
newlightpastor@sbcglobal.net
For We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight – 2 Cor 5:7
In March 1996 a televised Christian program featuring our Assistant Pastor Eddie Jordan, (now our Pastor) delivered the Sunday school lessons each Saturday at 12:00 o’ clock mid-night to 12:30 A. M. and was aired on channel 16 (Fox) and Channel 54. The program ended after 5 years. This program was sponsored by...
A Church Is Born
Transforming Souls From Darkness To The Light!
Seventy-nine years ago in 1923, a group of five Christian workers in Abilene, TX, four women and one man talked and agreed to organize a church with Christ as its head. They communed, prayed, and then organized the New Light Baptist Church. These individuals were Sisters Mary Yeates, Mariagh Bennett, Lillian Wells, and Bro. Sam Heir. All are now deceased.
Our Early Pastors:
The first call for pastoral duties was extended to the late Rev. S. H. Hubbard, who graciously accepted and served from 1923-1925. He and the members worshipped in a small house on Ash Street and later moved to another site located on Magnolia Street which is now known as North Treadaway.
Through his many years of devoted service, Rev. S. H. Hubbard gained the reputation of being a Christian gentleman and a very hard worker. He did much to encourage the members of the church and others to continue toward the road to victory through Christ. Rev. John McDowell was called to pastor the church in 1925. There are no records of the activities that transpired during this time frame but the assumption has been made that progress did continue. Rev. McDowell was known by many through his service as Moderator of the Progressive Association and the Sun Set Association. His leadership ability was quite commendable during his pastorship which ended in 1927. Some of his relatives were Mrs. E. A. Sims, Mrs., Gertie Martin, and Mrs. Claudia Gilford.
In 1927, Rev. R. F. Bonner was called to pastor the church and immediately after accepting the offer, construction was started on a tabernacle. The foundation for the structure was laid by contractors but the building was constructed by the pastor with the aid of the members since they could not afford to have it done. The church increased numerically and spiritually. Rev. Bonner served until 1948.
During the interim and before Rev. Rice came in 1949, Rev. J. L. Dawson and Rev. W. L. Brown assisted New Light but neither were pastors of the church. Rev. Rice pastored only a few months before his demise.
Our Church Grows
After many years of trials and tribulations, another site for New Light Missionary Baptist Church was purchased. With the development and expansion of the site, there was a need for a Trustee Board; the following persons were selected to serve: Brothers Willie Turnerhill, Robert (Dude) Williams, and Rufus Jordan Patterson. The first deacons were: Brothers Elijah Gamble, first to be ordained, James Stephen, Cleveland Watkins, and Alton Hurd. The first church musician was Mrs. Anna Mannuel.
Copyright © New Light Missionary Baptist Church, 2015. All rights reserved.
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The Ventura chronicles
By Michael Khoo
Ventura's decision not to run again sent shockwaves through the state's political circles and beyond. Ventura's decision brings to a close another chapter in a colorful life that included stints in the U.S. Navy, as a pro-wrestler, action movie star, and suburban mayor.
In July 1999, Ventura caused a sensation when he agreed to referee a WWF wrestling match. He appeared at a news conference with then-WWF-star Chyna.
(MPR file photo)
Four years ago, candidate Ventura was something of a novelty in Minnesota's political world: a renegade candidate who provided some sort of comic relief to the famous names battling for the governor's mansion. Almost no one gave him any real chance for victory. But on Nov. 3, 1998, he stepped forward triumphant.
"Now it's 1998 and the American dream lives on in Minnesota 'cause we shocked the world," Ventura declared.
Ventura seemed to relish his new responsibilities, cobbling together a state budget three weeks before the document was due to the Legislature.
During the session, he steered a course between the DFL-controlled Senate and the GOP-controlled House. In the end, the session concluded with a $1 billion boost to K-12 education, funding for light-rail transit, significant income tax cuts, and the state's first ever sales tax rebate -- a mechanism for returning a budget surplus to Minnesota taxpayers.
That first year was also marked by controversy. During an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman," Ventura referred to the Irish as "drunkards." And then - in August 1999 - came SummerSlam.
Ventura appeared at the World Wrestling Federation event as a guest referee -- and spent 20 minutes in what turned out to be a fairly tame performance by wrestling standards.
The governor's moonlighting included 12 broadcasts for the XFL that drew fire from the political establishment. But ratings dropped precipitously and the league ended after only one season.
But just months later, Playboy magazine released the now infamous Ventura interview, which was anything but tame. During the course of a rambling conversation, the governor managed to offend overweight Americans, those who contemplate suicide, and, of course, organized religion, which he called a "sham and a crutch for weak-minded people."
He later attempted to douse the flames of controversy, but never quite issued a complete apology. He did say he didn't think all religious people were intellectually deficient.
"No. Or if they are, they seek religion to - that makes them better people. So if they are weak-minded, it helps them," he said.
His popularity sagged during the Playboy "rhubarb," as he began to call it. But it bounced back soon, and national commentators were once again seeking his input on the 2000 presidential election. Ventura stayed neutral -- with one exception.
He turned his back on his own Reform Party after conservative pundit Pat Buchanan positioned himself to take the party's nomination.
"I can't stay within a national party that, you know, that could well have Pat Buchanan as its presidential nominee. And now the latest word I hear, he's getting support from David Duke. Well, I can't be part of that. And I won't be part of that," Ventura said.
The state's two largest unions walked off the job in October 2001 after contraction negotiations broke down, many union leaders felt the governor was less than sympathetic.
Ventura soon reconstituted the Independence Party of Minnesota and carried that banner into the 2000 legislative session, where he became enmeshed in abortion politics.
In one of his more dramatic moments, Ventura agonized for days over what to do with legislation that required a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. Despite Republican claims that his administration had agreed to support the bill, Ventura ultimately delivered a veto.
"I have decided that it's wrong for government to assume a role in something that I have always believed was between a woman, her family, her doctor, and if she chooses, her clergy," Ventura said (Listen).
The 2000 session also saw a new level of government gridlock that produced the unlikely outcome of splitting the state's budget surplus three-ways. The House, the Senate, and the governor were given a portion to spend as each saw fit. Ventura eagerly used his share to cut automobile registration fees. And of course, there was another tax rebate. The next session opened with the predictable budget surplus. But there was bigger news on the horizon: the upcoming XFL football league.
And that year in the Legislature, Ventura scored what might be his biggest victory. After months of wrangling, a special session, and a near government shutdown, lawmakers approved a property tax overhaul that was at the core of the governor's proposed budget. And, of course, a 3RD sales tax rebate. Ventura positively beamed as the session wrapped up.
During a trip to Japan in November 1999, Ventura compared himself to sumo superstars.
"The economic times were right," he said. "The will of the people was there. And we didn't give up when the going got tough. We swung hard and we connected. This bill, ladies and gentlemen, is a home run."
But criticisms were mounting, too. Educators felt they didn't receive enough new cash to meet their expanding budgets, and many Democrats felt the tax cuts were unfairly tilted towards upper-value homes.
While those issues were being debated, a new crisis emerged. The state's two largest unions walked off the job in October after contraction negotiations broke down, many union leaders felt the governor was less than sympathetic.
By now, many were predicting the governor was vulnerable. An economic forecast released last fall showed the state facing a nearly $2 billion projected deficit, nearly twice what anyone had predicted.
There would be no rebate this year. In response, Ventura offered to cut spending, increase targeted taxes, and draw down the state reserves. But Republicans and DFLers, after spending three years teaming up with Ventura to shut the other party out, stumbled onto a different strategy.
The House and Senate locked arms -- as best they could -- and left the governor on the sidelines. Abandoning the centerpieces of Ventura's budget, they approved -- despite his vetoes -- a plan to make modest cuts, deplete state reserves, and delay certain education and health and human services payments until the next budget. The governor was clearly disappointed.
"We weren't brought in as a player, even though we were available to be so. I would categorize the session as... not very courageous. In fact, not courageous at all," he said.
Although Ventura has six more months in office, it's not clear how he'll be able to use them as a lame duck. The cap to his four years may have already come last week, when he led the largest ever state-level trade delegation to China.
The governor, and most business participants, called the excursion an unqualified success. "These are not vacations. They are important for the state of Minnesota and you can't measure their importance, how they're going to be. I hope you believe like I do, you won't judge these 'til five years from now, six years from now, maybe ten, even, that the ultimate results will come out from these type of trade missions," he said.
The trade mission comes on top of previous trips to Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Japan. And although time is slipping, there may be room for one more. Ventura says he's contemplating one last hurrah this fall. Destination: Cuba.
Ventura not running for second term
The Body's Politics A chronicle of Ventura's term as governor.
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Bosnian Serbs
HomeThe new statesman
The new statesman
Vojislav Kostunica is still trying to recover from the “shock” he felt nearly four months ago when he finally realised that he was indeed the president of Yugoslavia. He was “thrilled and humbled”, he says, and had thought much about how he would “behave as president-elect” after his September 24 victory over Slobodan Milosevic, who disputed the results of the vote until he was forced out of power on October 6.
But since then, “things have been changing very quickly” for the soft-spoken and studious 56-year-old lawyer, who readily acknowledges his “lack of experience” in governing, and finds his new duties and unlikely celebrity rather overwhelming.
“This job is very difficult, but also very creative,” he says, “and I wouldn’t be in politics if the creativity were missing”. Although he remains entirely serious, it seems that he is wittily hinting at the total mess which he inherited in his country’s affairs — both domestic and foreign — from his predecessor and which necessarily will require quite a bit of “creativity” to overcome…
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HomeMomentous change brings new challenges to Bulgaria
Momentous change brings new challenges to Bulgaria
BURGAS, Bulgaria — The evening news bulletin on Bulgarian National Radio began with a familiar item: Another meeting of the Politburo of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Then the announcer uttered a sentence that left Bulgarians stunned: The country’s dictator of more than 35 years, Todor Zhivkov, had just been “relieved of his duties.”
It was Nov. 10, 1989. I was only 15, but understood that what had happened was not just a simple personnel change in the Soviet Union’s most trusted satellite. Within minutes — though a day late — I learned of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Last month, as I sat in the same room in my parents’ apartment where I heard the news, I realized that those events had changed my life more fundamentally than anything else I have experienced before or since. Had communism not collapsed, I would never have been allowed to go to the United States…
Poland embraces past and moves ahead
KRAKOW, Poland — A black Trabant pulled up in front of the Sheraton hotel and its driver helped passengers out of the boxy, cut-rate car that remains a symbol of communism two decades after its collapse.
The “communist tour” of Krakow was over. The 23-year-old guide, Eryk Grasela, had taken a Washington Times reporter and photographer to Nowa Huta, a suburb built in the 1950s as a “model communist city” and counterpoint to “bourgeois” old Krakow, long known as Poland’s cultural capital.
While other former communist countries have tried to erase many Cold War memories since they became democracies in 1989, Poland has embraced its past, made the best of it and moved on. Today, Poles seem more satisfied with their lives than many others in the region…
Albright’s final bow
Madeleine Albright is almost shouting. She can’t hear me any more, she says. The noise on her aircraft has, indeed, become more deafening; but she also seems to be deliberately avoiding my question, and with good reason. This very moment is probably her happiest as secretary of state because of “the most important thing that has happened” during her nearly four-year tenure.
She has just received news about the Belgrade revolution and the ousting of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, and here I am, asking how she feels about having to leave office in three months. We’ve just spent a 30-hour day, having saved six hours by flying east-west from Egypt to Washington, and she says that’s exactly what she intends to continue doing for the rest of her term — “working every minute and extending the days”…
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Home > Cult > Made in Mexico: The 1959 movie “Santa Claus” has Santa, Satan, demons, the ‘wizard of wizards’ Merlin the magician and more
Made in Mexico: The 1959 movie “Santa Claus” has Santa, Satan, demons, the ‘wizard of wizards’ Merlin the magician and more
By Bryan Thomas on December 24, 2017
In the 1959 Mexican fantasy film Santa Claus — featuring primarily Spanish dialogue — was directed by René Cardona and co-written with Adolfo Torres Portillo, although most are probably familiar more with the dubbed and edited English-language version that came out in the U.S., after Florida-based “King of the Kiddie Matinee” K. Gordon Murray released as a weekend movie marketed directly to children.
Cardona and Torres Portillo’s story that blended the then relatively-unknown Christmas story about Santa Claus, mixing it with elements from horror and sci-fi movies. In Santa Claus, Santa (Jose Elias Moreno) doesn’t live at the North Pole; he lives in a magic castle in outer space, orbiting above the North Pole.
Santa doesn’t live alone, of course — he’s also pals with Merlin the magician, the “wizard of wizards” out of British Arthurian mythology (Armando Arriola, from The Phantom of the Red House and The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales) and the hairy Vulcan, the smith-god (Angel Di Stefani), who provide Santa with “the Flower of Invisibilty,” a kind of sleeping powder, which enables him to be able to enter homes without having to use the chimney.
The movie, in fact, opens with a musical tour of Santa’s outer space child labor sweatshop Toyland, where the toys are made by children from all over the world, instead of elves.
One of those kids is a little Mexican boy named Pedro (Cesareo Quezadas), who appeared in Cardona’s 1957 children’s film Tom Thumb, a rather unexpected runaway hit in Mexico, which then attracted the attention from U.S. film distributors and promoters like Murray, who saw that Santa Claus — which had played successfully for seven weeks in Mexico — might also be a big success.
The story continues when we learn that, for centuries, Satan has been putting up with Santa’s crap — making good children out of bad, you see — and so he sends his chief minion, the bright-red dancing demon named Pitch (House of Terror’s Jose Luis Aguirre), down to Earth on a mission to ruin Christmas by “making all the children of the Earth do evil,” with a plot that includes getting three little Mexican kids to conspire to kidnap Santa so that he can become their slave.
One of those children is Lupita (Lupita Quezadas), whose parents are too poor to buy her any toys. Much of the movie actually concerns the battle for her soul. In one scene, Lupita and her mother visit a market, and Lupita steals a doll. “No, Lupita, no!” cries the narrator (K. Gordon Murray himself, under the name of Ken Smith), but just as Pitch revels in his triumph, Lupita’s conscience prevails and she returns the toy to the stall.
Here we see Lupita having a truly nightmarish devil-ized dream:
At the time — in the late 1950s — the actual idea of a “Santa Claus” was fairly unknown in much of Mexico, where holiday gift-giving customs still focused more on the Catholic church-endorsed traditions of the Magi and their feast day, Epiphany, which is held on January 6. Even today, the concept of what many know as Christmas in much of Mexico is relatively unknown (and makes no mention of Santa Claus), instead focusing on such traditional holiday elements as posadas and piñatas.
In Santa Claus, Santa behaves more like St Nicholas, helping children to avoid temptation and rewarding those who are good, while threatening kids who are bad with eternal damnation (Santa even speaks of Jesus, whom he refers to as a close personal friend).
Murray — a distributor who bought in films, mostly from Mexico, dubbed them into English, before editing to make characters and settings more recognizable to English-speaking audiences — narrated the first U.S. trailer himself:
“Whether you’re in a cave, or behind a million mountains, Santa Claus sees you through his Master Eye, and invites you to his Magic Wonderland! See Santa Claus in his magic motion picture! Come past the doors of his towering castle, into a fantastic crystal laboratory, filled with weird and wonderful secrets; into his heavenly workshop, the most marvelous toy factory of all! Watch his battle with the mischievous demon who wants to get children into trouble! You’d better watch out! You’’ll wanna shout about the picture that won the Golden Gate Family Film award! Everyone, everywhere, is waiting for the K. Gordon Murray presentation, Santa Claus! In Eastman Colorscope. Saturday and Sunday, matinee only, at a theatre near you!”
Yes, believe it or not, Santa Claus won the Golden Gate Award for Best International Family Film at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1959. Murray’s success with the film was such that Santa Claus would periodically be re-released in theaters during the 1960s and 1970s, and it remained in circulation in America for nearly twenty years, and proved to be one of the biggest hits in the career of the prolific Mexican director Rene Cardona, who cast Jose Elias Moreno as the deranged scientist in the horror film Night of the Bloody Ape (1969).
It’s success eventually led to the film being mocked during the fifth season of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” when it first aired on Christmas Eve 1993. The devil Pitch then became a recurring character on MST3K, played by Paul Chaplin.
In December 2014, RiffTrax, featuring former members of MST3K, performed a live riff of the movie — now including a series of shorts by K. Gordon Murray mixed in with new footage filmed at the various Santa’s Village theme parks –as “Santa’s Village of Madness,” in movie theaters nationwide.
TV stations also air Santa Claus from time to time, including TCM, but if you’re itchin’ to see it, you can watch the entire movie here:
children's filmChristmasFeaturedK. Gordon MurrayMexicoMST3KSantaSatan
About Bryan Thomas
Bryan Thomas has been a freelancing writer/critic for All Music Guide, and a contributor to Launch, Music Connection, Big Takeover and numerous other publications and entertainment websites, blogs and zines, most of them long gone. He's written more than sixty sets of liner notes. He’s also worked for over twenty years at mostly reissue record labels -- prior to that he worked in bookstores and record stores, going all the way back to the original vinyl daze. He lives in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.
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Peering into the Shadows: Darkness Level 1
By Top Cow on November 20, 2006 1 Comment
An Inside Look With David Wohl And Stjepan Sejic
This December, one of Top Cow’s flagship characters, The Darkness celebrates its 10th anniversary. One of the highlights of the “Decade of Darkness” celebration is the hotly anticipated video game release coming in the spring from 2K for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and a series of tie-in “Level” one shots beginning in December. There can be no doubt that The Darkness is about to embark on a new wave of content and popularity. As a bonus for long time and new fans of the property, Top Cow Productions is releasing a series of inside looks at each “Level” one shot with the creators involved.
We begin this month with a look at The Darkness Level One. The “first level” takes readers back to Jackie Estacado’s origin, the fateful 21st birthday when the power of The Darkness was woken within him. The issue is co-written by Paul Jenkins, who also wrote the video game, and David Wohl, co-creator of The Darkness. When asked about his experience with co-writing with Jenkins, Wohl commented, “Writing with Paul has been a great experience. I’d only worked with him as an editor before, for a little while, back when he was writing Witchblade. So I got a sense of how we could work together back then, and I looked forward to a time when we could really collaborate on something.” Wohl continued by saying, “As the writer of the game, Paul has a wealth of information that has enabled us to create a comic that will heighten the experience of those who play the game, and for the non gamers out there, it will be a great read that will allow The Darkness fans to explore places in this world that they’ve never seen before.”
The Darkness Level books are also unique in that each level has art chores being handled by a different Top Cow superstar. For Level One, Croatian sensation Stjepan Sejic was chosen for his painterly style which fits well with the tone and mood of the video game. When asked about his experience about working on a video game related project, Sejic spoke excitedly about his experiences. “At first I was a bit skeptical about the project. I didn’t know what the game’s story was all about, so when I heard about the new comic being based on game I was among the naysayers“, he said, “Boy, was I wrong! This script is powerful, very emotional ,and in between badass to high heavens. The story is very panel rich which i appreciated. It gives a nice cinematic effect“. David Wohl in turn explained how the artistic lineup affected the writing process,”We do tend to fashion each level to play to the strengths of the artists. For example, with Stjepan Sejic, I think he does incredibly visceral action sequences and moody scenes, so we made sure to concentrate on those areas in the Level 1 issue.” Wohl further explained, “Whereas Eric Basaldua (artist on Level 3) is also a talented penciler who is great with action, but I wouldn’t feel right giving him a script that didn’t showcase a beautiful woman or two. Or three.”
Sejic, himself has experience as a 3-D computer artist, worked on staying true to the video game source material, “I saw the concept art made by Mathias Snygg, who actually painted level 0 before me. So I tried to stick to the facial definitions and designs made by him to keep the consistency of the story“. Both Wohl and Sejic passionaitely agree on their excitement as fans for the actual video game release in the Spring of 2007. Stjepan volunteered, “And I’m a heavyweight gamer, so hell yeah, I’m getting the game! It has some of the best ideas I’ve ever seen“. David agreed, “Yeah, I’m a HUGE videogame fan. And a Starbreeze (the developer) fan as well. So without a doubt I’ll be picking up the Darkness game as soon as possible”. Stjepan pondered, “Though I’m very intrigued if there will be a multiplayer. Now there is an idea. LAN party, 20 networked computers…and a gazillion darklings running amock… sweet”! Laughing Wohl left us with this, “I’m actually currently playing “Bully” which is also from Take-Two, the publisher of The Darkness game. That’s really fun, too. Oh wait, I hope (editors) Renae Geerlings and Rob Levin aren’t reading this. I’m supposed to be working. Uh, well I HEAR it’s a great game, anyway.”
Previous ArticleTop Cow Titles for February 2007
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Dark Horse announces The Art of The Last of Us Part II Deluxe Edition
Vault Comics announces Hundred Wolves
Dynamite Entertainment to release Luis Garcia art book
Abigail Mitts on July 9, 2007 5:30 pm
hey this darkness game is so cool. my boyfriend has it and i never get to play it.
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Tenants Staying Longer Because They Can’t Afford To Move The Clock Is Ticking…
Osborne Ends First Time Buyer Stamp Duty Holiday
By Mike Clarke On December 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has decided not to extend the Stamp Duty holiday for First Time Buyers, (FTB) provoking fury from critics with accusations of undermining the Government’s attempt to kick start the UK housing market.
The Government decision comes despite massive lobbying from the mortgage and estate agency industries and various organisations, including the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Nationwide, Legal & General.
The Government, however, says the Stamp Duty break has proved to be ineffective and it will end on March 24th 2012 as planned.
The Government has stated that they intend to produce proof of how the Stamp Duty holiday has not worked and will instead concentrate on other measures announced in its new housing strategy, notably its controversial mortgage indemnity scheme on which it has now unveiled a few more details.
The Chancellor revealed that the Government will underwrite the 95% mortgage scheme, which is available only for new-build purchases, by up to £1bn.
The Autumn Statement said: “The Government will take on a contingent liability which will build up in line with purchases under the scheme, to a maximum of £1bn.”
Under the scheme, taxpayers will be responsible for 5.5% of the value of each home purchased. Builders will put 3.5% of the value of each home sold under the scheme into a funding pot, which will be called upon by lenders if the properties are repossessed at a loss.
The initiative aims to help 100,000 households purchase a new-build home with a 5% deposit.
It is unclear how many first-time buyers have succeeded in getting on to the housing ladder because of the current Stamp Duty holiday, although evidence is that they have melted away.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warned that ending the Stamp Duty holiday could distort the market with a mini boom and bust.
A RICS spokesman said: “By choosing to end the relief in four months rather than immediately, there is a clear risk that there will be a spike followed by a dip in the housing market as buyers rush to take advantage of the relief before March. It was hardly surprising that the Stamp Duty break had failed to help first-time buyers, given the lack of affordable mortgages and homes on the market”.
Tagged with: builder • Chancellor • Exchequer • George Osborne • Government • home • Housing • indemnity • initiative • mortgage • new build • property • purchase • scheme • UK • value
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Orange Juice Flavour Sky
Lessons I'm learning from Emily and others with Down's syndrome
I didn't know anyone with Down's syndrome. I hadn't met anyone. I hadn't been around anyone. I didn't know anyone who knew anyone with Down's syndrome. All I knew was what I'd seen, huddles of hooded anoraks trudging one behind the other supported by a bossy carer or two.
That was until 1992.
Emily was born in 1992 but Emily wasn't the first person with Down's I met. When Sheron was six months pregnant we were invited to a work colleague's home for a garden party. Lots of people were there, including my colleague Harry's daughter. She was six years old and had Down's syndrome. I'd had no idea. She was adorable and I remember charging around the garden with her on my back. We had a great time. That was when I realised that Down's syndrome itself is merely a condition that affects us more than the person with the condition. It didn't seem to bother her at all and my pre-conceptions were blown out of the water.
Then in August Emily was born. And I thought back to that day in the garden and I wondered at such a coincidence.
John, the minister of our church, came to visit us in hospital, with his wife Jill. We hadn't realised but Jill is a twin. Her twin's name is Alison and Alison has Down's syndrome. I wondered at such a coincidence.
We received tremendous support from Harry and from John and Jill. What an amazing thing it is to receive support from people who can show empathy and compassion because they have some idea of what you need and when you need it.
The following year I was given a transfer to work at a different branch of the bank I worked for. This was disappointing as I had received great support from Harry and I knew it wouldn't be the same. My new line manager was called Nigel. I didn't know him, although I had heard of him. It turned out that Nigel's daughter had Down's syndrome. And I couldn't help but wonder at such a coincidence.
Looking back I am amazed that just at the right time, just when we needed it, we received support from three families who guided us through the choppy waters of those first few months, as we navigated the way ahead into an uncertain future. I can't help but be amazed that they just "happened" to be there. I fully believe they were woven into our lives with precision on a tapestry much, much bigger than I could possibly comprehend.
All these years later I'm still in touch with John & Jill. Alison is beautiful. If you read to the very end you'll be rewarded with a photo.
Jill: "I still remember my first cuddle with Emily and feeling how she would be ok. I know I'm privileged to have grown up knowing that a person with Down's syndrome is no different to anyone else. Alison is getting the most amazing care, they love her to bits."
Those three people with Down's syndrome were strangers to us, yet had influenced the lives of the people who would give us the support we needed. That blows my mind. And now I wonder who have we had contact with in the last 26 years who have received support, even without us knowing, because we were able to offer them some comfort and strength because Emily had first given it to us.
What a legacy these people with Down's syndrome leave, every single day of their lives their influence causes hope to ripple around the world. If you’re reading this and have just received unexpected news that you’re having a baby with Down’s syndrome or if you’re a new parent, seek out support, there’s someone nearby who has been prepared for a time such as this. You might already know them. Now what a coincidence that would be...
Posted by Emily's Dad at 11:50 No comments:
We ARE the good news
TV, radio, newspaper, social media, it doesn't matter how you get your news these days, it always seems to be bad news. Murder, terrorism, nuclear threats, war, white supremacists, the rise of the far right, the list goes on.
Don't focus on the bad news, as the world creaks and groans from evil on this side and that.
Focus on all that is good.
Look for the miracle.
What is your miracle?
Maybe it's the gurgle of a baby,
the warmth of the sun on your skin,
the smile from a stranger,
the colours of the sunset,
the wind on your face,
the laughter shared with friends,
the crackle from a campfire
the wonder of a shooting star,
the melody of your favourite song,
the joy that comes from seeing someone achieve something that others said they wouldn't, or couldn't.
Miracles don't always come with water turned to wine or a bread and fish picnic feeding 5,000.
See the miracle.
The miracle of life which exists right where you are.
Don't be held captive by fear.
Don't allow doers of evil deeds to claim another victim, to paralyse you, to prevent you from making a positive difference in this hurting world.
Look for the good in others.
But more importantly, look for the good in yourself.
Why is there so much evil you say?
Why is it like this in 2017?
How have we not learned the lessons from history which teach that intolerance, racism, xenophobia and
the desire to please only 'myself' whatever the cost to others leads to a world of separation, division and hatred?
We need to respect one another.
Trust one another.
We need to accept one another, without bias, without judgment, without dehumanising, whether we understand each other or not.
I look around at this world, I see people with disabilities, and learning disability in particular, who are treated as second class citizens, thought of as undeserving even of equal rights, some would even choose to refuse them the sanctity of human life.
People with learning disabilities are often much more of a joy to be around than those without a disability, the typically developing human. We can all learn something from each other. We just have to open our eyes, open our minds, open our hearts.
You can change the world.
We can change the world.
Where all are included, accepted, respected and, yes, loved for who they are.
We are the miracle.
We are the good news.
We are in this together.
Together we can make a melody so beautiful that our song will overcome the creaks and groans of the world. The tune is love, the words are written on your heart.
Will you join the anthem?
My Feral Heart
How do you like your movies? Are you the type of person who likes the crash bang wallop of big budget special effects with epic battle scenes of monumental proportions? I’ve got to say they are not my cup of Darjeeling. I’m much more of a sucker for good old fashioned storytelling. I like a film that makes me think, something that is emotionally stimulating, a film that asks my imagination to fill in some of the blanks.
That’s why when I saw My Feral Heart it ticked all of the boxes I want in a film.
If you haven’t seen it yet I want to challenge you, as you read the last line of this blog post, to follow the link you’ll find there and book in to see it. You won’t get another chance. It’s not on general release, it’s available one more time in selected cinemas to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day and you have to book in advance by Sunday 12th March! (with apologies if you’re reading this on Dave or On Demand after that date!)
One of the UK’s top film critics, Mark Kermode, made it one of his top UK independent films of 2016. Watch a short clip of him talking about it here *SPOILER ALERT*
What makes the film fascinating for me is the lead actor is a man with Down’s syndrome, Steven Brandon. He plays the part of Luke exceptionally well – you will not believe this is his first film. He was nominated in the leading actor category of the BIFA film awards alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Michael Fassbender! Just incredible!
Steven Brandon proving to me his lion tattoo was for real!
You can read more about My Feral Heart on the website here but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, do yourself a favour and book in to see this film now – there are 50 screenings planned across the UK next week and they will only go ahead if enough people book in to see it. Why not buy a ticket for you AND someone else then take them along as part of raising positive awareness of people with Down's syndrome. If you belong to, or help run, a local Down's syndrome support group, why not buy a bunch of tickets and give them away to make sure that the screening happens AND again raising awareness. £1 from the sale of every ticket goes to the Down's Syndrome Research Foundation in aid of Don't Screen Us Out.
Get involved! You won't regret it I promise! Even if you're usually a big budget, battle scene kinda cinema goer, try this and if you don't like it you can come over to mine and I promise to watch the whole of Bored of the Rings with you! (yawn)...
Here's a little trailer for this beautiful film!
I have so much more to say about My Feral Heart, including the inside story straight from the mouths of Jane Gull (Director), Duncan Paveling (writer) and James Rumsey (Producer) but I want you to go and see the film first!
HERE’S THE LINK YOU NEED TO FOLLOW
You want to work?
Have you got your bag?
Bus pass?
And with that she says goodbye and leaves to walk up the hill, across the road, round the bend, up the next street, across the dual carriageway to the bus stop. She patiently waits and then boards the bus and takes the short journey to the next village, where she goes through the underpass and into the hair salon.
To work.
This could be any young woman. This is the way it should be when school is over, college is almost done and you’ve got a spare day in your week. Get a job. Earn some money. Find out what it’s like in the real world. Be independent.
But this isn’t anyone. This is someone with learning disabilities. Someone with Down’s syndrome. This is Emily. My daughter.
Emily loves to go to work. She loves the feeling of being an independent young woman, even if for only a short time of the week. It’s where she can learn new skills, gain confidence, interact with the general public. She knows that this is the way it should be. She feels motivated. She has purpose. She has a strong feeling of self-worth. She is valued. Appreciated. Part of the community.
She belongs.
Irrespective of our background, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, colour, disability, however we might choose to divide ourselves, that’s what we all want really isn’t it? To be valued. To belong.
“To LIVE, to LOVE, to LEARN and to LEAVE a legacy” – according to Stephen R. Covey
Yet we know that for people with learning disabilities, the opportunities post formal education are very limited indeed. There are some marvellous facilities in small pockets of the country which provide opportunities for the learning disabled to access good quality training but there are even fewer opportunities to find a job with any acquired skills. We live in a country where profit is king so why would any employer want to employ someone who is slower than their contemporaries? Why would they take on someone who may well give them health and safety headaches, additional risk assessments, potentially increased insurance premiums?
If an employer were to buck the trend and actually employ someone with a learning disability, they know that the law enforces a minimum wage, which they are obliged to pay, regardless of whether they get value for money. Is this fair to the employer? Is it fair to the other staff on the same rate of pay? Won’t there be disagreements? Fall out? If the balance sheet is king, aren’t the learning disabled just another liability rather than an asset?
I’ll tackle what Emily’s employer and fellow staff members think about all of this in another post, for I fear there is insufficient room here to do this tale justice.
I have met a number of parents who are happy for their young person with LD to work for nothing because they believe that if they pushed for pay that may bring the placement to an end, which would be to the detriment of their family member. Better to be out of the house, part of the community and doing a job, even if without pay, than to be sat at home, on the iPad, watching endless re-runs of Homes Under the Hammer and still get paid nothing.
And there are others who would campaign for a change in the law to enable employers to pay below the minimum wage to people with LD. This surely would be an incentive to employers to give a chance to someone with a LD, knowing that they’re not “gambling” quite so much on the roll of the dice that is the world of learning disability.
Wouldn’t it?
Surely people with learning disabilities just want to work. They want that sense of purpose and job satisfaction. They want to be like their peers and get a wage packet at the end of the week. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little bit less in there than their co-workers.
I agree that something must be done to change the current position where 94% of adults with a learning disability are NOT in paid work (Health and Social Care Information Centre 2015). Day centres are closing. Adult social care is in crisis across the country. The state is turning its back on people with learning disabilities and we should all be disturbed by this. Suggestions that we should allow a lower minimum wage to get the learning disabled into work come from a place of vision of the future and desperately looking for solutions.
But how can we campaign for equality when it comes to education, health and other societal norms but then go and undo that good work by suggesting to employers that the LD can be paid less because they will produce less, immediately giving employers and society in general the impression that they do not carry the same value. Literally worth-less. We can’t. We just can’t. We must start from a position of equality and find, or create, work opportunities which combat weaknesses.
When I started work as a teenager I was on a Youth Training Scheme at Barclays Bank where I was paid the princely sum of £25 per week, whereas my colleague Peter, doing exactly the same job, was on staff and paid three times as much. I was better at the job than he was and everyone couldn’t quite believe the unfairness of it all. Barclays were laughing. They were getting all of the benefits of a permanent member of staff without paying for it.
And the same situation wouldn’t be fair for our young people either. How do we know that they won’t be able to do a job as well as someone else? We don’t. According to Mencap, research has identified various barriers to people with LD getting and keeping a job. These include:
· Negative attitudes and low expectations of people with a learning disability, their families and carers.
· Negative attitudes and low expectations of employers.
· A lack of flexible, personalised employment programmes
· Unfair treatment, discrimination and bullying in the workplace
· Issues relating to access and support in the workplace
(Watts et al 2014; Roulstone et al 2014; Hall and Wilton 2015; Coleman et al 2013; Meager and Higgins 2011)
Essentially, it comes back to low expectations and insufficient support to enable a work opportunity to thrive. Resulting in “failure”.
Oh, and if this sounds familiar, it’s what you’re probably going through, or been through, with your young person at school. The same lack produces similar results, just in a different setting.
It’s time to raise the bar people!
Katie's Triumph
Every now and again we get a snapshot of someone else's life. We don't get the whole picture, how could we? But what we do get is a brief insight, a flicker, a window into their world. This post is such a snapshot. It was a short Facebook post between friends but I felt these words needed sharing more widely, deserving of a larger audience. So with her permission, I'm bringing Colette's words to the world - a world very much in need of inspiration, of light, a world which needs to know the existence of such faith, hope and love. These are words which challenge the world view of perfection, whilst revealing the beauty of an overcoming spirit.
*Colette is mum to Katie who is 19 and has Down's syndrome.
Katie went to a national Stagecoach audition/workshop for their annual summer show today. We got to watch the performance at the end. And there was my Katie, and she did SUCH an amazing job. Ok, she was at times a little behind the beat, but at times she was dead on, and ok, she was at times a little out of tune, but at other times she was in tune.
And I looked at her brilliant smile and beautiful trusting heart that must have worked so hard to get that all together in quite a short rehearsal period, and I thought, that is still not good enough for the world. It still won't be enough to get her in. And there’s no criticism of Stagecoach here, I was really glad that they accommodated Katie. But I know that if they gave Katie a place it would be taking it away from someone else, who can perform better, more in time, more in tune.
But I just thought....wouldn't it be lovely if that wasn't how the world worked, that you weren't only accepted if you were their idea of perfect, because actually looking at her there, she was truly amazing.
She wouldn't be talking, let alone singing.
She wouldn't be walking, let alone dancing.
So, my eyes welled up and I was sad, sad about the way the world is, sad that people aren't kinder and don't value the important things. But then, with tears rolling down my cheeks, I realised that actually, that was a triumph for Katie today. She wasn't supposed to be there, she has come through three lots of open heart surgery to be standing there. If the predictions were to be believed, she wouldn't be talking, let alone singing. She wouldn't be walking, let alone dancing, with high kicks and in time (mostly) with a group of typically developing peers.
So as I stood there applauding for all I was worth, I just wanted to shout, "Just look at her though! She has Down syndrome, and LOOK at what she has just pulled off. She may not be the most perfectly timed or perfectly in tune, but look at that smile, look at that enthusiasm and tell me that is not a triumph.”
We are all equal
There has been much written and said about Down’s syndrome over the last month or so leading up to, and since, Sally Phillips’ documentary A World without Down’s Syndrome. Some of what I’ve read has been balanced and fair, recognising that the discussion Sally has started is not an easy one for some to join in but some of what has been printed has been defensive knee-jerk reactionary nonsense from some people who should know better.
I asked friends and work colleagues to watch A World Without Down’s Syndrome and let me know what they thought. Largely these are people who have are representative of the general public, aware that Down’s syndrome exists but not really knowing the impact on family life of having a family member with the condition. The response I received was typically like this one:
“I watched the programme thinking I was prepared. I wasn’t expecting to be so blown away.”
“I had no idea that babies could be terminated right up to birth. It’s awful.”
“I cried like a baby. That was so powerful.”
Over this weekend the government has leaked news that it intends to implement Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) on the NHS from 2018. This is not a surprise. However, it is disappointing that they have not waited for the report due from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics which is due in February 2017 before deciding to proceed. It shows a total disregard for ethics in medicine today and a total disregard for disabled people generally.
It is widely accepted that NIPT will pick up over 100 cases of Down’s syndrome which would not have been picked up on the current screen and that this will increase the number of terminations of babies with Down’s syndrome whilst saving far fewer chromosomally typical babies who would have miscarried following amniocentesis. In effect the government are indirectly approving the sacrifice of many babies with Down’s syndrome to save a few who don’t.
So what’s the answer?
How does the Down’s syndrome community respond to this?
Over the years I have spoken to hundreds, probably thousands, of families with a family member with Down’s syndrome. Very few would say that they wish their child had not been born. The vast majority accept that their lives are far richer for joining this world – a world WITH Down’s syndrome – a world they knew nothing of before but would not go back to how their lives used to be.
And the most important people in this conversation are people with Down’s syndrome themselves. The government has done nothing to engage people with Down’s syndrome in the conversation. Is this really the world we want to live in? It is doubtless a very difficult conversation to involved people with Down’s syndrome. Understandably adults with Down’s syndrome, who may otherwise be very articulate in their speech, suddenly become tongue tied and stumble over their words, unable to express themselves or even process their thoughts coherently, such is the devastating nature of the conversation.
But that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. Far from it. It means we need to step back and think about what it would mean to us if suddenly society wanted to implement screening for likelihood of having a heart attack, stroke or developing cancer. For the technology approved has the capability to do just that and there was a chilling moment in the documentary when collectively we all realised that point. And shuddered.
But surely they will never use this technology for that will they?
Having been ignored by the government it is imperative that we do all we can to change society’s understanding of Down’s syndrome. Yes that includes government and people in positions of power, doctors, consultants, midwives, etc. But it also, and more powerfully, involves your next door neighbour, the people in the street, work colleagues, the woman walking her dog in the park – this is where change happens, in the hearts of ordinary people.
We need to show that people with Down’s syndrome are involved in everyday life (as they are) and whilst there are undoubted challenges, we must remember that no child is born with a certificate of guarantee that they will remain free from being tarnished in some way. We can’t go around calculating lifetime cost of one human being against another. How would we offset this in the credit column? How much is it worth when someone makes you smile? How much is it worth when your heart feels like it will literally explode because your child has done something to make you proud? How much do we deduct from our own account when we lie, cheat, steal, discourage, disappoint, hurt, backbite, etc, etc, etc?
Any credit I have gained I would gladly transfer to Emily’s account. However, she doesn’t need me to. She is more in credit than I!
No, it is impossible to measure worth in pounds and pence. We are all equal.
The Moonstone
Last year Emily had an opportunity to go on set of a BBC adaptation of David Walliams’ book Billionaire Boy starring John Thomson, Catherine Tate and Warwick Davis. She even got a brief walk on part as an “Extra” (well she does have an “extra” chromosome don’t you know!). It was shown on BBC1 on New Year’s Day.
Whilst Emily enjoyed being involved and seeing herself, briefly, on TV, we thought that would be the end of it. However, a few months ago we were contacted by Joanna, Producer of Billionaire Boy, who was just starting to film an adaptation of another book for the BBC and as they were filming in Yorkshire wondered if Emily might like to get involved.
Er…yes please!!
With John Thomson on Billionaire Boy
So we went off at “too-early-o’clock” to North Yorkshire and Emily was whisked off to costume and make-up and emerged transformed.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, generally believed to be the first detective novel in the English language, and now to become a BBC costume drama set in the mid 19th century. Oh yes! How many of you lovely people would love to be in a BBC costume drama? Well Emily has done it. It doesn’t really matter what ends up on the cutting room floor and what may be shown on screen, the fact is she’s done it and enjoyed it.
Once again she was alongside the brilliant John Thomson (Pete from Cold Feet). As we walked off set to grab a bite to eat at lunchtime John turned to Emily and said, “Did you work with me on Billionaire Boy?”.
“Yes, I did”, replied Emily.
“I thought I recognised you. It’s lovely to meet you again”, said John.
A genuinely lovely man. Thanks John, that meant so much.
It was a long day for Emily, there was lots to get through and everyone worked really hard. At the end of the day we were whisked back to base to get changed and we were on our way home. This was an insight into the surreal world of television. It’s really not glamorous but it was really interesting to see what goes on behind the camera.
Emily’s scene was in Episode 5 – if you squint hard, you might just spot her – here’s hoping!
Watch out for other big names like Sarah Hadland from Miranda and the wonderful David Calder. With grateful thanks to all at King Bert Productions for a memorable day.
**The Moonstone begins on Monday 31st October at 2.15pm and will be shown across five consecutive days on BBC1.
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Back to Table of Contents.
Plato's Universe
I. Plato: Life and Times
Plato (429-348 B.C.) is one of the two most significant ancient Greek philosophers in the Western intellectual tradition. (The other is Aristotle, whose physical system is discussed in the next chapter.) His significance for the story of the development of the concepts of space and time is that his dialogue, the Timaeus, is an early attempt to give a systematic account of the nature of space and time. Plato was born into an aristocratic Athenian family. As a youth, he was a follower of Socrates. The major contribution of Socrates was to shift the focus of intellectual attention away from issues of natural philosophy and the nature of the physical universe to a concern for moral issues and the nature of man. Socrates himself never wrote anything. He taught by engaging people in dialogue and he devoted his life to trying to persuade people to live better lives by becoming more self aware of their purposes and interests. For his trouble, he was put to death by the Athenian state in 399 B.C., ostensibly for corrupting the youth of Athens and undermining the authority of the state, although political revenge was part of the motive. (Guthrie, 1975, chapter 4)
Plato decided to go into philosophy instead of politics when he saw what the state did to his friend and teacher. He founded a school, the Academy, in c. 387 B.C., which survived until 529 A.D., when it was shut down by Justinian. Unlike the pre-Socratics and Socrates himself, Plato left a large number of complete works which still survive. Plato was a master of the dialogue form and most of his works aredialogical conversations imitative of the teaching style of Socrates. In the dialogues, Plato developed a systematic philosophical view on the nature of man, the state, morality, knowledge, language and a wide range of diverse subjects (see e.g. Taylor, 1927).
II. Being and Becoming
The problem of permanence and change, or the relation between Being and Becoming, was one of the central problems emerging from the speculations of the pre-Socratic philosophers. The correlative problem of the distinction between what was Real and what was mere Appearance impressed upon Greek thinkers that there were fundamental conflicts between what could be known by reason and what could be known by the senses.
The world, as known by the senses, appeared to be extended in space, enduring through time, and subject to constant change. The arguments of Parmenides and Zeno, on the other hand, suggested that these features were only apparent, and that following reason would persuade us that neither space, nor time nor motion was real.
In addition, the conflicting theories of the pre-Socratics about the nature of the world seemed dogmatic and arbitrary. How was one to know which of these theories, if any, was correct? A sense of skepticism about the very possibility of knowledge filled the air (Guthrie, 160 , chapter IV). Out of this situation, in Athens, in the 4th century B.C., two philosophical systems were developed which, between them, were to have an enormous influence on the subsequent development of scientific thought: that of Plato, which we consider now, and that of Aristotle, which we consider in Chapter 5.
The basic problems of Permanence and Change can be stated as three questions:
(1) What is the nature of that which is Permanent (Being)?
(2) How are we to understand Becoming or Change?
(3) Can we have true knowledge of what is (Being) and the nature of Change?
On two fundamental points, Plato and Aristotle agreed. They agreed, against the skeptics of the day, that knowledge is possible. Secondly, they agreed that
knowledge involves understanding and grasping the universal or essential features of things. The philosophical systems they built on this common base, however, were radically different.
III. Plato's Solution to the Problem of Permanence and Change
We are, of course, primarily interested in Plato's views on space and time. In order to properly understand them, however, it is necessary to briefly consider the general outline of Plato's metaphysics (theory of Being) and epistemology (theory of knowledge). In this way we can correctly situate Plato's cosmological picture and his view of space and time within the wider framework of his total philosophy.
Plato's metaphysics and epistemology is an attempt to come to grips with the paradox of Parmenides: that, what truly is, is unchanging, although the evidence of our senses suggests that the world we experience is a world of objects which are impermanent and subject to change. Plato's solution to the paradox of Parmenides was to distinguish between
(1) The World of Forms
(2) The Sensible World.
(1) The World of Forms: The world of Forms was, for Plato, a world of permanent unchanging essences or true Beings. True knowledge of these Forms was possible through the use of reason. What were these Forms? Consider two individual tables (men, bluebirds, oaks, trumpets, atoms, what have you). According to Plato, these two individual tables, e.g., must share some properties in common in virtue of which they are both tables. What they share that makes them both tables is an essence of table-ness, or, a Form of "table-hood." Although an individual table may suffer the ravages of time, and become defaced, decay, or perhaps wind up as firewood, its essence, that which makes it a table,
remains inviolate and unchanging.
The Form of a table does not exist in the individual table that we can see, or touch, but, rather, it exists in a realm accessible only to reason--to the mind's eye, as it were.
(2) The Sensible World: The actual individual table that we interact with on the sensory level exists in the sensible world, the world of everyday life and experiences. The objects of this world are subject to constant change. It is a world of Becoming. The world of Becoming, for Plato, is not itself completely real (nor is anything in it) because, for one thing it is a world which is constantly changing and Plato accepts the Parmenidean thesis that what is Real never changes.
Much of the effort in Plato's dialogues is expended towards trying to work out the implications of this distinction in a comprehensive and consistent way. Two problems Plato faced are directly relevant to our concerns: The problem of participation, and the problem of knowledge.
The Problem of Participation: By distinguishing between a world of Forms (Being) and a world of Becoming, Plato tried to salvage both the Parmenidean insights into the nature of the Real and the common sense acceptance of the world as a world of change. The problem Plato faced by separating the essences of things from the things as they are experienced was to explain or account for the relationship between things and their essences. In general, Plato took the world of Becoming to be a copy of the world of Being, but the problem of understanding how an individual object was a copy of its Form plagued Plato for his entire life. The problem became known as the problem of participation, because Plato often suggested that sensible objects somehow "participated" in the Forms. Plato had a difficult time trying to explicate this notion of "participation." The best we can hope for here is to suggest some analogies that Plato employed. One analogy that Plato suggested was that objects in the sensible world stand to their Forms as a picture of an individual stands to the individual.
Form of Table <=> a paritcular table
a particular table a picture of the table
Just as the picture is an imperfect copy of the original, so the object is an imperfect copy of a Form.
Another analogy that Plato suggests is that
Forms (Being) <=> Physical Objects
Physical World (Becoming) table Mirror Images
These metaphors are ultimately somewhat unsatisfactory. It is a credit to Plato's intellectual integrity that he realized this and constantly strove to make his ideas as clear and precise as he could. The relevance of this difficulty for our concern with space and time is that it is constantly in the background of the Timaeus, Plato's dialogue on cosmology, which contains his most detailed views about the nature of physical space and time.
The Problem of Knowledge: According to Plato, following Parmenides, the objects of knowledge (i.e., what can be known) must be Real. Since the world of Becoming, i.e., the physical world, is not completely real, it is a world of which no real knowledge is possible. The best we can do with respect to the physical world is have true opinions and create "likely stories." It follows that natural science, which is the attempt to give an account to the sensible world of Becoming, is not, and never can be, true knowledge. At best, scientific theories can be only "likely stories." In order to appreciate the difference between Plato's perspective on science and the perspective of most modern scientists, one has to realize that for Plato, to say that a scientific theory could only be a 'likely story' was to admit it to be seriously defective. Most modern scientists, on the other hand, would gladly agree that even the best scientific theories of the day are at best "likely stories" insofar as they fail to account for all the (possible) observational evidence or fail to provide a "complete understanding" of the evidence at hand. But, for Plato, what prevents science from being knowledge is neither a lack of observational data nor a lack of complete understanding. For Plato, no empirical account of the physical world, no matter how complete, can count as knowledge because knowledge is always of that which is Real, i.e., of the objects of the eternal, unchanging world of Forms. The objects of the world of Becoming are not the right sort of thing that is capable of being known (see, e.g., Plato's Republic, Book VI). The net effect is that Plato's philosophy has an anti-scientific bias. Despite this, he did produce, in the Timaeus, a cosmological model and an extended attempt to come to grips with the nature of space and time.
IV. Plato's Cosmology
Plato's reasons for writing the Timaeus are somewhat unclear, as it is the first piece in a trilogy which he never finished. However, part of his motivation seems to have been to establish that the physical universe, imperfect as it may be, exemplifies the workings of Reason (Cornford, 1957, 38).
Plato was unhappy with the "materialistic" cosmologies produced by the pre-Socratics (see Plato's Phaedo). Plato argued that just as the behavior of human beings could not be understood purely in behavioristic or mechanistic terms, but required a knowledge of the human soul and its reasons, so the workings of the physical world could only be understood by appealing to a world soul. Plato's cosmology is, at once, a step forward and a step backward. It is a step forward insofar as it attempts to exploit the mathematical perspective of the Pythagoreans by postulating geometrical figures as the ultimate building blocks of the material universe (Plato, Timaeus, 63C ff.).[*]
It was a step backward in that it reintroduced the idea, gradually eliminated from pre-Socratic cosmologies, that nature was a living being to be understood in terms of the model of a rational agent.
Plato, in fact, suggests that vision was invented to enable men to study the rational order of the universe and so imitate that order in themselves (47B). Thus, Plato's concern is primarily moral rather than scientific.
We turn to a brief summary of the cosmology of the Timaeus. The Timaeus is a creation myth, in which Plato describes, as a "likely story," how the universe was created and what, in general, its structure is. Along with his moral aims, Plato was also wrestling with the problem of participation: how to make sense of the idea that eternal, unchanging archetypes (the Forms) could be the models of impermanent objects in a constantly changing world (see Sayre, forthcoming).
The universe, or Cosmos, is a living being endowed with a soul (30C f.). The Cosmos was fashioned from a pre-existing chaos by a Divine Craftsman, the Demiurge, using the Forms as models for sensible objects (29D f.). Plato does not say what, if anything produced the Demiurge or the chaos. If the myth is a myth of actual creation, then the Platonic story contrasts with the account in Genesis, which is a creation out of nothing. The Demiurge uses a pre-existent chaos and appeals to eternal (and, hence, pre-existent) Forms as models. See section VI below for further qualifications. The Cosmos as a whole is modeled on the Form of a Living Creature (40 C-D) and is unique (31A-B).
There are three irreducible components in the Platonic picture: (1) Being (the Forms), accessible to reason alone; (2) Becoming (sensible objects), accessible to the senses; (3) space (the Nurse of Becoming). Space, in the Platonic sense is a third factor mediating between Being and Becoming. Through a series of metaphors, Plato struggled to make the concept of space clear (see section V below).
The Cosmos is a self-contained sphere which, although alive, does not need any nourishment, since otherwise it would be subject to decay. The sphere uniformly rotates on its axis with the earth at the center. Uniform circular motion is the motion most fitting for a rational being, the closest it can get to not moving at all--i.e. the closest it can get to its eternal archetype. In addition, there are six "irrational" motions, moving to the front or moving to the back, moving up or moving down, and moving to the right or moving to the left (33B-34A). These "irrational" motions are the basic motions possible in a three-dimensional space.
The earth, at the center, rotates with the sphere. In order to preserve the succession of day and night, as observed from the earth, the earth must have a counter revolution. All the planets, including the earth, are gods, and each has a motion proper to it (40B-C).
The diurnal (daily) motion of the heavens around the earth is produced by what Plato calls "the motion of the Same" (see Fig. 4-1 above). A further motion, the motion of the Different, is in the opposite direction and at an angle to the motion of the Same. The path of the motion of the Different is through the ecliptic, which is that portion of the sky which contains the orbits of the sun, moon and planets. The motion of the Different accounts for the tendency of these bodies to rotate, with respect to the Earth, in the opposite direction to the daily motion of the stars.
Although the sun, moon and planets revolve in the opposite direction to the motion of the stars, they do not all revolve at the same rate. Plato proposed that the variation in the planetary motions is due to the fact that each planet, as a god, moves, at least partially, in accordance with its own reasons (39E-40B). The Timaeus is the earliest attempt we possess to give a systematic account of the complexities of the motions of the heavenly bodies as seen from the earth. Plato, himself, did not bother to try to work out the details in any systematic way. This task he left to the professional astronomers. (See Heath, 1913; Kuhn, 1957, Chapter 1).
The sphere contains everything in the physical universe. Outside it there is nothing, neither body nor void (33B f.). The Timaeus also contains a discussion of the construction of material objects from the basic geometrical figures and some discussion of the physiology of living creatures (55D ff.). Since it is not relevant to our concerns, we omit discussion of it here.
The only relevant consideration is that Plato adopts, as traditional, the view that the material elements of the Universe are composed of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. He takes the earth (at the center of the cosmos) to be the region where Earth collects and the celestial sphere to be the region of the cosmos where Fire collects (53A, 57C; cf. p. 4-17 below).
In addition to the general cosmological picture summarized above, Plato offered a detailed exposition on the nature of space and time. We turn now to a discussion of those topics.
V. The Nurse of Becoming
In the Timaeus, we find the first systematic account of space, which Plato calls (among other things) "the Nurse of Becoming." It is, in effect, the medium, arena or mirror within which things which change (become) subsists. Plato tries to capture the essence of spatiality through a series of, sometimes conflicting, metaphors. In this section, we briefly review the metaphors and then elicit from the text itself a series of properties characteristic of the Platonic conception of space.[*]
The function of the Nurse of Becoming, for Plato, is to serve as a medium for the Forms to produce sensible objects. The Forms interact with the Nurse of Becoming to produce the sensible objects of the physical world. In four pages, Plato suggests eight metaphors designed to make this idea clear (49A-52D).
(1) The third factor, mediating between Being and Becoming is first identified as a Receptacle--in the sense of something which receives the Forms (49A).
(2) The characterization of the third factor as a passive Receptacle is immediately qualified by calling it the Nurse of Becoming (49A). This suggests an active role for the third factor in the generation and maintenance of the sensible objects of Becoming.
(3) The Receptacle is then likened to a material, gold, which can be molded into any number of distinct figures, but which contributes nothing of its own characteristics to the final product (50C). Plato wants the Receptacle to have no properties of its own, so that it may more faithfully reproduce the properties that objects will possess in virtue of the "imprint" of the Forms. Of course, gold, or any other material does have its own properties and, hence, the analogy breaks down. But, again, the image is that of a passive factor which contributes nothing but a medium within which the objects of Becoming can subsist.
(4) The passive image is reinforced by comparing the Receptacle to the liquid base for a perfume (50D). The perfumer deliberately chooses a liquid which is as odorless as possible in order that the medium will not interfere with the odors that the perfumer is trying to capture.
(5) The Receptacle is characterized, using a biological metaphor, as the Mother of Becoming, the Forms being the Father (51A).
(6) At a later point in the dialogue, the image is shifted to that of foster-mother (88D).
(7) At 52B, the Receptacle is characterized as an arena or container. It is identified explicitly as chora (also 52D). The container metaphor, with some qualification, is the predominant one, mentioned as it is, in the summary to this section of the dialogue (52D).
(8) Finally, space is characterized as analogous to a "winnowing basket," which farmers used to separate chaff from grain (52D). The basket is constantly shaken and the chaff thereby thrown off to the ground while the grain remains behind in the basket. The idea is that the Receptacle is in constant motion jostling the qualities and properties contributed by the Forms. This suggests that the Receptacle, is no mere passive container but is somehow interacting with its contents.
These, then, are the central metaphors that Plato uses to characterize the third factor which mediates between Being and Becoming. We will take this third factor to be Space.
The question is: What are the properties of space, as understood by Plato? The list of metaphors suggests that it is both active and passive with respect to its contents. This suggested-to some, e.g. to Aristotle, that Plato identified space with matter (See Solmsen, 1960). If so, this would make Plato a forerunner of Descartes (see Chapter 6) and Einstein (see Chapter 16; Graves, 1971, Chapter 5). However, there is no indication in Plato's dialogue that such an identification was intended, although it is clear that space, for Plato, is never empty. Thus, to think of space as a container which might not contain anything is alien to Plato's idea (52D-53C).
The following are the basic properties of space, as Plato conceived it.
(S1) Space has no qualities of its own (50E). It is a pure medium within which objects exist and processes take place, but it has no qualities of its own.
(S2) Space is homogeneous (50B). This means that it has the same nature in every region. Since space is a "matrix" for receiving all things and it does not contribute any of its characteristics to the things in it, it would seem to follow that space must be homogeneous. If it weren't, i.e., if its characteristics differed from place to place, then it could not be, at the same time, the pure matrix that Plato (here) says it is. Jammer, it should be pointed out, argues that Platonic space is inhomogeneous, primarily on the basis of a passage at 52D where Plato says
Now the nurse of Becoming, being made watery and fiery and receiving the characters of earth and air, and qualified by all the other affectations that go with these, had every sort of diverse appearance to the sight; . . . [and] . . . was filled with powers that were neither alike nor evenly balanced . . . (Cornford, 1957, 52D-E; cf. Jammer, 1960, 23).
The conflict is only apparent. The passage upon the basis of which Jammer apparently concludes that space is inhomogeneous, clearly indicates that it is not space but its contents which are unevenly distributed throughout space. Thus, we must be extra careful in assigning the property of homogeneity to a particular view of space. A space might be called inhomogeneous if its contents are not evenly distributed throughout every region of space. It is in this sense that Jammer is correct in characterizing space in Plato as "inhomogeneous." However, a space might be called inhomogeneous if the space itself somehow differed from region to region independently of its content. In this latter sense, space in Plato is homogeneous. It is this latter sense that we will generally mean when we talk about the homogeneity or inhomogeneity of space.
(S3) Space is immutable (50B). This means that its "nature" does not change over time, even though the things that enter it, i.e. the sensible objects of Becoming, are constantly changing.
There is something of a difficulty here with Plato's view. At 50B, he suggests that "which receives all bodies . . . must be called always the same; it never departs at all from its own character" (Cornford, 1957, 182). This suggests that space has a character, i.e. a set of essential properties which characterize it. On the other hand, at 50E, it is claimed that space must be "free from all characters" so that it might reproduce the Forms more faithfully (Cornford, 1957, 186). This suggests that space must have no particular character of its own. Thus, space seemingly both has a constant character and has no character. Which is to be? As it stands this concept of space is self-contra-dictory. It is not clear that Plato ever adequately resolves this problem, although the move towards thinking of space as a "container" suggests how it might have a character (i.e., be a place for all things) yet have no particular character of its own.
(S4) Space is spherical (33B). This follows from the fact that every place is in the cosmos, which is itself the interior of a sphere rotating on its axis.
(S5) Space is finite (33B-34A). The extent of space is the extent of the cosmos. There is nothing "outside" of the cosmos, no bodies nor any places or areas for them to exist.
(S6) Space is everlasting and indestructible (52B).
In this respect, Space is like the Forms. It is unlike them, however, in that it is not an object of "rational understanding" (Cornford, 1957, 193). Space is an irreducible, independent factor from which the sensible world is "constructed." It is unlike the objects of Becoming in that there is no Form of Space or Spatiality (compare Time below).
(S7) There are no voids (52D-53C; 58A f.). One would think that if space is a container, then it might be empty, but Plato indicates that this is not, in fact, the case. Even with no empty spaces, motion is still possible. Consider a ring of material revolving in a circle. As one part moves, the next fills up the space left by the first, and so on (58A f.). The fact that Plato's space is always 'full' coupled with the suggestion that space (somehow) interacts with its contents (the Nurse and Mother metaphors), has led some commentators to see, in Plato's view, a foreshadowing of modern theories of matter where space and matter apparently interact (cf. Graves, 1971, Chapter 5).
(S8) Finally, Plato's space is isotropic (62D f.). What this means is that all directions in space are equivalent. But, equivalent in what respect? Evidently there are several different respects in which one might claim that space is isotropic, and a given space might be isotropic in one respect but not in another. We first note a sense in which space is not isotropic for Plato. The fact that space, for Plato, fills a finite sphere with the earth at the center automatically singles out certain positions, namely, the center and the surface shell, as special. They are special in that an observer on the shell will not "see" space to be the same in all directions. For example, the maximal length in any given direction will, in general, be different. For an observer at the center, however, all directions have the same maximal distance. Thus, if isotropic means that all the geometric properties of space are the same for all observers, then Plato's space is not isotropic.
However, there is a sense in which space is isotropic for Plato. Plato's discussion (63A-63E) is designed to explain the application of the terms "up" and "down." His conclusion is that the terms have relative signification only and will vary depending on where in the universe an observer happens to be. An observer on the earth, which is where the (element) Earth tends to collect, observes the following: Upon taking up a test particle of Earth and letting
go of it, it tends to fall to the planet earth. We call this direction "down", and the opposite direction "up." Now imagine an observer on the inner edge of the celestial sphere. This is, as Plato puts it, "that region of the universe which is specially allotted to fire" (63B). Upon taking up a test particle of Fire and letting go, the test particle will fall to the inner surface of the sphere. For our celestial observer, that direction will be "down," and the opposite "up." On the basis of this thought experiment, Plato concludes that there is no absolute sense of up or down.[*]
In effect, there is no unique answer to the question: Which way is up? To an observer standing on the inner surface of the cosmic sphere, (if one could), up would be in the direction of the earth.
Which way is "up" is just whichever way one's arrow happens to be pointing. There is no physical difference between the two directions indicated in Fig. 4-2, both of which could be said by the appropriate observer to be "up." Another way to put the same point is to say that up (and down, or any direction) is purely relative to the person who happens to be making the determination. Space would be anisotropic, if certain directions were not relative to the individual making the determination. For example, if some direction were always "up," independently of the orientation of any observer, then the direction up would have an absolute "sense," and space would be anisotropic. In fact, Aristotle held just such a view, as we will see in the next chapter.
This completes our discussion of Plato's view of space. The contrast with the earlier views is striking. For those earlier views, we had, with the possible exception of the atomists, only the vaguest suggestions concerning the nature of space. In the Timaeus, Plato has given a reasonably complete account of the nature of space given the limitations of what he knew and also the special interests he was pursuing in the dialogue.
VI. The Moving Likeness of Eternity
Time and space have a fundamentally different status in Plato's cosmology. Space, as one of the three factors which constitute the building blocks of the physical Universe, is a self-subsistent entity, not dependent on either Being or Becoming. Time, unlike Space, has an eternal archetype. It is the image of a Form. That Form is Eternity, conceived of as the Model of Everlastingness and Unchangingness (37C-38C).
The world of Becoming, which is constantly changing, can never completely imitate the unchanging Forms which are the Models for sensory objects. The Demiurge is constrained by the materials he has to work with. Nothing in this world is Everlasting or Unchanging. Eternity (the Form) can only be imperfectly mirrored in the physical world by something which is itself changing. The Demiurge, though constrained, tries to produce the most perfect copy that he can. The closest approximation to the unchanging Form of Eternity Plato takes to be the change associated with the uniform flow of time, the measure of the uniform motion of the Sphere. Time is the moving likeness of Eternity, the closest we can get to Eternity in this world. The metaphor is both brilliant and provocative.
From the text, we can discover some of the properties attributed to Time.
(Tl) Time coexists with the Cosmos (37E). As long as the visible universe exists, so does time. As something "created" it comes into being with the creation of the Cosmos.
It would seem that if the Cosmos and time were created, then the amount of lapsed time from the beginning to the present would have to be finite. However, time could be infinite, if the cosmos always existed. It is not completely clear from the text whether Plato took the cosmos to be always existent or not. The case is not settled by appealing to the fact that the Demiurge is portrayed as "creating" the Cosmos, because there is some question as to how literally one is supposed to take this. The reason for the problem is that the chaos, from which the Demiurge is supposed to have created the Cosmos by imposing the Forms, is characterized as possessing a "disorderly" or random motion (30A). The problem is that motion is change of position with respect to time. In order for there to be motion in chaos (before the Cosmos existed), time must have existed before the Cosmos. A further point is that "before" itself is a temporal motion. How can one sensibly speak of chaos (or the Forms or the Demiurge or Space) as existing before the Cosmos was created, given that time only begins at the creation of the Cosmos? Given these problems, the most reasonable solution seems to take the Cosmos (and time) as always existing. The "creation" by the Demiurge is, thus, to be construed as a fanciful way of saying that the Cosmos is composed of a number of distinct factors which can be analytically separated in thought but not in fact. Given this construction of the text, we may conclude that
(T2) Time is infinite.
(T3) Time is a feature of the visible order of things. Even if we allow that time and the Cosmos have always existed, time, being the image of a Form, is not something, like Space, that exists in and of itself. Time is conceptually dependent upon the motions in the Cosmos. Time and motion are inseparable in a way that Space and the objects in Space are not. One can imagine Space as existing even though no objects existed in Space (although Plato suggests, in fact, that Space is never unoccupied), but one cannot imagine time in the absence of any motion (cf. Atomists, Chapter 2-28).
(T4) Time, unlike space, seems to have a preferred "direction," i.e., towards the future. Time is anisotropic. Plato does not actually say as much, but we believe that one can accept it as a legitimate inference, given that the Demiurge is committed to producing the most rational world (closest to the Forms) under the circumstances.
This concludes our discussion of Plato's concept of Time. The most striking feature of Plato's account is the different status that Space and Time have within his system. Space is, in some sense, Absolute, i.e., it subsists in its own right. Time, on the other hand, exists only insofar as the visible order of motion does.
Plato's account of space and time is a distinct breakthrough when compared with those of his predecessors. However, a number of questions remain unresolved. First, the concept of space is not completely coherent. Second, the view rests on and is intertwined with a metaphysical theory (the Forms) that, as Plato himself recognized, is fraught with difficulties. Nevertheless, Plato's systematic attempt to come to grips with the dilemmas presented by Parmenides led him to formulate view on the nature of space, time and motion which, in failing to be satisfactory served to focus attention on the important questions about the nature of space and time, that had to be answered. The shortcomings of the Platonic view led Aristotle to address these questions anew and attempt to provide better answers.
Finally, the vagaries of the history of thoughts are such that, after the decline of Western civilization that followed the fall of Rome in 410 A.D. Plato's Timaeus was held to be the epitome of the Greek scientific spirit and, thus, his views on space and time played an important role in shaping Western ideas on space and time in the period preceding the rediscovery of Aristotle's work in the 12th century (see Chapter 6 below).
[*] Passages in Plato's dialogues are referred to by citing a page number and letter from a standard Greek edition that is followed by everyone. Thus, 53C indicates page 53 of the standard edition of the Timaeus, paragraph C of that page.
[*] We should note that the ancient Greeks had at least three distinct terms, each of which corresponds in some sense to what we might call "space." They are kenon, chora and topos. Kenon is usually translated as "void." When the atomists argued that all that existed were atoms and the void, they used the word kenon. Plato, for the most part, uses the word chora, which in ordinary Greek meant something like region or area. Topos was usually translated as "place," and was used, in ordinary Greek, when talking about the space occupied by a particular object, such as the place of a chair or table. Aristotle, whose views we take up in the next chapter, mainly spoke about topos. We try to keep the nomenclature clear by using "void" for kenon, "space" for chora, and "place" for topos. The problem unfortunately complicates the discussion of Greek concepts of "space," but it bears remembering when attempting to compare rival views. Part of the source of the problem is, of course, that at the time in question "space," as a scientific concept, did not exist. Even so, the distinction between these terms still survives in English and to a certain extent in the differences between ordinary speech and the technical use of such terms in scientific concepts. This is just a reminder that "space" is not a univocal concept and one must be prepared, to avoid needless arguments, to state just what characteristics one takes "space" to possess.
[*] Plato does not consider the following possible scenario. What would happen if the celestial observer released a particle of Earth at the inner surface of the sphere? This would have a greater appeal to the operational instincts of modern physicists, who would demand that the operational criterion for being "down" be the same for all parts of the Universe. Presumably this did not occur to Plato since he could not conceive of the region where Fire collects containing any Earth. A similar problem faces the modern day scientist who wishes to measure areas on the surface of the sun with a metal ruler. Conditions prohibit the accomplishment of his task. Return to beginning of this chapter or to the Table of Contents.
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"City of Dragons"
Kelli Stanley is the author of the critically acclaimed Nox Dormienda, which won the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery and was nominated for a Macavity Award. She lives in San Francisco, California.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, City of Dragons, and reported the following:
Miranda took two steps at a time, holding her hand against the wood shutting her out. “I think you do.”
The woman looked at her again. “Who are you?”
“I’m the woman who found Eddie. I was with him when he died.”
The woman met her eyes. This time she nodded. She opened the door, and Miranda stepped over the threshold into another small, dark foyer. It was as clean as the Braeburn but claustrophobic, with cherry-wood furniture and altar incense burning behind a lacquered screen.
“I get them.”
She walked up the narrow stairway, her small feet soundless. Miranda heard a knock, and then several voices, raised in discussion, speaking Japanese.
Time to meet the Takahashis.
So concludes page 69 and Chapter 7 of City of Dragons, at least in my advanced readers copy. This slice represents a couple of motifs that are central to the novel … PI Miranda Corbie’s tenacity in pursuing justice for the dead numbers runner, Eddie Takahashi, and her odyssey through 1940 San Francisco, from a Chinatown soda fountain called Fong Fong to Laurel Heights Cemetery to a high class bordello on Grant Avenue—where Miranda once worked as an escort.
There are other issues, too, of course—the tensions between Chinese-Americans and Japanese-Americans during the Sino-Japanese War and the aftermath of the Rape of Nanking … the casual racism and taken-for-granted brutality of the era. The ugliness that existed side by side with Benny Goodman jazz and Art Deco architecture and that breathtaking urban siren known as San Francisco.
I’ve tried to make City of Dragons a fresh take on classic noir … 1940 without the censorship of the era, and with a femme fatale as the hero rather than the villain. It’s both an homage and, I hope, an original … as is Miranda, former Spanish Civil War nurse, ex-escort, and now private eye.
She’s also a native San Franciscan. And on page 69, she’s entering a city she’s never known.
Read an excerpt from City of Dragons, and learn more about the novel and author at Kelli Stanley's website and blog.
"Breaking Out of Bedlam"
Leslie Larson is the author of the novel Slipstream, which won the Astraea Award for Fiction.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Breaking Out of Bedlam, and reported the following:
Turns out I was lucky with page 69, as the passage does a fantastic job of conveying the spirit of Cora Sledge’s voice, which was my guiding light as I wrote this story. The clip opens in the middle of an argument between Cora and Marcos Rodriguez, the medical tech who takes her vital signs each day. Their banter, and the way that Cora is once again saying something she will soon regret, captures the feel of many of the comic scenes in the novel. So I’d have to say that page 69 is very representative of the book. Fingers crossed it would entice skimmers to hang on for the rest of the ride.
Breaking Out of Bedlam begins with Cora’s children forcing her into The Palisades, an assisted care facility, when they find her living on junk food, pills, and cigarettes. Miserable at being wrenched from her home, Cora decides it’s time to die, but Marcos’ care and kindness (along with small doses of contraband junk food, telenovelas, and the occasional cigarette) get her back on her feet. Deciding that truth is the best revenge, Cora begins to write a tell-all journal that reveals once and for all the secret she has guarded since she was a young woman. Intermingled with her reminiscences is an account of the day-to-day dramas at The Palisades—her budding romance with a new resident, feuds with her tablemates, and the cloud of suspicion that descends as a series of petty crimes sets everyone on edge. True to form, Cora wonders if Marcos, her only friend, is the one who is robbing the residents. The story builds to a climax as Cora’s revelations about her past mesh with the slow unraveling of intrigue in the present.
Page 69 illustrates the contradictions in Cora’s character—her hunger for redemption and her talent for self-destruction, her capacity for both naiveté and suspicion, her desire for love and her inability to accept it. The passage shows that despite her age and a life with more than its share of disappointment and struggle, Cora holds onto her wicked humor, her vitality, and her refusal to play it safe.
Page 69:
“Don’t you dare leave!” I yelled at Marcos. “There’s no need to be so touchy!”
He opened the door without even turning around.
“What about my things?” I hollered. “I gave you money! What did you do with it?”
He stormed back. “Thank you for reminding me!” he snarled so fierce that spit flew out of his mouth. His eyes shot sparks. He reached into his carryall and pulled out a paper bag. “Here are your cigarettes!” He slammed a pack of Marlboros down on top of my dresser. He pulled out another one and slammed it down, too. Boom! Like a gunshot. “Here are your cupcakes, and your corn nuts, and your chips.” Bam! Bam! Bam! The last one, the bag of Doritos, came down so hard I knew they’d be crushed to dust.
“Oh, and your newspaper!” He whipped the National Enquirer out of the bag so fast the pages flew apart and fluttered to the ground like a bird shot from the sky. “And your magazine!” He fired People at the floor on top of the newspaper.
“Marcos!” I hollered. “Don’t! Don’t do like that!” I tried to grab his hands. “I’m sorry, now. Come on! Quit acting crazy!”
He grabbed my hand instead. “And here, Señora, is your change!” He pried my fingers open and shoved the money into my palm. “One dollar and fifty-seven cents. You want to count it now, while I’m here?”
I closed my hand around the money and looked into his eyes. Sometimes I hated myself. Just hated myself. I tried to show him with my eyes how sorry I was, but he was too mad to see anything.
“Why didn’t you tell me you bought all this stuff?” I bawled. “Why didn’t you give it to me right away?”
“I forgot,” he said, huffing and puffing. “But I will never forget again.” He tore loose from my hand, picked up his things, and stormed through the door.
What an uproar. I slumped down in my chair and stared out the sliding glass door. I felt so bad for doing Marcos like that. Accusing him, after all he’d done for me.
Read an excerpt from Breaking Out of Bedlam, and learn more about the book and author at Leslie Larson's website and blog.
Visit the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.
"Bloodroot"
Amy Greene was born and raised in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where she lives with her husband and two children.
She applied the Page 69 Test to Bloodroot, her debut novel, and reported the following:
On page 69 of Bloodroot, Doug Cotter is watching the girl he has loved since they were children leave him behind to marry the beautiful but sinister John Odom:
A week or so later, I saw Myra and John Odom together. He was waiting for her in the school parking lot, leaning against his car. Girls stood around giggling about how pretty he was, but he looked like the devil to me. Long and lean, tall and dark as a shadow, eyes black as pits. It was like he reeled her across the parking lot by an invisible hook in her perfect lip. I was standing close enough to smell her hair as she walked by, but she didn’t even see me.
Knowing that he has lost Myra forever, Doug goes to his friend and neighbor Haskell Barnett for comfort:
The next day, for the last time, I went to see Mr. Barnett. He was in the garden pulling weeds. When he saw me he took off his cap and wiped the sweat from his brow. He didn’t ask what I was up to. We stood for a while in silence, looking toward the woods at the edge of the yard where we had walked together so many times. “You were wrong,” I told him at last. “She won’t ever come around.” Then my knees came unhinged and I sank down in the black dirt. Mr. Barnett knelt with me and hugged me tight. “You’re the one she ought to be with, Douglas,” he said. “You and me both know it’s the truth. But Myra’s got a choice. Everybody’s got a choice. She just made the wrong one.
With his final words to Doug, Mr. Barnett sums up one of the themes of Bloodroot. In the writing process, I thought about how much inheritance shapes who we become; whether or not childhood suffering causes someone to inflict pain and suffering on others; whether characters like John are cruel by nature or have been formed by childhood abuse; whether it’s possible to overcome circumstances and achieve happiness. I also explored whether or not a dark love like John and Myra’s was destined or if they could have resisted their obsessive passion and saved themselves. In ways, Myra and John might be products of genetics and upbringing, but they have free will. As hard as it is to overcome inherited traits and circumstances—as Mr. Barnett says—everybody’s got a choice.
Read an excerpt from Bloodroot, and learn more about the book and author at Amy Greene's website.
"Dying Gasp"
Leighton Gage has been a copywriter, an advertising creative director, a magazine editor, and a writer/producer/director of documentary films and industrial videos.
He applied the Page 69 Test to Dying Gasp, his third novel in the Chief Inspector Mario Silva series, and reported the following:
As regular readers to this site know, a book neither passes, nor fails, the Page 69 Test. The Test isn’t about scoring, it’s about matching readers with authors, and by golly, the instrument has just proved its efficacy once again. Five lines down, on page 69 of Dying Gasp, I find this:
“Someone who casually strangles a woman, then cuts her head off with an axe...”
Suppose you’re in a bookstore, browsing, and you read that fragment of a sentence. What are you likely to do? I’d wager you have three options:
1. You keep on reading.
2. You hustle Dying Gasp to the check-out.
3. You re-shelve the book - and go on looking for a cozy.
The line is plucked out of a conversation between Chief Inspector Mario Silva and his superior, Nelson Sampaio, the Director of the Brazilian Federal Police. Sampaio, a political appointee, knows little about law enforcement – and doesn’t care to learn. Line 14: “I don’t want an explanation. I just want to know how long.” (By which he means how long it’s going to take to find the perpetrator.)
There is, of course, no answer to that question. Asking questions for which there are no answers is somewhat a specialty of the director’s. He’s a very annoying man.
The victim, the true subject of their discussion, is not the woman who’s lost her head. It is, rather, a kidnapped girl, the granddaughter of an important politician. Sampaio wants her recovered so he can look good. Silva wants her recovered because he fears something horrible will happen if she isn’t. He senses they have little time. Line 22: “And time,” the director said, “is something we’re running out of.”
It is the sole instance in the book where Sampaio and Silva are in complete agreement.
Read an excerpt from Dying Gasp, and learn more about the author and his work at Leighton Gage's website and the Murder is Everywhere blog.
The Page 69 Test: Blood of the Wicked.
My Book, The Movie: Buried Strangers.
"The Godfather of Kathmandu"
John Burdett is a nonpracticing lawyer who worked in Hong Kong for a British firm until he found his true vocation as a writer. He has also lived in France, Spain, and Thailand. He is the author of A Personal History of Thirst, The Last Six Million Seconds, Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo and Bangkok Haunts.
He applied the Page 69 Test to his latest novel, The Godfather of Kathmandu, and reported the following:
Page 69 begins: “The victim’s name was Frank Charles. He owned a luxury condominium on Soi 8.”
We are at the crime scene where a gigantic American lays disemboweled on a flop house bed with the top of his skull removed. The speaker is a colleague of Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, the narrator: a Eurasian who spends much of his professional life bridging the gap between Thai and farang (Western) culture. The deceased was a wealthy Hollywood producer who rented the room, which he used to entertain prostitutes sometimes as frequently as three times a day. The slaying was elaborate, brutal, meticulous and seems to include implications of cannibalism. It is unlikely that a Thai girl could be the culprit. Indeed, there are no obvious clues except for a selection of books and screen plays from the Western noir tradition; but first Sonchai has to explain to his Thai colleague why so many Western men come to Thailand to participate in the flesh trade:-
“Don’t they have prostitutes over there?”
“Of course, but farang suffer greatly from a disease called hypocrisy. That may be why he was here in the first place. What does his passport show? How often did he visit Thailand?”
“Four times a year for the past ten years.”
I open my arms in a sort of invitation to Detective Sukum to share my dubious expertise on the subject. “It may be a safe working hypothesis that he was one of those famous farang who are also sex addicts, who make regular visits to Bangkok while pretending to be working on their laptops at home. There are quite a few literary figures like that, and even more from the California entertainment industry, and lots of judgmental British journalists as well, not to mention Hong Kong lawyers. That being so, he might have bought his condo for its proximity to Soi Seven.”
“What happens in Soi Seven?”
“The Rose Garden.”
“It’s a brothel?”
How to explain the Rose Garden? “Not exactly. It’s full of freelancers. It suits young mothers who need spending money whether they’re married or not, girls with boyfriends they need to service during the evening, women with part-time jobs who can slip out of the office to turn a trick or two before going home to supper.” It occurs to me that a homily is called for. “The unpalatable truth is that promiscuity makes men happy, and quite a few women, too, especially when they get paid.”
Whether by art or coincidence page 69 encapsulates the main themes of the novel: the popularity of global sex tourism; the blank incomprehension of ordinary Thais at the ways of Westerners; the inability of Western culture to contain or come to terms with heterosexual male promiscuity and the hypocrisy that arises there from; the huge wealth gap between East and West; the risk of dire consequences for foreigners who take too much for granted. I would say the “Page 69 Test” has worked perfectly in this case.
Read an excerpt from The Godfather of Kathmandu, and learn more about the book and author at John Burdett's website.
Posted by Marshal Zeringue at 10:10 PM
"Alice I Have Been"
Melanie Benjamin, as Melanie Hauser, has published two contemporary novels.
She applied the Page 69 Test to Alice I Have Been, her first historical novel, and reported the following:
Page 69 of Alice I Have Been is actually very representative of the whole book, which is about the long, eventful life of Alice Liddell, whose childhood relationship with Charles Dodgson(aka Lewis Carroll) resulted in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This page falls in the middle of a pivotal scene in which Dodgson is photographing the seven-year-old Alice in secret, resulting in the famous photograph of her as a beggar child that actually inspired me to write the book in the first place. Her older sister, Ina, has just discovered the two of them in a far corner of the garden; her growing jealousy and suspicion of the relationship is evident with her first sentence of dialogue to Alice:
“I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“I stole her,” Mr. Dodgson said with a smile for Ina, a conspiratorial wink for me. “I kidnapped her.”
“You?” Now I believed she was going to cry; she blinked her eyes, over and over, and took a step back, just as Mr. Dodgson turned to greet her.
“I’m afraid so. It was such a lovely day, I sent round a note this morning.”
“Just for Alice?” Ina managed to smooth her face, turning a deceptively placid gaze toward him.
“Yes, you see—I knew you would be such a help to your mother today, so I couldn’t possibly have been so selfish as to send for you. How is she, may I ask?” He smiled at her, so unruffled; I had to admire him. I knew I couldn’t have manufactured such a smashing lie on such short notice. I hadn’t imagined him to be capable of deception; today had been a revelation, in so many ways.
This section illustrates so well one of the central themes of the book, which is nothing is at it seems. Alice, at seven, is not sure why Dodgson isn’t entirely truthful to Ina (he lies about the reason for not sending for her); she only knows that he is, and that she, Alice, is the reason. This scene also illustrates her growing awareness of her power over this man, a power that, as a child, she cannot understand. She can only know that it’s there, and she boldly reaches for it, grabs it, and that will be the tragedy of both their lives. Ina, her sister, doesn’t understand what she’s seeing either, but she jumps to her own conclusion; a conclusion that will set in motion tragic events. And Charles Dodgson, the only adult present, instinctively lies to protect himself and Alice from—what, exactly? They were only taking a photograph in a garden. Yet he, too, knows that others may look at the scene and see it for something that it is not. Or is it? The truth remains hidden from them all, until it is too late. Lives have already been damaged irreparably; Wonderland is lost forever. None of the participants in this pivotal scene on page 69 will ever be the same.
Read an excerpt from Alice I Have Been, and learn about the book and author at Melanie Benjamin's website.
"The Girl with Glass Feet"
Ali Shaw graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in English literature and has since worked as a bookseller and at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.
He applied the Page 69 Test to The Girl with Glass Feet, his first novel, and reported the following:
Below is page 69 of The Girl with Glass Feet in its entirety. Being the last page of a chapter, it’s pretty short. In it we catch the central character, Midas Crook, finishing his breakfast.
He sat there and poked his bacon while she was gone. This was a big deal. A very big deal. He looked down at his camera and wondered if it had got him into this as some kind of jealous punishment for spending too much time thinking of her. Yet he was relieved that he might still get his chance to photograph her with her consent.
He closed his eyes and felt some happiness for that, set as it was against the unsettling idea that she was turning into glass.
This moment – this chapter – marks a turning point for Midas. He’s a photographer who has lived for too long an isolated life, with only his camera for company. As such he’s unwittingly started to personify the device. He has a tendency to chat to it when he’s alone. But now he’s met a girl, Ida, and is starting to feel something towards her. The complication is that there’s something terribly wrong with her, and he’s going to have to come to terms with that as well as his nascent romantic feelings.
Although I wouldn’t say it’s particularly representative of the tone of the novel, what’s interesting about page 69, as opposed to page 68 or 67 and so on, is that it precisely marks Midas’s realisation, as he expresses it, that what’s happened to him in the previous pages equates to ‘a very big deal.’ It’s the turning point where the plot is set up and he finally understands the mess he’s in.
From page 70 onwards he’s going to have to start dealing with it...
Read an excerpt from The Girl with Glass Feet, and learn more about the book and author at Ali Shaw's website and blog.
"Beautiful Piece"
Joseph G. Peterson is the author of Beautiful Piece.
He applied the Page 69 Test to the novel and reported the following:
During a deadly Chicago heat wave that’s claiming hundreds of lives, Robert, who’s stuck in his apartment alone, fears he’s going to be the next victim. In the apartment above him lives a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran who talks obsessively about the corpses of his war experience while alternately listening to Die Meistersinger and Madama Butterfly.
One day, Robert ventures forth into the searing heat to gas up his car. Immediately he encounters enigmatic Lucy who is trying to escape her brutal fiancé, Mathew Gliss. On a whim, Lucy invites Robert to her apartment where she shows him her mysterious tattoo and tells him of her dangerous life with Matthew Gliss. She warns Robert that Matthew has a Glock automatic and if Matthew ever catches them together Robert should run, not walk, because Matthew won’t think twice of using that Glock to kill him.
Robert doesn’t even know what a Glock is, so he asks the Vet if he knows what a Glock is, and the Vet says: “You need a Glock, I’ll collect you a Glock, no problem.”
“I don’t need a Glock,” Robert says. “I’m only interested in what do you know about them.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll collect that Glock for you no problem.”
On page 69 Robert and the Vet are at the racetrack when the Vet mentions, much to Robert’s dismay, that he has collected the Glock. It’s the moment when Robert, the narrator, obtains, almost against his will, a Glock automatic, which he will inadvertently be required to use before the book is over. Here’s the scene in Robert’s own words:
On the way to the track he [the Vet] says to me: by the way, I collected that Glock. After the races what do you say you and I go plinking at the dump?
It’s another bad omen, I say to myself, that he’s collected the Glock to go plinking.
Hey, the Vet says on the ride out to the racetrack, I’ve collected it. You game to go plinking at the dump after the races?
And then during the races he says it again, in passing only, at the end of the fifth. We can leave now, if you want. I’m tapped out. What do you say we go plinking at the dump? I brought it with me.
What do you say, I think to myself, other than this is another bad omen? Have I stepped into a hornet’s nest? I wonder. And what have I done by bringing the Vet into it?
Want to go plinking?
Have you collected the Glock?
I have. What do you say we plink around with it?
And then I think: I’ve overcome every other bad omen that has gotten in the way. Why not overcome this bad omen as well? So I think: Why the hell not? And I told him: Sure, why the hell not? Hmmph. Very interesting, I think to myself. I, who wouldn’t own a Glock even if I could, am now headed out to the dump to go plinking with a Glock the Vet has collected.
We’re at the dump plinking with the Glock.
Why do you want this thing anyway? The Vet asks.
I didn’t want it. You’re the one who’s collected it, remember?
Oh, yes, beautiful piece of mechanicals, this gun here.
Listen to an audio reading and discussion of Beautiful Piece on Myspace.
Read excerpts and learn more about the book and author at Joseph G. Peterson's website.
"Murder in Mykonos"
Jeffrey Siger was a New York lawyer -- litigating high-stakes society scandals and other delicate public and private matters of domestic and international consequence -- until giving it all up to write full-time among the people, life, and politics of his beloved Mykonos, and spearfish in its Aegean waters.
He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Murder in Mykonos, and reported the following:
On tour for Murder in Mykonos, a #1 best selling English-language book in Greece, a best-seller in many US markets, and picked by several reviewers as among the best books of 2009, I at times adhered to the classic Ford Madox Ford adage, “Open any book [in this case mine] to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole work will be revealed to you.” Now, thanks to “The Page 69 Test,” I have an option.
Murder in Mykonos is the debut novel in my Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series from Poisoned Pen Press, and page 69 captures a sense of the 24/7 party ambiance one can expect to find on that legendary Greek island paradise—and a bit of the edge to suggest why when a young woman tourist disappears from the face of the earth no one notices. That is, until a body turns up on a pile of bones under the floor of a remote mountain church, and the island’s new police chief—the young, politically incorrect, former Athens homicide detective Andreas Kaldis—starts finding bodies, bones, and suspects almost everywhere he looks. Killings aren’t supposed to happen in tourist paradise. It’s Greece’s most unimaginable nightmare—one no politician wants to confront.
Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, another young woman disappears and political niceties no longer matter. With the investigation now a rescue operation, Andreas finds himself plunging into ancient myths and forgotten island places toward a shattering conclusion in a race against a killer with a missionary-like zeal to carry out his plan for her murder.
But wait, there’s more. The sequel, Assassins of Athens, just was released and in a starred review from Booklist is described as “international police procedural writing at its best.” When I apply my now most-favored Page 69 Test to Assassins of Athens, all I can say is, “BINGO!”
The man at the end of the bar extended his hand, “My name is Panos and welcome to Panos’ Place—the best place in all of Mykonos for making friends.” A small crowd of middle-aged men around him parted as she moved toward the empty stool to his left.
“Thank you.” She was about to add “sir” but caught herself. She sensed he’d be insulted if a young woman treated him with the respect due an elder.
“Would you like something to drink?” He waved to a very hot-looking young Greek behind the bar. He was about her age, tall with dark hair, dark eyes, a dark, well-toned body—she pulled her eyes off him. No need to inflame her need any further, especially since she was about to start drinking.
“As …” She caught herself about to say “aspró krasí”—“white wine” in Greek—“my friends back home would say, ‘Wine would be fine’—white please.”
“And where’s home?” Panos’ piercing blue eyes didn’t fit his trusty, hound-dog face. His hair seemed just as confusedly located. Pirate-style, cascading dark brown curls should not share the same head with bushy, salt-and-pepper eyebrows and a drooping, even grayer, walrus mustache. Overall, Annika saw walrus.
“The Netherlands.”
The men around them had been quietly listening but now exploded in Greek.
Learn more about the book and author at Jeffrey Siger's website.
"Veracity"
Laura Bynum was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1968. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois, and earned an MA in Mass Media and Interpersonal Communications from Eastern Illinois University. In 2006 she attended the Maui Writer’s Conference and was awarded its top prize — the Rupert Hughes Prose Award — for an early draft of Veracity.
She applied the Page 69 Test to Veracity, her debut novel, and reported the following:
On page 69, Harper has come back to work after having lost rights to her child. It was part of the plan. She had to prove herself unfit and have her daughter removed to the custody of strangers in order to join the underground resistance without putting the girl in danger. But the cost has proven too high. Harper doesn’t think she can go through with her recruitment, as we see in her discussion with Evans, a mailman who works in the Murdon Building and who’s also a courier for the resistance:
“You’ve had a lot of visitors today,” he says. “I hope you don’t mind one more.”
I unplug my earphones. Turn off my computer. For kind Evans, I lie, “I don’t mind.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder. Wants me to look at him when he talks. “Miss Adams, I’ve come to make sure you’re still planning that trip we talked about earlier this summer. The one to Chesney.”
I pat Evans’s hand, still on my shoulder. His skin is loose. It slides over the bones as if not attached. “I’m sorry. I’ve changed my mind about a vacation this year.”
Vacation. Evans smiles sorrowfully at our use of such a term. What we’re discussing is just the opposite. “Oh, Miss Adams.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think I could enjoy it.”
“That’s not always why someone takes a vacation, is it? Some of the best things I’ve done in my life have been done on vacation.”
I grab my purse, my keys that are already out on my desk. “Good night, Evans.” I leave without looking back. “Thank you anyway.”
I drive to the grocery store and go straight to the liquor aisle. It’s become my routine.
On the next page, Harper is picking out her choice of liquid salve when her recruiter appears. While maintaining his anonymity, he escorts Harper out of the store and into the quiet of the back alley where he restores her to her mission with nothing more than a few moments of human touch and understanding.
Aside from being a near-future, dystopian piece about the importance of speech and our part in sorting truth from opinion, Veracity is a love story between a mother and her child. I believe Page 69 is the perfect bird’s eye view of that love.
Browse inside Veracity, and learn more about the book and author at Laura Bynum's website.
"Paganini’s Ghost"
Paul Adam grew up in the north of England and studied law at Nottingham University. He began his writing career as a journalist and has worked in Rome as well as England. He is the author of The Rainaldi Quartet.
He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Paganini’s Ghost, and reported the following:
Paganini’s Ghost is a murder-mystery set in Italy, featuring Cremona violin maker Gianni Castiglione and his detective friend Antonio Guastafeste. It’s the sequel to The Rainaldi Quartet, the book in which the duo made their first appearance a couple of years ago.
A Parisian art dealer is found murdered in a Cremona hotel room, shortly after a recital in which a dazzling young Russian virtuoso has played Paganini’s legendary Guarneri violin, the Cannon. In the dead man’s wallet is an unidentified scrap of sheet violin music, and in the hotel safe the man has left a mysterious locked gold box.
As Gianni and Antonio investigate the murder, the story taking them to Paris and London, they find themselves following a trail that links back through time to Paganini, his lover Elisa Bonaparte and Catherine the Great of Russia, as they gradually unravel a mystery that has remained unexplained for more than a century.
But you wouldn’t know this from Page 69, which is something of a lull in the storm of activity that precedes, and follows, it. The opening to Chapter Six, the page is a moment of quiet reflection when Gianni takes a break from detection to return to his violin making and muse on his long career as a luthier. It’s something I believe every good thriller needs – a break from the action, which can get very wearing if it’s too relentless, and a chance for the reader to get to know, and understand, the leading characters better.
Read an excerpt from Paganini’s Ghost, and learn more about the author and his work at Paul Adam's website.
"Gutshot Straight"
Lou Berney has written feature screenplays and created TV pilots for, among others, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Focus Features, ABC, and Fox. He is the author of The Road to Bobby Joe and Other Stories, and his short fiction has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, Ploughshares, New England Review, and in the Pushcart Prize anthology. He has taught at the University of Oklahoma; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and Saint Mary's College in California.
Gutshot Straight, his first novel, was written during the 2007–08 film and TV Writers Guild strike.
Berney applied the Page 69 Test to Gutshot Straight and reported the following:
I love the idea of the Page 69 Test, but – I’ll be honest – I also thought it was pretty much pure hokum. But then I applied to to my novel, Gutshot Straight, and, holy shit! I was actually kind of spooked how well that one page represents my novel as a whole, and the characters in it.
What’s happening on page 69 of Gutshot Straight is that one of the main characters, Gina, is trying to find a buyer in Las Vegas for some valuable postage stamps (at least that’s what she thinks they are at this point in the novel). To do so, though, she’ll have to elude the very bad guys who are after her and the stamps.
She drove back to the Strip. She slipped through the lobby of the Venetian in her cap and sunglasses. Without, she hoped, being spotted. She put down a couple of bills for a room, went upstairs, then came back down to complain about the smell of puke in the room. The room didn’t really smell like puke, but it was such a plausible lie the desk clerk didn’t blink. He switched her information in the computer and gave her a key card for a new room two floors up.
Gina had no intention of using the new room. She hurried back to the old room, where she’d left the door propped open with the brass security claw.
If someone had spotted her, or if the desk clerk ratted, Gina didn’t intend to make it easy for them.
Many of the characters in my novel are very good liars, and they often operate at a high level of craftiness. It – lying, craftiness – is what they’re naturally gifted at, like math. But the characters are human and they don’t ALWAYS operate at a high level of craftiness. What fun would that be, right? So page 69 ends this way:
She raided the minibar for a protein bar and a miniature bottle of vodka. She dragged the yellow pages out from beneath the nightstand and flopped them open on the bed.
She leafed to the “S”s.
Stamps and Coins, Rare – Dealers.
That was easy. Gina finished the vodka and protein bar and realized how sleepy she was. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept, not counting maybe an hour or two in the suffocating trunk of the Town Car that left her more tired than when she started.
She tore the page out of the phone book and decided to take a nap.
Taking a nap is probably not the safest, smartest decision Gina could make right now, given the circumstances (bad guys scouring Vegas for her). But that’s kind of what Gutshot Straight is about – how hard it is to be anything but human.
Read an excerpt from Gutshot Straight, and learn more about the book and author at Lou Berney's website and blog.
"Starfist: Double Jeopardy"
David Sherman is a former U.S. Marine and the author of eight novels about Marines in Vietnam, where he served as an infantryman and as a member of a Combined Action Platoon. He is also the author of the military fantasy series Demontech.
Dan Cragg enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1958 and retired with the rank of sergeant major twenty-two years later. He is the author of Inside the VC and the NVA (with Michael Lee Lanning), Top Sergeant (with William G. Bainbridge), and a Vietnam War novel, The Soldier's Prize. He recently retired from his work as an analyst for the Department of Defense.
Sherman applied the Page 69 Test to their new novel, Starfist: Double Jeopardy, and reported the following:
Page 69 of Double Jeopardy, Starfist book 14, is and is not representative of the book as a whole. It is in that it shows something of how Dan Cragg and I strive for accuracy and verisimilitude. Thirty-fourth FIST, the primary unit in the series, is about to be given orders for a deployment, possibly once more against the toughest opponents they have faced in the past. The characters on this page are third level, never central to the action. Therein, page 69 is not representative. Most of the novel, in this book and the entire series, concerns the Marines of third platoon, Company L, of the infantry battalion of 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team. There is an ongoing backstory, showing the lives (and loves) of the Marines on their home base; most of that backstory in this book comes before page 69. The rest of the novel follows the Marines on the deployment. The Marines find themselves in a three- or four-sided conflict, depending on how one looks at it. Some scenes or entire chapters are shown from the points of view of members of the other sides. Again, verisimilitude--Dan and I like to show that there is a universe beyond the strict confines of one platoon.
Learn more about the book at the publisher's website, and visit David Sherman's website.
"Double Black"
Wendy Clinch is the founder of TheSkiDiva.com, the premier internet community for women skiers.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Double Black: A Ski Diva Mystery, and reported the following:
As you’d expect, Double Black contains a fair amount of skiing. And that’s what you see, when you open to Page 69.
But there’s a lot more to the book than just sliding down the slopes. Double Black features Stacey Curtis, a young woman who ditches her cheating fiance and heads for a Vermont ski town to live the life of a ski bum. Instead, she stumbles upon bitter family warfare, financial intrigue, a hunky ski patroller, and yes, a dead body. More specifically, a dead body in a bed, strangled with the oily chain from a chainsaw.
The victim is David Paxton, son of Andy Paxton, patriarch of the family who owns the local ski area. Andy’s been considering selling the mountain to a large conglomerate who wants to turn it from a small family operation into a real estate venture. And though David was set against the deal, Andy’s other son, Richie, is more than a little interested. Did he kill his brother and if so, was this the motivation? Or did someone else do it for a different reason entirely? Double Black follows Stacey Curtis through a ski slalom’s worth of plot twists as she tries to figure it out.
Page 69 marks the beginning of Chapter 11. Andy is heading out for a little night skiing with Chip Walsh, friend and Spruce Peak ski patroller. Here, he discusses his feelings about selling the mountain and the changes he’s seen over the years. The chapter alternates between Andy’s reflections and Stacey’s frantic search for a ring she may have lost at the crime scene, which could mark her as a suspect in David’s murder.
Andy Paxton and Chip Walsh, on top of the world.
Even in the late evening and under a black sky as clear as glass, there was a steady wind up there. There always was. It bit their cheeks raw as they stood stripping the skins from their skis and folding them into their backpacks. The two of them worked in silence and by moonlight, in a bright open patch of snow near the top of the main lift. Once the skis were ready they took off their headlamps and put on goggles with clear lenses and put on the headlamps again. Thirty yards downhill the Peak Lodge stood empty and dark, just an angular blot against the whiteness of the moonlit snow.
Andy sighed. “I guess the day’s going to come when I won’t be doing this anymore.”
Thirsty from the long climb, Chip took a bottle of water from his pack and drank off half of it. “It’ll be a while, I think.” He supposed that Andy was lamenting his advancing age. “And if I can keep at it even half as long as you have, I’ll think I’ve done all right.”
“I’m talking about trespassing on my own mountain, sonny. One day I’ll be trespassing on somebody else’s.”
Read an excerpt from Double Black, and learn more about the book and author at Wendy Clinch's website and blog.
"Some Girls Are"
Courtney Summers lives and writes in Canada, where she divides most of her time between a camera, a piano and a word processing program.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Some Girls Are, and reported the following:
Some Girls Are is YA novel that contains a pretty brutal look at girl-bullying. This bit of page 69 is a glimpse of (some of) its aftermath. I think it's representative of the tone and style of SGA, but if I'd have anticipated the test, I would've tried to make the passage a little more explosive. :)
I watch him straighten. He looks as bad as me, maybe worse. Unshaven, dirty, disgusting, wrecked.
It’s only been a week.
He glares at me and then he gets close, so close his mouth is inches from mine. I’m afraid he’s going to do something like he did at Josh’s party, and I wonder if anyone would do anything about it if he did, because they all hate me.
“Die,” he says, and then he walks away.
Read an excerpt from Some Girls Are, and learn more about the author and her work at Courtney Summers' website and blog.
"True Confections"
Katharine Weber is the author of the novels Triangle, The Little Women, The Music Lesson, and Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, True Confections, and reported the following:
Page 69 of True Confections is a riff on the narrator’s impossible mother-in-law Frieda and her obsessive cooking habits. Alice’s struggle with Three-Freezer Frieda, as she is known behind her back, begins on the first page of the novel. On page 69, she observes: “Frieda loved to cook and bake and freeze. How many times did she confound my kids by inviting them over with a promise that she was baking her delicious walnut cookies, only to offer them semi-thawed, dried-out walnut cookies from the freezer? These they were expected to enjoy while sitting at the kitchen table breathing in the wafting aroma that lingered from the day’s baking, while racks of soft, warm, fragrant walnut cookies cooled all over the kitchen in preparation for layering in wax paper and entombment in those plastic freezer boxes she cherished.”
While page 69 makes no mention of most of the major elements in the novel -- from the ins and outs of candy production and Alice’s accidental burning of a classmate’s house (which earns her the lifelong nickname “Arson Girl”), to issues of race and religious identity, the problematic nature of a candy inspired by Little Black Sambo, the subtle racism in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice’s explanation of the failed Madagascar Plan of the Third Reich -- this page exemplifies the frustration that drives her story. Alice’s narrative is a non-stop sardonic report on the Ziplinsky family from her vantage point as the non-Jew who has married in but has never really achieved insider status. She knows them intimately but she is not really one of them and she never will be.
Learn more about the book and author at Katharine Weber's website.
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Congress Completes Action on FY 2014 Appropriations
On Thursday evening, the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion appropriations bill that will keep the federal government funded until October 2014. Public transportation fared well under the bill, known as an omnibus. FTA receives the full funding authorized for core formula programs, under MAP-21, at $8.595 billion. The bill now moves to President Obama's desk for signature. For more details, read here.
Rogoff and McMillan Appointed to New DOT Positions
Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff was appointed to be DOT's acting under secretary for policy on Wednesday. Rogoff will replace Polly Trottenberg, who recently left to be transportation commissioner in New York City. Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan will serve as Acting Administrator. "We thank Peter Rogoff for his nearly five years of leadership at FTA, where he advanced public transportation throughout the country," said APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy. "Therese McMillan has been an outstanding FTA Deputy Administrator and has extensive expertise and understanding of public transportation programs. We look forward to working with her in her new leadership role as Acting Administrator.”
Congressional Committees Hear Testimony on Reauthorization, High-Speed Rail
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on Tuesday related to the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs. Representatives from the National Governors Association, Caterpillar Inc., the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and Amalgamated Transit Union testified. Also on Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials held a hearing on the status of the California High-Speed Rail project. Witnesses included six members of Congress, personnel from the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Congressional Research Service, and Dan Richard, Chairman of the Board, California High-Speed Rail Authority. On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Banking held a hearing examining a progress report on transportation under MAP-21. Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and others testified.
DOT Secretary Foxx Outlines Transportation Vision
DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx outlined his top priorities, highlighting America's infrastructure deficit, on Wednesday. Secretary Foxx was speaking at the Transportation Research Board's Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, which featured panels, readings of research papers, and expert speakers. See the next issue of Passenger Transport for more details.
FTA Announces $24.9 Million for Zero-Emission Buses
FTA announced the availability of $24.9 million for low-emissions buses nationwide. Of that, $21.6 million of the funds are set aside for buses and $3.3 million to support facilities and related equipment. Public transit agencies may use a portion of their annual FTA formula funds to purchase additional vehicles.
Public Transportation on National Transportation Safety Board's 'Most Wanted' List
Improving public transit safety made the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) top 10 advocacy and awareness priorities for 2014, the board announced on Thursday. "Millions of Americans rely on commuter rail, subways and light rail for their daily commute," read the NTSB's statement. "That's why we have the Most Wanted List: Steps we can take today, so that more people make it home tonight."
APTA's Marketing & Communications Workshop will take place Feb. 23-26 in New Orleans; and the Legal Affairs Seminar will be held Feb. 23-25 in Palm Springs; CA. Sign up now!
A Detroit auto convention shows how America is cooling to car culture. Dealers and exhibitors are concerned that younger people are forming a smaller part of the car market, and that Americans of all ages are driving less.
Light rail both saves energy and has lower capital costs.
Riverside, CA may be a car-free city in the future. New buses and streetcars in the neighborhood may make automobiles simply unnecessary.
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The Near and Far Future for Orbotech and Inspection
March 23, 2017 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007
Orbotech’s PCB Division President Arik Gordon and I spoke in detail about the company’s newest developments in automated optical shaping (AOS), Orbotech’s unique culture and commitment to R&D, and what he expects to see in the near future for the inspection industy.
Barry Matties: Arik, for those few who may not know, please tell us a little bit about what Orbotech does.
Arik Gordon: Orbotech is a global player in the production of electronic components, enabling their manufacture. We have three business divisions: FPD or flat panel display division which plays a major role in the production cycles of flat panels made for TVs, smartphones or any advanced electronic device with a screen including watches, cars and much more; SPTS, which we acquired in 2014 and is our semiconductor devices division or SDD and offers process equipment for the backend of the semiconductor manufacturing process, for example advanced packaging as well as MEMS, power devices and much more; and the PCB division that I head up, which focuses on developing advanced manufacturing solutions for the production of printed and flex circuit boards.
The three divisions are more or less the same size, each contributing between 25–35% of Orbotech's revenue, and today it's extremely hard to find an advanced electronic device that was not manufactured using Orbotech’s systems at one or more stages of production.
Matties: Orbotech is the giant in the industry for the inspection arena, but you have a lot of other technology. Let's focus on the PCB side. You have your automated optical repair or AOR, but you have also been describing a new process that does 3D modeling. Tell us a little bit about that process and the new solution.
Gordon: It is true that we started in inspection and yield enhancement. However, for more than 10 years now the main focus of our business has been production solutions such as direct imaging, which is our largest product and is clearly a production system, or what you referred to as AOR, which we have evolved into AOS or automated optical shaping.
Matties: Shaping—that's the word I was looking for. What is shaping and what’s the difference between shaping and repair?
Gordon: Shaping and repair are not the same thing. Not even close. The distinction between these two concepts is extremely important since shaping will play a key role in the future of electronics as technologies advance, functionality increases and devices become even smaller and lighter. The key distinction between repair and shaping is that repair is performed manually and is not suitable for the fine lines and high resolutions that we are seeing more and more these days, especially with advanced HDI and mSAP. With shaping we actually analyze the circuit using AOI technologies and make sure that the original CAM design is accurately produced. Where necessary, when there are shorts or opens of any type, we 3D shape or 2D shape the design, ensuring that the original CAM design is re-created.
Matties: Is shaping a new addition to the industry lexicon that you're trying to introduce?
Gordon: Yes, definitely.
Matties: Because you don't want to call it ‘repair’ due to connotations of poor quality, or some other issues that an OEM might reject the boards for?
Gordon: The repair process in the PCB industry is not a clean process that is well-controlled. What we do with shaping and the Precise™ 800 is well beyond it. It's more like plastic surgery. We work according to the CAM design, and there are multiple checks to ensure that the original design is properly produced.
The process starts by removing excess copper with a laser—an extremely complex and delicate process as the copper is on top of a laminate. You need a high powered laser to melt the copper, but you need to do it without damaging the substrate. With our 3D shaping, we actually add copper to the circuit and 3D shape opens. The amount of PCBs that this groundbreaking technology can save from the scrap heap is huge.
Matties: How many of these units have you placed now into the market?
Gordon: We launched the PerFix which removes excess copper a few years ago, and there are about 300 systems in the market so far.
Matties: And how many of your new shaping solution, the Precise 800?
Gordon: The Precise was launched at CTEX 2016 in May. I think it's fair to say that we have received tens of orders for this solution so far.
Matties: Nice, so it's well accepted.
Gordon: It's well accepted, yes.
Matties: Why do you think it’s been so well accepted so quickly?
Gordon: I think what is happening is that the complexity of the PCBs, especially in HDI, is getting to a level where the old style of repair is simply not possible—the lines are too thin, the laminate is too thin, and the only way to increase the yield is to use this new type of system.
Matties: Let’s talk about DI for a minute. There's a lot of new competition in the DI space.
Gordon: Yes.
Matties: How is that impacting what you do, or does it?
Gordon: Competition always impacts the business, and so I’ll divide my answer in two. Direct imaging is typically used in the advanced circuit board HDI and up. We have a unique technology called LSO or large scan optics, where we have typically one large lens or optical element as opposed to most of the competition which uses an area with many smaller lenses or optical elements. The main advantage of our technology is depth of focus, which is critical for production in terms of robustness. Both systems will perform well during a demonstration, however, in real-life scenarios when the panels are a little warped and you need day-in, day-out production, large scan optics is a core element and has a significant advantage.
And of course, the system is very fast. With real-time scaling and many other benefits, it has an edge over the competition. In the high-density boards, we estimate the market to be about 50% for many years now, thanks to the robustness and capabilities of the system.
Matties: You also have the ability of bundling because with your portfolio customers can come in and buy a universal package, which certainly gives you an advantage in the negotiating room.
Gordon: Definitely. If you look at the PCB production process in the context of Industry 4.0, you can see how many steps are covered by Orbotech equipment. We are also a major shareholder of Frontline which offers CAM solutions to most of the industries from CAM to inspection to direct imaging, inkjet, laser drilling and shaping. We have other offerings as well which support the direct imaging business.
Matties: What about solder mask? Is this also a big area now?
Gordon: Yes, there is a high demand for direct imaging of solder mask. The requirements are somewhat different than patterning. The most obvious is that we require very high energy to expose the solder mask material. For that, we launched a system called Diamond. To the best of our knowledge, it's the fastest system in the market. It's in penetration mode at the moment, and we believe that it will play a significant role in our business.
Matties: Is this solution capable of high-volume production? I know there are others out there that aren't quite so high volume.
Gordon: Our equipment is always designed for high-volume production.
Matties: So what hurdles did you have to overcome to gain speed? It's all about speed, right?
Gordon: Speed and power. Typical dry film resist in HDI and patterning can need 20 to 30 millijoule per cm2 of energy to expose it, and solder mask requires hundreds, if not sometimes thousands, of millijoules per cm2 to expose it. We had to come up with a system that has high power. Also, the solder mask is more sensitive to the spectrum of the light. The laser is typically a single wavelength but here we had to come up with a system that has multiple wavelengths, and that was a technological challenge, so it took us years to develop.
Matties: How has the market reacted to this product line?
Gordon: That product was also launched in 2016 and the business is growing. At the same time, we are continuing to address the key challenges, including the hundreds or even thousands of types of different solder mask materials out there which all interact differently with different sources of energy. We have to adapt the system to the needs of different solder mask materials. Of course it takes time, but it's gaining momentum and next year we hope to sell tens of systems.
Matties: You have solutions or products for just about every fabricator in the world really. There's not a fabricator that couldn't benefit by using one of your products, if not multiple.
Gordon: Yes. If you look at the top 50 PCB makers, the vast majority would already have a significant amount of Orbotech equipment and I think we are a major partner to our customers.
Matties: What impressed me is the amount of R&D and the commitment to R&D that Orbotech has. Can you talk about that? It's quite impressive.
Gordon: That’s very true and is one of our key differentiators. Orbotech is a highly technology-oriented company. It was founded that way and over the years, we’ve managed to keep our culture and spirit, but it also comes down to our investment in R&D. We keep the company R&D at quite a high level. In good years, it's between 12 and 14%, but the industry is cyclical and some years it rises much higher because we try to keep the investment in R&D level, even in a downturn. In general, that’s our culture: we're a long-term player and we are committed to investing in the future.
Matties: Now, I’m sure you've heard this, for some there's a love-hate relationship with Orbotech, and some people complain about the service fees, for instance. How do you deal with that? The second part to that question is, I think a lot of your competitors use that against you in many ways too. How do you deal with that? Are you familiar with those statements?
Gordon: I’m familiar with those statements, and I think it used to be true many years back. There are cases here and there where this is still the customer’s perception, but it’s the exception and not the rule. We are in a unique situation. We are a very significant player in the industry and there’s a very delicate balance involved in using that significance in a way that is perceived as partnership and not an organization that causes or forces others to buy equipment. Today, there is competition in each and every product line that we have, which in a way also helps to keep us humble. But also the culture and approach that we have been taking in recent years has definitely tackled that point. Today, I don’t believe that you will find many customers that still hold that view.
Matties: I think you're right that the volume has diminished, the decibels are lower, but we still do hear that, particularly when times are tough. Because they have to put out cash and their revenue is maybe not so good.
Gordon: One more point to mention in that context is most of the employees in the PCB division, which is about 750 employees overall, are customer support engineers. We continue to maintain systems that were launched 20 years ago and that operation includes powerful legacy systems as well as new systems. We sell to customers in Europe, U.S., England, China including Taiwan, Korea, Japan and many areas in Southeast Asia, both in centrally located and remote areas. To maintain a customer support organization that services all these types of equipment is a costly operation. We do charge our customers and in return, we try to deliver consistently high value.
We provide our customers with a complete safety net and a low level of risk. Yes, they have to pay for the service, but they also know that it's there. It may take one day more, one day less, but we are there for them and we are always working on improving that.
Flexibility Is Key to Direct Imaging Success
01/28/2020 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007
Brendan F. Hogan, managing director of MivaTek, explains that while each industry has its own set of requirements and difficulties, the lines between semiconductor and PCB markets are blurring, demanding more flexibility from equipment suppliers.
Ledia 6 Direct Imaging System Offers Enhanced Speed and Precision
Technical Editor Pete Starkey recently met with Ucamco’s Michel Van den heuvel, imaging product group director, to discuss the benefits of the Ledia 6 direct imaging system, which was introduced earlier this summer and features scan-alignment and improvements in registration and positioning accuracy.
The ICT 2019 Christmas Seminar
Since 2016, the Institute of Circuit Technology (ICT) has held its northern area Christmas seminar at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate—the elegant and historic English spa town in North Yorkshire. Pete Starkey provides an overview of this popular ICT event.
Matties: You mentioned culture. How would you describe the culture of Orbotech?
Gordon: That's a very tricky question. We’ve had many different sessions trying to define it. First of all, Orbotech does have a unique culture, it’s not just a slogan, and even in Israel it's perceived as a special company. There is something in the culture that keeps people in the company for a long term. The high tech industry is a very hectic one. People tend to move positions in companies every few years, but in Orbotech you'll find people such as myself who are still with the company after 10 years. Ten years is still considered a newcomer at Orbotech. There's something in the culture that attracts people to it for the long term, not only in terms of our investment strategy but also in terms of employee relationships and customer relationships.
Matties: When you joined Orbotech, what was so appealing that made you say "That's where I want to work"?
Gordon: Personally, I joined Orbotech in 2002 as VP of sales and marketing for the PCB division, and after four years I relocated to Taiwan, later to Tokyo and then to Hong Kong where I was managing Orbotech Pacific. Almost four years ago I came back home to Israel, but I had an amazing opportunity to travel the world and see very interesting and exciting things and cultures. When I joined Orbotech, we were doing mainly AOI and a little bit of direct imaging. When I reflect on what we've achieved in 15 years and the changes that have occurred, both for Orbotech and for the industry, it's a remarkable journey. To be part of the journey is simply exciting and now I go to work excited.
Matties: That leads me to my next question about the change or impact you have on the industry. Are you looking at industry needs, or do you create new capabilities by introducing technologies which allow a manufacturer to increase their offering?
Gordon: That's a very good question and talks to the basic philosophy about whether you need to ask your customers what they need, or show them what they need. It reminds me of the famous Henry Ford quote “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” I think we do both. We talk to the customers to understand their needs—many of the ideas come from the customers themselves—but we also try to think of ideas out of the box and develop technologies that one day may have value.
If you look at the AOS technology, especially the shaping of the opens, it originated in a project that started over 10 years ago. It was supposed to be launched many, many years back, but there were lots of technological challenges, but we kept investing. In the beginning we weren’t sure how the technology would be used, but it became clear to us once we saw how manual repair was insufficient for advanced technologies.
Very few companies have the capability to continue to invest in a project which is not meeting its business targets, just because we still have the vision that one day it will. So yes, we bring many solutions to the market, but of course we follow the customers, we talk to them about their needs, we make changes all the time and we make improvements to our product lines.
Matties: When you look at your resources, from Valor all the way through to final inspection, all the steps that you're integrated in, you must have an incredible bird’s-eye view of the manufacturing challenges that the world faces, globally and regionally. You could say, “This region is producing better that that region,” just based on the data that you have. That's got to be a huge advantage to you in your R&D and project planning.
Gordon: It's very true what you say, and the acquisition of SPTS gave us even more insight into the industry. When we acquired companies in the past, much of the interaction was done at the board level, but today there is a lot of cross-activity down at the division level, for example in the area of advanced packaging. And we do have a good view of that and, as a consequence, are able to offer better solutions to these two markets.
Matties: So, final thoughts here, where do you see the future five to 10 years from now in inspection? Here's one thought, while you're considering this. Do you see a need for point source inspection? Meaning, as it comes through the etcher, before it exits final that we have inline AOI at every step so that you don't produce a batch of scrap, you detect an error in one and you modify before the next one.
Gordon: First of all the needs of inspection are changing. Today, customers are asking to inspect more and more features that were not inspected before. A very good example is via inspection. We can prosper only in a world that has changing needs, because otherwise competition catches up. Needs are constantly evolving and as they become more advanced, that's an opportunity. We know the needs and we have resources to invest in them. Specifically, the issue of inline is something which we have considered many times, and I think the issue of the whole yield management connects to the question of Industry 4.0 and the smart factory, which is a growing trend.
Matties: This fits right into that.
Gordon: It does, and it's emerging very rapidly. We are very committed to supporting that.
Matties: Is your R&D team working on these types of solutions?
Gordon: Definitely, yes. It's currently more in terms of understanding the needs, and like you asked before, coming up with ideas. It's forming right now. When people talk about the smart factory today they don't have a full picture of what they need or what they want. The requirements are evolving and we have to adapt as we go—not only inspection and imaging, but also work flow management, having an overall perspective of the manufacturing process, and probably also adding the inspection points to that big picture. It’s an opportunity for the makers and an opportunity for Orbotech. Our Orbotech Smart Factory™ will address these needs and provide a comprehensive solution.
Matties: The other thought that I have is that one of your neighbors, Nano Dimension, who I'm sure you know quite well, are producing circuit boards out of thin air, basically.
Matties: It's quite impressive what they're doing, and granted it is in its infancy, but 10 years down the road it looks like a very promising technology. What's your opinion about that?
Gordon: I think in general that additive manufacturing is a significant trend which is needed not in just our industry. At Orbotech, we have worked on additive manufacturing, and the Precise 800 is a form of low throughput additive manufacturing. Definitely our inkjet solutions are where we lead and we plan to cover more and more applications using these two different technologies—inkjet on one hand and then LIFT, which is the technology used in the shaping.
Matties: When I looked at the shaping technology at APEX last year, to me it looked like you were doing an additive manufacturing process right there, granted in small bits, but you have the basis for something there. So it will be interesting to see how that evolves.
Gordon: It’s definitely part of our plan.
Matties: Yes, no doubt you guys are always innovating and always leading. If a fabricator came up and said "Arik, what's the best advice you could give me?" What would that be?
Gordon: I think that many fabricators are still not taking advantage of the benefits of Industry 4.0. I see PCB factories with an extreme level of automation not only saving labor but with a more consistent and higher quality output. Many makers are still lagging behind and not yet using available automated solutions. If you look at the booth today, and we didn't have it in the past, we have two systems with automation. We don't sell our own automation but we work closely with others. Industry 4.0 as its most basic involves factories with less labor and more automation. The next step is to combine it with data analysis, which is getting closer to the real smart factory or Industry 4.0 vision. You don't have to wait for Industry 4.0 to have complete and defined specifications. You can do many elements of it already right now, and you should do it. You should embark on it.
Matties: You mentioned the automated factory, and I'm thinking of Alex Stepinski, one of your customers over at Whelen. In fact, we just last year created our "Good for the Industry" award, and we awarded Alex for his innovative thinking and probably that's one of the factories that come to mind when you're talking, right?
Gordon: Yes, I visited Alex's factory over a year ago and he's very innovative. Also, implementing a factory in North America is a significant achievement, so I think the award is well-deserved. And I agree with you, I think that automation is relevant not only for the mass production facilities that you find typically here in the Pacific or in China, but also very relevant to makers in the Western part of the world, or makers of smaller batches.
Matties: It’s funny, because we did a survey around this very topic with the shops around the world, and those in America were split on automation, and when I think about it, automation is one part, but process step elimination is probably a more significant part for North America. If you can take a traditional imaging process and turn it into a DI solution, you're taking a lot of steps out of your process. We need to see more thinking like that as well.
Gordon: I fully agree. I see makers that take the automation in the most basic sense. They simply connect automation to their existing machines.
Matties: A handler.
Gordon: It's handling, which has value, but not much. What you describe, designing an automated flow with less steps, controlled and managed by data, and using handling and automation is the right way to go. That's basically the number one advice I would give to a PCB maker today.
Matties: Arik, is there anything that we haven't talked about today that you think we should share with the industry?
Gordon: I think it's pretty comprehensive; you know your stuff!
Matties: Thank you very much. I appreciate you sitting down with us today. It's been very nice speaking with you.
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Click to learn more about this writer
Tamposi
Notable collaborations include David Ryan Harris on the recently released Crystal Bowersox debut (Lovely Wont Come Around), Jorgen Elofsson on the song Stronger from the Kelly Clarkson album (Stronger), Brian Kennedy on the forthcoming single from John West (Already There). Ali resides in LA but is often in Stockholm working on projects with her mentor Jorgen and has since she signed with Perfect Storm Music Group had the opportunity to work with many artists, songwriters and producers worldwide.
Born in South Florida, Ali was a student of music, mastering vocal skills as well as several instruments and feels blessed to have the opportunity to express herself through her music. At 14 she was discovered in Miami by Marty Cintron, famed lead vocalist for the hit group No Mercy. After producing her demo he introduced her to legendary, Grammy winning producer, Frank Farian who signed her to his label, AME. While recording in Miami, Ali met iconic producer Jim Jonsin and was signed as a singer-songwriter to Rebel Rock. She collaborated with Jim and Rico Love on Beyonce's I Am Sasha Fierce (ìSave the Heroî) released in 2009. Tamposi graduated from SAE (School of Audio Engineering in Miami) and acquired certification in Production and Audio Engineering.
Follow Ali's Twitter feed here
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/ali_tamposi
Jakobson
Jesper Jakobson, born in the northern region of sweden in 1983 , started his first band at the age of 14. From there on carving a path leading to collaboration with legandary songwriter Jörgen Elofsson and Perfect Storm Music Group.
Through The Music Production Academy in Örnsköldsvik and four years of developing at Musicano Music in Visby, Jesper's road finally lead him to Stockholm. He got hired as an inhouse producer for Elofsson in 2010, a position that one year later turned into a signing deal with PSMG.
Amongst other songs, Jesper has had cuts on Austrian Idol-winner Oliver Wimmer, Swedish artist "Tuesday" and Spanish artist "Edurne".
Recently Jesper made his debut in the Japanese charts with the song "Bad Girl" (Elofsson/Jakobson/Dyson), earning him a no.1, four times platinum-selling album signed Girls Generation. Also no.3 on the global abum charts.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/jesper_jakobson_
Independent, fiesty, talented, determind and an over all lovely person , please meet Lauren Dyson, its hard to believe she can fit all of that into her petite 5ft frame. She has an energy that producers/writers and artists love to be surrounded by in the studio, resulting in her being called back time after time.
Lauren Dyson is a young talented singer/songwriter from the UK currently living in Stockholm, home of some of the most talented pop producers and writers in the world. Just over 3 months ago she signed her publishing deal with Jorgen Elofsson ( Britney, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Westlife) at Perfect Storm Music Group . In that short period of time Lauren has secured a second single with EMI/Virgin for new priority artist Ladolla in the UK. Lauren has also just scored a number 1 album in Japan with Girls Generation with her track 'Bad Girl', going onto to be certified triple platinum selling over 1 million copies. They also made a music video made for the track amassing over 5 million views in just one month. She is already making a name for herself in Sweden, as she is in high demand as both a top liner and a singer. Lauren moved to Sweden where she is already in high demand as both a writer and a singer , with a voice that brings to life every song she sings, Lauren has a real passion and tone to her voice that is instantly recognisable and powerful. She is working with artists from Germany/London/America/Holland and as far away as Japan. She now has her sights set on the US where she hopes to continue the momentum.
Follow Lauren's Twitter feed here
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/lauren_dyson
Corey Bush
Corey Bush was born on August 26,1979, and grew up in Brea California. Bush has always had a dream of one day touring, writing, producing, and being recognized as a household name in the music industry. His dream has finally become a reality.
Corey was in many bands growing up, and frequently played gigs in LA and Orange Country at venues such as The Press Box, Hoggie Barmichaels, The Shack, House Of Blues, The Viper Room, The Cat Club, The Whisky, The Key Club, The Roxy, and the Avalon for audiences of up to 3,000 people. It was not long before local musicians began recognizing Bushs talent and he was approached to be a part of a national tour which would headline the Jaegermeister mobile stage. During this tour, Corey played gigs such as Metal Mayhem at Glen Helen, and shared the stage with headliners including Slip Knot, Disturbed, Dragon Force, Machine Head, and Mastodon in front of audiences up to 20,000 people. In 2010 he opened up for KORNs Album Tour at the 10,000 seat Robobank Arena, and he started to live his lifelong dream.
In the first quarter of 2012, Bush was approached by his former bandmate Daniel Martin to open up a Recording Studio in Anaheim California. It was then that Bush and Martin began branding themselves as a writing team called the Assassination. They worked for months developing an artist that recently landed a record deal with Trauma 2 Records, and the music that Bush and Martin produced for this upcoming artist became quickly recognized by Publishers, Managers, and other industry professionals. This was the launch pad for their songwriting career with Perfect Storm Music Group. The Assassination signed their deal with PSMG in the first quarter of 2013, and their day jobs today are songwriting and producing for some of the biggest names in music.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/corey_bush
Daniel Martin has been referred to as a hidden gem by dozens of musicians from the OC and LA music scene. International artists and writers have traveled thousands of miles to write, record, and have their music produced by Martin. Since opening his first recording studio in 2009 Daniel has engineered or produced hundreds of artists including: Fly Radio, Jaimee Jaymes, A Sound Aside, All Else Failed, Vadim Taver (album released in Japan by Fallen Leaves Records), and a variety of other upcoming artists on the current pop, country, and rock mainstream scene. In addition to producing records, Daniel has composed original pieces of music for the upcoming web series The Dudely Jones Comedy Tribe, and has IMDB credits for several independent short films such as Murderabillia, Sarahs Friend, and Lilium. Martin has the natural ability to create original scores and beats for Television, Film, Video Games , Web Series, etc..
Daniel received a certificate of recording and music production from Fullerton College in 2003, and later continued his music education at UCLA, studying under Grammy award winning producer, Jeffery Weber. During his time at Fullerton College, Martin formed a local rock band that headlined community concerts and showcased at West Coast venues such as the Viper Room, the Whisky, the Key Club, the Avalon, and the Robobank arena in front of audiences as large as 10,000 people . One of many notable performances was opening up for Korn in 2010 with fellow PSMG writer and current business partner Corey Bush. Martin has been on the artist side and the production side of the business and has the life experience and education to create hits and develop any artist from the ground up. In January of 2012 Daniel teamed up with his former bandmate Corey Bush to open up ReAmp recording studios, and it was then that Martin began recording, producing, and songwriting full time. Daniel and Corey began branding themselves as a writing team called the Assassination, and worked for months developing an artist that recently landed a recording deal with Trauma 2 Records. The music that they produced for this upcoming artist became quickly recognized by Publishers, Managers, and other industry professionals, and was the launch pad for their songwriting career with Perfect Storm Music Group. The Assassination signed their deal with PSMG in the first quarter of 2013, and their day jobs today are songwriting and producing for some of the biggest names in music. Daniel Martin is on the uphill climb and will have Grammys lining his walls in the very near future.He looks forward to a long career in the music industry and respects the opportunity to do what he loves for the rest of his life.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/daniel_martin
Peter Amato is an arranger, producer, music programmer and songwriter from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Peter arrived in Los Angeles in 1991 and signed his first publishing deal with Jolene Cherry the next year. After two years with Jolene, Peter moved on to Deston Songs and was the first writer signed to Desmond Child. During his three years with Deston, Peter wrote and produced for such artists as Ricky Martin, The Baha Men, and many others.
In 2000 Peter signed his third publishing deal with Chrysalis. After 2 years Peter left Chrysalis and has gone on to work with some of the most renowned artists and writers on the entertainment scene today including LeAnn Rimes, Michael Bolton, Miley Cyrus, Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, Steve Diamond, Victoria Shaw, Darrell Brown, Shelly Piken and many more.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/peter_amato
Lystell
Anders Lystell, born and raised at the west coast of sweden in 1981, started his music career in early years banging on the drums. The music palette grew fast and years of touring and writing led to being hand picked by well renowned songwriter Jörgen Elofsson and Perfect Storm Music Group.
Through The Music Production Academy in Örnsköldsvik and four years studying at the Royal Music Academy, Anders focused on writing and producing leading up to signing a deal with PSMG.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/anders_lystell
Chris Winston
Chris Winston is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer from Los Angeles, USA
Chris was born in the Bronx NYC and soon after his family moved to Los Angeles where he was raised with music all around him. He started taking piano lessons at the age of 4, then in his teens he taught himself bass and guitar. In his early high school years, he began engineering and producing music with/in a home studio, then he moved back to New York City to work for Sony Music Studios. At Sony, he assisted some of the top music engineers in the business, honing his skills as a music producer. Then he moved back to Los Angeles to compose music for television and film. After working with several clients in the commercial and film world, Chris pursued his dream and started his own music production company. Chris opened ON Music and Sound in Santa Monica, California, a full service music production shop with a state of the art recording studio. With ON Chris has been able to take all of his studio and technical knowledge along with his musical talents to create the ultimate home base for music production.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/chris_winston
Shep Solomon
Shep Solomon attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. Upon graduation, he formed two bands, which were signed to EMI and SIRE respectively.
During this time, Sheppard co-wrote material with other songwriters. Solomon decided to focus on songwriting full-time and went on to achieve 14 Top #3 single positions in the UK and Europe, including his second #1 UK single "Don't Stop Movin'". This single also secured Solomon a BRIT Award for "Song of the Year". Solomon returned to song writing in the United States, co-writing cuts with artists such as Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion and Enrique Iglesias. He then went onto write Ryan Cabrera's "True" which charted at #4 CHR Pop and won Solomon a BMI award for Best Song. Solomon wrote the song Shiver for Natalie Imbruglia which went onto be a #1 Pan European airplay hit and Paris Hilton's first single "Stars Are Blind" which was a worldwide top #5 single. He has been also working with American singer Jessie Malakouti. In 2011 Solomon's releases include the UK Top 10 radio track Wonderland's 'Not a Love Song,' (Mercury UK) One Direction's 'Tell Me a Lie,' (Syco UK) and J-Lo's 'Everybody's Girl' from the Love Album (Island Def Jam). To date, Shep has had 140 of his songs recorded and released worldwide.
Link directly to this page: http://perfectstormmusicgroup.com/writers/shep_solomon_
PerfectStorm
Perfect Storm Music Group AB P.O. Box 5712 114 87 Stockholm Sweden info@perfectstormmusicgroup.com
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Jonathan: We’ll reclaim lost territories
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday visited Maiduguri – the beleaguered Borno State capital that has been troubled by Boko Haram insurgents.
This is the President’s first trip to the Northeat since the government declared a state of emergency in three states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa – in May 2013.
His unannounced visit is believed to be a prelude to his political campaign in the state slated for January 24.
Dr. Jonathan left the venue of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony in Abuja and headed for Maiduguri, accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Director General Sani Sidi and a few other aides.
The delegation was received by Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.
No fewer than 10 of the 27 local government areas of the state are in control of the Boko Haram insurgents.
Thousands of people have been killed by the murderous sect members whose activities have led to the displacement of about one million Nigerians internally and thousands of others as refugees in neigbouring countries – Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The sect has also been attacking Northern Cameroon villages after its leader Abubakar Shekau issued a threat to retaliate the attack on its members by that country.
The visit — Jonathan’s first to Maiduguri since March 2013 —came after a previous trip to the restive region in May last year was cancelled.
Jonathan had planned to visit Chibok where Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from their dormitory. There was no world yesterday about the girls.
The cancellation, reportedly for security reasons, dealt Jonathan a further blow in his perceived woeful handling of the kidnapping crisis.
Boko Haram’s January 3 attack on Baga in what is feared could be its worst atrocity in a six-year campaign, is currently creating ripples
The President visited the headquarters of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri and the Teachers’ Village – home to victims of the horrendous Baga attack.
Dr. Jonathan promised the displaced people that they will soon return to their communities.
At the Teachers’ Village where he met with them, the President noted that the security briefing he had received indicated that the territories lost to Boko Haram would in no distant future be reclaimed by the military.
“Let me assure you that we will soon take over all the areas. From the briefing I have received from the service chiefs, I assure we will take over the towns and communities,” the president said.
He told officers and soldiers of the 7 Division that the nation was very proud of them and grateful for their dedication to the defence of the civilian population against terrorists and violent extremists.
He assured the troops that the Federal Government would continue to do everything possible to ensure that they get the weapons, equipment, welfare and logistics support they require to completely rout the insurgents and restore security and normalcy to affected parts of the country.
Describing the troops as a special breed of men who were undertaking a great assignment for their fatherland, the President assured them that actions were being taken to address challenges facing them in their operations against Boko Haram.
He said: “In terms of equipment and logistics, we have already made considerable progress since the insurgency started and we will continue to improve in that regard until your operations are successfully concluded.”
President Jonathan also toured wards of the 7 Division Hospital and Medical Services Centre where he met with soldiers recovering from injuries sustained in operations against Boko Haram.
He wished them speedy recovery.
President Jonathan said: “The Nigerian military is now better off in term of equipment than it was in the past. We will continue to do our best to ensure the armed forces are better equipped to handle this security challenges and even after now,” he said.
He praised the troops for their sacrifice, loyalty and dedication to the fight against insurgency, adding:
“What you’re doing is not easy. We thank you as a nation. Terrorism is a global phenomenon. We’re working day and night, trying to curtail this madness.
“We will assist you to succeed in your effort. We will give you what is due to you. Government will make sure you get it. We appreciate your dutiful service, loyalty and commitment and dedication to this fight.”
Chief of Army Staff Lt.- Gen Minimah said the President was at the barrack to interact with men and officers in the operation, adding that his visit was a boost to the operations, especially coming on the day set aside to remember the Nation’s fallen heroes (the Armed Forces Remembrance Day).
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima thanked the president for the visit which, he said has rekindled hope and confidence of the people that the insurgency problem will soon come to an end.
He said the state is ever ready to cooperate with National Emergency Management Agency and all other federal agencies to ensure that the needs of the displaced people are catered for.
PreviousPrevious post:President Jonathan set to reappoint Obanikoro as ministerNextNext post:It is only a fool that you can deceive twice ::-::I won’t disappoint, Jonathan in Abia assures Ndigbo
The Biafra Genocidal Denial And The Accompanying Conspiracy
Nigeria Is Presently Being Surrounded By More Determined Boko Haram Terrorists
Nigeria Government Put Up Money For Terror
Amotekun: The Last Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back
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Nashville Girl (1976) Gus Trikonis, Monica Gayle, Glenn Corbett, Roger Davis, Drama, Music, Romance
A Kentucky-born maiden realizes her dream of becoming a country music star. However, she discovers that her single-minded determination has caused her to lose things far more precious than fame or money when she gets involved with a group of corrupt music executives.
Also Known As (AKA): Country Music Daughter, New Girl in Town
File Name : Nashville Girl 1976.mkv
Resolution : 1280×720
Video : AVC (AVC), 2 560 Kbps, 23.976 fps
Audio : AC-3 (AC3), 192 Kbps (CBR), 48.0 KHz, 2 channels, 1 stream
Quality: BRRip
Nashville_Girl_1976.mkv
1970s english Glenn Corbett Gus Trikonis Monica Gayle Roger Davis USA 2017-09-28
Tagged with: 1970s english Glenn Corbett Gus Trikonis Monica Gayle Roger Davis USA
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Two Loves (1961) Charles Walters, Shirley MacLaine, Laurence Harvey, Jack Hawkins, Drama
The Pom Pom Girls (1976) Joseph Ruben, Robert Carradine, Jennifer Ashley, Michael Mullins, Comedy, Romance, Erotic
Never Love a Stranger (1958) Robert Stevens, John Drew Barrymore, Lita Milan, Robert Bray, Crime, Drama, Romance
International Lady (1941) Tim Whelan, George Brent, Ilona Massey, Basil Rathbone
Strike (1925) Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Maksim Shtraukh, Mikhail Gomorov
Without Love (1945) Harold S. Bucquet, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Comedy, Romance
A Coachman (1961) Dae-jin Kang, Seung-ho Kim, Yeong-gyun Shin, Jeong-sun Hwang
Si yo fuera diputado / If I Were A Deputy (1952) Miguel M. Delgado, Cantinflas, Gloria Mange, Andrés Soler, Comedy, Drama
Unrelated (2007) Joanna Hogg, Kathryn Worth, Harry Kershaw, Emma Hiddleston, Drama
Amei um Bicheiro (1953) Jorge Ileli, Paulo Wanderley, Cyl Farney, Eliana, Grande Otelo
Go, Johnny, Go! (1959) Paul Landres, Alan Freed, Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart, Musical
Samson and Delilah (1949) Cecil B. DeMille, Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders
The Graceful Brute (1962) Yûzô Kawashima, Ayako Wakao, Yûnosuke Itô, Hisano Yamaoka, Comedy, Drama
Runaway (1958) Ritwik Ghatak, Param Bharak Lahiri, Padmadevi, Gyanesh Mukherjee
Julia Has Two Lovers (1990) Bashar Shbib, Daphna Kastner, David Duchovny, David Charles, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Here Come the Waves (1944) Mark Sandrich, Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, Comedy, Musical, Romance
Riptide (1934) Edmund Goulding, Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Marshall
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Howard Deutch, Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thompson, Drama, Romance
Meteor (1979) Ronald Neame, Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden
The Battle of Okinawa (1971) Kihachi Okamoto, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûzô Kayama, Tetsurô Tanba, Drama, War
Dakota (1974) Wim Verstappen, Kees Brusse, Monique van de Ven, Willeke van Ammelrooy
Pulce non c’è (2012) Giuseppe Bonito, Pippo Delbono, Marina Massironi, Piera Degli Esposti
Dual Alibi (1947) Alfred Travers, Herbert Lom, Phyllis Dixey, Terence de Marney
The Singing Nun (1966) Henry Koster, Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson
O Que É Isso, Companheiro? / Four Days in September (1997) Bruno Barreto, Alan Arkin, Pedro Cardoso, Fernanda Torres, Action, Drama, History
Plácido / Plácido: The Blood of a Poet (1986) Sergio Giral, Miguel Benavides, Orlando Casín, Mireya Chapman, Drama
The Devil Strikes at Night (1957) Robert Siodmak, Claus Holm, Annemarie Düringer, Mario Adorf
The Tall Women (1966) Rudolf Zehetgruber, Gianfranco Parolini, Anne Baxter, Maria Perschy, María Mahor
The Last Of Sheila (1973) Herbert Ross, Richard Benjamin, James Coburn, James Mason, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Scandalous John (1971) Robert Butler, Brian Keith, Alfonso Arau, Michele Carey
Follow Me, Boys! (1966) Norman Tokar, Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Lillian Gish
I Killed Rasputin (1967) Robert Hossein, Gert Fröbe, Peter McEnery, Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Sommarens tolv månader / The Twelve Months of Summer (1988) Richard Hobert, Hans Mosesson, Bergljót Arnadóttir, Victoria Möllerström-Hjelm, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Black Widow (1987) Bob Rafelson, Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey
The End of the Affair (1955) Edward Dmytryk, Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Richard Wattis, Comedy, Romance
Comrade X (1940) King Vidor, Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, Oskar Homolka, Comedy, Romance
The Erotic Mirror (2002) Pete Jacelone, Laurie Wallace, Major Dodge, Darian Caine, Drama, Erotic
The Outsider (1983) Jacques Deray, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henry Silva, Carlos Sotto Mayor, Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Mister Roberts (1955) John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Comedy, Drama, War
Winter Kills (1979) William Richert, Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) Rex Ingram, Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson, Adventure, Romance
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Popdose Flashback 1964: The Kinks, “Kinks”
Written by Dw. Dunphy• October 17, 2014• Music, Popdose Flashback
When making up a list of the most important British Invasion bands, why aren’t The Kinks higher to the top?
The top three bands of the British Invasion are: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and…tied for third, The Who and The Kinks? In articles like these where you are supposed to project a voice of authority, you’re not supposed to speak in subjective, first person terms. However I find this an impossible strategy. Although history has seemed to devalue the legacy of The Kinks, I can’t go along with it. Depending on the day, The Kinks are far more influential to me than The Who, which may be an act of rock sacrilege. On better days, The Kinks beat the Stones too.
Ray and Dave Davies, and the men who served their years in the group always had a firm sense of Britishness about them whereas the Stones, God bless them, idolized American R&B. That’s a difficult claim to make when surveying the Kinks debut album released October 1964, with sturdy covers of tunes from Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and others. The undeniably big hit from the record, “You Really Got Me” has more than a little R&B in it, but it also presages punk. Another single, recorded around the same time, “All Day And All Of The Night” virtually notarizes the assertion with an imprint seal.
The band was shepherded by producer Shel Talmy, who also provided a couple of songs for the band, “Bald Headed Woman” and “I’ve Been Driving On Bald Mountain” (a curious, almost Freudian thematic thread there), but it would not be long before Ray Davies was firmly commanding the lyrical direction of the group. A footnote: perhaps Ray’s prodigious rise as lyricist came from the critical drubbing Talmy’s compositions provoked. Reviewers found them uniformly awful. Authorship would be a massive point of contention between Ray and brother Dave in subsequent years, leading to legendary anecdotes of their familial squabbling on this and almost every other subject. Yet the two remain brothers before bandmates, and when it was suggested that the guitar solo on “All Day And All Of The Night” must have been from the album’s session player, one Jimmy Page before his years with The Yardbirds, Ray has firmly defended Dave. “It is absolutely (Dave) on that track.”
Page wasn’t the only session man on the album that would break out later on. Keyboardist Jon Lord, future organ maestro for Deep Purple, also was on hand as was drummer Bobby Graham. The bass guitar spot in the group would see plenty of modulation from this current lineup with Pete Quaife. Mick Avory would be able to hang on to his sanity and the drum stool until 1986’s Think Visual, on which he played on one last track, Dave Davies’ “Rock and Roll Cities.”
None of this was really evident in ’64. The band was gaining momentum with “You Really Got Me” and another track, “Stop Your Sobbing.” That second song is a glimpse of the Britishness that made The Kinks one of those quintessential British Invasion bands. In later years the band The Pretenders, run by Ohio expat Chrissie Hynde, would adopt the track into their repertoire. A track that came a couple of albums later from The Kinks, “Dandy,” would be a hit for Herman’s Hermits, and the Eurocentricity of that song is by no means vague. I think it is this track that truly draws the line of demarcation between the real crest of this music movement and those who rolled in on the wake. It’s not a slag against Herman’s Hermits or their affable lead singer Peter Noone, but The Kinks “wore the outfit” of their homeland because those were their clothes. Bands like Herman’s Hermits, Freddie And The Dreamers, and so forth “wore the outfit” because that costume was a signifier.
This has little to do specifically with song quality and more to do with authenticity. “There’s A Kind Of Hush All Over The World” is a lovely song. “I’m ‘Enery The Eighth, I Am” isn’t, even though some people like it. Neither reaches the peaks The Kinks would, and would in record time. The longing for different times that come through on The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, or “Waterloo Sunset,” or on Dave’s “See My Friends” come from a place that just seems a little more honest. One of their greatest achievements, Muswell Hillbillies, would find them looking “across the pond” to the illusion of America “with Shirley Jones and Gordon McCrae.”
So why do they get b-listed so often? The Kinks existed much longer than The Beatles and had some of their biggest hits, being “Destroyer” and “Come Dancing” many years on. Although their last couple of records lacked the essential spark that girded their mid-career material, few would rank them under some of the lazier efforts of late-period Stones. Aside from a recent, rather delusional PBS documentary about them, what recommends The Dave Clark Five to any place near the top of the list? While I genuinely love the band The Zombies, as a body of work, there simply isn’t enough to compare in regard to blunt quantity. The Hollies have the quantity, but they were an excellent singles-oriented group, whereas The Kinks would soon explore the possibilities of the full album canvas. And where all these bands were content to do their specific thing until the gas ran out, The Kinks were constantly mutating. Comparing them to The Beatles is a stretch in all but this creative restlessness.
Why should they be as far up the chain, and looking eye-to-eye, with The Who? This may be strictly a matter of taste. Anyone who discounts the impact The Who had on the legitimacy of rock as a musical form isn’t paying attention. Anyone who would see Pete Townshend as just a songwriter and not the librettist he has, again and again, proven himself to be is already predisposed to ignore them. Alongside of Neil Young, the band was a key parent of ’90s alt rock, but rarely were they “pop” in the same vein as The Beatles, or large parts of The Stones. “My Generation,” “I Can’t Explain,” perhaps even reaching back into the history of The High Numbers, then perhaps there’s a case. By the time we get to Tommy, all bets are off. When speaking of The Who, you almost have to elevate them to the next decade with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and other rock-oriented, album-oriented peers. There is no discredit to be found in making that chess move.
I highly encourage those who incessantly make lists like these to reconsider The Kinks’ place on that chart. If that encourages people to reevaluate the body of work that has been offered up for a half-a-century, that alone is a worthwhile goal. Year in and year out there are rumors that the battling Davies will see the clock on the wall, put aside the differences, and get on with one more round before it is too late. As (potentially) one of the top three British Invasion bands of all time, it feels like a necessity.
Tags: Bobby Graham, Dave Davies, Dw. Dunphy, Jimmy Page, Jon Lord, Mick Avory, Pete Quaife, Popdose, Popdose.com, Ray Davies, Shel Talmy, The Kinks, The Kinks (1964) Last modified: November 2, 2017
CD REVIEW: Arrica Rose & The …, “Wavefunction”
Radio City With Jon Grayson & Rob Ross: Episode One Hundred Thirty-Five
Radio City With Jon Grayson & Rob Ross: Episode One Hundred Thirty-Four
Popdose Tribute: Neil Peart — Experience to Extremes
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Community Pleads With CEC to Show Support in Shelter Battle
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The community is hoping that the District 27 Community Education Council gets on board with opposing the proposed shelter for Beach 101st Street and instead, consider advocating for the building to be used for educational purposes.
At a District 27 CEC meeting at Scholars’ Academy on Monday, October 21, parents, students and other community members came out strong to plead their case for why the proposed shelter that will house 120 men, is not a good fit for a location just one block away from multiple schools that hold as many as 5,000 students. Many provided their reasons and some even suggested that the Department of Education consider the proposed shelter location as the site of a future school instead.
“There’s no contract signed there with the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) yet. We have requested that the Department of Ed look at that building. It would make us all very happy if you took this building on 101st Street and made it into a universal 3K and Pre-K,” Democratic District Leader Lew Simon said before the board.
Even students from Scholars’ Academy came out to express their direct concerns with the shelter if it were to be approved. “As a student who participates in many clubs and activities in the school, before and after school, the darkness doesn’t secure my safety. I’m going to be commuting to and from school, without adult supervision, at times when my safety is at risk. Due to the late hours, I have to wait at bus stops for long periods of time, when residents of these shelters are asked to leave. This allows interactions between student and shelter residents to increase. How will my and other students’ safety be ensured outside of school hours?” a student named Sean said. “Also, our school yard is permanently open to the public. During lunch, students utilize this area to do homework and play games, but if this shelter opens, how will we have to alter our use of this area? The only thing separating this yard from the public is a fence, which can be very discomforting to many students that will encounter interactions with these shelter residents.”
Irene Dougherty, a concerned parent of students at Scholars’ Academy, as well as a representative for Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, further explained some concerns over the proposed shelter’s proximity to the school. “We are very concerned with the homeless shelter. It’s 592 feet from our school.We’re not unsympathetic to the plight of the homeless. Anyone can be a few paychecks away from being homeless. However, this peninsula is not the best place. We are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. We have one hospital, no trauma center. If they need doctors, they have to travel, plus this is a transportation desert. Everyone here on the CEC is a parent, so from one parent to another, we’re asking that you recognize our concern,” Dougherty said. Among some of those concerns, Dougherty spoke of how the shelter residents would be required to leave the building after 8 a.m., when some of the nearby high school students don’t start class until 8:45 a.m.; how it is unknown whether or not the shelter residents will include a mentally ill population; and how if any shelter residents have been involved in any sexual crimes, that they would not have to be identified at the shelter, giving the public no notice. Dougherty proposed an alternative to the shelter plan instead, saying,” Here’s a building that the city is putting money into. Maybe we can use that. We have quite a few District 75 children that would strive in a smaller building.”
Another parent made a point that if the shelter were approved, it would be a deterrent for parents to send their children to the nearby schools. “Scholars' is a school that has been proven to draw in children not only from this district, but other boroughs. It has had incredible success. If there is a homeless shelter here, this is going to enter into the decision of a parent who is considering sending their children to this school or to the other nearby schools, which have been trying to encourage students to come to them. They previously closed down the school that was there and opened up these new schools and are hopeful. Putting a shelter one block away is going to discourage students from coming to these schools,” the parent said.
Also among the speakers were local resident Torey Schnupp and Attorney Mike Scala, who have been among those leading the shelter protest since the start, as part of Rockaway Solutions Not Shelters. Schnupp spoke about the safety concerns the shelter would pose to students in the area, and criticized Mayor de Blasio for his failed policies in response to the homeless crisis. Scala explained some of the legal concerns he’s discovered within the shelter contract, especially if the shelter is used to house the mentally ill, which Scala says several parts of the contract, including mentions of mental health services, suggest it’s a possibility.
That possibility has parents like Patrick Larkin very concerned. “We don’t know who’s going to be there. There are 5,000 children in these schools. It only takes one predator and I don’t want my child or anyone’s child to be that one because the City of New York fell through on their guarantee for our children to have a safe education,” Larkin said.
After hearing from the speakers, District 27 CEC member Alysa O’Shea, who herself suggested that the proposed shelter was in a bad location, made a motion for the CEC to write a letter, supporting Community Board 14’s recommendation to deny the shelter, something that was also requested at the last CEC meeting on the topic. However, a member of the CEC claimed that they haven’t received CB14’s letter about the decision yet, and some other members are new to the CEC and suggested that they’d like to see CB14’s recommendation before making a decision. Lew Simon said he would send it to the CEC. Some also suggested inviting DHS back for another meeting to provide further information. However, with one CEC member acknowledging that “no one wants this,” it seems as if they are willing to throw their support behind the community.
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Dean & Britta's latest album, "13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests," is pretty self-explanatory. The former Galaxie 500 frontman and his lady wrote songs to accompany 13 of Andy Warhol's screen tests for folks like Lou Reed, Nico, Dennis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, and other Factory-era folks. Ideally, I'd love to show you a video of this song, a cover of Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine" (later covered by Nico), synced up to Nico's screen test. Such things exist for some of the OTHER screen tests. But Lady Luck is not with us tonight, my dears. So, I dunno...find a video of that and turn the sound off and play this song and use the POWERS OF YOUR IMAGINATION.
Also, if you're ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, the Andy Warhol Museum is totally worth the cash.
Four Tet remixes the XX
A mildly-voyeuristic interest in overheard phone c...
Playlist for 9-30-10 (The All-covers show)
Bedroom boogie
Cancer, if you must know
Martín and Joey
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Sitcom Geek
A blog about the mechanics of situation comedy.
The Offensiveness of Talent
One of the most offensive terms bandied around by TV executives is the word ‘talent’. It’s the term for on-screen performers. Actors. Comedians. The famous people. The people the public get excited about.
Pic by Memaxmarz via Flickr
I understand their importance. As far as the audience goes, these guys and girls are the show. They have no idea who all the names at the end of the show are, and they don’t care. Why would they? I don’t much care who boxes my cereal or slaughters my roast chicken. I just want to eat.
But to imply the on-screen cast are the ones with the talent and that the rest of us just have skills, or ‘uses’, is stunningly rude. I’m not saying that the writers are the ‘real talent’, but picking out one set of skills and labelling them ‘the talent’ is divisive. Anyone who works in television knows that it’s a team game, and the show only works if everyone pulls their weight.
You have to pull together to make a show for the decreasing budgets for BBC sitcoms. It’s all part of an initiative called Delivering Quality First – which naturally involves cutting 5% from a show’s budget each year, regardless. Yup. You reward success with a budget cut. That’ll help deliver quality first. Brilliant. What was the salary and pension of the person who thought of that?
So in telly we all pull together. The truly talented can easily be overlooked. One of the most talented members of the Bluestone 42 team is Harry Banks, our production designer who is in charge of how the show looks. Shamefully overlooked by the BAFTA Craft Awards, Harry created a small fleet of military vehicles and bits of Chinook that even fooled the military viewers. And of course
Harry would be the first to modestly pay tribute to his talented team.
I mention this because TV people and the people who surround the industry love to focus on the on-screen talent who are, to be fair, normally better looking than the rest of us who sit and watch monitors when the filming starts. In a sense, it was ever thus. Movie stars and matinee idols are as old as the industry. They are always the public faces, and effectively the ones selling the shows or movies.
Recently, Comedy TV people have increasingly fallen in love with writer-performers – who are, in many ways, a one-stop talent shop. And this, as an overweight, scraggy bearded, off-screen writer with stained teeth, is slightly troubling, although it’s taken me a little while to work out what I’m worried about.
But now I’ve had a think about this phenomenon which is not new, but certainly on the rise. So over the next two or three blogposts (mainly because it’s about 2000 words), I’m going to share those thoughts.
So, read on.
Posted by James Cary at 12:45
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James Cary looks a lot like this. But bigger.
Well you don't have to live with it.
James Cary is a comedy writer for BBC TV and Radio. Full list of broadcast credits HERE.
His co-created Bluestone 42 for BBC3 with Richard Hurst. He met Richard working on series 1 & 2 of BBC's award-winning sitcom, Miranda. He also co-wrote Miranda Hart's Jokeshop for BBC Radio 2. James has also written episodes of My Hero, My Family and Citizen Khan for BBC1.
His radio credits include three series of Hut 33, four series of Think the Unthinkable, and sketch show, Concrete Cow. He has also written five series of Another Case of Milton Jones, as well as Thanks A Lot of Milton and The House of Milton Jones with, er, Milton Jones for BBC Radio 4.
His script editing work includes Almost Never (CBBC), Recorded For Training Purposes (BBC Radio 4), Gigglebiz (CBeebies) and Mr Bloom's Nursery (CBeebies).
He is represented by David Higham Associates. For more info, go here.
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
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Diemonds’ amazing experience at the Canadian Juno Awards
Posted on April 12, 2016 by Olivier in Uncategorized // 0 Comments
Canadian sleaze rockers Diemonds were nominated this year for a Juno Award for “Heavy Metal Album of the Year” with respect to their album Never Wanna Die, which was released in Japan on August 5, 2015; in Canada on August 14, 2015; and, elsewhere in the world on September 4, 2015. Never Wanna Die ended up as the #3 album on Sleaze Roxx’s Top Ten Albums of 2015 and #8 on the Sleaze Roxx Readers’ Top 20 Albums of 2015.
The prestigious Juno Awards is the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards and has been dubbed as the “Canadian Grammys” in the past. It has evolved from an industry awards event to a week long festival encompassing both public-facing fan events and industry/networking opportunities featuring a diverse array of Canadian artists and emerging talent. The 45th annual Juno Awards was held this year from March 28 to April 3, 2016 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Montreal, Quebec based melodic death metal band Kataklysm ended up winning the Juno Award for “Heavy Metal Album of the Year” for their album Of Ghosts and God.
Speaking exclusively with Sleaze Roxx, Diemonds‘ guitarist and founder C.C. Diemond looked back on the sleaze rockers’ Juno Awards experience. With respect to when Diemonds found out that Never Wanna Die was being nominated for a Juno Award, C.C. Diemond stated: “We were invited to the nomination ceremony. So we suspected something was up. But when they
announced our name, our jaws dropped. Crazy feeling to be a part of something so respected.” In regard to the experience itself, the highlights and favorite people that the band got to meet, C.C. Diemond advised: “We were treated very very well. Limo rides, fancy gala dinners & amazing hotels. Met a lot of modern stars and legendary artists. Walked the red carpet next to Nickelback. Met Tom Cochrane. Partied with Death From Above 1979. And [Diemonds singer] Priya [Panda] even got to join Kardinal Offishall on stage for a couple songs at a private after party.
C.C. Diemond was also asked about the importance of the Juno Awards recognizing a “Heavy Metal Album of the Year” to which he stated: “It’s an honor to be recognized along side so many talented artists. We were very thankful that they have included heavy metal in the awards the last few years. We hope it’s the sign that more recognition for heavy aggressive guitar based music is on the horizon.” Finally, in regard to what Diemonds took away from their Juno Awards experience that will help them in the future, C.C. Diemond commented: “Overall we took away a new respect for all the music that comes out of Canada. This year was a record breaking year for Canadian artists dominating the US charts. We’ve always loved and admired our classic Canadian bands that we all know and love. But it was eye opening to see all the different genres and styles come together and celebrate each other. We made a lot of new friends and connections as well as were hugely inspired. We will remember this forever and it will have a lasting affect on us for sure.”
Buy This for Your Collection
Diemonds: Never Wanna Die on Amazon
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Unreleased song titled “Badlands” from Badlands featuring Ray Gillen and Jake E. Lee
Posted on October 9, 2016 by Olivier in Uncategorized // 0 Comments
Sleaze Roxx has just been made aware of an unreleased song called “Badlands” from the legendary Badlands featuring the now deceased singer Ray Gillen, guitarist Jake E. Lee, bassist Greg Chaisson and drummer Eric Singer. The song has been available for streaming on YouTube since May 1, 2008.
Chaisson was asked today via Facebook whether the song was written during the sessions for Badlands‘ debut self-titled album to which he replied: “No it’s just a song that we wrote early on when we first got together. During the first few months.” Chaisson also indicated that the track is called “Badlands.”
Wikipedia states the following about Badlands: “Badlands was a band founded by former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee and former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen and Eric Singer. Badlands also featured bassist Greg Chaisson. After the first Badlands album, Eric Singer was replaced by Jeff Martin. The group lasted from 1988 to 1993 and released two albums, Badlands (1989) and Voodoo Highway (1991) before Gillen left and was replaced by singer John West from New York. Ray‘s death in 1993 effectively ended any hopes of re-uniting the project. The album Dusk (a demo recorded in 1992 – 1993) was posthumously released in 1998.”
Badlands-Badland-Unreleased Song-
Killer song by Badlands. It’s called Badland….unreleased…killer song!! The mighty Ray Gillen with his powerful pipes, and once again, Jake with another powerful riff…
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Metaltown 2009
2009-07-31 2017-09-26 Cornelia Wickel 0 Comments All Hell, All That Remains, August Burns Red, Bullet, Cedron, Children of Bodom, Cult Of Luna, Dead By April, Dir En Grey, Disturbed, Dragonforce, Evergrey, festival, Frihamnen, Girugamesh, Gothenburg, Hatesphere, Marilyn Manson, Meshuggah, Metaltown, Mustasch, My Dying Bride, Napalm Death, Opeth, Pain, Pilgrimz, Slipknot, Sterbhaus, Summerfestival, Sweden, The Haunted, Trivium, Volbeat
26.-28.6.2009, Frihamnen, Gothenburg, Sweden
Interactive photo gallery at the bottom
Since Metaltown turned out to be a pretty relaxed festival last year, it was a sure thing, that I´d jump on the plane to Gothenburg to attend this year’s edition as well. With 15 000 metalheads it was completely sold out in 2008 and it reached this mark pretty fast again in 2009. No big surprise when having megasellers like Slipknot and Marilyn Manson on board. Luckily the organiser managed to get the ok for having 20 000 headbangers in the festivalarea each day – in combination with an extension of the festival ground (which now really reached it´s capacity limits). In the end it turned out to be 22000 people, according to newspapers. Luckily it never became overly crowded, despite bigger visitor numbers. They offered a great variety of merchandise and food, located all over the festivalarea (and if I say great variety, I mean great variety, you could find everything from Mexican to typically American stuff that is burgers and tasty Langos). Apart from that you could also find places to fill up your waterbottles, where always lots of people where standing in line – no wonder with those hot temperatures! Hopefully they´ll increase the number of those waterplaces next year.
Unfortunately it was impossible for a photographer to see all the bands or better to say complete gigs, since you had to run after 3 songs during some bands to catch the other band playing on the tentstage. But that´s just some information on the margin. The weather was absolutely great, sometimes even a bit too great, since we constantly had temperatures of 25 degrees and above. Due to that the security guys had lots of stuff to do and even had to take people out of the crowd, who started fainting. Some of them had obviously been standing in the front row all day to see their favourite bands and probably „forgot“ to eat and sometimes even drink. So the security was passing water to the crowd, this worked really well, thumbs up for that! Thumbs up for the security in general, because it was a great, relaxed team.
And now we´ll have a look at all the bands playing at Metaltown:
As soon as we had entered the festivalarea it became pretty obvious, that there were more people than in 2008, since there was already quite a respectable bunch of people, waiting in front of the left mainstage at 1 pm. The guys of Dead By April were performing quite a good show – unfortunately the clean vocals of turned out to be kinda weak. As soon as the vocals became a bit more aggressive it definitely became better, obviously this was more the style of vocalist Jimmy Strimmel, who has been singing for Nightrage and it also vocalist for Death Destrcution (with band members of Evergrey). Especially for the latter one it seems, as if he can use his vocal abilities to the fullest there. Unfortunately time was running out pretty fast, so they were forced to cut down their setlist and had to leave out the most famous song „Losing You“. This or that way they managed to leave an overall positive impression with songs like „Stronger“ or „Erased“. Give them a try!
Meanwhile, one of four newcomers of the festival was playing at the smaller Close-Up tentstage: Sterbhaus. Another band you guys should check out!
Back to the mainstage: time for dancing with workaholic Peter Tägtgren and PAIN. Ignoring the rising temperatures quite a lot of people followed this „invitation“ and started partying. Guess you can´t do anything wrong with this band at a festival – even though I have to admit, that I´m eagerly waiting for some new material of his other band Hypocrisy
(according to various news this should happen quite soon…). However they entertained the crowd with „I´m Going In“, „Zombie Slam“, „End Of The Line“ or the stomping „Walking On Glass“. After „Shut Your Mouth“ the party was over after around 45 minutes. Definitely enough time to make lots of people sweat. It was almost a pity, that they had to play so early.
CEDRON,, were playing almost simultaneously on the Close-Up stage and also managed to attract quite a nice crowd, despite the competition on the mainstage. The young band was playing Metalcore stuff, so pretty different from what Mr Tägtgren was playing – so no interference with fans I´d say. I have to admit, that I didn´t know this band and managed to check out only a few songs beforehand, but they definitely convinced me with their vital performance. One band, I´m surely going to give another try.
NAPALM DEATH are definitely some kind of phänomenon for me. Somehow all the songs seem to sound the same in a way, but they make the audience go off the rails. Like always the fronter was jumping over the stage, throwing the mic cable around and giving photographers a hard time, trying to catch him. However, the quartet from Birmingham presentend a convincing gig in good old Gothenburg with a fat portion of Grindcore – by the way, the only portion of Grindcore we should get at this festival, since there was no other band of that genre present. They presented stuff from the first album „Scum“ and the classic „You Suffer“. With „Siege Of Power“ they did the last punch in the face. The audience seemed happy, they got what they had been waiting for, what else can you want? No matter if you like them or not, they´re a great liveband.
KONGH were playing something completely different on the tentstage. This was the perfect band for all those, who are into Neurosis and Co. Kongh presented quite a unique mixture of Black Metal, Sludge, Doom and Postcore, check it out! This was definitely my first and most interesting discovery at this year’s Metaltown. They already entered the Close-Up Magazine toplist with their debut „Counting Heartbeats“, which was easily topped by the second album „Shadows Of The Shapeless“. Best alternative for all grindcore-averse ears.
TRIVIUM gathered a huge crowd in front of the mainstage and hence it was no big surprise, that lots and lots of people were singing along to almost all the songs. Apart from taking pictures, I couldn´t follow the entire gig, since it was really about time to get something to eat. So I didn´t only miss Trivium partly, but also Municipicial Waste. Luckily it didn´t take me long to get the desired food, since, despite long queues, it went fast. The prices were festivallike, but acceptable for the amount and quality of food offered. Fortified by a nice meal it was about time for some madness:
MESHUGGAH, is a band I have tried to see live countless times. Last time actually back in April, where they had to cancel their gig at Inferno festival last minute, due to back problems of their drummer. When the next cancellation came in at the beginning of June (Sauna Open Air), I was already awaiting the worst for Metaltown and said to myself, that I probably wouldn´t see them there as well. I was wrong though, at 6 they insane Swedes entered the mainstage and started to spread musical madness.
It was quite interesting to see how they managed to attract so many people with their pretty complex sound. Vocalist Jens Kidman was presenting the songs with entertaining faces, that made him look kinda obsessed from time to time. They played stuff from the latest album „ObZen“ and of course older material as well, thumbs up! Or should I rather say: Totally insane? – that would definitely be a compliment in that case. Some Swedish colleagues called this „Hjärnkirurgi Metal“ – fits perfectly, because this sound is going right into your brain, twisting it and leaving you back in front of stage compeltely drained. Great gig by the quintet from Umea, that, according to the festival infosheet, has been voted one of the 10 most important metalbands ever by Rolling Stone magazine.
HATESPHERE started their „busy weekend“ in Gothenburg, – 3 days, 3 festival was their motto. So they were the first band of the Danish invastion of day 1. They managed to get the crowd going with ease. How could you resist a bunch of smiling Danish guys, that are going totally crazy on stage, having lots of fun?! Guitarist Pepe was doing funny faces as always and the rest of the guys seemed to enjoy themselves, too. They performed a nice mixture of old and new songs, especially new ones of the highly acclaimed album „To The Nines“. Vocalist Joller made excuses for his Swedish, that was not that good, but assured everyone, that it was getting better with more alcohol. However, I couldn´t stop thinking, that it would´ve been ever better, if they had been put on the mainstage instead. They should´ve switched slots with My Dying Bride, that would´ve been better off on the small stage… more on that on day 2 of the report!
CHILDREN OF BODOM were already waiting on the mainstage, so I couldn´t watch the complete Hatesphere gig. Actually nobody would´ve had to hurry, if they had sticked to the normal running order, but for some reason, all the gigs had been changed and started 15 minutes earlier. Unfortunately this hadn´t been announced anywhere, so that some people were pretty amazed to see, that the band had started, when they arrived „on time“.
Fronter Alexi didn´t look as tired and wasted anymore, like the last time I had seen them. Maybe he recovered a bit after his broken shoulder? Well, no idea, he was enjoying being on stage, keyboarder Janne looked kinda bored (maybe he really was, who knows). No matter how, the crowd had fun – some of the must be in really good shape, you could see almost the same faces in the front row during the whole first day! „Hate Me“ and other songs made them go crazy and Mr Laiho was using his favourity swearword pretty seldomly, wow! For me personally this band isn´t anymore, what it once used to be, but I can´t say anymore, that they seem kinda tired. In fact this was a more energetic gig, than those I´ve seen a while ago.
VOLBEAT – Is there still something that hasn´t been said about the bands ability to play damn great gigs? Guess no. It´s almost frightening to see how fast and well the Danish (mind you: Danish invasion part II) got the whole crowd on the toast within seconds.
Volbeat Mania wherever you go. This must be already the 4th country, where I´m seeing them live and it´s always the same – in a positive way. The amps have been decorated in quite a stylish way, having the words „Caddilac“, „Gangster“ etc on them. And there you go, vocalist Michael Poulsen and his „gang“ started rocking stage and crowd – Rock’n’Roll big time. No matter which song they started playing, the crowd was singing along to „Gardes Tale“, „Radio Girl“. Even though there might´ve also been quite a reasonable amount of people singing along, Volbeat are the winners. It´s simply a phenomenon and there doesn´t seem to be an end.
What I don´t understand though is: Why do you have to let fellow countrymen, the third Danish band of the day PILGRIMZ , play at almost the same time on the smaller stage? They´re not playing the same style, no, but one thing is for sure, they also know how to rock! Fronter Max turned out to be a real stage tiger. Quite sad, that I could only see half of the gig. But one thing is for sure, when there´s the possibility to catch them live on tour, I´ll surely do so! The material from the 2008 album „Boar Riders“ is some pretty decent stuff you should check out. Nice to see, that they managed to fill the tent, despite the big Volbeat playing on the mainstage. After this, the Danish invasion at Metaltown was over.
Next premiere for me, I´ve never seen DISTURBED live either. Unfortunately a gig in Luxemburg, end of the month, was already sold out, so this was the perfect chance for me to make up for that. Directly at the beginning they made us grin, since the vocalist was being brought on stage in Hannibal Lecter outfit – mask and straitjacket, that was being removed by a male nurse. After the vocalist had removed the mask as well, he started off with „Voices“. I don´t know, whether this was his normal condition of voice at a live gig, but he sound pretty weak, I have to say. It almost looked, like had quite a tough time to reach all the notes. This obviously didn´t keep the audience from going crazy to songs like „Ten Thousand Fists“ or „Prayer“. „Down With The Sickness“ was a nice finish of a gig, that left some disappointment neverthelss. Apart from the vocals, a nice gig.
Liberate
Just Stop
Stupify
Inside The Fire
Ten Thousand Fists
Indestructibel
Down With The Sickness
Day 1 was slowly coming to an end. Time for some oldschool stuff on the tentstage, since BULLET were the alternative for all traditionalists or those, who didn´t want to see the Nu Metal clowns on the mainstage, here it was all about rock in best 80´s manner!
Even the outfits of the guys seemed to be at least 20-30 years behind the latest fashion. It was lots of fun though. After a short stop in the 80´s, I trottet back to the mainstage, to take some pics from near the soundtower, thanks to a hint of a fellow photographer.
SLIPKNOT were presenting the most interesting gig of the day for sure, when speaking of decoration and the whole production of the gig. Quite impressive stage set-up! Too bad, that they were quite hard with photo permissions, no webmag was allowed in the pit, so we can only present you pics from further away. We were supposed to drop an e-mail with photo request earlier in the afternoon, which didn´t work due to internet, that had obviously gone on strike. After we had finally found the responsible guy, it was too late anyways and we also got to know, it was printmags only. Well, 10 photographers made it into the pit in the end. The rest was upping the blank…or using the telezoom, at least when you managed to get some decent spot for that in the huge crowd.
This or that way, this was some pretty impressive gig. You got three drummers, two on each side of the stage, Joey Jordison in the middle on his turnable drumkit. He continued drumming, as if nothing was happening, when it was lifted up into vertical position and started turning. The bridge directly besides the festival ground was completely packed with spectators, who were asked to sing along as well, by the vocalist. He turned towards the audience and comforted them by saying: „Well, see it like this, you got the better seats.“ Shortly after that he wondered, whether the crowd was up to making history and wanted all of them to go down – nearly all really did so – and jump when he gave the sign for it. Amazing view from further away and surely even more impressive, when standing on the bridge! The ground was shaking in the truest sense of the word, woah! Like other bands before Slipknot had a grip on the audience, no problem with songs like „Wait And Bleed“, „Duality“ or „People= Shit“. After one encore, you could hear „Beat It“ in memory of Michael Jackson, whose death had been on the frontpages of every newspaper that very morning. In the morning there were still lots of people, who surely didn´t believe this, but with reports and news coming in constantly, every doubt had been erased. Nice gesture at the end of a captivating gig!
There´s no doubt that this was a really good headliner-worthy gig. I was quite amazed, that they managed to convince me, since I´ve never been a fan of this band. However, I´d surely catch them live, if I got the chance.
Intro (742619000029)
(Sic)
Wait And Bleed
The Blister Exists
Dead Memories
Disasterpiece
People=Shit
Beat It (Michael Jackson)
After that, there was no way, I´d have gone to the aftershow party in a venue called Parken, with a live band (ADEPT) playing. We were all way too tired and exhausted. So off to bed to catch some badly needed sleep and get some energy for day 2.
Day 2 seemed to be all about Japanese bands, since there were three more or less similar ones on the main- and tentstage. Like on day 1 the weather was simply perfect, even a bit warmer, so it was quite strenuous in the afternoon, thanks to almost non-existing shadow. The few shady places were gone soon, so the security guys had their hands full, providing the crowd, especially the front rows with water and even dragging some of them out of the crowd, since they had been in the heat for too long. If it hadn´t been the sun, that was heating everything and everyone up, the bands themselves would´ve surely heated up the audience pretty well, too, since most of them presented kickass gigs!
EVERGREY had the doubtful honour to open up day 2 and presented their material in front of quite a manageable amount of people. Most of them seemed to prefer catching a seat in the huge beergarden – directly on the right side of the two stages – or trotting around or simply sitting in the sun. At the aforementioned beergarden was pretty full from the start and shouldn´t get empty any soon. Thanks to the great position of this beer-paradise, some people didn´t even consider going in front of the stages and stayed there for the rest of the day, no matter who was playing. Well, back to the stage, the people in front of the mainstage enjoyed this gig nevertheless and sang along to „Recreation Day“, „More Than Ever“ oder „Touch Of Blessing“. All in all the reactions were still pretty reserved. Heat plus the previous day, that was still troubling some = no good combination for the first band. All in all this was a rather disappointing gig that wouldn´t really ignite a spark.
In case this was too calm, there was the possibility of catching ALL HELL from Örebro on the tentstage, who were presenting a mixture of Melodeath and Hardcore. I for my part skipped them, though.
Completely different picture on the mainstage a bit later, it was time for THE HAUNTED . It was not only a home game for the guys from Gothenburg around fronter Peter Dolving, no they´re also known for being a great live band. Thus it was their turn to proof, that they deserve this reputation. Shortly before the gig, the audience started warming up by initiating „Haunted“ choires and clapping. Thus it didn´t take long, until the Gothenburgians entered stage. Especially the Björler brothers seemed way more active, than back at the beginning of the year, when I saw them on tour. I didn´t see them headbanging and posing that much. No wonder, that they got the crowd going with ease, having lots of fun on stage. Songs presented were „The Flood“, „Moronic Colossus“, „99“ and the last song „Hate Song“, just to name a few. Once again, the ground at Frihamnen was shaking in the truest sense of the word. At the end of the gig you could see some fans waiting on the very right side, having shirts and pencil ready to get their stuff signed (the backstage entrance was right at that corner). So after a while Peter Dolving came out and spotted those guys immediately, looking quite happy about people waiting for him and hugged them. Of course they got their stuff signed and got some pics as well.
Almost simultaneaously, ILLFIGURE from Norrköping were playing the Close-Up stage. I´m quite sure, that the fourth and last demoband also managed to get some new fans in the rather manageable amount of people in front of the stage.
The incredibly colourful backdrop made it possible to tell from quite a distance which band was up next. It was DRAGONFORCE , who were about to spread their insanely fast, simply mad Metal. I´ve rarely, no never seen a bad, that´s jumping around constantly like this. And that in combination with outfits in crazy colour combinations, that make your eyes go all funny. The one, who took the biscuit was surely keyboarder Vadim with wonderful neon-yellow spandex trousers, pink suspenders, pink keyboard and equally colourful make-up, ouch! – well, at least he stuck out of the mass! A Swedish colleague was joking: „Well, now I know where the 3 song rule for us photographers comes from… you can´t stand this guitar madness any longer…and those colooours!“ – he might be right, haha.
After a while this was definitely a bit too much – everyone single member in the band is doing a show. From doing funny faces, to teasing each other, guitar soli, where everybody starts playing on the guitar of the one standing next to him, a little shower with water from the vocalist (oh how happy we photographers were…not!) and some flirting with the girls in the front row. You simply don´t know whom to follow. However, strange outfits or not, they obviously have lots of fun doing, what they´re doing there and they can play, that´s for sure. And there´s something else, that´s for sure, there´s hardly any band, where you can take so many pics in such a short time, that don´t look the same. Oh and songs, yes they of course played some music, „Heroes Of Our Times“, „Fury Of The Storm“ and „Through Fire And Flames“, were those three songs, that still found their way into my memory, despite the madness. 😉
After that it was about time to relax a bit, before heading over to the tentstage again. This stage was completely packed with people. It took us quite a while to make our way to the photopit through those masses of people waiting for AUGUST BURNS RED Since there were quite a lot, who wanted to photograph them, we didn´t have more than 1,5 songs. From the beginning they made everybody go off the rails. I´ve never seen girlies screaming like crazy in the front row at a metalfestival. As soon as the vocalist came somewhere near to the front of the stage, the girls went crazy, this is something I would´ve expected during the Japanese bands, but not during ABR. Quite unimpressed by this, they continued their gig in an experienced way and with lots of fun. The was getting heated up, in the truest sense of the word, since the temperatures were of course rising. I don´t know, whether they didn´t expect them to attract so many people, but it would´ve been no problem for the band to attract enough audience for the mainstage. Well, next time then!
There wasn´t much time left till the next band was about to start, back to the mainstage, to see ALL THAT REMAINS . Here I couldn´t imagine, how they´d be like on a big stage, since I had always seen them on smaller and middle sized stages so far, where they could always convince with lots of contact to their fans. Ok, this time it was my turn to underestimate a band, there was a huge crowd waiting for them and just like on the clubtour in spring, vocalist Philip Labonte managed to get a grip on them with ease. Yes, ATR fit on a hottest women there, he had won anyways.
Meanwhile BRING ME THE HORIZON were playing the tentstage, absolutely no way to get into the photopit or better to say to fight my way there. So I finally gave up and decided to get something to eat. I was quite surprised to find fresh strawberries and cherries for a reasonable price, no way I could not get some. This is something I´d like to have at German festivals as well!
MY DYING BRIDE were facing some pretty unpleasant conditions. Their playing slot during early afternoon, in the sun was surely not the best circumstances they could have for their Doom music. This probably was one of the reasons that let to quite a decimated crowd in front of the mainstage – especially compared to some other bands. But die-hard fans surely enjoyed this gig nevertheless. It was pretty hard to get into the right mood for MY DYING BRIDE though, since the dark atmosphere that you normally have during their gigs simply wasn´t there. Unfortunately I´ve to admit, that the spark didn´t ignite, even though they surely weren´t bad. A great song like „Cry Of Mankind“ didn´t fail to impress though. Still, a nice place on the tentstage would´ve suited them much, much better;especially when it comes to lightshow and more cosy atmosphere. A real pity!
GIRUGÄMESH – Japanese madness I. The tent was packed once again, lots of fans were waiting, not only in the front rows. When having a look at the aforementioned rows though, it was quite interesting to see, that there were almost only female fans. Without knowing who was up next, this would´ve at least told you, that it was a Japanese band. So the band entered stage and the girls started shrieking and screaming as if their lives were at stake, holy shit! For the metalheads in the audience this was maybe a bit too soft, even though vocalist Satoshi was putting on a great show. Unfortunately I´m not able to provide further infos on songs being played, due to not being familiar with their stuff. Quite interesting though, that it was obviously no problem for the girls in the frontrows to sing along, Japanese lyrics or not. Well, not my cup of tea, so I jumped off to the mainstage after two songs of taking pictures.
7 o´clock, it was time for allmighty MUSTASCH and completely different music. Home game once again and this became even a bit more obvious than during The Haunted. The fans of the Stoner Metal act were singing and screaming some songs and „Mustasch“. The security guys warned us, that it might become pretty rough and that they might have to send us out of the photopit quickly, if crowdsurfers started crashing in. Well, it didn´t become that rough, but the crowd was going of the rails from the opener „Bring Me Everyone“ onwards. No song, where the audience was a bit calm, no way, they all seemed to know the lyrics by heart. „Dogwash“ was followed by „Down In Black“, MUSTASCH definitely had a grip on the audience. After the really catchy tune „Double Nature“ the fun was over again. Easy listening stuff, great party music, perfect for a festival, nothing to complain!
Bring Me Everyone
Dogwash
Down In Black
Teenage Pacifier
Accident Black Spot
I Hunt Alone
Black City
Monday Warrior
Double Nature
OPETH – yes, I admit, this is one of the bands I was waiting for the most this weekend. So far the Swedes never failed to impress me at a live gig and it should stay like this. After having been forced to cancel the gig at Metaltown 2008 last minute due to Mikael Akerfeldt´s illness, it was just normal, that they would´ve been booked again this year to make up for this. The sun was slowly going down and created quite a nice atmosphere, that fitted perfectly (it didn´t get totally dark anyways). I guess nearly everyone enjoyed this atmosphere, well maybe except for drummer Martin Axenrot, who had the sunlight directly blinding him for almost the whole gig („This was nasty“, as he commented lateron).
After quite a calm start, they slowly started getting heavier. Inbetween the usual funny annoucements, which I unfortunately didn´t understand completely, due to my Swedish still not being good enough. I hardly know any band, that manages to captivate people with damn long, pretty complex songs, that easily go beyond the 10 minute mark like „Ghost of Perdition“ or „Leper Affinity“. The setlist included 6 songs, apart from the aforementioned also „Closure“, „The Lotus Eater“, „Deliverance“ and „Heir Apparent“ – this definitely made some shivers running down my spine despite the still warm temperatures. After one hour it was over, way too short for an OPETH Gig. But to enjoy them to the fullest you definitely have to attend a club gig, I´d say.
Unfortunately there was some disturbance coming over from the other mainstage, when DIR EN GREY were doing the soundcheck during some calmer songpart. Luckily they were stopped, since this was too loud.
DIR EN GREY were the second Japanese band of the day then, since I skipped MUCC, who were playing at the same time like Opeth. And when having a look at the tentstage, we had to recognize again, that it was absolutely impossible to get into the tent, thanks to a huge bunch of people waiting there already. DEG managed to gather a loud, loud crowd in front of the stage, that made me almost feel like being at some boyband concert, rather than at a Metal festival.
I have to admit, that this fascination and hype that is created around this band couldn´t excite me, too. One thing is for sure, they obviously totally enjoyed being on stage, jumped around like crazy, but the vocals were something you have to get used to. No matter what the fronter was doing though, he could be sure, that the girls started screaming and the guys seemed to enjoy this. Musically, you can call DEG a jack of all trades in a way, since you had some emo stuff, hard parts up to progressive tendencies and deathmetal-like growling at parts – sometimes, as aforementioned mixed up a bit too much and this made it kinda confusing. A great gig for the fans, something strange for the rest. „What´s this?!“ is a phrase I heard quite often while sitting backstage.
From then on everything went really fast, two more bands left and then Metaltown 2009 was approaching it´s end. CULT OF LUNA vs. MARILYN MANSON.
Some might´ve thought, that CULT OF LUNA would have a hard time on the small tentstage, but this wasn´t the case. Even though the Swedes had to play at the same time like Manson, they managed to gather a great crowd. COL were lacking one of the normally two vocalist though – according to my Swedish friends this wasn´t unusual though, since they played gigs with less members quite often lately. Well, this or that way, this didn´t affect the songs in a remarkable way. The whole stage was completely covered with thick smoke, so that you could hardly see the musicians from time to time, which actually fitted perfectly to the band. After having photographed Manson, I thus rushed to the tentstage to attend this gig, which ended with the fantastic „Ghost Trail“. Still had 30 more minutes, so we listened to Manson from further away, thanks to a huge videoscreen on the left side of the stage, you could even see what was going on. I was quite exhausted after COL though, not physically but probably mentally, what a damn captivating gig!
was much easier with photo permission, than Slipknot on the day before. We were quite amazed, that there was no contract, no extra stuff, but 2 complete song for taking pics (accompanied by a really huge, mean looking private security guy, who approached one photographer, who dared to take a few more shots after the two songs and while going out of the pit with a nice „Get that fuckin´ caaamera down!“ – no idea whether he did the same with the photographing fans in the frontrows. ;-)). The whole stage was covered with a huge black curtain, and you could only guess, that there was lots of smoke piling up, accompanied by lots of nice red light (the photographers were of course totally happy about this…not).
At 22:45 sharp the music started to get louder, the rhythm got fast and faster, the clapping of the crowd turned into screaming and suddenly the curtain was gone! Mr Manson entered stage with a black coat and a pirate-like hat and was hardly seen due to all the fog during the first half of the first song. The other musicians slowly appeared in all this fog and during song number 2, he got rid of his coat and walk on the little „catwalk“ that had been built in front of the stage. Am I wrong or did he really gain quite a remarkable amount of weight? Well, no matter what, the spark didn´t want to ignite. This wasn´t shocking at all, the show as a whole was ok. The highlights clearly were „The Dope Show“ or „Sweet Dreams“, which was played by the way, when we left the tent from the COL gig. All in all he didn´t meet the expectations and didn´t turn out to be such a crowd puller as some might´ve expected and didn´t attract as much audience, as Slipknot the day before. After the COL gig you could already see lots of people leaving the festival area, when having a look at the bridge, there was still loads of people standing and watching the gig.
We left earlier as well, since there was an aftershowparty going on in Parken again and today it was BURST playing there. And they played one of the best gigs I had seen of them so far. The vocalist was joking a bit „Thanks for coming here, hope you enjoyed the support bands.“ Sure thing, that people had to grin about him calling the bands of the festival „support bands“. After that he dedicated one song to all those suffering from sunburn – luckily I didn´t belong to those (quite amazing I didn´t get one). What a nice way of ending a great festival weekend, that turned out to be relaxed, despite higher visitor numbers than back in 2008.
All in all I can say the following about this year´s Metaltown: Unfortunately there wasn´t much shade, that made it possible to escape from the sun for a while, there should´ve been more places to get some water with temperatures over 25 degrees. Apart from that, you never had to wait that long, neither in when getting some food, nor at the entrance control. The mix of bands was pretty good, and the festival area wasn´t packed, despised having more visitors than last year. The selection of food was really varied, thumbs up for this, I´ve rarely seen so much different food at a festival! The beergarden was bigger, much more toilets, so no big waiting times there either. The backstage area was redesigned and some extra press area for conducting interviews had been added as well. But one thing should be thought over and probably changed: the tentstage. There were quite a few bands that exceeded the capacity of the tent. So either bigger tentstage, or all bands on the two bigger stages. So I came back with an overall positive impression once again, leading to marking this festival in the calender for 2010 again! Let´s see how many visitors Metaltown will have then and how it´s going to develop!
photos: Cornelia Wickel
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Cornelia Wickel
cornelia@stalker-magazine.rocks - reports, photos
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April 8, 2017 by sunburypress
Littlestown resident pens 3rd novel in the Langdon Trilogy about civil rights in America
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released C James Gilbert’s A Second Revolution, the third book in the Langdon Trilogy about civil rights in America throughout history.
At the end of the Great War in November, 1918, Jim Langdon, of Langdon Plantation in Macon, Georgia, is preparing to continue his late father’s work for the full legal equality of Black Americans. Although slavery had been abolished fifty-two years earlier, constitutional rights and guaranteed protection under the law holds no meaning for black citizens.
With his wife, Elizabeth, by his side and Almighty God leading the way, Jim immerses himself in the civil rights movement with a dream of showing the nation that black or white, we are all brothers and sisters.
A long road with the possibility of so much to gain in the end is still a long road, especially when racism and hatred are waiting at every turn. As bloodshed stains the pages of what was written yesterday and the lynching of innocent humans goes unpunished, the Langdons stand fast in their quest to influence people, politics, and patriots to believe that, “All men are created equal”, cannot be defined as a discriminatory phrase.
As time goes by and generations of this Georgia family pass, the promise to carry on the fight passes also, with the hope that full legal equality is realized at the end of a second revolution.
C. James Gilbert, an author since November 2012, has done extensive research on the American Civil Rights Movement. A true supporter of human equality, Mr. Gilbert has completed a trilogy on the subject, titled, The Langdon Trilogy. Raised in the fifties and sixties, Mr. Gilbert witnessed the televised events during some of the most turbulent times in Black America’s struggle for equal rights. It is the memories of those times and his love of history that inspired his literary work.
A native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. Gilbert now lives in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, with his wife of thirty-five years. He works part-time as a residential electrician, continues writing, and enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Jim Langdon was having a very restless night to say the least; it was only five months since the deaths of his parents. As fate would have it, his mother and father both departed within a matter of hours of one another leaving a unique void in Jim’s life that almost nothing could fill.
As he lay in bed beside his sleeping wife, Elizabeth, and while he labored to lie still, his mind wandered; mostly through the past, a direction taken in league with the memory of his mother and father. He was the third generation to own Langdon Plantation, a twenty-five hundred acre cotton plantation located twenty miles south of Macon, Georgia.
But the plantation was not the only thing he inherited from his parents. He was given the belief that all people, regardless of race, are equal and should be treated as such. When Jim’s grandfather, John, owned the plantation, it was worked by slaves. That was when the change in Langdon family history first began. Jim’s father, James―also Jim’s real name―was very much against slavery, and rightfully so. It became a serious issue between Jim’s father and grandfather.
So Jim’s father decided to take matters into his own hands, leaving home when the Civil War broke out, but not to fight for the South as he had led his family to believe. Instead he began helping slaves escape to Canada, later joining the Union army and remaining in Union blue until the end of the war.
One thing Jim had learned in his lifetime: Racism is not inherent; it is taught, and the same is true of anti-racism. His father had been a very direct and permanent influence in his life; that is to say that Jim was a lot like his father. Many points of view were shared, especially that no man should have domain over another; slavery and discrimination were wrong.
A Second Revolution: An American Civil Rights Story
Authored by C James Gilbert
BISAC: Fiction / Historical / General
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/A-Second-Revolution-9781…
Posted in book releases | Tagged C James Gilbert, civil rights, langdon trilogy, littlestown | 1 Comment
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About Sunningdale Classics
Classic by name, classic by nature
With the owners, brothers David and Geoff Wellman, boasting many years business experience, the opportunity to live their Classic Car dream proved an opportunity they simply could not refuse!
Many Classic Car enthusiasts yearn for their dream car and yesterday’s cars are very much today’s dreams!
The Little Aston (Aldridge) Garage has risen like a phoenix and from the ashes of the empty shell, Sunningdale-Classics is Yesterdays Dreams reborn – and with the famous history of the location, we mean that quite literally!
Simply the stuff of Dreams!
The garage was a petrol filling station and had a facility for repairing cars.
The garage was used for the filming of the television production “Yesterday’s Dreams”. This was aired in January and February 1987. It starred Judy Loe who was the wife of the actor Richard Beckinsdale of ‘Rising Damp’ and ‘Porridge” fame.
The site was levelled and a new garage and showroom was built. This was called ‘Monarch Porsche’ and this site has been affectionately known as the Porsche garage ever since.
The Porsche dealership moved to Sutton Coldfield and a Ferrari & Maserati franchise continued to operate from this site.
With the world’s finance crisis upon us the dealership was closed.
Stratstone signage was erected and talk that Aston Martin would take this site over. Yet again due to the economic climate this did not happen.
The garage remained closed and began to crumble and decay.
The garage was finally purchased from the Pendragon Group after two years of on and off negotiation by David & Geoffrey Wellman. Aldridge boys all-of their lives and complete petrol heads, they decided it would be an ideal location for a “different” sort of dealership. The brothers have always had an interest in Cars and Motorcycles and had collected a large range between them. So many that they had run out of space to store them. The garage seemed an ideal place to keep the collection, then came the dream to buy and sell them too!
Geoffrey Wellman
A motor mechanic for 25 years on both motorcycles and cars.
Geoff, as he prefers to be known, has spent the other 25 years of his working life with his brother in a management position and is renowned as a brilliant and very hands-on engineer.
David Wellman
From an early apprenticeship, David forged a career in industry and ultimately ran his own very successful Engineering Company for 25 years.
Having retired a year ago and becoming thoroughly ‘bored’, has now decided to un-retire and follow his passion for all things automotive.
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Christian Pastors Will Soon Face These Deadly Threats
September 3, 2016 September 3, 2016 Editor Christians, ISIS, Islam, obama
For years the American Christian community has existed in relative peace.
Sure, every pastor has at one time had to deal with some kind of obstacle in the fulfillment of God’s call on their lives…but now their position as a speaker of the truth could end up getting them killed.
And a lot of this is Obama fault.
Because Obama and his administration have been so lax it’s emboldened radical jihadists to take their terror activity into our nation.
Just a few weeks ago Islamic terrorists beheaded a Christian pastor in France.
Now experts warn we should expect the same kind of thing to happen here.
Major terrorist experts are declaring that we should prepare for more violence in churches in the West, since the beheading of a priest in France. This means that there will be more beheadings and martyrdoms in the Western world. I did a whole video on this:
According to one report:
Counter-terror experts have issued guidelines to British clergymen, warning of an attack similar to the Islamic State (Isis) killing of a catholic priest in Normandy, according to reports on Tuesday (30 August).
The advice issued to priests includes increased security in places of worship and not wearing dog collars in public. The counter-terror advice is to be “urgently” issued to churches up and down the country following the murder of Catholic priest Jacques Hamel.
The 85-year-old had his throat slit by two IS (Daesh) inspired jihadists whilst leading mass in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
Although no specific threat has been identified so-called ‘soft targets’ like churches, synagogues and other places of worship are feared to be the next target for a jihadi attack. Many have already beefed-up security with some Jewish schools employing round-the-clock security.
The new measures, which are titled Counter Terrorism Advice for Churches, ask religious leaders to be on alert for attackers, possibly armed with knives, and issues advice on how to act in the event of a terror attack.
With a draft reportedly seen by the Mirror Online, the guidelines – written by former police officer and Home Office counter terror adviser, Nick Tolson – are to be published by National Churchwatch as quickly as possible. The organisation works to produce safety advice for those who work in places of worship.
Tolson said: “Since the French attack we have to look at the possibility of an attack on a church in this country. The risk level has gone up.
“Churches in the past were considered low risk – now we know an attack is coming… and churches are one of the easy targets. It’s likely to be a knife – not a machine gun, but we are covering that too.”
The paper outlines how to prepare for a terrorist attack, CCTV, alarms and controlling entrances, how to challenge suspicious people, how to deal with disturbances during services and what to do when ‘gunfire or explosions’ take place.
One vicar spoke to the Mirror, saying that he had been given advice: “Not to wear dog collars in public which identify them as being in the clergy, not to be in their church alone by themselves at any time and to beef up security at their church”.
This is a harrowing realization.
While we might be free to practice our religion here in the U.S. it doesn’t at all mean that people are going to be free from the threat of death.
We have to remember, there are hundreds and thousands (actually millions) of Muslims in this country. Many of them are in full favor of what’s happening in the Middle East right now.
It really wouldn’t take much for them to become fully radicalized to the point they start killing Christian pastors.
Do you think pastors have something to worry about?
Christians ISIS Islam obama
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Parking & Accomodations
2020 Post-Grad Residency
Target Gallery
The Art League
Enamelists Gallery
Multiple Exposures Gallery
Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery
Printmakers Inc.
Scope Gallery
Van Landingham Gallery
Seasonal Art Installations
Site Two and Three Galleries
Brett John Johnson, MFA
Brett John Johnson joined Torpedo Factory Art Center 2017. He has implemented a number of innovative programs and partnerships at the Art Center and was recognized for his efforts by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce as one of the 2018 40 Under 40. Brett previously served as the director of visual arts and head curator at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, Virginia. He also held positions as gallery director at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland; studio programs manager at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware; exhibits specialist at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and preparator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, College of Art and Design. Brett holds a master’s of fine arts in painting from Temple University, Tyler School of Art, and a bachelor’s of fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Tiana Bady
Tiana Bady has been part of the Art Center since 2016. She works with more than 130 resident artists managing leases for studios, galleries, and workshops. She has years of experience in property management, leasing, and tenant relations. Prior to the Art Center, she worked as a contractor with the Office of the Arts for the City of Alexandria. She spent several years as property administrator of Jones Lang Lasalle for Union Station in Washington, D.C., assisting in the management of the historic station’s retail and office space. She has worked with tenants that range from large scale corporations like Amtrak and H&M to the artists at the Art Center, always supporting their needs.
Deri Collingwood
Event Venue Rental Coordinator
Deri Collingwood is a seasoned event planner and a gregarious extrovert who enjoys partnering with clients and vendors to create the guest’s ideal experience. She joined the Art Center in 2019. She began her career in Old Town Alexandria working for a startup, then spent a decade in Manhattan, first with a small event firm then with a Fortune 500 while she attended graduate school. She has a master’s in hospitality industry studies and an advanced degree in customer relations management from New York University, as well as a bachelor’s in speech communications from George Mason University.
Daniel Guzman, CPP
Curator of Public Programs
Daniel Guzman joined the team in 2015, overseeing public programs and projects focused on cultural growth, community engagement, and art opportunities in Alexandria and the greater D.C. metropolitan area. Prior to his time at the Art Center, he worked in New York for 10 years, developing culture crawls, pop-up events, workshops and roundtables for organizations like Pen America, Lit Crawl NYC, Lambda Literary, Housing Works, Hotel Trades Council, Le Poisson Rouge, Okamoto Studio, and Cinespect. He holds a bachelor’s of fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Certified Program Planner (CPP) and is currently pursuing a master’s in project management at George Washington University.
Facilities and Gift Shop Manager
Richard Johnson joined Torpedo Factory Art Center staff as gift shop manager with the City of Alexandria’s Department of General Service in 1999. He believed in the promise of the Art Center and was a fixture from its earliest days, spending hours volunteering and worked part-time starting in the 1980s. He started his working career helping in a family grocery store and ice cream shop and went on to manage other shops and restaurants. By the late 1960s, he managed several bookstore chains in the Washington, D.C. area, before landing at the Art Center. In his free time, Richard is an artist and certified yoga instructor.
Leslie Mounaime, MA
Curator of Exhibitions
Leslie Mounaime focuses on supporting emerging and mid-career artists with professional exhibition opportunities. She is also dedicated to bringing world-class artwork that captures that public’s imagination to the D.C. region. Leslie first came to the Art Center as the gallery assistant in 2015. Prior to that, she worked in contemporary art venues such as Artisphere and Art Whino. She is an art historian and curator with a master’s in art history with a focus in contemporary art and post-colonialism from George Mason University. She also earned a bachelor’s in art history from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Alyssa Ross
Alyssa Ross has been with the Art Center since 2014. She manages content creation, art direction, branding, media relations, and online channels. She also oversees marketing for Alexandria’s Office of the Arts. She previously worked as a communicator for Tacoma Art Museum, Ballet Northwest, KaBOOM!, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and Edelman Silicon Valley and penned an arts column in South Sound Magazine. She has done pro bono work for Springboard Forward, National Military Family Association, and other military and neighborhood organizations. Alyssa has bachelor’s degrees in both communications media and journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is an alumna of the Robert E. Cook Honor’s College. She is a military spouse, scout leader, and mom to two girls.
Hannah Son
Hannah Son started in 2017 and has assisted with graphic design, exhibitions, social media management, events, art sales, and administrative tasks in Target Gallery. She first joined the Art Center as a Target Gallery intern in 2015. Prior to this position, she has interned, volunteered, and exhibited her artwork at Epicure Café, Olly Olly, and SAMASAMA. Hannah has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Shenandoah University and is pursuing an associate’s degree in graphic design from Northern Virginia Community College.
We can't wait for you to come and explore. Find hours, directions, parking information and more.
Tweets by @TorpedoFactory Visit Torpedo Factory Art Center's profile on Pinterest.
Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union St.
Telephone: Please use the staff directory
Email: torpedofactory@alexandriava.gov
Daily 10 am - 6 pm*
Thursdays 10 am - 9 pm
*The Torpedo Factory sometimes closes at 5 pm for private events. Check Today’s Hours to see if this could affect your visit. *Artists maintain their own studio hours. It's best to confirm availability before your visit. *The Torpedo Factory is closed for New Year's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Target Gallery has limited availability during City holidays.
Torpedo Factory Art Center is part of the City of Alexandria Office of the Arts, a division of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.
© 2020 Torpedo Factory Art Center. All Rights Reserved.
This website was made possible through the support of the Alexandria Marketing Fund.
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Petanque RETAILERS
Bocce Ball sometimes anglicized as bocci or boccie is a ball sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowls and pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Developed into its present form in Italy (where it is called bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means "bowl"), it is played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants, including Australia, North America, and South America (where it is known as bochas; bolas criollas in Venezuela, bocha (the sport) in Brazil), initially among the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community. Pétanque is a form of boules where the goal is to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (literally "piglet") or jack, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground. The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel, but can also be played on grass, sand or other surfaces. Similar games are bocce, bowls and (adapted to ice) curling.
Petanque RETAILERS Sept 1, 2010 20:45:34 GMT -6
Post by Steve King (Admin) on Sept 1, 2010 20:45:34 GMT -6
To be listed in the below retailer list is just $10 per year per link. Contact Steve at [email protected] for inclusion. Please remember to reference the link to this page in your email.
Playboule - Click Here! - Admin Recommended
*Petanque (French) uses smaller balls (~73mm) compared to Bocce (Italian) which uses larger balls (~107mm)
Last Edit: Apr 8, 2014 21:02:10 GMT -6 by Steve King (Admin)
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Directors and Senior Management
F-A-C-T Benefits
IBO Business
Soundproof Canopy
Financial/ESG reports
First Acquisition of Tamar VPower Energy Fund I: A Leading Equipment Rental Company in the GCC region
First Acquisition of Tamar VPower Energy Fund I: A Leading Equipment Rental Company in the GCC region - VPower Group Fast Track Distributed Power Generation
VPower Group International Holdings Limited (“VPower Group”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”, stock code: 1608.HK) is pleased to announce that, Tamar VPower Energy Fund I (the “Fund”), an equally contributed investment fund by CITIC Pacific Ltd. (“CITIC Pacific”) and VPower Group through their wholly owned subsidiaries, jointly with Itqan Holding Limited (“Itqan”) (collectively the “Parties”), have entered into an agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Byrne Equipment Rental LLC (together with its subsidiaries, the “Byrne Group”). The transaction is valued at approximately AED1 billion (equivalent to HKD 2.14 billion).
The Byrne Group includes, amongst others, Byrne Equipment Rental, Spacemaker (UAE), Byrne Technical Services (KSA) and Byrne Medical Equipment Rental, which together form one of the most diverse equipment rental suppliers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”) region. With more than 10,000 items of plant and 15 operational bases, the Byrne Group offers high quality equipment rental solutions and power rental solutions to a broad variety of sectors including oil and gas, construction and infrastructure, events, industrial and manufacturing and marine and ports throughout the GCC region.
Mr. Rorce Au-Yeung, an investment committee member of the Fund and Co-Chief Executive Officer of VPower Group, commented, “It is the first acquisition of the Fund since its establishment in January 2018, which marks the successful collaboration of CITIC Pacific and VPower Group in identifying synergistic mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector through the Fund. We believe it is a mutually beneficial acquisition to all parties. We have established long-term business collaboration with the Byrne Group through SI business hence we see its excellent operational performance over the years. Its potential growth supported by the Fund and our expertise in the power market is tremendous. The strong network of the Byrne Group, at the same time, provides a readily available platform for us to efficiently expand our SI and IBO into the Middle East which is among the world’s highest electricity consumption per capita and where the electricity demand has continued to outpace supply growth.”
Mr. Steve Kwok, an investment committee member of the Fund and Executive Vice President of CITIC Pacific, remarked, “We are pleased with the opportunity to invest with our partner VPower Group in this world-class equipment rental company in the GCC region. This is our first project in the region and we are confident to contribute our expertise in the power sector and bring in other business opportunities leveraging CITIC Group’s network to support the growth of the Byrne Group and open up the China market opportunity.”
“VPower Group and CITIC Pacific have a clear understanding of our operating model and we see this as a powerful opportunity to leverage our respective strengths and generate enhanced growth in our markets.” Mr. Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman, Chairman of Itqan and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Byrne Group gladly added, “The acquisition will support Byrne’s plans to grow into the Asian market and replicate the success the company has already achieved in the GCC region, and tap into a wider scope of power generation solution market in the GCC region.”
About VPower Group International Holdings Limited
VPower Group is principally engaged in SI business, in which the Group designs, integrates and sells gas-fired and diesel-fired engine-based gen-sets and PGSs, utilizing proprietary system designs and integration capabilities of the Group; and IBO business, in which the Group invests in, builds and leases and operates distributed power stations to deliver electricity to the region. It is one of the world’s leading large gen-set system integration providers, and Southeast Asia’s largest private gas-fired engine-based DPG station owner and operator.
For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.vpower.com
About CITIC Pacific Limited
CITIC Pacific is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Limited (stock code: 267.HK). Its key businesses include special steel manufacturing, energy and real estate development. It is also the majority shareholder of two companies listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange, namely, Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited (1828.HK) and CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (1883.HK).
CITIC Limited is one of China’s largest conglomerates operating domestically and overseas, with businesses in financial services, resources and energy, manufacturing, engineering contracting and real estate as well as others.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.citic.com
About Tamar VPower Energy Fund I
Jointly established and managed by CITIC Pacific and VPower Group, Tamar VPower Energy Fund I targets high growth investment opportunities in the energy sector in markets encompassed by the Belt and Road Initiative.
About the Byrne Group
Byrne Equipment Rental is the most diverse supplier of rental equipment across the GCC, with 15 operational bases, a fleet of over 10,000 items of plant and a team of 800+ people. The company offers high quality equipment rental solutions to a broad variety of sectors including but not limited to: oil & gas, construction & infrastructure, events, industrial & manufacturing and marine & ports throughout the GCC region.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.byrnerental.com
Spacemaker (UAE) and Byrne Technical Services (KSA) – are sister companies to Byrne Equipment Rental providing tailor made engineering solutions for complex purpose-built structures that require fast track turn around and innovative transport solutions. Spacemaker’s success is built on reliability, quality and its ability to cater to any part of the globe or any specific requirement. The products/structures are engineered using state of the art equipment and technology, ensuring maximum longevity and low total life costs for clients.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.spacemaker.ae and www.byrnetechnical.com
Byrne Medical Equipment Rental is the only medical leasing specialist in the GCC region. All members of the management team have a valuable wealth of medical expertise in medical technology, hospital management and healthcare supply chain.
For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.byrnemed.com
About Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman
Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman has extensive hands on business experience having started his career working on sovereign investments at the Central Bank and from there became the head of one of the local banks. Through this experience, he gained knowledge into the investments environment which introduced him to the operating lease model. He is now considered a leader in the rental/lease model having applied it to commercial aircraft, vehicles and now with Byrne in equipment. Additionally, Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman sits on many committees and boards in the region, covering different fields such as steel manufacturing and private equity investments.
Latest Activities (13)
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Home Pulpit
The Old Pulpit
When the second Chapel at the Melin Griffith Works was being planned, a discussion was held about the proposed pulpit for the new Chapel. A decision was finally made in November 1851 to purchase the redundant pulpit from St John's Church in the centre of Cardiff. The deal was concluded with the Church Warden of St. John's, Mr.William Luke Evans for the sum of £4. This was finally installed on completion f the Chapel in 1852. The actual age of the pulpit was never established but an estimate of about 100+ years was assumed in view of the early Church records at St. John's. The Chapel was finally opened in December of that year.
The pulpit was always a source of concern. It was regularly used for preaching until the 1970s when it became more customary to use a lectern within the communion area. This was very cramped particularly when communion was being administered. The pulpit also caused major obstructions when staging or concerts were being held. During the planning and redesign of the Church sanctuary, the fate of the pulpit and the design of the front could not be agreed and so a decision was made to defer any changes to the front at that time. After about 5 years, a further plan was agreed to modernise the front of the Church. Various options about the pulpit were discussed including the resiting of it to the right ride, outside of the communion rail, to allow better use of the space. It was finally decided that, as few preachers wishes to use the pulpit due to its size and difficult access, it should be removed.
The Welsh Folk Museum at St. Fagans was approached to offer it as a gift. The museum, however, declined the offer as it already had several examples of pulpits of this age and design within its collection. It was therefore offered for open sale and disposed of accordingly.
Further information has recently come to light from St. Johns Church in Cardiff:
It is recorded in an old vestry book that a former vicar, the Revd Samuel Lowder removed the old pulpit at the end of the 18th century without consulting the congregation. I recently read in the diaries of John Bird, Agent for the Marquis of Bute that whilst a church meeting was being held to decide what to do about the vicar's unwelcome treatment of the pulpit,workmen arrived to build a new one in 'deal' ie.,pine. I read on your website that you had a pulpit from St John's bought for £4 in the 19th century which was subsequently moved to other buildings until finally removed.We have a photo of the interior of St John's church taken in 1886 which shows the current pulpit so it appears that the one sold to your original chapel may well have been the one put in by Vicar Lowder.
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Happy Birthday to Me – The Red Sox Provide Icing on the Cake!
This past weekend, I celebrated a milestone birthday (Hint – it was not Sweet Sixteen!). My family had asked me how I wanted to celebrate, and I told them I preferred a low-key celebration with family. So, earlier in the week, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner and evening with family at the home of my son, Ti, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. My son, Scott was able to join us, along with my daughter-in-law, Raluca, and my darling grandchildren, Laurelin and Amet. My sister, Diane, had flown in from Tampa for the occasion; she surprised and delighted us all by providing a dinner of boiled Maine lobsters. Yes! It was a wonderful time of being together.
The Red Sox must have learned of the special occasion, because they very thoughtfully invited the Yankees to come to town as the denouement of my birthday celebration. I did not want to seem ungrateful, so I made time in my busy schedule to stop by Fenway Park on Friday evening and Sunday evening – just to let the Red Sox know that I appreciated all that they were doing to make my birthday a memorable one.
Friday night’s game was an instant classic – with the Red Sox unexpectedly scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to beat their former bete noire, Mariano Rivera. Oft-maligned Red Sox centerfielder, Cocoa Crisp, slapped a triple down the right field line, and later scored the winning run. Jonathan Papelbon aptly pitched a scoreless 9th inning for the save – completing the passing of the torch from Rivera to Papelbon as the most feared closer in baseball.
Behind the scenes, I was having a marvelous time. Because of my affiliation with the Autograph Alley program at Fenway Park, I often end up sitting in the section reserved for the family and friends of the visiting team. So, I spent much of Friday night’s game in the company of several rabid Yankee fans. My friend, Casimir Deronnete, had accompanied me to the game. He arrived in full Yankees regalia – pinstriped shirt, Yankees cap and a New York City in-your-face attitude! Casimir was born in the Republic of Haiti, but many of his formative years were spent in Brooklyn, so I suppose he can be forgiven if his sympathies now lie with the Bronx Bombers. During several key moments in the course of the game – as the Yankees built an apparently insurmountable lead of 6-2 – Casimir turned to me and say: “How are you feeling? Are you alright?” My hint that his solicitous concern for my welfare was disingenuous came when I noticed the grin on his face that reminded me of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”!
Casimir found common cause with several others in our section who were also sporting pinstriped habiliments. I recall at one point looking at the assembled Yankees fans and spouting the cliché: “He who laughs last, laughs best!” Sometimes even a cliché can prove to be prophetic. It turned out that we were in the midst of several individuals who accompany Yankee second baseman, Robinson Cano, when the team is on the road. We spent several innings with his personal body guard and his personal trainer, both former ball players from Cano’s native Dominican Republic. I understand; anyone who is anybody needs to have an entourage! We all spent the remainder of the game swapping good-natured barbs across the Athens - Sparta chasm that is the Red Sox – Yankees rivalry.
On Sunday morning, I was at Copley Place Mall in Boston’s Back Bay before the shops opened for the day. I ran into Yankee reliever, Luis Vizcaino. I knew by his demeanor, his ubiquitous cell phone and his tasteful “bling-bling” that he was a ballplayer, but I initially thought he was Robinson Cano. He set me straight and told me who he was, and we soon discovered that we know in common my Dominican friend, Davey Valdez, one of several baseball-playing brothers. Luis was looking to buy a suit. When I asked him what kind of a suit, he replied: “A traveling suit!” With those parameters clearly in mind, I brought Luis to meet the staff at the Hugo Boss store. They opened a few minutes early for him and promised me that they would treat him well. I don’t know what kind of suit he ended up buying for his trip out of town, but the next time I saw him he had donned his Yankee pinstripes and was standing on the mound at Fenway as part of a parade of Yankee pitchers who yielded a total of 27 runs to the Red Sox over the course of the weekend. Along the way, the piece de resistance of last night’s game was four consecutive homeruns swatted by Messieurs Ramirez, Drew, Lowell and Varitek. This feat of “four in a row” had never before been accomplished by a Red Sox team, and only four other times in all of baseball history.
The Yankee line-up remains one of the most fearsome in all of Major League Baseball, and I expect a season-long dogfight for first place in the American League East. But for one brief, shining weekend in New England, they were complicit in allowing the Red Sox to throw for me one of the best birthday celebrations one could imagine – aside from that wonderful, quiet evening I had spent earlier in the week playing Grampy. (2-year-old Amet calls me “Gimpy” – go figure! And he has not even seen me on the tennis court yet.) Life is sweet!
Someone at Google Has a Marvelous Sense of Humor!
Sometimes we take ourselves way too seriously. This is clearly not true of our friends at Google.
My friend, Mark Sohmer, is a regular reader of, and contributor to, The White Rhino Report. This morning, Mark forwarded the following suggestions, which I followed. It took 30 seconds and brought a smile to my face. I smiled because I love the fact the Google as able and willing to have some fun while providing valuable services. I also smiled because the route to Paris, as they recommend it here – goes through Boston!
Enjoy. Thanks Mark!
Go to http://www.google.com.
Click on maps.
Click on "get directions."
Type in "New York, NY" and "Paris, France" in the upper-left, and then click on the "get directions" button.
Once it loads, check out the 24th direction.
Hearing from a Soldier in Iraq - A Response to Last Week's Posting
After I posted the article last week about West Point graduates leaving the Army, the posting elicited a heart-felt response from Iraq. This comment was offered anonymously by a West Point grad currently serving as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Baghdad. Since many readers of The White Rhino Report may not have had a chance to read this comments, I offer them below for your consideration.
We're getting out because we have no life outside of the army. West Point wasn't much of a social life, now the army, even when we're home we're gone 3 to 4 months of the year that we're back at base training at NTC, JRTC, and other various locations. Army posts aren't exactly located at the most prime locations for the most part. Fort Polk doesn't have many places for social interaction.
And now, I can plan on being deployed for 15 months with a year back home, of which I'll be spending 3 to 4 of those 12 months training in the middle of nowhere with my guys. The only saving grace of the army is the intrinsic rewards. I realize that being an infantry platoon leader in combat will most likely be the most rewarding, challenging exciting job I will ever have. Leading young men in combat, seeing how the civilians in Baghdad react to us. Being able to make a bigger difference in this world than 99% of all Americans my age group is very rewarding. However, there are very few extrinsic rewards for being in the army. We live by army posts in less than desirable locations, I hardly ever get to see my family, there are very few perks to being an officer in the army(no O club, no real special status in society(I could have gone to law or medical school and both those professions seem to get more respect and perks than being an army officer), substandard on base housing, if even available, the vast majority of the population doesn't care about the sacrifices we make(people in the 20-30 year old demographic don't give a shit for our sacrifice, except those with friends or family in the miltiary, and many have told me that I'm a sucker(which I kind of take as a compliment) for making so many sacrifices for our country and getting so little in return, the only people who give us the respect I feel all soldiers deserve is men and women over 40 from what I've seen, which feels good but it would be nice if 24 year old women felt the same way, I get paid about half what I could as a civilian and work twice as hard under substantially harsher working conditions(this is probably the least important factor, at least for me)and those who are in charge of us have never really shared the sacrifices that all soldiers are being asked to make on a continuous basis.
I figure all soldiers who have done a combat tour or even served a day in uniform have done more for their country than about 97-98% of this countries residents ever will, so after serving our country for a certain amount of time(both in combat and at home training others) why shouldn't we be allowed to get out and live our lives for ourselves. Live where we want, get paid what we can, and live under much easier conditions. The day when my largest concern is the high price of car insurance(or whatever crap normal people worry about) and not getting shot in the head by a sniper will be a pretty good day. If I get killed tomorrow in the streets of Baghdad I feel like the only people who will suffer or be proud of my sacrifice is my family and friends. It's not like my parents have another son, and to the majority of the people in the US, I'll just be another number(except to those Americans who have a family member in the military and a relatively few others who understand the sacrifice), and nobody will even care. Britney Spears 2nd marriage will get way more attention than my death. In today's society, our sacrifice and service isn't as respected or appreciated as I see it should be. You would most likely feel the same way if you came out with my platoon and saw my soldiers on the 20th day of a 30 day clearing operation dodging bullets and still doing whatever is necessary to accomplish their mission and then see the relative apathy I see when we go home.
I apologize if this isn't concise or well thought out but it's been a long day and this is not the most important thing I'm going to do today so it gets less attention.
West Point grad, Infantry Platoon Leader
Baghdad, Iraq
Soldier,
I want to thank you for your service to our country, and for taking the time to speak to us from your heart.
I invite you to use this space to express your support for this soldier and his comrades for their sacrifices.
Our Wounded Warriors Speak - MSNBC Interviews
My friend, Jack Colletti, is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. This morning he forwarded me an e-mail from his friend, Matt, that stopped me in my tracks.
In the wake of the tragic murders at Virginia Tech, the unfathomable carnage this week in Baghdad, and the mounting death toll among our troops in Iraq, it is easy for us to succumb to a creeping numbness and a paralyzing compassion fatigue. It is hard for us to think about the suffering on a human level – person by person and family by family. The link provided below to MSNBC provides a window into a remarkable series of interviews with wounded soldiers who tell their stories of struggle and survival and hope.
Like Bob and Lee Woodruff, whose story has helped to personalize the results of IED explosions and other forms of violence in Iraq, the stories of the three wounded veterans offered in the link below are simultaneously haunting and uplifting.
As I watched and listened to these interviews, I was moved to tears and to a feeling of great compassion. But feeling compassion for the men and women who have sacrificed their health while serving their country is not enough. That compassion must fuel concrete action.
I was in the audience this past Friday evening in Rye, NY when Bob and Lee Woodruff came home from their nationwide media tour. They held a book signing event as a way to say thank you to their neighbors for all of their support over the course of the last fifteen months. At the end of the Q&A session in the auditorium of Rye High School, I was able to ask the last question. My question that night is an apt question for us to ask ourselves as we watch the videos in the MSNBC link:
“Bob and Lee, I want to invite you to challenge us as we prepare to leave this auditorium. The fact that we have read your book and heard your story means that we have a level of understanding that most Americans lack. We now know the needs that exist for finding better ways to treat veterans who are suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury. And that increased level of awareness gives us an increased level of responsibility to do something in response. What actions – beyond the obvious one of contributing money to the foundation you have created - would you like us to take as we leave here this evening?”
One of the answers that Bob and Lee gave was to find a way to visit with a wound soldier, airman or Marine. Many of the wounded do not have regular visitors, and would welcome someone to talk with them, play cards with them, help champion their cause in looking for work, etc. I trust that as you take the time to watch these MSNBC videos, you will watch and ask yourself: “What can I do to help?”
Here is Matt’s introduction to the MSNBC piece:
I think everyone can benefit from the strength of these veterans'. No compliment I can write can amplify their sacrifice.
Scroll about halfway down the page and click the link on the right "Scars from Iraq"
Thank you, Matt and Jack.
If you are moved to action by what you have experienced, you may want to consider making a contribution to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury:
http://www.bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org/
Posted by The White Rhino at 8:22 AM 1 comment:
West Point Graduates Leaving the Army – Opening a Dialogue
Today’s Boston Globe featured these headlines:
West Point grads exit service at high rate
The topic of Service Academy graduates leaving military service before they have put in a full career as officers has been a point of discussion and contention for many years. The mounting pressure of the prolonged and recurrent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan has brought the simmering debate to a boil once again.
It is my intent, in sharing the link below to today’s Globe feature article, to open a dialogue about this issue. Many regular readers of and contributors to The White Rhino Report are themselves West Point, Annapolis, Air Force Academy and Coast Guard Academy graduates, so I know that there will be no shortage of opinions.
In this brief posting, let me lay out in sketchy form some of my own thoughts, offered as an interested outsider – meaning that I myself am not a service academy graduate. I feel that I can be bold enough to comment on the issue, however, because professionally, I work with many senior executives who have served with distinction in the military. In addition, I am being asked more and more to advise junior military officers on their career options.
Here, in brief, are some preliminary reactions to today’s article:
Many of the Service Academy graduates I see opting to leave military service at the end of their initial commitment are wired more entrepreneurially than their peers who elect to remain as military officers.
Those who choose to leave after their initial commitment are deeply influenced by a desire to provide for their families a more stabile and predictable life – the ability to plan for having and raising a family, choices of where to live, realistic career path for a non-military spouse. Other family-related quality-of-life issues play a significant role in the decision to walk away from the opportunity for a longer military career.
There is a physical, mental and spiritual weariness that sets in after multiple deployments to a war zone, and many leave to find a more stable and healthy career path.
The military has done a very poor job in adjusting to a more sophisticated officer corps. Human Resource policies and (mis)management within the military often ends up alienating fine officers who might have chosen to prolong their careers if they felt that they had been treated with respect and even a modicum of consideration.
The private sector is beginning to recognize the unique value proposition that battle-tested Junior Military Officers bring to the table, so these JMO’s who are considering leaving the military have many more attractive options open to tem than was the case for earlier generations of JMO’s.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/11/west_point_grads_exit_service_at_high_rate/
FYI – I noted an error in the Globe article. In two places, the author made the error of saying that West Point graduates are commission as 1st lieutenants – rather than 2nd lieutenants.
I look forward to hearing your opinions on these matters.
I See Deaf People – Violinist Joshua Bell as a Busker in the D.C. Metro
It is ironic that I became aware of this remarkable article on last Sunday’s Washington Post through the kindness of my friend, Jason Turgeon, who toils for a Federal agency – the Environmental Protection Agency. The article recounts a recent experiment that placed world-renowned concert violinist, Joshua Bell, playing incognito, at the exit to the L’Enfant Plaza Metro stop in the heart of D.C. – at the nexus of where many federal agencies and departments have their headquarters.
The article, written with superb insight and artistry by Washington Post staff writer, Gene Weingarten, is enlightening and disturbing on many levels. The reactions of the busy commuters on that busy morning serve as a microcosm and metaphor for the insidious effects of the busyness of our quotidian existence.
I implore and advise you to take a few moments to read Weigarten’s brilliant piece. There are several reasons why I offer this advice. It is rare to find this level of literary sophistication and well-considered analysis in today’s metropolitan newspapers – even those that perennially take home Pulitzer Prizes. This article should serve for each of us as a cautionary tale, warning us to slow down and “smell the coffee,” – or, more aptly – listen to the delicious syncopated sound of the coffee percolating. Finally, it may embolden you to seek out a live or recorded performance by Joshua Bell and his ilk – artists of talent and inspiration who offer us a respite from the rat race, and who, through their artistry, open for us a window into transcendence.
We just have to be wise enough to put no the brakes, slow down and accept the pearls that are being offered.
Thanks, Jason
Nike Is Betting on Dice-K Mania – Making a Pitch for the Japanese Fans
In one hour, Daisuke Matsuzaka – “Dice-K” in popular parlance – will hurl his first pitch in a championship game for the Boston Red Sox. Nike, which has made many millions of dollars by keeping its finger firmly on the pulse of the sports public, is expecting the Dice-K phenomenon to be huge.
My friend, Chris Tashjian, a passionate and knowledgeable Red Sox fan, just made me aware of this TV commercial that is airing on Japanese TV. It is too good not to share.
I do not think that I am overstating the case when I say that this may be the most-anticipated and most widely covered first pitch in the history of Major League Baseball. This potentially changes everything – within the microcosm of Red Sox Nation and MLB.
http://nike.jp/jdi/?id=31
David Mamet Takes on the Movie Business – Mini-Review of “Bambi vs. Godzilla”
David Mamet knows how to write – for the stage, for the screen and for reading audiences. His grasp of how to construct dialogue is second to none. “Glengarry Glen Ross,” won the Pulitzer Prize – and deservedly so. It is brilliant! I can’t remember how many times I have seen “The Spanish Prisoner,” and been astonished with each viewing at the way in which Mamet constructed the story. His play, “The Boston Marriage,” contains two hours of delicious verbal ripostes and counter-thrusts. I happened to catch an evening performance of the play at the Hasty Pudding Theater in Cambridge on a night when Mamet himself was in the audience.
Mamet’s latest literary project is his commentary on the current state of the movie industry: “Bambi vs. Godzilla – On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business.”
Steve Martin’s blurb on the dust jacket of the book, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, sums up beautifully the impact that this book will have among Hollywood insiders: “David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I’m sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business.”
Mamet takes the reader behind the scenes of how a movie gets written, shot, edited, marketed and distributed. He gives his unvarnished personal opinion about actors, directors, producers and films he has appreciated – and those he disdains. The book contains a wonderful Appendix that is a compendium of thumbnail descriptions of each of the movies he mentions in the body of the book.
In the course of commenting about the status of the movie industry as business and as art, he offers some illuminating insights into the state of our society:
“The absence of a historical and universally acknowledged authority to which one may pledge fealty and against which one may rebel creates factionalism: the right moves toward fascism, the left toward chaos. Democracy – in extremis – seems capable of devolving to either tyranny or civil war, and America, maddened by unimaginable prosperity and safety, incomprehensibly powerful, and bereft of threats, splits down the middle on the issue of definition.
Is the good person one who will not tolerate a president’s lies about sex or one who will not tolerate a president’s lies about war? (Pages 33-34)
Touché! Mamet does not pull his punches, and both ends of the political spectrum are fair game for his analysis. The same goes for his deconstruction of the movie business. I walked away from reading this book with a deeper appreciation for the best films and film makers – and a better understanding of what makes/made them so good. The fact that Mamet is – to employ a technical sociological term - a participant/observer in moviedom, adds weight, texture, immediacy and intrigue to his commentary about the industry that both feeds him and frustrates him.
We are blessed to have Mamet - still in his prime - and still shining the light of his observation and analysis upon dark corners of our world that need to be brought out of the shadows.
A Scientist Discusses His Faith – Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project
My friend, Rick Mavrovich, just made me aware of an article I feel compelled to share with the readers of The White Rhino Report.
Regardless of your faith – or lack thereof – I think you will find this commentary by Dr. Francis Collins to be worth your time. He started out as an atheist and as a medical student and physician, was forced by his patients to address issues and questions that science alone could not address. In this commentary, posted this morning on CNN.com, he shares a brief narrative of his spiritual journey. Coming as they do during this week leading up to Easter, I found his words timely and provocative.
I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.
As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.
Enjoy reading the rest of Dr. Collins’ comments as you click on the link below.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html
IBM Translates Tragedy on the Battlefield into a Triumph of Compassion
I have breaking news that I need to share. I just got off the phone with my friend, Arlen Ecker, whose nephew, Sgt. Mark Ecker of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, was wounded a few weeks ago in Iraq in an IED explosion. Young Ecker eventually lost both legs below the knee, and is undergoing extensive treatment and rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
Sgt. Ecker’s father is a longtime employee of IBM. Shortly after Ecker received the news of his son’s injuries, word began to spread throughout the IBM company grapevine. The follow excerpts are drawn from an ABC News story, a link to which appears below:
"It became a human interest story within IBM. The e-mail list of people that wanted to hear about Mark and were concerned about Mark kept on growing and growing and growing to the point where people very high up at IBM became aware of the situation."
The next thing he knew, IBM Chairman and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano's office was calling to inform him of the donation.
"It made me proud to be an IBMer and proud of IBM. I was just amazed and shocked. The sense of pride is overwhelming," Ecker said.
IBM is donating 10,000 copies of software that allows instantaneous voice translation between English and Arabic. The company is also donating 1,000 laptops or handheld devices to run the software and giving the Department of Defense technical help installing the program. The U.S. government is reviewing laws to see if it can accept the gift.”
In subsequent events, Senator Kennedy and President Bush have stopped by Walter Reed to visit with Sgt. Ecker. It is my understanding that members of the Ecker family will be interviewed on CNN in the next day.
There were six of Ecker’s fellow soldiers injured with him in the explosion. Please keep each of these brave soldiers and their families in your prayers as they go through the grueling work of rehabilitation.
Above all, I urge you to use IBM’s example to think creatively about how all of us should be responding. The level of caring and generosity exhibited by IBM – from the Chairman and CEO down to Mr. Ecker’s co-workers - is newsworthy because it is unusual. Let’s use Big Blue’s outpouring of Red, White and Blue patriotism to spur on other companies, communities, organizations and neighborhoods to make concrete gestures of support to the men and women fighting abroad and to those returning from Iraq broken in body but unbowed in spirit.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3004397&page=1
Stay tuned for a posting tomorrow introducing two groups I recently became aware of that are reaching out to our troops in significant ways.
The Red Sox Season 2007 – A Rough Opening Day, Dice-K and Curt Shilling’s Blog
The more things change, the more they stay the same! The citizens of Red Sox Nation are already howling on the airwaves of WEEI that the hometown favorites are “ruinin’ my summah”! This after a 7-1 Opening Day shellacking at the hands of the bargain basement Kansas City Royals. Despite the Chicken Little prognostications, I am looking forward to an exciting six months at Fenway Park. Here are a few nuggets of why I can’t wait for the turnstiles on Yawkey Way to start turning:
“Dice-K” Matsuzaka will change the face of the Red Sox. Not only will he bring excitement on the field as he and Jason Varitek figure out how best to apportion the seven different pitches he has available in his arsenal of weapons, but the tsunami of Japanese media and fans that will wash up on Boston’s shore will add several new dimensions to the club and to the city. Hotels and restaurants around town are teaching their employees to speak rudimentary Japanese in anticipation of the thousands who are expected to come from the Land of the Rising Sun to see their rising native son on the mound at Fenway deliver his sinking fastball, curveball and inscrutable gyroball! The Red Sox have expanded the press box to accommodate the scribes who will cover the Fenway action on behalf of Japanese readers and viewers.
Curt Schilling, Red Sox Ace pitcher, is evolving the technology tools he uses to get his message directly to the fans of “The Nation.” In the past, in his persona as “Curt in the Car,” he has often called into WEEI during broadcasts to comment on issues that were being discussed – often on the Dennis and Callahan Show during drive-time in the mornings. This season, he has chosen to follow a tactic of disintermediation, bypassing D&C and going directly to the fans using his Blog, 38 Pitches.
http://38pitches.com/2007/04/02/game-1-4207-kc/#more-67
My reading of the first few weeks of postings on 38 Pitches tells me that he intends to use the site to comment on his performance, discuss teammates, and talk about his plans for the future, as well as devoting a significant amount of time and space to answering questions that have been posed by readers of the Blog. Schilling’s foray into the Blogosphere has prompted a great deal of discussion among the Boston media, wondering if this is the harbinger of the end of the need for traditional sports columnists and beat writers. We shall see.
If Curt can continue to pitch as well as he writes, he should have a successful season for our Boys of Summer.
Go Sox!
Pat Conroy Is a Genius – Review of “Prince of Tides”
I have known of “Prince of Tides,” for many years, and enjoyed the film version that starred Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte. And I have enjoyed reading some of Pat Conroy’s other works – “Lords of Discipline,” “Beach Music” – but I had never picked up the novel, “Prince of Tides” until a few weeks ago. Am I glad I did! Conroy’s mastery of language and imagery make the book so much more satisfying than the movie. If all you know of “Prince of Tides” comes from having seen the story portrayed on the screen, it would be analogous to only knowing “Ode to Joy” from reading Schiller’s poem without ever having heard Beethoven’s music that brings the words to life and immortality in his majestic 9th Symphony.
I thought long and hard about this next statement, because it is a bold statement. I know of no American writer working today who uses words more beautifully and with greater emotional effect than Pat Conroy. His vast storehouse of vocabulary allows him to choose from a wide variety of brushstrokes as he paints indelible images of place and of persons who come alive and golden through the alchemy of his writing.
I invite you to eavesdrop on the Wingo family at sunset in the Carolina low country:
“’I have a surprise for you my darlings,’ our mother said as we watched a porpoise move towards the Atlantic through the still, metallic waters. We sat at the end of the floating dock and stretched our legs, trying to touch the water with our bare feet.
‘There’s something I want you to see. Something that will help you sleep. Look over there, children,’ she said, pointing out toward the horizon to the east.
It was growing dark on this long southern evening, and suddenly, at the exact point her finger had indicated, the moon lifted a forehead of stunning gold above the horizon, lifted straight out of filigreed, light-intoxicated clouds that lay on the skyline in attendant veils. Behind us, the sun was setting in a simultaneous congruent withdrawal and the river turned to flame in a quiet duel of gold . . . The new gold of moon astonishing and ascendant, the depleted gold of sunset extinguishing itself in the long westward slide, it was the old dance of days in the Carolina marshes, the breathtaking death of days before the eyes of children, until the sun vanished, its final signature a ribbon of bullion strung across the tops of water oaks. The moon then rose quickly, rose like a bird from the water, from the trees, from the islands, and climbed straight up – gold, then yellow, then pale yellow, pale silver, silver-bright, then something miraculous, immaculate, and beyond silver, a color native only to southern nights.
We children sat transfixed before that moon our mother had called forth from the waters. When the moon had reached its deepest silver, my sister, Savannah, though only three, cried aloud to our mother, to Luke and me, to the river and the moon, ‘Oh, Mama, do it again!’ And I had my earliest memory.” (Pages 5-6)
The tale that Conroy tells of the wildly dysfunctional Wingo tribe is a heartrending story of five misfits struggling desperately to find their place in the world and within the twin microcosms of their family and their backwater town. It is a story of three children – all suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of the physical and emotional abuse heaped upon them by their mother and father – limping into adulthood in search of love and purpose and healing and hope.
Conroy’s insights into the effects of PTSD reflect the lessons learned from those who returned from Vietnam. In the case of the Wingo's, Luke actually went off to war and came back damaged. His twin younger siblings, Tom and Savannah, never left the U.S., but were no less victims of PTSD as a result of their parents’ abusive rage and deluded denial of reality.
Tom shows remarkable self-awareness and befuddlement in talking with his wife, Sallie. He has been fired from his job as a coach and their marriage is being held together by a thin and fraying cord:
“For several minutes we walked in silence, in the disturbing solitude that sometimes visits couples at the most incongruous times. It was not a new feeling for me; I had a limitless gift for turning even those sweet souls who loved me best into strangers.
I tried to fight my way back toward Sallie, tried to regain contact. ‘I haven’t figured everything out yet. I can’t figure out why I hate myself more than anyone else in the world. It doesn’t make sense to me. Even if Mom and Dad were monsters, I should have come out of it with some kind of respect for myself as a survivor, if nothing else. I should have at least come out of it honest, but I’m the most dishonest person I’ve ever met. I never know exactly how I feel about something. There’s always something secret hidden from me.’” (Pages 26-27)
I appreciate Conroy’s use of description and dialogue to give the reader a feel for the subterranean tensions and subtext that exist between two people shadow boxing as they take one another’s measure:
“When I looked up, Dr. Lowenstein was staring at me from the door of her office. She was expensively dressed, and lean. Her eyes were dark and unadorned. In the shadows of that room, with Vivaldi fading in sweet echoes, she was breathtakingly beautiful, one of those go-to-hell New York women with the incorruptible carriage of lionesses. Tall and black-haired, she looked as if she had been air-brushed with breeding and good taste.
‘Who is the Prince of Tides?’ she asked without introducing herself.
‘Why don’t you ask Savannah?’
‘I will when she’s able to speak to me. That might be some time,’ she answered, smoothing her jacket. ‘I’m sorry. I’m Dr. Lowenstein. You must be Tom.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said, rising and following her into her office.
‘Would you like a cup of coffee, Tom?’
‘Yes, ma’am, I would,’ I said nervously.
‘Why do you call me ma’am?’ I believe we’re exactly the same age.’
‘Good home training. And nervousness.’
‘Why are you nervous? Do you take anything with your coffee?’
‘Cream and sugar. I get nervous every time my sister slits her wrists. It’s a quirk of mine.’” (Pages 56-57)
The characters that populate this saga are flawed, vulnerable and fascinating. In following the flow of the narrative, I desperately wanted each of them to find a way to solve their problems and learn to enjoy life – all the while knowing that no such facile happy ending was in the cards.
A significant subplot and counterpoint welcomes the reader into the ice palace that is the home and nuclear family of Dr. Lowenstein, her self-absorbed concert violinist husband and their perpetually sulking adolescent son. The irony is that this sophisticated and urbane family is just as flawed and toxic as the wacky Wingo’s from the wetlands. The message is clear: dysfunction, pain and abuse know no geographic or socioeconomic boundaries, but are equal opportunity employers.
I love this book for the artistry on display, and for the insights into human nature and suffering that Conroy offers on every page.
Happy Birthday to Me – The Red Sox Provide Icing o...
Hearing from a Soldier in Iraq - A Response to Las...
West Point Graduates Leaving the Army – Opening a ...
I See Deaf People – Violinist Joshua Bell as a Bus...
Nike Is Betting on Dice-K Mania – Making a Pitch f...
David Mamet Takes on the Movie Business – Mini-Rev...
A Scientist Discusses His Faith – Dr. Francis Coll...
IBM Translates Tragedy on the Battlefield into a T...
The Red Sox Season 2007 – A Rough Opening Day, Dic...
Pat Conroy Is a Genius – Review of “Prince of Tide...
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Searsville Dam: Time for Stanford to Walk the Walk
Category: Newsletter Articles | Posted by: Jonathan | 7/6/12 | Comments: 17
Summary: The San Francisquito Creek watershed in California’s Bay Area runs through Stanford University’s campus on its way to San Francisco Bay. Historically it was home to healthy runs of steelhead (in addition to salmon). However, this ecosystem was drastically changed when the Spring Valley Water Company erected the Searsville Dam in 1892 to create an impoundment for potable water storage.
By Loren Elliot
The San Francisquito Creek watershed in California’s Bay Area runs through Stanford University’s campus on its way to San Francisco Bay. Historically it was home to healthy runs of steelhead (in addition to salmon). However, this ecosystem was drastically changed when the Spring Valley Water Company erected the Searsville Dam in 1892 to create an impoundment for potable water storage. The reservoir has never served that purpose and Stanford University acquired the dam around 1919 for non-potable uses.
The dam, just like so many others up and down the coast, blocked access to critical spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead, as well as Coho and Chinook salmon. This took a significant toll on the populations, but still there was enough habitat remaining downstream of the dam to support some percentage of the historical runs. However, Stanford has failed to pay any attention to the fish downstream of the dam, and their operations commonly let the creek run dry while returning spawners and juveniles are in the creek. As a result, low, and often absent, flows below the impassable dam have all but decimated the once healthy populations of steelhead here which are now listed in critical condition under the Endangered Species Act. The Coho and Chinook salmon have not been seen in decades.
In some instances, such as with the lower Snake River dams in the Columbia River drainage, dams take their inevitable toll on anadromous fish, but are difficult to lobby against because of their possession of the proper permits in addition to their utility as major hydroelectric energy sources. The impoundment behind the Searsville Dam, however, has very limited and easily replaceable utility. Its water is used for the sole purpose of campus irrigation, including the university’s expansive golf course and athletic fields. Additionally, silt buildup has reduced its water storage capacity by more than ninety percent. On top of this, the last time it had a detailed foundation inspection by state safety officials was in the 1960s. To put it into perspective, this is a dam that lacks any of the permits and agreements required by the California Department of Fish and Game and National Marine Fisheries Service regarding adequate instream flows and the protection of habitat for the endangered species it negatively impacts. This is an unacceptable situation when endangered wild steelhead return each winter in an effort to spawn only to find critical habitat degraded or inaccessible.
Stanford preaches a message of sustainability and environmental awareness. Last year in the university’s sustainability report, president John Hennessey wrote, “Sustainability must become a core value in everything we do. As a community we are committed to developing our core campus in a sustainable fashion that preserves what we cherish, that demonstrates leadership in the university’s commitment to be a good environmental steward.” As long as the Searsville Dam stands and the creek below it runs dry while endangered steelhead suffocate in its pools in failed attempt to spawn, this quote stands as a message of hypocrisy, not sustainability.
The future could bring hope if Stanford will finally stop turning a blind eye to the soon-to-be extinct endangered steelhead in its backyard. The university received an $18.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to implement a research center “with the goal of re-inventing America’s aging and inadequate water infrastructure.” The university has formed an internal, faculty-led Searsville Committee investigating the possibility of modifying or removing the dam. The process is underway to determine the school’s future course of action regarding Searsville. I recently spoke with Pamela Matson, the Dean of Stanford’s School of Earth Science and Searsville Committee member, about how that process is developing. She said, “We are all really excited about doing an analysis that evaluates all the options, including leaving the dam and just letting it fill in, all the way through to taking the dam out.” Though this perspective has some hope, I found it discouraging that the possibility of leaving this ecologically irresponsible structure intact could be an acceptable possibility for Matson. The preservation of the dam could mean the loss of the creek’s endangered steelhead and other listed species. It is hoped that Matson will develop a strong interest in the removal of the dam as one would expect from the Dean of the School of Earth Science.
If the Searsville Dam comes down, the potential for restoration work extends far past San Francisquito Creek and it’s endangered steelhead. A growing trend of dam removal is underway from the West Coast to the East. The dams of the Elwha River on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula are in the process of being taken down to bring back not only the decimated steelhead and salmon runs, but an entire ecosystem. The Condit Dam on the White Salmon River, also in Washington, has gone the same route with excavators currently tearing it down. The emerging science is clear that long-term environmental benefits will outweigh the short-term environmental disruptions caused by dam removal. There is still much to be learned through the removals. Each example provides prime learning opportunities for how the process can be made most effective in the future.
Searsville Dam removal offers a valuable opportunity for Stanford to transform from absentee land stewards to environmental leaders while upgrading their antiquated water system to a more reliable and sustainable one. The learning and leadership potential is great for future dam removals around the country. While the university deliberates on the long overdue review of this destructive structure, it is imperative that the public put more pressure on. This is the time to weigh in and tell Stanford that it is time for the Searsville Dam to come down and the San Francisquito Watershed to be restored, for the sake of this drainage and many others that could benefit from the lessons learned.
Join the Wild Steelhead Coalition in supporting the Beyond Searsville Dam coalition’s campaign to encourage Stanford’s decision makers to set an example for the rest of the country and establish themselves as model environmental stewards. If the dam does not come down after this review, it certainly won’t any time soon, and a unique watershed-scale restoration opportunity will be lost.
Beyond Searsville Dam Director Matt Stoecker summed it up in saying, “Stanford is at a pivotal crossroads. They can either choose to be responsible environmental and community leaders or they can go down in history as a hypocritical behemoth that failed to practice at home the sustainability message they are preaching to the rest of the world.”
Take action and tell Stanford University to remove Searsville Dam.
Learn more about the Searsville Dam.
Tell Stanford University to remove Searsville Dam >
For First Time, Alternatives To Gill Nets Being Tested (Columbia Basin Bulletin) >
Matt Stoecker says:
Loren and Wild Steelhead Coalition,
Thank you so much for covering this important dam removal opportunity and for your call to action!
From all of us at Beyond Searsville Dam
Lori Pottinger says:
Stanford: live up to your principals and take down Searsville Dam!
Thanks Lori! And thanks for all your great work at International Rivers!
Jessie Raeder says:
Dear Stanford,
Be bold. Be forward thinking, cutting edge. Be known for creating a better future. Defending dams is old thinking. Backward. Obsolete. Stodgy.
Choose a side,
Jessie Raeder
Beyond Searsville Dam says:
Well said Jessie!
Jesse Dysart says:
Stanford should be ashamed of this dam. If an earthquake causes it to collapse & takes many lives with it, Stanford should be sued into bankruptcy…just like Penn St. This dam only stands because Stanford does not want to tear down their obsolete creation. Shame on Stanford…SHAME!
Karyn Bryant says:
It’s time to let this creek flow as it was originally intended once again.
Matthew Rode says:
This dam is not in keeping with the green earth practices you profess to follow. How about using some of those billions of dollars for a worthwhile cause.
Please do not call me for any fund drives until you have corrected this grevious mistake. The class of ’71 will be watching.
ellen strempek says:
Remove the dam! Save our steelhead before it’s too late!
Save our steelhead! Remove the dam!
Bonnie Daley says:
Please remove the dam so that we can increase the numbers of steelhead that will be able to spawn. They are a national treasure that we must work to preserve and restore. As a middle school scienc teachers, I raise trout in the classroom and expose my students to these conservation concerns. I would like my students to have the opportunity to enjoy the steelhead and trout when they grow older. Thanks,
Bonnie Daley
Pam Anderson says:
Please remove the Searsville Dam and restore to
a healthy watershed for the fish.
Thanks for all the responses, folks! If you haven’t already, make sure to use the above link and send a message directly to Stanford and let them know you them to remove the dam: http://wildsteelheadcoalition.org/2012/07/tell-stanford-university-to-remove-searsville-dam/
Dear decision-makers-at-Stanford,
The oldest of my three kids (9) just got her first fly rod and I teach my kids about conservation, in addition to what they (may) learn in school. I’m not really a trout and steelhead fisher – I’m into warmwater species – so you could say I have no dog in this race, but removing Searsville Dam would be a wonderful working lesson of conservation in action for children (and adults, too) throughout the bay area.
I hope you will give strong consideration to having the dam removed as soon as possible.
Mr Hennessey, TEAR DOWN THIS DAM
C. Cruickshank says:
Stanford’s Jaspar Ridge Biological Reserve for bats, bullfrogs, and mesquito’s (Seaasville Lake) needs to go.
Restore the creek and all it’s treasures.
Did not see a petition to sign if I say one I definitely would please keep me informed of the Searsville Dam
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Mason City Schools » Departments » Communication & Connection » News » Andrews Thanked by Colleagues, Community
The Mason City Schools community thanked outgoing School Board member Randy Andrews during his last Board of Education meeting on December 12.
“The old cliche is ‘leave it better than you found it,’ and I don’t know if I can say that because it was in good shape when I got here. I will continue to pray and hope for the very best for this district; it’s my home. I made Sherman Terrace [a Mason neighborhood] my home for 58 years, and I’ll still be a big part of Comet Country," Andrews said.
Andrews was elected to the school board in November 2013, and is finishing his service as the Board’s Vice-President. The former Mason Middle School teacher graduated from William Mason High School in 1972, and spent a career mentoring Mason students. He taught eighth grade social studies for 25 years and was a middle school Athletic Director, high school assistant baseball coach, middle school basketball coach, and a member of the Mason High School Athletics Hall of Fame. Andrews retired from Mason City Schools in 2013.
“Randy, when you joined the Board you shot straight to the top of the pack in years of service to the district. That perspective was brought to bear beginning day one. You are a man of few words and when you speak it is coming from a place of integrity - and it is true and thoughtful. You brought such experience, and you have been open to change - and all of that has taken us to new heights. We look forward to ways you will continue to serve this good City of ours,” said Board President Matt Steele.
During his last meeting as a member of the school board, Andrews cast his vote to name Mason's Chief Innovation Officer, Jonathan Cooper, the next Superintendent of Mason City Schools after Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline retires on June 30, 2018.
"I'm sure glad that our paths crossed four years ago and [Cooper] became part of this district. I've made a lot of decisions and votes on this board over the past four years, but tonight was the best vote I've made - to put you in [as the next Superintendent]," said Andrews.
Andrews received a crystal bowl and heartfelt words of gratitude for his service.
“You have been an amazing leader with a servant heart giving back to our district. Someone who cares deeply - and who has deep roots in Mason - not only growing up here and graduating from here and being in the Hall of Fame, but also someone who I have counted on in your four years of leadership on the Board, and your legacy of a lifetime of leadership in our community and schools,” said Dr. Kist-Kline as she presented Andrews with his crystal bowl.
“Even with a new lens as a board member, you always had a seasoned view. You brought a lot of knowledge of this district - especially from being a teacher and serving here - and your words always meant a lot,” said Courtney Allen, Board Member.
“Working with Randy has been kind of a completion of a circle. The Andrews family has deep roots in Mason, and we know you have deep love for this community. You have brought valuable insight and ideas, and we as a district and board are better for it,” said Connie Yingling, Board member.
“I’ve often said this is the strongest board I’ve served on, and it is in many ways because of the unique insight you bring being a teacher. We had the privilege of serving with John Odell for a couple of years before he passed away from cancer, and that was my first taste of actually getting a teacher’s perspective on some of these conversations. You've had a really strong four years, and I just can't tell you how much I appreciate learning from that perspective and weaving it into the things we do,” said Kevin Wise, Board member.
Andrews did not seek reelection in November. Newly elected school board member Charles Galvin will join the Mason City Schools Board of Education in January.
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Stan Randell is a supporter of Boscombe & Southbourne Rotary. Stan is a longterm member of our club.
Stan Randell and Co. Ltd. is a medium sized building company based in the heart of Christchurch in Dorset.
The company offers a full range of building services to the people and organisations in the local area. From small maintenance work to million pound projects commitment to our Clients remains the same in trying to provide an excellent service and good quality workmanship at realistic prices.
In recent times the company has carried out a wide variety of contracts ranging from replacing doors, windows or kitchen units in private dwellings to the construction of an extension to the Eye Unit at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital.
Alongside the office and yard there is a small joinery shop where the three joiners produce specialised joinery required for the company’s numerous projects. Whether it is a new bar counter, display case or windows and doors each item is carefully inspected before it leaves the workshop.
A special feature of the company is its ability to carry out “fast track” contracts where a completion date has to be adhered to at all costs. This is most in evidence when carrying out contracts for the Leisure Industry. Over the past twenty years the company has carried out several hundred refurbishments to various pubs, restaurants and hotels, for most of the major owners. This work takes the company to many areas in the South of England and Wales, spreading from Cornwall through to Essex and into Berkshire and Staffordshire.
Health and Safety features very highly on all projects undertaken and regular audits are carried out by the company’s own consultants as well as those employed by our various Clients.
All in all, Stan Randell and Co. Ltd. is committed to carrying out every project with the same dedication to achieve high standards of workmanship, completed on programme in the safest possible manner with ultimate Client satisfaction.
Please click on the Stan Randell logo to go to their website.
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You are not logged in. [Log In] BowlingFans.com Home » Forums » Amateur Bowling » Collegiate & Youth Bowling » High schools that won't recognize their bowling teams
#9410 - 08/20/05 02:15 AM High schools that won't recognize their bowling teams
lindzee1113
A/S/L: 17/F/Indiana
Last summer I initiated a project to get a bowling team formed at my high school because we only had an intramural group that didn't compete with other schools. Here in Indiana bowling isn't at the varsity level for high school students, and so high schools aren't required to sanction a school's bowling team if one is formed. Eventually, we got a team formed, but my high school refuses to acknowledge its existance. It's a little ironic because last summer I went to the school athletic director to discuss forming a bowling team and he was all for it as long as we could support ourselves without money from the school (and we did). Even throughout the season he would stop me in the hall and ask me how it was going, etc...however, he seems to be the only one that cares the school has a team. He gave us permission to put up fliers around the school to advertise try-outs; every single one of them was taken down within a few days they were put up, and I also sent in an announcement for the school news but it was never broadcasted. The team took its own photos for the yearbook and the yearbook director himself told me that we would have a page for the team; I just got my yearbook and the team is not in there. The intramural club is, though, and so are all the other independent teams that my school doesn't sanction, like rugby and hockey.
Does this go on at any other high schools/colleges? Actually, the high school boy's team that won state in Indiana two years ago had a similar problem - their school wouldn't even display the trophy on campus.
I know a lot can't be done in a case like this (unless someone out there has an idea lol); I was just curious to see how other high schools treat their bowling teams.
Regardless if anyone at my school cares about going to the meets, etc., it just makes it difficult in a case like this to find people in a school of 3,000+ that are bowlers that might like to go out for the team. We basically relied on word-of-mouth to get the try-out dates known, and I fear that we'll have to do that again.
If anyone can offer and help, I'd truly appreciate it!!
Lindsay <><
Edited by Admin (03/31/08 08:14 PM)
Edit Reason: Please don't post email addresses.
"With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own understanding. Always let Him guide you, and He will clear the way for you to follow." -Proverbs 3:5-6
#9412 - 08/21/05 10:59 AM Re: High schools that won't recognize their bowling teams
Just call me Al
A/S/L: 63/M/ Long Island, NY - right ...
Lindzee1113,
Sorry to hear that your school is treating bowling this way. You need an adult either from the school or the PTA on your side. If your school has a PTA, ask to address them on this. Check with the athletic director again. You may want to bring up the fact that scholarships are now being awarded in bowling as well.
The squeeky wheel gets oiled.
Don't give up the fight.
Keep on bowling
#9413 - 08/24/05 11:53 PM Re: High schools that won't recognize their bowling teams
No open tenths
Junior Coach
A/S/L: 29/Male/kalamazoo,mi
I grew up in Bay City Michigan a very big bowling city (30,000 population 6 bowling centers). I didn't bowl in high school but I never remember hearing about the existence of a bowling team even though we were in contention for the state title many years. Unfortunatley very few young people give the sport the recognition it deserves and this attitude is carried on by many adults. I'm behind you to do whatever you can to be appreciated as the athletes you are.
Putting up flyers at your local centers may be more helpful than around the school. Also speak to any youth coaches in the area and tell them what you are looking to acomplish. Good luck!
Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't.... you're probably right.
Smash49
A/S/L: 47/M/ Duncan Oklahoma USA
See if your state has an organization that handles high school bowling. What you described is not uncommon here. The people that handle high school bowling in your state may provide you with all the documentation to start with. You might also contact Bowling Headquarters at bowl.com to get some help. They may be able to point you in the right direction with guides and information. Texas is a club sport state and many of the high schools here have football as a religion:). That is about the only thing they consider. Our program is run with the help of an afterschool program called STEPS or Skills TO Empower People Socially. This helps because the school district already recognizes their work and sees it as a value to the students. You might look for someone like this at your school to be your sponsor.
League Bowler
A/S/L: 18/M/St. Louis
At my school we're just seen as a club. The school really doesn't care about us in anyway. I also play ice hockey for my school and it's the exact same way. They won't let us in the homecoming parade anymore and our principle feels we are a disgrace to the school. As for the bowling team....I don't think the principal knows we exsist.
SlashMassacre
Bumper Bowler
A/S/L: 15/M/KS
Well i have a good story. Our school has been around 31 years, and we have never even had a bowling club. Us bowlers had no high school team to speak of. I got sick of it, so I started a bowling club. Now it is going to be a varsity team sport against all other Kansas teams. I think high schools who are against something you like are complete a$$holes. I get made fun of at school because instead of football or wrestling, im doing bowling. they shut up when i flash my 300 ring though. Anyway, do what you can to make it better, bring it up to the district, not just the principal. Hope i helped at all'
Part of the REVOLUTION!
A/S/L: 30 years old/Male/Pueblo, CO
When I was in high school, I lettered in bowling, but the teams from each high school were formed by the youth association. Each team competed against each other, and it was a traveling league, so we got to bowl in 3 of the 4 centers in my town. We won the championship the year I bowled with the team, but when we wanted to display the trophy, we were told it was ok by one vice principal, but the athletic director said we couldn't. So we just decided to just display it in the center, but you can't give up the dream. I love to bowl so much that I am starting a collegiate program at Colorado State University-Pueblo in Pueblo, Colorado, so if I can do it, we all can do it. We need to prove a fact that bowling is a sport.
Sometimes you just got to get up and just throw the ball.
A/S/L: 17/Male/Green Bay
Our school has a similar, but not too similar, situation. We have a bowling team, and we're actually really good. Bowling is a club sport here in Wisconsin, and we're not supported by our schools (at least we're not). The lanes that we bowl at for home school meets pitches in more than the school does, for instance giving us a coach bus to travel to a meet. Anyway, I'm really disappointed that the school doesn't want affiliation with us. In 2004, we had 2 teams in the state tournament and they took 1st and 2nd place. We also had the individual state champ in 2004. This year, we made it back on the TV finals for state and finished 3rd place. There's only one other team in the state that's made the finals as much as we have over the last couple years, but yet, the school wants nothing to do with us, and they refuse to display the 3 conference championships we've won, or any of our 3 state tournament plaques. I don't need to worry about it though, I just wrapped up my senior bowling year.
Colonel Sandbagger
A/S/L: Male/Rochester, New York
Lindzee,
Our school has a similar situation, although bowling IS regognized as a sport here in my section of Upstate New York. As much as we are regognized as a Varsity team, life is not that fun for us. The athletic director, instead of hiring some of the Gold level coaches in our area who are more than willing to coach us, highered an assistant football coach/lunch moniter to be a sort of dignified babysitter. He knows about as much about bowling as the chair I'm sitting on. Firstly, he only looks at total pins in tryouts, not even caring (probably because he doesn't know about...)form or spare picking. I was cut as a 7th grader, although better than many of the kids that tried out, simply because I was, to my disadvantage, a seventh grader. He seems to be out to get the older, but lesser bowlers, some sort of bragging right their on a varsity sport. We are hoping to get enough support to throw him out this year.
Don't give up though, with enough support, you can make anything happen
My current aresenal:
(Track)Threat
(Hammer)Vicous Particle
An ugly purple spare ball
If you blame the lane conditions for your bad games you better thank them for your good ones!
Coach439
A/S/L: 50+/F/Baton Rouge, LA
I to want to encourage you to "not give up the fight." When my daughter was in High School, some schools had teams as a club but not her high school they were very academic (the football team never won a game). So when she decided to start a team she received alot of opposition, but she didn't give up. In her sophomore year she managed to get them to allow the team as a club as long as they had an adult advisor that had to clear the school board as a substute teach and was wiling go to all of the matches each week about 15 weeks, but she found someone and they had a team for 3 years. She was top bowler for the all 3 years and went on to receive a scholarship to bowl for the University of Nebraska - Linclon and has 3 national titles out of the 4 years she bowled.
So don't give up the fight to get the school to let you have a team or to reconize the members for High School, Female bowler have many oportunities to get there advanced education to be paid, also if you are a female with at least a 180+ average and want to bowl for college, first look at www.SUbowling.com and go to "join the team page" and fill out the info. Then, if you are not interested their you can go to NCAA.org to get a list of other schools.
There are some club teams that offer some scholarship money but they are very few and usually you have to try out for them before you get it.
Good luck and good bowling!!!
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Special Registration Requirements Clash with EEOC Compliance Manual on National Origin Discrimination
Comparing the Compliance Manual of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) with the Special Registration Requirements makes me wonder whether our national security concerns have crossed the line to become national origin discrimination.
As to Special Registration: December 16 is the date by which male nonimmigrants from five countries who are age 16 or over, and who entered the U.S. by September 9, 2002 and who will remain at least until December 16, 2002, must register. The designated countries are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan.
The second deadline is January 10, 2003. By then male nonimmigrants from thirteen additional countries who are age 16 or over, and who entered the U.S. by September 30, 2002 and will remain at least until January 10 2003, must register. The thirteen countries are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Registration is not required for A and G nonimmigrants, lawful permanent residents, asylees, and those who applied for asylum (by November 6, 2002 for the first deadline, by November 22, 2002 for the second). Failure to comply without a reasonable excuse is a failure to maintain nonimmigrant status, and may result in deportation and subsequent inadmissibility.
Note: A December 16, 2002 notice provides that nationals of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Armenia who entered by September 30, 2002 must register between January 13-February 21, 2003.
To move from the Special Registration Requirements to the EEOC Compliance Manual, by immigration solicitors london 17 Hanover Square, Mayfair, London W1S 1HT, is to move from foreboding to affirmation. Take a look at the stirring words in the “Overview”: “This section of the compliance Manual focuses on the prohibition against national origin discrimination. In enacting this prohibition, Congress recognized that whether an individual’s ancestry is Mexican, Ukrainian, Filipino, Arab, American Indian, or any other nationality, he or she is entitled to the same employment opportunities as anyone else. Likewise, Title VII’s protections extend to all workers in the United States, whether born in the United States or abroad and regardless of citizenship status.”
I know there is a difference between immigration and employment, but wouldn’ t it be a good thing if the open-minded and ecumenical spirit of the EEOC Compliance Manual penetrated our government’s thinking about immigration? We should not, after all, let our apprehensions about security prompt us to obliterate the very qualities that distinguish us from the governments designated for Special Registration.
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