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10 reasons to choose Colombia as your next vacation destination
by Aaron Hotfelder (RSS feed)
http://www.gadling.com/2010/09/29/10-reasons-to-choose-colombia-as-your-next-vacation-destination/
It's safe, it's affordable, and it's attracting travelers like never before. Colombia, the closest South American getaway to the United States, has seemingly appeared on just about every "hip new travel destination" list over the last few years, including the New York Times list of 31 Places to Go in 2010. So why is everyone raving about it? Here are ten reasons:
10. Medellin Named the world's most dangerous city only two decades ago thanks largely to the exploits of Pablo Escobar, Medellin has cleaned up its act in a big way since the drug lord's death in 1993. Nicknamed the City of Eternal Spring, Medellin's near-perfect climate, cosmopolitan atmosphere, and vibrant nightlife make it a must-visit Colombia destination.
If you can, schedule your trip so that you can witness Medellin's one-of-a-kind Feria de las Flores (Flower Festival) in early August. My fellow travelers who attended could not shut up about it. Check out Anthony Bourdain's thoughts on the city here.
9. Cartagena The word is out about Cartagena: it might just be the prettiest and best-preserved colonial city in South America.
Strolling the narrow cobbled streets of the old town, with its massive balconies covered in bougainvillea and church spires looming overhead, feels like something out of a fairy tale. If your significant other is overtaken by the city's romance, take him or her to the Palace of the Inquisition to check out its vast collection of medieval torture instruments. That'll stop all the marriage talk!
8. The food and drink Colombia does not have much of a culinary reputation, and in many small towns it's not hard to figure out why. Much of the cuisine, as my trusty Lonely Planetnotes, is "unseasond, unspiced food, prepared simply and ungarnished." Exciting it is not. Fortunately, despite the blandness of some Colombian food, you'll still find many things to tempt the ol' tastebuds, like the ubiquitous arepas (buttery corn tortillas), patacones(plantains that are pressed flat and fried), exotic fruits like the lulo, and fresh fish on the coast. As the home of Juan Valdez, Colombia also serves up an above-average cup of coffee, unlike much of South America which relies almost exclusively on the execrable instant coffeeNescafe. Fresh, exotic fruit juice, or jugo, is widely available and incredibly tasty. Colombia's national spirit is aguardiente, an anise-flavored white liquor that almost makes up for its godawful taste with its 29% alcohol content. Almost.
7. It's safer thank you think! If you caught Ingrid Betancourt on Oprah the other day (hey, my remote was broken!), you might get the impression that Colombia's still-dodgy reputation is well-deserved. Betancourt, you'll remember, was the Colombian presidential candidate kidnapped by the guerrilla group FARC back in 2002 and held until 2008 when she wasdramatically rescued by the Colombian military.
Yes, Colombia has long been associated with drug trafficking, kidnapping, guerilla groups, and violence, but those days are mostly behind it. Medellin, once the most dangerous city in the world with about 380 murders per 100,000 people, is now one of the safest cities in South America. The vast majority of Colombia's dangerous areas lie in the country's sparsely-populated eastern half, a region well off the tourist trail. (We didn't go there and neither should you, with the exception of the Amazonian town Leticia.) Colombia's big cities and small towns, as well as every attraction on this list, are as safe as anywhere in Latin America.
6. San Gil Far and away the adventure sports capital of Colombia, San Gil attracts travelers seeking cheap (and we mean cheap) thrills, whether it's white-water rafting, paragliding, horseback riding, caving, or rappelling down a waterfall. The town itself, though admittedly short on culinary delights, is home to a pleasant tree-lined square which lies an easy walk from Parque El Gallineral, a beautiful ten-acre park perfect for an afternoon stroll
5. Barichara For those travelers who are more Betty White than Bear Grylls, avoid the white-knuckle adventure ("these kids and their paragliding!") and take a 45-minute bus ride from San Gil to the picturesque town of Barichara. This beautiful pueblo, with its cobblestone streets, colonial churches, and quaint cafés, makes a wonderful day-trip destination.
Spend lazy days bronzing on the beach and swimming in the warm Caribbean waters, or take advantage of extensive trails to see some of the park's 300 species of birds and 770 species of plants. Swing yourself to sleep in a hammock at one of the many campgrounds in the park-- just don't forget the bug spray!
2. Bogotá More than just another noisy, crowded Latin American capital, Bogotá might just be the most pleasant surprise of your trip. Progressive and cosmopolitan, Bogotá was recently named the world's third-most bike-friendly city after Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The original home of the now much-copied ciclovía concept, Bogotá closes 122 kilometers of roads to cars every Sunday for hundreds of thousands of cyclists to enjoy. Its walkable colonial neighborhood La Candelaria, home to the Plaza de Bolivar (pictured), boasts the world-class Gold Museum and the worthwhile Donación Botero, a museum with works by Colombia's most famous artist, Fernando Botero, as well as unknown dabblers like Picasso, Renoir, and Monet. La Candelaria is also a food-lover's paradise, with top-notch international cuisine, tasty and inexpensive local fare, and scores of street vendors selling aromatica, a wonderfully addictive spiced hot tea.
1. Ciudad Perdida Accessible by a challenging five-day trek through the jungle, Ciudad Perdida ("Lost City") is, for me, Colombia's top attraction. Dating from the 9th Century, Ciudad Perdida's ruins were hidden for centuries beneath thick vegetation until grave-robbers discovered the site in 1973. But Ciudad Perdida is special not because of the ruins themselves, but because of the spectacular five-day hike required to get there. For more on this great hike, check out my recent should-have-been-award-winning Gadling piece on Ciudad Perdida.
For more wanderlust-inspiring articles about Colombia, check out a couple favorites from the Gadling vault: The rebirth of Medellin? and Coming attractions: Colombia. The New York Times has also been all over Colombia recently; check out their coverage here.
[All photos belong to the Colombia Board of Tourism or your humble correspondent]
Its culinary scene is also surprisingly developed for a town of 10,000, with several restaurants offering regional dishes like cabro con pepitoria (goat with blood and organs) and the (in)famous hormigas culonas, giant ants that have been fried or roasted. Surprisingly tolerable!
4. Taganga Looking for a bargain-basement PADI course so you can finally learn what all the scuba diving fuss is about? Make your way to the fishing village of Taganga, where several operators offer four-day open water courses for about US$250. Taganga also makes a great base for trips to Tayrona National Park and Ciudad Perdida (see below), and as such, the town attracts gringo backpackers like moths to a flame. This means, among other things, that there are plenty of inexpensive and occasionally rowdy hostels in town, as well as some pretty good restaurants and coffee shops. Embrace your gringo-ness at the Swedish-owned Café Bonsai just a half-block from the waterfront. Cool music, tasty food, hot drinks, cocktail specials... Is there more to life?
3. Tayrona National Park Located on a small stretch of Caribbean coastline, this 93-square-mile national park offers an abundance of attractions for hikers, nature lovers and beach bums alike. Easily accessible from the towns of Santa Marta by bus or Taganga by boat, the park's dense jungle leads to pristine white-sand beaches, some of the best in Colombia.
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Contra Costa moves against domestic violence
By Heather Gilligan • Apr 25, 2010
Before Patricia left her abusive husband nineteen years ago, she struggled for years with the abuse, her fears and her reluctance to press charges. Whenever she did speak to the police, it was difficult for her to explain why she did not want to pursue prosecution.
“It was hard for a police officer to understand, if you know this is a dangerous situation for you, why would you keep calling, and why, when we come out here, won’t you press charges?” she said, speaking about her experience only on the condition that her last name be withheld. Facing judgment is one of the biggest challenges in breaking away from violent relationships, Patricia said.
“I knew the person who battered me better than anyone,” Patricia said. “I knew that if I pressed charges, when he got out of jail, there would be more harm for me.”
Combating the stigma and deep fear that follows victims of abuse is the goal of the proposed Contra Costa County Family Justice Center. The agency is a public-private partnership spearheaded by Contra Costa County’s Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence Initiative. The Center will provide services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and sexual trafficking under one roof, said Devorah Levine, executive director of Zero Tolerance.
Formal planning for the Contra Costa Family Justice Center began this year, Levine said. Working groups were created to unite the many county service providers and private non-profits, and a site to house the center was selected in Richmond. By the end of the year, Levine hopes that the Center will be ready to house representatives from key agencies across the county, including the police department, legal assistance, housing assistance and counseling assistance.
A Family Justice Center should increase prosecutions for domestic violence, said Bisa French, spokeswoman for the Richmond Police Department.
“When we work more closely with advocates and victims we get more cooperation,” French said. “Victims feel safer and are more willing to pursue prosecution.”
French is also assigned to the Family Services Unit, which responds to domestic violence calls. Family Services responds to between 25 and 35 cases of felony domestic violence per month, French said.
Increased demand amid decreasing resources
Richmond’s rates of violence against women are the highest in the county. The city accounts for only 10 percent of the county population, but 20 percent of forcible rapes and 21 percent of domestic violence incidents in the county occur in Richmond. Last year, 16 women died as a result of domestic violence in Contra Costa County.
Paradoxical as it sounds, Levine said county budget cuts are part of what prompted her to begin a center. Concentrating resources in one location is the best way to help more women, she said.
“Over time, it certainly saves this county and the community money, that we aren’t working at odds,” said Rhonda James, executive director of Community Violence Solutions, the non-profit that serves as Contra Costa County’s rape crisis center, and one of the organizations helping Zero Tolerance in its push to open the center. Without proper communication, service providers can duplicate efforts, James said.
The biggest obstacle that remains for the center is raising funds for rehabbing of the proposed site in Richmond, Levine said. She’ is fundraising and seeking volunteer labor to get the building ready for the agencies already in line to help. The work will cost an estimated $1.1 million.
Service providers are seeing huge increases in demand combined with funding cuts and decreased donations, said Michelle Davis, director of development for STAND Against Domestic Violence, Contra Costa County’s domestic violence prevention agency.
The number of unique calls to STAND’s crisis hotline increased by 85 percent this year, Davis said. Emergency food and clothing assistance has been needed by 39 percent of clients this year.
“I can’t tell you we’ve ever seen anything like this before,” Davis said of the combined budget cuts and increased demand. “This is really off the chart for us.”
Connecting services
Abused women usually require more than one service, Levine said, and are overwhelmed with fear and feelings of worthlessness when they begin the process of leaving their relationships. Then, the process of separating from an abusive spouse requires a complicated series of bureaucratic interactions, like securing restraining orders, beginning divorce proceedings, and drawing on the resources of social agencies to find emergency shelter.
“If we are all in one place, the odds of someone falling through the cracks is just smaller,” James said.
“The reason that there are difficulties between pieces of the system aren’t usually because people are small minded or evil,” James said. “It’s because we don’t know that when someone has to move from law enforcement to medical to social services to housing that there are these pieces that fall away.”
Patricia saw that fragmentation first-hand.
“Everything was pretty disconnected,” she said of seeking help in Contra Costa County. Much has changed since she was a victim, Patricia said, but assistance remains scattered. “A lot of services were available through STAND, but a lot I had to find out on my own. It took a few years to wrap up most of the services I needed.”
The Latina Center in Richmond helps serve women who are trying to escape abusive relationships.
Leticia Mendoza, a former victim of domestic violence who is now a peer counselor in the domestic violence program at Richmond’s Latina Center, said that she had no idea how to get help when she left her abusive relationship seven years ago.
“It was hard because I didn’t know anything here,” she said. “So I represented myself in court. I didn’t know any English at all…I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Creating a culture of safety
Violence occurs more frequently in poor areas generally, but the problem of domestic abuse cuts across socioeconomic lines, James said. Women from all ethnic groups, races and income brackets draw on public and private resources for victims of abuse.
Yet poor women, and women who don’t speak English, do have a harder time finding emergency services and protection, James said.
Miriam Wong, director of Richmond’s Latina Center.
Some women, like Mendoza, overcome legal and personal challenges and leave their abuser behind. Others don’t, said Miriam Wong, the executive director of the Latina Center.
Listen to Miriam Wong in her own voice.
http://www.calhealthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/miriam_wong1-1.mp3
A victim seeking assistance at an emergency room, police station or clinic is unlikely to make initial contact with a service provider specifically trained to help them, according Wong. Latinas who don’t speak English and weren’t born in the U.S. are especially vulnerable, because language and cultural barriers make it more difficult to get help.
Working closely together, desk by desk, will teach providers how to help all women, James said.
“It’s not just about the services, it’s about the culture that is created when you have larger systems…really looking into the eyes of victims,” James said. “Most people don’t present and say, I’m a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. They say, I have a broken jaw. I’m hurting. I’m homeless.”
“It truly does take many minds—and many hearts—to pay attention to when a situation becomes very dangerous for a family,” Zero Tolerance’s Levine said.
Given the ever-rising need for help, Patricia said, the center cannot open soon enough. “To me,” she said, “it’s just amazing to think about all the possibilities.”
Listen to Patricia in her own words
http://www.calhealthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/patricia_final1-1.mp3
#bay-area#richmond#abuse#domestic-violence
Living with the sound of gunfire
Richmond searches for answers to soaring homicide rate
Success story: Humboldt County Juvenile Hall
CeaseFire tries to quell gang violence
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Thousands of Medi-Cal Patients Report Poor Treatment by Doctors, Staff
By Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil • Aug 16, 2018
When Shani Muhammad meets with her patients, they often talk about more than health.
As an urgent care physician in San Jose, most of Muhammad’s patients are Medi-Cal recipients or uninsured. And one common refrain is the difficulty they have accessing health care, making appointments—and even interacting with other providers.
“They don’t feel like the physicians are working as hard to figure out what’s going on with them, or listen to or understand them,” she said. “I had patients complain, generally, of feeling discriminated against, or treated like their intelligence level wasn’t as high, or of not having things explained to them because of the assumption that they won’t care.”
“A lot of times they express the statement, ‘They didn’t get me,’ ‘They didn’t try to get me,’ ‘They were judging me,’ or ‘They were making assumptions about me,’” she said.
Muhammad’s patients are not alone.
Data released in June by California’s Department of Health Care Services show that nearly 7,000 Medi-Cal patients filed official grievances about “poor provider/staff attitude” in the last three months of 2017, the most recent data available, making it the top quality of care complaint. Anthony Cava, a spokesperson for the health care agency, said that because this grievance category is new, the department can’t yet assess which direction this dissatisfaction is trending.
But advocates say that issues of stigma, cultural competence and language barriers have long been problems for Medi-Cal patients in their interactions with providers.
“We know that there’s an alarming number of consumers who have had poor experiences with care,” said Kimberly Chen, government affairs manager for the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. “And what you get when you have providers who don’t approach patients with cultural humility is you prescribe incorrect treatment, under treatment or over treatment, and then ultimately people’s health suffers.”
When the California Black Health Network recently embarked on a seven-city listening tour to better understand the needs of black patients across the state, one common complaint was the stigma of Medi-Cal, said the group’s deputy director Angelo Williams.
“‘The issue is, I’ll use the card, but I’m treated in a different way because I’m using the card,’” he recalled people saying. “The stigma is that in using the card, it reinforces some of the external stereotypes, the imposition of an inferior status.”
One consequence of this, Williams said, is that many African Americans who are eligible for Medi-Cal aren’t using it for fear of how they’ll be treated in the doctor’s office.
And for those Medi-Cal patients who do seek out care, there can be stigma in not already being in good health, said Chen. She’s seen this particularly at the dentist.
“Older folks with dental needs are going to certain providers who may have unfair attitudes towards them,” she said. “Because they haven’t had the opportunity to have dental care, their teeth might be in poor condition and they feel shamed by it. They say, ‘I know, I didn’t have the care, I’m trying to do the right thing, I’m trying to get some cosmetic things fixed so I can get a better job,’ but they have these judgmental feelings.”
Language can also be a problem.
Rocio Gonzalez, health policy advocate for the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), which serves the indigenous immigrant community in Ventura County, said that many of the monolingual Medi-Cal families she works with have trouble making and getting to appointments, and navigating the health care system in general.
When they do engage with providers, language and cultural barriers can put families at even greater risk than just poor care. One new mother, said Gonzalez, scheduled a doctor’s visit for her baby, but on the day of the appointment, was unable to get there because the transportation service MICOP had arranged didn’t show up.
“Child Services ended up getting involved because they thought mom was being negligent,” said Gonzalez. “But that wasn’t the case at all.”
In the past year, MICOP has partnered with Gold Coast Health Plan to implement a new pilot program to fund a health case manager—who speaks Mixtec and Spanish—to help Medi-Cal families navigate the health care system, make appointments and get transportation and translation services. Since August of 2017, the new health case manager has helped 251 patients in 86 families, Gonzalez said.
The problems between Medi-Cal patients and their physicians are also structural, advocates said, and require structural changes.
For Williams, the stigma also has to do with the low reimbursement rate physicians are paid for serving Medi-Cal patients and the lack of financial incentives for serving this population.
“Some practitioners said there’s the constant back-of-the-mind feeling that they’re not going to be paid on time, so if they accept Medi-Cal patients, they’re subsidizing their service, because they could go to private insurance and get paid quickly,” he said.
“We have to figure out how to incentivize care for African Americans, Latinos and low-income Californians in general, because the system does not offer incentives to provide for the least of these,” Williams said. “It’s developed to provide efficiencies.”
Cava of the Department of Health Care Services, meanwhile, said that the department “performs a medical audit annually, which includes a full review of the health plan grievance and appeal system/process, and contacts health plans on a quarterly basis if they are deemed to have a high grievance and appeal submission rate.” Prior to collecting specific data on Medi-Cal patients’ experiences with providers, these grievances were lumped together under “quality of care” complaints.
For Muhammad, improving Medi-Cal patient experience starts with clinics. She has seen—and worked in—clinics with run-down furniture, extension cords hanging from the ceiling, unfriendly staff and even dead roaches on the floor. This, she said, only reinforces the perception that Medi-Cal customers are treated differently.
Instead, she said, there should be greater oversight for the federally qualified health centers that primarily serve Medi-Cal patients, ensuring that facilities are clean, aesthetically pleasing and offer a range of programs to promote community wellness.
“We need to go around and say, ‘If you get federal money to provide services to these patients, it has to be put back into the clinic and not just into the pocket of the CEO and the board of directors—it has to be invested back into the community,” she said.
“That would be a big step in making people feel that we’re here to serve you.”
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You are here: Home / In the News / Deals dip in Florida amid squabbles over price
Deals dip in Florida amid squabbles over price
June 9, 2014 /in In the News, News /by admin
Click here to view the original article.
Money: Deals dip in Florida amid squabbles over price
By Brian Bandell
The number of private equity firm investments in Florida-based companies declined in 2013 as haggling over pricing made finalizing deals difficult.
James Cassel
Miami-based investment banking firm Cassel, Salpeter & Co. analyzed private equity activity in Florida using data from Pitchbook. There were 135 private equity investments in local companies in 2013, down from 146 in 2012. That’s still better than the 113 deals during the 2009 financial crisis.
During the Great Recession, many of the private equity investments in Florida were in struggling firms at discounted prices, but now companies are doing better, said James Cassel, chairman of Cassel, Salpeter & Co.
“There’s somewhat of a disconnect on value between sellers and buyers,” he said. “There is so much competition for deals and, in some cases, they aren’t willing to pay the prices others are willing to pay.”
In order to justify purchasing a company for well above its book value, a private equity firm must know it could get a strong return down the road, Cassel said. With interest rates likely to rise, that means adjustable-rate loans tied to company acquisitions should be paid off as soon as possible – otherwise they’ll become more expensive, Cassel said.
Companies in the IT and health care industries have been acquired for strong multiples of their book value, he added.
Lately, Cassel’s firm has been busy working for Florida companies looking to sell. Meanwhile, he found the number of Florida-based private equity firms has grown from 26 in 2010 to 33 in 2013.
http://www.casselsalpeter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Roar-MediaLogos-SFBJ-Square.jpg 300 300 admin http://casselsalpeter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cs_logo-color.png admin2014-06-09 16:30:522016-09-28 20:26:49Deals dip in Florida amid squabbles over price
Dynavox, May 2014 Cassel Salpeter & Co. Represents DynaVox in $18 Million Sale
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V. The Eucharist and Matrimony
The Eucharist, a nuptial sacrament
27. The Eucharist, as the sacrament of charity, has a particular relationship with the love of man and woman united in marriage. A deeper understanding of this relationship is needed at the present time. (83) Pope John Paul II frequently spoke of the nuptial character of the Eucharist and its special relationship with the sacrament of Matrimony: "The Eucharist is the sacrament of our redemption. It is the sacrament of the Bridegroom and of the Bride." (84) Moreover, "the entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath which precedes the wedding feast, the Eucharist." (85) The Eucharist inexhaustibly strengthens the indissoluble unity and love of every Christian marriage. By the power of the sacrament, the marriage bond is intrinsically linked to the eucharistic unity of Christ the Bridegroom and his Bride, the Church (cf. Eph 5:31-32). The mutual consent that husband and wife exchange in Christ, which establishes them as a community of life and love, also has a eucharistic dimension. Indeed, in the theology of Saint Paul, conjugal love is a sacramental sign of Christ's love for his Church, a love culminating in the Cross, the expression of his "marriage" with humanity and at the same time the origin and heart of the Eucharist. For this reason the Church manifests her particular spiritual closeness to all those who have built their family on the sacrament of Matrimony. (86) The family – the domestic Church (87) – is a primary sphere of the Church's life, especially because of its decisive role in the Christian education of children. (88) In this context, the Synod also called for an acknowledgment of the unique mission of women in the family and in society, a mission that needs to be defended, protected and promoted. (89) Marriage and motherhood represent essential realities which must never be denigrated.
The Eucharist and the unicity of marriage
28. In the light of this intrinsic relationship between marriage, the family and the Eucharist, we can turn to several pastoral problems. The indissoluble, exclusive and faithful bond uniting Christ and the Church, which finds sacramental expression in the Eucharist, corresponds to the basic anthropological fact that man is meant to be definitively united to one woman and vice versa (cf. Gen 2:24, Mt 19:5). With this in mind, the Synod of Bishops addressed the question of pastoral practice regarding people who come to the Gospel from cultures in which polygamy is practised. Those living in this situation who open themselves to Christian faith need to be helped to integrate their life-plan into the radical newness of Christ. During the catechumenate, Christ encounters them in their specific circumstances and calls them to embrace the full truth of love, making whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to arrive at perfect ecclesial communion. The Church accompanies them with a pastoral care that is gentle yet firm, (90) above all by showing them the light shed by the Christian mysteries on nature and on human affections.
The Eucharist and the indissolubility of marriage
29. If the Eucharist expresses the irrevocable nature of God's love in Christ for his Church, we can then understand why it implies, with regard to the sacrament of Matrimony, that indissolubility to which all true love necessarily aspires. (91) There was good reason for the pastoral attention that the Synod gave to the painful situations experienced by some of the faithful who, having celebrated the sacrament of Matrimony, then divorced and remarried. This represents a complex and troubling pastoral problem, a real scourge for contemporary society, and one which increasingly affects the Catholic community as well. The Church's pastors, out of love for the truth, are obliged to discern different situations carefully, in order to be able to offer appropriate spiritual guidance to the faithful involved.(92) The Synod of Bishops confirmed the Church's practice, based on Sacred Scripture (cf. Mk 10:2- 12), of not admitting the divorced and remarried to the sacraments, since their state and their condition of life objectively contradict the loving union of Christ and the Church signified and made present in the Eucharist. Yet the divorced and remarried continue to belong to the Church, which accompanies them with special concern and encourages them to live as fully as possible the Christian life through regular participation at Mass, albeit without receiving communion, listening to the word of God, eucharistic adoration, prayer, participation in the life of the community, honest dialogue with a priest or spiritual director, dedication to the life of charity, works of penance, and commitment to the education of their children.
When legitimate doubts exist about the validity of the prior sacramental marriage, the necessary investigation must be carried out to establish if these are well-founded. Consequently there is a need to ensure, in full respect for canon law (93), the presence of local ecclesiastical tribunals, their pastoral character, and their correct and prompt functioning (94). Each Diocese should have a sufficient number of persons with the necessary preparation, so that the ecclesiastical tribunals can operate in an expeditious manner. I repeat that "it is a grave obligation to bring the Church's institutional activity in her tribunals ever closer to the faithful" (95). At the same time, pastoral care must not be understood as if it were somehow in conflict with the law. Rather, one should begin by assuming that the fundamental point of encounter between the law and pastoral care is love for the truth: truth is never something purely abstract, but "a real part of the human and Christian journey of every member of the faithful" (96). Finally, where the nullity of the marriage bond is not declared and objective circumstances make it impossible to cease cohabitation, the Church encourages these members of the faithful to commit themselves to living their relationship in fidelity to the demands of God's law, as friends, as brother and sister; in this way they will be able to return to the table of the Eucharist, taking care to observe the Church's established and approved practice in this regard. This path, if it is to be possible and fruitful, must be supported by pastors and by adequate ecclesial initiatives, nor can it ever involve the blessing of these relations, lest confusion arise among the faithful concerning the value of marriage (97).
Given the complex cultural context which the Church today encounters in many countries, the Synod also recommended devoting maximum pastoral attention to training couples preparing for marriage and to ascertaining beforehand their convictions regarding the obligations required for the validity of the sacrament of Matrimony. Serious discernment in this matter will help to avoid situations where impulsive decisions or superficial reasons lead two young people to take on responsibilities that they are then incapable of honouring. (98) The good that the Church and society as a whole expect from marriage and from the family founded upon marriage is so great as to call for full pastoral commitment to this particular area. Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is injurious to society itself.
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Brasil Wire , March 16, 2018
Not only Marielle: 10 human rights activists assassinated in last 5 months
AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Home AUTHORITARIANISM Not only Marielle: 10 human rights activists assassinated in last 5 months
The cowardly murder of socialist councilwoman Marielle Franco, on March 14, has all the hallmarks of political assassination. The protests that swept across Brazil on the night of March 15 were mobilised at short notice in outrage at a political act, and not merely a spontaneous outcry over Brazilians’ frustration with “one more gunfire death” as some Anglo media companies tried to frame it. Marielle was assassinated by a trained shooter with a common Military Police weapon. Rio de Janeiro is currently under military occupation, and she was its most prominent critic.
Marielle Franco was also a living example of everything the neo-fascist Brazilian military hates: a black, LGBT, feminist, socialist from a favela.
In the wake of this, commentator Brian Winter, of Wall Street lobby AS/COA, posted, then later deleted a tweet which depicted Marielle’s political assassination as an unusual occurrence in Brazil, which is preposterous. And this reflects a general trend, journalists who either ignored, obfuscated or denied Brazil’s 2016 coup now face great difficulty in trying to explain what has been happening in the country since.
Brazil is one of the World’s most dangerous countries for leftist activists. According to the Catholic Church’s Pastoral Land Commission, there have been 1833 political assassinations of agrarian reform activists in the Brazilian countryside since the end of the Military Dictatorship. Most of these were committed by agribusiness plantation and ranch owners involved in monoculture production and export of goods like beef and soy to the American and European markets.
Regular Brasil Wire contributor Fernando Horta compiled the following list of Brazil’s last 10 political assassinations:
Marielle Franco, city councilwoman from the Partido de Socialismo e Liberdade (Socialism and Freedom Party/PSOL). March 15, 2018
The sociologist, feminist and black movement activist was executed in Rio de Janeiro. Marielle, who was elected to the city council with the 4th highest vote tally in 2016, worked in the Maré favela, where she was born and raised and, the week before she was murdered, publicly denounced police violence against teenagers in Acari favela.
Paulo Sergio Almeida Nascimento, community leader in Pará. March 12, 2018
Nascimento was one of the leaders of the Association of Mestizos, Indigenous peoples and Maroon community descendents of Amazonia (CAINQUIAMA). According to the civil police, he was shot in front of his house in the city of Barcerena. Nascimento was a vocal critic of a recent toxic waste disaster committed by the Norwegian-owned Hydro Alunorte aluminum plant earlier that month.
George de Andrade Lima Rodrigues, community leader in Recife, PE. February 23, 2018
Rodrigues’ body was found with bullet holes and barbed wire wrapped around his neck, after three days of searches. His body was found in a patch of forest on the edge of a dirt road. He had been kidnapped by four men who are believed to be police officers.
Carlos Antônio dos Santos, Carlão, community leader in Mato Grosso. February 7, 2018
Carlão was one of the leaders of the PDS Rio Jatobá agrarian reform settlement in Paranatinga, Mato Grosso and was shot to death by a man on a motorcycle in front of the Mayor’s Office in broad daylight. He was in a car with his daughter and wife, who was also injured in the attack. Carlão had made a series of complaints about police violence and had received death threats.
Leandro Altenir Ribeiro Ribas, community leader in Porto Alegre, January 28, 2018
Ribas was a community leader in Vila São Luis, a favela in Porto Alegre’s North side. He had stopped sleeping in his house a few days earlier due to a battle between neighborhood drug gangs. On the day he was assassinated, he returned home to pick up some clothes, but ended up being murdered. The police suspect that Ribas was executed by gang members because he was a community leader who criticized their actions in the neighborhood.
Márcio Oliveira Matos, Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento Sem Terra/MST) leader in Bahia. January 24, 2018
Matos, 33, was one of the youngest state leaders of the MST and lived in the Boa Sorte agrarian reform settlement. He was killed in his home, with three gun shots, in front of his son.
Valdemir Resplandes, MST leader in Pará. January 9, 2018
Resplandes was executed in the town of Anapu, Pará. He was stopped on his motorcycle by two men. One of them shot him in the back and, as he lay on the ground, the other man shot him in the head. American Nun Dorothy Stang was assassinated by loggers in the same town in 2005.
Jefferson Marcelo do Nascimento, community leader in Rio. January 4, 2018
Nascimento was a community leader in the Madureira neighborhood. His body was found with signs of hanging one day after he disappeared. He had made a series of complaints against a paramilitary militia gang days before his execution.
Clodoaldo do Santos, union leader in Sergipe – December 14, 2017
Santos was a leader of the SOS-Jobs social movement in Sergipe and was shot in the head by two men who came to his house saying that they wanted to give him their resumes. After suggesting that they deliver their resumes directly to a company that is building a thermoelectric plant in the region, he was assassinated.
Jair Cleber dos Santos, squatters camp leader in Pará. September 22, 2017
Santos was shot while in the company of four other landless rural workers. The man accused of the assassination is the foreman of a plantation that was occupied by workers connected to the Federação dos Trabalhadores de Agricultura do Estado do Pará (Pará State Federation of Agricultural Workers/FETAGRI). The police were at the location moments beforehand and the workers who witnessed the crime accuse them of helping the foreman and the other gunmen escape the crime scene.
Fabio Gabriel Pacifico dos Santos, “Binho dos Palameres”, Maroon community leader in Bahia. September 18, 2017
Binho, as he was known as, was a leader of Pitanga dos Palmares, a community of descendents of escaped slaves in Simões Filho, Bahia. He had just dropped his son off at school and was going to the funeral of a friend when he was stopped by a car. A man got out and fired several shots at Binho.
Say their names.
Lula’s defence: New evidence shows illegal cooperation between United States & Lava Jato investigators
The Assassination Of Socialist Marielle Franco
Brian Mier, August 17, 2015
Anti-government protests fizzle: Could this be the end of a cycle?
Manuela D`Avila, December 28, 2017
Boeing & Embraer: Don’t sell Santos Dumont’s dream
Brian Mier, December 11, 2017
Inside the MNLM Squatters Movement
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» Brethren bits for Feb. 11, 2017
Brethren bits for Feb. 11, 2017
Photo by Gail Erisman Valeta
“Living up to our church name: Prince of Peace!” commented Gail Erisman Valeta in a Facebook post sharing this church sign at Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in Littleton, Colo.
-- Emma Jean Woodard has resigned as associate district executive minister for Virlina District. Her resignation is effective May 22. She has been a member of the district staff for over 17 years, said the district newsletter. She served first as an interim in the position, from Jan. 2000 until Oct. 2001, when she became the associate district executive. Previously she served as an interim pastor and as a church secretary. “She has been a faithful servant of Christ and the church,” said the district announcement.
-- Trent Turner was hired on Jan. 23 as warehouse assistant for the Material Resources program at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. The Church of the Brethren Material Resources staff warehouse, process, and ship disaster relief and other material aid on behalf of a number of ecumenical partners. Turner began his work in the warehouse as a contract employee in April last year.
-- Bethany Theological Seminary, the seminary of the Church of the Brethren, announces an opening for the full-time position of administrative assistant for Institutional Advancement, with an immediate starting date. This is an opportunity for a person with strengths in caring for details and supporting colleagues in the mission of the Institutional Advancement Department. Responsibilities include overseeing gift receipting, serving as data manager for the department’s portion of the Salesforce data management system, and coordinating logistics for department travel. Eligible applicants will hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Affinity with the values and mission of the seminary is required. Experience in gift receipting and handling confidential materials is preferred. Applicants will be personable, able to be self-directed, manage a complex workload with attention to details, able to quickly respond to phone and e-mail requests from donors. Experience with Salesforce is preferred; proficiency with Microsoft Office is required. A complete job description is available at https://bethanyseminary.edu . Application review will begin Feb. 15 and will continue until an appointment is made. To apply send a letter of interest, resume, and contact information for three references to advancement@bethanyseminary.edu , Attention: Mark Lancaster, Bethany Theological Seminary, 615 National Road West, Richmond, IN 47374. Bethany Theological Seminary’s policy prohibits discrimination in employment opportunities or practices with regard to race, gender, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, or religion.
-- Camp Pine Lake is seeking a camp director. The Church of the Brethren camp borders Pine Lake State Park near Eldora, Iowa. An enthusiastic, multi-talented individual is sought to serve in a position that includes working with the camp board, general operation of the camp (including office and business management, personnel management, maintenance, etc.), district/public relations, and other responsibilities. In addition to hosting Church of the Brethren camps and events, Camp Pine Lake’s facilities are available for rental by other church groups, families, and individuals. Qualifications include strong hospitality, administrative, accounting, and clerical skills; enthusiasm for the mission of Camp Pine Lake; leadership skills; a spirit of cooperation; and a desire to promote the ministries provided to the Northern Plains District through outdoor experiences. The camp director should be a committed Christian who supports the principles of the Church of the Brethren. A college degree is preferred, along with experience in Christian camping leadership, public relations, promotional activities, and communications. The board is open to including other property management or programming duties in the position for the right candidate. Health benefits are not included but a salary, on-site housing (in the form of a separate dwelling), and utilities are provided. For more information visit www.camppinelake.com/employmentopportunities.html . Apply by sending a cover letter and resume to camppinelake@heartofiowa.net .
-- “New Orleans East was hit by one of several tornadoes in Louisiana Tuesday morning,” reported David Young, a Church of the Brethren member and founder of Capstone Community Gardens and Orchards in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, La. “The actual touch down was about five miles (as the crow flies) from our Capstone sites. We have some wind-blown things but nothing serious. It was a blessing that there were no fatalities,” he said via Facebook message. Young reported that about 20 people from the area hit by the tornado were transported to hospitals with non life-threatening injuries, and about 60 houses and buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed, with some 3,200 without power as of Thursday, Feb. 9. “The Red Cross has opened an emergency shelter in anticipation of serving 400 people and the area is being guarded for looting by the National Guard,” he wrote. “The support form the community has been good with many offering sheltering for those displaced. There is much to be restored but the people of this city have shown their resilience in the past and with God’s blessings will come back from this disaster also.” Capstone is a recipient of Global Food Initiative grants and is a partner in the denomination’s Going to the Garden initiative.
Lillian Daniel
-- The Church of the Brethren Ministers’ Association has announced dates and leadership for the pre-Annual Conference continuing education event in Grand Rapids, Mich. Dates are June 27-28. Keynote presenter Lillian Daniel is author of “Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong to: Spirituality Without Stereotypes, Religion Without Ranting,” and has taught preaching at a number of schools, including Chicago Theological Seminary, the University of Chicago Divinity School, and her alma mater, Yale Divinity School. Participants will receive a free copy of her most recent book. Three keynote sessions will be offered: Session 1: Four Types of Nones (Tuesday, June 27, 6-9 p.m.); Session 2: Spirituality Without Stereotypes (Wednesday, June 28, 9-11:45 a.m.); Session 3: Religion Without Ranting (Wednesday, June 28, 1-3:45 p.m.). This continuing education event is for all licensed, commissioned, and ordained ministers in the Church of the Brethren. Advance registration fees are $85 per person or $135 per couple, with a price for first-timers of $45 and a price of $50 for current seminary students and students in EFSM and TRIM. Registration fees go up at the door. Find out more and register at www.brethren.org/ministryoffice/sustaining.html .
-- Global Mission and Service worker Grace Mishler is part of a professional team developing an outreach ministry to help track 6,000 Vietnamese families with children who need eye care treatment, reports the Church of the Brethren’s Global Mission office. “Pray for their efforts in researching and educating about diagnoses, treatment options, and aftercare follow-up,” said a prayer concern earlier this week. “A significant problem is retinal detachment in premature babies, a condition which can lead to blindness. Doctors lack capacity and equipment to adequately treat the large numbers of cases, and poor, rural families have difficulty accessing the treatment that is available. Pray for these families and for improved eye care services in Vietnam.”
-- Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) is providing a webinar on “The Ins and Outs of Long-Term Care.” The webinar will be offered twice on April 6, at 10 a.m. and at 7 p.m. Each session will include 30 minutes of presentation followed by time for questions. The event will be led by Randy Yoder, independent agent for BBT and a long-term care specialist. “According to the US Department of Health and Human Services 70 percent of people age 65 or more will sometime in their life need care for 90 days or longer,” said an announcement. “That means whether you are young or old, the odds are high that there will be a time sooner or later when you will need long-term care. With the Baby Boomers coming into retirement age, the need for long-term care facilities is rising, pushing up the cost of such care. Are you prepared for this?” The webinar will introduce and explain long-term care insurance and answer the questions, What is it? Who needs it? What are the options? And what are the basic costs? Contact Randy Yoder at 847-849-0205 or ryoder@cobbt.org for questions about the webinar or a consultation by phone, a personal visit, or a group presentation for congregations. For more information go to
www.cobbt.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Insurance%20pdfs/LTCI%20Webinar%20for%20website.pdf .
-- On Earth Peace is offering a Racial Justice Organizer Clinic each month. The February clinic is planned for Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. (Eastern time). Sign up at http://bit.ly/FebOEPRJClinic . “Join us for our monthly racial justice organizer clinic--a time to talk about and receive support for what you are doing or what you would like to do to work for racial justice in your community and congregation,” said an invitation from On Earth Peace’s congregational peace and justice organizer Bryan Hanger. For more information contact organizing@onearthpeace.org or 540-798-9325.
-- Bush Creek Church of the Brethren in Monrovia, Md., is hosting the Mid-Atlantic District's Disaster Relief Auction dinner on April 8 at 6 p.m. “Come an enjoy an evening of good food and great fun,” said an invitation from the district.
-- Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren has received a commendation from WSLS Channel 10, which reports, “Recycling pays off for a church in Floyd. Parishioners at Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren collected more than 500 pounds of plastic refuse as part of a recycling program with Trex, a company which manufactures wood-alternative decking products. The refuse includes everything from grocery bags to bread bags, cereal and dry cleaning bags, as well as newspaper sleeves, food storage bags, and produce bags.” Read the news article about this church’s effort to care for creation at http://wsls.com/2017/02/07/floyd-church-recycles-plastic-bags-for-composite-bench .
-- “Many people say they want to change the world, yet few will make an effort to inspire change. But one local group has decided to do what they can to make things better in the community,” reported The Record Herald. A group of women at Waynesboro (Va.) Church of the Brethren have started a Women’s Ministry to reach people in the community to help those in need. The group has evolved from a women's fellowship ministry. “The group organized last month and is already up and running with a paint night on Saturday to benefit Jamie Stevens, a Waynesboro mother battling cancer,” reported the newspaper. Find the article at www.therecordherald.com/news/20170209/women-change-world-one-month-at-time .
-- West Charleston Church of the Brethren in Tipp City, Ohio, is hosting a performance of “Listening for Grace,” a new play by Ted and Co. The performance takes place on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. The play “uses Ted Schwartz’s distinctive humor to give voice to our fears and hopes when a faith community engages in questions around sexuality and same-gender relationships,” said an announcement in the Southern Ohio District newsletter. “The main character in the play is challenged by many different viewpoints and experiences. Those interested may stay after the presentation for a half hour of facilitated conversation in small groups. All perspectives will be welcome and respected,” said the announcement. Admission is free but donations are appreciated.
-- “Did you hear about that time when even Jesus changed his mind? Have you thought about inaction to injustice as complicity? Do you consider what people are hearing when they look at your life?” asks an announcement of the latest Dunker Punks podcasts. Episodes tackle these big questions: Episode 22 features Josh Brockway and Jarrod McKenna talking about continuing the story of the New Testament by embodying the character of our faith; Episode 23 features Sarah Ullom-Minnich telling about a 23-year-old battle for environmental justice in Ecuador; Episode 24 includes a theological chat between Dana Cassell and Lauree Hersch Meyer exploring Matthew 15. Find these episodes and more on the Dunker Punks Podcast show page at arlingtoncob.org/dpp .
-- Nancy Fitzgerald, pastor at Arlington (Va.) Church of the Brethren, has been interviewed by “Brethren Voices” for the show’s February program. Brethren Voices is a community television show produced by Portland (Ore.) Peace Church of the Brethren. Host Brent Carlson met with Fitzgerald to learn of the ways that her congregation is “going beyond the walls” to reach out to the local community. Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat, as well as podcasts are some of the tools that are used in their witness. “The new technology is probably no more difficult than the first telephone,” Fitzgerald says. “Do we use the telephone or do we keep walking next door? Do we use the car or keep using the horse just because we have one? God has given humankind the brains to develop so many things. Why wouldn’t we want to communicate even better and faster and more cleverer?” Contact Ed Groff, groffprod1@msn.com .
-- Greenville (Ohio) Church of the Brethren is hosting a sewing bee to make bags for Church World Service school kits. “There is a great demand in the US and internationally for Church World Service school kits,” said an announcement. The event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25, starting at 9 a.m. Bring a sewing machine, an extension cord, and a sack lunch. For more information, call 937-336-2442.
-- Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren is hosting a Youth Peace Retreat for students in grades 6-12 on the weekend of March 17-18. Leaders will include Andy Murray, 2016 Annual Conference moderator; Musa Mambula of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria; and On Earth Peace facilitators. Registration is due by March 12.
-- “Wildfire in Our Very Souls” is the topic for the Roundtable regional youth conference on March 31-April 2 at Bridgewater (Va.) College. Presenters include Chelsea and Tyler Goss as the the featured speakers, and Mutual Kumquat giving a concert on Friday night. Roundtable is for senior high students and their advisors. The registration deadline is March 17. More information is at http://iycroundtable.wix.com/iycbc .
-- McPherson (Kan.) College is hosting a Regional Youth Conference on Feb. 24-26. Eric Landrum is the featured speaker, with the music group Mutual Kumquat. The theme is “Oneness and Strength: Bound Together in Unity.” Registration is at www.mcpherson.edu/ryc .
-- Elizabethtown (Pa.) College School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) and Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary are partnering to offer an exclusive accelerated admission process, according to a release from the college. Elizabethtown College is related to the Church of the Brethren and Lancaster Theological Seminary is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The accelerated admissions process is “for students who are interested in pursuing a Master of Divinity but do not have a bachelor’s degree, which is required for graduate studies,” the release said. “Under the agreement, students who complete one of the eight SCPS accelerated bachelor degree programs will qualify for an exclusive accelerated admission process into the Master of Divinity program at Lancaster Seminary. The accelerated admission process is designed for adult students who are working full-time and need educational options and schedules that fit into their busy lives. Some SCPS classes will be held on-site at Lancaster Seminary, other classes will be held at SCPS locations in Lancaster, Elizabethtown, York, and Harrisburg, and some will be either fully online or in a blended format that combines online learning with classroom education.” Find our more about Elizabethtown College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies at www.etowndegrees.com .
Photo by Rudy Amaya
An interfaith march was held at the University of La Verne, Calif., on Feb. 3. Rudy Amaya, a member of the Church of the Brethren’s Young Adult Steering Committee, reported on the march with a Facebook post and photos. ABC Channel 7 news covered the event, find a video report at http://abc7.com/religion/students-interfaith-community-in-la-verne-protest-travel-ban/1736927 .
-- “During Lent, a ‘carbon fast’ can honor God’s creation,” suggests a story shared by the World Council of Churches (WCC). “The Church of South India (CSI), Green Anglicans, and other groups are sharing creative ways to observe a ‘carbon fast’ during the Lenten season,” the WCC reports. “A carbon fast challenges people to examine their daily actions and reflect on how they impact the environment. The carbon fast campaigns are designed so that, over Lent, people can take small steps to reduce carbon dioxide output with the hope of helping the environment and bringing the world one step closer to a sustainable existence.” The WCC story quoted a letter from the moderator of the Church of South India, Thomas K. Oommen, urging churches all over the world to engage in a carbon fast. “In India, we are aware of climate change because of our warmer temperatures, swings between floods and droughts, and rising sea levels,” Oommen wrote. “Warmer temperatures and rising sea levels are undesirable because they will have negative impacts on agriculture, fishing, community developments, plants and animals that are important to our ecosystems, and the protection of our coastline.” The Green Anglicans (the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s Environmental Network) has produced a Lenten calendar with daily reflections and actions one can take to observe a carbon fast during Lent. Activities associated with carbon fasting also may help support the WCC’s Lenten campaign “Seven Weeks for Water,” offered by the Ecumenical Water Network. Find “Seven Weeks for Water” theological reflections and resources at www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/events/seven-weeks-for-water . Find carbon fasting ideas and resources at www.greenanglicans.org/carbon-fast-lent-2015 .
-- Bread for the World has announced its 2017 Offering of Letters campaign on the theme, “Doing Our Part to End Hunger.” The annual campaign is designed to help individuals and churches urge Congress to make funding decisions “that put us on track to end hunger by 2030,” said the announcement. “We have made substantial progress against hunger and poverty in recent decades. So we know that it is possible to further reduce and perhaps virtually end hunger when we all do our part, including government.” Printed Offering of Letters kits will be available in March and can be ordered from the online “store” at http://bread.org . The website currently offers the following resources in English (Spanish materials are coming soon): a biblical reflection on the importance of meeting people’s most basic need to be physically nourished; an in-depth explanation of what participants will be asking of Congress and why; and a sample letter to get started.
-- More than 500 evangelical Christian pastors and leaders representing every state in the US have signed on to a letter expressing concerns over the dramatic reduction in refugee resettlement included within a presidential executive order. The letter said, in part: “We live in a dangerous world and affirm the crucial role of government in protecting us from harm and in setting the terms on refugee admissions. However, compassion and security can coexist, as they have for decades. While we are eager to welcome persecuted Christians, we also welcome vulnerable Muslims and people of other faiths or no faith at all. This executive order dramatically reduces the overall number of refugees allowed this year, robbing families of hope and a future.” Published as a full page ad in “The Washington Post,” the letter was affirmed by “many of the most prominent evangelical leaders in the country including authors Tim and Kathy Keller, Senior Pastor Bill Hybels and author Lynne Hybels, and Northland Church Senior Pastor Joel Hunter. Various other evangelical denominational leaders, authors, seminary presidents, and ministry leaders--among them National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson, New York Times bestselling author Ann Voskamp, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Daniel Akin, and Open Doors USA President and CEO David Curry—also affirmed the letter,” said a release from World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian aid organization that coordinated the letter. World Relief has posted the letter and list of signers and invites others to add their name to the letter at www.worldrelief.org/refugee-letter .
Photo by Chris Rose
Paula Stover Wivell (at right) with her Air Race Classic Team
- Paula Stover Wivell, a member at Union Bridge (Md.) Church of the Brethren, has been accepted to participate in the all women Air Race Classic. “This year it departs from Frederick MD and ends in Santa Fe NM,” she reported via Facebook. “Kathy, Luz and I work together and we are so excited for this opportunity. Can’t wait to check this off of my bucket list! We have a lot of work to do to prepare for June, but we have a ton of support.” Chris Rose took this photo of the team, with Wivell at right.
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Four victims achieved justice after 40 years, but others missed out
By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 8 June 2018
In 2018, Broken Rites has received another complaint about Christian Brother Keith Weston. In 2004, Weston pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court to indecently assaulting male pupils, aged 11 to 14, forty years earlier. Broken Rites helped these victims to obtain justice in 2004. Ten years later, in 2014, police were about to charge Weston regarding more of his earlier victims but he died (aged 91), thus evading another conviction.
In 1997, a victim of Weston phoned Broken Rites, which referred him to the Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (SOCA) Unit. Detectives gradually found a total of seven alleged victims of Weston but were slow in processing these complaints. In Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2003, the Christian Brothers' lawyers successfully blocked the first two complainants because of the delay in getting the cases to court.
Weston, who was living in retirement at Tugan in Queensland, claimed he was too ill to undergo a court trial. The courts rejected this and Weston eventually agreed to a plea bargain. The remaining five alleged victims were reduced to four and the number of charged incidents was reduced to merely one for each victim, even though some victims were assaulted on more than one occasion.
Keith Weston then pleaded guilty regarding alleged victims 3, 4, 5, and 6. The seventh alleged victim reluctantly agreed to drop out in order to finalise the case.
During the 12 months of court proceedings, additional ex-students contacted Broken Rites and/or the police, but the prosecution decided not to include these newcomers because further investigation would have delayed the case against the 81-year-old defendant.
The offences occurred in Melbourne when Weston was vice-principal at Parade College preparatory school in Alphington in 1964 and principal of St Joseph's College in Pascoe Vale South in 1966-8. Weston was then aged 41 to 45.
The court was told that Weston would order a boy to go to his office for sex education. In three of these four cases, Weston ordered the boy to remove his clothes; and Weston then tried to masturbate the boy. The fourth boy was assaulted in similar circumstances through the boy's clothes.
One boy said Weston ordered him to the office three times for sex education. Weston talked to the boy about sex - and about "the need to control sexual urges" - while indecently handling him.
Weston knew that the young boys would be reluctant to report a Christian Brother's offences, the court was told.
Judge Barton Stott said the crimes were a gross betrayal of the trust placed in Weston as a principal, teacher and Christian Brother.
"Each boy was in awe of your authority and ill at ease with your conduct," he said.
Judge Stott sentenced Keith Weston to two and a half years jail, wholly suspended to two years.
Relatives of several victims attended the sentencing. One relative, an elderly man, remarked outside the court afterwards: "Weston caused the death of my son."
On the afternoon of the sentencing, a former pupil of Weston emailed Broken Rites thus: "I notice that St Joseph's School web site has just removed all references to Brother Weston. Previously he had been credited with starting the schools building program."
One of the additional victims later had a meeting with Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coghlan QC, who said the office would not prosecute Weston again because of the difficulty of getting a successful outcome. (Incidentally, Mr Coghlan is an ex-pupil of St Joseph's CBC, Pascoe Vale.)
Prominent Victorian football identity Phil Cleary, who was a member of Federal Parliament in the 1990s, attended St Joseph's school, Pascoe Vale South, while Brother Weston was the principal. Cleary wrote in an article in the Melbourne Herald Sun in on 8 December 2005: "In the mid '60s the principal of St Joseph's College in Pascoe Vale was systematically molesting boys in my class. I was lucky enough not to be one of them. For some inexplicable reason no one stopped him."
An ex-student of Weston ("Bob") told Broken Rites in 2003: "A former student from St Joseph's south, Pascoe Vale South, committed suicide a few years ago. His suicide note indicated that church sexual abuse was the main thing bothering him."
After Weston's conviction, the above-mentioned ex-student "Bob" wrote the following letter to St Joseph's college:
"I write on behalf of a group past students of your school (1964 to 1970) in regard to the recent conviction of the former principal of the school, Keith Weston, for sex offences.
"Given the very serious nature of his crime, the betrayal of trust that the community placed in him, the Christian Brothers and the Catholic Church, the inconsistency with your current mission and values, we write to express our amazement that no public apology or attempt at reconciliation has been forthcoming from your organisation.
"Are we to assume that your organisation seeks to sweep this unsavory part of it history under the carpet? Has the church or school learnt from its past mistakes or are we to assume that it is still comfortable with pushing the problem onto another community and creating another set of new victims? Is there still a culture of secrecy and avoidance? Or are we to assume that the school and or the church is unconcerned about its past behavior, is this a mild distraction at best?
"Many of the past students from the 60s still regard the Preparatory School with distaste. Not only was it headed by a sexual predator, it was staffed by a number thugs and bullies who created a climate of fear and dread for children. Not surprising the academic performance of this institution was as outstanding as its leader of the time. We have not forgotten."
Weston dies in 2014, facing more charges
By early 2014, when he was aged 91 (and still living in Queensland), six more of Weston's earlier victims had contacted the Victoria Police sex crimes squad, and detectives (from the Sano Taskforce) were preparing to charge him regarding these victims. The Victorian detectives were about to apply to have Weston extradited back to Victoria but he died on 26 April 2014.
Weston's birth name was Keith William Weston but, when he joined the Christian Brothers, it was customary for new Brothers to be given a "religious" middle name. Thus, Keith William Weston became Brother Keith "Gonzales" Weston or "Brother K.G. Weston". His colleagues addressed him, for short, as "Gonz". A funeral eulogy, by the Christian Brothers in 2014, referred to him as "Brother Keith Gonzales Weston"
The funeral eulogy did not mention Weston's conviction for child-sex crimes.
Another victim of Brother Weston has written an article for the Broken Rites website. To see his article, click HERE.
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Miracle Minnesota
Sometimes football is a great metaphor for life and tonight’s lesson was from the Minnesota Vikings who gave us a chance to belief in the “impossible”. For with 10 seconds left in a game that would decide their season they made the play of a lifetime and not only did everyone in Minnesota cheer but all those who believed you don’t sing until truly that pleasantly plump (PC) woman has her vocal chords vibrating. The Miracle Minnesota Vikings strike again for those who believe it’s never too late.
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School policies cover every aspect of school life. Below are some of our most important policies for your reference. If you want to know our policy on something that is not listed, please ask the school office.
We have a maximum of 60 children in each year group. From September 2019, 30 children will be admitted into Reception each year. Please see in the Admissions section on the Parents tab, the Governing Body's order of priority in determining Admission, which is subject to annual review. Parents wishing to send their children to the school should register for a place by obtaining a form from the school office. If you would like a tour of the school with the Headteacher, please contact the school office to arrange a date. Please note that a place at BWI does not guarantee a place at Bishop Ramsey. Below is an overview of some of our policies.
Only in very exceptional circumstances can a Headteacher agree to a term time absence. If you have a special circumstance, which requires you to request to take your child out of school during term time, there is a 'Parental Request' form to complete. Every case will be looked at individually by the Headteacher and the Governors’ Admissions Committee. Permission will not be granted for leave requested during periods of school assessment. Parents must organise family holidays outside school term dates during school holiday periods. The DfE have advised schools not to authorise holidays during term time.
Parents who are not offered a place for their child are entitled to appeal to an Independent Appeal Committee. Parents wishing to appeal should contact the Clerk to the Appeals Committee, care of the school.
In the Christian community of BWI your child will be encouraged to play a positive and helpful role. Rules and regulations are kept to a minimum but are there for the health, well-being and safety of all. All parents are provided with a copy of the school's Discipline and Behaviour Policy. Discipline problems are dealt with in accordance with this policy and in a fair and constructive manner. Incidents are clearly documented and children are encouraged to play a part in the resolution of the conflict. Parents may be contacted over concerns, but the aim is to build self-esteem and confidence in children together with a sense of responsibility.
The Governors are requested to declare a policy on charging for educational visits and activities which is as follows:
1. With the exception of 2 below, when certain activities take place in school session time, parents may be invited to make a contribution towards the cost of the activity. Pupils are not excluded from the activity because his/her parents cannot contribute.
2. When music tuition is being provided by the Hillingdon Music Service, parents will be charged.
3. When activities take place outside school session time, charges will continue to be levied where appropriate.
4. Parents are required to meet the cost of breakages and damages where this is a result of their child's behaviour.
If the School is concerned about the welfare of a child it may refer the matter to the appropriate investigative authorities. We comply with the guidelines for DBS checks for staff and adults in the school.
Raising concerns about your child or school issues - Governors wish to remind all parents that there is an established procedure for raising issues. If you have a concern about your child that you do not think has been noticed, the first thing to do is speak to your child's Teacher. If after an agreed period of time, you are still worried, speak to one of our Phase Leaders. If this does not alleviate your worries then speak to our Deputy Headteacher. Again, if after an agreed period of time you continue to have concerns, come and speak to our Headteacher, Mrs Westbrook, either through the Headteachers’ surgery or by making an appointment. If you still have unresolved issues then you should make contact with the Chair of the Governing Body via the Clerk of Governors either through the school office or via the Governors’ email - governors@bwi.org.uk
Equal Opportunities and Special Needs
These are central to our practice at BWI. During their time with us, some children may be identified as having special needs. Procedures are followed in line with the Code of Practice and outside agency help is sought wherever necessary. Different levels of need are supported in a variety of ways. The staff plan carefully for all children and also recognise the challenge presented by those who are more able.
BWI is keen to take a proactive approach towards disability and gender equality, ensuring that consideration of its disabled members is embedded in all decision-making and activities. The Governing Body will promote equality of opportunity for disabled people: pupils, staff, parents/carers and other people who use the school or may wish to. They have prepared and published a disability and gender equality scheme to show how they will meet these duties. In accordance with the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, our policy outlines how we deal with racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good race relations across all aspects of school life.
Governors Maintenance Fund
Parents are invited to contribute to the Governors' Fund, which is required to finance 10% of the costs of maintenance of the external fabric of the building and our contribution to the London Diocesan Board for Schools.
We have this in place to define the respective roles of parents and school staff. We encourage parents to take an active part in school life.
Images Policy
A policy has been formulated to cover the use of pictures of children and staff for website use, for release as press items, and for use in school displays that may be accessed by members of the public. It is typical of the policies adopted by many other schools.
The children may bring packed lunches or have a hot dinner cooked on the school premises. Playgrounds are supervised by a team of School Meals Supervisory Assistants who are led by a Lunchtime Wellbeing Supervisor. They are guided by the School's Behaviour Policy. Accidents and incidents are written up and more serious occurrences are reported to the Headteacher.
Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive free school meals through a Government initiative. There is also a category called Free School Meals that relates to parental income. The school receives a sum of money for each child in this category. Please enquire about Free School Meals if you believe that you may qualify, as it is important that we have our register up to date.
Parental Behaviour Policy
At Bishop Winnington-Ingram CE Primary School we believe staff, parents and children are entitled to a safe and protective environment in which to learn and work. Behaviour that will cause harassment, alarm or distress to users of the premises is contrary to the aims of our school.
In common with other schools, the Governing Body does not hold an insurance policy to cover personal accident to pupils.
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including political and religious extremism.
In the Autumn Term, year group information is provided for parents. Formal consultation evenings are held in this term and in the Spring Term. A written report is provided for parents each term. In the Summer Term we have an open afternoon where children can share their work, show parents and family around the school and meet their next Teacher.
School newsletters are sent to parents and daily bulletins are written on the school white boards. Governor newsletters and Parents' Association letters are also sent.
We have a weekly assembly with our Mentions Book, where good work and behaviour is acknowledged and celebrated. We also operate a reward system for Class of the Week/Term for Attendance and for Christian Values. In each class there will be a merit system where children earn House points.
At Bishop Winnington-Ingram CE Primary School we provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all our children. The National Curriculum is our starting point for planning that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of children. When planning, teachers set suitable learning challenges and respond to children’s diverse learning needs. (See our SEND Information Report and school offer, in the Statutory Information section on the Key Information tab).
It is not practical for Health and Safety reasons and with possibility of damage or loss, for children to wear jewellery to school. This includes earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
Mobile phones are not allowed in the school in all year groups up to and including Year 5. Only in exceptional circumstances may it be possible for children in Year 6 to bring their mobile phone to school, but this is only after the parent has written to ask for permission. Children will not be allowed to keep the phones, they will always be kept locked away until the end of the school day.
2019-20 BWI Admissions Policy
Children Missing from Education
Behaviour and Discipline Policy
Behaviour Discipline Policy
Appendix 1 - Anti-bullying
Appendix 2 - Reflection Room Sanctions
Appendix 3 - Exclusion
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Equality and Accessibility
Equality and Accessibility Plans
HomeSchool Agreement
Parental Behaviour
BWI Procedure to address behaviour
Prevent Stategy
Parent Pamphlet - Prevent strategy
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The Financial Grownup Podcast with Bobbi Rebell CFP®
Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran on why you should spend money before you have it
Entrepreneur and Investor Barbara Corcoran explains why she believes spending money in a deliberate way even before you earn it is a smart business strategy, and shares the story of her first really big investment. And yes, she committed to it before she had the money.
In Barbara’s money story you will learn:
-How she bought her first house at age 29 (which had 8 bedrooms!)
-The importance of discussing big purchases with a significant other
-How Barbara saved $7,500 in three months
In Barbara’s money lesson you will learn:
-How she motivates herself to save money
-Why she chooses to ignore rational and take risks
-Her advice on committing to a goal
In Barbara’s everyday money tip you will learn:
-Why she spends money before she has it
-How she puts herself under pressure in order to produce financial results
In My Take you will learn:
-Why it's always good to listen to different opinions and take advice from successful people
-Two negotiation tips that will save you money and help your career
Bobbi and Barbara also talk about:
-Chef Boyardee and Ramen noodles, the quick dinner that helped save Barbara money and reminded Bobbi of her childhood
EPISODE LINKS:
Listen to Barbara Corcoran's podcast Business Unusual here, and on iTunes
Watch Barbara give more business advice on the multi-Emmy award winning show Shark Tank on ABC
Follow Barbara!
Twitter: @BarbaraCorcoran
Instagram: @BarbaraCorcoran
Facebook: @TheBarbaraCorcoran
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Barbara Corcoran:
I always spend money I don't have. If I see money coming in new receivable, three months out, I committed that day, what I'm going to spend it on, and I start spending it even before it arrives.
Bobbi Rebell:
You are listening to Financial Grownup with me, certified financial planner, Bobbi Rebell, author of How To Be a Financial Grownup and you know what? Being a grownup is really hard especially when it comes to money, but it's okay. We're going to get there together. I'm going to bring you one money story from a Financial Grownup, one lesson and then my take on how you can make it your own. We got this.
Hello, my Financial Grownup friends, brace yourself Barbara Corcoran is here and she is going to give it to us straight up, no beating around the bush and she said some things that frankly I was pretty surprised with. They go against almost everything that I've been taught about building a solid financial foundation for your life, for your business, but she made it work. I'm still not sure I could make it work for me, but I'm thinking about it because she makes a good case and I'm interested to hear what you guys think after you hear her interview.
So glad you are here. As I said, this episode is a really big one, so if you're new, you're joining it a really good time. We do something by the way called flex time for podcast, the episodes are kept pretty short, around 15 minutes. The idea is no excuses you can always fit it in, make it easy for you while you're running a quick errand, what have you, but if you have a longer commute, you can also stack them. We have a library now of more than a hundred episodes so you can listen to a few on your commute if that's what worked for you. Make sure that when you subscribe and hopefully you are subscribing, we really need the support that you set the downloads, go into the manual settings and set it so that you automatically get the downloads so that you don't miss any and you're good to go.
And we love automation because that way things just happen and it's one less thing to remember. Alright, let's get to Barbara Corcoran and you know her from Shark Tank and now she has a new podcast called Business Unusual, also really short, so that's a good thing. She gives a lot of advice that seems shocking until you listen to it and listen to her reasons and then think that is part of how Barbara Corcoran is successful. It's the unusual. She approaches things in a different way from the way that we're always used to approaching it and it works for her. It may not work for you. The big takeaway from this episode, which you'll see I'm going to talk about after her interview. I don't know if I could do it, but I can see how it worked for her. So with that, here is Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran.
Hey, Barbara Corcoran you're at Financial Grownup welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
I am such a fan of your new podcast. For many reasons, of course also because it's a short podcast, but you have the best wisdom and you share so many lessons from your life, so thank you for that.
Barbara Corcora:
My pleasure. I enjoy doing it, but it's a scary proposition as I'm sure you will know, you have to earn people's ears while you're talking to them.
You do, well you've been earning it for many years and you're going to share a money story from early in your life, your very first real estate purchase or I should say your first house and it sounds like it's going to be a story, but there's something that happened that I think people want to hear. Go for it.
Yeah, and it has a valuable lesson. When I committed to purchasing my first home with my first husband. I was about 29 years old. I didn't have a pot to pee in as they say, but we sat across the dinner table for a man who said he was selling a certain house that was like a magical house from what I heard, and my mouth said, I'll take it. And why it was magical. It was a house that anybody would think you could only dream about, which was a house with eight bedrooms two guest cottages, a wet and a dry boat house facing a brand new lake.
Did you have kids at this point, Barbara?
No, of course not.
Who was moving into this mansion?
Listen, I figured I'd have fun with friends, but I had no rights saying we'll take it to which my husband was more startled than I was over my own mouth. Because we didn't have a dime to our name, we were struggling to just meet our bills. We're still kind of kids coming up the ranks, but-
Wait, so tell me what happened. How did you buy the house?
Once I said we'd buy the house, we had the problem of coming up with the down payment, 7,500. And so my husband and I started eating tomato noodles every night that I think they're chef Boyardee or something in a can and bring them lunch every day and we saved every penny of what we were earning in our lives, short of the rent we had to pay for our studio apartment. Well, three months hence we had most of the down payment but not quite and we're out for dinner with the same big boss of his and he mentioned that his father, he wanted to close, which was putting ... Was scaring me to death because I still didn't have enough money.
But he said his father was reluctant to leave the house and I volunteered. Well, why don't you let your father stay there, but in trade for that, I got four months extra time. So we were able to save the down payment of $7,500. No problem. But when we got to the closing, the closing costs too, which I didn't have, but he was so in dear to us for keeping his elderly dad in the house that he paid for the closing costs for us. And we moved into that beautiful house and we had it for seven years until I decided to leave my husband and he got the house.
Why did that happen? How did you let that happen?
You know why? Because I got the apartment in the city by then we had bought a one bedroom apartment in the city and I sold that one bedroom that I paid $80,000 for two years later for 250. And he sold that house that we had paid $75,000 for two years after our divorce for $75,000.
So what is the takeaway for our listeners?
I'm a believer in always committing throwing it out there and say I'm going to do it. Because when you have that kind of pressure and you've publicly committed, you find a way to get there. If you can commit to something, you'll find a way of getting there. If I had said, give me a couple of months, let me see if I could save for the house, believe me, my rational side would have kicked in and said, what are you doing? But because I said I would, I found a way that could do it and that's the truth, and most people are better than they think. If they're willing to be courageous enough to state it as low as fact and then make it happen versus the other way around.
And eat a lot of canned noodles.
Oh yeah,[inaudible 00:06:40] Yeah, you can do anything if you know it's temporary.
Tell us your everyday money tip because this is also a real Barber tip because this is something that works for you may not work for other people, but it is a strategy that people might want to consider. Again, for you it works it may not be for everyone. Go for it.
It's a particularly good strategy if you're out to those your own business, and I'll tell you why. My strategy is this. I always spend money I don't have. If I see money coming in new receivable, three months out, I committed that day, what I'm going to spend it on, and I started spending it even before it arrives. The reason for that is I have no choice but to actually make it happen whatever I'm doing. Because I know I've already committed the money. It's like putting a gun to your own head where you have to produce. If instead you wait for the money to come in and then say, okay, I've got this little extra cash. We've had a profit this month. Let's see the best use of it. That sounds rational, but I'm telling you the fever with which you attacked the best use of it is nothing compared to knowing that the bank is going to come in and chop your head off if you don't produce.
So. I've always consistently put myself under pressure by spending money long before I have it and I've never let myself down. There's something magical that happens in the universe when you really under fire when you have no choice that you find a way to get there, and so I'm a big spender and on top of that I can also say, although I was born a poor kid and have my thousand dollar loan from my boyfriend, thank God, or we have been able to quit my waitress job and starting a business nowhere. Okay.
But once I had that thousand dollars, I just thought, you know what? This is found money. It's a gift from God and I'm just gonna run this thing up the flag pole until somebody stops me and my most assured policy of making sure no one stopped me was to spend money in advance of having it because I had no choice but to make good on it. I had no choice and ran like a devil with a limited timeframe and I was able to accomplish 10 times more than all my competitors simply because of the pressure I had put on my own back. All right, so it's not what you read in accounting book, but I can tell you when you're building a business, it's a smarter way to go than to be calculated and do it a step at a time.
It's the real world. One other quick question though, did you ever have trouble and how did you handle it collecting those receivables?
No, I wrote off about 10% of my receivables because you have to appreciate. My business was selling co-ops in New York City and we had about 10% of our deals that didn't approve the Co-op association. They were turned down by the board, so I knew what that average was the first year, by the typical may be the second year in business, I realized I lost 10% of my deals, so I just wrote off that 10%. So that was realistic in suddenly a good accountant would do, but that's where my relationship or any resemblance to an accountant definitely ended in my attitude to it and everything else.
All right. I want to talk quickly about your, still relatively new podcast even though who would know it because it's always at the top of the charts where to I'm trying to climb, but you're there and that's a lot because your podcast is so good. It is a short one, so dear to my heart, but you also really deliver personal and as you have here very honest and straightforward advice about your life and the lessons that you have learned and your bold with it. Your most recent episode talked about quitting jobs. You quit 22 jobs Barbara, you also talk about negotiation skills. Tell me more about this podcast and why it is so different and people are really responding to it?
I think people are responding well simply because I tell it like it is. And it doesn't mean if it's the person listening, but I think they leave trusting that they heard the truth and I also think I'm impatient by nature. So if you're gonna ask me what about negotiation? Most people can write a book on that. I can't. I can tell you in eight minutes flat, what the key to negotiation, what are the key moves and what doesn't work. And really I don't have more to say after the eight minutes. So I think because I have such a short attention span and because I'm so impatient by nature myself and listening, I want to know what you want out of me and what do I gotta do. And that's pretty much how I am with everybody. Get to the point and then tell me how you get there.
So I do get to the point and then tell you how I get there and then the eight minutes are up and I'm signing off. I wish I was more verbose and had more great delicious detail, but I just say the main things that worked for me and I leave it at that and my sign off until the following week. So I hope it works. We'll see. It's very scary as I'm sure you know, to merit someone's eight minutes. I feel it's such an abuse or a trust that I feel like every word has to really, really count or I have no business doing its own. I'm Mostly scared, I'm scared to six days. Then I do the podcast, then I get scared all over again.
Well you're doing a great job. I don't find you scary at all. I love it. I think you're worth investing every one of those eight minutes, so thank you for all that you do. Everyone knows where to find you, but just in case because I ask everyone, tell us where you can be found, where people can follow you on social and what else is important that's going on in your life that we should know about.
Well, of course it's a Business Unusual, which is the podcast, my newest baby, but as usual, any social platform @BarbaraCorcoran is very easy.
Love it. Thank you Barbara.
I love you back. Bobbi. Thank you so much. And Go back to your real name, Barbara, it's such a pretty name.
So if you're like me, you want to hit rewind and listen again. She's that good. And before I get to the financial bonus tips, just want to make a little comment about the food because we spend so much time agonizing over all of this organic fancy food and when we're saving money, everyone talks about the ramen noodles. I want to talk to you about the chef Boyardee that she and her husband were eating to save up money because you know what, that's fun childhood memories for me. My mom was a working mom and you know what? Sometimes we have something called spaghettios. Do you guys even know what that is? It's basically this like circle pasta in a can and tomato sauce and it's delicious. It may not have any nutrition, but if you see spaghettios in the store, I have no affiliation with them. Pick them up and try them instead of ramen noodles if you're trying to save money.
Just for variety, be a little bit bad. Like I said, they're probably not nutritious at all. All right, let's talk about my tips. Finance grownup tip number one. Sometimes financial advice like Barbra's goes against common stereotypical things that we hear. Here's the thing though, always listen to different opinions especially when they're from someone like Barbara Corcoran who has been so successful in so many different fields, to not only real estate where she started out, but also now with Shark Tank. She's an entrepreneur investing in so many different companies, so listen to her and give it some thought. Now I'm not telling you to go out and spend money that you don't have or even to spend on receivables, which is really what she was doing. It was money that she had contracts for but had not yet received so she believed that money was coming, but I see her point and I also see how that can create a really strong motivation so before totally rejecting it or even accepting it, play out how that would work for you.
How are you going to cover things for example, if someone does not pay or if they pay, but they are on a delayed schedule so they're not paying in 30 days like your bill says they're paying 60, 90, 100, 20 days out. How are you going to finance that? You have a line of credit with your business. Are you throwing that on a credit card where you might be paying interest, late fees? What have you, factor that in. Are you going to charge a late fee to them? Barbara factored in that 10% of her expected commissions receivables were not going to happen so even she was doing that.
Financial Grownup tip number two, be creative and flexible. When you're negotiating. Barbara, let the sellers elderly dad stay in the house longer than originally planned. Again, you have to give Barbara props for being open minded and in return by the way, she got precious time and the goodwill was so strong and her gesture was still appreciated that the closing costs were paid by the seller.
That is huge. Thank you all for being part of the Financial Grownup community. We bring this to you for free. The only payment we ask is that you share it with someone that you care about and that you believe would enjoy and benefit from the podcast. Your reviews and your feedback. I'm just going to tell you guys straight up there is really important. I read everyone, we don't get as many as I would like. There aren't that many there and I know a lot of you are out there. A lot of you are DMing me, which is actually really great. Still DM me, gave me the feedback, but if you can also leave reviews on Apple podcasts, that is also really helpful to get the show notice because that's how people discover the show.
If you do want to also be in touch on social media, it's not either or guys. Follow me and DM me on Instagram @BobbiRebell1 that's the number one on twitter I'm @BobbyRebel and on Facebook, Bobbi Rebell as well. And big things of course to the amazing Barbara Corcoran, the ultimate Financial Grownup. Everyone check out her podcast Business Unusual and watch her on Shark Tank and thank you Barbara Corcoran for getting us all one step closer to being Financial Grownups.
Financial Grownup with Bobbi Rebell is edited and produced by Steve Stewart and is a BRK media production.
In Family + Relationships, Advice, Authors, Business, Career, Entrepreneurs, investing, Reality TV stars, startup, women entrepreneurs, Women Role Models Tags Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank, Business Unusual, podcast, Saving Money, Spending Money, Spending, goals, real estate, real estate investing, ABC Network, negotiation
← Pumping up assets and getting lean on liabilities with celebrity trainer Jerry Ford Behind the scenes at Financial Grownup: Bobbi reveals a big change and answers 3 popular listener questions →
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Apps, Company, Healthcare, Mental Health, Technology
Talkspace Aims to Put Telemedicine on the Map.
July 8, 2019 Charlie Leave a comment
Technology has fundamentally changed the way that we interact with one another, so why wouldn’t it impact the medical world, as well? Telemedicine has been driving mobile technology forward as it aims to cater to a more receptive audience. From dealing with PTSD to working their way through depression, patients can now pursue mental health therapy from the comfort of their own homes. By downloading and signing up for the Talkspace application, patients around the country are gaining access to licensed medical professionals. Today, we are going to take a closer look at what the application has to offer. See more about of Talkspace at theguardian.com
Talkspace is a text messaging therapy application that is looking to transform the therapeutic world forever. After signing up for the program, new patients will work with a consulting therapist in order to build a personal profile of their needs, problems, and preferences. During this process, patients will be connected to licensed medical practitioners that all are actively certified for their profession. Once at this point in the process, patients will be able to tailor their therapy to fit their exact needs. Instant chat, video conferencing, text messaging and voice messaging are all available options for patients to pursue.
What makes Talkspace such an exciting piece of intellectual property is that it can cater to people who would have otherwise foregone their pursuit of therapy. Talkspace is ideal for people who are afraid of seeking professional help due to social stigmas. What’s more, Talkspace makes it possible for these same people to work up the courage necessary in order to seek further therapeutic attention. The visual progress maps that Talkspace relies on can help to inspire and motivate individuals as they build toward a better, healthier, and more mentally stable tomorrow. Talkspace isn’t just a gimmick and it is proof that telemedicine is here to stick around.
Read More: https://talkspace.workable.com/
Brazil, Businessman, Entrepreneur
Factors That Attributed the Success of Flavio Maluf
Flavio Maluf is a successful entrepreneur who was born in a wealthy and political family. Flavio Maluf is an independent minded man who chose to exploit his business skills regardless of the financial and social status of his family. Falavio Maluf is a Mechanical Engineer by profession who decided to venture into business where he took over the leadership and management of the family saw milling business in Brazil when he was still very young. Flavio Maluf has a long experience in the business sector for most investors to consider him as a role model in this field. Flavio Maluf appreciates various factors that attribute towards the success of a business which include; commitment, diversity, planning, team work and healthy leaving.
Check out ideamensch.com to read full interview of Flavio Maluf.
Flavio Maluf has the capacity to generate many and new ideas as he keeps on reading literature related to his line of work. He also appreciates diversity by embracing the dynamics taking place in the business sector such as online marketing and software that enhance record keeping and data analysis. Flavio Maluf believes that having an open mind as an entrepreneur has a significant contribution towards the success of a business. According to Flavio Maluf, all entrepreneurs should ensure that perfection of their products is not compromised at any particular point otherwise the business will be at risk. At no particular point should entrepreneurs neglect office work for their business as this is the central point of all the operations undertaken.
Flavio Maluf Is an advocate of environment friendly businesses as he is a strong believer of maintenance of a healthy eco-system regardless of nature of the business. Failure is a mandatory experience that has to be encountered by every entrepreneur during establishment of a successful business. Failure, therefore, should be a motivation to the stakeholders. It is important that entrepreneurs consider giving back to the society through funded education, health or cultural projects as this is verified by the federal governments. For a business to be successful, it is important for the entrepreneur to comply with the law which includes payment of taxes in due dates. Visit: https://flaviomalufoficial.com/author/flaviomalufpr/
Jeremy Goldstein The Attorney And Businessman
There are many different attorneys in New York City who have an emphasis on business law but Mr. Jeremy Goldstein stands out as one of the best. He is also the founder of his own law firm which is called Jeremy L. Goldstein & Associates. His Law Offices have a very diverse practice but the general focus is business and employment law. The firm advises management teams, the chief executive officers, and compensation committees. The firm also helps to navigate issues that are in relation to executive compensation matters. Jeremy Goldstein has an impeccable educational history and attended three different universities. He graduated from Cornell University with his bachelor’s degree. Then he obtain a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. Shortly after graduating from the University of Chicago he moved to New York to attend New York University and graduated with his JD degree.
Jeremy Goldstein holds a position on the board of Mergers and Acquisitions Sub-committee of the American Bar Association business section as a chairman. Some of the company mergers and acquisitions transactions that Jeremy Goldstein has been involved in are companies such as Miller Brewing Company, Verizon Wireless, and Phillips Petroleum Company. He has been advocating for businesses to protect their companies with non- compete agreements. When Mr. Goldstein started to focus on employment law he realized that there were many common recurring issues such as conflict of interest and contract enforcement issues happening. While conducting research on these issues this is when he found his niche and decided to establish his own law firm to focus specifically on this niche.
The Firm has been extremely successful and has been in business for over 10 years. A non-compete agreement is put into place to protect the rights and interests of professional clients. Another name for a non-compete agreement is a restrictive covenant. These agreements are needed because sometimes employers may inadvertently expose themselves to the risk of being sued because they did not draw up a customized agreement. Jeremy Goldstein and his firm comes in to do the proper litigation on these agreements so both the employer and the employee or treated fairly. This is a good thing because with any litigation you need a neutral party to handle these types of negotiations so a conflict of interest will not occur. Jeremy L. Goldstein & Associates are the most experience when it comes to getting non-compete agreements done properly, efficiently, and with ethics.
Visit https://jlgassociates.com/ to learn more.
Barbara Stokes Is An Unique Combination Of Compassion And Ingenuity
Barbara Stokes established GSH of Huntsville, Alabama. Her company is involved in the industry of disaster relief construction. She has been educated regarding design, structures, materials, manufacturing, management and thermodynamics. Barbara Stokes is also experienced with government contracting. GSA works with numerous government and defense contractors on the state and federal level. She works closely with FEMA to provide temporary housing for the victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Read more about Barbara Stokes at Chronicle of the Week.
GSH of Alabama provides customized solutions for areas in need of temporary housing. The company has provided commercial and residential structures for military bases and disaster zones. Access ramps and fire suppression systems are offered with every mobile housing unit. Barbara Stokes oversaw the engineering and the design of the fire safety equipment used for these units. She consistently searches for ways to make the homes more comfortable, durable and safer. There is no doubt she is the backbone of the company. Read more at Business Insider.
Barbara Stokes is a leader with strong communication skills, the perseverance of a mother and an excellent knowledge of manufacturing. Her compassion, ingenuity and motivation have enabled numerous mothers trapped in disaster zones to feed and shelter their children. Although the world is hoping no more disasters are in the imminent future, it is comforting to know Barbara Stokes will be there to lend a helping hand when the next disaster occurs.
Visit: https://gazetteday.com/2018/03/green-structure-homes-brings-relief-families-struggling-disaster/
Financial Expert, Investment Analyst, Professionals, Writer
Ted Bauman Shares His Passion For Helping Others Live Freer Financial Lives
For the entirety of his career, Economist Ted Bauman has been helping people get the resources and information they need to have freer financial lives. He was born in the U.S. and, after completing high school, emigrated to South Africa. He studies history and economics at the University of Cape Town. He remained in South Africa after graduating, serving as a fund manager at organizations such as Slum Dwellers International which builds low-income housing.
Later on, he started working as a consultant to governments and the U.N. This professional experience led to Ted Bauman learning about the ways that politics and economic policies really influence a society. After 25 years of having been out of the United States, he returned in 2008. He had accepted a postion of being the director of international programs.
He started working as an editor on a part-time basis in 2013. Ted Bauman publishes newsletters through Banyan Hill Publishing. His first newsletter was “The Bauman Letter”. This newsletter, which is delivered via email, shares with readers how to preserve their financial assets. He also shares how to properly invest and little-know strategies to follow. Now working full-time, he recently introduced “Smart Money”. This is a service that helps people trade stocks. Read full interview of Ted Bauman at Inspirery.com
He says that throughout his career has wanted to help people get their finances together. He has been able to achieve his dreams and wants to help others do the same. Another thing he wants to help people with is protecting their rights against the intrusions of government and big corporations, something that matters more today than ever.
Ted Bauman says that early in his career he wasn’t the best when it came to time management, to put it lightly. He was working with low-income families and helping to build them housing. He also developed a financial model that he taught to people so they could get the most out of every dollar. He learned that he had to do better at setting boundaries and eventually letting people and communities make do without someone guiding their choices.
Source: https://www.dailyforexreport.com/ted-bauman-amazon-isnt-monopoly/
Business Success, Company
Jingdong Created Value from The Start
Companies such as JD.com focus on making money from the start and are able to do well. These companies are able to grow in a manner that allows them to make decisions and not be pressured to meet certain targets set forth by the outside capital investment partners. The focus on making money in a simple, ethical and sustainable way is what helped the founder of Jingdong or Jd.com to be valuable over the course of the next several decades. Jingdong started out as a kiosk and then became a global platform that provided individuals with what they needed and what they wanted as well.
The idea is to continue to move forward and make a difference in the lives of the most important segment present within the world, your customers. Jingdong was able to do that each day and they realized significant growth and value each day as they provided their customers with selection, cost-effective products, and valuable customer service.
Jd.com did not always have a sleek landing page, just like other websites it started out simple and provided value to customers in a way that they were used to. Jingdong made sure to meet expectations and then strive to exceed expectations each day. This was why the company grew and it is the behemoth that it is today. Relentless focus and drive on specific segments which have contributed toward the major success of many within the Jingdong ecosystem.
The idea is to have a product that matters to the userbase and then continue to refine and grow.
major success
Business, Company
Richard Liu: Amazon’s Rival??
Amazon is without a doubt the mega giant in the realm of online retail chains. So much so that it has become the first trillion dollar company.
But as staggering a number that is and as terrifying as it may seem for many other online retail stores, there still are many other companies that are just as accomplishing as Amazon and JD.com are one of these companies.
JD.com is an online retail store that has become very successful over the past two decades. So much so that it is a legitimate threat to the mega-giant “Amazon”.
JD.com like many successful busienss was not an easy busienss to start. Richard Liu was, before becoming the successful man he is today, a student who wanted to delve into the realm of political science.
However, after learning how job security was in this particular field opted out for computer science. A decision we are sure he is very happy to have made.
To Learn More Click The Link : joybuy.com/richard-liu-jd-ceo-about
Business, Fashion, Fashion Industry', Investor
Ashley Lightspeed and The Right Journey
June 29, 2019 Charlie Leave a comment
Ashley Lightspeed is quite likely aware that a company must have compelling prospects for it to be investable.
She would also know that all companies are investable.
Why are they not investable?
Because some of them may not be able to draw in more interest as each year progresses.
For a company to survive, it must be able to draw in more capital and have proper cash within its coffers.
Without these two key factors a company may be out of luck. It is the job of the individual to make certain that they are allocating value into the right places, they must scale up the business and continue to please the customer.
If a company is able to meet these criteria then Ashley Lightspeed might allocate a bit of capital to them. They may do so because they may think that the company is on to something and that they can do what they say.
Remember, this is not always the case, a company might not always be able to do what they say. This is does not mean that the company is a scam. Far from it. The entrepreneurs present within a firm might have a compelling vision and amazing ideas but the market might not accept it.
The market just might not be ready. In other cases, the company might be able to scale up and provide real value in each aspect of the equation. See Related Article at nypost.com
Because the market may only accept the good or service at a specific price.
A company like Uber is experiencing this in a strong way.
In order to get out of this dark space of no profitability, Uber would need consistent improvements on nearly all fronts. The company has a long way to go before it could obtain its goals, and a lot of efforts need to be made to support its journey.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/people/20888573-ashley-brasier
Business Expert, Business Leader
Isabel dos Santos Talks about Empowering Women of Africa to Take up Executive Roles in the Business World.
Isabel dos Santos, a business professional from Angola, was born in 1973. In Africa, she is wealthiest. Isabel is the daughter of Jose Eduardo Santos, the former president of Angola. He ruled the state between 1979 and 2017. Isabel has been garnering important lessons from his father. In November 2015, she was named as one of the most influential women of the world by BBC. Isabel grew up in Baku, SSR. She proceeded to Kent School in Cobham Hall. Later on, she went to King’s College. She then met her husband, who attended the same school.
In the last twenty years, Isabel dos Santos has held her managerial roles in several companies that have been listed on multiple stock exchanges. In the early 1990s, she relocated to London to work with her father on various projects. She served as the project manager of Urbana 2000, an affiliate of Jembas Group at a time when the company had just landed a cleaning contract to disinfect the city. Isabel dos Santos established a trucking business. The growing use of walkie-talkie technology also paved the way for the new telecom business she started. Around 1997, Isabel dos Santos started a new business. She opened the Miami Beach Club.
That was the first night club in that city. Isabel has since expanded her business interests, thereby leading to the development of several holdings not only in Angola but foreign capitals. She has made a name for herself as a successful entrepreneur with extensive experience in business management. Apart from that, she mentors young African entrepreneurs. Isabel holds meetings to discuss their future while providing them with insight regarding how to run a business. In order to educate these young women on how to join executive businesses, Isabel dos Santos spearheads expert-led discussions with the help of her colleagues. She conducts group mentoring sessions in various universities as well as institutions and higher learning schools. During these sessions, Isabel talks about the impact of technology.
Business Expert, fashion and style, Fashion Industry', Philanthropist
Contributions of DonataMeirelles in the fight for AIDS
DonataMeirelles is a fashion consultant who has made a reputable name for herself in the fashion industry. She used to be a style director for Vogue Brazil. Her position there made her come to the spotlight. Besides being a fashion mogul, she has been directly involved in the issues that affect people.
DonataMeirelles has been at the forefront in promoting research for AIDS. She is dedicated to education and awareness of AIDS. She has amassed thousands of followers, which is very practical for her contributions. She can reach a wide audience to educate them about AIDS. AmfAR is an organisation which is dedicated to funding research about AIDS. In was established in 1985. Many celebrities such as Donata Meirelles have made notable contributions to fund their projects. See more on Donata Meirelles fashion and style at Fashionismo.
DonataMeirelles is also very interested in the organisation’s activities. For example, she supported AmfAR’s annual Cinema against AIDS, which is a major charity event. The charity events and galas have been very helpful in bringing in generous aid. The organisation’s main objective is to be able to fund enough donations for the cure of HIV/AIDS. They have set a timeline for when they should have come up with the cure. AIDS is a global crisis which they aim at eliminating. New studies have shown that a patient who tested positive has been cured of the disease for the second time. Scientists will be able to employ new strategies for the cure.
DonataMeirelles philanthropic activities have been of invaluable aid to the victims and the organisation in general. At one of the organisation’s events, DonataMeirelles was recognised for her efforts and commitment in supporting the organisation’s mission to fighting AIDS. The organisation also acknowledges her determination to get the online platform to support their vision for a future free of AIDS. Connect: https://br.linkedin.com/in/donata-meirelles-97625598
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NGK Telugu Official Teaser Tollywood
NGK Telugu Official Teaser Suriya Sai Pallavi
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Concepts, Inc. Expands DOL Portfolio with Three Projects Aimed at Improving Employment of People with Disabilities
BETHESDA, Md. (Oct. 8, 2014) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has selected Concepts, Inc., an independent communications firm, to support its efforts in disseminating disability employment best practices to employers and policymakers. Through three separate contracts, Concepts will lend its expertise in disability and veterans issues to provide strategic awareness and outreach support.
Two of these projects will focus on increasing the capacity of employers to recruit, hire and advance qualified people with disabilities: As a key partner in a $1.84 million one-year cooperative agreement, Concepts will help The Viscardi Center and other partners promote a national employer technical assistance center and integrate its activities into ODEP’s policy and programmatic priorities. Under another year-long project for ODEP, Concepts will incorporate lessons learned from the Add Us In consortium into a step-by-step guide for small businesses, which will be dispersed through national, state and local Chambers of Commerce.
Included in its recent wins, Concepts started its seventh consecutive year of managing and facilitating ePolicyWorks, a modern approach to federal policymaking that leverages technology and citizen engagement to address employment barriers for people with disabilities. Concepts oversees several collaborative online workspaces and crowdsourcing tools for the project, which successfully brings together multiple stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
“Finding meaningful work continues to be a major issue for people with disabilities,” said Concepts President Karen Herson. “We are thrilled to support ODEP in its efforts to help employers understand best practices for creating diverse and inclusive organizations that recognize the many skills and talents of all employees, including those with disabilities.”
These projects are a natural extension of Concepts’ long-term work providing strategic communications support to ODEP.
About Concepts, Inc.
Concepts, Inc., (www.conceptscommunications.com) a small, woman-owned communications firm in Bethesda, Md., specializes in developing and executing targeted public outreach campaigns focused on areas that impact people with disabilities, veterans, families and caregivers. Among its core capabilities, Concepts provides substantial experience in the creation of impactful messaging and branding, website design and information architecture, as well as content management and database support services. Also included in the firm’s expertise is media relations, photo shoot coordination, partnership development and the design, writing and editing of print and online materials. For more information, please visit www.conceptscommunications.com/services/.
By: Stephanie Bostaph
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Title: BOTH PRESIDENT BUSH AND HIS FATHER SUPPORT "AMERICAN CLERGY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE" (ACLC) -- A REV. MOON ORGANIZATION PUSHING FOR CHURCHES TO THROW OUT THEIR CHRISTIAN CROSSES!
Resources to aid your Understanding
Book - VHS - DVD
Behold A Pale Horse
Subtitle: In NEWS1932, we reported that a collection of our own political leadership -- both Democrat and Republican -- had crowned Moon in a Messiah-type ceremony in the Dirksen Building at the Capitol, to begin a new era of "Global Governance". As part of this report on Moon's current activities, we discovered Rev. Moon was encouraging Christian Churches to bury the Christian Cross in the ground.
Now, we discover both Presidents Bush supporting the ACLC, the group which is encouraging their American churches to throw their Christian Crosses in the trash -- literally toss it into a dumpster!
The New World Order is coming! Are you ready? Once you understand what this New World Order really is, and how it is being gradually implemented, you will be able to see it progressing in your daily news!!
Learn how to protect yourself, your loved ones!
Stand by for insights so startling you will never look at the news the same way again.
YOU ARE NOW ON
Copyright © 2004 Cutting Edge Ministries. All rights reserved. See full copyright notice below.
As you can see from these two pictures, these people are actually committing the blasphemous act of burying the Christian Cross in the ground, in a cross-shaped hole. They are taking this terrible action at the behest of Rev. Moon at the "Jerusalem Declaration" of May 18, 2003, Seoul World Summit. As you can see from this picture, Rev. Moon was declaring that the following objectives were being met by burying this Christian Cross:
* "Repent for the dark parts of our past, and seek a bright future together."
* "Christians repented for 'glorifying the execution which ended Jesus' physical life' and 'perpetrating (sic) a history of anti-Semitism"
* "Jewish leaders sought to 'liberate themselves once and for all from the burden of Jesus' crucifixion
Of course, such activity is of the spirit of Antichrist, for the Apostle Paul declared the true spirit of genuine Christians toward the Cross:
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" [Gal 6:14]
However, many American Christians might disregard the significance of this action, because it does not seem to hit too closely to home. After all, this declaration was made in Seoul, South Korea on May 18, 2003, and the name of the declaration carried the far-away connotation of "Jerusalem". However, such Christians have not realized that an American christian organization with firm ties to Moon's Unification Church has consistently advocated a very similar method of getting rid of the crosses in christian churches -- throwing them into a dumpster.
This American christian organization encouraging its churches to throw their crosses away, is the American Clergy Leadership Conference -- ACLC. We encourage you to take a moment to click to their Home Page, for you will see immediate confirmation that this group is a Moonie organization. On their Home Page, you will find the following references to either the Rev. Moon or his Unification Church:
* WORLD PEACE AND UNIFICATION CENTERING ON THE TRUE LOVE OF GOD - Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon's Address
* Unification Thought
* "Without God's love
there cannot be any progress,
and where there is absence
of God's love, existence itself
will be destroyed.
- Father Sun Myung Moon
* "A church exists for the purpose of God, and a school for the future generations. God's will always rests on the future generations.
Through the sacrifice of an individual person He seeks for great
happiness of the descendants. He knows that a great nation and world
for the future generation will come, through the sacrifice
of this generation. God has put his heart and soul into the work
of teaching people to be able to fulfill their duties."
There is no doubt whatsoever that ACLC is a Moonie organization, fully supportive of the global goals of the Rev. Moon.
The really, really big news is that President Bush and his Father are fully supportive of the ACLC! Listen:
NEWS BRIEF: "Bush supports cross-hating movement: President's father also praises work of Rev. Moon-linked clergy group", WorldNetDaily, December 21, 2004
"Both President Bush and his father have expressed their support for a group of mostly black church leaders that endorses the practice of throwing the cross into the trash – literally. According to an online column by John Gorenfeld, the American Clergy Leadership Conference sponsored a nationwide "Tear Down The Cross" day for Easter, 2003 during which pastors led ceremonies where traditional sanctuary crosses were tossed into dumpsters. Over 100 crosses reportedly were trashed. Writes Gorenfeld, "This [cross removal], movement leaders said, cleared the way for a new age and second messiah."
The information within this paragraph takes us back to the pictures, above, in which followers of the Rev. Moon are actually burying the Christian Cross into a cross-shaped hole in the ground, in their effort to "move beyond the cross" in order to remove the barriers of hatred which the cross supposedly brings into the world. The ACLC is urging its clergy and their churches to take the cross down from their walls in order to throw it into the dumpster!
What is the purpose of this blasphemous exercise? To clear "the way for a new age and second messiah"!
This goal is the stuff of which Antichrist is made! In fact, the "New Age" and the "Second Messiah" refer to the coming Antichrist. In NEWS1932, we saw that the secret ceremony at the U.S. Dirksen Capitol which virtually crowned the Rev. Moon as Messiah was inexplicably linked to the cross-burying ceremony espoused by the "Jerusalem Declaration" of May 18, 2003, Seoul World Summit.
Let us now return to this WorldNetDaily article to see how President Bush ties into the ACLC.
"Last week, the movement's leaders (ACLC) presided over a Washington prayer breakfast featuring messages of thanks from both Bush presidents ... Two sponsors of last week's breakfast, the International and Interreligious Federation of World Peace and the American Family Coalition, are both affiliated with Moon .... Moon was the keynote speaker at the Washington breakfast last week ... The columnist says Bush sent a 'warm letter' of support presented at the breakfast by a state senator, in which the president and first lady sent best wishes to the sponsors -- and thanked them for rallying his 'armies of compassion'."
The old American saying, "Birds of a feather flock together" certainly applies here. Even though President Bush has not -- to my knowledge -- urged Christian churches to take down their crosses so they could throw them into the dumpster, when the President sends a "warm letter of support" to Rev. Moon, and when he offers support of the ACLC at last week's prayer breakfast, he is indirectly supporting the cross-burying activities of that organization.
Now, let us turn to the expose' to which WorldNetDaily refers in its article to get even more pertinent information.
NEWS BRIEF: "Tear Down the Cross: Why is President Bush supporting a group trying to convince African-American churches to literally throw their crosses in the trash?", by John Gorenfeld, Contributor, 12.21.04
"This wintry season, as the faithful continue to receive alarming reports from the news that Republicans are all that stand between them and the outlawing of Christmas itself by hordes of secular humanists, the two presidents Bush have endorsed a powerful conservative interest group specializing in removing the cross -- not from schools or courthouses, but from churches ... this group, calling itself the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), sponsored a nationwide 'Tear Down The Cross' day for Easter, 2003. Last week, leaders in this radical cause presided over a Washington prayer breakfast featuring messages of thanks from the presidents. Former Senator Bob Dole came in person."
For years, Cutting Edge has been pressing the truth that our politicians are not what they claim to be, but are as supportive of the coming Kingdom of Antichrist -- the New World Order -- as any New Age adherent or occultist. Here, we learn that President Bush and his Father have endorsed the ACLC, a "powerful conservative interest group specializing in removing the cross".
Now, notice the various ways in which both Presidents Bush are vitally connected to the ACLC:
* "On Wednesday, a video file containing the elder President Bush’s message to the ACLC disappeared from the movement's web site, though both Bush endorsements were reported in the Washington Times. Neither the White House nor the ACLC returned requests for comment on the breakfast and President Bush’s participation." (Ibid.)
In the Washington Times article, hot linked, above, notice the warm support President Bush gives to several groups, including the American Clergy Leadership Conference. Notice also, that the Rev. Moon attended this prayer breakfast and was its keynote speaker.
* "According to a report in the Washington Times, as well as video found on the Moon-affiliated Web site FamilyFed.org, the elder Bush made a taped appearance before the ACLC's 3,000-strong crowd, which he thanked for their work. 'I thought about parachuting into the building', he joked about wishing he could make it. And he paid lip service to Moon's unwieldy religious jargon, using phrases like 'peace centered on God', a goal that he called 'right on target'." (Ibid.)
* "His son, George W. Bush, wrote a warm letter of support presented at the event by a state senator, in which the president and his wife Laura sent his best wishes to the sponsors -- and thanked them for rallying his 'armies of compassion'. It is unclear what the ACLC has done for society's problems, though its Web site is selling a video called "Beyond The Cross," , and an affiliated Moon front group, Free Teens USA, has received almost half a million dollars under Bush's Abstinence-Only program." (Ibid.)
* "The elder Bush once explained his cooperation with Moon's Unification Church to the Washington Post, through a spokesman, as follows: 'This group is about strengthening the family and that's what President and Mrs. Bush are deeply focused on'." (Ibid.)
* "One ex-member is Cathryn Mazer, whose grieving family was filmed in 1993 by the 'Today Show' as they tried without success to enter a Moon dormitory where Cathryn was staying. She says photos of Moon with Bush played a major role in the seminar that indoctrinated her into the cult -- used to sell potential converts on the legitimacy of Moon." (Ibid.)
" "Reuters reported in the mid-'90s that the elder Bush trekked to Argentina as a paid spokesman for Moon, whom he introduced as 'the man with the vision'. During the Clinton years, Bush also tagged along with Moon's speaking tour in Japan, where the former president had kind words for his strange bedfellow, an ex-convict. Bush is estimated to have received upwards of $1 million for these appearances. Moon also gave $1 million to Bush's presidential library. And when Bush was Vice President, it was a generous check from Moon that opened Oliver North's Contra Freedom Fund." (Ibid.)
* "In Monday's video, Bush declared: 'I want to salute a man I respect: Wes Pruden', referring to the Times editor, whose paper frequently publicizes Moon projects that most newspapers would ignore. On December 7, he ran a piece by ACLC Rev. Donnie McLeod, who has argued for the removal of the cross in sermons covered by Unification Church publications. The cross-disposal theologian wrote: 'as the president is now free from the election concerns and can never be reelected, he can now build a legacy for America and the world." ACLC leaders, he said, 'are ready to see the president as I see him, a man to God who is truly ready to make the sacrifices and commitments to create a legacy of faith and family that will guide our nation for the next 200 years'." (Ibid.)
Did you catch this statement from ACLC's Rev. Donnie McLeod -- that "cross-disposal theologian" -- who said that, since President Bush did not have to worry about being re-elected "he can now build a legacy for America and the world"? Indeed, now that President Bush is now free from election concerns, we are going to see his true spiritual condition coming to the forefront, and genuine, discerning Christians are going to be terribly dismayed! True Christians who voted for President Bush are going to realize -- albeit too late -- that President Bush has such a legacy of rotten spiritual fruit that he cannot possibly be a genuine Christian.
Consequently, we have added President Bush's support for Rev. Moon and his organizations like the cross-removing ACLC to our list of "Evil Fruits vs Good Fruits" list.
Related Article reporting the number of Evangelical Christian leaders who have received money from Rev. Moon: NEWS1818. You will discover this group of evangelicals who have taken support from Rev. Moon are the same group who are urging their followers to follow Bush and to realign with the Roman Catholic Church!
Truly, this "Spirit of Antichrist" is raising the call to christian churches all over the world to take down that "terribly divisive" Christian Cross and either bury it in the ground or throw it into a dumpster. Once this offending Christian symbol is gone from christian churches, Moonie organizations like the ACLC believe it will be much easier to meld the religions of the world into a One World Religion.
Can you hear the approaching hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Are you spiritually ready? Is your family? Are you adequately protecting your loved ones? This is the reason for this ministry, to enable you to first understand the peril facing you, and then help you develop strategies to warn and protect your loved ones. Once you have been thoroughly trained, you can also use your knowledge as a means to open the door of discussion with an unsaved person. I have been able to use it many times, and have seen people come to Jesus Christ as a result. These perilous times are also a time when we can reach many souls for Jesus Christ, making an eternal difference.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but have been very lukewarm in your spiritual walk with Him, you need to immediately ask Him for forgiveness and for renewal. He will instantly forgive you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Then, you need to begin a daily walk of prayer and personal Bible Study.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, but have come to realize His reality and the approaching End of the Age, and want to accept His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can also do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you accept Him as Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that the Kingdom of Antichrist will not touch you spiritually.
If you would like to become Born Again, turn to our Salvation Page now.
We hope you have been blessed by this ministry, which seeks to educate and warn people, so that they can see the coming New World Order -- Kingdom of Antichrist -- in their daily news.
Finally, we would love to hear from you.
You can contact us by mail or email.
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Centralia PD History
Between 1856 and 1859, the first non-native settlement in the Washington Territory was established in and near what is now Centralia.
In 1874, George Washington and his wife donated land and filed the necessary plat maps for the creation of a town. Centralia, originally known as Centreville, was designated a territorial town, with its population swelling for a time to over 15,000 during the 1880s. This number has only recently been surpassed.
In 1889 Washington b ecame a state, and the city of Centralia was incorporated, vying for a time with Olympia to become the state capital. Town Ordinance #XII, approved in March of that year, specified the duties of the City Officers. Section IV outlined the duties of the Town Marshal, which included collecting taxes and keeping a jail. At that time, law enforcement in Centralia was made up of two marshals who worked out of a small building at the corner of Magnolia Street and Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia.
Over the next decade, the force had grown to 10 members (including a Chief Marshal). City Ordinance #116 was signed in January, 1904 creating the Centralia Police Department. Until 1910, the depar tment was housed in a two story building constructed of wooden planks at the corner of Tower and Magnolia. The fire station was also in the same building.
1910: The police department had outgrown the old plank jail and a new “modern” concrete and brick jail was built adjacent to the alley in the 100 block of W. Maple. This bu ilding was used until it was torn down to make room for the new City Hall built in 1921.
1911: Three police call lights were installed at convenient points in the city to alert patrolmen to return to the station.
In 1921, Centralia built a new, modern brick building, where City Hall and the police department are located today. It initially housed the police and fire departments, Washington State Patrol, and city hall staff. The fire department moved to its new station on N. Pearl in 1955 allowing the Police Department to expand their own headquarters, converting the fire engine bays into office spaces.
Under the leadership of Chief Milton M. Jastrum, the first police radio in Centralia was placed into service in 1934. It was a homemade 50-watt transmitter. Only one-way communications were possible with that radio, i.e., the office could call the cars, but the cars could not call the office.
In 1936, Officers were given a 10-hour work day and had three days off per month as well as a two week vacation. Previously, they worked 12 hours per day, seven days per week.
By 1941, that changed to four days off per month. The Department was made up of nine men (including the Chief). Forty Auxiliary Police officers were commissioned to enforce wartime blackout regulations. Blackouts were from 4:30 PM to 8:00 AM. Only vehicles allowed during blackout were defense related, mail, food, and newspapers. One armed police officer was stationed at the Centralia electric substation. On December 10, 1941, city officials ordered an air raid siren, loud enough to be heard for five miles. It was intended to be placed atop the Lewis & Clark Hotel.
1944: Officers were given an eight hour day.
1949: Parking meters were installed downtown. An additional officer was hired to check on the meters and collect the parking fees.
1952: A 10-officer complement remained fairly constant for the Centralia Police Department, when the force was increased to 13 officers (including the Chief). Officers were given five days off per month (when possible).
The 1970’s brought a number of significant changes to the Centralia Police Department. The downtown area parking meters were removed in about 1971 and in 1973, John Stoner was appointed as the first full-time detective.
In 1974, the department hired the first civilian dispatchers to handle dispatching and answer phones. Prior to that time, police officers took turns answering the phone and dispatching. Civilian records personnel were later hired to improve the department’s records system and free officers to work on crime problems.
By 1976, there were 17 full-time officers. The force increased to 23 officers in 1977 and then reduced by attrition. The number of officers varied between 16 and 21 officers until 1990.
Then-Sergeant Bob Berg implemented the 9-1-1 system in Centralia for police, fire and medical emergencies in 1979. The 9-1-1 lines fed directly into the police dispatch center. This system was in place until 1984, when CPD closed its dispatch center and Chehalis began dispatching for Centralia.
The Personal Car Program for all officers began in 1981 with the arrival of the first additional cars. Over time, the department was able to move from adding vehicles surplused by other agencies to rotating the entire fleet with new patrol cars. The first computerized records system (called L.E.M.S.) went on-line in 1985, a forerunner to the technologically advanced records management system now in place throughout the county. The city jail closed that same year, moving Centralia prisoners to the Chehalis PD and Lewis County jails.
1995: Enhanced 9-1-1 service went on line for all of Lewis County through Central Dispatch.
1990 - 1995: Several new positions were added, and by 1996 the department reached its authorized commissioned staffing level of 30 officers.
In 2009, The Centralia Police Department received funding through a COPS CHRP grant for two new positions. Together with the School Resource Officer Position, which is partially funded by the Centralia School District, our current, authorized strength is 33 commissioned officers.
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All articles by Team Addict - Kevin Thorson
Audio Adrenaline Writing For New Album
Yesterday Kevin Max tweeted that the band was writing new songs for their next album. See the post..
Free Download of City Harbor's New Song "Like I Am"
City Harbor is now giving away the song "Like I Am" from their upcoming new album! Listen to the song below and download it..
Manafest Launches Pledge Campaign For New Album "The Moment"
Manifest has just started a Pledge Music campaign to help fund his next album titled "The Moment". Obviously there's no release date but if you pledge to the project you'll get all the latest info as well as insight into the recording process of the album. See the..
Listen to Entire New Switchfoot Album "Fading West" (Web Stream)
Thanks to Switchfoot you can now stream the entire "Fading West" album via iTunes radio. They just posted the link on Twitter. Listen to it here..
Free Download of Capital Kings' New Song "Be A King"
Capital Kings has posted their new single "Be A King" on Soundcloud! Get it here..
Sad But True, Children 18:3 Launches Kickstarter Campaign For Final Album
Well it's not completely sad, just about 90% of it. One of my favorite punk groups, Children 18:3, is indeed quitting. The band's contract with Tooth and Nail is done, but before they are as well, they're making...
Fireflight Writing for Next Album
Fireflight posted last month on their Facebook page that they are writing (and hopefully recording) for their next album. This will be their fifth studio album. Obviously it's too early for..
Seventh Day Slumber New Album "We Are The Broken" to Release in 2014 - See Album Art
Right now rock group Seventh Day Slumber is working on their next project slated to drop next year. The album is titled "We Are The Broken". Check out the cover art here..
Listen to New Falling Up Christmas Album "Silver City"
Falling Up released their new Christmas album "Silver City" back on December 6th. Have a listen to this awesome album here and definitely go get yourself a copy!
Nine Lashes New Album "From Water to War" Details and Pre-Order
Tooth and Nail artist Nine Lashes will be releasing their next album January 21. The new album is titled "From Water to War". Pre-order for the album is now available here! Check out the tracklist and cover art..
Kutless New Album "Glory" Release Date, Cover Art, and Tracklist
Kutless has released the album art and details for their next album titled "Glory". The album is set to release February 11th of next year. See the cover art and tracklist here..
Flyleaf Launches Pledge Campaign For New Album
Flyleaf announced this Tuesday that they have launched a campaign to help fund their fourth studio album. They have the songs written and are ready to start recording the new album early next year. See the quote from their announcement..
The DROP Project Launches Faithlauncher Campaign
The DROP Project is looking to fund it's music outreach! Check out the video and get more info from the quote here
Blanca Leaves Group 1 Crew To Pursue Solo Career
Today Group 1 Crew's Blanca announced in a blog and video that she is leaving the band. One of the long-time faces of the group, she says that Group 1 Crew will continue to make music with her husband leading the way. Blanca is not leaving the music...
Mat Kearney In The Studio For New Album
Just hours ago today Mat Kearney posted on his Facebook page that he is starting recording for his next album this week. We've known for a while that he was working on a new album, and it's great to hear that it's finally being recorded. See the..
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Gray wolves lose protection in US states
By John Dean - 06 May 2011 9:26:0 GMT
Gray wolves have lost their protection in parts of the United States after their numbers made a recovery, a move that means they can be hunted again.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed Endangered Species Act protection from gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, including Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon and Washington, and northern Utah. Agency officials also announced that they are removing protection from gray wolves in 29 eastern states.
The move has caused some concern among naturalists. Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said: ''The feds are declaring victory but gray wolves still only survive in five per cent of their former range, and even in those places they continue to face a real threat of persecution. Taking protection away from them now is premature and will impede the long-term recovery of wolves in the United States.''
According to naturalists, wolf populations have only begun to recover in Oregon and Washington, where a very small number of packs have established. In Utah, only individual wolves have been sighted. Wolf numbers are strong in Montana and Idaho.
The news comes a few days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to remove gray wolves from the protected species list in the Western Great Lakes area, which includes Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Officials argue that the animal should be taken off the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife because wolves have recovered so well in the area. The Service has started a public consultation.
According to the Service, wolf numbers total more than 4,000 animals in the three states. Minnesota's population is estimated at 2,922, there are an estimated 557 wolves in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and another 690 in Wisconsin.
At the time of the announcement, Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director Rowan Gould said: ''Wolves in the Western Great Lakes have achieved recovery. We are taking this step because wolf populations have met recovery goals and no longer need the protection of the Endangered Species Act.''
But the Center for Biological Diversity is concerned that wolves in the Great Lakes region remain threatened by disease and persecution by people and that removing their protection can only make the situation worse as hunters step up their activities, encouraged by State agencies seeking to reduce numbers. The same is said to be true of Wisconsin.
According to the Center, plans to remove protections for the gray wolf in 29 eastern states will mean that any wolf that wanders into that region from the Great Lakes or Canada could be immediately killed.
Noah Greenwald said: ''While there have been important strides in wolf recovery over the past several decades, the job is far from complete, and lifting protections now is a big step in the wrong direction. Wolves are an important part of our natural heritage and honouring that means giving them the best chance possible for healthy, robust populations.''
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Efficiency & Environment, Infrastructure
New York provides $5.5m for clean energy education
New York State has announced $5.5 million (£4.26m) in funding to promote clean energy awareness. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said the finance is available for […]
By Jonny Bairstow
Manhattan, New York City. Image: Thinkstock
New York State has announced $5.5 million (£4.26m) in funding to promote clean energy awareness.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said the finance is available for qualified organisations to provide energy education and advice to local communities.
It aims to increase adoption rates for clean energy products and services for both residential and small business customers, with an emphasis on helping low-to-moderate-income citizens reduce their energy bills and usage.
Projects will host a series of workshops, seminars, events and one-on-one conversations, build relationships with energy firms and leverage multiple sources of funding for clean energy installations.
They will be selected through a competitive process and initially run for one year, with an option to extend for an additional two years, with a total budget ranging from $370,000 (£286,376) to $825,000 (£638,565).
John B. Rhodes, President and CEO of NYSERDA, said: “New York continues to make investments that encourage the use of clean, affordable energy and energy efficiency to reduce our carbon footprint.
“The Community Energy Engagement Program strongly supports Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading clean energy strategy and helps ensure all New Yorkers, including low-to-moderate income, are informed about clean energy opportunities.”
New York State is also offering funding totalling $15.5 million (£12m) for energy storage projects and a $70 million (£56.15m) electric vehicle scheme to boost green transport.
clean energy energy efficiency Low Carbon New York State NYSERDA
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Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience @ Ye Olde Narrogin Inne
Officially the world’s longest running and most successful show of its kind, Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is continuing to make its international mark as a ‘outrageously funny’ night out (BroadwayBaby).
Tickets have sold out all over the world from Sydney Opera House to London’s West End – and it’s returning to Armadale in August 2019. But be warned: tickets will sell out here too, so early booking is essential! Basil, Sybil and Manuel are gearing up to bring a healthy dose of mayhem to your door, serving up a 3-course meal and nothing short of two full hours of laughter.
Anything can happen and it usually does in the show that’s 70% improvised. It’s a guaranteed original experience every time! Fully immersive, highly interactive and completely original, this is the top-flight, 5-star show that is suited to anyone ready for a brilliant night out!
- ‘Best Completely Indestructible Show Award’ The Advertiser, Adelaide Fringe 2019
- ‘An infectious adventure’ Scenestr, Castlereagh Boutique Hotel 2018
- ‘Truly brilliant and innovative’ FringeFeed, Perth 2018
This fantastic immersive show uses a blend of top-flight improvisation and a completely original theatrical script to create a night perfect for absolutely anyone ready to laugh. Brisbane born in 1997, the show is now an international institution, performed around the world by 38 actors.
This year’s tour schedule includes a wealth of highlights such as Fringe Festivals in Adelaide, Melbourne and Edinburgh; tours across entire continents like Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Australia; and an ongoing residency in London’s West End. With over 22 years of continuous critical and audience acclaim and close to a million seats sold around the world, it’s clear that this is the most successful interactive comedy show of its kind.
The cast for Ye Olde Narrogin Inne features Rebecca Fortuna (Sybil), Rob Langston (Basil) and Anthony Sottile (Manuel).
* Performer biogs are on the Actors page at www.faultytowersdining.com _________________________________________
EXPERIENCE THE WORLD’S ♯1 EXPERIENCE!
Venue: Ye Olde Narrogin Inne, 2 South Western Highway, Armadale, WA 6112
Dates: Sunday 11 August 2019
Times: Doors open 6:30pm. Show starts 7:00pm.
Tickets: $92.00 per person. All tickets include a 3-course meal and 2-hour interactive show. Bookings & enquiries: www.faultytowersdining.com | 1300 308 193 |
Tickets: http://tiny.cc/xbur5y
Film: where’s the venue?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FYCwk5uksY
Show info & FAQ: http://www.faultytowersdining.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thefaultytowers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faultytowersthediningexperience
Blog: http://blog.interactivetheatre.com.au/
7.00 - 9.00pm Sunday, 11 August
Armadale, Western Australia
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Walker says no to televising closing arguments
By couragecampaign
Televising
By Julia Rosen
Well this is a bummer, but unsurprising. AP:
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a notice Tuesday stating that the final arguments scheduled for June 16 will not be transmitted beyond the San Francisco courthouse where he is hearing the case.
There is no reasoning that I can find, just this notice, which is now posted on the U.S. District Court website:
Chief Judge Walker has scheduled closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger for June 16, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. The proceedings are scheduled to end at 4:00 p.m., although the exact time cannot be predicted. A ruling is not expected on the day of the closing arguments.
All reserved seating passes have been allocated. Very limited seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis for the main courtroom.
Simultaneous video transmission will be available in the ceremonial courtroom on the 19th Floor of the federal courthouse and for media representatives in the court’s media center on the first floor.
There will be no simultaneous transmission of the proceedings outside the courthouse.
We will be liveblogging the proceedings, just like we did the rest of the case and will be doing our best to ensure that what happens inside that courtroom in San Francisco does not stay in that courtroom.
[UPDATE] As noted in the comments, the AP has updated their story and added this note at the bottom:
(This version CORRECTS Corrects to say judge has NOT ruled on media coalition request.)
What we have is a notice posted on the court’s website that there will be no video outside of the courthouse, but not a specific ruling on the Media Coalition request.
Prop 8 Lawyer Wants Closing Arguments Close to... Where we are at on DADT
216632 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.equalityontrial.com%2F2010%2F05%2F25%2Fwalker-says-no-to-televising-closing-arguments%2FWalker+says+no+to+televising+closing+arguments2010-05-25+20%3A51%3A52couragecampaignhttp%3A%2F%2Fprop8trialtracker.com%2F%3Fp%3D2166
1. K!r!lleXXI | May 25, 2010 at 6:55 am
Someone was really angry at Walker the last time, it seems…
Now he doesn't even want to try televising…
Disappointed!
2. fiona64 | May 25, 2010 at 7:00 am
I look forward to following the proceedings on that day.
Funny that the short link to this post is http://wp.me/pLuL9-yW
— yW… meaning, “Y, Walker? WHY???”
4. Bob | May 25, 2010 at 7:01 am
decision made, no more wondering about that, well Done Walker, that's one for our opponents.
5. Mark M. (Seattle) | May 25, 2010 at 7:01 am
This makes me VERY sad indeed. But to Judge Walkers credit he may be doing this so as to not give the 'other side' any additional ammo for thier appeal or SCOTUS case.
I/we have to trust he knows what he's doing I guess……
That thought definitely occurred to me.
"This whole thing was decided against us because teh evul libruhl media made us look stoopid."
Never mind that the Yes-on-8/Defendor-Intervenor side did an excellent job of making themselves look stupid without any assistance; that would definitely be their tack on appeal.
7. cc | May 25, 2010 at 7:35 am
I’m not surprised but I would have loved to see the closing statements first hand. Thanks CC for still offering the live blogging service. I must admit I’m hooked and can’t wait to read it. Just hoping my refresh key won’t mind the repeated pounding.
8. Ronnie | May 25, 2010 at 8:08 am
Breakout the Spy Cam Pens….shenanigans….SHENANIGANS!!!!!!….<3…Ronnie
9. Richard A. Walter (s | May 25, 2010 at 8:39 am
This is definitely a shame. I really was hoping that the media would be allowed to broadcast the cosing arguments at least. Hopefully we will se not only the live blogging from CCI, but also the re-enactments.
Went to the Equality NC Day of Action today. We did not get to speak with both of our legislative representatives from Cumberland County, but we have managed to sway at least one vote from anti-marriage equality to pro-marriage equality, so I guess this is proof that when we get out there, and when we stand up like Harvey always advised us to do, we do see results.
10. Kathleen | May 25, 2010 at 9:00 am
It's also possible Walker figured if he approved the request, D-Is would appeal, and he didn't want to delay the proceedings yet again.
11. Mark M. (Seattle) | May 25, 2010 at 9:04 am
Agreed. And he also doesn't want to add fuel to the fire by appearing to be favoring 'us' over 'them'…at least not at this point in time.
Hmmmm…. what do you make of this?
"Corrects to say judge has NOT ruled on media coalition request." http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM…
HMMMMMMM
Very interesting……………..
Because the AP was part of the media coalition requesting access, I assumed that when the AP reported it had been refused, they were acting on information they had received from the court. But now I see they're not even clear on whether the request has been denied.
Again, nothing has been entered on the docket. If it is, I'll get notified by email and will post.
15. Ronnie | May 25, 2010 at 10:11 am
"I am very much a military brat & I thrive under stress & under pressure & all that & I love it. I love the physical aspect, the mental aspect, everything. But right now, as far as my conscience goes I cannot continue to serve under this policy."~Anthony Bustos, an active-duty soldier who has completed 2 tours in Iraq.
05-25-10 BREAKING: SLDN Client, Active-Duty Soldier Comes Out Tonight to Bob Woodruff on ABC World News
http://www.sldn.org/news/archives/breaking-sldn-c…
HEY HEY….HO HO….DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL HAS GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!….. >( ……Ronnie
16. Richard A. Walter (s | May 25, 2010 at 10:23 am
This is what Harvey was talking about that we all need to do.As more and more of our men and women in uniform, our combat vbeterans like our current war veterans, and our veterans of past wars burst out of the closets, it will become more and more apparent just how shameful DADT is, and the repeal will be like the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. And I agree with Ronnie–THE REPEAL OF DADT IS LONG OVERDUE!!!
17. Bill | May 25, 2010 at 11:14 am
off topic, but important.
very scary news:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/05/25/gop-…
Yes, Bill, this is VERY scary. And to think that this is young people from here in America. That makes it even scarier.
We should report them to homeland security…they are terrorists….. >( ….The scary thing is that they can be connected as far up as Sarah Falin….report them…NOW!!!!…. >( ….Ronnie
20. Cassie | May 25, 2010 at 2:08 pm
What is the media coalition request, anyway? I'm confused. Too many adult terms for this seventeen-year-old. 😛 Hahaha. Anybody?
21. Kathleen | May 25, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Hi Cassie,
The media coalition request refers to this group of TV and radio companies' request to broadcast the closing arguments. See their letter to Walker here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31569783/Doc-670
p.s. I'm behind on my personal correspondence. soon….
This gets more confusing by the minute.
CBS reports that the statement suggesting that Walker had made a decision not to allow broadcasting was issued in error, "A clerk for Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco told lawyers representing CBS and other media outlets that no decision had yet been made and indicated that a court official earlier Tuesday had mistakenly posted what appeared to be a ruling on the matter." http://cbs13.com/local/proposition.8.arguments.2….
But then, the same article reports "The document was later removed from the court's website" which, as of 11:30 pm was not the case.
23. James Tuttle | May 25, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Hmmm…very bizarre indeed. As much as I would love to see closing arguments, I fear that allowing them will allow a judicial bias argument to be made later…as mentioned previously. I know circumstances concerning who is talking have changed but I'd like to, as close as we are to a verdict, to be mindful of any setbacks that could occur due to a grant of television cameras and the ensuing battle.
24. Billy | May 25, 2010 at 6:18 pm
These people are terrorists. These evangelicals live in their own little fantasy realities, completely oblivious to the world around them, except what they spew to each other. They wallow in their own religious excrement, while totally disregarding facts and science, just to further their own agenda.
I'm going to start advocating that the blank space in the DSM where homosexuality used to be should have an addition in the form of: Evangelical Disasociative Disorder. This will help us clarify and quantify this mental disease running rampant in our society.
Since these fundies think it's ok to call for the executions of glbt citizens, can I retort with a request that a lion pit for the christians be added to the front lawn of the white house? I mean, if you're gonna dream, dream big, right?
(apologize in advance if I offend; late night rant, need sleep)
25. Monty | May 26, 2010 at 1:48 am
Mom was right – punk rock is evil.
26. B&E | May 26, 2010 at 4:17 am
Dear Judge Walker,
Please allow cameras in your courtroom. It is inappropriate for the federal government to lurk in the shadows away from public view while such a high profile case is deciding the equality of an entire class of persons.
27. Sagian | May 26, 2010 at 8:15 am
I'm just wondering – Can the media coalition appeal a decision TO NOT HAVE cameras in the courtroom the same way the defendants appealed the decision TO HAVE cameras in the courtroom?
28. Bob | May 26, 2010 at 9:07 am
Well the least the media coaliton could do would be to start posting this somewhere on a front page of the mainstream papers. or t.v. newscasts.
I still haven' seen anything like that, they have admitted the case was historic, but maybe they were just referring to the media coverage aspect.
When will the front page story break, about the historic verdict to be announced regarding equaltity for all, or continued discrimination, obviously not everyone feels the suspense.
Obviously the closing arguemnets will be dramatic, and educational, but the focus for me is after all the drama, THE VERDICT!!!!!!
Our goal is to hear the verdict.
29. Dave P. | May 26, 2010 at 9:38 am
Here in northern California, this request from the Media Coalition to televise the closing arguments was reported (briefly) on broadcast TV news a couple of days ago. But I haven't seen anything in the mainstream print press.
A number of papers ran the AP story. Here is it in the LA Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wi…
31. Bob | May 26, 2010 at 10:04 am
yup, the stories are about the media coverage itself, no mention of the actual details, and significance of the case, no mention of history and science versus religion, nothing that brings the substance of the case to attention
32. Kathleen | May 26, 2010 at 10:20 am
I was responding to Dave P's comment — he said hadn't seen anything in the print press about the request to televise the closing arguments.
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US$1.5 million siphoned by Tibetan government
Posted on November 18, 2017 in Guest Writers, News · 2,521 Views · 98 Comments
How much has Sikyong Lobsang Sangay received over the years that is undeclared, unaccounted for, and untracked? Has all of the financial contributions reached their intended recipients i.e. the Tibetan people? Who really knows?
By: Kay Beswick
Although it attempts to function as a democratic governing body, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; the Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala) is in actuality a privately-funded administration that derives most, if not all, of its income from government grants and private donors all over the world. A large portion of these funds is received and channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGO). One such NGO is the Tibet Fund, whose stated mission is to “preserve the distinct cultural and national identity of the Tibetan people”.
Since 1981, and under the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibet Fund has been a primary funding organization for programs which are touted to benefit the Tibetan refugees living in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Not only does the Tibet Fund receive the bulk of its income from US federal grants, but as a 501(c)(3) organisation, this non-profit organisation is also exempt from some federal income taxes.
While it all sounds very impressive from the outside, over the years, the Tibetan leadership has in fact faced many accusations of financial misappropriation and mismanagement. More often than not, these accusations involve the “power players” at the many institutions built around the Dalai Lama and the “Free Tibet” movement. Most recently for example, The Guardian reported that the Dalai Lama’s “personal emissary” Tenzin Dhonden had been suspended over corruption claims. This follows news last year that one of the Dalai Lama’s closest allies, Lodi Gyari and his son-in-law Phakchok Rinpoche were implicated in a money laundering scandal. They had even had their accounts frozen.
Penpa Tsering, the former donjo (Dalai Lama’s representative) of North America who was dismissed from his post for asking too many questions about the US$1.5 million loan, and for trying to hold the Sikyong accountable for the expenditure.
Evidently news of these financial discrepancies have reached the American leadership. It may be one of the reasons why the United States shocked the Tibetan leadership in March this year, proposing a 2018 budget which saw a substantial cut in American government’s aid to Tibet. It is a situation that appears to be irreversible considering US President Donald Trump’s total lack of interest in meeting with any Tibetan representatives. Why does the Tibetan leaders still depend on free money handouts from US and other governments? Why can’t they produce their own money and stop being so parasitic after being independent for 60 years in democratic India? Why talk so big when they have no money of their own? How many more years does the governments of the free world need to still donate in the millions to the Tibetan leadership? What does the Tibetan leadership give back in return for the generous billions they have siphoned from various governments, private organizations and donations? Why does any government in the free world even need to donate to the Tibetan leadership?
To make things worse, in the past week, political rivalry between two Tibetan leaders exploded into the public eye. Sikyong (Prime Minister) Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering have been bickering since the 2016 Sikyong campaign. When Penpa Tsering lost and, as a consolation prize, was assigned to be the donjo (Dalai Lama’s representative) in North America, everyone thought this new cushy diplomatic post signalled an end to their rivalry. At least, until this week when their spat blew up again, leading to Penpa Tsering being summarily dismissed from his post on 7th November. It came not long after Penpa Tsering alleged financial discrepancy at The Office of Tibet in Washington D.C. which Phayul (see attached article) calls “loan-gate”.
This begs the following questions:
If Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering can fight tooth and nail over the status of a “mere” US$1.5 million loan, what else are they fighting about?
For most governments around the world who earn in the billions, US$1.5 million is an insignificant amount. Yet the Tibetan leaders make such a huge fuss over it, which reflects the narrow-mindedness and low level of governance. And if the government cannot keep track of such an amount, how will they ever be able to govern or administer anything bigger? What else has the CTA lost track of, if they can bicker and argue over this amount?
US$1.5 million is the amount audited by external auditors as a loan, which Lobsang Sangay insists is an amount that the Tibet Fund contributed and did not expect to be paid back. The fact Lobsang Sangay is trying to change the status of this money from a loan to contribution should concern all Tibetans, especially since Lobsang Sangay moved to dismiss Penpa Tsering once he began asking questions about the CTA’s finances. If “only” US$1.5 million led to Penpa Tsering’s dismissal, what else is being hidden that no one else knows about? How much other funds have been conveniently shuffled around and reassigned in the last few decades, that no one has asked questions about, audited or been held accountable for? The US$1.5 million must be only the tip of a financial scandal iceberg which is much, much, much larger.
The moral of this story for the US government and the many charity trusts and individuals who contribute to the “Tibet cause” is to be wary and hold back contributions until everything is properly investigated and explained, not leaving any stone unturned. The Tibetan public and the concerned donors who gave their financial support to the Tibetans deserve nothing less than this.
PHAYUL: NA rep. row depends with ‘loan-gate’ while Kashag cites trust, performance deficit
Click to enlarge (Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=39815)
TIBETAN JOURNAL: Does Kashag Ousting Representative Penpa Tsering Land Upon $1.5 Million?
Click to enlarge (Source: http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2017/11/16/kashag-ousting-north-america-representative/)
The audited accounts of the Tibet Fund shows a loan of US$1.5 million. This has appeared in their accounts since the year end 2015 as a “loans receivable”. Why is the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay trying to get this changed to a gift or contribution? As per US government laws, these documents are available in the public domain for download.
The Tibet Fund’s audited accounts notes confirms that the said US$ 1.5 million loan was provided to the Tibetan Community Development Fund. There is no denying that the US$1.5 million was a loan and yet Sikyong Lobsang Sangay’s instruction to treat it as a gift goes against proper accounting practice. As per US government laws, these documents are available in the public domain for download.
As recently as last year, the Tibet Fund’s accounts still reflect the said US$ 1.5 million loan. As per US government laws, these documents are available in the public domain for download.
Lama Zopa’s perplexing foreward to ‘The Golden Key’
FPMT登记表反映出欠缺包容
The Dalai Lama's Fatigue Next
2017: Sacking of Penpa Tsering exposes more corruption and abuses by Tibetan leadership
Chering Dorje
India and China realized the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas, and held daylong talks to prevent border disagreements. This move shows the commitment of both giants to foster better relations with each other, seeking mutually acceptable resolutions. See the article below:
India, China hold talks on long-running border dispute
BY Ashok Sharma | AP
NEW DELHI, India, 22 December 2017
India and China on Friday discussed ways to prevent a repeat of a recent face-off between their armed forces at a Himalayan plateau where their borders meet and agreed that resolving their boundary disagreements served the interests of both countries.
Relations between the two Asian giants have often been strained, partly due to an undemarcated border. They fought a month-long border war in 1962 and have been trying to settle the boundary since the 1980s.
The two sides agreed Friday that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it was necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, a statement by India’s External Affairs Ministry said at the end of daylong talks.
The Indian side was led by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the Chinese delegation by Special Representative Yang Jiechi. The two had met in Beijing in July on the sidelines of a meeting of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) summit.
“The talks were positive and focused on bringing out the full potential of the closer developmental partnership between the two countries,” the statement said. “They re-emphasized their commitment to achieve a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the India-China boundary question at an early date.”
The latest confrontation took place where India and China’s border meets that of Bhutan. It started in June when Indian troops moved in to stop China from constructing a road in the Doklam region in Bhutan. Both countries agreed to pull back their troops on 28 August.
The border dispute continues to bedevil relations between the giant Asian neighbours — armed with nuclear weapons and with 2.6 billion people between them — despite a recent warming of economic relations.
Each side accuses the other of occupying its territory. China claims some 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) of territory in India’s northeast and cites the region’s cultural affinity with Tibet as evidence that the area is part of what it calls “southern” Tibet. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas.
Friday’s was the 20th meeting between the two sides on the border issue since mid-1980s.
https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2017/12/22/india-china-hold-talks-on-long-running-border-dispute
Tsering Ngodup
China made another intelligent maneuver in offering economic incentives in exchange for political favor. Recently, the Senator of Montana, Steve Daines, hosted a delegation of Chinese Communist Party officials that oversee Tibet and undercut the simultaneous visit by the President of the Tibetan Government in exile in exchange for a $200 million deal with a leading Chinese retailer to export beef from Montana to China. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) is no match for China regarding political astuteness. If the CTA is smart, they will start to build relationship and stop condemning China for an event that happened over 60 years ago.
US Senator Exchanged Tibet For Economic Incentives With China?
TJ editor| December 18, 2017
A US Senator is reported to have overseen the fact that Tibet is going under a serious situation of human rights crisis for economic deals with China. According to an opinion in the Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, China is bidding political favours in foreign countries in return for economic incentives they provide.
“In its effort to cultivate foreign influence, the Chinese Communist Party boldly mixes economic incentives with requests for political favors. Its dealings with Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) this year offer a success story for Beijing.” write Josh Rogin in The Washington Post.
The writer explains how the recent case with Senator Daines’s dealing with the China perfectly demonstrates how such an exchange took place.
“Last month Daines announced a breakthrough in his long-standing effort to win access for Montana’s beef exports to China — a $200 million deal with a leading Chinese retailer.” said the opinion “Then, on Dec. 5, the regime of Xi Jinping got something at least as valuable from Daines. The senator hosted a delegation of Chinese Communist Party officials who oversee Tibet, at the request of the Chinese Embassy — thereby undercutting a simultaneous visit to Washington by the president of the Tibetan government in exile.”
While The House Foreign Affairs Asia subcommittee held a hearing on December 6 about Chinese repression in Tibet in due consideration over China’s growing oppression in Tibet, inaccessibility of foreign media and officials into Tibet, etc., where Hollywood actor spoke as witness, Daines was reported to have praised Chinese officials in Tibet for doing “a good job in environmental protection and traditional cultural preservation.”
http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2017/12/18/us-senator-selling-tibet-economic-incentives-china/
After looking at several contrasting reports regarding the alleged Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche’s visit to China, one wonders why Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche denied his four-day visit to China after such visit was confirmed by Dr. Lobsang Sangay and now by a former Indian intelligence officer! If Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche had the best intention to promote the Dalai Lama’s middle way, then why he needs to deny this visit? After all the Sino-Tibetan relationship has been stagnant since 2011, the fact that Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche was able to secure a meeting with Chinese government officials should have been a great success for him, instead of becoming another source of controversy.
Former Indian Intelligence Claims Samdhong Rinpoche Visited China
A former Indian intelligence officer claims in an article that the former Kalon Tripa or the Prime minister of Tibetan government in exile, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche had a four days China visit in November last year. The article by the former RAW officer says that Dalai Lama’s envoy would have met senior Communist party leaders during the visit.
Samdong Rimpoche’s visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade according to the article in the Rediff.com.
“Samdong Rimpoche, who was nominated a month earlier as the Dalai Lama’s envoy for talks with the Chinese authorities, would certainly have met senior Communist party leaders during his four-day stay in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province.” added the report claiming that the two-term Kalon Tripa (‘prime minister’) of the Tibetan administration-in-exile and one of the Dalai Lama’s most trusted advisers had quietly travelled to China in late November 2017.
The report also suggested that the Rinpoche would have met with the You Quan, a former party secretary of Fujian province whom Chinese President Xi Jinping appointed director of the united front work department in November or Zhang Yijiong, executive vice minister of the UFWD.
As China still do not recognise the Central Tibetan Administration, functioning as the Tibetan government in exile, president Lobsang Sangay has not accompanied the Rinpoche in the China visit added the article by the former Indian intelligence.
The former prime minister of Tibetan government in exile, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche however had earlier rubbished of the China visit when asked about whether he had made a China visit as being speculated and told that the news about his visit to China has no truth and it was nothing more than just media speculations.
http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/07/former-indian-intelligence-claims-samdhong-rinpoche-visited-china/
Thamchod Nyingma
China’s economic prowess is not to be underestimated. Leaders from various countries seek economic collaborations with China, who has been contributing to the world’s economic growth, especially in the past decade. The Indian Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) report highlighted the lack of opportunities in India for growth and advancement as the causes for Tibetan youth to willingly betray their host India and work as spies for China. Tibetan youth clearly have difficulties to survive in India as CTA failed to create sufficient jobs for the Tibetans in exile. This is a reality and we will see more and more trend like this and eventually Tibetans seeking improvement in their quality of life and intellectual advancement will leave India and ‘return’ to China.
China recruiting “disgruntled” Tibetan refugees to spy on India: Intelligence Bureau
Friday, January 05, 2018 19:56
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 5: Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) has reportedly said that China is recruiting Tibetan refugee youth in the Northeastern parts of India to provide strategic information in exchange for monetary gains.
The IB, India’s internal intelligence agency, has issued a string of alerts that China is approaching Tibetan refugees settled in northeast India to provide strategic information about the area.
According to The Print, a comprehensive report submitted to the central government will include how China had been targeting “disgruntled Tibetan refugees” in the region for the past two years and how many of the recruits have already left for China.
An unnamed source from the IB was cited as saying “young Tibetan refugees” from Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and other parts of northeast India have been recruited as spies. “It appears to be China’s strategy to make a base in India to create a channel, through which it can constantly receive relevant strategic information,” the source told The Print.
The same source also described the newer generations of Tibetans to be “volatile and vulnerable” whose desperation caused by unemployment and wish for a good lifestyle is tapped by China who assure money as well as job and education for their kids.
In addition to the report to be sent to Ministry of home affairs, the local police in the north east states have also been notified of the threat and may result in “scrutiny of Tibetan refugees” there soon.
There are five Tibetan refugee settlements in the Northeast India; Choepheling- Miao, Dhargyeling –Tezu, Tenzigang- Bomdila and Tuting-Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh and Kunphenling- Ravangla in Sikkim as well as smaller pockets of Tibetans in Sonada and Darjeeling area overseen by the exile Tibetan government here in Dharamshala, known as the Central Tibetan Administration.
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=40007
Samdhong Rinpoche’s November visit to China is brought up again in this article because it may have implication to India’s politics. At the moment, it is not clear yet as to what transpired during Samdhong Rinpoche’s 4-day visit to China and how the development may impact the progress of Tibetan cause or India-China relations. The confusion and curiosity related to this visit were increased a notch recently after Samdhong Rinpoche denied that this visit even occurred. It is very likely that the public may speculate further about Samdhong Rinpoche’s real intention behind the visit and why he was hiding it, and the speculation could run wild and impose a new risk to the Tibetan cause and India China relations. Therefore, it is best for Samdhong Rinpoche to clarify this matter once and for all.
Tibet developments may put pressure on India
Samdong Rimpoche’s visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
There have been important developments relating to Tibet since the Chinese Communist Party congress ended in Beijing on October 25, 2017 and the two months thereafter.
All of them have implications for India and some could potentially put India under sustained pressure.
The first was the indication that the Chinese Communist Party’s central committee’s united front work department, which is responsible for supervising non-Communist parties and ethnic minorities including the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions, was preparing to take fresh initiatives.
This was the dramatic ‘leak’ that Samdong Rimpoche – a former two-term Kalon Tripa (‘prime minister’) of the Tibetan administration-in-exile and among the Dalai Lama’s most trusted advisers — had quietly travelled to China in late November 2017.
Samdong Rimpoche, who was nominated a month earlier as the Dalai Lama’s envoy for talks with the Chinese authorities, would certainly have met senior Communist party leaders during his four-day stay in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province.
There is speculation that Rimpoche could have met You Quan, a former party secretary of Fujian province whom Chinese President Xi Jinping appointed director of the united front work department in November or Zhang Yijiong, executive vice minister of the UFWD.
If Rimpoche met Chinese leaders, this would be the first acknowledged contact between an envoy of the Dalai Lama and Chinese Communist officials since negotiations between the two sides were suspended in 2010.
China’s official media has, however, not yet mentioned a visit by a senior leader to Kunming during this period.
Dr Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong (head) of the Central Tibetan Administration, obliquely confirmed that Professor Rimpoche had visited China. He was replying to a question posed by former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal on the sidelines of the M L Sondhi memorial lecture in New Delhi on December 14, when he cautioned ‘Don’t read too much into it. At most it’s a private visit and it’s too early to say anything.’
It is pertinent that Lobsang Sangay — who is the other envoy nominated by the Dalai Lama for talks with the Chinese — did not accompany Samdong Rimpoche probably because China continues to adhere to its policy of not recognising the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala. No relaxation has been noticed in China’s policies towards Tibetans or Tibet so far.
Samdong Rimpoche’s visit also materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam and threats made at the time by China through its official media.
It comes too in the wake of an international conference convened by the Tibetan administration-in-exile in October 2017 to finalise a long-term action plan, including revival of Tibetan Buddhism in the Indo-Himalayan border belt.
At the same time a securitisation of Tibet is taking place. Following up on Xi Jinping’s work report to the party congress — which for the first time devoted an entire section to poverty alleviation — the Tibet Autonomous Region has launched a campaign to tackle poverty and simultaneously enhance security.
It has decided to build ‘well-off border villages’ along Tibet’s ‘borders with India, Nepal, Bhutan and other neighbouring countries to ensure the security of the borders and maintain stability’ in the region.
The State-owned Global Times newspaper on December 25, 2017 asserted that ‘confronting separatism remains a challenge for the region. Raising living standards for local residents is a fundamental way to guard against activity sabotaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity’.
‘Tibet’s rural poverty alleviation,’ the newspaper added, will help maintain stability in the border areas’.
Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in the TAR are being co-opted to sensitise people and ensure that Buddhism serves socialism.
Additionally, the decision to bring the people’s armed police force (PAPF) directly under the central military commission with effect from January 1, 2018 puts Tibet under the direct control of the people’s liberation army (PLA).
Xi Jinping had earlier appointed PLA officers loyal to him as the commander and political commissar of the PAPF.
Since the PAPF is deployed in strength in Tibet’s main towns, rural countryside and border areas, the PLA officers — who are now being re-inducted into the party standing committees at the provincial and county levels — will have an enhanced role.
In addition to deploying PAPF troops when civilian authorities request assistance, the PLA officers will have a greater role in military-civil coordination and be directly involved in building the ‘well-off border villages’.
Each of these villages is to be connected by road, thereby facilitating military movement along the border with India.
Finally, the TAR leadership is being encouraged to push the Belt and Road Initiative and Bangladesh China India Myanmar Corridor with Tibet’s neighbours.
To promote the BRI and BCIM, China has announced it will expand TAR’s road network from 82,000 kms to 89,000 kms by 2020.
Chinese officials have earlier pointed out that there are 70 road links between China and Nepal and there have been suggestions of a new China-Nepal-India Corridor.
The aim will be to build pressure on India by creating public opinion, including by co-opting Tibetans, to endorse the BRI and China’s plans of connectivity.
Jayadeva Ranade, a former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, is presently President, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
http://m.rediff.com/news/column/tibet-developments-may-put-pressure-on-india/20180107.htm
Dekyi Wangmo
Instead of creating employment opportunities, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) nurtured a culture where Tibetans expect handouts and foreign aids to get by. As a result, they created a new generation of Tibetan refugees who are volatile and vulnerable, and always depend on others to help them out of circumstances. Now, Tibetan refugees in India do not even hesitate to compromise the security of their host country, India, that has been so kind to them, just for monetary gain.
China luring Tibetan refugees in India to work as its spies, Intelligence Bureau warns
ANANYA BHARDWAJ | 5 January, 2018
IB issues alert that many refugees settled in northeast India are being paid and offered jobs by China in exchange for strategic information.
New Delhi: Amid rising India-China tensions along the Line of Actual Control, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has issued a string of alerts warning that Tibetan refugees settled in northeast India are being approached by China to provide strategic information about the area.
While China has reportedly managed to convince a number of young Tibetan refugees to work as its spies in exchange for money, it is aiming to recruit many more, IB sources told ThePrint.
According to the alert, based on which a detailed report will soon be submitted to the government, China had been eyeing disgruntled Tibetan refugees in the region for the past two years. Sources said that many of the refugees it has recruited have already left for China.
“We received an alert stating that young Tibetan refugees settled in areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and other parts of northeast India are moving to China. We learnt that China is trying to recruit the refugees as spies in the area,” a source said.
“It appears to be China’s strategy to make a base in India to create a channel, through which it can constantly receive relevant strategic information.”
The local police in the concerned states have also been sounded out about the alert. A report is being prepared and will be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, following which a scrutiny of Tibetan refugees in the area may start.
“The present generation of Tibetan refugees is very volatile and vulnerable. While they wish to have a good lifestyle, they do not have any job opportunities. This is what the Chinese took advantage of to plant their spies,” the source said.
“The Chinese reportedly not only promise them good money in exchange for information, but also a good job and education for their children in China. However, it is still not known as to how many refugees the Chinese have been able to mobilise.”
Asked about the IB alert, a Home ministry official said: “It may be a possibility. We will look into it.”
https://theprint.in/2018/01/05/china-luring-tibetan-refugees-india-to-spy-intelligence-bureau-warns/
Yodon chela
China has been liberal towards Buddhist practitioners including those who are practicing Shugden deity. In fact, there are 250 million Buddhists in China currently, almost three times more than communist party members. On the contrary, the Tibetan leadership in exile continues to discriminate against Shugden practitioners and politicizes the Shugden controversy to their benefit instead of promoting harmony among Buddhist practitioners. How ironic that the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) continuously criticizes China for their human rights issue, and yet the CTA fails to respect even the most basic human rights of other people, freedom of religion.
Three times as many Buddhists as Communists in China: Dalai Lama’s Tibet wish may require rapprochement with former adversaries
By: Martin Desai, Contributor
Journalist and financial investigator
Whilst China technically remains a communist country, it has over the last two or three decades relaxed draconian Mao-era rules, for example by opening the door to private sector capitalism and by allowing individuals to practice a religion of their choice, so long as it is not to be perceived as a potential threat to the stability of the state or of the Communist Party.
There are now almost three times as many Buddhists in China as there are Party members. An official communiqué released in July this year estimated the membership of the Communist Party of China at just under 90 million. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Religious Affairs estimates there are some 250 million Buddhists in China, more or less evenly split between Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism, and 200,000 registered Buddhist monks.
Chinese authorities monitor religious adherence closely, and are extremely sensitive to any challenge, real or imagined, that certain religions may represent. While the Chinese regime’s approach to Buddhism has been liberal – for example, no bans have been issued and open religious expression is permitted – it clearly takes the religion’s influence seriously, given its importance in Chinese society.
Above all the regime fears religious divisions or unrest, as evidenced by the swift outlawing of the Falun Gong movement and imprisonment of its leaders after a series of demonstrations by Falun Gong members prompted fears that the group’s swelling support could one day rival the Party. The regime is also acutely sensitive to the possibility of what it sees as external interference – especially on the delicate subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
A particularly divisive issue for the Buddhist community, both within Tibet and abroad is the devotion to the Dorje Shugden deity, a 400-year old practice that began in the 17th century and has become a major practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Critics of Shugden devotion say worship of the deity promotes divisions among the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, all of which share the same fundamental philosophy, and whose differences lie in their interpretation of the extensive collection of Buddhist scriptures and the emphasis they place on various aspects of Buddhist philosophy.
At the origin of the controversy lie a number of ambiguous declarations from the current (14th) Dalai Lama. On the one hand, he has appealed for non-sectarian cooperation among all branches of Tibet’s religions. However, he has also effectively excluded Shugden practitioners from such cooperation despite once regarding Dorje Shugden as an enlightened being and authoring one of the most popular liturgies to this deity. Some Shugden devotees have claimed that these ambiguous declarations amount to a de facto ban on their practice and this exclusion is tantamount to being exiled in their own communities. The Shugden de facto exclusion has already existed for two decades since it was initiated by the current Dalai Lama and has slowly stirred disunity in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China and among the exiled Tibetan communities.
In 2014 the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, which is chaired by the actor Richard Gere, said it had obtained a ‘directive’ from the Communist Party Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China in February 2014 whose title translates as, “Some opinions on dealing correctly with the ‘Gyalchen Shugden’ issue”[1].
The International Campaign for Tibet’s evaluation of the directive accuses China of seeking to gain a political advantage from the controversy. Entitled “China’s new directive on (the) controversial Shugden spirit in Tibet in (a) further bid to discredit Dalai Lama”[2], even the title of the critique dispels any expectation of objectivity.
While the Chinese position is that the authorities are aiming to guarantee the right of all Tibetans to choose who and how they worship, the directive issued by the Communist Party Committee of TAR is couched in rather divisive language. It calls the Shugden controversy “an important front in our struggle with the Dalai clique” and “a deceitful ploy by the 14th Dalai’s clique to split the country…”
The Chinese directive was made in response to the de facto religious ban implemented by the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Government in Exile, and to their suspected destabilizing activities inside the TAR. The directive proposes educational and law enforcement measures to be implemented inside the TAR to mitigate the risk of division and unrest that the controversy may cause. Tashi Tadchen, a representative of the European Dorje Shugden Society which was set up to create awareness of the supposed ban, says that following the exiled Tibetan leadership’s edict against the Shugden practice, there have been frequent clashes which at times have led to loss of lives between those who feel obliged to follow the Dalai Lama’s decree and adherents of the Shugden practice.
The directive mirrors Chinese fear of discord within Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in general. What it does not do, despite the International Campaign for Tibet’s claims, is take a specific position on Shugden devotion outside the TAR. In spite of the content of the directive, the Exiled Tibetan Government and related NGOs around the World have repeatedly used it as evidence to attest that Shugden practitioners are “spies of the Chinese Communist Party.”
A late 2015 report from the news agency Reuters looking into the Shugden controversy relied heavily on the Communist Party Committee of TAR directive, and especially the International Campaign for Tibet’s interpretation of it, as solid evidence that China is financing various Shugden groups in the West, in particular the International Shugden Community (ISC) which has seen strong support from individual members of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) and Tibetans living in the West. The NKT has meditation centres around the world and has been vocal in its public opposition to the Dalai Lama’s position.
Even so, no concrete evidence has ever been supplied. However, whilst the intended objective is unclear, the Dalai Lama’s Shugden exclusion has created unrest amongst Tibetans inside the TAR. This is precisely what China fears. China sustains a “One China” policy to maintain stability and prosperity of the state. Any divisive conflict in the TAR such as the Shugden split, does not augur well for it’s objectives. This is not an objective the exile Tibetan Government necessarily shares and its ability to influence affairs in the TAR is one of it key bargaining chips.
What we have, in effect, is both sides calling for unity while at the same time continuing to bicker. The Communist Party of TAR has certainly sought to politicise the rift, as the Dalai Lama and his supporters also appear to have done. The Dalai Lama’s comments have served to alienate Shugden devotees from other Tibetan Buddhists, and are somewhat jarring when considered alongside his calls for unity in the Tibetan diaspora. Shugden adherents have insisted that if indeed the exiled Tibetan leadership believes that the Communist Party of China is leveraging this issue, then a simple pronouncement by the Dalai Lama declaring an end to the de facto ban would have the effect of rendering it harmless.
Could the time now be ripe to call for closure of hostilities? The Dalai Lama has recently expressed a desire to return to his Tibetan homeland, a wish that would have no chance of fulfilment without a significant thawing of China’s attitude towards Tibet’s spiritual leader.
Harmony among Tibetan Buddhists is in the interests of both sides. Moreover, having said in November 2017 that “Tibetans want to stay with China” and that he would return to Tibet at once, if China agrees, the Dalai Lama has flagged a willingness to try and overcome the longstanding political impasse. In addition, a high ranking emissary of the Dalai Lama, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche – former Prime Minister of the Tibetan exile Government – was nominated in the autumn as the Dalai Lama’s envoy for talks with the Chinese authorities and is believed to have held secret meetings with senior Communist party leaders.
Given that one of His Holiness’ early reasons for his criticism of Shugden worship – that it “harms the life of the Dalai Lama” – no longer seems justified given his longevity and continuing fair health, a rapprochement with Shugden acolytes may be a good starting point if his desired return to Tibet is to be anything more than a pipe dream.
[1] http://www.savetibet.org/the-official-line-on-shugden-translation/
[2] http://www.savetibet.org/chinas-new-directive-on-controversial-shugden-spirit-in-tibet-in-bid-to-further-discredit-dalai-lama/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/three-times-as-many-buddhists-as-communists-in-china_us_5a5dedb8e4b003efadb6b0d1
Tenzin Tsomo
Lobsang Sangay’s dismissal of Penpa Tsering with various accusations backfired, contrary to Lobsang Sangay’s expectation. Now, Tibetans are protesting and expressing their loss of trust in his leadership. Lobsang Sangay has to clarify a lot of things to the public, including the USD1.5 million loan with Tibet Fund. Tibetans are now beginning to see Lobsang Sangay’s true colours and are speaking up against him now.
Sikyong Sangay, the ball is in your court now!
KOLLEGAL, India, 20 January 2018
On 5 December 2017 former speaker Penpa Tsering made a detailed clarification rejecting every allegation, categorically, that Sikyong Sangay lobbed on him on 6 November 2017. But to Sikyong’s shock, the 10-point grenade of accusations didn’t burst on PT. It just refused to do so. It backfired.
Sikyong’s attempt to tarnish the image of a dedicated public servant for both political and personal reasons has failed. With the vigilance and quick action from the public, the humble Tibetan people have spoken! The grenade burst back on Sikyong in the form of protest and loss of trust in his leadership.
Sikyong never imagined even in his dreams that the Tibetan public would one day rise and speak truth to power right in his face. Terminating PT is the enormous miscalculation Sikyong made after being in office for nearly two years in his second term, and he is now paying the price.
Many, including those who voted for Lobsang Sangay, are now beginning to see him as a shallow, fake, narcissistic, crooked, unreliable, cowardly, small-minded, touchy, egotistical, arrogant, greedy, deceptive, unappreciative of criticism, irresponsible, vindictive man, and also a sack full of outrageous lies. These are the characteristics of a wicked conman that HH abhors and does not wish to see in any human being, let alone Sikyong whose office is tied to the destiny of the six million Tibetan people.
1. The claim that LS gave the representative post to PT by recalling his friend Kaydor Aukatsang to Dharamshala even before his tenure was numbered is a lie. The fact is that Gaden Phodrang was not happy with Kaydor’s performance in general and his election controversy in particular, so LS had no choice but to recall Kaydor and appoint Ngodup Tsering in his spot. This decision was taken long before LS posted PT to Washington DC. Yes, LS decided to name PT to the post of representative in Brussels. But that decision had to change later, and the credit goes to Gaden Phodrang, not Lobsang Sangay.
2. What hurt Sikyong’s ego most was when PT, like an honest statesman, suggested that there should be a payable record with Office of Tibet when there exists a receivable record with the Tibet Fund regarding the $1.5-million loan. This process, he argued, sits well with both the accounting practices and the local laws. Article 6 of the exile charter states that the local laws must be respected at all cost. However, LS violated this critical article in the charter, as usual with a straight face.
3. Narcissistic. LS asked former MP Koren from Europe to submit a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for him. Remember the picture of himself with Buddha in the background on a thangka hanging on the wall beside his desk? Thangkas are usually reserved for Buddhas and bodhisattvas. He has no shame in hanging such a thangka in his office. The irony is that he prefers to call himself Senge “Lion” instead of Sangay “Buddha.” When it was found out that his actual name is spelled Sangay in Tibetan in his Green Book, he insisted and changed to call himself Senge rather than Sangay. Also, his portrait photo lined up on par with HH during elections. His framed picture was carried by well over 60 supporters at the JFK airport recently, an act that is usually reserved for a religious figure like the Dalai Lama. This is all coming from a remote control in LS’ hand. Sangay wishes to be listed as a Nobel laureate alongside the Dalai Lama. He’s a dreamer, but that’s LS for you. How can he even think of competing with His Holiness?
4. Egoistic. LS also asked MP Pema Chazoetsang from the US to submit his name for the Templeton nomination, a prize worth around $2 million which is usually awarded to a scientist who is prepared to say something nice about religion.
5. Vindictive. LS terminated PT because PT raised questions with facts and compelling reasons whenever his duty required him to do so. You rarely see this kind of leader in our community except for MP Dolma Tsering who stands her ground and speaks up and grills powers that be. I salute her from the bottom of my heart because our community needs more leaders like her.
6. Can’t stand criticism. The fact is he is a highly vindictive person. He can’t stand criticism let alone appreciate it. That’s the height of childishness sitting in the character of a man whom we expect to lead us through these dark times.
7. About two months after the election was over on 20 March 2016, HH gave LS a dressing-down in front of the staff of Gaden Phodrang, Penpa Tsering, and the Justice Commissioners. His Holiness reminded him that he was telling everybody he met that LS was his political boss to create a decent image (but LS gets carried away as usual) of the Sikyong on both the domestic and global stages so that the Tibetan cause could benefit from it. But when LS blatantly indulged in lie after lie and falsehood after falsehood, HH asked him point-blank what was the point in HH continuing to live any longer if the man he praised publicly is full of lies. The entire dressing-down episode took only minutes. LS was the only one who refused to keep a copy. He merely wanted to feign ignorance of the contents if people demanded a copy of the same. He wept after the Speaker and Justice Commissioners left in front of HH. He wept perhaps realizing his outrageous lies could cost him his political career any time. Had HH dressed him down in public that would be the end of LS not only as a leader but even as an individual. HH can’t keep LS at a distance because he is an elected leader and it would look bad on the Sikyong if HH did, although the nature of his personality warrants otherwise. This is the problematic position HH is in. Long ago one of my brothers was a monk, carrying Nechung in a trance, at Namgyal Dratsang, HH own monastery. And with a connection in the right place, it is not hard to find a reliable, eyewitness source of information.
8. It was LS who leaked the secret visit Samdhong Rinpoche made to China recently. Why? To put that on his list of achievements if any. To boost his political image, he makes sure the Tibetan public and the media are not left in the dark even on this secret visit of the former president! LS tipped off Indian intelligence anonymously, and Indian intelligence passed it to an Indian journalist who wrote about it first.
If the current nightmare is to end soon, then it’s time Sikyong either declares PT’s clarification a bag of lies, or answers his conscience honestly and offers an apology to PT in public. The ball has been in Sikyong’s court for more than 40 days now. But there has been no response whatsoever from Sikyong. PT did not accept even a single accusation as real, and if Sikyong continues to remain silent, then it only means the truth is on PT’s side. Sikyong should also immediately apologize for deceiving the Tibetan public and creating chaos and rift in our community.
Failing this, PT will have no choice but to leave no stone unturned in seeking justice, and that could include the taking of Sikyong to the Tibetan court and possibly the US court too on defamation charges. The clock ticks now!
PS: Two pieces of good news! LS cannot come back in 2021. To do so, he has to win 30 votes in the Parliament. Both U-Tsang and Amdo parliamentarians won’t let that happen! PT is eligible to fight in the Sikyong election in 2021!
https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/01/20/sikyong-sangay-the-ball-is-in-your-court-now
Pema Wangchuk
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is again expressing his wish to visit China. This is not the first time His Holiness mentioned about visiting or returning to China. In fact, His Holiness made a strong statement in November 2017 that His Holiness “would return to Tibet at once, if China agrees”. Could this be another sign from the Tibetan leadership that rapprochement with China is happening soon?
Dalai Lama Waiting For A Pilgrimage Visit to China One Day
By TJ editor
The Buddhist spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the course of teaching at Bodh Gaya today told that he is praying for a pilgrimage visit China’s Mount Wutai one day. His Holiness concluded the Diamond Cutter Sutra teachings specially dedicated to the Chinese disciples presently attending in Bodh Gaya on Tuesday.
While explaining about the significance of the holy place in China, Wu Tai Shan, the five peaked mountain, His Holiness told that he is praying to have an opportunity to visit the holy place to receive the blessings of Manjushri.
“China has a special connection with Manjushri, and Wu Tai Shan—the Five Peaked Mountain is the sacred place associated with him. If you Chinese can do the practices of these two, Manjushri and Sarasvati, it will be of special benefit to you. Meanwhile, I pray that one day I may visit Wu Tai Shan to receive Manjushri’s blessings—and you can pray for that too. To make your having come to Bodhgaya worthwhile, try to develop an understanding of emptiness and cultivate a good heart.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama explained at the third and last day of teachings for the Chinese disciples in Bodh Gaya today.
The Tibetan spiritual leader fled from Tibet in 1959, following the military coup by the People’s Liberation Army of China and sought refuge in India since then. Over the last six decades, the Tibetan exile community thrived to rebuild a national struggle and His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been very optimistic that he will be able to return to Tibet within his life time.
Since His Holiness’s arrival to Bodh Gaya since the beginning of this month, he has conducted three series of teachings to thousands of devotees gathered at the holy place. While the first teaching was organised at the request of his Indian devotees, the third teaching was specially dedicated to the disciples from the Mainland China.
The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama is expected to stay in Bodh Gaya till the beginning of February, there will be public talk Education for Universal Ethics in Schools and Colleges to students from private and government schools at the Kalachakra ground on Thursday.
http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/23/dalai-lama-waiting-pilgrimage-visit-china-one-day/
Samten
Although His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s secretary had previously denied that the Dalai Lama was paid $1 million to speak for Raniere, a trace has been found that the Dalai Lama’s trust has received US$ 2 million in donation ten days after the event. Raniere is the leader of a cult called NXIVM which brands women on their pubic region with his initials and requires them to give him nude photos of themselves and other damaging material in case they reveal the secrets of his cult.
Although the Dalai Lama office continues to deny that the donation was related to the speaking engagement, one can’t help but wonder whether His Holiness would have received such donation if he did not come to Albany to speak in the first place?
Dalai Lama Secretary denies $1 million paid to speak for Raniere; Yet Dalai Lama Trust founded 10 days after Albany speech with $2 million in donations
January 27, 2018 | By Frank Parlato
The Dalai Lama’s secretary has denied the Dalai Lama was paid $1 million by Clare and Sara Bronfman to endorse cult leader Keith Raniere. That may be true. He might have got $2 million.
The Dalai Lama’s secretary, Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, wrote:
Clarification in Response to the Daily Mail Story of 24 January 2018
The 24 January 2018 Daily Mail article by Ryan Parry regarding an appearance by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at an event held in Albany, New York in 2009 contains incorrect statements and untrue allegations. We wish to categorically state that His Holiness the Dalai Lama never takes an honorarium or fee of any sort, nor does he require that any payment be made to charities or organizations, as a condition of his making a personal appearance. Therefore, the reported allegation has no basis. Neither His Holiness the Dalai Lama nor the Dalai Lama Foundation ever received the alleged $1 million in connection with His Holiness’s appearance in Albany. As reported in the Daily Mail, during His Holiness’s talk in Albany in 2009, he called on the media to investigate the allegations made about the NXIVM organization and its founder, and was quite clear that the truth should be exposed.
It is true, the Dalai Lama asked the media to investigate Keith Raniere. But whether he received money or not is another issue. Let’s parse the above statement a little:
The Dalai Lama’s secretary said the Dalai Lama “never takes an honorarium or fee of any sort”.
A donation is not a fee or an honorarium.
The secretary said: “nor does he require that any payment be made to charities or organizations, as a condition of his making a personal appearance.”
Again, the secretary says a payment was not required. But he does not say a donation was not made by Clare and Sara Bronfman.
The Dalai Lama appeared in Albany on May 6, 2009 and he gave Raniere a white scarf onstage. He allowed the Bronfman sisters to sit onstage with him. [For readers unaware, Keith Raniere heads a cult called NXIVM which brands women on their pubic region with his initials and requires them to give him nude photos of themselves and other damaging material in case they reveal the secrets of his cult.]
The Dalai Lama may have received a donation that was understood to be an ‘unconditional donation” not connected to his speaking engagement in Albany.
He may have agreed to speak in Albany, and they may have agreed the donation was unconnected to his speaking so, therefore, it not ‘connected’ to his appearance.
The Dalai Lama’s secretary does not deny that the Bronfmans donated money. The Secretary said, “Neither His Holiness the Dalai Lama nor the Dalai Lama Foundation ever received the alleged $1 million in connection with His Holiness’s appearance in Albany.” [emphasis mine].
I get it: He did not receive the $1 million ‘in connection with His Holiness’s appearance’ but, again, the secretary does not say the Dalai Lama did not get $1 million [or possibly more] from the Bronfmans.
He only states the Dalai Lama did not get $1 million ‘in connection with his appearance’.
It may have been what is called an ‘unconditional donation.’
Now let us look at some coincidences:
The Dalai Lama spoke in Albany on May 6, 2009.
The Dalai Lama Trust was founded May 16, 2009. [10 days later].
http://www.dalailamatrust.org/
https://www.charitiesnys.com
See the Dalai Lama trust’s IRS return for 2009.
See also: Dalai Lama Trust certificate of incorporation.
The IRS return shows $2.2 million in unconditional donations and royalties for 2009.
It could be a coincidence, but it is peculiar that the Dalai Lama appears in Albany on May 6, 2009 and 10 days later the Dalai Lama trust is formed in the USA which gets $2 million plus in donations etc.
When I worked for NXIVM/Bronfmans, I was told by a high ranking NXIVM official that, prior to the Dalai Lama’s coming to speak [before he canceled the first time] the Bronfman sisters pledged to donate $1 million to him.
When he canceled, the sisters, plus Keith Raniere and Lama Tenzin, rushed to India to get the Dalai Lama to change his mind. I was no longer working for NXIVM. But I heard they offered the Dalai Lama another million [making it $2 million]. I never confirmed the second million, and I never saw the checks.
It may be true the Bronfmans did not donate anything. But it seems far fetched that the Dalai Lama came at his own expense to Albany and got nothing in return. And then a trust suddenly opens in the US just 10 days after his appearance?
http://artvoice.com/2018/01/27/dalai-lama-secretary-denies-1-million-paid-speak-raniere-yet-dalai-lama-trust-founded-10-days-albany-speech-2-million-donations/#.Wm0_0maB10J
Pasang Tashi
Dorje Shugden practitioners have been victims of unfounded blame for more than half a decade with news reports initiated by the Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala alerting the public that Shugden fundamentalist groups posed huge security threat to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was alleged that they were covertly backed up by China. The reality is that terrorists are out to harm His Holiness, with two bombs found amid His Holiness’ tight security, thanks to the intensive combing operation by Indian police. The Central Tibetan Administration should stop spreading lies that Shugden practitioners or more absurdly, Shugden practice imperil the life of the Dalai Lama, and pay more attention to real threats such as this.
One Suspect of Bodhgaya Blast Appear to Be Nepali Origin, JMB the Terror Group
January 29, 2018 | By TJ editor
Five suspects in the Bodhgaya blast have been picked out from the video footage in the CCTV cameras installed around the Mahabodhi temple and the police believes one of them to be of Nepali origin. Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror group is being suspected as the primary outfit behind the Bodh Gaya incident and less likely for the Students Islamic Movement of India or Indian Mujahideen’s hand.
Gaya police is seeking the assistance of investigating agencies across the country to find out the identity details of five suspects they have found from the CCTV video footage. While the pictures of the five suspects are being circulated among the agencies by Gaya police, an officer informed that one of the suspects appears to be of Nepali origin.
“The officer, who requested anonymity, said that one of the five suspects appeared to be of Nepali origin. Their movements have been traced with the help of CCTVs. One of the suspects abandoned a bag containing explosives near gate number four of the temple. Another bomb was planted near the Tibetan monastery.” said the report in the Telegraph.
According to the investigations, JMB could have activated a module in Bihar to carry out the attack, suggesting that the attack was controlled from West Bengal. There is a call made from Bihar to West Bengal after planting the three bombs in Bodh Gaya is what has led the investigators to believe that the JMB could be behind the incident.
“The officer said the evidence strongly indicates JMB’s involvement in the failed terror attack, which had aimed to kill Buddhist monks and foreigners present in Bodh Gaya to listen to the sermons of Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. ” said the report in Times of India.
http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/29/suspects-bodhgaya-blast-appear-nepali-origin/
Tenzin Choejor
In a letter by the Dalai Lama’s translator, Thupten Jinpa, he had said that The Dalai Lama Trust was “slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions”. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
“For someone who have [sic] had the honor and good fortune to serve His Holiness for over three decades, it had been painful to see how His Holiness’ name and legacy was slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions (Albany-based NXIVM) and discordant messages (of rich and celebrity orientation). Especially, for the Trust, which is effectively His Holiness’ principal charitable foundation for the outside world, the last two years’ record has been, to put it mildly, quite embarrassing. The Trust has alienated most of its inter-organizational relationships, almost destroyed its infrastructure of the Tibetan graduate scholarship program with a majority of the independent reviewers resigning, and failed to support those international organizations that were actively inspired by His Holiness’ vision for the world and were undertaking high profile initiatives furthering His Holiness’ vision. Most sadly, the Trust has unfortunately acquired a reputation of being authoritarian, confrontational, petty, and uncaring, characteristics so far removed from His Holiness’ personal ethics. In particular, for those organizations and individuals who had been the recipients of grants from the Trust, frankly, the behavior of the Trust can be best characterized as that of bullying. If ever, some of the email communications from the Trust during this period were to come to light within the public domain, it would be a source of embarrassment for everyone connected with the Trust.”
The Dalai Lama’s office had also called for investigations and the eventual of any wrong doings by the organisation.
http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/30/daily-mails-article-dalai-lama-one-short-attempt-sensationalism/
Golog Jigme
Mr. Mila Rangzen says the head of the Tibetan exiled govt is a sexual predator
Since 2011, Lobsang Sangay’s tenure as the President of the Central Tibetan Administration has been mired with various scandals and failures, such as the election scandal and the US$1.5 million loan scandal. The 17% unemployment rate among the Tibetans in exile has also forced some Tibetans to become spies, betraying their host country India. Now, in more shocking news from Mila Rangzen, who has been proven to have access to a lot of insider news, Lobsang Sangay has been revealed to be a sexual predator who does not hesitate to risk the Dalai Lama’s reputation to satisfy his lust. More women and people are speaking up about this. This is really breaking news. These women deserve a platform to express the pain and humiliation and be open to heal.
Mila Rangzen has, on numerous occasions, shared extremely accurate and reliable news for the benefit of the Tibetan community. He has never failed us with the accuracy of the news and they have all proven to be true. Mila seems to not be afraid to tell the truth.
All the victims of the sexual predator Lobsang Sangay should not keep quiet anymore and must expose him once and for all. He should be punished for his actions and asked to step down from his position now! The victims should be empowered by this and speak up and point the finger at Lobsang Sangay if this is true. Do not stay in the dark and hide your shame because Lobsang Sangay is destroying the reputation of the Dalai Lama.
President Sangay and the sexual assault on Ms Leslie Butterfield
Just as you, the reader, I am also very concerned about the direction that LS is taking the Tibetan community towards. Just as Trump he is catering to his base of fanatic Khampa sanjor ex-monk supporters leading to disharmony and divisiveness. Let me start in 2011 during the Kalachakra in Washington DC. – During the Kalachakra from July 6-16th, LS also visited as is normal for him to bask in the glory of His Holiness. An intern, Leslie Butterfield, at the ICT was assigned to him to assist him in his meetings and moving around DC. Ms. Butterfield was in her early 20s then and a very attractive young woman who supported His Holiness and the Tibetan cause with her whole heart and being. She is known to have been a very active participant in numerous activities to further the cause of Tibet and spread the work of compassion of His Holiness.
It was the night of July 11th that LS physically assaulted her in his hotel room. The next day she reported this to Mary Beth Markey, the then President of ICT. There were others in the office who were also made aware of the incident of the previous night. Ms. Butterfield was convinced by Marybeth and others in the ICT not to file charges against LS using the name of HH as an emotional blackmail. That she would be sullying the name of His Holiness if she was to file a complaint. She was pressured into not filing a complaint which makes people at ICT complicit in a cover-up. With so many women coming out with sexual abuse charges it may be time for Ms. Butterfield to come out too.
She is now married with a child. Maura Mohinyan comes to mind as someone capable of convincing her to come forward. Maura as I know her has in-depth knowledge of LS dealings.
During his last visit to NY and DC along with Kaydor, he had a meeting with the Tibet Fund regarding the $1.5 mil loan. He is pressurizing TF to write off the loan before the parliament session begins in March so as to prove his point that it was a grant and not a loan even though existing documents show the money as a loan which I have written in depth. During the meeting, he emotionally blackmailed the TF saying that he was going to ask HH for the money so that it is paid back to the TF just to prove that it was not a loan even though paying it back means it was a loan. He explicitly asked the TF “if they were comfortable taking money from HH”. There are ongoing talks between TF and OoT, DC on his behalf about this money.
His exact words are in the minutes of the meeting at the TF which shall be released here in the next article as it pertains to the interest of the Tibetan people and political corruption. It is common knowledge in India that HH is very disappointed, to say the least, with LS and the way he is using his office for personal glorification. The only audience he got was in Gaya after months of trying to see HH. He has no shame and had the audacity to ask HH to mediate and solve the loan issue. HH’s response is one of pin-drop silence.
There are numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power in Dharamshala but all will not come out openly for fear of retribution as you and I know how the law works in India. A spark/catalyst is much needed if these women are to get justice and it is where my role begins.
https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/21/president-sangay-and-the-sexual-assault-on-ms-leslie-butterfield/
Rangzen
President Sangay launches attacks on Mila Rangzen
Like a true citizen of Tibet, I have been critical of powers that be including LS as the president of CTA on policy, conduct, nepotism, regionalism, transparency, and accountability and the price I am paying is his personal attacks on me using his stooges today. What triggered the attacks is this informative piece https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/21/president-sangay-and-the-sexual-assault-on-ms-leslie-butterfield/ I wasn’t surprised because I was expecting it from a touchy vindictive man like him.
However, it’s encouraging to be noticed and I will continue to speak up for our people and for our cause stronger than ever. Rights and responsibilities are not properties that belong only to the President, ministers and the parliamentarians. It also belongs to us –the people. Anyone who implies otherwise is either a fool or a threat to democracy and freedom around the world.
The details of the attacks will be released in the next article.
Till then stay strong and be determined to pay any price and when necessary make them pay a heavy price too for treading on a king cobra taking care of rats that are destroying our crops.
This too shall pass!
https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/28/president-sangay-launches-attacks-on-mila-rangzen/
Tibetan govt in exile is corrupt, liars, segregationalists, greedy, bigots and this is what they do when Dalai Lama is alive. After Dalai Lama is no more, the whole Tibetan govt in exile will just collapse overnight.
They lost their country in 1959 because they are too corrupt to keep it. For the last 60 years they cannot get their country back. Tibetan govt is a failure whether in Tibet or in exile.
sonkel
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) should really learn from Nepal. Aligning with Chinese policy is necessary if you wish for growth and economic stability. The Dalai Lama was recently quoted to say, “We want to stay with China. We want more development.”
Nepal has developed so much since collaborating with China, with China now contributing to around 58 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments received by Nepal. China has promised that areas of mutual cooperation with Nepal would be expanded in the days to come.
‘Nepal committed to One-China Policy’
Published: March 08, 2018 1:01 pm | RASTRIYA SAMACHAR SAMITI
Kathmandu, March 7
Defence Minister Ishwor Pokhrel said Nepal was committed to One-China Policy.
Minister Pokhrel said this during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong at the former’s office in Singha Durbar. He also said the relations between the armies of the two countries could also be expanded.
Minister Pokhrel assured the Chinese ambassador that all agreements between the governments of the two countries would be implemented. He also hoped that the Chinese government would continue to provide support for infrastructure development in the country.
According to spokesperson for the defence ministry Rishiraj Rajbhandari, Ambassador Hong congratulated the minister and expressed belief that China’s friendly relations with Nepal would be further enhanced during the government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Areas of mutual cooperation would be expanded in the days to come, said the Chinese ambassador. The meeting was also attended by Defence Secretary Binod KC, senior Nepali Army officials and officials from the foreign ministry.
https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/nepal-committed-one-china-policy/
Athar Migmar
By hosting the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi when India-Pakistan ties are at an all-time low, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is telling the world that he is not afraid of India, especially after landmark trade and transit agreements were signed with China. This seems to go well with the general sentiments of the Nepali people, as Oli’s pro-China stance is wildly popular among his core constituencies.
As mentioned in the article, New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. As China works on building trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, the Tibetans will have no standing. Recently, the report that the Indian government had asked senior leaders and officials not to attend events that would mark the Tibetans’ 60 years in exile, as well as the cancellation of 2 events in Delhi, are clear signs that everyone is trying to please China. The Tibetans have no more sympathizers who will continue to support them as it risks jeopardising relations with China.
Is This the End of India’s Influence Over Nepal?
As India loses its clout, the Nepali prime minister asserts his country’s independent identity.
By Biswas Baral | March 14, 2018
KATHMANDU — There is now little doubt that India has lost strategic space to China in Nepal. Some reckon the era of “special relations” between India and Nepal is nearly over as China makes steady inroads. There has been a truly breathtaking rise in Chinese influence and a corresponding fall in Indian sway in this country of nearly 30 million. The main catalyst for the sea change? The 2015-16 India-inspired blockade of the India-Nepal border, imposed, in part, owing to India’s displeasure over the new constitution Nepal had just promulgated.
As if to rub salt into India’s wounds Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli last week hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who in the process became the first foreign head of government to visit Nepal after Oli assumed office for the second time on February 15. In the words of one geopolitical commentator, Abbasi’s visit was ill-timed. With India-Pakistan ties at an all-time low, asks this commentator, “What other purpose will it [the Pakistan prime minister’s Nepal visit] serve save for antagonizing India?”
But that is not how most Nepalis see it. Oli knows that the more he tries to assert Nepal’s independent identity by distancing himself from India, the greater his popularity will be. Following the 2015-16 blockade. which brought great hardship to common people, the public pressure for closer ties with China has been steadily building, along with the demand that Nepal diversify its relations away from India, heretofore its predominant business partner. This is where Pakistan enters the picture.
By hosting his Pakistani counterpart, Oli — who crested the popularity wave as a valiant blockade-time prime minister — wanted to give a clear message that he doesn’t care what the Indians think of him. After all, his China tilt is wildly popular among his core constituencies. Moreover, the common perception is that Nepal is these days not as reliant on India as it has historically been, especially after the landmark trade and transit agreements signed with China in the wake of the blockade.
Too Little Too Late
It is true that Oli has also sought to mend his frayed ties with New Delhi following his election as prime minister. Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj visited Kathmandu on February 1 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a clear signal from Oli that he was ready to forget past bitterness and start anew. Earlier, when Modi called Oli to congratulate him on his re-election and invited him to visit India, Oli not only accepted the invite; he replied that he was as keen to welcome Modi to Janakpur and Muktinath, the two holy sites in Nepal Modi has long wanted to visit. The inclusion of Madhesi parties in the Oli government is expected to further ease bilateral ties. Concerns over Madhesi representation were at the core of India’s concerns over the 2015 Nepali Constitution.
There has, moreover, been progress in negotiations on the revision of old Nepal-India treaties that many Nepalis consider unequal. According to recent news reports, India is now ready to discuss regulating the open border, and even considering allowing Nepal to import arms from third countries. India had otherwise treated these issues as non-negotiable. These negotiations may again come to a naught. Nonetheless, Nepali interlocutors in these dialogues sense a definite shift in India’s stand.
But current efforts to revive India-Nepal relations may be a case of too little, too late. Oli knows that for his political longevity he cannot afford an openly hostile India. But at this late stage in his political career, those close to him say, all he cares about is leaving behind a strong legacy as a statesman. With his health failing, Oli knows time is not on his side.
He seems determined to be remembered as the Nepali leader who dared to dream of a future for Nepal independently of India. But not just that. Above all, he wants to be remembered as someone who took concrete steps to turn that old Nepali dream intoa reality. This is why even before assuming office after winning recent elections, he had vowed to expedite connectivity projects with China. To show he is serious he has newly empowered the Prime Minster’s Office to personally oversee their progress.
SAARC Attack
There are other ways Oli can help China’s cause. During Abbasi’s Nepal visit, the two prime ministers agreed on reviving the moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). India has in recent times made a concerted effort to isolate Pakistan, which is why the SAARC summit planned for 2016 in Islamabad had to be postponed indefinably. Abbasi came to Kathmandu to ask for Oli’s support for a prompt holding of the summit — and on Pakistani soil. Abbasi also in a roundabout way suggested that Nepal could mediate talks between India and Pakistan.
India will not be pleased. The last time Nepal and Pakistan were seriously talking was on the eve of the 2014 SAARC summit in Kathmandu. Back then, the two countries had agreed to make China a full SAARC member, which had earned them the great ire of India. India has traditionally not taken kindly to any suggestion for third-party mediation on Kashmir, for example, or for China to play a greater role in SAARC.
India nonetheless may have no option but to accept the writing on the wall. Rather than browbeat its neighbors into following its diktat, as it tried to do with the blockade — or so most Nepalis felt — New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. China has always supported the idea of trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, for example with a connecting rail link via Nepal. But India has resisted the suggestion tooth and nail.
This is not to imply that closer relations with China are unquestionably in Nepal’s interest. The political systems of the two countries are polar opposites. There is also little people-to-people engagement, even though cross-border tourism and business exchanges are growing apace. Geography too makes India Nepal’s natural development partner. It would thus be unwise to write the obituary of Indian primacy in Nepal, as some have done of late.
But the Modi government would do well to learn from its mistakes. These days in Nepal, there is no shortage of advice for India on how it can mend its errant ways, or forever lose even its reduced clout. The consensus is that only through open and unconditional engagement with small countries in the region like Nepal and Bhutan can India have a peaceful neighborhood that is conducive to its continued economic rise.
Biswas Baral is the editor of The Annapurna Express, published from Kathmandu. Follow him on Twitter: @biswasktm
https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/is-this-the-end-of-nepals-special-relationship-with-india/
Policy dive: India believes it’s time to normalise ties with China
A school of thought believes India cannot afford a conflict; its power gap with China is too large; it is neither militarily equipped nor economically positioned to take on Beijing.
Updated: Mar 15, 2018 08:13 IST
Over the past month, India has made a conscious effort to recalibrate ties with China. After a year of stress in the relationship, Delhi appears to feel that it is time to get ties back on track.
Last Friday, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters India was “willing to work with the Chinese side to develop our relations based on commonalities while dealing with differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other’s interests, concerns and aspirations.” He also emphasised that ties between the two were important bilaterally, but also had regional and global significance.
On Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that China had noted “positive remarks by the Indian side”. He had, last week, also said, “Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other, but dance with each other. If China and India are united, one plus one will not include two, but also 11.”
In diplomacy, statements matter – and so does context. There is definitely a degree of positive signalling on between the two countries. The statements follow foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to China last month. A note by the FS to the cabinet secretary, and his subsequent directive, that senior political leaders and government functionaries should stay away from events to commemorate Dalai Lama’s 60th anniversary in exile became public. It was widely interpreted as a move to assuage Chinese sensitivities, since Beijing views Dalai Lama with suspicion and Tibetan activities in India as political.
A series of high-level visits are lined up between the two countries, including visits by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is buzz about a ‘high level visit’ from China.
There are two broad schools of thought within the Indian foreign policy establishment, and the wider strategic community, about the reset.
The first is those who believe this is essential. The argument goes something like this. India and China have had a turbulent time over the past few years. China’s decision to block India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG); its position on black-listing Masood Azhar in UN; India’s opposition to China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative; and its deepening strategic engagement with Washington and positions on South China Sea have all contributed to trust deficit. The standoff in Doklam was a big blow to ties. And while an accident —in terms of a larger conflict — was averted, it showed the dangers inherent in the relationship.
India cannot afford a conflict; its power gap with China is too large; it is neither militarily equipped nor economically positioned to take on Beijing; the US — under President Trump — is not a reliable partner. And thus, while protecting core interests like in Doklam, there must be an effort to normalise ties and build trust. It does not help to make China insecure.
The second school of thought does not want confrontation either. But it believes that any effort to reset actually smells of weakness and could well reduce India’s leverage further. They hold that recent tensions are due to Chinese assertiveness – a result of its growing power and a reflection of President Xi Jinping’s personality. China’s deepening political engagement with India’s South Asian periphery; its expansion in Pakistan; its aggression on the land borders and Doklam are all instances of this new Chinese mood, which hurt India.
In this backdrop, any ‘appeasement’ of China will embolden it further. India thus has no choice but to hold strong to any ‘cards’ it may have, including Tibet. It must bet on deepening strategic partnership with US as well as other countries with the ability to take on China. It must qualitatively step up the Quad (an initiative of India, Japan, US, Australia). And it must not worry about Chinese reactions. If anyone, it is India which has reason to be insecure – not China. When India is seen as strong, with options, Chinese behaviour will change. At the moment, the first school is dominant. Over the year, the equations in the India China relationship will be a key foreign policy story to watch.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/policy-dive-india-believes-it-s-time-to-normalise-ties-with-china/story-7sGdSA893tQorPmNrxWbII.html
NorbuT
Apart from two big Tibetan events planned in Delhi being scrapped, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) can add another disgrace to the list, this time thanks to its own people, the Tibetans.
On Saturday 17th March, a large number of international protestors gathered near the Tibetan parliament, seeking the impeachment of Tibetan President Sangay, saying his actions are akin to those of a dictator. The protestors are from India, Nepal, Europe, and the US and the protest will go on until the session ends on March 24. Lobsang Sangay definitely made a mark in Tibetan history as he is the first President that Tibetans protested to impeach.
Tibetan govt faces protest from Tibetans amid strained relations with India
S Gopal Puri| TNN | Mar 17, 2018, 11:04 IST
DHARAMSHALA: Amid worsening relations of Tibetan government in exile and India government, the former was facing protest from Tibetans itself.
Indian government’s recent move of asking its senior leaders and dignitaries had already scrapped various Tibetan events planned in Delhi.
On Saturday, number of protestors gathered near the Tibetan parliament protesting against Lobsang Sangay, the president of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
These were the members of the group Truth-Seeking Volunteers holding protest against Lobsang Sangay, leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile- Sikyong, following a rift between him and former speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile Penpa Tsering.
The protesters seek the impeachment of Tibetan President Sangay for actions which, they say, are akin to those of a dictator.
They are also seeking a reply from Sangay and his cabinet for terminating the services of Penpa Tsering, former representative of the office of Tibet in Washington from the office.
Tsering was sacked from the office on November 7, 2017, 15 months after his appointment. It is believed that the cause of Tsering’s ouster was that he raised the issue of a $ 1.5-million loan taken from the Tibet Fund in New York to purchase a new office in Washington.
Sangay had clarified in the parliament that $ 1.5 million was not a loan but a grant.
Thinley Kelsang, a protester, called for Sangay’s impeachment and said he had taken many decisions without the approval of the Tibetan parliament. There were enough reasons for his impeachment, he said.
A petition for his impeachment was submitted to members of parliament, which is holding its 10-day budget session.
The protesters from India, Nepal, Europe, and the US gathered at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) premises. The protest will go on until the session ends on March 24.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tibetan-govt-faces-protest-from-tibetans-amid-strained-relations-with-india/articleshow/63341379.cms
Go Home Tibetans!
Even the Tibetans themselves do not care about Tibet anymore 👎
The key to resolving Tibetans’ suffering is India
your say April 03, 2018 01:00
On June 21 last year, US Congress members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) petitioned President Trump to quickly name a Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
But according to the US Department of State website, this position is still vacant. Appointing a Special Coordinator for Tibet, though, is just one important step in solving the rights crisis of Tibetans.
First and foremost the TLHRC and US Congress should realise that the human rights problems in Tibet can be overcome much more easily if India plays a proactive role. The Indian government currently has little interest in helping resolve the problem of Chinese repression over the border. Likewise the millions of Tibetans living abroad have mainly lost interest in the plight of Tibet since nothing has happened during the past 60 years to solve the problem. The impetus for change is coming from within China, among the 3 million to 6 million Tibetans who live there. But change will only come via a political solution that has the backing of the US (Congress and the administration) as we’ll as other international actors. Fortunately there are many Indians who are prepared to work towards, and even prepared to take pains in, solving the Tibet problem.
The TLHRC should again urge President Trump to name a Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, but also to support any registered organisation in India (political or otherwise) – preferably through the National Rights Commission of India – which will work for the solution of the Tibet problem. Such organisations should also be able to spur the government of India into taking a proactive role.
Hem Raj Jain (Author of “Betrayal of Americanism”) Bengaluru, India
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/your_say/30342319
Jamyang Dolma
In most parliaments, ministers discuss policies, budgets and legislation that can make a positive impact for their nation. However, in the Tibetan Parliament in-Exile, they talk about a bunch of postcards critical of their poor leadership. Astounding! That is how they plan to ‘save the world’ and lead the Tibetan people back to Tibet? Their intelligence is simply out of this world. It looks like the postcards were right after all, they are extremely ineffective.
Samten Lhamo
It sure looks like both China and India are determined to achieve successful reconciliation, something that will mark a new milestone in the history of India-China relations. This will continue to impede the Tibetan leadership’s attempts to spew anti-China rhetoric and propaganda. India already began its clampdown on the Tibetans in March, when they banned key Tibetan events, including cancelling celebrations marking the Tibetans’ 60 years in exile, which were going to be held in Delhi.
India changed her strategy after recognising that a hard-line approach with China did not work. Rather, there is much more to gain if Asia’s two giants come together for the common goal of mutual benefit. If all goes well, India may even be the one cutting a deal with China to allow the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. After all, the Tibetan leadership in-exile have failed miserably in making progress in this regard. Nonetheless, we know for sure that India will no longer tolerate nonsense from Tibetans in-exile that would jeopardize their relations with China any further.
India’s Modi to visit China this week as rapprochement gathers pace
Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China this week for an informal meeting with President Xi Jinping, as efforts at rapprochement gather pace following a testing year in ties between the two giant neighbors.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said the two would meet on Friday and Saturday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
“Our common interests far outweigh our differences. The two countries have no choice other than pursuing everlasting friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development,” Wang told reporters after meeting Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in Beijing.
“The summit will go a long way towards deepening the mutual trust between the two great neighbors,” he added. “We will make sure that the informal summit will be a complete success and a new milestone in the history of China-India relations.”
Modi has sought to re-set ties after disputes over issues including their disputed border with Tibet and other issues.
The discussion with Wang was to prepare for the informal summit, Swaraj said.
“It will be an important occasion for them (Modi and Xi) to exchange views on bilateral and international matters, from an overarching and long-term perspective with the objective of enhancing mutual communication,” Swaraj said.
The Asian giants were locked in a 73-day military stand-off in a remote, high-altitude stretch of that boundary last year. At one point, soldiers from the two sides threw stones and punches.
The confrontation between the nuclear-armed powers in the Himalayas underscored Indian alarm at China’s expanding security and economic links in South Asia.
China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative of transport and energy links bypasses India, apart from a corner of the disputed Kashmir region, also claimed by Pakistan, but involves India’s neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives.Modi’s previously unannounced Wuhan trip is even more unusual in that he will visit China again in June for a summit in Qingdao of the China and Russia-led security grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which India joined last year.
It is almost unheard of for foreign leaders to visit China twice in such close succession. Xi is also extending Modi the rare honor of a meeting outside of Beijing, which almost never happens unless there is a multilateral summit taking place.
Modi’s nationalist government has reversed course on its relationship with Beijing apparently after realizing its hard line on China was not working.
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in India and who China considers a dangerous separatist, is also facing the cold shoulder.
In March, India issued an unprecedented ban on Tibetans holding a rally with the Dalai Lama in New Delhi to mark the 60th anniversary of the start of the failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Other areas of disagreement remain however between Beijing and New Delhi.
China has blocked India’s membership of a nuclear cartel and it has also been blocking U.N. sanctions against a Pakistan-based militant leader blamed for attacks on India.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-india-xi/indias-modi-to-visit-china-this-week-as-rapprochement-gathers-pace-idUSKBN1HT0G2
Tsering Wangyal
The beginning of the end for Tibetan leadership in India.
The Dalai Lama and Tibetan govt in-exile better be on the alert now. For years they have met politicians, organizations and private individuals while talking negatively about China and painted an ugly picture of China wherever they went to get sympathetic votes and more free aid in dollars. It didn’t work, as the whole world wants to be China’s friend now, even the Indians. Tibet was no Shangrila and the reason they even lost their country back in 1959 was due to their own ineffective and corrupt leadership. It’s their own fault. For the last 60 years living Tax free in India they have still not secured their country back. It shows their lack of abilities and ineptness. Now Prime Minister Modi has landed in China to meet the powerful President Xi. One of the agendas to be discussed is the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans in India. Definitely China will work something out with Modi against the freeloading Tibetan refugees. High time too. Many Indians on social media have called for the Dalai Lama and Tibetans to return home as they have overstayed their welcome in India. Why should India stick their necks out any further for the useless Tibetans? That is how the Indians have rightly complained.
Now with Modi getting closer to China and President Xi, this spells doomsday for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans. For years the Tibetans have been meddling in Indian politics and insulting China and now the day of reckoning is near. The Tibetan govt in-exile are corrupt, useless, self-serving, schismatic and hateful. For years they have spoken against Dorje Shugden practitioners, segregating them and inciting violence against them in India. Now their karma has returned. The Tibetan govt in-exile likes to call Dorje Shugden pracitioners ‘Chinese spies’ and the funny thing is now the Dalai Lama is nearly begging China to return to Tibet/China. Who is the Chinese spy now?
Now the Dalai Lama and his exiled govt better keep quiet about China and be humble. They better remain silent on the unjust treatment of Dorje Shugden people and ‘allow’ religious freedom. They are losing power and losing support fast. Now the time has come they will have to swallow their own bitter pills they so happily doled out to others previously. Tibetan govt leaders better keep quiet and be humble now. The Tibetan govt in-exile should not have segregated Dorje Shugden people. Now Dorje Shugden people should go and become friends with China and return to Tibet to live also. The Dalai Lama wants to return to Tibet so bad but China does not want him. Too bad. India does not want him either. Too bad. Should have been friends with Dorje Shugden people in order to have more support in the hundreds of thousands. They should not have made trouble. Too bad the Tibetan leadership is so corrupt. So narrow minded, they trampled on their own people’s religious rights. Now we will see who wins. The Tibetan leadership or Dorje Shugden. I have a feeling Dorje Shugden will win.
PM Narendra Modi arrives in China, his goal clear: Bridge the trust deficit
The Chinese President has not hosted any leader in an “informal summit”, which is how the Xi-Modi meeting has been described. In fact, Xi is travelling out of Beijing to central China to spend over two days with the Indian PM, the first time he is extending such a gesture to a visiting foreign leader.
Written by Shubhajit Roy | Wuhan (china) | Updated: April 27, 2018 8:07:29 am
Past midnight Thursday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in this picturesque city of lakes, parks and gardens along the Yangtze river, the big question that followed him was this: Can he bridge the trust deficit with China, and its powerful President Xi Jinping?
The answer, The Indian Express has learnt, could possibly lie in a new “modus vivendi”, an arrangement for two conflicting sides to co-exist in peace, that the two leaders will work on over the next two days.
“The modus vivendi, which was reaffirmed and arrived at during (then PM) Rajiv Gandhi’s 1988 visit, has frayed considerably. It has been felt on both sides that it needs to be reframed,” sources told The Indian Express.
Officials feel the 1988 framework to develop bilateral relations in all spheres, while carrying out border negotiations without any use of force, has outlived its utility.
“China has now emerged as a hegemonic power and has been stepping on our toes repeatedly. We are competing with each other everywhere, from South Asia to Africa, from Southeast Asia to Indo-Pacific. There is a realisation that both sides have reached a tipping point,” sources said.
The two leaders have met at least 10 times over the last four years, but this will be their first meeting since Xi has been re-elected, with the Constitutional limit for a presidential term done away with.
“There has been a lack of strategic trust between the two countries, and this summit will be looking at repairing that damage and how to move forward,” sources said.
“Wuhan was recently named China’s happiest city…we hope to give some happy news about the summit,” a Chinese official told The Indian Express.
Modi will meet Xi at about 3 pm Friday at the Hubei provincial museum. The two leaders will head for a one-on-one meeting at the premises and also tour the museum together.
Later, a structured meeting between Modi and Xi, with six officials on each side, will be held at the museum premises. The two sides will then move to the State Guest House, a palatial complex in the heart of the city along the East lake, where the leaders will meet once again accompanied by the officials. Modi and Xi will again meet for dinner at the guest house Friday evening.
This structured delegation-level talks is the first indication that the “informal summit” is being crafted in a calibrated and choreographed manner.
Some of Friday’s meetings will be attended by senior officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. But Saturday will see the two leaders meeting mostly in a one-on-one format, including a “lakeside walk” and a “boat-ride”. The leaders will also travel on a ferry, where they will “discuss issues over a cup of tea”.
Ahead of his departure for Wuhan, Modi said, “President Xi and I will exchange views on a range of issues of bilateral and global importance. We will discuss our respective visions and priorities for national development, particularly in the context of the current and future international situation. We will also review developments in India-China relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.”
Sources said the talks will not be on “specific issues” but “the future direction of the relationship”, including concerns and sensitivities such as the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor, Belt and Road Initiative, listing of Masood Azhar and India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. From the Chinese perspective, the Tibetan issue and how India handles the refugees are key questions.
Preparatory work on the new arrangement has been taking place since last September, when the two leaders met in Xiamen on the sidelines of the BRICS summit and wanted to talk “in detail”, but could not due to paucity of time.
In Wuhan, Modi was received by Chinese Vice Foreign minister Kong Xuanyou at the airport.
Indicating the mood within the Chinese leadership, a commentary published in China Daily, a media outlet run by the ruling Communist Party of China, carried the headline: “Summit may herald Century of Asia”.
In the piece, Fu Xiaoqiang, research fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, wrote: “Of course, Xi and Modi will also address each other’s concerns, but they are not likely to indulge in strategic distrust and geopolitical competition by ignoring the necessity of strengthening win-win cooperation.”
Incidentally, a part of the Wuhan State Guest House complex houses Mao Zedong’s summer villa by the lake side, which is now open to visitors. Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, has also hosted Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore during his tour of China 94 years ago to engage with writers, poets and intellectuals.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/narendra-modi-xi-jinping-meeting-pm-china-visit-india-relations-5153506/
Palden
His Holiness on Why a Woman Should Be Very Attractive to Be a Candidate for the 15th Dalai Lama
How come a spiritual leader is commenting on the value of women based on their looks? This is not funny, not intelligent and not politically correct. It is wrong. It is debasing and makes people lose respect for a monk such as Dalai Lama for talking about human beings in this manner.
Sonam Rinchen
Is it time to save the sinking ship that is the Tibetan cause? But wait a minute, the ship has already been sunk for the likes of Mr Ugyen Gyalpo.
Gone are the days when Tibet’s independence was possible, yet Tibetans like Mr Gyalpo are still living in a fantasy, asking the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to go against the Dalai Lama’s goal of meaningful autonomy for Tibet, and advocate full independence instead. On top of that, he wants India to help Tibet gain its independence, disregarding how these actions would jeopardize India’s relationship with China.
This is the same kind of illogical, self-centred, wishful thinking that caused the Tibetans to lose their country to China by signing the 17-Point Agreement in 1951. Why ask someone to fight for a lost cause? Perhaps Mr Gyalpo was on holiday and did not catch the latest media flurry about the Dalai Lama stating that he is happy for Tibet to be in China. The CTA President Lobsang Sangay even urged Tibetans to make the Dalai Lama’s dream of returning to Tibet come true.
It is time for My Gyalpo and other pro-independence activists to seriously wake up from their self-imposed slumber and plan what they can actually do if and when the Dalai Lama gets the green light to go back to Tibet. Do they want to support the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader? Or will they betray and abandon him?
Time to save the sinking ship of the Tibetan cause
By Ugyen Gyalpo
NEW YORK, US, 28 April 2018
Gone are the days when Tibetan solidarity was demonstrated through inter-organisational unity, and transparency and teamwork were not conundrums. The architects of endemic ideologies, the clash of mighty egos, and our flawed democracy, a system without multiple parties to represent different voices, has our community deeply divided and entrenched on regional grounds.
A short-circuit motherboard, like that which existed on an imaginary level before His Holiness’ devolution of his political role, that managed different flows of energy and controlled frequencies of differential arrays with a single switch, is surely missing in these rather difficult days of our newly-minted, hard-to-understand, infant democracy.
Every organisation or group has different agendas to put forth, even though the supposedly ultimate goal of solving Tibet’s issue for that matter is unequivocally shared by our same moral obligations. Every organisation in itself has become a marshy pond, where viruses of egocentrism are birthed and thrive. Every organisation and everyone leading them has somehow made islands of isolationist groups of like-minded people.
There is a silent battle of ‘creditworthiness’ brewing within our bureaucracy, and a hunger to ‘monetize’ by the many Tibet Support Groups of the cult-like brand Tibet, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s name has become detrimental to our cause and to the unity that we critically need.
Furthermore, the millions in American aid has intoxicated our movement and has us habituated to seeking monetary help, while losing sight of our goal. And the supposed leader of the free world in the United States, having lost completely the needle of its moral compass, shoves our greater issues silently under the political rug, while we rejoice in their perennial candy aid. Whilst our elected leader impatiently awaits for applause on the issues of such aid, has only added mileage to the charade that exists. It is ever too clear how wolfishly the world led by the US have sidelined the Tibet issue with the changing dynamic and symbiosis and the dominant political clout of China in its newly-found realm.
Just like Africa remains poor because of the surplus Western food that is dumped as ‘humanitarian aid’ into the market, which in turn debilitates and destroys the local farming there and makes them lazy and cyclically dependent, the Tibetan diaspora’s dependence on Western aid is no different. it has trapped them into the eternal hypocrisy of the West and made them complacent and numbingly patient.
The dynamics of what the West could have done some twenty years ago when China was easy to contain, and the empty promises and hypocrisy that exist now through reaffirmation of their help by way of lobbying and institutionalisation of the Tibetan cause, has got us nowhere but to a cycle of regimental renewal of oaths and vacant promises, and deepening of the pockets of those who exploit our cause.
The long-wished-for occasion of China one day crumbling under the weight of their capitalistic boom, which would hopefully propel uts people to yearn for greater rights and freedom guaranteed on democratic grounds that comes along with flowering seeds of prosperity, seems to be dead on arrival ever since President Xi, who seems to be Mao’s incarnate, rewrote the constitution in his own terms and vowed to rule the country indefinitely as a dictator. The likelihood of the collapse of communist China like the former USSR is far from reality now. And so are the chances of any possibility of coming to an agreement on the call for autonomy that Tibetans have been pushing for decades now.
I am not a political analyst nor an expert pundit on geopolitical changes, but my gut instinct tells me that our struggle for freedom should be waged from India of all other places. As of now realizing through this sad awakening, the Tibetan issue has become a case of the leper that no one wants to touch but only sympathise with. We have had enough of world sympathy, and of countries that once supported Tibet kowtowing to China. We should take matters into our own hands now. What we need more than anything is only our own self-help.
Having said that, the era of dependency on Western help and lobbying is a farce. We need to gather support from our natural and genuine automatic half-brother in India. Through the era of leadership of Modi’s courage, we will be able to stand up against the Chinese might in unison. Tibetans are scattered like broken rosary beads all over the world, but since the thread that brings us together is based in India, it’s but natural to wage our campaigns from there.
These last two decades have transformed not just China but India too. Having grown far from their third-world stigma, and now a leader in an emerging economy, India has become a dominant player in world politics as well. Any or all help from our half-brothers, who have given us refuge along with our religion and our script, is what we should look forward to now. India ranks among the world’s top five armed forces. No matter what, China can’t bully India lest they risk an all-out war that neither would want in the real world.
Tibet has evidently been a thorny issue in China-India bilateral relations ever since His Holiness was given refuge. As of late, the diplomatic fall-out from the slippery tongue of CTA’s President that flashed out covert secretive mission by an emissary to China, inadvertently keeping India out of the loop has caused some mistrust within the Indian politburo. India has much to lose if Tibet is ever given genuine autonomy and if China reclaims all of Tibet based on the McMahon line. As of late, India’s snubbing of Tibet and the Dalai Lama’s related programmes and events is evidence of their intentional withdrawal. The only way we Tibetans can earn back India’s hitherto undeniable moral support and trust is if we vehemently change our political course and steer this sinking ship on chartered waves of reclaiming total independence that will reshape the paradigm of where we stand as refugees in the eyes of the Indian government, and where our ultimate goal lies.
It is time that the CTA should reverse its ideology and go back to its original and genuine aim of reclaiming everything we have lost, to follow the shadow of truth of Tibet being once an independent country and nothing more. The only strong answer to China is the reaffirmation of our calls for complete independence. We must send them a strong message that we are not one of their ethnic minorities, but proud Tibetans who once ruled over their subservience.
https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/04/28/time-to-save-the-sinking-ship-of-the-tibetan-cause
UTsang Kunga
In March 2018, Tibetan protestors gathered near the Tibetan parliament, seeking to impeach Lobsang Sangay because his actions are unjust and akin to those of a dictator. Protestors also questioned his sudden termination of Penpa Tsering, the former Representative of the Office of Tibet in Washington, DC, who was his arch-rival during the 2016 Tibetan election.
But this is not all, Lobsang Sangay’s CV includes a long list of deceitful actions, such as hiding the loan trail of $1.5-million taken by his office from Tibet Fund to purchase a building to house the Office of Tibet in DC. He even ordered the Auditor General to remove any mention of the loan in various financial reports. Lobsang Sangay is also alleged to have sexually assaulted an intern of the International Campaign for Tibet advocacy group. Even before he became the Sikyong (the president of the Central Tibetan Administration), scandals surrounding his actions were rampant. Four years after buying a house near Boston, his US$227,000 mortgage disappeared overnight, one week before he became the president of the CTA. It is no wonder that Tibetans like Pelgyamo express their dissatisfaction by posting sarcastic comments on Lobsang Sangay’s Instagram page.
The Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) in Dharamsala refusing to accept Tibetan RCs (Registration Certificates) is yet another example of interference by the Central Tibetan Administration. Tibetans need this document to apply for an Indian passport. The CTA does not want to lose its grip on Tibetan refugees, as fewer refugees under their control means less foreign aid. That translates to less money that they can line their own pockets with.
This is not the first time that the CTA has created problems for Tibetans who wish to apply for Indian citizenship. Last July, the CTA ordered all its departments to stop issuing NOC (No Objection Certificates) to Tibetans applying for Indian passports, effectively sabotaging India’s goodwill of offering citizenship to eligible Tibetans. Perhaps that is a reason why many Tibetans are leaving their settlements in India, some of them even returning to Tibet! The CTA’s days as a ‘government’ are numbered, as more and more Tibetans apply for Indian citizenship or leave the CTA’s influence in India altogether.
No obstruction surrendering RC in Dehra Dun: Police
Tibet Sun Newsroom
McLEOD GANJ, India, 27 April 2018
Tibetans living in Dehra Dun can surrender their Registration Certificates (RC) to apply for their passport, according to a communication from the Office of the Superintendent of Police Dehra Dun.
Tibet Sun had learned about Tibetan complaints that the authorities were refusing to accept requests by Tibetans to surrender their RCs, required in order to apply for a passport. Seeking information about the matter, Tibet Sun filed a Right to Information (RTI) application, to which Dehra Dun Superintendent of Police Sarita Dobhal replied refuting the complaints.
The SP said in her reply that they have not refused RC surrender by those Tibetans seeking Indian passport, and they have accepted RCs from seven Tibetans so far.
Tibetans who spoke to Tibet Sun said that the authorities who actually handle the RC surrender at the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) within the SP Office had told them to bring court orders to be able to surrender their RC.
Following a High Court of Delhi judgment asking the Government of India to issue passport to Tibetans, the Ministry of External Affairs in March 2017 has ordered all passport-issuing authorities to issue passport to those Tibetans who fulfil the requirements as in the Citizenship Act of India.
The RC surrender process has been suspended at the FRO Dharamshala. An official confirmed the same, saying the halt has been in place since two weeks, but didn’t give details as to why they have stopped the process.
He said that it is a temporary matter and that the surrender process will resume soon.
https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2018/04/27/no-obstruction-of-tibetan-rc-surrender-for-passport-dehra-dun-sp
Khampa Bhu
The Dalai Lama Fears that He Might be Expelled from India!
The situation in India is not getting better for the Tibetan government in-exile or the Dalai Lama. Since India is getting closer to China, this trend will not slow down. Whether it is the current Prime Minister Modi, or the next Prime Minister of India making efforts to get close to China, it does not matter because the momentum has started. It benefits both India and China tremendously to be friendly and on good terms with each other. The parasite-like Tibetans leeching off India brings no benefit whatsoever to India and India realizes this sad fact finally. The Dalai Lama and his team in the Tibetan government in-exile have created so many problems externally for India and internally within the Tibetan communities, enough is enough. Tibetans like to use India to irk China. They have done that for decades and now it’s over. The Tibetans have been put in their place. The Indian government has been snubbing the Dalai Lama this year. The Dalai Lama and his cohorts have created tremendous problems, segregation, hatred, and violence towards thousands of Dorje Shugden practitioners, now that karma is coming back. Too bad. The Tibetan leadership is losing support from India, in fact, Modi purposely humiliated the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama and cohorts have less power to create so much schism and trouble now. If you read this article carefully, the Dalai Lama himself has expressed concerns he might be kicked out of India. It has reached this level that the Dalai Lama is unsure of his footing in India now. Too bad.
Aditya Sinha: Paying For Our Bull In A China Shop
May 14, 2018, 07:40 IST | Aditya Sinha
The Dalai Lama’s humiliation, our encircling neighbours and, most crucially, the lack of Modi’s signature bear hug, signify altered relations
In the two days of staged photographs, there is not one photo of Modi hugging Xi, his trademark personalised diplomacy of forcibly embracing other leaders.
One of the better things during the Karnataka Assembly election, no matter who emerges the single largest party tomorrow, was Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s press conference in Bangalore. You may not have seen it on TV. It is on YouTube, however. Rahul again comes across in a light different to the whispers about him during the past two decades, proving how it was all the doing of a well-oiled BJP machine. My favourite part was Rahul’s take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Wuhan in central China for an “informal” summit with President Xi Jinping.
Here’s what he said:
“I expected the PM to go to China as the leader of our country [and] speak to them about Doklam… He didn’t say a word. [He] had a conversation with the Chinese President with no agenda. Are you telling me there’s no agenda? There is an agenda, it’s called Doklam; there is an agenda, it’s called the Maldives; there is an agenda, it’s called Nepal… The agenda is that we’re surrounded on all sides; it’s pretty clear. But you guys don’t like to raise that, I don’t know why.
“Our foreign policy has been completely decimated. And it’s because the PM views foreign policy as an individual exercise. He’s of the impression that he can go have a conversation with the president of China, or he can go have a conversation with the president of Nepal, and everything will magically happen.
“The PM needs to carry his own people with him. Are there any conversations going on with the finance minister, with the defence minister about this type of strategy? No. It’s a one-man show.”
Briefly: China tried to seize the Doklam plateau in Bhutan last year but after a 73-day standoff against our troops, it backed down. It has reportedly since built an infrastructure leading to Doklam. In the Maldives, China is displacing India: President Abdulla Gameen last year welcomed three Chinese warships, and last month hosted the Pakistan army chief. In Nepal, despite Modi’s visit this weekend to promote Janakpur, Sita’s birthplace, as a religious tourism spot, the Nepalese have drifted from us after India’s five-month blockade in 2015 – we were pushing for greater political inclusion of the Madhesis. Modi is a villain for the Nepalese, as evident on social media.
China has seized advantage of India’s pathetic neighbourhood behaviour, and, as Rahul said, has India surrounded. No wonder many think Modi went to beg Xi to keep relations calm in the run-up to the 2019 parliamentary election. That Modi’s governance is election-oriented is no secret. Will the Chinese will play ball? When the two-day “informal” summit ended, the Indian side issued a statement and reportedly urged the Chinese to issue their own. Compare the two and you see a difference: while India mentioned a strategic direction to our respective armies to avoid tension on the Line of Actual Control, China only said the armies would follow past protocols. Joint statements are never easy, but individual statements are a piece of cake.
Modi had to supplicate himself because he cannot afford to go into the 2019 election after a showdown with China. Even a short skirmish will humiliate India. Unlike tension on the Line of Control with Pakistan, which benefits Modi since it can be dovetailed into communal rhetoric, tension with China gives Modi no benefit. Modi cannot help but humour China.
The Chinese were amenable to being humoured since they have now what they wanted in Doklam. China nowadays also wants to be seen as a responsible global power: hence it has nudged North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un into meeting his South Korean counterpart and, next month, with Donald Trump. China has also reached out to Japan, with whom relations are more complicated than with India.
Mainly, it was because Modi agreed to humiliate the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader who has lived in India since 1959. India prohibited its ministers from attending a Dalai Lama function (ironically, to thank India) and asked him to shift it from Delhi to his base in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. It was an insult; worse, he privately expressed the fear that he might be expelled.
The Chinese gave us time but they did not give Modi a hug. In the two days of staged photographs, there is not one photo of Modi hugging Xi, his trademark personalised diplomacy of forcibly embracing other leaders. Rahul Gandhi is right: Modi has decimated India’s foreign policy. It’s too bad that this and other aspects of his press conference were ignored by the TV media. But then, after Gujarat, Karnataka has been good practice for him. Modi’s obsession with the 2019 election means that governance will suffer, so Rahul will get more occasions to show the public his mettle.
https://www.mid-day.com/articles/aditya-sinha-paying-for-our-bull-in-a-china-shop/19420166
Tsamduk
More and more Tibetans are expressing their dissatisfaction with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). This even extends to accusing them of ruling without legal precedence. This is a serious matter as their management of funds, administrative procedures, and even their governing constitution are all flawed. From the simple of choice of words used for the translation of a title, the CTA have exposed the way in which they run their “nationless government” in an egotistical and self-serving manner. The CTA simply do things based on their personal agendas and needs, using the title of democracy as a cover.
Clearly, there is no system of governance for what the CTA do and how they spend the money they gain from people sympathetic to the Tibetan plight, aid from their host and donors from around the world. Since law is at the core of any administration, their underhanded tactic of finding loopholes and bending the rules to suit their individual needs has failed the Tibetan people. As an ex-Senior Fellow of Harvard Law School and a self-proclaimed expert in international human rights law, Sangay deters people’s faith in the integrity of a leader and the legal system, instead of upholding the cause of justice. After the public apology during his swearing in ceremony in 2016 and his firm pledge not to repeat his misconduct, it looks like Sangay is at it again.
The title “President” for Sikyong is not legal
By Sharchok Khukta
McLEOD GANJ, India, 14 May 2018
Since there have been many who have put forth questions regarding the usage of the title “President” in English for “Sikyong”, I will answer in one presentation for all.
It would become a long talk to give answer as regards this. Nonetheless, because, to keep the public in the dark is objected to in a democratic system, I will try to present insight that is complete and not mistaken.
Initially, the exile Tibetan Parliament had established through general consensus that the title “Sikyong” is to be used instead of “Kalon Tripa”. In connection with that a resolution was passed by the members of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-exile during the fourth sitting of the second session on 21 September 2012, that “Sikyong” solely is to be used in writing, as phonetically, without the need for using the translation “Political Leader”.
The first stage of this process took place with the publication in 2015 of a compilation of rules and regulations of the exile Tibetan administration by the office of the Parliamentary Secretary of the Tibetan people’s deputies, where it appears on page 181 in Appendix 8 [Zur-hzar nya], of sub-section 3 of article 66 of the electoral rules of the exile Tibetans.
Then, on 26 April 2016, the exile Tibetan administration made the announcement on its official website tibet.net that “when the term ‘sikyong’ is to be translated into English it should be written as “president”, and that has been used up to the present day.
It is the honourable Kashag which says that “it was established [formally decided] that ‘president’ is to be the term to be used,” and the honourable Kashag claim that they had decided thus on the advice of His Holiness Dalai Lama. The Kashag had cited many other reasons, but I will not refer to them at this time. Everyone knows that at that time there was much expression of displeasure regarding this from the public.
In the second stage, as regards the usage “President” there was guidance by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the reception ceremony accorded to the high-level Representatives’ Committee of the United States, at Tsuklagkhang Temple on 10 May 2017.
The third stage is that the Kashag have, both orally and in writing, said insistently that such guidance by His Holiness the Dalai Lama was as per the provision of Article 1 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile. I am not able to know whether His Holiness the Dalai Lama has advised thus as the intent of Article 1 of the Charter. I do not consider that to be case, because if there had been the guidance advising “President” to be appropriate for the title of Sikyong, as per Article 1, then even after 25 famous amendments to the Charter such a guidance would have a procedure of discussion in the Parliament, as in the past, a procedure that has been clearly laid out.
It has been laid out in the sub-section 1 and 2 of Article 17 of clause 6 of the rules for procedure of meeting and carrying out of works by the the deputies of the Tibetan Parliament. For example, to cite the sub-section 1: “As per the sub-section 2 of Article 1 of the charter, the Speaker, in discussion with Sikyong, is to set aside time for discussion on the suggestion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” But, without going through any recommendation from the Parliament or legal process, the Kashag said that the title in English as “President” has been decided on and designated as such, and they continue to use this title. As such that title has not became legal title. That is stage three.
Then, the fourth stage is that it may be assumed that the Sikyong and the Kashag continue to do so as it is known clearly only by most government service personnel, former and present, and People’s Deputies, former and present. Yet since the public do not know the details, when we put forth questions on the this issue in the Parliament it may be conjectured that it is an electoral grudge. Besides, when the honourable Sikyong also talks of it to the public by attaching it to electoral grudge, we are not able to have at the matter a valid rule by law. Instead everything is stirred here and there into dirty politics, so that eventually when there is too much dwelling on personal name and prestige, the common administration incurs losses.
If things go on like this there is the danger of the collapse of rule by law. From that point of view, for this issue to be clearly sorted out, the Secretaries of Gadhen Phodang must make it clear whether or not that guidance — as per Article 1 of the Charter — was given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. If it was, since it would be related with the rules, the messages, advice, notice and so on be bestowed to the Parliament, and then whatever is to be established (passed as resolution) by the Parliament when implemented by all the central and regional branches of the administration, it would become concordant with the law.
So that is the issue if explained clearly.
In the end, nowadays at Gangchen Kyishong the administration relies upon one person and makes changes to the Rules; while there are able staff members in all sorts of appointments, through equal qualifications and pledges, and so on; such instances are taking place many times, not just once. In such a situation it appears that there is not sufficient supervision and watching, by the public and writers, of whether or not this Administration — set up with such effort by His Holiness the Dalai Lama — is being administered by rule of law.
I request all to put more effort and power as regarding this issue.
https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/05/14/the-title-president-for-sikyong-is-not-legal
India tightening its grip on the Dalai Lama and Tibetans
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed Himachal police to tighten its grip on Tibetans meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Those Tibetans without paperwork showing individual identity and establishing legal credentials of their arrival in India will be turned away from seeing the religious leader. Undocumented Tibetans have been arriving in India, usually from Nepal, where they are aided by the Tibetan communities there. India seems to clamping down of Tibetan activity, from cancelling Thank You India events in Delhi and now restricting Tibetans from seeing the Dalai Lama. What else with the Indian government do next?
Norms tightened to meet Dalai Lama
DHARAMSHALA: Following directions from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in recent past, the Himachal Police government has tightened the norms to meet the Dalai Lama, even for Tibetans coming from Tibet. The move was aimed to ensure the security of the spiritual leader at McLeodganj near here.
Well-placed sources said that there were many Tibetans, including monks, who enter India through the porous border of Nepal to meet the Dalai Lama. The MHA has directed Himachal Police that no one could meet him without having his individual identity established from his documents.
When contacted about this development, Kangra SP Santosh Patial confirmed that a letter had been received in this regard. But he refused to divulge the details of the same. “Police has received a letter and this is for the security of the Tibetan spiritual leader only, which says that we can only allow a person to meet after his individual identity and legal credentials of his arrival to India are established,” he said.
Inquires revealed that the Tibetans generally arrive in Nepal from Tibet. They were received by the refugee centres there and further assistance was provided to them by Indian and Tibetan authorities for their visit to India.”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/norms-tightened-to-meet-dalai-lama/articleshow/64485961.cms
Thinley Woeser
Things are going to be very different for Tibetans in India from now on as Sino-Indian relations get warmer by the day. India has vowed to firmly adhere to the one-China policy and ensure Tibet-related issues are handled ‘properly’. This means India will tighten her grip on all Tibetan-related activities. So, the trouble-making Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) better watch themselves and not create further problems that may antagonise China. This is something India will no longer tolerate.
China, India Vow To Strengthen Ties
China and India have extensive common interests and they have far more consensus than differences, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
All India | Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: June 06, 2018 17:05 IST
PRETORIA: China and India working together will accelerate their common development and contribute to the progress of human civilization, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Mr Wang made the remarks on Monday in South Africa’s capital Pretoria during a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the formal meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
China and India have extensive common interests and they have far more consensus than differences, Mr Wang said.
The two sides should take bilateral relations and people’s fundamental interests as a starting point at all times, properly handle problems and differences and prevent the interests of one party from affecting the overall interest, Mr Wang said.
The two sides should earnestly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas in accordance with the consensus reached by their leaders and avoid taking actions that might complicate and aggravate the situation, Mr Wang said.
China and India should strengthen coordination and play a constructive role in promoting the development of BRICS cooperation, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and other multilateral mechanisms, he said.
Sushma Swaraj said the informal Wuhan meeting between the leaders of India and China enhanced mutual trust between the two countries, strengthened cooperation, made the parties more comfortable with each other and achieved unprecedented success.
She said India will firmly adhere to the one-China policy and properly handle issues involving the core interests of China such asTaiwan and Tibet-related issues.
India and China, as the two largest emerging markets and developing countries, share a common position in safeguarding the international political and economic order and promoting the improvement of global governance, the Indian Minister said.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/china-india-vow-to-strengthen-ties-1863429
Peljor
Ex-Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche caught sleeping in a meeting
The representative of the Dalai Lama and former prime minister of the Tibetan government in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche during an important meeting having a nice sleep. The Tibetan government in-exile are run by people like this who have no control over their body and manners. They only stay awake in the meeting if there is FREE aid money coming their way to line their pockets. Shameful how Samdong Rinpoche is sleeping in the middle of a meeting and he represents the Tibetan government in-exile. This is why after 60 years Tibetan leaders have failed to get Tibet back but blame others for their failures. Shame!
The letter:
It is about the incident that happened at His Holiness’s birthday celebration in NYC recently July 6, 2018. Some members of Tibetan woman association approached to Parliamentarian Tenpa Yarphel during the ceremony and complained that his comments regarding Nechung was disrespect to the protector and His Holiness. They also said him that he made many Tibetan people sad with his comments. And told him not to do that again in the future. Then Dhondup Tseten stood up and shamelessly touched those women. That incident almost made the ceremony stopped. To keep maintaining the relationship between Tibetan Woman Association and Tibetan Parliament Representative, TWA are asking for an apology letter from Dhondup Tseten for touching their members.
(It is so sad that in the fake democracy of the Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala you cannot say anything against a leader or criticize. Too bad)
Bonnie Fider
WHY DOES RICHARD GERE AND DALAI LAMA SUPPORT SOGYAL THE DISGUSTING ABUSER?
As long as you are friends with the Dalai Lama, your actions are excusable, no matter how horrendous they may be. Even something as heinous as sexual abuse of over 60 women can be overlooked when the perpetrator is friends with the Dalai Lama namely Sogyal Rinpoche. Why rush to join the chorus of Hollywood voices condemning Harvey Weinstein’s criminality, but remain silent against Sogyal’s exploitation and abuse of women? Richard Gere was vocal in condemning against all the abuses and attacks against women by Harvey Weinstein. But silent on Sogyal Rinpoche. BBC has a full length documentary on Sogyal’s abuses as you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhIivvmMnk. Yet Richard Gere can take photos with the disgusting and abusive Sogyal. Is it because one group of women are worth protecting and the other are not? If it is not for that reason, then it can only be because Sogyal is the Dalai Lama’s friend. The Dalai Lama’s condemnation against Sogyal is very light and it’s disappointing. I guess since Dalai Lama supported Sogyal so much, he can’t be seen as wrong in doing so. Politics is sad.
Christie Donald
Hollywood is one of the most influential groups of people who have promoted the mysticism of Buddhist Tantra to the world. Together with the media, they have packaged Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan lamas into a fantasy Utopia, filled with God-like beings who are able to lead people along the quick path to enlightenment.
This propaganda has been widely exploited by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to garner support, especially financial aid, for the so-called Tibetan Cause and the Tibetan struggle against Chinese rule. Little does the West, including Richard Gere and the so-called Buddhist Professor Robert Thurman, know that efforts from China to improve the infrastructure and standard of living for the Tibetans in China have created opportunities for Tibetans to grow and be successful. This is something that is rarely seen in exile under the governance of the CTA.
This false image that has been promoted for the past 60 years or so is now slowly fading away as more and more victims come forward, exposing the sexual abuse they have suffered under the hands of Tibetan lamas like Sogyal Rinpoche. The root of the problem is clear, people are greedy and lazy while wanting quick success and attention. Since they get these from the Tibetan lamas like Sogyal, they are willing to accept the exploitation. This is further driven by fear that they would no longer be seen as the privileged ones in the inner circle if they do not clutch at their lamas and be seen showing tremendous devotion to their gurus. With only a superficial knowledge of Buddhism, this cult-like group of Hollywood stars and American politicians like Richard Gere continue to generate respect and love for their skewed version of the “Dharma”, while real Buddhist masters are relegated to the side lines.
This Sexual Abuser Hollywood Doesn’t Want You To See
Feb 28, 2018 | Posted by Christine A. Chandler
Why is the mainstream media ignoring this Elephant in the Room?
Is it because, once they peel the curtain back on this little sexually abusive, predator Lama, Lama Sogyal Rinpoche, best friend of the Dalai Lama and his major benefactor, helping to spread Mindfulness throughout the West, the whole edifice of deception, corruption, cover-ups of institutional sexual abuse, and Shangri-la pretenses will be exposed?
Never mind that these Tibetan lamas have fooled a large part of the Western psychology profession, most all of journalism, and certain parts of academia as well as CEO’s of major corporations. Those who also want to jump on the billion-dollar Mindfulness bandwagon; the first cult technique these Tibetan lamas used to get us to think as a herd.
Perhaps it is also because the news media coverage, for the last twenty-five years, of Saint Dalai Lama, keeper of slaves and life-time serfs less than sixty years ago, is one of the icons of the Hollywood jet-set, certain politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Tim Ryan, academics, like Uma’s dad- Robert Thurman, and such Hollywood stars, as Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Sharon Stone, the list goes on and on, who will now be seen, not just as enablers of Weinstein, but also of the Tantric cult of Tibetan Lamaism and its Tantra that has infused Hollywood with its amorality and sexual abuse for the last four decades, given it permission for their long history of accepting this behavior as ‘normal.’
It was not so long ago, that Trungpa fooled our sixties generation, with the help of rock and roll stars, and Allen Ginsberg, modern poet extraordinaire of the Howl, and member of NAMBLA. Ginsberg also controlled the narrative of how these Tibetan Lamas were to be seen by the public, for the next forty-plus years.
Marxists have been in collusion with the lamas, as well, for a very long time. As have certain institutions on the right, of the C-Street variety. The Dalai Lama boldly sends messages of being a friend to democracy to every President since his “escape” from China. But declares himself a Marxist in India.
Australian CEOs in the article link above are now questioning the wisdom of having Lama Sogyal of Rigpa, the Dalai Lama’s best friend all these years, who has been their icon for mindfulness meditation at the workplace. They are not willing to cover-up for his sexual abuse and demeaning and degrading of women, his keeping a harem, just as Chogyam Trungpa did but it was ignored, and his Tantra was allowed to spread. Thanks to Hollywood giving him a featured role in Little Buddha with Keanu Reeves.
Isn’t it time we peeled the whole onion back to see part of what’s at the core of this sexual abuse and confusion about right and wrong?
Nancy Pelosi goes to the Dalai Lama for advice, and gets crazier every year; Tim Ryan, groomed to take her place, writes a book about Tantric Mindfulness for a Mindless nation and called: Mindfulness Nation .
Ryan hangs out with Lama Sogyal’s friend, Lama Tsoknyi who is Sogyal’s strongest supporter and pal.
Tim Ryan and Lama Tsoknyi, speak together about Global Warming. Tsoknyi surely helped Ryan write his book and Tim Ryan helps Lama Tsoknyi pretend he is a ‘scientific lama’ who also can bless books to make them understandable and can infuse statues with living mojo inside his cult groups of western followers around the world, and now in Asia, fooling the Han and Chan Buddhists that he is teaching what the Buddha taught when it is Tantra and its institutionalized sexual abuse and Lamaist corruptions.
The occult, crazy-making Tantra of Tibetan Lamas has been infusing Hollywood, Journalism, Academia, Psychology, Third-wave Feminism, and the Entertainment Industry and Left-Wing Politics, for the last forty years. Recently, we have been seeing its results implode as the sexual abuses of celebrities and journalists, politicians makes explosive media news.
Chogyam Trungpa, the Tantric Lama darling of the sixties Drugs, Rock and Roll crowd was the first Tibetan Lama to illegally keep a harem of sexual consorts on American soil. His Regent gave his students AIDS, with unprotected sex, but was never criminally charged. Instead he was allowed to brainwash his students into believing this was ‘openness’ and freedom, on the way to the realization of a non-duality mind. They have reinvented his ‘lineage’ along the coast of Maine, to turn that State back into Massachusetts.
“Democracy was a failed experiment” said Trungpa’s mouthpiece, Ginsberg, who believed a totalitarian dictatorship of Tribal warlords would be so much better.
Time to unpeel the whole onion and get to the core of what has been making the West crazy, immoral and stupid: the civilization jihad that comes with a smiling face and a Lamaist peaceful facade.
https://extibetanbuddhist.com/this-sexual-abuser-hollywood-doesnt-want-you-to-see/
Jampa Lhundup
The Nikkei Asian Review is a highly reputable news platform. They are not tabloid in any sense of the word. What they publish is reputable and thoroughly reliable. They mention clearly in an article published August 7, 2018 that the Dalai Lama has a terminal illness. The Prime Minister of India knowing this is now conciliatory towards China. He understands that the Dalai Lama cannot be used as a pawn in irritating China any further. Negotiations are progressing that after the passing of Dalai Lama, his government in-exile will close. The end.
India uses rumor of Dalai Lama’s ill health to mend China ties
If Tibetan exile flow is stemmed, Beijing might compromise on territorial claim
YUJI KURONUMA, Nikkei staff writer
August 07, 2018 17:02 JST
DHARAMSALA — Rumors are flying around in this northern Indian city, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile, that the 14th Dalai Lama is suffering from terminal cancer.
With Tibetan exiles deeply worried about the 83-year-old religious leader, the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been using the situation to take a more conciliatory approach to China. Modi also seems to be lowering the standing of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Word that the Dalai Lama may be in serious condition has quietly spread. “I have heard that His Holiness is not well,” said Migmar Chodon, a 49-year-old housewife in Dharamsala. “Though I don’t know well about it, I am worried.”
A 27-year-old restaurant employee in the city said, “I have read somewhere that His Holiness is unwell.”
In 1959, Tibetan people rose in revolt in Lhasa, Tibet, which had been occupied by China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, and the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. At least 130,000 Tibetans later left their homeland. At present, 85,000 Tibetans live in India, about 8,000 of them in Dharamsala, which hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile and a temple where the 14th Dalai Lama lives.
Rumors about the Dalai Lama suffering from poor health come frequently. The latest one arose in June, when an Indian media company reported that the Dalai Lama was in the “last stage of prostate cancer.” The Dalai Lama’s doctor and the government-in-exile immediately denied the news, and people have tried to remain calm. “I want to believe the words of the doctor,” the restaurant worker said.
The Indian government thinks the terminal cancer report is credible. A government source said “the prostate cancer has spread to his lymph nodes” and that “his life would not be so long” now.
In the past two years, the Dalai Lama has received treatment at a hospital in the U.S. People close to the Dalai Lama worry that word of this was leaked by U.S. authorities. Now the Dalai Lama “will be going to Switzerland for radiotherapy in the month of August,” the source said.
India is using rumors that the Dalai Lama is in poor health to build a more conciliatory relationship with China. In April, during an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, China, Modi tried to portray the India-China relationship as improved.
During the meeting, “Modi apprised President Xi of the Dalai Lama’s health and the Indian position on Tibet after his death,” a government source said. “This information from Modi took Xi by surprise, and the two discussed the issue for a long time at the Wuhan summit.”
When the leaders met in 2015 and 2016, they informally discussed a proposal for India to stop accepting new Tibetan exiles after the death of the Dalai Lama in return for China withdrawing its territorial claim on some parts of northern India.
For humanitarian, strategic and other reasons, India has been accepting Tibetan exiles for nearly 60 years. Tibet has been something of a buffer zone between the world’s two most populous countries since shortly after India’s independence in 1947. However, China has strengthened its grip on the Tibet Autonomous Region, and in 2017 new exiles numbered 57, a sharp drop from over 2,000 a decade earlier.
With Tibet’s strategic value waning, India has moderated its stance.
At the behest of the Indian government, the Tibetan government-in-exile last year changed the English name for its sikyong from “prime minister” to “president.” Geshe Lhakdor, director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and for years an interpreter for the 14th Dalai Lama, said the new term denotes the leader of an organization, rather than the leader of a country.
The Indian government is also encouraging Tibetan exiles to acquire Indian citizenship.
A successor to the 14th Dalai Lama will be installed when a person believed to be his reincarnation is found, or will be appointed under a new system, like nomination.
The 15th Dalai Lama will then lead the Tibetan Buddhist world. However, it will be difficult for the successor to take the place of the 14th Dalai Lama, who has international influence as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and is the protector of Tibetan exiles.
The buildings that house the government-in-exile and the temple which is home to the 14th Dalai Lama sit atop a mountain. At the foot of this mountain is the Tibetan Reception Center that Tibetan exiles first visit for registration. It is quiet these days, and very much unoccupied.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/India-uses-rumor-of-Dalai-Lama-s-ill-health-to-mend-China-ties
Drolma
Even though the Tibetans might be the luckiest refugees in the world, they are also the most unfortunate ones in the world. They are allowed to have their own government in India who is supposed to take care of their welfare but their government only exploit them. The CTA has no intention to give a better future to the Tibetans and they want the Tibetans to continue to remain as refugees so that the CTA can get free money from the donors.
For the past 60 years, the CTA has received millions and millions of dollars from the west but no one knows where did the money go. No other refugees in the world have received so much financial aid. Most of the refugees after a few years would have been accepted by different countries and given the citizenship but for the Tibetans, this is just a dream. The CTA does not want them to become a citizen of another country.
No one likes to remain as refugees or someone without an identity but the CTA does not care. Many Tibetans have realised how the CTA is using them, as a result, they migrate to overseas, go back to Tibet or just integrate and become the citizen of India. As more negative news about the CTA surfaces, they will lose more credibility and trust from the people. Sooner or later, the CTA will collapse, they might not even survive for the next 5 years!
Lobsang Sangay cares only about his pocket and nothing else. He wants to become the leader of Tibetans in exile community for personal gain, not to serve the Tibetans. He shamelessly confessed that he actually didn’t have a plan in mind when he contested for the presidency.
No doubt Lobsang Sangay has a qualification from a renown institution which is the Harvard. But this is all he has, a paper qualification. He is not capable of leading, he is not capable of producing results. What has he achieved so far? He only creates problems for people.
The Tibetans have been waiting for 60 years to go back to Tibet but this is not happening, the Tibetans are still refugees now. But Lobsang Sangay himself has a US passport, how come? If he doesn’t like to be a refugee, what makes him think the rest of the Tibetans like to remain stateless?
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Briefs: Tennis on TV; Mirza Marriage; St. Augustine Haiti Fundraiser
USTA Florida Past President Celia Rehm (left) helps WTA Tour
player Patty Schnyder of Switzerland (right) by choosing a
player draw chip during The MPS Group Championships draw
party at the Sawgrass Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
(photo by Melinda)
By Rick Vach, ustaflorida.com
Tennis on TV – ATP Houston, WTA Ponte Vedra Beach
The Tennis Channel will air coverage of the ATP Houston and WTA Ponte Vedra Beach events beginning at noon on Saturday, April 10. The first semifinal in Ponte Vedra Beach will air live at noon, followed by the second semifinal aired live. Top-seeded defending champion and world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki and Melanie Oudin are among the competitors at the Sawgrass Country Club.
At 4 p.m. on Saturday the second Houston semifinal will air live, with the first semifinal shown tape delayed at 9 p.m. The doubles final, potentially featuring the Bryan brothers who are competing in Houston, will be shown live at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, April 11, the Ponte Vedra Beach final will air live at 2 p.m., followed by the tape-delayed final from Houston at 4 p.m.
Mirza Misses WTA Ponte Vedra Tournament Over Marriage Row
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza is not defending her 2009 doubles title this week at The MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., as she is engaged in one of the stranger marriage issues seen in professional tennis.
Mirza was engaged to be married last year to family friend Sohrab Mirza, but the engagement was called off this past January when it was announced they had found themselves “incompatible.” Two months later in March, Mirza announced she was engaged to Pakistani cricket star Shoaib Malik.
Now that engagement is up in the air as another woman has emerged, claiming she is already married to Malik. According to reports, Malik married the woman, Ayesha Siddiqui, over the telephone eight years ago. Malik admits proposing to the woman over the phone, but says he was deceived and the marriage is not valid.
"In Muslim law, this arrangement doesn't work no matter what paper may or may not be there simply because, when the proposal was made, the image in my head was the girl in the photographs, but the girl, who was accepting the proposal was someone else. That's cheating," Malik told the Times of India. "My mistake was my innocence."
Mirza and Malik were planning to marry in April, but the wedding may now be postponed.
Last year in Ponte Vedra Beach, Mirza and partner Chia-Jung Chuang were unseeded, in the final defeating top-seeded American Lisa Raymond and Kveta Peschke in three sets for the title.
Haiti Relief Tennis Tournament in St. Augustine
Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., will host the Red Cross Rally for Haiti Tennis Tournament on Sunday, April 11, 2010, with play beginning at 10 a.m. at the Flagler College Tennis Center.
Entries are $20 per team, age 18 and over, for men’s, women’s, and mixed divisions. Raffles and prizes will also be offered, with check-in and warm-up beginning at 9 a.m.
All proceeds will be donated to Haiti relief efforts. For registration please contact redcrossrally@gmail.com or (321) 298-3011.
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Fly Control in New Jersey
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Fly Control Experts in New Jersey
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The Fragility of Information
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Jun 4,2015 Comments Off on The Fragility of Information Information Systems
How stable is the state of information storage on the planet today? How much do you know about the life of your great grandfather? How much of your own past would you remember if you lost all access to your personal data? And how likely is it that all of the world’s information could be lost?
Information is inherently fragile.”
In recent past we printed out copies of paper or burned CDs or DVDs to back up information stored online or in computers. But now the trend is to digitize as much information as possible and go ‘paperless’. We make ourselves feel better by creating ‘backups’ and making our systems ‘redundant’, but how stable are these information systems, really?
If for example, one file was damaged via corruption, every time it was copied thereafter, it would be a copy of the corrupted file. When you went to restore the file from a burned CD, you may find that the tiny ‘pits’ on the CD have decayed and the CD is no longer readable.
Or when you went to access the information, you found that it was stored on a medium that is no longer accessible (such as a floppy disk, which is only readable from a floppy drive) or a file type that requires a computer program or operating system that no longer exists.
While the latter type, what I’ve aforementioned as The White Album Problem, can be overcome through a constant and persistent ‘copy, transfer, and upgrade’ cycle, it doesn’t account for the former type which is bad data and certainly doesn’t overcome the Worst Possible Outcome.
The Worst Possible Outcome
The Worst Possible Outcome is that we, as a society have digitized all of the world’s information and stored it on electronic information systems that run on electricity. There are no paper copies of any information, but it is all available at our fingertips. Humanity rejoices!
But then one day a freak solar flare from the sun bathes the earth in electromagnetic radiation, destroying all electronics, and plunging us into total darkness. There are no paper books, no paper maps, and no paper manuals on how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.” -Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
How many times has near total information loss happened before? Let’s look at some modern examples of information loss. At NASA they forgot how the Saturn V rocket worked and are now trying to figure out how to make it work again:
“A team of engineers at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, are now dissecting the old engines to learn their secrets…Testing pieces of a rocket that hasn’t fired in nearly 50 years isn’t easy. They aren’t exactly lying around shops in test condition, they’re in storage units and museums.”
But the knowledge loss wasn’t limited to the rockets. After the Apollo program was ended, the crawlers used to move the Saturn V rockets were set aside and those who built them moved on to other projects. When the Space Shuttle project was first growing, NASA had to spend large amounts of money putting the crawlers back together, because the technology had practically been lost.
In the May/June 1973 issue of Saudi Aramco World, Richard W. Bulliet wrote in “Why They Lost The Wheel”, “Eastern society wilfully abandoned the use of the wheel, one of mankind’s greatest inventions,” opting instead to use camels, which were more suited for travel than the horses and chariots used earlier in Egypt and Rome.
There are other examples of lost technology such as The Antikythera Mechanism, “Discovered in a shipwreck in 1900, this device was built around 150-100 BC with levels of miniaturization and mechanical complexity that weren’t replicated until around 1500 years later. After much speculation, in 2008 scientists determined that it tracked the Metonic calendar, predicted solar eclipses, and calculated the timing of the Ancient Olympic Games.”
Damascus Steel swords, which were generally made in the Middle East anywhere from 540 A.D. to 1800 A.D., were sharper, more flexible and harder/stronger than other contemporary blades. They were also visually different, having a marbling pattern called “damask,” that hinted at a special technique/alloy. But production gradually stopped over the years, and the highly-guarded technique was lost – no modern smiths or metallurgists have been able to definitively solve the techniques/alloys used in forging those swords.
John Ochsendorf, the architectural rebel who champions ancient engineers recently wrote that, “Old masonry buildings are stressed very low, and so the fundamental issue is that we had knowledge accumulated over centuries, or even millennia, which with the Industrial Revolution was essentially thrown out and we don’t really build like that anymore. Engineers are taught today in universities that there are really two dominant materials—steel and concrete—and so when they come to an old structure, too often we’re trying to make old structures conform to the theories that we learned for steel and concrete; whereas it’s more useful generally to think of them as problems of stability and geometry, because the stresses in these monuments are very, very low. At root, the fundamental issue is that we’ve lost centuries of knowledge, which has been replaced by other knowledge about how to build in steel and concrete. But today’s knowledge doesn’t necessarily map easily onto those older structures. And if we try to make them conform to our theories, it’s very easy to say that these older structures don’t work. It’s a curious concept for an engineer to come along to a building that’s been standing for 500 years and to say this building is not safe.”
How does information get lost?
Information is inherently fragile. There are many ways that it can be lost. From data corruption to fire to war to flooding to electromagnetic pulse to the simple act of forgetting to record the information in the first place. The latter is the most common and most dangerous of them all.
At NASA (and other large [and small] organizations) there is a ‘group think’, shared-brain mentality where the corporate knowledge of the organization is enough to get by during finite periods of time. Organizations can operate as long as there is not too much turnover or brain drain.
But what happens when a large portion of the workforce retires at the same time, or a region suffers a local catastrophe, or information is not thought to be needed now, but may be very important later? What happens when the information is never recorded in the first place?
Have you ever heard the term “Recorded History“? Have you ever wondered why there seems to be a time in history when there is no written record of any events before that time? What could have happened to prevent knowledge transfer?
It could be false pride that is leading us to believe that we are the only generation of humans to get to this point in technological evolution or it could be that previous generations digitized there information to the point where no historical evidence of them now exists.
If someone a hundred years from now was tasked with proving you existed, what information would they use to prove that point? Would they rely on government databases? An abandoned Facebook account? What if there were no computers? No Internet access? How then?
The reason we know even what we know now about Jesus, famous leaders, and former Presidents, is because people wrote this information down on a piece of paper and someone copied it. When computers came along, the information was digitized and copied further, but if we stop copying, the information stops.
When the Bible was being copied by ancient scholars, there were error correction measures put in place to ensure that verses were copied exactly as intended. What memory correcting mechanisms do we have for modern day digital photographs, documents, and other digital information?
There are two things that have worked in the past:
Copying information to new formats using error correcting mechanisms
Varying the ways in which information is stored across mediums
Languages grown, change, and die out, requiring new translations over time
Here’s some practical examples using this blog as the example:
WordPress may not last forever so at some point I may have to switch to a new platform and transfer and translate my data to the new format
A catastrophe could take out the servers that host this information or we could lose the ability to read it so it could be printed
If modern, subsequent language morphs from English to some new language, then the blog would need translated over time
In general, things people care about the most are printed, backed up, copied, and distributed, but sometimes events conspire to erase even the most important information. Information is inherently fragile and we must always be vigilant to keep that which is most dear to our hearts.
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Omg! See how gunmen kill journalist in Bayelsa State ...graphic photos
Unidentified gunmen on Sunday killed a journalist, Famous Giobaro, in his residence at INEC Road, Kpasia in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
Giobaro, until his death was a a staff of state owned Bayelsa Radio Corporation, Glory FM 97.1 Yenagoa. A witness said the gunmen stormed his apartment at about 5 a.m on Sunday, April 16, where they had stiff resistance from the late journalist who barricaded the door as they tried to forcefully gain entrance into his house.
The gunmen later shot through the door which hit him in the stomach. The assailants then bust open his kitchen door, entered his bedroom and and shot him several times before they left the area.
The Bayelsa state Police Public Relations Officer DSP Asinim Butswat who confirmed the incident however said he was yet to get full details of the incident.
The attackers did not steal anything and they did not attack other occupants of the bungalow, fueling speculations they could be assassins.
The Nigeria Union of Jurnalists, Bayelsa State Council have received the news of Famous Giobaru with rude shock while calling on the Police to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators of this dastardly act.
More photos below...
By Unknown - April 16, 2017
See 30 Boys Arrested In Ghana For Fraud And 29 of them are Nigerians
A suspected cyber crime syndicate was last month apprehended by the Achimota Mile 7 Police in Accra. Surprisingly, of all the 30 suspects arrested, 29 were Nigerians.
The arrest took place in an early morning swoop on a house at Alhaji Tabora in Accra.
Retrieved from the suspects were 34 laptops and 48 mobile phones they allegedly used in committing Yahoo Yahoo fraud.
The suspects are also linked to a dead body that was found wrapped at the Apenkwa neighbourhood two weeks ago.
The suspects are aged from 21 to 30. Another suspect, Peter Konadu Frimpong, 34, who was on top of a storey building videoing the police action, was also arrested.
Among the suspects rounded up were Ike Ogu, 24; Ike Iduozi, 23; Blessing Adebayo, 25, Awudu Abdul Razak, 23; Daley Emmanuel, 26; Moses Madjaki, 30; Onaghnise Osahou, 24; Peter Andrews,25; Benjamin Akumeze, 25; Kelvin Osayi, 23; Oforufemi Adrigu, 25, Anthony Irughe, 22 and Kelvin Uche, 22.
Others were Timothy Irughe, 22; Elvis Uzeogbu, 24; Owen Zakari, 24; Joe Steve Obozu, 29; Festus Owubu, 25; Abraham Femi, 24; Suleman Abudu, 25; Abraham Femi, 24; Age Michael, 25.
Philip Aghariaha, 25; Nathaniel Owobu, 27; Teddy Atigbin, 23; Henry Onege, 27; Daniel Ukuokolo, 21; Osas Uhuns, 22; Kelvin Ola, 23, Lucky Osahou,21 and Yakubu Dido, 26.
The Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Osabarima Oware Asare Pinkro II, said the police, acting on a tip-off, kept the house under surveillance before conducting the swoop.
He said the police met almost all the suspects busily engaged in fraudulent cyber activities during the swoop around 7 a.m. “The suspects were all living in one big house where they undertake their nefarious activities.”
Traditional Ruler Kidnapped In Ondo
The Oniyani of Iyani Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Joel Daodu, has been kidnapped.
People suspected to be kidnappers had abducted him on Saturday night. According to a source, the traditional ruler was abducted on Ikare-Owo Expressway at Oba Akoko.
After being kidnapped, the source said Oba Da0du was taken to an unknown destination by his abductors.
The source said, “A few hours after the abduction, the kidnappers contacted the family of the traditional ruler and demanded for a sum of N15m before they would release him. ”
It would be recalled that the former Regent of Akungba Akoko, Princess Toyin Omosowon, was kidnapped on the same route in 2015.
The police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident but yet to give the full details at the time of this report.
He however said the police was on the move to rescue the traditional ruler.
The PPRO said, “We learnt that the Oba was kidnapped and our men are already on the trail of the abductors while investigation is also ongoing.”
On the issue of ransom, Joseph said he was not aware whether the kidnappers demanded for ransom or not.
“On our part, we will not encourage payment of ransom; but we will ensure that the victim is rescued alive, hale and hearty.”
In his reaction to the incident, a fellow traditional ruler, the Owa of Ogbagi Akoko, Oba Victor Adetona, condemned the abduction of his colleague.
He called on the state government to provide adequate security for traditional rulers in the state.
If Tiwa Savage & I could marry again, I'll put God first, no big wedding – Teebillz
Teebillz has for the first time spoken about how things would be different if he and Tiwa Savage could have done it all over again.
He was speaking as a panelist at Mind the Gap X, a love and relationship class for single, married and divorced people organized by Pastor Wale Adefarasin and life coach, Lanre Olusola.
Tiwa Savage's husband said, "If I have the chance of doing my marriage over again, I will put God first and not have an elaborate wedding."
He went on to describe the tendency for men to want to be in control of the relationship as wrong.
"It’s the 21st century and as men, most of us want to live like we are the lords of the marriage. You’re a partner. It’s about our weaknesses, we’re here to help each other."
The couple had an extravagant traditional wedding in 2013 before topping it up with a destination wedding at the Armani Hotel, Dubai in April 2014.
But if not for God and the intervention of pastors and Lanre Olusola, there marriage would have become history. Both of them have reportedly been undergoing serious marriage counseling.
Tiwa was present to support her husband as he spoke at the event.
Being Yoruba and Igbo Has Helped Me – Yemi Alade
In a chat with Sunday Scoop, Yemi Alade expressed how being from the Yoruba tribe and at the same time from Igbo has helped her. She says it's being a plus and has helped her connect easily.
Her words; “You cannot underestimate the importance and role of tribes in Nigeria as it is taken very seriously. I am very proud of my heritage as an African and I try to portray in every way that I can and everywhere I go. Being partly Yoruba and Igbo is a big plus for me as it has helped me to connect with both cultures. However, I believe that both cultures are inextricably intertwined because they share a lot of similarities.”
Yemi also stated that her first hit, Johnny was released by mistake. She said, “I was in the studio with Selebobo and we were just goofing around trying to come up with a nice sound. The first line for the song just came out playfully and I continued. I never thought that it would become a hit and if not that the song was leaked, I may never have released it.”
OMG: Married Woman Caught Doing IT With A Neighbor In.....
The leaked video session of this Yoruba woman from Ikotun, Lagos State went viral online after her husband placed the camera before going to work.
The husband (name withheld) is a Mechanic and he is not at home always. Some of their neighbors call the husband and explain this act to him but he didn’t believe that one of his neighbor is having affair with his wife.
This faithful day he placed a small camera at the edge corner of the room which capture his wife and the same man. If it were you what will you do?
ESABOD LEAVES FACEBOOK FOR GOOD!
Update! UNILAG Lady Who Went Missing After A Party Found Dead In The Morgue
As shared by Bayodele Plato...
'Pretty Lady missing after leaving for a party at Lagos Island, discovered to have died in an accident.
A news broke over a week ago about a lady that was missing after leaving for a party in Lagos Island, she was discovered to be dead in a car accident.
The lady who was identified as Remilekun wasn’t missing, but she died in an accident a day after she left her hostel. Our Sources revealed to us that her body was found at a morgue by her family, and she was buried today at Yaba cemetery'.
I’m Not A Witch - #BBNaija TBoss
Taking time off her schedule, Tokunbo Idowu, aka T-Boss, 2nd-runner of Big Brother Naija reality show who generated so much buzz and controversy, speaks to The Nation's Joe Agbro Jr. about her experience and relationships in the house and other issues.
Two months in the Big Brother Naija house. How does it feel being outside?
Actually, it was almost three months. It feels amazing. It’s still very unreal and the love I’ve been getting so far is absolutely humbling. I mean, people came to wait for me, receive me at the airport and they were wearing my face on their T-shirts. And it was so… these people love me and waited there for me. It was really humbling. It’s been very good so far.
A lot of people were rooting for you. And on the last day, while you were dressing, you wore a crown. How did it feel that you didn’t emerge winner?
I really appreciate the efforts they put in. I’ve heard some of the supports… I appreciate and I say to them all, thanks. I did not get the grand prize but I am a winner. I am absolutely a winner and I am an absolute queen. I went there as Tokunbo Idowu, just a simple girl, but right now I’m a queen. And that crown, that’s my crown, it’s befitting of how I feel right now. So, Efe is the grand prize winner but I’m also a winner. Bisola is a winner, everybody is a winner. So, I don’t feel bad at all.
You made it to the top three despite several challenges. Before going into the house, did you have a strategy to win, to get votes?
Absolutely not. Before I went into the house, I did a little bit of research with the limited time I had…to go through some previous winners and see, maybe, what it is they did that made them likable, what strategy they applied.
Just before I went into the house, I’m like, ‘abeg, it’s too much for me, I cannot.’ The only thing I know how to do is to be myself. I will be nice. I will get angry. I will scream. I will cry. I will laugh. I just went in there and I was myself. That was my only strategy…..who loved me loves me, who hates me… I have seen some of the comments and it’s sad.
Now that you’ve come out and you’ve seen the comments. Which of those comments have pained you the most?
You also received the most nominations for eviction from fellow housemates. How do you feel towards them for getting that title of being the most nominated housemate for eviction?
It was a game. People need to understand that it was a game. Everyone went in there fighting for themselves to get that prize money. It was a game. But truth of the matter is, being enclosed with people, you’re forced to live with them, cry with them, laugh, eat, shout with them, fight with them, doing our tasks, you start bonding with them and you start liking them.
Okay, every week it changes. Today, I like you, tomorrow, I don’t like you too much. It happens. Husband and wife, they fight every day. But I don’t have any bad energy or bad feelings towards any of them. They did what they felt they should do under the circumstances. And it’s fine. I love them all. They’re all talented, crazy people but I love them all.
Of the housemates, who is your favourite?
I don’t have favourites per se. but the person that I would say I really connected with and really bonded the most with would be Debie-Rise because she stayed to the end with me. But off and on, I like everyone.
Could boredom have been responsible for some of the crazy moments in the house?
What is crazy moment in your opinion?
Like the moments when you exposed your breasts, about twice… were they intentional?
I was showering. Did I come to the living room? Where did I expose my breasts?
The first time, you were in the dressing room and you took off your top.
So, I was in the bathroom…
You were not in the bathroom.
I was in the private area. Was I in the lounge?
You were in a place that was being recorded. There were videos capturing those moments...
I actually saw videos of us in the bathroom but not shower hour.
There were two instances that the internet has captured that you took off your top. Weren’t you aware of what you were doing then?
See, the Big Brother house is a place where you showcase yourself. You’re free to be T-Boss. Whoever T-Boss is, you show the world who T-Boss is. And in my own life, in my normal day-to-day life, I don’t like to wear clothes when I’m walking around in my house. I like to be free, here (pointing from her waist downwards), covered here (pointing upwards from her waist), what’s the point? Or I’ll just wear one small blouse. The Big Brother house was like my house at a point.
So, I would just be very very very free. I didn’t do it out of boredom. No, I was just being myself and walking around without clothes… I didn’t go to the kitchen, you know, because, then, that is like really seeking attention or go out into the garden or to the arena. No, I didn’t do that.
Those actions really created a buzz.
Everything creates a buzz. Even when I burb, it creates a buzz. People want to judge, people want to comment. And it’s fine, you know. Just don’t read too much into it.
A columnist, Reuben Abati, wrote a piece where he said you could have won, and were the most worthy to represent Big Brother Naija brand but you lost because of your arrogance. What’s your response to that?
I do not feel I’m an arrogant person. I’m sorry he has that opinion of me. I read the comments. My people actually were afraid that I would get emotional and sad about it. But I’m not. I was actually quite amused when I read his comments about the ‘mango’ part. It was actually quite comical.
Also during the show, some of the housemates described you as ‘manipulative’ and some commentators also used that word and called you a ‘white witch’.
I heard now… Oh, what do I have to say to that? I don’t know. (Asking another person) ‘Oga, was I manipulative?’ You (to the interviewer), do you think I was manipulative? Those were the comments of people
I don’t know. If they saw me like that, it’s sad. I’m not a manipulative person. And I’m definitely not a witch. Oh my God. And my bed is really not cursed.
Bisola's Baby Daddy Denies Ever Abandoning Her On The Altar
Bisola Aiyeola's baby daddy has denied ever abandoning her on the altar saying they never got to one. He admits having a child with her but says it couldn't work due to their personal differences. Olanrewaju Malcolm, who is an artiste manager and showbiz promoter spoke to Sunday Scoop saying;
“It is a big fat lie that I dumped Bisola at the altar; there was nothing like that. In fact, I’m still looking for the person who wrote that story online because it is malicious. We split because we had some personality traits that could not complement each other and there was never any marriage.”
Expressing his opinion of her conduct while in the house, Malcolm said, “I think she was able to go there, represent herself well and also showcase her talent. She was lively and full of fun while in the house and I guess that’s what viewers want.”
On if he had ever haboured thoughts that Bisola would one day participate in a reality show of that nature, he said, “I have always known her as a very talented person and she always goes for what she wants. In fact, she had been in reality shows before Big Brother.”
Speaking about Bisola’s closeness to Tony while in the house, he said, “She is a grown woman and whatever she did on the show is her business.”
He also said that their daughter, Leyla hasn’t really said much about the show, but “naturally, she’s happy that her mother won.”
Responding to a question on whether they would still get back together, Malcolm said “Everything still remains the same. It doesn’t mean that because she was successful at Big Brother Naija, we are coming back together. There was a reason for our break up, which is personality differences, and those differences are still there.”
Omg! See the last words of beautiful Nigerian girl who died during surgery in Lagos
19-year-old Kika Onyibe, a Law student at Birmingham University, UK, passed away on Wednesday, April 12th, during a surgery for ruptured appendix in a Lagos hospital. It was gathered that she died due to complications from the surgery. According to her boyfriend, Emmanuel Ayoola, she had traveled to Nigeria from the UK to receive treatment for what she thought was an infection but ended up being a ruptured appendix..
Responding to her mother's question on whether she was scared, just before she went in for the surgery, Kika said:
"No, I'm at peace. I know we're I'm going if I don't come out and I will be with Jesus"
Meanwhile, heartwarming tributes have been pouring in for Kika. Friends, family, boyfriend, colleagues led tributes for her on social media. All spoke of her kindness, generosity and warmth. Her Remains will be laid to rest at Ikoyi cemetery on Tuesday 18th of April 2017. Her boyfriend, Emmanuel Ayoola wrote:
Shocking! Man Chains Wife To Generator Till Dawn In Ogun
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 37-year-old man, Ifeanyi Ajaero for allegedly chaining his 28-old -wife, Obiageli Ajaero, to generator from night till the following morning. She was allegedly chained on the night of Friday 14th April till the morning of Saturday 15th April 2017.
Obiageli was said to have been seriously battered by her husband before being chained. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the incident happened at Ewooluwo, Sagamu in Sagamu Local Government Area of the state.
He said the suspect who is a member of the already disbanded merchant Navy used a handcuff to chain his wife who has become so weak as a result of serious beating from the husband. Oyeyemi said Ajaero’s neighbours who had been witnessing his frequent beating of his wife alerted the police of the latest happening.
He said swiftly, the Divisional Police Officer of the command in Sagamu, Aduroja Moses led his men to the scene, rescued the victim and got the suspect arrested.
On interrogation, he said the suspect admitted chaining the woman to the generator, but he claimed that his action was for “self-defence.”
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, who described the action of the suspect as the height of wickedness has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to Anti- Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the state Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and prosecution.
He also warned residents of the state that the command would not tolerate any act of domestic violence no matter who was involved.
Man Catapults 75-Year Old Mother’s Eye Over Alleged Witchcraft
A 36 year old electrician,Kwadwo Akomea Jonas has been arrested by the Akyem Osino Police in the Eastern region of Ghana for catapulting the right eye of his 75-year old mother, Salomey Korang after accusing her of witchcraft. The suspect has been remanded by a Koforidua Circuit Court .
The Prosecutor ,Chief Inspector Solomon Keelson told the Court that, the complainant in the case,Vida Darkwah, and the accused are siblings whiles their mother is the victim both residents at Akyem Osino.
He said , accused person has been accusing the mother (victim) for killing four out of twelve children she had given birth to with her witchcraft . The incessant witchcraft accusations against the victim by her son(accused person) created sour relationship between the two which the accused severally threatened to kill the victim or eject her from her own house.
The accused person,at about 4pm attempted to eject the victim from the house and further warned that,he will kill the victim of she fails to leave the house.
The 75 year old victim ,sensing danger attempted to run for safety but was pushed down by the accused person .
The victim frightened by the action of the accused, got up and sat at the entrance of her room and bowed down her head.
According to Chief Inspector Keelson, the accused catapulted the right eye of the victim immediately she raised up the head .
The accused , Kwadwo Akomea,then took to his heels when the victim suddenly fell down wailing in agony amidst blood oozing from her eye .
Some residents who got wind of the incident trooped to the house and rushed the victim to Osiem Government Hospital .
Police laid surveillance and managed to arrest the accused person at his hideout on April 4,2017, and charged with offence of causing harm contrary to Section 69 of Act 29/60.
The victim even though treated and discharged, her right eye has been damaged.
Wow! Meet The Newest Oldest Person In World
The new 'oldest living person in world' is a Jamaican who was born just miles from the birthplace of the fastest man on planet, Usain Bolt.
Violet Brown who is 117 years and 36 days old takes over the title from fellow supercentenarian Emma Morano who has died aged 117 years and 137 days.
She is the first ever verified supercentenarian from Jamaica and the oldest verified Jamaican person ever.
Mrs Brown was born on March 10, 1900 when Jamaica was a part of the British Empire, making her the last living former subject of Queen Victoria who died in January 1901.
Recognised by the Guinness Book of Records , Mrs Brown who still lives in the same house in where she was born told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last year: “I live by the grace of God and I am proud of my age!”
It also reported last May that her 96-year-old son, Harold Fairweather, is widely believed to be the oldest person with a living parent.
Alao Malaika To Host Wife To Lavish 40th Birthday Party
Fuji Star Malaika Alao's wife, Alhaja Princess Basirat Olubukola Adekunle is 40. The light skinned mother of four who is also the daughter of Olubadan added another year today. A thanks giving service was held in her house today in Lagos, where family and friends came to gather to wish her well.
Her husband has also picked, Sunday 23rd, 2017 to host an elaborate party for her.
Read President Buhari's Easter Message To Nigerians
2017 EASTER MESSAGE TO THE NATION FROM PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
I congratulate our Christian brothers and sisters on the celebration of this year’s Easter.
I rejoice with you on this historic occasion signifying the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, redemption over condemnation, and hope over despair.
The commemoration of this special season in Christianity, is always preceded by fasting, piety, humility, penance and prayers of intercession in the build up to the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, an event which reunited man with his Creator.
The message of Easter is filled with themes of love, faith, sacrifice, dedication, commitment, fulfilment of prophecy, hope, expectation and victory, as espoused in the Scriptures and the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate yet another Easter, I urge all Nigerians to live peacefully with one another and do their utmost to make Nigeria a beautiful place to reside.
In the almost two years of this administration, we have worked hard to meet the expectations of Nigerians by improving security, especially in the North-East, sustaining the campaign against corruption and have taken steps to revitalize the economy.
We are determined as never before to continue with the fight against terrorism and insurgency; sustain the peace in the Niger Delta through engagements with stakeholders; and restore peace and stability in other parts of the country.
It is in our collective interest to live in peace because without peace, no meaningful and sustainable development can take place. Lack of peace in one part affects in one way or the other, all parts of the country. Our people must rediscover the values of peaceful co-existence, social justice, religious tolerance, dignity of labour and patriotism.
I enjoin all Nigerians to keep faith in the determination and ability of this administration to change the Nigerian story for the good of all.
I wish all Nigerians happy Easter celebrations.
Another Nigerian Couple Jailed For Multiple Frauds In America
Mr. Gbenga Ogundele aka Benson Ogundele, 58, of Laurel, Maryland has been sentenced to 234 months in prison over conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering arising from a scheme to defraud vulnerable victims of millions of dollars.
Ogundele’s wife Moji Popoola , aka Mojisola Oluwakemi Tin Popoola/Moji T. Popoola, 42, also of Laurel, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Both sentences will be followed by three years of supervised release.
United States District Judge, Paul W. Grimm also convicted Ogundele of aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
Judge Grimm, had on March 20, 2017, sentenced Mojisola’s brother Babatunde Emmanuel Popoola , aka Emmanuel Popoola/Tunde Popoola, 34 to 12 years imprisonment on the same charges.
Ogundele and the Popoolas were convicted on November 18, 2016, after a 17-day trial.
Ogundele, Mojisola, and Emmanuel, were, in 2015, indicted by a federal grand jury alongside Mukhtar Danjuma Haruna , a/k/a “Mukhtar Haruna Danjuma” and “Mukky,” of Lagos, Nigeria; Victor Oyewumi Oloyede , 41, of Laurel; Olusegun Charles Ogunseye, aka “Charles O. Ogunseye,” 58, of Laurel; Adeyinka Olubunmi Awolaja , Jr. , aka “Yinka O. Awolaja, Jr.,” 33, formerly of New Carrolltown, Maryland; Olusola Olla , 48, of Brown Summit, North Carolina; and Olufemi Wilfred Williams , aka “Wilfred Olufemi Williams” and “Femi Williams,” 26, of Owings Mills, Maryland.
The judge ordered Ogundele to forfeit $2,195,103.36, Mojisola Popoola to forfeit approximately $165,000 and to pay restitution of $34,100, and Emmanuel to pay restitution of $465,170.76.
According to the evidence presented during their trial, from January 2011 to May 18, 2015, members of the conspiracy searched online dating websites to initiate romantic relationships with elderly male and female individuals. They phoned, e-mailed, texted and used Internet chat messenger services to form romantic relationships with the victims, who lived in Maryland and around the country.
The members of the conspiracy were said to have used a number of false stories and promises to convince the victims to provide money to the conspirators, including fake hospital bills, plane trips to visit the victims, problems with overseas businesses and foreign taxes. The conspirators opened bank accounts in order to receive millions of dollars from the victims.
Numerous deposits from several victims into bank accounts controlled by the defendants, or checks received from the victims, ranging in individual amounts from $1,720 to $30,000 were also discovered.
Members of the conspiracy used false stories and promises to convince the victims to provide money to the conspirators, including fake hospital bills, plane trips to visit the victims, problems with overseas businesses and foreign taxes.
Oloyede, a co-conspirator was sentenced to 234 months in prison.
Awolaja, Ogunseye, and Williams pleaded guilty to the charges against them. Awolaja will be sentenced on June 12, 2017, Ogunseye, on July 25, 2017, and Williams, on July 27, 2017.
Update! Amaechi slams Wike, denies ownership of the recovered money and apartment
Minister of Transport and former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has released a statement blasting his successor, Nyesom Wike, who claims the $43 million found by EFCC operatives in an apartment in Ikoyi last week, belongs to Amaechi.
In the statement released, Amaechi denied the claim and alleged that Wike's sole aim since assuming office is to search for new ways to defame his person. Read Amaechi's statement below.
“Wike has stolen Rivers State dry. Wike and his gang have frittered billions and billions of Naira of Rivers people money away. Rivers State is perpetually in crisis, the state in a mess as Wike has made a total mess of governance in the State. That child who sits there as governor is confused, he doesn’t know what to do. Wike’s only solution is to attack Amaechi.”
“Since he became governor, Wike sleeps and wakes up everyday, with a sole, one-point agenda to attack and denigrate Rotimi Amaechi, no matter how ridiculous and silly he sounds. Everyday in Rivers State, there is one frivolous, false story of what Amaechi did or didn’t do. Same pattern, the same blatant lies with no proof, same old concocted stories of corruption allegations against Amaechi told with different flavours. At this rate, if Wike is unable to perform his spousal duties, he will blame it on Amaechi. Yes, that’s how despicably low he can go in his consuming fixation to throw mud at Amaechi.”
“This latest outburst by Wike is typical of him. We are aware that Wike first tried to float the fake news of Amaechi’s ownership of the recovered $43million and the Ikoyi house in the social media using his minions and lackeys, spending huge sums of Rivers money on the failed project. His minions and lackeys were calling journalists, bloggers and media organizations to run the fake story with promises of almost irresistible mouth-watering compensation for using the fake story. When that failed and the story didn’t gain traction that was when Wike decided to hurriedly hold the press conference Friday night, to rant and spew his outright lies, yet again without providing any proof of Amaechi’s ownership of both the property and the money.”
“For clarity and emphasis, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is not the owner of the $43million and the Ikoyi apartment in which the money was recovered from. Amaechi has no business, link or connection to the money or property. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi does not know who owns the money or Ikoyi apartment.”
“Wike’s malicious allegation of corruption against Amaechi in the sale of the Gas Turbines is not new. This false claim has been punctured repeatedly with facts and evidence of the transfer payments for the power plants into Rivers State government accounts by Sahara Energy. The records of how the funds were spent and what it was spent on are in the records of the State government. Amaechi has absolutely no business or any interest whatsoever in Sahara Energy. The company was already a thriving business concern before Amaechi’s emergence as governor of Rivers State in 2007.
“We urge all right-thinking members of the public to completely disregard all the false, politically motivated no-proof claims by Nyesom Wike and his minions as it concerns Amaechi and the $43million and Ikoyi property. The false accusations by Wike is purely diversionary, a political smear campaign against Amaechi by Wike, while he steals Rivers State blind. The fake claims is a figment of the imagination of Nyesom Wike, an ignoble fellow who’s so reckless, irresponsible, and disgraceful, and has debased the high office he holds in trust for the people. Wike is a rabble-rouser and should not be taken seriously. He has made several false claims like this in the recent past and never went the whole length to prove it because he had no proof. Many would recall how Wike was screaming all over national television stations just before the Rivers State legislative Rerun elections that he had an explosive video, containing earth-shaking revelations and he would show the video on national TV. Till date, no video, just talk talk and talk, telling more and more lies.”
“Yet again, we challenge Wike to charge Amaechi to court if he has any shred of evidence that the money belongs to Rivers State and was kept in the Ikoyi apartment by Amaechi. But like his numerous frivolous accusations in the past, we know he won’t go to court. He has nothing to substantiate his blatant lies. This Wike’s recent tale like his previous ones is a big sham, a disgraceful political drama, and a campaign of calumny to defame and destroy the sterling reputation of Rotimi Amaechi. This is now Wike’s sole life ambition.”
“Finally, we want Nigerians to note that Wike’s reckless, irresponsible and fictitious tirade against the President Buhari administration at his media briefing of Friday is a declaration of war against the Federal Government. This has been his regular past time in recent times, making false allegations against the Federal government and threatening the President Buhari administration with fire and brimstone”, the statement concluded.
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Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower
SpongeBob Game
Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower game
A fun puzzle game of a cartoon character. In this game you have to do a jigsaw of SpongeBob when you are showering. To do this, click and drag the pieces to fit. The original image has been split into several pieces, you have to find the pieces that fit together. The objective of the game is all about the pieces to the original image again have the same shape and see the whole picture. Our marine sponge in the shower, covered in soap and bubbles.
This game has been played 13461 times online. Ranking 1495 of the best free games.
A funny image of television character: The protagonist of the scene is a cartoon character. The protagonist of an American cartoon series for children. The story follows the adventures of a sponge that lives under water. Work in a burger with a boss who is very bad and some funny customers. His best friend is his neighbor with whom funny things always happen. It is a character a bit silly. Your pet is a snail. His best friend is a squirrel that lives underwater with a scuba set. One of the most beloved drawings by children in an easy puzzle to do.
What is this game about? This is a free game called Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower for your browser without having to download or install anything, it is completely reliable. On this website you will be able to play for free this SpongeBob flash game called Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower. And remember this is a free game called Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower and it is related to SpongeBob. Our new game Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower is one of the best games of SpongeBob you can find and you can share it with your friends and contacts on the social networks. This is an online game and video game called Puzzle of SpongeBob in the shower that we invite you to play, enjoy and learn about it as well as to share in the comments and with your friends on the social networks.
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Coloring a Scene from Sponge Bob
6 out of 10 - 3830 votes
In this game you have to color a Scene of the television serie Sponge Bob. Choose the color you prefer and then the part of the drawing that you want to paint. Use the mouse.
Costumes for SpongeBob
In this game you have to dress up SpongeBob. To make the costume, choose your facial expression, your face is going to have, by clicking on the icons on the left side of the screen, and his costume, by clicking on the icons at the top of the screen . The costumes include: pirate, aggressive executive, ballet dancer, robot or a sports player or others. You have to make a funny costume for this character to go fun. You know that SpongeBob loves costumes and in this game you have to bucar original ...
Puzzle of the house of SpongeBob
Know where SpongeBob lives? He lives in a pineapple in the bottom of the sea. In this game, you have to make a puzzle of a picture of the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants. To complete the puzzle, use the mouse to click and drag the pieces to fit together. In the picture we can see the house of our friend who is a pineapple and next to the house of his neighbor and friend. The two houses are at the bottom of the sea where the characters live. A cartoon series ...
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UK's OFFER proposes to separate the distribution and supply businesses
New proposals, which would separate the distribution and supply businesses of Britain's 14 Public Electricity Suppliers (PESs) to make the electricity market more competitive and protect customers, were published by OFFER. The document also proposes new arrangements for metering and meter reading.
OFFER says the present integration of distribution and supply is likely to protect dominant suppliers to the disadvantage of customers and competitors. With the close interactions between the competitive electricity and gas markets, it could also distort competition in gas supply and inhibit the convergence of gas and electricity.
OFFER outlines five main concerns about integrated supply and distribution business within a PES:
- PESs may operate the supply and distribution businesses to maximise benefits to the company in a way that disadvantages competing suppliers.
-The PES supply business may have access to information about competitors as a result of their use of the distribution service, which is not available to other suppliers.
- Ownership of supply and distribution business gives PESs the opportunity to cross-subsidise by allocating costs to the distribution business which more properly should be met by supply.
- The present integration of distribution and supply may deter customers from switching to a new supplier. Customers may be misled to believe that switching supplier might lead to a poorer response from the distribution business during a power cut.
- The present metering and meter reading monopoly held by distribution companies is likely to reduce incentives for innovation and efficiency gains. Retention of the monopoly is also likely to distort the development of competition in metering and meter reading in gas.
Callum McCarthy, Director General of Electricity and Gas Supply, said: "It has long been recognised that ownership of distribution and the supply side of a utility is an impediment to competition. In the gas market, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission found that British Gas' operation of the pipeline system and the supply of gas was against the public interest. As a result of separation in the gas industry, Transco, the pipeline company is now a separate regulated company, transporting gas for a large number of gas shippers, and without gas supply responsibilities.
"We now wish to bring the same clarity of responsibility and business purpose to distribution and supply of electricity. Many companies are already recognising the separate characteristics of these two businesses, and organising their affairs accordingly. OFFER is now setting out the clear regulatory framework which both competition and business pressure need."
1. This document follows initial proposals by OFFER published in November 1998, and reviews the responses and sets out conclusions on the issues raised. As well as guiding the next stages of work on separation and metering, these conclusions will help form the basis for further work on the PES distribution price control, the transmission controls in Scotland and the supply price restraints.
2. The present Electricity Act does not distinguish clearly between distribution and supply or provide a separate licensing regime for distribution. The Government has indicated that it intends to legislate, as soon as Parliamentary time allows, to introduce separate licensing of distribution and supply. This will clarify the responsibilities of the two functions and allow separate ownership of supply and distribution.
Source: M2 PressWire via Newspage
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“The Three-Body problem” Drama VS Movie: Eyes on a Bigger Picture
“The Three Body Problem Movie VS Drama”
Comparison of Sci-Fic Book Transformed Movies and Drama Works
Sometimes words can unveil the ancient mysteries and question the significance of Cultural Revolution and core of civilization. Mesmerizing and extremely eminent Chinese Sci-Fi writer Liu Cixin questioned the human nature in a quite dramatic manner in his award winning novel “The Three-Body problem”.
Since olden times, sci-fi novel have been the inspiration for plenty of successful movies and stage dramas. “First Lensman” written by Edward Elmer “Doc” Smith in 1950 was one of the first authentic space operas. “First Lensman” is the direct inspiration for the most successful sci-fi movie franchise STAR WARS. The novel keeps its readers attracted via space-hopping adventure series. THE STEPFORD WIVES is an American Sci-Fi comedy-drama movie came in 2004 which was a remake of the same title film came in 1975. The movie is based on Sci-Fi novel ‘The Stepford Wives’ written by Ira Levin. The remake earned $102 million worldwide.
I AM LEGEND is another sci-fi novel based blockbuster movie came in 2007. This movie earned $585 million worldwide. It is based on the novel of same name written by Richard Matheson in 1954. The transformation from novel to movie became extremely successful and proves from audience’s response and box-office collection.
Blockbuster novels based movies have registered amazing box offices collections. Some of successful novel based movies are A Clockwork Orange (1971), One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Tess (1979), Trainspotting (1996) and many more. Though, it doesn’t indicate that all novel based movies became successful as some of them were thrashed on box office. Some of such flop movies are The Golden Compass, the Postman, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Pelican Brief etc.
“The Three-Body problem” has won plenty of prestigious recognitions and awards worldwide. LotusLee Drama Company has personified the novel with its scintillating 3D Sci-Fi drama ‘The Three-Body Problem’. This drama is created by the proud presenters of The Lost Tomb Drama 3D. ‘The Three-Body Problem’ drama made its debut on 1st of June 2016. It is also registering its presence at the prestigious global event APAP NYC 2017. This drama will display a new dimension of stage play with its charismatic 3D stage technologies. Lotus Lee is the Chief Producer, Liu Cixin is Production Supervisor, and Liu Fangqi is the director of this Sci-Fi Drama.
Film “The Three-Body problem” is about to release in 2017 starring David E Woodley, Hans Zhang, Tiffany Tang, Zhang Jingchu, Feng Shaofeng etc. Fanfan Zhang is the director of this science fiction. The movie is based on the Sci-Fi fiction Chinese novel “The Three-Body problem”. Even though the movie is yet to meet the audience, from the trailer, we will able to tell that “The Three-Body problem” movie and drama are completely different prospects. The “The Three-Body problem” movie uses the traditional representing ways like most Science Fiction movies to tell this story. “The Three-Body problem” drama enables more interaction with audiences by using engaging 3D stage technologies. It will be interesting to see the audience’s responses to both drama and movie after seeing the sci-fi drama on big screen and stage.
Company Name: Shanghai Lotus Lee Culture & Communications CO., Ltd.
Contact Person: Vivian Li
Email: pr@unipx.com
Website: http://www.lotus-lee.com/LotusLee.html
CategoriesArts & Entertainment, Business, Education, Living, Technology
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Wealth Management Company Rudolf Stark Appeared on Times Square Billboard Recently
Rudolf Stark Holdings, a trading and investment consulting service provider that has already won multiple prestigious awards, was featured on Times Square billboard.
Rudolf Stock limited, which won the prestigious the Purchase of Asset Management Trust Award and has regularly featured in top business and finance publications such as Asia-Pacific Finance and Economics Magazine, appeared on Times Square Billboard recently. The company, which has earned trust of hundreds and thousands of investors and traders by providing reliable and steady consulting services, had its fair share of exposure at New York Times Square – a place which probably gets the most number of footfalls on any day.
One of the senior executives told that their goal is to make more traders and investors aware of their market presence and the value propositions they bring to the global investor community.
“Rudolf Stark has already featured in top business and money magazines such as Digital Journal, AZ Central, World Net Daily, Yahoo Finance and numerous online and offline publications. It is fair to say that Rudolf Stark has got its due recognition from all quarters of the investor fraternity, but we still have a long way to go”, said one of the top executives of Rudolf Stark.
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/ieI2PkurfMA
“We are quite sure that this coverage will help us in hogging all the limelight and we can spread our business further afield. As a financial services and stock holding company operating since 1995, we have worked as an investment and financial management partner for some of the biggest investors and we perfectly know how important it is for potential bigwigs to verify the market presence of the investment consulting service providers”, added the executive.
According to him, Rudolf Stark Holdings, which has already built its special account management team for providing exclusive consulting services to high-end investors and traders, will take a giant leap forward in about a few weeks as the company is going to get many eyeballs as their ad was live at the iconic Times Square.
“Our marketing and advertising team has done a brilliant job in making a minimalist and visually appealing video which played on a selected Times Square billboard. We are sure that the advertisement will send across the right message and get more investors sign up with us”, said the executive.
The CEO and managing director of Rudolf Star Limited said that the company has aimed at good customer service since its inception. “We have devoted ourselves in developing innovative and super-personalized financial services as we know that high-end investors have very unique requirements that can only be fulfilled by seasoned professionals who have worked in the industry for more than one or two decades. Many of our investment consultants bring years of experience to the tables, whereas our front-line executives are relatively young and proficient in customer relationship management. We offer a range of financial services including banking assistance, services for people interested in foreign exchange funds, foreclosure, bonds, mutual funds, stock market and so on”, said the CEO and managing director of the company.
He also expressed excitement that their wealth management company got the exposure through the Times Square billboard advertisement. “It’s more of a strategic decision than a marketing stunt. We know who our target clients are and we will continue to serve them in the best possible manner”, he added.
Rudolf Stark Limited, founded in 1995, is a comprehensive financial service stock holding company. Based in the U.S.A, with service covering the America continent, Europe, etc., Rudolf Stark Limited aimed at providing the best customer consulting service and trading consulting service of mutual funds, foreign exchange, crude oil, Heng Seng index and other financial derivatives.
To know more, visit https://www.rudolf-stark.com/
Company Name: Rudolf Stark Limited
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: info@rudolf-stark.com
Website: https://www.rudolf-stark.com
CategoriesBusiness, Finance, India
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Historic Landscape Characterisation
055 Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer
HLCA 55 Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer Early industrial squatter" settlement: irregular dispersed layout with central linear ribbon core, wider streets near Pont-y-Cefn (associated with Crawshay family), early industrial housing; commercial function; religious, funerary and ritual: churches and chapels, transport corridor, road, rail, and electric tram and associated bridges
Click here for a character area map
(Back to map)
(Photo: GGAT Merthyr 055)
Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer character area: important industrial worker's squatter settlement.
An important surviving industrial worker's squatter settlement, characterised by unplanned layout, early housing with a strong vernacular influence and non-conformist chapels of both rural and urban type. A major transport corridor characteristic is represented by elements such as the turnpike road from Cefn to Cwm Taff, the Brecon-Merthyr road, Cefn-Coed-y-Cymmer railway viaduct.
The historic landscape area of Cefn coed-y-Cymmer has retained its distinct identity despite the spread of 20th century building around it. Compared to many of the settlements in Merthyr Tydfil, Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer has survived with much of its 19th century character intact; this is primarily due to it being until recently outside the borough. Early 19th century documentary evidence indicates that Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer originated as a squatter settlement. Theopholus Jones noted in 1809: "The village, raised in consequence of the neighbouring iron works at Merthyr is built upon the waste and houses are seen starting up without the slightest attention to regularity or arrangement, the convenience of each other or the preservation of health" (cited in Bowen 1992, 15). Thus it reflects a stage where the ironmasters had yet to assume control of all aspects of their workforce's lives. The irregular street pattern reflects this unplanned growth, although many of the buildings are of mid-late 19th century date. The expansion of population led to the construction of a chapel-of-ease in 1833, replacing a ruined medieval chapel (Bowen 1992, 243).
The area contains the remains of the BM and LNWR Joint Line, which is carried over the Taff Fechan by the impressive Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer Viaduct by Savin and Ward 1866 (listed grade II).
By 1894, Clarke noted that Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer was "situated two miles from Merthyr, and contains about 2,500 inhabitants" (1894, 35). By this time, the settlement had extended to the north along Upper High Street (north of the A465). There was a public tramway along the High Street in the early 20th century.
Intermixed with the housing the settlement retained transport links to the ironworks, mines and quarries, the most notable survival of which is the railway viaduct.
For further information please contact the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust at this address. Link to the Countryside Council for Wales website at www.ccw.gov.uk or Cadw at www.cadw.wales.gov.uk
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Best Buy will sell a version of the new Black Sabbath album, “13,” that features an exclusive bonus track.
"Naïveté In Black" is one of four bonus songs with the package, but the only one available via the North American retailer; the additional tracks also include "Methademic," "Peace Of Mind," and "Pariah."
Due June 11, “13” was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Rick Rubin.
Sabbath recently kicked off their 2013 world tour in Auckland, New Zealand.
The band has just announced dates for their full 2013 North American tour.
The 20-city trek will begin July 25 in Houston, TX and wrap in Los Angeles on September 3.
Tickets for the newly announced dates will go on sale starting Friday, May 3 at LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com.
For more information and tour dates, click here.
Posted by Bruce Henne at 5:20 PM
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Heartland Express, Inc. Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend
September 11, 2018 17:44 ET | Source: Heartland Express, Inc.
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa, Sept. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of Heartland Express, Inc. (Nasdaq: HTLD) announced today the declaration of a regular quarterly cash dividend. The $0.02 per share dividend will be paid on October 1, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 21, 2018. We currently estimate that a total of approximately $1.6 million will be paid on the Company's 82.0 million shares of common stock. This is the Company's sixty-first consecutive quarterly cash dividend. With the payment of this dividend, the Company will have paid a total of $475.7 million in cash dividends, including three special dividends since the dividend program was implemented in the third quarter of 2003.
The press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on information currently available. These statements and assumptions involve certain risks and uncertainties. Actual events may differ from these expectations as specified from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to the extent it becomes aware that it will not be achieved for any reason.
For further information contact
Michael J. Gerdin, President and CEO
Christopher A. Strain, VP Finance and CFO
Heartland Express, Inc.
More articles issued by Heartland Express, Inc.
Dividend Reports and Estimates
North Liberty, Iowa, UNITED STATES
http://www.heartlandexpress.com
Heartland-logo150x77 for Press Release (1).png
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Muslim helpline reveals majority of faith attacks on women
admin 10 March 2013 General No Comment Email This Post
Some harrowing news in light of the recently passed International Women’s Day.
(Guardian)
The majority of Muslims physically attacked, harassed or intimidated because of their faith are women, according to the first results from the UK’s official helpline for victims of Islamophobia.
More than 630 incidents were logged during the first 12 months of the helpline, launched in an attempt to quantify the scale and nature of anti-Muslim violence in Britain.
Some of the most egregious attacks recorded include a family being forced from their Nottinghamshire home, a five-year-old girl knocked over by a hit-and-run driver and a Somali lady who had dog faeces placed on her head by a white man while shopping in south London.
The attacks, collated by the helpline, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), show that Muslim women were targeted in 58% of all incidents.
The majority of physical assaults committed in the street were on women wearing Islamic clothing, with most victims describing the nature of the attacks as seemingly “random”.
High-profile female targets have included communities minister Lady Warsi who was threatened online by an English Defence League (EDL) member and journalist Jemima Khan, whose 14-year-old son received anti-Muslim comments on Twitter.
Of the perpetrators, the majority were subsequently found to have had links to recognised far-right groups such as the British National Party (BNP) or the EDL. So far, information provided to the helpline has led to the arrests of 21 far-right EDL supporters, with more than 40 incidents reported against EDL leader Tommy Robinson alone.
Members of the BNP or EDL were involved in 54% of all incidents, of which three-quarters were committed by men. The average age of perpetrators were between 21 and 30.
The results follow a report by think-tank Chatham House which identified a considerable Islamophobic sentiment in the UK, detecting a “wide reservoir of public sympathy for claims that Islam and the growth of settled, Muslim communities pose a fundamental threat to the native group and nation.”
The majority of incidents received by the helpline related to what it described as “abusive behaviour” with 74% of recorded incidents occurring online. However, experts agree that even non-violent incidents have a profound adverse impact on peoples’ lives.
Fiyaz Mughal, co-ordinator of Tell MAMA and director of non-profit group Faith Matters said he was “shocked” by the amount of racial hatred they had detected in their first year of monitoring, particularly online.
Mughal, a former advisor to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, added: “We are calling on police and politicians to do more to tackle this shameful wave of fear and prejudice. From the internet, to the workplace, the street and even houses of worship, too often Muslim women and men are becoming the target of vicious, sometimes violent, abuse.
He added: “Recent history shows us what happens if we allow our fears to run unchecked. Demonisation of ‘the other’, misguided beliefs that Muslims are somehow a monolithic block, unchecked lies that Islam is a violent religion or that British Muslims wish to abuse white girls must be challenged.”
He is now calling on police forces to drastically improve their recording of Islamophobic crimes. At the moment just two forces, the Metropolitan police and City of London police, currently record anti-Muslim crimes separately. Mughal also wants the Home Office to take over monitoring of online hate and far-right groups from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Other areas that the Muslim community believe could be improved include more prosecutions against online-based hatred.
“The police frequently fail to take victim statements, fail to appreciate the terrifying effects of these incidents upon women and vulnerable children. Few police forces even bother to record Islamophobia as part of their reporting systems. More training is needed at a time when police are facing budget cuts; we need more leadership too from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which, unhelpfully, has talked about fewer rather than more social media prosecutions,” added Mughal.
During 2011 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by police with officers at the time admitting that they were unclear how many were against Muslims because separate figures were not recorded.
Original post: Muslim helpline reveals majority of faith attacks on women
Posted on 10 March 2013 in General | No Comments
Tags: Anti-Muslim, Hijab, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslim helpline, Muslim Women, Tell MAMA
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13 STAR PARADE FLAG IN A 3-2-3-2-3 PATTERN, MADE CA 1876-1898, UNUSUALLY LARGE AND WITH AN UNUSUAL STAR PATTERN AMONG ITS COUNTERPARTS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
Frame Size (H x L): 25.25" x 35"
Flag Size (H x L): 14.75" x 24"
13 star American national parade flag, printed on cotton, made sometime in the period between 1876 and 1898. This is a very rare size for the 13 star count in a printed flag. Most are very small (less than 10”). Before purchasing a small group of about eight of these flags some years ago, I had never before seen an example that bore any resemblance. The group was found in Canada, and were almost certainly made there for the American market, or made in the States for the Canadian market for an event where there was U.S. involvement. Whatever the case may be, others in the same style have since been found there and Canadian manufacture would explain the scarcity.
The stars are quite large in scale. Each is canted at a slight angle such that one point is directed in the 1:00 position. These are arranged in staggered lineal rows in counts of 3-2-3-2-3, which is the most common configuration found in 19th century flags with 13 stars that have pieced-and-sewn construction, but is highly unusual among printed parade flags.
In most cases the 3-2-3-2-3 design can also be viewed as a diamond of stars, with a star in each corner and a star in the very center. It can also be interpreted as a combination of the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George, which some experts feel could have been the design of the very first American flag, serving as a link between this star pattern and the British Union Jack. The pattern is often attributed--erroneously in my opinion--to New Jersey Senator Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, who is credited with having played the most significant role in the original design of the American national flag. Hopkinson's original drawings for the design of the flag have not survived and his other depictions of 13 star arrangements for other devices are inconsistent.
On this particular example, note the unusual coloration of the hoist area, adjacent to the canton, which is red instead of the typical white. This adds a distinctly unusual feature to the flag's visual presentation and is a nice compliment to the field of large, canted stars. The presence of an extra amount of white beneath the 13th stripe is also atypical. This represents blank space between one flag and the next. Parade flags were printed on a bolt of fabric, like other printed textiles, and were clipped from the bolt as desired when sold. Many parade flags don't have any significant amount of space between one flag and the next, so it is unusual to see this much open white space; and there was, in fact, even more beyond the point where this one was trimmed, as evidenced by other surviving examples of flags in this style, some of which appear to have a full 14th white stripe.
13 star flags have been flown throughout our nation’s history for a variety of purposes. They were hoisted at patriotic events, including Lafayette’s visit in 1825-26, the celebration of the nation's centennial in 1876, and the sesquicentennial in 1926. They were displayed during the Civil War, to reference past struggles for American liberty and victory over oppression, and were used by 19th century politicians in political campaigning for the same reason. The U.S. Navy used the 13 star count on small boats until 1916, because it was easier to discern fewer stars at a distance on a small flag. Commercial flag-makers mirrored this practice and some private ships flew 13 star flags during the same period as the Navy. The use of yachting ensigns with a wreath of 13 stars surrounding an fouled anchor, which allowed pleasure boats to bypass customs between 1848 and 1980, persists today without an official purpose.
Mounting: The flag has been stitched to 100% cotton, black in color, which has been washed to reduce excess dye. An acid-free agent was added to the wash to further set the dye and the fabric was heat-treated for the same purpose. The mount was then placed in a modern molding that is constructed of wood, but has a finish that presents like antique iron. Spacers keep the textile away from the glazing, which is U.V. protective glass.
Condition: There is some foxing throughout. Many of my clients prefer early flags to show their age and history of use.
Flag Type: Parade flag
State/Affiliation: 13 Original Colonies
War Association:
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Case Study: A Summary of Studies of Reproductive Outcomes
Written by April Weber
In a case-control study looking at environmental and occupational factors for congenital malformations (Kurppa et al. 1986), 1,475 cases were identified from the Finnish Register of Congenital Malformations during the period between 1976 and 1982 (see table 1). A mother whose delivery immediately preceded a case, and was in the same district, served as a control for that case. Exposure to visual display units (VDUs) during the first trimester of pregnancy was assessed using face-to-face interviews conducted either at the clinic during a post-natal visit, or at home. The classification of probable or obvious VDU use was determined by occupational hygienists, blind to the pregnancy outcomes, using job titles and the responses to open-ended questions asking to describe the ordinary work day. There was no evidence of increased risk either among women who reported exposure to VDUs (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.6 – 1.2), or among women whose job titles indicated possible exposure to VDUs (235 cases/255 controls).
A cohort of Swedish women from three occupational groups was identified through a linkage of occupational census and the Medical Birth Registry during 1980–1981 (Ericson and Källén 1986). A case-base study was conducted within that cohort: cases were 412 women hospitalized for spontaneous abortion and an additional 110 with other outcomes (such as perinatal death, congenital malformations and birthweight below 1500 g). Controls were 1,032 women of similar age who had infants without any of these characteristics, chosen from the same registry. Using crude odds ratios, there was an exposure–response relation between VDU exposure in estimated hours per week (divided into five-hour categories) and pregnancy outcomes (excluding spontaneous abortion). After controlling for smoking and stress, the effect of VDU use on all adverse pregnancy outcomes was not significant.
Focusing on one of three occupational groups identified from a previous study by Ericson a cohort study was conducted using 4,117 pregnancies among social security clerks in Sweden (Westerholm and Ericson 1986). Rates of hospitalized spontaneous abortion, low birthweight, perinatal mortality and congenital malformations in this cohort were compared to rates in the general population. The cohort was divided into five exposure groups defined by trade union and employer representatives. No excesses were found for any of the studied outcomes. The overall relative risk for spontaneous abortion, standardized for mothers’ age was 1.1 (95% CI 0.8 – 1.4).
A cohort study involving 1,820 births was conducted among women having ever worked at the Norwegian Postal Giro Centre between 1967–1984 (Bjerkedal and Egenaes 1986). The rates of stillbirth, first-week death, perinatal death, low and very low birthweight, preterm birth, multiple births and congenital malformations were estimated for pregnancies occurring during employment at the centre (990 pregnancies), and pregnancies occurring before or after employment at the centre (830 pregnancies). Rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes were also estimated for three six-year periods, (1967–1972), (1973–1978) and (1979–1984). Introduction of VDUs began in 1972, and were extensively used by 1980. The study concluded that there was no indication that introduction of VDUs in the centre had led to any increase in the rate of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
A cohort of 9,564 pregnancies was identified through logs of urine pregnancy tests from three California clinics in 1981–1982 (Goldhaber, Polen and Hiatt. 1988). Coverage by a Northern California medical plan was a requirement to be eligible for the study. Pregnancy outcomes were found for all but 391 identified pregnancies. From this cohort, 460 of 556 spontaneous abortion cases (<28 weeks), 137 of 156 congenital abnormality cases and 986 of 1,123 controls (corresponding to every fifth normal birth in the original cohort), responded to a retrospective postal questionnaire on chemical environmental exposures including pesticides and VDU use during pregnancy. Odds ratios for women with first trimester VDU use over 20 hours per week, adjusted for eleven variables including age, previous miscarriage or birth defect, smoking and alcohol, were 1.8 (95% CI 1.2 – 2.8) for spontaneous abortion and 1.4 (95% CI 0.7 – 2.9) for birth defects, when compared to working women who did not report using VDUs.
In a study conducted in 11 hospital maternity units in the Montreal area over a two-year period (1982–1984), 56,012 women were interviewed on occupational, personal and social factors after delivery (51,855) or treatment for spontaneous abortion (4,127) (McDonald et al. 1988).These women also provided information on 48,637 previous pregnancies. Adverse pregnancy outcomes (spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, congenital malformations and low birthweight) were recorded for both current and previous pregnancies. Ratios of observed to expected rates were calculated by employment group for current pregnancies and previous pregnancies. Expected rates for each employment group were based on the outcome in the whole sample, and adjusted for eight variables, including age, smoking and alcohol. No increase in risk was found among women exposed to VDUs.
A cohort study comparing rates of threatened abortion, length of gestation, birthweight, placental weight and pregnancy-induced hypertension between women who used VDUs and women who did not use VDUs was carried out among 1,475 women (Nurminen and Kurppa 1988).The cohort was defined as all non-cases from a previous case-control study of congenital malformations. Information about risk factors was collected using face-to-face interviews. The crude and adjusted rate ratios for the outcomes studied did not show statistically significant effects for working with VDUs.
A case-control study involving 344 cases of hospitalized spontaneous abortion occurring at three hospitals in Calgary, Canada, was conducted in 1984–1985 (Bryant and Love 1989). Up to two controls (314 prenatal and 333 postpartum) were chosen among women having delivered or susceptible of delivering at the study hospitals. The controls were matched to each case on the basis of age at last menstrual period, parity, and intended hospital of delivery. VDU use at home and at work, before and during pregnancy, was determined through interviews at the hospitals for postnatal controls and spontaneous abortion, and at home, work, or the study office for prenatal controls. The study controlled for socioeconomic and obstetric variables. VDU use was similar between the cases and both the prenatal controls (OR=1.14; p=0.47) and postnatal controls (OR=0.80; p=0.2).
A case-control study of 628 women with spontaneous abortion, identified through pathology specimen submissions, whose last menstrual period occurred in 1986, and 1,308 controls who had live births, was carried out in one county in California (Windham et al. 1990). The controls were randomly selected, in a two-to-one ratio, among women matched for date of last menstrual period and hospital. Activities during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy were identified through telephone interviews. The participants were also asked about VDU use at work during this period. Crude odds ratios for spontaneous abortion and VDU use less than 20 hours per week (1.2; 95% CI 0.88 – 1.6), and at least 20 hours per week (1.3; 95% CI 0.87 – 1.5), showed little change when adjusted for variables including employment group, maternal age, prior foetal loss, alcohol consumption and smoking. In a further analysis among the women in the control group, risks for low birthweight and intrauterine growth retardation were not significantly elevated.
A case-control study was conducted within a study base of 24,352 pregnancies occurring between 1982 and 1985 among 214,108 commercial and clerical employees in Denmark (Brandt and Nielsen 1990). The cases, 421 respondents among the 661 women who gave birth to children with congenital abnormalities and who were working at the time of pregnancy, were compared to 1,365 respondents among the 2,252 randomly selected pregnancies among working women. Pregnancies, and their outcomes, and employment were determined through a linkage of three databases. Information on VDU use (yes/no/hours per week), and job-related and personal factors such as stress, exposure to solvents, life-style and ergonomic factors were determined through a postal questionnaire. In this study, the use of VDUs during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of congenital abnormalities.
Using the same study base as in the previous study on congenital abnormalities (Brandt and Nielsen 1990) 1,371 of 2,248 women whose pregnancies ended in a hospitalized spontaneous abortion were compared to 1,699 randomly selected pregnancies (Nielsen and Brandt 1990). While the study was carried out among commercial and clerical workers, not all of the pregnancies corresponded to times when the women were gainfully employed as commercial or clerical workers. The measure of association used in the study was the ratio of the rate of VDU use among women with a spontaneous abortion to the rate of VDU use among the sample population (representing all pregnancies including those ending in spontaneous abortion). The adjusted rate ratio for any exposure to VDU and spontaneous abortion was 0.94 (95% CI 0.77 – 1.14).
A case-control study was carried out among 573 women who gave birth to children with cardiovascular malformations between 1982 and 1984 (Tikkanen and Heinonen 1991). The cases were identified through the Finnish register of congenital malformations. The control group consisted of 1,055 women, randomly selected among all hospital deliveries during the same time period. VDU use, recorded as never, regular or occasional, was assessed through an interview conducted 3 months after the delivery. No statistically significant association was found between VDU use, at work or at home, and cardiovascular malformations.
A cohort study was carried out among 730 married women who reported pregnancies between 1983 and 1986 (Schnorr et al. 1991). These women were employed as either directory assistance operators or as general telephone operators at two telephone companies in eight southeastern states in the United States. Only the directory assistance operators used VDUs at work. VDU use was determined through company records. Spontaneous abortion cases (foetal loss at 28 weeks’ of gestation or earlier) were identified through a telephone interview; birth certificates were later used to compare women’s reporting with pregnancy outcomes and when possible, physicians were consulted. Strengths of electric and magnetic fields were measured at very low and extremely low frequencies for a sample of the workstations. The VDU workstations showed higher field strengths than those not using VDUs. No excess risk was found for women who used VDUs during the first trimester of pregnancy (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.63 – 1.38), and there was no apparent exposure–response relation when looking at time of VDU use per week.
A cohort of 1,365 Danish commercial and clerical workers who were gainfully employed at the time of pregnancy, and identified through a previous study (Brandt and Nielsen 1990; Nielsen and Brandt 1990), was used to study fecundability rates, in relation to VDU use (Brandt and Nielsen 1992). Fecundability was measured as time from stopping birth control use to time of conception, and was determined through a postal questionnaire. This study showed an increased relative risk for prolonged waiting to pregnancy for the subgroup with at least 21 weekly hours of VDU use. (RR 1.61; 95% CI 1.09 – 2.38).
A cohort of 1,699 Danish commercial and clerical workers, consisting of women employed and unemployed at the time of pregnancy, identified through the study reported on in the previous paragraph, was used to study low birthweight (434 cases), preterm birth (443 cases), small for gestational age (749 cases), and infant mortality (160 cases), in relation to VDU use patterns (Nielsen and Brandt 1992). The study failed to show any increased risk for these adverse pregnancy outcomes among women with VDU use.
In a case-control study, 150 nulliparous women with clinically diagnosed spontaneous abortion and 297 nulliparous working women attending a hospital in Reading, England for antenatal care between 1987 and 1989 were interviewed (Roman et al. 1992). The interviews were conducted face to face at the time of their first antenatal visit for the controls, and three weeks after the abortion for women with spontaneous abortion. For women who mentioned VDU use, estimates of time of exposure in hours per week, and calendar time of first exposure were assessed. Other factors such as overtime, physical activity at work, stress and physical comfort at work, age, alcohol consumption and previous miscarriage were also assessed. Women who worked with VDUs had an odds ratio for spontaneous abortion of 0.9 (95% CI 0.6 – 1.4), and there was no relation with the amount of time spent using VDUs. Adjusting for other factors such as maternal age, smoking, alcohol and previous spontaneous abortion did not alter the results.
From a study base of bank clerks and clerical workers in three companies in Finland, 191 cases of hospitalized spontaneous abortion and 394 controls (live births) were identified from Finnish medical registers for 1975 to 1985 (Lindbohm et al. 1992). Use of VDUs was defined using workers’ reports and company information. Magnetic field strengths were retrospectively assessed in a laboratory setting using a sample of the VDUs which had been used in the companies. The odds ratio for spontaneous abortion and working with VDUs was 1.1 (95% CI 0.7 – 1.6). When VDU users were separated in groups according to the field strengths for their VDU models, the odds ratio was 3.4 (95% CI 1.4 – 8.6) for workers who had used VDUs with a high magnetic field strength in the extremely low frequency bandwidth (0.9 μT), compared to those working with VDUs with field strength levels below the detection limits (0.4 μT). This odds ratio changed only slightly when adjusted for ergonomic and mental work-load factors. When comparing workers exposed to high magnetic field strengths to workers not exposed to VDUs, the odds ratio was no longer significant.
A study, looking at adverse pregnancy outcomes and fertility, was carried out among female civil servants working for the British Government tax offices (Bramwell and Davidson 1994). Of the 7,819 questionnaires mailed in the first stage of the study, 3,711 were returned. VDU use was determined through this first questionnaire. Exposure was assessed as hours per week of VDU use during pregnancy. One year later, a second questionnaire was sent out to assess the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes among these women; 2,022 of the original participants responded. Possible confounders included pregnancy history, ergonomic factors, job stressors, caffeine, alcohol, cigarette and tranquillizer consumption. There was no relationship between exposure as assessed one year previously and the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
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Restrictions on Karmapa photographs in Chamdo
Category: Urgyen Trinley Dorje
Dharamsala, August 18 - Chinese authorities in Tibet’s Chamdo region are warning Tibetans against displaying or keeping in possession pictures of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, head of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism who fled his monastery in Tibet in 2000.
Radio Free Asia reported that Tibetans are not permitted to keep his photographs either as amulets or display them in motor vehicles, a traditional Tibetan practice to protect against misfortune.
The young head of Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism made headlines when he arrived in Dharamsala on January 5, 2000. Ogyen Trinley Dorjee is now 25 and lives near Dharamsala, the seat of Tibetan exile in government. He is considered close to the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama whom China accuses of engaging in “splittist” activities and calls “wolf in monk’s robe.”
A Tibetan man who recently arrived in Nepal from Tibet was quoted as saying, “Last year, in Chamdo’s Shankou, Karmapa’s photos were outlawed in an announcement made by the Chinese authorities.” The man also said Chinese police confiscated lockets containing photos of Karmapa from monks in the Tibetan capital Lhasa’s Lugug neighbourhood.
Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University called the Chinese move as “surprising” and of significant concern because China’s official policy on Karmapa is he can return to Tibet anytime.
“It’s not totally inconceivable that there may be two policies: ‘He can come back, we are not condemning him publicly. But you are no longer allowed to have pictures,’” Barnett told RFA.
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Kasita
Daniel Guerrero
A native of San Marcos, Daniel Guerrero is a Distinguished Alumnus of San Marcos High School, and holds degrees from Austin Community College, Texas State University, and St. Edward’s University.
Daniel has served in nonprofit leadership roles as the Executive Director for INROADS/Central Texas, Inc. where he oversaw the professional development of university students as they transitioned into corporate leadership roles. He has led fundraising and development campaigns as the Executive Director of the San Marcos Education Foundation.
Daniel has served his alma mater as Texas State University’s Assistant Dean of Students for Student Development and Leadership Programs where his team worked with thought-leaders in business, government, technology, education, art and philanthropy from throughout the world. He is currently teaching “Introduction to Global Business” and “Transformative Leadership” in the McCoy School of Business. Daniel is also being considered for board roles with the Alumni Associations for Texas State University and St. Edward’s University.
Daniel currently serves as the Director for Special Programs and Chief of Global Relationships for the Virtual Trade Mission Foundation whose role is to connect clients to global leaders through cultural immersion experiences. Daniel represents a diverse portfolio of clients as a consultant with J.L. Powers & Associates; GLG Consulting; and Assemble Coaching & Consulting.
Daniel has served as an elected leader to the San Marcos City Council and three terms as Mayor. During his time in office, San Marcos was recognized as the Fastest Growing City in the United States, saw significant growth in economic development, increased investments in infrastructure and public safety, and helped turn the Greater San Marcos region into an influential player in the global marketplace. He served as the Director for Emergency Management during four federally designated disasters events included multiple wildfires and three flood events.
Beyond his local elected role, Daniel has served on the boards of the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG), Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), Texas Municipal League (TML), National League of Cities (NLC), Association of Hispanic Elected Officials (AHMO), Mayor’s Institute on City Design (MICD), Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSDM) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He continues to cultivate and enhance his long-standing relationships with his peers and colleagues from throughout the Central Texas region and around the world.
As a volunteer leader, Daniel currently serves on the Ki Charter School Board of Trustees and Board of Directors for the Salvation Army. He enjoys traveling the world, and spending time with his rescues dogs; Milly and Autumn!
Dr. Tobin Redwine
Dr. Tobin Redwine grew up on a farm in Lazbuddie, a rural community in Northwest Texas. After serving as the Texas FFA President in 2003-2004, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Leadership and Development at Texas A&M University in 2008. While there he developed an affinity for ugly shirts and cheesy jokes. He earned a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Communications at Texas Tech University in 2009, and a PhD in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications at Texas A&M in 2014.
Dr. Redwine is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications at Texas A&M University. He teaches photography, media writing, and other courses in agricultural communications and journalism. Dr. Redwine researches messaging strategies and brand identity. Specifically, his line of inquiry examines how we identify information, how we make meaning of messages and creating audience-specific content, all in the hope that we can better understand how to tell the story of global agriculture and related sciences.
He and his wife Shanna, who is infinitely better looking and more intelligent than he, live in Montgomery, Texas, with their two sons.
Dr. Redwine has shared encouragement and optimism at more than 800 schools and organizations. He has been recognized internationally as a teacher and researcher, and is perpetually spouting less-than-witty puns.
Dr. Redwine is also a freelance journalist, photographer, music enthusiast, and amateur habanero salsa maker.
Pamela Soin
Prior to joining Kalypso, Pamela worked with Ingersoll-Rand Company in their industrial technologies business, both during college and after graduation as a process improvement engineer. She mainly focused on driving the lean manufacturing initiatives at a plant, as well as within the entire business. She was responsible for training management, supervisors, and the factory floor. She led Kaizen projects that generated substantial operational savings, as well as removing non-value activity from the operations. She also developed database programs to monitor factory metrics.
Pamela graduated from North Carolina State University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. A noteworthy accomplishment from her school days was leading the winning Industrial Engineering Senior Design project team in their senior class competition.
Since joining Kalypso, Pamela has served clients in the medical device, discrete, high tech and CPG industries. Her main expertise is in project portfolio management design and implementation for telecom, specialty chemical, biotech, and healthcare. Her other areas of expertise include strategic roadmapping, resource management, IP commercialization, PLM & product data management, and lean manufacturing. She has to say about Kalypso, "I am very excited to be working with a firm with so many different intellectual backgrounds. The management of the firm really cares about our clients and what is important to them. Kalypso definitely will do whatever it takes to make all projects a success."
Pamela enjoys traveling, especially internationally. Her biggest hobby is studying and monitoring designer fashion. She also enjoys comical writing and hopes one day she will finish her novel, have it published, and it will hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Copyright 2017 Assemble.
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South African Court orders investigation of Zimbabwean crimes
November 28, 2013 : News
Johannesburg, 27 November – In a landmark decision for local and international justice, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal today ordered the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate high level Zimbabwean officials accused of committing crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe.
In its judgment, the Court made it clear that the perpetrators of systematic torture – as was alleged in this case – can be held accountable in South Africa regardless of where the offending acts took place. The Court noted that such crimes strike ‘at the whole of humankind and impinge on the international conscience’.
“The Court’s decision makes it clear that South Africa has a legal obligation to investigate the perpetrators of international crimes wherever those crimes were committed,” said Priti Patel, Deputy Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), which brought the case along with the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF). “The Supreme Court ruling confirms that the dispensing of international justice is not restricted to international forums, and commits the South African authorities to play their part in ensuring that torturers and other international criminals are held accountable for their actions.”
In 2008, SALC submitted a dossier to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) containing evidence of the involvement of key Zimbabwean officials in perpetrating crimes against humanity in relation to the torture of opposition party members in March 2007 – and called on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the SAPS to initiate an investigation into the alleged crimes.
The NPA and SAPS refused to investigate so SALC and ZEF appealed this administrative decision to the High Court, which ruled in their favour in 2012. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
During its ruling today, the Supreme Court outlined the evidence in the dossier noting that it included evidence of severe physical assaults, including the use of baseball bats, water-boarding and electrical shocks being applied to genitalia by Zimbabwean officials.
“Zimbabweans can be proud today knowing that South Africa will not shirk from its responsibility to ensure justice for victims of crimes against humanity,” said Gabriel Shumba, the Chairperson of ZEF. “This judgment is a critical step in the international fight against impunity.”
SALC and ZEF were represented by Lawyers for Human Rights and by Advocate Wim Trengove SC, Advocate Gilbert Marcus SC, and Advocate Max du Plessis.
You can access the decision and paperwork by clicking on the following link: http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/cases/ongoing-cases/challenging-the-npas-refusal-to-act-in-terms-of-the-rome-statute-act/
Priti Patel, Deputy Director, SALC: +27 11 587 5065; +27 71 484 3464; pritip@salc.org.za
Gabriel Shumba, Chairperson, ZEF: Cell + 28 84 664 9798; gabmrech@gmail.com
Caroline James, Project Lawyer, SALC: +27 11 587 5065; +27 72 200 1813; carolinej@salc.org.za
SALC promotes human rights and the rule of law in southern Africa through litigation, advocacy and training. ZEF seeks to combat impunity and achieve justice for human rights violations in Zimbabwe and to support Zimbabweans in exile.
2018 Anti-Impunity Report Launched
Human Rights Education Comes To Gwanda
Towards the Transformation of Zimbabwe’s Correctional System: Roundtable Report
International Day in Solidarity with Victims of Torture Commemoration – 29 – 30 June 2019
Beatrice Mtetwa found not guilty
Alert: WOZA arrests 29 November 2013
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Supreme Court Decisions by Topic > FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT >
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
No. 75-628 Argued: October 5, 1976 --- Decided: December 20, 1976
MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN delivered the opinion of the Court.
The interaction of two sections of an Oklahoma statute, Okla.Stat., Tit. 37, § 241 and 245 (1958 and Supp. 1976), [n1] [p192] prohibits the sale of "nonintoxicating" 3.2% beer to males under the age of 21 and to females under the age of 18. The question to be decided is whether such a gender-based differential constitutes a denial to males 18-20 years of age of the equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This action was brought in the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on December 20, 1972, by appellant Craig, a male then between 18 and 21 years of age, and by appellant Whitener, a licensed vendor of 3.2% beer. The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement of the gender-based differential on the ground that it constituted invidious discrimination against males 18-20 years of age. A three-judge court convened under 28 U.S.C. § 2281 sustained the constitutionality of the statutory differential and dismissed the action. 399 F.Supp. 1304 (1975). We noted probable jurisdiction of appellants' appeal, 423 U.S. 1047 (1976). We reverse.
We first address a preliminary question of standing. Appellant Craig attained the age of 21 after we noted probable jurisdiction. Therefore, since only declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement of the gender-based differential is sought, the controversy has been rendered moot as to Craig. See, e.g., DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312 (1974). [n2] The question thus arises whether appellant Whitener, the licensed vendor of 3.2% beer, who has a live controversy against enforcement of the statute, may rely upon the equal protection objections of males 18-20 years of age to establish her claim of [p193] unconstitutionality of the age-sex differential. We conclude that she may.
Initially, it should be noted that, despite having had the opportunity to do so, [n3] appellees never raised before the District Court any objection to Whitener's reliance upon the claimed unequal treatment of 18-20-year-old males as the premise of her equal protection challenge to Oklahoma's 3.2 beer law. See 399 F.Supp. at 1306 n. 1. Indeed, at oral argument, Oklahoma acknowledged that appellees always "presumed" that the vendor, subject to sanctions and loss of license for violation of the statute, was a proper party in interest to object to the enforcement of the sex-based regulatory provision. Tr. of Oral Arg. 41. While such a concession certainly would not be controlling upon the reach of this Court's constitutional authority to exercise jurisdiction under Art. III, see, e.g., Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 732 n. 3 (1972); cf. Data Processing Service v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 151 (1970), our decisions have settled that limitations on a litigant's assertion of jus tertii are not constitutionally mandated, but rather stem from a salutary "rule of slf-restraint" designed to minimize unwarranted intervention into controversies where the applicable constitutional questions are ill-defined and speculative. See, e.g., Barrows v. Jackson, 346 U.S. 249, 255, 257 (1953); see also Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U.S. 106, 123-124 (1976) (POWELL, J., dissenting). These prudential objectives, thought to be enhanced by restrictions on third-party standing, cannot be furthered here, where the lower court already has entertained the relevant constitutional challenge and the parties have sought -- or at least have never resisted -- an authoritative constitutional determination. In such circumstances, a decision by us to forgo [p194] consideration of the constitutional merits in order to await the initiation of a new challenge to the statute by injured third parties would be impermissibly to foster repetitive and time-consuming litigation under the guise of caution and prudence. Moreover, insofar as the applicable constitutional questions have been and continue to be presented vigorously and "cogently," Holden v. Hardy, 169 U.S. 366, 397 (1898), the denial of jus tertii standing in deference to a direct class suit can serve no functional purpose. Our Brother BLACKMUN's comment is pertinent:
[I]t may be that a class could be assembled, whose fluid membership always included some [males] with live claims. But if the assertion of the right is to be "representative" to such an extent anyway, there seems little loss in terms of effective advocacy from allowing its assertion by
the present jus tertii champion. Singleton v. Wulff, supra at 117-118.
In any event, we conclude that appellant Whitener has established independently her claim to assert jus tertii standing. The operation of §§ 241 and 245 plainly has inflicted "injury in fact" upon appellant sufficient to guarantee her "concrete adverseness," Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 204 (1962), and to satisfy the constitutionally based standing requirements imposed by Art. III. The legal duties created by the statutory sections under challenge are addressed directly to vendors such as appellant. She is obliged either to heed the statutory discrimination, thereby incurring a direct economic injury through the constriction of her buyers' market, or to disobey the statutory command and suffer, in the words of Oklahoma's Assistant Attorney General, "sanctions and perhaps loss of license." Tr. of Oral Arg. 41. This Court repeatedly has recognized that such injuries establish the threshold requirements of a "case or controversy" mandated by Art. III. See, e.g., Singleton v. Wulff, supra at 113 (doctors who receive payments for their abortion services are "classically adverse" to government as payer); Sullivan v. Little Hunting [p195] Park, 396 U.S. 229, 237 (1969); Barrows v. Jackson, supra at 255-256.
As a vendor with standing to challenge the lawfulness of §§ 241 and 245, appellant Whitener is entitled to assert those concomitant rights of third parties that would be "diluted or adversely affected" should her constitutional challenge fail and the statutes remain in force. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 481 (1965); see Note, Standing to Assert Constitutional Jus Tertii, 88 Harv.L.Rev. 423, 432 (1974). Otherwise, the threatened imposition of governmental sanctions might deter appellant Whitener and other similarly situated vendor from selling 3.2% beer to young males, thereby ensuring that "enforcement of the challenged restriction against the [vendor] would result indirectly in the violation of third parties' rights." Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 510 (1975). Accordingly, vendors and those in like positions have been uniformly permitted to resist efforts at restricting their operations by acting as advocates of the rights of third parties who seek access to their market or function. See, e.g., Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972); Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, supra; Barrows v. Jackson, supra. [n4] [p196]
Indeed, the jus tertii question raised here is answered by our disposition of a like argument in Eisenstadt v. Baird, supra. There, as here, a state statute imposed legal duties and disabilities upon the claimant, who was convicted of distributing a package of contraceptive foam to a third party. [n5] Since the statute was directed at Baird and penalized his conduct, the Court did not hesitate -- again as here -- to conclude that the "case or controversy" requirement of Art. III was satisfied. 405 U.S. at 443. In considering Baird's constitutional objections, the Court fully recognized his standing to defend the privacy interests of third parties. Deemed crucial to the decision to permit jus tertii standing was the recognition of "the impact of the litigation on the third-party interests." Id. at 445. Just as the defeat of Baird's suit and the "[e]nforcement of the Massachusetts statute will materially impair the ability of single persons to obtain contraceptives," id. at 446, so too the failure of Whitener to prevail in this suit and the continued enforcement of §§ 241 and 245 will "materially impair the ability of" males 18-20 years of age to purchase 3.2% beer despite their classification by an overt gender-based criterion. Similarly, just as the Massachusetts law in Eisenstadt "prohibit[ed], [p197] not use, but distribution," 405 U.S. at 446, and consequently the least awkward challenger was one in Baird's position who was subject to that proscription, the law challenged here explicitly regulates the sale, rather than use, of 3.2 beer, thus leaving a vendor as the obvious claimant.
We therefore hold that Whitener has standing to raise relevant equal protection challenges to Oklahoma's gender-based law. We now consider those arguments.
Before 1972, Oklahoma defined the commencement of civil majority at age 18 for females and age 21 for males. Okla.Stat., Tit. 15, § 13 (1972 and Supp. 1976). In contrast, females were held criminally responsible as adults at age 18, and males at age 16. Okla.Stat., Tit. 10, § 1101(a) (Supp. 1976). After the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held, in 1972, on the authority of Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), that the age distinction was unconstitutional for purposes of establishing criminal responsibility as adults, Lamb v. Brown, 456 F.2d 18, the Oklahoma Legislature fixed age 18 as applicable to both males and females. Okla.Stat., Tit. 10, § 1101(a) (Supp. 1976). In 1972, 18 also was established as the age of majority for males and females in civil matters, Okla.Stat., Tit. 15, § 13 (1972 and Supp. 1976), except that §§ 241 and 245 of the 3.2% beer statute were simultaneously codified to create an exception to the gender-free rule.
Analysis may appropriately begin with the reminder that Reed emphasized that statutory classifications that distinguish between males and females are "subject to scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause." 404 U.S. at 75. To withstand constitutional challenge, previous cases establish that classifications by gender must serve important governmental objectives and must be substantially related to achievement of those objectives. Thus, in Reed, the objectives [p198] of "reducing the workload on probate courts," id. at 76, and "avoiding intra-family controversy," id. at 77, were deemed of insufficient importance to sustain use of an overt gender criterion in the appointment of administrators of intestate decedents' estates. Decisions following Reed similarly have rejected administrative ease and convenience as sufficiently important objectives to justify gender-based classifications. See, e.g., Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 656 (1972); Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 690 (1973); cf. Schlesinger v. Ballard, 419 U.S. 498, 506-507 (1975). And only two Terms ago, Stanton v. Stanton, 421 U.S. 7 (1975), expressly stating that Reed v. Reed was "controlling," 421 U.S. at 13, held that Reed required invalidation of a Utah differential age-of-majority statute, notwithstanding the statute's coincidence with and furtherance of the State's purpose of fostering "old notions" of role typing and preparing boys for their expected performance in the economic and political worlds. 421 U.S. at 14-15. [n6]
Reed v. Reed has also provided the underpinning for decisions that have invalidated statutes employing gender as an inaccurate proxy for other, more germane bases of classification. Hence, "archaic and overbroad" generalizations, Schlesinger v. Ballard, supra at 508, concerning the financial position of servicewomen, Frontiero v. Richardson, supra at 689 n. 23, and working women, Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 643 (1975), could not justify use of a gender line in determining eligibility for certain governmental entitlements. Similarly, increasingly outdated [p199] misconceptions concerning the role of females in the home, rather than in the "marketplace and world of ideas," were rejected as loose-fitting characterizations incapable of supporting state statutory schemes that were premised upon their accuracy. Stanton v. Stanton, supra; Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 535 n. 17 (1975). In light of the weak congruence between gender and the characteristic or trait that gender purported to represent, it was necessary that the legislatures choose either to realign their substantive laws in a gender-neutral fashion or to adopt procedures for identifying those instances where the sex-centered generalization actually comported with fact. See, e.g., Stanley v. Illinois, supra at 658; cf. Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 650 (1974).
In this case, too, "Reed, we feel, is controlling . . . ," Stanton v. Stanton, supra at 13. We turn then to the question whether, under Reed, the difference between males and females with respect to the purchase of 3.2% beer warrants the differential in age drawn by the Oklahoma statute. We conclude that it does not.
The District Court recognized that Reed v. Reed was controlling. In applying the teachings of that case, the court found the requisite important governmental objective in the traffic safety goal proffered by the Oklahoma Attorney General. It then concluded that the statistics introduced by the appellees established that the gender-based distinction was substantially related to achievement of that goal.
We accept for purposes of discussion the District Court's identification of the objective underlying §§ 241 and 245 as the enhancement of traffic safety. [n7] Clearly, the protection [p200] of public health and safety represents an important function of state and local governments. However, appellees' statistics, in our view, cannot support the conclusion that the gender-based distinction closely serves to achieve that objective, and therefore the distinction cannot, under Reed, withstand equal protection challenge.
The appellees introduced a variety of statistical surveys. First, an analysis of arrest statistics for 1973 demonstrated that 18-20-year-old male arrests for "driving under the influence" and "drunkenness" substantially exceeded female arrests for that same age period. [n8] Similarly, youths aged 17-21 were found to be overrepresented among those killed [p201] or injured in traffic accidents, with males again numerically exceeding females in this regard. [n9] Third, a random roadside survey in Oklahoma City revealed that young male were more inclined to drive and drink beer than were their female counterparts. [n10] Fourth, Federal Bureau of Investigation nationwide statistics exhibited a notable increase in arrests for "driving under the influence." [n11] Finally, statistical evidence gathered in other jurisdictions, particularly Minnesota and Michigan, was offered to corroborate Oklahoma's experience by indicating the pervasiveness of youthful participation in motor vehicle accidents following the imbibing of alcohol. Conceding that "the case is not free from doubt," 399 F.Supp. at 1314, the District Court nonetheless concluded that this statistical showing substantiated "a rational basis for the legislative judgment underlying the challenged classification." Id. at 1307.
Even were this statistical evidence accepted as accurate, it nevertheless offers only a weak answer to the equal protection question presented here. The most focused and relevant of the statistical surveys, arrests of 18-20-year-olds for alcohol-related driving offenses, exemplifies the ultimate unpersuasiveness of this evidentiary record. Viewed in terms of the correlation between sex and the actual activity that Oklahoma seeks to regulate -- driving while under the influence of alcohol -- the statistics broadly establish that .18% of females and 2% of males in that age group were arrested for that offense. While such a disparity is not trivial in a statistical sense, it hardly can form the basis for employment of a gender line as a classifying device. Certainly if maleness [p202] is to serves a proxy for drinking and driving, a correlation of 2% must be considered an unduly tenuous "fit." [n12] Indeed, prior cases have consistently rejected the use of sex as a decisionmaking factor even though the statutes in question certainly rested on far more predictive empirical relationships than this. [n13]
Moreover, the statistics exhibit a variety of other shortcomings that seriously impugn their value to equal protection analysis. Setting aside the obvious methodological problems, [n14] the surveys do not adequately justify the salient [p203] features of Oklahoma's gender-based traffic safety law. None purports to measure the use and dangerousness of 3.2% beer, as opposed to alcohol generally, a detail that is of particular importance since, in light of its low alcohol level, Oklahoma apparently considers the 3.2% beverage to be "nonintoxicating." Okla.Stat., Tit. 37, § 163.1 (1958); see State ex rel. Springer v. Bliss, 199 Okla.198, 185 P.2d 220 (1947). Moreover, many of the studies, while graphically documenting the unfortunate increase in driving while under the influence of alcohol, make no effort to relate their findings to age-sex differentials as involved here. [n15] Indeed, the only survey that explicitly centered its attention upon young drivers and their use of beer -- albeit apparently not of the diluted 3.2% variety -- reached results that hardly can be viewed as impressive in justifying either a gender or age classification. [n16] [p204]
There is no reason to belabor this line of analysis. It is unrealistic to expect either members of the judiciary or state officials to be well versed in the rigors of experimental or statistical technique. But this merely illustrates that proving broad sociological propositions by statistics is a dubious business, and one that inevitably is in tension with the normative philosophy that underlies the Equal Protection Clause. [n17] Suffice to say that the showing offered by the appellees does not satisfy us that sex represents a legitimate, accurate proxy for the regulation of drinking and driving. In fact, when it is further recognized that Oklahoma's statute prohibits only the selling of 3.2% beer to young males, and not their drinking the beverage once acquired (even after purchase by their 18-20-year-old female companions), the relationship between gender and traffic safety becomes far too tenuous to satisfy Reed's requirement that the gender-based difference be substantially related to achievement of the statutory objective.
We hold, therefore, that under Reed, Oklahoma's 3.2% beer statute invidiously discriminates against males 18-20 years of age.
Appellees argue, however, that §§ 241 and 245 enforce state policies concerning the sale and distribution of alcohol and by force of the Twenty-first Amendment should therefore be held to withstand the equal protection challenge. The District Court's response to this contention is unclear. The court assumed that the Twenty-first Amendment "strengthened" the State's police powers with respect to alcohol regulation, 399 F.Supp. at 1307, but then said that "the standards of review that [the Equal Protection Clause] mandates are not relaxed." Id. at 1308. Our view is, and we hold, that the Twenty-first Amendment does not save the [p205] invidious gender-based discrimination from invalidation as a denial of equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The history of state regulation of alcoholic beverages dates from long before adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment. In the License Cases, 5 How. 504, 579 (1847), the Court recognized a broad authority in state governments to regulate the trade of alcoholic beverages within their borders free from implied restrictions under the Commerce Clause. Later in the century, however, Leisy v. Hardin, 135 U.S. 100 (1890), undercut the theoretical underpinnings of the License Cases. This led Congress, acting pursuant to its powers under the Commerce Clause, to reinvigorate the State's regulatory role through the passage of the Wilson [n18] and Webb-Kenyon Acts. [n19] See, e.g., Clark Distilling Co. v. Western Maryland R. Co., 242 U.S. 311 (1917) (upholding Webb-Kenyon Act); In re Rahrer, 140 U.S. 545 (1891) (upholding Wilson Act). With passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, the uneasy tension between the Commerce Clause and state police power temporarily subsided.
The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933. The wording of § 2 of the Twenty-first Amendment [n20] closely follows the Webb-Kenyon and Wilson [p206] Acts, ex.pressing the framers' clear intention of constitutionalizing the Commerce Clause framework established under those statutes. This Court's decisions since have confirmed that the Amendment primarily created an exception to the normal operation of the Commerce Clause. See, e.g., Hostetter v. Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp., 377 U.S. 324, 330 (1964); Carter v. Virginia, 321 U.S. 131, 139-140 (1944) (Frankfurter, J., concurring); Finch & Co. v. McKittrick, 305 U.S. 395, 398 (1939). Even here, however, the Twenty-first Amendment does not pro tanto repeal the Commerce Clause, but merely requires that each provision "be considered in the light of the other, and in the context of the issues and interests at stake in any concrete case." Hostetter v. Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp., supra at 332; cf. Department of Revenue v. James Beam Distilling Co., 377 U.S. 341 (1964); Collins v. Yosemite Park & Curry Co., 304 U.S. 518 (1938).
Once passing beyond consideration of the Commerce Clause, the relevance of the Twenty-first Amendment to other constitutional provisions becomes increasingly doubtful. As one commentator has remarked:
Neither the text nor the history of the Twenty-first Amendment suggests that it qualifies individual rights protected by the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment where the sale or use of liquor is concerned.
P. Brest Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, Cases and Materials, 258 (1975). Any departures from this historical view have been limited and sporadic. Two States successfully relied upon the Twenty-first Amendment to respond to challenges of major liquor importers to state authority to regulate the importation and manufacture of alcoholic beverages on Commerce Clause and Fourteenth Amendment grounds. See Mahoney v. Joseph Triner Corp., 304 U.S. 401 (1938); State Board v. Young's Market Co., [p207] 299 U.S. 59, 64 (196). In fact, however, the arguments in both cases centered upon importation of intoxicants, a regulatory area where the State's authority under the Twenty-first Amendment is transparently clear, Hostetter v. Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp., supra at 330, and n. 9, and touched upon purely economic matters that traditionally merit only the mildest review under the Fourteenth Amendment, see, e.g., Joseph E. Seagram & Sons v. Hostetter, 384 U.S. 35, 47-48, 50-51 (1966) (rejecting Fourteenth Amendment objections to state liquor laws on the strength of Ferguson v. Skrupa, 372 U.S. 726, 729-730 (1963) and Williamson v. Lee Optical Co., 348 U.S. 483 (1955)), [n21] Cases involving individual rights protected by the Due Process Clause have been treated in sharp contrast. For example, when an individual objected to the mandatory "posting" of her name in retail liquor establishments and her characterization as an "excessive drink[er]," the Twenty-first Amendment was held not to qualify the scope of her due process rights. Wisconsin v. Constantineau, 400 U.S. 433, 436 (1971).
It is true that California v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109, 115 (1972), relied upon the Twenty-first Amendment to "strengthen" the State's authority to regulate live entertainment at establishments licensed to dispense liquor, at least when the performances "partake more of gross sexuality than of communication," id. at 118. Nevertheless, the Court has never recognized sufficient "strength" in the Amendment to defeat an otherwise established claim of invidious discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. [p208] Rather, Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U.S. 163, 178-179 (1972), establishes that state liquor regulatory schemes cannot work invidious discriminations that violate the Equal Protection Clause.
Following this approach, both federal and state courts uniformly have declared the unconstitutionality of gender lines that restrain the activities of customers of state-regulated liquor establishments irrespective of the operation of the Twenty-first Amendment. See, e.g., White v. Fleming, 522 F.2d 730 (CA7 1975); Women's Liberation Union of R.I. v. Israel, 512 F.2d 106 (CA1 1975); Daugherty v. Daley, 370 F.Supp. 338 (ND Ill.1974) (three-judge court); Seidenberg v. McSorleys' Old Ale House, Inc., 317 F.Supp. 593 (SDNY 1970); Commonwealth Alcoholic Beverage Control Bd. v. Burke, 481 S.W.2d 52 (Ky.1972); cf. Sail'er Inn, Inc. v. Kirby, 5 Cal.3d 1, 485 P.2d 529 (1971); Paterson Tavern & G. O. A. v. Hawthorne, 57 N.J. 180, 270 A.2d 628 (1970). Even when state officials have posited sociological or empirical justifications for these gender-based differentiations, the courts have struck down discriminations aimed at an entire class under the guise of alcohol regulation. In fact, social science studies that have uncovered quantifiable differences in drinking tendencies dividing along both racial and ethnic lines strongly suggest the need for application of the Equal Protection Clause in preventing discriminatory treatment that almost certainly would be perceived as invidious. [n22] In sum, the principles embodied in the Equal [p209] Protection. Clause are not to be rendered inapplicable by statistically measured but loose-fitting generalities concerning the drinking tendencies of aggregate groups. We thus hold that the operation of the Twenty-first Amendment does not alter the application of equal protection standards that otherwise govern this case. [p210]
We conclude that the gender-based differential contained in Okla.Stat., Tit. 37, § 45 (1976 Supp.) constitutes a denial of the equal protection of the laws to males aged 18-20, [n23] and reverse the judgment of the District Court. [n24]
1. Sections 241 and 245 provide in pertinent part:
§ 241.
It shall be unlawful for any person who holds a license to sell and dispense beer . . . to sell, barter or give to any minor any beverage containing more than one-half of one per cent of alcohol measured by volume and not more than three and two-tenths (3.2) per cent of alcohol measured by weight.
A "minor," for the purposes of Section . . . 241 . . . is defined as a female under the age of eighteen (18) years, and a male under the age of twenty-one (21) years.
2. Appellants did not seek class certification of Craig as representative of other similarly situated males 18-20 years of age. See, e.g., Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 401 (1975).
3. The District Court' opinion confirms that Whitener from the outset has based her constitutional challenge on gender-discrimination ground, 399 F.Supp. at 1306, and "[n]o challenge is made to [her] standing and requisite interest in the controversy. . . ." Id. at 1306 n. 1.
4. The standing question presented here is not answered by the principle stated in United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17, 21 (1960), that
one to whom application of a statute is constitutional will not be heard to attack the statute on the ground that impliedly it might also be taken as applying to other persons or other situations in which its application might be unconstitutional.
In Raines, the Court refused to permit certain public officials of Georgia to defend against application of the Civil Rights Act to their official conduct on the ground that the statute also might be construed to encompass the "purely private actions" of others. The Raines rule remains germane in such a setting, where the interests of the litigant and the rights of the proposed third parties are in no way mutually interdependent. Thus, a successful suit against Raines did not threaten to impair or diminish the independent private rights of others, and consequently, consideration of those third-party rights properly was deferred until another day.
Of course, the Raines principle has also been relaxed where legal action against the claimant threatens to "chill" the First Amendment rights of third parties. See, e.g., Lewis v. New Orleans, 415 U.S. 130 (1974).
5. The fact that Baird chose to disobey the legal duty imposed upon him by the Massachusetts anti-contraception statute, resulting in his criminal conviction, 405 U.S. at 440, does not distinguish the standing inquiry from that pertaining to the anticipatory attack in this case. In both Eisenstadt and here, the challenged statutes compel jus tertii claimants either to cease their proscribed activities or to suffer appropriate sanctions. The existence of Art. III "injury in fact" and the structure of the claimant's relationship to the third parties are not altered by the litigative posture of the suit. And certainly no suggestion will be heard that Whitener's anticipatory challenge offends the normal requirements governing such actions. See generally Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452 (1974); Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66 (1971); Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971).
6. Kahn v. Shevin, 416 U.S. 351 (1974) and Schlesinger v. Ballard, 419 U.S. 498 (1975), upholding the use of gender-based classifications, rested upon the Court's perception of the laudatory purposes of those laws as remedying disadvantageous conditions suffered by women in economic and military life. See 416 U.S. at 353-354; 419 U.S. at 508. Needless to say, in this case, Oklahoma does not suggest that the age-sex differential was enacted to ensure the availability of 3.2% beer for women as compensation for previous deprivations.
7. That this was the true purpose is not at all self-evident. The purpose is not apparent from the face of the statute, and the Oklahoma Legislature does not preserve statutory history materials capable of clarifying the objectives served by its legislative enactments. The District Court acknowledged the nonexistence of materials necessary "to reveal what the actual purpose of the legislature was," but concluded that "we feel it apparent that a major purpose of the legislature was to promote the safety of the young persons affected and the public generally." 399 F.Supp. at 1311 n. 6. Similarly, the attorney for Oklahoma, while proposing traffic safety as a legitimate rationale for the 3.2% beer law, candidly acknowledged at oral argument that he is unable to assert that traffic safety is "indeed the reason" for the gender line contained in § 245. Tr. of Oral Arg. 27. For this appeal we find adequate the appellee's representation of legislative purpose, leaving for another day consideration of whether the statement of the State's Assistant Attorney General should suffice to inform this Court of the legislature's objectives, or whether the Court must determine if the litigant simply is selecting a convenient, but false, post hoc rationalization.
8. The disparities in 18-20-year-old male-female arrests were substantial for both categories of offenses: 427 versus 24 for driving under the influence of alcohol, and 966 versus 102 for drunkenness. Even if we assume that a legislature may rely on such arrest data in some situations, these figures do not offer support for a differential age line, for the disproportionate arrests of males persisted at older ages; indeed, in the case of arrests for drunkenness, the figures for all ages indicated "even more male involvement in such arrests at later ages." 399 F.Supp. at 1309. See also n. 14, infra.
9. This survey drew no correlation between the accident figures for any age group and levels of intoxication found in those killed or injured.
10. For an analysis of the results of this exhibit, see n. 16, infra.
11. The FBI made no attempt to relate these arrest figures either to beer drinking or to an 18-21 age differential, but rather found that male arrests for all ages exceeded 90% of the total.
12. Obviously, arrest statistics do not embrace all individuals who drink and drive. But for purposes of analysis, this "underinclusiveness" must be discounted somewhat by the shortcomings inherent in this statistical sample, see n. 14, infra. In any event, we decide this case in light of the evidence offered by Oklahoma, and know of no way of extrapolating these arrest statistics to take into account the driving and drinking population at large, including those who avoided arrest.
13. For example, we can conjecture that, in Reed, Idaho's apparent premise that women lacked experience in formal business matters (particularly compared to men) would have proved to be accurate in substantially more than 2% of all cases. And in both Frontiero and Wiesenfeld, we expressly found appellees' empirical defense of mandatory dependency tests for men but not women to be unsatisfactory, even though we recognized that husbands are still far less likely to be dependent on their wives than vice versa. See, e.g., 411 U.S. at 688-690.
14. The very social stereotypes that find reflection in age differential laws, see Stanton v. Stanton, 421 U.S. 7, 14-15 (1975), are likely substantially to distort the accuracy of these comparative statistics. Hence "reckless" young men who drink and drive are transformed into arrest statistics, whereas their female counterparts are chivalrously escorted home. See, e.g., W. Reckless & B. Kay, The Female Offender 4, 7, 13, 16-17 (Report to Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1967). Moreover, the Oklahoma surveys, gathered under a regime where the age differential law in question has been in effect, are lacking in controls necessary for appraisal of the actual effectiveness of the male 3.2% beer prohibition. In this regard, the disproportionately high arrest statistics for young males -- and, indeed, the growing alcohol-related arrest figures for all ages and sexes -- simply may be taken to document the relative futility of controlling driving behavior by the 3.2% beer statute and like legislation, although we obviously have no means of estimating how many individuals, if any, actually were prevented from drinking by these laws.
15. See, e.g., nn. 9 and 11, supra. See also n. 16, infra.
16. The random roadside survey of drivers conducted in Oklahoma City during August 1972 found that 78% of drivers under 20 were male. Turning to an evaluation of their drinking habits and factoring out nondrinkers, 84% of the males, versus 77% of the females, expressed a preference for beer. Further 16.5% of the men and 11.4% of the women had consumed some alcoholic beverage within two hours of the interview. Finally, a blood alcohol concentration greater than .01% was discovered in 14.6% of the males compared to 11.5% of the females. "The 1973 figures, although they contain some variations, reflect essentially the same pattern." 399 F.Supp. at 1309. Plainly these statistical disparities between the sexes are not substantial. Moreover, when the 18-20 age boundaries are lifted and all drivers analyzed, the 1972 roadside survey indicates that male drinking rose slightly, whereas female exposure to alcohol remained relatively constant. Again, in 1973, the survey established that, "compared to all drivers interviewed, . . . the umder-20 age group generally showed a lower involvement with alcohol in terms of having drunk within the past two hours or having a significant BAC (blood alcohol content)." Ibid. In sum, this survey provides little support for a gender line among teenagers, and actually runs counter to the imposition of drinking restrictions based upon age.
17. See, e.g., n. 22, infra.
18. The Wilson Act, enacted in 1890, reads in pertinent part:
All . . . intoxicating liquors or liquids transported into any State or Territory . . . shall upon arrival in such State or Territory be subject to the operation and effect of the laws of such State or Territory enacted in the exercise of its police powers, to the same extent and in the same manner as though such liquids or liquors had been produced in such State or Territory. . . .
27 U.S.C. § 121.
19. The Webb-Kenyon Act of 1913 prohibits
[t]he shipment or transportation . . . of any . . . intoxicating liquor of any kind, from one State, Territory, or District . . . into any other State, Territory, or District . . . [for the purpose of being] received, possessed, sold, or in any manner used . . . in violation of any law of such State, Territory, or District. . . .
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
21. The dictum contained in State Board v. Young's Market Co., 299 U.S. 59, 64 (1936), that "[a] classification recognized by the Twenty-first Amendment cannot be deemed forbidden by the Fourteenth," is inapplicable to this case. The Twenty-first Amendment does not recognize, even indirectly, classifications based upon gender. And, as the accompanying text demonstrates, that statement has not been relied upon in recent cases that have considered Fourteenth Amendment challenges to state liquor regulation.
22. Thus, if statistics were to govern the permissibility of state alcohol regulation without regard to the Equal Protection Clause as a limiting principle, it might follow that States could freely favor Jews and Italian Catholics at the expense of all other Americans, since available studies regularly demonstrate that the former two groups exhibit the lowest rates of problem drinking. See, e.g., Haberman & Sheinberg, Implicative Drinking Reported in a Household Survey: A Corroborative Note on Subgroup Differences, 28 Q.J.Studies on Alcohol 538 (1967); Wechsler, Thum, Demone, & Dwinnell, Social Characteristics and Blood Alcohol Level, 33 Q.J.Studies on Alcohol 132, 141-142 (1972); Wechsler, Demone, Thum, & Kasey, Religious-Ethnic Differences In Alcohol Consumption, 11 J.Health & Soc.Behavior 21, 28 (1970); Schmidt & Popham, Impressions of Jewish Alcoholics, 37 J.Studies on Alcohol 931 (1976). Similarly, if a State were allowed simply to depend upon demographic characteristics of adolescents in identifying problem drinkers, statistics might support the conclusion that only black teenagers should be permitted to drink, followed by Asian-Americans and Spanish-Americans.
Whites and American Indians have the lowest proportions of abstainers and the highest proportions of moderate/heavy and heavy drinkers.
Summary of Final Report of a National Study of Adolescent Drinking Behavior, Attitudes and Correlates 147-148 (Center for the Study of Social Behavior, Research Triangle Inst., Apr.1975) (percentage of moderate/heavy and heavy adolescent drinkers by race: black 15.2%; Asian-American 18.3%; Spanish-American 22.7%; white 25.3%; American Indian 28.1%).
In the past, some States have acted upon their notions of the drinking propensities of entire groups in fashioning their alcohol policies. The most typical recipient of this treatment has been the American Indian; indeed, several States established criminal sanctions for the sale of alcohol to an Indian or "half- or quarter-breed Indian." See, e.g., Fla.Stat.Ann. § 569.07 (1962 and 1976 Supp.) (repealed in 1972); Iowa Code Ann. § 732.5 (1950 and 1976 Supp.) (repealed in 1967); Minn.Stat.Ann. § 340.82 (1957) (repealed in 1969); Neb.Rev.Stat. 53-181 (1944) (repealed in 1955); Utah Code Ann. § 76-34-1 (1953 and 1975 Supp.) (repealed in 1955). Other statutes and constitutional provisions proscribed the introduction of alcoholic beverages onto Indian reservations. See, e.g., Act of June 10, 1910, § 2, 36 Stat. 558; Ariz.Const., Art. XX, § 3; N.M.Const., Art. XXI, § 8; Okla.Const., Art. 1, § 7. While Indian-oriented provisions were the most common, state alcohol beverage prohibitions also have been directed at other groups, notably German, Italian, and Catholic immigrants. See, e.g., J. Higham, Strangers in the Land 25, 267-268, 295 (1975). The repeal of most of these laws signals society's perception of the unfairness and questionable constitutionality of singling out groups to bear the brunt of alcohol regulation.
23. Insofar as Goesaert v. Cleary, 335 U.S. 464 (1948), may be inconsistent, that decision is disapproved. Undoubtedly reflecting the view that Goesaert's equal protection analysis no longer obtains, the District Court made no reference to that decision in upholding Oklahoma's statute. Similarly, the opinions of the federal and state courts cited earlier in the text invalidating gender lines with respect to alcohol regulation uniformly disparaged the contemporary vitality of Goesaert.
24. As noted in Stanton v. Stanton, 421 U.S. at 17-18, the Oklahoma Legislature is free to redefine any cutoff age for the purchase and sale of 3.2% beer that it may choose, provided that the redefinition operates in a gender-neutral fashion.
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Photo Gallery >> Actors >> Nara Rohit(637)
Nara Rohith is a Tollywood actor.
He is the Nephew of Nara Chandrababu Naidu and son of Nara Ramurthy Naidu.
He did his primary education in Hyderabad and Intermediate in Vignan College at Vadlamudi.He did his B.Tech. in Industrial Bio Technology at Anna University , Chennai.
After completed his B.Tech he went to USA to do a course in acting at NYFA, New York and filmmaking course at Los Angeles.
He said in an interview that he was a major fan of NTR, liked Mahesh Babu's diction and Prabhas's action.
He made his acting debut with Baanam and directed by debut Chaitanya Dantuluri.which was released on September 16, 2009.
The film was critically acclaimed in Telugu film industry.
He got a moderate success with his second film Solo which was released on 25 November 2011 and directed by Parasuram.
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ABŪ ḎARR HERAVĪ
ABŪ ḎARR HERAVĪ (full name: ABŪ ḎARR ʿABDALLĀH B. AḤMAD B. MOḤAMMAD HERAVĪ ANṢĀRĪ MĀLEKĪ), a traditionist known primarily for his role in the transmission of Boḵārī’s Jāmeʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ. Born in Herat about 355/966, he traveled to several centers of learning to study with well-known traditionists. In Baghdad he acquired a reputation in Malikite legal circles for his knowledge of both feqh and oṣūl al-feqh. At the same time, Abū Ḏarr studied dogmatic theology with Bāqellānī (d. 403/1013), the celebrated Malikite jurist who was a major figure in the systematization and popularization of Asḥʿarite theology. About 387/997, he settled in Mecca to become chief shaikh of the Ḥaram mosque and continue his study of traditions. He married and took up residence in Sarawāt, in the neighborhood of Mecca, and performed the pilgrimage annually until his death in 434/1042-43.
Abū Ḏarr is the author of several works. His biographers record a book of excerpts from Ṣaḥīḥs of Boḵārī and Moslem, and a collection of obscure traditions that he made for his own use. Two of his works, the Fawāʾed and Aḥādīṯ, are extant.
Ebn al-ʿEmād, Šaḏarāt al-ḏahab, Cairo, 1350/1931, III, p. 254.
Ebn al-Jawzī, Montaẓam, ed. Krenkow, Hyderabad, 1357-59/1938-40, VIII, p. 115.
Yāqūt, III, p. 247 and index.
G. Makdisi, Ibn ʿAqīl et la résurgence de l’Islam traditionaliste au XIe siècle, Damascus, 1963, p. 190 and n. 3. Sezgin, GAS I, p. 231.
(J. A. Wakin)
J. A. Wakin, “ABŪ ḎARR HERAVĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/3, p. 302; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-hasan-ahwazi-astronomer-fl (accessed on 23 August 2012).
abu darr
Jameʿ al-sahih
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Chris Gabbitas, baritone (2004 – present)
Christopher was born in 1979 in Cornwall, the most south-western of England’s counties, but has never lived there since. The family moved to Kent after his father ended a career as a Royal Naval Officer and switched to the world of academia, which he still pursues as a professor in New Zealand. Christopher first heard the King’s Singers as a young child when “A Portrait…” was played in the car on long journeys, but never dreamed that he might one day be part of the group! His musical career began as a chorister in Rochester Cathedral, and continued as a music scholar at Uppingham School and a choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he occasionally directed the scholar’s ensemble, “The Gentlemen of St. John’s” and also sang with “Collegium Regale” (as did Robin!). After Cambridge, and armed with a Law Degree, Christopher attended Law School in Oxford, singing in Christ Church Cathedral Choir, and qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 2003, working in the City of London and singing at the Temple Church (of Da Vince Code fame) and was thrilled to be appointed as the second baritone of the King’s Singers in 2004. Not only has he been fortunate enough to have performed to many people in many different countries, in venues both large and small, he has also found happiness of a different kind! Whilst on tour in America he was lucky enough to meet Stephanie, now his fiancée, and they are due to be married in the summer of 2006 in America and England.
With the King's Singers:
1605: Treason and Dischord
Landscape & Time
The Quiet Heart
Sacred Bridges
Singing outside the King's Singers:
The Mystery of Do-Re-Mi
PostedOctober 23, 2007 — 9:23 am
CategoriesBaritones
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Australia, Canada bolster support for PyeongChang
Australian Ambassador to Korea James Choi, right, raises his arms after delivering the Olympic flame to Sam Hammington, an Australian entertainer in Korea, during the Olympic torch relay for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in downtown Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap
Ambassadors take part in Olympic torch relay
By Yi Whan-woo
James Choi
Eric Walsh
The Australian and Canadian embassies in Korea are stepping up their support for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, slated for Feb. 9 to 25 and March 9 to 18, respectively.
On Sunday, Australian Ambassador to Korea James Choi participated in the Olympic torch relay in downtown Seoul and also joined a three-kilometer run to wish success for Korea's first Winter Games.
Meanwhile, Canadian Ambassador to Korea Eric Walsh will run as a torchbearer on Jan. 19 in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, before attending the Imjin Classic 2018, a friendly hockey game co-hosted by the embassy and the Paju city government in partnership with the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG).
The 101-day torch relay started in Incheon on Nov. 1 and features 7,500 runners. Choi carried the Olympic flame near Anguk Station before passing it to Sam Hammington, the first Australian to become a Korean TV sensation. The ambassador later joined a three-kilometer run, titled "Winter Fun Run! 2018 with Ambassador James Choi," around Gyeongbok Palace.
The Australian Embassy co-organized the event with the K-Aussie Network, a group of individuals here who have studied, worked or lived in Australia, in support of the PyeongChang Olympics.
"Australia values its strong and important bilateral relationship with the Republic of Korea," Choi said. "The Australian government hopes that the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics will indeed be remembered as the Olympics of peace."
The Korean-born ambassador said he also conveys his best wishes to Australian and Korean athletes who will compete in PyeongChang.
Canadian Ambassador to Korea Eric Walsh, sixth from the right in the front row, joins the staff in front of the embassy in Jung-gu, downtown Seoul, during a ceremony to support the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Jan. 7.
/ Courtesy of Canadian Embassy
In Paju, Walsh will carry the Olympic torch before joining the Imjin Classic, an annual hockey game marking the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and honoring the Canadian veterans of the war. The ambassador will be among four torchbearers in the Jan. 19 relay, including Claude Charland, a Canadian veteran.
POCOG President and CEO Lee Hee-beom, Acting Paju Mayor Kim Jun-tae and Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Pi Woo-jin will be guests during the Imjin Classic 2018, which will take place at Yulgok Wetland Park from noon to 4:30 p.m.
The event re-enacts a friendly match in 1952 on the frozen Imjin River between battle-weary Canadian soldiers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) and the Royal 22nd Regiment, a French-speaking unit known by its colloquial name, Vandoos.
Canada sent more than 26,000 troops, the third-largest contingent, to U.N. forces during the Korean War. Its major battles included the 1951 Battle of Kapyong and the 1952 Battle of Imjin River.
This year's match will be between Canada and Korea. The Canadian side will be comprised of active members of PPCLI and Vandoos, while hockey players from Yonsei University and Korea University will represent Korea.
"The 2018 Imjin Classic is a tribute to the Canadian soldiers who played hockey on the frozen Imjin River during the Korean War," Walsh said. "As we remember our soldiers' contribution to the peaceful and prosperous country South Korea has become today, we look forward to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Games where athletes from Canada and the rest of the world will celebrate excellence in sport."
POCOG President Lee called the Imjin Classic a "celebration of teamwork and friendly rivalries" and that they are what the Winter Olympics are about.
He also said he hopes many Canadians who will join the Imjin Classic 2018 will visit PyeongChang and support their athletes during the Games.
yistory@ktimes.com More articles by this reporter
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Three Words that Changed History
Sound can change the world. Especially when the sound is from out of this world.
God and the Absolute Truth
The conception of God and the conception of the Absolute Truth are not on the same level. Here's what this means.
What does it mean to be a "soul?...
We’re not bodies that “have” souls. We’re souls who have bodies. Souls don’t require bodies to be able to live. Bodies without souls are called “dead.”
You Are Not Your Body
The terms "young," "middle-aged," and "old"—only apply to bodies. They don't apply to us as spiritual beings. We're different.
What we think about affects us. The good news is we can choose what we think about
Live From Yoga Mala DC
The live recordings of As Kindred Spirits performing at the first Yoga Mala in DC.
Nagaraja dasa - Jaya Radha Madhava
Traditional devotional song sung by Nagaraja dasa and accompanied by harmonium, mrdanga, karatalas, tamboura, and flute.
About Reincarnation
An authoritative, comprehensive overview of the phenomenon called reincarnation, or "transmigration of the self" from one body to another, to another . . .
The Gita: Condensed
Originally published in Back to Godhead Magazine, here is a compressed, distilled version of the Bhagavad-gita—on a single Web page! (some scrolling required).
"The Macmillan Miracle"
"Look, Swamiji, it's an order from Macmillan. They're one of the biggest publishers in the world. . ."
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Learning Community Charter School » About LCCS
Founded by parents, LCCS opened it's doors for the first time for the 1997-1998 school year, beginning as a small, neighborhood school in downtown Jersey City.
We had 98 students in Kindergarten through 2nd Grade.
We now have 630 students in grades PreK - 8th and we are centered in the heart of the city. We are proud that we continue to provide an innovative, top-notch education that Jersey City children need and deserve.
LCCS is ...
About 60% of our 585 students are from minority groups, and some 40 languages are spoken at home. At least 35% of our students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In Demand
Students are admitted via a lottery. This year about 1300 children are trying to get with just about 100 open seats for all grades, Pre-K – 8.
In Need
Because of funding inequities, LCCS students receive only $10,530 per year, per pupil in state funding, and our funding has been flat for three years. Traditional schools get more than $17,700 per pupil, per year.
Our students' test scores meet or exceed their peers statewide in every grade, in every subject. Our 8th Grade graduates go on to the region's best high schools in record numbers.
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CENTRE FOR BIOMEDICAL LAW
FACULTY OF LAW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA
www.lexmedicinae.org
A - Background
The Centre for Biomedical Law (CDB) was created by a decision of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Law, at the suggestion of Prof. Guilherme de Oliveira, in May 1988. In November 1997, the Centre was constituted as a private, non profit-making Association.
For the first few years, it was directed by Prof. Francisco Pereira Coelho, and its current director is Prof. Guilherme de Oliveira.
At first, the members of the Centre were lecturers from the Faculty of Law, from various specialities - Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Labour Law. After it became a non profit-making organization, and under its articles of association, the CDB opened its doors to other members. It is now proud to number among its membership some distinguished professionals from the fields of Law and Health.
The CDB is concerned with organizing public debate on topics of Biomedical Law, with improving the bibliographical resources of the Faculty of Law, and with promoting education in Health Law.
B - Education
1 - Postgraduate studies in Medical Law
Co-ordinator: Prof. Guilherme de Oliveira
This course aims to provide its students with specialist legal training in Medical Law. The first part of the course - a general introduction - is composed of modules that are designed to set Medical Law in the framework of the major doctrinal areas of Law: Constitutional; Administrative, Civil, Criminal, Labour, Confidentiality and Data Protection, and Ethics Committees. Special attention has been given to patients' rights and to the civil, criminal and disciplinary liability of doctors.
The second - specific - part will deal in detail with the multiple domains in this branch of law: Treatment and arbitrary Medical-surgical Interventions; HIV and AIDS; Drug Addiction; elective Abortion, Assisted Procreation, Surrogate Mothers, Cloning, Mental Health, Clinical Experimentation, Prenatal Diagnostics, Organ and Tissue Harvesting and Transplantation, Transsexualism, the Medical expert, Understanding the Human Genome, and Biotechnological Patents.
2 - Postgraduate studies in Pharmacy and Medicinal Products Law
Co-ordinator: Prof. Guilherme de Oliveira (Faculty of Law) and Prof. João Rui Pita (Faculty of Pharmacy)
The CDB is starting its 1st Postgraduate Course in Pharmacy and Medicinal Products Law.
Regarding the law on medicinal products, the first part of the course includes an introduction to the History, Sociology, Economics and Management of Medicinal Products. At the level of drug creation, attention is paid to Clinical Trials on Human Beings and animals, and Pharmacogenetics. With respect to drug dynamics, national and Community Institutions for regulating drugs are studied, along with International and Community Law on Medicinal Products, Biotechnological Patents, Advertising of Medicinal Products, and the Civil Liability of the Pharmaceutical Industry.
With respect to Pharmacy Law, issues related to the ownership of Pharmacies, the leasing of Pharmacies, Pharmaceutical Deontology, Personal Databases in Pharmacies and the Pharmacist's Civil, Criminal and Disciplinary Liability will be examined.
3 - Collaboration with other Centres
Members of the CDB collaborate with other organizations, namely, with the Faculties of Medicine, Psychology and Education Sciences and Economics, in the University of Coimbra, and with the Coimbra Centre for Bioethical Studies and the Ordem dos Médicos (Medical Association).
Internationally, academic and scientific links are maintained with a number of European institutions, including: the Institut fuer Medizin- und Arzteimittelrecht (Goettingen, Germany); the Institut fuer Deutsches, Europaeisches und Internationales Medizinrecht, Gesundheitsrecht und Bioethik, of Heidelberg and Mannheim (Germany); the Center for Etik og Ret (Copenhagen, Denmark); the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics (England), the Interfacultair Centrum voor Biomedische Ethiek en Recht Leuven (Belgium), and the Catedra Interuniversitaria Genoma y Derecho (Bilbao, Spain).
4 - Colloquiums and Short Courses
The CDB has organized public discussion on the major topics of advances in medical science at interdisciplinary colloquiums on Assisted Reproduction, Transplant, Analysis of the Human Genome, HIV and AIDS, Mental Health Law and Clinical Trials. Its members are also regularly invited to take part in debates organized by other institutions interested in Biomedical subjects.
Quite recently (September 2001), it held an Intensive Course on Medical Law / Cours Intensif de Droit Médical, bringing some of the most distinguished Professors from the finest Universities and Biomedical Law Research Centres to Coimbra. The course was attended by a large number of undergraduate and postgraduate students from Europe, Brazil and Africa. It comprised about 50 hours of classes and was designed to explore the various branches of Medical Law in depth.
Two seminars are being prepared, on 'Biology and Genetics for Jurists', and 'Intra-family communication of genetic data'.
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New Evidence Frees Death Row Inmate Accused of Killing Cop and Exposes Corruption in Houston
Justice is not always as cut-and-dry as it appears on the surface. It should be, we’d like it to be, but it isn’t. Many of the problems inherent in our systems of justice lie in humanity itself. By-and-large, human beings are self-serving and opinionated; neither of these works to the cause of justice.
A recent case from Houston, Texas, shined a particularly grim light on these types of situations. Alfred Dewayne Brown was in serious trouble. He was wanted for robbery and murder and they wanted to put him to death for it…
A Routine Robbery
In 2003, Houston Police Officer Charles R. Clark responded to a silent alarm at a check cashing store on South Loop East in Houston, Texas. Officer Clark was there within four minutes, but it appeared that his promptness would end up being his downfall. As soon as he entered the store, the suspects opened fire.
Struck Down
Officer Clark was struck in the shoulder but did not fall. Instead, he moved to return fire. Unfortunately, his service weapon jammed after the first shot. He called for assistance but as he did so, one of the three assailants shot him in the head execution style. The three men then executed the female store clerk and fled into the night.
Apprehension
www.murderpedia.org
The following day, all three men were located and apprehended. One of those men was Alfred Dewayne Brown. During his subsequent trial, Brown maintained that he was at his girlfriend’s house at the time of the murder and that he had even made a landline call from there during that time. Nevertheless, no record of that call was ever presented at trial.
Key Witness
www.fox26houston.com
The problem lay in the fact that there was no physical record of this call, at least as far as prosecutors and Brown’s defense attorney were concerned. The fact that he was at his girlfriend’s house was Brown’s only concrete alibi and his only key witness was Ericka Jean Dockery, his girlfriend at the time. He also claimed to have called her work from that house earlier that day too. Unfortunately for Brown, there were issues with this alibi.
Changing Tunes
In the beginning, Dockery supported Brown’s story. But things switched after some rather aggressive questioning from the Harris County grand jury. Some threats were apparently made against Dockery and she had no choice but to change her story. She shifted over to being a key witness for the prosecution rather than one for the defense.
Despite the fact that there was no physical evidence linking Brown to the crime, there was also no physical evidence that supported Brown’s alibi either. Dockery’s change of heart made all the difference and in the end, Brown was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders. As he languished on death row, his lawyer continued to fight for him.
Fighting for Dewayne
Brown’s attorneys worked to compile a laundry list of evidence that indicated the murder had to have been committed by someone other than Brown. Their evidence linked to another man with a history of robbery and connections to the other co-defendants in the trial. Yet, a 2008 motion to test this alleged suspect’s DNA was never carried out, and Brown remained sentenced to die.
Phone Records
Seven years after the sentencing, before Brown was set to be put to death, a phone record confirming Brown’s story was discovered. There was evidence that Brown had indeed called Dockery’s work from her apartment but the defense had never seen it. The prosecution, however, had known about it the whole time.
Detective’s House
The phone records had apparently been found in the garage of detective Breck McDaniel, one of the officers involved in the original trial. Brown’s attorneys were completely shocked. Not only had the prosecution overtly withheld information, but they had also “lost it” at the home of one of the deceased officer’s colleagues.
A Grim Discovery
Something wasn’t right and Houston Chronicle columnist Lisa Falkenberg was about to blow the whole thing wide open. Looking deeper into the case, Falkenberg discovered that the manipulations against Brown ran even deeper. One of the culprits of this gross miscarriage of justice happened to be the foreman of the grand jury that had questioned Dockery.
Illicit Connections
That foreman, a longtime cop with the Houston Police Department, had browbeaten Dockery into changing her testimony by threatening jail time due to perjury and the loss of her children. He wasn’t the only former member of law enforcement on the grand jury either. This other former juror also allegedly served on at least nine other grand juries.
A Long-Standing Issue
These two weren’t the first cops to regularly serve on Harris County juries. Falkenberg also discovered that there were some troublingly close links between those grand juries and local law enforcement. How was Brown supposed to get a fair trial for his alleged murder of a police officer, if that officer’s fellow policeman were weighing in on his fate?
Stacked Juries
The reason for all this close-knit connection between Harris County juries and law enforcement was due to an antiquated method of selecting grand juries called the key-man system. This system essentially allows prosecutors to stack juries with people who tend more towards pro-law enforcement and pro-prosecution.
One Holy Case
If this key-man system sounds patently unfair, that’s because it is. Brown could never have gotten a fair shake within an environment like that. The case against him had more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. One of those holes was caused by the lead prosecutor himself, a man who withheld evidence for nearly 10 years.
Not only did Harris County prosecutor Dan Rizzo withhold evidence for a decade while a wrongly-accused man waited for death, but he also lied under oath. He denied that he had any information supporting Brown’s original alibi, which was proved to be false once they located the phone records at detective McDaniel’s house.
Original Statement
He didn’t deny it only once either, Rizzo denied it multiple times. In a sworn statement from 2008, Rizzo reaffirmed that he had not withheld any telephone records that could have been used in Brown’s defense or in proving his innocence. Brown’s appeals soon gained further consideration.
Sharp Contrast
Brown was no longer in danger of being executed because all of Rizzo’s countless denials amounted to little in the face of the newly-discovered phone records. There is even evidence that a detective told Rizzo about the presence of these records in 2003 and that the former prosecutor just chose not to disclose that discovery to the defense.
Eventually, Harris County prosecutors announced that all charges against Alfred Dewayne Brown had been dropped. He was exonerated and summarily released from prison. Since then, Texas even passed laws eliminating the unjust key-man system. That way, innocent men and women need not worry so much about overt juror bias.
District Attorney Devon Anderson released a statement about the dismissal. “After very careful consideration, I have decided that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to corroborate the testimony of Brown’s co-defendant. Accordingly, we dismissed Alfred Brown’s capital murder case earlier today,” he said, finishing with a poignant “It is the right thing to do.”
One of a Few
Alfred Dewayne Brown is the 154th person exonerated from death row since 1973 and happens to be the 13th in Texas. Recent years and new crime investigation techniques have made this a common occurrence and we can only hope that as these methods improve, justice can be served in a more just manner.
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The Last Days of Pekin By Pierre Loti
Hint: You can preview this book by clicking on "Preview" which is located under the cover of this book. About the author: Pierre Loti (pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud; 14 January... More > 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels.Born to a Protestant family, Loti's education began in his birthplace, Rochefort, Charente-Maritime. At age 17 he entered the naval school in Brest and studied at Le Borda. He gradually rose in his profession, attaining the rank of captain in 1906. In January 1910 he went on the reserve list. He was in the habit of claiming that he never read books, saying to the Académie française on the day of his introduction (April 7, 1892), "Loti ne sait pas lire" ("Loti doesn't know how to read"), but testimony from friends proves otherwise, as does his library, much of which is preserved in his house in Rochefort. Excerpt from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Loti< Less
Au Maroc [French] By Pierre Loti
Au Maroc (1890; "In Morocco") is a travel memoir by Pierre Loti about a month-long journey by horseback in Morocco through Tangier, Fez and Mekinez. The initial trip from Tangier to Fez was... More > in the company of a French embassy, after which Loti continued on by himself dressed in native clothing. Au Maroc was Loti's first pure travel literature.The book has been influential. Matisse, before coming to Morocco, studied the country by reading Loti's book. Edith Wharton’s In Morocco (1920) found its "strongest influence" in Loti's account.SourcesCommentary Excerpt from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Maroc Hint: You can preview this book by clicking on "Preview" which is located under the cover of this book.< Less
Madame Chrysantheme [French] By Pierre Loti
La troisieme jeunesse de Madame Prune [French] By Pierre Loti
Fantome d'Orient [French] By Pierre Loti
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The latest by Capcom is the star-studded crossover fighting game, which takes familiar gameplay systems and characters but offers it in a completely new way, asking players to re-examine their understanding of it as one complete game. The game is not just fun and rewarding to play, but also remedies some of the biggest issues its predecessor had. It is all held together by a functional but crude frame. The biggest shakeup in the game comes with the addition of the Infinity Stones. One stone can be taken into battle alongside two fighters, and each of them has a unique ability called "Infinity Surge" that can be used just like any other special move. These abilities open the door to a world of creative combos, setups, and strategies that the series has never had before. Infinite feels like a much more grounded game than its predecessors. The mechanics underlying the game make it an outstanding fighting combat.
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moreinfo@malvernmemorialparade.com
Committee & Donors
Reenactors and Participants
2013: 60th Anniversary of Korean War Armistice
by rmlee | Jan 22, 2017 | Annual Feature, Uncategorized | 0 comments
“If the best minds in the world had set out to find us the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war,” U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson once said, “the unanimous choice would have been Korea.”
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korea had been a part of the Japanese empire, and after World War II it fell to the Americans and the Soviets to decide what should be done with their enemy’s imperial possessions. In August 1945, two young aides at the State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south.
North Korea invaded South on June 25, 1950, opening the conflict. Under the UN banner, President Harry Truman ordered American forces to the peninsula. Initially the North Koreans overwhelmed their neighbors and forced them into a small area around the port of Pusan. While fighting raged around Pusan, UN commander General Douglas MacArthur masterminded a daring landing at Inchon on September 15, shattering the North Korean offensive and driving them back over the 38th Parallel.
Though China had been warning of intervention for much of the fall, MacArthur dismissed the threats. In October Chinese forces crossed the Yalu River and entered combat. The next month, they unleashed a massive offensive which sent UN forces reeling south after engagements like the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Forced to retreat to the south of Seoul, MacArthur was able to stabilize the line and counterattacked in February. Re-taking Seoul in March, UN forces again pushed north. On April 11, MacArthur, who had been clashing with Truman, was relieved and replaced by General Matthew Ridgway. Pushing across the 38th Parallel, Ridgway repelled a Chinese offensive before halting just north of the border.
With the UN halt north of the 38th Parallel, the war effectively became a stalemate. However serious fighting still took place with the Battles of Heartbreak Ridge, White Horse, Triangle Hill, and Pork Chop Hill.
The negotiations at Panmunjom finally bore fruit, and an armistice went into effect on July 27, 1953. No formal peace treaty has ever been concluded.
Information from The Korean War: The Forgotten Conflict, by Kennedy Hickman on About.com.
Recent Program Features
2018: Did You Know? Flag Etiquette
2018: Two often asked questions about the Parade; answered.
2018: 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I
2017: Paoli Massacre Memorial – 200th Anniversary
2017: Parade Grand Marshall – Sandra Kelley
2017: 100th Anniversary of the US Entry into WW I
2016: 75th Anniversary Year of the Day of “Infamy” The Bombing of Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941
2015: Milestone Anniversary Year in Military History
2014: Malvern – 125 Years Young
2013: 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
2012: National World War II Memorial
2012: Grand Marshals who are World War II Veterans
2012: Paoli-Berwin-Malvern Lions Club
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Author Archives: Mel
Trans Day of Visibility
A quick Trans Day of Visibility message from MTPC executive director Mason Dunn. For all those who can be visible – thank you. For those who can’t be visible – we love you and support you. For those who have no choice but visibility – we stand with you. #EveryoneWelcome #TransRightsNOW!
#TransBillMA passed in the House AND Senate!
Below are MTPC’s public remarks on the passing of the Equal Access Bill in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by a wide (veto-proof!) margin on June 1, 2016. The bill has already passed in the Senate.
My name is Mason Dunn. I am a transgender man, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, and co-chair of Freedom Massachusetts.
Today’s victory is a long-awaited and important affirmation from our lawmakers that transgender people are valued and welcome in our Commonwealth. Not only that, but today’s vote is an inspirational way to start June, National LGBTQ Pride Month. Happy Pride!
The protections that have passed today have been pending on Beacon Hill for nearly ten years. During that time, hundreds of transgender people have bravely come forward to tell their stories and personal experiences with discrimination. I am humbled by the time and effort the transgender community and our allies have put in to get us here today. You have shown up, time and time again, to tell your stories and to be an integral part of this process. Lawmakers heard us, and they see transgender people for who we truly are — human beings, worthy of respect and deserving of basic human rights.
We are so grateful to our tireless advocates in the House: Speaker DeLeo; Chairman Fernandes; and Representative Rushing and Representative Provost, the bill’s lead sponsors. They have shown persistent and determined leadership, without which we would not be here today. We are thankful to them for their unwavering commitment to moving this bill forward and working diligently over the past months to be sure legislators did the right thing.
Today is a triumph for Massachusetts’s reputation as a leader on equality and as a beacon of freedom for everyone. We look forward to seeing this bill arrive at Governor Baker’s desk, and we eagerly await his signature. It’s time for equality for everyone in Massachusetts.
It was a weekend of celebration and excitement in the LGBTQ movement as Pride Month came to a close. Marriage equality has been achieved at the national level, and we congratulate the activists, advocates, supporters, and volunteers who made this win a reality.
But now it’s July, and it’s time to continue the work. We are one step closer to lived equality for all LGBTQ people, and we cannot stop now. Join us in the continued journey, and together we can make history for human rights.
As you may have seen, MTPC has joined forces with many LGBTQ and human rights organizations to form Freedom Massachusetts. This campaign is working to secure nondiscrimination protections for gender identity and gender expression in all Massachusetts public spaces. Please take a moment to join the campaign and sign the pledge.
Want to volunteer for the campaign? Email Katie: Katie@FreedomMassachusetts.org. We need your help with phone banks, data input, organizing, and so much more. This is an opportunity to be on the ground floor of a very exciting campaign.
There is so much work left to do, but with this momentum, we are unstoppable. Join the movement, and together we can continue to change the world.
We’re so honored! Join us at North Shore Pride.
We hope you’ll join MTPC ED Mason Dunn and Steering Committee Chair Emeritus Nancy Nangeroni at the amazing North Shore Pride event in Salem, MA, on Saturday, June 20 from noon to 5.
Stop by our table to hear about our work, learn how to get involved, or just say hello! And be sure to enter our T-shirt and iPad Mini raffles!
We will have postcards you can sign for Gov. Charlie Baker asking him to support our public access bill. We’ll also have letter writing materials if you want to send something longer and more personal.
If you’re around at 1, you can see MTPC accept this year’s Joan Parker Memorial Award. Joan was a friend of North Shore Pride and she and her husband, Robert, were staunch advocates for LGBT rights.
Boston City Council Votes Unanimously in Support of Gender Therapy Access Ordinance for Transgender Municipal Workers
[MassEquality press release]
BOSTON ─ June 11 ─ Today, the Boston City Council, by a unanimous vote, passed an ordinance ensuring that the City does not contract with any health insurance provider that does not provide comprehensive coverage for gender therapy services, including mental health care, hormone therapy, and other transition-related care for transgender City employees.
“This is a modest proposal that will have a profound impact on the lives of transgender municipal workers,” said Kara Coredini, executive director of MassEquality. “We applaud Councilors Ayanna Pressley and Michelle Wu for introducing the ordinance and the Council members who co-sponsored it and voted to pass it. Their action today is an important next step in Boston’s continuing leadership on transgender equality, and we hope that the state will soon follow Boston’s lead as it has so many times on issues of LGBTQ equality.”
Introduced by City Councilors Ayanna Pressley and Michelle Wu in mid-April, the ordinance received the support of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and the city’s Public Employees Committee, which recently voted to ensure that the city’s insurance plans to accommodate increased access to gender therapy services for Boston employees. Though the ordinance passed unanimously, this is a very small step in ensuring that all transgender people in the state are provided comprehensive insurance coverage. Currently, there are 17,000 Boston municipal workers whose insurance coverage will be impacted by this change.
“I am thrilled that the City of Boston is setting the standard for an inclusive workplace with policies to attract the most talented and committed employees,” said Wu. “Inclusive health care coverage is the right thing to do for our employees and their families, and the best economic policy. I am proud that my colleagues on the Council and our Mayor support this important ordinance so strongly, and so grateful to MassEquality and the many partner organizations who testified in support. I am honored to be a part of this step towards ensuring Boston remains the best place to live, work and play.”
The language of the ordinance prevents the City from contracting with health insurers who refuse to provide coverage for transition-related care. One insurer, Neighborhood Health Plan, did not have a rider in its coverage for transition-related care, but will add one to its coverage that allows for gender therapy services. The other plans already covered these services for municipal employees.
“I thank MassEquality for being a leader and a partner in the ongoing fight for justice for our trans neighbors,” Boston City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley said. “Access to quality health care is a civil rights issue. This ordinance will dramatically improve the lives of our City’s trans employees and their families; restoring their dignity and alleviating the cost of medically necessary care.”
According to research done by the Center for American Progress, the cost of providing healthcare coverage for transgender municipal workers is expected to be negligible. Studies have shown that the more than 200 private companies across the country that provide coverage for gender therapy services reported insignificant changes in healthcare costs.
“We are so proud to be part of a city that’s taking significant steps to remove the barriers to health care for all people,” said Susan Sherry, Deputy Director of Community Catalyst, a Boston-based national consumer health advocacy organization. “The Council’s overwhelming support for this policy change that benefits transgender employees sends a strong message to Boston and all Massachusetts residents, and promotes our city as a national leader on health equity issues.”
Washington, Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont and California have also amended their state policies to ensure that health insurers do not discriminate against transgender individuals.
Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, executive director of Health Care For All, states, “This is an important step forward in ensuring that health coverage meets an individual’s full range of health care needs. We commend the City Council for providing a model state policymakers can use to improve access to care for all residents.”
May meets June: The intersection of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and queerness
by Maxwell Ng, MTPC Steering Committee Vice-Chair
In May I celebrate and honor the work that has been done by my Asian and Pacific Islander brothers, sisters and siblings in the fight against racism. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the completion by Chinese laborers on the transcontinental railroad as well as the first immigration of a Japanese person to the United States.
And in June I remember and honor the work that my LGBTQ brothers, sisters and siblings have done in the fight against homo/transphobia. June is the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the event that is credited for creating the modern LGBTQ Civil Rights movement.
While most of the time, it feels like this work is distinctive, isolated and separate, for me as a second generation Asian American and an out transman, these worlds have always been linked.
Have you looked at a map recently? Asia is big. Really big. There are 49 countries in Asia, a region that stretches from Saudi Arabia to the Kamchatka Peninsula and includes 60% of the world’s population. “Asia” as a concept was created when westerners were exploring the globe looking for exotic lands and rare spices. In fact, the earliest disputes about the border between Asia and the “western” world were centered on the Caucasus Mountains and so we interpret Asian to mean other.
Today “Asian Pacific-Islander” is a geopolitical term that refers to blobs of color on an atlas that are approximately close to each other. But in the “melting pot” of American race politics, to be API means you have yellow skin and slanty eyes. It possibly also means you’re good at math, have demanding parents and slur your Rs. To be Asian American is to remove all the subtlety and nuance of a rich cultural heritage and to boil it down to a degrading stereotype that was created during the Wild West, institutionalized at Tule Lake, and given household recognition by Stanley Kubrick.
I remember as a child in the early 80s, my mother would caution me repeatedly, “Make sure you tell people you’re Chinese.” The fear was that if people thought I was Vietnamese, I would be construed as The Enemy because “we all look alike”. In 1982, Vincent Chin was bludgeoned to death by two Detroit autoworkers. Even though he was not an autoworker, or Japanese, they blamed him personally for the rise of Japanese automobile companies. He was brutally murdered for the way he looked and the perceptions of his race. In the months immediately following, Asians all over this country realized that it didn’t matter where we were born or who our parents were, we would still be labeled a Chink, a Jap, a Gook, and hated for simply because we are different. Vincent’s murder inspired a movement of togetherness that has lived to this day. In fact, immediately after the attacks on 9/11, Japanese Americans who survived Tule Lake were the first to come out in solidarity to make sure the same institutionalized racism didn’t happen again to Muslim Americans.
Power politics
I talk about these things incessantly because so many people don’t know the fundamental link between racism and homophobia the way I have experienced. Vincent Chin’s murder changed hate crime legislation in the United States. Something that happened again with the murder of Matthew Shepard. So much of the hatred in this country is based on perception of power. Most recently, a troubled misogynistic young man went on a killing spree in Isla Vista aimed at the women he perceived to reject him. It is difficult to rationalize any of his actions or his beliefs, but it is very obvious that his own internalized racism at his half Asian self was a contributing factor to his self loathing.
Intersection Junction, what’s your function?
The simple truth is that no one’s identity is simple. For me, my world and life are profoundly shaped by the color of my skin. I have long said that the two things people see about me are (1) my race and then (2) my gender. Before I say a single word, they assume that I don’t speak English, and that I will be submissive to them. 2011 statistics show 46.9% of hate crimes were motivated by race and 20.8% by sexual orientation. In my own life I have been subjected to decades of microaggressions that are in accordance with those statistics.
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South Yorkshire’s transport museum
South Yorkshire Transport Museum, Aldwarke, Rotherham
South Yorkshire has two transport museums which grew independently out of an early project to turn the former Sheffield Tramways Company’s Tinsley Tram Sheds into a museum on a nationally significant transport-history site.
At the present time the oldest purpose-built tram depot in the UK is a tile-warehouse, and there are two separate collections of buses and other transport memorabilia within a couple of miles of each other in the suburbs of Rotherham.
The South Yorkshire Transport Museum at Aldwarke is family friendly. There’s plenty for children to do, and much to entertain kids of all ages.
If you’ve lived in South Yorkshire and are over forty this place provides the disconcerting experience of finding once-familiar objects preserved in a museum.
It has a rich collection of buses, most of them well preserved and the rest under restoration, from across South Yorkshire, as well as tower wagons, towing trucks and other vehicles including two milk floats.
Some of the buses are available for hire, and do a roaring trade in weddings and birthdays.
There’s even a matchstick model of a railway locomotive.
Tucked away in a corner is the lower saloon of a Sheffield tram, no 460 built in 1926. It’s a rare survivor, sold rather than scrapped in 1951, and now repainted in an approximation of the authentic livery. Step inside to look at the models and memorabilia and hear an evocative sound-recording of trams in motion that makes up for its incomplete state.
There’s also a café, serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches and snacks, and a shop full of souvenirs and arcana to satisfy the most deep-dyed transport enthusiast.
Visitor information is at https://sytm.co.uk/visit/opening.html.
This entry was posted in Transports of Delight on May 25, 2018 by Mike Higginbottom.
Tinsley Tramsheds
Former Tinsley Tramsheds, Sheffield
The most substantial remnant of Sheffield’s first-generation tram system is the original depot at Weedon Street, Tinsley, built in 1874 for the Sheffield Tramways Company when it opened its first horse-drawn line.
This very early tramway was founded by the railway contractor Thomas Lightfoot, who also built the Douglas horse-tramway that opened in 1876 and still operates in the Isle of Man.
Tinsley Tram Sheds is possibly the oldest remaining purpose-built tram depot in the UK.
When the Sheffield Corporation took over the horse-tram company, its first electric trams, inaugurated in 1899, ran between Weedon Street and Nether Edge, with a depot at each end, and for the first few years vehicles were maintained and eventually built at the two depots – mechanical parts at Tinsley, bodywork at Nether Edge – until a purpose-built works at Queen’s Road opened in 1905.
A well-made film of a tram-journey from Beauchief to Weedon Street in 1960 ends with Roberts car 523 disappearing into the tramsheds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0a28Q_78eM [at 16:45 minutes].
Almost all Sheffield’s trams, including the very last in service and those in the final closing procession in October 1960, ended up at Weedon Street, from where they were towed across the road to Thomas W Ward’s scrapyard.
Sheffield people customarily referred to “tramsheds”, though all of them across the city were substantial brick buildings. Apart from Tinsley, they have either disappeared or survive only as sad facades.
At one time Tinsley Tramsheds was home to Sheffield’s bus museum, until a schism led to one collection moving out to Aldwarke near Rotherham to become the South Yorkshire Bus Museum and the other, the South Yorkshire Transport Trust, eventually moving to Eastwood in a nearby part of Rotherham.
Little remains of the tram-depot interior: the tracks, inspection pits and overhead gantries that gave exterior access to trams at upper-deck level have long gone. The whole of the spacious interior is currently occupied by a tile-depot.
A glass-half-empty report from the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society suggests that the building is deteriorating: http://hhbs.org.uk/2017/07/01/trams-to-tiles.
Nevertheless, this Grade II-listed relic of transport history, located between the Meadowhall shopping centre and Sheffield’s new Ikea store, close to a retail park and the Sheffield Arena, could be smartened up by a savvy developer.
Cracks in the tarmac of the forecourt show that the track-fan and stone setts survive, at least in part, waiting to be exposed.
The interior is a flexible space with scope for adaptation, and the exterior is capable of restoration as one of the few historic sites remaining in the Lower Don Valley.
This entry was posted in Exploring Attercliffe, Sheffield's Heritage, Transports of Delight, Victorian Architecture on May 17, 2018 by Mike Higginbottom.
Stoneywell, Ulverscroft, Leicestershire
I’ve known, ever since the days when I ran country-house tours for Nottingham University, that the people who manage National Trust property contribute to its atmosphere.
So, on my first visit to the recently acquired Stoneywell, just outside Leicester, the warmth of the welcome was striking even on a chilly autumn afternoon.
There’s literally nowhere to park at this property, so visitors are greeted with a minibus at the car-park down the lane. There is a shop in the stables, and a modest café in the old laundry which is warmed by the original copper.
Strolling in the garden, a survival of the ancient Charnwood Forest, it’s difficult to remember that the outer suburbs of Leicester are only a couple of miles away to the east, and the M1 motorway is barely half a mile to the west.
The house itself is an overgrown cottage, hunched into the hillside rather like an upmarket hobbit house. It’s built of local materials, and grows organically from the hillside on which it stands, so that its three floors in fact have six different levels on a zig-zag ground plan.
It’s a hugely significant building, commissioned by Sydney Gimson (1860-1938), son of the founder of a Leicester engineering company that built steam engines and other machinery. It was completed in 1899.
Sydney Gimson bought enough land in Charnwood Forest to provide plots for his older half-brother, Mentor, and his younger sister, Margaret.
He commissioned his younger brother Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) to design Stoneywell, and employed the architect Detmar Blow (1867-1939) as clerk of works.
Both Gimson and Blow were devotees of the Arts & Crafts movement: Detmar Blow believed that architects should get their hands dirty, which slowed things down and caused some irritation; Ernest Gimson was closely associated with the Birmingham-born brothers Ernest and Sidney Barnsley, with whom he set up a workshop at Sapperton, Gloucestershire.
For two generations, until the 1950s, Stoneywell was a country retreat for the summer and Christmas, a place of adventure for the children of the family and their friends, and an opportunity to live a simpler life far removed from their town house and the engineering factory in nearby Leicester.
This much-loved place was too good to give up, and so passed down the family, on Sidney’s death in 1938 to his son Basil (who taught at Bedales School, where his uncle Ernest designed the library).
A fire destroyed the thatched roof in 1937 but most of the cottage and its contents survived and were restored, with a roof of local Swithland slate, by Basil’s brother Humphrey Gimson (1890-1982).
When Basil died in 1953, the house passed to his son Donald (born 1924) who gently modernised it for year-round living: he sold it to the National Trust in 2012 and continues to make periodic visits.
Continuity of ownership means that this exquisite dwelling retains most of its original contents, with tables, chairs, beds and fittings designed and made by Ernest Gimson and the Barnsley brothers.
It’s a testament to the Arts & Crafts values that William Morris promoted through the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings and the Art Workers’ Guild.
The simple life is all well and good. Janet Ashbee, wife of the architect Charles Robert Ashbee, writes that the artist Roger Fry tried the simple life but found it too complicated and had to give it up.
The Gimsons made it work, shinning up narrow staircases and a ladder to bed well into old age.
And now its beauty is accessible to everyone – provided they book a timed ticket to prevent overcrowding.
This entry was posted in Country Houses, Life-enhancing experiences, Victorian Architecture on May 9, 2018 by Mike Higginbottom.
Wignacourt Aqueduct, Fleur-de-Lys, Malta
Alof de Wignacourt (1547-1622) is a towering figure in Malta’s history. His name is everywhere on the island.
One of the most popular of the Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller who ruled the island from 1530, the young Wignacourt first attracted attention at the Siege of Malta in 1565.
After his election as Grand Master in 1601 he undertook an ambitious programme of public works to improve and protect the island and particularly its newly-established capital of Valletta.
Between 1610 and 1620 he constructed, at his own expense, six formidable watchtowers along Malta’s east coast to keep an eye on unfriendly vessels at the crossroads of Mediterranean shipping routes. Four of these survive – the eponymous Wignacourt Tower at St Paul’s Bay (1610), the St Lucian Tower at Marsaxlokk (1610-11), the St Thomas Tower at Marsaskala (1614) and St Mary’s Tower on the island of Comino (1618).
Further series of watch towers were built by subsequent Grand Masters Giovanni Paolo Lascaris (in office 1636-1657) and Martin de Redin (in office 1657-1660), but they are generally smaller and less elaborate than the Wignacourt Towers.
His other major engineering achievement was to bring fresh drinking water to the rapidly growing city of Valletta by means of the Wignacourt Aqueduct.
The preceding Grand Master Martin Garze (in office 1595-1601) had planned an aqueduct to run some sixteen miles from inland springs at Dingli and Rabat, but hadn’t made much progress for lack of funds.
Wignacourt took over and largely financed the project, and completed it within five years. The line runs from Attard, maintaining a constant gradient through underground pipes, and crossing depressions with arcades of limestone arches cemented with pozzolana, a volcanic ash of cement.
It continued to supply water to Valletta and other towns along its route until the beginning of the twentieth century.
Long stretches remain as a monument to Wignacourt’s enterprise, along with other structures, such as the Wignacourt Arch, otherwise known as the Fleur-de-Lys Gate, demolished after an RAF lorry ran into it during the blackout in 1943, and reconstructed in 2012-14.
The community around the Gate takes its name from the three fleur-de-lys that appear on Wignacourt’s coat of arms.
Other surviving structures include inspection towers at St Venera, Ħamrun and Floriana, and a series of fountains including the Wignacourt Fountain in the centre of Valetta.
Alongside these physical achievements, Wignacourt has a claim on posterity as the patron of the artist Caravaggio (1571-1610), whose tempestuous career brought him to Malta in a brief period between 1607 and his expulsion from the Knights’ order at the end of the following year.
During this time, as well as the two great canvases in St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valetta, ‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist’ and ‘Saint Jerome Writing’, Caravaggio painted a striking portrait ‘Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page’, now in the Louvre.
This entry was posted in Cemeteries, Sewerage & Sanitation on May 1, 2018 by Mike Higginbottom.
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Eysing on the Cake
As you’ll see from our Orgatec review, there are a number of trends emerging from the giant German show. One is that R&D is alive and well – and being shown off by all the major players. Another is that the hi-tech, futuristic aesthetic has been replaced by pared-down elegance.
A perfect example of a combination of the two is Interstuhl’s VINTAGEis5 chair. We’d like to claim that we’re so ‘on the ball’ that we’d foreseen all this and had requested, nee demanded, that we meet with the chair’s designer. The truth, however, is that our friends at Interstuhl were the smart ones – and knew that we’d be extremely impressed with VINTAGEis5 and would want to interview the man behind the design.
So, thanks to them, we find ourselves in the heart of the Orgatec throng on the impressive Interstuhl stand, where leading product designer Volker Eysing is waiting to talk to us about his latest groundbreaking product and his successful career to date.
VINTAGEis5 is a family of chairs that…well, why should we explain when we have the mastermind behind the collection on hand to do that for us? ‘I wanted to make a chair that was incredibly versatile so I went to Interstuhl with my idea – this was back in 2010,’ Volker recalls. ‘They thought it was a really cool idea. I had three versions – the work chair, the cantilever chair and the conference chair – and the versatility comes from the idea that although we had three versions, you can put every back onto each of the chairs. So you have seven or eight chairs in reality. Then you have three options for the armrest – including an innovative brand new design.
‘When we started the first thing we did was the classic conference chair and then, three years ago, we started to focus on developing the work chair. We wanted to make it as light as possible. As you can see from the construction, it is very pure and simple. The mechanism – the power package – is tucked into the seat. So the seat is actually part of the mechanism, which is a really new idea.
‘There are three seat positions and the chair follows your body and regulates your sitting position. The tilt works in harmony with the back, so if one is right for you, then the other will also be right for you. It is really easy.’
As Volker invites us to sit and experience VINTAGEis5 we can’t help but be drawn by its aesthetics. The sleek profile and lack of a big, clunky mechanism gives the work chair model the air of a much less technical and sophisticated chair. Couple this with the exquisite finish and engineering and you have ω the product that so many designers have been looking for – an advanced, technically superior work chair that doesn’t look like a work chair.
And we haven’t even mentioned what we like most about this collection yet! Well, for a start, this is a totally brand new chair. You’ve already said that, you might be thinking. What we mean by this is that VINTAGEis5 is brand new from the castors all the way to the armrests. Every element and every component has been specifically designed and developed by Volker and Interstuhl for this project.
The controls, for example, could have been bought in as an afterthought. But they weren’t. Instead, they are recessed, neatly hidden from sight – and this just adds to the elegance of the overall design of course.
The unique armrest is equally impressive. The flexible, concertina effect allows the user to move his or her arms up and down – and although this may sound like quite a minor thing, it actually makes a huge difference to the sitting experience and, importantly, has major ergonomic benefits.
Again, we’ll let Volker explain. ‘The armrest allows you to move into the working position,’ he shows us. ‘This takes pressure away from your neck and it makes your muscles work. This encourages movement, which you need from a work chair, of course.
‘This is totally new – and like the rest of the chair is completely self-explanatory. The chief at Interstuhl said to me that we needed to do something with the armrest. He said to me ‘You’re the designer – do something brand new for us’. I then thought about what we could do and I quickly thought about the idea of movement.
‘I thought this was a cool idea that benefits – both in the way that people can move and also in the aesthetics.
‘We also had a big discussion when it came to the lumbar support. I have seen this on mesh back chairs before and I really hate that! I had a problem with my shoulder and I had it taped up with Kinesiology sports tape – and this gave me an idea that maybe we could use this technology for the lumbar support. We went to a local company – their studio is just four streets away – which makes motifs for shirts and we told them about our idea. They said ‘That’s no problem, we can do that’ – so now we have something that no one else in the industry has.
‘Every story here is a small story. This is not a huge single ergonomic innovation. It is a series of small stories that have come together. I think it is really important that someone who has no idea how these chairs work can learn the functions really quickly. It is self-explanatory.
‘I even like the name. I think VINTAGEis5 sounds like something that is of a very high quality, is classic and is timeless – and that is what we have tried to achieve.’
Volker, we discover, was destined to move into the world of industrial design. ‘My mother was an artist and my father was a construction engineer in Germany,’ he tells us. ‘I guess the two have come together for me. It is something I have really wanted to do since I was 16 – I was interested in design and how designs work.
‘I started working with wood – this was the basis for my studies. We had a very good university for industrial design – and especially furniture design – in Kiel in the very north of Germany. I moved from Münster to study there. It was a very different place to study but I was lucky enough to study under a great professor who was very interested in furniture. This was the basis for my work. He knew everyone – it was really cool.’
Volker went on to work for six months with a design firm in Switzerland and then a further six months with another firm in Los Angeles before sitting his design exam – with his final piece going on to be produced by Drabert.
‘Since then I have only worked for furniture companies – such as Sitag, Martin Stoll and now only for Interstuhl,’ Volker explains. ‘When I met with Interstuhl they said to me ‘If you want to work with us, you work only for us’.
‘We have come a long way over the last four or five years. It takes a lot of trust and a really big investment from the company. This is such a great thing for me – it was an amazing opportunity to work on such a big project. There so many designers who would love to work with Interstuhl. I am really thankful for that opportunity.’
As we continue to chat, Volker fondly recalls his internship in the States, where he was given an apartment in Santa Monica and a car – and was paid for the privilege! ‘It was so cool!’ he grins. Today he enjoys working in his adopted home in Kiel. ‘I like it because you have the sea outside your door. It’s also nice because it’s not as big or as busy as Hamburg or Berlin.
‘I like to work with just one company at a time – for me it’s important to have just one company who tells me exactly what they want. This way you can trust one another. This (VINTAGEis5) was very much a team effort – we had a big development team who had some great ideas. You get better quality from working in this way.’
With VINTAGEis5 now complete and ‘out there’ in the market, Volker is clearly not sitting back and waiting for the plaudits. Watch this space.
Inter-Stellar
Rawside, London
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21st February 2018 21st February 2018
The Bright Building
Regular readers will have noticed the astonishing (even if we say so ourselves) variety of impressive North West-based projects we’ve been able to review over the past year or so. We’ve looked at major financial blue chips, leading telecommunications companies, housing associations, public sector innovators and co-working facilities. Here, however, we might just have added something not only unique to the North West to our list, but something unique full stop.
Technology and innovation lie at the heart of The Bright Building – an amazing new facility, which provides a tech-hub for both Greater Manchester and the Northern region as a whole.
Conceived as a place where discovery and adoption of innovation and open collaboration is nurtured, The Bright Building is the first phase of a wider BDP masterplan for Manchester Science Park (MSP).
The Bright Building acts as the hub for the entire MSP campus community of over 150 businesses and the wider city centre innovation district. The majority of the building’s ground floor is given over to an expansive, flexible open space for up to 200 people to gather, with meeting rooms, breakout spaces, a café and shared outdoor areas to help bring people and businesses together.
Having made our way out of the vibrancy of Manchester city centre, and despite the rather typical seasonal weather, we’re both surprised and delighted to find a whole new vibrancy out here at MSP. We meet up with BDP Architect Designer Mike Hitchmough and Tom Renn, Managing Director, Manchester Science Partnerships, who are happy to give us a tour of the facility. ‘We’re hitting the lunchtime rush right now – which is a nice time in a way,’ Tom begins. ‘We’re now seeing all the customers of MSP – some 2,000 people, working across 10 buildings. The design of this building was all about bringing that community together into one place – so rather than having pockets of community in different buildings, and customers or tenants of each building staying within their own smaller community, the idea here was to create an active heart for the park.
‘We have a lot of companies here at MSP who have spun out of academia – and this is a great facility for them to be able to continue to interact with the community.’
‘This was actually two commissions for us,’ Mike tells us. ‘The first commission was the base build – which was literally the shell and core. We didn’t do anything with upstairs because the sort of tenants that Tom is getting in are not looking for a traditional office fit-out.
‘So we designed a bare shell that kept the wind and rain out – which is extremely handy on a day like today!
‘People can then come in here and use this space as a hub. A lot of the work is research-based or lab-based, so a typical office fit-out wouldn’t necessarily work for them.
‘Tom and the team then commissioned a separate piece of work for the fit-out of the ground floor space. The entire building is around 70,000 sq ft. Including Cisco’s own space here, we’ve probably got about 10,000 sq ft of space that a typical developer would immediately want to shrink down. There is pretty much an open-door policy here – we needed this space to be given across to anyone who wants to come in here and use it, have a coffee etc. Obviously, the tenants here – such as Cisco – use the facility, but it is also very much open for anyone within the science park.’
‘It was designed to Cat A with an exposed ceiling,’ Tom continues. ‘So we weren’t going to put in grid ceilings – we always wanted to expose the concrete and if tenants then come in here and want to put in a grid ceiling for their own lab space, for example, they can do that – it works really well for that. Flexibility is absolutely key to the space.
‘We have an Innovation Centre here, which we run in partnership with Cisco, and which is designed to help scale small businesses. The main street space, which runs throughout the building, features our shared operating office and also the R&D Centre for Cisco in the North. We run Innovate UK’s national ‘Internet of Things’ demonstrator project here – so we engage with a lot of tech SME’s and a number of life science companies.
‘We are a little way out of the city centre, so it was vital that we brought the right amenities to the site – so as well as the food and drink provision, we have a gym studio, for example. After all, what is it we’re offering here? An innovation campus where you can work with over 150 like-minded businesses, in close proximity to the University and the largest NHS hospital trust in the country – but we also needed that really good café offering and gym studio.’
The clear span, pre-cast concrete frame solution enabled MSP to offer tenants clear, open space with no internal finishes, so that tenants had the maximum flexibility on their fit-out.
The building is designed around this central open spine that is open to the public – a key aspect of the wider masterplan – and facilitates connectivity between the University and the Science Park. The natural flow and energy of people through and around the building is harnessed within the vibrant ground floor hub where, as Mike informs us, ‘We have used the often-overlooked metric of three dimensional volume to create an unfolding series of diverse spaces, using objects, furniture and lighting to create both formal and informal settings, bright places, dark spaces, open and cosy, inside or outside, where people can connect on whatever level they choose’.
The ground floor’s central open space – the real beating heart of the facility – is designed to accommodate a range of functions. In its ‘everyday’ mode, it is furnished with tables and benches where people can enjoy food and drink throughout the day, provided by Friska – a caterer whose ethos is focused upon how food makes you ‘feel’. Very Scandinavian and very cool!
Mike tells us that Tom and the team spent a great deal of time deliberating over the right partners for the building. ‘It was incredibly important – because it’s so important for them to get the right people visiting the building. The food here is first-class, by the way,’ he enthuses.
Lacquered plywood terraces provide informal places to sit, lounge and work. Tom tells us that, with the tables and benches removed, these platforms and seating either side create a natural performance space. Filled with seating, the central space becomes a 200-seat conference space with the raised platform as the stage area.
Fantastic elevated black meeting rooms cling to the exposed concrete soffit and emphasise the generous height of the ground floor. ‘Each has a deliberately different orientation, offering inward and outward looking views and different room proportions to offer a variety of meeting configurations and settings,’ Mike explains. ‘The additional booth-style spaces below are deliberately tight and intimate – in contrast to the lofty central space.’
An important aspect of the openness and accessibility of
the building was to establish seamless connectivity between inside and outside. The external landscape concept was developed around the notion of creating external rooms where – weather depending – people can work, meet, and play as easily outside the building as they can inside. To this end, the landscape incorporates, power, data, lighting and ground sockets to accept temporary structures for a range of shelters. Of course, we do have to bear in mind that this is Manchester, so perfect alfresco dining and working will always be slightly limited. On a fine day, however, this will certainly add a whole new dimension to the facilities here.
Users have access to latest telepresence technology, enabling them to work with anyone, anywhere in the world. The building is a living lab for new technology development and deployment, with a particular focus on smart cities, Internet of Things and digital health. It is a building that celebrates and uses technology and physical space to allow people to connect both digitally and physically.
All Change in the City
Springbok Watch
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Stories from Wednesday, June 7, 2017
James Crider (Obituary ~ 06/07/17)
James Edward Crider, 85, of Marshfield, formerly of Wheaton, died Friday, June 2, at the Marshfield Care Center in Marshfield. A graveside service, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 8, at the Muncie Chapel Cemetery in Wheaton...
Martha Jane Boucher (Obituary ~ 06/07/17)
Martha Jane Boucher 92, of Monett, Mo., passed from this life to her eternal home in Heaven on Saturday morning, June 3, 2017, while at Bentonview Park Nursing Home in Monett, Mo. Martha was born on February 13, 1925, in Monett, daughter of the late G.E. ...
Lions All-Star hoops tilt Saturday (High School Sports ~ 06/07/17)
The Lions District 26-M6 38th annual All-Star Basketball Twin Classic is set for Saturday. The girls game is slated to tip at 6:30 p.m. followed by the boys game. Local athletes participating include: Alex Turner, Monett; Matt Wilson, Purdy; Kayla Portillo, Pierce City; and Nicole Stephenson, Verona...
Pierce City youth football camp set dates (Community Sports ~ 06/07/17)
The annual Pierce City Youth Football camp will be held July 10 and 11 from 6-8 p.m. The camp is free to athletes in the third through eighth grades. Camp T-shirts can be purchased for $10. The camp will be conducted by Brad Hocker and his coaching staff and will focus on football fundamentals...
Diamond Cubs give team honors (High School Sports ~ 06/07/17)
The Monett baseball team recently released its 2017 team awards. The list is as follows: • Most Valuable Player: Ian Meyer • Captain: Jonathan Hawkins • Captain: Zach Burgherr • Captain: Mason Swearingen • Captain: Meyer • Defensive Player of the Year: Swearingen...
Cubs named among diamond Big 8 elite (High School Sports ~ 06/07/17)
The Monett baseball team turned in another stellar season on the diamond this year, and the Big 8 conference took notice. The Cubs locked down 10 spots on the Big 8 All-Conference baseball team with Ian Meyer, Mason Swearingen, Corey Spain and Jonathan Hawkins receiving first team honors...
News in brief (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
The Purdy Special Road District commissioners will meet at 5:30 p.m. on June 12 at the district barn at 200 S. Ninth St., south of the city cemetery. Anyone wishing to address the commissioners is asked to call 236-5437 by 4 p.m. on June 9 to be placed on the agenda...
Bear visits family near Roaring River State Park (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
For the first time in several years, Sid and Mary Allsbury, who live approximately a mile and a half mile from the entrance to Roaring River State Park on Buck Ridge Road, got a visit from a bear.
Camp Smokey smoldering with fun (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
Youth attending the Barry County Youth Camp at Roaring River State Park's Camp Smokey had tons of fun on their first day.
Times editor wins Missouri Press Association award (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
In just over three months, The Monett Times Editor Kyle Troutman will accept one of the most prestigious state-wide awards from the Missouri Press Association (MPA) — a 2017 William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist Award. Troutman is one of two recipients, receiving the award in the daily category for his work at The Monett Times and Cassville Democrat. ...
Springfield man injured in wreck (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
A Springfield man was injured in a wreck on Monday at 3:24 p.m. on Highway 39, three miles north of Jenkins. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Anthony Costa, 44, of Springfield, was driving a 2005 Freightliner northbound when the big rig ran off the right side of the roadway and overturned...
Trinity Lutheran Church picnic set for Friday (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
Trinity Lutheran Church in Freistatt will host its annual community picnic on Friday on the grounds behind the Trinity Lutheran School, located at 207 N. Main, across from the church. The event will feature a large menu of hamburgers or cheesburgers, hot dogs, homemade pies, ice cream and other refreshments. The Trinity Ladies Aide will offer a country store with fresh baked goods...
3-vehicle crash on Hwy. 60 leaves no injuries (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
Three vehicles received damage but no one was hurt in a chain reaction crash at around 5:20 p.m. on Monday on Highway 60, just east of the intersection with Eisenhower in Monett. According to Monett Police Sergeant Paul Ferguson, the crash occurred with Chad Haddock of Pierce City stopped his Buick Encore in the eastbound lane of traffic. ...
Sacred Heart Fiesta on Saturday (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Verona will host its annual Summer Fiesta from 4-7:30 p.m. on Saturday on the church grounds at Second and Adams. The event will include serving concessions, including authentic Mexican food, beginning at 4 p.m. Hamburgers, hot dogs and homemade desserts will also be available and served inside the air conditioned fellowship hall. There will be an auction for an Italian or Mexican dinner for eight people, prepared by Father Henry Grodecki and Sister Petra Salgado...
St. Mary’s hosts 30th annual picnic (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
Drake Gibbs, 4, went fishing for a prize at the 30th annual St. Mary’s Festival in Pierce City Sunday afternoon.
City seeks CDBG funds for industry expansion (Local News ~ 06/07/17)
The Monett City Council authorized submitting an application for nearly $1.7 million in Community Development Block Grant funds to make infrastructure improvements, making possible a major industrial expansion within the city. According to the application, an unnamed industry is seeking to expand its processing facilities. The addition, if completed, would create a minimum of 85 new jobs in Monett and an investment of more than $40 million in facilities and equipment...
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Moraga Dentist – Dr. Scott Lothamer
info@moragadental.com
1030 Country Club Drive, Suite F
Moraga, CA 94556
Scott D. Lothamer, DDS
Easy Check-In
Tag: Heimir Hallgrimsson
Iceland’s Most Famous Dentist Drills Down At World Cup
| Blog, Misc
As a professional dentist, Heimir Hallgrimsson has taken an unlikely route to fame; this is because he also happens to coach the Icelandic National Soccer Team. And under his leadership, this year the tiny Nordic nation has finally become a contender at the World Cup. And as they say, better late than never.
Just two years ago, Iceland reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship by besting England. And just last summer, they upset Croatia, a long-time nemesis. That makes them the smallest country (pop: 334k) to ever qualify for the World Cup.
But five years ago, things weren’t looking nearly so rosy.
Heimir Hallgrimsson, dentist and Head Coach of the Icelandic National Soccer Team, checks a rear molar
As Assistant Coach under Lars Lagerback at the time, Hallgrimsson suspected that one of the problems with the team was the lack of any discernible fan culture. His solution was novel, to say the least: he invited local fans to meet him at a pub before an upcoming match. The coach shared the starting lineup with them and discussed their chances against their opponents. He even showed them the same motivational video he had produced for the team.
It took a while for it to catch on, and only about a dozen fans showed up the first time. But he kept it up, and now hundreds come out to the meetings; two years ago, Hallgrimsson was promoted to head coach.
The chance that Iceland might reach the quarter-finals this year was considered to be distant, but the coach’s unconventional tactics paid off. The team’s fan base has grown considerably, and he puts it down to his experience dealing with his dental patients.
“You know how it is in the dental chair,” Hallgrimsson said. “You have to approach each client in a different way — you have to adjust to his personality — and it’s the same with football players. You can shout at one but you have to be careful with how you approach another one.”
To see the inspiring New York Times feature, click here.
Contact Us For An Appointment
Dr. Lothamer
Dr. Scott Lothamer has been serving the Moraga area for nearly 20 years. A graduate of the UCLA School of Dentistry, Dr. Lothamer has a true passion for dentistry, and brings the highest standards of professionalism to his Moraga Community.
Robot Dental Assistants? We’re Not So Sure
Robotics have changed the workplace significantly in…
As a professional dentist, Heimir Hallgrimsson has…
1030 Country Club Dr., Suite F Moraga, CA 94556
Email: info@moragadental.com
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Times like these
Last updated : 26 December 2010 By Firparkcorner
Maurice Malpas, Mark McGhee, Jim Gannon, Craig Brown and our next boss will all have spent time in the Fir Park hot seat by summer 2011 meaning there will have been five incumbents in five years. Even by modern standards this is a ridiculous turnover and it is hard to believe that Motherwell FC were once known for stability and prudence.
From 1911 to 1973 we had only four managers and, with the very odd exception, faced triumph and calamity with our feet firmly on the ground. It helped that our first real manager, the legendary Sailor Hunter, turned the team into a major force in Scottish football after he took the reins before the First World War. Gradual progress was made in the Scottish Cup and then the league before the peak was reached in 1932 with the club’s only championship. A further seven years of close calls followed but after the Second World War the team emerged with a new leader – George Stevenson.
Stevenson had been a mainstay in Hunter’s glorious teams and was one of the finest forwards in the country. The transition to the manager’s office was a fraction bumpy but again patience was rewarded with cup triumphs in both 1950 and 1952. Things went wrong the season after our Scottish Cup win but 1953 saw problems and the club were relegated. Not only was Stevenson not removed from his position during the dismal campaign, he was given the opportunity to make things right in Division B. He did just that by earning an immediate promotion and it was only at the end of another poor top flight year he offered his resignation.
The departure of Stevenson created the start of a new famous at era at Fir Park as the board made the wise move of appointing Bobby Ancell. He cultivated a wonderful young team which played brilliant football but came up just short of claiming titles. Semi final defeats in the early 1960s hurt badly but were not nearly as painful as throwing away the championship in 1959 with a horrific run in January and February when the side had dominated the season until Christmas.
Ancell departed after nine years to join Dundee and Bobby Hewitt became the last of the enduring Motherwell managers. He actually started with success, winning the 1964 Summer Cup – admittedly with Ancell’s players – but there were problems ahead as this team broke up and relegation arrived near the end of the decade. Again the club showed patience with the man in charge though and Howitt successfully led the team back to Division One at the first attempt. Howitt eventually resigned in 1973 though a run of mid-table finishes was hardly a real firing offence.
This was the end of an era of four managers in 62 years and it was followed by seven in 11. It was only the arrival of Tommy McLean which finally settled things down again in 1984 and since his departure, in 1994, only one Motherwell manager – Terry Butcher – has completed four seasons in charge. However, with the last three years under three different managers, producing a third place finish and three trips to Europe, it is hard to argue we have suffered greatly from a lack of continuity. Indeed, with budgets in the SPL barely stretching beyond the end of the current season, the question can be asked if stability remains a virtue to be cherished in modern football?
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MTA Police Capture Bank Robbery Suspect
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department (MTA PD) officers have apprehended a suspect wanted for a series of at least seven bank robberies in Suffolk County that took place between Feb. 17 and March 24. The suspect was apprehended by officers from the MTA Police Department and the New York City Police Department Thursday evening on board a Long Island Rail Road train that was stopped at the East New York station in Brooklyn.
The officers were able to locate the suspect after receiving information from the Suffolk County Police Department that he was believed to be on board an LIRR train.
Acting on the tip, MTA PD officers Steven Burns, Edward Russell, David Bergstein, Thomas Garland, and John Wozny canvassed the westbound platforms at Jamaica Station and boarded the train that the suspect was believed to be riding. They showed a photograph to a conductor who confirmed that he had seen the suspect aboard the train, and said that the suspect had transferred moments earlier to a second train, bound for Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn. The MTA PD then asked the LIRR central dispatching office, known as the Movement Bureau, to hold that second train at East New York.
MTA PD and NYPD officers quickly arrived at the East New York station, where they canvassed the train at approximately 7:35 p.m. and found the suspect inside the bathroom of a train car. MTA PD promptly turned the suspect, Max Schneider, 21, of Dix Hills, N.Y., over to the Suffolk County Police Department, which charged him with multiple counts related to a string of bank robberies in the County.
"I'd like to commend the quick thinking and teamwork of all of the officers and the LIRR personnel who contributed to this arrest," said Douglas Zeigler, MTA Director of Security. "This arrest is a fine example of the benefits that result from the extraordinary levels of interagency cooperation we share with our regional law enforcement partners. Everyone who played a role should be commended for helping to make our region safer and more secure."
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Meet new Admirals goaltender Tom McCollum
We caught up with goaltender Tom McCollum, who recently signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Admirals. McCollum comes to Milwaukee after spending the majority of his professional career with the Grand Rapids Griffins. As some of you may recall, McCollum is the person that lent Pierre-Cedric Labrie his truck following a game so that Labrie could get home for the birth of his son. McCollum also represented Team USA in the World Juniors on both the U-18 and U-20 teams, winning silver with the team in the 2006-07 season.
Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Admirals
Proud Partner of PBR
Tags: American Hockey League, Grand Rapids Griffins, Milwaukee Admirals, Tom McCollum
Justin Bradford Founder, Managing Editor
Justin is the author of "The Making of Smashville." An award-winning reporter, in 2013, he received the Silver Medal in the Best Sports Reporter Category for The Tennessean's Toast of Music City reader's poll. In 2014 & 2015, Justin was voted as the Best Sports Reporter in Nashville. In 2014, PenaltyBoxRadio.com received the silver medal as Best Blog in Nashville. In 2015, the website received the award for Best Sports Blog in Music City. In 2016, the site was awarded 2nd place as Best Blog in Nashville. He has been a featured guest on "NHL Tonight" on NHL Network, "Inside Sports Sunday on WSMV-TV, "All Things Considered" on NPR, "Road to the Cup" on WKRN-TV, "Sportsline" on NewsC hannel 5+, "Predators Playoffs Today" on ESPN 102.5 The Game, TSN 1290 Winnipeg, Sportsnet 590 The Fan - Toronto, TSN 1260 Edmonton, WGR Sports Radio 550 - Buffalo, and featured in The Ringer, Saturday Down South and The Tennessean. Credentialed by the Nashville Predators, the NHL (Stanley Cup Final, Draft, All Star Game), WCHA and CHL.
Pope John Paul II senior finds a role model in Pekka Rinne
Between the Fangs Podcast: Live from a Pool Hall, Apparently
Defenseman Jérémy Davies excited to learn Preds vets
Assistant GM and Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty talks ahead of draft
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Home BREAKING NEWS Deadly brew: At least 76 people die in India after consuming bootleg...
Deadly brew: At least 76 people die in India after consuming bootleg liquor
Joanna Slater, The Washington Post
© Axel Bueckert | Dreamstime.com
NEW DELHI – At least 76 people have died in northern India after drinking bootleg liquor, the latest in a series of tragedies caused by illegal alcohol that turned out to be poisonous.
The deaths were in two neighboring states, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Tainted liquor has killed at least 36 people since Thursday in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, said Alok Kumar Pandey, the local administrator. The district is about 130 miles from New Delhi, the nation’s capital.
The autopsies are not yet complete, Pandey said, and the death toll is likely to rise. Other victims are being treated in local hospitals, and “doctors are trying their best to save their lives.”
In a neighboring district in Uttarakhand, 32 people died after consuming illegal liquor served to them as part of mourning ritual.
Authorities believe the two incidents are linked, with mourners likely having made the journey from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand and brought back liquor to sell.
Eight people also died in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh in an unconnected tragedy in a village in the district of Kushinagar. Residents there drank tainted liquor at a fair organized to celebrate a festival, said Rajeev Narayan Mishra, the district administrator. He began receiving reports of the deaths on Thursday.
Deaths from illicit liquor are common in India, where illegally brewed alcohol is often consumed for reasons including poverty and geographic isolation. Bootleggers have been known to add methanol, a toxic substance used in antifreeze, to such brews; it can also be present because of a mistake in the brewing process.
The state government in Uttar Pradesh has made dozens of arrests in the wake of the deaths and suspended local bureaucrats and police officers. “Whoever is responsible will not be spared,” said Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, according to a media report. He also announced compensation for relatives of the deceased and those undergoing treatment in hospitals.
According to the India’s National Crime Records Bureau’s latest figures, 1,522 people died from drinking spurious liquor in 2015 – nearly all of them men.
In 2015, more than 100 people died in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, after consuming illegal liquor. The victims were mostly daily-wage laborers who lived in one of the city’s slums and who bought small plastic packets of bootleg alcohol for less than 10 cents, according to media reports. It was the worst such tragedy to hit the city in a decade.
Another mass poisoning due to bootleg liquor took place in 2011 in the state of West Bengal, where more than 140 people died.
Previous articleBollywood movie premiering in Berlin puts spotlight on India’s hip-hop scene
Next articleShe made history by entering a holy Indian shrine. Her family locked her out of the house
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Odell Beckham Jr is among the most popular NFL players today. He currently plays for the New York Giants. At 24, aside from his football tactics, hand catching skills and dance routine in the field, Odell Beckham Jr.’s tattoos equally got attention from the fans and the media.
Louisiana born and raised Odell Beckham Jr. joined the NFL in 2014. He used to play for the LSU Tigers in 2012 until the Giants recruited him.
Beckham Jr. got the attention of the media and American football fans with his ridiculous skills. During his first season with the Giants he broke several NFL rookie receiving records.
Despite the injuries he sustained during his first few games, he still managed to score 75 receptions and ten touchdowns.
Aside from his jaw-dropping football skills, fans are also fascinated by his numerous tats. His intricate tattoos are found all over his arms and back.
Recently, he had the face of Michael Jackson inked on his calf. Fans and critics alike agree that the tattoo strongly resembled the fallen King of Pop.
Odell has always been a fan of tattoos since he was a child. In his interview with GQ he shared that all his tattoos tell a story about his life.
A nude Odell Beckham Jr graced the cover of ESPN in 2015. The magazine cover showed his perfectly toned body and his spectacular tattoos.
In his ESPN interview, he shared how his parents inspired him to do well in sports. He talked about getting his entire body tattooed except for the wrist area and the legs.
Most of the highly-detailed Odell Beckham Jr. tattoos were done by world-renown tattoo artist Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy. Odell’s tattoo on the back was done at Drake’s house.
Bang Bang’s Planet of the Apes themed ink on Odell’s back gained a lot of attention and praises from their fans. Fans expect to see more ink in the next few years.
Herpes Blitz Protocol Review by Josh Park: Discover the Natural Ingredients
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Introduction To Bulgaria
The Cyrillic Alphabet & Bulgarian Language
Currency Information
Bulgarian Food & Cuisine
Beauty in the past of Bulgaria
Bulgarian Music
Figures of Plovdiv
History of Plovdiv
Traditions & NameDays
Home » Current News » Bulgarian Literacy and Culture Celebration Day - May 24th
Bulgarian Literacy and Culture Celebration Day - May 24th
Ever since the earliest Bulgarian manuscript books (preserved until today), we can trace the tradition to honor the two saint brothers - St Cyril (on February 14th) and St Methodius (on April 6th) as authors of the Bulgarian Alphabet. The earliest church celebration of both saints together, on May 11th each year, goes back to the 12th century.
During the Revival period those church celebrations on May 11th developed into a large secular celebration of Bulgarian knowledge and culture. It was Naiden Gerov who organized the first celebration of May 24th, 1851 in Plovdiv, as the Day of the St Cyril and St Methodius, to honor all achievements of Bulgarian language and culture.
A lot of people today, who were named after the two saints, celebrate that day as their name day. The name Cyril means lordly in ancient Greek, while Methodius means the one following a method, or doing a study.
The two brothers, Sts. Cyril and Methodius (or Constantine and Methodius) - known as the Apostles of the Slavs, were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family, they renounced secular honours and became priests. They were living in a monastery on the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christian teacher. Cyril was selected and was accompanied by his brother. They learned the Khazar language and converted many of the people.
Soon after their Khazar mission, came the invitation of the Moravian Prince Rostislav, who sought missionaries able to preach in the Slavonic vernacular (peoples) language, and thereby check German influence in Moravia - the Moravians wished a teacher who could instruct them and conduct Divine service in the Slavonic tongue. On account of their acquaintance with that language, Cyril and Methodius were chosen for their work. In preparation for it Cyril invented a new alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated the Gospels and the necessary liturgical books into that new South Slavonic language. They went to Moravia in 863, and laboured over the translations for four and a half years.
The immediate success aroused the hostility of the German rulers and ecclesiastics. Cyril died in Rome, 4 Feb., 869. Methodius went to Constantinople and with the assistance of several priests he completed the translation of the Bible and ecclesiastical books into Slavonic. The enemies of Methodius did not cease to antagonize him. His health was worn out from the long struggle, and he died 6 April, 885, recommending as his successor Gorazd, a Slav who had been his disciple. Methodius influence in Moravia was wiped out after his death but was carried to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, where the Southern Slavonic language of Cyril and Methodius is still the liturgical language of churches and they all use, with variations, that same alphabet as the basis of their languages.
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VARTOLOMEY (St Bartholomew’s Day) - June 11
The feast is called Vartolomey or also Varti-Lomi (in association of storm and hail).
Today is SPASSOVDEN
SPASSOVDEN (always on Thursday, 40 Days after Easter - “Ascension Day” or “Ascension of the Lord”): The great feast called the Spassovden or Ascension Day is connected to the eternal human wish for health and joy. The feast is a non-fixed one, and it is celebrated 40 days after Easter, always on Thursday.
Today we celebrate "The Day of Botev and All Freedom Fighters Who Lost Their Lives for the Independence of Bulgaria"
That day has been appointed by a decree of the Ministerial Council dated May 31st 1993. It was first celebrated back in 1884 in Vratsa and Plovdiv.
Bulgaria marks the International children’s day
Bulgaria marks the International children's day: June 1st. Festive celebrations, theatrical performances and concerts for the young ones are organized throughout the country.
St.St.Constantine and Helena Feast
May 21st is celebrated in Bulgaria as the church feast of St. St.Constatine and Helena.
NIGHT OF MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
Tonight Plovdiv will have no sleep - all private, municipal and state museums and art galleries in Plovdiv will stay open throughout the night for visitors.
The St. St. Cyril and Methodius Day
The first celebration of the Day of the Holy Brothers, St.Cyril and St.Methodius, was organized by the eminent Plovdiv figure Nayden Gerov in 1851, in the city of Pl...
May 9th - the Day of Europe
On the 9th of May 1950, Robert Schumann presented his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.
May 6th - Gergyovden (St Georgs Day)
The national feast Gergyovden (St Georgs Day), called by different versions of the namein the different parts of the country: Gergyuvden, Gyurgyovden,...
Orthodox Christians mark Toma’s Sunday
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Steve Flesch wins Turning Stone Resort Championship
Steve Flesch shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday and beat Michael Allen by two shots in the inaugural Turning Stone Resort Championship.
Flesch had an 18-under 270 total and won $1.08 million (770,000 EUR) to boost his earnings for 2007 to $2.2 million (1.57 million EUR), vaulting him from 70th on the money list into the top 30. He also earned a spot in the U.S. Open next year as a multiple winner since the last Open.
For Flesch, who began the day with a four-shot lead over Carl Pettersson and Charles Warren, it was his fourth career victory on the PGA Tour and marked the third straight time he's won after holding the 54-hole lead. The third-round leader has won five of the last eight events on the PGA Tour, dating to Flesch's victory at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August.
It was a banner day, nonetheless, for the 48-year-old Allen (68), who last year made his 13th trip to the Q-school finals and earned his PGA Tour card for a record ninth time. Although Allen failed to get his first victory, he earned $648,000 to boost his earnings to a career-high $960,297, inside the top 100 on the money list.
John Senden (67) and rookie John Mallinger (68) tied for third at 15 under, one shot ahead of Pettersson (73), Tommy Armour III (68), Mathew Goggin (69), Charley Hoffman (69) and rookie Parker McLachlin (71).
Warren (74) and Bill Haas (71), who began the tournament ranked 126th on the money list, finished in a tie for 10th at 13 under.
It wasn't difficult to figure out how Flesch won. Over the first three rounds, he reached 51 of 54 greens in regulation, hit 32 of 42 fairways, made 14 putts of more than 10 feet, and was 11 under on the more difficult back nine, including a course-record 30 on Friday that included four birdies and an eagle. That put him at 19 under and tied the PGA Tour's lowest 54-hole score in relation to par this year.
The largest come-from-behind win on tour this year was by Padraig Harrington, who came from six shots back on the final day to win the British Open. There were only three players within six shots of Flesch at the start of play Sunday - Pettersson and Warren were the closest at four shots back - but Flesch made it interesting for a while with three bad shots on the first two holes.
Flesch began the round by driving into a fairway bunker on the opening hole, a 404-yard par-4. He hit cleanly out but 40 yards short of the pin, and despite a perfect lie mishit his third shot. It skidded left into a greenside bunker, he hit out to 40 feet and two-putted for bogey.
There was more trouble at No. 2, another par-4. After a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway, Flesch's second shot sailed past the green into the rough 43 feet from the hole. And when he slid his chip 15 past the pin, he was unable to salvage par and dropped back to 17 under.
Flesch finally regained his stroke at the 203-yard par-3 third hole, hitting his drive to 4 feet and making birdie while Pettersson settled for his third straight par.
Pettersson found trouble at No. 4. Both he and Flesch drove into a fairway bunker along the right side, their balls stopping in the sand 6 inches from one another. Flesch hit out first and lofted his second shot to 9 feet and made birdie. Pettersson hooked his second shot left, it rolled down a hill to the right of the green, some 62 feet from the pin, and he two-putted for bogey from inside 15 feet.
Any chance Pettersson might still have had disappeared along with his ball at the par-5 fifth hole, statistically the easiest hole on the course. After a nice drive at the 552-yard dogleg left, Pettersson hooked a fairway wood low and left toward a giant water hazard. The ball landed in 3-foot-high weeds on a near-vertical slope, forcing Pettersson to take a penalty, and he made bogey again.
Warren, who finished a career-best second to Flesch at Reno, fell back quickly with two bogeys on the first three holes.
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Britain reviews sending prince in Iraq
Prince Harry wants to be an ordinary soldier, but his army career has left military chiefs with an extraordinary predicament.
Britain's Sun newspaper reported Thursday that army bosses were reconsidering their decision to allow the prince to serve on the front line in Iraq for fear his presence could endanger other soldiers. Harry's regiment, the Blues and Royals, is due to begin a six-month tour of duty in Iraq within weeks.
The Ministry of Defense would say only that deployments are kept "under constant review."
"It is still our intent that Prince Harry will deploy as a troop leader," a spokeswoman said on the government's customary condition of anonymity.
Over the weekend, newspapers reported threats by Iraqi insurgents to kill or kidnap the prince, including claims his photograph had been widely circulated among militants. Military chiefs accept that the third in line to the throne would be an attractive target for insurgents and that his presence could lead to an upsurge in attacks on British forces.
But some military experts said it was too late to change the decision now.
"It's good for morale of the other soldiers if Prince Harry goes to Iraq," said retired Maj. Charles Heyman, editor of "Armed Forces of the United Kingdom." "They feel it's good to have someone from the royal family sharing the risks and the trials and tribulations.
"And if we don't send Prince Harry the insurgents and jihadis will say it is a moral victory for them - that we're afraid to send the prince."
Clarence House, Prince Charles' London office, insisted Harry was on track to go to Iraq, but declined to comment further.
"It's an army decision and always has been and always will be," a spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with palace policy. Prime Minister Tony Blair also said the decision was "a matter for the army."
The government announced in February that it would begin withdrawing 1,600 of the 7,000 British troops in Iraq this summer as it hands over control of southern Iraq to local forces.
But the past few weeks have seen an upsurge in violence, with 11 British soldiers killed in Iraq this month. In all, 145 British troops have died there since the 2003 invasion.
Harry, a second lieutenant, is a tank commander trained to lead a 12-man team in four armored reconnaissance vehicles. If deployed, he would become the first royal to serve in a war zone since his uncle Prince Andrew flew as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands war against Argentina in 1982.
Despite its hopes of treating Harry as an ordinary soldier, the Defense Ministry has said the prince could be kept out of situations where his presence could jeopardize his comrades.
The Sun newspaper quoted unnamed senior military officials as saying that the review was likely to lead to Harry being banned from the battlefield, although he could still do a desk job.
The British Broadcasting Corp. cited friends as saying Harry, 22, would be disappointed, while other unidentified sources told Sky News that the prince would quit the army if he was not allowed to serve with his men.
The younger son of the late Princess Diana, Harry has been a frequent face on the front of Britain's tabloid newspapers, which have provided a constant stream of coverage of his party-going lifestyle at glitzy London nightclubs.
But he has said he is serious about an army career. After graduating from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst last year, Harry insisted on getting the opportunity to serve his country.
"There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," he said in an interview to mark his 21st birthday.
Heyman, the military expert and editor, said keeping the prince away from the front line "will certainly destroy his career."
"A soldier who hasn't been in an operational zone is like an actor who has not been in a play," he said. "It will have an effect on him for the rest of this life."
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History of Ice Cream Counts Over 5,000 Years
Society » Real life stories
The history of ice cream is rooted in ancient Asia, namely, China and Arabia. It was admired by Alexander of Macedonia, Napoleon, and George Washington, and patented by several people.
The researchers found that ice cream can be traced back to the 3rd century B.C. Chinese Emperor and his nobility were served concoctions of fruit juices with snow and ice. The recipes of the unusual dessert were kept secret, and were revealed only in the 9th century B.C.
There are references stating that cooled juices were very popular in the palace of the legendary King Solomon, and that the famous ancient Greek physician Hippocrates recommended ice cream for a better tonus and health improvement. Alexander Makedonsky was treated with ice cream during his trips to India and Persia.
Snow and ice were used in ancient Rome to prepare fruit drinks, for example, for the Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) who ordered ice to be brought from the mountains. Large ice cellars were built to preserve the frozen treat for extended periods of time.
There are a few interesting facts in ancient records in reference to ice cream. In 780 A.D., caliph al-Mahdi managed to deliver a supply of snow to Mecca using a train of camels. A Persian traveler Nassiri Khosrau mentioned in his writings that in 1040, the snow for beverages and ice cream was delivered to the table of the Cairo Sultan daily from the mountain regions of Syria.
Marco Polo, who traveled to China and tasted the icy dessert, is thought to have brought ice cream to Europe. When he came back to Italy from his trip, he shared some of the recipes with local chefs. In the middle of the 16th century, ice cream conquered France when Ekaterina Medici fell in love with this dessert. She treated her guests with ice cream at formal dinners and fed it to her son, Henry III.
Soon enough, ice cream migrated from Versailles to the households of French nobility despite strict prohibitions on recipe disclosure.
Many new varieties of ice cream were invented in France during the reign of Anne of Austria, Queen of France. In the middle of the 17th century, ice cream became available to ordinary mortals, and ice cream and ice beverages vendors flooded the streets of Paris. Later, Napoleon himself became an ice cream enthusiast.
Ice cream recipe came to the US in the 18th century along with the English immigrants. In 1700, Governor Bladen of Maryland, who was from England, served fruit ice cream and cooled beverages to his guests. Many US Presidents were fond of the cold dessert. George Washington himself used to prepare ice cream at his Mount Vernon estate.
Phillip Lenzi, an entrepreneur and chef, posted an ad in New York newspapers saying he brought recipes of different desserts from London, including the ice cream recipe. Soon ice cream acquired popularity among the residents of the East Coast.
With time, technologies of ice cream manufacturing were perfected. Ice cream cups were invented in France during the reign of Napoleon III (1852 — 1870). Assorted ice cream was first created in Italy, and chocolate was first added to the treat in Austria. In 1866, the guests at the Chinese ambassador reception in Paris were served an “omelet with surprise” designed by German chefs - an omelet with ginger ice cream inside. New ice cream varieties created for special occasions were later mass produced, especially in the US. The first ice cream factory was built in Baltimore, and soon similar factories appeared in New York, Washington, and Chicago.
Cooling equipment was also developing. A French engineer Ferdinand Carre invented the ammonia vapor-compression system in 1859. Mass production of refrigerators began in the second half of the 19th century. Later, special equipment for production and storage of ice was invented, which allowed for easier processing and lower price of ice cream.
In 1919, a teacher from Iowa designed a recipe and production technology of new ice cream variety covered with chocolate. On January 24, 1922 he was granted a patent for famous ice cream bar on a stick. The novelty was first called Eskimo pie, but later reduced to Eskimo. Meanwhile, the French claimed that this type of ice cream was created by one of their own in 1919. According to French sources, the name of this treat was created by accident in a movie theatre. One of the movie goers had too much ice cream while watching a film about Eskimos, and called the dessert “Eskimo.”
In Russia, since the old times people made their own version of milk-based ice cream. In Kievan Rus’, people enjoyed chipped frozen milk, and for the Pancake week they prepared a mixture of frozen cottage cheese, sugar, raisins and sour cream.
Milk-based ice cream was a part of the menu of Peter III and Katherine II. It was homemade and prepared in small quantities only . The first ice cream machine was introduced to Russia only in the 19th century, and commercial production of the dessert was commenced in the early 1930s.
Ice cream is now enjoyed by people all over the world, and is sold in nearly every grocery store. There are thousands of varieties of this cold, five thousand-year-old dessert.
Maksim Kondratyev
Read the original in Russian
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CHAOSPHERE
Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
3.94 | 187 ratings
Special Collaborator
Welcome to the machine...
No, it's not that this album sounds a lot like Pink Floyd; this album doesn't sound like Pink Floyd AT ALL.
If I said welcome to the machine, it's because that's what you have to expect before putting this cd in your player: a MACHINE.
And you know what? The title of one of this album's songs is actually perfect to define the sound of Meshuggah: The Exquisite Machinery of Torture. Exquisite? Well, maybe not that much. A machinery? YOU BET: this is not humanly produced music (at least not the double bass drums)... Torture? For your ears, but of course! And add more torture- factor to your eardrums if you listen to this using headphones.
The music, if we may call it that, in Meshuhgah's Chaosphere is probably the most violent, extreme, hammering collection of sounds ever created. Let's start saying that, out of the three basic elements in music, Melody, Harmony and Rhythm, Meshuggah just, using the title of their debut, DESTROYED and ERASED the first two. Yes, melody? DEAD. You won't hear as much as TWO MEASURES of melody in any song... and I think I'm being generous...to be honest, I think there's absolutely ZERO melody to be found in the ENTIRE album! Meshuggah just isn't there for charming us with beautiful landscapes or dreamy atmospheres, not in the least with melodic passages. Now, about harmony: in this album we go back to the paleolithic era of harmonics: are you playing a riff in, say, C? Then the bass, if you somehow MANAGE TO HEAR IT under the wall of sounds, will be playing C, and that's it. The most elemental harmonies ever... so elemental they just... dissappear. I'm telling you this: whoever manages to hear the bass guitar, I'll send you a ticket to the Dark Side of the Moon in the next Discovery Tour 2008. And harmonic chords? Well, try finding one chord here that is a regular, MUSICAL chord, and I'll buy you the complete NASA kit, too. But now, what about rhythm?
Well, the rhythmic part of this band is what makes it worthy of... well, I don't know if worthy of attention, respect, utter hate, or what, but it's the most important part. Don't think, I have to say, that this is "danceable" rhythm, no. I'm talking about the weirdest time signatures you will find in all metal. The riffs the guitar and drums play are the most crunching, time-cutting attacks ever recorded. Imagine a huge, gigantic machine that builds... well, whatever. Imagine enormous, larger-than-life hammers and pistons that move in an erratic, yet REGULAR rhythm...now add some violence to the picture, and then, finally... you have the SOFTENED-DOWN version of what Meshuggah sounds like.
A word about the band: as I said, talking about the bass player is impossible, because you CAN'T HEAR HIM! Actually, he must be very good, if he's to keep up with the other players and the "rhythm" of the music; the "singer"? Well, his voice, like the music, is like a, engine of destruction: violent, extreme, imposing, dreadful. Melodic-singing you won't hear. but if you want to get your point across by sheer out-powering your competitors, call Jens Kidman and he WILL make himself heard; but it's time to talk about the true gears in the machine: guitars and drums. First, the 6-string. Well, I've heard is 8-string but how can I tell? The way the guitars sound, it's just a frenetic, non- stop paranoic attack on the human ear, a display of power beyond regular extreme metal: the grinding this axes produce is so cutting, so biting, and so relentless, after their offensive ends, you'll grasp for breath; but the very very catalyst of apocalype in this album is the drummer: man is he a one-man-machine! It's just AMAZING the way he uses his two feet with the bass drums; he plays 16ths and 32ths like if it's so easy as eating for him; but he doesn't play typical extreme-metal (and power-metal) dumb, repetitive, non-stop double-bass-drum rhythms: he plays almost independent time signatures with his feet! The patterns are so erratic, yet precise, I just have to applaud that guy: either he's on some performance-enhancing drill or he's just THE MACHINE behind THE MACHINE. His playing leaves the listener with his eardrums bleeding and his concience shattered...
But what about the songs? Well, sorry, it's difficult to tell them apart. They're just too SIMILAR and not because they're truly identical, no: they sound similar because, as there is NO MELODY OR HARMONY to be found, it's almost impossible to find any distinctive element to tell one from the other. I know there are some bits here and there of electronic or industrial sounds that differentiate the songs, and the choruses are slightly different form one track to the next (don't expect choruses, also, just second sections), but really, maybe the only way to tell the songs apart is by noticing the time signature they were written in. IF they were written: I, for one, think this is just a masterly performed collection of incredibly difficult riffs, assembled and attached to one another, and released as "songs".
The rating? I just CAN'T give this album a high rating. THERE'S NO MELODY, ALMOST NO MUSIC!!! But neither can I say this album is a mediocre effort or a run-of-the-mill album, for IT'S NOT.
Messhugah is NOT ABOUT MUSIC. IT'S ABOUT VIOLENCE, EXTREMISM AND DESTRUCTION of every musical idea you had in mind.
For the innovation and the playing, it deserves at least three stars.
Recommended for: Fans of extreme-metal with emphasis on the "extreme" part; fans of incredibly difficult time signatures and fans of double-bass-drums: you'll get the machine. As I said when I started the review, WELCOME TO THE MACHINE.
Not recommended for: regular prog and music fans that dislike extreme violent metal; but, most of all, fans of music that want their art with melody and beauty....
...the closest thing to beauty in this release is... man not even the cover is pretty!
MESHUGGAH: THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL IN MUSIC
The T | 3/5 | 2006-12-18
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Jay Z Announces New Album ‘4:44’ For June 30
June 19, 2017 NewsComments Off
As if Jay Z didn’t have enough on his hands, the hip-hop legend has just shared details on a new album, 4:44. But you won’t be able to buy it or stream it just anywhere.
The album will drop June 30 for subscribers of Sprint or Jay Z’s Tidal platform through what’s pitched as a first-of-its-kind partnership between both companies.
Chatter on a new Hov LP heated up in recent weeks, and the entrepreneur and music man threw fuel on that fire last week with a mysterious campaign which saw the numbers “4:44” and the date “6.30.17” dished up on posters and online.
The plot thickened in the hours before midnight when a teaser video appeared on Tidal. Then the big revealed happened as the clock struck twelve.
The corporate partnership behind the U.S. release is the first in a series of music exclusives, according to a joint statement, and it follows the announcement in January that Tidal sold a 33 percent stake in the company to Sprint for $200 million, giving it access to the telecom company’s 45 million customers. Outside the U.S., 4:44 will be available to stream only on Tidal for now. It’s unclear for how long the exclusive window will last, though Billboard has reached out to reps for comment.
As part of the U.S. campaign, Tidal and Sprint have pledged support to the 1Million Project, an educational initiative from Sprint and the Sprint Foundation that will assist 1 million low-income U.S. high school students who aren’t connected to the Web at home.
News on the surprise album release caps an eventful week during which Jay Z and his wife Beyonce welcomed twins and the artist was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, becoming the first rapper to achieve that honor. The new LP is the followup to 2013’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
To find out more about recording at the chart topping production house Powerstudio, click here.
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Disography
Their debut CD, “Con Ustedes” (June, 2002) features a wide range of styles that make up Los Niteliter’s Music. With five original songs including the popular hits, “Ando Muy Arrepentido” and “La Coqueta”, Los Niteliters made a big impact on the Tejano Music scene. In addition, this CD includes their own renditions of some all-time classics like, “Puño De Tierra” and “Caballo Viejo” as well as a cumbia version of the Van Morrison tune, “Brown-Eyed Girl”.
T he 2nd CD was titled—“Calijano Style” (2008). Calijano style blends both the California and Tejano roots of the musicians in the band. The CD features new original music and rearrangements of great classics like, “El Año Viejo” and “Por Una Mujer Casada” with guest appearances by Grammy-winning artists, Max Baca and David Farias.
Their newest CD, "The Tradition Continues" (2017) is a celebration of over three decades of performing together. With remakes of the classic, "Summertime" and tributes to traditional Texas Conjunto music with the "Old Skool Medley", and the original, “Ya Era Tiempo” this CD seeks to celebrate southwestern musical styles that have influenced the band!
"The Tradition Continues" for sale online on the following:
If you would like to purchase and have a CD mailed to you, please purchase from CDBABY.COM
Joomla! Hosting from
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Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
Photograph © Archie Kent
Photograph © Gerhard Kassner
An opera libretto by Gertrude Stein with music by Hans-Peter Kuhn
Premiered on April 15, 1992 at the Hebbel Theater, Berlin, Germany
Performed in English.
The Hebbel Theater's production was one of four works about the Faust story that Robert Wilson directed throughout his career:
in 1989, he directed Doctor Faustus, an opera by Giacomo Manzoni, based on the novel by Thomas Mann, at Milan's La Scala;
in 2008 Gounod's opera Faust premiered in Robert Wilson's direction at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw;
in 2015 followed the original Faust (Part I and II) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at the Berliner Ensemble.
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RealEstateRama Authors Posts by Capital Impact Partners
Capital Impact Partners
http://www.capitalimpact.org/
Capital Impact Partners helps transform underserved communities into strong, vibrant places of opportunity. A nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), we have a 30-year history delivering strategic financing, social innovation programs, and capacity building that creates social change and financial impact nationwide.
Capital Impact Partners Joins Washington, D.C. Mayor to Celebrate 1000th Affordable Unit Preserved through...
- Capital Impact Partners -
Capital Impact Partners, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) today announced the financing of the first two projects through their partnership
Bay Area Philanthropy, Business, and Community Advocates Unite to Launch Landmark Regional Housing Partnership
Capital Impact Partners joins Bay Area community and faith leaders, housing advocates, business leaders, and philanthropists to launch a regional public-private housing partnership that will build
Capital Impact Focuses on Expanding Equity, Justice, and Opportunity in Third Quarter
Broadening opportunities for low-income communities – through investments in health, education, and community development –are helping to address systemic disenfranchisement and expand equity
Capital Impact Partners Deepens Investment in Underserved Communities and Commitment to Social Justice In...
Capital Impact Partners began 2018 by deepening its commitment to breaking down barriers to success for underinvested communities by expanding justice and equity. The organization announced today that it provided more than $36 million in financing during the first half of 2018.
Capital Impact Partners and JPMorgan Chase Announce First Equitable Development Initiative Participants
Capital Impact Partners, alongside JPMorgan Chase & Co., announced the first cohort of participants for the Equitable Development Initiative. This two-year program will help ensure minority real estate developers in Detroit are able to participate in the city’s revitalization in a way that reflects the city’s diversity.
Washington D.C. Mayor Names Capital Impact Partners To Help Manage New Affordable Housing Preservation...
Institutions (CDFIs), will manage the District’s newly created $10 million Affordable Housing Preservation Fund. The Mayor’s Housing Preservation Strike Force recommended the creation of this Fund, located within the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), to increase the preservation of affordable housing in the District.
Capital Impact Partners Tops $2.5 Billion in Loans Supporting Low-Income Communities
Capital Impact Partners, a leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution, announced today it marked more than $2.5 billion in loans to underserved communities across the country since its founding.
Capital Impact Partners Continues to Expand Innovation and Lending Support for Underserved Communities in...
?Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided more than $51 million in project financing during the third quarter of 2017, supporting increased access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food for underserved communities around the United States.
CEOs of four leading Community Development Financial Institutions call on Congress to preserve the...
As leaders of four of the nation’s largest nonprofit financial institutions dedicated to improving economic opportunity in local communities, we write to urge your support for the preservation of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) during upcoming negotiations on tax reform legislation
Capital Impact Partners? and Annaly Capital Management, Inc. Launch Social Impact Investing Joint Venture
Capital Impact Partners and Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) (“Annaly”) today jointly announced the launch of a new $25 million joint venture dedicated to supporting community development in underserved cities across the country. An innovative structure in the mortgage REIT sector, the collaboration provides direct financing for socially responsible projects in low-income communities while simultaneously enabling Capital Impact’s ability to further expand its work nationally.
Capital Impact Partners Marks Largest Quarter Ever In Financing Community Development Projects
Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided $75 million in project financing during the second quarter of 2017. This represents the largest quarterly loan volume in the company’s history as it worked to support increased access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food around the United States.
Capital Impact Partners Advances Financing Efforts to Support Affordable Housing, Education, and Health Care...
Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided $26 million in project financing during the first quarter of 2017, supporting increased access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food around the U.S. Other first-quarter highlights include an “AA” issuer credit rating from S&P Global Inc., the launch of a key job-creation program, and the release of important new affordable housing research.
New Report Identifies Practices To Address Relocation And Displacement In Revitalizing Neighborhoods
As new development takes hold in once-distressed urban areas, it is important to address the risks of resident relocation and displacement that disproportionately impact low-income residents. With a focus on multifamily development in Detroit, a report from Capital Impact Partners identifies a number of practices that developers, investors, city officials, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and public interest groups can use to plan for and responsibly manage development processes that may lead to resident displacement and relocation.
Capital Impact Partners Advances Its Work in Providing Access To Healthy Food, Quality Education,...
Capital Impact Partners announced today that it financed projects in underserved communities across fives states including California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Texas. Notable in this effort are deals that increased healthy food access, scaled cooperative efforts, and broadened and deepened the organization’s presence in Texas. Other enterprises supported by the organization included affordable housing, health care, and dignified aging facilities. This work is expected to create more than 275 permanent and 400 construction-related jobs, further providing help to those who live in the communities Capital Impact serves.
Capital Impact Partners’ Third Quarter Financing Supports Increased Access to Quality Education, Health Care,...
Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided $27 million in financing to projects delivering social impact to underserved communities across the U.S. during the third quarter of 2016. Charter school financing in multiple states represented a big focus during the quarter, with additional loans helping to increase access to quality health care in California, affordable housing in Detroit, and dignified elder care in Pennsylvania and Washington. Of particular note is the fact that nearly half of the ventures represent continued relationships with existing borrowers
Capital Impact Partners Wins $4.8 Million Award To Expand Affordable Housing
Capital Impact Partners announced today that it has received a $4.8 million grant through the fiscal year 2016 round of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). Capital Impact Partners will use the funding to build upon its concentrated work in Detroit and expand affordable housing across this city.
Mayor Bowser to Celebrate Construction Milestone at Ward 7’s Skyland Town...
- Mayor Muriel Bowser -
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Albioma wins 5.2 MWp of Solar Projects in France
Paris, France - Albioma has announced that it has won an aggregate power of 5.2 MWp during the seventh session of the invitation to tender for solar rooftop installations (AO CRE4 "Power plants on buildings, greenhouses and agricultural facilities and parking shadehouses of between 100 kWp and 8 MWp") held last March.
The four winning projects are located in mainland France, in a broad south-east corner as well as in the south-west, and will be commissioned at the end of 2020.
Albioma acquired Eneco France in December 2018, thereby enabling the largest solar energy producer in the Overseas territories to strengthen its position in photovoltaics in mainland France.
Frédéric Moyne, Chairman and CEO of Albioma said, "We are very pleased to be the winners of this tender procedure. This step underlines the relevance of the Albioma Group's strategy, focusing on the development of innovative solar projects without conflict of use in Overseas France where we are the leader, but also in mainland France, where we have reinforced our presence thanks to the acquisition of Eneco France in December 2018 and the creation of the Albioma Solaire France division. This success extends our portfolio of solar projects, which will continue to grow in the coming years.”
Source: IWR Online, 03 Jul 2019
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Stories from Friday, January 30, 2009
TNA returning to Spencer March 28 (Local News ~ 01/30/09)
The superstars of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) will bring TNA Live! to Spencer Saturday, March 28 at the Clay County Regional Events Center with action set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Scheduled to appear on the card, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, Team 3D, "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, TNA World Tag Team Champions Beer Money, Inc., ODB, and others...
Eggs & Issues makes 2009 debut (Local News ~ 01/30/09)
Expect sometimes painful cuts to shape the discussion at the 2009 debut of "Eggs & Issues," the Spencer Chamber of Commerce's town hall forum with lawmakers. The first of four 90-minute sessions begins at 9 a.m. Saturday morning in Spencer City Council Chambers. ...
'Buddy' fundraising performance tonight (Local News ~ 01/30/09)
SCT will be holding a one-night-only Preview Fundraising performance of "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" at 7:30 p.m., tonight, at the Old Middle School Auditorium in Spencer. This will be the chance for the cast to share this show with an audience before performing at the Winter Dance Party at 1 p.m. ...
District tenders 'community responsive' proposal to certified staff (Local News ~ 01/30/09)
Superintendent Greg Ebeling began Thursday's open session with two Spencer Education Association (SEA) representatives by saying, "I want it to be clear that the school board, the administrators and I think the community in general really believes that we have an excellent teaching staff. And, I think the board believes that teachers are deserving of additional compensation."...
Hospital CEO search moving ahead (Local News ~ 01/30/09)
A national search firm and a local committee are in place as Spencer Hospital's search for a new chief executive officer continues. If the process remains on schedule, Spencer Hospital may have a new CEO identified by May, according to John Rahn, chairman of the Spencer Hospital Board of Trustees...
SIRENS 1-30-09 (Police/Fire Report ~ 01/30/09)
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2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Added by SPYKE.nospam.netzero.com on 25-Jun-2016
Uploaded for: SPYKE - 2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000
More Information on the Suzuki GSX-R1000
The Suzuki GSX-R1000 is a sport bike from Suzuki's GSX-R series of motorcycles. It was introduced in 2001 to replace the GSX-R1100 and is powered by a liquid-cooled 999 cc (61.0 cu in) inline four-cylinder, four-stroke engine.
2001 (K1, K2)
For 2001, Suzuki introduced a new GSX-R model that replaced the largest and most powerful model of the GSX-R series sport bike, the GSX-R1100, with the all new GSX-R1000. As the model name revealed, the engine's cylinder displacement was roughly 1,000 cc (61 cu in), about 100 cc smaller than its predecessor. The GSX-R1000 was not just an enlarged version of the GSX-R750, although it shared many features with its little brother. The main frame is the same in both models, but the material used on the big brother was .5 mm (0.020 in) thicker. Suzuki claimed the torsional rigidity of the frame had increased 10% in comparison with the GSX-R750.
The GSX-R1000 engine was a redesigned GSX-R750 engine. The R1000 had a 1 mm (0.04 in) bigger bore and 13 mm (0.51 in) longer stroke, newly designed pistons with lower crown, and gear-driven counter balancer. The engine weighed 130 lb (59 kg) which was slightly heavier than the 750 engine but 31 lb (14 kg) lighter than the engine of the GSX1300R. The performance of the engine is a peak of 160 bhp (119 kW) at 9,500 rpm, as measured on the crank and 143 hp (107 kW), when measured on the rear wheel with small variations between different instances of the same model. The redline is set at 12,000 rpm. The maximum torque of the engine is 80 ft·lbf (108 N·m) at 8,000 rpm. Combined with a total (dry) weight of 374 lb (170 kg) this gives the GSX-R1000 a top speed of 173 mph (278 km/h), a 1/4 mile time of 10.1 seconds at 141.7 mph (228.0 km/h), and a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time of 3 seconds.
Using titanium for the exhaust down pipe (K1 model link pipe is black, K2 model link pipe is polished titanium) and the inside of the silencer, enabled the 1000s exhaust system to become 4 lb (1.8 kg) lighter than that of the 750. Titanium was also used in the front fork (titanium-nitride) to coat the stanchions. An exhaust tuning valve had been mounted inside the exhaust pipe. Using a servo the system dynamically adjusted the exhaust back pressure, according to engine speed, throttle position, and gear selection for increased torque, lower emissions, and decreased noise—the (stock) exhaust noise of the GSX-R1000 is notably lower than that of the GSX-R600.
With the 2001 model of the GSX-R1000, the 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 was finally surpassed with the GSX-R being lighter and more powerful.
The 2001 model carried over to 2002 with minimal changes. 2002 introduced i.a. modifications to the fuel pump, clutch, front axle, torque link, mirrors, and luggage hooks. The manual fast-idle was replaced with a computer operated implementation (the "STV servo"). New colours, and new GSXR stickers.
After the GSX-R1000 had been three years on the roads and race tracks, Suzuki put out a new version of the model in late September 2002. Suzuki engineers had been working on the three things that made a fast bike faster; weight, power and handling. The 2003 year's GSX-R1000 was improved in all three counts. It weighed less, had more power/torque and handled better.
The physical dimensions of the bike were almost identical with the previous year's model. The seat height and the overall height were somewhat lower but the geometry of the bike was exactly the same as before. The already rigid aluminum alloy frame was newly designed and enforced with internal ribs, also there was an updated headlight and tail fairing. The frame as well as the wheels were now coated black.
The front brakes were also new. Suzuki decided to drop the six-piston calipers. The new radially mounted four-piston calipers weigh 30 grams less and grip smaller 300 mm (11.8 in) discs that save another 300 g (11 oz). Though smaller, Suzuki claimed that the new brakes provide better stopping and turn-in performance.
The headlights of the 2003 year's GSX-R1000 were mounted vertically to enable the ram-air intakes in the front to be placed 20 mm (0.79 in) nearer the bike's center line. The new design was very much inspired by the look of the Hayabusa. The instruments were also redesigned.
The cylinder displacement of the engine remained the same 988 cc (60.3 cu in), but more power/torque and better throttle response had been achieved by adding four ventilation holes between the cylinders to equalize crankcase pressure beneath the pistons, moving the air intake nearer to the centerline and upgrading the engine management system from a 16-bit to a 32-bit ECU. The entire exhaust system was now made of titanium to save an additional 1.32 lb (0.60 kg) and the tail light was replaced with LEDs.
The 2003 model carried over to 2004 without any significant improvements.
The 2005 model year GSX-R1000 had a redesigned engine and chassis. It had 4.4 lb (2.0 kg) lower weight than the previous model and the engine had an 11 cc (0.67 cu in) larger piston displacement. It had a totally new frame reducing the total length of the bike by 1.6 in (41 mm) but reducing its wheelbase only 0.02 in (0.51 mm). There were new brakes with radial mounted calipers and 310 mm (12.2 in) discs at the front. The new titanium silencer (catalytic in Europe) was said to be designed to reduce turbulence to minimum. This model weighs in at a mere 365 lbs dry, putting it towards the top of the power-to-weight ratio charts. This weight reduction came at a cost of durability issues with the 2005-2006 models experiencing frame cracking.
The 2005 model has a tested wet weight of 444 lb (201 kg). Power output is tested at 147.3 hp (109.8 kW) and peak torque is 75.4 ft·lbf (102.2 N·m) both at the rear wheel.
The 2005 model carried over to 2006 without any significant improvements other than a few appearance changes. The 2006 model had a measured top speed of 178 mph (286 km/h).
On September 22, 2006, Suzuki revealed a significantly updated GSX-R1000 for 2007 at the Paris motor show. The new bike gained 14 lb (6.4 kg) over the 2006 model which was due to its new exhaust system and new emissions regulations. To counter this weight increase, Suzuki claimed improved aerodynamics along with a faster revving engine and larger throttle body. Although not a completely new model, the engine and chassis have been updated. It also featured three different engine mapping configurations, selectable via two buttons located on the right handlebar. One up, and one down arrow to cycle between Mode A (unrestricted), Mode B (reduced power until 50% throttle is applied), and Mode C (reduced power throughout the rpm regardless of throttle application). It also received a hydraulic clutch.
2017 (L7)
The 2017 model, introduced to reporters at EICMA in late 2016, had a significantly redesigned engine the first since the last engine update on the 2009 model. This new engine has a higher RPM limit and no balancer shaft to quell vibration, also a mechanical variable valve timing used for ten years by Suzuki in MotoGP and drive by wire throttle. This model is the first to get the addition of traction control with a (IMU) inertial measuring unit measuring yaw, roll and pitch also all lighting is now LED. Another first for any GSX-R is the use of a fuel gauge on this model. Along with the new 2017 GSX-R1000 model, Suzuki has also released a up spec model GSX-R1000R; this R model comes with a Motion Track Brake System, Bi-directional quick shifter and launch control. Also on the R model, as reported by Sport Rider, are the same Showa Balance Free Front (BFF) fork and Balance Free Rear Cushion (BFRC Lite) shock that come standard on the 2016 Kawasaki ZX-10R. Specifications are 199 horsepower at 13,200 rpm (claimed) and 157.2 hp (117.2 kW) (rear wheel), 86 lb-ft torque at 10,000 rpm (claimed) and 76.3 lb·ft (103.4 N·m) (rear wheel); 76.0 mm x 55.1 mm bore x stroke, and 13.2:1 compression ratio.
Troy Corser won the 2005 Superbike World Championship season, and Alessandro Polita won the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup season. The bike was used by Yukio Kagayama and Kousuke Akiyoshi to win the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 2007, with Kazuki Tokudome and Nobuatsu Aoki doing the same in 2009.
GSX-R1000 at Global Suzuki website
Suzuki at Curlie
http://www.cycleworld.com/2017-suzuki-gsx-r1000-and-gsx-r1000r-superbike-technical-preview
http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/articles/2010JanIndex.pdf
http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/suzuki/2009-suzuki-gsxr1000-review-88180.html
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2001/01/25jan01suzuki2001gsxr1000review2/
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/performancedata/
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/weight-barrier-motorcycles//
http://www.sportrider.com/2017-suzuki-gsx-r1000-first-look
http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/street_bike_dyno_charts
http://www.sportrider.com/sportbike-news/2012-literbikes-dyno?image=2//
The photo 2003-Suzuki-GSX-R1000-311244.jpg (2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Uploaded for: SPYKE
2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000) was uploaded by: SPYKE.nospam@netzero.com.
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Tetris & Dr.Mario
Category: Puzzle 73.5k total views
Tetris & Dr.Mario is a game for the SNES released in 1994. It contains the popular puzzle game Tetris, a remade version of Dr. Mario, and a "Mixed Match" mode where the player plays against another player where they have to play Tetris mode B then Dr. Mario and finally Tetris mode A. It won a Player's Choice rating.
The difference from the original games is that the graphics are improved, the music is remixed and there is a Vs. Computer mode. In Dr. Mario, the Player goes up against the Blue, Yellow and Red Viruses in the difficulties easy, medium and hard respectively. Aside from that, the game play remains the same.
Tetris and Dr. Mario
play Tetris and Dr. Mario
Tetris and Dr. Mario online
Tetris and Dr. Mario snes
Super Alfred Chi...
Jeopardy! Sports...
Tiny Toon Advent...
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The Evacuation of the Children of Alt-Futok
The following is the translation of an article of the same title in German that appeared in the Donautal magazine. Atl-Futok was a community in the Batschka.
Romania’s capitulation on August 23, 1944 finally awakened the Swabian community leaders in the Batschka to the danger approaching and initiated what would become “The Great Escape” of the German population of Yugoslavia in October 1944.
It was Saturday, September 30, 1944 and at ten o’clock in the morning the sound of salvos of artillery fire began and lasted for half an hour coming from the direction of Novi Sad (Neusatz) and could be heard from a distance. The population assumed that German troops were dealing with a Partisan attack or military manoeuvres were taking place in Peterwardein. The firing started up again on the morning of October 3rd…a Tuesday. The population knew nothing of what was occurring nor were they aware of the threatening danger they were in because they had no news of what was happening on the Eastern Front. For the inhabitants of the village of Alt-Futok the battlefield was still somewhere way out there far to the east of them. The German Army was retreating for tactical reasons they were told. Yet despite that, Swabian refugee treks from the Banat had passed through the village on September 3rd.
On the day of the great fire when sixty houses had gone up in flames, the Banat refugees challenged the villagers asking, “What are you waiting for? Get going! The Russians are already in Romania.” Few people took them seriously.
Two days later on October 5th the community officials had the drums beaten on the street corners and the town crier read out the last official decision of the Alt-Futok village Council. All children between the ages of six to fifteen were to be prepared for an emergency evacuation to be set in motion on Sunday, October 8th. They were all to assemble next to the inn in upper Alt-Futok and every child was to bring sufficient food to last for ten days. By noon most of the wagons were already crowded with children. The convoy of wagons and trucks headed out for Palanka at three in the afternoon. The evacuation of the 184 children was now in the hands of a group of women from Futok. The leader of these care givers was 23 year old, Käthe Einz from Torschau, who was the Kindergarten teacher.
The convoy consisted of two groups. A motorized bus group with 40 children led by Eva Mülbi and the wagon trek with Käthe Einz with her 145 children. They also had a military escort. The men were from Neutsatz (Novi Sad) and other parts of Hungary and had been billeted in Futok. The wagons that transported the children to Palanka had been requisitioned from the Serbian inhabitants of Futok. The children were unloaded in Palanka and boarded ships and barges while the military returned with the wagons back to Futok. Palanka was already evacuated and the two barges the children boarded had been meant for 200 children from Bulkes. They arrived too late. The ships and barges had left with their jam packed cargo. The children of Bulkes had to return home where disaster awaited them. Almost all of them died in the death camp in Jarek.
7 Responses to “ The Evacuation of the Children of Alt-Futok ”
I read your article “evacuation of the children of Alt Futok” and I am interested if you have any other names. This very much reminds me of a story that my father told me about his childhood. He spoke very little of the events of his youth, as this was a time of hardship for his family. My father’s name was Lorenz and his brother Adam Hermann. My father was born in 1936 in Alt-Futok. If you have any records or know of any way I can research my family history that would be wonderful. My grandmother’s maiden name was Csepi.
stefan zivkowitz says:
Perhaps i can help erica to know a little bit from her family. My grandma is born 1925 in futok. She is still alive. I found a old book were i found the name hermann in altfutok, frühlingsgasse. Hermann maria born 1910 gone to usa, hermann josef 1908 fallen in russia, hermann lorenz 1932 usa, hermann lorenz 1935 fallen, hermann anna maria 1943 usa. If this is your family, contact me perhaps i can help you further… but there were a lot of hermanns in futok…
Schönen gruss aus deutschland,
Stefan Zivkowitz
My adress is http://www.zivko6478@gmail.com
perhaps you can write in german, my english isnt the best…
Pene says:
I believe my father was one of these children from Alt Futok. Do any lists of names exist? My father is gone now, but my siblings and I would very much like to know.
My apologies, I should add that his surname was Mihajlowitsch. His mother’s maiden name was Bodi. Any information would be gratefully received! Thank you.
Kelley (Einz) says:
My grandmother Is Katherine Einz — she is still alive —
She would be thrilled to know that life went on generations partially because of her bravery.
She spoke very little about this understandably but in the late part of her life, memories are reappearing.
and we are finding out more & more…
Donna Holseth says:
There is a book called Futok. Author Josef Klinger, published 1958. Out of print, but you get access to a copy via inter-library book loan. There is a diagram on the inside cover showing the layout of the town.
Your ancestors lived at 975 Fruhlingsgasse in Alt Futok. Adam was born in 1932, Lawrence born in 1935, and a sister Anna-Maria born in 1943 all immigrated to the US. The mother Maria (maiden name Esafra according to the book – which does have some mistakes, by the way) also emmigrated and she was born in 1910. The father, Josef passed away, he was born in 1908, does not say he emmigrated, so he probably died over there.
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Overview for The Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers
FOR The Mills Brothers YOU CAN
COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY WITH SYNOPSIS
Cast (feature film)
Jazz Ball (1958) as
Against the backdrop of the Italian-Austrian war of unification, troubled Countess Livia Serpieri betrays her country for the love of an Austrian rogue, Franz Mahler. As her resources dwindle, Livia comes to realize that their love might not be as pure as she thought.
The Big Beat (1958) as
When You're Smiling (1950) as
The Fight Never Ends (1948) as
Cowboy Canteen (1944) as
A rancher turns his spread into a dude ranch for soldiers during World War II.
Chatterbox (1943) as
Rhythm Parade (1942) as
Broadway Gondolier (1935) as
A taxi driver travels to Venice and poses as a gondolier to land a radio singing job.
Operator 13 (1934) as
An actress signs up to spy for the Union, then falls for a Confederate officer.
Strictly Dynamite (1934) as
A radio comic runs out of jokes, triggering a desperate search.
Wonder Wheel (2017)
70 years before Harry Potter's birth, Newton Artemis Fido Scamander is commissioned to write a reference guide to magical beasts, which would become a Hogwart's textbook.
American Pastoral (2016)
Seymour "Swede" Levov is a once legendary high school athlete who is now a successful businessman married to Dawn, a former beauty queen. But turmoil brews beneath the polished veneer of Swede's life. When his beloved teenage daughter, Merry, disappears after being accused of committing a violent ac
In the 1940s, Dalton Trumbo is one of the highest paid screenwriters in the world. A fixture on the Hollywood social scene, and a political activist supporting labor unions, equal pay and civil rights, Trumbo and his colleagues are subpoenaed to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities C
Fury (2014)
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and
Monuments Men, The (2014)
Me and Orson Welles (2009)
In a whirlwind week in 1937 in New York City, a young aspiring actor named Richard is thrown into the middle of Orson Welles Mercury Theatre Company on the eve of the opening of Welles historic staging of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. During this week he will find romance with a worldly older woman,
My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
In the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into international renown--and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. She was compared to Kandinsky and Pollock, and called "a budding Picasso." Inside Edition, The Jane Pauley Show, and NPR did pieces,
Lust, Caution (2007)
Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, waits for a call at a cafe, as she remembers how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China: she is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi. With
Thank You for Smoking (2006)
Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR of
Being Julia (2004)
In London in 1938, actress Julia Lambert is at her peak, physically and profesionally, but her successful theatrical career and her marriage to handsome impressario Michael Gosselyn have become stale and unfulfilling. She longs for novelty, excitement, sparks. Enter Tom Fennell. a younger man who cl
Bright Young Things (2004)
A portrait of a fast, furious, and decadent era that follows the exploits of a group of young aristocrats, slavishly followed by the tabloid press, who refer to them as "bright young things." At the center of the circle is Adam, who runs with a pack of glittering socialites; he embrace every innovat
Normal (2003)
A husband and father of two announces to his family his plans to have a sex change, an event that will change all their lives forever.
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
In 1953, a time when women's roles were rigidly defined, free-spirited, novice art history professor Katherine Watson begins teaching at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College--which despite its academic reputation, is an environment where success is measured by 'how well' the students marry.
On a sleepy Sunday morning in December as children played and families prayed, squadrons of Japanese war planes screamed across the skies of a Hawaiian paradise and launched a surprise attack on the U.S. armed forces at Pearl Harbor--the infamous day that jolted America from peaceful isolationism to total war and altered the course of world history. The story focuses on the life changing events surrounding December 7, 1941 and the war''s devastating impact on two daring young pilots--one from the U.S. Army Air Corps, the other from the British Royal Air Force--and a beautiful dedicated nurse, with whom both of them fall in love. It is a tale of catastrophic defeat, heroic victory, personal courage and overwhelming love set against a backdrop of wartime action.
Family Man, The (2000)
Jack Campbell is a Wall Street trader living the high life in New York City. When Jack, who has forsaken all for the pursuit of money, becomes involved in a grocery store holdup, everything changes. He awakens the next morning, on a snowy Christmas day, lying in bed next to a wife--Kate, the college sweetheart he dumped when his career ambitions took hold--whom he never married, and in a house with two kids he never had. Now living in New Jersey in an alternate suburban universe, he has a chance to see how his life would have turned out had he married Kate and raised a family. Jack soon begins to feel strangely comfortable in the new role of loving husband and father, finding himself happy in the life he would have led had he made different choices as a young man.
Best Laid Plans (1999)
Nick, Lissa and Bryce are three people who are on the brink of changing the paths in their lives. Bryce, an old buddy of Nick's, is preparing for a career in academics. Lissa is following her passion for art and Nick is planning on spending what he believes will be a lofty inheritance. But things go
Random Hearts (1999)
Dutch Van den Broeck, a sergeant in the Internal Affairs Division of the Washington, D.C. police department, and Kay Chandler, a New Hampshire congresswoman running for re-election, know about trust. Their careers depend on it. Their marriages are founded on it. Or so they thought. When a plane crash carrying Dutch''s wife Peton and Kay''s husband Cullen crashes into Chesapeake Bay, leaving no survivors, it marks just the beginning of a mystery that will not only lead Dutch and Kay to disturbing and shocking information about their spouses, but bring these strangers together in an unlikely romance.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
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Radio Days (1987)
A young boy's coming of age is mirrored by his favorite radio shows and the lives of their stars.
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Jumpin' Jive (1989)
A documentary featuring musicians from the 1940s and '50s as they perform in vintage sketches and short films from the period.
100 Years of Golden Hits (1981)
An all-star cast salutes the recording industry in a program taped in 1978. The program focuses on the invention of the phonograph in 1877, and how music has progressed over the past 100 years.
Bing!... A 50th Anniversary Gala (1977)
A special celebrating Bing Crosby's fifty years in show business.
One More Time (1974)
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Music (special)
Jumpin' Jive (1989) as Song Performer ("Paper Doll")
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about me(g)
True Anomalies
(Tales from the History of Science)
The Meteorite Crater that Wasn’t: Reflections on SPECTRE
The James Bond franchise — with all of its womanizing and improbable escapes — has never held much appeal for me. So when my dad asked me if had seen the latest movie last week, it should surprise no one that I responded with the text equivalent of a blank stare.
It turns out he had a specific reason for asking:
Having spent the last several years studying impact craters and their history on the Moon and Earth, I was intrigued…
Now I was really intrigued. Was it possible that some of the minute details to which I’d devoted my grad years had rubbed off on one of my closest relatives, to the point that he would notice the difference between a volcano and an impact crater in a James Bond film? After a bit of quick googling, I had my answer: YES!
SPECTRE‘s “meteorite crater” (lair of the evil villain Blofeld, né Oberhauser) was actually filmed in an extinct volcano outside the Moroccan city of Erfoud named Gara Medouar.1 Not having seen the movie itself, I did find a behind-the-scenes look at a massive (and apparently record-breaking) explosion filmed for the movie that gives us a good look at the outside of the ancient caldera. Even with just that brief glimpse, we can already say a lot about this crater.2 An impactor striking the surface at planetary speeds (several to tens of kilometers per second) carries a huge amount of kinetic energy, all of which suddenly has to go somewhere. The resulting explosion almost always creates a circular depression (regardless of the original impact angle) with a raised rim and ejecta blanket that thins out the further away you get. The dimensions of the crater — its diameter, the depth to the floor, the height of the rim — are not random, but closely related to each other and the total energy of the impact. If you spend enough time looking at examples of lunar and terrestrial impact craters, you get a sense for the ones that look “wrong,” and this one just doesn’t look right.
First, as my dad noted, the outer walls are very steep and rugged. For a crater of that diameter, they stand far taller than you’d expect an impact throw them.3 I can’t tell how deep the crater is from the explosion clip, which is why I asked my dad if he got a sense in the movie for the ratio between depth and diameter. He estimated the depth-to-diameter ratio as about 1:2, which is much more exaggerated than any real impact craters on the Earth or Moon, which have depth-to-diameter ratios closer to 1:5.4 Then there’s the sloping layers of volcanic-looking rock making up the rim and the large gap leading into the cavity. By themselves, these are not necessarily indications of a non-impact origin, but you’d have to have a pretty specific and complicated sequence of post-impact tectonic or erosional events to explain the crater’s current appearance. Finally, a satellite view of Gara Medouar — revealing a decidedly asymmetric cavity — seals the deal: it’s a volcano, folks.[UPDATE: It’s actually NOT a volcano! Or an impact crater! It seems to be an erosional crater instead – had me fooled, but it’s always nice to learn something new!]
Gara Medouar from above, thanks to Google Maps
Thinking about this “meteorite crater,” I can’t help but be reminded of the controversy over the craters on the Moon, especially the arguments made by geologist Grove Karl Gilbert in 1896, when most scientists weighing in (astronomers primarily) argued for a volcanic origin. Making a detailed comparison between the volcanoes of the Earth and the craters of the Moon, Gilbert made a case for the impact hypothesis instead, concluding:
Ninety-nine times in one hundred the bottom of the lunar crater lies lower than the outer plain; ninety-nine times in a hundred the bottom of the Vesuvian crater lies higher than the outer plain. Ordinarily the inner height of the lunar crater rim is more than double its outer height; ordinarily the outer height of the Vesuvian crater rim is more than double its inner height. The lunar crater is sunk in the lunar plain; the Vesuvian is perched on a mountain top…Thus, through the expression of every feature the lunar crater emphatically denies kinship with the ordinary volcanoes of the earth.
That Gilbert felt like an outsider — a geologist trespassing on astronomers’ territory — is clear from his introduction to The Moon’s Face, and he got a frosty reception from the astronomy community. His fellow geologists weren’t exactly thrilled either, since the Moon (being so remote) was considered too speculative a topic for a solid geologist to spend time on.5 Yet he persisted, convinced that he was precisely the sort of scientist who ought to be studying the features on the Moon, given his experience with the features of the Earth. “[T]he problem is largely a problem of interpretation of form, and is therefore not inappropriate to one who has given much thought to the origin of the forms of terrestrial topography.”
Gilbert may not have changed many minds in his own time, but impact studies have come a long way, thanks in part to his disciplinary transgression. In fact, if anything the planetary pendulum has swung toward impact as the default interpretation for most features in the solar system, and evidence of volcanic activity is heavily scrutinized. Admittedly, I am biased, but I think it’s a bit sad that 120 years after Gilbert’s work, the difference between an impact crater and a volcano is given such short shrift on so public a stage. There’s even a real impact crater just over the border in Algeria6 that would have made a stunning backdrop for Bond’s adventures. Somewhat ironically, the 1967 Bond film You Only Live Twice actually involved an extinct volcano (another Blofeld lair), but it was filmed on a massive purpose-built set at Pinewood Studios. Oh well. Gara Medouar would have been perfect for that, except I suppose that there’s no roof to hide the heliport/missile launcher/command center.7
Ouarkziz crater, near the Algerian/Moroccan border
Blofeld’s volcano lair from You Only Live Twice (1967)
Anyway, I can understand bowing to the logistics of filming locations and permissions and passing off a volcanic feature as an impact crater, but what about the “meteorite” itself? Here’s a quote from the scene between Bond and arch-villain Oberhauser (Blofeld):
Oberhauser: Do you know what it is?
Madeleine Swann: It’s a meteorite.
Oberhauser: Yes, exactly. The Kartenhoff, the oldest in human possession. The very meteorite which made this crater. Think about it: so many years up there – alone, silent – building momentum until it chose to make its mark on Earth… a huge unstoppable force.
James Bond: Except it did stop, didn’t it? Right here.
Ok, so we’re meant to believe that the “meteorite which made this crater” (more on that later) is also the oldest meteorite in human possession…really? Not having actually seen the movie, I asked my dad what the meteorite in the scene looked like.
Those melted depressions are called regmaglypts, and they’re formed as the meteorite is passing through the atmosphere. All of that air rushing by at high speed creates a huge amount of friction, and some material is ablated (vaporized) away, leaving these little thumbprint-like hollows. The problem? My dad is describing an iron meteorite, like this one:
Iron meteorites, like this one, are pretty alien looking.
Iron meteorites are thought to be the cores of once-mighty proto-planets that have broken apart in some violent collision and eventually made their way across the solar system to land on Earth. By definition, they have melted and recrystallized — they’re not the oldest meteorites! That title goes to the least altered, most primitive samples we can find, the carbonaceous chondrites. Visually, they are less stunning, perhaps not even immediately recognizable as meteorites, but inside they contain the birth records of the solar system. Analyzing these meteorites is the best way we have of understanding the original composition of the pre-solar nebula,8 out of which the Sun and the planets and ultimately you and I formed. We are made of star stuff, yes, but what star stuff? Carbonaceous chondrites tell us that. Some of them, like the Tagish Lake meteorite, even contain unchanged stellar dust particles, grains that predate the Sun. Now that’s OLD.
Tagish Lake meteorite, possibly the oldest meteorite in human possession, looks like a boring Earth rock.
But what if Oberhauser meant “this meteorite is from the oldest-known impact“? That assertion doesn’t make sense either. The oldest identified impact structures on Earth don’t really look like craters anymore, thanks to our planet’s tendency to rough up its landmasses via plate tectonics. One candidate for the oldest terrestrial impact structure is Vredefort crater in South Africa. Only the central dome survives, the rest of the crater having been eroded and filled in over the two billion years since its formation. Compared to the relatively pristine Barringer Meteorite Crater (Meteor Crater) in Arizona — a sprightly 50,000 years of age — Vredefort is hard to spot. It takes geological evidence in the form of impact-generated mineral phases, glass spherules, and shattercones to identify the oldest craters.
Vredefort Dome, 2 billion years old
Meteor Crater in Arizona, 50,000 years old
It’s not the oldest meteorite, and it’s not the oldest crater. Either Oberhauser has been badly misled when it comes to his collection, or the writers really didn’t care very much about getting the science right in this case. Does it really matter? Perhaps not, but it’s certainly a missed opportunity. With just a little bit more research, they could have turned real science facts into support for their story. It wouldn’t even have been that hard. Oberhauser seems to be talking about himself in this scene, using the meteorite as a convenient vehicle to talk about his own journey and motivations. Call me crazy, but incorporating some dialogue about refining a central iron core that’s ultimately flung onto a crash course with humankind by a violent event deep in the past doesn’t sound completely out of line with the Bond villain archetype. It’s a far more fitting metaphor than “the very meteorite which made this crater,” seeing as the parts of the (much bigger) impactor that actually made the crater wouldn’t be around any more to provide a backdrop for this conversation.9 The meteorite is the part that survived — the resourceful, resilient fragment of a much larger entity. Given a chance, the science here really could have augmented the story, but SPECTRE passed on that chance, and I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that it did.
Fans of The Mummy (1999) might recognize Gara Medouar as Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, and it was also featured in The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). ↩
The word “crater” itself can apply to an impact structure or a volcanic caldera. Fun fact: although it’s commonly used by scientists in the impact context today, it started out purely in the volcanic realm and was first borrowed to describe lunar features by Johann Schröter in the late 18th century. The volcanic connotation of the word influenced the interpretation of lunar and terrestrial craters well into the 20th century. ↩
For impact craters, the height of the rim above the surrounding plane scales approximately as 4% of the crater’s diameter, less than half what we see here. ↩
That’s for simple craters, which are relatively small. Complex craters, which have diameters above ~15km on the Moon and ~2-4km on Earth, are even shallower. ↩
Gilbert’s first biographer described this work as his “lunar excursion.” ↩
All right, fine, it’s hundreds of miles away and in a completely different country, so that’s not probably not feasible for filming. ↩
Sigh, James Bond…see what I mean? ↩
The composition of the Sun itself is another good clue, but it’s hard to measure some elements, so we turn to meteorites to learn more. ↩
Impact energies are so large that much of the impacting body doesn’t survive the impact. ↩
Posted in Reflections
They have this thing called “autumn” here…
It’s been a little more than a month since we arrived in Somerville, and it still hasn’t quite sunk in. After living in Pasadena for eight years, it still feels like we might be heading back any day now, as if the last few weeks have just been an extended vacation, and it’s ending now. But we’re here! And so far it’s been pretty wonderful. We’re still not completely unpacked and we miss our California friends to no end and I’m figuring out how to best work from home and not go stir-crazy, but September and October have already been jammed full of reunions with old friends, meeting online friends in person, family visits, and just all-around awesome experiences. I visited the Great Refractor at Harvard and stood under the USS Constitution while it’s in dry dock. I’ve gobbled steamed pork buns and sampled various local craft beers, and yesterday I had my first Union Square Donut (which was amazing)1. At the annual meeting of the NASW2 this past weekend, I got to meet some of my heroes and connect with the local science writing community (there’s some overlap there). And this weekend we’re going to go get lost in a corn maze3 because they have autumn here and that’s a thing that actually happens. I’m so grateful to everyone who has reached out and welcomed us here, and I’m really looking forward to feeling at home in the Cambridge area again.
I’ve let this blog lapse a bit over the past few weeks (and months, to be honest), and that may continue for a bit while I get my feet back under me. I’m thinking hard about what I want it to become and how I can best achieve those goals, and I’ll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, thanks for all the support!
It was a sea-salted bourbon caramel donut…how could you go wrong? ↩
National Association of Science Writers ↩
A maize maze, if you will… ↩
Posted in News, Reflections
Big news: We’re moving!
After 8(!) sunny years in Pasadena, CA, we’ve decided to move back to the east coast! We’ll be making the cross-country trip to Cambridge, MA, in late August. Yes, it will be cold and rainy sometimes, and yes, we’ll deeply miss all of our friends and colleagues in southern California, but we’re also looking forward to this next step! Woohoo!
Pluto, Mars, Moon, Earth
At the 2013 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Michael Carr give the Shoemaker Lecture on “Geologic Exploration Of The Planets: A Personal Retrospective Of The First 50 Years.” I was lucky to hear it, because he included this anecdote about Mariner 9’s arrival at Mars in 1971:
The planet was engulfed in a dust storm and very little could be discerned except for polar caps and some dark spots which turned out to be volcanoes poking up above the dust. As an aside, there was a lot of argument about those volcanoes. They looked exactly like calderas. But already by that time, the perception of Mars as a lunar-like body had solidified, and there was just enormous resistance to interpreting those dark spots as the summits of volcanoes.
Before Mariner 9 reached the red planet, Mariner 4 flew by on July 14, 1965, returning 22 images of a rugged, cratered surface that had never before been seen – not quite what the imaging team expected to find! This bulletin, circulated to the DSN stations along with the photos, sums up how these results affected the understanding of Mars and its planetary evolution:
Man’s first close-up look at Mars has revealed the scientifically startling fact that at least part of its surface is covered with large craters. This is a profound fact which leads to far-reaching fundamental inferences concerning the evolutionary history of Mars and further enhances the uniqueness of Earth within the solar system… Some mention must be made of features looked for but not seen on Mariner photos. Although the flight line crossed several “canals,” sketched from time to time on maps of Mars, no trace of these features was discernable. It should be remembered in this respect that the visibility of many Martian surface features, including the “canals,” is variable with time.
Mariner 4 arrived at Mars to find it cold and barren – “more Moon-like than Earth-like” – and that revelation, as Mike Carr recalled, fueled the dominant perception of Mars for the missions that followed. The Mars of 1965 had to fit somewhere in our limited palette of planetary analogs, and the never-before-seen craters of the ancient highlands tipped the scale toward the lunar end. Ground-based observations of the seasonal cycle on Mars, evidenced by the retreat and expansion of polar caps and changes observed in shade and placement of darker regions, had inspired hopes of a geologically active planet, but the cratered terrains and absence of a magnetic field said otherwise. In fact, they said it so loudly that when Mariner 9 caught a glimpse of Olympus Mons “poking up above the dust,” it took a lot of convincing to entertain the notion that Mars might be more Earth-like than our first encounter suggested.
Yesterday – fifty years to the day after Mariner 4’s Martian flyby – NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto, and we have been bathed in ever more detailed images of the dwarf planet and its moons for the past several days. As the photos have gotten clearer, a chorus of comparisons has risen:
Pluto is red! It looks like Mars!
“Pluto looks remarkably like Mars–but a lot better than Mars, of course.” — Fran Bagenal, #PlutoFlyby #RedPluto pic.twitter.com/ff0GGva9Jk
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) July 14, 2015
Of course, Pluto isn’t red for the same reasons that Mars is red (space-weathered hydrocarbon molecules vs. iron oxides), so there are plenty of holes to poke in the analogy…
John Spencer: “This part looks like Mars, if you ignore the temperature and the composition and everything else.” — Emily Lakdawalla (@elakdawalla) July 14, 2015
It’s been very exciting to see Pluto come into focus, and even more interesting to watch the process of viewing, describing, and naming features that have gone from light or dark patches to “the whale” or “the heart.” I can’t avoid thinking of this process in the context of previous planetary quests, especially Mars exploration with its history of telescopic observation, flybys, orbiters, and rovers. It’s satisfying to see that Mars has graduated to become an analog for even newer worlds – what an exciting time to be alive!
Posted in Extra Credit, Reflections
Stitching a Supernova
When John R. Whitman saw an X-ray image of the Cassiopeia-A supernova in Scientific American in 1975, he decided it would make a lovely needlepoint design, and when he wondered who he might ask to produce it, he immediately thought of his good friend, Dr. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
“I met with Cecilia to inquire if she might have any interest in producing the first example of my design. She looked at me with her penetrating gray eyes, normally focused on stellar distances, and exclaimed that, yes, she would be delighted to create the Cas-A needlepoint. I was overjoyed.”1
Whitman originally designed his Cas-A pattern as part of a needlepoint kit for Intercraft, a craft startup that never really came together. The prototype – carefully stitched by Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin, then in her seventies and retired – remained in storage for years before joining her collection at the Harvard University Archives.2
In a brief article for PieceWork Magazine in 2004, Whitman described how his friend Philip Charles, a co-author of the Scientific American paper, sent him the data file for the Cas-A X-ray image. He printed the schematic using a computer at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Short-Lived Phenomena, where he worked at the time.
“The computer I used was, at the time, the largest civilian computer in New England, a CDC-6400 that, when not printing out needlepoint designs, was calculating massive equations for astronomers and tracking satellites (the Smithsonian was then operating the world’s first satellite-tracking system).”
“Several months later, Cecilia presented the needlepoint to me with great pleasure and much pride. It was a gorgeous sight. Her workmanship, primarily employing the Scotch stitch, was superb, and everyone who saw it was highly impressed with its quality and beauty.”
It’s a curious little anecdote, but a valuable one. Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin is rightly remembered for her pioneering work in astronomy and for overcoming so many hurdles to achieve it. This little needlepoint offers a tiny window into her other interests, of which Whitman insists there were many: traveling, cooking, printing, quoting Shakespeare, and devouring mystery novels, to name a few. In his own words:
“Cecilia’s needlepoint rendition of the Cas-A image represents a fascinating intersection of her place in astronomy, her dexterity as an accomplished stitcher, and her devotion as a friend. Created with the hands of a genius who left far more valuable astronomical works behind, this treasure is no less wonderful for her touch.”
Whitman quotes are from “The Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Cas-A Needlepoint Story,” PieceWork Magazine, July/August 2004 ↩
Whitman: “Images of her needlepoint are now included in the Harvard Archives, available to all for scholarly and educational purposes.” ↩
Posted in Extra Credit
Exploring “Genius Day” with Annie Jump Cannon
This past Saturday, I co-ran a”Genius Day” workshop for a dozen or so middle school-age kids for a local non-profit organization, the Institute for Educational Advancement. Previous “Genius Days” have focused on Darwin, Shakespeare, and William Strata Smith, and I helped out a friend last summer with some Galileo-themed activities. At first, I was little skeptical of the focus on Genius and Geniuses, because there’s so much baggage around figures in the history of science bearing that title, and because (IMHO) kids – especially ones who are constantly told they are “gifted” – don’t need added pressure to live up to an impossible ideal. So I was initially a bit worried about what I would encounter at a “Genius Day” centered on Galileo. What I did find, however, was a focus on interrogating the idea of “genius.” Impressions of the word were collected at the beginning of the day and re-examined at the end, after a series of activities and discussions and slide presentations. It was well done!
When the opportunity arose (several months later) to run one of these workshops myself, we decided to focus on Annie Jump Cannon – the first woman in the series. There are a lot of threads to Cannon’s story, and that complicates the notion of “genius” in a good, thought-provoking way. She’s a woman who worked primarily in a man’s world. Whether her employer, E. C. Pickering, was progressive or just penny-pinching for hiring women to work as researchers is a question that has no straightforward answer. She also lost most of her hearing to scarlet fever in early adulthood. Her impressive work – developing a stellar classification system and classifying hundreds of thousands of stars – was the product of decades of hard work, and understanding her achievement requires knowledge of photography (including photographic plates), prisms, spectra, and absorption lines. Having navigated all of this over five hours this past weekend, I thought it would be useful to share some of the materials that we – myself, along with Louise Hindle and Min-Ling Li at IEA – gathered and created for the workshop.
After an introductory discussion about the word “genius” and everything it might mean, we launched into a discussion of photography. I wanted to get the kids thinking about how photographs are and are not objective representations of reality. We talked a lot about how the choices they make in taking photos – even digital ones with their smartphones – influence the final product, and we connected this idea of “making” a photo (rather than “taking” one) to older forms of photography.
Then we really had a treat! Representatives from the Carnegie Observatories Cindy Hunt, Andrew Benson, and Catharine Vlahakis brought over several real photographic plates from the Mt. Wilson Observatory archives to look at. From the surface of the Moon, to spiral galaxies, to nebulae, there was plenty to marvel over, and having the physical objects there really drove home the materiality of the photographic medium. They even brought a plate from Edwin Hubble’s search for variable stars in the Andromeda Galaxy, complete with his fingerprint baked right into the photographic emulsion – talk about tangibility!
Many of the participants took photos of the plates with their phones and had fun reversing the negatives to see what they would look like to the eye, and I think some of those points about the manipulability of photographs really landed with them.
After the plate demo, we were able to bring the discussion around to the difference between the kinds of direct images on the plates we had seen and the spectroscopic plates that Cannon would have been working with. To help with this, we used an image of one of Cannon’s actual spectroscopic plates that Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer working at the Harvard Observatory (where Cannon worked) now, had very helpfully provided for us. Each of the little blurred lines is a star, the starlight having been spread out into a bar by a prism. The colors themselves didn’t make it into the photograph, but many of these spectra show clear absorption lines – gaps in the rainbow where no light is seen. Using the placement and intensity of these lines, Cannon grouped them into different star types. Looking at all of the star spectra and the careful notations, you can really get a sense of the kind of work that went into Cannon’s stellar classification system, and you can see more of the Harvard plate archives here. This image became a jumping-off point to talk about the kinds of scientific information that photographs can provide – and then it was time for lunch!
After a brief lunch break, we headed out to the Huntington’s wonderful “Beautiful Science” exhibit to see the one item in the collections1 related to Cannon: a letter she wrote to Mt. Wilson Observatory astronomer F.H. Seares in 1912. A mix of personal and professional comments, the letter was sent while Cannon was on vacation, and she writes of her current work: ” I hated to leave my catalogue with 45,000 stars classified, but so many more to do! However, my mind will be refreshed and body rested by the plunges in Old Ocean I am going to have.”
Back out on the lawn, we talked a bit about how Cannon has been described at various times, from her own lifetime to today. A brief article from 1929 describes her as an “eminent astronomer,” even while the title of the piece suggests an “invasion” of women into the field of astronomy. A “Wonder Women of History” comic from 1949 (part of the original Wonder Woman series) portrays her as a determined and accomplished pioneer, but adds that she loved spending time with children as well. A modern depiction from RejectedPrincesses.com shows Pickering helpfully steadying the ladder while Cannon climbs up beside a telescope, holding a wrench. All of these examples bear on how we talk about women in the history of science and women in STEM today.
After heading back to the classroom, we passed out diffraction gratings (which work a lot like prisms) called Rainbow Peepholes2 and used them to look at a variety of light sources: the fluorescent lights overhead, a flashlight, white incandescent and colored LED holiday lights. Immediately engaged by the “hidden rainbows” revealed to them, the students really got into exploring the differences between the different light sources. They noticed that white light is spread out into the entire spectrum, but the red and green LEDs were just…red and green. Interestingly, the light from the purple LEDs was separated into just two colors (blue and magenta).
This activity connected directly back to the spectroscopic plates that Cannon worked with, and we followed up by attempting to classify the spectra ourselves into at least two identifiable groups.
We didn’t quite have time for the last activity – making stellar trading cards – but we sent everyone home with the materials to make their own. Here’s the trading card template I put together and a bunch of Cannon quotes about her work and the field of astronomy as she saw it. Feel free to use it, or adapt your own! I imagined using it to make a card for each star type, but you could also do it with individual stars, and I could see it working for other kinds of objects – moons, exoplanets, asteroids – too!
We wrapped up the day with a discussion about spectroscopy in astronomy and remote sensing today, and we talked a bit about how the spectral classes fit into our understanding of how stars evolve and what’s going on inside them. And that was it! Quite a long day, but very rewarding, and I’m happy to share all of our work putting this workshop together. If anyone else has resources to add, or would like more information on what we did, please let me know!
Many thanks to Huntington curator Melissa Lo for locating the letter and many other useful materials! ↩
Thanks to Holly Bender for alerting me to these – the name is a bit strange, but the kids loved them! ↩
Posted in Extra Credit, News, Reflections
Goodbye, MESSENGER!
I made this (hastily) for MESSENGER’s final pass around Mercury and impact just now. Few spacecraft have dealt with heat o’ the sun and winter’s rages like this one! It has really been an impressive mission.
The Cymbeline quote is all the more appropriate given that MESSENGER’s final resting place is near Shakespeare basin.
“So You Want to Do Research”
I recently came across a brief article entitled “So You Want to Do Research” in the December 1943 issue of Pro Tem, a Radcliffe College campus publication. Written by Dr. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the column offers some advice to students considering a career in research and describes some of the astronomer’s views on the process of science. Payne-Gaposchkin describes an environment that is both demanding and rewarding, and she doesn’t sugarcoat the tougher bits. Some of her advice sounds so applicable to graduate students today that it’s almost jarring to come across a sentiment or stylistic element that belongs to an earlier time, as when she consistently uses male pronouns to describe “a scholar” in the abstract. I’ve pulled out a few excerpts that spoke to me here, but the whole article is available in Harvard’s digitized collections.
Only become an astronomer if nothing else will satisfy you; for nothing else is (approximately) what you will receive. The material returns will never be great, and most of the scholars who receive them do so at the price of sacrificing time that they might devote to pure scholarship. Fame is the reward of the few, and those who achieve it realize too often that it has been purchased by efforts that were not their highest. If you do your job, you will be able to earn your living, and you will taste the delights of discovery, than which (to the addict) there is nothing more satisfying. That is all. If it is enough, then become a scientist. If it is not, get out before it is too late.
Probably the most important starting points are good health, good eyesight, humility, and a sense of humor.
There are some for whom the world seems to hold no mysteries; for them, everything fits into a preconceived scheme and the whole is convincingly explained. They will never be scholars.
…a complex training, difficult to describe, yet more difficult to achieve. It involves a continuous habit of sorting the uncoordinated facts, fitting them together again and again until some pattern emerges, seeking other facts that seem to piece out the pattern. The process is one of working ceaselessly on an intellectual jigsaw puzzle, in which you have little clue to the subject, the scale of the design, the relationships of the pieces. The very elusiveness of the pattern is its chief fascination, the possibility that the final picture may prove to be of something never before seen by mortal eyes.
Astronomy is peculiar in several respects; it is a science debarred from experiment, and it deals chiefly with processes that are so slow that they defy any but long-drawn and precise observations. It is a schooling in precision and patience, and it compels the construction of long-term plans and the formulation of long-term problems.
Lastly, there should be a word about technique. Not the detailed technique of the branch of knowledge, the particular vocabulary, symbolism, and equipment. Rather the technique of the intellectual jig-saw puzzle. Let no one expect it to be easy work. It is hard labor, often carried to the point of exhaustion and despair. Repetitions carried to the point of utter boredom. Simple, elementary processes that would shock the uninitiated by their naïveté.
The popular conception of scientific research: ‘You must be so very clever to be able to do it’ could not be wider of the mark. Real investigation is not the reception of a transcendental vision, a process of thought beyond the power of an ordinary mortal. The prayer of the scientist might well be, “Lord, show us the obvious.”
As a science communicator, I spend a lot of time trying to convince people that you don’t have to be “so very clever” to understand or to do what scientists do on a day-to-day basis. It’s very much within “the power of an ordinary mortal,” because, well, scientists are ordinary mortals. From a historian’s perspective, it’s interesting to hear Payne-Gaposchkin’s thoughts on academic fame. It’s both conferred rather arbitrarily, and it takes up time that could be devoted to pure research. By 1943, she had already received numerous awards for her work,1 so it’s interesting to hear a somewhat cautionary note in her address to students.2 And as a former (recovering?) graduate student, I appreciate her no-punches-pulled description of the “exhaustion and despair” and “utter boredom” of research just as much as her admission that she’s an addict of the “delights of discovery.” So you want to do research? Couldn’t hurt to read this first.
She was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1923, while still a student at Cambridge, she received the first Annie J. Cannon Award in 1934, became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1936, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. ↩
It also brings to mind the controversy over her dissertation: having found that hydrogen is by far the most abundant element in the Sun (a result contradicting prevailing theories of stellar composition), heavyweight astronomer Henry Norris Russell convinced to reject her values for hydrogen and helium abundance. Four years later in 1929, after arriving at the same conclusion using different methods, Russell published a massive paper on the subject, and although he credits Payne-Gaposchkin’s work at the end, he’s generally gotten the lion’s share of the credit. ↩
Annie Jump Cannon in Her Own Words
I’ve been poking around the Harvard Library’s digital archives quite a bit this week, preparing for a “Genius Day” workshop I’m leading next month with the Institute for Educational Advancement. The focus of the workshop is Annie Jump Cannon, an astronomer famous for developing the stellar classification scheme still used today and for personally classifying hundreds of thousands of stars by their spectra. While trying to track down a high-resolution scan of one of Cannon’s spectroscopic plates,1 I came across an article she wrote in the Radcliffe Quarterly in 1931 entitled “Astronomical Adventures.” In recounting some of her experiences, she describes a field “at a cross-roads between the old, the visual, and the new, the photographic method,” and offers a new definition for the “adventures” in store for aspiring astronomers. I thought I’d share a few brief excerpts that I particularly enjoyed, but feel free to read the entire account here. 2
Astronomers are not often thinking of pure discovery. We have no expectations of ever finding at one glance, as did Tycho Brahe, a new star rivaling Venus in brilliancy, nor any hope of emulating Galileo’s thrilling experiences. Something different must satisfy us in these later days.
Has it not been something of an adventure to take any part, however small, in the remarkable development of astronomy during the present century?
It is often difficult when one stands at the cross-roads to choose the new and untrodden path. It is not the path of our dreams. Who in the “gay nineties” ever dreamed of an astronomer who was not nightly gazing through a large telescope at soul-thrilling celestial objects? Time has proved, however, that along the new and seemingly unromantic photographic path lay all the coming adventures.
There is romance in science! What more appealing to the imagination than the fact that these dark lines in star light bring us messages as to what the stars are, how they are traveling, and how far away they are.
The spectrum of such a star, if it can only be obtained, always tells the story of its vagaries in the bright bands indicating glowing gases. Not soon to be forgotten was the thrill of finding such an object while in Arequipa, of eagerly photographing its spectrum and beholding on the negative the tell-tale bands proclaiming its escapade. To the gleaming southern stars, thus one was added, whose light had been traveling fifty thousand years to shine down on us over the Andes.
When the California astronomers came east to the eclipse of January 24, 1925, we could boast of no such optimistic weather reports, but almost contrary to our own expectations, we had a clear sky on that below zero morning. No clouds marred the spectacle from Cornell to Nantucket. The mystical shadow bands danced, glowing prominencies streamed out, and the glowing corona flashed forth its matchless beauty.
Curious, I looked around for other personal accounts from the women at Harvard College Observatory, the “computers” that were the backbone of Edward C. Pickering’s research program in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century. While not at all a comprehensive survey of the online archive’s content, my little search yielded a couple of items that I am truly happy to have come upon. I’ll do my best to share some of them here as well.
Thanks to Jonathan McDowell and twitter, I now have many wonderful photographs of the Harvard plate stacks and Cannon’s spectroscopic work! ↩
And for a very adventurous version of Cannon, check her out on Rejected Princesses! ↩
The Not-So-Brief History of Climate Change Science
Posted on March 23rd, 2015
As part of my ongoing collaboration with NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 mission, I’ve put together this 4-minute history of climate change science. Global warming may seem like a recent issue, but people have been investigating it for a long time. Only by choosing to engage with the natural world and gathering information can we prepare for whatever the future may bring.
Posted in Extra Credit, TA Episodes
NBN Episodes
Physics Central
TA Episodes
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The optical systems donated by the NRO have the same diameter as the primary mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope (above) but have a wider area of view that could be useful for some proposed astronomy missions. (credit: NASA)
Out of the black
by Dwayne A. Day
Last week NASA made a surprise announcement that it had obtained two sets of optical systems from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the organization responsible for managing and procuring intelligence satellites. These are large optics, obviously built for reconnaissance satellites. They are the same diameter as the Hubble Space Telescope, but since they have different optical features NASA could not use them to simply replace the Hubble. They could, however, be used for other space telescope missions.
The NRO agreed to make four Gambit-1 reconnaissance cameras available to NASA for use in a classified program known as UPWARD, with the unclassified name Lunar Mapping and Survey System, or LM&SS.
This was not the first time that the NRO has provided technology assistance or hardware to NASA. In fact, the organization has helped NASA several times since the beginning of the space age, has donated large optics to the astronomy community, and even helped rescue a NASA space mission. For a secretive spy agency, the NRO has been a generous benefactor.
From rocky beginnings to a rocky Moon
NASA was created several years before the NRO, but the agency had an early relationship with the CIA, one of the component organizations of the NRO. In the late 1950s NASA provided cover for the CIA’s U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. This later resulted in major embarrassment for the civilian space agency when Gary Powers was shot down in his U-2 over the Soviet Union. At Edwards Air Force Base, an agency U-2 was quickly repainted with NASA markings and displayed to the press. The cover story collapsed when Gary Powers turned up alive and admitted that he worked for the CIA and not the civilian space agency. NASA’s administrator, T. Keith Glennan, was reportedly furious, and believed that his agency’s reputation had been tarnished.
The relationship between NASA and the CIA was repaired when James Webb became administrator in 1961 and soon met with intelligence officials. According to a declassified CIA document, Webb expressed interest in working with the intelligence community and sharing technology.
An opportunity to cooperate came a short time later when NASA needed to take high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface in support of the Apollo program. The newly-created National Reconnaissance Office—with the approval of the Department of Defense—agreed to share the technology developed for the film-readout version of the Air Force’s Samos reconnaissance satellite. Samos had evolved to a film-return program, just like its more successful cousin, Corona, before it was ultimately canceled. The film-readout technology was developed by the Air Force and Eastman Kodak, and they shared it with NASA for the Lunar Orbiter program. Lunar Orbiter used a different camera than Samos, but in many ways it was a better use for the film-readout technique, which took images and developed the film onboard before scanning it and beaming the images back to earth. One of several drawbacks of film-readout for earth reconnaissance was that it could not produce and transmit many images to the ground because the satellite was only in sight of ground stations for a short period of time. Lunar Orbiter could communicate for longer periods with the ground, and it did not need to beam back as many images as a reconnaissance satellite.
The goal of Lunar Orbiter was to produce not only imagery of potential Apollo landing sites, but also information on the ground slope at those sites. If Apollo astronauts landed their Lunar Module on ground that was tilted too steep, it could tip over. But NASA management was not convinced that Lunar Orbiter would provide reliable data on ground slope, and so in April 1964 they struck another agreement with the NRO to make use of a more sensitive piece of equipment, the camera system from the KH-7 Gambit-1 reconnaissance satellite.
The Gambit-1 first launched in 1963 and was superseded by the Gambit-3 in 1966, with the last Gambit-1’s flying in 1967. It was a truly powerful camera with a 196-centimeter (77-inch) focal length, capable of taking images on the ground as good as approximately 0.6 meters. The NRO agreed to make four Gambit-1 reconnaissance cameras available to NASA for use in a classified program known as UPWARD, with the unclassified name Lunar Mapping and Survey System, or LM&SS (see “Apollo: secrets and whispers”, The Space Review, December 6, 2010). LM&SS would use the camera system without the Satellite Control System. It would be launched atop a manned Saturn V, taking the place of a Lunar Module. Apollo astronauts would head toward the Moon, turn their Command and Service Module around, dock with the LM&SS, and pull it out of the Saturn V third stage. The astronauts would then orbit the Moon while LM&SS took high quality photographs on wide format film. At the end of the mission an astronaut would open the hatch between the Command Module and the LM&SS, remove the film canister and bring it into the spacecraft. After landing, the film would be processed on the ground, providing better quality imagery of potential Apollo landing sites.
A more dramatic form of NRO assistance to NASA came in 1973 when the Skylab space station was crippled during launch. The NRO quickly determined that one of its Gambit-3 reconnaissance satellites already in orbit could be used to image Skylab.
Although UPWARD was the classified cover name, the LM&SS program was public, although not highly publicized. At least one illustration of it was published in an encyclopedia, although it simply looked like a tube, and the illustration revealed nothing of the optical system. UPWARD was in essence an insurance program for Lunar Orbiter. It would have been a program of last resort in many ways, because it required a Saturn V and Apollo spacecraft to perform its mission. Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched in August 1966, followed by Lunar Orbiter 2 in November. Both missions were successful and at least one NASA official claimed that the missions “certified” several Apollo landing sites. By April 1967 NASA had determined that Lunar Orbiter was providing sufficient imagery that the LM&SS was not required. But the equipment already existed, with four systems constructed or in advanced stages of construction when they were declared unnecessary for Apollo.
At some point, possibly before they were even ruled out for Apollo, NASA officials began considering flying LM&SS in Earth orbit. The agency considered attaching the powerful camera system to a NASA space station as part of the Apollo Applications Program, or possibly even flying it attached to a Command and Service Module. Those NASA plans undoubtedly raised alarms within the intelligence community. After some negotiation between the NRO and NASA, all further plans to use LM&SS for civilian use were canceled. The hardware was probably destroyed, although it may exist in a classified warehouse somewhere.
The last several Apollo missions carried a powerful reconnaissance camera to the Moon located in their Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) bay. That camera was adapted from a camera developed for the U-2 and Blackbird spyplanes. The NRO may have been involved in making the equipment available to NASA.
Mirrors for astronomers
In the mid-1970s, an astronomical observatory in Arizona surprised astronomers when it announced that it was building a new Multi-Mirror Telescope using seven donated precision optical mirrors. As astronomers soon learned, the mirrors had come from the military, and they were remarkably lightweight by ground-based astronomy standards. Observers soon speculated that they were left over from the canceled KH-10 DORIAN program, the name for the optical part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program canceled in summer 1969 by President Nixon (see “Mirrors in the dark”, The Space Review, May 11, 2009).
While this was not an NRO donation to NASA, the MMT example demonstrated that reconnaissance mirrors could have value for astronomers, although the mirrors were not ideal for astronomical use and the MMT configuration was later replaced with a single large mirror. There have been other cases where military and intelligence astronomical and other equipment has been donated to civilian astronomy programs. For example, the infrared sensor for the canceled Teal Ruby spacecraft was reportedly donated to an astronomy program for use in a ground-based telescope.
During the 1960s NASA engineers and technical experts provided analytical help to the intelligence community, primarily assessing intelligence on the Soviet space program. Although information on this collaboration is scarce, it appears that most of the assistance concerned the Soviet human spaceflight program, meaning that NASA personnel were helping assess intelligence that, in turn, aided NASA in its race to the Moon.
Has NASA ever paid back the intelligence community? Or has it simply said thank you and accepted the generous gifts from the men in black?
A more dramatic form of NRO assistance to NASA came in 1973 when the Skylab space station was crippled during launch. The NRO quickly determined that one of its Gambit-3 reconnaissance satellites already in orbit could be used to image Skylab. That capability had recently been developed by some Air Force officers working in the “Blue Cube” satellite control facility in Sunnyvale, California, for imaging Soviet spacecraft. But it had never been tested. The Skylab situation offered an opportunity to the NRO to assist in saving an expensive space mission and also demonstrating an important intelligence capability. The spacecraft took its picture and returned its film to earth earlier than originally planned, and the mission was apparently valuable for NASA in planning Skylab repairs.
What all these examples demonstrate is that there is a long history of the National Reconnaissance Office helping out NASA. What is unclear is how much the civilian space agency has reciprocated. Has NASA ever paid back the intelligence community? Or has it simply said thank you and accepted the generous gifts from the men in black?
The author would appreciate hearing about other examples of military or intelligence support of the astronomical community, or civilian support of the NRO. Dwayne Day can be reached at zirconic1@cox.net.
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Q&A with Glen Velez and Loire Cotler
Glen Velez and Loire Cotler performed at the final A.P.E.X. Event of the season. Photo courtesy Katie Englert - A.P.E.X Events Photographer
Glen Velez and Loire Cotler performed in the final A.P.E.X. Event of the fall season. The couple was in residence at SUU from November 13-17, and they have been working with various performing arts groups on campus.
Thunderground had the opportunity to talk to ask the couple a few questions after their performance.
Glen Velez and Loire Cotler to visit SUU
Photo courtesy A.P.E.X. Events
The A.P.E.X. Event Series will host Glen Velez and Loire Cotler on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center. Get to know the duo below by reading their biographies.
Kevin Fedarko to speak at SUU
The A.P.E.X. Event Series will host Kevin Fedarko on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center. He will present his lecture, titled “Between the River and the Rim: An Extended Journey Through the Grand Canyon.”
Sam Ratterree discusses aviation at SUU
Pilot Sam Ratterree talked with students on Thursday during the "Day in the Life" lecture. Photo courtesy Katie Englert - A.P.E.X Events Photographer
Yesterday, A.P.E.X. Events hosted Sam Ratterree for the first “Day in the Life” focus event.
A.P.E.X.: A Day in the Life with Sam Ratterree
Sam Ratterree will join helicopter and MedEvac pilots to talk about daily activities in the industry. Photo courtesy A.P.E.X. Events
The A.P.E.X. Event Series will host Sam Ratterree on Thursday for the bi-annual “A Day in the Life” series at 11:30 a.m. in the Whiting Room of the Hunter Conference Center. Helicopter and MedEvac pilots will talk about what they experience each day.
Maria Hinojosa reflects on the power of narrative
Journalist Maria Hinojosa talked with students on Thursday during the Tanner Center Lecture. Photo courtesy Katie Englert - A.P.E.X Events Photographer
On Thursday, Oct. 19, A.P.E.X. Events and the Grace A. Tanner Center for Human Values brought Maria Hinojosa to campus for the annual Tanner Center Lecture.
Journalist Maria Hinojosa to visit SUU on Thursday
Maria Hinojosa will present “Narrative as Witness (America’s Untold Stories)” on Thursday. Photo courtesy A.P.E.X. Events
A.P.E.X. Events and the Grace A. Tanner Center for Human Values have partnered to bring Maria Hinojosa to campus on Thursday. Hinojosa, a journalist, will present “Narrative as Witness (America’s Untold Stories)” at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilbert Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
When life gives you a Lemon
Andrew "Lemon" Andersen talked about his life and career at yesterday's A.P.E.X. Event. Photo courtesy SUU A.P.E.X. Events
Yesterday, A.P.E.X. Events kicked off the 2017-18 season with Andrew “Lemon” Andersen. The Tony Award winner spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center about his life, poetry and success. He also presented a few of his poems.
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A visual tower of Babel
Anyone who turns on a television or goes to the movies in India cannot help but see signs of America's cultural clout.
It's also easy to spot the deep influence of India and Eastern cultures in American entertainment, from Oprah to Disney, from "The Matrix" to "American Beauty." The screen stars keep finding the god or the truth that lies within, while striving to lose themselves in love and light sometime before their next reincarnation.
There are many paths to one eternal mystery and all viewers have to do is pick a channel and then get in touch with their feelings. It seems as if most of the seekers who shop in today's global mall have fiber-optic cables running directly into their souls.
The eyes rule.
That's entertainment. And that's spirituality, in the age of the visual.
"The medium of entertainment has become the shaper of a generation's way of thinking," said Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, speaking at the Rev. Billy Graham's recent Amsterdam conference for itinerant evangelists.
"We are meant to see THROUGH the eye, but WITH the conscience. Instead, today we see WITH the eye and (are) devoid of the conscience," said the Indian-born philosopher, whose ministry is based in Atlanta, with offices in Toronto, Oxford and Chennai, India. "From the Far East to the Far West, our eyes are being tantalized by violence and sensuality. How can the soul not be plundered when such an assault is upon us? I believe we must pause and understand this, or we will lose the eyes and hearing of the world."
It was a complex message, but one that had implications for every evangelist in Amsterdam or, for that matter, any leader in any other faith that claims to be built on truths that transcend human experience and feelings. For here is the essence of Zacharias' message: this is an age in which the dominant forms of communications technology are hostile to the very concept of doctrine.
The lens and the screen are friendly to emotion, but they almost always undercut dogma. It's hard to use words to debate pictures. This is sobering news for anyone who steps into a pulpit knowing that he or she is competing with Star Wars and the X-Files, with MTV and Nike.
"If I were to take all that I have said and reduce it to one sentence, it would be this," said Zacharias. "How do you reach a generation that hears with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?"
Amsterdam 2000 was the third such gathering in the last three decades of Graham's career. This one drew 10,000-plus participants from 209 nations and territories, with organizers reporting that nearly two-thirds came from developing nations and the Third World.
The 81-year-old evangelist could not attend and remained at the Mayo Clinic for ongoing treatments for Parkinson's disease and a buildup of fluid on his brain. In a taped message for the finale, he told his evangelistic heirs to, "Light a fire of commitment to proclaim the Gospel ... to the ends of the earth, using every resource at our command and with every ounce of our strength."
In a final "Amsterdam Declaration," the assembled evangelists affirmed, among other goals, the need to "encourage new initiatives to reach and disciple youth and children worldwide; to make fuller use of media and technology. ... We pledge ourselves to work so that all persons on earth may have an opportunity to hear the Gospel in a language they understand."
But what if the language that unites the world is visual? What if visual entertainment continues to dominate education, science, news and faith?
"I am afraid some day we will wake up and wonder how we were so foolish to have missed this powerful influence," said Zacharias. "And we cannot run from it. We are in it. From the pictures that tell the story, to the music that is now visualized, we are in it. The sensations are being propelled through the eye-gate. ...
"The intellect will be seduced by the imagination. The tower of Babel could be built with one language -- only it will be in pictures."
Newer PostWhen did J.S. Bach find time to pray?
Older PostSir Alec Guinness, convert
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Watch Anjelica Huston Movies | Watch Anjelica Huston TV Shows
Anjelica Huston Wiki
Birth Place: Santa Monica, California, USA
Birth Date: July 08, 1951
Occupation: Actress, Director, Producer
Anjelica Huston Biography
Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951, to director and actor John Huston and Italian American (from New York) prima ballerina Enrica (Ricki) Soma. Huston spent most of her childhood overseas, in Ireland and England, and in the late 1960s first dipped her toe into the acting profession, with a few small roles and one starring role in films directed by her father. However, in 1969 her mother died in a car accident, at 39, and Huston relocated to the United States, where the very tall, exotically beautiful young woman modeled for several years.After her modeling career ended, she decided to get back into movies in the early 1980s, studied acting and began to get roles. The first notable part came in 1985, when her father cast her as calculating, imperious Maerose, the daughter of a Mafia don whose love is scorned by a hit man (Jack Nicholson, who was Huston's boyfriend at the time) in the adaptation of Richard Condon's Mafia-satire novel Prizzi's Honor (1985). Huston won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, making her the first person in Academy Award history to win an Oscar when a parent and a grandparent (her father and grandfather Walter Huston) had also won one.Huston thereafter worked prolifically, notable roles including co-star billing in Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone (1987), Barry Sonnenfeld's film versions of the Charles Addams cartoons The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), in which she portrayed Addams matriarch Morticia, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Probably her finest performance on-screen, however, was as Lilly, the veteran, iron-willed con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990), for which she received another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress. A sentimental favorite is her performance as the lead in her father's final film, an adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead (1987) -- with her many years of residence in Ireland, Huston's Irish accent in the film is authentic.Endowed with her father's great height and personal boldness, and her mother's beauty and aristocratic nose, Huston certainly cuts an imposing figure, and brings great confidence and authority to her performances. She clearly takes her craft seriously and has come into her own as a strong actress, emerging from under the shadow of her father, who passed away in 1987. Huston married sculptor Robert Graham in 1992, and the couple live in the Los Angeles area.
Anjelica Huston Movies / TV-Shows
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards (2017)
Thirst Street (2017)
The Oscars (2017)
The Watcher in the Woods (2017)
Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015)
Unity (2015)
And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)
All Hail King Julien (2014)
Transparent (2014)
70th Golden Globe Awards (2013)
Secret of the Wings (2012)
Smash (2012)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011)
The Big Year (2011)
Piers Morgan Tonight (2011)
Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011)
En katt i Paris (2010)
When in Rome (2010)
Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (2010)
Dreams Come True: A Celebration of Disney Animation (2009)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009)
Spirit of the Forest (2008)
Choke (2008)
The Kreutzer Sonata (2008)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Martian Child (2007)
Seraphim Falls (2006)
Covert One: The Hades Factor (2006)
Material Girls (2006)
Art School Confidential (2006)
American Dad! (2005)
These Foolish Things (2005)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005)
Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)
Huff (2004)
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003)
Kaena: The Prophecy (2003)
Daddy Day Care (2003)
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002)
Blood Work (2002)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001)
The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
The Golden Bowl (2000)
Agnes Browne (1999)
Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)
Phoenix (1998)
Buffalo '66 (1998)
The View (1997)
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
The Daily Show (1996)
Buffalo Girls (1995)
The Crossing Guard (1995)
The Perez Family (1995)
Inside the Actors Studio (1994)
Late Show with David Letterman (1993)
And the Band Played On (1993)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
The Player (1992)
The Addams Family (1991)
The Grifters (1990)
Lonesome Dove (1989)
Enemies: A Love Story (1989)
Live! with Kelly (1988)
Gardens of Stone (1987)
Captain EO (1986)
Prizzi's Honor (1985)
The Ice Pirates (1984)
Frances (1982)
Faerie Tale Theatre (1982)
Postmannen ringer alltid två gånger (1981)
Wings Over the World (1979)
CBS News Sunday Morning (1979)
The Last Tycoon (1976)
Swashbuckler (1976)
Laverne & Shirley (1976)
Saturday Night Live (1975)
Sinful Davey (1969)
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Volunteer coach flips field at UA
By: Richard Davenport
Published: Sunday, June 23, 2019
Photo by Arkansas Razorbacks
Shaun Mercer, 47, is a volunteer assistant coach at Arkansas after giving up a six-figure job.
FAYETTEVILLE -- From the Amazon jungle and Arctic Circle to the manicured turf of Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, it has been a one-of-a-kind journey for University of Arkansas volunteer football coach Shaun Mercer.
It's not every day that a 46-year-old gives up a $200,000-a-year job to go back to school in pursuit of a lifelong dream.
His dream? To become a college football coach. Thanks to an unlikely meeting with UA Coach Chad Morris, he's getting that chance.
A native of Dermott, Mercer credits his hometown football, basketball and baseball coaches for making an impression on his life and planting the seeds of his coaching dream.
"It just seems like they make you a better person," Mercer said. "They teach you how to be a good, productive man or woman. Most coaches for the most part have a positive influence on a young person's life."
MILITARY AND OILFIELDS
After graduating from high school, Mercer attended Northeast Louisiana University for a year before joining the Army.
"I didn't hardly go to class. I wasn't mature," Mercer said of his time in college. "I just wasted my mom and dad's money."
He served in several units, including the 509th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Polk, La., the United States' first combat parachute troop.
After serving 4 1/2 years, he joined the Army Reserve for four years while in law enforcement in Louisiana and Arizona. He joined the Navy in March 2001 and attended basic submarine and fire control technician school in Connecticut for more than a year prior to being assigned to the ballistic nuclear submarine, USS Louisiana.
In 2005, he left military service for good.
"After the military, life happens and you kind of put your dreams on hold," he said.
He used his electrical and computer background from the Navy to get a job in the oil and gas industry for an offshore company as a marine electronics technician.
"After that, I kind of followed the money to the oilfield," Mercer said.
Following the money led Mercer to places such as Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, the Amazon jungle in Brazil and the Arctic Circle, but thoughts of coaching were never far from his mind.
"There's been different times when you go to different countries and see things and you think, 'I'm just a little kid from southeast Arkansas, how did I end up here?' " Mercer said.
His experiences in the Arctic Circle and the Amazon jungle were within days of each other.
"It was probably the coldest place I've ever worked in my life," Mercer said. "At one time, it was minus-42 below zero, and the next day and a half later I went from that to the Amazon jungle. That was brutal."
Mercer's world travels exposed him to Mother Nature's force.
"We were on the outer edge of a tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean and trying to get this drill ship to the Gulf of Mexico," Mercer said of an approximate 30-day trip. "It wasn't a rough ride, but you're in the middle of nowhere. Not a lot of people to help you if anything went wrong."
One job was serving as a field service manager for an upstart company in west Texas. For the first six months, Mercer often slept in his truck and would shower at truck stops.
"When they called me it was normally because no one else could fix it," Mercer said. "When you got called, you just planned to be out a minimum of 30 hours without sleep. The longest I was up was 94 hours at one time. When those rigs are down, they're losing anywhere from a thousand to three thousand dollars an hour."
Coaching never was far removed from his thinking. While watching the Razorbacks play Auburn in 2016 with his son Dakota, Mercer observed some of the Tigers' tendencies.
"I probably called three Auburn plays in a [row]," Mercer said. "I'll never forget Dakota said, 'Dad, you really need to go into coaching.' "
Mercer attended Arkansas' 55-20 victory over Eastern Illinois on Sept. 1 with friend Keith Martin of Springdale. During the game, he told Martin about his desire to attend Arkansas and become a part of the staff.
"I told him I want to get on the Razorback staff, somehow, some way, even as a volunteer," Mercer said.
The years of travel and the stress of the job took a toll as his weight ballooned to 248 pounds on his 5-9 frame. He also had high blood pressure, vision issues and was a diabetic.
"It was in the elevated range," Mercer said of his blood pressure. "Of course, I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. I was stressed all the time. I had some serious health issues. I was diabetic and taking a shot once a week, plus taking medicine for it."
LIFE CHANGER
Then came a life-changing wreck Oct. 16 in Midland, Texas.
Mercer and his girlfriend Wendy were traveling in a company pickup on a four-lane highway on a rainy night when another truck ran two stop signs at a crossing.
"Before I could react, the truck went out in front of me. I never hit the brakes," said Mercer, who was traveling 73 miles per hour. "It was an extremely violent collision. It knocked me 90 degrees to the right. I ended up in oncoming traffic in the lane he was traveling, and I knocked him about an eighth of a mile down the road.
"How all three of us escaped injury, I have no idea. We shouldn't have walked away."
Three days after the wreck, Mercer and Wendy were sitting at a table at a company-owned home. Unbeknownst to Wendy, Mercer hated his job and the accident was a wake-up call.
"She asked, 'What do you want to do?' " Mercer said. "I said I've always wanted to coach."
Mercer explained to her that Arkansas was his dream school, and Wendy offered to get a job to help with his schooling. Then Mercer informed her that the military would pay for the tuition, and she had heard enough.
"She said, 'Don't be stupid. Go to school, do what you love,' " Mercer said.
Her reassurance gave him the confidence to give up his six-figure income to finally pursue his lifelong dream.
"After my wreck, that's when everything changed," Mercer said. "I didn't want to put anything off anymore."
The couple traveled to Fayetteville on Oct. 26 to talk to UA Veterans Resource and Information Center director Erika Gamboa about enrolling.
"He did go through a situation that did make him realize life is too short," Gamboa said. "Everybody has a story, but I loved how he was completely serious about what he was doing."
In her 10 years of working in the resource center, Gamboa hasn't seen a veteran with a six-figure income looking to enroll.
"My traditional students are coming straight out of the military," she said.
A couple of weeks later while driving on Interstate 30 to Midland, Mercer received a call from Chantel Moseby from the admissions office. During the process of enrolling, Mercer and Moseby -- a Hamburg native -- had forged a relationship.
Moseby was calling with more than words of encouragement.
"She said, 'You've been accepted. You're a Razorback,' " Mercer said. "I pulled over on the side of the road of the interstate and I started crying. Wendy is crying, and I'm crying. I never thought it was possible."
MEETING COACH MORRIS
Next on Mercer's agenda was to go to the Fred W. Smith Football Center in hopes of talking to a coach about getting his foot in the door. That day arrived Dec. 19.
"Driving down Razorback Road, I said, 'I have to try and get in,' " Mercer said.
He parked across the street from the football center. With Wendy waiting in the truck, he discovered the doors of the building were locked. Undeterred, he walked down to the Willard and Pat Walker Pavilion.
"I look and see some players in there working out," Mercer said. "I didn't knock on the door. I wasn't going to bother them. I sat down by the door and was trying to figure it out."
A few moments later, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Isaiah Nichols opened the door.
Shaun Mercer (right) is shown with Arkansas coach Chad Morris.
"He goes, 'Can I help you?' " Mercer said. "I said, 'Look man, I know I'm going to sound a little crazy here. I'm 46 years old, I'm fixing to start school here, and I'm going into kinesiology, and I'm just trying to get my foot in this door to try and talk to one of the coaches to see if I can somehow be a part of the Razorback football team."
A leery Nichols told Mercer to go back to the Smith center where he would let him in.
"I said, 'I'll just sit right here and I won't make you look stupid for letting me in this door,' " Mercer said after he gained entrance. "You could just see the relief on him. I said, 'I'm not going to blow the place up. I promise.' "
Nichols said he would inform the secretary of his presence. Mercer sat and said a prayer in hopes of seeing a coach.
"So after saying amen, I sat there and not 40 seconds later, Coach Morris walks through the door from the parking lot area," Mercer said.
Morris, who usually enters the center via a private entrance, was fresh from jogging and uncharacteristically walked in from the public entrance by the parking lot between the center and Barnhill Arena.
"I never walk into the main foyer, but I did that day," Morris said. "I was going to the weight room and I saw him."
Morris approached Mercer.
"I said, 'If you have a few minutes, I would like to tell you a quick story and tell you what I'm trying to do,' and he said sure," Mercer said.
Mercer gave Morris a three-minute rundown of his background that included details of his accident, dream of becoming a college coach and willingness to volunteer or do anything to get his foot in the door.
"I have this big spiel done, and he stops me," Mercer said. "He said, 'Shaun, if you want your foot in the door in coaching, just follow me.' He had his hand on my shoulder when he said it, and I said, 'Yes sir.'
"I told him I'll be a janitor. I'll do whatever, and he looked at me and he said, 'No, no, I have something better.' "
Mercer was suspicious about Morris' offer and his good fortune.
"So at this point, I'm only three minutes into it, and he's already promised me something better than a janitor's job, so I'm thinking I'm going to jail," Mercer said. "Seriously, he's about to call the cops."
Morris took Mercer to see offensive analyst and assistant tight ends coach Will Bryant.
"I said get his number, and when we come back to work in January let's report," Morris said. "Come on, we've got plenty work to do. Knowing you get a lot of these, some guys show back up and some guys don't."
After giving Bryant his phone number, Mercer's thoughts of needing bail money faded.
"That's when I starting thinking maybe this could be true," said Mercer, who saw the chance encounter with Morris as divine intervention.
Mercer had a final request of Morris.
"I said, 'Coach, no one is going to believe this if I don't have a picture,' " Mercer said. "He started laughing and said, 'Come on, we'll get a picture.' "
COACH MERCER
Morris said Mercer has been inspirational since his arrival.
"You talk about someone that lives every day with a purpose, someone with an attitude of gratitude," Morris said. "He's pretty unique. Listening to him talk, he had one of those moments in your life that put a lot of things in perspective, and it was time do something he enjoyed and wanted to be a part of."
He still had doubts about whether he did the right thing before the first day of classes Jan. 19.
"Actually, it was Monday morning about 1 o'clock in the morning before my first class," he said. "My university email just started going off with all of the classes. I was scared of biology and biology lab. I remember looking at Wendy and saying, 'How in the hell am I going to do this? What was I thinking?' "
Mercer didn't tell family or friends about attending Arkansas or becoming a volunteer coach.
"I didn't want to hear [things] like you're being stupid," Mercer said. "You're 46 years old, what are you thinking. I didn't want to hear anything, plus I had to prove to myself I could make it through this first semester before I let people know what I was doing."
Morris was impressed Mercer gave up a six-figure income to pursue his dream.
"That's him. I don't know if I could've done it," Morris said. "There's no job too big or too small. He always has a smile on his face. Just a walking billboard of encouragement and someone that isn't afraid to take a chance and chase a dream."
To express his gratitude, Mercer gave Morris a keychain that read: "A good coach can change a game. A great coach changes a life."
"I can never repay him," Mercer said. "That's what coaches should do. Impact someone's life in a positive manner, and he did that for me."
Attending classes and coaching at Arkansas has been a surreal experience for Mercer.
"This Arkansas Razorback thing is bigger than life for me," Mercer said. "This is what I grew up on. Just walking into the dadgum office, it took me several weeks just to feel comfortable. Not that I didn't feel like I belonged, I was just sacred."
Mercer, who turned 47 on Feb. 8, went through student orientation with the football early enrollees.The early enrollees have bonded with their bifocal-wearing fellow student and coach.
"I got accepted by those guys," Mercer said. "They all took me in like we're all in this together."
Mercer, who assists safeties coach Ron Cooper and cornerbacks coach Mark Smith, said spring practice was full of pinch-me moments.
"The first week was about getting over, 'Oh, that's Sosa Agim, that's Rakeem Boyd, there's Devwah Whaley, there's Bumper Pool, there's Grant Morgan,' " Mercer said.
As the spring progressed, he felt more at ease.
"Then there was a point I was a part of this team, so it's OK to approach these guys and talk to them," Mercer said.
Smith said Mercer's journey is an inspiration.
"We believe in him, and he has a mindset of what he wants to do, and he wants to do it in college football," Smith said. "There's no doubt he's already made an impact in our players' lives, including our staff as well. Just hearing him and his story, we're excited to have him."
Shelia Parodi, the mother of preferred walk-on defensive back Nathan Parodi, appreciates Mercer treating her son like a scholarship athlete.
"All the coaches do that, but Shaun kind of goes above and beyond a little bit," she said. "He really has taken a liking to Nathan because of his hard work, and I think he sees something in Nathan that needs to be encouraged."
Former Tennessee coach Johnny Majors, also a former Arkansas assistant who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987, visited for the spring game to spend time with former player and Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis.
Mercer escorted Majors around the stadium during the Red-White Game.
"In December, I was working in the oilfield, and now in April, I'm walking with Coach Majors on the sidelines and talking football with him," Mercer said.
He recently received a call with a job offer to go back into the oilfields.
"I'll always have that opportunity to go back, but my heart is set here," Mercer said. "Everything I'm doing right now is bigger than life to me."
Morris plans to have Mercer tell his story to the team.
"While he has not yet told his story to our team, he's going to," Morris said. "I'm going to have him do it in fall camp."
The life change has improved Mercer's health.
"I quit smoking and now weigh 213 pounds," said Mercer, who finished with a 3.5 grade-point average in his first semester. "I'm no longer taking diabetic medicine. I honestly feel like this saved my life."
Living off a a $1,500 monthly military stipend has forced major cutbacks to his budget.
"I definitely don't eat at the fancy restaurants anymore," Mercer said. "You basically cut out all the extra stuff."
His apartment is modestly furnished, but he's never been happier.
"It's humbled me a lot," Mercer said. "But I expected it to humble me. I knew what I was walking away from. It was worth walking away from and chasing my dream."
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Richard Davenport
Richard Davenport covers recruiting for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He is the host of Recruiting Thursday, a weekly radio show that airs from 7 to 8 p.m. on 92.1 FM in Fayetteville; 93.7 FM in Little Rock; 95.3 FM in Fort Smith; 96.3 FM in Hot Springs; 104.3 FM in Harrison/Mountain Home; and 106.9 FM in Arkadelphia.
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God helps Us To Overcome Our Fears
by Edward Fudge
It is shocking to hear, as we now do with increasing frequency, that millions of Middle-Eastern Muslims hate the West, and the USA in particular.
Political correctness says they hate us because they disapprove of democracy, capitalism, and “the American way of life.” That is a convenient answer that lets us say “tut, tut,” and go on feeling good, but it is also wrong. In fact, widespread Muslim animosity toward us is grounded in Islamic religious conviction. But do not Islam and Christianity share much in common?
Well, yes and no. They both teach that there is only one God (the word for “God” in Arabic is “Allah,” used by Moslems and many Christians alike), and that people should submit to him, but then their paths divide. Islam says that Jesus was a prophet of God, was virgin-born, and ascended to heaven, but it denies that he is God’s Son, that he died on the cross, or was raised from the dead. Muslims say that Jesus will come again — to convert the world to Islam. Islam teaches a heaven and hell, but it bases both destinies wholly on human merit. Still, these are not the reasons that so many Muslims hate the West.
Their hatred stems, first, from the presence of “infidel” (nonbelievers in Islam) military troops in Muslim countries, which Muslims see as gross sacrilege. Second, Muslims abhor the lewd and decadent lifestyle that characterizes Western television, movies, music and fashions — which Muslims see invading their own countries despite their efforts to keep these out. Third, Muslims consider any land ever inhabited by Muslims as the rightful inheritance of Muslims forever.
Since Muslims occupied the land known today as Israel and Palestine at various times from the eighth century after Christ until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1947, Muslim logic concludes that Israelis are unlawful occupiers of Muslim territory, and that the U.S.A. is an equally guilty co-conspirator. I totally and unequivocally reject Muslim logic in this regard, but no good is served by closing our eyes and wishing that it did not exist.
Several million Muslims in countries across the Middle East hate America. One of their complaints is that the American culture portrayed in movies and on television is corrupting the morals of their youths. Of course, millions of Americans bear no resemblance to the media version in question, but our world neighbors do not know that. In fact, the media stereotype of Americans as a people consumed with drugs, sex, and booze–or, equally misguided, with materialism, self-centeredness and entertainment–violates and contradicts Christ’s call to us as his disciples also. When I make a Muslim’s acquaintance, I think it good to point that out (while also listening respectfully as my acquaintance explains that not all Muslims are terrorists).
The chance that we will have a Muslim acquaintance is increasing steadily. Although Muslim activists claim to represent six million or more U.S. Muslims, experts say those numbers are grossly exaggerated. A 2009 Pew Report is likely close to reality in saying that 2.5 million Muslims lived in the U.S. at that time, or one person out of every 125. The ratio in the U.K. is greater by 350%. Are Muslims by definition dangerous terrorists? Absolutely not. The Qur’an calls for jihad (“struggle”), which to pious Muslims describes the ongoing struggle of each individual to do what is right and not the wrong. Terrorists who equate jihad with murder do violence to their own scriptures.
As a teenager I once observed a fundamentalist Baptist preacher leading the invocation for a large outdoor rally of the Ku Klux Klan. Scripture speaks of “our battle” and urges us to “fight the good fight,” but whatever wickedness is done by the KKK, armed militias, or hatemongering “preachers” cannot rightly be blamed on the Bible or on genuine Christianity. Nor is it fair to put upright, reverent Muslims in the same class with murderous zealots who misuse the Qur’an for their own purposes.
Muslims believe that Islam is the true religion revealed by God, that non-Muslims (“infidels” or “unbelievers”) will finally be wiped out and the whole world will serve Allah and acknowledge Mohammad as his final prophet. We Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that, in the end, evildoers will be gone and we will reign with Christ. Clearly someone is wrong; there is a spiritual warfare here that is inevitable. But spiritual warfare is not the same as literal battles, massacres and slaughters. Historically, how do Muslims fare on that subject?
During the 6th and 7th centuries, Islam spread through “holy war” and by the edge of the sword, first throughout the Arabian peninsula, finally as far as Russia and Turkey and Spain. “Infidels” (including Christians) were given a choice: convert to Islam or die. That is a wretched record of behavior by our standards, and we certainly would never do anything like that. But Muslims remember a history we do not recall. They remember Charlemagne, in the 8th and 9th centuries, establishing the Holy Roman Empire by the edge of the sword, giving Muslims a choice: convert to Christianity or die. They remember, in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, other soldiers who claimed to speak and to act for Christ, in his name slaughtering “infidels” (including Muslims) in more than one Pope-blessed Crusade.
But that all was long ago and far away. What is Islam’s intent today? Do those Middle Eastern Muslims who hate us see the struggle as a spiritual battle only, or are they committed to pursue it by terrorism, war, and by any other means? And what about Muslims who live in our own towns? What is in their minds? I found one website listing pages of verses from the Qur’an, supposedly proving Islam’s murderous intent, and the religious duty of every Muslim to wipe out “infidels” and take their lands. As I read these verses in the Qur’an in their contexts, I found that many (but not all) were taken out of context. Even more often, the meaning of the verse was ambiguously stated. That is why peaceful Muslims and terrorists can both quote the Qur’an for their opposite points of view. (I wonder if some Muslim goes around saying, “You can prove anything from the Qur’an.”)
I read a Canadian Muslim website for young people, that opens with pretty pictures, ecology projects, and the like. For the children’s reading, it also includes a speech by Iman Shaheed Hasan Al-Banna, founder of the fanatical Muslim Brotherhood (the radical group that assassinated Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat), urging every young Muslim to join jihad and become a martyr as the fastest and surest way to heaven. And I read an American Muslim website that condemns terrorism. Instead it advocates that Muslims become involved in politics and advance their interests through democratic processes. Even that sounds threatening if someone already is fearful and suspicious. However, we need to remember that, while fear and suspicion can be useful if balanced with reality, they become dangerous time-bombs if out of control. But what about the American Muslim family who lives down the street?
For every thousand residents of America today, eight are Muslims. A few are radicals bent on terrorism, but every indication is that most are not. Even if the Qur’an teaches the violent spread of Islam, these enlightened Muslims interpret it in a peaceful way. Our Constitution guarantees them freedom of religion, just as it does us. Whatever else we might say about Muslim Americans, they, too, are our neighbors. That means, according to Jesus, that they are beneficiaries of the second greatest command, to love our neighbors just as we love ourselves. We are obligated to practice the Golden Rule — to treat others the way we would like to be treated. If you lived where Christians were outnumbered by Muslims 125/1, what would you wish from them? Is that too much to ask? Jesus thought not.
In America, we also have the freedom to share God’s grace with our Muslim neighbor, first by living graciously, then by telling the story of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ — whom Muslims already revere as a prophet but do not yet know as God incarnate. We must not think that a hopeless task: the teenage son of a founder of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas eventually became a disciple of Jesus because a tourist he did not know and who did not recognize him, invited him to a home Bible study one day in Israel.
Meantime, we pray “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” and we cooperate with God by placing ourselves and our daily lives at his disposal, to be transformed into living samples of what he has in mind for humankind. We certainly must not ever concede to despair. Instead, as Christians, we can cling to certainties that transcend politics, whether local, national or global. God–and only God–is totally trustworthy. His kingdom–and only his–will last forever. Whatever happens today or tomorrow, or the year after that, and whether we thrive or suffer, whether we live or die, we are safe in his hands.
For reactions from gracEmail readers to parts 1-3 of this four-part series, go to http://www.EdwardFudge.com/muslims.html
Tags: Gracemail, Muslims
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
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Theater of the United States
Title: Theater of the United States
Subject: Expressionism (theatre), Economy of the United States, Hawaii, Abortion in the United States, Outline of the United States
Collection: American Plays, Theatre in the United States
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Culture of the
Great Seal
United States portal
Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition. Regional or resident theatres in the United States are professional theatre companies outside of New York City that produce their own seasons.
Early history 1
The 19th century 2
Pre-war theatre 2.1
Post-war theatre 2.2
Theatre 3.1
Post World War II theatre 3.2
Drama 3.3
American theatre today 4
Edwin Forrest, a popular early American actor
Before the first English colony was established in 1607, there were Spanish dramas and Native Americans tribes that performed theatrical events.[1]
The birth of professional theatre in America may have begun with the Jamaica in 1754 or 1755. Soon after, Lewis Hallam, Jr., founded the American Company, opened a theater in New York, and presented the first professionally mounted American play—The Prince of Parthia, by Thomas Godfrey—in 1767.[3]
In the 18th century, laws forbidding the performance of plays were passed in Massachusetts in 1750, in Pennsylvania in 1759, and in Rhode Island in 1761, and plays were banned in most states during the American Revolutionary War at the urging of the Continental Congress.[2] In 1794, president of Yale College, Timothy Dwight IV, in his "Essay on the Stage", declared that "to indulge a taste for playgoing means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure: the immortal soul."
In spite of such laws, however, a few writers tried their hand at playwriting. Most likely, the first plays written in America were by European-born authors—we know of original plays being written by Spaniard, Frenchmen and Englishmen dating back as early as 1567—although no plays were printed in America until Robert Hunter's Androboros in 1714. Still, in the early years, most of the plays produced came from Europe; only with Godfrey's The Prince of Parthia in 1767 do we get a professionally produced play written by an American, although it was a last-minute substitute for Thomas Forrest's comic opera The Disappointment; or, The Force of Credulity, and although the first play to treat American themes seriously, Ponteach; or, the Savages of America by Robert Rogers, had been published in London a year earlier.[4] 'Cato', a play about revolution, was performed for George Washington and his troops at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778.
The Revolutionary period was a boost for dramatists, for whom the political debates were fertile ground for both satire, as seen in the works of Mercy Otis Warren and Colonel Robert Munford, and for plays about heroism, as in the works of Hugh Henry Brackenridge. The post-war period saw the birth of American social comedy in Royall Tyler's The Contrast, which established a much-imitated version of the "Yankee" character, here named "Jonathan". But there were no professional dramatists until William Dunlap, whose work as playwright, translator, manager and theatre historian has earned him the title of "Father of American Drama"; in addition to translating the plays of August von Kotzebue and French melodramas, Dunlap wrote plays in a variety of styles, of which André and The Father; or, American Shandyism are his best.[4]
Pre-war theatre
At 825 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the Walnut Street Theatre, or, "The Walnut." Founded in 1809 by the Circus of Pepin and Breschard, "The Walnut" is the oldest theater in America. The Walnut's first theatrical production, The Rivals, was staged in 1812. In attendance were President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette.[5]
Provincial theaters frequently lacked heat and minimal theatrical property ("props") and scenery. Apace with the country's westward expansion, some entrepreneurs operated floating theaters on barges or riverboats that would travel from town to town. A large town could afford a long "run"—or period of time during which a touring company would stage consecutive multiple performances—of a production, and in 1841, a single play was shown in New York City for an unprecedented three weeks.
John Drew, a famous American actor, playing the part of Petruchio from The Taming of the Shrew.
Harriet Beecher Stowe.
In 1821, William Henry Brown established the African Grove Theatre in New York City. It was the third attempt to have an African-American theatre, but this was the most successful of them all. The company put on not only Shakespeare, but also staged the first play written by an African-American, The Drama of King Shotaway. The theatre was shut down in 1823.[6] African-American theatre was relatively dormant, except for the 1858 play The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown, who was an ex-slave. African-American works would not be regarded again until the 1920s Harlem Renaissance.[6]
A popular form of theatre during this time was the minstrel show, which featured white (and sometimes, especially after the Civil War, black) actors dressed in "blackface (painting one's face, etc. with dark makeup to imitate the coloring of an African or African American)." The players entertained the audience using comic skits, parodies of popular plays and musicals, and general buffoonery and slapstick comedy, all with heavy utilization of racial stereotyping and racist themes.
Throughout the 19th century, theatre culture was associated with [7] On April 15, 1865, less than a week after the end of the United States Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, while watching a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., was assassinated by a nationally popular stage-actor of the period, John Wilkes Booth.
Victorian burlesque, a form of bawdy comic theatre mocking high art and culture, was imported from England about 1860 and in America became a form of farce in which females in male roles mocked the politics and culture of the day. Criticized for its sexuality and outspokenness, this form of entertainment was hounded off the "legitimate stage" and found itself relegated to saloons and barrooms. The female producers, such as Lydia Thompson were replaced by their male counterparts, who toned down the politics and played up the sexuality, until the burlesque shows eventually became little more than pretty girls in skimpy clothing singing songs, while male comedians told raunchy jokes.
The drama of the pre-war period tended to be a derivative in form, imitating European melodramas and romantic tragedies, but native in content, appealing to popular nationalism by dramatizing current events and portraying American heroism. But playwrights were limited by a set of factors, including the need for plays to be profitable, the middle-brow tastes of American theatre-goers, and the lack of copyright protection and compensation for playwrights. During this time, the best strategy for a dramatist was to become an actor and/or a manager, after the model of John Howard Payne, Dion Boucicault and John Brougham. This period saw the popularity of certain native character types, especially the "Yankee", the "Negro" and the "Indian", exemplified by the characters of Jonathan, Sambo and Metamora. Meanwhile, increased immigration brought a number of plays about the Irish and Germans, which often dovetailed with concerns over temperance and Roman Catholic. This period also saw plays about American expansion to the West (including plays about Mormonism) and about women's rights. Among the best plays of the period are James Nelson Barker's Superstition; or, the Fanatic Father, Anna Cora Mowatt's Fashion; or, Life in New York, Nathaniel Bannister's Putnam, the Iron Son of '76, Dion Boucicault's The Octoroon; or, Life in Louisiana, and Cornelius Mathews's Witchcraft; or, the Martyrs of Salem. At the same time, America had created new dramatic forms in the Tom Shows, the showboat theater and the minstrel show.[4]
Post-war theatre
In the postbellum North, theatre flourished as a post-war boom allowed longer and more-frequent productions. The advent of American rail transport allowed production companies, its actors, and large, elaborate sets to travel easily between towns, which made permanent theaters in small towns feasible. The invention and practical application of electric lighting also led to changes to and improvements of scenery styles and the designing of theater interiors and seating areas.
Minstrel show performers Rollin Howard (in female costume) and George Griffin, c. 1855.
In 1896, The Shubert Organization.
For playwrights, the period after the War brought more financial reward and aesthetic respect (including professional criticism) than was available earlier. In terms of form, spectacles, melodramas and farces remained popular, but poetic drama and romanticism almost died out completely due to the new emphasis upon realism, which was adopted by serious drama, melodrama and comedy alike. This realism was not quite the European realism of Ibsen's Ghosts, but a combination of scenic realism (e.g., the "Belasco Method") with a less romantic view of life that accompanied the cultural turmoil of the period. The most ambitious effort towards realism during this period came from James Herne, who was influenced by the ideas of Ibsen, Hardy and Zola regarding realism, truth, and literary quality; his most important achievement, Margaret Fleming, enacts the principles he expounded in his essay "Art for Truth's Sake in the Drama". Although Fleming did not appeal to audiences—critics and audiences felt it dwelt too much on unseemly topics and included improper scenes, such as Margaret nursing her husband's bastard child onstage—other forms of dramatic realism were becoming more popular in melodrama (e.g., Augustin Daly's Under the Gaslight) and in local color plays (Bronson Howard's Shenandoah). Other key dramatists during this period are David Belasco, Steele MacKaye, William Dean Howells, Dion Boucicault, and Clyde Fitch.[4]
comedian who started out in the vaudeville community, but went on to enjoy a career running until the 1990s.
Some vaudeville theaters built between about 1900 and 1920 managed to survive as well, though many went through periods of alternate use, most often as movie theaters until the second half of the century saw many urban populations decline and multiplexes built in the suburbs. Since that time, a number have been restored to original or nearly-original condition and attract new audiences nearly one hundred years later.
By the beginning of the 20th century, legitimate 1752 (non-vaudville) theatre had become decidedly more sophisticated in the United States, as it had in Europe. The stars of this era, such as Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore, were often seen as even more important than the show itself. The advance of motion pictures also led to many changes in theatre. The popularity of musicals may have been due in part to the fact the early films had no sound, and could thus not compete, until The Jazz Singer of 1927, which combined both talking and music in a moving picture. More complex and sophisticated dramas bloomed in this time period, and acting styles became more subdued. Even by 1915, actors were being lured away from theatre and to the silver screen, and vaudeville was beginning to face stiff competition.
While revues consisting of mostly unconnected songs, sketches, comedy routines, and dancing girls (Ziegfeld girls) dominated for the first 20 years of the 20th century, musical theatre would eventually develop beyond this. One of the first major steps was Show Boat, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. It featured songs and non-musical scenes which were integrated to develop the show's plot. The next great step forward was Oklahoma!, with lyrics by Hammerstein and music by Richard Rodgers. Its "dream ballets" used dance to carry forward the plot and develop the characters.
Amateur performing groups have always had a place alongside professional acting companies. The Amateur Comedy Club, Inc. was founded in New York City on April 18, 1884. It was organized by seven gentlemen who broke away from the Madison Square Dramatic Organization, a socially prominent company presided over by Mrs. James Brown Potter and David Belasco. The ACC staged its first performance on February 13, 1885. It has performed continuously ever since, making it the oldest, continuously performing theatrical society in the United States. Prominent New Yorkers who have been members of the ACC include Theodore, Frederick and John Steinway of the piano manufacturing family; Gordon Grant, the marine artist; Christopher La Farge, the architect; Van H. Cartmell, the publisher; Albert Sterner, the painter; and Edward Fales Coward, the theatre critic and playwright. Elsie De Wolfe, Lady Mendl, later famous as the world's first professional interior decorator, acted in Club productions in the early years of the 20th Century, as did Hope Williams, and Julie Harris in the 1940s.
Early 20th century theater was dominated by the Barrymores—Ethel Barrymore, John Barrymore, and Lionel Barrymore. Other greats include Laurette Taylor and Jeanne Eagels. The massive social change that went on during the Great Depression also had an effect on theatre in the United States. Plays took on social roles, identifying with immigrants and the unemployed. The Federal Theatre Project, a New Deal program set up by Franklin D. Roosevelt, helped to promote theatre and provide jobs for actors. The program staged many elaborate and controversial plays such as It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis and The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein. By contrast, the legendary producer Brock Pemberton (founder of the Tony Awards) was among those who felt that it was more than ever a time for comic entertainment, in order to provide an escape from the prevailing harsh social conditions: typical of his productions was Lawrence Riley's comedy Personal Appearance (1934), whose success on Broadway (501 performances) vindicated Pemberton.
The years between the World Wars were years of extremes. Eugene O'Neill's plays were the high point for serious dramatic plays leading up to the outbreak of war in Europe. Beyond the Horizon (1920), for which he won his first Pulitzer Prize; he later won Pulitzers for Anna Christie (1922) and Strange Interlude (1928) as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne remained a popular acting couple in the 1930s.
1940 proved to be a pivotal year for African-American theatre. Frederick O'Neal and Abram Hill founded ANT, or the American Negro Theater, the most renowned African-American theatre group of the 1940s. Their stage was small and located in the basement of a library in Harlem, and most of the shows were attended and written by African-Americans. Some shows include Theodore Browne's Natural Man (1941), Abram Hill's Walk Hard (1944), and Owen Dodson's Garden of Time (1945). Many famous actors received their training at ANT, including Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Alice and Alvin Childress, Osceola Archer, Ruby Dee, Earle Hyman, Hilda Simms, among many others.[8]
Mid-20th century theater saw a wealth of Great Leading Ladies, including Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell, Tallulah Bankhead, Eva Le Gallienne, and Ruth Gordon. Musical theatre saw stars such as Ethel Merman, Beatrice Lillie, and Gertrude Lawrence.
Post World War II theatre
After World War II, American theater came into its own. Several American playwrights, such as Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, became world-renowned.
In the 1950s and 1960s, experimentation in the Arts spread into theatre as well, with plays such as Hair including nudity and drug culture references. Musicals remained popular as well, and musicals such as West Side Story and A Chorus Line broke previous records. At the same time, shows like Stephen Sondheim's Company began to deconstruct the musical form as it has been practiced through the mid-century, moving away from traditional plot and realistic external settings to explore the central character's inner state; his Follies relied on pastiches of the Ziegfeld Follies-styled revue; his Pacific Overtures used Japanese kabuki theatrical practices; and Merrily We Roll Along told its story backwards. Similarly, Bob Fosse's production of Chicago returned the musical to its vaudeville origins.
In the late 1990s and 2000s, American theatre began to borrow from cinema and speras. For instance, Julie Taymor, director of The Lion King directed Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera. Also, Broadway musicals were developed around Disney's Mary Poppins, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, and the one that started it all, Beauty and the Beast, which may have contributed to Times Square's revitalization in the 1990s. Also, Mel Brooks's The Producers and Young Frankenstein are based on his hit films.
The early years of the 20th century, before World War I, continued to see realism as the main development in drama. But starting around 1900, there was a revival of poetic drama in the States, corresponding to a similar revival in Europe (e.g. Yeats, Maeterlinck and Hauptmann). The most notable example of this trend was the "Biblical trilogy" of William Vaughn Moody, which also illustrate the rise of religious-themed drama during the same years, as seen in the 1899 production of Ben-Hur and two 1901 adaptations of Quo Vadis. Moody, however, is best known for two prose plays, The Great Divide (1906, later adapted into three film versions) and The Faith Healer (1909), which together point the way to modern American drama in their emphasis on the emotional conflicts that lie at the heart of contemporary social conflicts. Other key playwrights from this period (in addition to continued work by Howells and Fitch) include Edward Sheldon, Charles Rann Kennedy and one of the most successful women playwrights in American drama, Rachel Crothers, whose interest in women's issues can be seen in such plays as He and She (1911).[4]
During the period between the World Wars, American drama came to maturity, thanks in large part to the works of
Articles needing additional references from July 2007
Articles with unsourced statements from September 2008
Articles to be expanded from July 2010
All articles to be expanded
Theatre in the United States
American plays
United States articles
African-American Civil Rights Movement 1865-1895 / 1896-1954
American Century
Black American Sign Language
Plains Sign Talk
Home-ownership
Criticism of government
Burke, Sally. American Feminist Playwrights (1996)
Krasner, David. American Drama 1945 - 2000: An Introduction (2006)
Miller, Jordan Yale and Winifred L. Frazer. American Drama between the Wars (1991)
Richardson, Gary A. American Drama through World War I (1997)
Roudane, Matthew Charles. American Drama Since 1960: A Critical History (1996)
Shiach, Don. American Drama 1900-1990 (2000)
Watt, Stephen, and Gary A. Richardson. American Drama: Colonial to Contemporary (1994)
Weales, Gerald Clifford. American drama since World War II (1962)
^ Rubin, Don;
^ a b http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/hornblow01.html
^ The Prince of Parthia: A Tragedy By Thomas Godfrey, reprinted 1917 by Little, Brown.
^ a b c d e f g h Meserve, Walter J. An Outline History of American Drama, New York: Feedback/Prospero, 1994.
^ http://www.walnutstreettheatre.org
^ a b World Encyclopedia, p. 402
^ Introduction to Jessie Bond's memoir
^ World Encyclopedia, p. 403
^ http://thefastertimes.com/theatertalk/ Theater Talk
^ http://howlround.com/about
List of playwrights from the United States
Dance in the United States
HowlRound, an online "commons", features opinions and essays by artists and academics in American Theater today.[10]
The Faster Times, an online newspaper that ran from 2009-2013, featured a weekly column that discussed issues and trends in American theatre.[9]
Earlier styles of theatre such as minstrel shows and Vaudeville acts have disappeared from the landscape, but theatre remains a popular American art form. Broadway productions still entertain millions of theatregoers as productions have become more elaborate and expensive. At the same time, theatre has also served as a platform for expression, and a venue for identity exploration for under-represented, minority communities, who have formed their own companies and created their own genres of works, notably East West Players, founded in 1965 as the first Asian American theatre group. Notable contemporary American playwrights include Edward Albee, August Wilson, Tony Kushner, David Henry Hwang, John Guare, and Wendy Wasserstein. Smaller urban theaters have stayed a source of innovation, and regional theaters remain an important part of theatre life. Drama is also taught in high schools and colleges, which was not done in previous eras, and many become interested in theatre through this.
American theatre today
The period beginning in the mid-1960s, with the passing of Civil Rights legislation and its repercussions, came the rise of an "agenda" theatre comparable to that of the 1930s. Many of the major playwrights from the mid-century continued to produce new works, but were joined by names like August Wilson, who created a dramatic history of United States with his cycle of plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, one for each decade of the 20th century. Asian American theatre is represented in the early 1970s by Frank Chin and achieved international success with David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. Latino theatre grew from the local activist performances of Luis Valdez's Chicano-focused Teatro Campesino to his more formal plays, such as Zoot Suit, and later to the award winning work of Cuban Americans Fornés (multiple Obies) and her student Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer), to Puerto Rican playwrights José Rivera and Miguel Piñero, and to the Tony Award winning musical about Dominicans in New York City, In the Heights. Finally, the rise of the gay rights movement and of the AIDS crisis led to a number of important gay and lesbian dramatists, including Christopher Durang, Holly Hughes, Karen Malpede, Terrence McNally, Larry Kramer, Tony Kushner, whose Angels in America won the Tony Award two years in a row, and composer-playwright Jonathan Larson, whose musical Rent ran for over twelve years.[4]
The stature that American drama had achieved between the Wars was cemented during the post-World War II generation, with the final works of O'Neill and his generation being joined by such towering figures as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, as well as by the maturation of the musical theatre form. Other key dramatists include William Inge, Arthur Laurents and Paddy Chayefsky in the 1950s, the avant garde movement of Jack Richardson, Arthur Kopit, Jack Gelber and Edward Albee the 1960s, and the maturation of black drama through Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and Amiri Baraka. In the musical theatre, important figures include Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Jerry Bock, Meredith Willson and Stephen Sondheim.[4]
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World of Indie
A place to learn something new
Tag: space probes
Delta II Launch Site Demolished
The launch of the GRAIL mission from Launch Complex 17 by a Delta II. The final launch from SLC-17. Credit: NASA/Tom Farrar and Tony Gray
At 11:00 UTC on the 12th of July 2018 the two launch towers of Space Launch Complex 17 were demolished by controlled explosions. The crowd of onlookers cheered as the towers fell, and took some great images and videos of the demolition. The launch site had not been used since 2011 when Delta II 7920H-10C fired NASA’s GRAIL spacecraft towards the Moon. The launch complex had two pads named 17A and 17B. The site is now to be reused as a test bed for potential lunar landers made by Moon Express. Boasting some very prestigious missions well beyond Earth SLC-17 will be remembered as an important part of the history of American space.
A delta Rocket carrying NASA’s Echo 1 satellite launching August 12th 1960. The Echo satellite inflated in orbit to reflect signals back to Earth. Credit: NASA.
It was built in 1956 for use as a launch site for the PGM-17 Thor missile. This was the first operational ballistic missile that the United States had in their arsenal. The first launch of a Thor missile from 17A was 3rd of August 1957, with the first launch from 17B being 25th of January 1957. In the early 1960s the site was upgraded to support a variety of Expendable Launch Vehicles, all of which were derived in some way from the Thor booster. We now know this family of rockets as the Delta rockets used by the United Launch Alliance. Thirty five early Delta rocket missions were launched from LC-17 between 1960 and 1965. At that point operated by the US Air Force. In 1965 the operation of the site was transferred to NASA.
View of LC-17 viewing East. A fairly old photo taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Credit: Martin Stupich
In 1988 the site was returned to the Air Force to support the Delta II program. The site had to be modified to facilitate the new more powerful rocket, with new platforms being installed and the D=Ground Service Tower was raised by 10 ft. The program entered service in 1989 after worries about the shuttle due to the Challenger disaster. Pad 17B was modified in 1997 to support a newer more powerful launch vehicle the Delta III which made its maiden flight on 26th of August 1998. Ending in failure, the next three attempts were failures in some sense and the programme was abandoned in late 2000. The Delta II continued to launch, with it’s fairly cheap price tag, and amazing track record it has been a favourite for NASA on a number of big projects. This post by NASA explains how the layout of the site and the small teams allowed LC-17 to be efficient and consistent over it’s 50 year lifespan. Some Delta II launches could be within days of each other because the launch crews were so effective.
A view of Space Launch Complex 17, pads A and B taken in 2007. Delta II rocket with THEMIS aboard sits on Pad B. Credit: NASA/George Shelton
There have been some very famous spacecraft launched from SLC-17 in the years, mostly by Delta I and II rockets. Among them the Explorer and Pioneer space probes studying the physics of our solar system, and exploring some of it. All of the Orbiting Solar Observatories between 1962 and 1975 were launched from this site, as well as the Solar Maximum mission in 1980. Some of the first weather satellites like TIROS and later GOES were launched from SLC-17 allowing much better understanding of weather and improving (mainly military) weather reports. My personal favourite launches are those of the Mars Exploration Rovers in 2003. Both spirit and Opportunity (still going) were launched from this important launch site.
A Delta II launching from pad SLC-17A with the MER-A or Spirit Rover towards Mars on June 10th 2003. Credit: NASA/KSC
Space Launch Complex 17 is also famous for being the last site where you had to press a button to launch the rocket. Most pads had a computerized auto-sequencer, much like the space shuttle, and in the modern world of rocketry it makes much more sense to do that. Even after 1995 when they got rid of the button (sadly) a human needed to press go on a computer to say launch. Bill Hodge, an electrical engineer at the launch complex said “If you didn’t push that button, it didn’t launch.” Tom Mahaney, project manager for the closeout of the complex described the site as “hectic, but not dysfunctional.” This is the best description I can find of this massively important historical site. In its time it has supported a total of 325 Thor and Delta rocket launches!
Thank you for reading, take a look at my other posts if you are interested in space or electronics, or follow me on Twitter to get updates on projects I am currently working on.
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Author Ryan SmithPosted on 23rd July 2018 17th July 2018 Categories Space HistoryTags Delta 2, Delta II, Delta III, demolished, Explorer, LC-17, Lockheed Martin, Mars Rover, pioneer, SLC-17, space probes, ULALeave a comment on Delta II Launch Site Demolished
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Turning Point: Laura Joh Rowland
January 2, 2017 by Nancy Bilyeau
The Lure of Jack the Ripper
By Nancy Bilyeau
The Whitechapel murders of a string of prostitutes hold our fascination 128 years later. The latest writer drawn to the time and place of Jack the Ripper is Laura Joh Rowland. Her novel THE RIPPER’S SHADOW features a nuanced main character, a female photographer named Sarah Bain with her own secrets. After two of her subjects are murdered by “Saucy Jack,” Bain suspects a connection between her work and the brutal murders. As Kirkus says, “An intrepid female photographer tracks the serial killer of the (19th) century…keeps suspense high.”
Before writing THE RIPPER’S SHADOW, Rowland penned an acclaimed mystery series featuring Sano Ichiro, a samurai and private investigator for the shogun, in the 1600s in Edo, Japan. She’s also written a historical suspense series featuring Charlotte Bronte. Rowland tells The Big Thrill about switching it up.
Rowland at the Queens Lit Festival.
How long have you been interested in the East End of Jack the Ripper and do you remember what first sparked it?
I’ve been fascinated by Jack the Ripper and Whitechapel since I saw the original Star Trek episode in which he was a disembodied evil force that drifted through time and space, murdering people. The episode showed me that there are many different ways to tell the same sensational story.
Why do you think the obsession with Jack the Ripper has never waned?
It’s because he was never caught or identified, and he’s the ultimate bogeyman. His catchy nickname helps keep him in the collective consciousness.
In your book, you have very creative and interesting ideas about the Ripper murders. Did you develop your theories before you began the book or did they evolve as you wrote?
I don’t believe that the Ripper was any of the suspects that the police identified at the time, and I’ve always liked the idea that he might have been dealt with privately by someone flying under the radar. That’s the premise of my book. Premises are easy. The hard part is building a whole fictional world upon them. Since I wasn’t going to write a story that focused on the real historical suspects or police detectives, I had to invent my own suspects and sleuths.
Was it difficult to say goodbye to your former series and to setting books in Japan?
I was ready for a change, and the nice thing about a series is that whenever I’m missing my characters, I can open one of the books, and there they are. It’s not goodbye forever.
Rowland at an author event sponsored by Mystery Writers of America.
What is the best part about writing a mystery that it is interwoven with a series of crimes famous in history? What is the most challenging part?
The best part is creating my own version of the crimes and contributing to the legend. The most challenging part is finding something original to write about something that’s been written about so many times.
How did you come up with the idea of writing a female photographer and is she based on a real person?
I connected the Ripper victims to one another by having them model for erotic “boudoir” photographs, and I wanted to write about a female protagonist. Hence, Sarah Bain. She’s entirely fictional.
How do you balance the emotional development of your characters with the crime plot?
The emotional development needs to happen in conjunction with solving the crime. Sarah Bain is a solitary, closed-off woman who learns to open herself up to friendship and love while she’s hunting the Ripper in the mean streets of London.
A filming at the Mysterious Bookshop.
What is the most important lesson you can pass on to fellow writers on generating suspense?
Tension on every page. If things are too pleasant, if the characters are getting along too well, and if there’s no threat, that’s dull.
How do you get the readers of your Sano series prepared for your new work?
I ended the series with a grand finale, The Iris Fan, which concluded the main plotlines and character arcs that went on throughout the series. I think it was kinder to my readers than if I’d just stopped and left everything hanging. I announced on my website and on Facebook that it was the last book, and I posted updates about my new series. Some readers may not have gotten the message, and if they’re expecting a new Sano book, they’ll be surprised by THE RIPPER’S SHADOW.
What is the premise of your next book?
The next book is the second episode in the series featuring Sarah Bain and her friends Mick O’Reilly and Lord Hugh Staunton. They start a private detective agency, and their first big case is a kidnapping that I based on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping from 1932.
That sounds fascinating. Thank you.
Nancy Bilyeau
Nancy Bilyeau has worked in the magazine business for more than 20 years, with staff jobs at Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and InStyle and is currently the deputy editor of The Crime Report, at the Center on Media, Crime and Justice. She is the author of The Crown, The Chalice, and The Tapestry, a series set in 16th century England. Her new historical thriller, THE BLUE, set in the art and porcelain world of 18th century England and France, will be published in the U.S. and the UK in December 2018. For more information, go to www.nancybilyeau.com
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On the Cover: Wendy Walker
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FOLIO | DEAR ARABELLA AT THE LYRIC THEATRE
October 17, 2018 Cathy Martin
There’s something wonderful about the world premiere of a play being held in Belfast. We might be on the perifphery of things, but that doesn’t mean that the arts don’t find their way to our wee corner of the world. There’s also something wonderful when home grown talent Marie Jones decides to choose Belfast’s Lyric Theatre to introduce her latest work to the world. Marie has sold out Broadway and the West End but obviously Belfast is still the place to be.
Kicking off the 2018 Belfast International Arts Festival at the Lyric this week was Dear Arabella. The work features three women, each narrating the story of their lives and the one day in which their paths cross – very, very briefly – but in a way that will have a lasting effect on all of them.
There’s Jean, who finds life passes her by as she cares for an invalid mother. Elsie who is trapped in what used to be a marriage and Arabella herself who pines for a long lost husband.
These women don’t know each other. They come from different backgrounds and different places but they have so many things in common – there’s loss, sorrow, regret and above all loneliness. Each of them experiences the same emotion but in very different ways – one living a life of solitude while another lives surrounded by friends and family.
Full of the magic of Marie Jones, this play is beautiful in its simplicity. There’s next to nothing to the set – three chairs and a big picture of a restless sea. There’s next to no music – just an overheard piano piece that’s integral to the story. The three characters; Jean, Elsie and Arabella don’t even interact with each other. It wouldn’t be right to call this performance a three-hander, it’s more like a three-woman solo play.
There isn’t even an interval during the performance, leaving the audience wondering at the stamina of the women on stage, each of whom seem to be able to sit like a statue for ages on end.
But we didn’t wonder long at the stillness of the actresses; Katie Tumety, Laura Hughes and Lucia McAnespie. We were too busy listening to each of them tell us their story, and wondering what would come next.
Spoiler alert – there are no great dramas here. No one is murdered, no jewels are stolen or princesses kidnapped and rescued by handsome princes. Instead, three ordinary women tell us about their ordinary lives and how a couple of perfectly ordinary encounters changed those lives.
And yet, this play will make you think. It will make you think about the mundanities of life and how difficult it can be to escape the yoke of duty, commitment, family and love. It will make you think about how the most brief of interactions could actually change a person’s life.
This was a charming production and absolutely worth going to see.
Dear Arabella will be on stage at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast until November 10
In FOLIO
← FILM | WHAT DOESN'T KILL MEI-ENVY BY KISS LASHES - FOR THE POLISHED AND SOPHISTICATED →
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Top Buzz
Why is Billie Eilish buzzing?
Do you know why Billie Eilish is buzzing?
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell is an American singer, songwriter, and model. She gained a following in 2016 when she released her debut single "Ocean Eyes" on audio distribution platform SoundCloud, subsequently released on the record labels Darkroom and Interscope Records. Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me, reached the top 15 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and spawned the single "Bellyache". Eilish also collaborated with American singer Khalid for the single "Lovely", which was released in April 2018 and added to the soundtrack for the second season of 13 Reasons Why. Her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? debuted atop the Billboard 200 and reached number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The album featured four US top-40 singles: "When the Party's Over", "Bury a Friend", "Wish You Were Gay", and "Bad Guy". Eilish has seven gold and three platinum singles in the United States. Eilish and her musician brother Finneas collaborate on her music.
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Home » business , disney , george lucas , j.j. abrams , movies , star wars , star wars episode vii » The titular dilemma of new Star Wars movies (and what can be done about it)
The titular dilemma of new Star Wars movies (and what can be done about it)
By Chris Knight July 03, 2013 9 comments
Right now, somewhere as you read this, pre-production is well underway for Star Wars Episode VII. The script is being written and re-written, conceptual artists are creating new visions of a galaxy far far away, and there is already a casting call for major roles in the next movie. Barely eight months ago we could have never imagined a new Star Wars trilogy would be happening (in fact, I still find myself hardly believing it). And now under Disney's management, we are being promised not just a new trilogy (perhaps even two) but a Star Wars movie every year from 2015 until the end of time.
And therein rests a problem which hopefully is being discussed somewhere at the Mouse House and at Lucasfilm:
With all of these new Star Wars movies... how are they going to be titled? And what does it mean for the Star Wars films we have already?
Until now it's been easy enough: "Episode I: The Phantom Menace", "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" and so forth. Those were individual chapters of one story in an epic fantasy setting. And it suffices for that one multi-generational epic on film.
Except now, there is the intent to produce several stories in that same setting. And they aren't necessarily going to pertain to the tale of the Skywalker family from Anakin to Luke to whoever it will be in the next trilogy.
There are already plans for Star Wars "one-shot" films, focusing on individual characters like Yoda and Boba Fett. Once that big beautiful Star Wars logo blares loud on the screen and the scroll unspools, it's easy to envision it saying "Yoda: Making of a Master" or somesuch.
But those will be self-contained stories. What of the story that started it all, when it is now to be but one piece of an entire tapestry of tales? How is the epic at the heart-meat of the entire franchise going to be set apart from what is yet to come?
And there exists the possibility of future Star Wars trilogies: multi-film stories which aren't focused on the Skywalkers or any of the classic characters at all. Perhaps not even the familiar era of the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire. The nomenclature of those potential future trilogies must be taken into account. The sooner the better.
There is a very simple solution: amend the style of the opening crawls of the Star Wars films we already know and love.
There is precedent for it. When the very first movie came out it was simply "Star Wars". Only when The Empire Strikes Back was released three years later did the original get retroactively subtitled "Episode IV: A New Hope". That's been the titling protocol since.
There hasn't been a need to revise that protocol. There will be soon. And if accommodation was made before, it can be again.
Here is the proposal: retroactively amend the titles of the existing Star Wars movies so that they will stand apart from the films which will be produced in the years to come. Let there be no confusing that Episodes I through IX are a singular epic, standing apart as George Lucas' vision of one movie. Have the core story of the Skywalker family be branded as something unto itself, yet a major component of the larger Star Wars universe which Disney is now creating.
Call it "The Skywalker Saga", or "The Skywalker Cycle" (a Wagner-ish notion in keeping with the operatic motifs at work through the trilogies). So for example, the scroll for Episode IV could look like this:
That's all that needs to happen. Just expand the titling format. It's an elegant and non-invasive alteration that will set the classic films and their sequels apart, and can accommodate any movies still to come. Including full-bore trilogies set in new times and with characters all their own.
From a literary perspective, it makes a lot of sense. From a corporate viewpoint, it also might prove to be quite lucrative. It certainly lends itself well to marketing and merchandising possibilities.
And wouldn't it be grand to someday have a set of Blu-rays on the shelf: "Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga", alongside such classics as A Tale of Two Cities, Moby-Dick and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. A truly timeless work of literature, standing on its own merit.
That is what the story of Anakin Skywalker, his son Luke and the next generation of their family deserves. It's what every story in the Star Wars galaxy deserves in its own right. And hopefully the good folks at Disney and Lucasfilm will take that into consideration.
(Speaking of Star Wars, hearty congratulations are in order to George Lucas on his recent marriage to the very lovely Mellody Hobson. May they have a long and happy life together!)
Categories: business, disney, george lucas, j.j. abrams, movies, star wars, star wars episode vii
aliquis said...
Call it frog guy and laser sabers.
just take the numbers off
was a stupid idea in the first place...
I'd suggest calling it "The Lensman Saga".
It doesn't need a change at all. The main films are already tagged with "Episode x". The others can simply just be "Star Wars: XXXXXX" such as "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", or "Star Wars: Ewok Adventures – Caravan of Courage"
10:36 PM, July 04, 2013
JT said...
Just let the films be and stop editing them.
Star Wars / The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi gain nothing with all the posterior additions and special editions and whatever. The original theatrical versions are much better films than the revised versions.
Also, notice I wrote Star Wars / The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi because that's how people remember those films. Nobody says "yesterday I watched episode IV A new home". That's not how people remember the films. So, there's really no point on this minor titles.
6:57 AM, July 05, 2013
"Nobody says "yesterday I watched episode IV A new home" ..."
I beg to disagree, there were plenty of people that were onto it from the beginning and called it episode IV A New Hope.
thing is, no one seems to be mentioning the characters that keep the whole thing timeless … R2D2 and C3P0
Scuffed Shoes said...
When I went to see Star Wars about two weeks into the initial release in 1977 it was already called Star Wars: Episode Four. Many in the audience were curious about why it was called Episode Four.
I don't recall if it was called "A New Hope." Perhaps not. But "Episode Four" was already there when it hit theaters in '77.
Chris S Markham said...
It was called "Episode IV: A New Hope" from the first day theatrical release. We all went with it; it was supposed to be "Space Opera" like the Buck Rogers serials from the outset. Okay, we're coming in on the middle of this story. We get it, carry on.
Do your homework before making an assertion on which your entire shaky premise resides. There's no need to rewrite history for the benefit of future generations. "Oh, should we call it 'Constitution II' because we've added ammendments to it and people won't understand that equal rights were added much later!?"
IT WAS NOT CALLED "Episode IV: A New Hope" in 1977.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jK-jZo6xjY
George Lucas may own the Star Wars franchise, but he doesn't own HISTORY.
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Home / 2018 / septiembre / 04 / Aura Biosciences Boosts Finance Team with Two Key Appointments, Preparing to Move Into Late-Stage Clinical Development in Ocular Melanoma
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Aura Biosciences Boosts Finance Team with Two Key Appointments, Preparing to Move Into Late-Stage Clinical Development in Ocular Melanoma
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., September 4, 2018 — Aura Biosciences, a leader in the development of novel targeted therapies in ocular oncology, today announced that Julie Feder has joined the company’s leadership team as Chief Financial Officer. In addition, the company announced the addition of Kylie Reynolds as Vice President of Finance, further augmenting Aura’s in-house finance expertise as the company finalizes its Phase 1/2 clinical trial and prepares to initiate late stage clinical development for its flagship drug in choroidal melanoma next year.
“We’re excited to welcome Julie and Kylie to our team at this important moment for our company,” said Elisabet de los Pinos, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Aura. “Their combined fourplus decades of experience in financial management will be an asset in our accelerated progress towards developing a groundbreaking new treatment for patients with choroidal melanoma.”
Ms. Feder joins Aura from Verastem, where she served as Chief Financial Officer. At Verastem, Ms. Feder was responsible for developing the company’s strategic financial plan and overseeing a rapid growth in financing and staff size. Prior to joining Verastem, Ms. Feder spent six years at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) as Chief Financial Officer. At CHAI, Ms. Feder was responsible for managing a global team across multiple departments. She also developed the global finance strategy and internal audit, treasury, and global payroll functions. Ms. Feder holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business.
Ms. Reynolds comes to Aura from Forma Therapeutics, where she served as Senior Director and Controller for the company since 2015. In that role, Ms. Reynolds was responsible for assessing systems, people and processes to prepare the company for financial transformation. Ms. Reynolds holds an M.S. in Banking and Financial Management from Boston University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
About choroidal melanoma
Choroidal melanoma is a rare and aggressive type of eye cancer. Choroidal melanoma is the most common primary ocular tumor and develops in the uveal tract of the eye. No targeted therapies are available at present, and current radiotherapy treatments can be associated with severe visual loss and other long-term sequelae such as dry eye, glaucoma, cataracts and radiation retinopathy. The most common current treatment is plaque radiotherapy, which involves surgical placement of a radiation device on the exterior of the eye over the tumor. The alternative is enucleation, or total surgical removal of the eye. Choroidal melanoma metastasizes to the liver in about 40-50 percent of cases in the long term (source: OMF), and only 15 percent of patients whose melanoma has metastasized survive beyond five years after diagnosis (source: ACS).
About light-activated AU-011
AU-011 is a first-in-class targeted therapy in development for the primary treatment of choroidal melanoma. The therapy consists of proprietary viral-like particle conjugates (VPC) that are activated with an ophthalmic laser. The VPCs bind selectively to unique receptors on cancer cells in the eye and are derived from technology originally pioneered by Dr. John Schiller of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), recipient of the 2017 Lasker-DeBakey Award. Upon activation with an ophthalmic laser, the drug rapidly and specifically disrupts the cell membrane of tumor cells while sparing key eye structures, which may allow for the potential of preserving patients’ vision and reducing other long-term complications of radiation treatment. AU-011 can be delivered using equipment commonly found in an ophthalmologist’s office and does not require a surgical procedure, pointing to a potentially less invasive, more convenient therapy for patients and physicians. AU-011 for the treatment of choroidal melanoma has been granted orphan drug and fast track designations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is currently in clinical development.
About Aura Biosciences
Aura Biosciences is developing a new class of therapies to selectively target and destroy cancer cells. Its lead program, AU-011 in primary choroidal melanoma, is being developed under a CRADA with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. For more information, visit www.aurabiosciences.com.
Lisa Raffensperger, (617) 903-8783
Ten Bridge Communications
lisa@tenbridgecommunications.com
Download pdf English
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Urban self-organising groups as users of digital artefacts – Nordic experiences
Joanna Saad-Sulonen & Liisa Horelli
The aim of the article is to present and discuss the results of a qualitative meta-analysis of a series of explorative case studies on the use of digital artefacts by self-organised communities in Aarhus, Denmark and Helsinki, Finland. Drawing on a conceptual framework on participation in the design of information and communication technologies as well as in urban planning, we ask and answer the following questions: What are the digital artefact ecologies of self-organised communities and movements? What are the challenges that self-organised communities and movements face in relation to their information technology needs? And, how can co-governance with public-private- people partnerships support the digital needs of self-organising groups?
The 21st century digital transformation of business and banking, education and health care, as well as architecture, design and planning affect our public and private lives all over the world (Westera 2013). Cities are adopting e-planning (Silva 2010) and are turning towards big data and ubiquitous smart urban infrastructure with the aim of gaining more efficiency. However, the technology-pushed and corporate-driven top-down concept of Smart Cities is not the only way through which the digital turn in cities can be approached (Teli et al. 2015). Bottom-up and self-organising urban groups and movements, whose core activities are supported by a variety of everyday digital tools, are contributing to new types of citizen engagement in cities (Foth et al. 2011).
Even though participation in urban planning is rooted in legislation and considerable effort has been put to digitalise citizen participation in the Nordic countries, the planning systems remain formal and top-heavy (Mäntysalo et al. 2011). However, citizens are finding new ways to influence their urban life and environment. With a strong tradition in civic participation and membership in voluntary associations, Denmark is witnessing examples of what some commentators label Do-It-Yourself urbanism – an intersection of activism and urban design – with municipalities keen to implement changes initiated by activists (Fabian & Samson 2015). Finland, despite its much younger urban history, has also lately witnessed the emergence of a new kind of urban activism – different from the established association-based one – where self-organised activists are directly moving into action to change their lived spaces (Botero et al. 2012, Marttila & Botero 2016). Researchers have labelled this new phenomenon of non-registered local activism around urban commons – such as food circles, social P2P support, hacktivism and artivism – the fourth sector (Mäenpää & Faehnle 2017a).
As the context of urban planning has dramatically changed due to globalisation and digitalisation, there is more space for self-organisation (Uitermark 2015). The self-organisation of citizens around issues of common concern can be understood as a type of participation in urban planning that is not initiated, nor orchestrated by planners or officials, but by citizens (Boonstra & Boelens 2011; Saad-Sulonen 2014). Such participation takes place in everyday life situations and is increasingly mediated by mundane technologies. Urban self-organising groups rely on wider digital artefacts ecologies, which include social media, local websites, Google Drive applications, Wikis, and a variety of digital devices (Bødker et al. 2016a; Wallin et al. 2010).
Although many of the urban self-organised groups are driven by a commons ethos (Ostrom 1990), such as the nourishing and management of shared resources, little consideration is given to questions related to the shared ownership and control of digital tools and content. Therefore, our research problem is: how can the digital needs of self-organising groups be better supported? The aim of the article is to present and discuss the results of the meta-analysis of a series of explorative case studies on the use of digital artefacts by urban self-organised communities in Aarhus, Denmark and Helsinki, Finland. The research questions are: What are the digital artefact ecologies adopted by self-organised communities and movements? What are the challenges that self-organised communities and movements face in relation to their information technology needs? And, how can co-governance with public, private, people-partnerships support the digital needs of self-organising groups? We argue, based on our qualitative meta-analysis that although self-organisation is increasingly acknowledged in urban planning and development, the digital challenges of self-organising groups around urban issues, should also be recognised and their needs supported.
Framework and methodology: expanded design and planning
The integrative framework comprises, first, concepts around the participatory design of information technologies as it expands to include design-in-use, and second, expanded urban planning, encompassing co-governance.
The history of participation in the design of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is shaped by the Scandinavian approach developed in the 1970’s, when researchers in ICTs collaborated with trade unions and workers (Bjerknes et al. 1987). The Scandinavian participatory design (PD) became known worldwide for its set of participatory tools and techniques (Greenbaum & Kyng 1991). An expanded understanding of PD introduces the notion of participation as continuing though use (Saad-Sulonen 2014). Henderson and Kyng (1991) introduced the term ‘design-in-use’ to refer to the kind of design work that users undertake, after the designed artefact has reached them. Thus, the design of technology expands into the realm of use, through users’ practices of ‘tinkering’ or ‘bricolage’ (Törpel et al. 2009). It includes activities of connecting the different devices, systems, and applications that make up the contemporary technological landscape we live in. Saad-Sulonen (2014) found that communities that engaged in self-organised activities concerning their urban environment engage in design-in-use: they choose, adapt, configure and connect various freely available tools to make, at little cost, a working digital artefact ecology to support their needs (Bødker et al. 2016b).
The notion of expanded urban planning (EP; Horelli 2013; Staffans & Horelli 2014) enables to explore ways to better embed the planning process in the material and socio-cultural context. EP is based on communicative and post-structural planning theories (Healey 1997; Forester 1999). It is a visionary concept in which planning expands from physical planning to community development and co-governance, supported by multiple participations, including self-organisation around urban issues. Simultaneously it seeks to connect the planning process with the content of the context. The expansion also covers the participation of different stakeholders in the different stages starting from strategic and statutory planning, to implementation, co-production, monitoring and evaluation.
As EP is intertwined with community development and local co-governance it is faced with new activities and partnerships. The new forms of urban co-governance range from the formal (city boards and councils), to the semiformal (local fora or assemblies) and informal (cafe´s, community house). Jarenko (2013) suggests that co-governance means linking the formal, semi-formal and informal networks and public spheres to form a deliberative system. The semi-formal deliberative spheres form a link between the formal and the informal ones, enabling a wider range of political activities to have an impact on decision-making. This enhances communication between the informal arenas of grass-roots level participation and the formal decision-making arenas enabling public (municipalities), private (business) and people-partnerships (Bresnihan & Byrne 2014; Horelli et al. 2015). Mäenpää and Faehnle (2017b) proposed that the future co-governance – ‘hybrid-governance’ – will be based on an advanced use of social media comprising a variety of interactive processes and projects that can be situated on a ladder of eight steps. For example, the ladder for urban planning starts from non-anticipation of alternative plans (Level 1), via informing (L2), supporting (L3) and co-production (L4), to open collaborative projects around urban issues (L5).
The design of the research (Figure 1) consisted of a qualitative meta-analysis of three explorative case studies on the use of digital artefacts by self-organising movements or communities; one in Aarhus, Denmark and two in Helsinki, Finland. We started our investigation on the potential supportive means for digital tools in Helsinki (Case 1). After studying in more detail the digital artefact ecology of one urban self-organised group in Aarhus (Case 2), we returned to Helsinki with an in-depth study on the artefact ecologies of four urban self-organised groups, and their relations with authorities (Case 3). The results of each case led to the design of the consequent one.
Figure 1. The design of the study.
The qualitative meta-analysis (Timulak 2014) borrows its methodology from comparative qualitative studies. Its purpose is to provide a more comprehensive description of a phenomenon (e.g. the need for support to the digital needs) and its consequences. The steps in the analysis have been: 1) the definition of what is considered as data in context (the cases that are relevant to the research questions); 2) an analysis of data by assorting it into domains representing the conceptual framework (for example digital tools, levels of co-governance; Mäenpää & Faehnle 2017b); 3) delineating the data in domains into units which allow the categorization and comparison of different meaning units according to similarities (cf. constant comparative method by Strauss & Corbin 1990). The interpretation of the data in the content analysis was enhanced by the application of the theoretical framework as part of the grounded theory. The individual cases applied a variety of data gathering techniques (contextual analyses, participatory observation, field-notes, focus groups, interviews as well as analyses of documents and websites), as well as methods of data analysis and interpretation. However, as the object of the study is emergent, the study is still at this stage exploratory.
We will describe the consecutive three cases starting with the Citizen Toolkit in Helsinki, which is followed by the in-depth study of the artefact ecology of the Aarhus organic food community. We will end with selected examples of urban self-organised groups in Helsinki, focusing on their digital artefact ecologies and their links with authorities.
The Citizen Toolkit – an effort to support the digital ecologies for urban development
The Citizen Toolkit project (CT; 2012-2014) was a hands-on collaboration between Aalto University and the Helsinki Neighbourhood Association (Helka ry1). Its aim was to consolidate a collection of tools that support active citizenship. The research question focused on how self-organising communities can be supported by commons thinking for digital tools.
At that time, the City of Helsinki already had a collection of ‘official’ digital tools for supporting citizen participation as consultation2 (see Wallin et al. 2012 for details). The City did not acknowledge citizen self-organisation as a type of participation, which consequently was not supported. The CT was thus targeted to provide tools for citizen-initiated urban data collection or information sharing. With a modest funding the researchers created content for the CT together with managers from Helka ry and a planner from the Finnish Library Services. A working version of the CT at the beginning of 2013 was hosted on Helka ry’s website (http://www.kaupunginosat.net), which runs on the Open Source Joomla Content Management System.
The toolkit displayed a collection of four tools: CoMeUp: a media sharing platform and mobile application for communities; Urban Mediator: an online map-based tool for creating and sharing locative media, both developed at the Aalto University; Planning Window: a mobile-based augmented reality tool for urban planning; Wiki-design: a participatory design method developed by Peter Tattersall. A fifth section was dedicated to social media use in participatory urban planning. The CT included descriptions of the use of the tools, links to URLs, and examples of usage in urban planning contexts.
As Helka ry’s resources and ICT-knowledge did not allow for users to add new tools on Joomla we experimented with the ScoopIt online curation platform adding tools suggested by the participants of two workshops (c. 100 participants). We later also interviewed citizen activists (from the Artova culture and neighbourhood association3, and the Prototype Helsinki project), a member of Helka ry, and an ICT project leader of the City of Helsinki.
The results disclosed that self-organising communities needed supporting structures for action, such as information where to find relevant tools, preferably categorized in terms of their purpose, and instructions to use them. It was not clear, for the workshop participants for example, if the CT was meant to list tools that support citizens’ self-organisation, or that help collaborate with authorities, or both. Some activists also felt that the CT should cover a scale of different types and levels of citizen engagement, from civic disobedience to official procedures. Situating the CT on Helka ry’s website was not the best solution, as it was not easy to find, nor did it enable design-in-use and tinkering. The ScoopIT platform also left people indifferent, as it was little known and required credentials to log in.
The collaboration with public authorities occurred at the ‘level 2 of the ladder’ (Mäenpää & Faehnle 2017b). The CT experiment remained too much steered by the researchers and Helka ry, and thus limited in scope. Consequently, we needed more information concerning the ways the activists manage digital artefacts themselves.
The Aarhus local organic-food community – the use of an evolving ecology of digital tools
We conducted, in collaboration with researchers from the Aarhus University, in Denmark, a study on a self-organised group running a local organic food community in the City of Aarhus. The study, conducted between 2014 and 2016, focused on understanding the artefact ecology of the community asking what the digital ecology comprised, how it was shaped, and how it evolved over time. The methodology consisted of participant observations, interviews, and artefact ecology mapping with interviewees (Bødker et al. 2016a; 2016b).
The study identified three main stages in the shaping of the artefact ecology alongside the formation of the community, each stage pulling together a variety of digital tools (Table 1). The first stage was the emergence of the community, the second one comprised everyday activities of the established community, and the third stage consisted of changes being undertaken and building new openings.
The Facebook page was crucial in Stage 1 as it enabled the community to emerge. Creating the page did not require much effort from the founding members, but it inspired a local organic food farmer to contact them and new members to join. The Aarhus Organic Food Community (AØFF) was soon founded and by January 2011, the community of 30 people registered as an association. The need to organise the work shifts (e.g. receiving and packing products from the farmers) meant that Facebook was no more enough. The attempt to use a Wikispace platform (like a similar community in Copenhagen had done), was unsuccessful because failing to secure members’ privacy. By that time, one of the members, a professional web developer, volunteered to build and host a website for the community. The first AØFF website (version v.1) became a key digital artefact for the community, as it supported information sharing, but also had a members-only section area for planning the community work chores.
New features and maintenance of the website were needed for the website as well as its maintenance (version v.2) as the community grew (Stage 2). The website developer who hosted it on his own server, was no longer involved in the community, making updating challenging. Workarounds were created, such as the one made by a tech savvy member who created a hack to enable a calendar display. He was later hired by AØFF to create a new version of the website (version v. 3). During that time, a credit card terminal was also purchased and connected to the shared community laptop. Stage 3 in the AØFF community lifespan revolved around the building of the new website, which took several years of discussions and planning. The new website included the possibility for members to order their bags and pay for them on-line (Bødker et al. 2016b). Website maintenance is still an open issue, although addressed to some degree by volunteers.
Table 1. The community artefact ecology of AØFF between 2011-2016 (adapted from Bødker et al. 2016a).
Digital artefacts used by AØFF Stage and purpose of use
Facebook page Stage 1: external and internal communication, visibility and recruitment
Stages 2, 3: external communication
Wikispace Stage 1: initial community platform, (internal and public information, internal organisation and management)
Stage 2: minutes of meetings and information sharing of some of the workgroups
Website (version v.1) Stage 1: eventually substitutes Wikispaces as primary community platform
Website (version v.2) Stage 2: internal coordination and task division, external communication
Website (version v.3) Stage 3: primary community platform, internal organisation, coordination, task division and management, online web shop, statistical data and member overview
Google Drive Stage 1: substitute the internal organisation elements in Wikispaces
Stage 2: internal coordination and task division
Community mail (aliases) Stage 1: eventually substitute Facebook for internal communication
Google mail Stage 2: workaround for community email
MailChimp Stage 2: Newsletter support for members
Twitter Stages 2, 3: External communication
Instagram Stages 3: External communication
Community laptop Stage 2: access to Google documents and community information during bag retrieval days
Stage 3: access to website
Community WiFi Stage 2: Access to website and credit card terminal during bag retrieval days
Stage 3: Access to website during bag retrieval days
Credit card terminal Stage 2: Payments during bag collection days
Members’ own ad hoc artefacts Stage 2: Supplement community laptop; alternative WiFi connection
In sum, the AØFF artefact ecology has been shaped through the years by choices made by the founding members as well as the technical expertise found within the community. AØFF has chosen to make use of freely available social networking technologies but has also invested in the building of their own website, and relied on the expertise of their own members. In terms of hardware, they relied mainly on recycling and the members’ own devices. Design-in-use thus unfolded through a mix of appropriating available tools and creating workarounds by hacking to address challenges related to access. Other than some contact in relation to hygiene regulations, AØFF did not interact much with municipal authorities. Even though a new national project for developing a generic web-platform for organic food communities in Denmark started around 2014-2015, AØFF preferred to keep their own website, stressing their specific needs and autonomy.
The plethora of digital tools in Helsinki – emerging signs of hybrid governance
Inspired by the study carried out in Aarhus, we examined through purposeful sampling, during 2016-2017, the artefact ecologies of a set of self-organising groups in Helsinki. The criteria for the sample were the organisational type of the group and its relationship with authorities. Thus, the sample comprised potential partners for hybrid governance, such as two representatives from the third sector (registered NGOs and associations) and one from the fourth sector (non-registered movement). We also studied the provision of artefacts provided by a public partner (the City of Helsinki), and an intermediating agent and NGO, partly supported by public funds (Helka ry). The data gathering methods comprised a questionnaire, interviews and analyses of the digital ecologies (see Table 2) of the following parties:
Nappi Naapuri (Nifty Neighbour) is a project by Yhteismaa ry, a non-profit organisation and registered association active in Helsinki since 2012, which focuses on urban participatory culture. From the variety of Yhteismaa-projects we chose Nappi Naapuri, a neighbourhood-help platform, to understand the effort needed to develop an online platform from scratch that enabled a comparison with AØFF. The online platform is the whole concept.
Artova is the neighbourhood and cultural association of three neighbourhoods in Helsinki: Arabianranta, Toukola and Vanhakaupunki. As Artova has several activity groups covering topics, such as neighbourhood dogs, nature, events, and the history of the neighbourhood, it has created a systematic model to manage all the activities. The yearly Artova street festival gathered 30.000 people in 2017. Artova has worked closely with Helka ry and at times also with the City of Helsinki with specific projects.
National Urban Park to Helsinki (NUPH), was created in 2015 as a group of 50 members with common interests to found a National Park that will protect and maintain the cultural and ecological heritage of Helsinki. Currently, it is a self-organised movement comprising around 100 active individual members and 80 neighbourhood associations, in addition to the 7000 people who signed the petition for the park to be founded. The City council decided in 2017 to start a feasibility study-process with the movement and it has put up an official website to support the initiative with a mapping survey tool that is also on the movement´s own website.
Table 2. Digital artefacts used by the chosen self-organised movements or communities in Helsinki and their relationship with co-governance.
Movement or community Used digital artefacts Relationship with authorities
Nappi Naapuri
(Nifty Neighbour, NGO) Facebook page
Own website
Google Analytics Small financial support from the municipal authorities at the beginning, but no sustained collaboration afterwards. (1st level of the ladder of hybrid governance)
(NGO) Website (Helka ry’s Joomla platform)
Intranet (PB Works’ Wiki)
Several Facebook pages
E-mail (Gmail)
‘Artova model’ (WordPress-based)
City paths mobile app
Urban Mediator
Instagram The City supports in principle the yearly Artova festival and markets the Artova-model as a benchmark for good neighbourhood governance.
(4th level of the ladder of hybrid governance)
National Urban Park to Helsinki (NUPH, a movement) Own website
Google groups mailing list
Helsinki Channel Video Platform (provided by City of Helsinki)
Maptionnaire (used and available via collaboration with the City)
A page on the City of Helsinki website (owned and managed by the City) Collaboration with the City to plan and found the National Park (a test-bed for the City´s new participation model); a Web-site by the City to support the feasibility study; a NUPH video published in the Helsinki channel (6th level of the ladder of hybrid governance)
Table 2 shows the variety of digital artefacts that the above mentioned self-organised groups use. All groups mentioned use Facebook, either public Facebook pages (Artova’s main Facebook page, Nappi Naapuri, NUPH) or closed Facebook groups (some Artova groups, NUPH). Facebook pages, such as websites, are used for online presence, advertising and discussion. Closed Facebook groups, as well as Intranets in the case of Artova, are used for organisational purposes.
All three groups have a website of their own. Nappi Naapuri ordered theirs from a software development firm not associated with the community. They resorted to crowdfunding, after receiving only 1000 Euros from the City of Helsinki, to collect the necessary sum to develop the website. As with AØFF, Nappi Naapuri’s operations depend on specific functionalities that are not available e.g. on Facebook4.
Artova also invested time, effort, and a certain amount of money in having their own website. They chose to use the Joomla-based platform offered and hosted by Helka ry, but contributed to the re-design of their generic templates. In addition to the public website, Artova also chose to have their own Intranet, using the free PBWorks Wiki platform after it was recommended by a community member. Later, the members of Artova also developed the ‘Artova model’ as a tool for documenting and sharing the way six of their projects had been developed and implemented and the best practices that can be useful to others. They hired a student and a software developer for the ‘Artova model’ website, who chose to build it by using the WordPress platform, because Joomla turned out to be too complicated for the specific features they had in mind.
NUPH also has a complex artefact ecology, which has been created by its tech-savvy members. As the City of Helsinki is co-producing the feasibility study with NUPH, it has enabled the use of the Maptionnaire survey-tool and allowed NUPH to publish on its video channel.
The examples we have chosen from Helsinki show a variety of design-in-use tactics and strategies by the different groups, e.g. with the choice of tools and the combination of sets of tools (whether globally available ones or tools provided by the City of Helsinki). When freely available tools are not enough, some of the groups, similarly to AØFF, try to find resources to create specifications for new tools and their visuals that are implemented by volunteers or paid professionals.
The relationship with authorities varies depending on the core activities of the groups and the related City department. When assessed with the ladder of hybrid governance, Nappi Naapuri represents the lowest level (no involvement), whereas Artova reaches Level 4 (sporadic interaction between the community and the City administration). NUPH has ascended to the 6th level, as it collaborates with the Department of Environment and Planning by co-producing shared documents for the development of the National Urban Park. NUPH was also the only example of a self-organising citizen group that used technology provided by the City of Helsinki.
A variety of digital practices, challenges and the need for support
Our qualitative meta-analysis of the case studies in Helsinki and Aarhus shows that establishing and maintaining digital artefact ecologies with minimal resources remains challenging for urban self-organising groups. Our findings deal with the varied practices of self-organised communities and movements related to setting up their digital artefact ecologies, the challenges they faced, and the potential support of co-governance to the digital needs.
The surveyed groups heavily rely on the use of freely available, familiar mundane technologies, such as Facebook, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Doodle (Tables 1 and 2). These tools do not necessitate specific technical skills. Nonetheless, many of the key members of the studied self-organised groups are advanced users of social media. Members of Artova and Nappi Naapuri, for example, use Google Analytics to understand the patterns of the effects of Facebook posting, to better target their members or the public. Advanced use practices were also apparent with more technologically demanding tools, such as Artova’s Wiki-based Intra.
The main challenges concerning the use of digital artefacts were two-fold. The first type of challenges related to the freely available tools that offer only generic functionalities that do not support all the needs of urban self-organised groups. Many interviewees had difficulties to find information on the Facebook page or group. Facebook lacks archiving functionalities that could support this need. This, and other limitations, triggered the groups to set up their own websites, leading to the second type of challenges. Here, the lack of resources was a challenge for website customisation and maintenance. AØFF relied on coding by members with a background in software development, but as this was time-consuming, they had to pay the member a fee. Nappi Naapuri resorted to crowdfunding to find the necessary funds for a graphic designer and a software developer. Artova also paid part of the expenses needed to develop the new visual look of the neighbourhood platform provided by Helka ry. In all cases, the maintenance of the designed platform remained challenging. The challenge of maintenance also remains with tools provided for free by universities (e.g. the Urban Mediator) or tools developed by students (e.g. Artova’s City Paths mobile apps).
Furthermore, the ownership of the tools and its consequences are an intriguing issue. The studied communities are caught between commercial platforms (mainly Facebook and Google) and their own platforms that require a great deal of effort from members, ICT-expertise, as well as a certain amount of resources. Even if no explicit concerns were articulated about the privacy and security issues of the global social media tools, an Artova activist mentioned that it is important for him to know, where their servers are located, especially outside Europe. It seems that tools owned and operated by municipal authorities are seldom offered for citizens to use, except in cases of clear collaboration such as with NUPH. Even in this case, the citizen groups were not given control over them. The setting up of City of Helsinki video platform, and Maptionnaire, was handled by the authorities. The tools provided by NGOs, for example by Helka ry, also have their own challenges. They suffer from the NGO’s own restricted resources and the slowness of maintenance and updating.
Looking back at the Citizen Toolkit, all the groups used many of the social media features, and Artova used even the Urban Mediator. In hindsight, to be truly useful, the CT should have provided detailed best practices concerning the use of social media and other tools, as well as information on how to set up different types of websites. In addition, our research on the development of the CT showed that the concept of co-governance with public-private-people partnerships remained unclear for many, including us researchers. It was especially unclear what the CT was meant to support: was the purpose to enhance community self-organisation or to liaise with authorities.
The Aarhus and Helsinki cases show that all the studied self-organised groups have had to be in contact, even remotely, with authorities at some point. Only one of them (NUPH) succeeded in co-creating a semi-formal digital space (Horelli et al., 2015) and reached a position with the municipality that can be labelled as hybrid or partial co-governance. The Artova-case has also shown the potential role of an ‘in-between’ broker that is neither an authority, nor a citizen group, such as Helka ry, as a provider and supporter of digital technology. However, Helka suffers from the lack of technological agility and resources, as only a fraction of its budget is covered by the City of Helsinki. Thus, the answer to the question concerning the support to the digital needs of self-organisation remains at this stage of development rather unclear.
Conclusions and Discussion
Our research showed that four types of tools shape the artefact ecologies of urban self-organised groups: a) tools provided for free by research institutions or NGOs, b) tools owned and used by authorities, for which citizen groups can be given a permission of use, if strong collaboration between them and authorities exist, c) tools provided usually for free by global service providers, such as Facebook or Google, and d) open source tools that enable building more customised platforms. Based on these results, we suggest three possible types of support to the digital needs of self-organising groups, who are not necessarily technologically savvy, to be upheld, whether from outside or inside the community, regarding issues related to the design-in-use of their artefact ecologies.
The first type of support is an intermediary agent, for example Helka ry in our cases, if it is well-resourced to provide technological assistance to urban self-organised communities in terms of platform provision and support to their application and design-in-use.
The second one is a well-developed hybrid or co-governance model with the City or some other public body. For example, the NUPH case showed that advanced collaboration between a movement and municipality is possible, if the latter is willing. However, municipal authorities in general have not yet provided much tangible (digital) support and stewardship. In the case of Helsinki, the City’s own ‘coding companions’ and ICT-developers, might be considered to start co-creation with activists in need. Moreover, newly publicly funded projects, for example Kira-Digi (The Finnish Ministry of the Environment), which enhances the digitalisation of the building, planning and development field, and Aarhus’ emerging City Lab as a test site for digital urban development, might open new avenues for novel public-private-people partnerships around digital technologies.
The third type of support relates to alternative ways to the current platform capitalism. Platform co-operativism5 seeks to give users control and ownership of the tools they use. It offers an interesting scenario for addressing the digital commons and deserves to be seriously considered in the context of cities.
As concrete future steps, it is important to provide an easy-to-understand model or schema of the different types of civic engagements with relevant tools. This might assist in viewing self-organisation, not as something antagonistic to the official citizen procedures, but as a different form of participation, which might eventually lead to co-governance with official procedures. This might enhance collaboration between varying partners, self-organized groups and officials, as well as different actors in between, intermediaries, enterprises of ICT developers, coop platforms etc. Questions that can drive the future work are: What constitutes ICTs for civic engagement, and what are the actors at the local and global levels who might be involved with the support to the ICT- needs of self-organised groups in urban contexts? Answering these questions is seminal for the enhancement of innovative urban development and liveable communities beyond traditional understandings of e-planning and Smart Cities.
Joanna Saad-Sulonen’s work has been funded by the Academy of Finland, funding decision number 308156.
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2 Framework and methodology: expanded design and planning
3.1 The Citizen Toolkit – an effort to support the digital ecologies for urban development
3.2 The Aarhus local organic-food community – the use of an evolving ecology of digital tools
3.3 The plethora of digital tools in Helsinki – emerging signs of hybrid governance
4 A variety of digital practices, challenges and the need for support
5 Conclusions and Discussion
6 Acknowledgments
Helka ry, founded in 1964, is the central organisation of currently 76 neighbourhood organisations in Helsinki. It is an intermediary agent, as it is an umbrella NGO that is partly financed by the City of Helsinki.
The primary aim of these tools was to provide citizens information regarding the city, as well as to enable opportunities to comment future plans. Since then, the City of Helsinki has expanded the types of tools it provides, which now also includes social networking tools.
For more details on Artova, see the section on the plethora of tools in Helsinki.
We note here that Yhteismaa ry did recognize the global availability of neighbourhood help-platforms, but they were considered ugly. Yhteismaa wanted a beautiful interface with a ‘chat map’.
A platform co-op is a digital platform — a website or mobile app that is designed to provide a service or sell a product — that is collectively owned and governed by the people who depend on and participate in it (Scholz & Schneider 2017).
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Mikey Likes It!
Barack the Fraud and Putz
I said I wasn't going to write about Barry Bastard's lameo speech tonight but then I watched. He told many lies.
This is the one that really did it for me:
As we do, I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.
Kiss my ass Barry.
No one can doubt his support for our troops?
I can and I will.
And F**K YOU, BARRY OBAMA, you don't tell me what I can and cannot do.
In fact, you lazy ass bastard, you work for us. We don't work for you. So take your little candy ass and get to work. No more jerking off, no more sucking off Arne after b-ball, get to work, you lazy ass bastard who seems to think being president is nothing more than being a beauty queen on a float.
Republican readers, if the Dems run Barry in 2012, I may vote Republican. I've had with this piece of s**t. America might survive one term. We can't take two. (What about Ralph! I don't think Ralph's running again. I also doubt that the Green Party will run a real candidate. If they do, they'll work to undercut him or her the way they tried to destroy Cynthia McKinney.)
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, Barack prepares to give a big speech (which won't end the war), Iraqis are less than impressed, the CIA had the biggest office where?, the War Hawks and War Whores crawl out of the woodworks, and more.
As Barack prepares to speak tonight about the Iraq War, the world learns that blood for oil worked out very good for Halliburton. Dick Cheney's cesspool has landed a contract. AP reports it is "from Italian firm Eni" for an Iraqi oil field. Reuters adds Eni wants Halliburton "to help squeeze more oil from 20 wells in the Zubair field in southern Iraq." Dick Cheney spent 8 years running and ruining the US government while Bully Boy Bush struggled with his addicition to games of dress up. John Dickerson (Slate via CBS News) weighs in on how Bully Boy Barack's helping out Bully Boy Bush, "As for Obama, he is not consciously trying to improve the public's view of the Bush years. Indeed, he is actively reminding people of the mess he inherited from his predecessor. It is a key theme of the entire Democratic campaign. At the same time, as Obama demonstrates the natural limits of presidential action, he unwittingly adds perspective to assessments of what President Bush could do. As he benefits from policies he once opposed--such as the surge in Iraq, which helped make tomorrow's speech possible -- Obama proves that even a smart politician with the best of intentions can be wrong. And as he champions making tough calls even in the face of popular opposition, he often sounds eerily like his predecessor." Maybe they discussed that in their phone call to one another today?
Simon Jenkins (Guardian) provides some truths that may go missing in tonight's speech by Barack.
As his troops return home, Iraqis are marginally freer than in 2003, and considerably less secure. Two million remain abroad as refugees from seven years of anarchy, with another 2 million internally displaced. Ironically, almost all Iraqi Christians have had to flee. Under western rule, production of oil -- Iraq's staple product -- is still below its pre-invasion level, and homes enjoy fewer hours of electricity. This is dreadful.
Some 100,000 civilians are estimated to have lost their lives from occupation-related violence. The country has no stable government, minimal reconstruction, and daily deaths and kidnappings. Endemic corruption is fuelled by unaudited aid. Increasing Islamist rule leaves most women less, not more, liberated. All this is the result of a mind-boggling $751bn of US expenditure, surely the worst value for money in the history of modern diplomacy.
The News Chief editorial board notes that this is the second time the US government has declared combat operations over and points out, "Now we are proclaiming the end of 'formal combat operations,' meaning that what the troops do will be either reactive or in support of Iraqi troops. It still will be combat." Anne E. Kornblut (Washington Post) reports on the advance swirl around the speech:
"Maybe he's entitled to the partial victory lap, but this is not the right moment for it," said analyst Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, who has been critical of both Democratic and Republican approaches to the war. "If I were him, I'd wait until we have an Iraqi government, and do it with the Iraqis together."
O'Hanlon said he was "confused about the planned Oval Office speech." It could raise unrealistic expectations among the public about the chances for calm in Iraq, he said. And the timing of the pullout of combat troops may be seen as having more to do with the president's political needs than with real signs of progress on the ground.
Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) observes, "Less than two weeks ago Americans were glued to their TVs for footage of the 'last brigade' of US soldiers withdrawing from Iraq. With embedded MSNBC journalists and in-studio officials trumpeting a military victory, an America exultant in having finally "won" the war, it was extremely successful, and that 50,000 US troops are still there and hundreds of Iraqis have died since the announcement was really only a minor hiccup. It was so successful, in fact, that the Obama Administration has decided to do it again, which is one of the advantages fake endings of wars have over actual endings."
In Iraq, desperate not to be John Howard at the War Dance -- the former Australian prime minister tried very hard to hop on Bush but Tony Blair was always in Bush's lap -- Nouri al-Maliki decided to hold his own little press conference and ensure he was not the wallflower of the news cycle. Reuters reports that Nouri crowed on Iraqi TV, "Iraq today is sovereign and independent." Was the would-be New Saddam announcing he was stepping down as prime minister -- something the people and the politicians want? No. He was ignoring that and ignoring the fact that his term of office expired sometime ago. He was, however, hiding behind the semantics that will allow US President Barack Obama to lie to the American people tonight and declare the Iraq War over. Anna Fifield (Financial Times of London) points out, "Mr Maliki, the leader of the Shia State of Law party has refused to relinquish the prime ministership, six months after March elections which saw the Iraqiya coalition, a secular alliance led by Iyad Allawi, his rival, win the most seats." Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna observes, "Nouri al-Maliki is essentially a caretaker prime minister. There is no government in place." March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. The Guardian's editorial board notes, "These elections were hailed prematurely by Mr Obama as a success, but everything that has happened since has surely doused that optimism in a cold shower of reality." 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the government. In 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. It's now 5 months and 24 days. Phil Sands (National Newspaper) notes that if the stalemate continues through September 8th, it will then be a half a year since Iraqis voted. Yesterday, Anthony Shadid (New York Times) reported that the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray Odierno, is stating that the political stalemate could cause harm and "I worry about that a little bit." AFP quotes the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq's Ammar al-Hakim stating, "We have started to reach the end of the tunnel. In the next few days, we are heading toward resolving the issue and accelerating the formation of a new government."
Jasim Al Azzawi (Gulf News) feels that Allawi has three reasons to refuse to take second place to Nouri including his age (could be his last chance to again become prime minister), Iraqiya (which won't want a second place role after winning the most votes) and
waiving Nouri through comes with "no guarantees that his [Allawi's] future decisions and actions will not be reversed and nullified by Al Maliki's powerful generals in charge of security and intelligence services. Given his limited options, Allawi's strategy is to stay firm, watch Al Maliki stew in his own juice and wait for him to commit a blunder." Meanwhile Zhang Xu (Xinhua) reports, "Arab and Islamic countries, basically Egypt and Turkey, should send peace-keeping troops to Iraq with the coordination of Arab League, Iraq's cross-sectarian Iraqia List bloc's media official Ahmad al-Dileimi told Xinhua in an exclusive interview in Damascus on Sunday." If you're late to the party on Iraq's attempts at elections, Xiong Tong (Xinua) provides a comprehensive overview here. Meanwhile Alsumaria TV reports that there are rumors that Al Iraiqya has internal disagreements "over the government formation" but that the spokesperson Haidar Al Mulla denies the rumors. Siobhan Gorman (Wall St. Journal) reports that unnamed "US spy officials" are concerned over Iraq's inability thus far to form a government and notes that "eyes and ears" have een provided in Iraq by "spy agencies like the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency" and the unnamed "official . . . declined to say how many officers from the spy agencies will be moved out of Iraq. Until this year, Baghdad, for example, was the Central Intelligence Agency's largest station, and it's now been eclipsed this year by Afghanistant." Reuters notes that Ben Rhodes declared on Air Force One today that, "Iraq should move forward with a sense of urgency." Who is Rhodes? The White House Deputy National Security Adviser. Remember, pay attention to who's in charge of Iraq -- it's the US national security group. Reporting on the increase in murders in Iraq, Usama Redha and Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) explain, "But like other killings and assassinations in a wave of violence that has crept up on Iraq during an unnerving political stalemate, no one really knows who the "bad men" are. Was Fakher killed by a Sunni Arab insurgent group like Al Qaeda in Iraq, or a Shiite Muslim militia like the one that once controlled the neighborhood, or did the attack stem from a personal feud? Iraqis are left muttering one word, vague yet ominous: Terrorists, the television announcer intoned about Fakher's killers. Terrorism, police recorded in their books. It was terrorists, his parents say."
Marie Colvin (Sunday Times via the Australian) examines Sahwa -- aka Sons of Iraq, Awakenings -- and explains they are both "angry and disillusioned" and, "Many have not been paid for two months. They believe their job prospects have diminished because they are not favoured by the Shi'ite dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Mudhir al-Mawla, the official responsible for integrating the 52,000 members of the Sons of Iraq, confirms that the process has been frozen for a year. Worse, the militia is being targeted by a resurgent al-Qa'ida, particularly in Anbar province, including Fallujah. Here al-Qa'ida is offering young men $US200 ($224) a time to take part in attacks, a huge sum in a city with few jobs." And this comes, as Nafia Abdul Jabbar (AFP) noted, at a time when "[d]ozens of fihters, who helped avert a civil war and were crucial to curbing Iraq's sectarian violence when it peaked in 2006 and 2007, have been killed in recent months in acts of retaliation." Barbara Surk and Rebecca Santana (AP) remind, "The Sunni militias, also known as the Sons of Iraq, were a key element in turning the tide against Sunni-led terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, and the American military began paying the militias to fight on their side. That responsibility now lies with the Iraqi government, which is also supposed to incorporate many of them into government ministries. But many Sons of Iraq complain the government is turning its back on the militias, failing to pay them on time or find them good jobs."
Yesterday on Uprising, Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Hadani Ditmars about the so-called 'end' of the Iraq War. Excerpt:
Hadani Ditmars: Of course, there's still a huge US presence in Iraq. An embassy the size of Vatican City, several desert bases that are going to remain. I think we really shouldn't be focusing so much on the 'withdrawal.' What we should look at are the larger systemic issues. The huge humanitarian catostrophe that Iraq is-is experiencing at the moment where seven years after the invasion, as you can read about in the new issue of New Internationalist which I traveled back to Baghdad in February, March to write and photograph. Seven years later the legacy of this invasion is that 43% of Iraqis live in abject poverty, 70% don't have access to clean drinking water, huge unemployment rate, terrible security situation, drastic decline in the status of women and a secular society that has become Islamicized in a bad way -- I mean, I don't even want to call is Islamicized, just militia rule has become the norm. So I think we have to look at these larger underlying issues. I don't think that the so-called withdrawal is really going to effect those issues one way or another. It could have a shorterm, as it has in the past several weeks. upswing in violent attacks, further deterioration of the security situation. But the underlying issues and the underlying damage that has been done by this disastorous invasion and occupation are still there, still need to be addressed.
Sonali Kolhatkar: What is the so-called advisery role that the US troop will play to the Iraqi army. What dot that mean?
Hadani Ditmars: Well, you know, I don't work for the Pentagon so I can't tell you exactly, but I assume it's going to be a very hands-on approach rather than arms' length. At the same time there is a sense of abandonment. I mean, I'm sure you read the Tariq Aziz interview in the Guardian a few weeks ago where he said that Iraq is not ready and that the Americans by withdrawing are abandoning Iraq to the wolves. Well I would say that Iraq has already been abandoned to the wolves, sadly. So this could just make a bad situation worse. It's not really a full withdrawal. It's not really the end of ocupation. But in terms of an advisory role perhaps there will still be some sort of military advice going on. It's really just kind of window dressing, as I say, for the larger issues. There's still a political power, there's still a huge issue around sectarian violence and the sectarian strife. You know, it's a bit frustrating when you've been covering Iraq for as long as I have -- since 1997 -- that the media in the West is primarily interested in Iraq when there's some news that is really more about America than Iraq, you know? When there's been a bombing, or even the elections which were kind of pseudo democratic I would say, there was a flurry of media interest in Iraq. But it's very difficult to get people interested in the status of women and how it's declined drastically or in the larger issue of how this once secular society has become radicalized and fundamentalist, etc. So, yeah, you know, I think obviously the $53 billion that's been spent on "aid," a lot of that has gone to military hardware in the name of military advisory activity. A lot of that has gone into the pockets of American military contractors. And, of course, to this growing army of mercenaries.
Sonali Kolhatkar: And I want to ask you about that privatizing -- further privatizing of the occupation. But first, what do ordinary Iraqis -- what is the view of most Iraqis? Obviously, it's not going to be homogenius but if you can give us a sense of what most Iraqis think about the security situation in their county it would be helpful
Hadani Ditmars: Well I don't know if you read the issue that I wrote and photographed but there was a sixty-eight-year-old architect, Muwafaq al-Taei, a former Saddam-era town planner and he's quite an interesting fellow because as he was being forced to build these terrible villas for Saddam, he was also a Communist and a Shia so he was being spied on at the same time. So he was almost killed by US troops post-invasion when he was doing a project with the Marsh Arabs. So he's rather philosophical as are many Iraqis. And he says in the issue that Iraqis always sort of make do and anarchy is the mother of invention and we'll get through this. But, you know, there's this incredible sort of resilience that people have which I just find staggering really because the average Iraqi has been through so much. At the time of elections, they were -- they were quite cynical about what was going on -- and rightly so because there was nothing really in the way of campaign finance laws. There were incumbents like Ahmed Chalabi who were simultaneously running for office and at the same time nixing the bids of rival opponents under the auspices of the infamous de-Ba'athification Commission. Government forces were rounding up opponents and jailing them under trumped up terrorism charges. So, you know, some Iraqis -- a lot of Iraqis I met were not voting and they were quite cynical about it. At the same time, when the polling stations were being bombed, this sort of encouraged Iraqis to actually get out and vote -- almost in spite of what was going on. Lately when I've been speaking with Muwafaq in Baghdad, he just says, "Well we're just getting on with it, you know, the country isn't really being run by the politicians, it's being run by the Iraqi people and we're just trying our best to make do." It's almost like they've been set a drift. They have no real functioning state. And this is really a contrast from, of course, the Ba'athist when the state was the great provider, when Iraq had the best public health and education system in the Arab world. Having said that, the state still remains the main employer. So it's -- it's really sad to see what's happened to the country. Going back even for the first time in seven years, I was shocked to see how Baghdad had been so completely broken and colonized and walled off into sectarian neighborhoods. If you look at the fact spread, in the May issue of the New Internationalist, there's some quite damning statistics. But there's also a very telling map of Baghdad -- one from 2003, before the invasion, one from 2008. And I don't know if you had a chance to look at that but you'll see that in 2003 most of the neighborhoods were mixed -- meaning Sunni, Shia, Christian, Muslim, Arab, Kurd. After the invasion, in 2008, the majority of the -- in particular after the sectarian wars of 2006 and 2007, most of Baghdad neighborhoods were sectarian enclaves and the majority Shia. So the whole social fabric of -- not to mention the political landscape has shifted radically. And Iraqis are really, I think, just left reeling from it all and trying to struggle for daily survival.
Today on PRI's The World, Marco Werman spoker with Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor). Excerpt:
Marco Werman: Jane Arraf is in Baghdad for the Christian Science Monitor. She says Iraqis have mixed feelings about this transition.
Jane Arraf: Now everybody here wants to see occupation forces gone. That's indisputable. They don't like seeing American soldiers in the street. They don't like seeing any foreign soldiers in the street. It's fairly natural. But having said that, there is a real sense here that this is still a broken country and it was the Americans, pretty much, who broke it. That's the feeling in the streets. And until they fix it, they shouldn't just leave. Now the US will say -- US officials who are here will say they're not just flipping a switch, they're not just leaving, they're going to remain engaged. That doesn't actually mean a lot to people in the street because really what matters to them is, "Are the car bombs going off? Are those rockets being fired?" Is there a sense that someone will protect them? Increasingly that's looking towards the borders.
Jane Arraf (CSM via McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "In Baghdad, all leave for Iraqi soldiers and police was canceled, and new checkpoints were set up across the city, adding another level of frustration to Iraqis struggling to get through 115-degree heat amid power cuts and water shortages - many of them fasting during the holy month of Ramadan." For The NewsHour (PBS -- link has transcript, audio and video), Margaret Warner reported from Iraq last night:
MARGARET WARNER: After nearly two years of steadily declining bloodshed, violence has been on the uptick for the past two months. The Iraqis are in charge of security in the cities and their main line of defense are checkpoints like these.
CAPT. MOHAMMED RADEWI, Iraqi Army (through translator): For the present moment, the situation is unstable, and the army is using these checkpoints to control the situation.
MARGARET WARNER: Iraqi checkpoints themselves are becoming targets, as they were last week in a string of attacks aimed at undermining Iraqis' confidence in their government and security forces. Baghdad resident Janan Jezma was gloomy when asked about the U.S. force drawdown.
JANAN JEZMA, resident of Baghdad: I think we need America here. We need America here. I think so.
MARGARET WARNER: One city that has had its fill of American troops is Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in the heart of the Sunni Triangle.
If you'd like to ask Margaret Warner a question about Iraq click here. The NewsHour's Rundown News Blog is collecting question. At the program's blog today, Larisa Epatko features the voices of five Iraqis on how they see the future of their country.
-- after
US House Rep Ron Paul delivered the following (and you can hear the audio at Antiwar.com):
Amid much fanfare last week, the last supposed "combat" troops left Iraq as the administration touted the beginning of the end of the Iraq War and a change in the role of the United States in that country. Considering the continued public frustration with the war effort and with the growing laundry list of broken promises, this was merely another one of the administration's operations in political maneuvering and semantics in order to convince an increasingly war-weary public that the Iraq War is at last ending. However, military officials confirm that we are committed to intervention in that country for years to come, and our operations have, in fact, changed minimally, if really at all.
After eight long, draining years, I have to wonder if our government even understands what it is to end a war anymore. The end of a war, to most people, means all the troops come home, out of harm's way. It means we stop killing people and getting killed. It means we stop sending troops and armed personnel over and draining our treasury for military operations in that foreign land. But much like the infamous "mission accomplished" moment of the last administration, this "end" of the war also means none of those things.
50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, and they are still receiving combat pay. One soldier was killed in Basra just last Sunday, after the supposed end of combat operations, and the same day 5,000 men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood were deployed to Iraq. Their mission will be anything but desk duty. Among other things, they will accompany the Iraqi military on dangerous patrols, continue to be involved in the hunt for terrorists, and provide air support for the Iraqi military. They should be receiving combat pay, because they will be serving a combat role!
Of course, the number of private contractors -- who perform many of the same roles as troops, but for a lot more money -- is expected to double. So this is a funny way of ending combat operations in Iraq. We are still meddling in their affairs, we are still putting our men and women in danger, and we are still spending money we don't have. This looks more like an escalation than a drawdown to me!
The ongoing war in Iraq takes place against a backdrop of economic crisis at home, as fresh numbers indicate that our economic situation is as bad as ever, and getting worse! Our foreign policy is based on an illusion: that we are actually paying for it. What we are doing is borrowing and printing the money to maintain our presence overseas. Americans are seeing the cost of this irresponsible approach as our economic decline continues. Unemployed Americans have been questioning a policy that ships hundreds of billions of dollars overseas while their own communities crumble and their frustration is growing. An end to this type of foreign policy is way overdue.
A return to the traditional American foreign policy of active private engagement and non-interventionism is the only alternative that can restore our moral and fiscal health.
All the liars and whores try desperately to spin today. For example, BBC's Mark Mardell who today wants to scribble about the Iraq War being right. He whored yesterday, he whores today. He wants you to know the illegal war was right because, get this, Richie Armitage told him that. Read in vain for any reminder that Richie is the chatty gossip who helped out Valerie Plame. You won't find out about that. The War Hawk Richie gets to spin and, unlike when he was almost in trouble (and should have been), there's no effort to lie and claim he was ever against the Iraq War. (That was the cover story, if you've forgotten: Why would he intentionally out Plame, he was against the war!) Mark Mardell drools over Richie ("hardman," "massively built," "arms and shoulders muscled") and you just have to wonder what Richie did to get such fawning press.
All the whores are grabbing a street light apparently. For example it's hard to tell which is more disgraceful, Paul Woflowitz for attempting to lie yet again or the New York Times for printing his garabage? Then again, there's something symbolic about the two public menaces who helped sell the illegal war coming together today.
But it's not just the New York Times. US House Rep Howard P. McKeon, a War Hawk from the Republican side of the aisle, gets to whine in the Los Angeles Times that Congress better keep funding Iraq, it just better. Are you starting to notice how nothing has changed?
The Iraq War is not ending. And not a damn thing's been learned. The liars and pushers are invited back by the media and the closest to an 'expanded' point of view the media wants to provide is apparently NPR's Morning Edition bringing on White House plus-size spokesmodel Robert Gibbs to 'talk' Iraq with Steve Inskeep. (Inskeep did ask some needed questions but tubby Gibbs danced around them.) It's left to Peter Bergen (CNN) to point out:
It also bears recalling that almost none of the goals of the war as described by proponents of overthrowing Saddam were achieved:
-- An alliance between Saddam and al Qaeda wasn't interrupted because there wasn't one, according to any number of studies, including one by the Institute for Defense Analyses, the Pentagon's internal think tank. Indeed, it was only after the US-led invasion of Iraq that al Qaeda established itself in the country, rising by 2006 to become an insurgent organization that controlled most of Sunni Iraq.
-- There was no democratic domino effect around the Middle East. Quite the opposite; the authoritarian regimes became more firmly entrenched.
-- Peace did not come to Israel, as the well-known academic Fouad Ajami anticipated before the war in Foreign Affairs. Ajami predicted that the road to Jerusalem went through Baghdad.
-- Nor did the war pay for itself as posited by top Pentagon official Paul Wolfowitz, who told Congress in 2003 that oil revenues "could bring between 50 and 100 billion dollars over the course of the next two or three years. We're dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." Quite the reverse: Iraq was a giant money sink for the American economy.
-- The supposed threat to the United States from Saddam wasn't ended because there wasn't one to begin with. And in his place arose a Shia-dominated Arab state, the first in modern history.
With few exceptions, all we're hearing from are the War Hawks and no one's supposed to notice that. No one's supposed to notice that the same whores who sold the illegal war are invited to weigh in again. Where are the voices of peace? Where are the voices of those who were right about the illegal war? Watch, listen and read in vain at most outlets. One who was right, Phyllis Bennis (Foreign Policy In Focus), issues the following statement:
The U.S. occupation of Iraq continues on a somewhat smaller scale, with 50,000 troops. These are combat troops, "re-missioned" by the Pentagon with new tasks, but even Secretary of Defense Gates admits they will have continuing combat capability and will continue counter-terrorism operations. The 4500 Special Forces among them will continue their "capture or kill" raids while building up the Iraqi Special Operations Forces as an El Salvador-style death squad.
The only transition underway is not from U.S. to Iraqi control, but from Pentagon to State Department deployment. Thousands of new military contractors, armored transport, planes, "rapid response" forces and other military resources will all be shifted from Pentagon to State Dept control, thus remaining within the terms of the U.S.-Iraqi Status of forces Agreement that calls for all U.S. troops and Pentagon-controlled mercenaries to leave by the end of 2011.
President Obama's speech will not use any terms remotely close to "mission accomplished" -- because with violence up, sectarianism rampant, the government paralyzed, corruption sky-high and rising, oil contracts creating more violence instead of national wealth, there is no victory to claim.
We'll close with this from David Swanson's "Peace Movement Pushes for End to War on Iraq" about a forum over the weekend focusing on Iraq (Phyllis Bennis was at the forum, use link for full report):
The second and last panel included:
Josh Stieber, Iraq Veterans Against the War
David Swanson, author
Bill Fletcher, labor leader, scholar
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK and Global Exchange
Stieber discussed, from the point of view of a soldier who believed the war lies and came to reject them, the incoherence of the bundle of excuses for this war that we've all been offered. On the one hand this is a war to kill evil Muslims. On the other hand it's a war to spread human rights. We help people out by bombing them, something Stieber said many U.S. soldiers end up joking about, most of them quickly losing any belief in the morality of their cause.
I argued for voting out of office those who fund the wars, and for holding the war makers criminally and constitutionally responsible, including through launching an effort to impeach Jay Bybee and open up a congressional review of war lies and the crime of aggression.
Bill Fletcher picked up where Head-Roc had left off, arguing for the need to make peace not just a preference people have when a pollster asks them, but something that resonates with them as central to the betterment of their daily lives. He pointed to the Chicano Moratorium exactly 40 years earlier as a movement to learn from.
Medea Benjamin inspired, as always, with tales of recent activism by CODE PINK to oppose the war funding, to build alliances, and to hold accountable war criminals including Karl Rove and Erik Prince. And she pushed for participation on a massive scale in the march on October 2nd:
http://www.onenationforpeace.org
rebecca santana
marco werman
jane arraf
jason ditz
anne e. kornblut
the news chief
phyllis bennis
mark mardell
steve inskeep
usama redha
ned parker
Posted by Mikey Likes It! at 10:00 PM
I'm Michael, Mike to my friends. College student working his way through. I'm also Irish-American and The New York Times can kiss my Irish ass. And check out Trina's Kitchen on my links, that's my mother's site.
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At Least Five Killed After Two Small Tour Planes Collide in Midair
posted by R.J. Johnson - @rickerthewriter - May 14, 2019
At least five people have been killed and 10 others hospitalized after two small floatplanes carrying cruise ship passengers collided in mid-air near Ketchikan, Alaska, the Coast Guard said on Monday. One person remains missing.
"Our crews are out there searching diligently alongside our partner agencies and some good Samaritans," Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios told ABC News on "Good Morning America."
Floatplanes, which have pontoons mounted under the fuselage so they can land on water, are a popular way for tourists to view the Misty Fjords National Monument from the air. The fatal collision occurred when a de-Havilland DHC-2 Beaver with five people on board and a de-Havilland Otter DH-3 carrying 11 people crashed in mid-air "under unknown circumstances" the FAA said.
Ten people had to be taken to a local hospital with three of the patients listed in serious condition. The other seven have been listed in fair condition.
Both planes were carrying tourists from the Royal Princess cruise ship and collided about eight nautical miles away from Ketchikan, Alaska. The cruise ship has since departed the area and continued on its seven-day voyage.
Princess Cruises released a statement about the deaths on Tuesday:
"All of us at Princess Cruises are deeply saddened by this tragic news and we are extending our full support to the investigating authorities as well as the traveling companions of the guests involved," spokesman Brian O'Connor said in a statement Tuesday. "We immediately activated our Princess Care Team employees in the region and sent additional team members to Ketchikan overnight to assist the families impacted."
One of the planes was operated by Tanquan Air, which has suspended all scheduled flights.
"We are devastated by today's incident and our hearts go out to our passengers and their families," Taquan said in a statement. "At this time, we are in the midst of an active crisis response, and our focus is on assisting these passengers, the pilot, our staff, their families and loved ones, and first responders."
The Coast Guard, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are all investigating the circumstances around the crash.
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The use of anti-inflammatory canakinumab could reduce risk of heart attack
Results from a recent trial of the anti-inflammatory drug canakinumab have revealed it could help reduce risk of heart attack and mark the biggest breakthrough in cardiovascular treatment since statins.
The Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study (CANTOS) looked at people who previously suffered from a heart attack and tested whether administration of canakinumab could reduce inflammation and reduce risk of future cardiovascular events (Ridker et al. 2017).
Speaking at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, where the findings were presented, Professor Paul Ridker of Harvard Medical School, said:
‘These findings represent the end game of more than two decades of research, stemming from a critical observation: half of heart attacks occur in people who do not have high cholesterol. For the first time, we’ve been able to definitively show that lowering inflammation independent of cholesterol reduces cardiovascular risk.’
According to Ridker this has far-reaching implications:
‘It tells us that by leveraging an entirely new way to treat patients—targeting inflammation—we may be able to significantly improve outcomes for certain very high-risk populations, he said.’
Outlining the trial
The trial was conducted by researchers from a wide range of international organisations, including the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and the Cardiovascular Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Novartis in East Hanover, NJ, and Basel, Switzerland; the Federal University of São Paulo; Universitätsmedizin Berlin; and the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam.
Participating centres in 39 countries enrolled patients who had a history of heart attack and an elevated blood level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. It is believed raised levels of this protein may lead to further heart attacks.
Participants received doses of 50 mg, 150 mg or 300 mg of either canakinumab or placebo. These were administered subcutaneously every 3 months. Patients were excluded from the study if they had any of the following:
History of chronic or recurrent infection
Previous cancer other than basal-cell skin carcinoma
Suspected or known immunocompromised state
History or high risk of tuberculosis or disease related to the human immunodeficiency virus
Ongoing use of other systemic anti-inflammatory treatments.
The 10,016 participants recruited to the study were then monitored over the next 4 years. The researchers predominantly wanted to see whether participants suffered from additional heart attacks or stroke, or died from cardiovascular disease during this time.
In total, 1,490 participants experienced the main combined outcome of heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease within the 4 years monitored. Within the placebo group, there was an average of 4.5 of these main events per year per 100 people. The treatment groups revealed there was no statistically significant difference between the 50 mg group, compared with placebo. The 150 mg group indicated a 15% lower risk compared with placebo (3.86 events per year per 100 people), while the 300 mg group showed a 14% lower risk (3.90 events per year per 100 people). The researchers concluded that 150 mg of canakinumab taken every 3 months led to a significant reduction in recurrent cardiovascular events compared with placebo.
Considering the results
The potential implications for medicine of this study are considerable, with mainstream media hailing it as a remarkable breakthrough (BBC 2017) and calling canakinumab a ‘new wonder drug’ (Donnelly 2017). For a drug traditionally used in the treatment of arthritis it certainly makes for great headlines. However, there are a number of considerations that must be taken into account before the drug is hailed as the medical advancement some have claimed.
Highlighting limitations
As mentioned, the study only looked at patients who have already had heart attacks. This is something many of the media’s headlines failed to convey (NHS Choices 2017). The effect of the drug, therefore, on reducing inflammation in people who have not had a heart attack, remains unknown. Additionally, many newspapers claimed that canakinumab was ‘better than statins’, but this is unhelpful as it does not reflect the nature of the study. It is thought that if canakinumab was licensed as a preventative medication, it is likely it would be given to people who wouldn’t benefit from taking statins (NHS Choices 2017).
Most importantly, before any changes can be made to the current licensing of the drug, further research is needed to confirm both the beneficial effects and the optimal dose. This was highlighted in an editorial by Dr Robert A Harrington of Stanford University published alongside the study (Harrington 2017), who called the clinical benefit of canakinumab ‘modest’. He argues that ‘a better understanding of the risks and benefits of this form of therapy is needed’ and raised concerns about the fatal infections encountered in the trial and sepsis. He also cites concern over the cost of using canakinumab in patients with a previous heart attack.
Cost matters
Canakinumab is currently licensed in the United States to treat systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at a cost of approximately $200,000 per year (Harrington 2017). While this pricing may be suitable for rare diseases, it is unsuitable for common indications such as coronary artery disease. Given the study was funded by Novartis, the manufacturer of the drug, substantial evidence of its benefit is needed before wider licensing of the drug can be considered.
BBC News. Anti-inflammatory drug ‘cuts heart attack risk’ [Internet]. London: BBC News; 2017 Aug 28 [cited 2017 Sep 7]. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41071954
Donnelly L. New wonder drug hailed as biggest breakthrough in fight against heart attacks and cancer [Internet]. London: The Telegraph; 2017 Aug 27 [cited 2017 Sep 7]. Available from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/08/27/new-wonder-drug-hailed-biggest-breakthrough-fight-against-heart/
Harrington RA. Targeting inflammation in coronary artery disease. N Eng J Med [Internet]. 2017 Aug 27 [cited 2017 Sep 6]. Available from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1709904
Ridker PM, Everett BM, Thuren T et al. Antiinflammatory therapy with canakinumab for atherosclerotic disease. N Engl J Med [Internet]. 2017 Aug 27 [cited 2017 Sep 6]. Available from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1707914?query=featured_home&#t=articleTop
NHS Choices. Anti-inflammatory drug may help prevent heart attacks [Internet]. 2017 Aug 30 [cited 2017 Sep 6]. Available from http://www.nhs.uk/news/2017/08August/Pages/Anti-inflammatory-drug-may-help-prevent-heart-attacks.aspx
Taken from British Journal of Cardiac Nursing, published December 2017.
Filed under News Tagged with anti-inflammatory, BJCA, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, British Journal of Cardiac Nursing, C-reactive protein, Canakinumab, Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study, CANTOS, Cardiovascular Disease, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, European Society of Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology Congress, Federal University of São Paulo, Harvard Medical School, Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction, Novartis, Paul Ridker, Robert A Harrington, Stanford University, Stroke, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Amsterdam
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Show Review: Shooter Jennings Delivered Standout Show in OKC, with Joshua Ray Walker and Vincent Emerson
May 17, 2019 May 17, 2019 David Nowels1
I can’t help but speculate that there were many attending Shooter Jennings’ Tower Theatre show that were expecting something different Saturday night. Okay, perhaps “many” is an exaggeration, but undoubtedly there were some that got more than they bargained for. Leading up to show time, I overheard several conversations geared towards that “other“ Jennings. You know, that big Hoss that was known as Waylon, who also happens to have been Shooter’s dad. Over and over I heard speculation or hope that he’d play this Waylon song, or that Waylon song. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of those people had really dived into the younger Jennings’ catalog, and if they were truly prepared for what was on tap. After all, Jennings long ago stepped out of his father’s towering shadow. Shooter Jennings is quite an established and respected songwriter, musician and producer. To constantly hear requests for his dad’s material, has to be difficult for Jennings, and could easily create a chip on one’s shoulder.
If it did, it wasn’t apparent. Instead, Shooter and his talented band treated us to a 21 song set that rarely took its foot off the accelerator. Opening with “Bound To Get Down” off his newest album, Shooter, Jennings focused heavily on that album’s material, playing all but two songs from it. The new album served as a rare return to the “outlaw” form that was unquestionably successful for Jennings on his debut, “Putting the ‘O’ Back in Country.” I’m not sure it’s a genre that Jennings is really comfortable with, despite being key to its revitalization via his debut. Perhaps the best statement to that end could be found in the evening’s passionate recital of “Gunslinger” from 2013’s The Other Life. With its direct and to the point verses of “But don’t call an outlaw no I’m a motherfucking gunslinger” and “Some people think they know me Think they can predict me Think they gotta dis me,” Jennings lays it all on the table. For those that were hoping for a Waylon song, they got one with the deeper cut “Belle of the Ball,” which was just about perfect. There was also the stellar rendition of George Jones’ “The Door” that along with his own Jones inspired “Living in a Minor Key” were definite standouts.
Jennings also delivered some obvious crowd favorites. “4th of July,” and “Steady at the Wheel” were represented, but perhaps my favorite song of the night proved to be an emotive, poignant version of “All Of This Could Have Been Yours” that just left me emotionally drained at its conclusion. It really was that good. Jennings spent the evening splitting time between his Telecasters and the keys, though he seems most comfortable at the latter. The band supporting Jennings is without question one of the best in the business. Featuring longtime collaborator Ted Russell Kamp on bass and vocals, John Schreffler on guitar and vocals, Aubrey Richmond on violin and vocals and Jamie Douglass holding down the drums, the band allowed Jennings to shine and do what he does best. Entertain.
The support for the evening consisted of two out standing Texas based songwriters in their own right. First up, saw the Tower return of Joshua Ray Walker. Walker last opened for Colter Wall just prior to his debut album, “Wish You Were Here” being released. Playing solo, Walker’s mix of sad honky-tonk songs and sly humor did a fine job of setting the tone of the evening. Walker also debuted two new songs that he’s been working on for a followup recording. Tentatively titled, “I Can’t Do Much For Too Long,” and “How Long,” I found both songs quite impressive. Based on these two, Walker’s next album could really be something special, and one to watch for. Next up was Vincent Neil Emerson, an East Texas native now in Ft. Worth, and classic honky-tonk styled crooner. Also a veteran of supporting tours with his friend Colter Wall, Emerson has also been featured in Jason Momoa’s “On The Roam” and “Garden and Gun magazine. Emerson is currently wrapping up work on his debut release, and based on the material he presented here, it’s going to be a barn burner. Adding to the fun of the evening, Joshua Ray Walker handled electric guitar duties for Emerson and band, and while he was recruited somewhat unexpectedly, he handled the task admirably.
All things considered it was another outstanding night of music at the Tower, and I can’t wait for the next one.
REVIEW: Kelly Hunt’s “Even the Sparrow” is Infused With Energy
Song Premiere: Charlie Roth’s “Serenity” from Upcoming Album “I’m the Smile”
1 thought on “Show Review: Shooter Jennings Delivered Standout Show in OKC, with Joshua Ray Walker and Vincent Emerson”
Sounds like a blast! Vincent Neil Emerson is from East Texas and lives in Ft. Worth—not Dallas.
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Higher Ed Inc
Universities have become much more businesslike, but they are still doing the same old things
Special reportAug 14th 2018 edition
The way we learn now?
THE University of Phoenix's Hohokam campus looks more like a corporate headquarters than a regular university. There is none of the cheerful mess that you associate with student life. The windows are made from black reflecting glass, the corridors are neat and hushed, the grass has been recently cut, there is plenty of parking space for everybody, and security guards in golf carts make sure all the cars are on legitimate business. The university is conveniently close to a couple of motorways, and ten minutes from the airport.
But the campus does not just look like a corporate headquarters; it is one. The University of Phoenix is America's largest for-profit university (and indeed America's largest university, full stop), with 280,000 students, 239 campuses and various offshoots around the world, including some in China and India. The Hohokam campus houses the corporate headquarters of the Apollo Group, the company that owns the university, along with the group's corporate university.
The University of Phoenix was the brainchild of John Sperling, a Cambridge-educated economist turned entrepreneur. When he was teaching in San Jose State University in the early 1970s, Mr Sperling noticed that adult students got scant attention from universities designed to teach people aged 18-22. That, he felt, was not only unfair but also unwise: in the new economy, workers might have to keep going back to university to update or improve their skills.
The University of Phoenix is designed to cater for the needs of working adults, who make up 95% of its students. The emphasis is on practical subjects, such as business and technology, that will help them with their careers, and on fitting in with busy schedules. One of the university's golden rules is that there should be plenty of parking, and that students should be able to get from their cars to their classrooms in five minutes. In the early 1990s it became the first university to offer degrees online, and the internet is now integral to all its teaching.
But in designing a university for working adults, Mr Sperling also introduced two other far-reaching innovations. The first was to concentrate power in the organisation. In traditional universities academics are semi-independent contractors who devote as much time as possible to their own research. In Phoenix they are simply employees. It is the university, not the teachers, that owns the curriculum. Todd Nelson, the company's boss, claims that this has allowed the university to become a “learning organisation”: it is constantly improving its ability to teach by measuring performance and disseminating successful techniques. The only research it cares about is the sort that improves teaching.
The second innovation is to turn higher education into a business. The cost of a year's education at Phoenix, at $9,000, is not particularly high for a private university, but the business ethos is unusually pervasive. Mr Nelson cheerfully talks about “the education industry”, and boasts that enrolment is currently growing at 25% a year. The Apollo Group spent a staggering $383m on marketing last year.
Dollars and degrees
It is hard to imagine what von Humboldt, with his belief in research for its own sake, would make of the University of Phoenix. But for many people it is a vision of the future. Milton Friedman, a Nobel prize-winning economist, regards the triumph of the for-profit sector as inevitable, because universities “are run by faculty, and the faculty is interested in its own welfare.”
For-profit universities are finding a growing number of market niches, particularly in America. Strayer University, one of the University of Phoenix's biggest competitors, concentrates on telecommunications and business administration. Concord Law School, owned by Kaplan, which in turn is owned by the Washington Post, boasts one of the largest law-school enrolments in the country. All of its teaching is online. Cardean University, the brainchild of Michael Milken, offers online business education, including MBAs.
The Apollo Group's corporate university marks another big educational change. The number of corporate universities, which provide education for their parent companies, has grown from 400 in the mid-1980s to more than 2,000 today. Some of these institutions, such as the McDonald's Hamburger University, do not deserve the name, but others, such as those set up by Microsoft and Schwab, are more serious. A growing number of corporate universities are awarding degrees in conjunction with traditional universities.
For-profit universities are only the most dramatic example of a more general trend: the changing balance of power between the state and the market. For much of the 20th century the state steadily tightened its grip on universities. Now the market is beginning to get its own back.
The old-fashioned public universities are becoming ever more promiscuous in their pursuit of income. In America, “public university ” is fast becoming a figure of speech. At the University of Virginia, the share of the operating budget coming from the state declined from about 28% in 1985 to 8% in 2004. As one university president put it, his university has evolved from being a “state institution” to being “state-supported”, then “state-assisted”, next “state-located” and now “state-annoyed”.
In other countries too, public universities are becoming more entrepreneurial. Increasingly they are starting to charge fees, usually in combination with student loans. They are also transforming themselves into competitive commercial operations when it comes to attracting fee-paying foreign students or winning contracts with business. At the same time, new non-profit private universities are springing up. These have long been common in America, Japan and South Korea, but used to be rare elsewhere. In Portugal, private universities and colleges have grown from almost nothing two decades ago to account for two-thirds of all higher-education institutions and 40% of all students. All in all, private funding has grown faster than public funding in seven of the eight OECD countries for which data are available.
Another eye-catching change is the rise of the internet as a way of delivering tuition. The internet has all sorts of advantages, from lowering costs to opening up markets. MIT has struck up an innovative alliance with two Singaporean universities that allows Singaporean students to take part “virtually ” in MIT lectures. The Virtual University of Monterrey, Mexico, uses a combination of teleconferencing and the internet to reach more than 70,000 students all over Latin America.
But for all the new technology and the “marketisation” of higher education, it is striking how little has changed. Traditional universities are raising money not so that they can do radically new things but so that they can continue to do the same old things. For-profit universities are undoubtedly doing an excellent job in filling market niches, particularly for technical education, but their position in the academic hierarchy remains humble.
The internet is producing equally modest results. However good it is for transmitting information or reinforcing learning, e-learning is no substitute for bricks-and-mortar universities. The e-learning bubble of the late 1990s burst with shocking speed. Fathom, a joint venture established by Columbia and 13 other universities, libraries and museums, closed down after raising revenues of only $700,000 in two and a half years. Caliber, the Wharton School's e-partner, filed for bankruptcy. Temple University abandoned Virtual Temple without offering a single course. NYU Online has also pulled the plug.
New technologies generally prompt heady predictions that they will revolutionise higher education. Thomas Edison forecast that motion pictures would replace campus lectures; others have made even grander claims for radio or television. David Noble, a historian, compares the internet craze with the fashion for correspondence schools that bubbled up in the early 20th century. By 1919, more than 70 American universities had launched correspondence courses, competing against some 300 private correspondence schools. But the bubble eventually burst, partly because of poor teaching and high drop-out rates but mainly because the human dimension was missing.
None of this is to say that the idea of the university is carved in gothic stone. It is indeed changing, but by evolution rather than revolution. And the most important recent development in the world of higher education has been the creation of a super-league of global universities that are now engaged in a battle for intellectual talent and academic prestige.
This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline "Higher Ed Inc"
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