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Our Lay Leaders
We Are Episcopalians
Constitutions and Canons of TEC in South Carolina 2016
Constitutions and Canons of the Episcopal Church - 2015
Episcopal Dictionary
Our Services & Activities
Calvary Church Calendars
What's Happening at Calvary
Prayer & Community Resources
106 Line Street
REVEREND MATTHEW W. MCCORMICK PRIEST-IN-CHARGE
Reverend McCormick grew up a cradle Episcopalian in the sunny coastal city of Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated in 2001 from the College of Charleston and met his lovely wife, Lisa, during his early years working in the marketing and hospitality industry in our great city.
Matt was ordained to the priesthood in 2008. He is a graduate of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania; he holds a Masters of Theology degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is currently working on doctoral studies. He has returned to Charleston with his family after serving as rector of Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul. Prior to that, he served as an associate rector at St. Phillip's Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston.
Reverend "Matt" is gifted as a committed follower of Christ, a preacher and teacher, a dynamic worship leader, a man sensitive to and committed to multi-cultural ministry and a warm, vibrant welcoming pastor who is well prepared and good at plugging people into ministries.
He enjoys southern cooking, Charleston arts and music, great stories, and spending time with Lisa and their precious son, Colson.
Calvary Episcopal Church
104-106 Line Street
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Celebrating 170 years of God's Faithfulness
Calvary Episcopal Church - 106 Line Street - Charleston, SC 29403
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Wilson Museum,
Contact this museum
Save this museum
Museum Overview
info@willsonmuseum.org
http://www.wilsonmuseum.org/
Museum Type
Monday - Friday : 10 am–5 pm~Saturday & Sunday : 2 pm – 5 pm~
About Museum [-]
Museum Description :Welcome to the Wilson Museum Campus : Building on the legacy of its founding family,the Wilson Museum uses its diverse collections and learning experiences to stimulate exploration of the natural history and cultures of the Penobscot Bay region and the world.Be prepared for a tour through time and cultures as you enter the Wilson Museum Campus, a series of buildings begun in 1921 by geologist Dr. John Howard Wilson to house collections gathered around the world and close to home. Here you will see rocks and fossils from the earliest geologic times and will foll .. View More >>
Museum Description :Welcome to the Wilson Museum Campus : Building on the legacy of its founding family,the Wilson Museum uses its diverse collections and learning experiences to stimulate exploration of the natural history and cultures of the Penobscot Bay region and the world.Be prepared for a tour through time and cultures as you enter the Wilson Museum Campus, a series of buildings begun in 1921 by geologist Dr. John Howard Wilson to house collections gathered around the world and close to home. Here you will see rocks and fossils from the earliest geologic times and will follow humankind's advances in tool-making from pre-history through Castine's rich local history. You can wend your way across continents and among indigenous cultures through displays from Africa, the Americas and Bali, to name just a few.In the John Perkins House, step back in time to colonial Castine to meet the Perkins family and learn about the generations who lived here. A tour of this home is guided by a knowledgeable docent and on special days visitors may have the opportunity to watch cooking done over the open hearth in the kitchen.A step back in time would not be complete without a visit to the campus hub where craftsmen demonstrate the tools and techniques of their trades, including a woodturner and a blacksmith. Once you've been to The Village Blacksmith and seen what fire can create, take a peek into the Pump House Display to learn about Castine's early firefighting history. Push the button and watch in wonder as the gears and levers make the alarm bell ring!
Museum Admission :Free
Museum Program :Maja Trivia : Tournament Judges for Maja Trivia 2014It's tournament time! The third year of Maja Trivia, a game celebrating the rich history of the region once known as Majabigwaduce, now the towns of Brooksville, Castine, and Penobscot, is drawing to an exciting conclusion. Throughout the school year, 5th - 8th grade students from Penobscot Community School, Brooksville Elementary School, and Castine's Adams School have been playing Maja Trivia practice rounds. Beginning May 19th, the students will put their knowledge to the test.Each school will compete in a semi-final competition, consisting of two rounds, sponsored by the town's respective historical society. Four finalists and two alternates from each school will move on to compete at the Wilson Museum on Tuesday, June 9th to determine the Maja Trivia champion! Join us for all four competitions, support the students, and learn about the intriguing and often colorful histories of the three towns. Here is the complete schedule:May 19, 12p.m.- 2 p.m. Penobscot Semi-Final Rounds,Penobscot Community School, PenobscotMay 20, 12p.m.- 2 p.m. Castine Semi-Final Rounds,Castine Historical Society's Mitchell Room, CastineMay 21,9:30a.m.- 11:30 a.m. Brooksville Semi-Final Rounds,Brooksville Elementary School, BrooksvilleJune 9,10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Tournament of Champions, Wilson Museum, 112 Perkins Street, Castine.Maja Trivia was developed by the Wilson Museum in collaboration with the Castine, Brooksville, and Penobscot Historical Societies.The Barbour Family of Brewer and their Boatyard : Steamer Cimbria modelThe Steamboat Cimbria was a ferry which ran from Bangor to Bar Harbor with frequent stops in Castine in the late 1800s/early 1900s and was built at the Barbour Boatyard in Brewer. On Tuesday, June 23, at 2 p.m., Henry Wiswell and Judith Frost Gillis will give a presentation on the history of Barbour's Boatyard and the family who created it. The illustrated presentation will take place at the Wilson Museum's Hutchins Education Center. The model of the Steamboat Cimbria above to the right was constructed by John Gardner.Henry Wiswell, great-grandson of Captain Samuel Barbour (founder of the Boatyard), has worked hard to preserve and share his family's history. Past President of the Orrington Historical Society, Mr. Wiswell is currently Vice-President of the organization as well as a local historian and owner of the Wiswell Farm and Greeenhouses, a working family farm in Orrington. Mr. Wiswell and his daughter are the sixth and seventh generations to reside at Wiswell Farm. Judith Frost Gillis is the President of the Orrington Historical Society and works with Mr. Wiswell on Wiswell and Orrington history.Cooking with Grace : Grace TarrLooking for some new inspiration in the kitchen? Grace Tarr will offer a series of four hands-on cooking classes. Classes will be held on four Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on July 14, 28, August 4, and 18. The first three classes will be held at the Wilson Museum's Hutchins Education Center, while the final class will be held at the historic John Perkins House. Reservations for individual classes are $15 per person for adults and $8 per person for children 15 and under; or the entire series may be reserved for $55/adult and $28/child. Class size is limited, so please preregister.July 14 class will address picky eaters with creative and fun maki and spring rolls. A traditional Asian dish, maki rolls are rice wrapped in a seaweed paper and filled with smoked fish and veggies. Spring rolls are a great summery treat - rice wrappers filled with lettuce, peanuts, chicken, basil, Thai sauce, and rice noodles.July 28 class will focus on Indian cuisine and will include three main dishes: curry, saag paneer, and chicken jalfrenzi. America's interest in Asian cuisine has led to the Americanization of some Asian foods such as Chinese food and sushi, but Indian food has remained more consistent in its authenticity.August 4 class will focus on preparing and cooking fish. This will be more of a sampler and the specific types of fish used will be dependent on availability and freshness, however, there will be a variety of kinds. What better thing to have while on the ocean than the bounty of it?August 25 class will be in the Perkins House. This class will focus on historical cooking. Foods will include bread in the bake oven, donuts over the open fire, and plank fish.Grace Tarr has participated in the Wilson Museum's Fireside Cooking programs since she was a toddler. A home-school student and John Perkins House guide, Grace has taken cooking classes from local celebrity chef Harry Kaiserian. This is Grace's second year to offer cooking classes in the new Hutchins Education Center.Fireside Cooking : Ellenore Tarr fireside cookingA perennial favorite, the kitchen of the John Perkins House will be the venue for learning about such savory treats as donuts, bread, stew or mackerel cooked on a board when fireside cooking is demonstrated as part of the regular guided tour on July 22nd from 2-5 p.m. Guided tours of the John Perkins House begin on the hour and are $5 per person; tour visitors may enjoy some tasty morsels from the day's fare.NEW: A candlelight Colonial dinner for six will be offered on June 29 as a special fundraising event. Places will be set in the Perkins House dining room and the meal will be cooked on the hearth. Check back for more details or to register call 326-9247.Basket-Making Workshop : You could make this tote basket!Spend an afternoon with Pamela Rackliffe Capurso and learn the art of basket-making. Each participant will go home with a beautiful and functional basket made by his or her own hands. The basket-making class will be held at Wilson Museum's Hutchins Education Center on Thursday, July 30 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The $60 workshop fee includes the materials needed to make a 7" x 11" x 10" tote basket, and each participant will be provided with a printed instruction sheet that can be used to create more baskets at home. Preregistration is required and registrants will be given a list of equipment to bring with them to the workshop.Pam CapursoFor 34 years, Pamela Rackliffe Capurso was a florist and horticulturist before she sold her business in 2006 and moved, with her husband, to Goodnight Farm in Brooksville, where they grow a variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers. She began weaving simple baskets to sell at local farmer's markets. As she has grown more proficient at basketry, Pamela has continued to develop the form and function of her baskets. She sells her baskets and other handmade items, both online and at the local farmer's market. You can visit her website at www.basketsofmaine.com. Sculpture Dedication and Town Band Concert : sculpture Home and AwayIn 2014 Castine was one of seven sites chosen to receive a sculpture from the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium. The sculpture, titled "Home and Away," was created by artist Robert Leverich and is now displayed on the Wilson Museum grounds. On July 31 at 6 p.m., the Museum will host a dedication ceremony to celebrate this exciting addition to town and campus. The event will include a performance by the Town Band, a variety of speakers, and a display of sculptures made by local students. The Band will be performing a song, composed by Eddie Madden, which was inspired by the sculpture.The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium (SISS) was started by Jesse Salisbury, a sculptor from Steuben. Since 2007, SISS has brought artists to Maine from all over the world to create sculptures with stone from local quarries. The works of art are on display at public sites throughout eastern Maine and a self-guided tour has been created for all to enjoy.Crafting with Porcupine Quills and Birch Bark : Quill workCrafting with porcupine quills and birch bark is one of the oldest art forms in North America. On August 6 from 2 to 5 p.m. Ralph "Porcupine" Bishop will give an interactive presentation and demonstration of quillwork. Porcupine has been crafting with porcupine quills and birch bark for forty years. He dyes the quills to create a variety of colors and uses them to create intricate designs on birch bark forms. His works of art can be found in three countries and all but three states within the United States. Porcupine describes his craft as "putting color and happiness into hearts." Try this beautiful art form for yourself.Learn to Play Native American Flute : White Owl DuoMusic is a powerful language that has been used as a form of communication beginning with the earliest societies. The Native American flute is a simple, yet compelling instrument that often invokes strong reactions in those who hear its haunting melodies. Join the White Owl Duo at the Wilson Museum's Hutchins Education Center on Tuesday, August 11th from 1 to 4 p.m. and learn to play this intriguing instrument. Six-hole flutes are provided and you do not need any musical background. Using musical shorthand, you will be able to play ten to twelve songs by the end of the class. There is no fee for this course, but preregistration is required. Laura Lee Perkins is the author of several books, has performed on multiple professional recordings, and has received numerous grants and awards. She is a former classical flute professor that developed a passion for Native American flutes. Laura and her flute-maker husband, Kenneth Green, collaborate as the White Owl Duo. They travel the country providing instruction on playing the Native American flute, as well as performing family-friendly educational concerts. The duo has Maliseet (Laura) and Micmac (Kenneth) ancestry, and they use music as a way to educate others about tribal cultures. << View Less
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© DynamicFrameworks- Elite ThemeForest Author.
Grazia Varisco
Vincenzo Agnetti
Alberto Biasi
Alghiero Boetti
Agostino Bonalumi
Nicola De Maria
Maurizio Donzelli
Piero Dorazio
Herman Goepfert
Marcello Morandini
Gianfranco Pardi
Ivan Picelj
Paolo Scheggi
Jesus Rafael Soto
Günther Uecker
Nada Vigo
herman de vries
Ludwig Wilding
(1899 in Kiev, Ukraine – 1988 in New York City, USA)
Leah Berliawsky, known as Louise Nevelson (Pereyaslav-Kiev, 1899 – New York, 1988), was born near Kiev to a Jewish family and was forced to emigrate in 1905 to the United States because of anti-Semitic laws enacted in her country a few years earlier. She grew up in Rockland, Maine, then she moved to New York. Later on, she returned to Europe to study with Hans Hoffman. On her return to the United States, she worked first as an assistant to Diego Rivera and later as an art instructor in the Works Progress Administration. In 1941, her first solo exhibition was held, and in 1946, she was first invited to participate in the annual exhibition at the Whitney Museum, in which she took part several times.Her numerous exhibitions include her participation at the Venice Biennale in 1962, when she represented the United States. She also exhibited at the Jewish Museum, New York (1965, 2007), the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1967, 1970, 1980, 1987, 1998), the Civic Gallery of Modern Art, Turin (1969), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1973), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1973), National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome (1976), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1986), Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (1994), Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris (1997), Rome Foundation Museum, Rome (2013) and Mediterranean Foundation in Catania (2013–2014). She also participated in collective exhibition suc as, Sixteen Americans, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1959–60), The Art of Assemblage, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1961), the Carnegie International (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970), and Documenta in Kassel (1964, 1968). Many of her works also form part of both private and institutional collections, as well as several public art installations in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia. Nevelson turned to collages from the mid-50s and these works clearly show the influence of Cubism, which she encountered during research trips in Europe. Realised on wooden or paper boards and in different dimensions, the collages reveal the artist’s attention to perspective, chromaticism, spontaneity of execution and compositional balance. To this first kind of artistic production, Nevelson added assemblages: in both cases, the works are realised by collecting scrape wood and metals bits found in the streets of New York. In her sculptures, it is possible to recognise everyday objects – from table and chair legs, to balustrade and more – that the artist re-uses with a sensibility that wavers between New Dada and Abstractionism, but that also looks back at pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican sculpture from which she became fascinated during a trip to Mexico in 1950. However, despite these many references, Nevelson’s art is extraordinarily original, making it impossible to be pigeonholed.
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A Moment in History
Fun Page
Browse by DVD Title An alphabetically ordered list of movies for you to pick from.
Browse by DVD Category Search the database by one of twelve genres.
Browse by DVD Release Date Want to know what came out May 2007? This is for you.
My Movie List Make a list of DVDs that you want to see so you don't forget.
- Action/Adventure
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Documentary Movies:
Forget Baghdad
Forgive - Don't Forget
Forgiving Dr. Mengele
For the Love of Spock
Four Seasons Lodge
The Fourth World War
Fracknation
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners
Freedom's Fury
Free the Mind
Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi
Frontrunners
The Fruit Hunters
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National Awards Winner
Thread: National Awards Winner
shikha01
Bollywood has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to quality cinema. So it seems from the announcement of the 58th National Film Awards.
The National Award for the Best Feature Film goes to Malayalam film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ (Abu, son of Adam), a simple yet evocative narrative of a man’s pursuit of religion. The film’s lead actor Salim Kumar shared the Best Actor honour with Tamil star dhanush who was awarded for his performance in ‘Aadukalam’- a Tamil film that looks at the world of cock-fighting.
The only consolation for Bollywood came in the form of the Best Popular Film award to the Salman Khan starrer Dabangg. Vishal Bhardwaj shared the Best Music Direction award for Ishqiya with Issak Thomas Kottakapally for ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’.
List of winners of 58th National Awards winners:
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Category / henson-jim
March 25, 2008 March 25, 2008 by Edward Champion
The Early Films of Jim Henson
Film, henson-jim, Media, Television
films, jim henson, Media, Television
Before the days of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Jim Henson was an independent filmmaker in New York, making experimental films between commercial gigs. It was the mid-sixties. According to John Bell’s Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History, Henson was sharing a workshop space for a few months in the basement of a New York City library with a German sculptor and choreographer named Peter Schumann. Schumann specialized in avant-garde performances, entertaining crowds with masks, puppets, and postmodern dance, often employing these for political demonstrations.
In watching 1965’s “Time Piece,” seen above and recently unearthed by Metafilter, it’s difficult to consider it without Schumann in mind. The film played in New York theaters on a double bill with Claude Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman and concerns itself with a man (played by Henson) being examined in a hospital. As the clock ticks away, a grand surrealistic array of experiential memories overtakes his existence. Gorillas bounce on pogo sticks. There is the quiet Kermit-like plea of “Help!” Chickens emerge in strip clubs. And all this is intercut with optically printed pixellated squares.
The film is set to a intermittent drum rhythm that echoes the heartbeat of time. What’s particularly intriguing is that, according to David P. Campbell’s The Complete Inklings, “Time Piece” so captured Campbell’s imagination that the film was shown at an a seminar at the Minnesota Statewide Testing Program annual conference, with Henson’s film projected on one screen and the test results of a random individual projected on another. The idea was to show Henson’s film, with Campbell announcing to the students, “We should always remember that there is a person behind each of these test scores; to make that point dramatically, here is one person’s test scores and here is a product of his considerable imagination.”
This permissive cultural climate permitted Henson to make “The Cube” in 1969, a teleplay that independent filmmaker Vincenzo Natali appears to have handily pilfered from.
A protagonist, known only as “The Man in the Cube,” is trapped inside a cube of white rectangular panels, with strange individuals who enter and exit through other doors. This premise gave Henson the opportunity to explore a wide variety of topics: racism, sexism, the realm between reality and fantasy. There is even reference to the fourth wall. At one point, a professor addresses the man, pointing out that he is in a television play.
Believe it or not, “The Cube” was commissioned for a television series called Experiment in Television, a now forgotten program that aired on NBC between 1968 and 1971. This series came about because NBC needed filler material to provide late Sunday afternoon programming when the football season had ended. And they decided, quite amazingly, to provide a venue without commercials for documentaries and experimental films.
In the end, it was public television that secured Henson’s rise to fame. But today, unless you’re as squeaky-clean as Ken Burns, your prospects for national exposure are slim. Now that the first season of Sesame Street has been issued on DVD, it’s been issued with a parental advisory reading, “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” The idea of children running around an inner city, looking to learning as a way out, is apparently too threatening a concept.
Given this drastic shift in priorities — the unusual idea of commissioning an experimental film for a testing conference, the now antediluvian notion of creating a space on national television where filmmakers can pursue alternative ideas, and the censure on anything slightly offensive to “suit the needs” of children — one is forced to contemplate the current media atmosphere. Certainly, there is YouTube and the Internet. But this online landscape increasingly values views — and thereby advertising revenue — over notions that are not popular or lucrative, and one wonders just how tomorrow’s Hensons will thrive. Of course, any artist who feels compelled to create will not let any obstacle stop him. But by hindering the spectrum of expression with our priorities (what sells, what’s safe, et al.), I’m wondering if we’re closing the floodgates to those who might have new and innovative ways to get a mass audience excited about the world around us.
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Armed robbery at EconoFood Supermarket Sint Maarten
PHILIPSBURG - On Wednesday 3 June an armed robbery took place at at Econofood Supermarket, resulting in the tragic death of a male Canadian tourist indentified with initials S.V.
During the robbery the victim and his daughter were attacked by an unknown person who during a brief struggle was shot.
On Friday morning 5 July the police chief and officers investigating of the attempted armed robbery learnt that one of the suspects in this case has died at the Sint Maarten Medical Center as a result of the wound he sustained during the shooting. The body of the victim in the meanwhile has been confiscated for further investigation.
Police Chief Carl John and his management-team will give cooperation legally required for the investigation that will be conducted by the Federal Detectives (Landsrecherche) in connection with the shooting of the two armed robbers by an off-duty police officer at Econofood Supermarket on Welgelegen road which took place on Thursday 4 July at approximately 08.00 p.m. The chief of police will definitely fully stand firm behind the heroic actions taken by the officer to protect those that were in supermarket at time of the robbery. The officer’s action clearly shows that the job of a police officer is not as simple as it may seem and also shows how officers go beyond the call of duty by putting their life on the line to protect the community and the visitors to the island. The officer in question was in the establishment while the robbery was taking place and decided not to back down but instead confronted both armed suspects using the service fire-arm. During this confrontation the officer managed to apprehend both suspects.
KPSM is also sending out e very stern warning to those youngsters who are involved in any criminal activity to refrain from doing so, because KPSM will do everything within boundaries the laws to arrest you and bring you to justice. KPSM will never stop. KPSM will without any doubt continue to serve and protect the community of Sint Maarten and the visitors to the island to the best of our ability. KPSM also warns that threatening the employees of the organization as a whole or an employee as an individual is unacceptable. This criminal behavior will not be tolerated and legal actions will immediately be taken against them.
In the meanwhile KPSM is making sure that the officer in question receives all the necessary support and psychological treatment.
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A couple of days after Lee Williams called I was packed and ready to drive back to Washington in a gift. Since my new job required me to get to Capitol Hill every day, Mother and Daddy gave me their old car, a three-year-old white convertible Buick LeSabre with a white and red leather interior. Daddy got a new car every three years or so and turned the old one in to be sold on the used-car lot. This time I replaced the used-car lot and I was ecstatic. It was a beautiful car. Though it got only seven or eight miles to the gallon, gas was cheap, dropping under thirty cents per gallon when there was a gas war on..moncler jackets outlet.
On my first Monday back in Washington, as instructed, I presented myself in Senator Fulbrights office, the first office on the left in what was then called the New Senate Office Building, now the Dirksen Building. Like the Old Senate Office Building across the street, it is a grand marble edifice, but much brighter. I had a good talk with Lee, then was taken upstairs to the fourth floor, where the Foreign Relations Committee had its offices and hearing room. The committee also had a much grander space in the Capitol building, where the chief of staff, Carl Marcy, and a few of the senior staff worked. There was also a beautiful conference room where the committee could meet privately..cartier love bracelet replica.
When I arrived at the committee office, I met Buddy Kendrick, the documents clerk, who would be my supervisor, fellow storyteller, and provider of homespun advice over the next two years; Buddys full-time assistant, Bertie Bowman, a kind, bighearted African-American who moonlighted as a cabdriver and also drove Senator Fulbright on occasion; and my two student counterparts, Phil Dozier from Arkansas and Charlie Parks, a law student from Anniston, Alabama..replica christian louboutin.
I was told I would be taking memos and other materials back and forth between the Capitol and Senator Fulbrights office, including confidential material for which I would have to receive proper government clearance. Beyond that, I would do whatever was required, from reading newspapers and clipping important articles for the staff and interested senators to answering requests for speeches and other materials, to adding names to the committees mailing list. Keep in mind that this was before computers and e-mail, even before modern copying machines, though while I was there we did graduate from copies made on carbon paper while typing or writing to rudimentary Xerox copies. Most of the newspaper articles I clipped were never copied; they were simply put into a big folder every day with a routing sheet that had the names of the committee staff from the chairman on down. Each person would receive and review them, check off his or her name on the sheet, and pass them along. The main mailing lists were kept in the basement. Each name and address was typed onto a small metal plate, then the plates were stored in alphabetical order in file cabinets. When we sent a mailing out, the plates were put into a machine that inked them and stamped the imprints on envelopes as they passed through..cartier love bracelet replica.
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The document room was our regular workplace. In the first year I worked my half day in the afternoon from one to five. Because the committee hearings and other business often ran beyond that, I often stayed after five oclock and never begrudged it. I liked the people I worked with, and I liked what Senator Fulbright was doing with the committee..replica christian louboutin.
It was easy to fit the job into my daily schedule, partly because in junior year only five courses were required instead of six, partly because some classes started as early as 7 a.m. Three of my requirementsU.S. History and Diplomacy, Modern Foreign Governments, and Theory and Practice of Communismcomplemented my new work. Scheduling was also easier because I didnt run again for president of the class..http://www.panchro.co.uk.
Every day, I looked forward to the end of classes and the drive to Capitol Hill. It was easier to find parking then. And it was a fascinating time to be there. The vast majority that had carried Lyndon Johnson to his landslide victory in 1964 was beginning to unravel. In a few months the Democrats would see their majorities in the House and Senate diminish in the 1966 midterm elections, as the country moved to the right in reaction to riots, social unrest, and the rise of inflation, and President Johnson escalated both domestic spending and our involvement in Vietnam. He claimed our country could afford both guns and butter, but the people were beginning to doubt it. In his first two and a half years as President, Johnson had enjoyed the most stunning legislative successes since FDR: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sweeping anti-poverty legislation, and Medicare and Medicaid, which at last guaranteed medical care for the poor and elderly..Giuseppe Zanotti Replica.
Now, more and more, the attention of the President, the Congress, and the country was turning to Vietnam. As the death toll mounted with no victory in sight, rising opposition to the war took many forms, from protests on campuses to sermons from pulpits, from arguments in coffee shops to speeches on the floor of Congress. When I went to work for the Foreign Relations Committee, I didnt know enough about Vietnam to have a strong opinion, but I was so supportive of President Johnson that I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Still, it was clear that events were conspiring to undermine the magic moment of progress ushered in by his landslide election..moncler jackets outlet.
The country was dividing over more than Vietnam. The Watts riots in Los Angeles in 1965 and the rise of militant black activists pushed their sympathizers to the left and their opponents to the right. The Voting Rights Act, of which LBJ was particularly and justifiably proud, had a similar effect, especially as it began to be enforced. Johnson was an uncommonly shrewd politician. He said when he signed the voting rights legislation that he had just killed the Democratic Party in the South for a generation. In fact, the so-called Solid South of the Democrats had been far from solid for a long time. The conservative Democrats had been falling away since 1948, when they recoiled at Hubert Humphreys barn-burning civil rights speech at the Democratic convention and Strom Thurmond bolted the party to run for President as a Dixiecrat. In 1960, Johnson helped Kennedy hold enough southern states to win, but Kennedys commitment to enforcing court-ordered integration of southern public schools and universities drove more conservative whites into the Republican fold. In 1964, while losing in a landslide, Goldwater carried five southern states..http://www.vereo.eu/.
However, in 1966 a lot of the white segregationists were still southern Democrats, people like Orval Faubus and Jim Johnson and Governor George Wallace of Alabama. And the Senate was full of them, grand characters like Richard Russell of Georgia and John Stennis of Mississippi and some others who had no grandeur at all, just power. But President Johnson was right about the impact of the Voting Rights Act and the other civil rights efforts. By 1968, Richard Nixon and George Wallace, running for President as an independent, would both outpoll Humphrey in the South, and since then, the only Democrats to win the White House were two southerners, Jimmy Carter and I. We won enough southern states to get in, with huge black support and a few more white voters than a non-southerner could have gotten. The Reagan years solidified the hold of the Republican Party on white conservative southerners, and the Republicans made them feel welcome..moncler jackets outlet.
President Reagan even went so far as to make a campaign speech defending states rights and, by implication, resistance to federal meddling in civil rights, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney, two whites and one black, were martyred to the cause in 1964. I always liked President Reagan personally and wished he hadnt done that. In the 2002 midterm elections, even with Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and other minorities holding prominent positions in the Bush administration, Republicans were still winning elections on race, with white backlashes in Georgia and South Carolina over Democratic governors removing the Confederate flag from the Georgia State flag and from the South Carolina Capitol building. Just two years earlier, George W. Bush had campaigned at the notoriously right-wing Bob Jones University in South Carolina, where he declined to take a stand on the flag issue, saying it was a matter for the state to decide. When a Texas school insisted on hoisting the Confederate flag every morning, Governor Bush said it was not a state but a local issue. And they called me slick! President Johnson foresaw all this in 1965, but he did the right thing anyway, and Im grateful he did..Replica Christian Louboutin.
In the summer of 1966, and even more after the elections that fall, all the foreign and domestic conflicts were apparent in the deliberations of the U.S. Senate. When I went to work there, the Senate was full of big personalities and high drama. I tried to absorb it all. The president pro tempore, Carl Hayden of Arizona, had been in Congress since his state entered the Union in 1912 and in the Senate for forty years. He was bald, gaunt, almost skeletal. Senator Fulbrights brilliant speechwriter Seth Tillman once cracked that Carl Hayden was the only ninety-year-old man in the world who looks twice his age. The Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield of Montana, had enlisted to fight in World War I at fifteen, then had become a college professor with a specialty in Asian affairs. He held the post of majority leader for sixteen years, until 1977, when President Carter appointed him ambassador to Japan. Mansfield was a fitness fanatic who walked five miles a day well into his nineties. He was also a genuine liberal and, behind his taciturn faade, something of a wit. He had been born in 1903, two years before Senator Fulbright, and lived to be ninety-eight. Shortly after I became President, Mansfield had lunch with Fulbright. When he asked Fulbright his age and Fulbright said he was eighty-seven, Mansfield replied, Oh, to be eighty-seven again..hermes bracelet replica.
The Republican leader, Everett Dirksen of Illinois, had been essential to passing some of the Presidents legislation, providing enough liberal Republican votes to overcome the opposition of segregationist southern Democrats. Dirksen had an amazing face, with a large mouth and lots of wrinkles, and an even more amazing voice. Deep and full, it boomed out one pithy phrase after another. Once he hit Democratic spending habits with this ditty: A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon youre talking about real money. When Dirksen talked it was like hearing the voice of God or a pompous snake-oil salesman, depending on your perspective.
The Senate looked a lot different then from how it looks today. In January 1967, after the Democrats had lost four seats in the midterm elections, they still had a margin of sixty-four to thirty-sixa far more lopsided group than what we usually find today. But the differences then were deep, too, and the lines were not only drawn on party affiliation. A few things have not changed: Robert Byrd of West Virginia still serves in the Senate. In 1966, he was already the authoritative voice on the rules and history of the body.
Eight states of the Old South still had two Democratic senators each, down from ten before the 1966 elections, but most of them were conservative segregationists. Today, only Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana are represented by two Democrats. Oklahoma had two Democrats, California two Republicans. Today its the reverse. In the inter-mountain West, now solidly Republican, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming each had one progressive Democratic senator. Indiana, a conservative state, had two liberal Democratic senators, one of whom, Birch Bayh, is the father of current Senator Evan Bayh, a gifted leader who might be President someday, but whos not as liberal as his dad was. Minnesota was represented by the brilliant but diffident intellectual Gene McCarthy and future vice president Walter Mondale, who succeeded Hubert Humphrey when he became President Johnsons vice president. Johnson picked Humphrey over Connecticut senator Tom Dodd, one of the chief prosecutors of Nazis at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal. Dodds son, Chris, now represents Connecticut in the Senate. Al Gores father was in his last term and was a hero to young southerners like me because he and his Tennessee colleague, Estes Kefauver, were the only two southern senators who refused to sign the so-called Southern Manifesto in 1956, which called for resistance to court-ordered school integration. The fiery populist Ralph Yarborough represented Texas, though the rightward future of the state was emerging with the election in 1961 of a Republican senator, John Tower, and a young Republican congressman from Houston, George Herbert Walker Bush. One of the most interesting senators was Oregons Wayne Morse, who started out as a Republican, then became an independent, and was by 1966 a Democrat. Morse, who was long-winded but smart and tough, and Democrat Ernest Gruening of Alaska were the only two senators to oppose the Tonkin Gulf resolution in 1964, which LBJ claimed gave him authority to wage the war in Vietnam. The only woman in the Senate was a Republican who smoked a pipe, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine. By 2004, there were fourteen women senators, nine Democrats and five Republicans. Back then there were also a number of influential liberal Republicans, alas, a virtually extinct group today, including Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the Senates only African-American; Mark Hatfield of Oregon; Jacob Javits of New York; and George Aiken of Vermont, a crusty old New Englander who thought our Vietnam policy was nuts and tersely suggested we should simply declare victory and get out.
By far the most famous first-term senator was Robert Kennedy of New York, who joined his brother Ted in 1965, after defeating Senator Kenneth Keating for the seat Hillary now holds. Bobby Kennedy was fascinating. He radiated raw energy. Hes the only man I ever saw who could walk stoop-shouldered, with his head down, and still look like a coiled spring about to release into the air. He wasnt a great speaker by conventional standards, but he spoke with such intensity and passion it could be mesmerizing. And if he didnt get everyones attention with his name, countenance, and speech, he had Brumus, a large, shaggy Newfoundland, the biggest dog I ever saw. Brumus often came to work with Senator Kennedy. When Bobby walked from his office in the New Senate Building to the Capitol to vote, Brumus would walk by his side, bounding up the Capitol steps to the revolving door on the rotunda level, then sitting patiently outside until his master returned for the walk back. Anyone who could command the respect of that dog had mine too.
John McClellan, Arkansas senior senator, was not merely an ardent conservative. He was also tough as nails, vindictive when crossed, a prodigious worker, and adept at obtaining power and using it, whether to bring federal money home to Arkansas or to pursue people he saw as evildoers. McClellan led a life of ambition and anguish, the difficulties of which bred in him an iron will and deep resentments. The son of a lawyer and farmer, at age seventeen he became the youngest person ever to practice law in Arkansas, when he passed an oral examination with honors after reading law books he had checked out of the traveling library of the Cumberland Law School. After he served in World War I, he returned home to find that his wife had become involved with another man and he divorced her, a rare occurrence in Arkansas that long ago. His second wife died of spinal meningitis in 1935, when he was in the House of Representatives. Two years later, he married his third wife, Norma, who was with him for forty years until he died. But his sorrows were far from over. Between 1943 and 1958 he lost all three of his sons: the first to spinal meningitis, the next in a car accident, the last in a small-plane crash.
McClellan lived an eventful but difficult life, the sorrows of which he drowned in enough whiskey to float the Capitol down the Potomac River. After a few years, he decided drunkenness was inconsistent with both his values and his self-image and he gave up liquor completely, sealing the only crack in his armor with his iron will.
By the time I got to Washington, he was chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, a position he used to get our state a great deal of money for things like the Arkansas River Navigation System. He served another twelve years, a total of six terms, dying in 1977 after announcing he would not seek a seventh. When I worked on the Hill, McClellan seemed a remote, almost forbidding figure, which is how he wanted to be perceived by most people. After I became attorney general in 1977, I spent quite a bit of time with him. I was touched by his kindness and his interest in my career, and wished he had been able to show the side of him I saw to more people and to reflect it more in his public work.
Fulbright was as different from McClellan as daylight from dark. His childhood had been more carefree and secure, his education more extensive, his mind less dogmatic. He was born in 1905 in Fayetteville, a beautiful Ozark Mountain town in north Arkansas where the University of Arkansas is located. His mother, Roberta, was the outspoken progressive editor of the local paper, the Northwest Arkansas Times. Fulbright went to the hometown university, where he was a star student and quarterback of the Arkansas Razorbacks. When he was twenty, he went to Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship. When he returned two years later, he was a committed internationalist. After law school and a brief stint in Washington as a government lawyer, he came home to teach at the university with his wife, Betty, a delightful, elegant woman who turned out to be a better retail politician than he was and who kept his morose side in check through more than fifty years of marriage, until she died in 1985. Ill never forget one night in 1967 or 68. I was walking alone in Georgetown when I saw Senator and Mrs. Fulbright leaving one of the fashionable homes after a dinner party. When they reached the street, apparently with no one around to see, he took her in his arms and danced a few steps. Standing in the shadows, I saw what a light she was in his life. At thirty-four, Fulbright was named president of the University of Arkansas, the youngest president of a major university in America. He and Betty seemed headed for a long and happy life in the idyllic Ozarks. But after a couple of years, his apparently effortless rise to prominence was abruptly interrupted when the new governor, Homer Adkins, fired him because of his mothers sharply critical editorials.
In 1942, with nothing better to do, Fulbright filed for the open congressional seat in northwest Arkansas. He won, and in his only term in the House of Representatives, he sponsored the Fulbright Resolution, which presaged the United Nations in its call for American participation in an international organization to preserve peace after the end of World War II. In 1944, Fulbright ran for the U.S. Senate and for a chance to get even. His main opponent was his nemesis, Governor Adkins. Adkins had a flair for making enemies, a hazardous trait in politics. Besides getting Fulbright fired, he had made the mistake of opposing John McClellan just two years earlier, going so far as to have the tax returns of McClellans major supporters audited. As I said, McClellan never forgot or forgave a slight. He worked hard to help Fulbright defeat Adkins, and Fulbright did it. They both got even.
Despite the thirty years they served together in the Senate, Fulbright and McClellan were never particularly close. Neither was prone to personal relationships with other politicians. They did work together to advance Arkansas economic interests, and voted with the southern bloc against civil rights; beyond that, they didnt have much in common.
McClellan was a pro-military, anti-Communist conservative who wanted to spend tax dollars only on defense, public works, and law enforcement. He was bright but not subtle. He saw things as black or white. He spoke in blunt terms, and if he ever had any doubts about anything, he never revealed them for fear of looking weak. He thought politics was about money and power.
Fulbright was more liberal than McClellan. He was a good Democrat who liked and supported President Johnson until they fell out over the Dominican Republic and Vietnam. He favored progressive taxation, social programs to reduce poverty and inequality, federal aid to education, and more generous American contributions to international institutions charged with alleviating poverty in poor countries. In 1946, he sponsored legislation creating the Fulbright program for international education exchange, which has funded the education of hundreds of thousands of Fulbright scholars from the United States and sixty other countries. He thought politics was about the power of ideas.
On civil rights, Fulbright never spent much time defending his voting record on the merits. He simply said he had to vote with the majority of his constituents on issues like civil rights, areas about which they knew as much as he did, which is just a euphemistic way of saying he didnt want to get beat. He signed the Southern Manifesto after he watered it down a little, and didnt vote for a civil rights bill until 1970, during the Nixon administration, when he also took a leading role in defeating President Nixons anticivil rights nominee to the Supreme Court, G. Harrold Carswell.
Despite his civil rights stance, Fulbright was far from gutless. He hated sanctimonious demagogues parading as patriots. When Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin was terrorizing innocent people with his blanket accusations of Communist ties, he intimidated most politicians into silence, even those who loathed him. Fulbright cast the only vote in the Senate against giving McCarthys special investigative subcommittee more money. He also co-sponsored the resolution censuring McCarthy, which the Senate finally passed after Joseph Welch exposed him to the whole country for the fraud he was. McCarthy came along too soonhe would have been right at home in the crowd that took over the Congress in 1995. But back in the early fifties, a period so vulnerable to anti-Communist hysteria, McCarthy was the nine hundredpound gorilla. Fulbright took him on before his other colleagues would.
Fulbright didnt shy away from controversy in foreign affairs, either, an area in which, unlike civil rights, he knew more than his constituents did or could know. He decided just to do what he thought was right and hope he could sell it to the voters. He favored multilateral cooperation over unilateral action; dialogue with, not isolation from, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations; more generous foreign assistance and fewer military interventions; and the winning of converts to American values and interests by the force of our example and ideas, not the force of arms.
Another reason I liked Fulbright was that he was interested in things besides politics. He thought the purpose of politics was to enable people to develop all their faculties and enjoy their fleeting lives. The idea that power was an end in itself, rather than a means to provide the security and opportunity necessary for the pursuit of happiness, seemed to him stupid and self-defeating. Fulbright liked to spend time with his family and friends, took a couple of vacations a year to rest and recharge his batteries, and read widely. He liked to go duck hunting, and he loved golf, shooting his age when he was seventy-eight. He was an engaging conversationalist with an unusual, elegant accent. When he was relaxed, he was eloquent and persuasive. When he got impatient or angry, he exaggerated his speech patterns in a tone of voice that made him seem arrogant and dismissive.
Fulbright had supported the Tonkin Gulf resolution in August 1964, giving President Johnson the authority to respond to apparent attacks on American vessels there, but by the summer of 1966, he had decided our policy in Vietnam was misguided, doomed to fail, and part of a larger pattern of errors that, if not changed, would bring disastrous consequences for America and the world. In 1966, he published his views on Vietnam and his general critique of American foreign policy in his most famous book, The Arrogance of Power. A few months after I joined the committee staff, he autographed a copy for me.
Fulbrights essential argument was that great nations get into trouble and can go into long-term decline when they are arrogant in the use of their power, trying to do things they shouldnt do in places they shouldnt be. He was suspicious of any foreign policy rooted in missionary zeal, which he felt would cause us to drift into commitments which though generous and benevolent in content, are so far reaching as to exceed even Americas great capacities. He also thought that when we brought our power to bear in the service of an abstract concept, like anti-communism, without understanding local history, culture, and politics, we could do more harm than good. Thats what happened with our unilateral intervention in the Dominican Republics civil war in 1965, where, out of fear that leftist President Juan Bosch would install a Cuban-style Communist government, the United States supported those who had been allied with General Rafael Trujillos repressive, reactionary, often murderous thirty-year military dictatorship, which ended with Trujillos assassination in 1961.
Fulbright thought we were making the same mistake in Vietnam, on a much larger scale. The Johnson administration and its allies saw the Vietcong as instruments of Chinese expansionism in Southeast Asia, which had to be stopped before all the Asian dominoes fell to communism. That led the United States to support the anti-Communist, but hardly democratic, South Vietnamese government. As South Vietnam proved unable to defeat the Vietcong alone, our support was expanded to include military advisors, and finally to a massive military presence to defend what Fulbright saw as a weak, dictatorial government which does not command the loyalty of the South Vietnamese people. Fulbright thought Ho Chi Minh, who had been an admirer of Franklin Roosevelt for his opposition to colonialism, was primarily interested in making Vietnam independent of all foreign powers. He believed that Ho, far from being a Chinese puppet, shared the historic Vietnamese antipathy for, and suspicion of, its larger neighbor to the north. Therefore, he did not believe we had a national interest sufficient to justify the giving and taking of so many lives. Still, he did not favor unilateral withdrawal. Instead, he supported an attempt to neutralize Southeast Asia, with American withdrawal conditioned on agreement by all parties to self-determination for South Vietnam and a referendum on reunification with North Vietnam. Unfortunately, by 1968, when peace talks opened in Paris, such a rational resolution was no longer possible.
As nearly as I could tell, everyone who worked on the committee staff felt the way Fulbright did about Vietnam. They also felt, increasingly, that the political and military leaders of the Johnson administration consistently overstated the progress of our military efforts. And they set out systematically to make the case for a change in policy to the administration, the Congress, and the country. As I write this, it seems reasonable and straightforward. But Fulbright, his committee colleagues, and the staff were in fact walking a high political tightrope across dangerous rocks. War hawks in both parties accused the committee, and Fulbright in particular, of giving aid and comfort to our enemies, dividing our country, and weakening our will to fight on to victory. Still, Fulbright persevered. Though he endured harsh criticism, the hearings helped to galvanize anti-war sentiment, especially among young people, more and more of whom were participating in anti-war rallies and teach-ins.
In the time I was there, the committee held hearings on such subjects as attitudes of Americans toward foreign policy, China-U.S. relations, possible conflicts between U.S. domestic goals and foreign policy, the impact of the dispute between China and the Soviet Union on the Vietnam conflict, and the psychological aspects of international relations. Distinguished critics of our policy appeared, people like Harrison Salisbury of the New York Times; George Kennan, former ambassador to the USSR and author of the idea of containment of the Soviet Union; Edwin Reischauer, former ambassador to Japan; distinguished historian Henry Steele Commager; retired General James Gavin; and professor Crane Brinton, an expert on revolutionary movements. Of course, the administration sent up its witnesses, too. One of the most effective was Undersecretary of State Nick Katzenbach, who had a leg up with me at least, because of his civil rights work in President Kennedys Justice Department. Fulbright also met privately with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, usually for early-morning coffee in Fulbrights office.
I found the dynamics between Rusk and Fulbright fascinating. Fulbright himself had been on Kennedys short list for secretary of state. Most people thought he was eliminated because of his anticivil rights record, especially his signing of the Southern Manifesto. Rusk was also a southerner, from Georgia, but he was sympathetic to civil rights and had not faced the political pressure Fulbright had, since he was not in Congress but a member of the foreign policy establishment. Rusk saw the Vietnam conflict in simple, stark terms: It was the battleground of freedom and communism in Asia. If we lost Vietnam, communism would sweep through Southeast Asia with devastating consequences.
I always thought the dramatically different ways Fulbright and Rusk viewed Vietnam were due in part to the very different times when they were young Rhodes scholars in England. When Fulbright went to Oxford in 1925, the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I was being implemented. It imposed harsh financial and political burdens on Germany, and redrew the map of Europe and the Middle East after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. The humiliation of Germany by the victorious European powers, and the postwar isolationism and protectionism of the United States, reflected in the Senates rejection of the League of Nations and the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, led to an ultra-nationalist backlash in Germany, the rise of Hitler, and then World War II. Fulbright was loath to make that mistake again. He rarely saw conflicts in black and white, tried to avoid demonizing adversaries, and always looked for negotiated solutions first, preferably in a multilateral context.
By contrast, Rusk was at Oxford in the early thirties, when the Nazis came to power. Later, he followed the hopeless attempts of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain to negotiate with Hitler, an approach given one of historys most stinging rebukes: appeasement. Rusk equated Communist totalitarianism with Nazi totalitarianism, and despised it as much. The movement of the Soviet Union to control and communize Central and Eastern Europe after World War II convinced him communism was a disease that infected nations with a hostility to personal freedom and an unquenchable aggressiveness. And he was determined not to be an appeaser. Thus, he and Fulbright came to Vietnam from different sides of an unbridgeable intellectual and emotional divide, formed decades before Vietnam appeared on Americas radar screen.
The psychological divide was reinforced on the pro-war side by the natural tendency in wartime to demonize ones adversary and by the determination Johnson, Rusk, and others had not to lose Vietnam, thus doing lasting damage to Americas prestige, and to their own. I saw the same compulsion at work in peacetime when I was President, in my ideological battles with the Republican Congress and their allies. When there is no understanding, respect, or trust, any compromise, much less an admission of error, is seen as weakness and disloyalty, a sure recipe for defeat.
To the Vietnam hawks of the late sixties, Fulbright was the poster boy of gullible navet. Navet is a problem all well-meaning people have to guard against. But hardheadedness has its own perils. In politics, when you find yourself in a hole, the first rule is to quit digging; if youre blind to the possibility of error or determined not to admit it, you just look for a bigger shovel. The more difficulties we had in Vietnam, the more protests mounted at home, the more troops we sent in. We topped out at more than 540,000 in 1969, before reality finally forced us to change course.
I watched all this unfold with amazement and fascination. I read everything I could, including the material stamped confidential and secret that I had to deliver from time to time, which showed clearly that our country was being misled about our progress, or lack of it, in the war. And I saw the body count mount, one at a time. Every day Fulbright got a list of the boys from Arkansas who had been killed in Vietnam. I got in the habit of dropping by his office to check the list, and one day I saw the name of my friend and classmate Tommy Young. Just a few days before he was to return home, his jeep ran over a mine. I was so sad. Tommy Young was a big, smart, ungainly, sensitive guy who I thought would grow up to have a good life. Seeing his name on the list, along with others I was sure had more to give and get in life, triggered the first pangs of guilt I felt about being a student and only touching the deaths in Vietnam from a distance. I briefly flirted with the idea of dropping out of school and enlisting in the militaryafter all, I was a democrat in philosophy as well as party; I didnt feel entitled to escape even a war I had come to oppose. I talked to Lee Williams about it. He said that Id be crazy to quit school, that I should keep doing my part to end the war, that I wouldnt prove anything by being one more soldier, perhaps one more casualty. Rationally, I could understand that and I went on about my business, but I never felt quite right about it. After all, I was the child of a World War II veteran. I respected the military, even if I thought many of those in charge were clueless, with more guts than brains. So began my personal bout with guilt, one that was fought by many thousands of us who loved our country but hated the war.
Those long-distant days are not easy to re-create for those who didnt live through them. For those who did, little needs to be said. The war took its toll at home, too, even on its most self-confident opponents. Fulbright liked and admired President Johnson. He enjoyed being part of a team he thought was moving America forward, even on civil rights, where he couldnt help. He always wore his game face to work, but he hated being a reviled, isolated outsider. Once, coming to work early in the morning, I saw him walking alone down the corridor toward his office, lost in sadness and frustration, actually bumping into the wall a time or two as he trudged to his damnable duty.
Although the Foreign Relations Committee had to concern itself with other things, Vietnam overshadowed everything else for the committee members and for me. In my first two years at Georgetown, I saved virtually all my class notes, papers, and exams. From my third year, about all I have are two not at all impressive Money and Banking papers. In the second semester I even withdrew from the only course I ever dropped at Georgetown, Theory and Practice of Communism. I had a good reason, though it had nothing to do with Vietnam.
In the spring of 1967, Daddys cancer had returned, and he went to the Duke Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, for several weeks of treatment. Every weekend I would drive the 266 miles from Georgetown to see him, leaving Friday afternoon, returning late Sunday night. I couldnt do it and make the communism course, so I bagged it. It was one of the most exhausting but important times of my young life. I would get into Durham late Friday night, then go get Daddy and spend Saturday with him. Wed spend Sunday morning and early afternoon together, then Id head back to school and work.
On Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967, we went to church in the Duke Chapel, a grand Gothic church. Daddy had never been much of a churchgoer, but he really seemed to enjoy this service. Maybe he found some peace in the message that Jesus had died for his sins, too. Maybe he finally believed it when we sang the words to that wonderful old hymn Sing with All the Sons of Glory: Sing with all the sons of glory, sing the resurrection song! Death and sorrow, Earths dark story, to the former days belong. All around the clouds are breaking, soon the storms of time shall cease; In Gods likeness man, awaking, knows the everlasting peace. After church, we drove over to Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina. The place was in full bloom, awash in the dogwoods and redbuds. Most southern springtimes are beautiful; this one was spectacular and remains my most vivid Easter memory.
On those weekends, Daddy talked to me in a way he never had before. Mostly it was small talk, about my life and his, Mother and Roger, family and friends. Some of it was deeper, as he reflected on the life he knew he would be leaving soon enough. But even with the small stuff, he spoke with an openness, a depth, a lack of defensiveness Id never heard before. On those long, languid weekends, we came to terms with each other, and he accepted the fact that I loved and forgave him. If he could only have faced life with the same courage and sense of honor with which he faced death, he would have been quite a guy.
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East African Digital Farmers Conference and Exhibition 2018
The regional conference seeks to help farmers and other value chain actors to harness the benefits of technology and data, and drive the adoption of these digital tools by farmers. It bring together end users, service providers, disseminators, regulators, policy formulators, and technology...
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05.03.2018 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has developed a new mobile phone application FAMEWS (Fall Armyworm Monitoring & Early Warning System) mobile app in English and French). The FAMEWS will help farmers and extension officers to collect and record information when scouting fields and checking pheromone traps for Fall Armyworm (FAW). The easy to use and intuitive app is meant to be used by countries affected by the FAW in Africa. Collected data can, once an internet connection is established, be transmitted to a centralized cloud by national FAW focal points before...
Seminar on FAO’s Farmer Field Schools programme and Global Platform
13.02.2018 The FAO Technical Network on Sustainable Crop Production and Agroecology will hold a Seminar on FAO’s Farmer Field Schools programme and Global Platform on Wednesday in FAO HQ with remote participation online at http://www.fao.org/webcast/en/ . All interested e-Agriculture CoP members can participate remotely The Farmer Field Schools (FFS) was pioneered by FAO in 1989 as an approach to integrated pest management in rice production in Asia. The advantage of the FFS is that they offer a hands-on learning that allows agricultural knowledge to be applied to promote sustainable agriculture...
Webinar series on Farmers’ access to data
07.02.2018 GFAR recently announced a series of webinars on farmers' rights to data and this is a follow-up to the face-to-face course on Farmers Access to Data that was held in Centurion (Pretoria), South Africa in November 2017. According to the GFAR website ,the webinars will be co-convened together with GODAN and CTA and will be conducted by the very same trainers who so successfully handled the course in Centurion: Dan Berne, Stephen Kalyesubula, Nicolene Fourie and Anneliza Collett. The two webinars will be held on the 22 and 28 February at 4pm CET , and a recording of each respective webinar will...
e-service to support agriculture in the Republic of Latvia
29.01.2018 Does your agricultural ministry still use paper for filing documents and submissions? How can technology help? The e-service support to farmers in Latvia is a good example of how technology can help in these situations. The Electronic Application System (EAS) of the Rural Support Service of the Republic of Latvia was created to electronically submit different types of applications for EU and Latvia’s state support for agriculture, fisheries, forestry, rural areas development, fishermen and rural entrepreneurs. The EAS system held in administration of the ministry and the implementation of...
Can ICTs be used to fight pests’ outbreaks (for example Fall Armyworm?)
25.01.2018 Agriculture has always been affected by plant pests and diseases, outbreaks can cause huge losses to crops and pastures and threatening the livelihoods of vulnerable smallholder farmers. The following are some of the known pests that have caused in agriculture include, locusts, armyworm, fruit flies, banana diseases, cassava diseases and wheat rusts. Currently, the Fall Armyworm (FAW) has ravaged many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. FAO has already offered a briefing note on FAW which can be read here . The following map shows the countries in Africa affected by the FAW ICTs and pests...
FAO is using drones to help end hunger
24.01.2018 FAO is using drones to fight hunger, improve nutrition and counter the effects of climate change and extreme weather events. A documentary from Asia and the Pacific Office of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization shows collaboration with countries to leverage the used of ICTs using drones. Philippines is a country prone to typhoons, aerial drones are used to map out the risk areas of agricultural land to mitigate the risk. This ensures that once a disaster strikes farmers affected can get assistance quicker. Drones have an advantage of wider coverage and since they are remotely...
Nano Ganesh technology continues to break new grounds
17.01.2018 Nano Ganesh (developed by the engineer Santosh Ostwal) is a device that uses mobile phones to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pumps for watering crops. Nano Ganesh continues to be internationally getting visibility and mostly due to its life changing potential to farmers. Recently, the story of Nano Ganesh was covered by the Pune Mirror newspaper where they chronicled the history and development of this technology. Started in 2004, the development community still continues to recognise and appreciate Nano Ganesh- for example in 2011 Santosh was honoured as the Tech Award Laureate ,...
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Katy Perry tells L.A. jury her hit song 'Dark Horse' was not plagiarized
'Willy Wonka' actress Denise Nickerson dies at 62: family
Denise Nickerson, in a photo taken in 2014. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
FOX NEWS - Denise Nickerson, who starred as the gum-snapping Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," has died at 62 after being taken off life support Tuesday, her family said.
“She’s gone,” was the message in a Facebook post early Thursday by her son Josh and his wife, Jasmine.
Nickerson suffered a "major medical emergency" at home Monday that caused her to be admitted to a Colorado hospital's intensive care unit. Nickerson had suffered a severe stroke in June 2018.
“They just took off all the equipment. None of it was helping, but making her only more uncomfortable. We're telling her it's OK to let go," her family wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to the family's GoFundMe page, Nickerson, "got into her medicines and took as much as she could" while Josh and Jasmine were away at a doctor's appointment. Josh reportedly stopped his mother and brought her to an emergency room, where her condition got worse.
"She’s had seizures this morning and is in pulmonary and respiratory distress. The doctors have found that she aspirated and has developed pneumonia,” Jasmine shared on Facebook. "They have upped her oxygen. She’s under a DNR order so they aren’t putting her on a ventilator or feeding tube."
Jasmine wrote later Tuesday that Nickerson's condition had worsened and she was unable to breathe on her own, saying the former actress was in a "coma-like state." Jasmine also asked for prayers for her husband, who has "never really experienced a major loss like this."
In the 1971 “Willy Wonka” adaptation starring Gene Wilder, Nickerson played one of the spoiled children who wins a tour of the chocolate factory. An avid gum-chewer, she steals an experimental piece from Wonka’s factory that leads to her blowing up like a giant blueberry.
Her career also included roles on “The Brady Bunch,” "Dark Shadows” and “The Electric Company.” She left the industry in 1978 to pursue nursing, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The family is using their Go Fund Me page to fulfill Nickerson's final wish to be cremated and have her ashes made into a piece of glass art.
Get updates on this story from FoxNews.com.
Drea Kelly, Buku Abi discuss new season of 'Growing Up Hip-Hop'
R. Kelly's ex-wife Andrea "Drea" Kelly and her three children Buku, Kyd, and Kaah have moved to Atlanta and will appear on the new season of WE tv's "Growing Up Hip-Hop: Atlanta."
The former spouses are currently in a custody battle, as the singer owes $161,000 in back child support. The two were married for 13 years.
RELATED: R. Kelly taken back into custody after child-support hearing in Chicago
Woman shot and killed in East Hollywood neighborhood
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Mammoet, a global engineered heavy lifting and transport specialist, has moved to a new operational hub in the city of Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to strengthen its presence in the country and better serve its clients.
The new facility, which consists of an office building and 20,000-sq-m yard, will enable Mammoet to accelerate its growth in the region and accommodate the increase of equipment and personnel, a company statement said.
Darren Bland, general manager of Mammoet’s Saudi Arabia operations, said: “We are concentrating on our expansion in the region and the office is strategically placed closer to our customers to further develop relations, reinforcing our emphasis on service, accessibility and providing quality solutions at all times.”
Further equipment will also be added to the existing fleet in the Kingdom, including conventional trailer axles, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) and a fleet of hydraulic cranes ranging in capacity from 60 to 500 tons.
“The new office is an important milestone for our regional investment and supports our long-term strategy, as well as our commitment to supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” added Darren.
Mammoet has been present in Saudi Arabia for over 40 years, with its first project carried out in the 1970s. Since then the branch has handled a wide range of prestigious projects in the kingdom, providing transport and lifting services for varied clients.
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This submarine sandwich shop could be your stop.
Franchise Profile — Cousins Subs
Cousins Subs, a Menomonee Falls, Wisc-based submarine sandwich chain known for its larger than average subs, was founded by two cousins in 1972, and patterned after the popular subs found on the East Coast. Franchising began in the late 1980's. Now there are over 160 locations in 10 states, with additional locations in development.
A new store will cost between $190,700 to $276,300 depending on variable factors including number of square feet and type of store. This estimate includes the capital needed to own and operate your restaurant for a month.
It takes approximately 4 to 8 months, after signing the franchise agreement, to start up a Cousins Subs. The initial franchise fee is $20,000, with an up-front grand opening fee of $5,000. Continuing service fees (royalties) are 6% of adjusted gross sales of less than $750,000; 5% on the next $250,000; and 4% on all sales over $1,000,000. In addition, there's a national advertising fee of 2% of adjusted gross sales.
Partnerships are possible, as long as you own a minimum of 51% of the corporation.
Training consists of a 3-day headquarter training, plus 30 day in-store training that takes place in an operating Cousins Subs restaurant, giving you valuable day-to-day experience.
Learn More About Cousins Subs
Cousins Subs
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Gemspring Capital Closes Its Debut Fund at $350 Million
WESTPORT, CT – Gemspring Capital, LLC (“Gemspring”), a Westport, Connecticut based private equity firm specializing in lower middle market companies, announced the final closing of its debut fund, Gemspring Capital Fund I, LP (the “Fund”), with $350 million of capital commitments.
The Fund was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap in less than three months after the official launch in August. Gemspring secured commitments from a globally diversified investor base comprised of leading endowments, foundations, family offices, gatekeepers, pension plans and fund of funds.
“We could not be more pleased with the support and quality of our investors and the efficiency of the fundraising process,” commented Bret Wiener, Managing Partner of Gemspring. “We are excited to execute on our operationally-focused investment strategy and help transform businesses to achieve their full potential.”
Acalyx Advisors Inc. ("Acalyx") served as exclusive placement advisor. “We appreciate that in this crowded market, limited partners have significant choice as to where they invest their capital, and it was clear that Gemspring’s strategy and the team’s long record of outstanding executive references stood out in a meaningful way,” said Jennifer Cho Rinehart, CEO of Acalyx.
John Muno, Bruce Ettelson and Noah Mullin of Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Gemspring.
About Gemspring Capital
Gemspring focuses on making control equity investments and structured equity investments in lower middle market companies headquartered in the United States and Canada. Gemspring partners with talented management teams and takes a hands-on approach to driving revenue growth and operating efficiencies. The goal for each portfolio company is growth, enhanced market leadership and a significant increase in the strategic value of the business. Target companies have up to $250 million in revenue and are in the business services, industrial services, distribution and logistics, healthcare services, specialty manufacturing, media, technology or software sectors. For more information, visit www.gemspring.com.
About Acalyx Advisors
Acalyx is a highly selective independent firm specializing in advisory, private placement and investor relations for leading alternative asset management firms around the globe. With offices in New York and San Francisco, the firm is led by a seasoned team of senior professionals who have collectively raised and advised on over $80 billion in private equity over the last 15 years. Prior to establishing Acalyx, the team worked together for over a decade serving as a trusted advisor to General Partners raising private equity funds from institutional investors across a number of strategies, including buyout, special situations and credit. For more information, visit www.acalyx.com.
Newer PostGemspring Capital Invests in United Group Programs
Older PostGemspring Capital Expands Team with Managing Director
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Gil Paterson meets constituents demanding climate action at Scottish Parliament
ENVIRONMENTALISTS were joined by Clydebank and Milngavie’s MSP last week to discuss swift action against climate change.
Gil Paterson MSP met with constituents at the Scottish Parliament for a mass lobbying event organised by Stop Climate Change Chaos Scotland coalition (SCCS).
A total of 51 MSPs listened to the concerns about climate change across the constituency and the whole of Scotland.
Gil Paterson said: “Climate change is very worrying and is not just a matter for Scotland, but the whole of the world. At the moment, Scotland is leading the way worldwide with its efforts in combating threats to the environment.
“I urge all of my constituents to become more aware of what is happening to the climate – be it how emissions affect the atmosphere or the benefits of cleaner transport and renewable energy.
“Scientists are predicting dark times ahead if the world does not act, so I was glad to listen to the concerns of SCCS.”
The Scottish Government is due to publish a Climate Plan early next year, setting out their actions to tackle climate change. This is expected to be followed by proposals for a new Climate Change Bill.
Tom Ballantine, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said: “It’s great to see that Gil Paterson has taken the time to meet with people from his/her constituency about these issues and is helping to further Scotland’s journey towards being a low carbon country.
“This is a really important time for MSPs to listen to the concerns of their constituents and learn about the climate issues that matter to them. With the new Climate Plan being published in the months ahead, the Scottish Government are being urged to deliver better energy efficiency in homes, more investment in renewable energy, cleaner transport and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from farming.”
For more information about Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and the mass lobby contact: Val Morgan on 0141 354 5555 or email: vmorgan@sciaf.org.uk.
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland is a diverse coalition of organisations campaigning together on climate change, including environment, faith and development organisations, trade and student unions, and community groups.
www.stopclimatechaos.org
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"27 Goodmans partners among the leading Canadian lawyers." - Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
Subscribe to our concise, timely legal updates on topics that matter to you and your business. Goodmans keeps you informed.
Cleantech in Canada 2019: Recent Policy Developments - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Lawyer Richard Corley, Sophie Langlois
Area Environmental Law, Cleantech
The news is replete with developments affecting the cleantech sector and the environment. While the global transition to cleaner forms of energy and transportation technologies continues to accelerate, Canadian policy makers are sending mixed messages to the cleantech sector. On the one hand, the recent federal budget (which included significant support for zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) and other clean technologies), the roll-out of the national price on carbon, and provincial initiatives such as the British Columbia ZEV mandate and plans to phase out fossil fuelled vehicles, are assisting the development of the sector. On the other hand, the changes promised by the newly-elected United Conservative Party (UPC) in Alberta and the challenges brought by a number of provinces to the federal price on carbon are clearly less positive. These conflicting approaches are creating uncertainty as to the long-term policy context for the cleantech sector in Canada.
Notwithstanding the above, globally and locally, the warnings about the dire consequences of a failure to rapidly ramp down our collective greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are becoming increasingly strident, as the linkages between these emissions and climate disruption are becoming increasingly apparent. The development and implementation of solutions to this, and other, pressing environmental problems, represent opportunities that Canadian cleantech companies are pursuing, at home and abroad, including through the recent formation of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association to promote the development of the sector.
This Update surveys recent developments and highlights opportunities for growth relevant to the cleantech sector in Canada.
Supporting Growth of the Clean Economy
This year’s federal budget allocates resources to support the growth of the “clean energy economy”. The government proposed to spend $130 million over five years to install new recharging and refueling stations for electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in remote locations, workplaces, public parking spots and commercial and residential buildings. The government also budgeted $300 million over three years to create an incentive of up to $5,000 for the purchase of electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with a retail price of less than $45,000.
Transport Canada will also receive $5 million over three years to encourage auto manufacturers to set voluntary sales targets for zero-emission vehicles and to ensure vehicle supply meets increased demand.
The federal government plans to spend $1.01 billion in 2018-2019 through the Green Municipal Fund to help the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to increase energy efficiency in residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings. The money will be used to make large community buildings more energy efficient, help homeowners with the costs of retrofitting their homes, and provide financing to improve energy efficiency in affordable housing developments.
The federal government further pledged to support several renewable energy infrastructure projects. This includes $30 million towards a wind generation project in Inuvik and $29.8 million for a marine renewable energy project to provide clean electricity to Nova Scotia.
Finally, the budget earmarked $100 million for the Clean Resource Innovation Network, a consortium of energy companies, research facilities, government bodies, academic institutions and financiers dedicated to enhancing innovation in the Canadian oil and gas sector and reducing the industry’s environmental footprint. The money is intended to support the development and commercialization of cleaner technology in the oil and gas industry.
National Retail Price on Carbon in Force
The retail price (fuel charge) component of the federal carbon pollution pricing system came into effect in Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on April 1, 2019 for provinces that did not have their own emissions pricing. It will come into effect in July 2019 in Nunavut and the Yukon. The federal price on carbon is $20 a tonne of CO2e for this year and is set to increase by $10 annually until it reaches $50 a tonne in April 2022. The proceeds under the federal system will be returned to the province or territory of origin. The payments will be made to residents of affected provinces through a new tax credit called the Climate Action Incentive.
BC Plans to Phase Out Sales of Gas-Powered Vehicles by 2040
On April 10, 2019, British Columbia introduced legislation requiring all light-duty cars and trucks sold in the province to be zero-emission by 2040. The Zero Emission Vehicles Act is intended to combat climate change by phasing out the sales of gas-powered vehicles. The legislation is part of the province’s CleanBC program, which aims to make electric cars more affordable, invest in charging stations, and shift to renewable fuels. The program includes incentives for purchases of zero-emission vehicles by providing up to $5,000 in rebates for a new battery electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and up to $6,000 for a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.
Canada Joins IRENA
On January 9, 2019, Canada officially joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a global intergovernmental organization that aims to support countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future. The organization currently engages 170 member states and promotes the use of renewable energy and the development of renewable technologies. In joining IRENA, Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, recognized the importance and potential of the cleantech industry for the Canadian economy. He stated, “becoming an IRENA member will accelerate Canada’s efforts to build a clean energy future which will bring new economic growth and thousands of new, well-paying jobs”.
Formation of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association (OCTIA)
Stakeholders in the cleantech sector in Ontario have recently formed OCTIA, a not-for profit organization, to promote the interests of the sector, and to serve as part of the national cleantech alliance. For further information may be obtained from: contact@octia.ca
Headwinds to Growth of the Clean Economy
Alberta Election
With the election of the UPC to a majority government in Alberta on April 16, 2019, disruptions to the province’s current carbon pricing regime appear inevitable. Jason Kenney, the premier-elect, has promised to repeal and replace the current provincial carbon pricing regime, under the Alberta Climate Leadership Plan (CLP), and to challenge the constitutionality of the federal carbon price in court. Pending the resolution of this challenge, if the provincial price on carbon were to be repealed, it would likely be replaced by the national federal back-stop carbon price.
Premier-elect Kenney has also promised that the UCP government will scrap the 100-megatonne oilsands emissions cap under the CLP, and extend the deadline for the phase-out of coal-fired power plants to beyond 2030. While the implications of the Alberta election for current and proposed renewable energy projects, and more generally for the cleantech sector, in the province are not clear, in the short term it would appear the new government intends to focus its attention primarily on pipelines and the fossil fuel energy sector.
Opposition to the Federal Price on Carbon
In the wake of the election, Alberta joined the coalition of provinces opposed to the federal price on carbon, namely Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Manitoba.
Two provinces, Ontario and Saskatchewan, launched formal constitutional challenges. Hearings in the Saskatchewan government’s case in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal began on February 13, 2019, and in the Ontario government’s case in the Ontario Court of Appeal on April 15, 2019. Saskatchewan and Ontario argued that the federal government does not have the jurisdiction to impose its current carbon pricing regime on the provinces. New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Alberta pledged to support the challenges brought by other provinces and/or launch their own legal challenge to the carbon tax.
Broader Context
These developments in Canada must be viewed in the broader international context, within which far more aggressive GHG reductions are understood to be essential to avoid the most damaging climate change impacts. The IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (1.5 °C Report) outlined the dangers posed by global warming of 1.5 °C (which we are on track to reach between 2030 and 2052 on the current trajectory) and the far greater dangers posed by global warming of 2 °C or more. The 1.5 °C Report concluded that limiting global warming to meet the 1.5 °C target would require a “global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030…, reaching net zero around 2050”.
The 1.5 °C Report, and other similar reports from authorities in the United States and Canada are fuelling student and other protests and proposals, such as those in the “New Green Deal” calling for a radical overhaul of energy systems to enable a rapid transition away from the use of fossil fuels. Despite the Canadian federal government’s endorsement in Paris and since of the 1.5 °C target, progress to date has been limited, and Canada’s 2017 emissions actually increased by 8 Mtonne CO2e relative to 2016.
Canada Not on Track to Meet International Commitments
Canada is a party to the Paris Agreement, which was ratified in October 2016. As part of the international agreement to keep the global temperature rise this century below 2°C and pursue efforts to further limit the increase to 1.5°C, Canada made a commitment to reduce its GHG emissions by 30% (relative to emissions levels in 2005) by 2030. However, recent reports from federal and provincial agencies indicate Canada is not on track to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development’s 2018 Spring Report examined Canada’s preparedness to implement the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), which includes the Paris Agreement. The report found a lack of a governance structure and limited national consultation and engagement on the 2030 Agenda and concluded the federal government is not adequately prepared to implement its international commitments.
Furthermore, according to Ontario’s former Environmental Commissioner’s 2018 Greenhouse Gas Progress Report, the federal government’s current climate change plans will not reduce emissions enough to meets these commitments. Ontario’s decision to cancel the cap and trade program further hinders Canada’s ability to achieve its climate change goals.
There is a growing awareness of the seriousness of the risks associated with climate change. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s latest report finds that continued climate change is expected to cause more climate disruption. With the warming trend projected to intensify, Canada will likely experience more extreme weather, changes in precipitation, decreases in snow and ice coverage in the Arctic, increased risk of freshwater shortages, droughts and wildfires, changes to the ocean ecosystems and rising sea levels.
In the longer term, growing public awareness of the serious consequences of climate change may be expected to prompt the development of a more ambitious carbon pricing program and/or more rigorous regulatory responses by the federal and provincial governments in Canada. For its part, the cleantech sector needs to more effectively promote its current and potential contributions to the Canadian economy, and to highlight the benefits and falling prices of renewable energy and other readily available cleantech solutions. While the changing priorities of different governments across Canada is a source of uncertainty for the cleantech sector, opportunities for growth and innovation abound, both at home and abroad, and the longer term future remains bright.
We are preparing a further Update on the federal Output-Based Pricing System and the Ontario industrial Emission Performance Standards which we plan to issue shortly, and will continue to monitor and provide Updates on further developments relevant to the sector.
For further information on this Update, please contact any member of our Cleantech Practice Group.
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Mortal Kombat Trilogy - PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64, Windows, Game.com (1996)
Saturn Cover
Game.com Cover
It was reasonable enough that Midway would want to give the rather rushed MK3 some extra time in the oven. UMK3was a big enough improvement to be worth it, especially with the re-inclusion of Scorpion and all of the other ninjas. But with the release of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Midway’s basically making an update of an update. Trilogy is best described as UMK3 with more stuff attached to it, as it shares the same engine, gameplay mechanics, plotline, and almost everything else. The main draw here is that this is basically Midway’s crack at one of the “Dream Match” games SNK likes to do every so often. This is also the first Mortal Kombat game that wasn’t released in the arcades, which eventually would become the default for the series.
Every character who’s made an appearance in an MK game up to this point, playable or otherwise, is available for playing. Yes, that includes the bosses. The biggest new inclusion is Johnny Cage, who got himself a new actor and a new set of sprites. Baraka and Raiden also return from their absence in MK2. While they use the same sprites, they at least have some new special moves, so they’re not entirely outclassed by the new cast. You’ve also got the console exclusives Noob Saibot and Rain available for play, with Noob getting his new moves from the 16-bit UMK3 ports. Certain characters can become ‘klassic,’ which turns them into their MK1/MK2 incarnations. And since there weren’t nearly enough ninjas as it was, you get a choice between a new male or female one, depending on whether you got the cartridge or CD version.
If you’ve already played UMK3, you’re not missing much of anything besides the new characters. There’s also a new ‘Aggressor’ meter, which fills up whenever you hit somebody, with more meter being gained if the opponent blocks. When it fills up, you can… move a little faster and do a little more damage. Supers? What are those? You can also enable automatic combos from the options menu, which makes performing chain combos as easy as mashing a button. As sad as it sounds, the biggest improvement to the gameplay is that you no longer have to unlock a cheat menu to actually pause the game.
The AI in this game is just as brutal as UMK3 before it, so beating the game without either ratcheting the difficulty down or exploiting the AI as much as possible isn’t easy. If you beat Shao Khan, though, you get a new set of hidden treasures, including a demonstration of every finishing move in the game. Brutalities return from the home ports of UMK3, where they work the same way, and they’ve even managed to keep the Animalities in. If you ever actually feel like going through the hassle of using them, anyway.
The CD versions of the game are mostly identical, with their biggest issue being all the loading times. The soundtrack’s been redone for the Redbook format, and it sounds a little clearer, if not much different from the arcade version. There’s a lot of loading time to deal with between fights and whenever Shang Tsung morphs, which can slow the pace of the game down a good bit. The PC version is probably your best bet, if you can find the fan-made patch to make it run on modern computers. It even has network play, on the incredibly tiny chance it actually works.
The N64 version, on the other hand, actually has quite a few changes and cuts. The ‘klassic’ characters, Goro, and Kintaro are missing entirely, and Shao Kahn and Motaro have to be unlocked. On the plus side, you get a new 3v3 battle mode, some minor graphical enhancements to the backgrounds, and much less loading to wait through.
The best word to describe Trilogy would be ‘unnecessary.’ It’s not a bad game, since it’s basically just an updated version of UMK3, but that’s exactly the problem. The series has already had MK3 twice, and another version is just reaching Capcom degrees of cash cow milking. The game also barely makes use of the hardware at all, with none of the versions matching up entirely with the arcade games. Sure, it’s nice to see Johnny Cage back, but still. The good news is that with the rise of 3D graphics approaching, this was to be the last time we had to see the MK3 engine, right?
At this point, it’d be best to pretend that the series died out for a while shortly after the release of this game. We all know that’s not true, of course, but when you look at the truth, with its convouluted plot, lame characters, and kart racing, who can blame somebody for wanting to stretch the truth a little? If you value your sanity, dear reader, you might just want to skip ahead to the reboot released two console generations later, but if you don’t…
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (Game.com)
Series Navigation << Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3Mortal Kombat 4 >>
Mortal Kombat 4 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Mortal Kombat 3 Dark Seed II Revolution X Puyo Puyo Sun Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero King of Fighters ’95, The Tattoo Assassins Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Tag: digitized actors, Fighter: 2D, Gore, Midway Games, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, Western Fighter, Windows
Xevious 3D/G
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Censorship Literature Modern British History Religion by Claire Chambers and Rehana Ahmed on March 8, 2019 add comment British Muslims Fatwa Free Speech The Satanic Verses 1264 views
In late 1988, Muslim protestors in Bolton and Bradford, two poor and ethnically divided northern hotspots, were encouraged by television reporters to burn Salman Rushdie’s allegedly blasphemous novel The Satanic Verses. Soon afterwards, on 14 February 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie and his publishers had dramatic impact in the UK, as well as on global geopolitics. Thirty years ago today, Iran cut its diplomatic ties with Britain in the course of the controversy. Following Rushdie’s ‘bloody Valentine’, the spotlight fell on Muslims. Previously they had been a virtually invisible minority group in Britain, subsumed within the broader category of ‘Asians’.
In this post we want to discuss the Rushdie affair in the context of a tide of rising Islamophobia and stereotyping. Since 1989, and accelerating after 9/11, Britain has seen a clash of fundamentalisms between extremism in the name of Islam on the one hand, and Western neoliberalism or state extremism on the other.
The Satanic Verses is about South Asian (mostly Muslim) and other migration to the UK, and the loss of religious faith. It contains a notoriously intangible section in which a character, Gibreel, who is psychotic, has a dream about someone called ‘Mahound’ (an insulting Orientalist term for the Prophet Mohammed). Rushdie, or Gibreel, or Gibreel’s disturbed subconscious, imagines Mahound as a paedophilic libertine who is also a ruthless businessman. Drawing on the now much-discredited satanic verses myth, the narrator suggests that sections of the Qur’an were dictated by the devil. Prostitutes give themselves names of Mahound’s wives to excite their clients, and these names just happen to be those of the historical spouses of the Prophet Mohammed. There are countless other jabs at Islam, and religion more broadly.
This section of the book caused great offence to many, though not all Muslims. Particularly offended were Muslims who, like Rushdie, hailed from the Indian subcontinent, where the Prophet and his family are held in especially high veneration. As the controversy spread, the novel was banned in India and burned in demonstrations in the United Kingdom and Pakistan. This culminated with Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa (a legal opinion rather than a binding law) in February 1989 against Rushdie and his publishers. He followed this up by offering a million-pound bounty for the person who could kill Rushdie.
The fatwa was abhorrent and indefensible, but the dominant liberal reaction to the Satanic Verses protests was also questionable. Rushdie was positioned by commentators such as Fay Weldon and Malise Ruthven as one of their own. A pale-skinned, Cambridge-educated exponent of free speech, Rushdie’s Voltairean upholding of debate and democracy was juxtaposed with the supposedly barbaric and alien values of the protestors.
A reductive binary of liberating freedom of expression versus repressive religious culture emerged repeatedly in responses to the controversy by writers, publishers and journalists, as well as members of the cultural commentariat in Britain and elsewhere. Rushdie’s backers typically based their support for him on an absolutist defence of free speech. In this way, they echoed Rushdie’s own self-construction – expressed in essays such as ‘In Good Faith’ and ‘Is Nothing Sacred?’ as well as his 2012 memoir Joseph Anton – as a courageous artist fighting against reactionary forces and speaking truth to power.
The reality was, and remains, much more complex than this. Freedom of speech is not a neutral concept or principle, and religious offence is always shaped by context. The majority of Rushdie’s British Muslim dissenters were far from powerful. Their protest was influenced by their social, racial and religious marginalization, and largely dismissed or vilified by privileged members of a liberal, secular arts establishment.
In the years following the publication of the novel and the subsequent furore, a number of controversies involving a clash between creative freedom and religious offence have grabbed media headlines. In Britain, the staging in 2004 of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s play Behzti at the Birmingham Rep angered some British Sikhs. Then in 2006 small-scale protests erupted in London’s East End in response to the filming there of the adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel Brick Lane. Nearby, in the Netherlands, Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s controversial depiction of Islam in their 2004 film Submission led to van Gogh’s murder. The following year saw global protests erupt in response to the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Meanwhile the Paris-based magazine Charlie Hebdo has been in the eye of a similar storm on several occasions and with devastating consequences.
Responses to these disputes by liberal commentators have remained hamstrung by a black-and-white worldview. Free speech is seen as a transcendental and absolute good, and religion – most often Islam – as censoring and censorious. Yet, there have been glimpses of a more gradated understanding in recent years. In 2015, for example, acclaimed writers including Peter Carey, Taiye Selasi and Michael Ondaatje objected to PEN’s decision to award their Freedom of Expression Courage prize to Charlie Hebdo because of the magazine’s offensive depictions of Muslims and other disenfranchised groups.
It is crucial to reflect on the events of thirty years ago and their legacy to ask how we might move forwards in a context that is deeply divided and plagued by Islamophobia. As Anshuman Mondal shows, any artwork intended for the public domain has a transactional dimension, and speech is a social and communicative act. Thus, creativity isn’t just about self-expression, and freedom of speech might work to forge understanding across differences. We must all recognize that some people are freer to speak than others. Also important, we suggest, is the imperative to speak – and listen – with social responsibility.
Rehana Ahmed is a senior lecturer in postcolonial and contemporary literature at Queen Mary University of London. Her most recent book is Writing British Muslims: Religion, Class and Multiculturalism.
Claire Chambers teaches global literature at the University of York and is the author of four books including Rivers of Ink: Selected Essays.
Tags : British MuslimsFatwaFree SpeechThe Satanic Verses
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JK Rowling’s Ilvermorny – A school in need of a history lesson?
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HomeMusic“The Voice” adds Halsey, Khalid, OneRepublic and Hootie & the Blowfish to Tuesday finale
“The Voice” adds Halsey, Khalid, OneRepublic and Hootie & the Blowfish to Tuesday finale
May 17, 2019 kdamadmin Music 0
2018 NBCUniversal Media, LLCAs if the prospect of performances by The Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift weren’t enough to get you to tune into The Voice finale, more stars have been added to the bill.
The show’s official Twitter account has announced that in addition to those two acts, BTS, OneRepublic, Halsey, and Khalid will be performing on the finale on Tuesday night. Not only that, but ’90s superstars Hootie & the Blowfish will be rocking the crowd.
That’s not as random as it sounds: The band has a big tour lined up this summer to mark the 25th anniversary of their best-selling debut, Cracked Rear View. They also plan to release a new album later this year. They’ll perform “Let Her Cry” from the album on the show.
BTS will sing “Boy With Luv” — presumably with Halsey, since she’ll be there too — and Halsey will give her new single “Nightmare” its TV debut. OneRepublic will perform their new single “Rescue Me,” which Khalid will sing his hit “Talk.” The Jonas Brothers will sing “Cool,” while Taylor and Brendon Urie will perform “ME!”
The Voice finale airs Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
Stefon Bristol says his Netflix time travel film ‘See You Yesterday’ draws from 90s sci-fi nostalgia
Kelly Clarkson slams “fake news” reports about her diet: “I ain’t got time 4 all that”
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Daglingworth
Reporting & Governance
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July, 2017.
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The church has Saxon origins, visible in the stonework of the south wall. A Saxon arch leads from the porch to the nave, with a Saxon sun dial over it. These are now inside the porch, which was added in the 15th century, along with the tower. The porch is entered through a Norman arch, which seems to have been moved from the west wall, when the tower was added.
In the 15th century, when the wool trade brought riches to the Cotswolds, the tower (image below) was added to the west end and the porch (image below) to the south side, thus ensuring that the sun no longer reached the Saxon sundial which is above the doorway. In 1850, the Rev. Raymond Barker rebuilt the Chancel and added the vestry and the north aisle. The bells date from 1720, when there were just two, and in 1877 and 1887 two more were installed.
The south door of the church (image below), with its plain arch and carved capitals is Saxon, as is the sundial (image below) above it. The latter consists of a stone square with a circular dial outlined by a raised roll-moulding. The hole for the gnomon is clearly visible, and the markings on the face are well preserved, no doubt because the dial has been protected by the porch. The beautifully carved oak door is, like the porch, nearly six hundred years old. The craftsman has had to adapt the gothic detailing to fit the round arch, which indicates that the door may have come from somewhere else. The outer archway to the porch is Saxon, and was probably originally the West doorway arch, and was moved and re-used when the tower was built. The west side of this doorway is a massive single stone, no easy task to move in the days before cranes and fork-lift trucks.
The original structure of the Nave changed with the addition of the north aisle in 1850. Prior to that, a cross wall in the middle divided the Nave in two, and, above this, there was an upper room over the western half, referred to as a loft, and mentioned in an inventory of 1677 as containing a carpet and a number of books, indicating that it was used as a dwelling or vestry by the priest. Below, there are photographs showing the nave as it currently is.
The altar (image below) was found when the cross wall was demolished in 1845 and is now a credence table set against the north Chancel wall. All this is shown in a picture (image below), which is hung in the porch and is dated 1868.
The Font, like the tower and the porch, dates from the 15th century. The face of the Green Man is hidden in the carved stone foliage under the overhang. He has been a symbol of health, harvest and fertility since pre-Christian days. The font cover, in three different varieties of oak, is by Paul Spriggs, which is a descendant of the Barnsley family, and is a modern gift to the church in the same tradition as the carved War Memorial, which shows leaves and flowers found locally, and was the work of one of the Sapperton school of craftsmen. The communion rails and gates are also local work in oak and date from the 18th century. In the south wall of the Nave, just by the pulpit, there is a stone corbel with the carved wooden head of a lady set into it.
The great treasures of the church, however, are the four 10th century Saxon sculptures, three of which were discovered when the chancel arch was rebuilt by Canon Barker in 1850. There is no record to show at what time these carvings were built into the chancel arch, or why they were so treated. They formed the vertical jambs of the arch, with the sculpted side hidden, facing inwards, and because of this all the figures have lost their toes.
The smallest stone (image below), which is now above the pulpit, is a Crucifixion. It used to be on the East gable end before it was brought inside for safety. The other three sculptures (images below) are in a single characteristic style, and are almost certainly the work of just one craftsman. It is hard to be precise about the date, but experts are satisfied that stylistically they can be considered pre-Conquest following the Syrian tradition and are of crude, though inspired, work.
The first subject, another Crucifixion, shows Christ bearded and with moustache, clad in a long tunic whose folds are sown below a girdle. The feet are not crossed and the lower part of the bodice has been shown as if transparent, so that the body of Christ shows through it. The cross has arms that widen towards the ends and Christ’s halo is decorated with a similar cross. On either side is a soldier, one holding a spear and the other a sponge on a reed and a jug of vinegar. In Saxon times artists did not like to think of Our Lord as subservient and crucified, so He is portrayed as a much larger and more dominant figure than the two soldiers who flank him. Tradition has it that the soldier who smote Christ with the spear’s name was Longinus or Longius, and the other is Stephaton.
The second sculpture is a Christ in Majesty with cruciform halo, seated on a simple chair with a single garment open at the neck, carried down to the ankles, and fastened by a band around the waist. He is portrayed with a beard and moustache, and holds a cross in His left hand, while He gives the benediction with His right.
The third panel, which corresponds in size with the other two, is a figure of St. Peter, similarly clothed, holding a book pressed against his breast in the left hand and a large square key in the right, which is no doubt the key of Heaven. According to Chrles Keyser, when these three sculptures were first discovered, they were set over the chanced arch, and it must be assumed that they were moved to their present position when the organ was installed in 1918. The importance and beauty of these four stones cannot be stresses enough, and they are of a similar quality and primitive beauty as those at York Minster which gave inspiration to Henry Moore, Eric Gill and other modern day sculptors.
The only stained glass in the Church is a representation of the Prince of Wales feathers in the West window under the tower. The present Prince of Wales is Lord of the Manor, but the glass records an earlier Prince, possibly Prince Hal, later Henry V, or Prince Arthur eldest son of Henry VII, who died in 1502.
The only remaining Saxon window can be seen outside the church, just west of the porch. It was blocked up when a larger window was inserted alongside in the 14th century. The small two-light Saxon window to the vestry (now almost hidden behind the oil tank) has been cut from a Roman altar, and part of the inscription, ‘Dae Matres’ apparently still remains. The stone is pre-Christian, pierced by the Saxons for use as the East window, and according to Antony West in the Gloucester Shell Guide of 1939, it was “dedicated by Junia to the genius of the place”, or alternatively, according to Essays in Bristol and Gloucestershire History, the inscription reads “’ma (trib)us et ge(nio l)oci’ – a dedication to the Mother Goddesses and to the Genious of the Place”. However, it has been impossible to find any inscription except RIP, which is upside down, and the stone was moved to its present position when the Chancel was rebuilt.
The churchyard has seven 17th and 18th century gravestones (image below). They are very worn but all carved with rather ‘grumpy’ looking cherubs on them, almost certainly by the same family of masons. There are two similar sarcophagi, one of which has cherubs and a skull on it. The remains of a mediaeval cross (image below) can be seen almost opposite the doorway. It has two heavy steps, on which is set a socket with a moulded fillet running around the base, and the shaft is square, having the angles chamfered, and is mortised into the socket. The whole is massive in character and weatherworn and is thought to be much the same age as the original church.
Acknowledgement & References:
Credit is due to the author/authors of the booklet ‘The Church of the Holy Rood’ (October, 2005), from which much of the above description is borrowed. The photographs, accompanying the narrative, were taken by Sonia Pritchard. The photographs in the header of this page were taken by Alasdair Ogilvie.
Studies in Church Dedications. F. Arnold-Foster, 1899.
Anglo-Saxon Architecture. H. M. Taylor & J. Taylor, 1965.
Old Crosses in Gloucestershire. Charles Pooley, 1868.
Shell Guide to Gloucestershire. A. West, 1939.
Daglingworth Church. Charles Keyser.
The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire I, The Cotswolds. D. Verey, 1979.
Gloucestershire I: The Cotswolds. D. Verey & A. Brooks, 1999.
Copyright © 2016 Daglingworth Parish Council. All Rights Reserved..
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THE IMMUNITY-SHOE DROPS AND INVESTMENT BANKERS SUCK IN THEIR BREATH
Reviewer of Subprime Loans to Aid Inquiry
By JENNY ANDERSON and VIKAS BAJAJ
A company that analyzed the quality of thousands of home loans for investment banks has agreed to provide evidence to New York state prosecutors that the banks had detailed information about the risks posed by ill-fated subprime mortgages.
Investigators are looking at whether that information, which could have prevented the collapse of securities backed by those loans, was deliberately withheld from investors.
Clayton Holdings, a company based in Connecticut that vetted home loans for many investment banks, has agreed to provide important documents and the testimony of its officials to the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, in exchange for immunity from civil and criminal prosecution in the state.
The agreement, which was confirmed by Mr. Cuomo’s office and Clayton, forwards an investigation by the attorney general into the question of whether the investment banks withheld information they should have provided in the disclosures that accompanied the huge packages of loans they offered as securities.
In these disclosures, underwriters typically said that loans that did not meet even lowered lending standards, called exceptions, accounted for a “significant” or “substantial” portion of the loans contained in the securities, but they offered little hard, statistical information that Clayton promised prosecutors it would provide as evidence.
Investment rating firms like Moody’s and Fitch have said that they were deprived of this information before they gave the securities the top rating, triple-A.
--read entire article--
Is there no one out there riding this horse but me?
Where are the investigative journalists at the New York Times and Washington Post? Is Wall Street just too damned close to 620 Eighth Avenue for Pinch Sulzberger to come trembling out of his office?
Pro Publica plans to establish a newsroom in New York City and have 24 journalists, one of the biggest investigative staffs in any medium . . . maybe Pinch can rent someone to bring a modicum of integrity back to the paper and offset the stench of having actually put Bill Kristol on the payroll.
Back to the matter at hand, 'exception loan' is the politically correct term for what the investment bankers themselves called 'liar loans,' while they raked in the chips. Everyone was getting rich on this newly minted portion of society--the have-nots from which there was now an invented possibility to squeeze a buck.
I bet there were lots of sniggering winks at the self-congratulatory $200 lunches in Manhattan over that new investment vehicle.
"Investment banks, for their part, have said that they provided adequate disclosures, and they even kept some of the securities on their books."
Well, I guess.
When you're in the middle of a scam, the heat of battle, some of the fraud is bound to still be on the table (or twitching spasmodically on the floor) before it can be off-loaded.
And now this Cuomo guy is about to ruin the party, seriously ruin it, as in sending people to jail.
Anybody got an estate for sale in a country that has no extradition-treaty with America? That may be the last hot market left in real estate.
The next shoe to drop will be the bond-raters, who claim to have been 'deprived' of information necessary to authenticate that deep-kiss of triple A they were so willing to lay on the investment packages.
Waylon Jennings wrote a song, probably appropriate to the little guys at the rating companies who are damned well not going to jail for some $100 million investment banker;
Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye
Not forever, just twenty years or so.
A lot of people are angry. Some of them for not being in on the deal, others who feel exposed by guys at the top and still more who saw this whole train wreck coming and had their ethics tainted. (Yes, Agnes, there are some ethics left in the financial game)
You can bet that, among the tens of thousands whose jobs are at risk of being pink-slipped, there are some very eager witnesses to what was done to whom by whose agreement.
Be careful out there about deleting e-mails and shredding documents, though. Except in the White House, it's impossible to shred or delete a witness who's been given immunity.
* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Business and Economy, check out Opinion-Columns.com
Tags: cuomo, moody, sub-prime, Sulzberger
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david loewen
Tensioned interfaces: Unsettling Settler places and spaces in online education?
March 31, 2019 David Loewen
Over the past year I have given presentations in various forums which highlight my research to date in the Doctor of Education program. These have been building on the title from one of the presentations - below:
Presentation November 2018 for AU Graduate Student Research Series
Here is the link to this presentation. This will open in a new window and is within Adobe Connect (you may need to do a quick download to play it). The presentation is approximately 40 minutes long, with questions and discussion taking it to one hour.
I much prefer taking a visual approach to Ppoint presentations and avoiding bullets. As pointed out in a previous post - my research is exploring the interfaces between online distance education and the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Indian Residential Schools in Canada.
This slide below, and the quotes from the TRC, highlight the tensioned interfaces that I’ve observed:
Along with this failure on behalf of education systems within Canada comes the several Calls to Action for non-Indigenous people in Canada to learn.
This is a major undertaking - how many people does this equate to in this country?
Along with Call #57 are also the following Calls: social workers (Call #1); all medical school students and nurses (Call #24) law students (Call #28); all public service employees including federal, provincial, Territorial, and municipal staff (Call #57); church congregations (Call #59); church clergy (Call #60); students in journalism programs and media schools (Call #86); management and staff of businesses (Call #92); and Calls #62-65 which deal with “Education for Reconciliation” involving curriculum development for K-12 school systems.
Yet, the topics or items recommended (e.g. Aboriginal rights and title, Indigenous law, treaties, etc.) - are often complex, nuanced, highly varied between different Nations or communities. Doing this education in a good way will also require in-depth participation of local communities and knowledge holders.
However, adding to the complexity of this, some varied institutions are pondering mandatory courses for employees and management to take a course, or otherwise on these topics. The reality of this is that learning, and filling gaps left by the status-quo education system (elementary, secondary, and post-secondary) is yet another complex enterprise.
transformation of education systems?
Often when I show this slide in presentations, I share the story of my first face-to-face Orientation session at Athabasca U. for the current program. Arriving into a boardroom with cohort colleagues and faculty, there were small poster sized pictures on the window ledges of at least two walls. This was explained, as a representation of the ‘giants’ in which the shoulders we were to stand on as educators. In the pictures: Piaget, Freud, Dewey, etc. - essentially, all dead white guys.
My family background is fully white settler. However, considering that (1) the majority of our cohort identified as female, and (2) my experiences for many years working in Indigenous communities - it was an offensive start to the program - of which I shared - in the spirit of the fact that education, and specifically doctoral education, is intended for ‘critical engagement’ and critical thinking.
Yet, I am not entirely surprised, as anyone that has taken a Philosophy 101 course or otherwise, may have noticed that 99.9% of the philosophical theorists and theories explored, are also of European descent. The Greeks: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. Then spreading through to a variety of other Europeans: Hobbes, Hume, Bacon, Descartes, Nietschze, Hiedegger, etc.
These courses are such standard fare, status-quo, largely un-questioned, to the point of representing “common sense”…
These are also being replicated in the growing practice of online distance education.
From what the TRC documented (and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People- RCAP, 1996) before that - the system needs to change. These are the tensioned interfaces…
auto... what?
January 31, 2019 David Loewen
From research presentation - Endako River, central BC.
In mid-2015, I was accepted into and began a Doctor of Education (EdD) at Athabasca University, an institution that offers only online courses, training and degrees. The institution is based in Alberta, and partially in north-central Alberta on the border of Treaty 8 and Treaty 6 Territory in the community of Athabasca. The EdD program is offered entirely online, with the exception of a 1-week Orientation session. Students in the program are expected to focus research (and resultant dissertation) within the broad field of online learning.
I am now nearing completion of my fourth year in the program. I have completed five doctoral level courses focussed on the field and practice of online learning - nearing completion of the sixth and final course, which is more a support group than a ‘course’. Along with confirming a final and third committee member, I hope to defend my dissertation proposal in the coming month to two. At that point, I become a doctoral candidate with only research, dissertation writing, and dissertation defence ahead.
Over the last 3 years, and through each doctoral course - I have focussed my research and course work on my planned dissertation research. The goal has been to build research and writing skills in the area I intended to focus my research for, and subsequent writing of my dissertation. This has included building my database of reviewed literature, theoretical underpinnings, and honing my thought process(es).
In summary, very close to the time that I was accepted into the EdD program - the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Indian Residential Schools in Canada was wrapping up its work. In the summer of 2015, the TRC published interim final reports. The Final Reports and 94 Calls to Action were released late in 2015 - the entire package weighing almost 30 pounds. It’s an impressive (and stark) body of work, testimony, and reflection gathered over some 7 years.
Right around the same time, and in somewhat quieter fashion, another document-agreement was signed in British Columbia (BC). The Declaration of Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility in BC Healthcare services was signed by the CEOs of all Health Authorities in BC, the newly-formed First Nations Health Authority, and the BC Ministry of Health. This was followed up in March 2017, with all 23 BC health regulators (e.g. College of Nursing Professionals, College of Social Workers, College of Pharmacists, etc.) also signing on to the Declaration.
My current (and past) work circulates through these ‘events’ - through the political, legal, cultural, social, economic pressures, events, and histories that precipitated these events and resulting documents - and, now, actions and planning to respond and implement guidance provided within or through.
Concurrently, my doctoral research is also mired within these. In recent months, I have delivered multiple presentations related to my ongoing research. My research also intersects and interfaces with my professional work. This work is multifaceted as I work within healthcare, as well as instruct part-time at two post-secondary institutions. I also do bits and pieces of contract work as time or opportunity allows.
Through coming posts, I intend to explore, share, and ponder my current research along with ongoing work and personal reflection. This is also the methods and methodology I have engaged in for my doctoral research.
I am utilizing a method/methodology of research called “autoethnography”. (Hence the “auto… what?” title)
For those not familiar, it is related to autobiography; however, differs in that it is also embedded within, or guided by, practices of ethnography - e.g. the study of culture or cultures. Therefore, autoethnography is often referred to by its three component parts: auto (the self) + ethno (culture(s)) + graphy (the writing). As such, an autoethnographic study can take many forms (inc. a blog…), but essentially becomes a critical self-reflective exploration of oneself within a culture or cultures.
In this particular case - e.g. my doctoral research - I intend to critically self reflect on my experiences of online education (as a student, instructor and curriculum designer), with the TRC and the Declaration serving as a context in which to explore and reflect upon those experiences.
Below is an image of one of my presentation slides which provides an outline of my current research.
Stay tuned for more to come…
two mountains on the divide between the Ingenika River (Mackenzie R. drainage) and Sustut River (Skeena R. drainage).
Decolonizing 'Distance Education'?
June 11, 2017 David Loewen
This past week, I had the privilege of traveling to Athabasca, AB to present on some of my doctoral research to-date at Athabasca University's Education Innovations Research Symposium (EIRS). As part of the day's agenda, we were fortunate to have Dr. Michael Moore, Professor Emeritus of Education at Pennsylvania State University give a presentation first thing in the morning. Dr. Moore was in town to receive an honorary degree from Athabasca University as part of annual convocation ceremonies.
Athabasca University is considered one of the institutional leaders in Canada for online and distance education. I am currently enrolled in the Doctor of Education program offered through their Centre for Distance Education (CDE), with a specialization in online and distance learning. In my research, I have come across Moore's work on a regular basis. I quite appreciate the distinction that he makes between 'distance education' and 'online education'. He argues, and this is highly simplified, that proponents, developers, and scholars of 'online education' should spend a significant amount of time looking to the history of 'distance education' to inform online education.
Moore has worked in the field of 'distance education' (e.g. correspondence courses, radio-delivered education, etc.) since the late 1960s and in various parts of the world including Africa, Canada and the U.K. and worked on projects for the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. He's even been elected, in 2003, into the US Distance Learning Assoc Hall of Fame. In the mid-80s, he founded the American Journal of Distance Education. Basically, he knows some stuff on this front.
However, I take issue with some of his proposed definitions of 'distance education'. Without trying to be overly provocative, I asked Dr. Moore after his presentation if maybe the current definitions of 'distance education' might be a bit ethnocentric (without actually using that term). I'll try to explain further here.
Moore suggested in his keynote that there is good and open opportunity for a scholar, or doctoral student, to write a book, or dissertation outlining the history of 'distance education' in Canada. He shared some of the work and research he's done providing a history of 'distance education' in the U.S. Some of this includes suggestions that it started in the late 1800s, with potentially the University of Chicago leading the way. He argues that we are approaching a "5th generation" of distance education, or may be in it now. The first generation starting in the 1800s, with subsequent generations including radio-delivered education, then tv-delivered education (of which I remember the "Knowledge Network" and "Open Learning Agency" in B.C. - now part of Thompson Rivers University), and moving into online learning hosted on the Internet.
Since hearing Dr. Moore's response to my question, and returning home, I've looked a little deeper. One of the Moore's main points to my inquiry was that "definitions are important". Thus I turned to some of the literature (again) to see how 'distance education' is defined.
In a significant tome published in 2003 (almost 900 pgs), with Moore and Anderson as editors; Moore suggests in the Preface: "Distance education, which encompasses all forms of learning and teaching in which those who learn and those who teach are for all or most of the time in different locations" (p. ix).
In a 1993 book, Distance Education: A Systems View (Moore and Kearsley), the definition is a simple one: "Students and teachers are separated by distance and sometimes by time" (p. 1).
This is similar to the notions that Dr. Moore offered me when I made my comments and asked a few questions. Of which I will get to momentarily... he did suggest though, that "definitions are important".
In the 2003 Preface, Moore explains his passion behind pulling together the significant synthesis of some of the leading research and thought in Distance Education at the time. This passion, he explains, is based in two of his primary motivations. One, that he has seen far too many researchers and/or doctoral students launch into studies of online learning, which do not account for the near century of previous experience, scholarship, and research regarding 'distance education'. That being, education delivered whereby the teacher and student are not face-to-face, and may be spread across time, or geographic distance (e.g. thus utilizing the postal system for communication, or lessons delivered on TV).
As he argues:
New knowledge cannot be created by people who do not know what is already known, yet what characterizes a great deal of what is presented as research in distance education today consists of data that have no connection with what is already known. In this regard, the enthusiasm for new technology is a problem, because what is known about education at a distance—its organization, philosophies, and issues—are not technologically specific.
People whose starting point is the technology of the Internet cut themselves off from knowing what is known about distance education, for obviously the Internet is so new a communications channel that what is known in that context is minimal.
I fully agree with this notion. Especially as someone that accessed a 'correspondence course' in the late 1980s to complete a required course not offered at the small rural highschool that I attended. (Of course, taking a 'correspondence course' also gave you a 'free' block of time to do other things, as it would be worked into the weekly classroom schedule).
Moore continues:
Beginning with the technology leads to the invention of terms like e-learning and asynchronous [not live, or at the same time] learning, terms that make good sense if one knows the broader context of all that came before the new technology but become serious impediments when they encourage potential researchers to confuse the particular technology (i.e., the species) with the genus of distance education itself.
Again, I am in full agreement. My own professional experience in academic institutions and otherwise is there is a breathless realization that an institution must get it's courses ONLINE. The general assumption is grab the course material - learning objectives, units, text, readings, assignments - and chuck them online. And, PRESTO, the same results will be met and the institution will be viewed as "cutting edge" [see earlier posts on 'bullshit'].
Similarly, Moore points out:
Ask a university professor to design a course for teaching distance learners online and fail to explain, train, or in other ways bring that person to study how courses have been successfully designed for individual learners at a distance using textual communications in hard copy, or fail to introduce that person to the research and experience of building learning communities through audio and video teleconferencing, (not to suggest that the online procedures are identical, but there is knowledge that is transferable), and the result will be a chaos of misdirected, naive, costly, and wasteful initiatives—a fair summary of the state of the art at many institutions today.
This was pointed out in 2003 - yet, these exact events are still occurring almost 15 years later. Both in academic institutions and in other organizations and businesses. Much hoopla is garnered upon Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to close the gap in 'learning' - to create 'learning organizations' and encourage 'lifelong learning'...
Again, Moore:
My experience as a consultant to a wide range of institutions, states, national governments, and international agencies over several decades has led me to conclude that an impatience for moving to action without adequate comprehension of previous experience characterizes not only the research but virtually all ... practice in this field.
In providing an overview for the book, Moore explains how many of the common terms utilized these days (e.g. eLearning, online learning, tele-learning, flexible learning, open learning, etc.) are all related to the 'godfather' term: distance education.
These are all different aspects of distance education, defined as “all forms of education in which all or most of the teaching is conducted in a different space than the learning, with the effect that all or most of the communication between teachers and learners is through a communications technology.” Thus distance education is the generic term, and other terms express subordinate concepts.
Here is the essence of the inquiry/commentary and questions I asked - a bit more detailed now, as I've had time to reflect.
Why is it that 'distance education' is considered to start with academic institutions like Queens University in Canada, and University of Chicago in the U.S.? And, starting in the 1800s?
How is it that we might only be in the "5th generation" of 'distance learning'?
If 'distance learning' is considered, by definition, to be comprised of teaching and learning with the 'teacher' and the 'learner' at different places and/or separated by time - and utilizes some form of 'communications technology' - then:
What is a totem pole? (is it not teacher and learning?)
For myself, having grown up on Haida Gwaii off the northwest coast of BC - there are totem poles carved over one hundred years ago, that served various 'teaching and learning' purposes (e.g. mortuary, house pole, etc.). These poles continue to 'teach' and people continue to learn. The carver(s) (e.g. teachers and learners themselves) have long passed - and yet, the learning provided by them, and the poles, and the places in which they stand (e.g. Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site), continue to 'teach'.
The knowledge(s) that informed the creation of those poles, runs faaarrrr back in time. Teaching and learning over eons.
Is a totem pole, not a 'technology'? Not a form of 'communication technology'? A 'teacher'?
What is an oral history? (Are these not teachers and learning spread across time and space and place?)
For example, in the well-known and groundbreaking Supreme Court of Canada courtcase Delgamuukw (1997), the Gitsxan hereditary Chiefs presented their adaawk and the Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chiefs presented their kungax. Chief Justice Lamer, at the time recognized these oral histories as 'evidence' within the western-based court system. It was suggested that these constitute acceptable evidence for claim to Aboriginal rights and title, and must be thought of as Aboriginal common law. The testimonies provided by hereditary leaders, of land and resource use and connection to place and space, was acceptable evidence to the courts of physical occupancy.
This case, built upon many previous Supreme Court and lower court decisions, set the context for the Haida and Taku decisions in 2004, and the 2014 Tsilqot'in decision all in the Supreme Court of Canada, which have fundamentally altered the political landscape within BC.
All of these decisions rely on significant impacts of Indigenous oral histories, stories, and protocols. They also go back in time to legislation and policies such as the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
The roots of these stories, as my Settler ears and mind understand - are deeply rooted in 'teaching' and 'learning', and deeper yet, to 'ways of being' and 'ways of knowing'. Yet, my own cultural heritage emanating from Irish and Welsh histories, is also rooted in oral histories. Is that not one of the roots of 'education'?
What is a glacier? (Are these not also teachers and learning spread across time and space and place?)
Anthropologist Dr. Julie Cruikshank has a fascinating book: Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, & Social Imagination. (UBC Press, 2005).
As the book jacket explains:
Do Glaciers Listen? examines conflicting depictions of glaciers to show how natural and social histories are entangled. During late stages of the Little Ice Age, significant geophysical changes coincided with dramatic social upheaval in the Saint Elias Mountains. European visitors brought conceptions of Nature as sublime, as spiritual, or as a resource for human progress. They saw glaciers as inanimate, subject to empirical investigation and measurement. Aboriginal responses were strikingly different. From their perspectives, glaciers were sentient, animate, and quick to respond to human behaviour. In each case, experiences and ideas surrounding glaciers were incorporated into interpretations of social relations.
Focusing on these contrasting views, Julie Cruikshank demonstrates how local knowledge is produced, rather than "discovered," through such encounters, and how oral histories conjoin social and biophysical processes. She traces how divergent views continue to weave through contemporary debates about protected areas, parks and the new World Heritage site that encompasses the area where Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territory now meet.
Cruikshank explains in her final chapter, which explores the quickly changing terrain and landscapes due to melting glaciers - which includes frozen humans being revealed [Kwäday Dän Ts’ínchi] and all sorts of other materials (e.g. artifacts, ancient furs, etc.).
"Once again, glaciers seem to be playing an active role in negotiating the modern terrain of science, history, and politics in these mountains. Narratives about melting glaciers appear to fall into three interpretive frameworks echoing linked themes that have emerged in this book - environmental change, human encounters, and local knowledge." (p. 248).
"For some local residents... the unexpected appearance of tools emerging from glaciers calls attention to older stories. The porosity of boundaries between earth and ice resonate, for instance, with oral traditions we have heard about glaciers that are sometimes solid, sometimes liquid, sometimes dens for giant animals, and sometimes alive themselves. Oral traditions from the Yukon and Alaska depict advancing and waning glaciers as shape-shifters capable of responding sharply to humans." (p. 248).
There is much more to Cruikshank's book that seem very relevant to this discussion - for example, the imposition of boundaries (e.g. 'borders' such as the Canada/US and BC, Yukon borders, the imposition of the UN World Heritage Site in that area, and so on).
Parallel with this, Simon Schama in his book Landscape and Memory (1995) suggests that "landscape is a work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock... Landscapes are culture before they are nature."
Cruikshank suggests that in the minds of many, the arrival of Kwäday Dän Ts’ínchi the young man frozen into the glacier (approx. 1400 A.D.) and revealed through melting and receding glaciers was the arrival of a teacher. For example, he confirms oral traditions, and authenticates "the antiquity of travel by ancestors". As Cruikshank suggests "Stories now surrounding his appearance, his contribution to science, his ceremonial cremation, and his return to the glacier where he was found, point to practices [e.g. learning?] crucial to maintain balance in a moral world." (p. 250).
What is a goose-scape?
I recently came across the article: No wilderness to plunder: Process thinking reveals Cree land-use via the goose-scape (Sayles, 2015). As explained in the abstract:
Wemindji Cree [Wemindji, James Bay, Quebec] live in a dynamic coastal setting where land rises up having been weighed down during the last glaciation. Rising land causes plant and animal habitats to shift and with them, prime goose hunting locations. As part of their resource management system, Cree cut large forest corridors, dike wetlands, and are experimenting with prescribed burnings to facilitate hunting geese, an important subsistence and cultural resource.
Sayles explains how hunting geese is a critical component to the communities and families. "Men hunt where their grandfathers hunted before them, where their grandfathers taught them. Hunters also manage these areas... so future generations have places to hunt" (p. 299).
Goose-scape alteration
"Hunting connects people with tradition." (p. 299).
The landscape is changing quite rapidly due to isostasy - rebound of ground-level after the sheer weight of continental glaciers receding. "Cree physically alter their environment to slow changes caused by land uplift. When land rises, wetlands drain and take new form. Upland plants shift seaward. Habitats change. Geese relocate. The land is in perpetual motion."
From Sayles, 2015
As Sayles explains, "To fully understand Cree's intent behind these modifications is to see the world through goose eyes." The fundamental basis of the argument of the paper is not about land-rights per se, however is about 'understanding' land-use and potential implications.
Sayles makes some poignant comments that fit the point I raise here. "Euro-Canadian society has a history of developing indigenous peoples' lands without engaging those peoples as equal partners. One reason for this hegemony is a false preception that those lands were unoccupied and unused wilderness, a perception that partly stems from an inability to recognize lands and resources uses that differ from one's own." Sayles argues for a different 'ontological lens' (e.g. recognizing different ways of being).
The article argues from a 'process thinking' perspective which emphasizes "actions, relations, and transformations and contrasts with dominant worldviews, which focus on objects and static states... Process thinking focuses on movement and connections... Process thinking can help us (re)experience the world and our place in it." (p. 298).
"Movement necessitates time as a medium, which is an essential aspect of process thinking."
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Time is also a medium within 'distance education'. As can be: 'place' and 'space'.
'Decolonizing' suggest some .. is "about the process, in both research and performance, of valuing, reclaiming, and foregrounding Indigenous voices and epistemologies" - e.g. 'ways of knowing'). (Swadener and Matua, in Critical and Indigenous Methodologies, 2008).
They also argue that decolonizing research "uncovers the colonizing tendencies language, specifically the English language, which threatens many indigenous languages with the extinction, the centrality of the US academy in the articulation of 'valid' research questions and processes for investigating those questions..." (p. 31).
Swadener and Matua suggest that "decolonizing research recognizes and works within the belief that non-Western knowledge forms are excluded from or marginalized in research paradigms, and therefore non-Western/Indigenous voices and epistemologies are silenced..." And that research needs to be reframed so as to "actively decenter the Western academy as the exclusive locus of authorizing power that defines research agendas."
In 1993, Dr. Moore suggested that a "distance education system consists of all the component processes that make up distance education, including learning, teaching, communication, design, and management, and even such less obvious components as history and institutional philosophy" (p. 5).
What if this was viewed with some of the questions I've raised - learning, teaching, design, communication and management within Indigenous knowledge systems (aka history and 'institutional philosophy')?
What if we looked to Indigenous communities for learning about different ways of knowing and being (e.g. epistemologies and ontologies)? How is it that knowledge(s) essential for living (e.g. living near glaciers and maintaining goose-scapes, ocean currents, moon cycles, etc.) can be passed on for thousands of years? Are these not forms of 'distance education' across time and space? Are these not critical skills for living? - e.g. more important than my distance education course in 1989 on 'Beginner Russian.
What happens when these ocean currents change? Or landscapes change - e.g. disappear underwater due to rising sea levels, or reservoirs due to dams, or land rising above water due to isostasy?
What if we learned from communities how to enact a 'decolonized' approach to teaching and learning, to research - across distance, space and time?
What if we learned to utilize and navigate the online environment informed by decolonized approaches? What might be possible?
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My intent here is certainly not to mount criticism; however, more to move the idea of 'knowledge' to a more open place. In the spirit of Dr. Moore's suggestion that: "New knowledge cannot be created by people who do not know what is already known, yet what characterizes a great deal of what is presented as research in distance education today consists of data that have no connection with what is already known."
Sometimes what is defined as 'known' is simply due to experience, cultural blinders, tunnel vision, or deep immersion in one way or another of 'seeing as'.
My own feelings, as a non-Indigenous Settler, is that the field of 'distance education' could do with some significant decolonizing, or at least opening to much expanded viewpoints about what may, or may not, comprise 'distance education' - let alone what might be described as 'education' and whom, or what, might deliver it - and probably more importantly... develop it (e.g. learning, curriculum, etc.)
For example, as a coastal dweller for many of my years, I can tell you the moon delivers much teaching and learning... as does the ocean. Let alone that my understanding is that Dakelh speakers where I currently live in central BC have names for each 'month' based on what the moon brings or affects, be it fish, birds, or other creatures.
"tip of the icebergs": Clichéd metaphors in education
May 24, 2017 David Loewen
'knowledge iceberg' - "...depth beyond the depth."
"... to employ a well-known metaphor, that all we can see is the tip of the iceberg, and that there is depth beyond depth below it." - Michael Gilbert, The Etruscan Net (1968).
The word 'metaphor' has some fun roots. Etymology of the word suggests that it contains two meanings (is that ironic?) - meta- meaning "over, across" and pherein "to carry, bear". Thus it is essentially, the carrying of meaning of one word over to another -
Or... one word (maybe image) carrying meaning across.
The Oxford Dictionary definition suggests the following: "A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable." With this example: ‘when we speak of gene maps and gene mapping, we use a cartographic metaphor’.
Yet, this could also be said for 'mapping' the mind... but then... could it not also be used for mapping the land? Does a map in fact represent the territory? (especially if that territory is a river, or the ocean, or in this day in age, a polar ice cap... these are ever-changing fluid entities.)
As such, a map is like a metaphor for the geographic area in which it endeavors to represent. Like a lawyer 'representing' a client...?
However, what I am pondering here is the somewhat worn cliché of using 'icebergs' and the 'tip of the iceberg' as metaphor for words and concepts, which in fact have much depth beyond the depth - as the 'Knowledge Iceberg' portrays above. In my current research this includes terms/concepts: "Knowledge", "Information", "Education", "Learning", along with culture, curriculum, technology, communication, and others.
The iceberg metaphor is quite common in discussions of 'culture' and its many complexities. (This metaphor also has it's critics).
Culture as iceberg
Similarly, 'Anger' represented as an iceberg metaphor:
Anger iceberg...
Or Violence again women.
Or, one can add in, 'Iceberg of Change'...
With "ignorance" buried deep in the depths... (see earlier posts, and some to come)
Or how about the iceberg of success that seems to be making the rounds on Linked In..
And, mental health in the UK:
And, coming back around to some thoughts of knowledge, and thinking...
Philosopher and poet Jan Zwicky (in Wisdom & Metaphor) suggests that "Metaphor is a species of understanding, a form of seeing-as: it has, we might say, flex. We see, simultaneously, similarities and dissimilarities."
In metaphor we experience a gestalt shift from one distinct intellectual and emotional complex to another "in an instant of time". A metaphor, then, is also a meta-image. It is multiply resonant.
This rings of another Canadian scholar Neil Postman (in his book Amusing ourselves to death, 1985) suggesting that 'resonance' and "through resonance a particular statement in a particular context acquires universal significance".
Yet this seems to go beyond simply phrases and sentences. It seems objects have resonance. Even entire countries, or the idea of a country (e.g. Canada) have resonance. Yet, the idea of a "country" or maybe more a 'nation' is an iceberg-like concept, isn't it?
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Postman continues in discussing metaphors and resonance, suggesting they have "become the map of our imaginative world."
"Every medium of communication has resonance" argues Postman "... for resonance is metaphor writ large...
"...Whatever the original and limited context of its use may have been, a medium has the power to fly far beyond that context into new and unexpected ones".
English writer and professor Robert Macfarlane, in his most recent book Landmarks speaks of the importance of words, and of metaphor.
"Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes grained into our words."
For anyone immersed in, or learning about Indigenous place names, will most certainly recognize resonance in this thought. Macfarlane quotes American geographer Yi Fu Tuan in proposing that "it is precisely what is invisible in the land that makes what is merely empty space to one person, a place to another."
The point I raise here is that of communication - and of Ignorance.
Is not what lies mostly unseen below the surface of any concept, viewed as a metaphoric iceberg, essentially ignorance?
What if I was to propose an iceberg for the concept of Imagination?
Or how about Education?
What terms would fill the many facets of this iceberg, below the surface?
If you and I were having a discussion about 'education' - which facets would we be discussing? Would we know implicitly which facets? Would it be the components of 'education' clearly visible above the surface, or below?
What if we were having a disagreement - would that disagreement be actually based on a common understanding of the concepts up for debate?
To wrap this post up (another metaphor) - what if we take the iceberg metaphor a little further, a little 'deeper', a little more 'upstream'... where do icebergs come from?
Icebergs come from a source of ice. (Yes, complex, I know).
"The Source..."
Thus... if icebergs come from somewhere, can we take that a bit further when we explore metaphoric 'bergs?
Not to mention that icebergs do eventually melt and return to where they originally, originally came from - part of the water cycle.
However, the point of the matter here is that the worn (melting?) iceberg metaphor can be effective in portraying rather complex concepts (often pondered as simple above surface words) - but, do we think these concepts deep enough? And how do we ensure we are talking about the same things - or at least similar facets of the concept, that the word(s) represent - e.g. "culture"?
If 'knowledge' is in fact a complex concept with much 'hidden beneath the surface' - when we speak of knowledge-based economies are we looking far enough below the surface, before we make decisions?
What if "learning" is an iceberg concept?
How do we design for 'learning'? Why that way? Who gets to determine what should be learned? How do we determine that that expected learning, was in fact what occurred?
Whose learning was it? Why was it that learning that was 'taught' or facilitated?
If we are working to design "learning organizations" - what do we design for? Why? Who determines that? Who evaluates that? Who rinses and repeats when necessary?
Tags education, learning, knowledge
#stop_bullshit
"We live in a knowledge society..." suggest pundits and headlines of the day. Or, compare with the shouting and explanations of the "Information Age" we seem to be immersed in.
Yet, like most things, 'knowledge' and 'information' with all their potential benefits (and many varying definitions), also have flip sides; shadow sides one might suggest. Think of the recent great hoopla over 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'... These are often otherwise referred to as Bullshit.
Bullshit, I suggest, is often ignorance pretending to be knowledge. Or worse, ignorance purposely parading as knowledge - with an intention to mislead... to shroud, to bullshit.
In recent times, Bullshit has become a rather accepted term in some public circles. A search of academic, peer-reviewed journals brings up multiple results that include "bullshit" in the title, or within the content of articles. Many of these build upon Princeton University moral philosophy professor Harry Frankfurt's essay/book "On Bullshit" published in 2005 (but originally written in the mid-1980s). Frankfurt looked to develop a definition of Bullshit, especially in relation to Communication suggesting in his opening chapter that he intended to develop "a theoretical understanding of bullshit".
As one review of his essay from the NY Times suggests: "What is bullshit, after all? Mr. Frankfurt points out it is neither fish nor fowl. Those who produce it certainly aren't honest, but neither are they liars, given that the liar and the honest man are linked in their common, if not identical, regard for the truth." Frankfurt pointed out that Bullshit can, in many cases, be more destructive than outright lies.
In further philosophical explorations of Bullshit, Oxford philosopher G.A. Cohen suggests Frankfurt missed a vital component of bullshit; that within academia. He fronts the Oxford English Dictionary definition:
bullshit n. & v. coarse sl.—n. 1. nonsense, rubbish. 2. trivial or insincere talk or writing. —v. intr. (-shitted,-shitting) talk nonsense; bluff. bullshitter n.
Cohen quite hilariously discusses some differences between these two OED definitions, suggesting that Frankfurt "focused on just one flower in the lush garden of bullshit" - that of definition 2. from above.
In definition 2. of the noun “bullshit,” bullshit is constituted as such through being the product of discourse governed by a certain state of mind. In this activity-centered definition of bullshit, the bull, conceptually speaking, wears the trousers: bullshit is bullshit because it was produced by a bullshitter, or, at any rate, by someone who was bullshitting at the time.
Bullshit is, by nature, the product of bullshitting, and bullshitting, by nature, produces bullshit, and that biconditional, so understood that “bullshitting” enjoys semantic primacy, is true of Frankfurt’s view of the matter.
However, Cohen feels that:
Definition 1., by contrast, defines “bullshit” without reference to the bullshit producer’s state of mind. The defect of this bullshit does not derive from its provenance: almost any state of mind can emit nonsense or rubbish, with any old mix of sincerity and its lack. Here the shit wears the trousers, and if there are indeed “bullshitters,” and “bullshittings,” that correspond to the bullshit of definition 1., then they are defined by reference to bullshit.
But it may be the case, as I meant to imply by that “if,” that the words “bullshitting” and “bullshitter” don’t have a stable place on this side of the [explanation] divide. However that may be, definition 1. supplies an output-centered definition of the noun: the character of the process that produces bullshit is immaterial here.
Now bullshit wearing trousers in a garden of bullshit, can make for some chuckles.
Rather than simply say "I don't know" or "we don't know" - organizations and their actors will frequently have countless meetings to pretend that they do know, or might know, or create some sort of document that purports to know... as long as they have more meetings, or more 'terms of reference', or more steering committees, then the march of ignorance can be held at bay (so some believe).
As Andre Spicer, a Professor of Organizational Studies at London University, suggests in a 2013 article in M@n@gement journal "Shooting the shit: The role of bullshit in organisations":
"The production of talk and text – or ‘discourse’ - is central to organisational life. Most of us are now ‘paper pushers’ who spend our days creating, circulating and consuming discourses. One study [in 1995] estimated that office workers whose job is to try to persuade others make up 25% of the US economy. This estimate was recently [in 2013] increased to a whopping 30%... So what exactly do all these discourse jockeys spend their time doing?
The answer is surprisingly mundane: they create Powerpoint presentations, engage in routine discourses in service encounters, chat with colleagues, send emails, sit in meetings, or sit in meetings and send emails to arrange other meetings."
Hugh MacLeod - Gapingvoid. com
Or how about this for a good one/two punch?:
Think of strategy discourse – although it is treated with great reverence, it is often fleeting, interchangeable, relatively meaningless and very ineffective. Similar things can be said about statements of organisational values which often seem to jumble together a whole set of nice sounding generic words like ‘quality’, ‘service’, ‘value’ and so on with little effect. Indeed, being a middle manager often means becoming adept at working with these ephemeral ‘weasel words’.
Spicer suggests that Bullshit is the talk and text which is blathered about with little concern for broadly shared understandings and experiences of reality within a particular social group or organization.
It is tempting to think that bullshit may be caused or created by a few individuals who have ambiguous approaches to the truth. In many settings this may indeed be true. However, organizational bullshit seems to go beyond just a few rogue employees - there appear to be whole organizations that actively encourage circulation and propagation of bullshit. Unfortunately, many of these can often be in the public sector, which may not be surprising if they are not that far separated from politics; one of the most prevalent propogators of bullshit.
Spicer:
"Bullshitting is hard work. It requires the capacity to continually come up with new, over-packed, ambiguous concepts. In fact, the creativity this requires is beyond the abilities of most organisational members. To bullshit, most people need a continued supply of discursive [varying from subject to subject] resources from external sources. Fortunately, there is a whole industry of consultants, gurus and other managerial idea workers who are charged with creating and circulating these discourses. The management ideas industry works through continually feeding out a series of fads and fashions [e.g. bullshit].
These typically are appealing not because they work, but because they are attractively packaged and promoted. This gives potential adopters a stock of ideas and discourses that they can use in their day-to-day acts of bullshit mongering."
In past work I've developed Bullshit Bingo cards - or Bumpf word Bingo cards - to assist in passing time at various organizational meetings (especially about 'big evil dragons'). Here is a version:
Bullshit Bingo Card
One can play the more difficult 'black-out' version, or simplify down to covering a line, or getting an "X" shape on the card.
As Spicer argues, organizations could and should spend some time ensuring they are giving substance to a limited number of ideas, and engaging in a lot more critical inquiry into what certain terms in fact mean, and how they may in fact be implemented. Buzz words often are, or quickly become - bullshit.
The problem with bullshit, as initially pointed out, is that it shrouds the real issues and generally benefits the bullshitter. Is it time to #stop_bullshit?
Ignorant of Ignoring Ignorance? Or, Ignorance of Ignorance?
May 7, 2017 David Loewen
Ignorance is defined as "the state or fact of being ignorant: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness". Similarly, to be ignorant means to have a lack of knowledge, or a lack of comprehension.
To ignore means to refuse to acknowledge. Essentially, these all come from a similar root - to 'gno' is to know. And 'in-' means "the opposite of...". Yet, I'm not sure it's a clean distinction that 'ignorance' is the opposite of knowledge or knowing...
Most assessments of 'ignorance' definitions tend to have negative connotations. However, should they?
My intention with this post is to relate this to interpersonal communication - and oft discussed diagrams of "two-way communication" similar to the one I have illustrated below.
A Sender sends a message - e.g. encodes it through their own 'filters' with words, tone, body language, etc.
That message flows through a communication channel full of noise and interference (literal noise and interpersonal noise, power, cultural, etc.) - represented by squiggly orange and yellow lines through the diagram.
A Receiver receives the message - e.g. decodes it through their 'filters' (similar to above). Then delivers a feedback message, with a combination of words, tone, and body language - through a communication channel also full of noise and interference. The initial Sender, becomes a Receiver, and decodes the message through their filters.
Essentially this means that in one simple exchange:
Sender: "hey, how are you Receiver?"
Goes through two filters before received - These include ears, eyes, and feelings.
Receiver: "Good... had A heck of a weekend!"
Which then goes through two more filters- the now Receiver/ was Sender, and the now Sender/was Receiver - (plus the noise and interference) before being received by initial Sender (left side of diagram).
Some sort of mathematical equation could demonstrate for us how quickly this many 'filters' could skew the intentions and meanings of each message... is there not exponential increases in the potential for ignorance in this equation, with each exchange of messages; each utterance?
It might resemble a cargo ship leaving Vancouver destined for Japan, however if it is 1 degree off in it's navigation, the margin of error grows by the minute. The longer the voyage, the more off course the ship becomes, eventually ending out in Australia...
A few years ago, I opened a post with this diagram (below). A painting I did for a facilitation session for a local organization's board retreat to work through some thorny issues.
based on Sunni Brown "Doodle Revolution"
It's based on a diagram by Sunni Brown in her book The Doodle Revolution: The power to think differently (2014). She has a similar diagram in a 2009 blog post:
Some might argue that some of the most dangerous - yet most opportunity-filled situations would circulate around, and within: what we don't know. Or maybe most dangerously - what we don't know we don't know (it's the purplish pie piece above).
Some might also argue that proportions of 'what we don't know we don't know' and 'what we don't know' could ebb and flow in size and proportion more than spring tides on the north coast, or this spring, in much of Canada with numerous flooding rivers and relentless rains.
I recently came across the Routledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies (2015) at the local university library. There is a 2015 New York Times opinion article mentioning the book: The Case for Teaching Ignorance.
"People tend to think of not knowing as something to be wiped out or overcome, as if ignorance were simply the absence of knowledge. But answers don’t merely resolve questions; they provoke new ones."
The Op-Ed also suggests "Educators should devote time to the relationship between ignorance and creativity and the strategic manufacturing of uncertainty" and that we should spend as much time on 'theories of knowledge' as we do 'theories of ignorance'.
On the front cover of the Routledge book is this pretend graffiti image:
In our current western-based societies, institutions and organizations seem obsessed with "evidence-based" decision making or "evidence-informed" - Yet, what is more important: (1) evidence that falsifies a theory; or (2) evidence that confirms a theory?
This opens a vast array of further questions - e.g. what scale of 'falsifying', or, 'confirming' - such as time, place, context, etc.?
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I've recently completed a doctoral level course "Leadership and Project Management in Distance Education" (my fourth in the program) which is intended to explore "general leadership theory, issues in contemporary education leadership, leadership in distance and distributed education and training and special topics on leadership and project management, as they relate to educational technology, innovation and change."
Moving through the course, I found it critical to explore ignorance, along with scales and classifications of ignorance, especially within 'leadership theories', organizational studies, and most especially 'communication'. As there are few 'organizations', and little 'leadership' without communication. [more to come in future posts]
Most recently, upon completing the course I came across the book Mastering Civility: A manifesto for the workplace by Christine Porath (2016), as well as motivation expert Dan Ariely's most recent book Payoff: The Hidden Logic that shapes our motivations. Curiously enough, on Ariely's website, it explains that "Payoff investigates the true nature of motivation, our partial blindness to the way it works, and how we can bridge this gap."
Is not 'blindness' another way of stating 'ignorance'? (Ignorance hiding within a metaphor? - similar to Brown's "monstrously-large blindspots")
Which leads me back around to an area I spend a lot of time reading about and pondering - communication. And, not 'communication' as in the departments that are formed in organizations a la Communications dept - but interpersonal communications between folks in organizations, institutions, and life...
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Every day we interact with a medley of individuals, utilizing either our voice, or our digital voice (e.g. email, text, Fbook posts, etc.). In a large proportion of these interactions we utilize 'interpretation' to try to decipher 'friend or foe'-type interactions (this is highly simplified, but evolutionarly-planted in our lizard brains).
Fortunately - or unfortunately - many of us, myself included, think we have 'knowledge' of what we are seeing, hearing, feeling within these interactions. However, reality is, much of what is going on, we are ignorant of. For example, we have much ignorance about what is, and may be going on in, for, and with the person across from us. What we tend to be experts at - is telling ourselves stories about what we 'think' might be going on. Worse yet, we act based upon those stories.
There are things that we know we don't know, there are things we don't know we don't know, and there are things we simply don't know. All ignorance.
Not necessarily the absence of knowledge, but simply: Ignorance.
Here is another sketch I did today to represent a simple two-way interpersonal communication exchange.
Sender on left encodes and sends message to Receiver on right - using word choice, inflected with tone and intonation, and animated with body language.
"Hey you, why are you wearing that brown hat?!"
The message flies through the ether wrapped in sender's intentions (both known and unknown - e.g. conscious and sub-conscious). These percolate and bounce through an environment with noise and interference (literal or figurative).
These run head-long into Receivers' filters who uses eyes, ears, and maybe heart (whatever this might mean), plus past experiences, knowledge(s)/ignorance(s), and otherwise - attempting to interpret the meaning of the message, Senders' intentions and meanings. All of this wrapped within both their own intrapersonal (within one) and interpersonal (between two or more) mush.
"What?! you gotta problem with brown hats!?!"
And off the interaction goes...
How do we ensure that we potentially put our ignorances front and centre in interpersonal interactions? For example, asking questions of clarification, active listening, curiosity?
Or how about our own, within ourselves, intrapersonal shenanigans?
Why not use tools such as the Awareness wheel?:
Or, Simon Fraser University (SFU) prof, Gervase Bushe (2010, 2013) proposes a tool called the "Experience Cube" (below). Bushe suggests in a 2013 article (with O'Malley) that research conducted at SFU:
...consistently indicates that about 4 out of 5 conflicts between people in organizations are due to stories they’ve made up about each other. Clear out the mush, understand each other’s experience, and the conflict goes away.
version from Bushe, Clear Leadership, 2010.
Bushe argues that we all have separate observations, thoughts, feelings, and wants within a scenario. The purpose of the cube is to start with making observations (top R), as if we were a camera or recorder capturing the moment. Then observe our thoughts, and keep moving clockwise through the cube, eventually identifying our 'wants'. Then rinse and repeat as necessary.
This is similar to the Awareness Wheel, which starts with neutral observations, then moves through thoughts, feelings, wants, then actions (e.g. 'Do').
In all of these 'Ignorance' and 'Knowledge' dance a slippery dance - within ourselves, and between ourselves. Yet, we may find things operate a little differently if we stop seeing 'ignorance' as a bad thing. We are far more ignorant then we are knowledgeable - personally and societally.
As the Routledge text on Ignorance Studies implores - to understand knowledge, we have to and must, increase our awareness (personally and collectively) of the importance of ignorance.
I intend to explore this further in future posts...
Education as human right, or, Education as business?
December 6, 2015 David Loewen
This summer I began further (formal) studies in a doctor of education program specializing in distance and online education - also taking various other forms and names: e-learning, mobile learning, and in some cases open education. I just recently wrapped up the first course within the program. In the final online synchronous session - e.g. cohort and instructor online at the same time utilizing software for discussion and presentations - our instructor made the comment speaking: "education is a business". I quickly responded in the text chatbox, typing: "education is a human right". In turn, the instructor responded, which sounded to me like a chiding tone, "phhfffa, well David, no, it's a business, whatever you might think..."
Not interested in engaging in a discussion or interaction which resembles trying to heckle a comic on stage - e.g. pondering who holds the power of the mic - I chose to let the comment go... for the time being.
I've since pondered it a little more since and present a bit of that pondering here, as it also relates to some recent pondering on differences (or similarities) between 'equity' and 'equality'.
The basis of my comment stems from the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, of which we approach its 67th Anniversary on Dec. 10.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
The basis of my instructors' comment - I'm not sure.
Speculatively, I can look to dictionary definitions, which suggest that a business is: "the activity of making, buying, or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money". On this point, then, yes, I can agree that there are aspects of education then that might be considered business-like. Tuition, for example, is providing a service in exchange for money. One could also suggest that all of the many employees at an educational institution operate in a business-like atmosphere - e.g. exchanging services for money.
However, part of my one line argument in return was something to the effect that 'educational institutions might be businesses, in some cases - but not 'education' in of itself.'
Added to this, of which I did not put in my commentary, is that to have an effective debate on this topic we would most likely need to come to some sort of agreement on the use of each term "business" & "education". For the sake of discussion here, I'd suggest a venn diagram might serve a bit of purpose, as presented at the top of this post.
Along with education, embedded within the Declaration of Human Rights are the notions of liberty, equality and dignity. Some argue that these are also vital aspects of education - from primary through secondary to post-secondary and beyond. Yet, education, educational institutions, and education systems lie in a constant state of tensions between civic notions of equality and inequality, as well as legal and policy notions - rooted in current social conditions and positions, especially those of diversity and political goals around 'multiculturalism'.
Educational institutions and policy makers often suggest that they are preventing, redressing, or reducing existing inequalities and in turn creating, promoting, and enhancing equal education along with desirable outcomes. Yet, the numbers on these fronts suggest a rather different picture with many minority populations simply not demonstrating the same levels of educational attainment and 'success'.
But it doesn't stop there.
Another key aspect of 'education' is that it is accessible - as in 'equal access'. Unfortunately, when a society becomes stratified with various layers of advantage and disadvantage and hierarchy, the inevitable consequences are that equal access to education starts to ring like a hollow bell - e.g. one without a 'clapper'.
Without equal access there is not equality of opportunity, nor equity.
When some are excluded by lack of knowledge, income, or the ability necessary to participate fully in education processes, they must be able to overcome obstacles to access in order to ensure fairness. In other words, fairness also demands implementation of remedies to redress historic injustices that may have prevented or diminished access in the first place. In the case of Canada, the history of 'Indian Residential Schools' serves as a strong example. In other examples - how about geography? Or, rural versus urban split?
In order to maximize access opportunities experienced by certain marginalized groups, a 'democratic' society often commits some financial resources in order to attempt to level out inequity. Yet, with some irony, this in turn can create temporary inequalities, and, thus, rather than striving for equality among groups of people, maybe we should potentially work towards equitable inequalities that reflect the needs of certain folks.
In 2001, Saskatchewan Education published Our Children, Our Communities, and Our Future Equity in Education: A Policy Framework. In it, is suggested "the concept of equity goes beyond equality of opportunity where everyone is treated the same, to fostering a barrier-free environment where individuals benefit equally. It recognizes that some people require additional and specialized supports in order to achieve equal benefit" (p. 5), and that the measure of equity is in equity of results or outcomes, not equity of opportunity.
This framework suggests: "The scope of equity in education includes and is not limited to: equity in access and benefit; employment; curriculum and instruction materials and practices; assessment and evaluation materials and practices; cross-cultural, intercultural, non-racist, non-sexist education; school culture and environment; student development; leadership development; and organizational development and change."
These are quite the statements - and, yet, don't sound very business-like to me, (unless we're talking some sort of social enterprise).
So, yes, maybe education can be 'business-like' at times - however, I certainly differ in my opinion that 'education is a business' - it's a human right first, and then may operate business-like in some cases. However, last time I checked, not that many businesses were receiving 80 per cent (or so) of their funding base from the Provincial government. This is the approximate funding that the local community college where I live receives in government funding; only approximately 20 per cent of their funding comes from tuition, with much of that coming from International students paying much higher tuition than 'domestic' students.
Maybe some of the continued disparities and inequities in education may stem from the fact that many folks see it as a 'business' and not as a 'human right'? In my experience, too many educational institutions are trying to operate like 'businesses' - administrations are structured hierarchically like businesses, marketing firms are hired to 'brand' the institution like a business, outcomes are evaluated like a business - e.g. ROI, return on investment, and students are considered 'consumers' or 'receptors' - not citizens, nor sovereign beings.
lost & found & lost in language
October 8, 2014 David Loewen
This is an image I used in facilitating a Board retreat recently. A relatively new non-profit organization has been going through some changes and turmoil in its early stages - not necessarily a bad thing, some might even say an essential thing.
The red (Pacman looking thing) indicates: "What we don't know (A heck of a lot)"
The purple sliver: "What we don't know we don't know."
The black: "What we know that's inaccurate."
The green: "What we know we don't know. (e.g. thermonuclear physics)
& the white: "What we know we know. (e.g. how to put our pants on)". *
It's a good reminder, and yet not an entirely accurate representation - as the red could in fact be an endless morphing shape-shifting amoebic blob - black-hole-like. Or the purple, "what we don't know we don't know" - how can that even have boundaries put on it?
It's an analogy really... or a metaphor - with arbitrary boundaries put on it (e.g. circle-shaped) to get across an idea - the idea that for many things, we really don't know shit about shit. (pardon the crass expression)
Yet we do, but we don't. But we do, do-be-doo-be-dooo...
But, how do we?
Say for example, the title of a recently picked up book at a university library (below):
How do we 'manage' ocean environments? Seriously? More so, how do we 'manage' ocean environments in a changing climate?
Can we 'manage' earthquakes, volcanoes, and shifting continental plates... tsunamis, storms, and tides...
As I have commented on previous posts on salmonguy.org the etymology (or roots) of the word 'manage' suggest it comes partially from Latin manus meaning "hands", but also means "strength, power over; armed force". There are also Italian roots through the word maneggiare "to handle," especially "to control a horse."
There are also connections with manual which can mean 'manual labor' as in using one's hands - or manual as in "service book used by a priest," or from Old French manuel "handbook" (also "plow-handle" harkening back to manual labor), from Late Latin manuale "case or cover of a book, handbook," and the noun use of Latin manualis meaning "a concise handbook."
This can be confusing, complex stuff.
As of late I have come across various books discussing metaphor and analogy. Most recently "I is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World" by James Geary. Another is "Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell our Greatest Ideas" by John Pollack.
Prior to that was "Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking" by Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander (fair warning this is a thick book and fascinating exploration, of which I have yet to get entirely through).
Geary in his book suggests that on average we utter about one metaphor for every ten to twenty-five words - or about six metaphors per minute (in spoken language). He uses an illuminating (there's a metaphor) example with weather forecasts, where words such as 'gripped' (e.g. in a heat wave), 'plagued' (e.g. by drought), or phrases like 'hailstones the size of golf balls', etc. There are also endless examples from economics (e.g. 'bull' and 'bear' markets) and other fields.
He suggests "Metaphorical thinking is the way we make sense of the world, and every individual metaphor is a specific instance of this imagination process at work."
Scientists and inventors compare two things: what they know and what they don't know. The only way to find out about the latter is to investigate the ways it might be like the former. And whenever we explore how one thing is like another, we are in the realm of metaphorical thinking...
However, as he also points out, "the paradox of metaphor is that it tells us so much about a person, place, or thing by telling us what the person, place, or thing is not... A metaphor is both detour and destination, a digression that gets to the point."
Pollack in his book provides a definition of 'analogy', suggesting "in broad terms, an analogy is simply a comparison that asserts a parallel - explicit or implicit - between two distinct things, based on the perception of a shared property or relation." He then suggests, metaphorically, that analogies appear in various disguises - metaphors, similes, political slogans, legal arguments, marketing taglines, mathematical formulas, parables, logos, euphemisms, proverbs, fables, and sports cliches - to name a few.
Hofstadter, in a 2001 essay Analogy as the Core of Cognition, prior to writing his book, poses the (metaphorical) thesis that analogy is "the lifeblood, so to speak, of human thinking."
He feels every concept we have is essentially nothing but a tightly packaged bundle of analogies, and that all we do when we think is move "fluidly from concept to concept — in other words, to leap from one analogy-bundle to another" and "that such concept-to-concept leaps are themselves made via analogical connection, to boot."
Hofstadter focuses on our brains and thinking as 'category makers'. Early in our years,
our set of categories is terribly sparse, and each category itself is hardly well-honed. Categories grow sharper and sharper and ever more flexible and subtle as we age, and of course fantastically more numerous. Many of our categories, though by no means all, are named by words or standard phrases shared with other people ... categories that are named by so-called lexical items. The public labels of such categories — the lexical items themselves come in many grades..."
He uses examples such as simple words like chair, clock, cork, etc. plus compound words such as armchair, corkscrew, cannonball, etc. Plus short phrases such as 'out of order', or 'give me a break', or 'rush-hour traffic'. And, longer phrases such as 'damned if you, damned if you don't', 'not in the foreseeable future', and 'handed to him on a silver platter'.
As Hofstadter suggests, these types of lists can go on forever, and yet few people are aware of their vast mental lexicons (e.g. vocabulary or branch of knowledge). As he adroitly suggests:
To be sure, most adults use their vast mental lexicons with great virtuosity, but they have stunningly little explicit awareness of what they are doing.
And this leads me closer to the point of this little ditty on language.
Hofstadter uses the word 'shadow' to make his point, which is: "a concept is a package of analogies." (and even there, 'package' is metaphorical or analogical).
He suggests the word 'shadow' as a good example of "the complexity and subtlety of structure that lurks behind not just some lexical items, but behind every single one." Things 'out there' (objects, situations, whatever) that are labeled by the same lexical item have something, some core, in common he suggests. "Also, whatever it is that those things 'out there' share is shared with the abstract mental structure that lurks behind the label used for them."
Thus, 'shadow' as a noun, which shares subtle differences with the word 'shade'. Cows don't go seeking shadow, they go seek shade. We also refer to a 'rain shadow' as that place on the leeward side of mountains where rain doesn't fall, yet we don't call the area under a tree barren of snow a 'snow shadow'...
Or, how about the athlete that emerges from the 'shadow' of their parent, a previously successful athlete. Or, someone recovering from the 'shadow' of cancer. Or, an entire geographic area say Europe, for example, recovering from the 'shadow' of WW II.
Similarly, with the word 'point' that I put in bold earlier. There is the 'point' of the spear. The 'point' of the matter or getting to the 'point', or what's your 'point'? Or, I 'point' to the mountaintop - don't 'point' it's rude. Or, that period you just saw being a 'point' on a page. Or, how about the goal in hockey counting as a 'point', or, the points in the standings. Or, standing on the 'point' and looking out over the ocean.
A similar stampede of subtlety and complexity could begin by shifting 'point' to 'pointless'... the player held pointless in the game, the pointless blog post, the blunt pointless spear, etc.
Hofstadter suggests to "drive the point home [there it is again] that every lexical item that we possess is a mental category, and hence... every lexical item, when used in speech (whether received or transmitted), constitutes one side of an analogy being made in real time in the speaker’s/listener’s mind."
I'm not a big fan of the '/' in that previous sentence, which sits between speaker's and listener's. Communication is always, at its least, a two-way system composed of - again at the least - a speaker-sender and a receiver-listener, which then becomes a complex system of feedback, interference and environment. The analogy being transmitted can often mean one thing to a sender and another to a receiver, yet Hofstadter's point, speaks to common agreement or understanding in common lexical phrases or words.
Hofstadter again, on 'mental categories':
The triggering of prior mental categories by some kind of input — whether sensory or more abstract — is, I insist, an act of analogy-making. Why is this?
Because whenever a set of incoming stimuli activates one or more mental categories, some amount of slippage must occur (no instance of a category ever being precisely identical to a prior instance). Categories are quintessentially fluid entities; they adapt to a set of incoming stimuli and try to align themselves with it. The process of inexact matching between prior categories and new things being perceived (whether those “things” are physical objects or bite-size events or grand sagas) is analogy-making par excellence. How could anyone deny this?
After all, it is the mental mapping onto each other of two entities — one old and sound asleep in the recesses of long-term memory, the other new and gaily dancing on the mind’s center stage — that in fact differ from each other in a myriad of ways.
This, bringing things back around in a wide loop, is where I seriously question the dominant mental category of "management" in its current plague. It's new gaily dancing mental map may have may be gyrating to the wrong song - e.g. the map may take us to the wrong destination, a dangerous lurking shadowy shady place, with little illumination.
Hofstadter: "Each person, as life progresses, develops a set of high-level concepts that they tend to favor, and their perception is continually seeking to cast the world in terms of those concepts. The perceptual process is thus far from neutral or random, but rather it seeks, whenever possible, to employ high-level concepts that one is used to, that one believes in, that one is comfortable with, that are one’s pet themes.
If the current perception of a situation leads one into a state of cognitive dissonance, then one goes back and searches for a new way to perceive it. Thus the avoidance of mental discomfort — the avoidance of cognitive dissonance — constitutes a powerful internal force that helps to channel the central loop in what amounts to a strongly goal-driven manner."
He coins these 'perceptual attractors' - "long-term mental loci that are zoomed into when situations are encountered." In current language use and Western culture are terms like 'backlog', 'burnout', 'micromanaging' and others. These have become common in our lexicon.
My point, similar to Hofstadter and which he phrases better:
we are prepared to see, and we see easily, things for which our language and culture hand us ready-made labels. When those labels are lacking, even though the phenomena may be all around us, we may quite easily fail to see them at all. The perceptual attractors that we each possess (some coming from without, some coming from within, some on the scale of mere words, some on a much grander scale) are the filters through which we scan and sort reality, and thereby they determine what we perceive on high and low levels.
"Management" in its many current forms is a scourge of the lower levels.
Funnily enough, doing a web search for definitions of management reveals the following examples and uses:
1. the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. e.g. "the management of elk herds."
- the responsibility for and control of a company or similar organization. e.g. "the management of a great metropolitan newspaper."
2. trickery; deceit. e.g. "if there has been any management in the business, it has been concealed from me."
Maybe the first definition is where we all got muddled up? - we assumed that herds of elk are like people, or like groups (herds?) of people - e.g. an organization?
Yet, is an organization organized?
Similar does management suggest managing? As 'to manage', at least suggest some definitions, means "to be in charge; administer, to run".
Hmmm, does 'managing' elk herds mean to make them run? Or do we administer them? Or, them us?
At its roots, to manage suggests 'to handle' - with hand at the root of that and implicit in the word itself 'hand+le'. In French, would that become le hand? (la main)?
Seems that 'management' has become a deeply embedded mental construct and mental category, with potentially dangerous denotation and connotation.
I wonder if it comes from some of our Western agrarian (e.g. farming) roots? Sometimes we can 'manage' potatoes, however sometimes we cannot - as some of my ancestors would suggest in the great Irish potato famines.
Western-based fisheries science, only existing for some little over a hundred years, is deeply laced with words, terms - e.g. mental constructs and categories - straight out of farming: harvest, sustainable yield, pieces (used to refer to actual fish), etc.
Using these terms seems to have given comfort, at least in the minds of some, that we can 'manage' the ocean environment, or salmon populations, or elk herds, or even 'climate' for that fact.
Yet, there is an interesting second definition of 'manage' - a 'lexical item' as Hofstadter suggests - a lexical-complexitor I'd suggest:
2. succeed in surviving or in attaining one's aims, especially against heavy odds; cope.
Thus, when we suggest that we may be "managing" the ocean environment, or salmon, or elk herds, or dodo birds... are we simply just coping? (or them with us?).
Are we simply surviving in attaining one's aim... which is for humans, survival - isn't it? And maybe even against heavy odds?
Are we maybe just "managing in ocean environments in a changing climate"?
Maybe we have meant that all along... that 'to manage' in the midst of global change (environmental, economic, cultural, or otherwise) is, to use an analogy, like parents 'managing' a household of small kids. At times, it feels like mere coping, survival, a foggy hazy environment of day-by-day.
Or, as the image below portrays, the meaning can encompass many domains (another image used in a recent facilitation to represent 'knowledge', especially the power of 'shared knowledge').
* this circle diagram is based on The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently by Sunni Brown.
can there be a known without a knower...?
September 4, 2014 David Loewen
Is it an ironic irony that each new 'truth' proclaimed simply forces reinterpretation of all previous 'truths'? Or, that permanence (generally perceived, not actual) is often essential to expose and illuminate flux and change?
As the rather kooky, yet oft-quoted and sometimes admired, German philosopher Nietzsche suggested in the mid 1800s: "All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth."
[doesn't the PR, marketing, and advertising industry know this well...most especially political parties, especially governing ones and their speech writers and spin machines.]
A currently-living philosopher, Eric Kramer based at the University of Oklahoma suggests:
"there is no meaning without interpretation and there is no interpretation without a perspective. Thus, there is no knowledge without a perspective."
Kramer makes this argument in discussing various 'methods' of interpretation, somewhat focused on literary criticism, yet quite relevant for any sort of interpretation. His specific focus is on the dominant methods of interpretation in current society - that of scientific methods and positivism - e.g. being 'objective'... [just the facts, m'am, just the facts.]
The positivist methods essentially suggest that much of everything (society, nature, individuals, etc.) operate according to general laws - of which science and method can reveal. That everything is verifiable by reliable and valid methods. Comte a philosopher from the early 1800s is largely attributed with the philosophy of positivism, suggesting: "Positivism is a way of understanding based on science"; people don't rely on the faith of god but instead of the science behind humanity.
There are multiple criticisms and deconstructions of the positivist methods - yet much of Western society (and more) still operates under the influence of it - sometimes like a driver after ten shots of whiskey.
Returning to Kramer in the present age, he feels:
"There have been modern attempts to create methods of interpretation that can aid in the positivistic dream to methodically prove the existence of only one world, one interpretation that is legitimate, real, and true and to devalue all others as false, even insane. The effort is to render, once and for all, the one correct - meaning valid and reliable - version..."
'Valid and reliable'... the number of times I have heard this marriage of terms at a meeting of fisheries scientists, for example as the latest in computer modeling and statistical equations are rolled out. The only legitimate, real, and true knowledge of fish comes from fisheries science... "well, the model is kicking out..." the scientists/experts suggest.
At one particular meeting in recent years of fisheries scientists and community members, a dreadful PowerPoint presentation ensued explaining intricacies of 'reliability' and 'validity'. Which sadly, also said, without saying it, "hey you community folks... your knowledge is not reliable nor valid."
There are, I'm sure, countless examples of processes (e.g. Environmental Assessments) or meetings where 'experts' are the one and only 'valid' and 'reliable' sources of data and methods. (or perceived perhaps...)
Kramer suggests:
"An irony is that those who invent methods do not do so methodically, but instead experimentally. The origin of geometry was not given geometrically... Science is not a scientific product, but instead an invention of philosophical reflection."
Where does, for example, fisheries science originate from?
Kramer provides an interesting history of positivistic methods, or science and scientific, hierarchical classifications and taxonomies - going back to Linnaeus in the 1700s, and his view that 'knowledge' consisted as a: "sort of disciplined bookkeeping, a standardized mode of classification."
This 'Linnaeun' view is about a worldview or ideology that revolves around a set of classification principles that promote categorization, order, and organization - all based on preestablished judgements (e.g. what the categories and traits consist of). As Kramer suggests,
"to know what a thing is is not just to know its name, but to name it according to its inherent characteristics. Thus, the name is logical, which is to say that it logically follows from the characteristics that constitute the nature of the thing. Herein lays the referential validity presumed in the indicative name and the credibility of the name-sayer as a knower."
From here evolved the authority of 'references' such as the dictionary, the encyclopedia, the museum - the "institutions of recorded fact (things already done), repositories of language, and culture construed as tradition in the antiquarian sense, not as lifeworld."
Knowledge is all about classification and categories. Order becomes equated with reason and knowledge (as well as reliability and validity), and as Kramer suggests, "This style has great influence via appellation [name or title] on those who categorize, name, and describe." (e.g. the experts).
Yet,
"The institutions that seek firm ground turn out to be only momentary patches maintained through social sanction within a larger field of change. While their conventional authority lasts, such textual institutions enable the privileging of those who conform to them the most."
Sound like the world of post-secondary institutions? Nothing more important than 'referencing' the 'experts' and ensuring that the language, the formats, and the logic follow the classification required. Discipline within the discipline. Shy away from 'innovation' which at its roots means 'bring into the new' - from the Latin root novus, meaning new, and innovare "to renew, restore; to change".
Or, how about other 'institutions' such as various classifications of 'science' - say 'fisheries science' or 'wildlife biology' or various other 'disciplined disciplines'. The question becomes, where did these originate from? What is the apparent 'shoulders of giants' that each discipline is built upon? - layer upon layer upon layer.
Who 'disciplines' these disciplines...? Is it simply the indoctrinated that keep the disciplines disciplined? The experts, the 'authorities' are the discipliners within each discipline?
One of the problems that may arise is that no matter how many layers of bullshit - it's still bullshit. Or, worse yet, if the upper layers give a sense of 'stability' (or reliability and validity), but yet, are built on an original layer of bullshit - one should probably ask whether bullshit makes good foundations...
A central question still relates to the title of this post and relates to the opening illustration - as we 'learn' more, we learn more about what we don't know... and thus we are into the Donald Rumsfeldian cycle, we don't know what we don't know, and so on...
And thus are there knowns without knowers? And if one 'knows', are they not then bias, and thus not 'objective'? How do they know? What makes them a 'knower'?
Bogus quantification
August 28, 2014 David Loewen
"... a very rarely discussed property of data: it is toxic in large quantities - even in moderate quantities... The more frequently you look at the data, the more noise you are disproportionally likely to get."
This little tidbit of wisdom comes from Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the best seller Black Swan: The impact of the highly improbable as well as the more recent Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Highly recommended reading, if not multiple times.
Taleb has some gems: "... our track record in figuring out significant events in politics and economics is not close to zero; it is zero."
I was struck today by an article emanating out of BC Business magazine.
B.C. looks to rehaul post-secondary to meet the needs of LNG
The article opens with this suggestion:
On April 29, Premier Christy Clark unveiled the provincial government’s “Skills for Jobs” blueprint: a multi-year funding strategy that aims to re-engineer the province’s education system, putting more students on a path toward secure employment. By 2017-18, the government projects it will have earmarked 25 per cent of the $1.9 billion it contributes annually to post-secondary institution operating budgets for programs that lead to high-demand occupations. Over the next decade, $3 billion will be redirected to such programs, according to Shirley Bond, B.C.’s minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training.
A higher-level administrator in post-secondary is quoted:
“The bottom line of the government’s plan is that funding for post-secondary institutions will be based on labour market information and workforce targets, and that institutions will be held accountable to achieving results,” says Eric Davis, provost of the University of the Fraser Valley.
Thus, I ask a simple question - 'achieving' what results? Employment of graduates? Employed for how long? What if it's only contract to contract?
Plus, this question arises: haven't post-secondary institutions been held accountable to this point? And if they don't achieve desired results... then what? Cut funding? Does that not result in some other people losing jobs... is that not a net-zero impact?
And, maybe most importantly, what happens if the 'results' that an institution is being held 'accountable' to achieving' - are wrong? Did the predictions we made five years ago get re-visited? Were we accurate five years ago in our predictions - if not, why? Or more importantly, if so, why?
What data will be used be used to achieve what results?
What data will serve as the 'base' of labor market information? Or, the 'workforce targets'? Are those targets that are set now in 2014, or are they moving targets that get re-jigged every year... every six months... every month? Remember Taleb's suggestion... the more frequently you look at the data, the noisier it gets. (Noise and analyzing data aren't good - it's like trying to compose a symphony while the neighbors mow their lawn and have their roof replaced...)
What happens if the apparent multiple Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plants "proposed" for northern BC don't get built? Or the "proposed" pipelines to feed them don't get built? Or, the least talked about issue: the energy demands to change natural gas from gas form to liquid form for shipping? What if the capital to build them decides to place itself somewhere else - Australia, Africa, lower 48? Or, not at all?
Not to get too wrapped in knots about 'what if' questions - however, shouldn't a "re-engineering of the province’s education system" be subject to a bit more discussion, and maybe a bit more broader 'objective' then prognostications about 'labor market demand' and hypothetical labour shortages that are yet to arrive? (many folks, including those hallowed economist-types in major banks are questioning some of the 'labor gap' predictions).
A local MLA in my area, Shirley Bond, the current minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training suggests: “We want to make sure that when students and their families sit down to make decisions, they’ll have access to the best information possible.”
What does this mean? What is the "best information"? Do only government minister's have it? Who determines "best" in show, the ribbon winners - and second-best information? (e.g. "if you're not first, you're last" the great quip from Ricky Bobby of Talledaga Nights...).
I suppose, the leading question I have with these types of initiatives - what if we take a slightly longer view... like fifteen years, about the time my kids will be entering the workforce full-time-ish. Let us say best case scenario for current governing regime: a couple of natural gas pipelines get built, maybe a couple of LNG plants, the energy needs are satisfied, tankers are running LNG to Asia... then what?
Then BC has a glut of, what the article points out are predicted to be a shortage of in a few years: "including boilermakers, welders, pipefitters, and certified construction workers." And the BC education system has been "re-engineered" to achieve this... what about the sociologists, psychologists, business analysts, accountants, and (oh my) the philosophers with their pondering of ethics and morals and all that 'silly liberal education' touchy-feely stuff...?
Or what about the criminologists, early childhood educators, geographers, and otherwise...?
Not that I'm against taking a critical look at our education system... however, re-jigging it to fit some sort of economic (aka. political) prediction... that is cause for concern, especially when there is a real danger for bogus quantification.
Reminds me too much of the 'organizational consultant' that comes into an office and recommends "oh... we need to go open concept here... get rid of the cubicles, drop the walls, collaboration, collaboration, collaboration..." The next day the cubicles start coming down.
Then three years later, the consultant gets called back in and says "oh... we need to get a bit of separation in here, people need a little more autonomy, there needs to be some independence, some separation, that will get production up and profits up..." The next day the cubicles start going back up.
And then, in great Proctor & Gamble wisdom: "rinse and repeat if necessary".
Beware of bogus quantification. And, even more wary of prognostication based on bogus quantification.
Beginnings...
random sketch from summer 2014
Beginnings can be a complicated and complex thing - or is it things? Or is it - are they - a 'thing'? Are 'beginnings' random or planned?
Writers or others (e.g. historians) may ponder this notion of 'beginning' for entire lifetimes - for example, where does a historian begin a history? (or 'end' it for that fact?)
Where does a story begin? For a person, at birth? or further back? Some might suggest life resembles the knot image used in this site:
Yet 'complicated' and 'complex' are quite different things. Some people often consider these two ideas as closely related, as in 'complex' means an advanced state of complicated. Earlier this summer in some random reading, I came across a good explanation of how separated these concepts are - something to the tune of this: 'a key to a car is simple, a car is complicated, a car in traffic is complex.'
Thus I tend to lean toward 'beginnings' as complex beings - yet just one 'beginning' may simply be complicated. Simply complicated... or, complicatedly simple?
Not to get too far into quoting random scholars... however, Edward Said (pronounced close to Sie-eed), a Palestinian-born literary scholar (among other things) who was based in the US, wrote a rather large book on this idea: Beginnings: Intention and Method. He suggests in his opening chapter:
Every writer knows that the choice of a beginning for what he will write is crucial not only because a work's beginning is, practically speaking, the main entrance to what it offers.
He asks:
Is a beginning the same as an origin? Is the beginning of a given work its real beginning, or is there some other, secret point that more authentically starts the work off?
Said also asks whether an interest in 'beginnings' is just theoretical or does it have practical uses? For him,
The beginning... is the first step in the intentional production of meaning.
Dictionary definitions suggest that 'beginning' as a noun means: "the point in time or space at which something starts." That definition does not satisfy me; yet, there must, for a variety of purposes, still be 'beginnings' - similar to this first post posing as a 'beginning'...
The etymology, or origins, or beginnings of the word 'beginning' are fuzzy. Some histories (Online Etymology Dictionary) suggest relations to an old Germanic word ginnan and word forming element be-. Ginnan, which has varied meanings related to "to open" and be- with a wide range of meanings.
In Old English be- means "on all sides". There are also suggestions of links to second syllable of Greek amphi, Latin ambi originally meaning "about". Ambi- also means "around, round about," and has deeper roots or origins (e.g. beginnings) related to Sanskrit abhitah "on both sides," abhi "toward, to;" and further to Proto-Indo-European roots plural of *ant-bhi "from both sides".
Yet be- can also mean "thoroughly; completely" as in 'behead'.
This leaves some complications in defining the word. Is 'beginning' a 'thorough opening' or is it opening from all sides or, an opening from 'all sides'...? (kind of reminds me of the Eastern koan suggesting we ponder the sound of one hand clapping...).
Said suggests:
...the notion of beginnings itself is practically tied up in a whole complex of relations. Thus between the word beginning and the word origin lies a constantly changing system of meanings, most of them ... making first one then the other word convey greater priority, importance, explanatory power.
He uses an example such as "the beginning of consciousness" as an example of a particular issue of importance and complexity.
I can relate to his struggles with 'beginnings'. Said writes that earlier in his professional and academic life he asked himself questions such as: (1) After what training does one begin to write? (2) With what subject in mind does one begin to write? (3) What is the point of departure for writing - a new direction or one continuing from old ones?
What is it for you?
In his Preface, Said:
Beginning is not only a kind of action; it is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness... For any writer to begin is to embark upon something connected to a designated point of departure. Even when it is repressed, the beginning is always a first step from which something follows.
Beginning, or starting out, or the point of departure for this website and this particular blog, appears to be this post. Yet, ironically in a twist of chronology, blogs place first posts last and last posts first... Thus, this post probably becomes more a significant 'beginning', or point of departure, to myself the writer, then to you the reader.
Yet, it is not a beginning necessarily - yet, it is. Maybe it's more of a thorough 'opening' from 'all sides' arising from the obscure origins, or beginnings, of the word beginning.
It is a beginning though; a 'beginning' to motivate more writing, more searching, more research, more pondering...
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Posts Tagged ‘Jewish involvement in the development of communism’
An admission of the Batthyany-Thyssens’ guilt – served through a revolving door
Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
UND WAS HAT DAS MIT MIR ZU TUN? or ‘What’s That To Do With Me?’ may or may not have literary merit. As far as I am concerned, the point is irrelevant. Sacha Batthyany is, in my considered opinion and by way of fair comment, an arrogant, self-obsessed, duplicitous, redundant Hungarian aristocrat, whose small book struggles to qualify as non-fiction, while his conflict of interest becomes ever more obvious.
I would have to admit to not feeling particularly charitable towards Sacha Batthyany as the result of his criticism of the accuracy of my writing, which he claims to have been the inspiration for his book. It is however noticeable that while I reveal my sources of information, he fails to do so, apart from making much of his reliance on both his grandmother’s diaries (which he mysteriously plans to destroy; after he has revealed their edited contents) and the diaries of one of his family’s Jewish victims.
But as well as admitting to owing Sacha Batthyany a debt of gratitude for confirming that the Rechnitz massacre did indeed take place and that his ‘Aunt’ Margit Batthyany (nee Thyssen-Bornemisza) was indeed involved, I do have to admit to his skill in achieving another, quite remarkable objective. By means of literary alchemy and without any formal qualifications (apart from a diploma in journalism) or reliance on academic research, Sacha Batthyany has turned his rigors of guilt into a burden of condemnation and vilification, that could well result in large sales, behind which he and many like him can hide their aforementioned guilt without the need to any longer rely on the somewhat tired excuse for their forefathers’ crimes as having only been the result of ‘obeying orders’.
Sacha Batthyany also manages to hide what comes close to being displays of anti-Semitism behind his stance on what he claims to be a Jewish involvement in the development of communism. His virulent anti-communism and spectacular demonization of Josef Stalin will find a sympathetic ear amongst those, including many English and Americans, who will agree that Stalin’s crimes against humanity were so much worse than those of Adolf Hitler. But his main bone of contention with the communists appears to be an insistence that they were responsible for the loss of the land, power and glory of the Batthyany family; forgetting to remind his readers that in the case of Rechnitz Castle (nee Batthyany Castle), they had in fact lost the same along with five thousand acres of land to more financially potent owners (and ultimately the Thyssens) well before 1906.
Sacha Batthyany’s coverage of the Rechnitz massacre in 1945 only forms a small part of his book; almost by way of a prologue. He favours the Austrian authorities’ version of events and repeats the familiar claim that the Jews were only killed to prevent the spread of typhoid, and in direct response to a telephone call received at Rechnitz castle from a higher order. He casts doubt over the presence of ‘Aunt’ Margit’s husband, Ivan Batthyany, on the fateful night. He also denies all the evidence given to him by the late Josef Hotwagner, the town’s historian. He repudiates our evidence, ignores the published results of the Russian investigation and accuses the people of Rechnitz of looting the castle rather than accepting the evidence that they were attempting to extinguish the blaze that the fleeing German soldiers had been responsible for starting in order to prevent the building’s use by the invading Red Army (part of the Nero Decree, the local implementation of which would have been the much more likely overall reason for said ‘telephone call’).
This same derogatory attitude towards the local residents of Rechnitz had also been voiced by Christine Batthyany back in 2007 in answer to questioning by the Jewish Chronicle. She denied any complicity in the massacre on the part of Margit Batthyany-Thyssen and claimed that conflicting reports had been ‘spread by resentful villagers’. In light of the fact that prior to the 20th century, the town and the surrounding estate had been a fiefdom, ruled over by the Batthyanys, who were to become, like the Thyssens, Nazi collaborators, it is perhaps understandable that some of the villagers might have lacked a relationship rich in warmth and brotherly love; though Sacha insists that the town’s people were ‘embarrassingly’ deferential to him.
Sacha Batthyany completes his coverage of the Rechnitz massacre with an unsupported claim that he was ‘certain’ that ‘Aunt’ Margit ‘had not been shooting…… She did not kill Jews, as the papers were writing. There is no evidence. There are no witnesses…’. Though of course he can’t be certain. I never claimed that she had personally shot any Jews but, as witnesses had reported her apparent pleasure in watching Jewish forced labourers, who had been kept in the cellars of the castle, being beaten and killed, and as she was trained in the use of fire-arms, it seemed highly likely.
So, having appeased the families’ (both Thyssen and Batthyany) conscience concerning the Rechnitz massacre, but displayed little in the way of apologetic concern for the deaths of one hundred and eighty Jews, or the fact that his branch of the family continued for many years to rely on the profits of the German war machine via ‘Aunt’ Margit, Sacha Batthyany then moved on to address his family’s other crimes against humanity in support of his self-obsessive search for absolution. He should perhaps be reminded that as a result of his great-aunt’s financial support and granting of a safehaven for Sacha’s branch of the family, Margit’s brother Heini Thyssen was of the opinion that they were little more than a bunch of ineffectual scroungers. This somewhat extreme opinion was possibly understandable if, as Heini claimed, one appreciates the fact that Margit’s husband ‘Ivy’ displayed his socially superior attitude towards the Thyssens by having an affair with Heini Thyssen’s first wife, Princess Theresa zu Lippe Bisterfeld Weissenfeld.
Finally, I was somewhat surprised that the beleaguered UBS bank, who admittedly need all the good press they can get, invested sponsorship in this book; as did an ominous Swiss entity called the Goethe Foundation. So far, none of the Thyssens or the Batthyanys (and in particular those branches of the family who did not succumb to a convenient dependency on Thyssen finance) have seen fit to make any statement concerning ‘What’s That To Do With Me?’; particularly in the form of thanking Sacha Batthyany for his presumably much appreciated reassurance concerning the Rechnitz massacre. We await further developments in this direction with interest.
Saint Sacha, replacing the conscience of the guilty with the suffering of the innocent (photo copyright: Maurice Haas)
Tags: Absolution, Adolf Hitler, anti-communism, anti-Semitism, apologetic concern, Austrian authorities, Batthyany Castle, Batthyany family, burden, Christine Batthyany, condemnation, conflict of interest, crimes against humanity, demonization of Josef Stalin, diaries, diploma in journalism, fiefdom, fire-arms, forefathers' crimes, German soldiers, German war machine, Goethe Foundation, grandmother, guilt, Heini Thyssen, Hungarian aristocrat, Ivan Batthyany, Jewish Chronicle, Jewish forced labourers, Jewish involvement in the development of communism, Jewish victims, Josef Hotwagner, large sales, literary alchemy, looting, Margit Batthyany-Thyssen, Nazi collaborators, Nero Decree, non-fiction, obeying orders, people of Rechnitz, Princess Theresa zu Lippe Bisterfeld Weissenfeld, Rechnitz Castle, Rechnitz Massacre, Red Army, rigors of guilt, Sacha Batthyany, safehaven, sources of information, telephone call, Thyssen, typhoid, UBS Bank, Und was hat das mit mir zu tun, vilification, What's That To Do With Me
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Delightful Goa Tour
Home ›Tour Packages ›Delightful Goa Tour
Destination Covered Goa City
On reaching Goa airport, meet our IHPL representative who assists while you take a transfer to the resort. On completing the check-in formalities, take some rest for the day. In the evening, you can go to enjoy a stroll around the beach or indulge in your favorite beach activity. Stay overnight at the hotel.
Day 2: North Goa
This morning, you have your breakfast and then start driving towards North Goa. North Goa is dotted with some of the most beautiful beaches of Goa. Dona Paula, Calangute, Baga and Miramar Beach are popular beaches of North Goa. North Goa is home to a number of tourist attractions like Fort Aguada, Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral.
Spend the day sightseeing around North Goa. You can begin with a visit to "Cidade de Goa", the original name given to the ‘city of Goa’ which was established long back and now it is called "Old Goa". Pay homage at the Basilica Bom Jesus, which is dedicated to Infant Jesus. The church has the sacred remains of St Francis Xavier. Also, visit other churches of North Goa including St Cajetan, St Francis of Assisi, Se Cathedral and Church of St. Monica. All the churches feature a unique architectural style which speaks much about the heritage and craftsmanship of those times.
Visit the Museum of Christian Art, which is one of its kind museum in Asia. The museum is best known to house a collection of items like gold and precious stones and Rosary's. You can also visit Archeological Museum.
Later, travel to “Solar Souto Maior”, which is an aristocratic mansion which dates back to the year 1585. The mansion houses a treasure of artifacts.
Return to Panjim, the capital of Goa and as you drive through the city enjoy viewing its unique colonial architecture. Walk through the city and flip back the pages of the Portuguese days. Do visit the bustling markets of Goa and shop for gifts and souvenirs. Enjoy your lunch at Panjim.
Post lunch, head to Baga Beach, which is one the most popular, happening and beautiful beaches of Goa. Enjoy water sports and then you can go for some shopping at the Tibetan market.
Stay overnight at the hotel.
Day 3: South Goa
After having your breakfast, head towards South Goa. Today, you will be sightseeing at major attractions of South Goa including Colva Beach, Mangeshi Temple, Santa Durga Temple and some more attractions. Begin with a visit to Margao, the capital of Salcette taluka and headquarters of the South Goa district.
Visit the historical “Largo de Igreja”, the Church square of Margao, which once used to be its colonial quarter. The church square is dotted with beautiful old buildings on one side and the beautiful Church of the Holy Spirit on the other. The Church of the Holy Spirit is one of the most grant churches of Goa, which was built back in the year 1564. The church is one of the finest examples of Indian Baroque style of architecture.
Later proceed to “Ancestral Goa”, which is a re-creation of Goan rural life. The village has number of artifact centers, art galleries and open air museums. There is a laterite sculpture of Saint Mirabai in the village, which is one of the longest laterite sculptures in India. The star attraction of the region is the “big foot”, which is a large foot print which was discovered on a rock while excavating the site.
Now it’s time to visit the grand house- Menezes Braganza house, in Chandor. This palatial structure was built back in the 17th century. The house has now been divided into two separate houses, with a common entrance. The east wing is occupied by the Pereira-Braganza family, which has a small chapel with relics of St. Francis Xavier. It also has artifacts, collected by the family over a number of years. The house also has a large ballroom and a Salon. Tiles from Portugal, antique chandeliers from Europe and beautifully carved, ornate rosewood furniture adds to the beauty of the house. A few things which give a distinct look to the house include a pair of high-backed chairs, which has the family crest, which was given to the Pereira-Braganza family by King Dom Luis of Portugal. Most of the furniture items set in the house date back to the 18th century and have been prepared using local seeso (martel wood) and lacquered with mother of pearl by craftsmen from Curtorim village. The house also has many items coming from antique aficionados.
The west wing of the house belongs to the Menezes Braganza family. The house not only features exquisite furniture and Chinese porcelain from Macau, but also a collection of family portraits, which date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a library which is believed to be the first private library of Goa. The library has a collection of 5,000 leather bound books which were personally collected by Luis de Menezes Braganza (1878-1938), a reputed journalist, well-known for playing a key role in Goa’s independence movement.
After the long sightseeing tour of South Goa, head back to the hotel. Stay overnight at the hotel.
This is the last day of the Goa tour. Munch some delicious breakfast and then check out of the hotel. Start driving towards the airport and on reaching, board your flight to home. The tour ends here.
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A Myth Of Epic Proportions
What is a Caucasian? There's no such thing.
Christoph Meiners
Caucasians are a mythical race of people invented by German philosopher and 'historian' Christoph Meiners.
We have all been told, or have all assumed, that there was some historical significance to the term 'Caucasian race'…but there is none.
Meiners is considered an early practioner of scientific racism. A pioneer in that lofty profession of categorizing and demeaning different groups of people around the world while conveniently placing white people at the top of a supposed hierarchy.
It's called scientific racism but it's a little light on the scientific side. Try to find the science:
"The Caucasian race” was coined by the German philosopher Christoph Meiners in his 'The Outline of History of Mankind' (1785). In Meiners’ unique racial classification, there were only two racial divisions (Racen): Caucasians ('white and beautiful') and Mongolians ('brown and ugly')."
He considered Caucasians to be more physically attractive than Mongolians, notably because they had paler skin; Caucasians were also more sensitive and more morally virtuous than Mongolians. Later he would make similar distinctions within the Caucasian group, concluding that the Germans were the most attractive and virtuous people on earth. (Meiners just happened to be German). The name "Caucasian" derived from the Southern Caucasus region (or what is now the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia), because he considered the people of this region to be the most physically attractive.
(Meiners also claimed the Negro felt less pain than any other race and lacked in emotions. Meiners wrote that the Negro had thick nerves and thus was not sensitive like the other races, he went as far to say that the Negro has “no human, barely any animal feeling” he described a story where a Negro was condemned to death by being burned alive, half way through the burning the Negro asked to smoke a pipe and smoked it like nothing was happening while he continued to be burned alive.)
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Meiners' term was given wider circulation in the 1790s by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German professor of medicine and member of the British Royal Society, who is considered one of the founders of the discipline of anthropology.
He noted: "Caucasian variety—I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (original members) of mankind."1
Blumenbach also held to the "degenerative hypothesis" of racial origins. Blumenbach claimed that Adam and Eve were Caucasian (Georgian) inhabitants of Asia, and that other races came about by degeneration from environmental factors such as the sun and poor diet.
Georgian men in their traditional dress
Now, we are told that race is only a social construct and then we are told 'it's better not to bring up race'. So the construct basically remains. Racism is built into the walls of the social structure in which we live or rather it is the walls themselves.
Why after over 200 years has this never been brought to light (in the mainstream) and clarified? Why not expose and drop the use of the term 'Caucasian?'
Now imagine if black people tried to name themselves. It would be the subject of mainstream debate, historical scrutiny, academic investigation, critique and derision. Imagine if our chosen name was based on, "we are really good looking and other races are really ugly."
Why has the origin of 'Caucasian' never been discussed?
Tiblisi, Georgia, Caucasus Region
The reason is because there is a cultural war going on. That's what racism is. It's people saying 'our culture is better than yours'.
We wonder why, although nothing is ever spelled out explicitly, our children always end up picking up the white dolls in experiments - no matter what year it is, 1959, 1999, or 2009.
"Our culture is better than yours" is built into most Western institutions, just as it's built into the definition of "Caucasian". It's also unsustainable. Many spiritual cultures from ancient times expressed the fact that all human beings are interconnected parts of a whole. What hurts one, hurts all; what benefits one benefits all. Beauty manifests in creation in many different ways, so to establish a 'scientific' hierarchy based on what is 'attractive' and what is 'ugly' is...well...interesting.
We may not know or fully understand what would make Meiners and scores of generations following him think this is an acceptable way to view the world, but we will never understand by anything by ignoring it.
1.(Blumenbach, De generis humani varietate nativa (3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quoted e.g. in Arthur Keith, '"Blumenbach's Centenary", Man (journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland), v.40, p.82-85 (1940)).
Published by Alan Dixon at 9:53 PM
Labels: Caucasian, Christoph Meiners, Johann Blumenbach
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The Priests We Seek Are Already Working Among Us
Church Reform, Writings
Janine Denomme was deeply respected in her church and her community in Chicago. For years, she served her local parish as a lay preacher, church musician, parish council member, spiritual director and religion teacher. She held a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, taught at a number of Catholic colleges, and, later, was the director of youth programs at a Chicago gay and lesbian center. She was an out lesbian in a loving, committed relationship.
Mercy Sr. Margaret McBride has more than 34 years of experience in health care management. Most recently, she served as vice president of mission integration at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a prominent Catholic hospital in Phoenix, founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1895. McBride was the highest-ranking Mercy sister on the staff, and a member of the hospital’s ethics committee.
Denomme had a lifelong struggle with the church that she loved and her belief that God was calling her to the priesthood. After years of discernment, Denomme decided to pursue ordination in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests community. In April 2009, while preparing to be ordained, Denomme, at the age of 45, learned that she had terminal colorectal cancer. She battled the disease with extraordinary grace, and, as a final act of ministry, kept a powerful journal recounting her illness, treatment, and movement toward death. She was ordained in April 2010. With only a few weeks to live, her dying wish was to have her funeral Mass held at St. Gertrude, the parish she loved and served for years.
McBride was considered the moral conscience of St. Joseph’s. As her colleague Dr. John Garvie wrote, she worked “tirelessly and selflessly as the living example and champion of compassionate, appropriate care for the sick and dying. … She always made sure we understood that we’re here to help the less fortunate.” In late 2009, McBride and the ethics committee were faced with an extraordinary moral dilemma. A 27-year-old mother of four children was in deteriorating condition with a pulmonary disorder. She was 11 weeks pregnant, and doctors concluded that she would likely die if she carried her pregnancy to term. After study and deliberation, McBride and the ethics committee gave their consent for the pregnancy to be terminated in order to save the life of the mother.
During the second week of May 2010, Denomme was denied a Catholic funeral Mass in her home parish by the Chicago archdiocese, and the bishop of Phoenix said that McBride had incurred automatic excommunication. A week later, Denomme passed away at her home surrounded by loved ones, forced to have her final liturgy in a neighboring Methodist church. McBride was reassigned to another part of the hospital “to focus on a number of new strategic initiatives.”
While the institutional church maintains a system that supports abuses of power and protects abusers of people, true ministers like Denomme and McBride are denied the opportunity to participate in the sacramental life that they themselves incarnated each day in their work. Both were cruelly banished from the church that they served with exceptional devotion, integrity and love. Their banishment is further proof that the institutional church is cutting itself off from the life-giving, authentic church that continues to flourish inside and outside of its walls.
Women like Denomme and McBride are too intelligent and faithful to the Gospel to believe that these condemnations have separated them from the love of God. The real losers here are the members of the institutional church, who have denied themselves the blessing of being in communion with these women. Because women like them are exactly the kind of spiritual leaders that those living in 21st century need for moral guidance and religious inspiration.
McBride was the moral center of a hospital, teaching not only compassionate care, but guiding people through the toughest ethical decisions that all of us, regardless of religious commitment, must face eventually. Denomme was a model of courage and goodness to countless people. She reached out to young gay, lesbian and transgendered people who otherwise might have been forced into homelessness or turned to suicide. And, in her death, she left behind a series of spiritual reflections on the CaringBridge.org Web site that will be a source of strength and comfort to all of us who struggle with illness.
Women like Denomme and McBride exemplify the kind of spiritual leadership that both older and newer generations of seekers crave. Even if Denomme hadn’t become a Roman Catholic Womanpriest and McBride weren’t a Sister of Mercy, they would still have been fully answering God’s calling and would have been no less ministers of word and sacrament.
My greatest comfort is that Denomme and McBride did not work in a vacuum. They are only two of the countless women and men who are doing the work of justice and compassion throughout our world. While the institutional church crumbles under its own weight of faithless, desperate acts of self-preservation, these women and men are modeling the work to which God calls us, by serving in hospitals, prisons, shelters, schools, community centers and anywhere else God seeks to be made present.
These servant leaders are the keys to the future of the church. Free from the trappings of clericalism, these women and men will guide new generations in understanding what it means to bring about the very life of God in a broken world. This is spiritual leadership that will truly speak to newer generations of people, who are less compelled by parish structures and traditional religious devotions.
New generations will need much more from religious leadership than dispensers of sacraments. They will need people who are incarnating sacramental life. Those whose transformative actions will challenge our moral convictions, and whose healing, justice-seeking work will guide us in making meaning in an increasingly empty, violent world. Older generations have been hungering for this kind of leadership for a long time. Together we need to realize that the priests we seek are already working among us.
The lives of Denomme and McBride signal the need for progressive Catholics to truly broaden their understanding of the priesthood. Though the hierarchy is often blamed for clericalism, laypeople are often trapped in this narrow vision of the servant of God, too. Our eyes have been forced open to see the moral decay and deceit behind a large part of the clerical structure, and much energy is being spent in calling the institutional church’s leadership to accountability and transparency. But we must open our eyes even wider now, and see who our real priests are. We need to give our energy to supporting these women and men, and to honor fully this church that the institutional church is leaving behind.
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Love Off the Cuff
As I mentioned in the other day’s “Next Week in Tickets” post, the weekend of Independent Film Festival Boston is the best time for me to try and see a number of Asian films that will likely be pushed off screens by a big Marvel movie next week, so I try and cram them in where possible. In this case, that means the 10:15am show on Saturday morning, but the new Pang Ho-cheung movie, and a sequel to two I liked at that, means you find a way.
I do have a few questions after watching it, though. Looking at my Love in the Buff review from 2012, I noted a ten-year age difference there, while they are described as 36 and 40 in this movie. It’s believable enough, in that Shawn Yue has filled out a bit in the last few years, but I wonder if this is a deliberate change or just a matter of different translations. I’m also kind of curious about how specific some of the pop-culture references are, especially when characters are name-dropping during a song at the end. How specifically Hong Kong is it?
Chun Kiu gau Chi Ming (Love Off the Cuff)
Seen 29 April 2017 in AMC Boston Common #10 (first-run, DCP)
Pang Ho-cheung’s Love Off the Cuff looks like a period horror movie as it opens (especially for those of us that can’t read the Chinese opening titles), and this bit goes on long enough that a viewer might start to wonder whether the theater had ingested the wrong DCP into their projection system. It says something that, despite having paid for a romantic comedy, I’d have happily watched this monster movie; no matter what he’s doing, Pang has a sense of fun even when he’s playing something straight. That’s what makes this one pretty good when it does finally deliver the expected; Pang and his cast can make this silly while still finding something real to consider in the characters’ relationship.
For those who came in late, Jimmy Cheung (Shawn Yue Man-lok) and Cherie Yu (Miriam Yeung Chin-wah) met eight years ago when their smoke breaks coincided and started going out even though she’s a few years older than him; they split but eventually reconnected when both were transferred from Hong Kong to Beijing. Together ever since, they’re now back home, and things have been going well, although they’ve maybe fallen into a rut, despite the public indecency charges they are hit with early on. For better or worse, a couple visitors could throw things upside down: Cherie’s father (Paul Chun Pui) has arrived with his fiance Apple (Wang Xiaochen), who may be younger than the daughter, while Jimmy’s “Godmother” Flora (Jiang Meng-jie) is also younger, with that being a joke nickname given to her while they were kids in Toronto, and she’s got a big favor to ask.
This is Pang’s third visit with the couple he, Shawn Yue, and Miriam Yeung first introduced in Love in a Puff, and it’s impressive just for being the third entry in a romantic comedy series that in many ways has the same basic conflict without wrecking what made it work in the first place. Part of this is that, for all that both threads tend to remind Cherie that older men tend to seek younger women rather than vice versa, there’s not a lot of overt talk of this - it ties in with a lot of Cherie’s other fears and Jimmy’s temptations, but it’s also something that, by dint of them getting this far, it’s mostly accepted.
Full review on EFC.
Labels: China, comedy, drama, Hong Kong, romance
BUFF 2017.04: Fraud, Neighborhood Food Drive, Most...
Moments in UK history: Tommy’s Honour & Their Fine...
BUFF 2017.03: Buster’s Mal Heart & 68 Kill
The Zookeeper’s Wife
Made in Japan, Remade Elsewhere: Ghost in the Shel...
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Gigabit Ethernet Passive PoE Midspans Added to L-com Lineup
(Monday, March 26, 2012)
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - 3/26/12 - L-com, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of wired and wireless connectivity products, has added two new PoE products for Category 6 gigabit Ethernet lines: a single-port and a four-port model. The new items are IEEE 802.3af compatible, and are available either individually or in kits with 48VDC power supplies at either 48W or 70W.
Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) is the technology that uses ordinary Ethernet cabling to carry power. L-com's new BT-CAT6-P1 and BT-CAT6-P4 models use Gigabit transformers on all four data pairs in contrast to cheaper designs that only use transformers for two pairs. They feature die-cast aluminum housings with integral mounting feet for long-term installations. The metal housing helps reduce EMI interference on the Ethernet lines, while also providing superior grounding via a directly-attached ground lug and terminal.
"As the need for Ethernet connectivity grows, it becomes much more important to provide it for all corners of a building or campus, including places where there are no AC outlets nearby," said Patrick Pesa, Director of Product Management. "PoE is the best solution to this problem, and L-com provides options for Category 5, Category 5e, and now more options for Category 6 cabling."
Detailed datasheets for the single-port and four-port models are available for free download along with 2D engineering drawings on the L-com.com web site. Both products are currently stocked in L-com's Florida distribution center for shipping on the same day as ordered.
Please click here to download a high-resolution version of the first image suitable for print publication.
Please click here to download a high-resolution version of the second image suitable for print publication.
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UN&Climate
UN supports Serbia in responding to climate change
The United Nations has an important role in addressing climate change. The cooperation between Government of Serbia and the UN aims at strengthening the institutional and human resources capacities of Serbia to deal with climate change.
The UN has consistently taken the lead in taking on climate change globally. In 1992, its “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a first step in tackling the problem. Five years later emission reduction targets for industrialized countries were agreed in the Kyoto Protocol, which has already helped stabilize and in some cases reduce emissions in a number of countries.
Serbia ratified the UNFCCC in 2001 and since the ratification considerable efforts have been made in establishing legal, institutional and policy frameworks aimed at fulfilling the commitments resulting from the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.
The severe flooding in May 2014 in Serbia demonstrated the need for more ambitious climate change responses in Serbia. In addition to ongoing flood recovery, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting the country in fulfilling the requirements of the Convention by assisting in the reporting on the implementation of the UNFCCC. The Initial National Communication published in 2010 will be followed by the Second National Communication in 2015 together with the First Biennal Update Report.
UNFCCC Newsroom
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| Keyword | Name » SupCt - CtApp | Docket | Date |
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS,
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP, MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS,
Appellant.
1. Rules of summary judgment are discussed and applied.
2. When a statute is plain and unambiguous, the court must give effect to the intention of the legislature as expressed.
3. Under K.S.A. 68-124, the duty of a township is to keep its roads in "good condition for travel." Where the township neglects, refuses, or fails to comply with the statute's mandate, the board of county commissioners of the county in which the township is located may exercise its discretion to conduct road repairs and charge the township for the project.
4. Where a public official or board is vested with discretion, courts will not interfere to control that discretion in the absence of fraud, bad faith, or gross impropriety on the part of the official or board.
5. The fact that a township has failed to budget sufficient funds to meet the cost of road repair does not prohibit the board of county commissioners of the county in which the township is located from ordering township road repair or maintenance when the board finds the township road is not in good condition for travel. K.S.A. 68-124.
Appeal from Marshall district court; J. D. EULER, judge. Opinion filed December 11, 1998. Affirmed.
Edward F. Wiegers, of Galloway, Wiegers & Heeney, LLP, of Marysville, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.
Keith W. Sprouse, county counselor, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellee.
LOCKETT, J.: County repaired a township road. Township refused to pay County. County filed suit against Township to recover its costs for the road repair. The district court found County had statutory authority to repair the road and assess the cost against Township, granted summary judgment to County, and entered judgment against Township for the amount of the repairs. Township appeals, claiming Board of County Commissioners had no statutory authority to repair or order Township to repair the township road.
On October 10, 1994, seven residents of Lincoln Township, who resided along or near a township road that lies between Lincoln Township and Nemaha County, met with the Board of County Commissioners of Marshall County (Marshall County) to express their concern regarding the safety of the township road. Marshall County contacted the county road supervisor, who opined that the road was not safe for the traveling public, particularly for the school bus and the U.S. mail carrier. Marshall County sent written notification to the Lincoln Township Board of Trustees, advising the trustees that if they did not repair the road within 2 weeks, Marshall County would proceed under K.S.A. 68-124 with reasonable repairs to the township road and charge the expenses to Lincoln Township.
On October 17, 1994, the Lincoln Township Board of Trustees met with Marshall County and informed the commissioners that Lincoln Township did not have sufficient funds to make the needed repairs on the road. Lincoln Township believed the road was in satisfactory condition for travel except when it was wet and muddy, and denied Marshall County's demand to repair the road.
On October 24, 1994, Marshall County delivered rock to the township road. Lincoln Township applied the rock to the road. Marshall County billed Lincoln Township $2,030.25 for the cost of the rock, labor, equipment, and material. The amount was due on or before March 10, 1995. Lincoln Township claimed it was without funds and refused to pay the amount due.
Marshall County filed an action in district court to recover the cost of the project. The district court granted summary judgment to Marshall County against Lincoln Township in the amount of $2,030.25. Lincoln Township appeals, claiming Marshall County had no authority under the circumstances to repair or to order the township to repair the township road.
The resolution of the question presented depends on statutory interpretation. Interpretation of a statute is a question of law, and this court's review is unlimited. Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 263 Kan. 875, 879, 953 P.2d 1027 (1998).
The district judge observed that the answer to the issue depends upon the interpretation of K.S.A. 68-124, which provides in part:
"Where under the laws of the state of Kansas . . . any road or highway that is not a county road has been declared to be a public road or highway, it shall be the duty of the board of highway commissioners of the township in which such road is located to repair, place and keep in condition for travel such roads or highway. If such board of highway commissioners shall neglect, refuse or fail to comply with the provisions of this act, the board of county commissioners of the county may repair and put in good condition for travel such road or highway, and shall charge the expenses therefor to the township in which such road is located."
The district judge noted that although the primary responsibility for the maintenance of township roads in counties that do not operate under the county unit system is placed with the township board, as provided by K.S.A. 68-526 and 68-124, there are certain situations where the board of county commissioners has the statutory authority to intervene. The provisions of K.S.A. 68-124 allow the board of county commissioners to intervene when the township board "shall neglect, refuse or fail" to place and keep the roads in good condition. The district judge observed that if the county commissioners determined the road is not in good condition for travel, the commissioners had statutory authority to put the township road in good condition and charge the expenses to the township.
The district judge noted there was a difference of opinion between Marshall County and Lincoln Township as to whether the road was safe for travel or whether repairs were necessary to put the road in good condition. Lincoln Township had concluded, based on the use of the road, history of maintenance of the road, funds available for repairs, and other factors, that the road, except when wet or muddy, was in good condition for travel. Marshall County, after considering the same factors, disagreed with Lincoln Township and concluded that the road was not safe for public travel and required repair to put it in safe condition for travel when wet or muddy.
The district court observed that Marshall County had relied upon Attorney General Opinion No. 87-22 in determining it had the authority to make repairs to the road and to charge the expenses to Lincoln Township. The Attorney General had issued the opinion on February 5, 1987, at the request of the Marshall County Counselor. Before discussing that opinion, the district judge acknowledged that opinions issued by the Attorney General's office, though not binding on the court, are persuasive. See Moore v. City of Lawrence, 232 Kan. 353, 362, 654 P.2d 445 (1982); Greenwood v. Estes, Savings & Loan Commissioner, 210 Kan. 655, 661, 504 P.2d 206 (1972).
In Opinion No. 87-22, the Attorney General relied upon Stock Farm Co. v. Pottawatomie County, 116 Kan. 315, 226 Pac. 781 (1924), and determined that Marshall County had authority under K.S.A. 68-124 to make repairs to a township road and to charge the township for the expenses incurred if the township board failed to make the necessary repairs to keep the road in good condition for travel. In Stock Farm Co. this court stated:
"Where the township highway commissioners neglect to place and keep in condition a lawfully established township road, that duty may be lawfully performed by order of the board of county commissioners or the county engineer, and the expenses therefor charged against the township as provided in R.S. 68-124, 68-546." 116 Kan. 315, Syl. ¶ 5.
The district judge then noted that K.S.A. 68-124 contains no statement as to what repairs may be made or how the term "good condition for travel" is to be construed or applied. The district judge pointed out that the statute vests the board of county commissioners with the authority to determine whether the township board of highway commissioners has neglected, refused, or failed to repair and place the road in good condition. The district judge concluded that the repairs needed for the road to be in good condition for travel are left to the sound judgment and discretion of the board of county commissioners.
The district judge further noted that in Pratt v. Fall River Township Board, 155 Kan. 442, 445, 125 P.2d 357 (1942), the Kansas Supreme Court, in a mandamus action relating to the repair and maintenance of a township road, stated: "Where a public official or board is vested with discretion courts will not interfere to control that discretion in the absence of fraud, bad faith or gross impropriety on the part of the official. [Citations omitted.]"
The judge then noted that Marshall County, after consideration of the use of the road as a farm-to-market road, mail route, and school bus route, had concluded the road was not always in good condition for travel and needed to be repaired. Marshall County had attempted to obtain the cooperation of Lincoln Township in making the necessary repairs. After Lincoln Township refused to make the necessary repairs, Marshall County, following K.S.A. 68-124, exercised its discretion and made the necessary repairs.
As it did in the district court, Lincoln Township argues on appeal that it did not fail to act; it specifically considered the condition of the road and elected not to repair a road that was safe for public travel except when it was wet or muddy. Lincoln Township asserts that Marshall County made a political decision to repair the road, rather than a decision based on safety considerations. By acting in such a manner, Lincoln Township contends Marshall County unlawfully usurped Lincoln Township's authority and repaired a road the township had determined to be in good condition for travel under normal weather conditions. Lincoln Township also alleges that the district court considered controverted facts regarding the condition of the road and improperly ruled on the motion for summary judgment.
Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The trial court is required to resolve all facts and inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the evidence in favor of the party against whom the ruling is sought. When opposing a motion for summary judgment, an adverse party must come forward with evidence to establish a dispute as to a material fact. In order to preclude summary judgment, the facts subject to the dispute must be material to the conclusive issues in the case. On appeal we apply the same rules, and where we find reasonable minds could differ as to the conclusions drawn from the evidence, summary judgment must be denied. Saliba v. Union Pacific R.R. Co., 264 Kan. 128, 131-32, 955 P.2d 1189 (1998).
After reviewing the record, we find that it is unnecessary to sort through the controverted and uncontroverted facts raised by Lincoln Township to resolve the question of whether the evidence indisputably established that the township road was not always in good condition for travel. The answer is found in affidavits submitted by Lincoln Township to the district court.
Lincoln Township attached three affidavits to its memorandum in opposition to Marshall County's motion for summary judgment: an affidavit by Loren Kent Stowell, treasurer of Lincoln Township; an affidavit by August Barnes, Lincoln Township grader operator; and an affidavit by Donald Van Dorn, trustee of Lincoln Township. All three affidavits stated: "When the road was wet it could be classed as a dirt road and would not be passable for ordinary traffic or school buses." The affidavits by Loren Kent Stowell and Donald Van Dorn stated that the road "was not dangerous and was passable to ordinary traffic at all times except when it was muddy." (Emphasis added.)
Lincoln Township's affidavits admit that the township road was not in good condition for travel when the weather was wet and the road was muddy. Each affidavit explained that alternate passable roads were utilized by the school bus and the mail carrier during wet weather, i.e., alternate routes were necessary because the township road was not in condition for travel during those times. The Lincoln Township affidavits clearly establish that the township road was not always in good condition for travel. In addition, the county road supervisor determined the road was not safe for the traveling public.
When a statute is plain and unambiguous, the court must give effect to the intention of the legislature as expressed. In re Marriage of Killman, 264 Kan. 33, 42-43, 955 P.2d 1228 (1998). Under K.S.A. 68-124, the duty of a township is to keep its roads in "good condition for travel." Where the township neglects, refuses, or fails to comply with the statute's mandate, the board of county commissioners of the county in which the township is located may exercise its discretion, conduct road repairs, and charge the township for the cost of the project. K.S.A. 68-124.
K.S.A. 68-124 is unambiguous. Lincoln Township had a duty to maintain its roads in good condition for travel, and Marshall County had discretion to order necessary repairs when Lincoln Township failed to do so. Marshall County determined that Lincoln Township had failed in its duty to keep the road in good condition for travel when the weather was wet or the road was muddy. Marshall County, as authorized by statute, exercised its discretion and made the determination that under the circumstances the road should be in good condition for travel in wet weather. Consequently, it made necessary repairs to the road and charged the expenses to the township.
Marshall County did not act fraudulently, in bad faith, or with gross impropriety; it clearly acted within the bounds of its discretion in ordering the repair of the road. The district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of Marshall County.
Cash Basis Law
The affidavit of Donald Van Dorn, trustee of Lincoln Township, states that there were not sufficient funds in the township budget to pay for the road repair. Lincoln Township argues that Marshall County cannot create a debt or obligation for Lincoln Township which Lincoln Township could not lawfully create. Lincoln Township asserts that Marshall County's expenditure for the township's road repair was unlawful because the township was prohibited by the Kansas Cash Basis Law, K.S.A. 10-1101 et seq., from expending funds or creating an indebtedness in excess of the amount of funds actually on hand or in excess of the amount it had budgeted.
The district judge observed that in Lincoln Township's response and opposition to Marshall County's motion for summary judgment, Lincoln Township asserted a defense that it did not have sufficient funds to pay for the cost of the repairs for the improvements to the road. That statement was originally made by Loren Stowell, Lincoln Township Treasurer to the board of county commissioners at its October 17, 1994, meeting. The judge found that the cost for the repairs was a major reason for Lincoln Township's refusal to make the repairs.
The judge observed that Lincoln Township is subject to the provisions of the Kansas Cash Basis Law. It then noted that the provisions of K.S.A. 68-124 do not provide that a township's lack of adequate funds to repair a road creates a bar to the authority of the board of county commissioners to proceed with the repairs. The district court observed that lack of funds may, at least temporarily, prevent payment to the county for the repairs to a township road.
The judge noted that there are provisions under the cash basis law by which an indebtedness in excess of funds on hand may be incurred, such as the issuance of bonds, temporary notes, or no fund warrants, as permitted by K.S.A. 10-1116. The judge concluded the fact Lincoln Township did not have adequate cash funds available to make repairs to the road did not justify or excuse it from making arrangements for the repair of the road or attempting to work out some arrangement with Marshall County for payment of the expenses incurred for the repairs.
Whether the cash basis law constitutes a defense against Marshall County's claim requires this court to review the applicable statutes. There are exceptions to the cash basis law. K.S.A. 79-2938 allows expenditures for expenses in excess of a governing body's budget through the use of no-fund warrants. No-fund warrants may be issued where, "because of unforeseen circumstances the revenues of the current budget year for any fund are insufficient to finance the adopted budget of expenditures for such fund for the current budget year." K.S.A. 79-2938. The budget must already include the expenditures before issuance of no-fund warrants may be approved. If the township must spend more than the amount originally budgeted through the use of no-fund warrants, the township must amend its budget pursuant to K.S.A. 79-2929a.
No-fund warrants will not be authorized by the State Board of Tax Appeals except upon a finding of extreme emergency need. K.S.A. 79-5031. "The term 'extreme emergency need' shall include, but not be limited to, amounts required to comply with state or federal requirements in such areas as . . . public health and safety." K.S.A. 79-5030. Clearly, the repair of roads which are not safe for travel is a duty imposed by the State on townships for the purpose of public safety.
Lincoln Township may not use the cash basis law to opt out of complying with statutorily imposed duties. Lincoln Township has not demonstrated to this court that incurring the financial obligation associated with repairing the township road pursuant to K.S.A. 68-124 is unlawful.
ABBOTT, J., dissenting: The trial court granted summary judgment in this case. I believe that to be error. I am also troubled by the fact it appears to me we have imposed a duty concerning unimproved roads in Kansas where no duty previously existed. This may have far-reaching effects, not only on townships but on counties, to improve the many miles of unimproved roads in Kansas, as well as potential tort liability.
First, I believe summary judgment was premature. A real question exists as to whether the Board of County Commissioners of Marshall County (Marshall County) repaired and put the road in good condition for travel. When the record is examined, as we must view it, in the light most favorable to Lincoln Township, Marshall County "dumped" 257 tons of rock on a 1 1/2-mile stretch of road. Marshall County does not appear to have spread the rock. Thus, a question remains as to whether Marshall County improved the road for travel.
My main concern is that there has been no duty in Kansas to make unimproved roads passable during a wet period. Lincoln Township has 18 miles of gravel road and 22 miles of unimproved dirt roads. Statewide, there are over 5,000 miles of unimproved dirt roads. I would not hazard a guess as to how many low-water crossings exist in Kansas. Since statehood, persons using low-water crossings and unimproved dirt roads have been inconvenienced by having to take the "long way" home when the creek rose or the road was muddy. Now we say one political group can make improvements, but order another political group to pay the cost of such improvements if the road becomes unusable when it is muddy.
I recognize that Marshall County relied on the fact that the road was used as a farm-to-market road and was used by school busses and by a rural mail carrier. K.S.A. 68-1701 provides that the board of county commissioners may designate roads used for such purposes and receive federal funds for their improvements. Obviously, Marshall County did not consider this road of sufficient importance as a farm-to-market road, school bus route, and rural mail carrier route to include it under K.S.A. 68-1701, but it relies on those three factors to impose a cost on the Township.
Interestingly enough, this court has held that "[w]hile a county is required to improve a county road, it is not required to surface it with gravel." Neosho County Comm'rs v. Burdick, 120 Kan. 698, Syl. ¶ 1, 244 Pac. 866 (1926). The amount of maintenance on a road has always been discretionary with the county commissioners and should be with the township board. Marshall County has the ability to take over the maintenance of all roads in the county or, under K.S.A. 68-1701, it could take over this specific 1 1/2 miles of roadway if it deems it important enough a farm-to-market road, school bus route, or rural mail carrier route.
When the legislature adopted K.S.A. 68-124, I do not believe that it ever intended to allow a board of county commissioners to cause an unimproved dirt road to be graveled at a township's expense solely because the road succumbs to nature and becomes muddy when it rains.
I am concerned that we may be imposing tort liability on counties and townships for failure to gravel unimproved dirt roads. This is because by allowing an exception to the cash basis law, we are saying muddy roads are unsafe. The cash basis law allows an exception for unsafe emergency situations. Muddy roads are not necessarily dangerous roads. They may be irritating and inconvenient, but they do not create an unsafe emergency situation.
I would emphasize that we are dealing with what appears to be a normal, ordinary, dirt road which gets muddy when it rains. The granting of summary judgment in this case is declaring that as a matter of law, the county commissioners in any county that have a township road system can gravel any township road and force the township to pay for it solely because it gets muddy when it rains.
I would reverse the trial court.
MCFARLAND, C.J., and DAVIS, J., join in the foregoing dissent.
Updated: December 11, 1998; revised: January 15, 1999.
URL: http://kscourts.org/kscases/supct/1998/19981211/80215.htm.
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The origins of yoga are a matter of debate.[44] There is no consensus on its chronology or specific origin other than that yoga developed in ancient India. Suggested origins are the Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1900 BCE)[45] and pre-Vedic Eastern states of India,[46] the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), and the śramaṇa movement.[47] According to Gavin Flood, continuities may exist between those various traditions:
^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 28 June 2012. Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 19 September 2013] pgs. 2 "In its earliest definition, in Pundarīka's eleventh-century Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakratantra, hathayoga is said to bring about the "unchanging moment" (aksaraksana) "through the practice of nāda by forcefully making the breath enter the central channel and through restraining the bindu of the bodhicitta in the vajra of the lotus of wisdom". While the means employed are not specified, the ends, in particular restraining bindu, semen, and making the breath enter the central channel, are similar to those mentioned in the earliest descriptions of the practices of hathayoga, to which I now turn."
The maintenance and promotion of health is achieved through different combination of physical, mental, and social well-being, together sometimes referred to as the "health triangle."[24][25] The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion further stated that health is not just a state, but also "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities."[26] https://www.pinterest.com/buzzingoffer/
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Ascetic practices (tapas), concentration and bodily postures used by Vedic priests to conduct yajna (sacrifice), might have been precursors to yoga.[note 9] Vratya, a group of ascetics mentioned in the Atharvaveda, emphasized on bodily postures which may have evolved into yogic asanas.[59] Early Samhitas also contain references to other group ascetics such as munis, the keśin, and vratyas.[67] Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Brahmanas (texts of the Vedic corpus, c. 1000–800 BCE) and the Atharvaveda.[59][72] Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda suggests the presence of an early contemplative tradition.[note 10]
Similarly, Brahma sutras – the foundational text of the Vedanta school of Hinduism, discusses yoga in its sutra 2.1.3, 2.1.223 and others.[121] Brahma sutras are estimated to have been complete in the surviving form sometime between 450 BCE to 200 CE,[122][123] and its sutras assert that yoga is a means to gain "subtlety of body" and other powers.[121] The Nyaya sutras – the foundational text of the Nyaya school, variously estimated to have been composed between the 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE,[124][125] discusses yoga in sutras 4.2.38–50. This ancient text of the Nyaya school includes a discussion of yogic ethics, dhyana (meditation), samadhi, and among other things remarks that debate and philosophy is a form of yoga.[126][127][128]
The spiritual sense of the word yoga first arises in Epic Sanskrit, in the second half of the 1st millennium BCE, and is associated with the philosophical system presented in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with the chief aim of "uniting" the human spirit with the Divine.[24] The term kriyāyoga has a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the supreme" due to performance of duties in everyday life.[25]
In 2009, the Council of Ulemas, an Islamic body in Indonesia, passed a fatwa banning yoga on the grounds that it contains Hindu elements.[302] These fatwas have, in turn, been criticized by Darul Uloom Deoband, a Deobandi Islamic seminary in India.[303] Similar fatwas banning yoga, for its link to Hinduism, were issued by the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa in Egypt in 2004, and by Islamic clerics in Singapore earlier.[304]
Public health also takes various actions to limit the health disparities between different areas of the country and, in some cases, the continent or world. One issue is the access of individuals and communities to health care in terms of financial, geographical or socio-cultural constraints to accessing and using services.[54] Applications of the public health system include the areas of maternal and child health, health services administration, emergency response, and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases.
Various yogic groups had become prominent in Punjab in the 15th and 16th century, when Sikhism was in its nascent stage. Compositions of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, describe many dialogues he had with Jogis, a Hindu community which practiced yoga. Guru Nanak rejected the austerities, rites and rituals connected with Hatha Yoga. He propounded the path of Sahaja yoga or Nama yoga (meditation on the name) instead.[201] The Guru Granth Sahib states:
Bodybuilding developed in the late 19th century, promoted in England by German Eugen Sandow, now considered as the "Father of Bodybuilding". He allowed audiences to enjoy viewing his physique in "muscle display performances". Although audiences were thrilled to see a well-developed physique, the men simply displayed their bodies as part of strength demonstrations or wrestling matches. Sandow had a stage show built around these displays through his manager, Florenz Ziegfeld. The Oscar-winning 1936 musical film The Great Ziegfeld depicts the beginning of modern bodybuilding, when Sandow began to display his body for carnivals.
Later developments in the various Buddhist traditions led to new innovations in yogic practices. The Theravada school, while remaining relatively conservative, still developed new ideas on meditation and yogic phenomenology in their later works, the most influential of which is the Visuddhimagga. The Indic meditation teachings of Mahayana Buddhism can be seen in influential texts like the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (compiled c. 4th century). Mahayana meditation practices also developed and adopted new yogic methods, such as the use of mantra and dharani, pure land practices which aimed at rebirth in a pure land or buddhafield, and visualization methods. Chinese Buddhism developed its own methods, such as the Chan practice of Koan introspection and Hua Tou. Likewise, Tantric Buddhism (also Mantrayana, Vajrayana) developed and adopted tantric methods, which remain the basis of the Tibetan Buddhist yogic systems, including the Six yogas of Naropa, Kalacakra, Mahamudra and Dzogchen.[248]
^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 6 March 2012. PDF file Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 10 June 2012] pp. 20–21 "The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner similar to that of the hathayogic khecarīmudrā, and ukkutikappadhāna, a squatting posture which may be related to hathayogic techniques such as mahāmudrā, mahābandha, mahāvedha, mūlabandha, and vajrāsana in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upwards the breath or Kundalinī."
Classical yoga incorporates epistemology, metaphysics, ethical practices, systematic exercises and self-development techniques for body, mind and spirit.[144] Its epistemology (pramana) and metaphysics is similar to that of the Sāṅkhya school. The metaphysics of Classical Yoga, like Sāṅkhya, is mainly dualistic, positing that there are two distinct realities. These are prakriti (nature), which is the eternal and active unconscious source of the material world and is composed of three gunas, and the puruṣas (persons), the plural consciousnesses which are the intelligent principles of the world, and are multiple, inactive and eternal witnesses. Each person has a individual puruṣa, which is their true self, the witness and the enjoyer, and that which is liberated. This metaphysical system holds that puruṣas undergo cycles of reincarnation through its interaction and identification with prakirti. Liberation, the goal of this system, results from the isolation (kaivalya) of puruṣa from prakirti, and is achieved through a meditation which detaches oneself from the different forms (tattvas) of prakirti.[240] This is done by stilling one's thought waves (citta vritti) and resting in pure awareness of puruṣa.
‡The results presented here are from the combined studies supporting FDA approval of Qsymia. Qsymia was studied in 2 large trials that involved 3754 patients whose BMI was 27 kg/m2 or greater. The average baseline weight of the subjects in the 2 studies was 256 lbs and 227 lbs. Patients were randomized to placebo, phentermine 3.75 mg/topiramate 23 mg, phentermine 7.5 mg/topiramate 46 mg, or phentermine 15 mg/topiramate 92 mg.
According to Pāṇini, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samādhau ("to concentrate").[26] In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered by traditional commentators as the correct etymology.[27] In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras,[28] states that yoga means samādhi (concentration).[29]
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^ Burd, Nicholas A.; Yang, Yifan; Moore, Daniel R.; Tang, Jason E.; Tarnopolsky, Mark A.; Phillips, Stuart M. (2012). "Greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis with ingestion of whey protein isolate v. Micellar casein at rest and after resistance exercise in elderly men". British Journal of Nutrition. 108 (6): 958–62. doi:10.1017/S0007114511006271. PMID 22289570.
YouTube sensation and Real World alum Scott Herman knows there's no BS-ing on social media. After working his way up from maintenance to manager at his local gym and earning his personal training certification in the process, it didn't take long for this natural-born entrepreneur to see the value of YouTube when it was still in its infancy. Fast-forward a decade, and Herman has built an online fitness empire as one of YouTube's best-known authorities on exercise and fitness and a go-to guru for results-driven workouts. May 21, 2019 • 34 min read
An influential text which teaches yoga from an Advaita perspective of nondualistic idealism is the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha.[260] This work uses numerous short stories and anecdotes to illustrate its main ideas. It teaches seven stages or bhumis of yogic practice. It was a major reference for medieval Advaita Vedanta yoga scholars and before the 12th century, it was one of the most popular texts on Hindu yoga.[261]
In addition to safety risks, many jobs also present risks of disease, illness and other long-term health problems. Among the most common occupational diseases are various forms of pneumoconiosis, including silicosis and coal worker's pneumoconiosis (black lung disease). Asthma is another respiratory illness that many workers are vulnerable to. Workers may also be vulnerable to skin diseases, including eczema, dermatitis, urticaria, sunburn, and skin cancer.[61][62] Other occupational diseases of concern include carpal tunnel syndrome and lead poisoning.
Pre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to emerge in the texts of c. 500 – c. 200 BCE. Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, philosophical schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to emerge.[50] The Middle Ages saw the development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid 19th century along with other topics of Indian philosophy.
The meaning of health has evolved over time. In keeping with the biomedical perspective, early definitions of health focused on the theme of the body's ability to function; health was seen as a state of normal function that could be disrupted from time to time by disease. An example of such a definition of health is: "a state characterized by anatomic, physiologic, and psychological integrity; ability to perform personally valued family, work, and community roles; ability to deal with physical, biological, psychological, and social stress".[7] Then in 1948, in a radical departure from previous definitions, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a definition that aimed higher: linking health to well-being, in terms of "physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".[8] Although this definition was welcomed by some as being innovative, it was also criticized as being vague, excessively broad and was not construed as measurable. For a long time, it was set aside as an impractical ideal and most discussions of health returned to the practicality of the biomedical model.[9]
The first U.S. Women's National Physique Championship, promoted by Henry McGhee and held in Canton, Ohio in 1978, is generally regarded as the first true female bodybuilding contest—that is, the first contest where the entrants were judged solely on muscularity.[13] In 1980, the first Ms. Olympia (initially known as the "Miss" Olympia), the most prestigious contest for professionals, was held. The first winner was Rachel McLish, who had also won the NPC's USA Championship earlier in the year. The contest was a major turning point for female bodybuilding. McLish inspired many future competitors to start training and competing. In 1985, a movie called Pumping Iron II: The Women was released. It documented the preparation of several women for the 1983 Caesars Palace World Cup Championship. Competitors prominently featured in the film were Kris Alexander, Lori Bowen, Lydia Cheng, Carla Dunlap, Bev Francis, and McLish. At the time, Francis was actually a powerlifter, though she soon made a successful transition to bodybuilding, becoming one of the leading competitors of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
a technique for entering into other bodies, generating multiple bodies, and the attainment of other supernatural accomplishments; these are, states White, described in Tantric literature of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the Buddhist Sāmaññaphalasutta;[41] James Mallinson, however, disagrees and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from the mainstream Yoga's goal as meditation-driven means to liberation in Indian religions.[42]
Description of an early form of yoga called nirodhayoga (yoga of cessation) is contained in the Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter (Shanti Parva) of the Mahabharata (third century BCE).[109] Nirodhayoga emphasizes progressive withdrawal from the contents of empirical consciousness such as thoughts, sensations etc. until purusha (Self) is realized. Terms like vichara (subtle reflection), viveka (discrimination) and others which are similar to Patanjali's terminology are mentioned, but not described.[110] There is no uniform goal of yoga mentioned in the Mahabharata. Separation of self from matter, perceiving Brahman everywhere, entering into Brahman etc. are all described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are conflated together and some verses describe them as being identical.[111] Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.[112] Mahabharata defines the purpose of yoga as the experience of uniting the individual ātman with the universal Brahman that pervades all things.[111]
What is often referred to as Classical Yoga or Astanga Yoga (Yoga of eight limbs) is mainly the type of Yoga outlined in the highly influential Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[234] The origins of the Classical Yoga tradition are unclear, though early discussions of the term appear in the Upanishads.[235] The name "Rāja yoga" (yoga of kings) originally denoted the ultimate goal of yoga, samadhi,[236] but was popularised by Vivekananda as a common name for Ashtanga Yoga,[note 19] the eight limbs to be practised to attain samadhi, as described in the Yoga Sutras.[237][234] Yoga is also considered as one of the orthodox philosophical schools (darsanas) of Hinduism (those which accept the Vedas as source of knowledge).[238][239]
Some bodybuilders use drugs such as anabolic steroids and precursor substances such as prohormones to increase muscle hypertrophy. Anabolic steroids cause hypertrophy of both types (I and II) of muscle fibers, likely caused by an increased synthesis of muscle proteins. They also provoke undesired side effects including hepatotoxicity, gynecomastia, acne, the early onset of male pattern baldness and a decline in the body's own testosterone production, which can cause testicular atrophy.[43][44][45] Other performance-enhancing substances used by competitive bodybuilders include human growth hormone (HGH), which can cause acromegaly.
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Presentations / Essays
Products for Magicians
“You are the magician in your own life.
You are the agent of transformation, your own transformation.”
– Eugene Burger
June 1, 1939-August 8, 2017
Eugene Burger’s lessons about magic – and life – live on. His legacy is celebrated by friends and fans around the globe.
Stagebill magazine proclaimed Eugene was "universally recognized as perhaps the finest close-up magician in the world." Named one of the 100 most influential magicians of the 20th century by Magic Magazine, Eugene was a mesmerizing performer, insightful philosopher, provocative writer and inspiring teacher.
Eugene was Chicago’s best magician and served as Dean of Jeff McBride’s Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas. During his life, Eugene wrote 15 best-selling books on magic, which have been translated into several languages. He starred in the biographical documentary “A Magical Vision,” produced and directed by Michael Caplan. His exceptional presence led to numerous television appearances in Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, Finland and Japan. In the United States, he was profiled twice on CNN and appeared in such highly acclaimed shows as “The Art of Magic” on PBS and “Mysteries of Magic” on The Learning Channel. The master teacher also appeared in eight instructional videos and lectured extensively to magicians' groups in over a dozen countries.
Eugene’s talk, “How Magicians Think,” applied his special understanding of deception and perception to the corporate world. He was a featured speaker for top executives of such major companies as Coca-Cola, Williams-Sonoma, Unisys and Pottery Barn, as well as for the graduate schools of business at the Universities of Chicago and Maryland.
A graduate of Yale University’s Divinity School, Eugene’s deep understanding of the psychology and philosophy behind magic won him international accolades, cover stories in conjuring magazines, and multiple awards from the famed Magic Castle in Hollywood, the International Magicians Society, and FISM (International Federation of Magical Societies).
Eugene's true passion was bringing mystery and enchantment to the public, and at that, he was unparalleled. Eugene enjoyed a long, healthy life, but in 2017 was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As he said at the time, “Now I am on the way to the ultimate capital-M Mystery of life.” Eugene embraced his final days with great clarity, humor, and peace of mind.
"Chicago's Best Magician"
- Chicago Magazine, Best of Chicago Issue
Dean, McBride's Magic & Mystery School, Las Vegas, NV
Recipient, Performing Fellowship, The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California
Two-time Recipient, Close-Up Magician of the Year, The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California
Two-time Recipient, Lecturer of the Year, The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California
"Eugene Burger is one of the most respected names in close-up magic today."
- Chicago Tribune
"One of Chicago's best loved magicians."
- Crain's Chicago Business
"Eugene Burger is perhaps the most eminent Chicago magician."
- New City
Merlin Award, Close-Up Magician of the Year, 2010, International Magicians Society
"One of the 100 most influential magicians of the 20th century."
- MAGIC Magazine
"Burger's magic is simply jaw-dropping."
- L. A. Weekly
"For decades Eugene Burger has been recognized by magicians and the public as one of the finest
and most engaging magicians alive."
- Genii Magazine
2012 FISM (International Federation of Magical Societies) Special Award for Theory and Philosophy
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Dragon Ball Z – a sport you can bet at?
May 11, 2018 linda
When I was a kid, I was really into manga for a while. I learned to read comics backwards (as you do with manga) and I binge-watched a ton of anime series on television. I remember that my very favourite one was called ‘Dragon Balls’, which makes it quite obvious that my interest in dragons has been around for a very long time…. Almost as long as my interest in sports, football actually to be more precise.
I guess that this is a bit of a stretch, because the show doesn’t really revolve around dragons. But I really enjoyed both reading and watching Dragon Ball Z as a kid, so I thought I might just write something about it anyway. The series picks up five years after the original Dragon Ball anime, and is about Goku. Along with his different companions, he defends the earth against danger – which could be anything from intergalactic space fighters to magical creatures.
In the Dragon Ball series, there are seven Dragon Balls. They look like crystal spheres, and all have a number of stars in them – number one to seven. They can’t be used for anything seperatly, but if they’re all united they will bring out the Eternal Dragon Shenron, who can grant wishes. I can still remember the first time Shenron appeared on the show, and I was blown away. He was a Eastern dragon, even though I wasn’t aware of that at the time, the kind that is sacred in Oriental mythologies. He was portrayed as kind hearted, altough he did have quite an aggressive temper. I thought he looked really cool, and that’s probably where my big interest of dragons began. A fun fact is also that ‘Shenron’ means ‘divine dragon’ – which relates to him being an Eastern dragon!
Odds at Dragon Ball Z?
Another fun fact about Dragon Ball Z from my point of wiew is that when I first heard of it I actually thought it was a sport.. I did believe that dragons exsisted whan I was younger, so I figured it was some kind of ball game where the players were riding dragons. I do realize that it sounds very funny now, but I was convinced it was a real sport. Imagine finding odds at oddsexpert.co.uk for Dragon Ball? That would be absolutely amazing! However how much I love football, I would love a ballgame with dragons even more. But until they finds or invent dragons I will confine myself with football, and that is not so bad. There are plenty of exciting matches to watch and bet at. And nowadays you don’t even have to leave the home when you want to place a bet. Thanks to Internet (which wasn’t invented when I was a kid) you can bet online from your computer or your smartphone. You can even get something that is called a free bet so you can bet without risking any money. Isn’t it fantastic? If you can do all this you must be able to invent dragons as well!
The dragons of Westeros and gambling at casinos
May 9, 2018 linda
I don’ think that I have mentioned this on here before, but Game of Thrones is without a doubt my all-time favourite show. To me it’s just a series that has everything. Drama, excitement, a great plot – and of course dragons. I really like the way dragons are portrayed in the show, because it goes very well with how I imagine dragons were like if they ever existed. (A fair warning – spoilers ahead!)
In Game of Thrones, dragons are massive creatures that can breathe fire. They posess great power, and have the ability to burn entire cities to ashes single-handedly. They used to be ridden by dragon riders into war, where they were used to take over empires across both Essos and Westeros. The last surviving dragon known at the beginning of the show were the ones possesed by the Targaryen’s. They used dragons three hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, when they conquered and unified the Seven Kingdoms. When the last Targaryen dragon died, they were considered extinct.
A twist in the plot
But that would turn out not to be true, when Daenerys three dragons are born at the end of the first season. The dragons grow throughout the seasons, and are used in battle for the first time in the 7th season. When Danearys later tries to rescue Jon Snow frome the White Walkers, the dragon Viserion is killed in the battle. The Night King does however manage to bring the dragon back to life – but in form of a White Walker.
I think the White Walker-dragon is an interesting twist in the story. It does even out the odds for the upcoming war, but also the idea in itself is facsinating to me. Dragons has always been connected with fire, and now they’ve come up with something completely opposite of that. An interesting twist for sure, and I can’t wait to see what the 8th season will bring..
Playing casino while waiting for the next season
Unfortunately, I will have to wait at least another year for the next season to come. And the suspense is killing me. I have found something to entertain myself with until then though, and that thing is online casino. I’ve never been much of a gambler, but I do enjoy the excitement every now and then. I found a site called casinonodeposit.co.uk that is really good for someone like me, who doesn’t know the first thing about online casino. But I’ve found some great offers and reviews there that has helped me – and I would really recommend it in order to make time pass until the new season of Game of Thrones! But before you start gambling, be sure to learn everything possible about responsible gambling!
Awesome sand dragon in Barcelona!
October 27, 2017 linda
Dragon statues
Hi again! So, I was in Barcelona with a friend the other day and I walked a bit on the beach. It was a bit too cold for me to enjoy a bath, so I stayed at the beach and soaked a bit in the sunshine and got some sand between my toes. At one point, we saw a really awesome sand sculpture and I decided to take a photo of it. It might not be the very best picture, since we were on the go. However, I think it’s a really cool sculpture of a dragon!
Just imagine all the time and hard work put down in that! I could imagine that it surely took a day or so, to get it up. I wonder where the creator got all the sand from, since it seems to contain of quite a bit of sand and buckets. The details are really well made, especially the fire piece in the mouth. I could not see what it was made of, unfortunately, but I think it is a very nice detail. Also, the wings are very thin in the top as well as the feathers behind the head. It must be quite hard to get the sand to stick and I wonder how long it will stay up. The sand will eventually dry out so I could imagine it to fall apart soon. However, it’s quite amazing to see this huge dragon sitting on the beach and walking past it.
It’s actually really large! I did not have the time to stand beside it, but it seemed like it was about knee height just in the head, and about 10 metres from the head to the tail across the sand. The body was even longer, since it’s bent. I was really surprised to see it, since it’s really not something you expect to see on a beach.
It would be awesome to see how it looks when it’s built, and I would really want to see the time laps of that. I would imagine it to be really cool to see it slowly grow, as it gets more and more sand and a bigger body. Just imagine all the small details carved in the sand such as the wings, the legs and not to mention the face! It’s surely a masterpiece and I’ll try to find a time laps video of it being built. Bye for now!
Dragons in our days
Dragons are mostly connected to ancient times and pre-historical events. Knights, dinosaurs and vikings is more connected to dragons than cars, cellphones and television. But even if dragons them selves are not among us every day, their ancestors are. There are many animals that remind us about the dragon era, a long time ago.
Birds are seen every day, and is not seen that dragon-like. However, they are one of the animals that are as close to a dinosaur as we can come. From that, the step to dragons are not so big. Many dragons had, and have, feathers on their body just like some dinosaurs and just like the birds among us. So every time you see a bird, you might think of it as a small, fluffy relative to dragons.
Lizards is also a small dragon, I mean who haven’t seen one and waited for it to spit fire when their were small? They really look like a small dragon, at least some of them. Dragons are a kind of reptile and is often said to act a bit like a lizard. Look at the Chinese dragon and then at a lizard – the similarities are many.
Snakes – of course I must mention snakes in a post about dragon relatives. It’s impossible to avoid this parable, since the two are very much alike. Many snakes are venomous, just like many of the dragons might have been, until some evolved the fire mechanism. They are also very flexible – the snakes use their flexibility to move and the dragons use ot to fly, hunt and survive. They both have a long tongue with split points and scale, so it’s understandable that some dragons might evolved to snakes. They might started to look for food on the ground and soon the eventual wings disappeared. The legs may have disappeared as soon as they did not need them, since all food was reachable from ground level.
I’m definitely not sure about this, but I like to think of it like this. It takes me a bit closer to the dragons and I can be enchanted just by looking at a bird or if I see a snake. Fantasies are what makes the world interesting – that’s why it’s so important.
Dragons are popular in casino games
April 29, 2017 linda
dragongamessymbol
In my last post, I wrote about beautiful jewellery with dragons in them. I continued my search and bumped into the big world of games. Turns out, there is A LOT of dragons in the game world, especially in the world of casinos. Most of you probably knew it already, and so did I. But I could never expected it to be so much! I found a site called freespins365.co.uk and was completely amazed by the vide range of video slots with a dragon theme.
We all know about the classic Dungeons and Dragons, the board game that came to be a massive hit among so many people around the world. After its launch in 1974, it quickly began to climb up both the top lists and the wish lists. To many, it’s known to be the starting point to the era of our modern board games. It joins people and creates communities, as well as keeps friends together when they don’t meet up very often. It’s been an icon for board games, and it still is.
Next up is the classic card games. Not that the card games itself is connected to dragons, but many uses the motive of the dragon together with cards. It’s not rare to see a card magician, or just a card player, use their special deck with a dragon on the back. The dragon is strongly connected to magic and mystery, and sometimes also the unexplainable. Maybe this is one of the reasons that playing cards so often has a dragon on the back side, to enhance the mystical feeling of the unexplainable events of card games.
Not to forget the classic video games. Here you will find a lot of the dragons connected to games. Many of them are evil and seen as bad. Look at the classic video game World of Warcraft. The dragons in here are a very big and important part of the story, as they change the plot of the game a lot. They are close to the story and in a few places, your task is to slain them. But not only in WoW you find the dragons, also more child-friendly games has its dragons. For example, there is the very friendly dragon in How to Train Your Dragon, the online game based on the movie. Also in the spirit of Pete’s Dragon there is a few games and jigsaw puzzles.
As a way back to the card games and the casino spirit, there is also a lot of dragons in the general casino world. Craps, as I wrote about a bit earlier, has some inspiration from dragons as well. However, I was more thinking of the slots and video slots. It may be more usual for video games or board games to have dragons in them, but slots also got its share. For example, we have the dragon as a bonus symbol in the slot Koi Princess. It’s also asian inspired and infused with dragons, so the trend is strong even here. You can also see, if you look at the top list in the first link, that there are many casinos around. Many of them has a dragon infused games, but I found Koi Princess to be most interesting.
As you may see, there is a lot of dragons around us. The ones we see may not be the living versions, but at least it warms my heart to see that they are not forgotten. When a dragon is projected as good or helpful, like in Pete’s Dragon or the Koi Princess slot, it suddenly feels even better.
Beautiful jewellery with dragons
I’ve been browsing the web a bit tonight, just to relax a little. I came over some jewellery sites, that I really liked. I especially liked the jewellery with dragons on them, of course. Have you seen all the cool designs from Thomas Sabo? I just love that brand and I have a silverbracelet with a few charms on it. Off course – one of them is a dragon.
Yesterday I found this necklace and fell in love. Isn’t it just georgeous?
Picture borrowed from www.thomassabo.com
I thought about ordering it but I guess I´ll have to save some money first. I really think it´s a beautiful piece of art. It´s made of sterling silver and has the perfect size for me. It looks similar to the smaller one I keep on my bracelet.
Anyhow, I found more stunning pieces. Look at this babies:
Picture borrowed from www.babysnake.se
I just loved the name at the store: Babysnake 🙂 Cool and cute at the same time and they had so many cool jewelries.
This earrings were made of sterling silver as well. I like oxidized silver, I think it gives the jewelry character. If it´s to shiny it´s to cute for my taste. And you don´t have to polish them as often when they are oxidized 😀 You could get a matching pendant as well.
It would be fun to sit down with a goldsmith and design my very own dragon. Imagine an earring where the dragons tail winds among your ear and ends up in some kind of ear cuff. Or perhaps a flame from the dragons mouth. Combined with a tail hanging down from the ear. Can you imagine? Or am I lost in my thoughts again? 🙂
There are so many beautiful dragon designs out there. I just can’t get enough och this mystic creatures. So dark and powerful. My friends laugh at me and call me obsessed.. well, I like being obsessed. What makes your heart beat a bit extra?
Dragons as a symbol in the world of gambling
March 21, 2017 linda
Dragons have, as you might have seen by your self, become a symbol and a token. It’s wide spread among the world as a symbol of hope, power and magic. All around, you see dragons as lamps, tattoos, patterns at mugs – basically everywhere. It’s become a thing to have dragons everywhere.
Much may be because it’s strongly related to the Asian culture, with bright colours and long, beautiful patterns. It’s not a surprise that dragons are so popular, since it’s filled with magic and mystic. As said, now you can see dragons basically everywhere. Not because of hallucination, though. Dragons are displayed in many different forms and shapes, in many contexts and it’s mostly in a good way. More often than not, the dragons are added to give the context more power and a more magic touch to it.
Take casino games like Baccarat, black jack or Poker for example. You can often see really cool deck of cards with dragons on them, perhaps in an advanced pattern playing cards. Or if you’ve ever played the game with dices called Craps, you’ve probably seen there is lots of details with dragons in some places. Probably, it’s to give it more magic and mystic to it, but also to remind of the Asian culture with dice, cards and dominos where you might sometimes relate this to. Either way, dragons in the world of gambling and playing is very popular. Some casinos even have dragons at their chips.
The dragon statue in Klagenfurt
DragonDragon statues
There is a huge amount of dragon statues around the world. Today I would like to tell you about the fierce statue in Klagenfurt, Austria. In the 1330´s they found a large skull that they believed descended from a dragon. The skull was displayed at the town hall and many years later an artist used it as a modell to create such a “natural” image of a dragon as possible. It was an attempt to depict a creature they seriously thought once existed. The result? A really cool statue. But not very realistic, huh?
The inspiration to the shape of the dragon named, among others, from another mysterious creature, “the Lindworm”. Have you heard of it? It should be asigned to an own post, but the Lindworm is more of a snake. A really huge one! It looks like a dragon but has no wings…
Anyway, the statue was completed in 1593. 39 years later they added a statue of Hercules with a swinging stick, aiming to kill the dragon. I didn’t´t managed to find out why they chose to do that so many years late tho. The creation is very cool where it stands in the middle of the square and I bet that it is a hot subject for photoshoots among tourists. I would love to go there myself one day to get to se this statue irl. Meanwhile, I have to settle with the webcam on their website for tourists 🙂
Funny fact years later it turned out that the scull actually belonged to woolly rhinoceros. To be honest, I have never heard about such a creature before so this gave me yet another animal to explore closer. One that actually has exists.
Can you imagine what amazing creatures who has walked around this earth long before us? In fact, I am sure that there are still many creatures left for us to explore. Species that we had not have time, or come to, discover yet.
For an example, what do you think is hidden in the deepest, darkest water. Far out of nowhere? A horrifying, but yet tantalizing, thought…
Have you seen a really cool dragon statue? Tell me about it, I just can´t get enough of them. Can you imagine how cool it would be to travel around the world just to see every single statue ever been made? Awesome!
The false facts about the Chinese dragon
February 24, 2017 linda
chinese dragondracologyflyingmythological
Most people have probably seen images and reconstructions of the Chinese dragon. Big, long, looks a little bit like a lizard, has no or very small wings and flies. Well, there is only one little flaw in that description, according to some of the books on the topic.
The Chinese dragon is probably one of the more famous ones and they are seen in many different contexts. Of course, there is the celebration of the Chinese new year where the dragon is in parades and at festivals. There is Mushu in Disney’s movie Mulan, and many other examples. But in some stories and context, the Chinese dragon flies. Even though is has really small wings, or sometimes no wings at all, it flies in movies, pictures and games like slots and video games. You can learn more about slots at casinoomega.com if you are interested in learning more about these games.
Dragons may be mythological beings, but it doesn’t mean they are magical. They still apply to the laws of physics. This meaning, they cannot fly unless they have the wings for it. Obviously, the bumble bee disputes this, but the dragons are not really like a bumble bee. They need to have wings big enough to fly, if they are to fly.
So far, we know the Chinese dragon can’t fly, since it has wings way too small, if any wings at all. But the idea of it flying must come from somewhere, right?
Well, since the Chinese dragon is one of the more lissom ones, very flexible and also very strong, it can move very quickly. It can sometimes almost look like it’s flying when it quickly moves in the mountains, in the forest and wherever it is. With it being able to climb mountains very easily, it’s easy to understand that it might look like it’s flying.
So in conclusion, the Chinese dragon can not fly. It has very small, or no wings. However, it is very lithe and flexible, so it may look like it’s flying when it moves. Therefor it might have gotten the reputation that is now widely spread. Even a mythological being like the Chinese dragon must follow the laws of physics.
Dragons in different times
January 16, 2017 linda
As I have written before – dragons have been around in many different cultures since a long time ago. Somehow, dragons came to be known all around the world – although in different times and places. How did time change the perspective of them? Are they the same now as they were before, and does that change differ anything from each other if you look at it for two different parts of the world?
In ”The book of imaginary beings”, writer Jorge Luis Borges says that ”We are ignorant of the meaning of the dragon in the same way that we are ignorant of the meaning of the universe, but there is something in the dragon’s image that fits man’s imagination, and this accounts for the dragon’s appearance in different places and periods”. I found this quote really interesting, and decided to try to dig into the subject a little deeper.
In a way, I find this to be really true. Each time and place seem to have their kind of dragons, that somehow reflects the time being. No matter if it´s Daenerys Targaryens fire breathing beasts in “Game of thrones” or the green friendly guy in “Pete’s dragon” – the dragons continue to show up in movies and books in different shapes and sizes. The more you look for dragons in culture history, the more you’ll find – often in places where you don’t expect to. You can even find them in 19th century posters promoting sobriety, in the shape of the “wine dragon”. For the most part, dragons have been assigned to be evil creatures. from Tolkien’s Smaug to the dragon with the golden skin in the story about the Greek hero Jason. All evil, most of them slain. Through the centuries, lots of dragon lifes has been claimed.
I wrote in the last post about that one common idea of how the idea of dragons came up was that people found dinosaur skeletons and created an image based on that. That might have been the case – but what made people from different parts of the world relate those findings to dragons? One theory is that dragons, in most cases, carry the resemblance of the three biggest predator threats – snakes, felines and birds of prey. That could be one explanation to why dragons popped up in different parts of the world during different time periods – all people simply had the inherited fear of the same things, which they combined to get something as terrifying as dragons.
Eastern dragons are mostly portrayed as fortune bringing creatures, in opposite to their relatives in the west. But according to some people – it doesn’t have to depend on cultural differences, but the difference in historic time. The Chinese culture, which is the oldest one, would have had more time to domesticate their dragons than the younger civilizations in the west would have. It’s an interesting thought, and to me it really does make sense. Dragons does seem to have gotten a lot more good-natured in the west lately. If you compare the dragons that are portrayed today with the ones from medieval times, they do seem a lot nicer today for the most part. During the medieval time, dragons were often used as a tool to scare people. Being scared of the same things could really unite people, and that’s what the stories about dragons was used for. Those be-winged beasts were also used as a symbol for power, evil, or simply the unknown. Dragons were used as a marker on maps to mark dangerous or un-explored areas – hence the expression “Here be dragons”.
So maybe it is time that makes the difference between how dragons are shown in different cultures – and not the cultures itself. An interesting thought, at least in my opinion. We don’t really know how dragons came to be – but maybe they are just a result of the fears all people have in common – although from different places of the world. As we have conquered those fears and grown as society, the perspective we used to have on dragons might have changed. Since those creatures have been around for longer time in China for example – their view on dragons have had more time to change, making their portraits of dragons so much more different than the ones in the west. At least, it could be.
A screenshot from the re-make of “Pete’s dragon” (2016)
Copyright © 2019 Little Dragon.
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Indian mangoes
The arrival of succulent Alphonso mangoes from India to the UK in April and May has become one of the seasonal treats I look forward to each year. At this time of year, Asian food shops from Tooting to Wembley are piled high with boxes of Alphonso mangoes, catering for the high demand for this most luscious of fruits. The news, therefore, that the EU is banning imports of mangoes from India from May 2014 (a decision which will apparently be reviewed by the end of 2015), came both as a surprise and a shock. The ban has been imposed for agricultural reasons, with the discovery of high level of fruit flies in Indian mangoes triggering it. The implications of the ban go far beyond whether or not I get to enjoy my favourite fruit; there will be major economic repercussions in both India and the UK.
Mr Ashok Chowdry, who in 1992 founded Fruity Fresh, importers, wholesalers and distributors of exotic fruit and vegetables, has seen the rise of Indian mango imports to the UK grow substantially. He first began importing Indian mangoes to the UK in 1978 and has witnessed a huge change in awareness of the fruit. “If you think about it when I was importing in 1978, people were not aware of a fruit called mango. They were called ‘queer gear’ not so long ago. But mangoes have come a long way; trade in them has grown to such a volume. They are now a major Indian and Pakistani fruit export.”
Because of its historic links and large Asian community, the UK is a major hub for India and Pakistan’s mango exporting trade. Indeed it has been estimated that in 2012-2013 the export value to India of fresh mango exports to the EU was USD6.8 million, with the UK accounting for over 91% of mango exports to the EU from India. Indian mangoes are enjoyed not just by the Asian community, he points out; “The amount of local people buying mangoes, enjoying them, relishing them is huge.”
The implications of the ban, declares Mr Chowdry, “are serious.” As he talks, I can hear the frustration in his voice. “It’s going to put a lot of people out of business. Airlines will go out of business. I myself import something like 20-30 tonnes of mangoes every week. when they fly from Bombay all the airlines are full of mangoes and there are plenty of flights. Growers in India will be ruined. The money they make is by exporting the mangoes, not by growing them for the local market. People prepare all year for this two and a half month business. All the import businesses like ourselves and the small shops we supply will be hit very hard.”
What Mr Chowdry is looking for rather than the abruptly imposed blanket ban is a constructive solution which addresses the fruit fly issue but allows the export mango trade to continue. He cites the example of Indian mango imports to the US, where, in response to American concerns over the fruit fly issue, the mangoes have to be treated with irradiation. “We already take steps for other countries like America and Australia. You know how strict Australian food laws are. What we want are extra procedures to be put in place, so that they become a requirement.” Other countries require vapour heat treatment of Indian mangoes before allowing them to be imported. The timing of the ban, with India’s politicians and civil servants caught up in the throes of a general election, is particularly unfortunate. Without the political will to work out a practical settlement, the ban looks likely to have serious economic consequences for businesses in both India and the UK. “This ban is going to ruin a lot of people,” says Mr Chowdry simply.
In response to the ban, Fruity Fresh have launched a petition to the British government to highlight the issue and its implications.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/63939
This entry was posted in Food, Independent business, Indian food, Indian food shop, London, London life and tagged Alphonso mangoes, Asian community, Fruity Fresh, I, Indian community, Indian mangoes, mangoes by Jenny Linford. Bookmark the permalink.
4 thoughts on “INDIAN MANGO BAN”
lola on 18/04/2014 at 5:58 pm said:
How awful for all those businesses affected, it seems there should be a more effective solution. I shall sign the petition, thanks for writing such an eloquent article and bringing it to our attention.
umashankar on 22/04/2014 at 8:19 am said:
I love Indian mangos. It’s really very taste and it’s available only this season.
Wonderlusting on 22/04/2014 at 10:24 am said:
I had the pleasure of eating Alphonso mangos during the season in Mumbai once – i still dream about it. This ban seems so draconian – there must be a way to resolve it. Thanks for bringing to our attention.
google adwords tool on 27/05/2014 at 10:33 pm said:
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, printed from the Looking at Buildings website on Friday 19th July 2019
Early Stations
Passenger-carrying railways were a British invention, so there were no foreign stations for imitation. The functions of a typical station were nevertheless clear from early on: offices for issuing tickets and handling goods, a waiting room for passengers, and accommodation for a station master and other staff. These could usually be accommodated in relatively modest house-like buildings, and in the early days of the railways some stations were adapted from an existing buildings such as inns.
The earliest station that survives is the Manchester terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the first major passenger railway, which opened in 1830. The architect is unknown. Its simple architectural detail is less remarkable than its form, which derives from the difference of levels between running line and street: the ground floor has segregated first- and second-class entrances with separate booking offices, and there are waiting rooms alongside the platforms above. Such split-level stations are especially common in cities, where the high cost of land required that the railway be carried on viaducts and bridges rather than embankments of earth. Since 1983 the building has formed part of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
RomanGlossary Term [1] triumphal archGlossary Term [2]. This use of an ancient style may at first seem strange for such a revolutionary enterprise, but it shows the pride and sense of purpose of the new company. It is also significant that Philip Hardwick, one of the leading architects of the time, was employed to design it. By the late 19th century, however, most railway companies commissioned designs from their own architects or engineers instead.
TudorGlossary Term [3] idiom: a pioneering instance of a 'house style' for a large commercial organization.
URL to this page:
http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/types/railways/early-stations/print.html
Links on this page:
[1] http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/#default_1085
[2] http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/#default_35
Last updated: Saturday, 25th April 2009
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Call for Papers: International Law and Domestic Law-Making Processes
The Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law
The reality of international law ‘in action’ largely depends on domestic legislators implementing and shaping norms originating at the international level: Domestic parliaments and other law-making bodies undoubtedly play a central role in determining whether or not the promises of international law can be fulfilled.
The importance of domestic parliaments in making international law ‘work’ is clearly due to the decentralized nature of the international legal order. In most cases, international legal norms leave considerable discretion to the state and make only minimal requirements regarding implementation. In some fields, however, international norms start to become more statute-like, decreasing the margin for the states how to implement them. Some international norms explicitly oblige states to take legislative measures. Yet, it is very unusual that international law can rely on mechanisms that would ensure the uniform implementation of international norms within national jurisdictions. Given the complex interaction between the domestic and the international level in the field of law-making, it is warranted to consider how the interactions between the international and the domestic levels complement, contest or mutually influence each other. Recent research, e.g. that on international law in domestic courts, confirms this need.
We start from the premise that the complexities of interaction and mutual influencing between domestic parliaments and the international legal order is increasing, rather than decreasing. Therefore, the upcoming event of the Working Group of Young Scholars in Public International Law (Arbeitskreis junger Völkerrechtswissenschaftler*innen, AjV) wants to shed light on selected problems connected with the interaction of domestic law-making and international law.
Topics to explore include (but are not limited to):
1. When do domestic legislators legislate because of international norms – soft or hard?
2. International law, domestic law-making processes and direct democratic institutions
3. International law and sub-entities of federal states (e.g. international law in the law-making of cantons / Länder)
4. Designing democracy: The ECHR and the organizational law of national parliaments and voting rules
5. National parliaments as opposition in international law
6. National parliaments as providers of legitimacy to international law
7. Duties to protect (Schutzpflichten) and national law-making
8. State responsibility and the legislative: e.g. the legislative branch in the preparatory works of the ILA Articles on State Responsibility or in international case-law such as before the ICJ or the ECtHR
9. Domestic parliaments and the formation of customary international law
10. The involvement and information of members of domestic legislatives prior to ratifications of international treaties
11. International law and national law-making processes in transitional states / post-conflict societies
12. Transnational legislative networks
13. Methodological approaches on international law and domestic law-making
The conference/workshop will take place on 4 September 2015 at the University of Basel and is intended for young researchers (including PhD students and Post Docs). Apart from those working in international law, other legal researchers are explicitly invited to apply. In addition, those working in related disciplines (such as sociology, political science, history, etc.) are also welcome to apply.
Presentations can be held in English and German, although English is considered more conducive for international exchange. Participants are not required to submit papers and may present work in progress. However, those who do submit final papers shortly after the workshop will be considered for publication in a special issue of a Swiss online law journal (Jusletter). Such papers can range from short notes to full articles (1’500 to 10’000 words).
We invite you to send an abstract of max. 500 words by the 27th March 2015. Please address submissions and any queries to evelyne.schmid@unibas.ch and tilmann.altwicker@unibas.ch. When submitting an abstract, please also include the following information about yourself: your name, your affiliation, your function/job title and your address. Researchers who have completed a PhD should please indicate the month and year of completion. We will notify applicants by mid-May.
Travel expenses will be covered to at least a certain extent and child care will be available. Details will be communicated in the mail of acceptance.
Organizers: Dr. Evelyne Schmid / Dr. Tilmann Altwicker (both University of Basel)
P.S. Please note that there will also be an informal AjV-workshop in Hamburg from 25-27th September 2015 – organized by Anne Dienelt und Katrin Kohoutek. Interested doctoral students and post docs are welcome to submit abstracts to the open call until 31st May to workshop_ajv@gmx.de.
From International Law Reporter
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square toes, square
n. a formal and conservative person with old-fashioned views
English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.[4][5] Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Britain that would later take their name, England, both names ultimately deriving from the Anglia peninsula in the Baltic Sea. It is closely related to the Frisian languages, but its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse (a North Germanic language), as well as by Latin and French.[6]
English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England and was a period in which the language was influenced by French.[7] Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London, the printing of the King James Bibleand the start of the Great Vowel Shift.[8]
Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, Modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media, and spurred by the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation and law.[9]
English is the third most spoken native language in the world, after Standard Chinese and Spanish.[10] It is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.[11] It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union and many other world and regional international organisations. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch. English has a vast vocabulary, though counting how many words any language has is impossible.[12][13] English speakers are called "Anglophones".
Modern English grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax.[14] Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses, aspect and mood, as well as passive constructions, interrogatives and some negation. Despite noticeable variation among the accents and dialects of English used in different countries and regions—in terms of phonetics and phonology, and sometimes also vocabulary, grammar and spelling—English-speakers from around the world are able to communicate with one another with relative ease.
Anglic languages
Anglo-Frisian languages
Anglic and
North Sea Germanic languagesAnglo-Frisian and
Low German/Low Saxon
North Sea Germanic and
Phylogenetic tree showing the historical relations between the languages of the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages
English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages.[15] Old Englishoriginated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the coast of the North Sea, whose languages are now known as the Anglo-Frisian subgroup within West Germanic. As such, the modern Frisian languages are the closest living relatives of Modern English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic (North Sea Germanic) languages, though this grouping remains debated.[16] Old English evolved into Middle English, which in turn evolved into Modern English.[17] Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other Anglic languages, including Scots[18] and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy (Yola) dialects of Ireland.[19]
Like Icelandic and Faroese, the development of English on the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and has since undergone substantial evolution. English is thus not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, differing in vocabulary, syntax, and phonology, although some, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages.[20]
Unlike Icelandic or Faroese, the long history of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and Norman French, left a profound mark of their own on the language, such that English shares substantial vocabulary and grammar similarities with many languages outside its linguistic clades, while also being unintelligible with any of those languages. Some scholars have even argued that English can be considered a mixed language or a creole—a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis. Although the high degree of influence from these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language.[21][22]
English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German, and Swedish.[23] These shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic. Some shared features of Germanic languages include the use of modal verbs, the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws. English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization).[24]
English sing, sang, sung; Dutch zingen, zong, gezongen; German singen, sang, gesungen (strong verb)
English laugh, laughed; Dutch and German lachen, lachte (weak verb)
English foot, Dutch voet, German Fuß, Norwegian and Swedish fot (initial /f/ derived from Proto-Indo-European *p through Grimm's law)
(Compare Latin pes, stem ped-; Modern Greek πόδι pódi; Russian под pod; Sanskrit पद् pád)
English cheese, Frisian tsiis (ch and ts from palatalisation); German Käse and Dutch kaas (k without palatalisation)
Proto-Germanic to Old English
The opening to the Old English epic poem Beowulf, handwritten in half-uncial script:
Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...
"Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britainas the Roman economy and administration collapsed. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain, replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409 CE): Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, and Latin, brought to Britain by the Roman occupation.[25][26][27] England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc) are named after the Angles.[28]
Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon.[29] Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the ninth century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety.[30] The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn, is written in Northumbrian.[31] Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a runic script.[32] By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms. It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ and thorn ⟨þ⟩, and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ð⟩, and ash ⟨æ⟩.[32][33]
Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for 21st-century English speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German, and its closest relative is Old Frisian. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms, and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns (he, him, his) and a few verb endings (I have, he has), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings.[34][35][36]
The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 CE shows examples of case endings (nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and a verb ending (present plural):
Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest
Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅
fox-nom.pl have-prs.pl hole-acc.pl and heaven-gen.sg bird-nom.pl nest-acc.pl
"Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"[37]
Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, … Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting.
Although, from the beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, … Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing.
John of Trevisa, ca. 1385[38]
In the period from the 8th to the 12th century, Old English gradually transformed through language contact into Middle English. Middle English is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1200–1450.
First, the waves of Norse colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse, a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the Northeastern varieties of Old English spoken in the Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English. However the centre of norsified English seems to have been in the Midlands around Lindsey, and after 920 CE when Lindsey was reincorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, Norse features spread from there into English varieties that had not been in intense contact with Norse speakers. Some elements of Norse influence that persist in all English varieties today are the pronouns beginning with th-(they, them, their) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- (hie, him, hera).[39]
With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now norsified Old English language was subject to contact with the Old Norman language, a Romance languageclosely related to Modern French. The Norman language in England eventually developed into Anglo-Norman. Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking Anglo-Saxon, the influence of Norman consisted of introducing a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains.[40] Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative case was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to describing possession. The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms,[41] and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible.[42] By the Wycliffe Bible of the 1380s, the passage Matthew 8:20 was written
Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis[43]
Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present.
By the 12th century Middle English was fully developed, integrating both Norse and Norman features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer.
Graphic representation of the Great Vowel Shift, showing how the pronunciation of the long vowels gradually shifted, with the high vowels i: and u: breaking into diphthongs and the lower vowels each shifting their pronunciation up one level
The next period in the history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation.
The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift, meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised, and close vowels were broken into diphthongs. For example, the word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages.[44][45]
English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during the reign of Henry V. Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents, and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard, developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands. In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English.[46] Literature from the Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I. Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight, gnat, and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent the distinct characteristics of Early Modern English.[47]
In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says:
The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests[37]
This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with Subject-Verb-Object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and the introduction of loanwords from French (ayre) and word replacements (bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol).
Spread of Modern English
By the late 18th century, the British Empire had facilitated the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication.[48][9] As England continued to form new colonies, these, in turn, became independent and developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australasia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others.[49][50][51] In the 20th century the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC[52] and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet.[53][54] By the 21st century, English was more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been.[55]
A major feature in the early development of Modern English was the codification of explicit norms for standard usage, and their dissemination through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language which introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language in an effort to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent from the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of the prestige varieties among the middle classes.[56]
In terms of grammatical evolution, Modern English has now reached a stage where the loss of case is almost complete (case is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him, she and her, who and whom), and where SVO word-order is mostly fixed.[56] Some changes, such as the use of do-support have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it was only used in question constructions where it was not obligatory.[57] Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing, appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer). British English is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the US as a world power. [58][59][60]
Percentage of English native speakers.
Percentage of English speakers by country.
80–100%
As of 2016, 400 million people spoke English as their first language, and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language.[61] English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin and Spanish.[10] However, when combining native and non-native speakers it may, depending on the estimate used, be the most commonly spoken language in the world.[55][62][63][64] English is spoken by communities on every continent and on oceanic islands in all the major oceans.[65]
The countries in which English is spoken can be grouped into different categories by how English is used in each country. The "inner circle"[66] countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms of English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.
Three circles of English-speaking countries
Braj Kachru distinguishes countries where English is spoken with a three circles model.[66] In his model, the "inner circle" countries are countries with large communities of native speakers of English, "outer circle" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and "expanding circle" countries are countries where many learners learn English as a foreign language. Kachru bases his model on the history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time.[67]
Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English.
Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where a significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million),[68] the United Kingdom (60 million),[69][70][71] Canada (19 million),[72] Australia (at least 17 million),[73] South Africa (4.8 million),[74]Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million).[75] In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages or new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces.[76] The inner-circle countries provide the base from which English spreads to other countries in the world.[67]
Estimates of the number of English speakers who are second language and foreign-language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1,000 million depending on how proficiency is defined.[11] Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.[62] In Kachru's three-circles model, the "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines,[77] Jamaica,[78] India, Pakistan, Singapore,[79] and Nigeria[80][81] with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and where English is routinely used for school instruction and official interactions with the government.[82]
Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English in the process of growing up through day by day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by speakers who are not native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners.[76] Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in the inner-circle countries,[76] and they may have grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries.[76]
In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as a foreign language make up the "expanding circle".[83] The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time.[82] For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it,[84] and thus English is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language.[85]
Many users of English in the expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use English.[86] Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties.[87] Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in the world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries.[88]
Pie chart showing the percentage of native English speakers living in "inner circle" English-speaking countries. Native speakers are now substantially outnumbered worldwide by second-language speakers of English (not counted in this chart).
US (64.3%)
UK (16.7%)
Canada (5.3%)
Australia (4.7%)
South Africa (1.3%)
Ireland (1.1%)
New Zealand (1%)
Other (5.6%)
Pluricentric English
English is a pluricentric language, which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language.[89][90][91][92] But English is not a divided language,[93] despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to George Bernard Shaw that the United Kingdom and the United States are "two countries separated by a common language".[94] Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents,[95] but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation.[96]
American listeners generally readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world.[97] Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.[98]
The settlement history of the English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.[99] The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers,[100][68] although English has been given official status by only 30 of the 50 state governments of the US.[101][102]
English as a global language
English has ceased to be an "English language" in the sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English.[103][104] Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons.[105] Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries.[106]
As decolonisation proceeded throughout the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies.[50][51][107] For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India.[108] English is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK.[109] However English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India.[110][111] David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world,[112] but the number of English speakers in India is very uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India.[113]
Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca,[53][114] is also regarded as the first world language.[115][116] English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy.[116] English is, by international treaty, the basis for the required controlled natural languages[117]Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring[118] and aviation.[119] English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field.[120] It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919.[121] By the time of the foundation of the United Nations at the end of World War II, English had become pre-eminent [122] and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations.[123] It is one of six official languages of the United Nations.[124] Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation.
Many regional international organisations such as the European Free Trade Association, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),[54] and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of the Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations.[125]
Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.[53][54] In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than the UK, Ireland and Malta). In a 2012 official Eurobarometer poll, 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents.[126]
A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine[127] and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995.[128]
Specialised subsets of English arise spontaneously in international communities, for example, among international business people, as an auxiliary language. This has led some scholars to develop the study of English as an auxiliary language. Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words with highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English.
The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into the vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death,[129] and to claims of linguistic imperialism,[130] and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives.[131]
Although some scholars mention a possibility of future divergence of English dialects into mutually unintelligible languages, most think a more likely outcome is that English will continue to function as a koineisedlanguage in which the standard form unifies speakers from around the world.[132] English is used as the language for wider communication in countries around the world.[133] Thus English has grown in worldwide use much more than any constructed language proposed as an international auxiliary language, including Esperanto.[134][135]
The phonetics and phonology of the English language differ from one dialect to another, usually without interfering with mutual communication. Phonological variation affects the inventory of phonemes (i.e. speech sounds that distinguish meaning), and phonetic variation consists in differences in pronunciation of the phonemes. [136] This overview mainly describes the standard pronunciations of the United Kingdom and the United States: Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). (See § Dialects, accents, and varieties, below.)
The phonetic symbols used below are from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).[137][138][139]
Most English dialects share the same 24 consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory shown below is valid for Californian American English,[140] and for RP.[141]
Consonant phonemes
Post-
m n ŋ
p b t d tʃ dʒ k ɡ
f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
l ɹ* j w
* Conventionally transcribed /r/.
In the table, when obstruents (stops, affricates, and fricatives) appear in pairs, such as /p b/, /tʃ dʒ/, and /s z/, the first is fortis (strong) and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis obstruents, such as /p tʃ s/ are pronounced with more muscular tension and breath force than lenis consonants, such as /b dʒ z/, and are always voiceless. Lenis consonants are partly voiced at the beginning and end of utterances, and fully voiced between vowels. Fortis stops such as /p/ have additional articulatory or acoustic features in most dialects: they are aspirated [pʰ] when they occur alone at the beginning of a stressed syllable, often unaspirated in other cases, and often unreleased [p̚] or pre-glottalised [ʔp] at the end of a syllable. In a single-syllable word, a vowel before a fortis stop is shortened: thus nip has a noticeably shorter vowel (phonetically, but not phonemically) than nib [nɪˑb̥](see below).[142]
lenis stops: bin [b̥ɪˑn], about [əˈbaʊt], nib [nɪˑb̥]
fortis stops: pin [pʰɪn]; spin [spɪn]; happy [ˈhæpi]; nip [nɪp̚] or [nɪʔp]
In RP, the lateral approximant /l/, has two main allophones (pronunciation variants): the clear or plain [l], as in light, and the dark or velarised [ɫ], as in full.[143] GA has dark l in most cases.[144]
clear l: RP light [laɪt]
dark l: RP and GA full [fʊɫ], GA light [ɫaɪt]
All sonorants (liquids /l, r/ and nasals /m, n, ŋ/) devoice when following a voiceless obstruent, and they are syllabic when following a consonant at the end of a word.[145]
voiceless sonorants: clay [kl̥eɪ̯]; snow RP [sn̥əʊ̯], GA [sn̥oʊ̯]
syllabic sonorants: paddle [ˈpad.l̩], button [ˈbʌt.n̩]
The pronunciation of vowels varies a great deal between dialects and is one of the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent. The table below lists the vowel phonemes in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), with examples of words in which they occur from lexical sets compiled by linguists. The vowels are represented with symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet; those given for RP are standard in British dictionaries and other publications.[146]
Monophthongs
iː i need
ɪ bid
e ɛ bed
æ back
ɑː ɑ bra
ɒ box
ɔ, ɑ cloth
ɔː paw
uː u food
ʊ good
ʌ but
ɜː ɜr bird
ə comma
Closing diphthongs
eɪ bay
əʊ oʊ road
aɪ cry
aʊ cow
ɔɪ boy
Centering diphthongs
ɪə ɪɹ peer
eə ɛɹ pair
ʊə ʊɹ poor
In RP, vowel length is phonemic; long vowels are marked with a triangular colon ⟨ː⟩ in the table above, such as the vowel of need [niːd] as opposed to bid [bɪd]. In GA, vowel length is non-distinctive.
In both RP and GA, vowels are phonetically shortened before fortis consonants in the same syllable, like /t tʃ f/, but not before lenis consonants like /d dʒ v/ or in open syllables: thus, the vowels of rich [rɪtʃ], neat [nit], and safe [seɪ̯f] are noticeably shorter than the vowels of ridge [rɪˑdʒ], need [niˑd], and save [seˑɪ̯v], and the vowel of light [laɪ̯t] is shorter than that of lie [laˑɪ̯]. Because lenis consonants are frequently voiceless at the end of a syllable, vowel length is an important cue as to whether the following consonant is lenis or fortis.[147]
The vowel /ə/ only occurs in unstressed syllables and is closer in quality when followed by a morpheme-internal consonant and opener when morpheme-final or prevocalic.[148][149] Some dialects do not contrast /ɪ/ and /ə/in unstressed positions, so that rabbit and abbot rhyme and Lenin and Lennon are homophonous, a dialect feature called weak vowel merger.[150] GA /ɜr/ and /ər/ are realised as an r-coloured vowel [ɚ], as in further[ˈfɚðɚ] (phonemically /ˈfɜrðər/, which in RP is realised as [ˈfəːðə] (phonemically /ˈfɜːðə/).[151]
Phonotactics
An English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in sprint /sprɪnt/, and end with up to four, as in texts /teksts/. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCC) where C represents a consonant and V a vowel; the word strengths /strɛŋkθs/ is thus an example of the most complex syllable possible in English. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in play; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in fly or sly; s and a voiceless stop, as in stay; and s, a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in string.[152] Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree invoicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: /h/ can only occur in syllable-initial position, and /ŋ/ only in syllable-final position.[153]
Stress, rhythm and intonation
Stress plays an important role in English. Certain syllables are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently reduced while vowels in stressed syllables are not.[154] Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as can, have weak and strong forms depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.
Stress in English is phonemic, and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word contract is stressed on the first syllable (/ˈkɒntrækt/ KON-trakt) when used as a noun, but on the last syllable (/kənˈtrækt/ kən-TRAKT) for most meanings (for example, "reduce in size") when used as a verb.[155][156][157] Here stress is connected to vowel reduction: in the noun "contract" the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel /ɒ/, but in the verb "contract" the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to /ə/. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. a burnout (/ˈbɜːrnaʊt/) versus to burn out (/ˈbɜːrn ˈaʊt/), and a hotdog (/ˈhɒtdɒɡ/) versus a hot dog (/ˈhɒt ˈdɒɡ/).[158]
In terms of rhythm, English is generally described as a stress-timed language, meaning that the amount of time between stressed syllables tends to be equal. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer, but unstressed syllables (syllables between stresses) are shortened. Vowels in unstressed syllables are shortened as well, and vowel shortening causes changes in vowel quality: vowel reduction.
Regional variation
showVarieties of Standard English and their features[159]
Dialects and low vowels
Lexical set
Sound change
/ɔː/ /ɔ/ or /ɑ/ /ɑ/ cot–caught merger
/ɒ/ lot–cloth split
/ɑ/ father–bother merger
/ɑː/
/æ/ /æ/ trap–bath split
/æ/
Varieties of English vary the most in pronunciation of vowels. The best known national varieties used as standards for education in non English-speaking countries are British (BrE) and American (AmE). Countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa have their own standard varieties which are less often used as standards for education internationally. Some differences between the various dialects are shown in the table "Varieties of Standard English and their features".[159]
English has undergone many historical sound changes, some of them affecting all varieties, and others affecting only a few. Most standard varieties are affected by the Great Vowel Shift, which changed the pronunciation of long vowels, but a few dialects have slightly different results. In North America, a number of chain shifts such as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and Canadian Shift have produced very different vowel landscapes in some regional accents.
Some dialects have fewer or more consonant phonemes and phones than the standard varieties. Some conservative varieties like Scottish English have a voiceless [ʍ] sound in whine that contrasts with the voiced [w] in wine, but most other dialects pronounce both words with voiced [w], a dialect feature called wine–whine merger. The unvoiced velar fricative sound /x/ is found in Scottish English, which distinguishes loch /lɔx/ from lock /lɔk/. Accents like Cockney with "h-dropping" lack the glottal fricative /h/, and dialects with th-stopping and th-fronting like African American Vernacular and Estuary English do not have the dental fricatives /θ, ð/, but replace them with dental or alveolar stops /t, d/ or labiodental fricatives /f, v/.[160][161] Other changes affecting the phonology of local varieties are processes such as yod-dropping, yod-coalescence, and reduction of consonant clusters.
General American and Received Pronunciation vary in their pronunciation of historical /r/ after a vowel at the end of a syllable (in the syllable coda). GA is a rhotic dialect, meaning that it pronounces /r/ at the end of a syllable, but RP is non-rhotic, meaning that it loses /r/ in that position. English dialects are classified as rhotic or non-rhotic depending on whether they elide /r/ like RP or keep it like GA.[162]
There is complex dialectal variation in words with the open front and open back vowels /æ ɑː ɒ ɔː/. These four vowels are only distinguished in RP, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In GA, these vowels merge to three /æ ɑ ɔ/,[163] and in Canadian English, they merge to two /æ ɑ/.[164] In addition, the words that have each vowel vary by dialect. The table "Dialects and open vowels" shows this variation with lexical sets in which these sounds occur.
As is typical of an Indo-European language, English follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. Unlike other Indo-European languages though, English has largely abandoned the inflectional case system in favor of analytic constructions. Only the personal pronouns retain morphological case more strongly than any other word class. English distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners (including articles), prepositions, and conjunctions. Some analyses add pronouns as a class separate from nouns, and subdivide conjunctions into subordinators and coordinators, and add the class of interjections.[165] English also has a rich set of auxiliary verbs, such as have and do, expressing the categories of mood and aspect. Questions are marked by do-support, wh-movement (fronting of question words beginning with wh-) and word order inversion with some verbs.
Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in English, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs speak/spoke and foot/feet) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as love/loved, hand/hands). Vestiges of the case and gender system are found in the pronoun system (he/him, who/whom) and in the inflection of the copula verb to be.
The seven word classes are exemplified in this sample sentence:[166]
The chairman of the committee and the loquacious politician clashed violently when the meeting started.
Det. Noun Prep. Det. Noun Conj. Det. Adj. Noun Verb Advb. Conj. Det. Noun Verb
Nouns and noun phrases
English nouns are only inflected for number and possession. New nouns can be formed through derivation or compounding. They are semantically divided into proper nouns (names) and common nouns. Common nouns are in turn divided into concrete and abstract nouns, and grammatically into count nouns and mass nouns.[167]
Most count nouns are inflected for plural number through the use of the plural suffix -s, but a few nouns have irregular plural forms. Mass nouns can only be pluralised through the use of a count noun classifier, e.g. one loaf of bread, two loaves of bread.[168]
Regular plural formation:
Singular: cat, dog
Plural: cats, dogs
Irregular plural formation:
Singular: man, woman, foot, fish, ox, knife, mouse
Plural: men, women, feet, fish, oxen, knives, mice
Possession can be expressed either by the possessive enclitic -s (also traditionally called a genitive suffix), or by the preposition of. Historically the -s possessive has been used for animate nouns, whereas the ofpossessive has been reserved for inanimate nouns. Today this distinction is less clear, and many speakers use -s also with inanimates. Orthographically the possessive -s is separated from the noun root with an apostrophe.
Possessive constructions:
With -s: The woman's husband's child
With of: The child of the husband of the woman
Nouns can form noun phrases (NPs) where they are the syntactic head of the words that depend on them such as determiners, quantifiers, conjunctions or adjectives.[169] Noun phrases can be short, such as the man, composed only of a determiner and a noun. They can also include modifiers such as adjectives (e.g. red, tall, all) and specifiers such as determiners (e.g. the, that). But they can also tie together several nouns into a single long NP, using conjunctions such as and, or prepositions such as with, e.g. the tall man with the long red trousers and his skinny wife with the spectacles (this NP uses conjunctions, prepositions, specifiers, and modifiers). Regardless of length, an NP functions as a syntactic unit. For example, the possessive enclitic can, in cases which do not lead to ambiguity, follow the entire noun phrase, as in The President of India's wife, where the enclitic follows India and not President.
The class of determiners is used to specify the noun they precede in terms of definiteness, where the marks a definite noun and a or an an indefinite one. A definite noun is assumed by the speaker to be already known by the interlocutor, whereas an indefinite noun is not specified as being previously known. Quantifiers, which include one, many, some and all, are used to specify the noun in terms of quantity or number. The noun must agree with the number of the determiner, e.g. one man (sg.) but all men (pl.). Determiners are the first constituents in a noun phrase.[170]
Adjectives modify a noun by providing additional information about their referents. In English, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and after determiners.[171] In Modern English, adjectives are not inflected, and they do not agree in form with the noun they modify, as adjectives in most other Indo-European languages do. For example, in the phrases the slender boy, and many slender girls, the adjective slender does not change form to agree with either the number or gender of the noun.
Some adjectives are inflected for degree of comparison, with the positive degree unmarked, the suffix -er marking the comparative, and -est marking the superlative: a small boy, the boy is smaller than the girl, that boy is the smallest. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as good, better, and best. Other adjectives have comparatives formed by periphrastic constructions, with the adverb more marking the comparative, and most marking the superlative: happier or more happy, the happiest or most happy.[172] There is some variation among speakers regarding which adjectives use inflected or periphrastic comparison, and some studies have shown a tendency for the periphrastic forms to become more common at the expense of the inflected form.[173]
Pronouns, case, and person
English pronouns conserve many traits of case and gender inflection. The personal pronouns retain a difference between subjective and objective case in most persons (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them) as well as a gender and animateness distinction in the third person singular (distinguishing he/she/it). The subjective case corresponds to the Old English nominative case, and the objective case is used both in the sense of the previous accusative case (in the role of patient, or direct object of a transitive verb), and in the sense of the Old English dative case (in the role of a recipient or indirect object of a transitive verb).[174][175] Subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a finite clause, and otherwise, the objective case is used.[176] While grammarians such as Henry Sweet[177] and Otto Jespersen[178] noted that the English cases did not correspond to the traditional Latin based system, some contemporary grammars, for example Huddleston & Pullum (2002), retain traditional labels for the cases, calling them nominative and accusative cases respectively.
Possessive pronouns exist in dependent and independent forms; the dependent form functions as a determiner specifying a noun (as in my chair), while the independent form can stand alone as if it were a noun (e.g. the chair is mine).[179] The English system of grammatical person no longer has a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address (the old 2nd person singular familiar pronoun thou acquired a pejorative or inferior tinge of meaning and was abandoned), and the forms for 2nd person plural and singular are identical except in the reflexive form. Some dialects have introduced innovative 2nd person plural pronouns such as y'all found in Southern American English and African American (Vernacular) English or youse and ye found in Irish English.
English personal pronouns
Subjective case
Objective case
Dependent possessive
Independent possessive
1st p. sg.
I me my mine myself
2nd p. sg.
you you your yours yourself
3rd p. sg.
he/she/it him/her/it his/her/its his/hers/its himself/herself/itself
1st p. pl.
we us our ours ourselves
2nd p. pl.
you you your yours yourselves
3rd p. pl
they them their theirs themselves
Pronouns are used to refer to entities deictically or anaphorically. A deictic pronoun points to some person or object by identifying it relative to the speech situation—for example, the pronoun I identifies the speaker, and the pronoun you, the addressee. Anaphorical pronouns such as that refer back to an entity already mentioned or assumed by the speaker to be known by the audience, for example in the sentence I already told you that. The reflexive pronouns are used when the oblique argument is identical to the subject of a phrase (e.g. "he sent it to himself" or "she braced herself for impact").[180]
Prepositional phrases (PP) are phrases composed of a preposition and one or more nouns, e.g. with the dog, for my friend, to school, in England. Prepositions have a wide range of uses in English. They are used to describe movement, place, and other relations between different entities, but they also have many syntactic uses such as introducing complement clauses and oblique arguments of verbs. For example, in the phrase I gave it to him, the preposition to marks the recipient, or Indirect Object of the verb to give. Traditionally words were only considered prepositions if they governed the case of the noun they preceded, for example causing the pronouns to use the objective rather than subjective form, "with her", "to me", "for us". But some contemporary grammars such as that of Huddleston & Pullum (2002:598–600) no longer consider government of case to be the defining feature of the class of prepositions, rather defining prepositions as words that can function as the heads of prepositional phrases.
Verbs and verb phrases
English verbs are inflected for tense and aspect and marked for agreement with third person singular subject. Only the copula verb to be is still inflected for agreement with the plural and first and second person subjects.[172] Auxiliary verbs such as have and be are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form complex tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.[181][182]
Most verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third person singular present, and a preterite (past) form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund-participle and a past participle.[183] The copula verb to be is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first person present tense form is am, the third person singular form is and the form are is used second person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is been and its gerund-participle is being.
English inflectional forms
Inflection
Plain present
take love
3rd person sg.
takes loves
took loved
Plain (infinitive)
Gerund–participle
taking loving
taken loved
Tense, aspect and mood
English has two primary tenses, past (preterit) and non-past. The preterit is inflected by using the preterit form of the verb, which for the regular verbs includes the suffix -ed, and for the strong verbs either the suffix -t or a change in the stem vowel. The non-past form is unmarked except in the third person singular, which takes the suffix -s.[181]
I run I ran
Second person
You run You ran
John runs John ran
English does not have a morphologised future tense.[184] Futurity of action is expressed periphrastically with one of the auxiliary verbs will or shall.[185] Many varieties also use a near future constructed with the phrasal verb be going to.[186]
I will run
You will run
John will run
Further aspectual distinctions are encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs, primarily have and be, which encode the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense (I have run vs. I was running), and compound tenses such as preterite perfect (I had been running) and present perfect (I have been running).[187]
For the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as can, may, will, shall and the past tense forms could, might, would, should. There is also a subjunctive and an imperative mood, both based on the plain form of the verb (i.e. without the third person singular -s), and which is used in subordinate clauses (e.g. subjunctive: It is important that he run every day; imperative Run!).[185]
An infinitive form, that uses the plain form of the verb and the preposition to, is used for verbal clauses that are syntactically subordinate to a finite verbal clause. Finite verbal clauses are those that are formed around a verb in the present or preterit form. In clauses with auxiliary verbs, they are the finite verbs and the main verb is treated as a subordinate clause. For example, he has to go where only the auxiliary verb have is inflected for time and the main verb to go is in the infinitive, or in a complement clause such as I saw him leave, where the main verb is to see which is in a preterite form, and leave is in the infinitive.
English also makes frequent use of constructions traditionally called phrasal verbs, verb phrases that are made up of a verb root and a preposition or particle which follows the verb. The phrase then functions as a single predicate. In terms of intonation the preposition is fused to the verb, but in writing it is written as a separate word. Examples of phrasal verbs are to get up, to ask out, to back up, to give up, to get together, to hang out, to put up with, etc. The phrasal verb frequently has a highly idiomatic meaning that is more specialised and restricted than what can be simply extrapolated from the combination of verb and preposition complement (e.g. lay off meaning terminate someone's employment).[188] In spite of the idiomatic meaning, some grammarians, including Huddleston & Pullum (2002:274), do not consider this type of construction to form a syntactic constituent and hence refrain from using the term "phrasal verb". Instead, they consider the construction simply to be a verb with a prepositional phrase as its syntactic complement, i.e. he woke up in the morning and he ran up in the mountains are syntactically equivalent.
The function of adverbs is to modify the action or event described by the verb by providing additional information about the manner in which it occurs. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives with the suffix -ly, but not all, and many speakers tend to omit the suffix in the most commonly used adverbs. For example, in the phrase the woman walked quickly the adverb quickly derived from the adjective quick describes the woman's way of walking. Some commonly used adjectives have irregular adverbial forms, such as good which has the adverbial form well.
In the English sentence The cat sat on the mat, the subject is the cat (a NP), the verb is sat, and on the mat is a prepositional phrase (composed of an NP the mat, and headed by the preposition on). The tree describes the structure of the sentence.
Modern English syntax language is moderately analytic.[189] It has developed features such as modal verbs and word order as resources for conveying meaning. Auxiliary verbsmark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the passive voice and progressive aspect.
Basic constituent order
English word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO).[190] The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as he had hoped to try to open it.
In most sentences, English only marks grammatical relations through word order.[191] The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The example below demonstrates how the grammatical roles of each constituent is marked only by the position relative to the verb:
The dog bites the man
S V O
The man bites the dog
An exception is found in sentences where one of the constituents is a pronoun, in which case it is doubly marked, both by word order and by case inflection, where the subject pronoun precedes the verb and takes the subjective case form, and the object pronoun follows the verb and takes the objective case form. The example below demonstrates this double marking in a sentence where both object and subject is represented with a third person singular masculine pronoun:
He hit him
Indirect objects (IO) of ditransitive verbs can be placed either as the first object in a double object construction (S V IO O), such as I gave Jane the book or in a prepositional phrase, such as I gave the book to Jane [192]
Clause syntax
In English a sentence may be composed of one or more clauses, that may, in turn, be composed of one or more phrases (e.g. Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases). A clause is built around a verb and includes its constituents, such as any NPs and PPs. Within a sentence, one clause is always the main clause (or matrix clause) whereas other clauses are subordinate to it. Subordinate clauses may function as arguments of the verb in the main clause. For example, in the phrase I think (that) you are lying, the main clause is headed by the verb think, the subject is I, but the object of the phrase is the subordinate clause (that) you are lying. The subordinating conjunction that shows that the clause that follows is a subordinate clause, but it is often omitted.[193] Relative clauses are clauses that function as a modifier or specifier to some constituent in the main clause: For example, in the sentence I saw the letter that you received today, the relative clause that you received today specifies the meaning of the word letter, the object of the main clause. Relative clauses can be introduced by the pronouns who, whose, whom and which as well as by that (which can also be omitted.)[194] In contrast to many other Germanic languages there is no major differences between word order in main and subordinate clauses.[195]
Auxiliary verb constructions
English syntax relies on auxiliary verbs for many functions including the expression of tense, aspect, and mood. Auxiliary verbs form main clauses, and the main verbs function as heads of a subordinate clause of the auxiliary verb. For example, in the sentence the dog did not find its bone, the clause find its bone is the complement of the negated verb did not. Subject–auxiliary inversion is used in many constructions, including focus, negation, and interrogative constructions.
The verb do can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, where it usually serves to add emphasis, as in "I did shut the fridge." However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the rules of English syntax permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. Modern English does not allow the addition of the negating adverb not to an ordinary finite lexical verb, as in *I know not—it can only be added to an auxiliary (or copular) verb, hence if there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary do is used, to produce a form like I do not (don't) know. The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions—inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb, so it is not possible to say *Know you him?; grammatical rules require Do you know him?[196]
Negation is done with the adverb not, which precedes the main verb and follows an auxiliary verb. A contracted form of not -n't can be used as an enclitic attaching to auxiliary verbs and to the copula verb to be. Just as with questions, many negative constructions require the negation to occur with do-support, thus in Modern English I don't know him is the correct answer to the question Do you know him?, but not *I know him not, although this construction may be found in older English.[197]
Passive constructions also use auxiliary verbs. A passive construction rephrases an active construction in such a way that the object of the active phrase becomes the subject of the passive phrase, and the subject of the active phrase is either omitted or demoted to a role as an oblique argument introduced in a prepositional phrase. They are formed by using the past participle either with the auxiliary verb to be or to get, although not all varieties of English allow the use of passives with get. For example, putting the sentence she sees him into the passive becomes he is seen (by her), or he gets seen (by her).[198]
Both yes–no questions and wh-questions in English are mostly formed using subject–auxiliary inversion (Am I going tomorrow?, Where can we eat?), which may require do-support (Do you like her?, Where did he go?). In most cases, interrogative words (wh-words; e.g. what, who, where, when, why, how) appear in a fronted position. For example, in the question What did you see?, the word what appears as the first constituent despite being the grammatical object of the sentence. (When the wh-word is the subject or forms part of the subject, no inversion occurs: Who saw the cat?.) Prepositional phrases can also be fronted when they are the question's theme, e.g. To whose house did you go last night?. The personal interrogative pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun to still show inflection for case, with the variant whom serving as the objective case form, although this form may be going out of use in many contexts.[199]
Discourse level syntax
While English is a subject-prominent language, at the discourse level it tends to use a topic-comment structure, where the known information (topic) precedes the new information (comment). Because of the strict SVO syntax, the topic of a sentence generally has to be the grammatical subject of the sentence. In cases where the topic is not the grammatical subject of the sentence, frequently the topic is promoted to subject position through syntactic means. One way of doing this is through a passive construction, the girl was stung by the bee. Another way is through a cleft sentence where the main clause is demoted to be a complement clause of a copula sentence with a dummy subject such as it or there, e.g. it was the girl that the bee stung, there was a girl who was stung by a bee.[200] Dummy subjects are also used in constructions where there is no grammatical subject such as with impersonal verbs (e.g., it is raining) or in existential clauses (there are many cars on the street). Through the use of these complex sentence constructions with informationally vacuous subjects, English is able to maintain both a topic-comment sentence structure and a SVO syntax.
Focus constructions emphasise a particular piece of new or salient information within a sentence, generally through allocating the main sentence level stress on the focal constituent. For example, the girl was stung by a bee (emphasising it was a bee and not, for example, a wasp that stung her), or The girl was stung by a bee (contrasting with another possibility, for example that it was the boy).[201] Topic and focus can also be established through syntactic dislocation, either preposing or postposing the item to be focused on relative to the main clause. For example, That girl over there, she was stung by a bee, emphasises the girl by preposition, but a similar effect could be achieved by postposition, she was stung by a bee, that girl over there, where reference to the girl is established as an "afterthought".[202]
Cohesion between sentences is achieved through the use of deictic pronouns as anaphora (e.g. that is exactly what I mean where that refers to some fact known to both interlocutors, or then used to locate the time of a narrated event relative to the time of a previously narrated event).[203] Discourse markers such as oh, so or well, also signal the progression of ideas between sentences and help to create cohesion. Discourse markers are often the first constituents in sentences. Discourse markers are also used for stance taking in which speakers position themselves in a specific attitude towards what is being said, for example, no way is that true! (the idiomatic marker no way! expressing disbelief), or boy! I'm hungry (the marker boy expressing emphasis). While discourse markers are particularly characteristic of informal and spoken registers of English, they are also used in written and formal registers.[204]
English is a rich language in terms of vocabulary, containing more synonyms than any other language.[130] There are words which appear on the surface to mean exactly the same thing but which, in fact, have slightly different shades of meaning and must be chosen appropriately if a speaker wants to convey precisely the message intended. It is generally stated that English has around 170,000 words, or 220,000 if obsolete words are counted; this estimate is based on the last full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1989.[205] Over half of these words are nouns, a quarter adjectives, and a seventh verbs. There is one count that puts the English vocabulary at about 1 million words—but that count presumably includes words such as Latin species names, scientific terminology, botanical terms, prefixed and suffixed words, jargon, foreign words of extremely limited English use, and technical acronyms.[13]
Due to its status as an international language, English adopts foreign words quickly, and borrows vocabulary from many other sources. Early studies of English vocabulary by lexicographers, the scholars who formally study vocabulary, compile dictionaries, or both, were impeded by a lack of comprehensive data on actual vocabulary in use from good-quality linguistic corpora,[206] collections of actual written texts and spoken passages. Many statements published before the end of the 20th century about the growth of English vocabulary over time, the dates of first use of various words in English, and the sources of English vocabulary will have to be corrected as new computerised analysis of linguistic corpus data becomes available.[13][207]
Word formation processes
English forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion,[208] using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding,[13][207] producing compound words such as babysitter or ice cream or homesick.[208] A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (-hood, -ness, -ing, -ility) to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of Latin or Greek origin).
Formation of new words, called neologisms, based on Greek and/or Latin roots (for example television or optometry) is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the "international scientific vocabulary" (ISV) when compiling Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961). Another active word-formation process in English is acronyms,[209] words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases (e.g. NATO, laser).
Source languages of English vocabulary[6][210]
English, besides forming new words from existing words and their roots, also borrows words from other languages. This adoption of words from other languages is commonplace in many world languages, but English has been especially open to borrowing of foreign words throughout the last 1,000 years.[211] The most commonly used words in English are West Germanic.[212] The words in English learned first by children as they learn to speak, particularly the grammatical words that dominate the word count of both spoken and written texts, are mainly the Germanic words inherited from the earliest periods of the development of Old English.[13]
But one of the consequences of long language contact between French and English in all stages of their development is that the vocabulary of English has a very high percentage of "Latinate" words (derived from French, especially, and also from Latin and other Romance languages). French words from various periods of the development of French now make up one-third of the vocabulary of English.[213] Words of Old Norse origin have entered the English language primarily from the contact between Old Norse and Old English during colonisation of eastern and northern England. Many of these words are part of English core vocabulary, such as egg and knife.[214]
English has also borrowed many words directly from Latin, the ancestor of the Romance languages, during all stages of its development.[207][13] Many of these words had earlier been borrowed into Latin from Greek. Latin or Greek are still highly productive sources of stems used to form vocabulary of subjects learned in higher education such as the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics.[215] English continues to gain new loanwords and calques ("loan translations") from languages all over the world, and words from languages other than the ancestral Anglo-Saxon language make up about 60% of the vocabulary of English.[216]
English has formal and informal speech registers; informal registers, including child-directed speech, tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while the percentage of vocabulary that is of Latinate origin is higher in legal, scientific, and academic texts.[217][218]
English loanwords and calques in other languages
English has a strong influence on the vocabulary of other languages.[213][219] The influence of English comes from such factors as opinion leaders in other countries knowing the English language, the role of English as a world lingua franca, and the large number of books and films that are translated from English into other languages.[220] That pervasive use of English leads to a conclusion in many places that English is an especially suitable language for expressing new ideas or describing new technologies. Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages.[221] Some languages, such as Chinese, write words borrowed from English mostly as calques, while others, such as Japanese, readily take in English loanwords written in sound-indicating script.[222] Dubbed films and television programmes are an especially fruitful source of English influence on languages in Europe.[222]
Writing system
Since the ninth century, English has been written in a Latin alphabet (also called Roman alphabet). Earlier Old English texts in Anglo-Saxon runes are only short inscriptions. The great majority of literary works in Old English that survive to today are written in the Roman alphabet.[32] The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters of the Latin script: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z (which also have capitalforms: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).
The spelling system, or orthography, of English is multi-layered, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system.[223] Further complications have arisen through sound changeswith which the orthography has not kept pace.[44] Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation, and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced.[224] There are also systematic spelling differences between British and American English. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.[225]
Although letters and speech sounds do not have a one-to-one correspondence in standard English spelling, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetic changes in derived words, and word accent are reliable for most English words.[226] Moreover, standard English spelling shows etymological relationships between related words that would be obscured by a closer correspondence between pronunciation and spelling, for example the words photograph, photography, and photographic,[226] or the words electricity and electrical. While few scholars agree with Chomsky and Halle (1968) that conventional English orthography is "near-optimal",[223] there is a rationale for current English spelling patterns.[227] The standard orthography of English is the most widely used writing system in the world.[228] Standard English spelling is based on a graphomorphemic segmentation of words into written clues of what meaningful units make up each word.[229]
Readers of English can generally rely on the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation to be fairly regular for letters or digraphs used to spell consonant sounds. The letters b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z represent, respectively, the phonemes /b, d, f, h, dʒ, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, j, z/. The letters c and g normally represent /k/ and /ɡ/, but there is also a soft c pronounced /s/, and a soft g pronounced /dʒ/. The differences in the pronunciations of the letters c and g are often signalled by the following letters in standard English spelling. Digraphs used to represent phonemes and phoneme sequences include ch for /tʃ/, sh for /ʃ/, thfor /θ/ or /ð/, ng for /ŋ/, qu for /kw/, and ph for /f/ in Greek-derived words. The single letter x is generally pronounced as /z/ in word-initial position and as /ks/ otherwise. There are exceptions to these generalisations, often the result of loanwords being spelled according to the spelling patterns of their languages of origin[226] or proposals by pedantic scholars in the early period of Modern English to mistakenly follow the spelling patterns of Latin for English words of Germanic origin.[230]
For the vowel sounds of the English language, however, correspondences between spelling and pronunciation are more irregular. There are many more vowel phonemes in English than there are single vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, w, y). As a result, some "long vowels" are often indicated by combinations of letters (like the oa in boat, the ow in how, and the ay in stay), or the historically based silent e (as in note and cake).[227]
The consequence of this complex orthographic history is that learning to read can be challenging in English. It can take longer for school pupils to become independently fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including Italian, Spanish, and German.[231] Nonetheless, there is an advantage for learners of English reading in learning the specific sound-symbol regularities that occur in the standard English spellings of commonly used words.[226] Such instruction greatly reduces the risk of children experiencing reading difficulties in English.[232][233] Making primary school teachers more aware of the primacy of morpheme representation in English may help learners learn more efficiently to read and write English.[234]
English writing also includes a system of punctuation marks that is similar to those used in most alphabetic languages around the world. The purpose of punctuation is to mark meaningful grammatical relationships in sentences to aid readers in understanding a text and to indicate features important for reading a text aloud.[235]
Dialects, accents, and varieties
Dialectologists identify many English dialects, which usually refer to regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of patterns of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The pronunciation of particular areas distinguishes dialects as separate regional accents. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two extremely general categories of British English (BrE) and North American English(NAE).[236] There also exists a third common major grouping of English varieties: Southern Hemisphere English, the most prominent being Australian and New Zealand English.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Map showing the main dialect regions in the UK and Ireland
As the place where English first evolved, the British Isles, and particularly England, are home to the most diverse dialects. Within the United Kingdom, the Received Pronunciation(RP), an educated dialect of South East England, is traditionally used as the broadcast standard and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear.[237]
Nonetheless this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact, only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence.[238] There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle-class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life.[239] Within Britain, there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered "non-standard" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is H-dropping, which was historically a feature of lower-class London English, particularly Cockney, and can now be heard in the local accents of most parts of England—yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.[240]
English in England can be divided into four major dialect regions, Southwest English, South East English, Midlands English, and Northern English. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects, and the Geordie dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in Liverpool (Scouse) and Manchester (Mancunian). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.[241]
Since the 15th century, southeastern England varieties centred around London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the Cockney dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. The spread of Cockney features across the south-east led the media to talk of Estuary English as a new dialect, but the notion was criticised by many linguists on the grounds that London had influencing neighbouring regions throughout history.[242][243][244] Traits that have spread from London in recent decades include the use of intrusive R (drawing is pronounced drawring /ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/), t-glottalisation (Potter is pronounced with a glottal stop as Po'er /poʔʌ/), and the pronunciation of th- as /f/ (thanks pronounced fanks) or /v/ (bother pronounced bover). [245]
Scots is today considered a separate language from English, but it has its origins in early Northern Middle English[246] and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly Scots Gaelic and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, Scottish English are the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland, most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.[247]
In Ireland, various forms of English have been spoken since the Norman invasions of the 11th century. In County Wexford, in the area surrounding Dublin, two extinct dialects known as Forth and Bargy and Fingallian developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern Irish English, however, has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into Ulster English, the Northern Ireland dialect with strong influence from Scots, as well as various dialects of the Republic of Ireland. Like Scottish and most North American accents, almost all Irish accents preserve the rhoticity which has been lost in the dialects influenced by RP.[19][248]
Rhoticity dominates in North American English. The Atlas of North American English found over 50% non-rhoticity, though, in at least one local white speaker in each U.S. metropolitan area designated here by a red dot. Non-rhotic African American Vernacular English pronunciations may be found among African Americans regardless of location.
North American English is fairly homogeneous compared to British English. Today, American accent variation is often increasing at the regional level and decreasing at the very local level,[249] though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents,[250] known collectively as General American (GA), with differences hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as Midland and Western American English).[251][252][253] In most American and Canadian English dialects, rhoticity (or r-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (r-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.[254]
Separate from GA are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems, historically including Southern American English, English of the coastal Northeast (famously including Eastern New England English and New York City English), and African American Vernacular English, all of which are historically non-rhotic. Canadian English, except for the Atlantic provinces and perhaps Quebec, may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows the raising of the vowels /aɪ/ and /aʊ/before voiceless consonants, as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards.[255]
In Southern American English, the most populous American "accent group" outside of GA,[256] rhoticity now strongly prevails, replacing the region's historical non-rhotic prestige.[257][258][259] Southern accents are colloquially described as a "drawl" or "twang,"[260] being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift initiated by glide-deleting in the /aɪ/ vowel (e.g. pronouncing spy almost like spa), the "Southern breaking" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word "press" almost like "pray-us"),[261] the pin–pen merger, and other distinctive phonological, grammatical, and lexical features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.[262]
Today spoken primarily by working- and middle-class African Americans, African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard older Southern dialects. A minority of linguists,[263] contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a pidgin or Creole English to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins.[264] AAVE's important commonalities with Southern accents suggests it developed into a highly coherent and homogeneous variety in the 19th or early 20th century. AAVE is commonly stigmatised in North America as a form of "broken" or "uneducated" English, as are white Southern accents, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.[265][266]
Since 1788, English has been spoken in Oceania, and Australian English has developed as a first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, its standard accent being General Australian. The English of neighbouring New Zealand has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language.[267] Australian and New Zealand English are each other's closest relatives with few differentiating characteristics, followed by South African English and the English of southeastern England, all of which have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the South Island of New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand English stand out for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar aligns closely to British and American English; like American English, collective plural subjects take on a singular verb (as in the government is rather than are).[268][269] New Zealand English uses front vowels that are often even higher than in Australian English.[270][271][272]
Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia
English is spoken widely in South Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In South Africa, English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with Afrikaans and various African languages such as the Khoe and Bantu languages. Today about 9 percent of the South African population speak South African English (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers.[273] Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels.[274] Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. pin pronounced [pɪn] rather than as [pʰɪn] as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap [ɾ] instead of as the more common fricative.[275]
Nigerian English is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria.[276] It is based on British English, but in recent years, because of influence from the United States, some words of American English origin have made it into Nigerian English. Additionally, some new words and collocations have emerged from the language, which come from the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. senior wife). Over 150 million population of Nigerians speak English.[277]
Several varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean Islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the Leeward and Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Belize. Each of these areas are home both to a local variety of English and a local English based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are Jamaican English and Jamaican Creole. In Central America, English based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama.[278] Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and code-switching between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as "basilect" and the more RP-like forms serving as the "acrolect", the most formal register.[279]
Most Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently, most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ are monophthongs [eː] and [oː] or even the reverse diphthongs [ie] and [uo](e.g. bay and boat pronounced [bʲeː] and [bʷoːt]). Often word-final consonant clusters are simplified so that "child" is pronounced [t͡ʃail] and "wind" [win].[280][281][282]
As a historical legacy, Indian English tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as /t/ and /d/ (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as [ʈ] and [ɖ]) and the replacement of /θ/ and /ð/ with dentals [t̪] and [d̪]. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent ⟨h⟩ found in words such as ghost is pronounced as an Indian voiced aspirated stop [ɡʱ].[283]
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Wolfram, W. (2006). "Variation and Language: Overview". In Brown, Keith. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Encyclopedia of language & linguistics. Elsevier. pp. 333–341. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04256-5. ISBN 978-0-08-044299-0. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Lay summary (6 February 2015). – via ScienceDirect (Subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries.)
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« At 1-year mark, Risin’ Smoke a smokin’ success story
Real Diamond rocks The Colonial Center »
Sal’s Dugout recalls the ‘Golden Age’ of baseball
Published September 26, 2016 | By Dallas Weston
Baseball is an important part of Sal Thomasson’s life and always has been. You’d probably guess that from the collection of baseball memorabilia in his Clarksville attic “mancave,” Sal’s Dugout.
You don’t often find dugouts in attics, but the pennants from famous teams of the past is a dead giveaway. Almost every inch of wall space is covered with framed magazine covers, articles and photos.
One side of the dugout is dedicated to college ball, the other to professional ball. Either way, Thomasson’s passion for baseball and collecting is obvious.
It all started with a handful of baseball cards.
“I actually first started collecting in 1948, but only five minutes worth then,” explained Thomasson. “I really got into it in 1953.”
He still has those first cards.
Also on display in his dugout is the jersey and shoes he wore when the high school team from Clarksville took on the team from Chase City in their last game.
“The next year the schools consolidated,” remembered Thomasson.
There are also several personalized Louisville Slugger bats, imprinted from the factory with his name. Only people who are or have been professional players are eligible to buy Louisville Slugger bats personalized with their name.
Briefly, Thomasson was a pro, but on the day of our visit, his collection of memorabilia was the primary topic of discussion.
Thomasson said he seriously began collecting in 1953, back in the day when baseball cards were packaged with bubble gum. Then, he said, the two big companies making the cards were Topps and Bowmans.
What was at first just a minor hobby became a passion that would last to this day.
“I remember I had some years when I was in college and playing ball and in the military when I couldn’t collect,” said Thomasson. “In 1979 I went to my first baseball card convention.” Thomasson laughed out lout. “It was all over after that.”
If Thomasson has an addiction to baseball cards, it’s a tightly focused one.
“I don’t have anything past 1958,” said Thomasson. “In baseball cards, the 1950s is the golden era, or whatever you want to call it.”
Despite his love of 1950s ball, he says candidly that the game is even better today.
“Baseball today is great,” said Thomasson. “It’s so good it’s unreal. The players are so good and so fast and so strong. Believe me, they’re good.”
The state of modern baseball cards, however, does not impress him.
“They’re not worth the paper they’re printed on,” he said with obvious disgust. “They make so many. From 1990 till yesterday, they aren’t worth a cuss.”
Once upon a time, Thomasson did have at least some interest in the new cards. That faded quickly.
“I’d say that in the past seven years I gave away to two people probably 30,000 to 35,000 cards. You can’t do anything with them. You can’t trade them to a dealer. There just isn’t any value there.”
Today, Thomasson said that his collection is by no means large with only around 8,000 cards. Some, he admitted, are not original issues but are reissues and reproductions.
Thomasson explained that although he started off with cards, dealers and traders soon learned his tastes and he soon branched out to magazines and pennants and more. Today, his dugout features stories and pictures of some of the greatest teams and players from baseball’s greatest era.
Prominent on his walls are things relating to the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies.
“They’re my favorite team,” he said. “I don’t know why. But that was where I started, and it hit me between the eyes. They were my team.”
Above the pictures and magazines are various pennants with the names of pro teams, both familiar and unfamiliar. Asked about the pennant of the Cincinnati Redlegs, Thomasson explained that Cincinnati Redlegs is the original and real name of the Cincinnati Reds. The New York Metropolitans is the “real” name of the New York Mets. After the Washington Senators left in 1960, their two expansion teams became the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers. Before there were the Atlanta Braves, there were the Boston Braves and then the Milwaukee Braves.
Thomasson obviously knows baseball history.
Unlike many sports fanatics who spend their lives dreaming the game, Thomasson actually had a chance to live the dream, if only briefly.
“I didn’t make it out of Class A,” laughed Thomasson. “I signed with the New York Mets Class A team. I had beyond major league speed. I had a major league glove, but that little T-ball bat followed me everywhere I went. I couldn’t hit. That’s why I didn’t make it. I was above average in some ways, but that bat will separate you in a heartbeat. If you can hit, they’ll find a spot for you.”
Thomasson has no regrets and fond memories of those days.
“I played for half a year and did have about two weeks training with the Chicago Cubs Triple A team in the Pacific League team,” he said. “But you know, if I couldn’t hit against Class A pitchers I couldn’t hit against a Triple A pitcher.”
Thomasson did, however, return to Clarksville where he played locally well into his late 30s.
Thomasson’s collection is not limited to baseball memorabilia. He also has a spot for homegrown heroes, and sitting along one wall is the first sign announcing Clarksville as “the home of Jerome Kersey.”
“When the town took down the sign, I went to them as asked if I could have it,” he said.
The sign now occupies a place of honor in his collection.
Featured Photo: Standing amid the collection he began in 1948, Sal Thomasson might just be the ultimate baseball fan.
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Rotary Sustaining Scholars Fund (5-066)
Rotary Sustaining Scholars Fund (5-066) Deed: Income from the fund shall be disbursed from time to time, or at least annually, for the purpose of providing scholarships to post secondary students in their second, or subsequent years. Capitalized: Yes Note: The...
Mission Granite Club Fund
Mission Granite Club Fund (8-070) Curling, Canada’s other national sport. The Mission Granite club started in 1953 and has many leagues for juniors, seniors, ladies, mens and mixed teams. In 2009 the Granite club began this dual purpose fund to provide scholarships to...
Margaret Erskine Bursary Fund
Margaret Erskine Bursary Fund Margaret’s wish to give Bursaries to the students of Mission resulted in her making a bequest in her will that helped to establish the Mission (Community) Foundation in 1986. Margaret Erskine (1913 – 1985) was an only child, born to older...
LeDuc Bursaries (2-041)
LeDuc Bursaries (2-041) Deed: To provide bursaries to student who are registered to pursue a course of training at a legally constituted organization whose credentials are recognized by the province of BC. Capitalized: Yes Criteria: Must be an active member of St....
James Slusarchuk Memorial Fund
James Slusarchuk Memorial Fund This fund was created by friends and colleagues from the Mission School District after Jim’s passing 1993. Jim was an educator and Principal with the Mission School District for many years, as well as Headmaster at a private school in...
Just $10 for Camp Jubilee
2019 Scholarship Awards
2018 Mission Community Foundation Scholarship Awards
Mission Community Foundation Welcomes New Board Members
2018 G.W. Cooke Awards Presentation
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Too Many Deaths
January 04, 2017 By: NCVeditor Category: Current Events, Laura L. Finley, Politics
Jurors Should Say No to Executing Dylann Roof
It is clear that 2016 was a challenging year, as is not-so-subtly displayed by John Oliver’s “F*ck 2016” and the subsequent meme of the same name. As I reflect on the many things I would like to see improved in 2017, I am thinking about both immediate and long-term goals. One of my dreams in the long-term is an end to the death penalty in the US. In the short term, however, my hope for January is that the jury that sentences Dylann Roof chooses life over another death.
Roof was found guilty of the June 17, 2015 murder of nine African-Americans parishioners engaged in a Bible study group at Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. After sitting through their prayer service, Roof gunned down Reverend Clementa Pinckney and the other members with his .45 caliber Glock pistol loaded with hollow-point bullets. His murder spree was considered a hate crime based on his frequent visits to the websites of racial hate groups and publications on his own website, where he was pictured posing with symbols of white supremacy and neo-Nazism and which featured a manifesto declaring his hatred of black people. Roof also had a list of potential targets, predominantly black churches. If he is sentenced to death, Roof would join only three others who have received federal death sentences in the past half century, and would be the only person to have been so sentenced since 2003. More recently, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received a federal death sentence for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. (more…)
Tags: 2017, crime, death, justice, law, sentencing
January 29, 2015 By: NCVeditor Category: Community, Politics, Robert C. Koehler
Healing the Criminal Justice System
by Robert C. Koehler
“It’d be really hard to have a higher recidivism rate than we have in Cook County.” Maybe this is the place to start a brief meditation on changing the world, or at least Chicago . . . known to some of its residents as “Chiraq.”
The speaker is Elena Quintana, executive director of the Adler Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice, which, in partnership with Roosevelt University’s Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation, recently completed a study on Cook County’s dysfunctional juvenile justice system.
What we’re doing isn’t working, justice-wise, order-wise, sanity-wise. The state of Illinois is bankrupt and yet its jails are full to bursting, at a cost, per occupant, equal to or greater than the cost of luxury suites at its ritziest hotels. And 90 percent of the teenagers who enter the system come back within three years of their release. This is no surprise: The system is a spiral of entrapment, especially for young men of color. (more…)
Tags: crime, healing, justice, meditation, prison, youth
Open Our Eyes…
October 03, 2013 By: NCVeditor Category: Community, Culture, Family, Robert C. Koehler
Hope Flows from Hollow Water
The community was out of control — the children, oh my God, the children, were sniffing gasoline and pretty much abandoning any pretense of a future — and the social and criminal-justice systems were just adding to the problem. Nothing was working.
“Our children slammed us against a brick wall,” Burma Bushie said.
This is the story of a culture in shambles. It was the early 1980s. Bushie’s community is called the Hollow Water First Nation Reserve, a village of about 900 people in eastern Manitoba, more or less at the end of the highway. There was one road in and one road out.
They may have felt utterly isolated in their troubles, but what a few of them started to do — in synchronicity with people in other indigenous communities — has spread hope and awareness across the planet. They began reaching beyond the known (i.e., Western) world, deep into their souls and into the roots of a lost way of life, to save their children and the future. Without intending to, they started a movement. And the slow reverberation of change continues to spread. (more…)
Tags: children, crime, healing, justice, movements, restoration
Love Crowds Out Fear
August 09, 2013 By: NCVeditor Category: Current Events, Guest Author, Politics
On Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman Verdict
by Valerie Elverton Dixon
I waited. My tears waited…
In March 2012 when the story of Trayvon Martin’s murder became national news, I waited to comment. Like those who took to the streets in hoodies, I could not understand how George Zimmerman could shoot and kill an unarmed teenager who was simply walking home from the store, be taken into custody by the police, and then go home to sleep in his own bed the same night without being charged with a crime. Zimmerman told the police that he acted in self defense, and that was enough. Trayvon Martin’s family had to hire a lawyer and the lawyers had to contact national civil rights leaders before a prosecutor brought charges. I did not comment.
Trayvon Martin’s parents said they had faith in the criminal justice system. They wanted a trial. The trial happened and a jury of six women found their son’s killer not guilty. When I learned of the verdict on Sunday morning, July 14, my delayed praying tears ended their wait. I wept. I grieved for Trayvon Martin and for all the teenagers whose lives are lost to gun violence, and I grieved for our criminal justice system and for our nation. (more…)
Tags: crime, justice, law, love, Obama, race
My Dinner with Bernie
July 29, 2013 By: NCVeditor Category: Current Events, Family, Missy Beattie
The More Things Change…
by Missy Beattie
“That sounds like something Bernie would do. This is Bernie,” I’d said to Charles, years ago. He shook his head no.
Before we met, Charles lived in NYC, where he got his PhD. That’s how he knew Bernie, both at NYU in the department of nuclear engineering. My husband collected characters, and Bernie was one. Charles had plenty of Bernie stories but disagreed with my realization, couldn’t fathom that one of his friends could do what struck me as obvious.
A few years after Charles and I married and were living in Kentucky, Bernie visited. He drove a rental car from Manhattan to Lexington, on his way somewhere. He stayed a few hours and had dinner with us. (more…)
Tags: crime, guns, history, memory, race, reflections
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Havant and Waterlooville – The Official Web Site
Discussion of Havant and Waterlooville FC
BT Sport has announced that it will continue to broadcast live non-league football for the next three seasons from the rebranded Vanarama National League. Sign up now
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Home > Adam Smith > Smith at Panmure House
Adam Smith’s reputation flourished on the back of Wealth of Nations. His next career choice, however, wasn’t an obvious one...
In 1777 he accepted the role of Commissioner of Customs and the Salt Duties in Edinburgh at an annual salary of £600 a year. Two years later, Smith moved into Panmure House, built and later occupied by the 4th Earl of Panmure in 1690. Living here with his mother, a cousin and his nephew, Smith continued to study and write, producing no fewer than four new editions of Wealth of Nations between 1778 and 1789.
During his time here, Smith amassed an extensive library of some 3000 volumes, exploring his interests across a number of languages. In our re-imagining of Panmure House, the rooms in which he studied and revised his key works will be home to the main meeting and event spaces, where echoes of the great ideas housed in those pages may still resonate.
But Panmure House at this time was not simply a place of academic study. It was alive with discourse and entertainment. Key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment were regular visitors; James Hutton, founder of modern geology, Joseph Black, founding father of chemistry, Robert Adam, the neoclassical architect, Edmund Burke, leading English parliamentarian, William Robertson, Edinburgh University principal and historian, Hugh Blair, Professor of Rhetoric, Samual Rogers, English poet and Dugald Stuart, philosopher and mathematician, were just some of the distinguished names to be welcomed here.
Smith died in Panmure House in 1790 leaving instructions for the majority of his manuscripts to be destroyed and for his library to be left to his nephew Lord Reston. It remains Smith’s only surviving residence.
We were delighted to be asked to give Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterpri...
Interview with Adam Smith
"when Adam Smith lived in Panmure House he made it a hub of intellectual enlightenment ... Panmure House should be restored to that purpose once again"
Dr Eamonn Butler Director, Adam Smith Institute
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Peoria Welcomes Multiple Grammy Winner, Bill Gaither & Gaither Vocal Band
Alexandria, IN - On Friday, June 21, 2019, at the Peoria Civic Center Theater in Peoria, IL, multi-Grammy Award-winner Bill Gaither will host a spectacular evening of music, laughter and encouragement featuring the talent of the prestigious Gaither Vocal Band (pictured in attached jpg).
The Gaither Vocal Band will share timeless gospel classics, as well as refreshing, inspiring new favorites embraced by audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Few events have the ability unite individuals from all walks of life the way Gaither concerts do. “The longer I live, the more I learn to appreciate the here and now - this moment - this place in life - this group of people with whom I am privileged to collaborate,” states Gaither Vocal Band founder and bass singer, Bill Gaither.
This past fall, the Gaither Vocal Band celebrated the release of their brand new recording, We Have This Moment, produced by famed country and gospel music performer and studio musician Gordon Mote. The recording is a musical snapshot of a special season for this lauded quintet, featuring Gaither, Wes Hampton, Adam Crabb, Todd Suttles and Reggie Smith, the newest addition to the iconic group.
Year after year, Bill Gaither has brought the Homecoming Tour into cities worldwide, performing to packed houses with collective attendance figures exceeding a million people and being ranked among the top concerts for tickets sold worldwide in any music genre during the past two decades. Each concert showcases gospel music's finest talent and draws new listeners with every city. Joining The Gaither Vocal Band for this special evening will be talented female vocalist, Charlotte Ritchie and powerful male vocalist Gene McDonald, as well as guitarist and comedian, Kevin Williams.
Gaither continues to be delighted by audiences' response to the concerts, now more than 40 years after he quit his day job as a teacher: “I've always said it all starts with a great song, and we are fortunate that each concert includes great songs that have stood the test of time. With all the musical choices that are available now, there is still a special place for the joy and optimism that reside in Gospel music. Good news never gets old.”
Named ASCAP's Songwriters of the Century, Bill and Gloria Gaither have written more than 700 popular gospel songs throughout their multi-decade career, including favorite standards “He Touched Me,” Because He Lives,” and “There's Just Something About That Name.” Since 1992, when Gaither began recording the celebrated Homecoming series of DVDs and CDs, most every volume has gone gold or platinum with sales totaling approximately 100 million volumes. The programs appear regularly on television networks around the world.
This event with the Gaither Vocal Band at the Peoria Civic Center Theater in Peoria, IL, begins at 7:00pm and will celebrate timeless themes of faith, unity and eternal hope through a variety of music the whole family will enjoy. Complete information, including ticket pricing and group ticket information, is available by visiting www.gaither.com or www.premierproductions.com.
Andrew Barra, Marketing Manager
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Competition Law and Practice
Employment, Privacy and Discrimination
Insurance & Personal Injury
The new Significant Controllers Register – revealing beneficial ownership of companies
Following the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau’s (“FSTB”) consultation conclusion published in April 2017 regarding the enhancement of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulation in Hong Kong, the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622 of the Laws of Hong Kong) is amended with effect from 1 March 2018 (the “New Requirements”), which requires companies incorporated in Hong Kong to obtain and maintain updated beneficial ownership information by way of keeping a significant controllers register (“SCR”).
The New Requirements apply only to companies incorporated and registered in Hong Kong, and listed companies are expressly exempted as they are already subject to more stringent disclosure requirements under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong).
The New Requirements purport to enhance transparency of company ownership and ultimately to introduce an effective mechanism for identifying and dealing with the misuse of legal persons for concealing money laundering and terrorist financing.
Who is a “significant controller”?
A significant controller of a company includes a registrable legal entity and a registrable person, which respectively means a legal entity that is a member of the company, or a person or a specified entity (such as a government of a territory), having significant control over a company.
A person will be considered as having “significant control” in a company if he fulfils any one or more of the following:
directly or indirectly holds (a) more than 25% of the issued shares in the company (where the company has a share capital); or (b) a right to share in more than 25% of the capital or profits of the company (where the company does not have a share capital);
directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the voting rights in the company;
directly or indirectly holds the right to appoint or remove a majority of board of directors of the company;
has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the company; or
has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence or control over the activities of a trust or a firm that is not a legal person under the law governing the trust or firm, and whose trustees or members satisfy any one or more of the first four conditions above (in their capacity as such).
Company’s duties under the amended Companies Ordinance
Keeping a SCR at a prescribed location
Under the New Requirements, the SCR shall be kept at a company’s registered office or at a prescribed place in Hong Kong. Unless the SCR is kept at the registered office, or at the place where a company’s register of members is kept, the company is required to notify the Registrar of Companies of the place where the SCR is kept and any change in the place at which the SCR is kept by filing the new Form NR2 (Notice of Location of Registers and Company Records) within 15 days after the SCR is first kept at that place/the change in place at which the SCR is kept
Taking reasonable steps to identify the company’s significant controllers
The New Requirements impose positive obligations on the companies to take reasonable steps to identify its significant controllers. If the company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a person is a significant controller, or a person knows the identity of another person who is a significant controller, it must give notice to such person within 7 days of the knowledge or belief so as to obtain the required particulars from such person.
Entering the required particulars into the SCR
The SCR must be kept in English or Chinese and must contain the following particulars of each significant controller:
Registrable person Registrable legal entity
N/A Legal form of the entity and governing law
Correspondence address Address of the registered office / principal office
Number of identity card /
(If no identity card) number and issuing country of passport Registered number or the equivalent in the entity’s place of incorporation / formation
Date on which the person became a registrable person Date on which the legal entity became a registrable legal entity
Nature of control over the company Nature of control over the company
Apart from the abovementioned particulars of the significant controllers, the SCR shall also contain the prescribed particulars (i.e. name and contact details) of a “designated representative” of the company. Such person must be either (i) a member, director or an employee of the company (who must be a natural person resident in Hong Kong); or (ii) an accounting professional, legal professional or a TCSP licensee (a person licensed under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance to carry on trust or company service business in Hong Kong). A designed representative plays the role of providing assistance to law enforcement officers in relation to the SCR.
Keeping the required particulars in the SCR up-to-date
Cessation of a person to be a significant controller or any change that results in the required particulars entered into the SCR being incorrect or incomplete constitutes a “registrable change”. If the company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is a registrable change with respect to a significant controller, the company must give notice to the significant controller within 7 days after such knowledge or belief. After the company has obtained the updated particulars, it must enter into the SCR the registrable changes within 7 days.
Making the SCR available for inspection and taking of copies
The company has a duty to (i) make its SCR available for inspection by a law enforcement officer at the place the SCR is kept; and (ii) permit such officer to make copies of the SCR, when demanded by a law enforcement officer to perform his function in relation to the prevention, detection or investigation of money laundering or terrorist financing. Law enforcement officers who have the right to inspect and take copies of the SCR include the Companies Registry, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Money Authority and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Other than law enforcement officers, significant controllers with their names being entered into the SCR may also, orally or in writing, request for inspection and copies of that SCR.
Consequences of non-compliance
Pursuant to the amended Companies Ordinance, failure to comply with the New Requirements may give rise to criminal liability leading to fine at level 4 (currently at HKD25,000).
In addition, if the addressee of the notices given by the company in relation to its duty to obtain required particulars of a significant controller does not respond to such notice within 1 month from the date of the notice, he may be criminally liable, unless he can validly establish that the requirements in the notice are frivolous or vexatious.
Further, a person commits a criminal offence if he, knowingly or recklessly, makes a statement or provides any information that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular in the SCR or in the reply to the notice issued by the company.
Before the introduction of the SCR, Hong Kong companies are required to disclose information in relation to the legal owners of their shares, by maintaining a register of members. The New Requirements require companies to further reveal their beneficial ownership, to further enhance transparency in relation to “ownership” of companies.
The SCR is indeed not a new idea in the international market. Similar systems have already been implemented in various jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. The New Requirements are important for ensuring that Hong Kong remains to be an open, trusted and competitive place for carrying on business.
For enquiries, please contact our Corporate & Commercial Department:
E: cc@onc.hk T: (852) 2810 1212
W: www.onc.hk F: (852) 2804 6311
19th Floor, Three Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong
Important: The law and procedure on this subject are very specialised and complicated. This article is just a very general outline for reference and cannot be relied upon as legal advice in any individual case. If any advice or assistance is needed, please contact our solicitors.
Published by ONC Lawyers © 2018
© ONC Lawyers 2019. All rights reserved.
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Danish cartoons: Muslims in their own Dark Age
By Irfan Yusuf - posted Monday, 6 February 2006 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
Around 900 years ago, back in the days when most of Europe was lost in the Dark Ages, the then-deranged Muslim ruler of Jerusalem decided to tear down the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He was quickly deposed, and the Church hastily rebuilt at Muslim expense. The Muslims apologised.
It was too late. Within a few months, reports of similar attacks on Christian pilgrims and symbols in Palestine had spread across Europe. Pope Urban II seemed powerless to respond. He was more concerned with corruption within the Vatican (much of it his own doing), and with the presence of other allegedly false competing claimants to the Pontiff’s throne.
The Pope's “solution” to the internal crisis was to seek a diversion. He declared the first crusade. Historians agree that in leading this battle, the then-Pontiff was less interested in defending the honour of Christ or Jerusalem than in shoring up his own power and diverting attention away from crises within the Church.
Hardly 900 years later, the tables have turned. This time it is mainly Muslim leaders who are embroiled in corruption and scandal. The generals, emirs, kings and presidents-for-life that rule most Muslim-majority states (usually with the help of their Western patrons) have failed to effectively deal with the poverty, illiteracy and other economic and social ills too numerous to list here.
Today these rulers are also seeking a diversion. One obscure neo-Conservative Danish newspaper appears to have provided it. What they have also proven is that perhaps Muslims are in the midst of their own Dark Age.
In the past few weeks, two bastions of Middle Eastern liberty and democracy - Libya and Saudi Arabia - have withdrawn ambassadors from Denmark. In many Muslim countries, Danish goods are being boycotted.
In my birthplace of Karachi, frenzied Pakistanis hit the streets with protests that did more damage to the Pakistani economy than to anyone in Denmark. Don’t these people have work to do and mouths to feed? Then again, some of these men (Pakistani women have more important matters to attend to) will protest each time they think a Pakistani batsman is given out “lbw” unfairly.
And across the Arab world, supermarkets have removed Danish goods from their shelves. Recently, a Syrian Muslim rabble decided that the best way to defend the honour of their Prophet was to attack and burn embassies of at least three European countries. In Gaza, with Israel ready to cut the fiscal umbilical cord, Palestinian gunmen seem content to bite one of the few hands that feeds them by occupying and threatening workers at the headquarters of the European Union.
Had someone unaware of the cartoons viewed the response, they might think Denmark has invaded Bosnia or Iran and was unjustly occupying its territory. They might think Danish settlements replaced Israeli ones popping up in various places across the West Bank. Or perhaps the Danish Government had passed laws banning girls from wearing headscarves in schools.
Of course, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, an obscure privately-owned newspaper in Denmark published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. One cartoon apparently showed the Prophet standing at the pearly gates of heaven in much the same way as St Peter in the Catholic tradition. Another portrayed the Prophet’s turban as a bomb.
The cartoons were first published in the Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. Most people living in Muslim countries would probably be unable to pronounce the paper’s name, let alone having heard of it.
And so today, I and many other Muslims feel compelled to stand up and be counted. To defend the honour of a man I grew up to regard as a Prophet.
No, not from a dozen cartoons published by a neo-Conservative Danish newspaper. Nor from their reproduction in newspapers across Europe and even New Zealand.
We feel compelled to defend the honour of the Prophet of Islam from the shameful actions of some people claiming to be his followers.
No, we are not ashamed of Islam. We are not ashamed of the Prophet Mohammed. We are not ashamed of the values with which many of us grew up, values that are so similar to those of my Anglican school or my many Jewish colleagues and friends.
What upsets and shames us is the depths to which some Muslims have sunk.
I wonder at how low Muslims have stooped that some of them are prepared to resort to mob violence to display their religiosity. In doing so, they appear ignorant of (or worse still, reckless to) the fact they are mainly targeting the innocent.
The Arabic phrase used by the Koran to describe the Prophet Mohammed is rahmat al-lil a’alameen (literally “mercy to the worlds”). Like the other Prophets recognised by Islam (including the Messiah Jesus), Mohammed always preferred forgiveness over revenge.
Instead of following his example, many 21st century Muslims are behaving in similar vein to the then uncivilised medieval Europeans did during the Crusades.
Today, some Muslim mobs are attacking anything deemed Danish. They are being egged on by selfish, undemocratic and dictatorial kings, generals, emirs and presidents-for-life.
Muslim countries are suffering problems taller than the tsunami waves that brought so much misery to hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Indonesia. Muslim women in various countries are being murdered by members of their own families for the sake of defending some false notion of “honour”.
Millions of Muslims are living in poverty and disease in Pakistan following the devastating earthquake. Millions more are starving in refugee camps in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Muslim-majority nations are riddled with corruption. Their leaders are squandering resources and wealth while their citizens live below the poverty line.
Yet today some governments of Muslim-majority countries are encouraging their citizens to attack European embassies. For many dictatorial and undemocratic Muslim regimes, the cartoon controversy represents a wonderful diversion away from the real problems facing their communities.
Instead of protecting the honour of their Prophet, some Muslims seem intent on destroying their own honour by behaving in a manner their Prophet had condemned 14 centuries ago.
What appears to have (quite understandably) upset Muslims most is one cartoon depicting the Prophet wearing a bomb as a turban, suggesting that he preached terrorism. Yet surely the worst way to protest against this is to commit acts of terror such as tearing down and burning embassies.
Boycotting Danish goods may be a more peaceful and preferable manner of protest. Yet even such a boycott effectively punishes the innocent and attributes the disrespectful manner of one newspaper to an entire nation. To blame all Danes for the actions of one newspaper editor claiming to defend freedom of speech is as absurd as blaming all Muslims for the acts of terror of a few lunatics claiming to defend of Islam.
Those Muslims who really care about the honour of their Prophet should focus their attention on improving their own situation. They might start by considering what sort of deal non-Muslim minorities get in Muslim countries, and how non-Muslim religious symbols are abused in Muslim publications. Perhaps they would then understand why some Muslim minorities (including now those in Denmark) will be copping plenty of flack due to their antics.
The Muslim mobs might also consider how the Prophet responded to attacks on himself. I am not aware of any biographical record of the Prophet taking any revenge for attacks on his person. I remember one recorded incident of a Jewish neighbour who was in the habit of pouring faeces over the Prophet. One day, the faeces stopped. The Prophet’s response was to inquire about the neighbour’s health.
How far some of today’s Muslims are from the golden example of the man in whose name they are causing so much destruction. Don’t they have enough problems of their own about which to be concerned? In the grander scheme of things, in the context of poverty and natural disasters and culturally-related oppression of women and so much else, are some Muslims so narrow-minded and infantile as to ascribe so much importance to 12 cartoons?
My message to Muslim mobs is simply this - before you consider tearing down the houses (and embassies) of others, think about cleaning up your own.
First published on PlanetIrf on February 5, 2006.
210 posts so far.
Irfan Yusuf is a New South Wales-based lawyer with a practice focusing on workplace relations and commercial dispute resolution. Irfan is also a regular media commentator on a variety of social, political, human rights, media and cultural issues. Irfan Yusuf's book, Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamo-Fascist, was published in May 2009 by Allen & Unwin.
» Legacy of a whingeing bogan - June 7, 2010
» On reclaiming Christianity from the West - September 17, 2009
» Repressive Islamic rule loses its lustre in Iran - June 17, 2009
» The great faction fiction - January 9, 2009
» Mumbai's melting pot gives way to forces of intolerance - December 3, 2008
All articles by Irfan Yusuf
Cartoons used as an abuse of power not humour - On Line Opinion
Making fun of Islam - On Line Opinion
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Aborting conscientious objection
By Michael Cook - posted Tuesday, 23 September 2008 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
The older set may remember a lugubrious Hollywood melodrama set in Melbourne about a nuclear holocaust. Everyone dies, mostly from suicide. It certainly left its mark on Ava Gardner, the American leading lady. “On The Beach is a story about the end of the world,” she told the press, “and Melbourne sure is the right place to film it”. This is a remark often quoted in Sydney.
But at the moment, for some Melbournians, it seems about right. A bill has sailed through the lower house of the parliament of the state of Victoria which removes abortion from the criminal code and allows unrestricted abortion up to 24 weeks. If the doctor secures the approval of a colleague, he can do an abortion up to the time of birth.
The bill still hasn’t passed the upper house, where it will face stiff opposition. But, it could succeed. The state Premier says, without any irony, that Victorians will know by Christmas.
One of the most objectionable features of this legislation is that it effectively removes doctors’ right to conscientious objection. It requires doctors-who-won't to refer women to doctors-who-will. Furthermore, "in an emergency where the abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman”, the doctor must perform it.
Some people may regard referring to another doctor as a trivial matter. After all, they say, you won’t be directly involved. But what would happen if a 14-year-old girl requested to be circumcised? Unlikely, perhaps, but possible in certain cultural settings. Would MPs force a conscientious objector to refer the girl to a colleague down the corridor who specialises in genital mutilation? I think not. I suspect that they would regard mandatory referral as an abhorrent violation of a doctor’s conscience.
Of course, the legalisation of abortion is the core of the bill. That is awful enough. But denying freedom of conscience in so transcendental a matter as taking a human life has its own importance. And those who crafted the bill were ruthless in ensuring that there would be no escape. Objecting doctors will have to conform or face the consequences.
Surely conscientious objection is a basic human right? For most things, in Victoria, it is. But not for abortion. Two years ago the state adopted a “Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities” (PDF 252KB) which guaranteed its citizens "freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief". However, it also specified that "nothing in this Charter affects any law applicable to abortion or child destruction" (Section 48).
What I found baffling is that Victorian MPs cared so little about conscientious objection. Australia is supposed to be a democracy. How could they be pro-choice about abortion but anti-choice about conscience?
Fortunately, Leslie Cannold enlightened me. Ms Cannold is a well-known figure around the traps in Melbourne, as a bioethicist, journalist, and president of Pro-Choice Vic. In a scathing opinion piece in the Melbourne Age, she denounced pro-life doctors who are more concerned about protecting their right to impose their values on women than observing their obligation to help them.
As I read on, I suddenly grasped why Ms Cannold was having conniptions. It is because she has redefined freedom of conscience to make it mean something different from what it has meant for 2,500 years. "The right to act according to the dictates of our conscience is founded in the value of autonomy,” she says. “Autonomy means self-rule. An autonomous person is one who is free to direct her life according to her own values.”
In short, Ms Cannold is a relativist. The content of the values she describes is utterly personal, making it impossible to test them in a rational debate. Hence, her kind of conscience makes arbitrary, even capricious, choices. It is just a whim, like choosing between Colgate and Ipana, or painting your bathroom Autumn Peach or Twilight Rose, or ordering mango or chocolate chip ice cream.
The traditional view of conscience is quite different. Only a malfunctioning conscience is capricious. A well-oiled conscience makes its choices based on reason and evidence, not on whimsy. Doctors who object to abortion, for instance, regard it as obeying the principle of "first do no harm", especially to the sick and vulnerable. They defend their view with abundant medical, sociological and psychological evidence. They are not imposing their values; they are choosing a rationally-justifiable good.
Michael Cook edits the Internet magazine MercatorNet and the bioethics newsletter BioEdge.
» Tasmania and same-sex marriage - September 7, 2012
» Going extinct is no fun - August 15, 2012
» The next abuse crisis - March 29, 2010
» Let's talk about rising temperatures, sinking islands and pack ice ... - May 15, 2009
» Mixing politics and science - March 20, 2009
All articles by Michael Cook
Leslie Cannold - A conscience vote is meaningless unless it is a two-way street
Leslie Cannold - It really does matter who you are, and where you come from
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Christmassy Weekend in Copenhagen
Posted in Explore by
Orchard Blog
Last weekend we visited one of the most Christmassy cities in the world, Copenhagen! We had a wonderful time, and packed a lot into our short break! Have a read of what we got up to below
We arrived in Copenhagen at lunchtime, and after checking into our hotel we headed out for a wander around the city. We had a look around Amalienborg Palace, the winter residence of the Danish Queen. We then wandered down Nyhavn, the very picturesque harbour area and stopped for a Julebryg (Danish Christmas beer) and a Gløgg in one of the Christmas markets. In the evening we explored Tivoli Gardens for more festiveness. Tivoli is the oldest theme park in the world, located in the city centre, it’s transformed into a Christmas wonderland for the duration of December.
On day two we got the train across the Øresund to spend the day in Malmö in Sweden. Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden but is considered part of the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Skåne, the southernmost county in Sweden, was actually under Danish control until 1658. As a side note, it is Skåne that gives its name to the whole of Scandinavia. As we spent the day in Sweden we had meatballs for lunch, we think it is the law.
In the evening we headed back to Copenhagen to explore Vesterbro, the former working-class district that is now a fashionable area to go out in the evening. There are lots of great bars and restaurants, we chose a cosy looking basement bar that had good beer and burgers.
Today we’ve got the train up to the north of Zealand to Kronborg castle in Helsingør.
Famous for being where Shakespeare’s Hamlet is set, Kronborg is a gorgeous renaissance castle overlooking Øresund straights to Sweden, just 2.5 miles across the water. It is a fascinating place to visit, and today the castle had a Christmas market on to add to its charm.
Helsingør is a wonderful and jolly little town. It was busy today with Christmas shoppers enjoying their community. There were carol singers, a marching band and all sorts of shops and market stalls doing a roaring trade.
In the afternoon we headed back into the city to do a bit more exploring. We went to Torvehallerne, a food market with lots of exciting offerings from around the world. We then climbed the Rundetaarn, a 17th-century observatory with great views over the city.
This evening we had a couple of mugs of gløgg with friends that live in the city before having dinner of Danish roast pork followed by æbleskiver, a sort of spherical pancake eaten at Christmas.
We decided to take things easy today after cramming so much into the last few days. This morning we went on a canal boat tour around the harbour, things like this might be very touristy but they are popular for a reason! We managed to get some great shots of Nyhavn, one of the most picturesque bits of the city!
We then went and had a look around the royal reception rooms at Christiansborg Palace. The palace is not actually The Queen’s residence but is instead the home to the Danish parliament. The royal reception rooms are however where The Queen undertakes most of her duties as the constitutional monarch.
After a spot of lunch, we did some Christmas shopping in the upmarket department stores, and had a look round the gorgeous Christmas decoration in the Royal Copenhagen shop. In the evening we headed back to Tivoli gardens for more Gløgg, julebryg and æbleskiver! We really got into the Danish Christmas traditions!
Bye bye, Copenhagen, this was our second visit to the city and again we are struck by just how livable the city is. It is beautiful and charming, it is fashionable but not aloof. It is a big enough city without being overwhelming.
The city also really comes into its own at Christmas time. Decorations are everywhere, Lights are put up in every window and candles and lanterns are so prevalent it’s surprising there aren’t more fires! The Christmas markets may not be as old as their Germanic counterparts but they are still fun to walk around with a mug of Gløgg. Tivoli gardens really sparkle with its Christmas decorations and make us feel just like big kids. The city, in general, is completely in the Christmas spirit, and who can blame them!
To those that haven’t been we cannot recommend Copenhagen at Christmas time enough! We’ll be back, we are sure of that.
Find out more about Christmas in Copenhagen at Visit Copenhagen
Orchard Escapes | An Autumn Break in Bruges
A couple of years ago we headed took a mini break to one of the loveliest northern European cities, Bruges. Located in Flanders in western Belgium, Bruges is a charming medieval city that has been attracting visitors for generations. We visited in October and were blessed with some glorious autumnal weather and relatively light crowds. We think Autumn is one of the best times of year to visit.
Bruges’s golden age was in the medieval period and was one of the most important trading cities in the world at the time. The city was home to the first stock exchange in the world, and goods from all over Europe and beyond were traded. The city boomed and in in the 15th century, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, set up court in Bruges adding to the cities prestige.
From the 15th century onwards Bruges started losing trade to the nearby city of Antwerp and went into decline. The population fell and by the 1800s the city went from being the most prosperous in Belgium to the poorest. By the turn of the 19th century, the city started to attract the attention of wealthy English and french tourists, attracted by the preserved medieval architecture. The city capitalised on this new attention and now attracts more than two million tourists annually. The city is now protected as a UNESCO world heritage site.
The charm of Bruges is to wander around the picturesque streets aimlessly soaking up the architecture and the atmosphere. The city is not a big place, the centre is charming and where all the main sites are located. To help get your bearings consider climbing the 13th century Belfort. The 83m climb might prove a bit of a challenge but stunning views make it worth it. If you’d rather stay closer to ground level a canal boat tour is a great way to see another side of the city, allowing you to admire the canal-side houses.
Everywhere you look you will see stunning buildings, but make sure you check out the gothic excess of the 1420 Stadhuis. Bruges has museums dedicated to chips, chocolate, diamonds, and beer. Our favourite was obviously the Bruges Beer Museum! If you are after something higher brow head to Groeningemuseum, the city’s most celebrated art gallery.
To experience to best of the city it is best to stay overnight in one of the many gorgeous hotels. You can experience the city after the day trippers have gone home, and enjoy a beer in one of the atmospheric bars, and a meal in one of the many excellent restaurants. We got up early and headed for an early morning walk to experience the city as it wakes up. We were blessed with a crisp sunny weather. The peacefulness of the city in the early morning really took our breath away.
We think Bruges is a stunning city and a perfect mini break destination. It is easily accessible from the UK by sea, train or driving. The city is easy to wander around and has enough attractions to keep you occupied for a day or two. The crowds can get a bit hectic so going off season is a good idea, as is spending at least a night in the city. For more information check out Visit Bruges. If you have any recommendations let us know in the comments
Days Out | Winston Churchill’s Chartwell
Last year we went on a mini-adventure, with our friends Jamie and Liana, to Chartwell. The house is based in Kent and is best known as the country house of Sir Winston and Lady Clementine Churchill. It opened as a National Trust property in 1966, one year after the death of Sir Winston.
On entering the Victorian red brick estate you start through the entrance lobby and follow your way through the house, almost as Churchill left it, to take in the living room, dining room, and the bedrooms, which have been turned into display rooms for the many honours and awards given to the Churchill’s. The stunning reveal at the end of the tour is Churchill’s study on the first floor. Despite the fact the house was rarely used during World War II due to its proximity to the coast facing Europe, it was an important room throughout Churchill’s political life.
Sir Winston loved the estate and he created many of the features in the estate including the lakes and the kitchen garden. A little-known fact about Churchill is that he was an amateur, but very competent, bricklayer and enjoyed building the Marycot, a playhouse, for his daughter. He was also a very accomplished painter and regularly painted across the estate, with some of his paintings hanging in Parliament. His workroom is full of some great works of art and the room is regularly used for demonstrations. The estate grounds stretch for some good walking routes through the woodlands and through the immediate grounds giving stunning views of the house. Just be mindful of the swimming pool!
Chartwell was bought by a consortium of businessmen in 1946, who bought the estate when the Churchill’s could not afford to run the property. The estate was to be given to the National Trust once both Churchill ‘s had died. They continued to live at the estate paying a nominal rent. The estate was given to the Trust shortly after Sir Winston had died by his wife Lady Clementine.
The estate is a great location to learn more about the private life of Churchill and a great house and gardens to explore. You can find out more about Chartwell here.
Day Out | Houses of Parliament Tour
For our birthdays we like to do something different and enjoy a day out with each other. For Rich’s birthday we tend to go to a zoo and for Calum’s we usually go visit a historic Palace or Building. This year, Rich chose to surprise Calum with a tour of the Houses of Parliament. To visit the Parliament, you need to book tickets in advance from the House of Parliament website. If you are a British citizen your MP can organise a tour of Parliament with a specialist guide for free.
The Houses of Parliament tour covers the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is a Palace in its own right and more formally known as the Palace of Westminster. The tour starts at the Cromwell entrance and takes you straight into Westminster Hall. Many historic events have happened in Parliament and most happened here. This is the site of the impeachment of King Charles I in 1649 and where Churchill lay in state in 1965. The Palace is a working building and it is amazing to see how it has evolved over time from its start in St Stephens Hall.
Orchard Escapes | North Devon Weekend
On Friday morning we packed up the car and headed to Georgeham for our North Devon Weekend. Our friends Ben & Lauren, along with their 18th-month-old little boy Dexter (our godson) were down there so we headed to join them and a bit of adventuring. We pitched our tent and set about exploring the area, here are some of our highlights:
Georgeham
This is where we were staying, a lovely village a little way inland. It has a fascinating church that is worth exploring, a small shop selling all the essentials and two pubs to choose from. There is The Rock Inn and The Kings Arms. We only had time to sample one of the pubs so we can confirm The Kings Arms is lovely with friendly staff, good beer and tasty food, we’ll have to return to sample The Rock Inn.
Croyde
A couple of miles from Georgeham is the pretty coastal village of Croyde. The Village has a charming centre full of historic buildings and is perfect for wandering. Croyde has a wide and sandy beach, nestled between two headlands. The beach is very popular and one of the best for surfing. We had lunch at the Blue Groove, a family friendly restaurant and bar in the centre of the village. Be sure to pop into The Stores, a pretty cool coffee shop and deli. And get Ice-cream from one of the ice cream parlours in the village.
Total Guide to Alderney
Rich’s family have been visiting the channel island of Alderney for decades and have many friends on the island. Rich’s first visit was when he was just six weeks old, returning annually until he was a teenager and sporadically heading back there ever since. Alderney was Calum & Rich’s first holiday together and we are planning on heading back for our third joint visit to the island soon. This is our guide to the island we hope you find it helpful!
Alderney is the third largest of the Channel Islands. Located a few miles of the French coast the Channel Islands we part of the historic Duchy of Normandy. The English kings lost control of their French territories in the early 13th Century but the channel islanders chose to declare continued loyalty to the English crown. Alderney’s strategic location made it an important location for the British military, there are several victorian forts still on the island. During the second worlds war the channel islands were occupied, Alderney itself was completely evacuated of civilians. After the Nazis moved in they developed the existing forts for their own use and set up a forced labour camp. Read more…
Day out | Hidcote Manor Garden
There can’t be a much more quintessentially english garden than Hidcote Manor Garden in the Cotswolds? And is so often the way it took an outsider to distill the essence of English garden design, the garden was created in the early 20th Century by the American Major Lawrence Johnston. Johnston was an anglophile and moved to Britain with his mother around 1900, he took British citizenship and joined the British army, fighting in the Boer war and reaching the rank of Major. Johnston’s mother, Mrs. Winthrop purchased Hidcote Manor in 1907, and so started the process of creating the famous gardens.
Located in the north of the Cotswolds, not far from Chipping Campden, Hidcote Manor Garden is a perfect example of Arts and Crafts garden design. Johnston was inspired by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll. The garden is designed around a succession of garden rooms, it mixes a formal layout with romantic planting that are characteristic of this of this style of garden (see also Sissinghurst Gardens). Some of the garden rooms include a white garden, a maple garden, the red borders and the pillar garden. There are plenty more to explore including an excellent kitchen garden, a rose walk and a peaceful wilderness.
Johnston was a keen plant hunter, traversing the world to bring back the perfect plants for Hidcote. Many plants have been named in Hidcote Manor Garden and Johnston’s honour, the most famous of which probably being Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ and Penstemon ‘Hidcote Pink’.
Although the garden can get very busy the garden room structure means the garden doesn’t feel overwhelmed. As with many National Trust properties they have an excellent cafe and a lovely little shop (we love a little shop!) Also be sure to visit their plant centre to bring back a piece of Hidcote Manor Garden for your own patch at home.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the garden on a beautiful summer’s day, we love the Cotswolds in general and it is great to visit such an important and inspirational english garden.
Find out more at the National Trust Website.
Days Out | Sissinghurst Garden
Last weekend we visited the beautiful Sissinghurst Garden in Kent. The garden was created in the 1930s by the writer Vita Sackville-West and her politician husband Sir Harold Nicholson and now is managed by the National Trust. As members of the Bloomsbury set, Vita and Harold were an unconventional couple for their times. There is currently an exhibition about their marriage in one of there barns, well worth visiting to get in an incite into their lives.
Sissinghurst was built from the 15th century onwards but by the 1930s the estate was practically in ruins. About this time the couple looking for a new home, despite some misgivings about the scale of the project they bought the estate and set about revitalising the house and gardens. What visitors see now is testament tho their hard work and vision for the estate. The Sissinghurst garden is an outstanding example of early 20th century english garden design. There are lots of formal elements that Harold designed and then romantic and informal planting schemes devised by Vita. The whole garden is beautiful and our particular highlights included the world famous white garden, the cottage garden and the nut walk. Make sure you go up the old tower to get a bird’s eye view of the designs, it puts it all in perspective.
The garden is very popular and can get busy so time your trip accordinally. The Sissinghurst Estate has wonderful views of the Kentish Weald and their are signposted walks if you want to explore further. Being a National Trust property there is a lovely cafe and interesting shop. They also have a good supply of plants for sale if you are feeling inspired by what you have seen.
12 of the Best Châteaux of the Loire Valley
We recently spent a week’s holiday in the Loire Valley, it is a beautiful part of France and home to some of the best Châteaux. They span centuries of French history in a multitude of different architectural styles. We visited a dozen of the best and here are our thoughts. If you have any questions or suggestions please let us know in the comments.
Château de Villandry
Best for impressive gardens
A late renaissance chateau mostly famous for its stunning gardens. The gardens were created in 1906 using 16th century designs. They are by far the most impressive of any of the gardens in the Loire and a must visit of any garden enthusiasts. Discover more…
Château de Azay-le-Rideau
Best for a peaceful retreat
Whilst not the grandest or most historical, Château de Azay-le-Rideau wins out with its graceful architecture and peaceful setting on an island in the river Indre. Discover more…
Château d’Ussé
Best for fairytale escapism
If you are looking for a fairy book Château d’Usse is the one for you. The chateau has countless turrets, romantic gardens and is said to have been the inspiration behind Charles Perrault’s version of Sleeping Beauty. The interiors are beautiful if a bit tired around the edges. Discover more…
Forteresse royale de Chinon
Best for military history
An impressive fortress overlooking the town, now mostly in ruins but was once the home to medieval kings and has links to Joan of Arc. It has a good multimedia exhibition on the history of the kings that built the fortress. Discover more…
Château de Chambord
Best for majestic grandness
The largest and grandest of all the Loire chateaux with stunning renaissance architecture and a stately presence. Built by François I as a royal hunting lodge, albeit one with over 400 rooms. In the centre is the chateau’s famous double helix staircase, reputably designed by Leonardo di Vinci. Discover more…
Château Royal de Blois
Best for gory history
In the center of Blois the Château Royal has a bit of a split personality architectural speaking, with medieval, renaissance and classical wings. It has been the site of some important events in French royal history, including a bloody murder sanctioned by King Henri III whilst he hid behind the tapestries. Discover more…
Château de Cheverny
Best for classical beauty
A practically perfect proportioned chateau. Built in the 1630s in the French classical style, Cheverny is the epitome of elegance. Famously it was also the inspiration for Marlinspike Hall in the Tintin comics, it has an exhibition to this link in the grounds. Make sure you visit the kennels in the grounds, Cheverny hunt’s 70 fox hounds live here and are a joy to behold. Discover More…
Château d’Angers
Best for medieval history
A foreboding city center fortress was once home to the powerful Dukes of Anjou. Built overlooking the river Maine the chateaux was strategically very important in the early medieval period. It is also home to the awe inspiring Apocalypse Tapestries house in purpose built galleries added in the 1950s. Discover more…
Best for feminine elegance
Known as the Ladies’ Château due to the prominent women that built and looked after the place. It is an extremely elegant Château that gracefully spans over the river Cher. It has a fascinating history from medieval kings’ mistresses right up to WWII, the château spanned the border between occupied and free France. Surrounded by beautiful gardens make this one of the most enjoyable in all of the Loire valley to visit. Discover more…
Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire
Best for inspiring gardens
Seemingly a perfect medieval château, Chaumont-sur-Loire was built as a defensive fortress in the 14th Century, although it was quickly developed into the renaissance style and was significantly renovated in the 19th Century. It has gorgeous views over the Loire, and wonderful gardens that are well worth exploring. Each summer the International Garden Festival is held in the grounds, worth a visit. The château and grounds also houses some excellent contemporary art. Discover more…
Château Royal d’Amboise
Best for impressive views
Majestically located on a rocky outcrop overlooking the charming town of Amboise. Not much is left of the once impressive château but in the remaining rooms you still get a sense of the royal splendour from the 15th and 16th centuries. Make sure to visit the chapel of Saint-Hubert where Leonardo da Vinci, who lived in the nearby Clos Lucé, is buried. Discover more…
Château de Saumur
Best for storybook silhouette
Situated high above the genteel town is the fairytale Château de Saumur, mostly built in the 13th century on the site of an earlier fortification it has a graceful silhouette with plenty of towers, pinnacles and chimney stacks. Discover more…
London’s Best Scandinavian Cafes
If you speak to us for longer than five minutes you will soon realise we are complete Nordophiles, our love of anything nordic is strong! Luckily for us London has a sizeable Scandinavian diaspora and with that comes a good selection of Scandi food and drink establishments. In the name of research we set out to discover London’s Best Scandinavian Cafes. Coffee and a cinnamon bun anybody?
Scandinavian Kitchen
Centrally located, Scandi Kitchen is our go to place for meatballs, fika and seasonal goodies. They have very friendly staff, and is often full of expats making this a happy and lively place to visit. The cafe also has a grocery section at the rear. Make sure you sign up to their excellent weekly newsletter to keep you up to do date, and with plenty of insight into all things nordic! (hint: they love Eurovision)
www.scandikitchen.co.uk
A Swedish bakery located in Covent Garden, Bageriet is tiny but utterly charming. An excellent selection of baked goodies and some wonderful staff make this great little stop off if you are in town. We are just waiting for an excuse to buy one of their mouth watering Princess Cakes!
www.bageriet.co.uk
Nordic Bakery
If you are looking for some Scandinavian cool, head no further than the Nordic Bakery. They have three beautifully designed locations in the West End. Open all day, they serve up both sweet and savoury dishes. As is to be expected their bakery selection is excellent, we are particularly fond to their butter buns.
www.nordicbakery.com
If you find yourself in Bermondsey be sure to head to Hej. They serve outstandingly good coffee, best enjoyed with one of their delicious cinnamon buns. And their coffee should be good they are self confessed coffee addicts and run a coffee school on the site! Hej has a nice community feel with welcoming staff, a flower stall outside and pets welcome.
www.hejcoffee.co.uk
Located on Brick Lane, Fika is a cafe, bar and restaurant. Great for weekend brunches, and Scandi inspired dinner throughout the week. It has a great little roof terrace if you want to dine al fresco. They have lovely staff, it really makes a difference when it gets busy!
www.fikalondon.com
Cooper & Wolf
If you find yourself way out east head to Cooper & Wolf. Located in Clapton, just across from Millfield park, Cooper & Wolf is a bit of a hipster joint with a strong community feel. The menu has a selection of Swedish favourites including the classic cinnamon buns and some excellent meatballs.
www.cooperandwolf.co.uk
Rich & Calum
Hi, we are Rich & Calum and we look after Orchard. Our place to share our passions. Why don’t you join us?
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Addicted Women Face Deadliest Year after Giving Birth
Published: 16th August, 2018 Categorized: Death, Depression, Drug Addicted Babies, Mental Health, Opioids, Parents, postpartum depression, Pregnant addicts, Women and Addiction
(This content is being used for illustrative purposes only; any person depicted in the content is a model)
Women already face plenty of adversity when it comes to overcoming addiction. Many of the challenges women face in recovery are unique, and some of the obstacles they have to push through can seem insurmountable. The same can be said for women who have just given birth to a child. New mothers can experience extreme stress due to sleep deprivation, dramatic hormonal shifts or just the day-to-day realities of caring for an infant. So for addicted women, the process can be all the more difficult.
What many addicted women may not realize is that the first year after giving birth can be the deadliest. Why is it so hard for addicted moms? And what can be done to help those most vulnerable?
After Delivery
Sadly, most medical protocols and social safety net programs are set up to focus exclusively on the new baby after delivery. Most of these programs essentially abandon the mother without adequate resources to get comprehensive care. Mishka Terplan, an obstetrics and gynecology physician at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, recently stated:
“As a whole, women with substance use disorders do quite well during pregnancy, due in large extent to access to care, insurance coverage and attention from social services… Where things fall apart is postpartum. We actually abandon women after delivery.”
So most of the programs put in place for addicted women who are having children shift their resources away from the mother at a time when she will face some severe challenges. Of course, no one is saying the children should not receive as much care as possible, but many believe there should also be more of an emphasis on helping the mother.
Postpartum Deaths
Mishka Terplan actually co-authored a study that was recently published this month concerning addicted women who give birth. In the data, researchers tracked more than 4,000 addicted women in Massachusetts struggling with opioids. They followed each new mother a year prior to giving birth and a year after delivery.
According to the researchers, the study results confirm two important things for the first time:
Opioid overdose deaths of addicted women decline during pregnancy
Opioid overdose deaths of addicted women peak in the seven to 12 months postpartum
It is important to note that the study only includes Massachusetts residents. Therefore, lack of insurance following childbirth was not a contributing factor in the data. Nevertheless, according to the study gaps in opioid treatment following delivery, such as discontinuation of addiction medications, may be a contributing factor to some overdose deaths.
The ongoing opioid epidemic only made things worse for addicted women. This crisis is impacting a snowballing number of Americans of all ages and backgrounds. Over the years, this epidemic has killed more than 350,000 across the nation. One can only imagine how many mothers will be lost to the opioid crisis, because pregnant women and new moms are particularly vulnerable to the devastation of the opioid epidemic.
According to an analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of pregnant women with opioid addiction more than quadrupled in the 15 years between 1999 and 2014. This is a terrifying reality, especially when you consider that opioid addiction is inherently life-threatening.
With opioid abuse, overdose death is always a very real risk. But for addicted women struggling with the stress that follows childbirth, the odds of a drug-related death can actually be far worse. Not only death from overdose, but also from other drug-related issues.
Recently, there was an analysis of vital statistics that uses data from:
This report shows that postpartum women are also at heightened risk for:
Death by suicide
Homicide by a partner
Sadly, after a baby is born, access to medical care and social supports for addicted women dissolves. As a result, the risk of something terrible happening only get worse.
Addicted Women Lose Services
So how are addicted women losing opportunities for services after giving birth? Well, for an example we can look at Medicaid.
17 states in America have not expanded Medicaid to low-income adults. In these places, pregnant women lose their Medicaid coverage only 60 days after childbirth.
Even in states that have expanded Medicaid, a woman’s benefit status typically changes after delivery. They are typically required to submit new paperwork and see new doctors.
Obstetrics is a branch of medicine and surgery concerning childbirth and the care of women giving birth. Traditional obstetrics practices call for women to see the doctor only once after the baby is delivered, usually at about six weeks. After that, it’s up to the woman to decide whether she needs to see:
A primary care doctor
Addiction specialist
According to researchers and physicians who treat pregnant women, this needs to change.
And yet, there is growing evidence suggesting women should receive continuous medical attention. Research indicates that nearly 15% of all mothers suffer postpartum depression, even without opioid addiction. And that rate can more than double for:
Minority women
Women living in poverty
The impact of addiction on a child should of course never be overlooked, especially in cases where the child suffers directly due to their mother’s drug use.
Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a condition that affects infants born to mothers who either used opioids or received medication for an opioid addiction during pregnancy. NAS causes a number of side effects, including:
Trembling
Poor feeding
Blotchy skin
Stuffy nose or sneezing
Newborns typically experience these symptoms for about four weeks following birth.
NAS affects nearly six in 1,000 newborns in America. Moreover, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), it is only getting worse.
Taking Some Action
Thankfully, there are some steps being taken to try and provide more support for addicted women after giving birth.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has also issued new medical guidelines for postpartum care. These guidelines state that ongoing attention rather than a single encounter with a medical professional is urgently needed to “reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality.”
Missouri is a state that has not expanded Medicaid to low-income adults. However, the state did enact legislation in June that extends traditional Medicaid coverage for a year after childbirth for women who are engaged in addiction treatment.
Furthermore, even the federal government is trying to address the impact of the opioid crisis on mothers and infants. In an advisory to states, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommended that for mothers in non-expansion states who are no longer eligible for Medicaid coverage after childbirth, states may include screening for maternal depression and other behavioral health conditions under traditional Medicaid coverage for routine infant checkups.
This federal advisory explicitly addresses the growing frequency of neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Making a Change
While addicted women do face a lot of adversities already in the first year after giving birth, many experts believe this is actually the perfect time to try and help women get off of drugs or alcohol. Some are confident that a new mother is actually in a unique position to make a change. Davida Schiff, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and lead author of the postpartum overdose study, states:
“Pregnancy seems to be a time for change. Women tend to make healthier decisions during pregnancy. So, for women with an opioid addiction, it can be a motivating moment… We should capitalize on the emotions women feel during pregnancy, and sustain their care or enhance it during the postpartum period, which is arguably the most challenging,”
Schiff runs a clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital called HOPE Clinic. Her clinic provides pregnant women and their partners and infants a number of services, including:
The HOPE clinic programs begin at the start of pregnancy and continue through the child’s second year.
Specialized treatment opportunities for addicted women are too few and far between, let alone resources for addicted mothers after childbirth. Meanwhile, women have to face some very specific trials and tribulations when it comes to trying to get off of drugs. The Orchid Recovery Center has designed a holistic addiction treatment program that focuses on the unique needs of women. We offer a safe and supportive space for addicted women and mothers to find healing and develop healthy coping skills. Finally, we believe in empowering each individual through comprehensive therapy and helping every woman find her voice in recovery.
The Orchid Recovery Center has been helping women heal for over 14 years, and we hope that soon no mother will feel like they have to fight through their addiction alone. If you or someone you love is struggling, you are not alone. Please call toll-free 1-800-777-9588 now.
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England > Bedfordshire > Dunstable
Pictures of Dunstable
a Historic Market Town in the county of Bedfordshire
Take a picture tour of Dunstable..
About Dunstable
Dunstable is a modern town, still retaining a few ancient properties from the past and some Victorian buildings.
Henry I gave Dunstable its first "Royal" charter making it a market town, this was at the time he founded the town's Augustinian priory in 1131. This became a priory of consequence, it was from here the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was pronounced in 1533. Shortly after the Dissolution the Augustinians were evicted, but parts of the priory church of St.Peter survived to become Dunstable's parish church.
St.Peter's church is renowned as one of the finest examples of Norman church architecture. The west front is quite stunning, this dates from 1170, it shows four arches above a later, 15th century doorway. From the same period, lying to the south of the church is the gateway of the original priory buildings.
Once inside, the visitor cannot fail but be impressed. The original nave, which is very wide, still remains. Huge wall shafts separate the bays, and although there has been restoration throughout the various centuries, the whole of this area of the church shows rich decoration.
The ornate rood screen has five bays and elaborate carving, this dates from around the 14th century. The font is large, circular and quite obviously Norman, the red marble pulpit is from the Victoria era, but the pulpit cloth was a donation of 1732. The Fayrey Pall, a rich red brocade cloth with figures embroidered on the borders is believed to be Flemish, this was given by Henry Fayrey, a wealthy merchant, for use a coffin cover. Other interesting features in the church are its monuments, floor brasses, stained glass windows and the Civil War shots still scarring the historic west doors.
In the town most of the older buildings to be seen are centred around the cross-roads which are part of the ancient Icknield Way and Watling Street. The Old Sugar Loaf Inn, found in the High Street is an impressive blue brick building with red dressings, this dates from 1717, it stands two and a half storey's high, with nine bays. The inn retains many original features and commemorates the days when Dunstable was a famous coaching town. The town has several other inns worthy of note, it also has more churches and historic Grove House which dates from the middle of the 18th century. Grove House is the town's administration centre, it has been recently restored and refurbished. Pleasant gardens surround this gracious old property, these provide a relaxing place to stroll, and in the summer months the gardens become a delightful venue for open-air concerts and events.
In contrast to the older parts of the town the Quadrant shopping centre is a smart modern complex offering an excellent range of both small and large retail out-lets.
Visitors to the town will find plenty to attract them, there are a few specialist antique shops, art galleries and a museum. Away from the busy town centre, to the edge of Dunstable there is the opportunity for golf, picnics in the wonderful landscape of the Tree Cathedral and Whipsnade Zoo. The celebrated country house Luton Hoo is within easy reach and there is a close by wildfowl centre.
The best views of Dunstable Downs are from the road leading towards Ivinghoe (for the Grand Union Canal) and Tring.
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Plastic Fencing in South Carolina
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Plastic Fencing Experts in South Carolina
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Broken Social Scene Biography
Broken Social Scene are a Canadian Indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. All of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto. The band refuses the label "supergroup," based on size or the ubiquity of their members, claiming that in the indie scene everyone is involved in more than one project. The group's sound could be considered a combination of all of its members' respective musical projects, and is occasionally considered baroque pop.[citation needed] It is characterized by a very large number of sounds, grand orchestrations featuring guitars, horns, woodwinds, and violins, unusual song structures, and an experimental, and sometimes chaotic production style from David Newfeld, who produced the second and third albums.
Feel Good Lost
The band's core members are Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. This duo recorded and released the band's ambient debut album, Feel Good Lost, on Noise Factory Records in 2001, with contributions by Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Bill Priddle, Leslie Feist, Jessica Moss and Stars' Evan Cranley. However, when they played shows to support the album, Drew and Canning found it difficult to put together an entertaining show based on their material thus far, which was almost entirely instrumental.
As a result, they brought in a number of friends from the Toronto indie scene—album contributors as well as Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, and Metric's Emily Haines—to flesh out their live show with lyrics and vocals. Over time, the band also came to include contributions from James Shaw, Justin Peroff, John Crossingham, and Stars member Amy Millan.
You Forgot It in People
All of the previously mentioned guest musicians joined with Drew, Canning, Peroff and Spearin to record the band's second album, You Forgot It in People. The album won the Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award in 2003. The album also included musical contributions by Priddle, Jessica Moss, Brodie West, Susannah Brady and Ohad Benchetrit, but these were credited as supporting musicians rather than band members. On the supporting tour, the core band consisted of Drew, Canning, Peroff, Whiteman and Jason Collett, along with any other band member who was available to attend any individual show.
In 2003, the B-sides and remix collection Bee Hives was released.
Broken Social Scene's song "Lover's Spit" from 2002's You Forgot It in People has been featured in director Clément Virgo's movie Lie with Me (2005), Paul McGuigan's Wicker Park (2004), Bruce McDonald's The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess (2004), Showtime's Queer as Folk (2003) and the penultimate episode of the Canadian series "Terminal City." The version of "Lover's Spit" found on 2004's Bee Hives record was also featured in an episode of the third season of the FX series Nip/Tuck. Showtime's television program The L Word featured "Pacific Theme" "Looks Just Like the Sun" both from You Forgot It in People in the show's first season. "Stars and Sons" from You Forgot It in People also appeared in the movie The Invisible. Music from the band's albums were used to score the 2006 film Half Nelson.
Broken Social Scene released their third full-length album, Broken Social Scene on October 4, 2005, with new contributors including k-os, Jason Tait and Murray Lightburn. The inside booklet accompanying album also noted several new faces as part of Broken Social Scene including Stars members Torquil Campbell and David Newfeld, who produced this album as well as You Forgot It In People. A limited edition EP, E.P. To Be You And Me was also printed along with the album.
The group appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on January 31, 2006 performing "7/4 (Shoreline)". At the 2006 Juno Awards, they performed "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" at the show and their eponymous album won the Alternative Album of the Year award. In July 2006 the band announced a temporary hiatus following the conclusion of their November US tour while members work on their other projects.
Broken Social Scene were last minute replacement performers at North America's first Virgin Festival, at Toronto Islands Park, the weekend of September 9–10, 2006. Contacted on September 7 after headliners Massive Attack cancelled due to problems involving obtaining US visas, the entire band, just returned from a European tour in August, managed to assemble to close the festival Sunday night. Appearing on the main Virgin Mobile Stage, immediately following performances by international superstar bands The Strokes and The Raconteurs, BSS took the stage at 10:00 p.m., and played a set of over an hour. Through the performance the band was joined by part-time members, and stars in their own right: Leslie Feist, Amy Millan of Stars, k-os, and Emily Haines of Metric. This was the last show featuring the rare 15 member lineup of the band until 2009.
In late 2006, several members of the band appeared as special guests on The Stars and Suns Sessions, the second album from Mexican indie band Chikita Violenta. The album was produced by Dave Newfeld.
They have also composed and recorded an original score for director Marc Evans's film Snow Cake, as well as scored his 2007 film adaptation of Maureen Medved's novel, The Tracey Fragments. In 2009, Bruce McDonald directed a short documentary episode of IFC's The Rawside Of... that focused on the making of Brendan Canning's solo album Something for All of Us.
Broken Social Scene Presents...
On June 8, 2007, music website Pitchforkmedia.com reported that BSS founder Kevin Drew was recording a solo album, which was to feature many other members of BSS and produced by Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin. The album is entitled Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew, Spirit If..., and is intended to be the first in a series of "Broken Social Scene presents..." albums. The album was recorded throughout 2004 and 2006 in Ohad Benchetrit's house while the band was not on tour. Although billed as a solo project, nearly every BSS member, from drummer Justin Peroff to Leslie Feist, Emily Haines and Amy Millan, makes a cameo appearance. The sound itself is BSS’s familiar mix of rough and ragged, sad and celebratory. It is prone to psychedelic swells, acoustic jangles and features a cast of friends and associates (including Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis and Canadian rock icon Tom Cochrane) playing and singing and handclapping along. The album was released on September 18, 2007 and a tour billed as Broken Social Scene Performs Kevin Drew's Spirit If... was engaged in late 2007.
The second "Broken Social Scene presents..." record, by Brendan Canning, is entitled Something for All of Us and was released on Arts & Crafts on July 22, 2008. In a recent interview, Canning said the group would be working on a full Broken Social Scene album before another in this series would be produced.
Broken Social Scene also took part in the 2008 Siren Music Festival in Coney Island, Brooklyn.
In March 2009 it was announced that Arts & Crafts, with association from Anansi Press, would release This Book is Broken written by Eye Weekly editor Stuart Berman, who confesses his close personal involvement with the band in the opening chapters. The book includes artwork, concert posters and photographs (professional and amateur) of the band. Most of the narration is provided by interview material of the band and related persons, arranged by subject and chronology. The book was released in May 2009, and has been described as a "visual/oral history" of not only the band, but of Toronto itself.
On April 29, 2009, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning guest-hosted 102.1 The Edge's program The Indie Hour to promote a concert on Olympic Island that was later moved to Harbourfront Centre due to poor scheduling.
On June 17, 2009, the band appeared during North by Northeast as "special guests" at the Arts & Crafts launch of This Book is Broken. During their short set, they played a mix of new songs from the upcoming album and old favourites. Despite press reports earlier in the year that she would not likely play with them again, they were joined in this performance by Feist.
During the band's free performance at the Harbourfront Centre on July 11, 2009, they were joined by nearly all past contributors, including Feist, Emily Haines and James Shaw, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley, John Crossingham, Jason Collett and Julie Penner. This revue-like show celebrated other projects by members as well as including new material. They were introduced at this show by Bruce McDonald, who announced the filming of a movie directed by him and written by Don McKellar called This Movie Is Broken. This documentary will include concert footage as well as film submitted by fans that documents Toronto in the summer of 2009.
Broken Social Scene are recording their fifth full-length album, with a release date of May 4 2010. Entitled Forgiveness Rock Record, it was recorded in Chicago, with John McEntire producing, and in Toronto at the studio of Sebastian Grainger and James Shaw. Amy Millan, Emily Haines, and Leslie Feist have reportedly recorded a track together, marking the first time in the band's history that the three have been recorded on the same song. "World Sick," a sample track from the new album, is available for free from the band's website. The album leaked to the internet April 12 and the following week on April 20, the limited release of Lo-Fi For the Dividing Nights, an additional 10 song EP also recorded at Soma (in the 'B' room) was announced.
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Fujinomiya side of Mt. Fuji
Southern Fuji
South Route of Mt.Fuji
Fujinomiya side of Mt. Fuji (富士宮口) is south side of Mt. Fuji which you can view from Tokaido. It has great views of Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Shizuoka, and Kanto. On the far side, you can also see the pacific ocean.
There is a mountain trail of Mt. Fuji, called Fujinomiya Climbing route which you can enjoy this view.
10 hr.
Map around Fujinomiya side of Mt. Fuji
On this trail, you can see Hoei Volcanic vent which erupted most lately in 1707.
Hoei eruption of Mt. Fuji
The Hoei Eruption of Mount Fuji started on December 16, 1707 and ended about January 1, 1708 during the Edo period. Although it brought no lava flow, the Hoei eruption released some 800 million cubic meters of volcanic ash, which spread over vast areas around the volcano, even reaching Edo almost 100 km away. Cinders and ash fell like rain in Izu, Kai, Sagami, and Musashi provinces.
The eruption occurred on Mt. Fuji's east?north-east flank and formed three new volcanic vents, named No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Hoei vents. The catastrophe developed over the course of several days ―an initial earthquake and explosion of cinders and ash was followed some days later with the more forceful ejections of rocks and stones. Mt. Fuji has not erupted since.
Hokusai's One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji includes an image of the small crater which developed from a secondary eruption site on the southwestern slope. This was called Mt. Hoei because the eruption occurred in the fourth year of Hoei.
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Or try an Advanced Search
Excluding Text:
Web Results (110) Listings on eBay (7)
Full Compact
Item Number Issue Date Date of Addition Price Most Recent Least Recent 10 20 30 40 50 100 200
Great print of Clumber Spaniels...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, London, dated November 9, 1872 The prominent feature of this issue if the well-known print by G.B. Goddard, "Dog Boy and Clumber Spaniels", taking two full pages (of a scene of a boy surrounded by several dogs, with related article). Other prints include: "The Frontier of British Columbia", a mail steam ship, "Looshais On The ... See More
Item from Catalog 283 (released for June, 2019)...
Chinese bound for San Francisco...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, April 29, 1876 Inside are several prints on "The War in the Herzegovina", a full page: "Map of a Portion of Africa" and a doublepg. centerfold: "Chinese Emigration to America: Sketch on Board the Steamship Alaska, Bound for San Francisco".
Complete in 24 pages, very nice, clean condition.
Harriet Beecher Stowe takes England by storm - original London reports..
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England (3-issue set): April 30, May 14, & June 25, 1853
* Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriet Beecher Stowe, takes London by storm
* Illustrations include her portrait and an award given to honor her accomplishment
The first publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe, initially release in America, occur... See More
Harriet Beecher Stowe matches reputation of Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe)...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, January 15, 1853
Page 48 has a portrait of "Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author Of 'Uncles Tom's Cabin'," with related text beginning on 46 and continuing the the left of the portrait. The article states in part: "Of the personal history of this powerful writer, who has achieved a reputation entitling her to ranks with the au... See More
Large color print: "Hop Picking"...
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Oct. 5, 1867 This is a terrific and quite rare full color print captioned: "Hop Picking". This foldout has an image measuring 16 1/4 by 21 3/4 inches, with the entire print with borders measuring 20 1/2 by 26 3/4 inches. This print is rarely available as it was typically removed from the volumes years ago, and even when found the ... See More
Early prints of Jamaica and Hong Kong...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Oct. 14, 1843 Prints inside include a nearly half page: "View Of Kingston, Jamaica" with a related article. Also prints of: "Harbour of Hong Kong".
Sixteen pages, never bound nor trimmed, handwritten address on ftpg. margin: "Mr. Cartwright, Sing Sing, New York", a few archival mends near margins, some light dirtiness.
The HMS Resolute... The Westminster Clock Bell...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, December 27, 1856 Among the noteworthy items within this issue is the frontpage 9 x 8 inch print of the new Westminster Clock Bell (of Big Ben fame), with supporting text (see images). Significant as well are the two prints related to the famous arctic exploring vessel "The HMS Resolute". Other prints include: "The Rev. Dr. Livings... See More
Color print from 1896, ready for display...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, London, December 18, 1896 This is a single leaf "Extra-Supplement" only, a color print of: "Two Little Doves, From a Painting by B. Hall". A nice item for display in very nice condition. Measures 11 by 15 1/2 inches.
The Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China....
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, Feb. 22, 1873 This is the "Extra Supplement" doublepage centerfold only, captioned: "The Temple of Heaven, Pekin" in China. See the hyperlink for more on this notable temple, which dates back to the early 1400's.
Great condition, 21 1/2 by 15 1/2 inches.... See More
The South African diamond fields...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, February 25, 1888 The front cover shows: "Chasing and Capturing a Diamond thief at the South African Diamond-Fields" with four scenes. Within the issues is "The Delagoa Bay Railway, South Africa"; half page print: "Trial of M. Wilson, in Paris, for Illicit Dealing in French Decorations". A full page: "The Russian Army: ... See More
Monteagle House Hotel in Niagara Falls... Chicago...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, August 22, 1863 The front page shows: "View of Petropolis, Near Rio de Janeiro". Inside has: "Embouchure of a River of the Western Coast of Madagascar" "A Kabar, or Council of War, in Madagascar" and "A 'Te Deum' in a Country Church". A full page "Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII at Rheims&... See More
The Gold Rush, and Oregon and Honolulu, Hawaii...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 10, 1849 The front page has a nice print captioned: "The Gold Region of Upper California--Encampment in the Sacramento Valley" which has a related article on pages 3 & 4: "The Gold Seekers Of California", which takes over a full column of text.
Other prints within include: "Fort George, or Astoria, Columbia River--The H... See More
Yacht "America" construction print...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, March 15, 1851
* 1st America's Cup close
* Construction of yacht "America"
The front page contains what is perhaps the earliest print of the American yacht named "America" to be found, captioned: "Yacht Building at New York to Compete with the English Yachts at Cowes". At this early point in its construction it wa... See More
Early plans for a channel tunnel connecting England & France... New York firemen...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Jan. 23, 1858 Inside includes a few prints of: "The Great Earthquake at Naples" "Sketches of Native Life In India" "American Firemen" which includes 3 prints, one a nice full page; "Torchlight Procession of the New York Firemen" pulling a fire engine.
Perhaps the most interesting content is the: "Proposed Tunnel ... See More
Elephants from Calcutta... The Royal Wedding...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 20, 1858 The front page features a half page print: "The Royal Bridal Tour - The Prince and Princess Frederick William at the Window the King's Palace, Potsdam". Within the issue are: "Effects of the Late Earthquake in Naples" "The Bridal Tour - Arrival of the Prince and Princess Frederick William at Antwerp"; a ful... See More
Nice view of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, June 30, 1877 Included is a great full page print: "St. John, New Brunswick, Partly Destroyed Last Week by Fire" with a related article. Many other prints as well.
Complete in 28 pages, nice condition.
Scenes from the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, May 13, 1876
* Centennial International Exposition
* 1st ever World's Fair prints
The full front page is a print; "Opening of the American Centennial Festival Exhibition: A Street in Philadelphia" showing Indians & others. Two more pages of prints of the Centennial. Many other prints as well including: "Throwing Bulls ... See More
Valentine's Day print...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 11, 1871 The prime print would be the very nice full page print: "The Fourteenth Of February" showing the mailman at the door with envelopes, with expectant girls (see). Other prints include: "Hoisting the German Flag on Mont Valerien" with other war-related prints, and the centerfold shows: "The Last Sortie from Paris--Prussian... See More
Valentine's Day centerfold...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 10, 1872 The prime print would be the very nice doublepage centerfold captioned: "Valentine's Day: 'Oh! Here Is The Postman!". Other prints include: "Sketches In the Bank of England" "Sketches in Rome: Basilica of St. Clement" "Townshall at Larne, Ireland" and much more.
Complete in 24 pages, great condit... See More
U.S. Grant is honored in London... The St. Gothard Railway tunnel...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, June 23, 1877 Among the many prints within is a halfpg: "Presenting The Freedom of the City of London To General U.S. Grant at Guildhall" and a full page: The St. Gothard Railway Tunnel Works".
The complete issue, very nice condition.
Early view of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Jan. 12, 1856 There are several nice military-themed prints inside, but some of the better prints are; "The Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, Prime Minster of Canada" and a nice half page view of: "Hamilton, Canada West, From the Mountain" and a great full page print: "Bear Hunting In Sweden".
Complete in 24 pages, great condition.
Traveling in the United States...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, April 10, 1852 Included are two pages of: "Traveling In the United States" which includes four prints including steam ship, sleighing, and railroad (see photos). Good text as well.
Sixteen pages, in nice condition.
Central America...
British Hinduras... Nicaragua... General Walker...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS (Supplement), England, June 7, 1856 The prime feature of this issue is the full back page map of Central America, with an additional page of supporting text providing considerable details of the events in the region. Other prints with text throughout, mostly focused on the 1856 Peace Commemoration in England.
Complete in 16 pages and in very nice condition.
Prison life at Blackwell's Island, New York...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 19, 1876
* Blackwell's Island insane asylum
* Nellie Bly fame
A very nice doublepage centerfold: "Snowballing" which shows a snowball fight among children. Also a fullpg. print: "America Sketches: Prison Life on Blackwell's Island", and another doublepg. centerfold: "Arrival of the Prince of Wales at Lahore" ... See More
Jumbo the famous elephant...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Feb. 25, 1882
* Jumbo the Circus Elephant
* P.T. Phineas T. Barnum & Bailey
Prints within include: "Traveling in Siberia..." "Hong Kong Festivities..." "Wild Duck Shooting" and a full page with 5 scenes of: "Sketches of Jumbo, the African Elephant..." in additional to another full page: "Attempt to ... See More
One of the earliest reviews of "Moby Dick"...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Nov. 1, 1851
* Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
* Early novel review - The Whale
Page 3 has a quite inconspicuous review of what would become one of the more notable literary works of the 19th century, "Moby Dick", or as it was originally known. It was published first in England, just 13 days before this review, and was originally titled: "The... See More
Nice print of the new Brooklyn Bridge...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, June 2, 1883
* Brooklyn Bridge construction completed
The full back page is a very nice print captioned: "The Brooklyn Bridge Over the East River Between Long Island and New York" was recently completed. Inside has a full page of 13 prints showing: "Sketches at the International Fisheries Exhibition" with several prints regarding fi... See More
The Denison gold mines in Canada...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Nov. 3, 1888 Among the many prints in this issue is a full page with seven scenes of: "The Denison Gold-Mines, Near Algoma, Lake Huron, Upper Canada." with captions identifying each (see).
The H.M.S. Thunderer...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, April 20, 1872
* HMS Thunderer launching w/ prints
Inside has 2 prints of Potsdam. Also a full page of: "The Right Hon. John Bright, M.P."; several prints of: "Plans & Sections of the Turrets & Guns of H.M.S. Thunderer" as well as a full page print of this ship. Other prints as well.
Complete in 24 pages, very nice conditio... See More
The Canadian game of lacrosse...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, June 23, 1883 Inside has a full page with 9 prints of: "The Canadian Game of La Crosse, Played at Hurlingham" one print showing an Indian with headdress. Also a fullpg. with 8 scenes of: "Royal Thames Yacht Club", and a doublepg. centerfold with 13 scenes of: "Models of Fishing Boats & Fishing Gear...".
Complete in 28 pa... See More
Nice lacrosse print... New Zealand...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, April 28, 1883 Perhaps the best print is: "LaCrosse Match Played Last Sat. at Kennington Oval..." which has 4 scenes (see).
Among other prints are a fullpg. with 11 scenes of: "Grand Military Assault at Arms a the Royal Albert Hall..." which include life saving & wrestling; a full page of 7: "Sketches in New Gu... See More
The British visit Japan, with prints...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Oct. 20, 1855 Inside has a full page article: "Operations In the Pacific--Visit of an English Ship to Japan" which includes 7 prints from Japan. Other prints include a fullpg: "Scene in a Street of Sebastopol..." plus 3 more fulpg. prints of Sebastopol from the Crimean War. The bkpg. shows: "Omer Pacha" and a print of his ... See More
Nice print of London Bridge...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, Nov. 16, 1872 The prime content within this issue is the doublepage print captioned: "London Bridge". Many more interesting prints within including: "Railway Bridge Destroyed by Floods in Ceylon" "Changmaunna, in the Looshai Country" "Entrance Court of the Brighton Aquarium" & more.
The Supplement is included &am... See More
Scenes in British Columbia... Early trap-shooting...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, March 10, 1883 The front page shows: "Confirmation of the New Archbishop of Canterbury...". Many prints inside including "Officers of the Soudan Field Force" "Removal of the Wellington Statue, Hyde Park Corner", a nice half page: "Bloodless Sport: The Terra-Cotta Pigeon at the Ranlagh Club" which includes a related... See More
Wine making print...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Sept. 24, 1892 Although this issue has many nice prints the most noteworthy is the very nice full page print captioned: "Hop-Picking In Kent: Stripping The Last Pole" which shows grape gathering for wine making. This print measures 10 by 13 inches.
Complete in 32 pages, very nice condition.
John Anderson the fugitive slave... "headsman of the Tower" will not be replaced...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, March 9, 1861 “The Fugitive Anderson” on page 3 is about John Anderson, the famous fugitive slave who escaped to Canada evading the pursuit of bounty hunters. While on the run he killed a farmer who intended to legally recapture Anderson and send him back into his master’s custody. Anderson lived and worked in Canada West from 1854 to A... See More
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, October 7, 1871 Within this issue are several nice illustrations, but the best would have to be the very nice doublepage centerfold captioned: "Sunday Morning With The Hop Pickers", which related to the wine making industry. There is a related article on the following page titled: "Hop Pickers In Kent". This print measures about 13 by... See More
Eskimos at Point Barrow...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, July 7, 1855 A wealth of prints including a fullpg. with 4 scenes of: "Capt. Collinson's Arctic Expedition" which includes: "Sledge Party of Esquimaux [Eskimos]", a print of an: "Iroquois Chief" and "Opening of the Madras Exhibition--Fort George" among others.
Full page of lacrosse prints...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, June 30, 1883 An entire page is taken up with 12 prints of: "The Canadian Game of La Crosse", each print having an identifying caption (see photos). A very nice & early displayable issue for the game of Lacrosse.
Complete in 24 pages, some very minor wrinkling, generally very nice condition.
Kate Greenaway Christmas print...
ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Dec. 26, 1874
* Kate Greenaway
* Christmas Dream
The full front page is a print: "Little Willie's Christmas Greeting". Inside has several full page prints including: "Christmas In Roumania", "Landing Oranges at Fresh Wharf, London Bridge, For Christmas", "Christmas Time Forty Years Ago" "A Christmas Pre... See More
Still with the red postage stamp from having been sent through the mail...
THE PICTORIAL WORLD, London, Oct. 10, 1874 An illustrated newspaper much in the line of "Harper's Weekly" & "Illustrated London News" but the prime feature is more the back page red postage stamp rather than the content. In the right margin of the back page is a red "one penny" postage stamp, with a cancellation and the mailing address handwritten ... See More
Centerfold on the Chicago Fire... Red River...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, October 28, 1871
* The great Chicago Illinois fire
The full front page has a print of the: "Funeral of Sir John Burgoyne in St. Peter's Church at the Tower" with additional illustrations and an article inside. Also inside: "The Red River Expedition" with illustrations, along with a dramatic double-page print: "A Forest ... See More
THE PICTORIAL WORLD, London, Jan. 12, 1875 An illustrated newspaper much in the line of "Harper's Weekly" & "Illustrated London News" but the prime feature is more the back page red postage stamp rather than the content. In the right margin of the back page is a red "one penny" postage stamp, with a partial cancellation (see).
Complete in 16 pages, dirt... See More
Christmas in 1893...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Dec. 23, 1893 The full front page is a print of: "More Explosions Expected! Startling Reports!!" which shows children playing with Christmas gifts & with a Christmas tree in the background. Other prints within inc lude: "The 'Truth' Toy & Doll Show at the Royal Albert Hall"; a full page: "The Pantomime Pudding: A ... See More
THE PICTORIAL WORLD, London, Feb. 20, 1875 An illustrated newspaper much in the line of "Harper's Weekly" & "Illustrated London News" but the prime feature is more the back page red postage stamp rather than the content. In the right margin of the back page is a red "one penny" postage stamp, with a cancellation (see).
Complete in 16 pages, some dirtine... See More
The Dalai Lama... Tibet...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, November 20, 1858
* Dalai Lama
Among the many prints in this issue is perhaps the most notable: "A Lama of the Dalai Sect, Thibet [Tibet], With His Praying Wheel and Trident" with an article on him as well (see photos). Also a half page showing: "The Catamaran Postman" in India, looking more like a man paddling on a surfbo... See More
THE PICTORIAL WORLD, London, Nov. 21, 1874 An illustrated newspaper much in the line of "Harper's Weekly" & "Illustrated London News" but the prime feature is more the back page red postage stamp rather than the content. Near the right margin of the back page is a red "one penny" postage stamp, with a cancellation (see).
Complete in 16 pages, some dirti... See More
Early prints of 1881 Leadville, Colorado...
* Leadville, Colorado
* Mining scenes - prints
The front page shows: "Irish Harvesters on Their Way to England". Inside has 2 pages of prints of: "The American Franklin Search Expedition", and a nice full page "Matting-Weavers" showing use of a spinning wheel as well. Perhaps the best print ... See More
Massive print of the 1862 International Exhibition...
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Oct. 4, 1862 This is an extremely large foldout print showing the; "Sectional View Of The Nave" of the Exhibition of 1862, as well as the "Sectional View Of The Eastern Transept". This print folds out to measure 31 1/2 by 43 1/2 inches and is in excellent condition. Typically such large foldouts are damaged due to consta... See More
1872 Hop picking print...
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, England, Sept. 14, 1872 Inside has a full page print of: "Hop Picking in Germany" which is a nice wine related print. Also: "Dunrobin Castle..." and various prints from "Ghent" among other prints. The complete issue, great condition.
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Trump: 'We're losing our A$$ defending you.' (Saudi Arabia)
Thread: Trump: 'We're losing our A$$ defending you.' (Saudi Arabia)
Originally Posted by goldenequity
What truly amazes me is the dissonant 'ability' of otherwise thinking minds....
to somehow divide the actions 'the empire'
our nation state.
.... like they're 2 separate things.
amazing what you can wrap in a flag.
They are two separate things, the empire has control of other nations and they don't have absolute control over the US, they existed before the US and they shift from one base of operations to another throughout history, we can evict them if we are blessed.
President Trump says he knows who was behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, telling ABC News's George Stephanopoulos "Iraq did not knock down the World Trade Center," adding "It were other people. And I think I know who the other people were. And you might also."
Nearly 3,000 people died when 19 mostly-Saudi terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, flying them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, while the fourth went down in a Pennsylvania field after passengers allegedly fought back. Astonishingly, the passports of three hijackers were recovered; two at the Pennsylvania crash site, and one from the World Trade Center grounds. While nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks for several months, the NSA and German intelligence reported intercepting communications pointing to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, after which investigators linked the 19 hijackers to the terrorist organization.
Trump segued from his 9/11 comments into a criticism of America's military intervention in the Middle East, calling it "the worst decision made in the history of our country," and describing the region as "like quicksand."
"It was a terrible decision to go into the Middle East. Terrible," said Trump, adding "We’re now up to almost $8 trillion. And when we want to build a roadway, a highway, a school, or something, everyone’s always fighting over money. It’s ridiculous. So that was a bad decision."
The US, backed by allies including Britain, invaded Afghanistan, where the terror group was being sheltered. But 9/11 was also used as part of the justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, more than 4,000 Americans and 179 British troops, and contributed to the rise of the Isis terror group. -Independent
Trump came under fire during the 2016 election when he claimed "There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations," adding "They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down." Defending his comments, Trump pointed to a September 18, 2001 Washington Post article which reads "In Jersey City, within hours of two jetliners' plowing into the World Trade Center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river."
in April after he tweeted a montage of the 9/11 attacks interspersed between Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) downplaying the incident as "some people did something," at a March 23 event for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019
Also arrested in the aftermath of the attacks were the so-called five "Dancing Israelis" which locals reported were celebrating around New Jersey.
five of the Israelis came to the FBI's attention after they were seen by New Jersey residents on Sept. 11 making fun of the World Trade Center ruins and going to extreme lengths to photograph themselves in front of the wreckage. The FBI seized and developed their photos, one of which shows Sivan Kurzberg flicking a cigarette lighter in front of the smouldering ruins in an apparently celebratory gesture. -Associated Press via Globe and Mail (2001)
In 2002, a "high-ranking American intelligence official" told Forward magazine that the men were "conducting a Mossad surveillance mission" - using their employer, Urban Moving Systems of Weehawken, NJ as a front. According to a 2002 report by ABC News, the FBI suspected the same.
The driver of the van, Sivan Kurzberg, told the officers, "We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem." The other passengers were his brother Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari.
When the men were transferred to jail, the case was transferred out of the FBI's Criminal Division, and into the bureau's Foreign Counterintelligence Section, which is responsible for espionage cases, ABCNEWS has learned.
One reason for the shift, sources told ABCNEWS, was that the FBI believed Urban Moving may have been providing cover for an Israeli intelligence operation. -ABC News (2002)
The Israelis claimed to have been on a "working holiday" in the United States, and were cleared by the FBI to return to Israel. During a media appearance on Israeli TV, one of the men said that they had been in New York at the time to "document the event" according to the 2002 ABC News report.
In May, the Trump administration complied with a FOIA request to provide redacted black-and-white photos of the men, however they do not appear to shed much additional light.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...nd-911-attacks
Then Donald Trump was warned that the previous interview contradicts the official story…
On 13 September 2001 Donald, again for the German TV, explained that the tremendous heat of the “fuel” (1600 degrees temperature…) could have taken the buildings down, “because” people were willing to die.
Starting at the 2:45 mark
In the following video on 9/11 by James Corbett.
Rudy Giuliani tells he was warned the Twin Towers would come down (11:52).
Larry Silverstein tells about his decision to “pull” WTC-7.
Donald Trump tells that “lucky” Silverstein is a good friend of his.
It also addresses the plans to make an “event” happen by Mossad. Ehud Barak fingers Osama Bin Laden immediately.
Do NOT ever read my posts.
Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...he-world/page3
US State Department assistant secretary for political-military affairs R. Clarke Cooper explained during a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that arms sales to Saudi Arabia, is also to export those great American values, like “open society, human rights” (that sounds so much better than assisting genocide...):
Our policy is not just limited to arms transfers. It is a manifestation of what else we export: open society, human rights. That is a part of our policy.
Cooper did admit that Washington doesn't consider cutting security ties with partners like Riyadh that carry “so much weight for our interests” (that’s like admitting that it’s more about oil than “human rights”...).
In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invoked his emergency powers to authorise $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Senate blocked the deal: https://www.rt.com/news/463926-senat...ng-arms-sales/
Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region are ready to help fund U.S. plans to boost protection for oil tankers and other vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a Saudi official has said, The Wall Street Journal reported July 16.
More at: https://worldview.stratfor.com/situa...-gulf-shipping
gtfo of Yemen... no more arms sales to SA... let Israel fight its own wars... get out of the ME.
Don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows
Libertea Party
The kingdom deserved candidate Trump’s scorn. It is a corrupt totalitarian state, long tied financially to terrorists, yet it treats U.S. soldiers as the personal bodyguards of the royals. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates recalled meeting King Abdullah, “He wanted a full-scale attack on Iranian military targets, not just the nuclear sites.” This supposed friend of America “was asking the United States to send its sons and daughters into a war with Iran in order to protect the Saudi position in the Gulf and the region, as if we were mercenaries.” From Riyadh’s viewpoint, of course, that is precisely what Americans are.
https://www.cato.org/publications/co...n-saudi-arabia
"The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack...that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation." "Attack Libya UPDATE 8/13: and Syria"
"We can track down terrorists without trampling on our civil liberties.... the federal government will only issue warrants and execute searches because it needs to, not because it can." "Need to murder UPDATE 8/13: and track citizens" ~ Barack H. Obama
Saudi Arabia clarifies Trump tweet: No new Saudi pledges to rebuild Syria
By Zippyjuan in forum World News & Affairs
Trump pleas for Saudi Arabia to list Aramco in US
By timosman in forum Economy & Markets
Trump In Saudi Arabia - 'Peace In Our Time?'
By Brian4Liberty in forum Ron Paul Forum
Trump: 'I would want to protect Saudi Arabia'
By AngryCanadian in forum 2016 Presidential Election: GOP & Dem
Trump would consider halting U.S. oil purchases from Saudi Arabia unless it provides troops to
By Danke in forum 2016 Presidential Election: GOP & Dem
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Home » Air Transport » Private Kyrgyz airline receives breakthrough IOSA certification
Private Kyrgyz airline receives breakthrough IOSA certification
Posted on March 13th, 2018 by Russian Aviation Insider in Air Transport, Kyrgyzstan
Air Manas and other local airlines are hoping to be thus removed from the EU blacklist (Air Manas)
Air Manas, a private Kyrgyz carrier, has now been successfully registered as an IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certified airline.
The accreditation is seen as an important step on the flight path for Kyrgyzstan’s airlines in their bid to be removed from the list of air carriers banned by the European Union.
The IATA Operational Safety Audit program is an internationally accepted evaluation process, which assesses the operational management and control systems of an airline. “This event was an act of acknowledgement of Air Manas’s high standards in safety, which meet the strictest and most advanced requirements,” says the airline’s statement.
Air Manas is the first Kyrgyz carrier to receive IOSA certification. According to deputy CEO Daniyar Arynov, the carrier is looking to eventually become a member of airline association IATA.
Air Manas, along with other Kyrgyzstan airlines, is currently blacklisted by the European Commission. There are, however, hopeful expectations in the country that local airlines may be allowed to fly to EU destinations from 2019.
Says CEO Talgat Nurbaev: “Completing the IOSA audit process testifies to the company’s high level of development and, of course, is an indicator of [improved] aviation security and flight safety.
“International acknowledgement of the company’s safe practices ensures a totally different status for air carriers operating in both domestic and international markets.”
Not all airlines are able to satisfy the IOSA audit, which can be a lengthy, difficult and costly process. “It’s a real test of strength, team cohesion, seriousness, and long-term intentions, as well as a responsible commitment to continuing with a given high level of safety, not by chance but constantly,” Nurbaev points out.
“Because the auditing process is not a one-time action, it needs to be held every two years.”
The airline recognizes that international acknowledgement brings with it the simplicity of integration with other airlines and aviation structures, and also creates opportunities to conclude code-sharing and interline agreements with almost any airlines in the world.
IOSA certification also means more affordable leasing costs, a factor which, in turn, may boost an increase in aircraft fleets, with the possibility of replenishment with the most modern aircraft. Air Manas currently operates a Boeing 737-400 and a 737-800.
Furthermore, expanding the geography and the frequencies of flights is a logical subsequent development of these changes, a vital aspect considering Air Manas’s low-cost business strategy. “It is safe to say that flights will become even more affordable,” Nurbaev insists.
Turkey’s low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines owns 49% of Air Manas.
Air Astana is the world’s second operator of the Embraer E190-E2
Russia’s Simargl helicopter operator to rebrand, go fixed-wing
Ukrainian air passenger traffic reaches pre-crisis levels
Red Wings to move to Ulyanovsk
Russia’s politically motivated new regional airline project is put on hold
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Politics APC Warns Members
Published on 06:40 , in Politics
APC Secretary General, Ambassador Osman Yansaneh
All People’s Congress (APC) party has warned its members in the Kenema district not to put on party emblem or colour during the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) convention in Kenema.
The three day National Delegate Conference of SLPP commenced on September 15.
A statement from the office of the Kenema District Chairman of the APC party indicates that “the party has deemed it prudent to inform the general membership of the party that the SLPP will be having its conference on the said dates [15th and 16th September].”
“Members of the party should distance themselves from the conference center of the SLPP. Members of the party should go about their normal businesses as usual,” the Party said.
The party emphasized that any member of the party who fails or violate the said resolutions will be doing it at his or her own detriment. “And the Party will not take responsibility for anything done in that regards.
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Pope Francis Leaves Out Seculars In Speech About Religious Freedom
Posted on September 27, 2015 by Doug
Pope Francis speaking in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Saturday 9-26-2015
Pope Francis gave a speech about religious freedom in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. While he made some good points about the importance of religious freedom, any mention of the non-religious was missing. Religious freedom is just as important to secular people as it is to the religious.
Popepalooza hit Philadelphia on Saturday and Pope Francis gave a speech in front of iconic Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both signed. The topic was religious freedom. I was interested to hear what he had to say about it.
There were some points I could agree with:
But history also shows that these or any truths must constantly be reaffirmed, re-appropriated and defended. The history of this nation is also the tale of a constant effort, lasting to our own day, to embody those lofty principles in social and political life. We remember the great struggles which led to the abolition of slavery, the extension of voting rights, the growth of the labor movement, and the gradual effort to eliminate every kind of racism and prejudice directed at successive waves of new Americans. This shows that, when a country is determined to remain true to its founding principles, based on respect for human dignity, it is strengthened and renewed.
All of us benefit from remembering our past. A people which remembers does not repeat past errors; instead, it looks with confidence to the challenges of the present and the future. Remembrance saves a people’s soul from whatever or whoever would attempt to dominate it or use it for their interests. When individuals and communities are guaranteed the effective exercise of their rights, they are not only free to realize their potential, they also contribute to the welfare and enrichment of society.
Full text of speech by Pope Francis at Independence Hall 09-26-2015, as it was delivered
Yes our freedoms need to be defended all the time and that people who exercise their freedoms tended to have a good life. Those people also contribute to the community. He also said the dignity of the human person and human rights are very important, which is true.
I also agreed with his call for people to help other people to eliminate injustice and that governments exist to protect and defend our rights.
Where I differed with the Pope is where he claimed that God was the source of all life, liberty and happiness. Which is a common disagreement.
A larger disagreement comes from this:
In this place which is symbolic of the American way, I would like to reflect with you on the right to religious freedom. It is a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbors whose religious views differ from our own. Religious freedom certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our consciences dictate. But religious liberty, by its nature, transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families. Religious freedom isn’t a subculture, it’s a part of every people and nation.
Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life, liberty and happiness. They remind us of the transcendent dimension of human existence and our irreducible freedom in the face of every claim to absolute power. We need but look at history, especially the history of the last century, to see the atrocities perpetrated by systems which claimed to build one or another “earthly paradise” by dominating peoples, subjecting them to apparently indisputable principles and denying them any kind of rights.
The Pope missed an opportunity to include secular people having the right to religious freedom. I don’t think his point that religious liberty “transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families” is the only part of religious freedom to consider.
Unconstrained “religious liberty” is what gives us people like Kim Davis in Kentucky, the war against women’s reproductive rights, and things like ‘In God We Trust’ stickers on police cars. The Pope and others may think religious freedom exists outside their private lives but it also means recognizing “your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins…“.
I did appreciate the Pope speaking out against people who try to use religion “as a pretext for hatred and brutality” and I liked his call for “the followers of the various religions join their voices in calling for peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others.”
We differed on points of theology but overall Pope Francis made some good points about religious freedom and the relationship between people’s religion and the community at large.
I just wished, at such a public speech, the Pope would have included secular people because it means just as much to us.
While on his way back to Rome Sunday night, it seems that Pope Francis took the side of bigoted Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The pontiff was asked: “Do you … support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?”
He did not refer specifically to Davis in his reply, saying: “I can’t have in mind all the cases that can exist about conscientious objection … but yes, I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.”
Francis added: “Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right. Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying, ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.'”
Asked if this principle applied to government officials carrying out their duties, he replied: “It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right.”
Francis’ remarks were translated by pool reporters aboard the plane, and were not an official translation.
Pope: Workers have ‘human right’ to refuse gay marriage licenses
According to the report the Pope said people like Davis have a right to have a conscientious objection based on religion but he said nothing about being shielded from the consequences of that objection.
Kim Davis can decide to discriminate but she doesn’t have the right to keep her job or avoid any other consequences of her decision.
Now we know why the Pope left out seculars in his religious freedom speech.
It’s Okay To Be Upset By Election Time Religious Pandering But What Do We Do Next?
Catholic Group Plans To Take Same-Sex Marriage Debate To School Districts
Justice Antonin Scalia Is Consistent, He Still Doesn’t Know What Separation Of Church And State Means
This entry was posted in Entanglement, Politics, Positive and tagged Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pope Francis, religious freedom, speech on September 27, 2015 by Doug.
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Title: Quantum of Solace
Subject: Spectre (2015 film), 14th Empire Awards, Gemma Arterton, James Bond in film, Mathieu Amalric
Collection: 2000S Action Thriller Films, 2000S Spy Films, 2008 Films, 20Th Century Fox Films, Best Thriller Empire Award Winners, British Adventure Films, British Films, Central Intelligence Agency in Fiction, Columbia Pictures Films, Eco-Terrorism in Fiction, English-Language Films, Environmental Films, Film Scores by David Arnold, Films About Privatization, Films About Revenge, Films About Terrorism, Films Directed by Marc Forster, Films Produced by Barbara Broccoli, Films Produced by Michael G. Wilson, Films Set in Austria, Films Set in Bolivia, Films Set in Haiti, Films Set in Italy, Films Set in London, Films Set in Russia, Films Set in South America, Films Shot in Austria, Films Shot in Chile, Films Shot in England, Films Shot in Italy, Films Shot in Madrid, Films Shot in Mexico, Films Shot in Panama, Films Shot in Wales, James Bond Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Films, Pinewood Studios Films, Quantum of Solace, Screenplays by Paul Haggis, Sequel Films, Works About Coups D'État
British cinema poster for Quantum of Solace, designed by Empire Design
Barbara Broccoli
Robert Wade
by Ian Fleming
Giancarlo Giannini
Roberto Schaefer
Matt Chesse
Rick Pearson
29 October 2008 (2008-10-29) (London, premiere)
31 October 2008 (2008-10-31) (United Kingdom)
$200 million[1]
$586.1 million[2]
Quantum of Solace (2008) is the 22nd coup d'état in Bolivia to seize control of that country's water supply.
Producer Michael G. Wilson developed the film's plot while Casino Royale was being shot. Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis contributed to the script. Daniel Craig and Marc Forster had to write some sections themselves due to the Writers' Strike,[3] though they were not given the screenwriter credit in the final cut. The title was chosen from a 1959 short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only, though the film does not contain any elements of the original story. Location filming took place in Mexico, Panama, Chile, Italy, Austria and Wales while interior sets were built and filmed at Pinewood Studios. Forster aimed to make a modern film that also featured classic cinema motifs: a vintage Douglas DC-3 was used for a flight sequence, and Dennis Gassner's set designs are reminiscent of Ken Adam's work on several early Bond films. Taking a course away from the usual Bond villains, Forster rejected any grotesque appearance for the character Dominic Greene to emphasise the hidden and secret nature of the film's contemporary villains.
The film was also marked by its frequent depictions of violence, with a 2012 study by the University of Otago in New Zealand finding it to be the most violent film in the franchise. Whereas Dr. No featured 109 "trivial or severely violent" acts, Quantum of Solace had a count of 250 – the most depictions of violence in any Bond film.[4] Quantum of Solace premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 29 October 2008, gathering mixed reviews, which mainly praised Craig's gritty performance and the film's action sequences, but feeling that the film was not as impressive as its predecessor Casino Royale. As of November 2012, it is the third-highest-grossing James Bond film, without adjusting for inflation, earning $586 million worldwide.
Cast 2
Development 3.1
Filming 3.2
Effects 3.4
Music 3.5
Merchandise 4.1.1
Home media 4.2
Box office 5.1
Critical response 5.2
Accolades 5.3
James Bond is driving from Quantum. M's bodyguard Craig Mitchell, a double agent, attacks M, enabling White to escape. Bond chases Mitchell and kills him. Bond and M return to London and search Mitchell's flat, discovering through tagged banknotes that Mitchell had a contact in Haiti. Bond tracks the contact, Edmund Slate, and learns that Slate is a hitman sent to kill Camille Montes at the behest of her lover, environmentalist Dominic Greene. While observing her subsequent meeting with Greene, Bond learns that Greene is helping an exiled Bolivian General, Medrano—who murdered Camille's family—to overthrow his government and become the new president in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert.
After rescuing Camille from Medrano, Bond follows Greene to a performance of Tosca in Bregenz, Austria. En route, the CIA head of the South American section, Gregg Beam, strikes a non-interference deal with Greene to maintain access to assumed stocks of Bolivian oil. Bond infiltrates Quantum's meeting at the opera, exposing the identities of Quantum's executive board to Tanner, and a gunfight ensues. Greene's men kill a Special Branch bodyguard working for Quantum member Guy Haines, an adviser to the British Prime Minister, after he fights with Bond. M assumes that Bond killed him, and has his passports and credit cards revoked when he refuses to return home and debrief.
Bond heads to Italy and convinces his old ally René Mathis to accompany him to Bolivia. At the La Paz airport, they are greeted by Strawberry Fields, an MI6 officer, who demands that Bond return to the UK immediately. Bond seduces her before they attend a fundraising party Greene holds that night. At the party, Bond again rescues Camille from Greene. Leaving, Bond and Camille are pulled over by Bolivian police working for Medrano. They had earlier attacked Mathis and put him in the boot of Bond's car to frame Bond; and, in the ensuing struggle, Mathis is killed.
The following day, Bond and Camille survey Quantum's intended land acquisition by air; their plane is shot down after a brief air battle and they skydive out of the burning plane into a sinkhole. In the cave, Bond and Camille discover Quantum is damming Bolivia's supply of fresh water to create a monopoly. Back in La Paz, Bond meets M and learns that Quantum murdered Fields by drowning her in crude oil. M orders Bond arrested for disobeying orders but he escapes. He risks capture by doubling back to tell M that Fields demonstrated bravery in the field, and this is enough to convince M that Bond can be trusted.
Bond meets CIA agent Felix Leiter, who discloses Greene and Medrano will meet in the Atacama Desert to finalize the coup. Warned by Leiter, he evades the CIA's Special Activities Division when they attempt to kill him. At an eco hotel in the desert, Greene reveals his true plans to Medrano: now that he controls the majority of Bolivia's water supply, Greene forces Medrano to accept a new contract that makes Greene Planet Bolivia's sole water utility company at significantly higher rates. Bond infiltrates the hotel, kills the Chief of Police for betraying Mathis, and confronts Greene. Meanwhile, Camille kills Medrano, avenging the murders of her parents and sister. The struggle leaves the hotel largely destroyed by fire. Bond then captures Greene and interrogates him about Quantum, before leaving him stranded in the desert with only a can of engine oil. Bond and Camille kiss before they part.
Bond travels to Kazan, Russia, where he finds Vesper Lynd's former lover, Yusef Kabira, a member of Quantum who seduces women with valuable connections. Bond tells Kabira's latest target, a Canadian Intelligence agent, of his true intentions, thus sparing her Vesper's fate. He spares Kabira's life and allows MI6 to arrest him. Outside, M tells Bond that Greene was found in the middle of the desert dead, shot twice and with engine oil in his stomach; Bond denies knowing anything. M also reveals that Leiter has been promoted and has taken Beam's place. She reinstates Bond as an agent; he tells M that he never left. As he leaves, he drops Vesper's necklace in the snow.
Daniel Craig as James Bond. Craig's physical training for his reprise of the role placed extra effort into running and boxing, to spare him the injuries he sustained on his stunts in the first film.[5] Craig felt he was fitter, being less bulky than in the first film.[6] He also practiced speedboating and stunt driving. Craig felt Casino Royale was [physically] "a walk in the park" compared to Quantum of Solace,[7] and required a different performance from him because Quantum of Solace is a revenge film, not a love story like Casino Royale.[6] While filming in Pinewood, he suffered a gash when kicked in his face,[8] which required eight stitches, and a fingertip was sliced off. He laughed these off, noting they did not delay filming, and joked his finger wound would enable him to have a criminal career (though it had grown back when he made this comment).[6] He also had minor plastic surgery on his face.[9] The actor advised Paul Haggis on the script and helped choose Marc Forster as the director.[10]
Olga Kurylenko as Camille Montes, a Bolivian agent with her own vendetta regarding Greene and Medrano. Forster chose her because out of the 400 women who auditioned, she seemed the least nervous.[11] When she read the script, she was glad she had no love scene with Craig; she felt it would have distracted viewers from her performance.[12] Kurylenko spent three weeks training to fight with weapons, and she learnt a form of indoor skydiving known as body flying.[13] Kurylenko said she had to do "training non-stop from the morning to the evening" for the action scenes, overcoming her fears with the help of Craig and the stunt team.[14][15][16] She was given a DVD box set of Bond films, since the franchise was not easily available to watch in her native Ukraine.[13] Kurylenko found Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies inspiring "because she did the fight scenes by herself."[11] The producers had intended to cast a South American actress in the role.[17] Kurylenko trained with a dialect coach to perform with a Spanish accent.[15] She said that the accent was easy for her because she has "a lot of hispanic friends, from Latin America and Spain, and it's an accent I've always heard".[18] When reflecting on her experience as a Bond girl, she stated she was proudest of overcoming her fears in performing stunts.[19]
Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene, the main villain. He is a leading member of Quantum posing as a businessman working in reforestation and charity funding for environmental science. Amalric acknowledged taking the role was an easy decision because, "It's impossible to say to your kids that 'I could have been in a Bond film but I refused.'"[13] Amalric wanted to wear make-up for the role, but Forster explained that he wanted Greene not to look grotesque, but to symbolise the hidden evils in society.[8] Amalric modelled his performance on "the smile of Tony Blair [and] the craziness of Sarkozy," the latter of whom he called "the worst villain we [the French] have ever had ... he walks around thinking he's in a Bond film."[20] He later claimed this was not criticism of either politician, but rather an example of how a politician relies on performance instead of a genuine policy to win power. "Sarkozy, is just a better actor than [his presidential opponent] Ségolène Royal—that's all," he explained.[21] Amalric and Forster reconceived the character, who was supposed to have a "special skill" in the script, to someone who uses pure animal instinct when fighting Bond in the climax.[22] Bruno Ganz was also considered for the part,[17] but Forster decided Amalric gave the character a "pitiful" quality.[22]
Gemma Arterton as MI6 Agent Strawberry Fields, who works at the British consulate in Bolivia. Fields, who is merely an office worker as described by M, takes herself seriously and tries to overpower Bond when the pair meet. She is later seduced by Bond, infiltrates Greene's fund raiser party with him and ends up paying the ultimate price. Forster found Arterton a witty actress and selected her from a reported 1,500 candidates. One of the casting directors asked her to audition for the role, having seen her portray Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre.[23] Arterton said Fields was "not so frolicsome" as other Bond girls, but is instead "fresh and young, not ... a femme fatale."[24] Arterton described Fields as a homage to the 1960s Bond girls, comparing her red wig to that of Diana Rigg, who played Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Rigg, alongside Honor Blackman, is one of her favourite Bond girls.[23] Arterton had to film her character's death scene first day on the set, where she was completely covered head to toe in non-toxic black paint. Although she found the experience unpleasant, she believes the scene will be an iconic part of the film.[25] The character's first name, which is a reference to the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever", is never actually uttered on screen; when Bond asks her for her name, she replies, "Just Fields." Robert A. Caplen suggests that this is a conscious effort to portray a woman "whose character attributes are neither undermined nor compromised" by her name, even though her name may have sexual overtones reminiscent of earlier Bond girls.[26]
Giancarlo Giannini as René Mathis, Bond's ally who was mistakenly believed to be a traitor in Casino Royale. Having been acquitted, he chooses to aid Bond again in his quest to find out who betrayed him.
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Bond's ally at the CIA. This marked the first time the same actor played Leiter twice in a row. Only David Hedison had previously played the character twice, in Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989), but these performances were not consecutive.[13] Early script drafts gave Leiter a larger role, but his screentime was restricted by on-set rewrites.[27]
Judi Dench as M. Forster felt Dench was underused in the previous films and wanted to make her part bigger, having her interact with Bond more because she is "the only woman Bond doesn't see in a sexual context," which Forster finds interesting.[28]
Anatole Taubman as Elvis, Greene's second-in-command. Taubman wanted to make Elvis "as colorful, as edgy and as interesting as possible", with one of his suggestions being the bowl cut.[29] Amalric and Taubman improvised a backstory for Elvis: he is Dominic's cousin and once lived on the streets before being inducted into Quantum. He called Elvis "a bit of a goofball. He thinks he's all that but he's not really. ... He's not a comic guy. He definitely takes himself very serious, but maybe by his taking himself too serious he may become friendly."[30]
David Harbour as Gregg Beam, the CIA Section Chief for South America and a contact of Felix Leiter.
Fernando Guillen Cuervo as Carlos, the Colonel of Bolivian Police, the chief of all police forces, and the contact of René Mathis in Bolivia.
Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, whom Bond captured after he stole the money won at Casino Royale in Montenegro.
Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, M's aide.
Paul Ritter as Guy Haines
Tim Pigott-Smith as the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
Neil Jackson as Edmund Slate, a henchman who fights Bond in Haiti.
Simon Kassianides as Yusef, a member of Quantum who seduces female agents and manipulates them into giving away classified information. He is indirectly responsible for Vesper Lynd's death.
Stana Katic as Corrine Veneau, a Canadian agent and Yusef's latest target.
Glenn Foster as Craig Mitchell, M's bodyguard and a double agent.
Oona Chaplin as Perla de las Dunas' receptionist, a woman saved by Camille Montes in one of the last sequences.
Lucrezia Lante Della Rovere as Gemma, Mathis' girlfriend.
Elizabeth Arciniega as Mr. White's girlfriend.
Marc Forster asked his friends and fellow directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón to appear in cameos. Cuarón appears as a Bolivian helicopter pilot, while del Toro provides several other voices.[31]
"If you remember in Chinatown, if you control the water you control the whole development of the country. I think it's true. Right now it appears to be oil, but there's a lot of other resources that we don't think about too much but are all essential, and they're very limited and every country needs it. Because every country knows that raising the standard of living (and populations are getting bigger) is the way we're all going."
— Michael G. Wilson on the plot.[27]
In July 2006, as Casino Royale entered post-production, Eon Productions announced that the next film would be based on an original idea by producer Michael G. Wilson.[32] It was decided beforehand the film would be a direct sequel, to exploit Bond's emotions following Vesper's death in the previous film.[33] Just as Casino Royale 's theme was terrorism, the sequel focuses on environmentalism.[21] The film was confirmed for a 2 May 2008 release date, with Craig reprising the lead role.[34] Roger Michell, who directed Craig in Enduring Love and The Mother, was in negotiations to direct, but opted out because there was no script.[35] Sony Entertainment vice-chairman Jeff Blake admitted a production schedule of 18 months was a very short window, and the release date was pushed back to late 2008.[36] Neal Purvis and Robert Wade completed their draft of the script by April 2007,[37] and Paul Haggis, who polished the Casino Royale script, began his rewrite the next month.[38]
In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as director.[39] He was surprised that he was approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond film fan through the years, and that he would not have accepted the project had he not seen Casino Royale prior to making his decision: he felt Bond had been humanised in that film, arguing since travelling the world had become less exotic since the series' advent, it made sense to focus more on Bond as a character. Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, Forster was the first Bond director not to come from the British Commonwealth of Nations, although he noted Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon.[40] The director collaborated strongly with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, noting they only blocked two very expensive ideas he had.[17] The director found Casino Royale 's 144-minute running time too long, and wanted his follow-up to be "tight and fast ... like a bullet."[41]
"Because Bond plays it real, I thought the political circumstances should be real too, even though Bond shouldn't be a political film. I thought the more political I make it, the more real it feels, not just with Bolivia and what's happening in Haiti, but with all these corporations like Shell and Chevron saying they're green because it's so fashionable to be green. During the Cold War, everything was very clear, the good guys and the bad guys. Today there's much overlapping of good and bad. It isn't as morally distinct, because we all have both elements in us."
— Marc Forster on the political landscape of the film.[42]
Haggis, Forster and Wilson rewrote the story from scratch.[43] Haggis said he completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began.[40] Forster noted a running theme in his films were emotionally repressed protagonists, and the theme of the picture would be Bond learning to trust after feeling betrayed by Vesper.[44] Forster said he created the Camille character as a strong female counterpart to Bond rather than a casual love interest: she openly shows emotions similar to those which Bond experiences but is unable to express.[45] Haggis located his draft's climax in the Swiss Alps,[46] but Forster wanted the action sequences to be based around the four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire.[47] The decision to homage Goldfinger in Fields's death came about as Forster wanted to show oil had replaced gold as the most precious material.[42] The producers rejected Haggis's idea that Vesper Lynd had a child, because "Bond was an orphan ... Once he finds the kid, Bond can't just leave the kid."[48] The water supply issue in Bolivia was the main theme of the film, with a story based on the Cochabamba Water Revolt.[49]
Michael G. Wilson decided on the film's title Quantum of Solace only "a few days" before its announcement on 24 January 2008.[24] It was the name of a short story in
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Use dmy dates from November 2012
Articles containing potentially dated statements from November 2012
Official website not in Wikidata
2000s action thriller films
2000s spy films
20th Century Fox films
Best Thriller Empire Award winners
British adventure films
Central Intelligence Agency in fiction
Eco-terrorism in fiction
Environmental films
Film scores by David Arnold
Films about privatization
Films about revenge
Films about terrorism
Films directed by Marc Forster
Films produced by Michael G. Wilson
Films produced by Barbara Broccoli
Films set in Austria
Films set in Bolivia
Films set in Haiti
Films set in Italy
Films set in London
Films set in Russia
Films set in South America
Films shot in Austria
Films shot in Chile
Films shot in England
Films shot in Italy
Films shot in Madrid
Films shot in Mexico
Films shot in Panama
Films shot in Wales
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Pinewood Studios films
Screenplays by Paul Haggis
Sequel films
Works about coups d'état
Empire Award for Best Thriller
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2006)
American Gangster (2008)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Headhunters (2013)
Everything Put Together (2000)
Monster's Ball (2001)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
All I See Is You (2016)
"Another Way to Die"
Casino Royale (2006 film)
"Quantum of Solace" (short story)
List of films
Recurring actors
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Octopussy (1983)
The Living Daylights (1987)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Die Another Day (2002)
Non-Eon films
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Quantum of Solace – official site
Quantum of Solace at the Internet Movie Database
Quantum of Solace at AllMovie
Quantum of Solace at Rotten Tomatoes
Quantum of Solace at Box Office Mojo
Bond on Set: Filming Quantum of Solace, Greg Williams, DK ADULT (20 October 2008), ISBN 0-7566-4120-9
^ a b c d Randee Dawn (11 November 2008). Quantum' is Marc Forster's 007 art film"'".
^ a b "Quantum of Solace (2008)".
^ a b c Goldberg, Matt (7 December 2011). "Daniel Craig Talks about the Script Problems on QUANTUM OF SOLACE; Says Why He's Encouraged for SKYFALL". Collider. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
^ "Sean Connery was the girliest Bond". Australia: Meeja. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
^ Martyn Palmer (24 November 2007). "The man with the golden touch".
^ a b c d e f John Naughton (November 2008). "Spy Harder".
^ "Newswrap" (Flash video). Official site. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
^ a b Benjamin Svetkey (30 October 2008). "Bond is back!".
^ "Bond actor admits plastic surgery".
^ Jennifer Vineyard (6 December 2007). "Daniel Craig Says He's Feeling The 'Pressure' Of James Bond Follow-Up". MTV. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
^ a b Matt Mueller. "On the Set of 'Quantum Of Solace': Olga Kurylenko: The Bond Girl".
^ Tim Masters (31 October 2008). "Talking Shop: Olga Kurylenko".
^ a b c d e f Mark Brown (24 January 2008). "Everything changes but Bond".
^ "Chile Soundbites videos". Sony
^ a b Chris Tilly (31 January 2008). "Olga Kurylenko Q&A".
^ Hollins, Grant (5 April 2008). "Street urchin to Bond girl".
^ a b c d "Bond 22 Pre-Production Diary (22)".
^ Rob Scheer (14 November 2008). """INTERVIEW: Olga Kurylenko on "Quantum of Solace.
^ David Giammarco. "From Ukraine, with love".
^ "Bond villain spills the beans".
^ a b c d Karl Rozemeyer (18 March 2008). "Mathieu Amalric on Being the 'Bond 22' Villain".
^ a b Williams, Murphy (2 October 2008). "Quantum of Solace: Mathieu Amalric on playing James Bond's nemesis".
^ a b Chris Tilly (30 January 2008). "Gemma Arteron Q&A".
^ a b c "New Bond film title is confirmed".
^ Harper, Tom (6 October 2008). "SPOILER ALERT - Oilfinger: Exclusive picture shows Gemma Arterton coming to a sticky end in new Bond film". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
^ Caplen, Robert A. (2010). Shaken & Stirred: The Feminism of James Bond. p. 346.
^ a b "The Secrets of Quantum of Solace".
^ "Fostering change".
^ "Anatole Taubman On Elvis".
^ "Elvis Rocks Bond's World".
^ "Del Toro, Cuaron do voices in new Bond film". Associated Press. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
^ Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit (17 July 2006). "Roger Michell in Talks for Bond 22".
^ Liane Bonin. "10 Questions With: Daniel Craig".
^ Hurst, Greg (4 July 2007). "They call him Director No".
^ "Bond 22 Targeting November 7, 2008".
^ Michael Fleming (11 April 2007). Barbarella' back in action"'".
^ "Paul Haggis on board to work on Bond 22 script, but turns down directing role".
^ "'"Forster back in action with 'Bond 22.
^ a b Terrence Rafferty (9 December 2007). "A License to Pursue the Inner Bond".
^ Alistair Harkness (30 October 2008). "A Quantum leap".
^ a b Carty, Ciaran (2 November 2008). "'I felt there was pain in Bond'".
^ a b c "A James Bond Set Visit and Seven Exclusive Quantum of Solace Images!".
^ a b c "Marc Forster on directing 007".
^ Jim Vejvoda (22 September 2008). "007 Responds to IGN Readers".
^ a b Ian Nathan (October 2008). "Quantum's Leap".
^ a b c
^ Logan Hill (3 November 2008). "How James Bond Nearly Became a Father".
^ Cinema for a Grand New Game, Film Quarterly
^ a b "Daniel: the title is meant to confuse".
^ a b "Seeking Solace on the Bond set".
^ a b Richard Owen (13 August 2007). "Bond has activists on his tail over new film's 'brutal' horse race finale".
^ "Filming locations for Quantum of Solace". imdb.com. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
^ "Bond 22 filming takes place in Madrid, Spain during last week of August".
^ a b "Newswrap No. 2 video".
^ David Allen (28 February 2008). "A bond with Chino".
^ a b "Production Diary (16)".
^ a b c d "Production Diary (19)".
^ a b Tim Marsters (25 January 2008). "Behind the scenes on the Bond set".
^ a b c "Quantum of Solace – Production Diary (7)".
^ Rebecca Connop Price (30 October 2008). "Barracks and airport provide location for Bond film". Get Hampshire. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
^ a b Edward Douglas (10 November 2008). "Marc Forster Finds His Quantum of Solace". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
^ "Production Diary (9)".
^ "Production Diary (17)".
^ a b Anthony Breznican (4 April 2008). "James Bond series takes a 'Quantum' leap". USA Today. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
^ Simon Gardner (2 April 2008). "James Bond has new nemesis: irate Chilean mayor". Reuters. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
^ Mayor' protests on Chile 007 set"'".
^ "¿Apoya Ud. las protestas del alcalde de Sierra Gorda por la filmación de James Bond en su comuna?".
^ Nick Pisa (22 April 2008). "Driver of James Bond's Aston Martin cheated death in dramatic crash".
^ Paul Bompard (24 April 2008). "James Bond production halted amid fears of a curse".
^ a b Quantum of Solace' set visit: filming in Austria; Craig's next Bond moves; 007's new foes; rumors laid to rest"'".
^ Quantum of Solace' wrap party held on Saturday night, David Arnold confirms"'".
^ "Peter Lamont bows out from Bond 22, Dennis Gassner to be Production Designer".
^ Olly Richards (24 January 2008). "Daniel Craig Talks Quantum of Solace".
^ a b "Capone talks with James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, and Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster in London!!!".
^ "James Bond: licence to redesign".
^ "Jasper Conran Spring Summer 2008 Collection". Jasperconran.com. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
^ Jessica Fellowes (22 October 2008). "James Bond week: 007 and his girls are back with a crisp new look".
^ Jessica Fellowes (22 October 2008). "Necklace with a starring role".
^ Mark Caro (9 November 2008). "15 James Bond facts you need to know".
^ Bill Desowitz (16 January 2009). "MK12 Has a Blast with Quantum Main Titles". VFXWorld. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
^ Yves Peters (19 December 2008). "MK12 Create Custom Type for Quantum of Solace Title Sequence".
^ "Aston Martin DBS to star in new James Bond film".
^ Borys Kit (4 September 2007). "Bradley tapped to aid Bond stunts".
^ "Dan Bradley interview". Bourne Stunt Simulator. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
^ Moore, Malcolm (28 April 2008). "James Bond filming suspended after third accident leaves stuntman in coma".
^ a b c d e f g Bill Desowitz (3 December 2008). "A Quantum of VFX for James Bond". VFX World. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
^ a b c d Bill Dawes (16 November 2008). "Back into Bondage".
^ Chris Reidy (12 May 2008). Snakehead" films James Bond dogfight footage""".
^ "For Your Eyes Only: RT in Austria with James Bond".
^ "Your Quantum of Solace Questions Answered!".
^ Tommy Pearson,
^ Mark Beaumont (18 October 2008). "The Midas touch of David Arnold and his influence on Bond".
^ Crawl, End Crawl' track from 'Quantum of Solace' now on iTunes"'".
^ "Alicia Keys, Jack White Team For Bond Theme".
^ "Quantum of Solace – News – Alicia Keys, Jack White Team For "Quantum of Solace" Theme Song (Press Release)" (PDF).
^ a b "Jack White Talks Bond".
^ a b Brian Hiatt (2 October 2008). "Jack White and Alicia Keys: Bond's New Duo".
^ "'"Winehouse working on 'Bond theme.
^ "Troubled Winehouse 'not ready' for Bond theme".
^ Quantum of Solace" World Premiere Announced""".
^ Olly Richards (19 March 2008). "Quantum of Solace Gets Earlier Release".
^ Columbia Pictures (21 August 2008). "Quantum of Solace Moved Back a Week". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
^ Garry Maddox (6 September 2008). "Bond blinks first in battle of blockbusters".
^ Marc Graser (14 August 2008). "Brands line up for Bond sequel".
^ Steve McGinty (27 October 2008). "Does this mean Bond's past his sell-by date?".
^ "Bond girl Olga Kurylenko introduces Ford Ka at Paris Motor Show (video)," MI6-HQ.com (10 March 2008). Retrieved 8 November 2008.
^ "Avon to introduce Bond Girl 007 fragrance with Gemma Arterton".
^ Mark Sweney (11 September 2008). "Coca-Cola launches ad featuring Jack White's Quantum of Solace music".
^ "Mission for a Million".
^ "New 007 Toys & Gadgets 2008".
^ "New Corgi Cars 2008".
^ "New Corgi Action Figures".
^ "Scalextric 007 Racing Sets Unveiled".
^ "Swatch Launch 007 Villains Watches".
^ Amazon.co.uk listing. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
^ Amazon.com listing. Retrieved 24 May 2008
^ a b "Quantum of Solace – DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
^ "Quantum of Solace Hits DVD & Blu-ray in March". ComingSoon.net. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
^ Archie Thomas (1 November 2008). Solace' makes quantum leap in U.K."'".
^ "Bond film smashes weekend records".
^ Dave McNary (2 November 2008). "'"James Bond finds overseas 'Solace.
^ Pamela McClintock (8 November 2008). Quantum' leap in overseas box office"'".
^ Dave McNary (9 November 2008). Quantum' rules foreign box office"'".
^ "Weekend Box Office Results from 11/14 – 11/16". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
^ "James Bond Movies". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
^ Joshua Rich (16 November 2008). Quantum of Solace' Stirs up a Win"'".
^ "'Quantum of Solace'".
^ "Quantum of Solace".
^ Tom Butler (31 October 2008). "UK Tomatometer Preview: Quantum Of Solace – Is the New Bond Shaken or Stirred?".
^ "'"Sir Roger Moore weighs in on 'Quantum of Solace.
^ "Quantum of Solace". Screen Daily. 20 October 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
^ Review by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 12 November 2008
^ Marni Weisz, "At least it's not Octopussy," Famous, October 2008, p. 6
^ Robey, Tim (30 December 2013). "James Bond: Quantum of Solace, Review". The Daily Telegraph (London).
^ "2008 13th Annual SATELLITE Awards".
^ Dade Hayes (9 December 2008). "'"Critics Choice favors 'Milk,' 'Button.
^ "Empire Awards nominate 'Quantum of Solace' five times, vote now online".
^ "Nominations for the 35th Annual Saturn Awards".
^ Michael Moran (20 November 2008). "The 20 greatest car chases in movie history".
Outline of James Bond
The film was nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Visual Effects, Film and Sound Editing at the 2008 Satellite Awards, winning Best Song.[145] It was nominated for Best Action Movie at the 2009 Critics' Choice Awards,[146] and at the Empire Awards, which is voted for by the public, it was shortlisted for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Thriller and Best Soundtrack.[147] It was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, while Kurylenko and Dench were both nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award.[148] An editorial by The Times also listed the film's pre-titles sequence as the tenth-greatest car chase in film history.[149]
Not all the reviews were as critical. Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph, in a reflective review of the film in 2013, was positive. He praised the film's shorter runtime, claiming that many other Bond films run out of steam before the end, and included Casino Royale in this category. Describing the film as having a "rock-solid dramatic idea and the intelligence to run with it", he gave the film four stars out of five.[144]
Screen Daily says, "Notices will focus—rightly—on Craig's magnetism as the steely, sexy, murderous MI6 agent, but two other factors weigh in and freshen up proceedings: Forster's new technical team, led by cinematographer Roberto Schaefer and production designer Dennis Gassner. And the ongoing shift of M, as played by Judi Dench, to front and centre: the Bond girls fade into insignificance as she becomes his moral counterpoint and theirs is the only real relationship on screen." The review continues, "Bond is, as has been previously noted, practically the Martin Scorsese of the BAFTAs: 22 films later, with grosses probably close to the GDP of one of the small nations it depicts, it's still waiting for that Alexander Korda award. The best Casino Royale could achieve was a gong for sound. Will this be the year that changes its fortunes?"[140] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who praised the previous film, disliked Quantum of Solace. He wrote that the plot was mediocre, characters weak and that Bond lacked his usual personality, despite his praise for Craig's interpretation of the role. Throughout his review, he emphasised that "James Bond is not an action hero."[141] Kate Muir wrote in The Times that "The Bond franchise is 50 years old this year, and the scriptless mess of Quantum of Solace may be considered its mid-life crisis", before she went on to praise the film's successor Skyfall as a "resurrection".[142] Some writers criticised the choice of Quantum of Solace as a title. "Yes, it's a bad title," wrote Marni Weisz, the editor of Famous, a Canadian film publication distributed in cinemas in that country, in an editorial entitled "At least it's not Octopussy."[143]
Roger Moore, the third actor to play Bond in the films, said that Craig was a "damn good Bond but the film as a whole, there was a bit too much flash cutting [and] it was just like a commercial of the action. There didn't seem to be any geography and you were wondering what the hell was going on."[136] Kim Newman of Empire gave it 4/5, remarking it was not "bigger and better than Casino Royale, [which is] perhaps a smart move in that there's still a sense at the finish that Bond's mission has barely begun." However, he expressed nostalgia for the more humorous Bond films.[137] The Sunday Times review noted that "following Casino Royale was never going to be easy, but the director Marc Forster has brought the brand's successful relaunch crashing back to earth – with a yawn"; the screenplay "is at times incomprehensible" and the casting "is a mess." The review concludes that "Bond has been stripped of his iconic status. He no longer represents anything particularly British, or even modern. In place of glamour, we get a spurious grit; instead of style, we get product placement; in place of fantasy, we get a redundant and silly realism."[138] The Guardian gave a more positive review, rating it as 3/5 stars, and was particularly fond of Craig's performance, saying he "made the part his own, every inch the coolly ruthless agent-killer, nursing a broken heart and coldly suppressed rage" and calling the film "a crash-bang Bond, high on action, low on quips, long on location glamour, short on product placement"; it concludes "Quantum of Solace isn't as good as Casino Royale: the smart elegance of Craig's Bond debut has been toned down in favour of conventional action. But the man himself powers this movie; he carries the film: it's an indefinably difficult task for an actor. Craig measures up."[139]
Reviews for Quantum of Solace have been mixed. Of the 244 reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes, 65% are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10.[133] Metacritic calculated a score of 58 out of 100 from 38 reviews, indicating a "mixed or average" response.[134] Critics generally preferred Casino Royale, but continued to praise Craig's depiction of Bond, and agree that the film is still an enjoyable addition to the series. The action sequences and pacing were praised, but criticism grew over the realism and serious but gritty feel that the film carried over.[135]
Critical response
The film grossed $27 million on its opening day in 3,451 cinemas in Canada and the United States, where it was the number one film for the weekend, with $67.5 million and $19,568 average per cinema.[130] It was the highest-grossing opening weekend Bond film in the U.S.,[131] and tied with The Incredibles for the biggest November opening outside of the Harry Potter series. The film earned a B- from CinemaScore's audience surveys.[132] From the 31 October British opening through to the 14 November U.S. opening weekend, the film had grossed a total $319,128,882 worldwide. As of 10 February 2010, it had grossed the equivalent of $417,722,300 in countries other than Canada and the U.S., where it grossed $168,368,427, to give a total of $586,090,727.[2]
The following week, the film was playing in sixty countries. It grossed the equivalent of $39.3 million in the UK, $16.5 million in France and $7.7 million in Germany on 7 November 2008.[128] The film broke records in Switzerland, Finland, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Romania and Slovenia. Its Chinese and Indian openings were the second largest ever for foreign-language films.[129]
Upon its opening in the UK, the film grossed £4.9 million ($8 million), breaking the record for the largest Friday opening (31 October 2008) in the UK.[125] The film then broke the UK opening weekend record, taking £15.5 million ($25 million) in its first weekend, surpassing the previous record of £14.9 million held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It earned a further £14 million in France and Sweden—where it opened on the same day. The weekend gross of the equivalent of $10.6 million in France was a record for the series, surpassing what Casino Royale made in five days by 16%. The $2.7 million gross in Sweden was the fourth-highest opening for a film there.[126][127]
Quantum of Solace was released on DVD and Blu-ray by MGM via 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in Australia, the UK and North America from 18 to 24 March 2009. At the DVD sales chart the film opened at No. 3, grossing $21,894,957 from 1.21m DVD units sold.[123] As of 1 November 2009, 2,643,250 DVD units were sold, generating $44,110,750 in sales revenue.[123] These figures do not include Blu-ray sales or DVD rentals. The DVDs were released in both a standard one-disc set and a deluxe two-disc special edition. There are no audio commentaries or deleted scenes on these editions.[124]
Though the screenplay did not get made into a novel despite its original storyline, Penguin Books published a compilation of Fleming's short stories entitled Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, with a UK release date of 29 May 2008[121] and a North American release date of 26 August 2008.[122] The book combines the contents of Fleming's two short story collections, For Your Eyes Only—including the original "Quantum of Solace" short story—and Octopussy and The Living Daylights.
die-cast toy vehicles.[116][117] They also created 7-inch figures of characters from the previous films.[118] Scalextric released four racing sets to coincide with the film.[119] Activision released their first James Bond game, also titled Quantum of Solace, which is based on both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. It is the first Bond game to feature Craig's likeness and the first seventh generation console game in the series. Swatch designed a series of wrist watches, each of them inspired by a Bond villain.[120]
Returning product placement partners from Casino Royale included Ford, Heineken, Smirnoff, Omega SA, Virgin Atlantic and Sony Ericsson.[110] A reported £50 million was earned in product placement, which tops the Bond film's record of £44 million for Die Another Day.[111] The 2009 Ford Ka is driven by Camille in the film.[112] Avon created a fragrance called Bond Girl 007 with Gemma Arterton as the "face" of the product.[113] Coca-Cola became a promotional partner, rebranding Coke Zero as "Coke Zero Zero 7." A tie-in advert featured the orchestral element of "Another Way to Die."[114] In the film, Coca-Cola was briefly seen being served at Dominic Greene's party. Sony held a competition, "Mission for a Million," enabling registered players to use their products to complete certain tasks. Each completed "mission" gives consumers a chance to win $1 million and a trip to a top secret location.[115]
The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 29 October 2008. Princes William and Harry attended, and proceeds from the screening were donated to the charities Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.[106] The film was originally scheduled to be released in the UK and North America on 7 November; however, Eon pushed forward the British date to 31 October during filming,[107] while the American date was pushed back in August to 14 November, after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been moved to 2009, thereby allowing the distributors to market the film over the autumn blockbuster Thanksgiving holiday weekend.[108] In Australia, the film was moved a week to 19 November, after 20th Century Fox chose to release Australia on Quantum of Solace 's original date of 26 November.[109]
Jack White of The White Stripes and Alicia Keys collaborated on "Another Way to Die," the first Bond music duet.[100][101] They had wanted to work together for two years beforehand.[102] The song was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee; White played the drums while Keys performed on the piano.[103] The Memphis Horns also contributed to the track.[102] White's favourite Bond theme is John Barry's instrumental piece for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and he watched various opening credit sequences from the series for inspiration while mixing the track.[103] Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse had recorded a demo track for the film,[104] but Ronson explained Winehouse's well-publicised legal issues in the preceding weeks made her "not ready to record any music" at that time.[105]
David Arnold, who composed the scores for the previous four Bond films, returned for Quantum of Solace. He said that Forster likes to work very closely with his composers and that, in comparison to the accelerated schedule he was tied to on Casino Royale, the intention was to spend a long time scoring the film to "really work it out." He also said he would be "taking a different approach" with the score.[97] Arnold composed the music based on impressions from reading the script, and Forster edited those into the film.[98] As with Casino Royale, Arnold kept use of the "James Bond Theme" to a minimum.[47] Arnold collaborated with Kieran Hebden for "Crawl, End Crawl," a remix of the score played during the end credits.[99]
The Moving Picture Company created the climactic hotel sequence. The fire effects were supervised by Chris Corbould, and post-production MPC had to enhance the sequence by making the smoke look closer to the actors, so it would look more dangerous.[92] A full-scale replica of the building's exterior was used for the exploding part Bond and Camille escape from. The boat chase was another scene that required very little CGI. Machine FX worked on replacing a few shots of visible stuntmen with a digital version of Craig's head,[93] and recreated the boats Bond jumps over on his motorcycle to make it look more dangerous.[92] Crowd creation was done for the Tosca scene by Machine FX, to make the performance look like it had sold out.[93] Forster edited the opera scene to resemble The Man Who Knew Too Much.[63] In total, there are 900+ visual effects shots in Quantum of Solace.[92]
The free-fall scene involved its own set of challenges, Craig disliked the idea of "being hung by wires and blown by a large fan in front of a green screen" but actual sky diving coverage has serious drawbacks. It's not only difficult, dangerous and time-consuming, but nearly always results in problematic head-replacements for close-ups. Stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell and VFX Designer Kevin Tod Haug, presented the idea of filming the scene in a large vertical wind tunnel in Bedford in order to do this sequence as practically as possible. While a great solution for the actors' performances the technique presented enormous VFX challenges: relighting shots captured in a tall white tube to match the sky over the Bolivian desert, and the impossibility of filming medium to wide shots of the actors. An array of eight Dalsa Origin cameras (supported by seven HD cameras and a 35mm hand-held camera, all running in sync) was used to create a virtual camera with which to shoot the actors floating in the simulator. Ged Wright and his team at Double Negative[93] developed a method to use the data from these cameras that allowed these real performances to be placed in a synthetic environment as seen by a synthetic camera. During the shooting in the wind tunnel Craig and Kurylenko wore wind-resistant contact lenses that enabled them to open their eyes as they fell. For safety and comfort, they only shot for thirty seconds at a time.[96] Forster wished he had more time to work on the free-fall scene.[92]
To film the aerial dogfight, a "Snakehead" camera was built and placed on the nose and tail of a Piper Aerostar 700. SolidWorks, who provided the software used to design the camera, stated "pilots for the first time can fly as aggressively as they dare without sacrificing the drama of the shot." The camera could turn 360 degrees and was shaped like a periscope.[94] The crew also mounted SpaceCams on helicopters, and placed cameras with 1600 mm lenses underground, to cover the action.[55] Forster wanted to film the plane fight as a homage to Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and chose planes like the Douglas DC-3 to suit that.[80][95]
Fourteen cameras were used to film the Palio di Siena, footage which was later edited into the main sequence. Aerial shots using helicopters were banned, and the crew were also forbidden from showing any violence "involving either people or animals."[52] To shoot the foot chase in Siena in April 2008 four camera cranes were built in the town, and a cable camera was also used.[57] Framestore worked on the Siena chase, duplicating the 1000 extras during principal photography to match shots of the 40,000 strong audience at the real Palio, removing wires that held Craig and the stuntmen in the rooftop segment of the chase, and digital expansion of the floor and skylight in the art gallery Bond and Mitchell fall into.[92] The art gallery fight was intended to be simple, but during filming Craig's stunt double accidentally fell from the construction scaffolding. Forster preferred the idea of Bond hanging from ropes reaching for his gun to kill Mitchell, rather than having both men run out of the building to continue their chase as specified in the script, and the number of effects shots increased.[92]
Quantum of Solace was the last in Ford Motor's three-film deal that began with 2002's Die Another Day. Although Ford sold over 90% of the Aston Martin company in 2007, the Aston Martin DBS V12 returned for the film's car chase around Lake Garda;[88] Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director because of his work on the second and third Bourne films, so the film would continue the gritty action style begun in Casino Royale.[89] He had intended to use Ford GTs for the opening chase,[90] but it was replaced by the Alfa Romeo 159.[91] After location filming in Italy, further close-ups of Craig, the cars and the truck were shot at Pinewood against a bluescreen.[92] Originally three Alfa Romeos were in the sequence: but Forster felt the scene was running too long and re-edited the scene so it only looked like two Romeos were chasing Bond.[93] Six Aston Martins were destroyed during filming, and one of them was purchased by a fan.[6]
Aston Martin DBS V12 on display at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International
The film returns to the traditional gun barrel opening shot, which was altered into part of the story for Casino Royale where it was moved to the beginning of the title sequence. In this film the gun barrel sequence was moved to the end of the movie, which Wilson explained was done for a surprise,[85] and to signify the conclusion of the story begun in the previous film. The opening credits sequence was created by MK12. Having worked on Forster's Stranger than Fiction and The Kite Runner, MK12 spontaneously began developing the sequence early on in production, and had a good idea of its appearance which meant it did not have to be redone when the title singer was changed. MK12 selected various twilight colours to represent Bond's mood and focused on a dot motif based on the gunbarrel shot. MK12 also worked on scenes with graphical user interface, including the electronic table MI6 use,[86] and the Port-au-Prince, Haiti title cards.[87]
Louise Frogley replaced Lindy Hemming as costume designer, though Hemming remained as supervisor. Hemming hired Brioni for Bond's suits since her tenure on the series began with 1995's GoldenEye, but Lindsay Pugh, another supervisor, explained their suits were "too relaxed." Tom Ford was hired to tailor "sharper" suits for Craig. Pugh said the costumes aimed towards the 1960s feel, especially for Bond and Fields. Prada provided the dresses for both Bond girls. Jasper Conran designed Camille's ginger bandeau, bronze skirt and gold fish necklace,[82] while Chrome Hearts designed gothic jewellery for Amalric's character, which the actor liked enough to keep after filming.[83] Sophie Harley, who created Vesper Lynd's earrings and Algerian loveknot necklace in Casino Royale, was called upon to create another version of the necklace.[84]
Production designer Peter Lamont, a crew member on eighteen previous Bond films, retired after Casino Royale.[78] Forster hired Dennis Gassner in his stead, having admired his work on The Truman Show and the films of the Coen brothers.[44] Craig said the film would have "a touch of Ken Adam,"[79] while Michael G. Wilson also called Gassner's designs "a postmodern look at modernism."[60] Forster said he felt the early Bond films' design "were ahead of their time,"[44] and enjoyed the clashing of an older style with his own because it created a unique look unto itself.[80] Gassner wanted his sets to emphasise Craig's "great angular, textured face and wonderful blue eyes," and totally redesigned the MI6 headquarters because he felt Judi Dench "was a bit tired in the last film, so I thought, let's bring her into a new world."[81]
Filming took place at the floating opera stage at Bregenz, Austria, from 28 April – 9 May 2008. The sequence, where Bond stalks the villains during a performance of Tosca, required 1500 extras.[73] The production used a large model of an eye, which Forster felt fitted in the Bond style, and the opera itself has parallels to the film.[74] A short driving sequence was filmed at the nearby Feldkirch, Vorarlberg.[75] The crew returned to Italy from 13–17 May to shoot a (planned) car crash at the marble quarry in Carrara,[76] and a recreation of the Palio di Siena at the Piazza del Campo in Siena. 1000 extras were hired for a scene where Bond emerges from the Fonte Gaia. Originally, he would have emerged from the city's cisterns at Siena Cathedral, but this was thought disrespectful.[58] By June the crew returned to Pinewood for four weeks,[74] where new sets (including the interior of the hotel in the climax) were built.[43][60] The wrap party was held on 21 June.[77]
From 4–12 April the main unit shot on Sienese rooftops.[58] Shooting on the real rooftops turned out to be less expensive than building them at Pinewood.[1] The next four weeks were scheduled for filming the car chase at Lake Garda and Carrara.[58] On 19 April, an Aston Martin employee driving a DBS to the set crashed into the lake. He survived, and was fined £400 for reckless driving.[71] Another accident occurred on 21 April, and two days later, two stuntmen were seriously injured, with one, Greek stuntman Aris Comninos, having to be put in intensive care. Filming of the scenes was temporarily halted so that Italian police could investigate the causes of the accidents.[72] Stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell said the accidents were a testament to the realism of the action.[46] Rumours of a "curse" spread among tabloid media, something which deeply offended Craig, who disliked that they compared Comninos' accident to something like his minor finger injury later on the shoot (also part of the "curse"). Comninos recovered safely from his injury.[6]
While filming in Sierra Gorda, Chile, the local mayor, Carlos Lopez, staged a protest because he was angry at the filmmakers' portrayal of the Antofagasta region as part of Bolivia. He was arrested, detained briefly, and put on trial two days later. Eon dismissed his claim that they needed his permission to film in the area.[67][68] Michael G. Wilson also explained Bolivia was appropriate to the plot, because of the country's history of water problems,[66] and was surprised the two countries disliked each other a century after the War of the Pacific.[69] In a poll by Chilean daily newspaper La Segunda, 75% of its readers disagreed with Lopez's actions, due to the negative image they felt it presented of Chile, and the controversy's potential to put off productions looking to film in the country in the future.[70]
Marc Forster chose the Atacama Desert to represent Bond's vengefulness in the climax.
Shooting in Panama City began on 7 February 2008 at Howard Air Force Base. The country doubled for Haiti and Bolivia, with the National Institute of Culture of Panama standing in for a hotel in the latter country. A sequence requiring several hundred extras was also shot at nearby Colón.[62] Shooting in Panama was also carried out at Fort Sherman, a former US military base on the Colón coast. Forster was disappointed he could only shoot the boat chase in that harbour, as he had a more spectacular vision for the scene.[63] Officials in the country worked with the locals to "minimise inconvenience" for the cast and crew, and in return hoped the city's exposure in the film would increase tourism.[64] The crew was going to move to Cusco, Peru for ten days of filming on 2 March,[62] but the location was cancelled for budget reasons.[1] Twelve days of filming in Chile began on 24 March at Antofagasta. There was shooting in Cobija, the Paranal Observatory, and other locations in the Atacama Desert.[65] Forster chose the desert and the observatory's ESO Hotel to represent Bond's rigid emotions, and being on the verge of committing a vengeful act as he confronts Greene in the film's climax.[51][66]
Quantum of Solace was shot in six countries.[1] Second unit filming began in Italy at the Palio di Siena horse race on 16 August 2007,[52] although at that point Forster was unsure how it would fit into the film.[47] Some scenes were filmed also in Maratea and Craco, two small distinctive towns in Basilicata in southern Italy.[53] Other places used for location shooting were Madrid in August 2007;[54] Baja California, Mexico in early 2008, for shots of the aerial battle;[55][56] Malcesine, Limone sul Garda and Tremosine in Italy during March,[57] and at Talamone during the end of April.[58] The main unit began on 3 January 2008[17] at Pinewood Studios. The 007 Stage was used for the fight in the art gallery,[13] and an MI6 safehouse hidden within the city's cisterns,[59] while other stages housed Bond's Bolivian hotel suite,[60] and the MI6 headquarters.[59] Interior and exterior airport scenes were filmed at Farnborough Airfield and the snowy closing scenes were filmed at the Bruneval Barracks in Aldershot.[61]
During filming, after the strike ended, Forster read a spec script by Joshua Zetumer, which he liked, and hired him to reshape scenes for the later parts of the shoot, which the director was still unsatisfied with.[43] Forster had the actors rehearse their scenes, as he liked to film scenes continually.[21] Zetumer rewrote dialogue depending on the actors' ideas each day.[21]
According to a December 2011 interview with Craig, "We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers' strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn't employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, 'Never again', but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes—and a writer I am not."[3] He said that he and Forster "were the ones allowed to do it. The rules were that you couldn't employ anyone as a writer, but the actor and director could work on scenes together. We were stuffed. We got away with it, but only just. It was never meant to be as much of a sequel as it was, but it ended up being a sequel, starting where the last one finished."[3]
Near the end of the film, the Camille Montes character and Bond have a discussion about their individual quests to avenge the deaths of their loved ones. Montes asks Bond to "let me know what it feels like" when he succeeds, the implication of the title being that it will be a small amount of solace compared to his despair. Bond's lack of emotion when he does exact revenge shows this to be the case. [6] Craig noted the letter Q itself looks rather odd.[51]
Bbc, Eton College, Casino Royale (novel), Secret Intelligence Service, The Times
The Living Daylights, A View to a Kill, Ian Fleming, GoldenEye, Live and Let Die (film)
Spectre (2015 film)
Skyfall, Sam Mendes, Casino Royale (2006 film), Quantum of Solace, London
14th Empire Awards
YouTube, Quantum of Solace, Wall-e, The Dark Knight (film), Empire Awards
Quantum of Solace, Kent, Authority control, England, Clash of the Titans (2010 film)
James Bond in film
Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Maurice Binder, NaN
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Castro: “I will continue to be a strong advocate for women.”
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate failed to override a bill co-sponsored by Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) today that would make the Illinois Equal Pay Act stronger.
House Bill 2462 would have strengthened the Illinois Equal Pay Act by prohibiting employers from asking about previous salary histories when interviewing job applicants. The measure would reduce the effects of pay discrimination in past jobs.
“This legislation addresses the wide gap that is still prevalent between men and women, “Castro said. “Men and women of all races should have an equal chance to succeed and that is what I will continue to fight for as a member of this General Assembly.”
Castro fights for state debt to be transparent
SPRINGFIELD – Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) and the Illinois Senate overrode the governor’s veto of House Bill 3649 to make state debt more transparent and to prevent the pile up of bills being backlogged in our state.
House Bill 3649 amends the State Finance Act and requires that state agencies provide a monthly report to the comptroller identifying the current liabilities held by the state agency. This measure will reveal liabilities and potential late interest penalties that may be accumulating. This transparency will help Illinois know what debt is owed by the state.
“The reasoning behind why Governor Rauner vetoed this bill is nonsense,” Castro said. “This measure ensures more accountability and transparency from state agencies when they are reporting back to the state. We have to get our state’s finances in order and this is the first step in doing just that.”
Currently state agencies only have to report once a year, which leads to delayed payments. The consequence of this has led to the backlog of bills our state has and is currently facing.
House Bill 3649 was overridden in the House and Senate with bipartisan support.
Castro's statement on passage of sexual harassment prevention measures
SPRINGFIELD – In the last two days, the Illinois Senate has passed multiple legislative measures to contest the recent allegation of sexual harassment in our state government.
The four measures passed ensured that sexual harassment prevention training would be required for all state legislators and their staff, extended the statute of limitations for an investigation to occur, improved oversight and established a task force that would provide future legislation to fight this problem.
Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) was recently appointed to the Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission and has co-sponsored the measures to address these problems. She became a part of the General Assembly less than a year ago and brings a new and fresh perspective to the commission and intends to be the driving force to get things done.
“As the newest member of the Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission, I’m eager to get to work,” said Castro. “This is an important first step, but our work is far from being done. I look forward to continuing this conversation and passing future legislation that will lead to the culture change we need.”
Castro: Time for Ethics Commission to get serious about sexual harassment in Springfield
The following op-ed by Senator Castro was published in the Daily Herald on Nov. 6.
As the newest appointed member of the Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission -- essentially the internal affairs division of the legislative branch and its employees -- I'm eager to get to work. It's time for us to establish new, modern guidelines for how sexual harassment claims are handled at the Capitol. We've been remiss in this regard, and it's our obligation to do better on behalf of any future accusers and the accused.
Among the improvements for which I will advocate:
• Mandatory, yearly sexual harassment training for elected lawmakers and staff;
• Public posting of instructions for reporting sexual harassment, abuse and assault; and
• Establishing procedures and deadlines for filling future legislative inspector general vacancies and ensuring timely disposition of complaints.
Sexual harassment and gender bias are not new concepts. I would venture to say most women have experienced it at some point during their education or careers. I can recall several conversations in the workplace over the years that became inappropriate or raunchy, but I was comfortable enough to shut them down. Not everyone is able to do that, though. They rely on others to be their voice.
What's stunning about the situation in Springfield is that it apparently has been going on relatively unchecked for years because of the inherent power structure. It has to stop.
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Fun with puzzles! Why FROM THE CHARRED REMAINS was so fun for me to write!
Anyone who knows me, knows I really love doing puzzles. Even when I was a kid, I was always doing puzzles--from word searches to crossword puzzles to substitution ciphers (probably because I felt like I was really decoding mysteries).
But when I was in graduate school, I first encountered the fun of acrostics. In the high Middle Ages, scholars like Alcuin of York (Charlemagne's tutor) used to write short poems that contained clever messages--sometimes hidden--when read a certain way. In their simplest form, the first letter of each line would be carefully selected so that, when read down, the reader could discern a message. However, they could be more complex as well, which always fascinated me.
I just knew that I had to work acrostics and other puzzles into my story, when I came across this acrostic published just after the Great Fire of London in 1666:
London's Fatal Fal, an acrostic.
Lo! Now confused Heaps only stand
On what did bear the Glory of the Land.
No stately places, no Edefices,
Do now appear: No, here’s now none of these,
Oh Cruel Fates! Can ye be so unkind?
Not to leave, scarce a Mansion behind…
Working out my own acrostic--and actually several hidden anagrams within the acrostic (shhh!!!)--was probably the most challenging and fun part of writing From the Charred Remains. But puzzles abound throughout the entire novel. There is even a secret hidden on the cover of the book, which you will understand after you read it!
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Back to the Corporate Site
Committee Charting
Positioned for Profit & Growth
Ownership Summary
Sunrise Coal, LLC
Contact Us Ethics Hotline
By Committee
By Member
Bryan H. Lawrence
David Hardie
David John Lubar
Steven Hardie
Audit Committee CC
Compensation and Nominating Committee CC
Compensation and Nominating Committee Charter
Compensation and Nominating Committee
David Hardie CC CC
CC David Hardie
BRYAN H. LAWRENCE, Director, has served on our board since November 1995. Mr. Lawrence is a founder and senior manager of Yorktown Partners LLC, the manager of the Yorktown group of investment partnerships, which make investments in companies engaged in the energy industry. The Yorktown partnerships were formerly affiliated with the investment firm of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. where Mr. Lawrence had been employed since 1966, serving as a Managing Director until the merger of Dillon Read with SBC Warburg in September 1997. Mr. Lawrence also serves as a director of Carbon Natural Gas Company, Ramaco Resources, Inc., and Star Group, L.P. (each a United States publicly traded company) and certain non-public companies in the energy industry in which Yorktown partnerships hold equity interests. Mr. Lawrence is a graduate of Hamilton College and also has an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
DAVID C. HARDIE, Director has served on our board since 1989. He is also the Chair of our Audit and Compensation and Nominating committees. From July 1989 through January 2014 Mr. Hardie was our Chairman of the Board. He is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hallador Investment Advisors Inc., which manages Hallador Cash Fund LP, Hallador Alternative Assets Fund, and Hallador Balanced Fund. Mr. Hardie is and serves as a director and partner of other private entities that are owned by members of his family and also serves as Chairman of Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation. Mr. Hardie is a graduate of California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. He also attended the Owner/President Management program at the Harvard Business School.
CC Audit Committee
CC Compensation and Nominating Committee
Mr. David Lubar (age 63) is President and CEO of Lubar & Co. He began his career in 1977 at Norwest Bank (n/k/a Wells Fargo Bank) in Minneapolis, where he spent six years in commercial and correspondent banking. Mr. Lubar joined Lubar & Co. in 1983 and has served as lead investor to over 20 companies in a wide range of industries and various stages of development. He currently serves as a director of each of the Lubar Companies as well as Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., BMO Financial Corp., Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Team, and several other private companies. He also serves in many community leadership positions throughout the Milwaukee area. Mr. Lubar has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College and Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.
STEVEN HARDIE, Director, has served on our board since 1994. He is manager of NextG LLC a family investment partnership formed in 2016. For the past 32 years, he has been a private investor and serves as director and partner of other private entities owned by members of his family.
CC= Chairperson
= Member
*To view the charter documents, click on committee name.
© 2019 Hallador Energy Company
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From refugee to football star
by Toplica | Oct 27, 2010 | English | 0 comments
Furtuna Velaj’s road from Kosovo to Quinnipiac – ESPN.
As a young girl, Furtuna Valej saw Serbian tanks outside her bedroom window. It did one afternoon in 1998 when 7-year-old Furtuna Velaj looked out the window of her family’s home in Kosovo and saw the gun barrel of a Serbian tank staring back.
Velaj didn’t have time to pack any reminders of home as she and her family fled that day and traveled to the United States in search of sanctuary and opportunity. The photos stayed behind, but she carried with her a passion for soccer that she discovered in open spaces that offered the opportunity to put foot to ball in the village of Gllogjan.
That link to the past presented the path to a future she hopes to help shape in her adopted country.
Sports won’t cure the world’s ills, nor do the games played merit the life-and-death tenor sometimes ascribed to them. Velaj knows firsthand the difference between conflict and competition. She knows that white chalk can’t solve border disputes in the real world and battles don’t end with the sound of a whistle and a line of handshakes after 90 minutes. Soccer is nonetheless providing a college education that her family could not otherwise afford. And when she steps off the field for the final time, be it at Quinnipiac University or at a professional level, she will leave with a college degree in political science, with which she hopes to pursue a career in international relations and conflict resolution.
“She has things in perspective that very few college athletes do that are big-time players,” Quinnipiac coach Dave Clarke said. “She knows poverty. She knows genocide. She knows atrocities. She knows what it’s like to have to leave home and come to a different country with nothing.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=5623820
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Darren Edwards
It’s a question as old as time itself. Well, maybe that’s going a bit far. Still, which are worse? Films based on video games, or video games based on films? Whether it’s lazy movie tie-ins designed to shift software or poor film adaptations that bear hardly anything more in common than a name with their source material, the outcome is rarely better than average. Logic would suggest the game is doomed to mediocrity.
The film World War Z was fairly well received overall by critics and movie-goers alike when it was released. The plot is centered around a pandemic that caused zombies to overrun most of the civilised world, and it’s left to Brad Pitt to stop them. The film also stars Peter Capaldi who works for the World Health Organisation (WHO) before his starring role as a famous doctor of the same name. Spooky. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, comes not so much a movie tie-in, but rather an extension to the tale of World War Z.
The game’s main mode, Co-op Campaign, follows different groups of survivors who are fighting to escape the hordes of zombies, or Zeke, roaming the earth. This mode consists of four episodes, each made up of three chapters. They play very similarly to Left 4 Dead, your character is accompanied by three NPCs in offline mode, or by other players in online mode. You can play the campaign at five different difficulties, ranging from easy to insane. As you play as different classes in this mode, you’ll unlock new perks to purchase and stronger weapons.
You’ll encounter different types of zombies on your adventures, each lethal in its own way. Some are so dangerous you’ll need a teammate to save you, and pretty quickly too as you’ll be pinned down and unable to defend yourself. Others will call for waves of reinforcements but rather helpfully you’ll be pointed towards where they are lurking, so you can take them down with ease. As you play, you’ll quickly realise that the Zeke’s signature move has been lifted straight from the film; the pyramid. This is where they will basically pile on top of each other in order to climb up to a higher platform, and is pretty impressive and terrifying to watch. In contrast to this, some of the cheekier zombies will play dead, so be wary if you pass a corpse you haven’t killed yourself.
Even on the normal difficulty, you’ll have to carefully decide between exploring for weapons and medkits and getting the hell on with things, as you’ll run out of ammo pretty fast. If you choose to explore though, you’ll occasionally find breach packs, which are the only way to open reinforced doors which contain all sorts of goodies. The balancing act of scouting for gear and pressing on with your objectives keeps things tense and pacey. However, if you get it wrong and your squad dies you’ll be starting the whole chapter again, which provides some real weight to the decisions you make. You don’t have to complete each chapter to progress, and you’ll still earn some XP and supply points depending on how well you do, however it’ll still feel like a failure not making it to the end.
The game also features a pretty standard online Multiplayer mode, similar to many other online shooter games. The matchmaking is pretty slick, but can take a bit longer if you choose a specific game mode rather than hitting “quick match”, which will choose one at random for you. You can then select your character and class, which are different from the campaign mode and each comes with a specific weapon set. There are all the usual modes here, ranging from Swarm Domination (Capture the Flag) to Swarm Deathmatch (Team Deathmatch).
World War Z has a rather unsurprising twist to all these modes however. Zombies. Lots of them. When noise levels peak, which is fairly regularly, waves of zombies will pour into the battlefield and can easily overrun even the most skilled player. If you are clever, you can of course use this to your advantage by luring the waves toward your enemies. World War Z does an excellent job of providing a genuine “heart in the mouth” moment, as you see hundreds of zombies clambering over each other to scale the wire fence to get to you.
The multiplayer maps are standard stuff but pretty well designed including settings such as an abandoned hospital. As I mentioned before, each class has its own weapon set, which will consist of a primary and secondary weapon as well as “equipment”, such as hand grenades or mines. Every now and then a third, “heavy” weapon, will become available, but only for a limited time, so you’ll want to make the most of it. Depending on your kill count and other in-game accolades you’ll earn varying amounts of XP and supply points which will improve your class.
Outside of play, you can view your collection via the main menu. You can view all the characters and weapons right off the bat, but you’ll unlock more detail as you play. For example, as you play with each character you’ll unlock a bio about them and a short arty video delving deeper into their experiences of the zombie apocalypse.
World War Z looks really good in action and things run smoothly on the whole, even when the action gets frantic; which happens a lot. At any one time you could be facing a Zeke pyramid over 100 strong, all scrambling to get to you, but there’s no noticeable frame rate or rendering deterioration. Sadly though, the soundtrack isn’t as impressive. It’s actually rather bland and generic, but serves its purpose. To be fair, the game is all about shooting things after all.
At £34.99 and with add-ons available to purchase in-game, such as weapon packs, some may find World War Z on Xbox One slightly overpriced. As it doesn’t do anything particularly new or different to other games in the genre it’s down to personal preference for those looking for a new online shooter. If you like shooting zombies, it’s definitely one for you.
World War Z is lots of fun and easy to pick up and play, despite being a little on the expensive side. It may not have loads of new ideas, but it delivers a solid online PvP experience that doesn’t disappoint, especially on the zombie front. If you’re looking for your first foray into the online shooter genre, this is as good a place as any to start.
It’s a question as old as time itself. Well, maybe that’s going a bit far. Still, which are worse? Films based on video games, or video games based on films? Whether it’s lazy movie tie-ins designed to shift software or poor film adaptations that bear hardly anything more in common than a name with their source material, the outcome is rarely better than average. Logic would suggest the game is doomed to mediocrity. The film World War Z was fairly well received overall by critics and movie-goers alike when it was released. The plot is centered around a pandemic that…
Loads of fun to play
Lots and lots of zombies
Online multiplayer is speedy and smooth
Price may be an issue for some
Solid but “seen it before” gameplay
Massive thanks for the free copy of the game go to : Focus Home Interactive
Price - £34.99
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I have been playing games since a very early age, thanks to my Dad's encouragement. I've been an Xbox gamer since the very beginning, the Master Chief is to thank for that. I'm also a bit of a Nintendo geek, and my other half is a PS4 nut. I'll play pretty much anything in any genre (although Fifa and COD maybe pushing it).
The Council: Episode Three – Ripples Review
Earth Atlantis Review
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Super Lucky’s Tale: Guardian Trials DLC Review
I, Hope Review
Sudden Strike 4 – European Battlefields Edition Review
V-Rally 4 Review
I Am The Hero Review
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Fire Extinguishers and "Apartheid"
posted Sep 13, 2012, 8:59 AM by The Tibetan Political Review [ updated Sep 20, 2012, 9:33 AM ]
By Woeser (June 13, 2012)
(Photo: Chinese armed police in Lhasa patrolling with fire extinguishers)
Quite peculiar scenes have been occurring in the old town of Lhasa, all military police patrolling the streets have been carrying fire extinguishers on their backs. This is related to May 27 when two Tibetans self-immolated between Jokhang Temple and the Police Station in the Barkhor. In fact, already back in 2009 after Tapey, the monk from Ngaba, self-immolated, military police stationed in Tibet were equipped with fire extinguishers. Along with the number of self-immolation cases rising to 39, nowadays, at least two people out of each military police group consisting of five people, carry a fire extinguisher.
Doesn’t this show that the authorities are empathetic, preparing fire extinguishers readily available to rescue people? Exactly the opposite is the case, this has, in fact, become the greatest irony. If the truth in the Tibetan region is really as they say, that there is “never seen before happiness”, how is it possible that Tibetans continue to dauntlessly bathe their bodies in flames? Hence, the scene of fire extinguishers flooding into Tibet is not one that the authorities are happy to present to the people. Quite obviously, this scene conveys the following message: on the one hand, they mercilessly start a fire, on the other hand, they assume the pose of extinguishing the fire, to the extent that they appear to start a fire while shouldering a fire extinguisher.
The case of the two people from Amdo self-immolating in Lhasa has been viewed as a big matter and gave the local authorities more reasons to deport any non-Lhasa residents. In March 2008, monks from Amdo and Kham who had been studying at Lhasa’s three main monasteries were deported; subsequently, many ordinary people were deported in the same way. Some Tibetans said on Twitter: “regardless of how long Tibetans from Amdo have been residing in Lhasa, no matter whether they have a temporary residence permit or whether they do business, it is impossible for them to stay there. The only exception is if they have a guarantor’s letter issued by the local security bureau and the regional county government (which is extremely difficult to obtain). Every day, the police are checking residential areas and many people have already been driven out.”
Chinese people who are travelling through Lhasa wrote on Twitter: “at all of the entrances of roads leading to or crossing the Barkhor, safety checks have been set up, at least eight in total.” “On a blackboard in one neighbourhood it said, people from all four Tibetan regions have to possess an identity card, a temporary residence permit, a certificate of the county security bureau, a job contract, the permission to look for employment, a guarantor’s letter (if not, security has to be given by the local government or official agency) or else people will be sent back to their birthplace without exceptions.” “Overall, the land is divided into prisons, it is divided and dominated. The tiny old town of Lhasa has already taken on the characteristics of a ‘Jewish Quarter’.”
Rather than saying, however, that the situation in Lhasa resembles that of “Jewish Ghettos” set up by the Nazis, it may be more appropriate to say that the situation is similar to the “Racial Quarters” installed during Apartheid in South Africa in the 20th century. A Tibetan wrote on Sina Weibo: “in the city of Lhasa, the many Amdo Tibetans that do not have temporary residence permit all have to leave, they are not allowed to remain in Lhasa; but Han Chinese and other ethnicities who don’t have any temporary residence permit are allowed to stay, what kind of policy is that?”
Another Tibetan wrote on Sina Weibo: “These days, all Tibetans have to notify the local police station when they want to check in at a hotel, the police officers have to register names and carry out inquiries on the spot; five-star hotels are no exception, I am waiting for the police to arrive right now. For Tibetans, Tibet is really the most inconvenient place. How ironic!”
A Chinese tourist recounted on Twitter: “Today I went to Jokhang Temple and when I passed the security check, Tibetans had to register their names while Han Chinese could go right through; as I was about to pass through, I was grabbed by a police officer who insisted that I register my name! I said that I was a Han Chinese but he absolutely refused to believe me and kept insisting on seeing my ID card.”
From these stories and personal experiences it becomes clear that the aim of the security checks is to see who is Tibetan and who is Chinese. As long as one is Tibetan, life in Lhasa presents itself as quite inconvenient, but as long as one is Chinese, Lhasa turns into a fun theme park. This differentiation between Tibetans and “Han” can also be observed in the relationship with the military police; while Tibetans try everything to avoid them and are full of loathing, Han Chinese regard them as a symbol of security, they have even been invited by police officers to take a ride on the back of a armoured vehicle to get some fresh air.
Back in the 1970s, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in view of the harsh situation in South Africa, which stated that policies of apartheid are “crimes against the conscience and dignity of mankind.” However, facing the situation in the entire Tibetan region, facing the situation of Tibet’s capital city – Lhasa – hasn’t the world forgotten about the boycotts that it imposed in the past upon countries and governments that implemented and practiced apartheid?
The authorities use the methods of racial segregation to check upon and clean up Tibetan people, but can they really put an end to the self-immolations in this way? In fact, the monk, Chime Palden, who self-immolated in Ngaba Prefecture, Barkham County on March 30 this year, had been arrested for over one month when he was on a pilgrimage in Lhasa last year because he had saved a picture of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, in his mobile phone.
(Translated by High Peaks Pure Earth at http://highpeakspureearth.com/2012/fire-extinguishers-and-apartheid-by-woeser/) (Republished by permission)
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The Hong Kong Sleepover - What You See is What You Regret (2015)
DVD review by Jenafur Schlangen
This heavy-hitting four-piece group is a self-described "Miller Highlife fueled heavy metal band," and they are fast becoming a recognizable name in the music industry, all while having already gained an impressive fan base with zero label support...as of yet.
Coming together in 2007, in Macomb, Illinois, these mid-western good 'ol boys, have successfully released and sold two full length albums and a five-track EP. Their latest release is their first DVD option entitled, "What You See is What You Regret" and it certainly does not disappoint. It is, in a nutshell, proof of how this band's sense of humor can make you laugh your ass off yet, musically, provide some serious rock that will most definitely touch your auditory sweet spots. Below is just one example of the prior:
Hong Kong Sleepover: The act of shoving one's sexual partner's head under water during intercourse with the purpose of inducing unconsciousness, thus tightening the rectal muscles and providing great pleasure for the fellow upon orgasm. See 'camel kick' and 'donkey punch.' So named due to its use by colonial-era Hong Kong boat prostitutes. Supposedly a bathtub favorite of President John F. Kennedy. - The Urban Dictionary
Musically, this band's style can readily be described as good old fashioned heavy rock. There is an abundance of chunky-esque low-end guitars provided mainly by lead vocalist, Ted Renner, whose vocal approach is acutely similar to Lemmy Kilmister, of Motörhead. Even more low-end is handed over by bassist, Waylon Brown and all of it is enhanced with the pristine guitar work of Pete Thompson. Lastly, and as everyone knows about metal music, the time keeping is what holds the entire group on track and Mike Kump hits the mark on that task, without a doubt.
The DVD is of a live performance concept, taking place at a live music venue in Burlington, Iowa, "The Washington." It is here where the band heaves eighteen of their original tracks down each and every one of their fans' respective throats. But, before the actual show, the band sets up the whole experience with none other than...band practice. This location is clearly the spot where the Miller Highlife flows as freely as the creative juices of this band. Once they arrive at The Washington, the stage is set (literally)for the band to take the stage as their fans await in front of the stage with positive anticipation. Beginning their set with "Bleed to Win," the fans go insane with enthusiasm, but in a Midwestern sort of way.....which means, they all stand there, rocking back and forth, eyes complete transfixed onto the band, but all donning huge smiles of appreciation for what they are seeing/hearing. All in all, it is one of the better DVDs I've come across but most certainly gains higher marks for the consistent and all-around entertainment factor.
The Hong Kong Sleepover
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Houston's Weekend Planning Guide Weekend Fridays
Houston's Online Weekend Entertainment Guide
Our August Friday Weekend Entertainment Picks
Friday, October 6th, 2017
& Faith Hill
@Toyota Center
Friday 10/6/2017 7:30 PM
Tim McCraw and Faith Hill returns to the Bayou City at Toyota Center, here is what Classicalite.com website repoted about the two recently.
Forget everything you may have read in the tabloids, folks. Tim McGraw's love for gorgeous wife Faith Hill is the real deal, and the country couple are as happily in love as ever.
In fact, Mr. McGraw recently visited the exact venue where he proposed to Faith Hill, but this time he was performing for a bigger audience. According to Taste of Country, McGraw was the headlining act of this year's Country Jam:
"Tim McGraw returned to the venue at which he proposed to wife Faith Hill on Saturday night (June 20), and put on a concert that for the thousands in attendance, was just as memorable...McGraw's headlining set at Country Jam in Grand Junction, Colo. included hits from his full catalogue. 'Indian Outlaw' came during a four-song encore, while 'Diamond Rings and Old Bar Stools' came early. In between were some of the biggest hits of the '90s and early '00..."
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Toyota Center
1510 Polk St.
NBA Preseason:
Houston Rockets Vs. San Antonio Spurs
Friday 10/13/2017 7:00 PM
This will be the Rockests first Friday night game with new owner Houston businessman Tilman J. Fertitta at the franshaise helm. Fertitta is sole owner of the Landry’s restaurant empire and Golden Nugget Casinos and Hotels. The ownership transaction, includes operation of the Toyota Center Arena. The terms of the sale have still not been disclosed, and Mr. Fertitta has no other partners in connection with the transaction.
In a released statement last month, Tilman said, “I am truly honored to have been chosen as the next owner of the Houston Rockets. This is a life-long dream come true,” said Fertitta, a native of Galveston and life-long resident of the Houston area. "Leslie Alexander has been one of the best owners in all of sports, and I thank him immensely for this opportunity. He has the heart of a champion. Lastly, out of respect for the NBA’s approval process, I can say no more other than I am overwhelmed with emotion to have this opportunity in my beloved city of Houston.”
In game talk Sports Illustrated again puts James Hareden in the top ten ranking of NBA players. Harden reports sportstrack.com enjoys a reported income of of over $29-thousand per game. Harden (29.1 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 11.2 APG) posted a historic stat line in 2016-17 not seen since Oscar Robertson. Harden’s approach to offense thoroughly masters basketball’s best practices by generating high-percentage looks at the rim, at the free-throw line, and at the arc. Harden also led the NBA in points generated by his assists thanks in part to his knack for creating open threes for his teammates, often by whizzing LeBron-like crosscourt passes...
Vs. San Antonio Spurs
Listing of All
The Houston Homeless Chronicles
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[Click here for more]
A Public Affairs Blog of the Menendez Media Group.com
Shopkins Live
@Cullen Performance Hall
4:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Shopkins Live! is finally here! The #1 kids toy in North America is live and on stage in Shopkins Live! Shop It Up! Your beloved Shoppies make their theatrical debut in an original new live show featuring musical performances by Jessicake, Bubbleisha, Peppa-Mint, Rainbow Kate, Cocolette, Polli Polish and more! The fun and fashionista Shoppies are joined by the Shopkins – the grocery store-themed mini collectable toys – Apple Blossom, Strawberry Kiss, Lippy Lips, Kooky Cookie, Poppy Corn, Slick Breadstick and Shady Diva. An ensemble cast of multi-talented performers brings the show to life on stage through urban style music, song and dance.
All of Shopville is in a tizz as preparations get underway for the annual “Funtastic Food and Fashion Fair.” Shady Diva showcases her latest fashion designs; Lippy Lips gives colorful advice at the nail salon; Kooky Cookie tries to get in a beauty nap! But wait – no event is complete without a few hiccups! Who has high-jinxed the fashion pageant? Where is the super-secret celebrity guest? Will Slick Breadstick ever find a dance partner? The Shopkins and Shoppies need your help – the show must go on!
Shopkins Live! immerses audiences in the world of Shopville using custom-designed theatrical costumes, creative onstage characters, state-of-art video and set design, and original pop songs and music! Grab your besties and check out Shopkins Live! Shop It Up! Check ya later!
Cullen Performance Hall
4800 Calhoun Road
Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull & CNCO
Friday 9/22/2017 7:30 PM
Re-schedule for Nov. 16th, 2017
Latin Times reports: Two of music's most captivating live performers will share the stage this summer when multi-platinum selling and multiple Grammy Award-winning global superstars Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull reunite for a co-headlining tour with CNCO as support.
Iglesias is widely regarded as the King of Latin Pop. He started his career in the mid-1990s on an American Spanish-language record label Fonovisa Records under the name Enrique Martinez, before switching to the stage name Enrique Iglesias and becoming one of the biggest stars in Latin America and the Hispanic market in the United States. By the turn of the millennium, he had made a successful crossover into the mainstream market and signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US $68 million with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope Records to release English albums.
Armando Christian Pérez, Pitbull or Mr. Worldwide, first recorded a mainstream performance on a solo track from Lil Jon's 2002 album Kings of Crunk. In 2004, Pitbull released his debut album M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records. It included production producers Lil Jon and Jim Jonsin. Pitbull later released his second album El Mariel, in 2006 and his third, The Boatlift, in 2007. His fourth album, Rebelution (2009), included the hit single "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)", which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull
& CNCO
Gerald Albright
Brown Theater
Tickets to Gerald Albright Brown Theater @Wortham Center
One of the biggest stars of R&B, contemporary and straight-ahead jazz, Gerald Albright has earned his reputation as a “musician’s musician.” Born in Los Angeles, he b egan piano lessons at an early age. Albright’s love of music picked up considerably when he was given a saxophone that had belonged to his piano teacher. By the time he enrolled at the University of Redlands, he was already a polished saxophonist. Albright decided to switch to bass guitar after he saw Louis Johnson in concert. A few months after graduating from college, he joined jazz pianist/R&B singer Patrice Rushen, who was in the process of forming her own band. Later, when the bass player left in the middle of a tour, Albright replaced him and finished the tour on bass guitar.
During the ’80s, Albright became a highly requested session musician, playing on albums by a wide variety of artists – including Anita Baker, Ray Parker, Lola Folana, Atlantic Starr, Olivia Newton-John, the Temptations and Maurice White. He also toured extensively with Les McCann, Jeff Lorber, Teena Marie, the Winans, Marlena Shaw, Quincy Jones, and Whitney Houston, among many others. Albright also went on to record numerous successful solo albums for Atlantic Records. Two albums hit the number one slot on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Chart, and were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards in 1989 and 1990. Phil Collins asked him to front a Big Band in 1998, and they toured together. The two of them also recorded one of Albright’s tunes, “Chips N’ Salsa” on Collins’ Big Band Project, entitled A Hot Night In Paris. Later that year, Albright released Pleasures of the Night with Will Downing on Verve Forecast, which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart as well.
Albright moved to GRP in 2002 for the Groovology album, and continued to maintain his busy schedule as a session man. His second GRP album, Kickin’ It Up, followed in 2004. Two years later, he signed with Peak Records, which released the 2008 GRAMMY® nominated New Beginnings, and the 2009 GRAMMY® nominated, Sax for Stax; both in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Over the years, Albright has appeared on numerous TV shows such as A Different World, Melrose Place and BET Jazz segments, as well as piloting a show in Las Vegas with Designing Women star Meshach Taylor. Albright was selected to be one of 10 saxophonists to play at President Clinton’s inauguration ceremony. Along the way, he has sold over a million albums in the U.S. alone and has appeared on nearly 200 albums by other artists.
Albright released Pushing The Envelope in June 2010 on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. Pushing The Envelope is a showcase for Albright’s remarkably fine balance of songcraft and musicianship, and features special guest appearances by Fred Wesley on trombone, Earl Klugh on acoustic guitar and George Duke on acoustic piano. In December 2010, Pushing The Envelope received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
On June 19, 20 12, Albright teamed up with GRAMMY®-winning guitarist Norman Brown for 24/7, their first album together. Featuring ten killer soul-jazz tracks, 24/7 includes updated versions of “Tomorrow,” a Brothers Johnson classic from 1976, and “Champagne Life,” from singer Ne-Yo’s album Libra Scale. 24/7 was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album.
On August 5, 2014, Albright releases Slam Dunk and continues his reign supreme as the genre’s most compelling and consistent artist. Fans will hear his searing and soulful sax lines on this twelve-track recording. And, they’ll be in for a surprise, as Albright shows off his chops as a bassist, along with his ebullient tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone arrangements on his own compositions, and his super covers of classics by Phil Collins (“True Colors”) and James Brown (“It’s a Man’s, Man’s Man’s World”), with special guest vocalist Peabo Bryson. In December 2014, Slam Dunk received a GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.
Wortham Center
501 Texas Ave.
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Industries › Education
Destination areas
Virginia Tech is developing a new way to tackle complex problems
Print this page by Tim Thornton
Provost Thanassis Rikakis discusses the university’s Beyond Boundaries Destination Areas with a student group. Photos courtesy Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech is preparing for 21st-century competition.
“Because the knowledge game is a global game, the competition for talent in knowledge will be global,” says Virginia Tech Provost Thanassis Rikakis. “The institutions that will be able to compete in a global knowledge game will be first-rate institutions, and the institutions that won’t be able to compete in the global knowledge game will have the danger of becoming second-rate institutions.”
Virginia Tech does not intend to be second-rate. It has designated five “destination areas,” spheres in which the university intends to be a global leader by developing teams aimed at solving 21st-century problems. (See interview with Dennis Treacy, rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors)
These teams will work not just across disciplines and traditional academic divides, but also across the boundary between campus and commerce, collaborating with companies and involving students in real-world challenges. A team might, for example, include engineers, designers, programmers, technical writers, marketers, company representatives and line workers.
That approach to problem solving may sound revolutionary, but Rikakis calls it evolutionary. Destination areas put interdisciplinary studies on steroids and yoke them to an expansive, modern interpretation of a land-grant university’s traditional mission.
New land-grant mission
Since Virginia Tech’s founding in 1872, land-grant colleges have sought to bridge the gap between academic study and practical application. The most visible manifestations were research stations and extension offices that applied science to agriculture. As society evolved, so did Virginia Tech’s focus. It still tries to close that gap between the academy and the economy, but the Virginia Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg may be more representative of the modern land-grant mission. It was created in 1985 to attract existing tech companies while incubating new ones.
Virginia Tech’s creation of destination areas is the next step, building on the university’s strengths to solve complex global, systematic problems. Virginia Tech still needs to do things that benefit Virginia, Rikakis says, but it needs to do them in a global context.
He says 21st-century problems are too big to fit inside one discipline. The university needs to bring all its knowledge to bear on those problems. But not all of them. “You can’t be a global leader in everything, right?,” Rikakis says. “You have to choose a few things for which you can be a global leader; you can be a global destination for talent. That doesn’t mean you stop being a comprehensive university. You’re still a comprehensive university.”
Choosing destination areas meant Virginia Tech had to focus in on its greatest strengths. “Nobody is going to believe you’re a leader in a complex space if you’re not a leader in the components of the space, right?” Rikakis says.
But strength within the constituent disciplines wasn’t enough. The university also needed strong partnerships beyond its campus, linking up with companies facing issues the destination areas are meant to confront. The last element was faculty buy-in. It’s difficult to succeed if the people leading and coordinating the effort aren’t enthusiastic about the mission.
For its first five destination areas, Virginia Tech chose: Adaptive Brain and Behavior; Data Analytics and Decision Sciences; Global Systems Science; Integrated Security; and Intelligent Infrastructure for Human-Centered Communities.
Intelligent Infrastructure
Intelligent Infrastructure provides a good example of how the destination areas were chosen and how broad they can be. This sector includes automated vehicle systems; smart design and construction; energy; and ubiquitous mobility, which the Virginia Tech website describes as the “location-agnostic promise of news communication and information technologies.”
“It just so happens that we’re great in all four,” Rikakis says. “So Intelligent Infrastructure was a great area for us to claim leadership because we were very, very good in the components. We just have to put them together and then re-imagine the built environment of the 21st century.”
Brian Kleiner, director of Virginia Tech’s Myers-Lawson School of Construction, says his school, which falls under Intelligent Infrastructure, was “sort of a prototype” for destination areas. It’s clearly interdisciplinary, Kleiner says, because he reports to the engineering and architecture deans.
The school combines research and education, exploring how different disciplines can cooperate on projects. That part is mirroring the real world, says Kleiner, who cites a recent visit to a construction company working with the university. A group of Tech graduates at the company included a construction program graduate but also an English major doing technical writing and another Hokie working in human resources. They told Kleiner that if they could have taken one class that had them working together before graduation, “We would have been six months ahead of the curve.”
The construction program graduate almost certainly had some real-world experience before graduation. “Everything we do its designed to integrate with industry,” Kleiner says. “We have industry partners on all our projects.”
The school also involves students in all sorts of projects, including Elon Musk’s ultra-high-speed travel Hyperloop competition, FutureHAUS (Tech’s prototype house of the future) and an exoskeleton designed to help Lowe’s employees lift products more safely and easily. “We’re in a lot of different places,” Kleiner says.
Multidisciplinary drones
The Intelligent Infrastructure Destination Area will bring students from other disciplines together in the kind of teams they’re likely to join in the working world. Drones, Kleiner says, represent a good example of the kind of projects that could use a multidisciplinary team. A group working on drones might need aerospace engineers along with people equipped to deal with policy, laws, programming and even instruction manuals.
Much of Kleiner’s research deals with the interaction of humans and machines — “figuring out what the machine should do and what the human should do and not just automate because we have the ability to.”
At least some of Mark Blanks’ work involves the interaction of automated machines with automatic control systems. He is director of the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. In June, the partnership hosted a test of a NASA-designed air traffic control system. The unmanned system is designed to manage autonomous air traffic — drones — in a chunk of airspace that traditionally had very little traffic.
Below 500 feet, there has been little activity beyond medical helicopters and crop dusters, Blanks says. Now, there’s the potential for all sorts of hobby and commercial drone traffic. The test has as many as five unmanned aircraft in flight at a time, including one simulating a public-safety search, which requires other drones to adjust their flights to give the search vehicle priority.
The Intelligent Infrastructure Design Area got a boost in April. The university announced a $25 million gift toward the $78.45 million the university plans to spend on facilities for Intelligent Infrastructure. As a result, Rikasis says, Intelligent Infrastructure may get state-of-the art facilities sooner than other destination areas. See Fundraising.
The university’s drone program already has one new important piece of infrastructure, an 80-foot-tall netted enclosure nearly the size of a football field. Because it’s enclosed, drones can be tested there without needing to get FAA approval. That could speed up research considerably. “It’s a playground for innovation,” Blanks says.
While drones get a lot of attention, they’re “just one piece of the pie for autonomous technology,” Blanks says, and Virginia Tech has its fingers in a lot of pies. Autonomous vehicles are moving on land and in water as well as in the air. Blanks says Virginia Tech is becoming the place to go for autonomous vehicle technology. “It’s more than just a test bed,” Blanks says. “We expect to see improvement in how we go about our daily lives.”
Blanks is talking about self-driving Uber-style cars and other innovations appearing in Blacksburg sooner than they show up in other places. “I think we’ll see the Jetsons-type age sooner than we expected because of the work going on here,” he says,
University grows and changes but keeps its focus
by Robert Burke
State schools expand their stakes in Northern Virginia
by Gary Robertson
Darden receives its biggest gift
W&M plans second entrepreneurship facility
Osteopathic medical school targets the needs of underserved areas
by Tim Thornton
George Mason dean named provost at William & Mary
Plans include space for wellness services and basketball teams
by Karin Kapsidelis
UR students learn problem-solving skills
Community colleges look for ways to attract and retain students
University of Virginia raises minimum wage
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Bangkok University Ursa
By admin | April 3, 2014
Gion, Sitten und Gebräuche : mit 1 Kupfertafel und die Ursa-chen des gegenwärtigen Krieges mit der englisch-ostindischen Compagnie ; zum Teil aus Mahidol University < Bangkok > / Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development Institute of Language and Culture for
O BU-CROCCS = Bangkok University Center of Resources in Optoelectronic ต้งแตั่เริ่มจนจบ ระบบนักศึกษา เรียกว่า URSA (University Record system access)
BU Announcement ใน URSA Online หรือที่ http://ursa.bu.ac.th/announcement/announce.cfm. 5. Bangkok University Other titles:
5:30-7:30 p.m. V.I.P. Dinner Bangkok Hill. By Invitation Only. 8:00 p.m. Monsters and the World Painted Purple, Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major, Dreams in the Golden Country, MFA University of Michigan, member of LMDA, The Dramatists Guild and SSDC. John Hill (Workshop
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The Word Allah
Zikr Allah
Lataif/Concentration
An Account of Access To Spiritualism
Source Of Divine Light
The Religion Of GOD
So-Called
Man From Beginning To End
The Origin of Man in the World
The Spiritual entity NAFS (Self or Ego)
The Spiritual entity Qalb
Who is Paradise for?
Think for a moment to which Adam do you Belong?
There is a difference between the Angels and the Archangels
Some Sayings Of His Holiness Gohar Shahi
A Friend Of God
DEEN-E-ILLAHI
DIVINE LOVE
THE HIDDEN SECRET OF GOD
His Holiness R. A. Gohar Shahi
This book is worthy of study and investigation by all religions,
all sects and all peoples and it presents a challenge to those who reject spirituality
First Edition January 2000
First Edition published in the United States with the joint co-operation of
R.A.G.S International London, the American Sufi Institute and the
All-Faith Spiritual Movement Northern Ireland.
All-Faith Spiritual Movement
58 knockmoyle drive
BT41 1HE.
Sufi Saint Riaz Ahmad Gohar Shahi
This is the Gohar Shahi, who for the love of God spent three years in a spiritual retreat in the mountains of Sehwan Sharif and in the jungle of Laal Bagh. He abandoned the material world to find God and only left the jungle and returned to the world after being commanded by God. He has turned the hearts of thousands of people towards the memorization and love of God. People of all religions have invited Gohar Shahi to Mosques, Temples and Churches to speak and to receive his grace in the form of Qalb “heart” meditation.
Countless individuals have turned away fromsinning and have turned towards God. Countless incurable patients are cured as a result of his spiritual healing. Then God manifested his (Gohar Shahi) face on the moon, then his facial image appeared on the sacred Black Stone in Mecca, and he became very well known around the world.
Short sighted religious clergy and mullahs and those who bear animosity towards Saints and begrudging Muslims, all dislike this individual. These people further, read parts of his books out of context and on this basis, accused him of blasphemy and made him the subject of compulsory death sentences. A petrol bomb was thrown in his house in Manchester, England. At his home in Kotri, Pakistan there was a hand grenade attack during his audience. There is a very heavy price on his head and in Pakistan he is the subject of entrapment and five serious, but false allegations and cases were instigated against him. Due to Nawaz Sharif the provincial government of Sindh also became involved. Biased journalism defamed him on a large scale. Eventually after many investigations and hearings the courts dismissed all the cases against him declaring the charges as false and bogus, and God continued to protect his friend (Gohar Shahi) from all harm.
After the appearance of the facial images of Gohar Shahi on the Sun, the Moon, the Black Stone, the Shiv Temple and other places many Muslims and non-Muslims feel and believe that this man is the awaited Mehdi, the Kalki Avatar and Messiah, who is mentioned in the books of all the religions.
Let us attempt to examine and understand this individual by the research and study of his writings and in particular this book, to see if we are able to recognize him. You can also contact us if you wish to continue with your investigation.
Zahid Gulzar
z_gulzar@hotmail.com
The religions that exist as a result of the Heavenly Books are proper as long as the Scriptures have not been altered.
Religions are like boats and Scholars are like oars, if either one is defective then it becomes difficult to reach the destination.
However Saints do take even the damaged “boats” (people) to the shore. It is for this reason that incomplete and broken people gather around Saints.
The love of God is superior to religion and it is the essence of all religions. Whereas the light of God is the guiding and illuminating lantern of the path.
There are four parts of knowledge. Three parts are of the apparent, the “seen” and one part is of the hidden, (the spiritual) which was spread by Khidr (Vishnu Maharaj).
It is only the love of God that is the way to getting closer to God. The Dogs are better than an individual’s heart that is empty of God, as dogs love their master and it is because of that love that they achieve the closeness and favour of their master. Otherwise an “unclean” dog and a divinely ordained human being cannot be compared.
If you desire paradise, the pure maidens and palaces in it then worship abundantly: so as to reach the highest of heavens.
If you are searching for God then you must learn spirituality also, so that whilst remaining on the straight and guided path you arrive at the essence of God and achieve the union with God.
Riaz Ahmad Gohar Shahi
An introduction to this book
1. If you follow a religion but are devoid of the Love of God, then those that do not follow a religion but have the love of God are better.
2. Love is connected to the heart. When the Name of God Allah is synchronized with the heartbeat, it then travels through the blood to all the veins, reaches the spirits and awakens them. Then the spirits are rejuvenated and go into the Love of God.
3. Any Name of God in any language is worthy of respect but the original Name of God in the Semitic language is Allah. This (Semitic) is the language of the celestial entities. It is by this Name that the angels call upon God and it is attached to the Title of every Prophet.
4. Any individual who is sincerely searching for God, on land or in the sea is also worthy of respect.
5. Many Adams came into this world, at the same time and in different places. All the Adams were made in the world with clay from this world except the last Adam who is buried in Arabia. He was the only one made in paradise with clay which was also from paradise. With the exception of this Adam the angels did not bow down before any other Adam. Satan became the enemy of the descendants of this Adam.
6. There are seven types of entities in the human body. These are connected to different celestial spheres. They are connected to different heavens and are further connected with different functions within the human body. If these entities are strengthened with light they then resemble the person they are in and travel to many places at the same time. They can travel to the gatherings of Saints and Prophets and even talk to God and see God.
7. Every human being has two religions. The first is the religion of the body which ceases to exist after death. The second is the religion of the soul, which has existed since the beginning of time, the Love of God. It is by this religion that a human being is exalted.
8. Superior to all the religions is the Love of God and superior to all types of worship is seeing God.
9. For information pertaining to the origin of man, the animal, plant and natural world.
10. What type of entities existed before the command of God “Be.” Who is the dog that was exalted as Hazrat Qutmeer and will go to paradise? Who are those people who affirmed their faith at the beginning of time?
Who is that person whose secret (reality) cannot be found in this book?
For information and research you must read this book.
Any material that appears from any source or on any website, in addition to the text, information and verified material on this site is not connected to the All-faith Spiritual Movement and to His Holiness Gohar Shahi.
When God desired to make the souls he said “Be” and a multitude of souls came into existence. In front of God and close to him were the souls of the Prophets. Behind these in the second row were the souls of the Saints and in third row the souls of the faithful and behind these were the souls of ordinary human beings. Thereafter as far as the eye could see in a row far beyond, the souls of women came into being. Then behind these were the animal spirits, then the botanical spirits and then such bonding spirits that did not possess the power of movement, all these materialized.
At the right side of God there were the souls of angels and behind these were the souls of the chaste and pure maidens of paradise who were unable to see the face of God. As the angels were on the right side of God, it is for this reason that they were also unable to see the face of God. Behind these were the souls of angel-like entities that later came into the world and assisted the Prophets and Saints in their work. Thereafter on the left side of God were the souls of the genies behind these were another form of invisible elf-like Satanic entities, then another form of evil malignant spirits. All of these later came into the world and aided Satan in his work.
The souls on the right and left sides and those souls that were very far away, as far as the eye could see were unable to see the magnificent Manifestation of God. It is for this reason that genies, angels and women are able to talk or communicate with the essence of God but are unable to see God.
In the centre of our galaxy was a ball of fire. It was commanded to cool, it then fragmented and its pieces spread in Space, forming our solar system. The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, the Earth and the stars are all the fragments, whereas the Sun is the remaining part of the ball. The Earth was nothing but coal and cinder. The bonding spirits (the spirit which bonds and solidifies atoms and particles) were sent to the earth as a result of which the cinder solidified and turned into stone. Then the botanical spirits were sent as a result of which trees and plantation emerged from the rocks. Thereafter as result of the animal spirits coming to earth, animals appeared.
God did ask all the souls, “Am I your Lord?” All the souls acknowledged and prostrated. In other words the spirits of the rocks and the trees did also prostrate, as is mentioned in a verse of Holy Scripture.
Then God created an illusionary world and illusionary desires to test the souls and said that if any of the souls desires these then they should go forth and obtain them. A multitude of souls turned their faces away from God and leapt towards the illusionary world and thus hell was written for them as their destiny and final abode. Then God showed a vision of paradise, which was better than the first sight and a place for the worshippers and the obedient. Many souls leapt towards this vision and paradise was thus written for them in their destiny. Many souls were unable to make a decision and these are then placed between the merciful Lord and Satan. Such souls after coming into the world became trapped and their destiny lay in the hands of whomever they became attached to.
Many souls remained looking at the magnificent Manifestation of God and did not desire the world or heaven. God started to love these souls and these souls loved God. It is such souls, that after coming into the world and only for God and God-realization, they abandoned the material world, became ascetics and lived in the jungles.
To serve the souls and for their pleasure, eighteen thousand types of creatures were created. Six thousand in the sea, six thousand on land and six thousand in the air and in the upper celestial spheres.
Then God created seven types of heavens and seven types of hell
The seven heavens are:
Khuld, Daar-ul-salaam, Daar-ul-Qaraar, Adan, Al-mawa, Naeem, and Firdos.
The seven hells are:
Saqr, Sa’eer, Nataa, Hatmaa, Hajeem, Jahannum and, Hawiya.
All the above mentioned names are of the Syriac-Semitic language. (The language in which God speaks to the angels.)
All religions have the belief that God can send whomever he chooses to hell and whomever he chooses to paradise. In the case of the soul that was sent straight to hell in the beginning it would have complained and would ask, what crime it had committed? Then God would have said that you turned your face away from me and chose the world instead. The soul would then say, “I only made that decision foolishly, and I did not do anything wrong.” It was because of this argument and for this reason that God sent the souls down into this world.
The body of Adam, who is also known as Shankar ji was made from clay that was from paradise. Then along with the human soul some other spiritual entities were put into it. When the body of Adam was made, Satan then out of spite and jealousy spat at Adam and the saliva landed on the naval. The bacteria in the saliva then also mixed in the body. Satan is from amongst the race of the genies. It is mentioned in a Prophetic statement that when a human being is born, a Satanic genie is also born with it at the same time. The human body was only meant to be a house made of clay in which sixteen spiritual entities were placed. There is another spiritual creature (Khannas) and four birds (spiritual) which are also inside the body.
From the left rib of Adam, matter emerged, which resembled a woman in appearance. A soul was then placed in it and she then became Eve. Thereafter Adam was sent from heaven to Sri Lanka and Eve was sent to Jeddah. This was the origin of the Asian race. Then one after the other souls descended to earth from the celestial sphere. For the education, training and the elevation of the souls, schools were created in the form of religions. According to their destiny, which was written at the beginning of time some souls were given religions and others remained without a religion.
The souls loving God also came into the world, some came into the homes of Muslims, some into the homes of Hindus, some into the homes of Sikhs and some were born into the homes of Christians and Jews. These souls then, through their respective religions attempted to find God. This is the reason that the spiritual elite, (Godly) of all the religions adopted asceticism. Some Muslims say that asceticism does not exist in Islam, this belief is wrong. The Prophet Mohammed did also go to the cave of Hira.
Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, Khawaja Moin-uddin Ajmeri, Data ali Hajvayri, Bari Imam, Baba Farid, Shahbaz Qalander, were all eminent Saints and only after adopting asceticism did they achieve their magnificent and elevated spiritual status. Such people then became the means of religious propagation.
After the human sperm enters the womb the bonding spirit arrives which enables the blood to collect and bond. Then as a result of the botanical spirit the fetus grows in the womb. After four months the animal spirit is placed in the fetus due to which the fetus is able to move in the womb. These are the terrestrial (earthly) spirits. After birth the human soul arrives along with the other spiritual entities, these are the celestial spirits.
If a child dies in the womb a few moments before birth, then there is no funeral for the child, as it was not a complete human. Should a child die a few moments after birth then its funeral service is compulsory. Due to the arrival of the human soul and the spirit of the self, (ego) which arrived with its companions (spiritual entities) and settled at the navel.
If the bonding spirit is strong in a child, then in adulthood that person will generally prefer to live in mountainous regions. Similarly, as a result of the botanical spirit, human beings develop an affection for flowers and trees. Further if the animal spirit is dominant within a person, a love for animals and behavior similar to that of animals develops.
Whereas the spirit of the self, generally referred to as the human ego, resemble a dog in appearance. When this is the dominating force within a person, that person develops dog-like behavior and an affection for dogs. When the spiritual entity known as the Qalb is awakened, the human being is angelic in nature.
After an individual’s death, the celestial spirits, which are particular to each body, return to the celestial spheres. The terrestrial spirits including the spirit of the ego remain in the world. The terrestrial spirits are allocated to individual bodies but do move around from one body to another, as these spirits have no connection with the hereafter.
The spirit of the self, of the holy and the pure however, remains in their graves, continue worshipping, practice meditation and provide spiritual help and assistance to people. Just as the Prophet Mohammed on the “Night of Ascension” passed the grave of the Prophet Moses and saw that Moses was engaged in meditation. When the Prophet Mohammed reached the celestial spheres he saw that the Prophet Moses was present there also.
The powerful spirit of the self (ego) of the evil and the impure, joins Satan’s clan in to survive. These possess different bodies and generally cause harm to people. These are evil spirits and it is in the Bible that Jesus exorcised people to expel evil spirits from people who were possessed.
Terrestrial (earthly) spirits and the spirits of the self, remain in the world. After death the human soul is sent either to the realm where the righteous souls wait before the final judgment or to the realm where the evil and wicked souls wait before the final judgment. The remaining spiritual entities inside the human body, if these are spiritually strong and illuminated, they too go to the waiting place of the righteous, otherwise they waste away in the graves.
It is because of the spirit of the self, and when it came within the human body that the human being became impure. According to a famous saint of the East, Bhulle Shah, “this spirit of the self (ego) made us impure, we were not impure from the beginning,” (when created by God). It was to purify the spirit of the self (ego) that Scriptures, Prophets and Saints were sent.
Sometimes the person was frightened by the tales of hell, an incentive for betterment, and sometimes it was given the incentive of paradise. By practicing various austerities, such as meditation worship and fasting, efforts are made to reform and improve it and only then was the individual entitled to paradise. Many people did manage to purify it by becoming illuminated and attaining a higher consciousness through spiritual disciplines and who then became the friends of God.
This is a Satanic bacterium. It’s fixed abode is at the navel point. All the Prophets and the Saints sought refuge from it’s mischief. Its diet consists of phosphorous and unpleasant odors. These are in bones, coal and cow-dung. All the religions have stressed the importance of bathing after sexual intercourse because of the unpleasant odor released from the sweat pores. Further, drinks and animals that have unpleasant odors are also forbidden for human consumption for this reason.
In the primordial time all the souls that were in front of God, up to and including the bonding spirit, became acquainted with each other and became supportive of one another.
As a result of the bonding spirit coming to the earth, (which formed stone and rock) human beings made homes from rocks. As a result of the botanical spirit coming to the earth (which created vegetation) they made roofs for their homes by collecting wood from trees. They also derived benefit from the shade and the trees provided clean oxygen. The animal souls that were at the rear of all the souls came into the world and hence animals came into being and these were made lawful for consumption by all human beings. Birds that were in this category of animals were also made lawful.
On the left side of God, genies and Satanic elf-like creatures were made and behind these were another form of evil spirits which became the enemies of God.
The animal, botanical and bonding spirits that appeared behind these evil spirits, on the left side of God developed enmity for human beings. The bonding spirit of this category was sent to the world as a result of which coal and cinder came into being. Gases released by these became harmful to human beings. Due to the botanical spirit of this category, dangerous and thorny vegetation harmful to humans came into existence.
Due to the animal spirit of this category, (left side of God) wild and man-eating animals came into being. Birds related to this group, due to their hostility towards humans were declared unlawful for human consumption for this reason. The animals and birds of this category are recognized by the fact that they eat their food by holding it with their paws or claws.
The souls on the right side of God were to serve human beings. These became the message-bearers and helpers and the human being was endowed the most, with excellence and perfection and appointed the vicegerent of God. It now depends upon the individual to decide, the efforts made and the destiny of an individual, whether to be a Vicegerent or to reject this status.
The spirit of the self leaves the body during sleep. It takes on the appearance of the person it lives in and then wanders around Satanic gatherings. Another spiritual creature the Khannas is connected to the spirit of the self. It resembles an elephant and sits between the spirit of the self (at the navel) and the spiritual entity the Qalb (which is close to the heart). The Khannas helps the spirit of the self in tempting and misguiding the human being.
In addition to these, four spiritual birds attach themselves to four of the spiritual entities inside the human body, known as the Qalb, Sirri, Khaffi and Akhfa. Again their function is to lead the human being astray.
Of these four birds, the cockerel attaches itself to the Qalb, as a result of which lust dominates the heart. Only when the Qalb, itself engages in the continuous incantation of the Name of God (a spiritual discipline practiced under the guidance of a perfect spiritual guide) does the cockerel eventually become purified. Only then do an awareness and an appreciation of what is lawful and unlawful develop in a person. The Qalb in this state is known as the healthy and awakened Qalb.
Attached to the spiritual entity Sirri is a crow. This brings desire and greed. Attached to the spiritual entity Khaffi is a peacock that creates envy in a person. With the spiritual entity Akhfa is a pigeon that comes with stinginess.
The nature of these birds, forces greediness and envy upon these spiritual entities only until they become spiritually illuminated. It was these four birds that were taken out of the body of Abraham. They were purified and returned to his body.
After death, the birds inside the holy and the pure make their home in the trees. Many people make bird-like sounds after spending a few days in the jungles. These birds then become acquainted with these people and help them with cures for minor ailments.
An important note:
· The spirit of the self is connected with Satan.
· The five spiritual entities inside the chest are individually connected with the five major Messengers of God, (five major Prophets).
· The spiritual entity, Anna, found in the head is connected with God.
· Similarly the human body is connected to the perfect spiritual guide (Universal Master).
Whichever spiritual entity or person is lacking its connection, it is deprived and incapable of receiving the corresponding spiritual grace and bounty from that source.
1. The spiritual entity Qalb
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Adam a.s
In the Urdu language the fleshy meat, (the heart) is known as dil, and in Arabic it is called fawad. The spiritual entity that is next to the heart is the Qalb and according to a Prophetic statement the heart and the Qalb are two separate entities.
Our solar system is the physical human sphere. There are other realms and spheres, for example the realm of the angels, the realm of the throne of God, the realm of the soul, the realm of the secrets, the realm of unification and the realm of the essence of God. These spheres and life forms inhabiting these spheres have existed before the eruption of the ball of fire, our Sun, which created our solar system. Ordinary angels were created alongside the creation of the souls when God commanded “Be” but the Archangels and the spiritual entities (which are placed inside the human body at birth) have existed in these realms before the formation of our solar system.
Many planets in our solar system were inhabited but subsequently these life forms became extinct. The remaining planets and their inhabitants are awaiting their destruction. The Archangels and the spiritual entities (of the human body) were created seventy thousand years before the command “Be.”
Of these spiritual entities God placed the Qalb in the realm of love. It is with this that a human being is able to become connected with God. The Qalb acts like a telephone operator between God and the human being. A human being receives guidance and inspiration through it. Whereas the worship and the meditation done by the spiritual entities themselves can reach the highest realm, the Throne of God, with the aid of the Qalb. The Qalb itself, however cannot travel beyond the realm of the angels, as its place of origin is the Khuld, the lowest heaven in the realm of the angels.
The Qalb’s meditation is from within and its vibrating rosary is within the human skeleton (the heartbeat). People that failed to achieve this meditation of the Qalb in this lifetime will be regretful, even though they may be in paradise. As God has stated regarding those who will go to paradise, that do they, the inhabitants of paradise think that they will be equal to those who are elevated (reached higher realms by practicing the spiritual disciplines and becoming illuminated). As those that have achieved the meditation of the Qalb, they will enjoy its pleasures even in paradise when their Qalb will be vibrating with the Name of God.
After death physical worship ceases to exist and the people whose Qalb and spiritual entities are not strengthened and illuminated with the light of God are afflicted and distressed in their graves and their spiritual entities waste away. Whereas the illuminated and strengthened spiritual entities will go to the realm where the righteous will wait before the final judgement.
After the day of judgement a second body will be given, the illuminated spiritual entities along with the human soul will enter that body. The people that taught their spiritual entities, meditation, whereby the entities chanted the Name of God Allah in this life time will find that the spiritual entities will continue with this meditation even in the hereafter. Such people will continue to be elevated and exalted in the hereafter.
Those that were “blind of heart” (not illuminated) in this life time will be in darkness in that realm also, as this world was the place of action and effort. Those in the latter category will become quiescent.
Besides the Christians and the Jews the Hindu faith also holds a belief in these spiritual entities. The Hindu faith refers to them as Shaktian and the Muslims know them as Lata’if.
The Qalb is two inches, to the left of the heart. This spiritual entity is yellow in colour. When it is illuminated in a person, that person sees the colour yellow in their eyes. Not only this but there are many practitioners of alternative medicine who use the colours of these spiritual entities to heal people.
Most people regard their heart’s word, “inner feeling” to be truthful. If the hearts of people were indeed truthful, then why are all the people of the heart not united?
The Qalb of an ordinary person is in the sleeping or unconscious state and it does not possess any appreciation or awareness. Due to the dominance of the spirit of the self, the ego, and the Khannas, or due to the individual’s own simple- mindedness the heart can make judgements in error. Placing trust in a sleeping Qalb is foolish.
Only when the Name of God Allah, does vibrate in the heart does an appreciation of right and wrong and wisdom follow. At this stage the Qalb is known as the awakened Qalb. Thereafter due to the increase in the meditation by the Qalb, of the Name of God Allah, it is then known as the God-seeking Qalb. At this stage the heart is capable of preventing the person from doing wrong but it is still incapable of making a right or just decision. Thereafter and only when the Light and the rays of the Grace of God (theophany) start to descend upon that heart, is it known as the purified and illuminated Qalb that stands in the presence of God (witnessing Qalb).
A Prophetic statement:
“The mercy of God descends upon a broken heart and an afflicted grave.”
Thereafter when the heart reaches this stage then one must accept whatever it dictates, quietly without question because due to the rays of the Light and the Grace of God the spirit of the self, (ego) becomes completely illuminated, purified and at peace. God is then closer to that individual than that person’s jugular vein.
God then says, “I become his tongue with which he speaks and I become his hands with which he holds.”
2. The Human Soul
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Abraham
This is on the right side of the chest. This is awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it. Once it becomes illuminated, a vibration similar to the heartbeat is felt on the right side of the chest. Then the Name of God, Ya Allah is matched with the vibrating pulse. The meditation of the soul is done in this way. At this point, there are now two spiritual entities meditating inside the human body, this is an advancement in rank and status and is better than the Qalb. The soul is a light red in colour and when it is awakened, it is able to travel to the realm of the souls (the station of the Archangel Gabriel). Anger and rage are attached to it that burn and turn into majesty.
3. The spiritual entity Sirri
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Moses
This spiritual entity is to the left of the centre of the chest. This is also awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it with the Name of God, Ya Hayy, Ya Qayyum. Its colour is white and in the dream state or by spiritual separation from the physical body “transcendental meditation” it can journey to the realm of the secrets. Now there are three spiritual entities meditating within a person and its status is higher than the other two.
4. The spiritual entity Khaffi
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Jesus
This is to the right of the centre of the chest. It too is taught the Name of God Ya Wahid by meditation. It is green in colour and it can reach the realm of unification. Due to the meditation of four entities one’s status is further increased.
5. The spiritual entity Akhfa
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Mohammed
This is situated at the centre of the chest. It is awakened by meditating on the Name of God, Ya Ahad. It is purple in colour and it too, is connected to that veil in the realm of unification behind which is the throne of God.
The hidden spiritual knowledge relating to these five spiritual entities was granted to the Prophets, one by one and half of the knowledge of every spiritual entity was granted from the Prophets to the Saints of their time. In this way there became ten parts of this knowledge. The Saints in turn passed this knowledge on to the spiritually favoured (Godly) who then had the benefit of the sacred knowledge.
The apparent knowledge of the seen is connected to the physical body, the spoken word, the human realm and the spirit of the self, this is for the ordinary mortals. This knowledge is contained in a book that has thirty parts. Spiritual knowledge was also given to the Prophets by revelation brought by Gabriel and for this reason it is known as the spiritual Holy Scripture.
Many of the verses of the Qur’an would sometimes be abolished, since the Prophet Mohammed would sometimes mention matters relating to this “hidden spiritual knowledge” before ordinary people, which was only meant for the special and Godly. Later this knowledge passed on spiritually from the chest of one Saint to another, and now it has become widespread by its publication in books.
6. The spiritual entity Anna
This spiritual entity is inside the head and is colourless. It is by the meditation on the Name of God Ya Hu that this spiritual entity reaches its pinnacle. It is this spiritual entity that when it becomes illuminated and powerful it can stand in the Presence of God, face to face, and communicate with God unobstructed. Only the extreme lovers of God reach this realm and station. Besides this there are a few and extremely exalted people who are granted additional spiritual entities, for example the spiritual entity Tifl-e-Nuri or a spiritual entity of the Godhead, Jussa-e-Tofiq-e-Ilahi, the spiritual status of such people is beyond understanding.
With the spiritual entity, Anna, God is seen in the dream state.
With the spiritual entity of the Godhead, God is seen in the “physical meditating state” when the spiritual entity itself leaves the human body and transcends to the essence of God.
Those possessing the spiritual entity, the Tifl-e-Nuri, see God whilst they are fully conscious.
It is these people who are the majesty and power of God in the world. They can either occupy the people by prescribing worship and austerities or by their spiritual grace send a person straight to the realm of God’s love. In their sight, concerning dispensing spiritual grace the believers and the non-believers, the dead and the living are all the same. Just as a thief became a Saint, in an instant, by the passing glimpse of the Saint Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, similarly, Abu-Bakr Havari and Manga the thief, became instant Saints by the passing glimpses of such Saints.
The five major Messengers were given knowledge of the five spiritual entities separately and in order of their appearance, as a result of which spirituality continued to prosper. With whichever spiritual entity you practice meditation you will be connected to the corresponding Messenger and become worthy of receiving spiritual grace (from that Messenger).
Whichever spiritual entity receives the rays of the Grace of God (favour), the Sainthood granted to that spiritual entity will be connected to the corresponding Prophet’s spiritual grace.
Access to seven realms and gaining elevated spiritual status in the seven heavens is obtained through these spiritual entities.
The functions of the spiritual entities inside the human body
Akhfa: Due to the spiritual entity, Akhfa a person is able to speak. In its absence a person may have a normal tongue but will be dumb. The difference between human beings and animals lies in the presence or the absence of these spiritual entities. At birth, if the entity, Akhfa was unable to enter the body for whatever reason, then a Prophet appointed for the rectification of this ailment would be called to treat the condition as a result of which the dumb would start to speak.
Sirri: A person is able to see due to the spiritual entity, Sirri. If it does not enter the body the person is blind from birth. An appointed Prophet had the duty to find and place the spiritual entity into the body, as a result of which the blind would start to see again.
Qalb: Without the spiritual entity of the Qalb, in the body, a person is like the animals, unacquainted, far from God, miserable and without purpose. Returning this entity into the body was the task of the Prophets also.
The miracles of the Prophets were also granted to the saints, in the form marvels and mystical wonders as a result of which even the impious and liberal became close to God. When a spiritual entity is returned by any allocated Saint or Prophet, the deaf, dumb and the blind are healed.
Anna: When the spiritual entity, Anna, fails to enter the body, a person is regarded as insane even though the brain may be functioning normally.
Khaffi: In the absence of the spiritual entity, Khafi, a person is deaf, even if the ears are opened wide.
These conditions can be caused by other defects in the body, and can be treated. There is no cure in the case, where the defect is caused by the absence of the associated spiritual entity except where a Prophet or a Saint intervenes and cures the defect.
Nafs, self: As a result of the spiritual entity of the self (ego) a persons mind is occupied with the material world and it is because of the spiritual entity Qalb that a persons direction turns towards God.
The Semitic language which is spoken in the celestial spheres, is the language in which the angels and God address each other. Adam Safi-Allah spoke the same language in paradise. Adam and eve then came into the world and settled in Arabia. Their children also spoke the same language. Then as a result of the descendants of Adam spreading in the world, this language passed from Arabic, Persian, Latin and into English and God was then known by different names in the different languages. As Adam lived in Arabia, there are many words of the Semitic language which are still found in the Arabic language. God addressed the Prophets, Adam as Adam Safi-Allah, Noah as Nuh Nabi-Allah, Abraham as Ibraheem Khalil-Allah, Moses as Musa Kalim-Allah, Jesus as I’sa Ruh-Allah and Mohammed Rasul-Allah. All these titles, in the Semitic language were written on the Tablet before the arrival of the Prophets. This is why the Prophet Mohammed said: “I was a Prophet even before I came in to this world.”
Many people believe that the word Allah is a name given by Muslims, this is not so.
The Prophet Mohammed’s fathers name was Abd-Allah, at a time when Islam did not exist. Prior to the advent of Islam the Name Allah was announced with the title of every Prophet. When the souls were created, the first Name on their tongue was Allah and when the soul entered the body of Adam, it said, Ya-Allah, and only then it entered the body. Many religions understand this enigma and chant the Name Allah and many others because of doubt are deprived of the Name.
Any name which is used to point towards God is worthy of respect.
In other words, which points towards God. The mystical effect of the Name of God has been diversified due to the different names. Every letter of the alphabet has a separate numeric value. This is also a celestial knowledge. All the numeric values are connected with all of the human race. Occasionally the numeric values do not agree with the astronomical calculations as a result of which people become afflicted. Many people go to astrologers and experts of this knowledge and have charts prepared based on the stars. They name their children on this basis.
Just as the letters (a, b, j, d,) (1, 2, 3, 4) when added have the numerical value of ten. Similarly every name has a separate numeric value. As God has been given so many different names, this has caused a conflict between the numeric value of the different names. If all the people called upon God by the same name, then despite the fact that they would all have separate religions, they would all be united inwardly. They too, like Nanak Sahib and Baba Farid would then say:
“All the souls have been created by the light of God, even though their environment and communities are separate.”
The angels that are assigned tasks in the world are also taught the languages of the people of the world.
It is important for the people of every Prophet that they recite, chant and affirm the Title of their Prophet which was granted by God to the Prophet at his time, for the recognition, spiritual grace and purification of his people. The recital and affirmation should be in the same method and in the language of their Prophet.
The entry of any individual into any religion is subject to the condition that the individual accepts and affirms the Title of the Prophet of that religion. Just as the affirmation and the verbal vows are a condition of any marriage.
Entry into the heavens has been made subject to the acceptance and affirmation of the Titles of the Prophets. In the western world many Muslims and Christians have no knowledge of their Prophet’s Title furthermore many do not even know their Prophets original name (in the original language of the Prophet.)
People who only verbalize the affirmation of their Prophet’s Title rely upon their good deeds. Those that reject and do not affirm their Prophet’s Title are refused entry to paradise. Those individuals in whose hearts the affirmation of their Prophet’s Title has descended (entered) they will enter paradise without any accountability.
The revealed celestial Scriptures, whichever language they are in so long as they are in the original form, are a means to finding God. Where the texts and the translations that have been adulterated, just as adulterated flour is harmful for the stomach, the adulterated books have become harmful and people of the same religion and the same of Prophet have divided into so many sects.
To be sure of the straight and guided path it is better that you are guided by the Light (of God) also.
The method of producing light.
In prehistoric times stones would be rubbed together to make fire. Whereas a spark can also be produced by rubbing two metals together. In a similar way electricity is made from water. Similarly by the friction of the blood inside the human body, in other words electric energy is produced by the vibrating heartbeat. In every human being there is present, approximately one and a half volts of electricity due to which the body is energetic. As the heartbeat slows in old age, this reduces the electricity in the body and this in turn also causes a reduction of the energy level in the body.
Firstly, the heartbeat has to be made vibrant and pronounced. Some do this by dancing, some by sports and exercise and some people try to do this by meditating and chanting the Name of God Allah.
When the heartbeat becomes vibrant and pronounced then by chanting the Name Allah try to synchronize it with every heartbeat. Alternatively try to synchronize Allah with one heartbeat and Hu with the other. Some time by placing your hand on the heart and when you feel your heartbeat, again try to synchronize the Name Allah by chanting it with the rythm of the heartbeat and imagine that the Name Allah is entering the heart.
The chanting of Allah Hu is better and more effective but if anyone has an objection, or a fear of chanting Hu, then instead of being deprived one should solely use the Name Allah, repetitively in the chanting. It is beneficial for people who chant and practice this discipline and who read mantras to physically remain as clean as possible as the:
“disrespectful are unfulfilled and the respectful are fulfilled.”
The first method for producing light.
Write Allah on a paper in black ink, and do this exercise for as long as you wish on a daily basis. Soon thereafter, the Word Allah will be transported from the paper and hover over the eyes. Then with one-pointed concentration, attempt to transport the word from the eyes to the heart.
The second method for producing light.
Write Allah on a zero watt bulb, in yellow. Whilst you are awake or just before sleep, concentrate and try to absorb it into the eyes. When it appears on the eyes then try to transport it to the heart.
The third method for producing light.
This method is for those people who have perfect spiritual guides and teachers and who due to their spiritual connection are spiritually assisted by them.
Sit alone and imagine that your index finger is a pen. Using your finger and with your concentration, attempt to write Allah on your heart. Call upon your spiritual teacher (spiritually), so that he too may, hold your finger, and write Allah on your heart. Continue to do this exercise everyday, until you see Allah written on your heart.
By the first and second method, the Name Allah becomes inscribed on the heart, just as it was written and seen by you but when it becomes synchronized with the heartbeat, then it slowly starts to shine. In the synchronized method, the assistance of the spiritual teacher is provided and for this reason it is seen shining and well written on the heart right from the beginning.
Many Prophets and Saints have come into the world, and just for the sake of testing this, if you feel it appropriate, concentrate or call upon all of them when you are practicing your meditation.
Whilst concentrating on any Prophet or Saint, during your meditating practice, if the rhythm of your heartbeat increases, in its vibration or you feel an improvement then this means that your destiny (spiritual fruits) lies with that Prophet or Saint.
Thereafter it is beneficial to concentrate on that same person whenever you practice your meditation as spiritual grace is transferred in this way, because every Saint is spiritually connected to a Prophet, even if that Prophet is not physically living.
The spiritual fruit (grace) of every illuminated person is in the hands of one Saint or another. It is essential that the Saint is living. Sometimes a very fortunate person is gifted with celestial spiritual grace by a perfect Saint who is not living, but this is very rare. However Saints not living in our human realm can provide worldly spiritual grace and assistance to people from their tombs. This is known as Owaisi spiritual grace.
The recipients of such spiritual grace often get entangled in their spiritual insights, visions and dreams because the spiritual guide providing the assistance is in the spiritual realm and so too is Satan and the recognition of the two becomes difficult.
Along with the spiritual grace it is important to have knowledge, for which a living Saint is more appropriate. If a person (Saint) possesses spiritual grace but is without knowledge, that person is known as a Majzoob (Godly but abstracted due to the complete absorption into the Essence of God and who is not in full control of his faculties).
A person (Saint) having spiritual grace and knowledge is known as a Mehboob (literally, loved one). Such people (Saints) as a result of their knowledge provide worldly spiritual assistance as well as spiritual grace and benefit. Whereas the Majzoobs are known to provide worldly spiritual assistance to people by their unusual but accepted practices of shouting obscenities and poking people with their wooden sticks.
If any (Prophet or Saint) appears but does not help or assist you then put Gohar Shahi to the test.
You may belong to any religion, there is no condition in this respect as long as the individual is not eternally ill-fated.
Many people have received the spiritual grace of Qalb meditation from the Moon. This is obtained when there is a full Moon from the East. Look at it with concentration and when you see the image of Gohar Shahi on it say Allah, Allah, Allah three times and you will be blessed with this spiritual grace. Thereafter without any fear or reservation practice the meditation as described.
Believe (the fact) that the image on the Moon has spoken to many people in many different languages. You can try looking and speaking to it also.
About Muraqba
(transcendental meditation)
(Literally. journey. Meditation in which the soul leaves the human body)
Many people without having acquired the illumination of the spiritual entities (‘Lata’if/Shaktian’) and without attaining spiritual strength and prowess try to engage in this meditation. They either fail to reach the meditative state or become the subject of Satanic interference. This type of meditation is for illuminated people, whose spiritual entity of the self has been purified and the Qalb has been cleansed. The practice or attempt at this type of meditation is foolish no matter what type of physical worship is used to achieve this. To collect and gather the strength of the soul and the spiritual entities and then to travel to a place is what is known as meditation.
Sainthood is the one fourtieth part of Prophecy.
Every dream, meditative journey, inspiration or revelation of a Prophet is accurate and authentic and does not need verification. Only fourty out of a hundred dreams, meditative journeys, inspirations and revelations of Saints are accurate the remaining sixty percent are inaccurate.
God cannot be understood without knowledge
The lowest type of meditative journey is started only after the illumination and awakening of the spiritual entity of the Qalb. This is impossible without first achieving the meditation of the Qalb (meditation with the vibrating heartbeat synchronized with the Name Allah). It takes one jerk or shake to bring the person out of this meditative state and back to consciousness. The faculty of the augury (foretelling the future by reading verses or looking into designated books) is also connected to the Qalb.
The next stage is the meditative journey of the soul. It takes three jerks or shakes to return a person back to normality from this meditative state.
The third stage of the meditative journey is done by the spiritual entity, Anna and the soul together. The soul travels along with the spiritual entity Anna, to the realm of souls just as the Archangel Gabriel accompanied the Prophet Mohammed to the realm of souls.
People who are in this meditative state are sometimes even taken to be buried in their graves and they are unaware of this happening to them. Such a meditative state and journey was taken by the “Companions of the Cave” as a result of which they remained asleep in the cave for more than three hundred years.
When this meditative state and journey was undertaken by the Sheikh, Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, in the jungle, the occupants of the jungle would regard the Sheikh as dead and would take him to a grave for burial but the meditative journey would break just before the burial (the Sheikh would return to consciousness).
How to recognize a special inspiration and revelation from God.
When a person has awakened and illuminated the spiritual entities in the chest and is worthy of receiving the rays of the Grace of God, then at that point God communicates with that person. God is All-Powerful and can do as he pleases and thus communicate with the human being in any way fit, but he has made a special method for his recognition so that his friends can be saved from the deception of Satan.
Firstly, text in the Semitic language appears on the seekers heart and its translation is seen in the language of the seekers mother-tongue. The text is white and shiny and the eyes close automatically and look at the text (internally). The text then passes the Qalb and moves towards the spiritual entity Sirri as a result of which it shines even more. Then the text moves towards the spiritual entity, Akhfa and from here it shines more and then moves onto the tongue. The voice then spontaneously starts to repeat that text.
If this inspiration is from Satan then an illuminated heart will dull the text and if the text is strong and prominent then the spiritual entities Sirri or Akhfa destroy that text. Further if due to the weakness of the spiritual entities the text does arrive at the tongue, then the voice will prevent it from being spoken into words.
This type of inspiration is for special types of Saints, whereas in respect of ordinary Saints, God sends messages to them through the angels or other spiritual entities. When the Archangel Gabriel accompanies the special and inspired text, this is known as revelation which is confined to the Prophets.
Some people who are eternally destined to go to hell attempt to be worthy of paradise by practicing worship and good deeds, but they are rejected in the end, like Satan because stinginess, arrogance and envy is their inheritance.
There is a Prophetic statement to the effect that one who has even the tiniest amount of stinginess, envy and arrogance cannot go to paradise.
People of paradise, even if they are not worshippers are recognized. Such people are soft-hearted and sincere, free from desire and envy and generous. If such people do engage in worship, they can attain a very exalted status and it is for such people that God creates opportunities and excuses for their salvation. There are others in between who have a continuous record of their good and bad deeds.
Further there are those who are special to God, it is these souls that loved God at the beginning of time. Such souls are not concerned with paradise or hell and they renounce everything for the love of God. With the discipline of heart-meditation and the grace of God they illuminate their souls and achieve the Vision and Sight of God. The highest paradise, Firdos is reserved for such people.
It is regarding these people that a Prophetic statement declares:
“there are some people who will go to paradise without any accountability.”
An explanation.
Those that were shown the illusionary vision of the world in the beginning, the world was written as their destiny. These people came into the world and made every effort to attain the material world. They stole, robbed, bribed and even overlooked crimes like usury and even denounced the oneness of God.
There were some souls amongst these people who adopted religion and worship in order to obtain paradise but this turned out to be fruitless as in the case of Satan, as some blasphemer or a religion disliked by God or sect became an obstruction in their way.
The other souls who had chosen paradise at the beginning of time, they did their worldly chores but gave priority to the practice of worship and austerities. They were motivated by the chaste maidens and servants of paradise and ran back and forth to their places of worship and were successful in obtaining paradise.
There were those amongst the former category who remained lazy in their attitude towards worship and as paradise had been written in their destiny, some opportunity and excuse was granted to them. But they did not achieve that status in paradise that was achieved by the pious. It was in respect of such people that God said, “ What, do these people understand that we will place them along with the pious,” because there are seven levels of paradise.
Ordinary people are guided by Prophets, Books, Gurus and Saints and it is essential for them to have a religion and to declare their faith. The exalted (Godly) manage to come under the graceful sight of God without a religion or book. In other words they are guided by the Light of God. It is stated in a Scripture that:
“those that God chooses, God guides with the light.”
It is said that in order to enter paradise it is essential to have affirmed one’s faith (belief in God). It should be noted that it is not these bodies that will enter paradise, it will be the souls that will enter it and if faith is to be affirmed upon entry then these souls can declare their faith at some stage when they reach the realm of vision. Or they may do this after death, just as the souls of the Prophet Mohammed’s parents and uncle were granted the affirmation of the faith. Furthermore there are the very special and exalted souls who affirmed and declared the truth in the celestial spheres before coming into the world.
The Prophet Mohammed stated that he was a Prophet even before he came into the world. These were the words of the soul of the Prophet Mohammed and could only have been addressed to the souls at the time as the body was given to the Prophet Mohammed only after physically coming into the world. An explanatory example of this is that there are leaders only if there are the nations to be led and there are Prophets only if there are believers, otherwise there is no need for them.
Then such people (Saints) are sent into different religions, some in the form of Baba Farid and some appear in the form of Guru Nanak. The souls that desire to find God do not exclusively look at the religions but rather they seek those who have access to God and join them. Ghose Ali Shah, a (Muslim) Saint of the past has written in his book Tazkira Ghosia that he even obtained spiritual grace from Hindu ascetics.
The Muslim scholars failed to understand what this meant or involved and declared the death penalty in respect of Ghose Ali Shah. The Scholars further stated that if any Muslim house had this book, that it should be burnt and destroyed straight away. However this book survived and is found in India and Pakistan and is still respected.
Some nations accepted their Prophets and others rejected them. God nevertheless sent guides and Saints amongst the rejecting nations who adapted to their faith and belief system. The people sent by God then taught them ways which would save them from sin.
Further by using their methods of worship, customs and values the guides tried to turn their direction towards God, by teaching people about peace and the Love of God. If such people did not exist then today all the religions would be thirsty for each others blood. These souls (guides) who are in the world, are assisted and guided by Khidr (Vishnu Maharaj) who knows the secret of every religion.
Who is Piety for?
Belief based on knowledge.
Such people are materialistic. This level of belief is based on what is heard and such people base their belief of knowledge. Their faith rests on what they hear from others and they are susceptible to being misguided. These people are not provided for on the basis of what they believe but only on the basis of effort, whether they provide for themselves by either lawful or unlawful means.
Belief based on vision.
Such people even though they have renounced the world continue to live amongst the people. Their sense of direction and heart is towards God. Such people are often shown celestial visions. Their station is that of sight and vision (belief is based on what they see and witness). They are also people who are provided for on the basis of their lawful efforts, they will be affected adversely if their provision is obtained by unlawful means.
Belief based on witnessing the truth.
Their station is that of arriving at the truth. In other words they have been exalted and have been awarded some status by God. They come within the Grace and Mercy of God. They are known as those who have completely abandoned the world and even whilst living amongst people they refrain from both lawful and unlawful enterprise. If these people were to go and sit in the jungle, God would provide for them in the jungle. This is the station of Piety. Although beginners talk about piety and abstinence they do not succeed in it.
There are two types of destiny, eternal and man-made (pending)
Some people say that if our provision has been written and provided for in our destiny then why the wandering around and the effort for it?
Makhdoum Jahaniya has stated that the wandering and the effort made in order to obtain our provision has also been written in our destiny.
For example (if by an eternal decision) a bunch of flowers has been placed for you on a roof. In order to get the flowers you have to go up the stairs on to the roof (this is the man-made, pending destiny), which is within your power.
It is in relation to this second, pending destiny that there will be accountability and not in relation to what was written down in the beginning.
Another example is if you strived and you went to the roof you would collect what was written for you in your destiny and if you were lazy and did not get to the roof then you would be deprived of it. On the other hand if another person, in whose destiny there is not that particular bunch of flowers manages to get to the roof by the stairs or some considerable effort then he would still be deprived.
The third category of the souls
The third category of the souls who chose neither the world nor desired paradise and who remained looking at the Vision of God. These souls came into the world and sacrificed everything in their search for God. Many gave up their kingdoms and whilst hungry and thirsty went to live in the jungles in order to find God. There were others who sat in the rivers for many years and after succeeding these people became known as the Friends of God (Saints). They then received differing spiritual designations and duties from God and even became a remedy and a means of hope for those destined for hell.
Just as the famous poet Iqbal mentions in one of his poems:
“that even the directive of destiny is altered by the graceful glance of the Godly”
It is absolutely necessary for this reason that the earthly souls, (who re-appear in every lifetime), physically meet their spiritual teacher or Guru, in every lifetime. As the spiritual teacher of the previous lifetime or the ancestral teacher became free of his physical body (gave up the physical body he had at the time).
This is similar to when a previous Prophecy is removed and exempted after the arrival of a major Messenger. Just as the Prophet Moses (Mus’a Kalim-Allah) was a major Messenger and all the Prophets that came after Moses, their religions were abrogated after the arrival of the Prophet Jesus (Is’a Ruh-Allah).
Further, all the Prophets that came in between the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Mohammed, all their religions were also abrogated upon the arrival of the Prophet Mohammed but the validity of the religious system of every major Messenger continued and still continues and exists today. This includes Adam Safi-Allah, (Adam), Ibrahim Khalil-Allah (Abraham), Mus’a Kalim-Allah (Moses), Is’a Ruh-Allah (Jesus) and Mohammed Rasul-Allah, and every Saint’s Sainthood is from their authority and grace).
As the five spiritual entities inside the human body are linked to the five major Messengers, for this reason their Prophecy and spiritual grace and power will remain until the day of judgement.
When it is said that a person will not go to paradise unless that person has affirmed their faith, this does not mean any one particular faith, but it refers to the affirmation, in any one of the faiths of the major Prophets. It is for this reason that the Prophet Mohammed stated that, “I have not come, to reject the books of the Messengers but I have come to revise and reform,” in other words to revise the books where they had been changed and adulterated.
The belief system of Adam Safi-Allah (Adam) exists even today. Those people who only practice the heart-meditation, who praise the Name of the Lord are humble before it, repent and try to remain free of sin, are all coforming to this, the original or first religion, the first Prophecy and the first type of worship.
A Ghose (Head-Saint in our human sphere) and for that matter every Saints spiritual category is attached to (and presided over) by one or the other of the Prophets who in turn are spiritually linked in this way to Adam Safi-Allah (Adam).
The last reformer of our century Mujjadid Alf-Sani stated that his spiritual category and designation was linked to Moses. Whereas there is a group from amongst the Qalandar group of Saints, whose category is linked to Jesus. Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani was related to a category which was connected to the Prophet Mohammed.
It is mentioned in some inspired books that fourteen thousand Adams have come into the world. It has been said that Adam Safi-Allah was the fourteenth thousandth and last Adam. There have indeed been many Adams in this world. When Safi-Allah was being made of clay the angels said (to God) that he too will go into the world and cause mischief. In other words the angels were aware of the actions of the previous Adams, otherwise how would they have known what God was making and what he (Adam) would do.
On the Tablet there are inscribed different languages, different affirmations and declarations, different mantras, different Names of God, various verses and even the knowledge relating to magic, (the magic) which was taught to people by the angels Harut and Marut and as part of their punishment both the angels are hanging upside down in a well in the city of Babal in Egypt.
Every Adam was taught a language. Thereafter a Prophet was sent to the nation of that Adam for its guidance. It has therefore been said that one hundred and twenty five thousand Prophets have come to the world, whereas Adam Safi-Allah was last on the earth six thousand years ago. If a Prophet was sent every year then there would have been six thousand Prophets.
Some time later because these nations transgressed they were destroyed. Evidence found of ancient cities has appeared and so has the evidence of ancient languages within them, which are not understood by anyone. Some nations were destroyed by flooding, like the people of Noah, and those who survived inhabited these ancient cities.
In the end Safi-Allah was made, better than the others, and sent to Arabia and many major Prophets emerged from his offspring. Many languages of the other Adams remained for some time amongst the surviving nations. When the last Adam came he was taught the Semitic language. Some of his descendants travelled to distant places and met with ancient peoples. Some of these travellers liked the regions they travelled to and others liked the fertile land and thus they settled with the ancient people.
The Semitic language was spoken in Arabia and then due to the mixing of the various nations Arabic, Persian, Latin and Sanskrit met up with the English language. On different islands there were people living who were the descendants of different Adams. Of these there was one Adam who was a gypsy, and his descendants survive to this day and as a result of whom many other nations were discovered.
The people of remote islands were unaware of the existence of each other and long distance travel by sea was not possible by the means of small boats. Columbus was successful in making a seaworthy ship as a result of which he was the first man to reach America. He reached land and saw people with brown skin and he thought that he had arrived in India.
These people were the red Indians (native Americans), who can also be found in North Dakota, in the United States today. I asked an Indian tribal chief if he knew who his Adam was. He replied that according to their belief their Adam was in Asia, the wife of which was named was Havva (Eve).
He further stated that according to their historical records their Adam (of the great Sioux nation) appeared from a mountain in South Dakota (Black Hill). The mountain place is marked even now.
People say that the English and the Americans are light-skinned as a result of the cold climate, this is not the case. There were descendants of a dark-skinned Adam, who were also present in these regions but who did not develop light skin. Therefore this is the basic reason that the appearance, character, intellect, languages and diet of human beings differ. The descendents of Adam Safi-Allah remained in Middle East, this is why people in Middle East are similar (to each other) in appearance.
It is said that Adam Safi-Allah (Shankar Ji) descended in Sri Lanka. Then from there he travelled to Arabia where he remained and where his grave lies. If this is the case then who discovered his foot markings in Sri Lanka? Which are preserved to this day. This means that (prior to his descent) there was some community present there.
Saints and Prophets were no longer sent to the nations that were destroyed. The remaining survivors of these nations were therefore deprived of these exalted people and at some later time went astray.
As foreign lands were discovered saints from Asia travelled to those parts and taught the people, according to the respective religions of the saints and today we see that the Asian religions have spread all over the world. Jesus was from Jerusalem, Moses was from what is now Palestine and the Prophet Mohammed was from Mecca. Whereas Noah and Abraham were also from Middle East.
Some nations were punished and hence destroyed and others turned into bears and apes. Those who survived, then out of fear, turned to God. Others then regarded God as All-Powerful and imperious and turned away from him in disgust. They disobeyed every command of God and started to say that there is no such thing as a God and that a human is no more than an insect, and that paradise and hell are figments of the imagination.
At the time of Moses, there was a nation of people who were transformed into apes (punished by God). The survivors turned towards Europe. The pregnant women at the time of the wrath, were now apes but gave birth to human babies. Those people exist today and say that they are the descendents of the apes.
The nation that was transformed into bears, turned towards the jungles of Africa. Similarly the pregnant women of the time were carrying human babies. They gave birth and the race continued to survive. These people are known as Mamm. They have long hair on their bodies, the majority of them are female and they abduct people. They cannot be influenced or reformed by religion but due to their human nature they conceal their private parts by using leaves.
Another Adam, due to a mistake he had made, was punished for a thousand years. He was transformed into a snake. His descendants survive to this day in the form of a very special snake. It can transform into a human being a thousand years after birth and it is known as Ruha.
It is mentioned in history that Alexander the Great was out hunting one day, in a jungle, when he discovered a beautiful woman crying. He asked who she was and she replied that she was the princess of China and she was hunting with her husband when a lion attacked and ate her husband, further that she was now alone. Alexander asked her to return with him and that he would make the arrangements for her return to China. The woman thought that her husband had died, and how would she save face on her return in China. Alexander took her to his home and married her.
Some time later Alexander developed a pain in his stomach. He tried all kinds of remedies but these had no effect. His pain increased and the doctors too gave up. A snake charmer also came to treat him. He called Alexander to one side and said to him that he could treat him, but that there would be some conditions. Further that if he did not treat Alexander within a few a days, that Alexander could then have him killed.
The snake-charmer advised Alexander that he, have some pudding made for that night and that the salt in it should be plentiful. Further that both Alexander and his wife should eat plenty of pudding and that Alexander should lock their room from within so as neither of them could leave the room. He further advised that Alexander should not sleep but pretend to be asleep so as his wife would believe that he is in fact sleeping and that there should be not a drop of water in the room. Alexander did as he was advised .
During the night, his wife became thirsty and discovered that there was no water in the pot, she then tried to open the door and saw that it was locked. She then looked at her husband and felt that he was fast asleep. She then transformed into a snake, went out through a hole. She drank some water, returned in the form of a snake and then transformed back into a woman. Alexander watched all this. In the morning he related this to the snake-charmer who told Alexander that his wife was a snake which transformed every thousand years and that she was the cause of the pain in his stomach.
This woman was then taken to the sea on the premise that they were going sight-seeing and she was then thrown into the water. The place where she was thrown exists today and is known as the barrier of Alexander.
The descendants of this race exist in the world today. Ordinary snakes do not have ears but this type of snake has ears. It is not known which Adams descendants are locked in the mountains of China and for which Alexander made the wall of China in order to prevent them from entering this region. As mentioned they have very long ears. They place one beneath them and cover themselves with the other. They are known as Gog Magog (pr. Jooj-Majooj).
Scientists have discovered many areas and regions but there are many still to be discovered. Behind the Himalayas there are “snowy humans” and there are many humans in the jungles and apart from them, no one knows their language. They too worship according to the way taught to them by their Adam and in order to survive they have a tribal system. In addition to these Continents, there are many other lands and Planets. Such as the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Mars and so on, Adams have inhabited these Planets also. Some of these have been destroyed. In some instances by stopping the supply of oxygen and in other cases by the total destruction of the land.
There is still human life on Mars and there is a fiery life form inhabiting the Sun
Our scientists have yet been unable to reach Mars whereas the inhabitants of Mars have visited the Earth on numerous occasions and have taken people back with them for experimentation. They are scientifically more advanced and their inventions are superior to ours. Even if our satellites and scientists reach Mars they will be unable to escape once they are captured by the Martians.
There was one Adam who was abundantly endowed with knowledge by God. The descendants of this Adam on the basis of their knowledge, were able to travel to and reach the realm where God communicates with the angels and gives them various tasks in the form of commandments. In other words whatever command God gave to
the angels, these people were able to hear them. One day the angels said to God, that these people had started to interfere with the affairs of the angels. Further that when the angels came down into the world these people would already have found an alternative solution to the task of the angels.
God then commanded the Archangel Gabriel to go and to test these people. A twelve year old boy, was herding some sheep when Gabriel approached him and said, “Do you possess any knowledge?” The boy replied, “ask me?” Gabriel then asked the boy to tell him where Gabriel was at that time. The boy closed his eyes and then said that he (Gabriel) is not in the skies. Gabriel then asked, “where is he?” The boy then said that he (Gabriel) is not on any land either. Gabriel asked, “then where is he?” The boy opened his eyes and said that “I have looked in the fourteen realms and he is nowhere to be found, either I am Gabriel or you are Gabriel.”
Then God said to the angels that this nation be destroyed by the floods. The people heard this command and started to make homes made of metal and glass. Then this nation was destroyed by an earthquake. At that time, the region was known as Kaalda. It is now known as Greece.
Those people with their knowledge and now our scientists with their scientific knowledge, are interfering with God’s affairs. In order to instill fear into them, disaster on a small scale has been instigated and for the complete destruction an Asteroid has been sent towards the Earth which is expected to hit the Earth in about twenty to twenty five years and when it does, that will be the last day of the Earth. A part of that Asteroid has fallen on Jupiter in the last two years, even the scientists are aware of this.
They are therefore wishing to move to the Moon or some other planet and there have even been plot bookings on the Moon for this purpose when they know that life cannot be supported on the Moon as there is no oxygen, water or vegetation. Then what is the purpose of all the frenzied effort? As far as research is concerned, what benefit has humanity derived by reaching the Moon or Jupiter? Has any medicine or prescription been discovered to facilitate immortality or has a “cure” been found to prevent death?
Even if we reached the inhabitants of Mars, the difference in our atmosphere and theirs would make living on Mars very difficult.
All the money that is being spent in this regard is going to waste and if the United States and Russia were to spend that money on the poor, then everybody would be better off. The differences between human beings have led to the creation of atomic bombs (weapons of mass destruction), in order to destroy one another, when the world will be destroyed without the bombs anyway.
Too many souls were created in the celestial sphere
The souls of the those closest to God were in the front row (in front of God). The ordinary souls were sent to the world, amongst the nations of the Adams some of whom (Adams) were made from black, some white some yellow and others red clay. They were taught knowledge by the Archangel Gabriel and the angels Harut and Marut.
When Adams were created by clay on the land, then Satanic genies would at the right opportunity enter the bodies of those Adams and their offspring and would further try to entrap them in their Satanic hold. Then the Prophets and Saints of that nation and the knowledge taught by them would become the means of alleviation. Countless Adams were made in pairs (with their female partners) from which procreation commenced and sometimes a woman was created on her own (without an Adam) and she would bear children (at the discretion) subject to the command of God “Be”.
These people too, exist in the world. Only the women are the tribal leaders and as they are the offspring of women only, they believe for this reason that God is female. They further believe that they are the children of angels as their (female) Adam produced children without a man. This custom continues amongst them even today. The women of these tribes bear children by anyone and then later marry any other person, and do not regard this as abnormal.
The decisions made by the souls, their destiny and their spiritual status would determine the types of Adams that would be sent. Corresponding souls would then descend (once these Adams had been sent). This is the reason that no special religion was formulated for the souls. This is also the reason that even when the Prophets were sent amongst them, very few accepted them. They did the opposite of what the Prophets taught and instead of worshipping God, they worshipped, the Moon, stars, the Sun, trees, fire and even started to worship snakes.
Finally, Adam Safi-Allah was made in paradise, of clay which was also from paradise. In order that he would surpass all (the previous Adams) in excellence and perfection and be protected from the Satanic spiritual entities as these did not have access to paradise.
Satan was from amongst the genies and was recognized because of his vast knowledge and due to his abundant worship, he became the leader of the angels. He spat on the body of Adam out of envy. As a result of the saliva a Satanic type of bacterium entered Adams body, which is known as the Nafs, the spirit of the self, (ego) which was then inherited by the offspring of Adam. It is in relation to this that the Prophet Mohammed said that, “when a human being is born, a Satanic genie is also born with the human at the same time.”
In the realm of the angels, angels exist, which were created at the time of the creation of the souls. The spiritual entities that are in the next higher realm, in the realm of souls are known as the Archangels which existed even before the command of God “Be” (when creation as we understand it was created).
God commanded that the angels bow down before Adam Safi-Allah. No Adam was made in paradise prior to this and nor did the angels bow down before any other Adam. Azazeel, (Satan) objected and refused to bow, he was then cursed as a result of which he became the enemy of the descendants of Adam Safi-Allah.
Whereas the nations (of previous Adams) did not suffer from his enmity, as Satanic genies were enough to tempt them and lead them astray.
As Satan was the most powerful of all the Satanic entities he trapped the descendants of Adam Safi-Allah in such a way and taught them such crimes as a result of which the other nations started to dislike these Asians. On the other hand as a result of the greatness of this Adam, these people were guided by God and they had access to God in such a way (Godly) and became so exalted that the other nations were amazed.
Further the greatest of the celestial books, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Psalms of David and the Qur’an were revealed amongst these people and as a result of the teachings, spiritual grace and blessing (of the books) the Asian religions were spread amongst all the people of the world.
The soul of Adam had not yet been placed in his body, when the angels realized that he was being made for the world as a human made from clay would only be found on the Earth. Then by some opportunity and reason he was sent to the Earth. Even though the eternal decisions and tasks are worked out by God, ultimately humans are blamed for things. If Adam was sent to the world without being accused of a crime (made to feel guilt) he would have then, come into the world and done nothing but complain. Further, why would he have wept and sought forgiveness? (as there would be no reason for him to do this).
A soul which is destined to go to hell, if it is born into a home which does not believe in religion then it is known as an unbeliever and a liar. It is such people that deny and reject the existence of God and who are the enemies of the Prophets and the Saints. These people are arrogant, hard-hearted and they take pleasure in harming the creation of God. The second category after having come into a religion remains distant from it. Such a soul if it is born into a religious home, it is known as a hypocrite.
These people abuse and slander the Prophets and Saints and create mischief within their religion. Their worship is useless just as the worship of Satan. Their religion attempts to take them towards paradise but their destiny pulls them towards hell.
As they are deprived of the spiritual assistance and help of the Prophets and the Saints for this reason they are easily led to temptation by Satan and the spirit of the self (who mislead them into believing) that they possess vast amounts of knowledge, they worship abundantly and that there is no difference between them and the Prophets? These people then without considering their spiritual reality feel that they are Prophets and believe that Saints depend upon them. They deny spirituality and the existence of miracles and only accept the qualities that they themselves possess. They even reject the miracles of Prophets and dismiss them as magic. They believe in the power of Satan but it is difficult for them to accept the power of the Prophets and the Saints.
The soul that is destined to go to paradise if it is in a non-religious home or in an unclean environment it is regarded as crippled. It is possible for such a soul to be forgiven and saved. It is such souls that try to find the straight (illuminated) path and who try to get out of the “quicksand” by looking for the aid and assistance of the Saints. They are soft-hearted, humble and generous.
The soul that is destined to go to paradise, if it is in one of the revealed religions or in a religious home, then it is regarded as sincere and faithful. It is these people who by their worship and austerities find the closeness of God and become entitled to his inheritance.
In the study of spirituality the spiritual entity Qalb
is of great importance
Some people played sports, others danced, others built and knocked down walls and others exercised, all tried to increase the vibration of their heartbeat and they then tried to synchronize the Name Allah with the vibrating heartbeat (heart/Qalb meditation). Then in ascending order the Name of God Allah reached all the spiritual entities (inside the body).
Others without going into the depths of this knowledge started to emulate such people. They started to dance to the chanting of Allah, Allah. They did not understand the concept of heart meditation and also failed to synchronize the Name Allah with their heartbeat. Nevertheless their animal spirit, whose nature it is, to jump around did become acquainted with the Name of God. Similarly the botanical spirit (in a person) also becomes strong and acquainted, as a result of chanting the Name Allah accompanied by music. Music is the food of the botanical spirit.
In the United States an experiment was carried out, whereby crops were exposed to music. Two portions of the same crop were planted on the same piece of land. One part of the crop was exposed to music day and night and the other part was left unexposed to music. The crop exposed to the music was better in quality and appearance than the crop that was left unexposed to the music.
The Nafs, the spirit of the self is very dangerous. Even after it has been purified (illuminated) it always searches for excuses and it likes music and rythm. Some people have tried to attract the attention of the spirit of the self by singing and have then attempted to divert its direction towards God. Others chanted and synchronized the Name, Allah with their guitar music. Even if this was not the ideal achievement, at least there ears were engaged in worship.
I met a guitar player who told me a story. He said: “In my spare time, I play the guitar and chant Allah, Allah with the music and sometimes when I awake from my sleep, I hear a similar melody of Allah, Allah inside me.” Such people became, better than the other pre-occupations, in other words (better than) the people who simply jump about and sing and play but they did not achieve any Saintly status. Nevertheless such people do possess an inclination and yearning and are seekers and if they (become attached) to a complete spiritual teacher and guide they do reach some spiritual station (status).
Amongst the Muslims and the other religions sufis (ascetics, seekers of spiritual knowledge and illumination) have attempted in many different ways to absorb the Name of God within themselves. An action that turns one towards God and increases the love for God is not wrong.
A Prophetic statement, “God does not look at the actions, but looks at the intentions.”
The people who follow the written Laws (Scriptures) regard this as abnormal and wrong as they become satisfied and nourished by (following) the Laws; but those people who want to advance from following the Laws to the Love of God, or those who do not follow the written Laws; why are such people prevented from adopting an alternative.
All the religions in this world were established as a result of the Prophets. When even before this (God) was love, the lover and the beloved. Souls that were in the Proximity, Magnificence (Vision) and affection of God were in the religion of God which is Love of God. When they came into this world they sacrificed their life and limb in order to find God.
This was at first confined to the favoured (Godly) now through spirituality it has reached even the ordinary people
A Prophetic statement: One of the companions of the Prophet Mohammed has stated:
“I have received two types of knowledge from the Prophet Mohammed, I have told you about one of them and if I tell you about the other you would kill me”
When the Saint Shah Shamas took the dry books out of the well (full of water)
The Saint of Istanbul Maulana Rumi said:
Shah Shamas replied:
“This is the knowledge that you know not.”
When Moses asked God
“Is there any more knowledge?”
God replied:
“Go to Khidr.”
(a mystical figure, possessing the secrets of spiritual knowledge)
The prayer of every worshipper:
“God, show me the straight (illuminated) path
the path of those, upon whom you have bestowed your favour.”
The poet Iqbal states:
“What would the pitiful scholars know of this.”
The souls that have been exalted from the beginning of time, the souls that God loves and the souls that love God, did praise the Lord and chant his Name when they came into the world. For example Jesus spoke whilst in the cradle, and said: “I am a Prophet” although Gabriel had already given the glad tidings to Mary prior to the birth.
In respect of Moses, Pharaoh had knowledge of the prediction, that a child would be born to a tribe, who would then be the cause of his destruction and that he (the child) would be a very exalted man in the sight of God. The Prophet Mohammed also said, “I was a Prophet even before I came into the world.”
There are many loved and eternal souls (Godly) present in different religions and in different bodies
During the last period (end of the world)
God will send a “Special Soul” into the world who will search for these souls and gather them together and remind them that they once did love God. All these souls no matter which religious or non-religious body they are in, will acknowledge and affirm his call and gather around him.
He will grant these souls a very special “Name of God” which will travel from the spiritual entity Qalb to the soul. Then the soul will meditate and chant that name of God.
That “Name” will produce a spirit of new energy and a new love and with its light the soul will again become connected to God.
The meditation of the Qalb is the way to achieve meditation of the soul.
Just as meditation and austerities are the way to the meditation of the (Qalb). Once a persons soul itself starts to meditate and chant the Name of God, then that person is from that category of people, who no longer fear the scale of judgement or the day of judgement. Further meditation and worship, more advanced than that of the soul are proof and indicate that persons exalted status.
Those people who have speedily moved from the meditation of the Qalb to the meditation of the soul are those who have already entered, or will soon enter the religion of God.
They are not guided by the books but are guided by the light, and become free of sin due to the light. Those who have heard about this or those who have made some effort but are still deprived of this spiritual discipline are not included in this path (religion of God).
The way, for the salvation of the ordinary people is worship and religion.
The way for guidance is the celestial books (Scriptures).
The way for (obtaining) intercession is the Prophets and Sainthood.
Many Muslims do not believe in the intercession (or recommendation) of Saints. When (it is known) that the Prophet Mohammed instructed his companions to go to Owais Qarni and ask him to pray for the salvation of the people of the Prophet.
The Religion of the Souls
The love of God and the recognition of those in the religion of God
Into which all the rivers merge, it is known as the sea.
Into which all the religions merge and become one that is the love of God and the religion of God.
“Where the four religions meet.” (the Saint Sultan Sahib)
The early recognition (signs of those in this religion)
When the meditation of both the Qalb and the soul commences, whether they are activated by worship and meditation or by the spiritual glance and grace of a complete spiritual teacher and guide, in both instances this means that the person is eternally Godly (destined to be thus from the beginning). Further the person develops a dislike for sins and even if a sinful act is committed the person regrets this deeply and thinks of ways in which to prevent the recurrence of the sin.
God has said: “ I like those people also, who ponder over ways in which to stay free of sin.”
Further the love of the material world decreases and the love of God starts to dominate. Desire, envy, stinginess and arrogance are felt to be disappearing. Also the tongue remains free of slander, you feel humble, stinginess is replaced by generosity and lying disappears.
Unlawful desires change into lawful desires and a dislike develops for acquiring things in a wrongful or unlawful manner. A dislike for eating forbidden and unlawful foods and a dislike of doing forbidden and unlawful things.
The extreme recognition (signs of those in this religion)
A complete abstinence from the use of cocaine, opium, heroine and alcohol. Be able to meet exalted spiritual dignitaries, whether in the dream state, by meditative journey or vision. Achieve the spiritual purification and illumination of the Nafs, the spirit of the self so that it is transformed from its base state to that of the “self at peace.” Have the spiritual entity, Anna standing face to face before God and find that all the veils between God and the human being have been lifted away.
Further to become free of sin, have the extreme love for God, be in Communion with God (united in God’s Essence), and from an ordinary person to a “provider of people” and from a poor man to the “provider of the poor.”
Due to the fact that many Godly souls from the different religions will be entering this religion, for this reason there will be no condition attached to any religion. Every person will be able to continue with the worship as prescribed by their religion but the meditation of the Qalb, they will all practice, will be the same.
Despite the fact they will all be from different religions, their hearts will be united and when God comes within their hearts they will all become the people of God. Thereafter it is up to God, whether God keeps them to himself or sends them into a religion for its guidance. In other words some will be amongst the people and be beneficial to them, some will be solitary and isolated, some soldiers and others commanders (spiritual).
Even the unholy and sinful, who will help and assist these people will achieve some spiritual reward and status. Those people that will not have joined this group (religion of God), the majority of them will join the Satan (Anti-Christ) whether they be Muslims or Non-Muslims. Finally the two groups will have a mighty war. Those of Jesus, the Mehdi and the Kalki Avtar, will join and defeat the other group (Anti-Christ). Many of the Anti-Christ will be killed and those that survive will remain silent out of fear and lack of choice.
The Mehdi and Jesus will reign over the hearts of people and peace will be established in the whole world. All the different religions will cease to exist and transform into one religion. That will be the religion most liked by God and will be the essence of all the religions of all the Prophets and their books, and will be accepted by all of humanity. Superior to all types of worship and even superior to the Love for God will be the Ishq of God (a stronger, extreme and passionate form of Love for the Divine Essence of God).
“Where Ishq (love) takes one, the faith does not know.” (the Saint Sultan Bahu)
The famous poet Iqbal, presented a view of this time in the following way:
“The world needs the Mehdi whose philosophy will shake the foundations of accepted thought.”
“Being opened are the hidden secrets, bygone has the time when God refused his vision whose essence has appeared before the people, he is the Mehdi, the one of the end time.”
“Opened my eye in the mirror of comprehension, look at the hazy picture of the future look at the Universe, the land and space, look for a moment, at the one who appears from the East.”
“Gone has that time O’ giver of the drink (of love), when did hide the drinkers the whole world will now become a tavern and every soul will be the drinker (of Divine love).”
“The time has come of the unveiling, all will see his splendour and majesty silence was his veil, whose secret will now be manifest.”
“out of the desert came he, who overturned the kingdom of Rome heard have I from the angels, that the lion will awaken again.”
All of the revealed Holy Scriptures and the Commandments are not the religion of God. In these Books are the rules relating to the worship, austerities and beards. Whereas God is not bound by these. These religions were made to illuminate and to purify the people of the Prophets. Whereas God himself is a pure light. When a person too becomes light (illuminated) after unification with the Essence of God, then that person enters the Religion of God. The Religion of God is Love and affection. The meanings of the ninety-nine Names of God show that he is a God that talks about his friends.
(God) is the Love, the Lover and the Beloved. If any person of God, receives from God, a share of any of these (three) gifts then that person reaches and goes into the Religion of God. Then worship, is looking at God and chanting the Name of God (praise) is that persons desire. Further, the Sight of God absolves the person from the lack of life-long religious practice and worship. Then the collective worship of all the genies, angels and human beings cannot reach his status.
It is in relation to such a person that the grand Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani has stated:
“Whoever reached the vision of God and still practiced worship or intended to do so, he has insulted the Grace and Mercy of God.”
The Saint Bhulle Shah has stated:
“After I started the worship of love, I forgot the Temples and the Mosques.”
The poet Iqbal has stated:
“What would the pitiful priests know about this.”
The companion Abu Hureira (of the Prophet Mohammed) has stated:
“I received two types of knowledge from the Prophet Mohammed. I have told you one and if I tell you about the other you will kill me.”
History has witnessed that whosoever revealed the secrets of this knowledge was killed, just like Shah Mansur and Sarmad (Saints) and today Gohar Shahi stands on the edge of murder.
Submission to the laws of the Prophets is for the people of those Prophets as the Prophets themselves do not need to practice any worship. They are Prophets before their laws come into existence and more accurately, they are Prophets from the beginning of time. As they have to be an example for their religion, if they do not practice any particular rule or action, then the followers regard that as the example to be followed. For this reason the Prophets have to be careful and remain alert.
Is any person able to say, that if any Prophet is not practicing any type of worship that the Prophet will go to hell? Never! (this cannot be said)
Is any person able to say, that without practicing worship a Prophet cannot be a Prophet?. Or can anyone say that Prophecy cannot be received without first becoming educated. Then why do people object and complain about Saints? When Sainthood is the substitute of Prophecy.
You must remember that those who without seeing God, claim that they are united with God and who consider themselves to be at this spiritual state and emulate (others at this level) are spiritual outcasts and liars. Such liars are the subject of the curses found in the Holy Scriptures and as a result of which, the time and belief of thousands of (innocent) people has been wasted and destroyed.
This book is worthy of study and investigation by all religions, all sects and all peoples and it presents a challenge to those who reject spirituality
“There are three parts of knowledge of the seen (apparent) and one part of the unseen (spiritual).”
“To acquire the apparent knowledge, Moses and to acquire the spiritual knowledge, Khidr have to be found.”
“The voice that comes without the medium of Gabriel is known as inspiration. The knowledge (that comes without the medium of Gabriel) is known as a direct Commandment of God; the knowledge which Gabriel accompanied is known as Holy
Scripture; whether it is the apparent or the spiritual knowledge and whether you call it the Torah, the Psalms of David or the Bible.”
“When religious Scholars make mistakes they dismiss them as politics and thus absolve themselves; if Saints make a mistake it is understood as wisdom and ignored, whereas the Prophets cannot be accused of making a mistake.”
“Whoever is engaged in whatever type of spiritual discipline, the corresponding spiritual entities inside them will become strong (illuminated) and those who are not occupied (spiritually) their spiritual entities are senseless and in humility and those who absorbed the Name Allah within spiritual entities by whatever method, they were then occupied at all times with imperial meditation (when all the spiritual entities meditate at one time to the extent that the human body splits into seven separate pieces) and Ishq (love) of God.”
Imam Mehdi will reform all religions
Just as Prophecy ended after the Prophet Mohammed and reformers came in Islam who renovated their religion subject to the environment. Similarly after the arrival of Imam Mehdi the renovation of those reformers will cease to exist and according to (the needs of) all the religions Imam Mehdi will instigate his own reforms. It is mentioned in some books that he will establish a new religion.
It was for this reason that the poet Iqbal said, “if there is love then even disbelieving is believing.”
Sachal Sai (a Saint) has said, “without the love of the beloved Sachal, what is belief and what is disbelief.”
If anyone worshiped their entire life but at the end that person opposed Imam Mehdi and Jesus, who will come back into the world, Jesus with his physical body and the Mehdi with the “earthly spirits” then that person is bound for hell like Bilyam Bawar and is cursed and rejected like Satan. ( Bilyam Bawar was a man at the time of Moses, who opposed Moses, and who will go to hell in the form of the dog Qutmeer).
If anyone spent their entire existence living like the dogs but in the end helped and assisted the Mehdi and Jesus then that person will go to paradise. Just as the dog Qutmeer. (who was exalted by only sitting in the company of the “Companions of the Cave” and who will go to paradise).
The people who have Ishq (passionate Love of God) when they are in a religion, (in some place) God then showers that place with his mercy. Then if that person is Baba Farid (a Muslim Saint) then even the Hindus and Sikhs come to his door and if he is Baba Guru Nanak, (an exalted spiritual figure revered by Sikhs) then even the Muslims and the Christians come to his door.
Some sects and religions say that I’sa (Jesus) has passed away and that his tomb is in Afghanistan. This is incorrect propaganda. In Afghanistan there is the tomb of another man by the name of I’sa. What would be the purpose of the burial when transport was primitive at the time and it would have taken months to travel
(to Afghanistan). Some ask how was Jesus raised to the celestial sphere? I ask how did Adam descend from the sky? Further, the Prophet Idris is still physically living in paradise and Khidr and the Prophet Elias still exist in the world and have not died.
The grandson of the grand Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, Hayat al-Ameer is six hundred years old (and is still alive). His grandfather, the Sheikh, said to him that do not die until you meet the Mehdi and give my salutations to him. The Saint Shah Latif was given the title Bari Imam by him (Hayat Al-Ameer). Close to Murri, (in Pakistan) is a place known as Bara Koh, signs of the sitting place (the retreat of Hayat Al-Ameer) are preserved there.
The punishment for physical crimes is imprisonment, a fine or the death penalty. If any person is on the spiritual path then the punishment is remorse as the punishment for spiritual sins or crimes is very severe. A person who slanders another, as punishment his spiritual rewards are transferred to the person that has been the subject of the slandering. Further desire, envy, stinginess and arrogance destroy any rewards that are written (on the persons record). If a person has any amount of light inside them, then this is confiscated if that person insults, abuses or begrudges any Prophet or Saint just as the Sheikh San’aan insulted the grand Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani and his visions and miracles were confiscated from him.
There is a story about the Saint Bayazid Bostami. When he discovered that a particular person was insulting and slandering him, the Saint fixed a monetary reward for him. The man continued to slander the Saint and continue to receive the money also. Then one day his wife scolded him and said that he should either stop the treachery or stop taking the money or stop insulting the Saint. The man started to praise the Saint. When the Saint discovered that the man started to praise him, he stopped the payment. The man appeared before the Saint and asked that when he insulted the Saint he was paid and now why has the payment stopped?
When he has started to praise the Saint. The Saint said that at first you was my employee and because of your bad deed (slander) my sins were being washed away and I was paying for that service and for what shall I pay you now?.
The above-mentioned sins are connected with the spirit of the self at its lowest, base self, who is helped by Satan. Whereas piety, generosity, forgiveness, patience and gratitude, humbleness and the merciful rays and Grace of God are all connected to the witnessing Qalb (the fully illuminated and purified Qalb and heart) whose helper is the complete spiritual teacher and guide.
As long as the persons spiritual entity of the self is at its lowest state, (not illuminated) the light rays produced by the recital of any Holy Scripture will not enter a persons heart even if that person has memorized such words and verses, as he is considered to be a parrot. To the contrary when your spirit of the self is purified then any impure entity will not remain inside you. At that stage the person is considered illuminated.
In order to purify the spirit of the self you must search for a Purifier. Who are people appointed by God and are always on this (spiritual) duty. The cleanliness of the outside of the physical body is done with water whereas the inside of the body is cleansed with light. Without being cleansed a person is impure and dirty. A clean body is worthy of worshipping God whereas a clean heart is worthy of receiving the rays of the Grace of God. Only then do the Holy Scriptures guide people (they guide the cleansed). Otherwise the people of the Scriptures turn against each other and become enemies. The Reformer Mujaddid Alf-Sani has written in his works that those
people are not worthy of reciting the Holy Scripture whose spiritual entity of the self is at its lowest and base state. It is important that the beginners practice heart meditation, purify and cleanse themselves and then once illuminated then recite the Holy Scriptures.
There is a Prophetic statement to the effect that some people read the Holy Scripture and the Scripture curses them. The Saint Bhulle Shah has stated that there are those who deceive others and yet carry the Scriptures under their arms.
“Faqr is my pride and Faqr is from within me.” (Saying of the Prophet Mohammed)
(Sacred spiritual knowledge pertaining to the Essence and Vision of God).
The pious person believes that he does his worship and austerities for God and that he is very close to God. After worship the person asked God for good health, a long life, material prosperity the maidens and palaces in paradise. Think! Have you ever prayed and asked God that you desire nothing and only desire God?
The religious Scholar believes that in the Sght and Proximity of God he is saved and protected because he has the knowledge and the Scriptures inside him. Then why does the religious Scholar say to other people that they will go to hell, when many believers possess some amounts of knowledge and have memorized many verses of the Scriptures? Think! Who sells knowledge? Who shouts and abuses? Who slanders the Saints? Who is the person that is arrogant and stingy?
A particular intention in the heart and a contradicting word of mouth, one word in the morning and a different word at night. One who presents lies as truth and truth as lies? If you are far from these things then you are the Vicegerent of the Prophet and it is then disrespectful to even turn ones back to you. In other words in appearance he looks like a reader of the Scripture, but in fact he is the Scripture, (only when all these faults are eliminated by the Scholar). If you are lost in these characteristics then you are the person described by the wolf who said that if he had indeed eaten Joseph then may he be raised (have the fate of) as a religious Scholar of the “fourteenth century” (Islamic, our present time).
The straight path (illuminated)
1. Those who are physically pious but there spiritual aspect is dark (not illuminated) are the cause of the mischief in the religion and are the ambassadors of Satan. It is mentioned in Prophetic tradition, that one must be fearful of the ignorant priest (Scholar) whose tongue speaks the knowledge but whose heart is ignorant (dark- not illuminated.)
2. Those whose spiritual aspect is illuminated but who are physically impious, they are regarded as Majzoob (Saints but not in control of their senses,) spiritually crippled, stagnant or isolated.
“Those who have lost their senses in love, then what for the accountability on the day of judgement.”
(Taryaak-e-Qalb written by His Holiness Gohar Shahi).
3. Those whose physical and spiritual aspect is proper and (illuminated.) Those who practice Qalb meditation and practice physical worship.
This type of priest (religious Scholar) is known as the “Godly priest.” They are the inheritors of the pulpit and the religion of the Prophet. When a persons physical and spiritual aspect unite and become as one then that person is known as the Vicegerent of God. If such a person performs a Pilgrimage spiritually then it is as though that person has performed the Pilgrimage physically and he is rewarded accordingly. In fact he is rewarded much more than if he had done the Pilgrimage only physically.
The worship practiced by the souls is considered to be like physical worship (but superior in reward). Further if these people worship physically then their worship becomes exalted in the spiritual realm. It these people whose bodies are in one place and souls are in another place. In the faculty of piety (spiritual path) these people are also known as M’aaraf (whose body and soul can be in two different places at the same time.) Whereas for the Ashiq, the extreme lover of God, the vision and sight of God is enough. Some people say that there is no such thing and that one cannot see God. The knowledge pertaining to seeing God began from the Prophet Mohammed. According to Abu Hanifa (one of the past, eminent Muslim Imams) he has seen God ninety-nine times. Bayazid Bostami (Muslim Saint) has said that he has seen God seventy times. The sight of God is achieved by the spiritual entity, Anna ( which is in the head) and you are unaware of its meditation and the teachings relating to it.
Some people may regard a particular person to be a Saint as a result of his miracles and spiritual grace. But their hearts do not allow them to follow or trust that person because of a particular characteristic or their religion; then rather than insult or abuse them, it is better to stay out of their path. Who knows? They (Saints) may be exalted in the sight of God. A person may be Sheikh Baqa or some Laal Shahbaaz or a Khidr or Sai Baba or Guru Nanak or Bhulle Shah or a person maybe an eternal lover of God (all eminent spiritual figures).
revolutionary message
Gohar Shahi
to all of humanity
A Muslim says that he is the best of all, Whereas the Jew says that his status is better than that of the Muslim, the Christian says that he is better than both and even better than all the other religions because he is from the people of the Son of God (Jesus).
Gohar Shahi says:
“The best and most exalted person is the one, whose heart has the Love of God, even if that person has no religion.”
“The verbal chanting, praise and worship is proof of submission and obedience to God, whereas the practice of Qalb meditation is the way to the Love of God and access to God.”
The Appointed are endorsed and those who copy are outcasts and rejects The one who claims a false Prophecy is an infidel
One who falsely claims to be a Saint is close to infidelity. Wali (Saint) literally means friend (of God) and it is a condition of friendship that a person has at least met and talked to his friend. The Prophet Mohammed said to his companions at one time that there are some tasks that I have to do and they are not for you.
Every worshipper prays and asks God, that he be guided on the straight (illuminated) path. The path of those that have been favoured and gifted by God. Further that his soul reaches and prays at the realm of spiritual appointments, which is the real worship. As this type of practice and worship continues even after death. Similar to when the souls of all the Prophets worshipped in the Dome of the Rock in the night of the “Ascent” of the Prophet Mohammed. Further it is important to comply with the written laws of the religion until one reaches unification and sees God.
On the other hand God has created a substitute for the lazy and sinful. The meditation of the Qalb, the ethereal chanting of the Name of God Allah is a penance for their sins and lack of worship. Sometimes this meditation can illuminate such people and make them the friends of God.
Practice the chanting of the name of God Allah when you have missed your prayers (worship) whilst standing, sitting and even whilst you are turning on your sides
The closeness, acquaintance, spiritual grace and the prayers of Saints can become a means of good fortune for sinners and can even save them from hell. Similar to when the Prophet Mohammed sent his companions to Owais Qarni with the instruction that he pray for the salvation of the sinners, amongst the people of the Prophet. Generosity, practicing austerities, and martyrdom can also become a means of penance and salvation.
God also likes humility, repentance and the weeping of a person. As a result of these God even forgave a person like Nasooh who used to assault dead women and steal their shrouds (Scripture).
One day Jesus asked Satan: “who is your best friend,” Satan said, “a pious miser who is stingy.” Jesus asked why and Satan said that such a persons stinginess destroys that persons good deeds. Jesus then asked Satan who is your worst enemy to which Satan said, “a generous sinner.” Jesus then asked why, to which Satan said because that persons generosity destroys all their bad deeds.
Those who have love for other humans and the creation of God and who look after these and those who support the truth and are just, too become worthy of the Mercy and Grace of God.
The Scholar Iqbal, a young boy at the time was returning from school one day, when he saw a bitch following him. He climbed up the stairs (to his house) and she continued looking at him in sorrow. He thought maybe she was hungry. His father had left him a pancake. He gave her half of the pancake which she ate immediately after which she stared at him again, in sorrow. He then gave the other half of the pancake to her as a result of which he remained hungry for the rest of the day. At night his father was told (in his dream) that God liked the good deed of his son due to which he was exalted and the subject of the Mercy and Grace of God.
When Sabaktgeen took a deer calf from the jungle he saw that its mother was running behind his horse. He stopped and saw that the deer stopped too and turned its face towards the sky. Sabaktgeen noticed tears on the face of the deer and then he freed the calf. Thereafter Sabaktgeen was showered with so much Mercy and Grace by God that he used to often weep over the Name of God.
Maulana Rumi has stated:
“A moment in the company of Saints is better than a hundred years of worship.”
There is a commandment of God that relates:
“I become his voice through which he speaks, I become his hands by which he holds.” (In relation to Saints).
Abu Zarr Ghaffari states:
“On the day of judgement people will recognize a Saint and say to God that they provided water for ablution for the Saint. A voice will be heard, “forgive him.” Another will say to God that he had clothed or fed the Saint and it will be said forgive him also. Countless individuals will be forgiven as a result of the Saints, in this way.
Those who wage war against God are not beheaded for one day, they are turned into infidels and for all of their next life in hell, they will be painfully beheaded every day.
Similar to Bilyam Bawar, who was a very educated Scholar and a pious man, but as he became the enemy of Moses he was sent to hell.
People say that you find God through worship
I say that you find God through your heart
Worship is a way of cleansing the heart and if your heart has not been cleansed by worshipping then you are far from God. There is a Prophetic statement that God does not look at the actions nor the faces but he looks at the intentions and the hearts.
However a person can go to paradise as a result of worship but even that is very far from God.
This spiritual knowledge is for those people who without caring for the maidens (of paradise) and paradise itself desire the Love, Nearness and the Vision of God.
Then according to Scripture:
God makes them meet one of his Friends (a Saint) and Guide
(A complete and perfect spiritual teacher and guide).
When God favours and likes any particular action of any individual, then God looks at that individual with great love and affection. His glance of love, burns all the individuals sins away and those who then sit in the company of that person, too, come within the Grace of God. The Friends of God, “the Companions of the Cave” slept in the cave or were on a “meditative journey” and God continued to look upon them with love as a result of which their companion, dog (was exalted), became Hazrat Qutmeer and will now go to paradise. When the Sheikh Farid came under the Merciful and Graceful Sight of God, a herdsman sitting close by was also illuminated and graced.
When God liked some action and favoured Abu Al-Hassan Kharqani, and began to talk to the Sheikh. He said to the Sheikh one day that if he (God) told the people about the Sheikh they would stone him until he died. The Sheikh then said to God that if he told the people how merciful God is nobody would bow before God. God then said to the Sheikh: “do this, don’t you tell, We won’t tell either.”
When Zaid was brought (before the Prophet Mohammed) for the third time, accused of drinking alcohol. The companions of the Prophet cursed him, as he was being produced time after time for the same sin. The Prophet then said do not curse him as he does love God and his beloved. Those that love God and the Prophet cannot go to hell.
Without doubt God loves all of creation and looks after it, he even provides for the incapable insect inside the stone. Just as disobedient children are punished and chastised, similarly God becomes powerful and imperious for the disobedient and the blasphemers.
Believe this: that God wishes to see you also but you are either unaware, not bothered or ill-fated. What people look at (face) you wash it every day with soap, apply cream to it and shave it, but have you ever washed what God will see? (the heart).
There is a Prophetic statement to the effect that for everything, there is a means, of cleansing that thing, whereas to wash the hearts there is the meditation of the Name of God.
Pure (platonic) love is also connected with the heart. Those who simply say “I love you” verbally are cunning and deceitful.
“Love is not done, love happens, with whomever enters the heart.”
To send God into the heart there is the one-pointed concentration, the meditation of Qalb and the Saints.
The engine of a vehicle cannot reach the destination on its own, without the other parts of the vehicle.
Similarly practicing worship without first illuminating the spirit of the self and the Qalb is incomplete. If without these requirements you believe that your worship is complete and you have achieved paradise then why do you say about other individuals that they are infidels, apostates, and bound for hell when they too worship. The only difference is that people are riding on different wagons (religions) when but are the same on the inside, dark (not illuminated). There is only the difference of the beliefs and sects, whereas these small differences will remain in this world (after death) and only the souls inside people will go forth.
There is prayer on the tongue and yet abuse, desire and envy in the heart. This is known as the worship in appearance only. The general public remain falsely content with this and continue to become the victims of sectarianism. Such people who propagate a religion cause mischief within it. For example you follow a sect (set of beliefs) for ten or fifteen years and practiced worship, then you considered a different sect to be right and then you changed. This would mean that the first sect you followed was false. It should be noted that false worship is not acceptable to God. In other words you rejected the ten or fifteen years of worship that you did. It is also possible that the new sect you join too is false, too. In this case you lost your past and your future worship. When the blindfold was taken off one found oneself at the same spot like the circling Buffalo.
Instead of wasting your life it would have been better if you had found the complete guide (Saint).
The belief of His Holiness Gohar Shahi
The pious and the worshippers of all the religions be placed in a row.
Ask God: “which of these would you like to see?”
Just as your eyes fall on a shining star, whether it be Mars or Mercury or a star without a name similarly God looks at shining hearts whether they are religious or without a religion.
“Without the love of the beloved Sachal, what is belief and what is disbelief.”
To find God you run to the Temples, Churches and Mosques. Is there any proof in history that any person has ever found God sitting in any place of worship? O’ innocent, the dwelling-place of God is your heart. Bring God into your heart then you
will see the places of worship and those who worship in them run towards you. The Saint Bayazid Bostami said that for some time he circled around the Ka’aba and when God came inside him the Ka’aba then circled around him. These places of worship are places of reward whereas the heart is a home. You will call God in the places of worship whereas God will call you in the heart.
Nowhere in the destiny of the intelligent, is the feeling of passion It is the lovers who throw away everything Allah, Allah by doing this, you will not find God It is those of God that that make you meet God.
Every religion believes that the status of its Prophet is higher than any other. This belief became the basis of the wars between the “People of the Books” (Scriptures). It is better if through spirituality (illumination) you reach the gatherings of the Prophets as only then will you know who is in which realm and holds what status.
It was for this time that God said:
“We will soon show you our signs, on the land and in space and even within yourselves.”
Saying of Gohar Shahi:
“The earthly spirits of all human beings are re-incarnated and they are born with different bodies many times. The souls of the pure (illuminated) go into the bodies of the pure. The earthly soul of the Prophet Mohammed was held for Imam Mehdi. Just as it can be said about any part of the Prophet Mohammed’s body that it is the jewel of Amina’s eye (the Prophets mother.) Similarly it can be said about any part of the celestial soul of the Prophet Mohammed that it is the son of Abd-Allah and the jewel of Amina. The souls of the people, of the Prophets family, are also part of the Prophets family.”
Mahdi means the one who will guide.
Mehdi means the one of the Moon. (Whose face will appear in the Moon.)
(As in the names Mehnaz and Mehtaab.)
Zahid Gulzar Ire Land (z_gulzar@hotmail.com)
God addressed all the Prophets by special Names. These became the means of recognition and titles of affirmation for the people of the Prophets. These names were in God’s own language, Semitic. By verbal affirmation of the different names individuals entered the “nation” of the individual Prophets. It is a requirement for this reason that the name (affirmation) be repeated three times.
After entering a nation of a Prophet the amount of recitation and chanting of these words, results in acquiring a corresponding amount of individual purification. At a time of disaster or misfortune the chanting or recitation of these words is a cause of relief from the affliction. These words can also help reduce accountability in the grave. Entry into paradise is also subject to the utterance of these words.
People of every Prophet should memorize the affirmation of their Prophet and chant these words as much as possible day and night. For guidance you can read the revealed Scriptures in your language, but for worship the original text of the original books bring the most spiritual grace and benefit.
The affirmations of the Prophets
The affirmation of the Christians:
لاالہ الا اللہ عیسیٰ روح اللہ
LA ILAHA IL-ALLAH I’SA RUH-ALLAH.
There is no deity but Allah Jesus is the soul of God.
The affirmation of the Jews:
لاالہ الا اللہ موسیٰ کلیم اللہ
LA ILAHA IL-ALLAH MUSA KALIM-ALLAH.
There is no deity but Allah Moses speaks with God.
The affirmation of the people of Abraham:
لاالہ الا اللہ ابراھیم خلیل اللہ
LA ILAHA IL-ALLAH IBRAHIM KHALIL-ALLAH.
There is no deity but Allah Abraham is a friend of God.
The affirmation of the Muslims:
لاالہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہﷺ
LA ILAHA IL-ALLAH MOHAMMED RASUL-ALLAH.
There is no deity but Allah Mohammed is the Messenger of God.
The Hindu and Sikh faiths are links of the religion of Adam and the religion of Noah. It was due to the respect that Adam had for the Hijr-e-Aswad (Black Stone) that the practice of idol worship started in the Hindu faith. Further people that survived on Noah’s Ark started to propagate (their beliefs) after reaching India and their gurus received spiritual grace from Khidr. The names of Adam, (Shankar Ji) and Khidr, (Vishnu Maharaj) are also found in the prayer (benediction) of these people.
Furthermore there is a group that is devoted to Hazrat Fatima (Prophet Mohammed’s daughter) who call upon her as Durga Mai, Lakshmi Devi and Ma (mother) in their worship. Guru Nanak taught his followers “Ishwar Allah is your Name you (God) are Raam and you (God) are the Merciful.”
For the recognition and salvation of individuals of every religion, these affirmations which are of the language of God, Semitic, are essential, no matter what language the individual speaks. It is necessary for an ordinary person to chant or memorize God at least 33 times morning and evening. To be protected from worldly afflictions 99 times a day or as much as possible.
To avoid calamities 5000, 25,000 or 72,000 times a day. Some individuals do this at one time whilst sitting in the same position. The highest figure is 125,000 times a day.
In order to purify the heart and to remove dark patches of sins, there is the discipline of chanting with every breath. When inhaling synchronize LA ILAHA IL-ALLAH with the intake of breath and then synchronize the remainder of the affirmation with the exhaled breath. Concentrate your mind on your heart when exhaling.
To acquire the Love and Friendship of God there is another method which is difficult to acquire without the will and favour of God. For this method as is described in this book, the heartbeat is regarded as a rosary and only the single word Allah is synchronized with each and every heartbeat. Practice this method also, as much as possible on a daily basis.
Some individuals can acquire this practice of meditation by concentrating. Others can acquire it without concentration and some acquire it after reviving (illuminating) their Qalb and soul, when this form of meditation can start automatically.
The amount of chanting done by the friends of God is 72,000 times a day. Whereas the figure of chanting done by the lovers of God can reach upto 125,000 times a day. In addition, if the spiritual entities (inside a person) also engage in chanting then the amount of the individuals chant is beyond the count of the angels keeping “the record” Karamann Katibeen.
Some on land, some on the celestial throne
Some in the Ka’aba, some in the presence of God
Taryaak-e-Qalb
People of a religion, in addition to practicing with the Name of God Allah may also attempt to absorb into their hearts the name of their Prophet, so that the Name of God Allah is balanced. In the spiritual states of intoxication, absorption and majesty (rage and anger) continue to repeat the affirmation of the Prophet until that state no longer exists. Further visualize a spiritual teacher and guide that you have physically seen so as the guide’s spiritual power can inscribe the Name Allah onto your heart.
For people that do not have a religion, God has the knowledge of (the person) who holds their destiny (spiritual grace) or if it exists at all. These individuals, during the practice of this discipline, must visualize the names of the five major Messengers and visualize any Saint they have seen physically and in whom they place their trust and belief. Thereafter the origin of your blessings and grace will speak inside you. In other words your direction, love and heart will turn towards the subject of your visualization.
Some time in the past all the people of the Scriptures (nations) were gathered on one platform. Eating and drinking together and marriage amongst them was permitted. Similarly, in our present time the Ahl-e-Dhikr (people possessing the meditation of the name of God) will unite and gather in this way. The people of the Books were gathered temporarily as the Scripture was only on their tongue and they remained united until the Scripture was present.
Whereas unity amongst people of this type of meditation and chanting will be ever-lasting due to the Name of God Allah, and its light being present in the blood and the heart. A disease that enters the bloodstream or when love for an entity enters the heart, the removal of it is difficult.
Water is simply water but the chain reaction of its motion transforms it into electricity. When milk is churned it transforms into butter. Similarly when the verses of the revealed Scriptures are recited light is created. Recitation of verses and the attributive Names of God creates attributed light and the quality of access gained by this light is to the realm of the angels, which is further subject to assistance provided by an intervening medium. This is the state of “Unity of Being” Wahdat al-Wujjud. The recitation and chanting of the personal Name of God Allah and the personal light created by it provides access to the Essence of God which is direct and without a medium and is connected to the state of “Unity of Consciousness” Wahdat ash-Shuhud.
Many people have great respect, affection and love for the Prophet and the Saints of their religion but bear malice and enmity towards Prophets and Saints of other religions. Such people cannot receive any status from God as they abuse those who are from amongst the Friends of God and who were appointed by God to different nations and religions.
A few experiences of loving souls
An experience of an eternally (favoured) soul
I was passing a jungle in the United States one evening when I saw that a man was bowed down in front of a tree and pleading. I passed the same spot an hour later and saw that he was in the same position. I went close to him and stopped. He felt my presence, raised his head and said “why did you disturb me.” I said to him that I too was searching for God, but how can you find God in a tree? I said that it would be better if he adopted a religion and tried to find God in this way.
He said: “I do not know the original languages of the Bible, the Qur’an and the other celestial books and I am not satisfied with their translations and due to the many contradictions and differences in them it cannot be believed that any one God has sent these books. In one book it states that “Jesus is my Son” whereas in another book it is stated that “ I do not have a Son.” I have lost a lot of time and many years of my life in their study. I have now adopted another approach. I thought that this tree is so beautiful and this means that God loves it and may be I will find a connection with God through it.”
This (man) was some eternal loving soul that was trying to find God according to his own understanding. Can such people who are considered “disabled” go to hell? (spiritually- Sincere seekers of God but who have not found God through their chosen approach).
They, like Qutmeer are exalted. (a dog who was favoured by God, exalted and given status and who will go to paradise).
An experience of Miss Catherine of Arizona
“I was taught the Qalb meditation by Angela (a friend) who said that if within seven days I felt the Name of God Allah vibrate in my heart that I should consider myself favoured and accepted by God, otherwise my life was useless. When after seven days of effort I did not feel the Qalb meditation, I agonizingly cried one night and pleaded (with God.) That same night the meditation of the Name of God Allah started to vibrate inside me and has since continued now for three years.” Catherine does not believe in growing old she is keen on staying healthy. Similarly she does not believe in religion but believes in the Love of God. She states that due to this meditation the Love of God in her heart is increasing and that this is enough for her.
A meeting with a Hindu Guru
I was in the mountains of Sehwan at the time. I would sometimes go to the tomb of the Saint Laal Shabaz. A man was sitting in the courtyard outside the tomb and there were many people of the Hindu faith gathered around him in affection. I asked “who is this gentleman?” They said that he was a Guru of the Hindus, that he is enlightened and through him our requests reach the Saint Laal Sai and our requests are fulfilled. Many Muslims too respected him.
I was passing a hill one day when I saw the same man bowed down in front of a small statue that he had placed in front of him and he was chanting. I met him at the tomb the next day. I told him that I did not understand why an enlightened person like him would worship a statue made of clay. He said that he did not believe the statue to be any God but it was his belief, which was found in the books (of Muslims too) that God made man in his own image. For this reason he would make many images and worship them in the hope that one might resemble God. He said to me “you are enlightened too, tell me what does God look like? Which statue resembles the face of God? So as I can bring that image into my heart.”
I was about sixteen or seventeen years old when one day I went to the tomb of the Saint Baba Gohar Ali Shah (one of my ancestors.) I was reciting a Holy verse when a tall man with the appearance of a sage came in front of me and said “you are chewing on peas without reason.” He was Saintly in appearance due to which I remained silent but I thought in my heart that he was some Satan who was stopping me from my recitation.
A long time passed. When my Qalb meditation started I was about thirty five years old. I used to verbally recite the Holy verse as I had been told. I would then be silent so as my heart could recite it. I would then hear the verse from my heart. One day I was joyfully preoccupied with this practice when the same man came in the same appearance and said “ now, you are ‘reciting’ Holy Scripture.” He read this poem:
“A cure is not found until a medicine goes into the stomach
Nothing is achieved until the Scripture of God descends into the heart
Verbal affirmation every person does, heart recitation do but a few heart affirmation is done by lovers, what would our verbalizing friends know.”
After I had finished my prayers in the Mosque of Data Darbar I saw that an elderly man was tidying the shoes of people who came to the Mosque for prayers. As I was in the last row I noticed that this man had not said his prayers and he was only tidying shoes. As I was leaving I said to him “as you did not say your prayers what will you gain by tidying shoes?” He said “I have not prayed my entire life and what hope of salvation can I now have from praying.”
He further said that he hoped that amongst all these people, there would at least be one friend of God. Further that the Friend of God or God would be happy with his deed. I said to him that there was no deed greater than prayer and he replied that there was no greater thing than the friend (God) but only if one can make him happy (achieve his favour).
One day, three years later when my spiritual seclusion ended, I travelled (spiritually) to a gathering of the Prophets and saw that the same man was sitting at the feet of the beloved. I then remembered this poem:
The sinful reached the Holy Court, the worshippers stood watching
Copyright © 2019 SUFI SAINT (SULTAN UL FAQR) RIAZ AHMAD GOHAR SHAHI
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Health Statistics and You
Created in Newsletter Library, Wellness
We are awash in numbers, thanks in large part to the proliferation of personal mobile devices and the wrong-headed use of so-called big data.1 But applying statistical tools to the same set of data can support competing theories and lead to contradictory results. Such conflicting outcomes, known as antinomies if you remember Philosophy 101, cannot logically co-exist, and the field of statistics gets a bad reputation as a result. But big data can provide substantial value for people as individual patients. The key is to set some ground rules and understand the limitations of statistical investigation.
First and foremost, it's important to gain some clarity regarding the concept of false positives in regards to health. This statistical construct is familiar to all of us, although we may not be aware of it. If one of your doctors sends you for a laboratory test and the results are "positive", you'll be sent for follow-up tests until a final determination is made. If the final test turns out "negative", then the earlier results represented a false positive. The test results said you had the condition or disease, but in fact you did not.
False positives create numerous serious problems, not the least of which is the emotional toll of stress, anxiety, and fear experienced by the patient and her family and close friends. This is especially true when the suspected disease is a malignancy or other serious, life-threatening condition. It's useful and empowering for people to learn that 5% of all test results are falsely positive right from the start. Medical tests are designed this way. The 5% false positive rate is a necessary part of statistical analysis. It's built-in to the statistical design. In other words, test values that represent "normal" are obtained by cutting off the bottom 2.5% and the top 2.5% of a large sample of results from people who are "normal" for the thing being tested, such as white blood cell count or hemoglobin level.
Thus, 5% of normal people automatically have false positive results. Another way of stating this outcome is to consider that if you undergo a panel of 20 blood tests, one result (5% of 20) will be positive no matter what.
The vast majority of patients are not familiar with the statistical concept of false positive results.2 With a basic understanding of this construct and its implications, patients could ask their doctors meaningful questions such as, "What do the test results mean?", "Have you considered the possibility of a false positive result?", and "How will the additional tests you're recommending affect decision-making in my case?"
Posing such questions is tremendously empowering for you, the patient, and helps reestablish equity in the doctor-patient relationship.3 As a health care consumer, a little knowledge goes a long way. Gaining more than a little knowledge by reading articles on diagnostic methods and health care decision-making will further strengthen your own process as a patient.
1Bates DW, et al: Big data in health care: using analytics to identify and manage high-risk and high-cost patients. Health Aff (Millwood) 33(7):1123-31, 2014
2Paddock SM: Statistical benchmarks for health care provider performance assessment: a comparison of standard approaches to a hierarchical Bayesian histogram-based method. Health Serv Res 49(3):1056-73, 2014
3Stacey D, et al: Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions. Cochane Database Syst Rev 28;1:CD001431, 2014
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Romford, Essex
Romford (or "Rumford") was the subject of a report in An Account of Several Workhouses..., dated October 24th, 1724.
THE Number of People taken in and provided for in the Workhouse here, is very different, sometimes more, and sometimes less. We have had above 30, and now under 20. These being impotent people, very aged, or Children, it cannot be expected they should earn a great deal: However, somewhat they do, both Men and Women go abroad to work, when there is a Demand for them ; and at Home the Women spin or wind Silk, and the Men pick Ockam.
I must, SIR, observe to you, that the Advantage of the Workhouse to the Parish, does not arise from what the poor People can do towards their Subsistance, but from the Apprehensions the Poor have of it. These prompt them to exert, and do their utmost to keep themselves off the Parish, and render them exceedingly averse to submit to come into the House, till extream Necessity compels them.
PRIDE, tho' it does ill become poor Folks, won't suffer some to wear the Badge; others cannot brook Confinement; and a third Sort deem the Workhouse to be a mere State of Slavery, and so Numbers are kept out.
THERE are two things more that have greatly contributed to render the Workhouse beneficial towards reducing the Poor's Rate, viz. That whereas before a great many Pensions were granted, thro' Partiality or Favour, these are all stopped: An whereas it was usual to pay Rents for the Poor, we have resolved to pay none ; and in this Article we have saved to the Parish above 70l per Annum.
BEFORE opening of the House, our Poor were sometimes 1s. 8d. and 1s. 10d. and never under 1s. 6d. per Pound ; last Year they were but 1s. out of which too we paid a Debt of 50l. and this Year we hope to some off for 8d.
THE Expenses for the Workhouse from Michaelmas 1723, to Michaelmas 1724, were 147l. 11s. 0d ¼, and the Receipts for the Labour and Work of the poor in the same Time, were 10l. 17s. 7d. ¼.
The Orders in the Work-house at Rumford are to the following Effect.
I. THAT the Master and Mistress be sober and orderly Persons, and not given to swear, and that they see the Orders strictly performed.
II. THAT they rise by seven a Clock in the Morning from Michaelmas to Lady-Day; and by six from Lady-Day to Michaelmas.
III. THAT they see the Family a Bed by eight a Clock, and their Candles out, during the Winter half-Year ; but in the Summer half-Year, that they be in Bed by nine.
IV. THAT they have their Breakfast in the Winter half-Year at eight in the Morning, and in the Summer half-Year by seven.
V. THAT they have their Dinner by one a Clock all the Year.
VI. THAT they have their Supper at six in the Evening during the Winter half-year, and in the Summer at seven.
VII. THAT the Beer be drawn by one Person for a whole Day in his Turn.
VIII. THAT the Cloth be laid by Turns for Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper.
IX. THAT they sit at the Table to eat their Meals in a decent manner.
X. THAT the Master say Grace before, and after their Meals.
XI. THAT they have the House swept from top to bottom every Morning, and washed once a Week.
XII. THAT they are called to work in Summer by seven, and in the Winter at eight in the Morning.
XIII. THAT they leave Work at seven a Clock at Night in the Summer, and six in the Winter.
XIV. THAT no Person go out of the Gate without the Master's Leave.
XV. THAT if any Person steals, or is heard to swear, or curse, for such Crimes the first time to stand on a Stool at one Corner of the Working-Room, the whole Day, with the Crime pinned to their Breast.
XVI. THAT for the second Offence, he or she stand in the like Posture, and have half a Pound of Bread, and a Quart of Water for that Day.
XV1I. THAT for the third Offence, he or she be ordered by a Justice of Peace to be publickly whipt.
XVIIL THAT the Master read, or cause to be read, Prayers every Morning before Breakfast, and every Evening before Supper, and call together as many as can be conveniently there.
XlX. THAT these Prayers shall be out of the Whole Duty of Man, or some other good Book, as the Minister shall appoint.
XX. THAT the Master and Mistress shall every Lord's Day attend at the Publick Worship, with as many of the House as are not hindred by a just Reason.
XXI. THAT on the Lord's Day, either before Church, or after Dinner, he do read, or cause to be read, the Psalms and Lessons appointed for the Morning Service : and after Evening Prayer, the Psalms and Lessons for the Evening Service ; and also a Section or Chapter out of the Whole Duty of Man.
XXII. THAT the Master and Mistress do receive the Holy Sacrament four Times every Year at least.
XXIII. THAT the Master do give an Account every Monthly Meeting, of all such as are negligent and disorderly.
The location of the workhouse is uncertain but may have been near the Market Place. Romford erected a nw workhouse in 1787 in a field called Joy's Mead, at the west side of North Street, Romford, to the north of the Roger Reede almshouses. It could house up to 250 inmates. In 1832, the had 121 in residence (38 Men, 32 Women, 30 Boys, and 21 Girls) and was said to be "very well regulated". Bread was also baked there and delivered to the parish's outdoor poor instead of giving them relief in money. After the opening of the new union workhouse in 1839, the building was sold off and then demolished.
In a report dated 13 March, 1725, parish workhouse was in operation at Barking (alias Bury-king):
In the Year 1721, the Parish took a House upon a Lease for 30 Years, at 10l. per Annum, and having fitted up with necessary Accommodations for receiving the poor Pensioners of the Parish, they opened it at Christmas the same Year. It will conveniently lodge about 48 People, two in a Bed; and there is a small Infirmary built on the Backside of the House, but the People are generally in so good Health, that there has been hitherto little Occasion to use it.
The Number of Poor now in the House is,
4 old Men } from 50 to 80 Years of Age.
10 old Women
3 Boys } from 4 to 7 Years of Age.
THEIR Employment is picking Ockam, at which they earn altogether about 20l. per Annum ; the Materials for this Sort of Work being pieces of old cable, or Junk (as it is called), are bought of two Merchants, one at Rotherhith, near Three Mariners Stairs, and the other at Cuckold's Point, and cost 7s. per hundred Weight ; which is sold again in Ockam for 10s. per Hundred.
Or in spun Yarn at 2d. ½ per pound.
Or in Rope Yarn at 2d. per pound, or 16s. 8d. per C. Wt. For all these are made out of old Cable.
THE Women knit, and mend Stockings for the whole Family, make Beds, and keep the House clean, and sometimes pick Ockam.
The Steward and his Wife have the Government of the Family ; he buys all the Necessaries for Food at the Market, and she takes Care for dressing it.
The Victuals is divided into Messes, 4 Persons to a Mess ; this being a cheap Country for Flesh, they have 4 Flesh Days in the Week, according to the following Bill of Fare, viz.
Breakfast. Dinner. Supper.
Sunday Sheeps Head Broth Beef, Pudding, and Broth What's left at Noon
Monday Beef Broth Oatmeal Hasty Pudding with a quarter of a Pound of Butter to a Mess Bread Butter or Cheese
Tuesday Hasty Pudding Three bak'd Ox Cheeks What's left at Dinner
Wednesday Ox Cheek Broth Pease Porridge Bread, Cheese and Butter
Thursday Hot Pease Porridge Beef & Broth What's left at Dinner
Friday Beef Broth Milk Porridge Bread and Cheese
Saturday Milk Porridge Sheep's Head for each Mess What's left at Dinner
Bread and Beer are allowed without Limitation.
They have Roast Beef at the Three Great Festivals, and Plumb-Pudding at Christmas.
The Poor's Rate here is reduced from 2s. to 1s. in the Pound, and the Poor better provided for.
The Barking workhouse was located on North Street and in 1777 could house up to 70 inmates. The parish erected a new workhouse in 1788, near the Bull Inn on North Street. The brick building was two storeys high, plus a basement, with two side wings, and cost of £4,000. An inscription above the front entrance read 'This House of Industry at the sole Expence of the Inhabitants of Barking is to provide and protect the Industrious and to pubish the Idle and Wicked'.
Barking North Street workhouse, late 19th century.
Hornchurch established a workhouse in 1721 in four cottages, previously part of Pennants almshouses, at the corner of Billet Lane and the High Street. A supermarket now occupies the site.
Dagenham had a workhouse in the 1730s-40s in a property known as Wright's on Church Elm Lane, formerly used as almshouses. In 1777, it could house 30 inmates. After the formation of the Romford Union in 1836, it the building returned to use as alsmhouses.
A parish workhouse operated at Upminster in a building on St Mary's Lane dating from around 1751. In 1777, could hold up to 20 inmates. The property was subsequently converted to a row of cottages.
Upminster former parish workhouse, 2004.
Romford Poor Law Union formally came into being on 31st May, 1836. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 24 in number, representing its 10 constituent parishes as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):
Essex: Barking (8), Cranham, Dagenham (2), Hornchurch (3), Havering-atte-Bower, Rainham, Romford (5), Upminster, Great Warley and Wennington.
The population falling within the Union at the 1831 census had been 19,521 with parishes ranging in size from Wennington (population 127) to Barking (8,036) and Romford itself (4,294). The average annual poor-rate expenditure for the period 1833-5 had been £11,958 or 12s.3d. per head.
Initially, the union took over the existing parish workhouses at Romford and Barking. A new union workhouse was erected in 1838-39 on a five-acre site on Oldchurch Road to the south-west of the town. The site, then open farmland, was bought from a Mr Philpot at £160 per acre. Originally, three architects (James Savage, Sampson Kempthorne and Francis Edwards) submitted plans and tenders for the new building which was to accommodate 450 inmates. Savage later withdrew, and the nine-man building committee eventually chose the plans of Francis Edwards by a vote of five to four.
Edwards' design, although based on the popular cruciform plan, was unusual in having the main accommodation ranges running diagonally rather than square to the outer perimeter walls. Among the relatively few other examples of this type of layout are George Wilkinson's Oxfordshire workhouses at Chipping Norton and Witney. No other workhouse buildings are attributed to Francis Edwards.
Romford workhouse site, 1890
Romford entrance from the south, 2000.
The entrance block to the south would have contained the Guardians' Board Room and other administrative offices.
Romford entrance block from the south-west, 2000.
Romford entrance archway, 2000.
The main accommodation ranges radiated from a central octagonal hub which incorporated observation windows for the workhouse master to observe each of the four inmates yards.
Romford south-east and south-west ranges from the south-west, 2000.
The north-east and south-east ranges contained the females' day rooms and wards. Those to the north-west and south-west provided male accommodation. Dining-rooms and kitchens lay at the north of the building.
Romford entrance lodge, 2000.
According to an 1840s directory, able-bodied paupers at the workhouse were employed in grinding corn and cultivating the garden ground, etc.
By the 1890s, a pavilion-plan infirmary had been erected at the east of the workhouse. It comprised a staff block with male and female pavilions placed at either side, and a further block at the east, pehaps housing offices or nurses' accommodation.
Romford workhouse infirmary from the south-east, early 1900s.
In 1922, during a period of high unemployment, two thousand men marched to the workhouse to lobby a meeting of the Romford Board of Guardians. The demonstrators were petitioning for an increase in their unemployment pay, which was less than that given to those living within adjacent districts falling within the Greater London boundary. Although a few of the Guardians sympathised with the request, the majority refused to give the men a hearing, or even a ration of bread and cheese. Instead the Board adjourned for their own lunch, ordering the workhouse gates to be locked. During the afternoon, when the gates were opened to allow a vehicle to leave, the men rushed through. They helped themselves to loaves from the bakehouse, and towels and blankets were stolen from the infirmary. Refusing demands from the Guardians that to leave, the men barricaded the Guardians inside the workhouse. Two Guardians tried to drive their cars through the crowd, but their vehicles were damaged. Later in the evening, the Chief Constable of Essex arrived at the scene and advised the Board that giving the men a hearing would be a far quicker way of resolving the situation than organizing a sufficient body of police reinforcements. The Guardians reluctantly agreed and, surprisingly, were moved by the case put by the men. Action was promised and was followed up by the efforts to change official rules and provide more money to support the unemployed.
The former workhouse buildings later became part of Oldchurch Hospital. The cruciform section of the workhouse was demolished in 2000 to make way for a car park.
Children's Homes
In 1905, the Romford Guardians decided to adopt the scattered homes system for its pauper children. Two large semi-detached houses were purchased for use as a receiving and probationary home. Initially, thirty children were housed there under the care of a foster mother and one assistant. On 24th September, 1907, Gertrude Smedley was appointed foster mother of the scattered homes at 3, Adelaide Villas, Mawneys, Romford — aged only 19 years she was the youngest ever foster mother employed by the union.. By 1914, there were children's Homes at 5-8 Laurie Square, and 1-2 the Croft, Heath Park Road. In 1914, there were scattered homes operating at Gilmore House, 36 Pelham Road, and Richmond House, 38 Pelham Road, Ilford. In 1929, there were homes at 26-28 Manor Road, 42-44 Brentwood Road, and on King Edward Road.
1846 — Clerk to the Board of Guardians: WH Clifton; Relieving officers: John B Miller and Richard Parker; Chaplain: Rev. Thomas Donkin; Master and Matron of workhouse: Mr. T. and Mrs. Sellars; Miller: Charles Godbold; Schoolmaster: Walter Easton; Schoolmistress: Martha Howman; Porter: William Hawes. Eight surgeons were employed by the Union.
Essex Record Office, Wharf Road Chelmsford CM2 6YT. Relatively few records survive. Holdings include: Guardians' minute books (1836-1930); etc.
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Sep Oct 2017 issue 133
Leisure Management - Talking Point
From Sports Management Sep Oct 2017 issue 133
While rare, the sudden, unexpected death of an athlete is always a tragedy that sends shockwaves through sport. Tom Walker finds out how the industry is preventing such deaths among elite and grassroots players
Tom Walker, Leisure Media
Ex-footballer Fabrice Muamba now raises awareness of sudden cardiac arrest © Matt Alexander/PA Archive/PA Images
Muamba recovered despite his heart stopping for 78 minutes © Joe Giddens/EMPICS Sport
When Manchester City and Cameroon star Marc Vivien Foé collapsed and died during an international match in 2003, it shocked the entire footballing world – and raised awareness of sudden cardiac arrest among athletes.
Sadly, since Foé’s demise, football has suffered a number of similar, distressing incidents. Perhaps the most high-profile case in recent years was that of Fabrice Muamba, the Bolton Wanderers and England U-21 midfielder, who suffered a heart-attack during a televised FA Cup Quarter Final match in 2012. Fortunately, Muamba recovered – despite his heart having stopped for 78 minutes – but was forced to retire from professional football. He now actively campaigns to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest.
Many other sports have had their own, similar tragedies. Neil Desai, a promising, 22-year-old world-ranked squash player; Alexei Cherepanov, a “super talented” 19-year-old Russian ice hockey player; Frederiek Nolf, a 21-year-old Belgian cyclist riding with the Topsport team were among the fit, young athletes who succumbed to sudden, unexpected cardiac arrest while playing their sport.
Just this year, the deaths of two rugby players in New Zealand – Waitohi prop Bevan Moody and Wellington star Daniel Baldwin – traumatised those who were involved in the country’s national sport.
The world also mourned former Newcastle FC player Cheick Tiote when he suffered a fatal heart attack during training with his new team, Beijing Enterprises.
It isn’t just elite athletes who are at risk, either. While it may be mistakenly assumed that sudden cardiac arrest results from finely-tuned athletes pushing themselves too hard, or unfit amateurs overexerting themselves, the truth is that people of all fitness levels can carry undetected heart defects.
More than a quarter of sudden cardiac events are blamed on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – a genetic condition caused by a mutation in one or more genes, carried by around one in 500 people. The discovery of a causal link has led to increased screening for the condition, with the most common tests for HCM being electrocardiogram (measuring the electrical activity of the heart), echocardiogram (showing the pumping action of a heart) and an exercise stress test.
At elite level, cardiac screening of athletes has now become a focus for sports medicine teams and many sports associations and organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, have issued recommendations regarding screening practices in an effort to prevent – or at least limit the number – of sudden cardiac arrests in athletes.
At grassroots level, sports clubs are becoming increasingly aware of the need for defibrillators – a life-saving piece of equipment which, if used in tandem with CPR during heart attacks, can help increase the chances of survival by up to 70 per cent.
But is there more we can be doing? To find out, we spoke to experts and people in the field about their experiences.
Conleth Donnelly
Development officer Sport Northern Ireland
In July 2016, Sport Northern Ireland launched its Defibrillators for Sport initiative, in partnership with the Department for Communities NI and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Modern AEDs (automated external defibrillators) can make a massive difference when an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurs, particularly in the critical period before an ambulance arrives.
While 1,000 AEDs were available outside of hospitals in Northern Ireland before the programme launched, there was no comprehensive record of who had a device, where they were located and who had access.
Recognising the risk of OHCAs in a sport setting, and the role of clubs and centres as community ‘hubs’ for people here, the Defibrillators for Sport initiative invited clubs and community organisations to apply for a free AED device through Sport NI.
The initiative aimed to increase the number of AED devices available in community settings. It also included a mapping exercise conducted in partnership with the NI Ambulance Service to record the location of the allocated devices.
The allocation model ensured devices were evenly distributed across Northern Ireland’s 11 local council areas, and particularly in rurally isolated areas. By the end of the project, 1,094 AEDs will have been distributed. We’re now working with councils and the NI Ambulance Service on developing more robust systems for maintaining AEDs.
"By the end of the project, 1,094 AEDs will have been distributed around Northern Ireland’s local council areas"
Dr Steven Cox CEO Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)
Dr Steven Cox
Every week in the UK, around 12 apparently fit and healthy young people aged 35 and under, die suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Eighty per cent of these young sudden cardiac deaths (YSCD) will occur with no prior symptoms – which is why CRY believes screening is so vitally important.
Screening won’t identify all young people at risk, but in Italy, where screening is mandatory for young people engaged in organised sport, the incidence of young sudden cardiac death has been reduced by 90 per cent. Sport does not cause sudden cardiac death but it can significantly increase risk if a young person has an underlying condition.
CRY now tests more than 23,000 young people, aged 14 to 35, every year through its pioneering screening programme, which is overseen by world leading cardiologist professor, Sanjay Sharma.
Many of those tested will be young people playing at grassroots level as well as those not involved in regular sport. To prevent YSCD, facility operators should take into account some key points.
Be aware of cardiac signs and symptoms – if a person passes out or feels chest pain during exercise, they should contact CRY. Operators can make people aware they can have free cardiac screening if aged between 14 and 35 – book an appointment at www.testmyheart.org.uk.
If all young people were checked, and everyone learned CPR, hundreds of lives could be saved.
"CRY now tests more than 23,000 young people, aged 14 to 35, every year through its pioneering screening"
© shutterstock/ Kittisak Jirasittichai
If a young person passes out or feels chest pain during exercise, they should get screened by CRY
Dr Mike Knapton Associate medical director, British Heart Foundation
Dr Mike Knapton
The two most important measures in helping to prevent sudden cardiac deaths are prompt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation, along with early identification of people who have these, often hidden, conditions.
CPR is a crucial, lifesaving skill. Sports clubs and facility operators should provide CPR training for their players and staff, to ensure they have trained first aiders at all training sessions and matches, and access to defibrillators.
In the UK around 600,000 people have a faulty gene that causes an inherited heart condition, which can significantly increase your risk of a sudden cardiac death. Every week in the UK 12 people aged 35 and under die of an undiagnosed heart condition.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is funding research to identify the faulty genes that cause these conditions and understand how they work. We’re applying these research findings to improve survival rates through early identification and treatment.
This is where genetic cascade testing comes in. The UK is ahead of the game in this, thanks to BHF investment. Cascade testing is a screening tool that identifies people at risk of a genetic condition by a process of systematic family tracing. So when someone is identified as having an inherited heart condition, their close biological relatives are also tested.
Through the Miles Frost Fund we’re funding specialist genetic nurses to run testing in UK centres, and we also support Heartstart schemes to deliver free CPR training at sports clubs and in communities.
"We’re funding research to identify the faulty genes that cause these conditions and understand how they work"
Christophe Lavialle Chair Mini and youth section, Hitchin Rugby Football Club
Christophe Lavialle
Our U-10 coach, a very fit and healthy guy, had a sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed during an evening training session. We had a number of youth teams training at the time, so there were other coaches around – some of whom had trained as first aiders and were able to attend to him. One of the coaches started CPR and another retrieved the defibrillator, which we had acquired about a year earlier through an initiative run by Eastern England Ambulance Service. The coaches continued giving CPR for the full 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived. It was undoubtedly due to these actions that he made a full recovery.
Before this incident, we hadn’t really considered or planned for a cardiac event specifically, but had made big investments in first aid provision as a club.
In total, we spend around 30 per cent of our annual budget on first aid. It’s a lot, but it underlines our commitment to the safety and welfare of our members and the wider community who visit our facility.
The investment enables us to always have at least one paramedic present during all training sessions and games. As we’re quite a successful club at youth level (we have 600 children on our books) we have a lot of games at the same time, spread out across a large area. Having an ambulance present reassures parents and players.
There were some simple lessons we gained from the incident, such as ensuring no-one parks in front of the ambulance access gate.
We’re also committed to training more of our coaches and members in first aid so we can respond to any incident successfully every time.
"Our investment enables us to always have at least one paramedic present during all training sessions and games"
© Lynne Cameron/PA Archive/PA Images
Hitchin RFC spends 30 per cent of its annual budget on first aid to keep its members safe
What to do in an emergency – East of England Ambulance Service advice
A cardiac arrest is an emergency. If you witness a cardiac arrest, you can greatly increase the person’s chances of survival by phoning 999 immediately and giving CPR.
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) means:
• Chest compression (pumping the heart by external cardiac massage), to keep the circulation going until the ambulance arrives
• Rescue breathing (inflating the lungs by using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation).
Remember – even if you haven’t been trained in CPR with rescue breathing, you can still use hands-only CPR. It is possible for a person to survive and recover from a cardiac arrest if they get the right treatment quickly.
Ventricular Fibrillation can sometimes be corrected by giving an electric shock through the chest wall, by using a device called a defibrillator. This can be done in the ambulance or at hospital, or it can be done by a member of the public at the scene of a cardiac arrest if there is a community defibrillator nearby.
Immediate CPR can be used to keep oxygen circulating around the body until a defibrillator can be used and/or until the ambulance arrives. Sporting facilities and other leisure centres can help by ensuring they have community defibrillators installed, and in the event that an athlete collapses and goes into cardiac arrest that they call 999 and follow the instructions of the trained call handler.
© shutterstock/ ms.nen
Defibrillators can help save lives
Originally published in Sports Management Sep Oct 2017 issue 133
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Tag Archives: Amblimation
Ep. 018: Cinzia Angelini – Director of ‘Mila’
By Angela Entzminger June 21, 2016 July 3, 2016 2D Animation, 3D Animation, animation, DreamWorks, Illumination, Sony, Storyboard Artist, Storyboarding, Storyboards
Cinzia Angelini is the pro’s pro when it comes to the field of animation. The animation veteran who specializes in animation and storyboarding has worked for some of the most well-known companies in the industry including Amblimation, DreamWorks, Sony, Disney and Illumination. Her work spans the 2D and 3D gamut including Balto, Sinbad, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to Eldorado, Meet the Robinsons, Open Season, Spider-Man 2, and Bolt, several DVD projects including Kung Fu Panda Secrets Of The Masters and the Universal Theme Park ride for Despicable Me, Minions Mayhem.
In this episode Cinzia and I discuss her experience growing up in Milan, Italy, majoring in graphic design and animation, working at various studios, and directing her short film, Mila. The film, about a little girl caught up in the bombing of Trento, Italy during WWII, is a passion project of Cinzia’s based on the stories told to her by her mother and grandmother. Combining the forces of 250 people from 25 countries from around the world, and with the support of Unicef, Pixel Cartoon, and Ibiscus Media, the short film encompasses the largest virtual studio collaboration ever created. Learn more about this important film and support the Indiegogo campaign today!
Cinzia Angelini’s Sites
http://cinziaangelini.com/
Official ‘Mila’ Website
http://milafilm.com/
‘Mila’ Indiegogo Campaign
http://bit.ly/27aufXE
www.theanimatedjourney.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/theanimatedjourney
www.sketchysoul.tumblr.com
@Sketchy_Soul
Tagged 2D Animator, 3D Animator, Amblimation, Animation, Animation Podcast, Animator, Balto, Bolt, Cinzia Angelini, Director, Disney, DreamWorks, Illumination, Indiegogo, Meet the Robinsons, Mila, Milafilm, Minions, Open Season, Prince of Egypt, Quest for Camelot, Sinbad, Sony, Spider-Man 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Storyboard Artist, The Road to Eldorado, Warner Bros.
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The Fantasticast Episode 47: Fantastic Four #43 & X-Men #13
Because once just isn't enough
(Oops, I can see I gave Sam the wrong X-Men cover to use for the image. That'll teach me to arrange podcast stuff when drunk. Aside: It won't.)
Hello and welcome to the 47th episode of The Fantasticast. There's a strong sense of deja vu in the air today, as thanks to a recording failure, Steve and Andy are doing it all over again. So, for the second time, we're covering Fantastic Four #43, wherein an evil Ben Grimm does his best to help the Frightful Four defeat the Fantastic Four. We're also checking in with X-Men #13, wherein a slightly-brainwashed Johnny Storm does his best to help the X-Men defeat the Juggernaut.
Along the way, we discuss Omnibuses, the departure of Matt Fraction, the awesomeness of Karl Kesel, the un-awesomeness of the original X-Men logo, and we have special guest-appearances from every guest-host we've had on the show to date.
There's also some singing. Sorry about that...
Tagged: Fantastic Four, Jack Kirby, Jay Gavin, Joe Sinnott, Podcast, Sam Rosen, Stan Lee, Vinnie Colletta, X-Men
Newer PostThe Fantasticast Episode 48: Fantastic Four #43 - Lo, There Shall Be An Ending
Older PostThe Fantasticast Episode 46: Fantastic Four #41 - The Brutal Betrayal Of Ben Grimm
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Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week – Hoss Marino (St. Francis Catholic)
Our Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week Presented by State Farm agent Mark McGriff for the week of September 14 is HOSS MARINO* of the St. Francis Catholic (Gainesville) football team.
*Marino ran for 189 yards on 33 carries and scored two TDs, including the game-winner with 1:24 left, as St. Francis Catholic defeated St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) on the road. The senior quarterback/linebacker also tossed a scoring pass and had three tackles on defense.
Previous 2015-16 winners:
September 7 – Tyrus Cook (Union County football)
Cook completed 24-of-34 passes and threw for a school record 411 yards as Union County stayed unbeaten with a 39-13 win against previously unbeaten Newberry. The junior accounted for all six scores as he threw four TD passes and ran for two more. Cook had TD passes of 16, 8, 26, & 19 yards while adding a 14-yard TD run and a 19-yard scoring run.
August 31 – Matt Armstrong (Oak Hall football)
Armstrong accounted for all four TD’s as Oak Hall (Gainesville) defeated Aucilla Christian (Monticello), 28-7, to pick up its first win of the season, and just its second victory in the past year. With the Eagles trailing 7-0, the sophomore quarterback completed a 70-yard TD pass to Spencer Marino to tie the game, followed by a 70-yard scoring run for the game-winning score. He added two 3-yard touchdown runs.
The Trophy Shop Athlete-of-the-Week is presented by State Farm Agent Mark McGriff of Gainesville. For more information on auto, life and health insurance, call Mark at 352-372-8406. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week – Tyrus Cook (Union County)
Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week – Matt Armstrong (Oak Hall)
Trophy Shop Athlete-of-the-Week
Posted: Sep 28 2015
Categories: Athlete of the Week, Football, Posts, Sports
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The Ins and Outs of Building International Collaborations to Research Global Health Disparities
By Dr. Marlene Y. MacLeish
In late February, The Sullivan Alliance (SA) hosted the third annual Steering Committee Meeting of the U.S.-Caribbean Alliance for Health Disparities Research (USCAHDR). As the project director, it is my privilege to discuss the significance of this unique governmental/non-governmental partnership among SA, the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Our project focuses on research to ascertain similarities and differences between U.S. and English-speaking Caribbean populations of African descent and explores how this knowledge advances current understanding of the relationship among determinants of health, including lifestyles and health practices. The framework for our analysis comes from the Institute of Medicine’s 2009 recommendations published in U.S. Commitment to Global Health: Recommendations for the Public and Private Sector.
The work of the USCAHDR project is supported through a cooperative agreement, which includes the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), The Sullivan Alliance, and The University of the West Indies. Dr. Louis W. Sullivan and Dr. E. Nigel Harris, Vice Chancellor of the UWI, serve as principal investigators of the project.
UWI is a university system serving 18 separate countries and territories in the Caribbean. The University consists of three campuses at Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and the Open Campus. There are satellite campuses in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a Centre for Hotel Tourism Management in Nassau, Bahamas. The other contributing countries are served by the Open Campus which has presence and Heads of Sites in each of the 18 countries.
In 2012, a delegation including Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Claudia Baquet, representing the USCAHDR Steering Committee, and I visited the UWI Mona Campus for the project’s first planning meeting. Dr. Sullivan gave a University-wide presentation, Global Health Disparities: Challenges and Opportunities, which was attended by faculty and students from across the disciplines. This event gave us important momentum and became a cornerstone for building this unique partnership.
Dr. Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H. W. Bush, brings unique leadership, including policy perspectives from his signatory, Healthy People 2000, to build this synergistic collaboration among SA, the UWI and the NIMHD, which is an invaluable partner, financial supporter and an important advisor for every aspect of this venture.
As part of disseminating the project’s research findings, The Sullivan Alliance and the UWI are creating an Electronic Platform (E-Platform) which will serve as a knowledge transfer portal for researchers interested in obtaining global health disparities research data. Researchers from across the globe will soon be able to access new health disparities data on the United States and the Caribbean to craft future policy and public health interventions that impact the health of the regions.
The USCAHDR project is currently in its third phase and our team of researchers is poised to publish initial findings in prominent peer-reviewed publications and journals. As the global community turns increasing focus to the rapid development of chronic disease across the globe, we are eager to share our findings with the scientific community and to establish future collaboration targeting global health disparities reduction research.
I want to take this opportunity to salute and thank members of USCAHDR research team, including Drs. Rainford Wilks, Anselm Hennis, Trevor Ferguson, Ian Hambleton, Novie Younger-Coleman, Nadia Bennett, Lynda Williams, Aurelian Bidulescu, Mr. Christopher Hassell, Mr. Damian Francis and Ms. Brigitte Collins for their stellar contributions to this project. Also, I acknowledge the invaluable support of NIMHD professionals Drs. Nate Stinson, Jennifer Alvidrez and Irene Dankwa Mullan.
The USCAHDR team looks forward to the next phase of our research collaborative and our collective contribution to global health disparities research.
Front (left to right): Claudia R. Baquet, M.D., M.P.H., University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine; Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., Principal Investigator, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, The Sullivan Alliance; E. Nigel Harris, M.Phil, M.D., D.M., Vice Chancellor, UWI; Nigel Unwin, B.M., B.Ch., M.Sc., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.F.P.H., UWI.
Standing (left to right): Ian R. Hambleton, Ph.D., UWI; Aurelian Bidulesco, M.D., Ph.D.; Nathaniel Stinson, Jr., Ph.D., M.D., Scientific Officer, NIMHD; Robin H. Carle, B.A., COO, The Sullivan Alliance; Trevor S. Ferguson, M.B.B.S., D.M., UWI; Marshall Tulloch-Reid, M.D., Ph.D., UWI; Marlene MacLeish, Ed.D., Program Director; Jennifer L. Alvidrez, Ph.D., Health Scientist Officer, Division of Scientific Programs, NIMHD; Anselm Hennis, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., UWI
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The Vascular Experts Welcome Two New Physician Assistants
January 18, 2018 by Vascular Experts
Kristine Lane, PA-C and Kyle Bonura, PA-C Bring Wealth of Experience to Team of Vascular Surgeons
MIDDLETOWN, C.T. (January 19, 2018) – The Vascular Experts, the largest group of Board-certified vascular surgeons in the nation, is pleased to welcome two new Physician Assistants to The Vascular Experts team, Kristine C. Lane, PA-C and Kyle Bonura, PA-C.
Kristine C. Lane, PA-C is a graduate of Drexel University and earned her master’s degree in Health Science as a Physician Assistant. Kristine held a Surgical Physician Assistant position at Shoreline Surgical Associates, where she primarily treated patients with a variety of vascular complications including peripheral arterial disease and venous insufficiencies. Additionally, Kristine has extensive experience in performing Sclerotherapy for the treatment of spider veins. Previously, she worked in the Adult Urgent Care and Pediatric Emergency Room at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, CT.
Lane’s certifications include Connecticut Physician Assistant License, Certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) Certified and Basic Life Support (BLS) Certified. Kristine is currently accepting new patients at The Vascular Experts Middletown, Manchester and Old Saybrook offices.
Furthermore, Kyle Bonura, PA-C graduated from the University of Bridgeport Physician Assistant Institute with a Master of Science as a Physician Assistant and is currently accepting new patients at The Vascular Experts Southbury office. Bonura attended St. Vincent’s College where he received an Associate of Science in Radiography. Prior to joining The Vascular Experts team, Kyle served as a Physician Assistant in Emergency Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was responsible for procedure based care and independent medical decision making of acute illnesses.
Additionally, Bonura served as a Physician Assistant at an Urgent Care Center and held a Radiologic Technologist position at Yale New Haven Hospital. Kyle was instrumental in Yale New Haven Hospital’s launch of a groundbreaking software, “EPIC,” a gold standard for electronic medical records. Kyle’s certifications include Connecticut State Licensed Physician Assistant and Radiographer, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
For more information, please visit www.thevascularexperts.com or call 1-844-4-VASCULAR.
About The Vascular Experts
Founded in 2001, by one surgeon, The Vascular Experts has grown to 22 surgeons due to their commitment to deliver expert vascular medical and surgical care to communities in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. It is the largest group of board-certified vascular surgeons in the country. With state-of-the-art facilities in multiple locations, The Vascular Experts deliver the latest minimally invasive vascular procedures including angioplasty, endovascular surgery, vein ablations and sclerotherapy to treat vascular disease. For more information, please visit www.thevascularexperts.com or call 1-844-4-VASCULAR.
Kristine Lane
Kyle Bonura
previousThe Vascular Experts Danbury Office Welcomes Renowned Physician
nextThe Vascular Experts Announces Opening of Meriden Office
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Black Taxi ‘We Don’t Know Any Better’
We Don’t Know Any Better:
Expanding the Palette of Sound with Ezra Huleatt of Black Taxi
Words by Audra Tracy — Brooklyn, NYC
By Audra Tracy
Brooklyn-based Black Taxi radiates a hybrid sound that is part punk, part pop and 100% animal – and you should be truly embarrassed if you haven’t heard of them yet. The four-piece is taking their body paint, megaphones, and carnival drums on the road this month to promote their second full length album We Don’t Know Any Better. America, meet your new IT band.
We Dont Know Any Better was recorded with Aaron Nevezie at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, the same space where The Black Keys cut hit songs like ‘Tighten Up’. The album opens up with the single ‘Tightrope’, which sounds like a Vampire Weekend song, but way better. The catchy chorus “time’s not wasted/when we’re wasted with our friends” could make ‘We’ll Take Another’ the first party anthem of 2012, and the rockin’ title track does with four people what takes Umphrey’s McGee six men to accomplish. #Just sayin’.
www.blacktaxi.com
‘Do What You Gotta Do’ has all of the elements of a great Talking Heads song, a comparison that Black Taxi’s Ezra Huleatt (vocals/trumpet/keys) confirms. “Bill (Mayo) who plays guitar and does a lot of the singing has a very David Byrne-y voice”, Huleatt says. “That’s definitely one of our influences; there’s many Talking Heads songs that I wish I had written. We all kind of come from different backgrounds, but I think that’s one band we can all agree on.”
The follow up to 2009’s Things of That Nature, Black Taxi’s new record got an upgrade in terms of production value. “It was very different from our initial album, which was cut on tape”, Huleatt says. “With this one, we were able to play around a lot more with tempos and ideas and stuff. We kind of came into the studio with a lot of space in our songs, and hoped the magic would happen, and it did happen for the most part.”
Even though he was raised in a musical family, Huleatt claims he became a singer ‘by default’. “I grew up pretty much in a tight-knit Christian commune where every day before meals, people would sing songs”, he shares. “It was very classical and folk centered – anything with drums was kind of from the devil. Which is perhaps why I like drums so much now”, he laughs.
“Any band has to believe in what they are saying. Some people get that through just their voice, some people do it through actions, and some people do it through a combination.”
-Ezra Huleatt
WASTER Image: Joe Papeo
In Black Taxi, he fills whatever role is needed for the song, whether it’s singing, playing trumpet, tickling keys, or bouncing around stage with a carnival drum. Often found performing shirtless, covered in body paint, and sometimes dancing ‘like an idiot’, Huleatt’s animated onstage persona hints he’s a born showman.
“I think everyone works to their strengths…I’m not Bill Withers” he laughs. “Any band has to believe in what they are saying”, he goes on. “Some people get that through just their voice, some people do it through actions, and some people do it through a combination. For me, I want to convey the urgency of what I’m feeling about the song, especially if I wrote it.”
Mayo (guitar/vocals/triangle), Krisana Soponpong (bass), and Jason Holmes (drums/vocals) round out Black Taxi, a band with an anything-goes approach to songwriting. From kazoos to glockenspiels, no instrument seems to be off-limits. “It’s never pre-planned, it just kind of happens”, Huleatt says of Black Taxi’s musical formula. “We just wanted to expand the pallette of our sound, and sometimes when you’re in the studio and have a lot of toys to play with, if you hear something you like, you add it to the mix.”
Go get We Don’t Know Any Better this week, because soon people will be screaming Black Taxi lyrics from the rooftops. Better yet, go see them at Bowery Ballroom this Saturday, before they go all Black Keys on you and start selling out the Garden.
The New York record release party will feature special guests Bright Light Social Hour, Lights Resolve, and The Attic Ends. “The show on the 14th is going to be great”, Huleatt gushes. “We are bringing in a full brass band to play on about a third of our songs, so it should be our best show to date.”
“We go all out when we play live”, he concludes. “We have to, otherwise we’re not behind our music.”
TheWaster.com | New York City
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Daily Cardinal. Demonstrators march to protest officer-involved shooting of Tony Robinson. Includes photo gallery.
Written by Eric Upchurch
http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/demonstrators-march-to-protest-officer-involved-shooting-of-tony-robinson/article_4ec7f25e-c52e-11e4-a37e-3bbf137849ea.html
Cap Times. Hundreds march to scene of Tony Robinson shooting in Madison.
http://host.madison.com/ct/topics/race-in-madison/hundreds-march-to-scene-of-tony-robinson-shooting-in-madison/article_d571a244-1ff9-5046-8f33-c5081808cbe7.html
WKOW. Organizers take to street to "force justice" for officer-involved shooting victim Tony Robinson
http://www.wkow.com/story/28287787/2015/03/07/organizers-take-to-the-street-and-force-justice-for-tony-robinson
Cap Times. Photos: Community gathering at Fountain of Life Covenant Church.
http://host.madison.com/news/local/photos-community-gathering-at-fountain-of-life-covenant-church/collection_92e237a8-c540-11e4-81ce-5be2ba5ded9c.html#ixzz3TvDRxHLg
Cap Times. Photos: Young, Gifted and Black calls community meeting after Tony Robinson death.
http://host.madison.com/news/local/photos-young-gifted-and-black-calls-community-meeting-after-tony/collection_922e408e-c52e-11e4-a215-c3e7c1fab687.html#ixzz3TvDiMwrn
Wisconsin State Journal. Photos: Public, police respond to officer shooting.
http://host.madison.com/gallery/news/local/photos-public-police-respond-to-officer-shooting/collection_3d569cfe-c0fb-5d6e-b89a-f35aae39561c.html#11
ABC 27. Sun Prairie High supporting classmates/friends of killed former student.
http://www.wkow.com/story/28288490/2015/03/07/sun-prairie-high-supporting-classmatesfriends-of-killed-former-student
Cap Times. Community leaders grieve, urge action following Tony Robinson’s death.
Cap Times. Latin@s for Black Lives: Latin@s support efforts against state violence. (4/23/15)
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/latin-s-for-black-lives-latin-s-support-efforts-against/article_bd68180a-69d3-51d3-8e06-afe6b0fd8ba5.html
Cap Times. Asians for Black Lives: Chief Koval should be listening to Young, Gifted and Black Coalition. (3/19/15)
YWCA Madison. Our Statement on Shooting of Tony Robinson.
Statement from Leslie Ann Howard [President and CEO, United Way of Dane County] on the loss of Tony Robinson.
[U.S. Rep. Mark] Pocan statement on death of Tony Robinson. (3/9/15)
Press Conference VIEW ALL
Expecting a Non-Indictment
Anticipating a continuation of historic and recent national trends, the Young, Gifted & Black Coalition (YGB). expects Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to announce his decision not to indict Madison police officer Matt Kenny for breaking into an apartment and shooting unarmed 19 year old Tony Robinson multiple times in response to a distress call for help.
The Young, Gifted & Black Coalition (YGB). are holding a community form and press conference to announce their plans for the expected non-indictment and future actions. The press conference will be held on Friday, April 3, 2015 at the South Madison Partnership Space, located in the Villager Mall, at 2312 S. Park St., Madison, WI, beginning at 5:00pm. The Press Conference will be live streamed here.
Family of Tony Robinson Speaks on Independent Investigation
On Friday April 3, 2015, the Madison Police Department released hundreds of documents related to the police killing of Tony Robinson, Jr. None of these documents referred to the moment when Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny encountered and killed Tony Robinson, Jr. As a result, the family of Tony Robinson, Jr. is quickly losing faith in the supposedly independent process that produced the report that District Attorney Ismael Ozanne is currently reviewing.
“We worry that the MPD and other officials are setting up a kangaroo court,” said Jerome Flowers, Tony Robinson’s friend. “Tony’s character is what’s being put on trial.”
The family of Tony Robinson, Jr. will hold a press conference to share their concerns with the investigation and pending release of the DA’s decision. The family will also lay out their requests for the District Attorney and the Madison Police Department. Supporters will meet in front of 1125 Williamson Street, the house where Tony was killed at 11 am on Monday April 6th. Supporters will then march to the County Courthouse at 215 S. Hamilton Street to hold the press conference in front of the building. For more information visit:
www.facebook.com/fergusontomadison.
Police Brutality VIEW ALL
Violent and Unlawful Arrests
Between 6:30 and 7:30 pm on Tuesday April 14th, Madison Police officers at the intersection of East Washington and 4th Street arrested more than ten peaceful protestors. Roughly 35 people, mostly youth remained in the intersection after a day-long protest, for which residents shut down East Washington for several hours to demand justice for Tony Robinson and as a part of a national action against police violence and mass incarceration. As the young people continued to sit in the intersection, 30-40 officers approached the group from the west, spanning both sides of East Washington. The officers approached the youth telling them they had 5 minutes to leave before they would be arrested. While the youth deliberated as to whether they would take arrests, the police ambushed the group. Officers arrested three people initially, Jivonte Lee Davis, Mary Jo Walters and another protestor.
They subsequently approached Leslie Amsterdam (Peterson), a member of the media, who was recording the arrests. They told her to move, and when she revealed herself as a member of the media, they destroyed her camera and forcibly arrested her. The remaining youth then decided that since they could not be in the street without being arrested, they would march legally in the crosswalks across East Washington during the light changes. After roughly an hour, they were caught in the median during a light change. Two adults, Adeyemi Balogun and Brandi Grayson attempted to protect the youth from the police.
“They grabbed Brandi and dragged her, so I grabbed her,” reported Balogun. “Then they jumped on me. They came up behind me and grabbed my neck. Then another cop grabbed me and they had me wrapped up. They just kept saying ‘stop resisting, stop resisting!’ But I wasn’t doing anything.” Grayson was violently thrown to the ground and then drug along the ground before she was arrested. Balogun along with approximately six more people, including youth, were arrested at that time. Marnie Schroeder, another arrested person described the scene: “He [CJ Terrell] wasn’t talking, wasn’t doing anything and they slammed him to the ground. They had their knee on his neck and his face in the dirt. I tried to put my hand under his face to protect it, but then they arrested me.” Community members are outraged but unsurprised by this gross display of state power by MPD. “This is a clear example of the state violence we have been talking about for months,” said Grayson. “They brutalized me, and they arrested our babies who were mourning and protesting against the police violence that led to the murder of their friend, Tony Robinson.”
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Old Dominion Decorate Their Tour Bus For Christmas
Old Dominion certainly know how to deck the halls--or, their tour bus, anyway. The country group get themselves into the holiday spirit by sprucing up the vehicle with all sorts of Christmas cheer.
"We get in the spirit," Matt Ramsey tells Taste of Country, with Trevor Rosen revealing that they put up a little Christmas tree on the bus, accompanied by Yule Log on the TV. While they don't do a gift exchange, Ramsey admits that they revel in spending quality time together. "We just hang with each other and make it warm and cozy on the bus," he says.
While Ramsey is typically in charge of supplying the Christmas tree, Geoff Sprung is the one who's all over playing the holiday music. "I'll jump the gun as early as allowed on Christmas music," he confesses.
Except for a performance of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," the guys say they've never really played a Christmas song live before. However, they have considered writing an original holiday tune with the potential title of "Convertible Christmas," which of course has a clever tagline. "Santa's got the AC on in his sleigh, it's warm in Californ-I-A," Brad Tursi recites. "Now, if we can just write all of the rest of the song."
The five-member group will hit the road on the 2018 Happy Endings World Tour in support of the album of the same name. The majority of the tour takes place in Canada with six dates in the U.S., two in the United Kingdom and Australia and one in Ireland. The tour launches on Feb. 1 and concludes March 17 in Queensland.
Old Dominion + More Confess Secret Misdeeds to Mom
Best Albums of 2017 (So Far)
Next: Watch Old Dominion's Really Cool 'No Such Thing' Video
Source: Old Dominion Decorate Their Tour Bus For Christmas
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Gary Spinner
Gary Spinner, PA, MPH, AAHIVS
Southwest Community Health Center
After working as a paramedic in the South Bronx in New York City in the 1970s, and serving as Co-Director of a free ambulance service there, Spinner left to attend the Yale School of Medicine’s Physician Associate Program. He graduated in 1983 and moved to New Haven, Connecticut. He spent 25 years working at Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, where he cared for people with HIV, as well as serving as Chief Operating Officer for the last 10 years there.
In the late 1990s, Spinner had experience with international health, working for a short period of time in Haiti, and some brief work in a clinic in rural Uganda.
Today, Spinner works at Southwest Community Health Center, a federally qualified community health center in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the largest city in the state. Spinner’s clinic is a Ryan White funded clinic that offers comprehensive primary care, OB/GYN, pediatric, dental, and behavioral health care. Spinner practices with his wife, Janet Spinner, who is also an AAHIVM Member. Both Gary and his wife Janet are credentialed by AAHIVM as HIV Specialists™. In addition to Gary, who is a PA, Southwest Community Health Center operates with an Infectious Disease specializing physician, a full time RN, four medical case manager, and three staff involved in outreach to the community.
Spinner cares for about 400 patients; most of who are African American and Latino, with the fast-growing segment of newly infected HIV patients being young minority men who have sex with men (MSM). Spinner approximates that half of his patients are over the age of 50. About 15-20 percent of his patients are from resource poor countries, with a large number from Sub-Saharan Africa. The most recent wave of new patients are refugees from Congo, who do not know their HIV status until they are tested at Spinner’s clinic. Spinner’s clinic is committed to routine HIV testing, and Spinner says the primary care providers in his clinic are testing for HIV more and more. Spinner cared for his first HIV-infected patient in 1983, before the HIV virus was actually identified. At the time, the diagnosis was based on clinical signs and symptoms, and an inverse ration of CD4 to CD8 cells. They called it HLTV 3 at that time.
Spinner says the most rewarding part of his work is the warm relationship he shares with his patients, and the ability to assure them that even though we don’t yet have a cure, they can live a near normal life expectancy by taking their antiviral medications and living a healthy lifestyle. “All of my patients are unique individuals who all have a different story to tell. I feel it is a privilege to be able to care for them,” says Spinner. He motivates his patients to adhere to their treatment regimens by assuring them that doing so means they will likely live a normal life. Other patients are motivated by underscoring that adherence to medication can prevent new infections in others. Discovering the patients’ barriers to adherence, and attempting to address them in the best way, is vital.
Spinner claims the greatest obstacle he faces as an HIV care provider is getting his undocumented patients access to ancillary services other than the direct care, labs, and medications that are covered by their grant-funding. Diagnostic imaging, subspecialty care, colonoscopies, and elective surgeries are all difficult to access for many of Spinner’s patients.
Like many care providers working in a federally qualified community health center, Spinner’s organization has changed over time. When he came to Southwest Community Health Center, there was no system in place to alert providers, like Spinner, which patients needed which immunizations, what lab tests were up to date, or needed. Using an Electronic Health Record allows him to access his patient records at any day or time of the week, and he makes sure that every day patient requests for refills, lab tests and other needs are responded to.
In 2014, Spinner began treating his Co-infected HIV patients for Hepatitis C, and has subsequently treated and cured hundreds of patients. He was active in advocacy work in Connecticut that led to his state becoming the first State Medicaid program to pay for treatment of hepatitis C medications for all patients, regardless of severity of disease, and by all licensed prescribers. Spinner began prescribing PrEP shortly after the FDA approved Truvada for this purpose and today he has a large group of men and women taking PrEP to prevent HIV. He has been a national speaker of PrEP and regularly advocates to get more primary care providers to embrace the prevention of HIV. Looking to the future, Spinner says that promising cure research going on now leads him to believe it is not too farfetched to believe that a cure to HIV could be attained in the next decade. Meanwhile, Gary and his wife Janet continue to share a passion for providing health care to the underserved. Outside of the clinic, they are avid rock climbers and enjoy climbing throughout the United States, and a multitude of other countries.
Gary Spinner is an AAHIVM Member because it enables him to become a part of a community and network of like-minded people who share the passion for caring for people with HIV. Says Spinner, “Being a member of the Academy has enabled me to be a contributor to the policy issues so important to all people who are infected with HIV, and to provide a vehicle for advocacy for their needs.”
Read archived Member Spotlights here.
AAHIVM National Office
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Typical experiences of transgender people in academia?
I've recently come to accept that I'm transgender (MtF, male-to-female). I won't go into the exact details of this as it's personal, but I have a "girl mode" where I identify as a female. I'm also a researcher/lecturer at a respectable university. I'm yet to reveal this side of myself at work, but it's not impossible that my colleagues or students will run into me in girl mode e.g. at the mall.
Question: What are typical experiences of openly transgender academics?
I'd be particularly interesting in examples of successful academics who are openly transgender.
I know there are both legal protections and university policies which prohibit discrimination based on being transgender, but no policy can make people like you.
(Update: As things developed, I gave an answer to my question below.)
university job academic-life gender
Rebecca J. StonesRebecca J. Stones
Raewyn Connell is an incredibly important Australian sociologist who identifies as a transsexual woman. I'm not sure her experiences as an academic could be considered typical, as she was appointed Chair very early in her career and has published many works of national or disciplinary significance. Scholars have concentrated on the fruitful elements of her scholarly biography (genealogy of her concept of structure, for example), rather than studying Connell as a biographic subject. – Samuel Russell May 28 '13 at 1:37
This is in no way intended as an illustration of any kind of general trend, but I thought it was an interesting (albeit demoralising) article: online.wsj.com/public/article/… – dbmag9 May 28 '13 at 9:54
Deirdre McCloskey's memoir Crossing is available for free this month in e-book format from University of Chicago Press (see press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html). – Anonymous Mathematician Jun 4 '13 at 0:28
I am assuming you are asking about the US, or at least "top" academic countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Central Europe? Could you specify? I have an example from an Eastern European country where a person was unable to get official transcripts re-issued under the new name after a gender-change operation. I think all the info is really relevant, but I assume there would be a big difference between e.g. the US and a country where seeing a dark-skinned man on the street is an exciting and unusual event (really not trying to offend anybody, just speaking from experience). – penelope Mar 3 '14 at 14:04
I was in Canada at the time I wrote the question; a lot has changed since then. – Rebecca J. Stones Mar 3 '14 at 20:57
Jennifer Finney Boylan, Professor of English and Department Chair, Colby College, Maine. Jenny wrote "She's Not There" and other great books. My heroine (happily married to a woman)
Dr. Lynn Conway. Lynn invented both VLSI and superscalar architectures. Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan. My heroine (happily married to a man)
Dr. Deirdre McCluskey, University of Chicago, Professor of Economics. Very famous economist from Milton Friedman's old school.
Want more?? You are in the SAFEST profession to DO the transition!! Read Jenny books and Lynn's website and you'll learn how to do it, step by step.
Alan R. WeissAlan R. Weiss
Joan Roughgarden is a another example for your list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Roughgarden – Richard Erickson Feb 20 '17 at 16:23
(Original answer March 2015)
I guess it's time to answer my own question. Not long after posting the original question I began living exclusively as a woman (barring some short family-related interruptions).
I'll list some themes that applied to me that I think would apply generally:
Work interruption: As much as I tried to avoid it, transitioning interrupted my work. I spent a lot of time learning how to behave, e.g. to minimize the likelihood of being attacked, to know how to react when people ask intrusive questions, and so on. Medically, you're sent to doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc., who make you jump through all sorts of hoops over a long period of time. The various surgeries trans people get can take you out of action for weeks to months.
Comments at university: There were some "hiccups" transitioning at university (smart people can make some really dumb comments). However, they were a drop in the ocean compared to the hate I received from elsewhere.
University accounts: IT were totally unprepared for my transition. E.g. my request for a Rebecca Stones email was refused and a subsequent email about the matter was ignored. So my students referred to me by name X but email me under name Y which I found humiliating.
Bathrooms: There were a few surprised looks initially when sharing the ladies room with my female students and other female academics. I never heard any complaints about it, and it didn't seem to be a big deal.
Applying for jobs: I have noticed no significant difference when applying for academic jobs in my area.
Academic record: It takes time to get your academic history records updated, which makes applying for jobs beforehand awkward. During this time, I took up an adjunct position where administration requested a record of my PhD; I refused to supply this but indicated that several professors at the university witnessed me obtaining my PhD. They refused to accept this, which resulted in a prolonged exchange of emails. Eventually, I cited the university's privacy policy, after which they backed off.
Prior publications: I had to come to terms with having publications under my dead name. I absolutely hate hearing or seeing that word refer to me. I had to decide whether or not to include those publications on my CV and cite them in my publications (which could out me as transgender). For my CV, I include these publications, but I list only the author surnames (I still feel uncomfortable with the thought that whoever reads my CV will Google these publications). I cite them in my publications, as citing them doesn't directly imply that that name belongs to me. I'm hoping I can bury these publications in new publications over time.
Travel: As an academic, I travel a lot. Consequently, I have to keep in mind (a) attitudes towards transgender people when going through immigration (you're not at your most "passable" after a long flight), and (b) local attitudes towards and laws regarding transgender people. E.g. I want to go to a conference in Chile later in the year, so I Googled "transgender Chile" and upon reading things like "had her face disfigured with a blowtorch" was a bit unsettled.
(Update August 2015)
I attended the conference in Chile (SIGIR 2015) and I'm pleased that my face was not disfigured by a blowtorch. Here's a photo of the women's support group (I'm in there somewhere):
I'd also like to add:
Travelling can also interfere with (a) access to medicine, (b) access to [non-prejudiced] medical help, (c) other procedures, e.g. hair removal, and (d) the ability to buy clothes that fit.
Sometimes conference accommodation will be organized by gender (with or without the participants' prior knowledge). This opens the possibility of being humiliated in front of colleagues (e.g. if the accommodation staff have their own opinion on your gender), and the possibility of sharing accommodation with someone who is uncomfortable with you.
Reacquainting with colleagues: I have a lot of international contacts, many of whom are still unaware of my transition. From my experience, it's much better to meet in person than email someone an explanation (when all sorts of weird ideas about who I am can arise). This is hard to do when your contacts are spread globally.
Transgender students: Transgender students seem to significantly appreciate that someone employed by the university is transgender. Having a transgender member of staff goes against the stereotype that it's just undergraduate activists out to cause trouble who are transgender.
Online university resources: From my experience, university LGBT webpages cater almost exclusively to LGB students, with no usable information for transgender people.
Male-dominated area: I'm currently in computer science which is kind of a "boy's club". Outside of academia, being in a male-dominated career is sometimes used to discredit transgender women (among other things). This results in a tug towards more female-friendly career paths, both outside of academia (e.g. nursing) and inside of academia (e.g. biology).
Female role models: It has become important to me to see and interact with successful female academics, especially those in my area. (I was very encouraged by the healthy female presence at the SIGIR conference.) Interestingly, it seems that I'm meant to be a female role model nowadays.
Female co-authors: I'm not sure if this is just a co-incidence, but I've recently found myself with a rapidly growing number of female co-authors.
International lifestyle: I'm currently a postdoc in China. While I speak enough Chinese to "get by", and while my colleagues here are friendly, I feel isolated and lonely, and this is exacerbated by the lack of access to a transgender community. (See also this question: Is feeling lonely and uncomfortable in my (foreign) country of study a valid reason to drop out of a PhD?)
Unwelcome attention towards my gender: Generally, I don't mind if people know that I'm transgender, as long as (a) this is not the only thing about me they consider and (b) they are not mean to me or my friends and colleagues as a result. Thus far, to my knowledge, unwelcome attention has been negligible at university. However, it's unclear if this trend will continue (after all, we only need a one-in-a-thousand to cause trouble). Things I'm concerned about:
Maybe some transgender person somewhere does something evil, making headlines. How would a university react to the resultant anti-transgender backlash?
What if a student makes a complaint because of my gender? What if the student is well-prepared, having extensively read online anti-transgender literature? What if the student makes a religious objection?
If I become successful and notable, hate material will probably be written directly about me. Here are some examples (and it doesn't take much Googling to provide more examples):
Boylan, a member of the all-male, all-white, all-heterosexual, all-middle-aged transgender leadership... (ref.)
"Lynn" Conway, computer geek and head honcho of the raging autogynephiliacs who tried to destroy Michael Bailey. (ref.)
Deirdre McCloskey isn’t a woman: wishing can’t make it so, not even wishing and flashing scalpels. Neither is Joan Roughgarden. (ref.)
Unwelcome attention from men: After meals, I like to go for a walk to get some exercise. Consequently, I have now had three four unwelcome sexual encounters within walking distance from my office, during the day, and with other people around at the time. I also had a male staff member in another faculty ask for "random sex". I'm afraid to tell others about these incidents, fearing they might think I encouraged them (esp. if they attribute it to being transgender). I also simply don't have time to waste sobbing about each one; they're much too frequent.
(In today's encounter, an elderly gentleman approached me and asked for the time. I found my phone and gave him the time. I also discovered his penis was hanging out of his pants. He indicated towards some nearby bushes and said "gēn wǒ péngyou wáer", which translates to "play with my friend". I walked straight back to the office, nearly in tears. It's thirty minutes after the incident now, and I need to discuss a paper with a student.)
Paper cited during talk: Recently, one of my co-authors referenced our joint paper at a conference talk while I was in the audience. I was not impressed that my dead name initials were on display, forcing me to sit there with that on the screen for all to see, and I was quite fearful that someone might ask if there was a connection between the two names. If I had known that was going to happen, I would not have attended the talk.
(Update February 2017)
Surgery: I'm not sure if I should say this, but I ended up having "bottom surgery" back at the end of 2015. It was the most physically painful experience of my life, by a long way, and the pain didn't go away until about two and a half months later. So much pain. During this time, my spoons were limited. E.g. I'd go to the office to prove I still work there (I mostly just stared at the walls), and I'd need to spend the next day recovering. I would bleed a lot, and this resulted in some additional accommodation expenses. I would not be able to stand for longer than around 5 minutes without it being too painful (requiring a wheelchair at the airport).
I managed to go to the 2015 CMS meeting shortly after surgery, where Yuval Filmus (who I knew through math.SE) sat next to me just after surgery, although I don't know if he realized any of this. (And I remember being a bit snippy with David Pike.)
The painkillers caused hallucinations, e.g. I'd be walking and suddenly "There's no floor! I'm falling!! Oh wait, there is a floor." I became afraid of stairs. This was happening while I was at work, although I tried to conceal it. I also sent out a few "interesting" emails.
More than a year later, I have no regrets about having surgery. It has resulted in me having a lot more confidence. If someone denies my gender, they are simply being unreasonable (although, nobody ever does). I'm now far less afraid that someone is going to find out about my past.
Bodily maintenance (dilation) is both time-consuming and painful, particularly at the start. It's embarrassing but it nevertheless must be done, including while sharing accommodation with other women. I got used to making "chit chat" while doing this. Airport security sometimes inspect your dilators (which need to be in carry-on baggage) which can be embarrassing and worrisome (esp. when travelling through non-transgender-friendly countries).
Conversion to Islam: Perhaps contrary to popular expectations, Islam is a relatively transgender-friendly religion. Often the attitude is that someone's gender is innate and decided by God, and being transgender is considered along the lines of a birth defect. Of course, being Muslim results in its own complications (e.g. hijab). I haven't had any problems praying in the female prayer areas (including on-campus ones).
A publication about transgenderism: Perhaps this is not a typical experience, but I published a paper about transgender bathrooms usage (here), which was mentioned in the Washington Post.
I think I learned more from this answer than any one (or two or...) other answers posted on this site. Thank you so much for taking the time to post it. It was truly enlightening. – Pete L. Clark Aug 19 '15 at 16:14
Congrats on your recovery from your major surgery. Two ideas: 1) Re the yucky experience when walking: I know some women who have also had yucky experiences in broad daylight in Mexico; they learned to switch to the other sidewalk, or step into the street to give strangers a wide berth. Would that help? 2) Re Paper cited during talk: could you republish the old articles on your own website or somewhere else, with your new name, and ask co-authors to cite the new version instead? (I don't know the answer.) – aparente001 Feb 20 '17 at 15:56
About the unwanted male attention.....Men can be a pain. I have been having a long duration internal dialogue regarding gender identity, with the whole thing complicated by the fact that I think of things through a almost purely concrete/logical lens due to my Asperger's syndrome. This thread is an eye opener. – NZKshatriya Feb 20 '17 at 16:22
I reread this post every time this thread resurfaces. It's fascinating and (I hope) it's making me a better ally to my trans/genderqueer friends. Thank you so much for sharing! – trikeprof Feb 20 '17 at 21:21
There are two transgender academics in biology at Stanford University (both of whom transitioned during their tenure there I believe). Ben Barres has written extensively about his experiences (female to male). Joan Roughgarden is another example (MtF).
edited Mar 1 '14 at 7:24
SureshSuresh
To add a few more examples, you can have a look at the Wikipedia list of Transgender and transsexual scientists:
Ben Barres
Angela Clayton
Lynn Conway
Kate Craig-Wood
Alan L. Hart
Anne Lawrence
Alexia Massalin
Deirdre McCloskey
Christa Muth
Rachael Padman
Joan Roughgarden
Julia Serano
Sophie Wilson
There is also a list of LGBT scientists.
Franck DernoncourtFranck Dernoncourt
In my undergraduate institution there was a transgender logician graduate student. He taught me category theory. As far as I remember none of us had ever any problems with his regular mini-skirt outfit. In my graduate institution there was a graduate student who changed gender and made it known to everybody (faculty and students). Again, there were no issues that I've heard of, the relationship of that person with their supervisor remained very good (as far as I can tell) and the person went on to a very good job later on. Keep in mind that I did my undergraduate and graduate degree in fairly "liberal" places. Overall my experience was that if you let people know, but then move on with you regular life then it doesn't become an issue. Also it is not unlikely that some of your colleagues already "know". I guess there is always an amount of risk involved with full disclosure. Keep in mind that people shouldn't judge you on what you do in your private time. Another factor is if you already have tenure, and if you don't and things go bad if you will try to explain them by your transition?
offprint_fanoffprint_fan
If the logician was actually transgender (as opposed to 'transvestite' - I put the term in quote marks because I don't know if anyone actually refers to themselves in this way, but it refers to dressing as the other gender, as opposed to identifying as a different gender than the one assigned at birth), then you may not be being as accepting as you think by still referring to them as 'he'. – Tara B Mar 3 '14 at 10:03
the term i've more commonly used for a cisgender cross-dresser is, well, cross-dresser. my understanding is that "transvestite" is quite dated, although I could be mistaken. Another possibility is that the logician is genderqueer, and just dressing outside the gender binary entirely. But, the answer specifically says transgender so yeah, i think it's pretty safe to assume this person is not as accepting as they think they are – dn3s Feb 22 '18 at 7:51
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Gender transition as a starting faculty member: a terrible idea?
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Bullying in Academia: Harassed by senior PhD student?
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Dog reveals what government must do next
12. August 2017 Stuart GarlickBlogdog, dogs, Opinion Festival, politics
We talk a lot at the Opinion Festival about the need to be inclusive and open, and to allow all views from all sides of the debate. But what about dogs?
Pets represent one area of society that frequently goes unheard. Maybe it’s because we don’t speak their language as well as we should, but they demand to be treated as an equal part of discussions.
We have covered in previous years how the pets of the Opinion Festival turn out in style and often look better-dressed than their owners. This time, the stakes got raised. James, you see, is a dalmatian whose reputation goes before him. His story is the stuff of legend. Having escaped the clutches of Cruella de Vil, along with his 100 siblings, James decided to strike out solo, and emigrated to Estonia, where he is owned by Kelly.
Here, it would appear the debonair canine has become something of a celebrity, having, like all the most famous people, his own social media hashtag, #DalmatianJames . It’s for this reason that the Opinion Festival blog decided to catch up with the dog of the moment, to find out what he had enjoyed most about the Opinion Festival, and what could be improved.
“I’d say it’s all been really well organised,” James told us, “especially the street food. I shouldn’t eat hamburgers – they’re bad for my digestive system in big portions – but I took my chance to try a bit from Hungry Karl, and I wasn’t disappointed. I also took the opportunity to let Jevgeni Ossinovski and Hanno Pevkur know my views on the need for the state to subsidise doggy-treats. Ossinovski said it wasn’t part of the present government programme, but both politicians seemed to understand my point of view, which was good.”
James was equally forthright on his favourite festival stand from the Opinion Festival 2017. “I have to give full marks to the designers of the stand made from sustainable mushrooms (below). It was incredibly well-made, and I love hunting for mushrooms, so it felt like I was running round the forest, while watching a debate take place.”
At the time of writing, James was barking loudly at the sky, seemingly angry that an act of force majeure had caused his favourite part of the Opinion Festival, the party leaders’ debate, to be delayed and then acted out under a thunderstorm. Storms aren’t his thing, frankly. Still, with the profile he is swiftly building, a position in the cabinet after the next reshuffle looks to be a formality.
Here’s How to Give Everyone a Say in Estonia
12. August 2016 Stuart GarlickBlogcivic culture, Dutch, Opinion Festival, Polder model, politics
The official Opinion Festival brochure says that when we think of the Netherlands we think of tulips and windmills, but for others, the Low Country means philosophical footballers, excellent flood defences and a – cough – liberal attitude towards what someone may or may not be smoking. But there is a tradition of this small nation, which was once a merchant shipping hub for the world, exporting new solutions to civic and political problems, and it was one way of doing so, the polder model, which was discussed on Friday afternoon in the talk “How to Make Consensus-Based Decisions: Dutch Polder Brunch”.
According to Wikipedia, “the polder model is consensus decision-making, based on the acclaimed Dutch version of consensus-based economic and social policy making in the 1980s and 1990s.” Wim Kok, who was Dutch Prime Minister during the economic boom-time of 1994 to 2002, supported the polder model, or his version of it, as a way of ensuring that all voices be heard in a process of decision-making.
Things have changed, some would say for the worse, since Kok’s time at the head of his government. The far right is building its share of the vote in the Netherlands, Estonia and many other parts of Europe, and the idea that consensus can be found on any issue just by talking it over now seems less of a certainty than it once was.
Peter Kentie, a Dutchman from Rotterdam living at the moment in Tallinn, talked about the rebranding of Estonia, with Visit Estonia now using slogans like “ESTonishing”, alongside a new logo. “It’s not about the logo, it’s about passions. You can’t have it that someone from the ministry comes to someone and gives someone the task to do the design, the ministry should team up with the stakeholders in Estonia, and together create the brief and together be responsible for the result.”
Sometimes, Kentie argued, it matters how people collaborate, not just who collaborates. “If the person giving the brief is sitting next to you, rather than just being the one who gives the money, that makes the difference. It’s better to have that discussion in the room, than in a newspaper.”
When asked by moderator Annika Uudelepp how he would attract Asian, or international, talent in greater numbers to Estonia, Kentie said that perhaps the problem should be viewed differently. “I think maybe, as a first priority, talent should not be coming, maybe the priority should be exporting to the rest of the world.”
“There are qualities here that aren’t yet fully-known to other countries. You really have to communicate those qualities to the rest of the world. If you do that, then maybe people [in other countries] will think ‘I can contribute something there in the future.’ The ‘Skype Mafia’ shows that you have all these young people who use the digital world in a disruptive way, and that’s the important thing, to disrupt. If others go left, you should go right, and if you get that mentality right, people will come to you. You have to first tell the world you’re really open to that, and communicate to the rest of the world that you’re there.”
One example of increased civic activism in Estonia has been evident over the proposed development of Kalarand in Tallinn. Local groups ensured that they had a say in the planning of a new development on the promenade, and ensured the current beach would remain in place, but only after the developers, with the apparent backing of local government for their building plans, tried to sue a local activist to bring in a gagging order.
“In the Netherlands,” said panellist and Dutch Ambassador to Estonia Jos Schellaars, “we also have property developers who are very keen on acquiring areas on which they can build. But then there is a process of permission. Even after the permission is given, I think in the Netherlands protesters have a louder voice. The discussion process, I think, is much longer. Voices are louder and better-heard.”
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Arlington Community Schools » News » What's New » Throwback: AES yearbook from 1974 depicts vintage Tiger
In 1974, Arlington Elementary School was a much different place. Teachers and students had just moved from the old school, a two-story brick building located on Chester Road, to the building where students still attend today.
It had less than 300 students and was operating as an “open-spaced school.” Billed as the first of its kind in Shelby County Schools, the open-spaced classroom was one large room with hundreds of students learning and working on different lessons.
There were only two traditional classrooms in the entire school, one for music and one for art, and inside the art room was a young teacher named Jeri Wexler, who essentially became an art teacher overnight.
“I had no training in art whatsoever,” Wexler laughed during a recent phone interview. “I actually taught 2nd grade, but they couldn’t find an art teacher…so I relied on what I knew and took on the role.”
What she knew were skills she picked up as a summer camp counselor in her years before teaching. She started the students off with the basics, like mixing colors, paintings and drawings. Art, Wexler said, gave the students a chance to try things they had never done before.
“We dealt with children in the community who were rural at the time,” she said. “There wasn’t very much in Arlington, except for cotton fields and farmers and things like that, so art was a new world for many of them.”
Over time, Wexler said she became more comfortable teaching art. She was even tasked with drawing the Tiger mascot for the 1974 yearbook. In black and white and with bold letters, her drawing of the Tiger was used for many years at AES.
“It’s quite rewarding to be in the beginning of anything,” Wexler said. “I was in the building when it first opened. I drew art for one of the first yearbooks created for the school. I still hear from some of my former students…many of them are now grandparents themselves. It’s all really special.”
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Pandora Debuts New Logo and Push for Ad-Free Subscriptions
By George P. Slefo. Published on October 12, 2016.
Credit: Pandora
Pandora has a new logo and a new digital campaign push to go along with it, as the company looks to convert millions of its free listeners into paying subscribers to its ad-free service.
The music streaming giant seems like it's been around as long as the internet, but it has changed its logo only once in its 16-year history.
"The last time we changed our logo and brand identity was a couple of years ago, but it was a very subtle change and I think you'll see this is not a subtle change," said Lisa Sullivan-Cross, VP of growth marketing at Pandora. "It really reflects the change of the product and declares to everyone that there is something new and different and exciting happening at Pandora."
Pandora's in-house creative team handled the design. The new logo lowercases all letters in the company name, reversing the previous all-caps rendition.
And the company's new app icon departs from the standard-text "P" on a grey background with a solid letter "P" and a white background. The company said it plans to use the asset in creative ways, such as changing the color to the beat of music — as showcased in its latest promotional video.
"It isn't just blue anymore," Ms. Cross said. "We are using it in really interesting ways. We are creating these living and breathing music experiences. Our new logo does that in a way our old one didn't. It is a window into that musical experience."
The new logo is part of a broader plan to increase the number of paid subscribers for the Pandora Plus offering to 11 million by 2020, an 182% increase from its current paid subscribers. The latest figures from Pandora indicate that it has 3.9 million paid subscribers and 78 million monthly active listeners.
Pandora Plus is an ad-free experience allowing users to replay music, skip as many songs as they'd like and stream even when they're offline for a monthly fee of $4.99. Pandora Plus, which was introduced last month, is an improved and rebranded version of Pandora One, which debuted about eight years ago.
Although Pandora says it will also look to attract new, non-paid users, the effort is table stakes when compared to the increase it's seeking in paid listeners; the company wants to increase its overall user base to 110 million by 2020, a 41% increase from today.
Starting next Monday, Pandora will run a highly targeted marketing campaign to help it achieve its goals. The company's approach will rely on using its in-house data science team plus data management platform Krux and programmatic partner DataXu.
That combination will allow Pandora to show a sequence of ads for its ad-supported and Pandora Plus offerings as it finds consumers across paid channels as well as its own email messages, mobile push notifications and in-product messaging, Ms. Cross said.
"We work with our data science team to build a likelihood to subscribe model," she said. "It's a gradient boosted tree, which is a machine learning technique, which produces predictions in the form of decision trees. It predicts how likely a given listeners is to convert to a subscription product and takes into account hundreds of data points and listening patterns of product usage."
A listener who skips a lot, for example, might be interested in paying for Pandora Plus while someone who seldom skips and only listens to one station might not. Meanwhile, the company wants to lure back former users with new offerings such as the ability to skip more songs by watching a video from an advertiser.
"Our approach is not to convert people to subscription at all cost, it is to optimize against our whole portfolio of products and price products including free based on each listener's preference," Ms. Cross said.
Pandora is eighth in terms of unique visitors for mobile apps, making it one of only two in the top 10 that aren't owned by Google or Facebook, according to ComScore. For contrast, Spotify is the 21st most popular app and sees about 33 million unique visitors each month.
The company saw revenue of $343 million during the second quarter this year, an increase of 20% year-over-year. It reported a GAAP net loss of $76.3 million, compared with a net loss of $16.1 million in the equivalent quarter the year prior, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $25.1 million, compared to a profit of $16.3 million.
User engagement, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of 24 hours per active user per month. Pandora is set to announce its third quarter earnings later this month.
George P. Slefo
George P. Slefo is the technology reporter at Ad Age. He previously covered murder and mayhem for the Chicago Sun-Times and prior to that, the Middle East from Amman, Jordan. Slefo is also a veteran of the United States Army.
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Tag Archives: palmolive
The Flowers of Romance
Posted on July 27, 2009 by agallix
Will Parkhouse, “I Do Not Believe in Love: Viv Albertine On Life Post The Slits,” The Quietus 25 February 2010
“The first time I met Sid, we were outside a pub and even though I couldn’t play I said, “I wanna get a band together,” and he immediately said, “Oh, I’ll be in a band with you.” And I was so touched, because at that time, guys didn’t want to do what girls did. For a cool guy like Sid to want to be in a band with a girl was forward-thinking. I don’t think Johnny Rotten, Mick, or any of those other guys would’ve answered that.
We arranged to meet, went to a squat and rehearsed all through the summer of 1976 — the hottest summer on record for a long time — and emerged at the end of it absolutely white, and without one song. Nothing. [Cracks up] And we were in that basement for hours every day. I remember Sid jumping up and down, doing that pogo thing, tooting away on the sax, and Palmolive [Paloma Romero who later joined The Slits and the Raincoats] was on drums for a bit, and a girl called Sarah [Hall] on bass. I couldn’t play guitar at that stage and we were thrashing about and it’d be a bit embarrassing. And that was it, the whole summer, nothing, not one song.”
From Jon Savage‘s The England’s Dreaming Tapes (Faber, 2009)
Lee Black Childers: “Oh yeah, they would have done fine. …It was a combination of Ramones and Sex Pistols. Very much the 1-2-3-4 syndrome” (p. 96).
Viv Albertine: “There was me, Palmolive, a girl called Sarah. We were rehearsing in Jo Faull’s squat. That was probably how I got to know Sid, he wanted to be in a group or something, and I said to come down, he was going to be the singer. John thought up the name, The Flowers of Romance, and it was the hottest summer, ’76, we spent it all indoors in this bloody squat, every day. We did have discipline.
It was a bedroom band. We couldn’t keep time, Sid went from being a singer to also playing saxophone. I wrote my first riff which was quite good, which turned into ‘So Tough’. Even when people came in who could play, it still didn’t get going for some reason. It was a bunch of interesting-looking people, and we’d get interviewed when we’d never done anything and could hardly play. We’d go into pubs in Notting Hill and Soho, and people would come up and interview us. Jonh Ingham and others” (pp. 290-91). Sid sacked her because she “wasn’t giving enough to it” and “couldn’t really play (p. 292). Viv also mentions plans to team up with Siouxsie (p. 301).
Marco Pirroni: He was going to play bass for the band. A rehearsal was arranged but never took place because of the infamous glass-throwing incident at the 100 Club which led to Sid being locked up (p. 358).
Steve Walsh: He met Sid at The Clash’s ICA gig, who asked him to join the band as a second guitarist. “I used to go up to Davis Road to this squat, with old grannies living downstairs, and we’d rehearse till about five in the morning, taking speed”. He explains that he moved into the squat and the band also rehearsed at The Clash’s place: “Things must have gathered steam. I moved into this place in Davis Road, and through the autumn we started rehearsing more, although we never got it together at all, we never found a drummer who’d play without a hi-hat.” He talks about taking speed and “playing the same riff for hours and hours” (p. 374). He explains that everybody had been kicked out of the band by the time Sid joined the Pistols, talks about the effect drugs had on the band and says that he “didn’t feel it was going to happen”: “The group fell apart. A lot of the equipment was nicked, guitars and amps just went missing”. They only had one song (“Belsen Was a Gas”) as far as he remembers: “I think it was just an excuse for hanging about. Being in a band — or being seen to be in a band — was quite important. There was a lot going on, we used to go out every night. We’d go to Louise’s” (p. 378).
Dave Goodman: The Sex Pistols would jam a bit when they got on stage “and it turned into something they called Flowers of Romance, after Sid’s first band” (p. 421).
–Punk 77 (includes scans of the interview the band did for the first issue of Skum in early 1977)
Posted in Phantom bands / Tagged dave goodman, flowers of romance, jo faull, jon savage, lee black childers, marco pirroni, palmolive, sex pistols, sid vicious, steve walsh, the clash, the slits, viv albertine
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Anne Bonny Q&A with Leila Aboulela #Author of Elsewhere, Home #Literary #ShortStories #NewRelease @SaqiBooks
Elsewhere, Home by Leila Aboulela
Intimate stories of longing and exile by one of our finest contemporary writers.
A lonely housewife fascinated with a famous writer learns to find her own voice in Abu Dhabi; a bus route passing the Christmas lights along Oxford Street is a stark reminder for a female passenger of her brother’s tragic death on the eve of his wedding; and a Scottish man working in a kebab shop and his girlfriend try desperately to reconcile Islam’s place in their fragile relationship.
From the heat of Khartoum at the height of summer to the wintery streets of London, from the concrete high rises in the Gulf to the blustery coast in Aberdeen, this elegant and moving collection vividly evokes the overlapping worlds of Africa, Britain and the Middle East. Beautifully observed and written with empathy, Leila Aboulela’s stories deftly capture the search for home in our fast-changing world.
Q: When you first began to write, where did you think writing would take you?
A: At first, writing was a hobby. I wanted to make good use of my free time (which wasn’t much as I had two young children and a part-time job as a Statistics lecturer), make friends, have an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. Ambition and taking writing seriously developed later. I did have a clear intention, though, when I first started to write. I wanted to cure my homesickness and I wanted to put Islam in English literature. To some extent I achieved these goals almost immediately with my first novel The Translator. Being a writer enabled me to have a new life in Britain, to become someone I could not have been had I stayed in Sudan (not because one can’t be a woman writer in Sudan but because for me personally the writing was triggered by the move from Sudan to Britain). And I was happy that the reading public in Britain and elsewhere were open to the faith content in my work.
Q: Where do you do most of your writing? Can you describe to me the space where you are happiest working?
A: I am not fussy about space as long as I am alone, it’s quiet and no one is looking over my shoulders! I would never be able to write fiction in a café, for example. The room I am writing in now is my study. I keep the blinds down and the lights on. This probably sounds awful, but it makes me feel sealed in. I’ve written in rooms with views before, but I don’t particularly miss them. The sun would sometimes hurt my eyes and I’m inside the text anyway and not seeing anything else!
Q: What were the things you missed most about Sudan when you first moved to Aberdeen?
A: Everything – the visuals, the people, my sense of belonging. At the same time, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what I was missing! The writing was a way of answering this question.
Q: Have those things changed over time?
A: Over time, the homesickness did recede, but it would flare up like flu from time to time. Over the past ten years, I’ve visited Sudan more and more. It has changed so much that it’s not the same place that I miss anymore. I miss the Sudan I grew up in but that’s nostalgia for childhood and yearning for the past- it’s not the same as homesickness.
Q: What does ‘home’ mean to you?
A: Home is where I feel a total sense of belonging, where I don’t have to explain or justify my presence, where I am taken for granted but not devalued, a place where I have agency, where I am not frightened to speak out, or feel wary of being misunderstood. A place of safety and nourishment. Home could be a physical space- the Aberdeen Central Library, a cousin’s house in Khartoum, Mecca during the Pilgrimage. Or it is being surrounded by my family anywhere in the world, even in an anonymous hotel room. The intellectual space I occupy with readers, writers and publishers, inside the pages of fiction, is also a kind of home.
Q: You have won and been listed for many, many prizes over the years, including the Scottish Book Awards, the Caine Prize for African Writing, The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Orange Prize. What does it mean to you to have your work recognized in this way?
A: It means a great deal. Especially when I was starting out, this kind of prize recognition did feel like a stamp of approval. I think prizes are great for writers and for drawing attention to a particular work. On the other hand, they can create a competitive, superficial culture of winners and losers- regardless of content. I have recently started to place more emphasis on the response of academics to my writing. Most of the learned, nuanced readings of my work is taking place within scholarly articles. I am happy that my work is taught in universities and that students are using it as subject matter for their PhDs.
Q: As well as your short stories, your novels The Translator, Minaret, Lyrics Alley and The Kindness of Enemies are loved by readers far and wide. Do you approach writing short stories and novels in the same way? If not, what are the differences?
A: Novels are long journeys. It is not only the number of words, but the years spent in writing them. Embarking on a novel is a commitment. I have to ask myself, ‘Will I be able to sustain fascination is this particular topic and in these particular characters for several years?’’ Short stories, on the other hand, don’t require this kind of long-term commitment. I can dip into the world of a short story and be out again within a relatively short period of time. This enables me to take risks and to follow instincts. Some of the stories in Elsewhere, Home such as The Aromatherapist’s Husband or Farida’s Eyes are detours, taking me away from my regular themes and yet they were fun to write. A story like Pages of Fruit, which is the longest in the collection and covers several decades and countries, felt like a novel when I was writing it, especially as it was very emotional for me and I could have kept going with the theme- but the narrow focus on the two main characters made it more suitable for the short story form. I must admit that writing thirteen separate short stories is much more difficult than writing one novel. In total, there is more work packed in a story collection, more skill than in one single novel.
July 3, 2018 July 3, 2018 #Q&A, @SaqiBooks, Author Q&A, Author talks, Elsewhere Home, Leila Aboulela, Literary Fiction, new release, Saqi books, Short Stories
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Tag Archive: Duomo Florence Italy
Filed under: Europe, Italy — 6 Comments
Arno river bridges, Ponte Vecchio in foreground, Florence, Italy.
The much-photographed Ponte Vecchio is only one of the bridges which tie the halves of Florence together across the River Arno.
It looks less like a bridge than like a village hovering above the water.
Most of it is lined with shops, among which some seem to cling precariously to the bridge.
Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy.
And it is packed with tourists.
In fact, the real challenge in Florence is finding any spot in which there is not an ever-present reminder that visitors often outnumber locals, or that the twentieth century is ever pressed against this bubble of history.
Musician plays for tips on the Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy.
This city’s modest size belies its role as, arguably, the cradle of modern civilization.
The list of notables who were either born or worked for much of their lives here is a list of Renaissance Who’s Whos.
Carousel in piazza, Florence. Italy,
Writers Dante, Boccacio, and Machiavelli.
Artists Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Donatello.
Navigator and mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci.
Architect Brunelleschi, who designed and built Florence’s signature Duomo.
Ice cream cones in Florence street window
Tourists take a break to sun themselves, Florence, Italy
And, of course, the Medici dynasty, whose power extended to Papal Rome and the court of Paris. The family’s legacy survives as the private art collection now open to public viewing in the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace.
In Florence, works of art are not just reserved for museums and galleries. Classically inspired sculptures fill its piazzas and crown its fountains, turning the mundane into public works of art.
Michelangelo’s Davids abound in Florence, Italy
The Duomo of Florence’s signature Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore rises up out of the surrounding neighborhood as if it had been thrust up from the depths of the earth. It is the first structure of its kind ever raised without supporting framework.
Its scale is so staggering that it is visible only in piecework glimpses from the surrounding streets, and in their dim light it often appears in monochrome.
Homework sits in a sculpting workshop, FLorence, Italy.
Duomo and baptistry mark the signature skyline of Florence, Italy.
It’s hard to appreciate the effect that this place must have had on the ordinary citizens who went about their daily business in its shadows.
To approach the cathedral is to fall deeper and deeper into an image that continually reveals new details unseen in full frame.
The scope of the elaborate, hand-chiseled details is mind-boggling.
Duomo and facade, Florence, Italy.
It’s no surprise that it took more than 140 years of labor before first services were held, or that the final touches were not added to the facade until 500 years after construction was begun.
Duomo facade, Florence, Italy.
It’s about a ten minute walk through narrow city streets to the piazza from which the facade of the smaller Santa Croce Basilica is fully revealed.
Medieval buildings around the piazza add to its sense of timelessness.
Medieval facade across from Santa Croce Basilica, Florence, Italy.
The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world, and the Franciscans’ appears prominently on the facade of the temple. Santa Croce is the burial place of notables including Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and Rossini.
Santa Croce Basilica, Florence, Italy.
It’s an interesting bit of historical trivia that the basilica’s 19th-century neo-Gothic facade was designed by Jewish architect Niccolo Matas, who worked a Star of David into the composition.
As a non-Catholic, he was denied permission to be buried among his peers within the church’s walls, and was instead buried under the porch.
Gold leaf workshop, museum at Santa Croce Basilica, Florience, Italy.
The Basilica museum has preserved the workshop of monks who worked gold leaf for application to sculpture and to create beautifully illuminated manuscripts
Tomorrow is reserved for a visit to the nearby Boboli Gardens.
Tags: Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore Florence Italy, Duomo Florence Italy, Florence Italy, Michelangelo Florence Italy, Ponte Vecchio Florence Italy, Santa Croce Basilica Florence Italy, Star of David Florence Italy
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Stephen L. Carter: New England White
Noel Murray
New England White
Stephen L. Carter
As a mystery writer, Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter hasn't advanced significantly from his debut novel, 2002's entertaining-but-stiff The Emperor Of Ocean Park. His second book is still too long, taking 550 pages to explore a politically charged murder at a Yale-like northeastern university, and its impact on the family of the college's well-connected president, Lemaster Carlyle. Carter's dialogue has improved—he seems to have drawn his character voices from the linguistic quirks of people he knows—but he still moves the story along at a leisurely pace, following Lemaster's wife Julia as she intermittently pieces together clues, driven by her sympathy for the victim, a man she once loved. Like his protagonist, Carter seems less interested in wrapping up "whodunit" than in figuring out why, and much of New England White's pokiness can be explained by the way Carter moves the pieces carefully into place, hinting that the murder is related to a three-decade-old scandal that may involve Lemaster's old college roommates: one a democratic senator, the other the president of the United States.
But while New England White's political dimension feels a little familiar—just the umpteenth iteration of power-and-how-it-affects-those-who-wield-it—the milieu remains every bit as nuanced and singular as it was in The Emperor Of Ocean Park. Carter writes about the lives and concerns of upper-class African-Americans with a sociologist's insight, detailing how paranoia and petty jealousies keep some wealthy black people from enjoying what they've earned. New England's innocent-person-gets-drawn-into-a-family-mystery premise plays out a bit too much like Emperor, with word games taking the place of the first book's chess puzzles; New England's protagonist has a different set of problems, but they're prompted by many of the same anxieties. Carter tells Julia's story from the inside, explaining the ramifications of every social slight, and dissecting her relationship with Lemaster, a chilly authoritarian who expresses his love for his wife by striving to keep her untroubled. And as New England White makes plain, "untroubled" is no person's lot in life, regardless of race or bank balance.
Recent from Noel Murray
David Crosby somehow lived long enough to get the overdue documentary treatment
A new documentary about Toni Morrison puts a great American writer into context
Hulu’s Das Boot miniseries is well-acted and well-crafted… but needs more boot
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FDA ban on menthol is likely to survive tobacco industry lawsuits
The FDA’s plan to ban menthol cigarettes has the potential to save lives but could be delayed
New Brunswick, NJ – A proposed ban of menthol combustible tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will likely be upheld in court, albeit a lengthy legal process, a Rutgers paper found.
The paper appears in Public Health Reports.
The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act provided the FDA with broad authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products, including banning flavored cigarettes, to protect public health. However, the Act did not ban menthol cigarettes, which are used disproportionately by adolescents, women, LGBT populations and racial/ethnic minority groups, particularly African Americans.
The research, conducted by the Rutgers School of Public Health Center for Tobacco Studies, anticipates arguments the tobacco industry is likely to use in a lawsuit challenging the FDA’s authority to ban menthol cigarettes. It then weighs the strength of the scientific evidence justifying a menthol ban. Finally, it considers the potential for illicit trade to undermine the effectiveness of a menthol ban.
Considering those factors, this paper concludes that an FDA rule banning menthol cigarettes is likely to survive a lawsuit. The FDA has sought public comments on menthol two previous times this decade without following through.
In late 2018, then FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb showed commitment to a menthol ban late in 2018 that had not been displayed by the FDA before. There is no indication that his surprise resignation in March 2019 will alter the FDA’s course or priorities.
“All cigarettes are deadly. Menthol cigarettes are particularly nefarious because the tobacco industry designed them as ‘starter products’ that mask the harshness of smoking, leading to more smokers overall.
Additionally, menthol cigarettes are even harder to quit than nonmenthol cigarettes,” said lead author Kevin Schroth, member of the Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies. “This paper shows that right now the FDA has the scientific evidence and legal power to pull these deadly products from the market, saving thousands of lives, especially in communities that have been targeted historically by menthol marketing,” continued Schroth, who is also a faculty member at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
Even if the FDA proceeds expeditiously, the rulemaking process may take at least two years without including potential litigation delays. In the meanwhile, local jurisdictions like San Francisco have banned the sale of menthol and other flavored tobacco products. “New Jersey should not wait for FDA action and move forward with proposed legislation which was approved by the state Assembly’s Health and Senior Services Committee,” said co-author Cristine Delnevo, and Director of Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies. “New Jersey has led nationally on sound tobacco control policies to protect vulnerable populations and should continue to lead and become the first state to ban menthol cigarettes.” A New Jersey law would be justified by the same scientific evidence that supports an FDA rule. Even though the legal analysis differs for a state law, similar laws in other jurisdictions have been upheld consistently.
Andrea Villanti, co-author and member of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, will be discussing menthol cigarettes in an upcoming seminar at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
Michelle Edelstein
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0033354919841011
Medicine/HealthSmoking/Tobacco
Transgender youth faced with tough decision to freeze sperm or eggs
New evidence suggests volcanoes caused biggest mass extinction ever
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HBO’s Fatty Arbuckle Movie Probably Won’t Be Sponsored By Coca Cola
MODERN FAMILY’s Eric Stonestreet to play the scandalous silent film comedian in a terribly titled HBO movie.
By Devin Faraci Aug. 22, 2011
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was a man ahead of his time. Not in his work as a silent movie comedian, which was completely of its time, but in the fact that his career and life were destroyed by a sensational trial. In 1921 Arbuckle was accused of raping and causing the death of aspiring actress Virginia Rappe, who died of peritonitis from a ruptured bladder. The police initially said that Arbuckle had blown out her bladder by laying his fat body on top of her; later Rappe’s manager said that Arbuckle had caused internal injuries to Rappe by fucking her with a piece of ice. The newspapers of the time, in their wisdom, morphed the ice into a Coca Cola bottle.
After three trials Arbuckle was found not guilty, but his films had been banned by an outraged public and his career was destroyed. His wife left him. He eventually directed some shorts under a pseudonym, made a brief comeback in the 30s and then died the same day he signed a full length feature contract with Warner Bros. He supposedly said ‘This is the best day of my life,’ just hours before his heart failed him on June 28, 1933.
These days Fatty’s scandal is seen as one of the first in Hollywood history, and it’s what’s he’s most famous for.
HBO will be adapting a book about Arbuckle, The Day the Laughter Stopped (what a fucking trite title, huh?), and Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family will be playing Fatty. Barry Levinson is attached to direct, and John Adams scripter Kirk Ellis will be writing. According to Vulture, who broke the story, The Day the Laughter Stopped will be about more than just Fatty’s life:
Instead, the goal is to tell the tale of how America transformed from the exuberance that followed the end of World War I into a more repressive, conservative place during the era of prohibition. The film will also touch on Washington’s relationship with Hollywood, as well as the role of media in modern society.
Can’t a fake Coke bottle rape movie just be a fake Coke bottle rape movie?
By the way, this won’t be the first time the Fatty Arbuckle story has hit the screen. The movie version of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon depicts the Rappe/Arbuckle business as softcore smut. It’s a pretty weird movie.
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fatty arbuckle
the day the laughter stopped
By Scott Wampler, Jul 03, 2019
While looking like this.
By Mandy Jeronimus, Jun 07, 2019
The upcoming HBO high school drama looks great.
The HBO masterpiece delves into deep physical and psychological horror.
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The Average Salary of a Child-Care Director
By: Wendy Roltgen
diego cervo/iStock/Getty Images
Qualifications of an Assistant Director in Daycare
A child-care director works to provide children with a safe and comfortable environment while their parents are at work for the day. A quality child-care environment can help children improve their reading, social and language skills. Child-care directors oversee the staff at a child-care facility and are responsible for the educational programming and daily operations of the facility. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, average hourly earnings of child-care directors fall below the private industry average of $18.08 per hour, as of October 2010.
National Salary Average
Comstock Images/Stockbyte/Getty Images
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the national average salary earned by a child-care director or program administrator in May 2008 was $39,940. The national salary range for child-care directors ranges from $25,910 to $77,150. Salaries vary based on the geographic location of the child-care center and the number of children enrolled in the center.
Highest-Paying States
Frank Lombardi Jr/iStock/Getty Images
According to the United States Department of Labor, the states that pay the highest salary for child-care directors and preschool education administrators are California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; child-care directors in the District of Columbia also earn a higher salary on average. The top metropolitan areas for individuals interested in pursuing a career as a child-care director include the California cities of San Francisco, San Mateo and Redwood City. In Florida, child-care directors can expect to earn more in the metro areas surrounding Tampa and Miami. Child-care directors in Flint, Mich., and Tacoma, Wash., can also expect a higher-than-average salary.
Salary by Education and Experience
Many positions in child care can be obtained with a high school diploma and required state license. Like many occupations, the level of education a candidate has improves earning potential. Individuals holding a bachelor’s degree can anticipate earning between $30,000 and $43,000 per year, as of October 2010. Individuals holding a master’s degree in education can expect to earn between $34,000 and $61,000 a year. According to the PayScale website, experience pays off as well. Individuals who have worked in the child-care industry for several years often earn more than individuals with little to no experience.
Salary by Industry
lawcain/iStock/Getty Images
Child-care directors working in hospital, college or university settings have the highest earning potential, with salaries ranging from $30,000 to more than $70,000 per year. Child-care directors working for franchise child-care centers, public schools, nonprofit organizations or company on-site child-care facilities can expect to earn a salary ranging from $25,000 to $42,000 per year.
Catherine Yeulet/iStock/Getty Images
Job opportunities for child-care directors and preschool administrators are expected to grow by 12 percent through 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Turnover is relatively high, which provides ongoing opportunities to break into this industry. The need for formal child-care centers is expected to continue to grow as more parents seek child care outside of the home. Many states are also investing in public preschool programs, creating ongoing demand for preschool and child-care directors.
A number of initiatives are in place to combat the low wages associated with the child-care field. The Center for Child Care Workforce has a “Worthy Wages” campaign underway that's working to improve wages in the early childhood education and child-care workforce. The Child Care WAGE$ and TEACH Early Childhood projects run by the Child Care Services Association also have initiatives that strive to provide fair compensation to individuals working in the fields of child care and early childhood education.
U.S. Department of Labor Statistics: Child Day Care Services
U.S. Department of Labor Statistics: Education Administrators
National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center: Overview
Center for Child Care Workforce: Worthy Wages Campaign
Childcare Services Association
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Parents Speak Out for America’s Children
FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy: 10 Components of Quality Child Care
The National Association for the Education of Young Children
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wage Profiles
Brookings Report: Investing in Young Children
Salary of a Pageant Director
The Salaries of Division 2 Athletic Directors
What Is the Salary for a High School Admissions Director?
Teacher Salary Schedule in Georgia
How to Start a Pageant Business
How to Become a Certified Activities Director in Pennsylvania
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Remarkable Story of Jagama Kello, African Fighter During World War II
0 Posted by Jae Jones - July 9, 2018 - Black History, BLACK MEN, BLACKS IN THE MILITARY, LATEST POSTS
At the age of fifteen, Jagama Kello left home to fight the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, which began on October 3, 1935.
On May 5, 1936, the Italian forces which were under the command of Generals Rodolfo Graziani and Pietro Badgolio, were steadily pushing back the poorly trained Ethiopian army, eventually taking Addis Ababa.
Kello, who was the son of a wealthy landlord who was also the owner of 900 acres of farms in the Gimchi area was not far from Addis Ababa. As a young child, Kello had heard countless stories of the brave acts of his ancestors and planned someday to be just like them. Kello saw the Italian invasion as an opportunity to be like his ancestors. Along with his older brother and uncle, Kello took to the bush, he did not have a gun, but his older brother had one. After ambushing the Italian troops they were able to better arm themselves. During this time, peasants joined the struggle and by the end of the war, they had over 3,000 fighters under their command.
One of the largest battles happened at Seyoum Mariam. Kello and his fighters were told by a woman fighter where they could find the Italians and they were able to do a surprise attack. Seventy-two Italians were killed and they confiscated around 3,000 rifles.
On May 5, 1941, after being in exile in Britain, Emperor Haile Selassie returned. However, Kello, who had received no help from the British during the war, refused to go to the ceremony. The Emperor in return came to Gimchi. Kello put his troops on parade, to greet the Emperor, he was taken to the palace in the Emperor’s car where he was awarded a gold watch and gabardine coat.
The war continued and the Emperor asked for the help of Kello and his troops. During this time, Kello’s troops captured over 500 Italian soldiers and handed them over to the British.
Kello fell ill with malaria and was taken to a hospital in Addis Ababa. The doctors there refused to treat him because of his hair which was in a high afro. Kello refused to cut his hair because it scared his enemies and he went home. It was not until the Emperor arrived an ordered him to cut his hair in order to save his life that he accepted. After the war, Kello continued serving in the military where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.
Ethiopian general who fought fascism: Jagama Kelo
Jagama KelloJagama Kelo
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Three Tornados Record Hat Tricks in Setback
Greensboro (1-2) 11 6 17
Brevard (0-4) 5 4 9
G: 3 Players (#3, #24, #30) - 3
A: Nina Siu - 1
Sv: Shelby Arsenault - 8
GB: Shelby Arsenault - 4
G: Natalie Ritchey - 5
A: 3 Players (#4, #8, #14) - 3
Sv: Stephanie Carr - 6
GB: Madison Blashaw - 4
BREVARD, N.C.- Nina Siu, Hunter Denney and Victoria Hayes each tallied three goals, however Greensboro came out on top 17-9 in women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Ives-Lemel Field. Natalie Richey recorded a game-high five goals and tied for a game-high three assists, followed by Madison Blashaw and Kara Whitson each with four goals in the game.
Brevard (0-4) trailed 11-5 at the end of the first half, but went on a 3-1 run to begin the second frame including a goal from Hayes one minute into the second half. However, Greensboro (1-2) churned out five unanswered goals over nine minutes to take the commanding 17-8 lead with 7:26 left in the contest.
Over the course of the game Siu recorded two up-goals for the Tornados, which led all players in the game in that category. The senior leads Brevard in goals (11) and total points (15) on the season.
Senior goalkeeper Shelby Arsenault earned the start in the net, where she logged eight saves while playing all 60 minutes of the game.
The Tornados will return to action on Feb. 28 as they go on the road to take on Salem, with the game set to start at 4:00 p.m.
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Beck Estate Planning & Elder Law, llc Putting the Pieces Together, Providing Peace of Mind
Call for free information today636.946.7899
Veterans’ Benefits Eligibility Factors You May Have Overlooked
One recent appeals court ruling shows the importance of carefully reviewing an individual’s military service record. Whether on land or at sea, these men and women can be exposed to significant health hazards in their line of duty. For complications that arise many years later, a veteran’s service location can play a significant role in the outcome of their application for compensation.
A VA-accredited elder law and estate planning attorney can help you file an application for veterans’ benefits, including the Aid & Attendance (A&A) pension. In filing this application, it is extremely important that an individual’s military service record is reviewed by an experienced attorney to identify any and all areas of benefits eligibility. What starts as a quest for non-service connected pension may transition to a much higher level of benefits for a service-connected condition, disease or disability – as seen in the two case studies below.
Case Study 1: Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune
Camp Lejeune is a Marine Corps base located in North Carolina. For a period of more than 30 years, people living or working at this base were exposed to a contaminated water supply. The VA recognizes eight diseases resulting from this exposure to “dirty water,” including:
Adult leukemia;
Aplastic anemia, and other myelodysplastic syndromes;
Cancer of the bladder, kidney or liver;
Multiple myeloma;
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; and
Parkinson’s disease.
“John*” came into our firm for a free consultation to check his eligibility for the A&A pension. Based on our preliminary assessment, we were seeking an award of $2,169 in monthly payments for unreimbursed medical expenses. In reviewing his information, our in-house VA Specialist noted that John had served for a period of time at Camp Lejeune. John had also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Because John served at Camp Lejeune during the water contamination period, he was entitled to service-connected benefits for Parkinson’s and other ailments that were directly related to his exposure to dirty water. His actual award amounted to just under $8,000/month and, to-date, has been the biggest award Beck Estate Planning & Elder Law has ever obtained for a veteran client.
John and his family were unaware of his eligibility for increased disability compensation. An inexperienced attorney could just as easily have overlooked the small detail on his service record. In selecting a law firm to assist with an A&A application, be sure the firm is accredited by the VA and well-versed in the public health issues faced by our nation’s veterans as a result of military exposures.
Case Study 2: Naval Veterans and the “Foot on Land” Requirement
Alfred Procopio, Jr., submitted a service-connected claim for benefits, based upon the assertion that his prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus was as a result of exposure to Agent Orange during his Vietnam War-era service in the United States Navy. Alfred’s claim was denied because he had served on a ship located in the waters of the Republic of Vietnam, but never actually set foot on land. In 1997, the government declared they were limiting the definition of “service in the Republic of Vietnam,” as stated within the Agent Orange Act of 1991, to:
“Service in waters offshore the landmass of the Republic of Vietnam only if the service involved duty or visitation on the landmass, including the inland waterways of the Republic of Vietnam.”
-via the Federal Register
Conversationally, this was referred to as the government’s “foot-on-land” or “boots-on-ground” requirement.
Diabetes mellitus type 2 and prostate cancer are among 14 diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange, also known as “presumptive diseases.” This list includes several different cancers and soft tissue sarcomas, in addition to nervous system conditions and other rare diseases.
International Law Defines the Republic of Vietnam
Alfred appealed the decision to deny his benefits to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and won the appeal on January 29, 2019. Alfred’s legal team focused their petition on an assertion that the 1991 law was intended to provide aid for all Vietnam veterans – not just ground troops. On Page 14 of the majority opinion for the 9-2 ruling, Judge Kimberly Moore noted “the government’s foot-on-land requirement […] does not provide a basis to find ambiguity in the language Congress chose.”
Within this opinion, the court also relied on international law to define the boundaries of the Republic of Vietnam. As noted on Page 9 of the court opinion, international law recognizes that:
“‘The sovereignty of a coastal State extends […] to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea,’ having a breadth ‘not exceeding 12 nautical miles.’”
By accepting the international law definition, it became clear that Alfred had served in the Republic of Vietnam. Based on that finding, the denial of claim was reversed. Alfred became entitled to a service-connection for his prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus, which he likely developed as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.
Alfred’s win was a win for an estimated 50,000-70,000 additional “blue water” veterans who were previously ineligible for service-connected benefits. This ruling may also be a win for eligible survivors of these veterans, with regards to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits. For more information on DIC benefits, consult a VA-accredited law firm.
The Beck Team Advocates for our Nation’s Veterans
At Beck Estate Planning & Elder Law in St. Charles, we are proud to serve a variety of clients with their estate planning and elder law needs. We are particularly happy when the client happens to be a veteran, who needs our help in assessing their eligibility for the Aid & Attendance (A&A) pension. To-date, our VA- accredited firm has successfully submitted more than 1,850 A&A applications, for local veterans in the St. Charles area and beyond.
Our founder, Rudy Beck, is also a founding member of Veterans Advocates Group of America (VAGA.) This Georgia-based organization has dedicated researchers who comb the pages of VA documents, to unearth any information that helps veterans obtain benefits for their service to our country. We have the resources and expertise you need.
If you are a veteran or the spouse of a veteran, and want to explore the possibility of financial benefits for a condition, disease or disability that may be connected to your military service, contact us to discuss your situation.
*Name has been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
Veterans' Benefits
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Trucking Accident that Injures Tracy Morgan, Kills One Spurs Investigation into Truck Driver Safety
A fatal trucking accident in which a Wal-Mart truck driver crashed into comedian Tracy Morgan’s limo bus has raised concerns over fatigued truck drivers. According to reports, Wal-Mart truck driver Kevin Roper, 35, had been driving for more than 24 hours without rest at the time of the crash.
Roper pleaded not guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter and several counts of assault by auto in a New Jersey courtroom Wednesday. Morgan and two others were listed as being in critical condition, and comedian James McNair, 62, died in the crash.
The accident spurred an investigation into the safety of commercial truck drivers by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators and has brought attention to the already heated issue of driver fatigue. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, driver fatigue plays a huge factor in the roughly 4,000 fatal tuck accidents that occur each year.
Scientists have said sleep deprivation can produce the same effects as alcohol and inhibit judgment and slow reflexes. But, the trucking industry continues to set unrealistic deadlines for drivers and push boundaries.
The amount of hours a driver should be allowed to travel without rest has been topic of debate for years. In fact, a proposed change to federal regulations backed by the trucking industry and strongly opposed by safety advocates would allow commercial truck drivers to put in more hours behind the wheel than they already do.
The change, which was added to a transportation spending bill last week, would allow truck drivers to be behind the wheel for up to 82 hours a week. This is a jump from the current limit, which is 60 or 70 hours, depending on the company.
Truck driver fatigue is a major problem that can lead to serious injury and death. In light of the tragic accident, the Connecticut personal injury lawyers of Berkowitz and Hanna LLC are announcing that they are available to investigate potential injury and wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of people that are injured trucking accidents and their families.
Berkowitz and Hanna LLC advocates for clients injured by negligence such as truck driver fatigue. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident involving a commercial truck, we may be able to help you recover compensation for medical bills and other potential damages.
Berkowitz and Hanna LLC has made a public comment on this saddening accident. Read more in the press release here.
To learn more, contact us today.
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Sassounian: President Erdogan, a Menace to the World, Should Be Stopped Before It’s Too Late
February 28, 2018 at 9:00 am Harut Sassounian My Turn 4
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become a serious danger not only to his own nation, but to many others as well. His actions and statements in recent years should seriously worry his neighbors and the entire world.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: Michał Józefaciuk)
The last tyrant ignored by the international community was the genocidal butcher Adolf Hitler, who unleashed World War II, invading scores of countries and killing millions of people. Regrettably, Western leaders have tried to appease Erdogan, thereby creating a monster.
Strangely, some nations in the Islamic world have treated him respect, while many Western countries consider Turkey as one of their key allies. To make matters worse, Russia is also trying to win Erdogan over, to distance him from the West and NATO.
A vivid example of Erdogan’s unfit mental state is his recent bizarre public statement posted on the Turkish President’s website, titled “Turkey is the Standard-Bearer of the Global Fight for Justice.”
No one in their right mind would make such a deceptive statement. Turkey is the last country in the world to be described as “the standard bearer of the global fight for justice.” With hundreds of journalists and tens of thousands of professors, lawyers, judges, and public employees in jail, how can Erdogan make such a false claim? Besides the current injustices perpetrated on the Turkish people, Erdogan also denies massive past injustices such as the genocide against Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians.
Earlier this month, during a speech at his Justice and Development (AKP) Party’s Eskisehir Provincial Congress, Erdogan shamelessly announced: “Turkey is also the standard-bearer of the global fight for justice. Turkey is a safe haven for the oppressed and a nightmare for the oppressors.” If Turkey is such a “safe haven,” why so many Turks are trying to escape from the country and seeking asylum in Europe? Why is the Turkish government issuing arrest warrants for the escapees and pressuring European countries to extradite Turkish journalists, intellectuals and human rights activists?
Appointing himself as a world leader, Erdogan has cast a wide net, meddling in the internal affairs of many countries, near and far: “Turkey is the hope for our Crimean brothers and sisters, the oppressed of Turkestan [Turkic people in Central Asia] and our friends from Caucasia, Sarajevo and Africa.” Erdogan goes on to affirm: “If we stumble, Al-Quds [Jerusalem] will fall, Palestine, Rakhine [egin in Myanmar], and Somalia will fall.”
Several days after Erdogan’s pompous speech, Turkish opposition journalist Uzay Bulut wrote a critical commentary in the Washington Times, titled “Turkey’s Violence-Tinged Foreign Policy.”
Bulut reminds readers that “the Ottoman Empire’s occupation of vast lands and Islam’s flag of conquest still influence Turkey’s foreign policy, including its invasions and ethnic cleansings.”
The prominent Turkish commentator specifically cites Erdogan’s interventionist policies in Northern Syria (Afrin) and Cyprus. Bulut mentions that Turkey, having illegally occupied Northern Cyprus since 1974, now threatens what remains of the Republic of Cyprus. Erdogan declared: “Cyprus’ courage will only last ‘until they see our army, our ships and our planes.’” Turkey has ignored dozens of UN Security Council resolutions asking for the withdrawal of its troops from Northern Cyprus.
Erdogan also warned the European companies that are exploring gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean, in the territorial waters of the Republic of Cyprus. Bulut writes that earlier this month “Turkish warships blocked a rig belonging to the Italian energy firm ENI from reaching Cypriot waters to start exploring for gas.”
Erdogan admitted his expansionist policies drawing parallels between Afrin, Cyprus, and the Greek islands of the Aegean which are frequent targets of Turkish threats and demands. Erdogan brazenly declared: “Whatever Afrin is to us, our rights in the Aegean and Cyprus are the same. Do not ever think that the natural gas exploration in the waters of Cyprus and the opportunistic attempts in the Aegean Sea drop off from our radar.”
Going to more extremes, Yigit Bulut, one of Erdogan’s principal advisers, boastfully threatened Greece over the islet of Imia, which Turks call “Kardak.” He warned: “Athens will face the wrath of Turkey worse than that in Afrin. We will break the arms and legs of officials of the [Greek] Prime Minister and any minister who dares to step on the Kardak islet in the Aegean. There is not an armed force in this region that could contend against the Turkish armed forces. So, everyone will know their place. All imperialists will accept that the people in this land are Turks and the nation in this land is Islamic ummah [nation] and they will kiss the hand that they cannot bend.”
Commentator [Uzay] Bulut reported that Erdogan himself threatened Cyprus with yet another military invasion: “Just as we disrupt the plots [in Syria] through Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch, and soon in Manbij and other regions, we can and we will disrupt the plots of those who engage in miscalculations on our southern border. Our warships and air force are keeping an eye on the area in order to intervene in any way whenever required.”
Turkey’s neighbors should be aware that Erdogan is intending to recover the Ottoman territories. He openly threatened: “Those who think that we’ve erased from our hearts the lands from which we withdrew in tears a hundred years ago are wrong.”
At the end of her article, [Uzay] Bulut rightly points out that the Western countries are mostly responsible for Erdogan’s out of control behavior: “The global inaction in response to Turkish aggression encourages Mr. Erdogan, the president of a so-called ‘ally’ of the West, to threaten Cyprus with yet another military assault… What enables him to get away with his intimidating rhetoric and ongoing hostility is the apparent weakness and confusion of the West in the face of violent Turkish supremacism.”
California Courier Editor
Harut Sassounian is the publisher of The California Courier, a weekly newspaper based in Glendale, Calif. He is the president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition of the seven largest Armenian-American organizations. He has been decorated by the president and prime minister of the Republic of Armenia, and the heads of the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic churches. He is also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Latest posts by Harut Sassounian (see all)
Pres. Trump is about to damage US interests just to please Erdogan - July 9, 2019
UN Questions Turkey on the Armenian Genocide in Stunning Letter - June 25, 2019
The west again! when will the west ever learn that there are leaders and there are leaders? unfortunately, the west has not learned and that useless body called the UN and it’s security council have no idea how to handle this “thing”.
Ahmet says:
If you don’t pick on Turkey, you won’t get picked on in return.
Yerevanian says:
“Western countries are mostly responsible for Erdogan’s out of control behavior.”
Yes, this is true; and the one country who’s the most responsible in all of this, is the United States who persistently overlooks every single one of Turkey’s criminal actions.
On the other hand, the United States is also fully responsible for Israel’s out of control behavior. There’s really very little difference between the criminal, terrorist regimes of Turkey and Israel. Furthermore, these two “countries” who have always been united together in their aggressive campaign of denial against the Armenian Genocide, happen to also be accessories to Azerbaijan’s continuous campaign of terrorism, directed against Armenia and Artsakh.
The world, today, would indeed be an enormously better place without the likes of Turkey, Israel, and Azerbaijan!
A. Lahdo says:
Dear Hairanik, what you said about Erdogan is correct. Problem is that european and Nato don,t give him an seriously Answer. I hope that Nato did not vorget That Erdogan did not allow to use Airport from Incerlik in Irakies War 2003. und did not vorget that he vorbidden to visite Germany Soldiers at Incerlik and now is removed the Basis to Jordanian.
Your sincerly. Dr. Abraham Lahdo
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