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Accreditations and Licensure
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DHPS professor builds profile as expert political analyst
Has commented on major media outlets about Florida politics
When CAHSS Department of History and Political Science Professor Charles Zelden, Ph.D., appeared on local South Florida news to discuss the contested 2000 Presidential election, he never expected it would lead to nearly two decades of political analysis.
It was the contested election between Al Gore and George W. Bush that popularized terms like “recount” and “hanging chads,” and Zelden found himself discussing the topic on the news alongside colleagues like Associate Professor Timothy Dixon, J.D., and Professor Gary Gershman, Ph.D./J.D.
“I could describe things in terms viewers could understand,” Zelden said.
Zelden said the election led to him researching voting rights, which culminated in the 2008 book Bush v Gore: Exposing the Hidden Crisis in American Democracy. A second edition was released in 2010.
“Bush v Gore wasn’t about broken voting machines, it wasn’t about chads, it was about a broken electoral system,” he said. “My main goal was to make it understandable, so people read this and understand what happened, and why.”
Zelden continued to explore the intersection of politics, the judiciary, and elections in books such as The Supreme Court and Elections (2009) and Thurgood Marshall: Race, Rights and the Struggle for a More Perfect Union (2013). During subsequent elections, Zelden continued political analysis in South Florida media and built up contacts at TV and newspaper outlets.
In the last few years, Zelden began getting media calls from outside Florida, which culminated in 2018 with appearances on CNN and quotes in outlets like USA Today, the Associated Press and Vox. The topic: the heated Florida gubernatorial race between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis. In an echo of 2000, the election led to a recount in Broward County, with DeSantis ultimately declared the winner. Zelden also commented on the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Bill Nelson and then-Gov. Rick Scott, as well as a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights for former felons.
“I haven’t been this busy since the 2000 election,” Zelden said.
With Florida now being the third most populated state and consequential elections decided by thin margins, Zelden expects that he will continue to provide analysis at a steady rate in the future. He is also at work on a biography tentatively titled The Judge Intuitive: Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr., Southern Federal Judge, as well as a project on gerrymandering. Zelden teaches undergraduate courses in government and history, and he now also teaches in the graduate National Security Affairs and International Relations program.
“I’ve got a wide range of classes I teach that are outgrowths of the work I’ve done,” Zelden said.
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By Guest Commentary published: March 20, 2019
Here are 263 reasons to support this gun safety bill. But one is enough
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman is proposing safe gun storage legislation. (Photo illustration)
By Laura Friedman, Special to CALmatters
On a Monday in February 2015, 13 year-old Rashawn Harris, known to his family as Ray Ray, told his father, Willis Harris, that he was on his way to school and that he loved him.
He stepped out of the front door of his parents’ South Stockton home. There, as he waited in his own driveway for his ride to school, Ray Ray was gunned down.
His father rushed out to find his son laying on the ground. Willis held his son in his arms as neighbors gathered along the street. It would be their last moment together as Rashawn Harris lost his life due to the .40 caliber bullets of a semiautomatic pistol.
In the ensuing investigation, it was found that the murder weapon belonged to former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva.
The firearm was one of several guns stolen from Silva’s home after he had left them unsecured while he was away. The weapon that took Rashawn’s life was recovered by authorities later that summer; the other firearms are still somewhere on our streets.
This is just one tragic example of the result of stolen guns among thousands.
Between 2010 and 2017, 4,800 stolen firearms were recovered from crime scenes in California. In that same time period, more than 71,000 firearms were reported lost or stolen in our state. Not only are lost or stolen firearms a factor in homicides, assaults, and burglaries, they’re increasingly being used in suicides, particularly youth suicides.
We clearly have a problem. Between 2010 and 2017, stolen firearms were used in at least 60 homicides in California, and 203 youths ended their lives because of unauthorized access to a firearm. If one is too many, what is 263?
By design, firearms are uniquely lethal. And while California already has in place some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the numbers do not lie. The tragic murder of Rashawn makes clear that we have more to do.
In partnership with the Giffords Law Center and the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, I have introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 276, which promotes safe gun storage so that we can finally reduce, if not eliminate unauthorized access to guns by children, those who can cause harm to themselves and others, and also reduce the number of lost or stolen guns that end up on our streets.
AB 276 will hold gun owners accountable by requiring all firearms to be securely stored with Department of Justice-approved firearm safety devices, when they leave their residence. Failure to do so would result in an infraction with a heavy fine and would allow locals to expand upon the existing requirements and penalties.
The truth is, Rashawn’s death, just like the thousands of others, was preventable. Deterring unauthorized access or theft of firearms is a common-sense solution to this insensible, complex, and horrific problem. AB 276 is the next step we must to take to stop this plague of violence, and I hope the public and my colleagues support it.
I can think of 263 reasons why they should.
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman is a Democrat who resides in Glendale and represents the 43rd Assembly District, [email protected]Assembly.ca.gov. She wrote this commentary for CALmatters.
Finally, a new path toward managing water, rivers and the Delta
Latest in Commentary
Criticism buries reading test bill
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WRU Basketball 1936/37 Season Record
Head Coach: Roy A. Clifford
Season Standings (win/loss/tied): 10/10/0
12/16/1936 Adrian College Adelbert Gym, 1919
12/19/1936 University of Cincinnati Adelbert Gym, 1919
12/28/1936 University of Nebraska Adelbert Gym, 1919
12/30/1936 Ohio University Adelbert Gym, 1919
1/2/1937 Stanford University Public Hall Auditorium
1/6/1937 John Carroll University John Carroll University
1/9/1937 City College of New York Public Hall Auditorium
1/15/1937 Baldwin-Wallace College Adelbert Gym, 1919
1/16/1937 Syracuse University Adelbert Gym, 1919
1/22/1937 Case Adelbert Gym, 1919
1/25/1937 University of Notre Dame Public Hall Auditorium
2/6/1937 University of Toledo Adelbert Gym, 1919
2/10/1937 University of Dayton Adelbert Gym, 1919
2/15/1937 Ohio Wesleyan University Adelbert Gym, 1919
2/20/1937 University of Cincinnati University of Cincinnati
2/24/1937 John Carroll University Adelbert Gym, 1919
3/5/1937 Case Public Hall Auditorium
3/6/1937 Oberlin College Oberlin College
3/13/1937 Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College
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Saint Tiburtius
(† 286)
A certain pagan prefect of Rome, by the name of Agrestius Chromatius, saw arrive before his tribunal a holy man named Tranquillinus. The prefect had already condemned a number of Christians to martyrdom, among them the twin brothers, Marcus and Marcellianus; but when Saint Tranquillinus, who was their father, told him how he had recovered from the gout through his baptism, Chromatius listened to him. He himself had the same malady. He sent for a priest, and he too was freed from his infirmity when baptized. He then liberated 400 slaves and retired to a country home, where he sheltered many Christians who feared they could not resist tortures during the persecutions.
Saint Tiburtius, whom the Church honors today, was the son of Chromatius, and was baptized with him. He was later ordained a subdeacon, and one day raised to life a man whom he found on the ground, his body broken by a fall from the upper story of a residence. Under Diocletian, Tiburtius was betrayed to the persecutors by an unfaithful Christian. He courageously confessed his ardent faith, saying, I sacrifice only to one God, the Creator of the world, who reigns over heaven and earth, and my greatest desire is to be immolated and sacrificed myself for this confession. After being condemned to walk on hot coals, which he did without suffering any pain, he was beheaded at a site three miles from Rome. A church was afterward built at this site and named for him.
August 12, 2017 by Joseph Pio Tags: catholic, catholic restoration, catholicism, Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, latin mass, Roman Catholic, Saints, traditional catholic, Virgin Mary Leave a comment
Saint Susanna
Virgin and Martyr
Saint Susanna was nobly born in Rome, the daughter of a certain Gabinius, who after his conversion became a priest; she was also the niece of Pope Saint Caius, her father’s brother. This family was also related to the emperor Diocletian. Susanna’s father had raised her with great care in the fear of God and love of Jesus Christ, and she had made a private vow of virginity. Diocletian, wishing to obtain the consent of this very beautiful maiden to marry his favorite, Maximian, sent a certain Claudius, another member of her family, to propose the espousals. She refused to consent, making known to her father and Saint Caius her vow, and saying that even if she had not resolved to conserve her chastity, she would not wish to marry a man responsible for the massacre of an infinite number of Christians. The Emperor’s messenger was converted by her confession of faith, and became a fervent penitent. Continue reading →
Saint Philomena
Virgin and Martyr († Third century)
The tomb of this virgin and martyr, unknown until the first years of the 19th century, was providentially discovered in 1802 in the catacombs. God by many miracles made the discovery of Saint Philomena’s body famous, and the cult of the young Saint spread everywhere with an extraordinary rapidity. She received such exceptional homage that shedeserves to be placed in the first ranks of the virgin martyrs whom the Church venerates. The Holy Curé of Ars called her his dear little Saint and performed wonders, invoking her.
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RUMOR: Cavs would have to be blown away by an offer to trade Kevin Love
Ashish Mathur
The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting trade calls about All-Star power forward Kevin Love with the trade deadline almost a month away, but the team reportedly needs to be blown away by an offer to move him, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Kevin Love, who still recovering from toe surgery, becomes eligible to be moved on Jan. 24. The five-time All-Star signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the Cavs in July, but then he got hurt just four games into the 2018-19 season.
Cleveland currently has the worst record in the NBA at 9-35.
.@ChrisFedor on @BullandFox: "The #Cavs are getting calls about Kevin Love. For the right price, I think the Cavs would be willing to listen. But, I've been told by a number of people inside the org, for the Cavs to move on from Kevin, they'd have to be blown away (with offer)."
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) January 15, 2019
Kevin Love averaged 19.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest in the four games he appeared in this season. He was shooting 32.3 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from beyond the arc and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line.
The Cavs are going to be a lottery team this year, which is probably a good thing since Duke has three players in Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish who are likely going to be lottery picks in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Why Cleveland wants to keep Kevin Love on the roster is uncertain. It could be for leadership purposes, or the club thinks they can be competitive next season with a healthy Love and a young phenom from the draft.
One thing is clear: Trade rumors are going to surround Love until the deadline passes.
JUST IN: Are the Cavs intentionally tanking or just the NBA’s worst team?
Related TopicsCavsKevin Love
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The Road to En-dor
E.H. Jones
The Road to En-dor opens at the Yozgad prisoner of war camp in February 1917, when EH Jones receives a postcard from an aunt –
“No news in it, but it suggests a means of passing the evenings. I’m fed up with roulette and cards myself, and I’d like to try it.”
Within two days the prisoners had begun to practise their new pastime – spooking. Their Ouija had been constructed by following the aunt’s instructions but initial séances were unsuccessful.
When EH Jones partnered with CW Hill as fellow-spookers, Ouija messages were received and interest grew throughout the prisoners and the staff of Yozgad camp. Both prisoners hatched a plan to escape by deceiving the camp Commandant, Kiazim Bey.
As the initial plan became complicated and convoluted the Welshman and the Australian decided to feign insanity by following the suggestions of fellow-prisoner Doc O’Farrell. They were sent to a Constantinople asylum for examination and diagnosis, and after months of displaying realistic signs of madness they were repatriated a fortnight before the armistice with Turkey was signed.
EH Jones, 1883-1942, was born at Aberystwyth and educated at Bangor, Llangernyw, Glasgow, Grenoble and Oxford, served in Burma between 1906 and 1915 before enlisting in the Indian Army. After the war he returned to Burma but on retirement he re-joined his family in Bangor. He was interested in peace and in education and spent his remaining years working at the university at Bangor and the college at Harlech, as well as sitting on many public committees.
Cromen
More Books by E.H. Jones
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Tag: Camille DeAngelis
Horror Screenwriter Cooking up Cannibal Book Adaptation
The book about a sixteen-year-old cannibal who searches for her father to find out why she feels a compulsion to eat people is getting a film adaptation, and Suspiria screenwriter David Kajganich is here to pen the script.
IMAGE VIA BOOK DEPOSITORY
The book is graphic, I mean, let’s be honest here, it’s about a sixteen-year-old girl who eats people. Whenever she smells someone’s breath, she just can’t help herself. To make matters worse, almost all of her victims were males who tried to be her friends, without really knowing what a friendship with her was actually like. Her only female victim was her first victim, but that was long ago.
With each kill, her single mother would move them to a different part of the country until, to make matters worse, the mother decided that enough was enough and abandoned the girl.
Lost, lonely, the girl decides to find the father she never knew, hoping that he has answers to why she feels the way she does.
Image Via Ebloggy
This might sound like a niche book, but if you think that then you’ll be surprised to learn that Camille DeAngelis’s 2015 book was a winner of an Alex Award, an award given by the one and only American Library Association.
IMAGE VIA E-CLAP
Not sure if this book is for you? To give you an idea if this morsel of what this book is about, The New York Journal of Books noted that “[w]hile the topic of cannibalism cannot exactly be categorized as enjoyable, DeAngelis’s ability to tell an engaging story that draws the reader in makes this quirky read a real page-turner.” Sounds like something you’d eat up?
I knew you would.
And now it’s becoming a movie! So much for a niche book, am I right? The best part is this forthcoming adaptation will be written by David Kajganich. This after 2018, which proved to be his year.
Medium.com notes that in 2018, “…his AMC series THE TERROR received wide critical and audience acclaim” and Suspiria had “[received] an incredibly warm reception following its Venice Film Festival debut”.
Image Via Camille DeAngelis.com
Both of these visual stories were horror, so it seems like a right fit to have this horror screenwriter tackle this dark book. Deadline also revealed that the forthcoming adaptation will be directed by Antonio Campos, the guy behind The Sinner and Christine, and that Kajganich and Campos will also serve as producers alongside Theresa Park, who infamous produced The Choice, The Longest Ride, and The Best of Me.
Kajganich has been quoted as saying:
“We’ve all become used to the status quo of jump-scare horror, but this is a story with something so disquieting, tense, and human at its center, it will give us the chance to engage the genre aggressively from the side of character…”
Personally, I agree. As a lover of horror I couldn’t be more excited to see this adaption, but what do you think? Do you love it, hate it, or don’t care?
Featured Image Via Deadline
PS- You should care.
by Shawn Cunningham
Alex Award
Bones and All
Camille DeAngelis
David Kajganich
The Best of Me
Theresa Park
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Children of lesser parents
Posted by G in Articles
≈ Comments Off on Children of lesser parents
Even after the boy was declared dead at 10 am, the school went on with its classes as usual… The parents had not been told whose child it was for a few petrified hours.
Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?
Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish
While there are many people to speak up for women, dalits and minorities, the children of our country remain voiceless; they have nobody to turn to. The only difference between the oppressed and the children in India is that kids are smothered in the name of love. The rush and push starts early, when parents enrol their tiny tots, who have hardly started talking, in schools where loads of knowledge is stuffed into them but not wisdom or values.
The commencement of this academic year in Tamil Nadu was marked by newspaper headlines about the death of schoolchildren. The first news report was about the death of a small girl who slipped down to the road from a hole in the bus she was travelling in and was crushed. The driver was callous. No less so was the transport officer who gave the fitness certificate for this godforsaken vehicle. We often hear of children falling into pits dug for various reasons, and covered carelessly by workers with flimsy materials. But the carelessness or irresponsibility of these workers has also to do with the fact that they are brought from backward states of India like slaves for a meagre daily wage of Rs 300 (for 12 hours of work). Their working conditions do not help matters either. A few days ago 10 workers died when the roof of an engineering college where they were working caved in. That was not really an accident; it was due to the indifference of the people who treated workers as dispensable and wanted the work to be completed at the earliest.
The news of the girl who slipped through a hole in the bus and died whipped up a frenzy in Tamil Nadu, but a tragedy is forgotten as subsequent tragedies overtake it. For example, a few years ago a girl fell into the Cooum river through a huge crack in the Napier Bridge near Marina Beach. How many local people remember it now?
The very next day after that bus incident, another kid who tried to cross the road after getting down from the school van was run over by the same van and died. It’s a common sight in Tamil Nadu that several schoolchildren are carried like cattle in autorickshaws, which are designed to carry only three people.
Every year students in Belgium go on an excursion to Swiss Alps, and this year, in March, a tourist bus carrying 52 people crashed into a wall inside a tunnel. Twenty-two among the dead were children. When those white coffins reached Belgium, they were brought into the city from the airport by a military convoy of hearses. The whole of Belgium mourned for them that day. The national flag flew at half-mast, people stopped their vehicles for a minute and trains ceased to run for a minute to mourn the dead. Western countries treat their children as treasure. If a child looks sad in the school, authorities visit their home to find out the reason. But here is how we treat our children in this country. This incident happened in what is considered to be a top-notch school in Chennai. Parents would pay any amount to admit their children in this school, which is said to not accept any “recommendations” and where admission is on the merit alone. Last week a Class 4 boy died in the school’s swimming pool. The school, with a pool on its campus, has made swimming lessons mandatory and that too in the first hour of the day, not considering the basic fact that it’s not advisable to swim with one’s stomach full. The pool’s depth goes from two and a half to seven feet. It’s a matter of pride for these schools to have swimming classes in their curriculum. Which is a good thing. But is it also a matter of pride not to have any provision of emergency first-aid, which could have saved the boy?
That was not all. The school handled this situation crudely. Even after the boy was declared dead by the doctors at 10 am, the school went on with its classes as usual that day. There was a huge commotion outside the school premises on hearing the news, especially since the parents had not been told whose child it was for a few petrified hours.
In our country it’s not only the schools that should be blamed but the parents too, who want their children to be supermen. So the schools cater to them, with their “package education” in which the child will be taught swimming, music, dance, cricket, foreign languages, painting, shooting, etc. The kids are seen as mark-obtaining machines and tormented. The upshot is that private schools have become commercial joints.
India urgently needs education reforms lest there be a danger of future generations sinking in an abyss of psychological trauma. I would like to cite two incidents here. One, I was talking to a group of upper-class children aged between 10 and 15. “You do well in school but I have serious concerns about whether you people will live happily,” I said. “Oh! That’s easy uncle. We’ll read a bulky book on ‘How to live happily’” pat came the reply from one of the boys.
One day when I was travelling in an autorickshaw, the car in front of us suddenly stopped. So our auto and a lot of vehicles behind us had to stop as well. The chauffeur got out, came round to the left side of the car and opened the rear door to a 15-year-old girl who slowly got down and sashayed to the temple near by. The driver reverentially waited for her to get to the temple, then closed the door and started the car despite loud horns blaring from the vehicles behind our autorickshaw.
Something is wrong somewhere.
The writer is a post-modern Tamil writer based in Chennai. His magnum opus, Zero Degree, is considered one of the best in trangressive fiction.
www.facebook.com/gskselva
View all posts by G »
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Chennai News News
Indian Institute of Technology Madras launches the Annual Report on Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity at TiECON 2018
October 8, 2018 0 Comments chennai news
~10th Edition of the Annual Report focused on ‘Success and Impact of Start-ups’~
~Software, Consumer Products & FinTech account for about 63% of companies that receive venture funding: IIT Madras Report~
CHENNAI, 06th October 2018: Three sectors, viz., Software and Internet Services, Consumer Products and Services, and FinTech and Payments account for 63 percent of the companies nationally that received venture funding, according to a study by Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
The Institute released its’ Tenth Annual Report on Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity focusing on ‘The Success and Impact of Start-Ups’ during TiECON Chennai 2018, the Annual Entrepreneurship Conference of TiE Chennai today (06th Oct 2018).
The 2018 report has identified the factors associated with successful ventures in different stages of their lifecycle. This would help the entrepreneurs to better prepare their ventures for success and thus enhance the impact that can be achieved. The report was released at TiECON Chennai 2018, the Annual Entrepreneurship Conference of TiE Chennai today (06th October 2018).
Editor and co-author of the publication since its inception in 2009, Prof. Thillai Rajan, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, and Co-Founder YNOS.IN and Associate at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, said, “Start-ups have captured the imagination of many viz., government, investors, students, and entrepreneurs, because of the impact they have been able to create in different sectors and areas of policy importance.”
Prof. Thillai Rajan adds that however, to be able to create an impact, the start-ups have to be successful. Venture capital investment is dominant only in few of the sectors. Among those that receive venture funding, only a modest percentage has been able to get subsequent rounds of funding. And among those start-ups that get funded by venture capital, only about 20 – 25 percent are able to provide an exit. The end game, or the exit strategy has to be clear upfront, given the strong relationship between sector, type of exit, duration of investment, and returns.
Some of the key findings include:
Only a small proportion of the companies formed are successful in getting venture capital. A few sectors dominate the list of companies that get venture funding. While close to 1.26 million companies were formed during 2000-17, only around 0.5 percent were able to get venture funding.
Location of the start-ups plays a role in getting access to funding. Over the years, the formation of companies in smaller cities have increased. From 2000 to 2017, the proportion of companies formed each in smaller cities and towns has increased from 65 to 76 percent. Correspondingly, the proportion of companies formed in Tier 1 cities has decreased from 35 to 24 percent. However, start-ups from Tier 1 cities account for a major share of venture funding. While large cities account for only 32 percent of start-ups formed, 89 percent of those that get angel or venture funding are from large cities.
Raising successive rounds of venture funding
Start-ups in sectors such as Software and Internet Services, Consumer Products and Services, and Health-Tech have a higher chance of getting first round funding as compared to the other sectors.
Companies in the Internet Marketplace and Ecommerce sector, Edu-Tech and Health-Tech sectors had a higher chance of getting subsequent rounds of funding, if they have got the first round of funding.
Having more than average funding in the first round increased the chances of getting second round funding.
The city in which the start-up was located did not play a significant role either in getting successive funding or in the quantum of funding.
Factors such as the start-up sector and age of the start-up mattered only in the initial stages of funding. As the companies mature, these factors cease to influence funding decisions, as the demonstrated performance of the companies outweigh all other factors.
Achieving quicker exits: The average exit duration for a start-up to provide exits to the investors was 4.55 years. 56 percent of start-ups had an exit duration lower than mean whereas 44 percent had an exit duration higher than mean.
The average investment duration by investors has not changed significantly over the years and has been more or less around 5 years.
Start-up sector was an important influencer of investment duration. Start-ups in consumer products and services, internet marketplace and ecommerce, and software and internet services had a propensity to give quicker exits whereas start-ups in the technology sector had a tendency to provide delayed exits.
Location of the start-up did not affect exit duration – while Bengaluru or Mumbai may have a high level of start-up formation, the exit duration between the key cities did not differ significantly.
The type of investors also affected exit duration. While corporate investors stay invested for longer periods, individual investors were able get early exits in most all their investments.
Exit duration decreased with number of investors. If entrepreneurs would like to have the investment for a longer duration, then they should raise capital from fewer investors.
Realising higher returns from the ventures: The average returns realized by investors was 13.25 percent. Only about 40 per cent of the firms delivered returns higher than the mean.
A significant proportion of the ventures in the Technology sector delivered returns higher than the mean, whereas it was the reverse in the case of start-ups in FinTech and Payments sector.
The city in itself did not play a role in the returns, though the ecosystem could influence the quantum of start-up activity. The returns did not vary by type of investors either.
What differentiated companies that provided returns higher than the mean were four factors, namely, quantum of investment, staging, syndication, and maturity of the venture.
However, excessive funding led to wasteful expenditure and more often than not, led to reduced returns.
While the number of investors increases exit returns to a point, the transaction costs of managing multiple investors overshadows the value addition that could accrue from having more number of investors beyond a point.
Ventures that receive investment early in their lifecycle provide returns higher than the mean.
Type of exit influences both investment duration and returns realized: While the Buyback route, is the simplest of the exit routes, the average returns are not significantly higher. The public market exit gives the highest returns. However, not all sectors may be suitable for a public market exit. The number of investors or the background of investors also play a role in influencing the type of exit.
Start-ups are an engine for innovation and growth rather than job creation. Start-up policies of many of the central government ministries or state governments include job creation as one of the key objectives for promoting start-ups. However, start-ups operate a lot more efficiently, and should not be seen as a major engine for job creation. While the average number of employees in large listed companies is about 35 per ₹100 crore of market value, in the case of established start-ups, it is only 0.04, which is a ratio of 875:1.
Releasing the Annual Report, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The annual report series on the Indian Venture Capital Industry published by IIT Madras has garnered considerable interest from the industry, policy makers, and others associated with the start-up ecosystem in recent years. This years’ report has identified features seen in successful start-ups at different stages of their lifecycle. I am sure the findings would be very relevant for the start-ups in improving their success rates, and also to the government in focusing on those areas that needs to be strengthened in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, was the Chairman of the ten-member Editorial Advisory Review Board of this years’ report comprising distinguished members from the industry and government.
He said, “India has now caught the attention of the world as a leading nation of start-ups and ventures. However, the mortality rates of the start-ups in the country continue to be high. Increasing the success ratio of start-ups would not only ensure that the interest in venturing among the youth is sustained but would also help create an enduring impact from the innovations that the start-ups build. The 2018 report helps in understanding the key factors behind successful ventures that would very insightful for entrepreneurs. The report also provides inputs to policy makers on how to create an ecosystem and how entrepreneurship can contribute to the economy.”
Releasing the report, V. Shankar, President of TiE Chennai, said, “Start-ups are playing an important role in our day to day lives. The impact that they have created are manifold: reducing transaction costs, providing new products and services, addressing some of the pressing social problems, and so on. More the success of the start-ups, greater would be the impact. This years’ report looks at various dimensions of success at different stages of the startup lifecycle. The insights and perspectives would surely benefit the entrepreneurs in charting their path to success.”
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சூடுபிடிக்கும் குட்கா ஊழல்! – புதிய ஆதாரம் சிக்கியது
“MALAYSIA FANTASTIC DEALS” LAUNCHED
A musical that promotes self-defense & career in 2019
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Tag: Eddie Martinez
Your new record as Wood Shampoo is a greatest hit of sorts; must be great to get 17 songs off your chest?
If feels like we just won the WBA title against Mike Tyson and we even have the bite marks to prove it. We took some of the best songs we had written in the last couple of years that no one has ever heard and a few new cuts as well and we started up the band’s Lear and headed up to Gateway Mastering Studios in Maine to see the master himself, Bob Ludwig. After Bob performed his magic, we were all systems go.
It seems so few records these days have a sense of humor unless it’s tied in with a band’s gimmick overtly, where does Wood Shampoo fit in that spectrum?
Our motto is simple: we have nothing to lose, so let’s have so fun for crying out loud and try to put a smile on our fan’s faces. Life’s tough enough, so we want to give everyone an outlet to escape from that. Anything goes in our writing: from sexy girls, vampires, aliens, the crazy world of the stock market, dead rock stars, crack, cover girls, gambling – you name it, we probably have a song about it and if we don’t, then we will for the next album.
Do you think being from New York gives you some sense of entitlement when it comes to rocking (hard)?
That’s an interesting question. Would you be able to make that a multiple choice question and give me a wink when I am near the right answer (that used to work for me in my high school French class)? I think there is so much top-shelf quality homegrown music here thrown in with the greatest bands in the world always stopping by to make NYC an extremely competitive market. You just cannot survive in front of the NYC fans unless you are at your best because they will not settle for anything less. They’ll take you out in stretchers if you’re off your game – they’re that sledgehammer tough. Even my own family throws rotten tomatoes at me in those cases, so use your imagination.
What are your favorite cuts on the disc and which is your least?
Every track on the disc was picked by a panel of experts in the field using our proprietary analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. In other words, we like all the cuts. That being said, some of the ones that stand out for us are Wanna Be A Dead Rock Star, Top of the World, She’s So Fine, Cover Girl, Where’s the Party Earthling?, You Suck (Mr. Vampire), Ticker Tape, One More Chance, and of course our title track Crack, Crack Heart Attack. They just have a certain je ne sais quoi. They are packed full of radio friendly hooks on every level and that’s how we like them. You’re lucky enough to get one or two on an album and here you are getting a lifetime supply. Go to our website, WOODSHAMPOO.net and hear them for yourselves and you be the judge and leave us a comment while you’re at it. We like to read them at breakfast.
I would say the cut that’s our least favorite is Three Cheers because it doesn’t fit into the format as well for this album, but we put it on there due to popular demand. It’s like early Bruce Springsteen meets Lou Reed and they decide to take a walk on the wild side. There’s great sax on that one from Frankie Tee.
What’s the story behind Crack, Crack Heart Attack the tune? I understand the CIA was involved?
What I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth (writer’s note: be aware Murph Daniels is currently wired up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and has been connected to a Delco car battery by a couple of independent contractors who work for a nameless agency. They are also wearing cheap suits.). We were in the studio and one of my producers, who also happens to be a guitarist on the record, Eddie Martinez, asked me to play him the day’s songs I had written for the session. Turns out nothing caught his ear that day and we just don’t waste our time with a song that doesn’t make that first cut, so he suggested a song I had done on a Murph Daniels’ solo record that he really loved, but thought we could do it much better now. That song was Crack, Crack Heart Attack and everyone at the session knocked in out of the ballpark that day. On a crazy side note, when I get a bad headache, I have found if I play this song really loud in the car, it will cure me after a play or two. Try it for yourself, I’m not kidding. JJ Cale had been an inspiration for me with the writing of this song because I thought if he could have a hit with the song Cocaine then why couldn’t someone have a hit song with the drug crack. He just passed away and will be missed.
There are some monster players on the album: how does one assemble such a line-up without a major label budget?
Well, without getting into the budget, because the accountants are watching me 24/7, it’s really quite simple. You don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on studio costs, so why not get the greatest musicians alive to come down and do it right in one or two takes. Co-producers and guitarists Tommy Byrnes and Eddie Martinez are masters at their craft. They also put a crack (excuse the pun) team together. We not only captured Wood Shampoo at its prime, but had fun doing it. I called up Gateway Mastering and sent them the tracks and Bob Ludwig and team thought it was something they could definitely work with. They brought out sounds from the mix I had never even heard before. Bob is a genius and just an all around great guy. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I learned from working with him. And let’s not forget our fifth Beatle, Rich Gibbons. He was our engineer and mixer on most of the tracks and always had Wood Shampoo’s back. Rich fits in so great and I think part of the reason is that he is a Senior Producer at The Howard Stern Show and with that job comes a great sense of humor.
How does the writing process work for you and how do you know or feel a song is complete and ready for recording?
I usually hear or read something that catches my attention and knocks me off my feet. I then use that phrase as a building block for the rest of the song. Other times I come up with a catchy riff first and the lyrics follow somehow as I play the riff over and over again on guitar. I take the songs to my producers, which usually is Tommy, and they continue the process. Inspirations for some of my songs have been from hearing someone saying “you suck” to their parent and wanting to find a funny way to use it in a song which turned out to be You Suck (Mr. Vampire), to having my best friend ask me for years if he could have my guitars when I die and that one later turned into My Best Friend Died (and Left Me His Guitar).
What’s the first album you ever bought and the first you ever tossed out in a disappointment (if any?)?
I think the first album I ever bought was Elton John’s “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.” I was truly amazed by the musicianship. I think I probably traded the albums I didn’t like for the ones I wanted at a local store so I never actually would throw one out.
Gun, or billy club, to your head: what are your favorite three albums of all time?
I’m a huge music fan and I really love a mix of everything from Talking Heads, The Clash, Guns N’ Roses, Elvis Costello, Nirvana, Otis Redding, James Brown, Johnny Hallyday, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, The Jam, Al Green, Joe Williams, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Roy Orbison, Hoodoo Gurus, Moby Grape, Toots Thielemans, and Johnny Hallyday. Stop me when I pass three okay?
If you had put out a Wood Shampoo double-live opus in the 70’s, what would it have been called and how were sales?
I think we would have called it “Wood Shampoo: One Lump or Two?” and it would have been a limited sold-out run of one million copies in blood red vinyl.
August 11, 2013 August 3, 2017 CHICAGO 'N BEYONDAl Green, Bob Ludwig, Cocaine, Crack Crack Heart Attack, Eddie Martinez, Elvis Costello, Frankie Tee, Gateway Mastering Studio, Guitar Player Magazine, guitars, Guns n' Roses, hard rock, Hoodoo Gurus, James Brown, JJ Cale, Joe Williams, Johnny Hallyday, Lou Reed, metal, Moby Grape, Murph Daniels, My Morning Jacket, Nirvana, NYC, OTIS REDDING, police slang, powerpop, Roy Orbison, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Jam, The Rolling Stones, Tommy Byrnes, Toots Thielemans, Wilco, Wood Shampoo1 Comment
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Escape at Market Walk
Putt-ing the fun into Chorley
Plans to bring an adventure golf course and tenpin bowling alley to Chorley town centre are taking shape as the people behind the business got a look around the Market Walk development.
Ian and Lorraine Kearney, who will run the Escape Entertainment Venue, got a tour of the site with bosses from Chorley Council, which is building the extension to the Market Walk shopping centre.
The new venture has also had plenty of offers of support from local businesses and Ian and Lorraine have been overwhelmed by the positive comments from people.
“It’s been full steam ahead getting all the plans in place and the support from members of the public has been phenomenal,” said Ian.
“It was great to get chance to have a look around inside the building and we can’t wait to show everyone the detail of what we will be hosting in Chorley as it will be up there with the best leisure offers in the region.
“We will be providing entertainment that will let people escape from their day-to-day lives and allow them to have plenty of fun with family and friends.”
The plans, which are subject to a contract being signed, are a significant step in attracting tenants to the £15 million extension, off Union Street, which will see a six-screen cinema and M&S Food hall coming to Chorley.
Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said: “We knew that this type of offer would be really popular but the response has been fantastic.
“It was great to walk the site with Ian and Lorraine and it is brilliant that we have a local business looking to bring this new offer and I know they are keen to work with other Chorley businesses, which is great for the borough.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the final designs and concepts for the adventure golf and tenpin bowling and we’ll share them with everyone as soon as we can.”
Alongside the shopping centre extension Chorley Council is undergoing multi-million-pound improvements to the wider town centre and has already created more than 100 new parking spaces to accommodate extra visitors.
The shopping centre extension is due to open in time for Christmas trading in 2019.
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Calvary Chapel Chino Hills
4201 Eucalyptus Ave., Chino CA 91710
909.393.7100 / www.calvarycch.org
Doors open Friday, February 20th at 5:00 p.m.
FREE Admission! No registration required.
If you live near Southern California you don’t want to miss one of the biggest Bible Prophecy Conferences of 2009!
Speakers and Subjects:
Dr. David R. Reagan – “What Happens When You Die?”
Tim LaHaye – “Will You Be Left Behind?”
Ed Hindson – “Is the Antichrist Alive Today?”
Mark Hitchcock – “The Late Great United States”
Bob McEwen – “Freedom in Crisis, A World View” and “Finding Hope in the Global Crisis”
Britt Merrick – “Why God Has Given Us Bible Prophecy”
Jack Hibbs – “What Are the Last Days and Why Should You Care?”
David Hocking – “What’s About to Happen in the Middle East”
Paul McGuire – “The Coming One World Religion”
Learn more at the Southern California Prophecy Conference website!
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50 CommentsLeave a Comment
We need Walid Shoebat, Joel Richardson, Rodrigo Silva, Ray Gano, Chuck Missler, Scot Dryer, Joe Vankoevering, etc. at this conference as well.
loki says:
What I really appreciate about Chuck Missler is that he’s not dogmatic and that he admits his views, in different areas, might be wrong.
I agree Loki. Missler states, “With the current world turmoil surrounding Iraq and the Middle East, it is likely that the coming months and years will bring some striking changes. It is essential that we stand back from our presumptions and prejudices and listen carefully to what the Biblical text is telling us. We are living in exciting times, but we need to be diligent in our study of God’s Word. The only certain barrier to truth is the presumption that we already have it.“
http://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/437/
Unfortunately, some of the speakers attending the conference have a difficult time admitting to error.
I see more issues here than just those conference speakers having a difficult time admitting error. I see that the mainstream European view has been well-challenged by some compelling articles and books (Shoebat/Richardson etc) but now the Euro mainstream people have counter-pointed. And I think they’ve done it very well.
monty says:
I have to agree that there has been pathetic flare-ups from both sides of this debate. But I like the heat and the passion. I will say this though, after reading “Joel Richardson”‘s [or whatever his real name is] response to David Reagan, if he does not pretty much say that he is sorry in his next article, I’m writing him off as a real jerk.
Mitchell says:
At the very least I would like to see Reagan apologize for accusing Richardson of being “misleading” and calling Shoebat the things he did, and to admit that the Sunni branch of Islam does in fact believe in the Mahdi (they have even proclaimed it is mandatory for all Muslims). More than enough proof has already been provided to Reagan.
As for the European camp’s counter argument, it fails to acknowledge that a Muslim Antichrist is indeed a likely possibility. Heaven forbid that many prior books of prophecy would have to be rewritten. Shoebat and Richardson are rock solid in their arguments, and when all is said it done the Antichrist rising out of the eastern leg of the Revived Roman Empire is the most likely scenario in my opinion, relegating the western leg of the Revived Roman Empire to little more than a Revived Roman Umpire.
Rodrigo Silva makes a good point on his latest article (found at http://www.beastfromtheeast.org/Antichrist_Contradictions.html) —
As we have seen, there is much contradiction surrounding the idea of a Roman Antichrist. Many argue that the Antichrist must be of Roman origin, yet chose European leaders as their favorite candidates for the Antichrist who have no Roman origin. Next time someone tells you that the Antichrist must be a leader of Roman origin, ask him: Who is your candidate for the Antichrist? If he or she points to any European leader from France like Nicolas Sarkozy, from Spain like Javier Solana, from England like Prince Charles or even to Barack Hussein Obama who many say is the Antichrist but who is of African, not of Roman origin, you can tell him or her the following:
”You have just proven your own theory wrong’’
Then you go ahead and explain why.
A point to consider
The Roman Empire included both Europe and the Middle East. People have heard the European side emphasized for so long that they equate the word Rome with Europe. If someone suggests anyone within Europe, then they entertain that theory. But if someone suggest an Antichrist outside of Europe, then it is attacked as a novel idea and “unorthodox”. How is a Middle Eastern Assyrian Antichrist one lick different than a British, French, Spanish or German Antichrist? Neither is Italian and all are equally “Roman” as far as Roman citizenship is concerned during the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It is time people start thinking with logic.
Next time you go to a prophecy conference, ask your favorite prophecy teachers all these questions and see what they will say. Most likely you will not receive a plausible answer. That being the case, your radar antennas of discernment should go up and point you to another direction.”
I would like to see Rodrigo Silva at this prophecy conference.
Web Minister says:
You won’t want to miss Phillip Goodman’s Tulsa International Prophecy Conference on April 1-3. Our sister ministry’s led by Gary Fisher and Don McGee will be guest speaking.
It was a lot of fun in 2008! Looking forward 2010’s (should we be here) when Dr. Reagan will guest speak again.
I don’t have a firm view of where the AC originates from and I’m definitely playing catch-up with the issues. I can see the possibility of a few prophetic curve balls thrown in before the end. I personally think the power base will be in the west even if the AC ends up having an Assyrian ancestry, but I might be wrong.
If the AC is a Muslim then he is only overtly so at the beginning.
Dan 11:36-39 And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
I also struggle with the idea that Israel will ever be able to build a Temple on the Mount while the Islamic countries have a strong voice. Perhaps the Temple is built elsewhere? I cannot envision a DEVOUT Muslim AC giving Israel any latitude whatsoever, unless extraordinary circumstances demand it.
Blessed says:
While you all were blogging, I actually went to the so cal prophecy conference and it was totally Biblically based, none of the speakers claimed to be the end all and be all of prophecy interpretation. Each one of them referred to what Scripture states. It was a blessing for all who went.
son of thunder says:
Up until recently I was a Muslim anti-christ advocate until I did a little research on Daniel 11:38. The word translated “forces” in the KJV and “fortresses” in the NASB comes from the word Ma’owz which can mean “human protection.” It has no connotation of warfare or jihad, but of protection. The use of this word tells me the Anti-christ must be a secular humanist.
The word translated “god” is ‘elowahh which means either God or false god. We can probably safely assume that God is not the right interpretation. So that leaves us with a false god. What could be a more false god than man?
The word “honor” is kabad, meaning to bring honor or honor to oneself. So a very literal translation could be: But instead, he will bring glory to the false god of humanity, a god his fathers did not acknowledge as being a god; he will bring glory to himself with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.
This isn’t to say that he isn’t of Arab descent, but a practicing Muslim? I now think differently.
son of thunder,
Your Hebrew word definitions are lacking. Are you using a condensed Hebrew lexicon?
The word you refer to from Dan 11:38 (H4581 – ma`owz) is from H5810. “ma`owz” means “a fortified place; figuratively, a defence:–force; fort(-ress), rock, strength(-en), (X most) strong (hold).” Though it can figuratively mean “human protection” it is not used in such a context.
H5810 `azaz aw-zaz’ a primitive root; to be stout (literally or figuratively):–harden, impudent, prevail, strengthen (self), be strong.
There is a reason why every translation uses the word “fortresses” or “forces”. Look at the context of Daniel 11:38, what the Antichrist does he accomplishes by force.
I agree that the word for “god” refers to a false god. If he is Muslim, the Antichrist’s false god is Allah.
H3513 (kabad) means “glorify, be (make) glorious (things), glory, (very) great, be grievous, harden, be (make) heavy, be heavier, lay heavily, (bring to, come to, do, get, be had in) honour (self), (be) honourable (man), lade, X more be laid, make self many, nobles, prevail, promote (to honour)”
Whether he brings honor to himself or brings glory to his false god in his evil endeavors is moot. The end result is still the same — the Antichrist promotes his false god by using force, which brings legitimacy in the eyes of his followers to both him and their false god Allah. Mohammad did the exact same thing – promised his followers victory at the hands of Allah, and when they won their battle this strengthened Mohammad in the eyes of his followers, and consequently glorified their false god at the same time.
And what do Muslims say after a victory in battle? “Allahu akbar” which means “Allah is greater“. This is the Takbir of Islam.
“Whether he brings honor to himself or brings glory to his false god in his evil endeavors is moot.”
I don’t think so because the Daniel verses appear to me to propose that he exalts himself above all, and that is not the MO of a devout Muslim. He may well manoeuvre his position by pretending to be devout but he eventually has to come out and that raises issues regarding how his followers might react to this self-aggrandizement. Ultimately, he cannot be a committed Muslim and if his followers are devoted Muslims then they would rebel. The fact that people are willing to worship him is problematic (I think) from a devout Muslim perspective.
I’m not trying to be difficult – I just see this as a real issue along with the rebuilding of the Temple, although there’s no doubt in my mind that God can sovereignly use Islam for His purposes if He so wills.
I agree loki, my point was that it is his actions of using force in the name of Allah that gives him the ability or legitimizes the exaltation of himself. All he would have to do is either claim to be the Mahdi (or perhaps claim to be indwelt with the spirit of Mohammad. Just look at the name Mohammad — it means “The Most Praised One”, even above the God of Israel.) He could claim or be declared to be the Mahdi, who is exalted by Islam to be above all of creation and is claimed by Islam to sit in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The Mahdi in Islam has titles that only belong to God. (Dr. G. F. Haddad, Living Islam, The Prophetic Title: The Best of Creation). To claim to be the Mahdi is to exalt himself above Yahweh the God of Israel.
The Mahdi, like Muhammad, exalts himself above all that is called God. In other words, he gives himself titles that only belong to God. The II Thessalonians 2 text is perfect and no serious mind can deny — it does match Islam’s deification of a man.
http://www.prophezine.com/PZArticles/CHALLENGESByWalidShoebat/tabid/795/Default.aspx
But, since Islam pilfered the idea of a returning Messiah from Christianity, then the Mahdi concept is pure theological fiction, and so no Mahdi can return if there’s no such person to begin with.
Mitchell, Bible prophecy (and this Blog) is about hope and victory in the Lord, not theological combatancy. I want to foster discussion, but trolling the blog and jumping on anyone’s comments like you’ve been doing to push the single-topic “Antichrist is a Muslim” theory isn’t best practice. There are blogs out there, like Joel’s Trumpet that dwell on this, and I invite folks who want to focus on that topic to visit there.
I don’t wish anyone to feel they can’t post without being jumped all over on, and will delete further comments or initiate the review feature if this continues. Thank you for your understanding.
SeanOsborne says:
The antiChrist (false messiah) WILL NOT be a Muslim or of the Islamic flase religion because Jesus Christ said so.
In Jerusalem it was Jesus who said to the Jews:
“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.“
This proves that the antiChrist, the false Messiah, will not come in the name of the false moon god “allah”, but he will come in his own name and will be received.
In the one blasphemous act, an abomination that makes desolate, will declare himself to be God.
No Muslim would ever declare himself to be “allah.” It is an impossibility.
Besides, by the time this event takes place in mid-Tribulation, Islam will be but a footnote of history.
Sal, you may believe that the Mahdi concept is “pure theological fiction”, but the Muslim world of nearly two billion does not. They have their own false eschatology, but they are so convinced of its truth they may even try to self-fulfill what they believe.
Hi SeanOsborne,
You seem quite certain from one verse that Antichrist cannot be Muslim because of what Jesus said in John 5:43. This is adding meaning to the text (eisegesis) when John 5 has absolutely nothing to do with the Antichrist. Even David Reagan acknowledges that John 5:43 has nothing to do with the Antichrist.
As for no Muslim ever declaring himself to be Allah, please realize that they do not even need to outright declare this. As I’ve already stated all he would have to do is sit in the temple of God and proclaim to be the Mahdi. The Mahdi is exalted by Islam to be above all of creation and is claimed by Islam to sit in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The Mahdi in Islam has titles that only belong to God. (Dr. G. F. Haddad, Living Islam, The Prophetic Title: The Best of Creation). Therefore, to claim to be the Mahdi is to exalt himself above Yahweh the God of Israel.
Your assertion that Islam will be but a footnote of history by the mid-point of the tribulation is another example of reading meaning into text that isn’t there, and is based upon the assumption that Gog/Magog is a separate war from Armageddon that destroys Islam. What you are contending is that Christ physically comes down in wrath, shakes the planet, crumbles mountains, sinks islands, sends hail, fire & brimstone and destroys the invading armies, feeds their bodies to ravenous birds, gives them a burial place in the valley and proves to the world that He is God during the Gog/Magog battle, then goes back up to Heaven and comes back down and does the exact same thing all over again a few years later. This is illogical. Consider this — if the mountains are thrown down per Ezekiel 38:20, what mountains will there be to be thrown down a second time per Revelation 6:20? These are not two different wars. They are separate descriptions of the same event. Think of the descriptions from Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, Daniel, John for instance as different pieces to the same puzzle.
Nathan, I agree, and understand.
Hi Mitchell,
Brother, with all due respect, please refrain from adding meaning or connotation to things I did not say much less specifically address or even infer in my comments above. Also, I assumed nothing.
Aside from that, I am explicitly certain that Jesus was referencing the antiChrist in John 5:43. In support of this exegesis I cite page 122 of Clarence Larkin’s book “Rightly Dividing the Word” (published in 1920).
with respect to your previous comment, “They [the Muslim world] have their own false eschatology, but they are so convinced of its truth they may even try to self-fulfill what they believe” is an impossibility.
The Qur’an and Islamic ahadith hold to some very specific items with respect to the identification of their anticipated al-Mahdi. He must be an Arab, from the tribe of Banû Hãshim, he must come from the house of (Ahlul-Bayt) Mohammed, he must be a direct descendant of Muhammed via his daughter Fatima and her son Husayn, he must make his appearance in Mecca, and he must establish a world government under Islam. The are over 50 Sunni Islamic sources that cite these specifics. The Shi’a number of references is even more numerous albeit they differ from the Sunni specifics.
These things make it quite impossible for any Muslim to merely “self-fulfill” to completion the appearance (zuhur) of their al-Mahdi. Many have tried before and failed.
It’s akin to attempting to prove a negative – can’t be done because the basic premises of Islam are completely false and demonic in nature.
Sean I read John 5:43 today and thought exactly the same thing.
It’s one thing to note that Muhammad or the Black Stone is venerated/praised or even worshiped but quite another to claim that Muslims will worship a man above, or on a par with, Allah. Evangelicals point disapprovingly to Catholics for worshiping Mary and venerating saints (with good reason) yet, at the moment, there’s no way a Catholic would consider Mary as being above God the Father. It may be that the AC is able to manipulate the minds of the Islamic masses when he finally arrives on the scene but this is speculative.
I don’t know who the “god of fortresses” is. Daniel was written long before the Koran. I don’t necessarily agree with the following article but it does have some interesting ideas.
God of Fortresses
As for the Mahdi, I found this article interesting too.
THE MUSLIMS ALSO EXPECT THE MAHDI
The Muslims after the death of prophet Muhammad made their own innovations and fabrications that have no basis in the Quran. They even wrote many books to compete with the book of God, the Quran. The book that God called, the BEST HADITH and asked His true believers to follow no other book than His Quran. In these fabricated books of hadith, stories of a future coming righteous man, named Mehdi, Mahdi or Imam Al Zaman, were circulated. Al Mahdi, El Mehdi or Imam Al Zaman have no basis or origin in Islam or its Holy book, the Quran. Quran ONLY talks about a consolidating and unifying messenger of God who would come after all the prophets have come (see Quran 3:81). The Quran named that messenger of God, the Messenger of the Covenant . In essence he fulfills all the expectations of the Jews, Christians and Muslims of a unifying figure for all of God’s messages.
I skimmed through Walid’s article on Prophezine. A lot of the issues he raises and argues for are over my head at the moment. In fact I first came across Walid on Zola Levitt’s website and was very impressed by his witness. However, his contention that John saw the word Allah in Rev 13:18 doesn’t gel with me.
I am sure that Clarence Larkin is a good writer, but citing him is not proof that John 5:43 is a reference to Antichrist. It is but an assumption on the part of some, and the context of 5:43 bears this out.
As for the possible self-fulfillment question regarding the Mahdi, do you truly believe it is out of the question that the religious establishment of Islam (whose god is Satan – the father of lies) is incapable of falsely producing evidence so that any future al Mahdi figure meets the requisite criteria to claim such title, or that in the absence of said proofs they would therefore preclude an otherwise seemingly valid candidate? This Mahdi figure does not need to claim the title immediately. It may be that after he is successful in establishing his coalition of Islamic nations and after receiving the support of the Muslim masses as a new leader for Muslims all over the world that he claims the title AT THE TIME he sits in the temple of God (therefore confirming the suspicions of many). All he has to do is sit in the temple and claim to be the Mahdi that the Muslim world has been waiting for.
Satan is setting up the Muslim world to accept the Antichrist with arms wide open. I believe firmly that the empire of the Beast is already here, we see it on the news every day, in the papers, on the radio, etc. If Islam is not the system of Antichrist we need to believe that:
* Yet a different nearly two billion people will also be specifically antichrist as the most important fundamental (“shirk”) of an as yet unknown European religion.
* Yet a different nearly two billion people will also follow a different, as yet unknown, European false prophet.
* Yet a different religion will also “wear out the saints” by murdering Jews and Christians (Dan 7:25) – and by beheading.
* Yet a different religion will also change the times – by creating its own calendar. (Daniel 7:25)
* Yet a different religion will also attempt to change laws – by ignoring the Sabbath as well as imposing Islamic Sharia law, in the place of legitimate laws of sovereign nations, throughout the world. (Daniel 7:25)
* Yet a different religion will also build yet another abomination (Dome of the Rock) on the Temple Mount that is specifically antichrist, which contains mosaic inscriptions inside and out that read “Far be it from God’s glory that he should have a Son”.
* Yet a different religion will establish in a few years what took Islam almost 1400 years to establish.
Are we really to believe that the nearly two billion antichrist Muslims in antichrist Islam today, will all convert to a different as yet unknown European antichrist religion, operated by some as yet unknown antichrist charismatic European leader, and this in a period of just a few years?
hi loki,
The Muslim link you provided is to an Islamic cult who believes that the “Messenger of the Covenant” is a man named Dr. Rashad Khalifa. (This is the “Christian equivalent” to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians). The Sunni and Shia believe in al Mahdi.
For the record, Mitchell, I used Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
loki,
Excellent! As we all know, the Word of God is the only literally living document of written reference in existence on planet Earth. Every jot, iota or communicative word of its composition is the unquestionable Truth; it comes directly from the Word of the living Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I’ll also note that any claim that Muslims, the Qur’an or any ahadith in Islam which claims the al-Mahdi is worshipped on a par with or above Allah is absolute nonsense. Complete rubbish. Within the completely bogus Islamic theology the al-Mahdi is nothing more than the reappearance of the final “rightly guided” Islamic Imam. The claimed personage of the al-Mahdi is a satanic deception; if anything based upon the superstition of a mere child who, in a now quite ancient Islamic ‘urban legend,’ fell down some middle eastern water well and very probably died as a result.
Mitchell,
Clarence Larkin is one of the greatest Dispensational authors and preachers of relatively modern times. I included the links in my comment above specifically to point you in that direction. However, aside from what Larkin, as well as the exegesis of others, I hold that the conviction placed upon me by the Holy Spirit regarding John 5:43 is all the reference of validity and truth necessary. You can believe what you want, I know differently by the conviction of the Holy Spirit what the Gospel of John attests to. This is in and of itself is nothing even remotely close to an assumption. Period.
As for the al-Mahdi, let me be perfectly frank and literal … to hell with Islam. Period. There will be no “al-Mahdi” as it is like Islam, a falsehood in the extreme. I made this clear earlier. The universal religion and worship of the antiChrist as controlled by the False Prophet makes any Islamic wannabe character a moot point. Islam is soon to be a mere footnote among the rest of this world false religions. So ridiculous is the notion that its not worthy of the bytespace we are using to discuss it. It is absolute garbage.
As for your comment: “Are we really to believe that the nearly two billion antichrist Muslims in antichrist Islam today, will all convert to a different as yet unknown European antichrist religion, operated by some as yet unknown antichrist charismatic European leader, and this in a period of just a few years?“
What does the Word of God say on the matter? Are “we really to belive…”???
Yes, I belive the Word of God. I hope you do also. He says it will be so. I believe Him; to hell with Islam.
I probably agree with you in more areas than I disagree with you brother. Yes, to hell with Islam because that is where it comes from, the pit of hell. And that’s where its final resting place will be.
As for Clarence Larkin, he is just a man, and no opinion of man is the final authority. I prefer to stay with Scripture first and foremost, and refer to various writers and commentators on occasion (for what it's worth, "Jamieson, Fausset & Brown" sees no relation to Antichrist in v.43, stating "How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the Jews! "From the time of the true Christ to our time, sixty-four false Christs have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived"). However, please do not imply that because I disagree with you regarding John 5:43 and its association (or lack thereof) with Antichrist that I am somehow not led by the Holy Spirit. Numerous writers and commentators (including David Reagan) do not see any relation with Antichrist in this verse, are none of them guided by the Spirit? The purpose of the Gospel of John is to prove the deity of Christ, that He is the Son of God.
I agree, that al Mahdi is a falsehood, an evil lie from Satan, as is Islam as religion. However Islam teaches this lie to the masses of Muslims and is believed by both Sunni and Shia (and is declared obligatory for all Muslims to believe in). WE know that it is false, but Muslims believe it to be true.
Islam and its teachings are absolute garbage, I agree 100% with you Sean. We all do. And those who hold the position of an Islamic Antichrist do not give credence to any Islamic "prophecy" in the sense that it is divinely inspired. Not in the tiniest least. As many of us can see, Islam's false eschatology borrows bits and pieces from true Biblical prohecies, but is corrupted with their twisted Islamic teachings and is, in fact, antithetical to what the Bible is teaching us. I don’t think, however, that just because we know that Islam is a false religion that we should arbitrarily turn a blind eye to what it teaches the masses of Muslim followers, especially in terms of their own (false) eschatology. As Christians, we can see Biblical prophecy unfolding before our eyes, such as the creation of Israel in 1948, but since Islam borrows those bits and pieces of true Bible eschatology Muslims will view it as “proof” of their own “Islamic eschatology”, and some can conceivably even attempt to self-fulfill some of their twisted eschatology. For instance, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated publicly many times that he wishes to hasten the return of the promised “Rightly Guided One” and is seeking to create the conditions necessary for the return of this Mahdi figure.
Having said that, let me be clear — one does not connect Antichrist to Islam merely because of what Islamic eschatology teaches about their Mahdi, but one can connect Antichrist to Islam because of what Biblical eschatology teaches about the Antichrist.
Question – why do you believe that Islam will soon “be a mere footnote” among religions?
What does the Word of God say on the matter? Are “we really to believe…
When it comes to the depictions of the Last Days, Antichrist, his actions, the nations that come up against Jerusalem, etc. the Word of God describes perfectly the nature and intent of the false religion of Islam today.
Mitchell wrote…”one does not connect Antichrist to Islam merely because of what Islamic eschatology teaches about their Mahdi, but one can connect Antichrist to Islam because of what Biblical eschatology teaches about the Antichrist.“
Anyone who connects the Antichrist to Islam is the willful or not victim of a poor exegesis of Daniel 9:26. Antichrist will come from the people who are responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.
“The people” who accomplished that destruction were those of the Roman Empire, via their armies, principally, Legio X Fretensis, Legio V Macedonica and Legio XV Apollinaris, under the command of Roman General Titus Vespasianus. The soldiers of Legio X were Italians from the region of the Straits of Messina; Legio XV from the mixed Illyrian-Celtic people of the region of Pannonia along the Danube River, and Legio V were of the Thraco-Illyrian people in the region of the lower Danube formerly known as Moesia.
In sum, the “people of the prince” were Europeans and Roman citizens.
Mitchell wrote…”Question – why do you believe that Islam will soon “be a mere footnote” among religions?“
Because of the one-world religion that worships the Beast according to the Word of God. The religion of the False Prophet will oppose ALL religions, it will worship the Beast alone, the man indwelt by Satan, and as Saint Paul described the one-world religion of those coming days ““all that is called God, or worshipped.” That includes Islam. ALL relgions which exist prior to the advent of the worship of the Beast. This is very unambiguous Bible prophecy; it could not be more clearly stated in The Word.
The more I read and the more I study, I have to agree with Dr. Reagan, SeanOsborne and others. Many people don’t realize that Islam is dying slowly, just Google muslims leaving islam and take a look. People are leaving that pagan religion and many are coming to Christ (hallelujah).
But on the other hand, many people are also leaving Christianity (which, i think, will also become a footnote in human history) due to the efforts of groups like Freedom from Religion, athiests, evolutionists, and humanists, which all place man in the place of God.
I am a former Islamic Antichrist/ al-Madhi theorist (that’s not to say I’m not in error, I just don’t believe that’s what the Bible teaches, and thank God, I won’t be here to find out). That’s not to say that Antichrist isn’t of Arab descent due to the Arab population growth in Europe, but al-Madhi isn’t Arab — he’s Persian.
Wherever Antichrist is from, the Bible clearly states that humanism will be the new religion. I believe that is the great apostasy which the Apostles wrote about. Look how many churches are turning to New Age mumbo-jumbo, for example. Europe isn’t turning to Islam as a replacement religion, they are turning to humanism; as is nearly every other nation.
I tend to agree with the humanist concept of the AC. If Islam is Antichristian, humanism is, arguably, even more so. Look at abortion, eugenics, unrestricted sexual expression, homosexuality, same-sex marriage etc, and one of the primary concepts of New Ageism is that we are all gods.
SeanOsborne writes, “Anyone who connects the Antichrist to Islam is the willful or not victim of a poor exegesis of Daniel 9:26. Antichrist will come from the people who are responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.”
Obviously, I disgree brother that Antichrist must only come from the Western leg. I find it odd that you are dogmatic that Antichrist must come from Europe yet still call Charles Larkin “one of the greatest Dispensational authors and preachers of relatively modern times”. Even Clarence Larkin believed that Antichrist would not come out of Europe, writing:
“The ”King of the North’’ was the King of Syria, and his character and conduct is described (Dan. 11:36-39) as similar to that of the ‘’Little Horn’’ that came out of one of the ”Four Horns’’ it is clear that the Antichrist is to come from Syria. That the ”King of the North’’ spoken of in Dan. 11:21-31 was Antiochus Epiphanes there can be no doubt, but that he was not the ‘’Little Horn,’’ or the Antichrist, who is to come out of Syria in the ‘’latter days’’ is clear from the remainder of the chapter from the 35th verse, which describes the conduct of the future Antichrist. The intervening verse, the 32nd to the 35th inclusive fill in the gap between the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and the appearance of the Antichrist. There is no intimation that Antiochus Epiphanes is even to be regarded as a ‘’type’’ of Antichrist. They are distinct historical personages, each dealt with in his own place, and though they resemble each other in some respects, yet they must not be confounded with each other. The term ”North” and ”South” are applied to Syria and Egypt because of their geographic relation to Palestine (the Pleasant of Glorious land. Dam. 8:9, 11:16, 41). In the thought of Jehovah, Jerusalem is at once the geographic and moral centre of the earth. We are to understand therefore by the ‘’King of the North’’ the King of Syria, which also included Assyria. This fixes the locality from which the Antichrist shall come, for we read in Isa. 10:12 –
”That when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem (which will not be until Christ comes back), I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria (Antichrist) and the glory of his ”high looks’,’’
And we read in Isa. 14:25 –
”I will break the Assyrian (the Antichrist) in my land (Palestine), and upon my mountains ‘tread him under foot;’ then shall his yoke depart from off them (Israel), and his burden depart from off their shoulders.’’
The context shows that this prophecy is connected with the restoration of Israel to their own land and the time of the downfall of the Antichrist. To recapitulate, we see from three visions of Daniel that –
1. He learned from the ”Little Horn” of the Fourth Wild Beast, that a Mysterious and Terrible Personage was to arise in the ”Latter Days”
2. He learned from the ”Little Horn” that came up on one of the ‘’Four Notable Horns’’ that took the place of the ‘’Great Horn’’ on the He-Goat, that that ”Terrible Personage’”was to come out of one of the Kingdoms into which the Grecian Empire was divided as the death of Alexander the Great
3. He learned from the vision of the ”King of the North” that that ”Terrible Personage’” would come out of the Syrian division of Alexander’s Kingdom.’’ “
End Quote (Dispensational Truth Or God’s Plan and Purpose in the Ages – Clarence Larkin, p. 118).
If Clarence Larkin were alive today he would in all likelihood be among those who believed Antichrist would arise out of Islam. Would you still call him one of the greatest Dispensational teachers then?
SeanOsborne writes, “[Islam will soon be a mere footnote among religions] Because of the one-world religion that worships the Beast according to the Word of God. The religion of the False Prophet will oppose ALL religions, it will worship the Beast alone, the man indwelt by Satan, and as Saint Paul described the one-world religion of those coming days ““all that is called God, or worshipped.””
Sounds like you’re describing Islam itself. Mohammed is a false prophet. This is not debatable. Mohammed’s religion opposes ALL other religions. This is not debatable. Let’s get a quick lesson on Islam by a former Muslim:
“FACT—MUSLIMS WORSHIP THE BLACK STONE
Islam teaches that every Muslim must get his sins cleansed by venerating The Black Stone at least once in their lifetime, since the Black Stone is black due to it taking away the sins of Muslims. From a biblical definition — not only do Muslims deify Muhammad, they also deify the Black Stone — this idol takes the position of Jesus Himself, since only Jesus can remit all sin.
Even the Book of Acts addresses such issues: Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image which fell down to us from heaven (Acts 19:35).
Will Reagan say that these did not worship Artemis or her image?
The image of Artemis is strikingly similar to the meteorite stone image in Mecca which Allah commands 1.3 billion Muslims to literally bow down and prostrate themselves toward at least seventeen times during their five daily prayers.
Al-Tirmidhi, one of the greatest Muslim commentators notes “many years ago, the Black Stone was, “whiter than milk; it was only later that it became black as it absorbed the sins of those who touched it.”
Even the stone according to the Bible is an “image”. Biblically speaking, an image does not only mean a statue. Likely, the image of the beast can include a stone.
FACT—MUSLIMS WORSHIP MUHAMMAD
Muhammad’s name literally means “The Most Praised One”. If this alone is not worship, I do not know what else is. Can Reagan deny that Muslims elevate Muhammad over Yahweh? What you will find here is an astounding yes. Muhammad “The Praised One” is a title of deity. This is a name of blasphemy. The Antichrist system blasphemes God. Of course Muslims do not claim that they worship Muhammad. Yet they do. Allah himself in the Quran commanded: “Allah and His angels pray upon the prophet [Muhammad]. O ye who believe pray upon him and salute him with a worthy salutation” (Qur’an 33:56). Even Allah himself prays upon Muhammad. Reagan is in checkmate, he can either insist on his view and defend Muslim claims, or abandon his uneducated guesswork. Without Muhammad, there can be no Islam and without believing in Muhammad, no one can become a Muslim. The Islamic creed mandates it “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Muslims elevate Muhammad with God for no Christian would be mandated to state, “There is no God but Yahweh and Ezekiel is His messenger.”
Allah in the Quran even shared many of his names with Mohammed. He holds a uniquely exalted status unparalleled by anything or anyone else. He is given the title Al-Maqam-Al-Mahmud (The Glorious). The Mahdi who Muslims believe is the essence of Muhammad, likewise is called “glorious”, Ahmadinijad stated: “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi — may Allah hasten his reappearance.”
Muslim scholar, Dr. G. F. Haddad, in an article with a blasphemous title, The Best of Creation states “[There is no] other Prophet [other than Mohammed] or angel-brought-near with whom Allah Most High shared as many of His own Names in the Qur’an as He did with the Prophet. With respect to his foremost name—Mohammed—peace be upon him, consider the poetic verse of Hassan ibn Thabit (RA): ‘And He drew out for him [a name] from His own Name so as to dignify him greatly: The Owner of the Throne [God] is The Glorious [Mahmûd], and this is the Praiseworthy [Mohammed]!’”
Islam claims that God, whose name is Mahmud, or the Glorious or the Praised One, named Mohammed after Himself. This is quite the claim. Mohammed wanted to be like God. Even intersession is attributed to Muhammad “It may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a praised estate’ (Qur’an 17:79), a station which the Prophet said none but he would receive. And this is the Station of Intercession at the right of the Glorious Throne.”
Only Jesus is positioned at the right hand of God where He is the only one that intercedes for mankind: “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:34). One will never find in the Scriptures Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, Habakkuk, or Jeremiah given such titles.
FACT—MUSLIMS WORSHIP MAHDI
Like Mohammed, the Mahdi is exalted by Islam to be above all of creation, and is claimed by Islam to sit in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Mahdi in Islam has titles that belong only to God.
Now, lets examine II Thessalonians 2 that Reagan uses as evidence to write-off for Islam. Antichrist “oppose and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:4).
The Mahdi, like Muhammad exalts himself above all that is called God. In other words, he gives himself titles that only belong to God. The II Thessalonians 2 text is perfect and no serious mind can deny — it does match Islam’s deification of a man.”
The Third Jihad – a 30 minute video you can watch for free online.
http://blip.tv/file/1382254/
Here are some take out comments discussing end-times from a Muslim website:
As Muslims, we must seek refuge with Allah from the tribulations in general, and from the torments of the Antichrist in particular; we must pray to Allah openly and in secret, to help us remain steadfast both in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah knows best.
Authenticity of Hadiths Pertaining to Al-Mahdi
In the links we see that the Mahdi is, indeed, a feature of some Islamic eschatological systems. However, it’s patently obvious to me by the comments in the links that the average committed Muslim is NOT directed to worship any Mahdi/Messianic figure ABOVE Allah. Yet that is exactly what the AC requires for himself. For devout, mainstream Muslims, Allah is SUPREME regardless of whether they prostrate themselves before a STONE. As a former Catholic I see similarities with that mentality and custom.
Good points re Clarence Larkin. Just a smidgeon further, he states.…
The Antichrist, therefore, in all probability will be a Syrian Jew, for it is not likely that the Jews will accept as their Messiah one who is not a Jew, unless the claimant by false pretence makes them believe he is one. This, however, does not prevent the Antichrist being A Roman citizen, and a king of the revived Roman Empire, for Saul of Tarsus was both a Jew and a Roman citizen.
Clarence Larkin “Dispensational Truth” p 118
His “The Book of Revelation” is good reading as well.
hi brother loki,
Sure, Muslims will deny that they would ever worship an image, or even a man. But their actions say otherwise. Satan wants nothing more than to be like the Most High and to be worshipped. A Satan-possessed Antichrist will be cunning and deceitful enough to convince even Muslims to worship him.
Re: Clarence Larkin, when he wrote his book Islam was all but a dead religion. But look at it today, it has come back to life to the point where it threatens western civilization, and Syria today is over 90% Muslim, and the percentage of non-Muslim politicians in Syria is next to nil. Also, keep in mind that the eastern leg had Assyrian soldiers who were considered Roman, even though they were not born in Rome. The Apostle Paul was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia located in Asia Minor in modern day Turkey, yet he was considered Roman.
Mitchell wrote:
“Obviously, I disgree brother that Antichrist must only come from the Western leg.“
I didn’t say “western leg” did I? I repeated what Daniel was Divinely inspired to write, namely, that :Antichrist will come from the people who are responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.” I then identified those “people” via the historical record of those events in 70 A.D. These are FACTS which are indisputable.
Clarence Larkin was discussing Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and he most certainly was an archetype or foreshadowing of the coming Beast due to his actions regarding the Temple in Jerusalem.
And gues what… there’s another indisputable historical fact to note at this specific point — Antiochus IV Epiphanes was of pure Greek/Macedonian descent (i.e. he was not a “Syrian). His family lineage going back to Seleucus I Nicator, a cousin of Alexander the Great’s and one of his best and most favored generals.
Moreover, another descendant of Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a commander of the Roman auxila supporting the legions in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This Auxilia of the Roman Army was brought to Jerusalem by Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes as reported by Flavius Josephus in his historical record. He was also of Greek/Macedonian ethnicity.
As for Walid Shoebat’s challenge – been there, done that. No sound exegesis stands on just one leg and five toes.
Sound exegesis stands on two legs and ten toes.
Some additional research results are relevant to the point I’ve been making with respect to Daniel 9:26. I’m going to repeat, with bold emphasis, what I blogged to Bill Salus’ PROPHECY DEPOT website this past Monday.
“From: “Structural history of the Roman military”
Under the heading of:
“Imperial legions and reformation of the auxilia (27 BC – 117 AD)”
We read…
“The legions, which had been a mix of life professionals and civilian campaigners, was altered into a standing army of professionals only.[60] The actual structure of the cohort army remained much the same as in the late Republic, although around the first century AD the first cohort of each legion was increased in size to a total of 800 soldiers.[61] However, while the structure of the legions remained much the same, their make-up gradually changed. Whereas early Republican legions had been raised by a draft from eligible Roman citizens, imperial legions were recruited solely on a voluntary basis and from a much wider base of manpower. Likewise, whereas Republican legions had been recruited almost exclusively in Italy, early Imperial legions drew most of their recruits from Roman colonies in the provinces from 68 AD onwards. One estimate places the proportion of Italian troops at 65% under Augustus in c. 1 AD, falling to around 49% by the end of Nero’s reign.[62]
Bas-relief carving of a Roman legionary out of battle dress, c. 1st century AD (Pergamon Museum, Berlin) Since the legions were officially open only to Roman citizens, Max Cary and Howard Hayes Scullard argue that at least in some provinces at this time “many provincials must have been recruited who lacked any genuine claim to Roman citizenship but received it unofficially on enlistment”,[63] a practice that was to increase in the second century.[64]”
Citing:
Santosuosso, Storming the Heavens, p. 91
Hassall, The Army, p. 325
Cary & Scullard, A History of Rome, p. 338
Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter I, p. 36
Again, another historical fact-of-record can be cited as proof that Roman citizen-soldiers came from the "people" which Daniel stated in his prophecy would destroy "the city and the sanctuary."
One more point with respect to Syria…
I maintain that Isaiah 17 and Pslam 83 occur prior to the Tribulation. This is apparent because in neither is there any mention of the 3rd Temple or of Temple worship in Jerusalem. Dotto for Ezekiel 38/39.
And what happens to these nations as a directresult of these imminent battles and wars?
Is Israel victorious or are the Syrians and Arabs? It’s a no brainer because “the Bible tells me so.”
And by the time the subsequent war of Ezekiel 38/39 occurs … what is the mindset of Saudi Arabia and Yemen as revealed by Ezekiel? The very meek, defensive and highly defensive “have you come to take a spoil” is all that these Arabs will offer.
In all instances Bible prophecy makes crystal clear that these nations will not be whatthey are today when Tribulation time rolls around.
I’ve carefully read Walid’s points about praising Muhammad and the praying etc. However, the bottom line is that Muslims do not worship (in the true sense of the word) anything except Allah. Allah is supreme and modern pious Muslims wouldn’t tolerate any person claiming they are above Allah. It’s true that the Antichrist will deceive the masses because Scripture tells us so. But I don’t think Muslims are particularly inclined to be deceived based on Walid’s arguments. That said, I really do worry about Iran’s president and his Mahdi beliefs given Iran’s nuclear aspirations. But that’s a slightly different issue.
“Re: Clarence Larkin, when he wrote his book Islam was all but a dead religion.”
That implies that Larkin was influenced by the current situation rather than his Biblical understanding. In fact he foresaw Israel back as a nation based on Scripture – as did Scofield and J C Ryle. Islam has had notoriety and infamy ever since Muhammad. Even C S Lewis used Islamic themes in his final eschatological Narnian Chronicle “The Last Battle” – although that doesn’t make him a prophet.
From that site I linked to earlier:
…I would like to say that there are Hadiths reported about Al-Mahdi that are true in general, but most of them do not reach the degree of authenticity. It may be only one of these Hadiths that is regarded authentic. Moreover, it is only a few of them that are considered sound, while most of them are weak.
Muslims who are of Ahl-us Sunnah (mainstream Muslims) believe that a man of the Prophet’s clan will be born before the end of this world and lead an ordinary life as any other one; he may commit mistakes and will need to be reformed like any other one. Then Allah will choose him to reunite the Muslims and guide them to the right path.
This is all what should be believed about Al-Mahdi. There is no religious text to the effect that it is a religious duty to wait anxiously for him. Moreover, Muslims should not believe anyone claiming that he is Al-Mahdi unless there is clear evidence to that effect, as many people have claimed to be so.
Historians can be quoted until we are blue in the face — you can quote those who seem to support your position, I can quote those who appear to support mine. But the fact remains that Scripture gives us sufficient, clear and explicit details regarding the origin of Antichrist. For example, he is desribed as the last “king of the north” in Daniel 11. He is called “The Assyrian” elsewhere. Many scholars, commentators and teachers today and throughout history such as Clarence Larkin acknowledge this fact. Indeed, Antichrist will come from the people who were responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD, and we know that there were soldiers of those legions from Assyria, yet those from Assyria (which encompasses Lebanon, Syrian and Iraq or the region of the old Babylonian Empire) were also considered Roman because they answered to Rome. Even the Apostle Paul, who was born in Tarsus – a city in Cilicia located in Asia Minor in modern day Turkey – was considered Roman.
When we read Scripture line upon line, precept upon precept and employ sound hermeneutics we come to the realization that Antichrist will arise out of the region of ancient Assyria. And these were among they who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.
As for your note on Ezekiel 38 and 39, it should be quite clear after careful study that this is indeed the battle of Armageddon. Remember, line upon line and precept upon precept.
Those who believe that Gog/Magog of Ez 38-39 is different than Armageddon are contending that Christ physically comes down in wrath, shakes the planet, crumbles mountains, sinks islands, sends hail, fire & brimstone and destroys the invading armies, feeds their bodies to ravenous birds, gives them a burial place in the valley and proves to the world and Israel that He is God, then goes back up to Heaven and comes back down and does the exact same thing all over again a few years later because the world conveniently forgot the utter destruction that happened a few year prior. There is no logic to this. Consider this — if the mountains are thrown down per Ezekiel 38:20, what mountains will there be to be thrown down a second time per Revelation 6:20? These are not two different wars. They are separate descriptions of the same event.
We need to keep in mind that just because certain details are left out of Ezekiel's description when compared to other descriptions does not automatically mean that he is talking about a different war. Biblical prophetical literature (just as the four Gospels) can often speaks about a single event yet with details often included or omitted depending on the prophet. Joel will not include all the same details of Ezekiel, who will not include all the same details as John, who will not include all the same details as Daniel, etc. Zechariah describes additional details regarding Jerusalem, Ezekiel describes the same battle but with additional details regarding the nations themselves specifically. In both instances it is God who draws them into the valley so that He can destroy them. Think of the descriptions from Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, Daniel, John for instance as different pieces to the same puzzle.
As we edge closer to D-Day, if you will, we are beginning to understand Bible prophecy in a clearer light. If there is prophecy that is sealed until the time of the end, it makes sense that our understanding of events and global conditions will begin to be expanded the closer we approach the return of Christ. During the days of Larkin Israel was not yet a nation, yet he was able to know that a time was coming when Israel would be reborn. But he could never have fully understood the nature of the hatred that would also be aimed at Israel after its birth as well. We now understand that the nations that surround Israel that will come against Jerusalem at Armageddon hates Israel because of their anti-Jew, anti-Christ and anti-Truth religion of Islam. If there were no Islam, the hatred we see aimed against Israel today would be virtually nonexistent by comparison.
It is most interesting to note that when real-world historical facts stand in direct opposition to the views of the “eastern leg” proponents they are summarily dismissed. The chief proponets of your view, Shoebat and Richardson, rely heavily on secular and even Islamic sources as the under-girders of support for their position. Again, the historical facts, both Biblical and secular, and sans any twisting or unwarranted exegetical acrobatics stand as testiment to the truth and literalness of Daniel 9:26, to wit, a revived Roman Empire will be the power base of the antichrist.
Secondly, and with all due respect brother, I find your current understanding and interpretive rendering of Daniel 11 somewhat lacking wherein you state: “he is desribed as the last “king of the north” in Daniel 11.“
Nowhere in Daniel 11, in any translation, is there a description of the antichrist as the “last king of the north”. It simply does not exist.
A correct exegetical rendering of Daniel 11 would hold that these verses are descriptive of the wars fought between two of the four rump empires that came out of Alexander the Great’s Empire. The primary belligerents are clearly the Seleucid Empire of Seleucus I Nicator and the Egypt-based Empire of Ptolemy. The Seleucid kingship is herein prophetically traced so that by verse 21 we see the personage of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
As discussed in my comment above, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a precursor or prototype of the coming antichrist. In verse 30 we see the rise of the Roman Empire into the Middle East, and the effect this initial Italian-Roman arrival (“ships of Chittim”) has on Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and we see the precusor ‘abomination of desolation’ in the abolition of the Temple daily sacrifice and the standing up of a Jupiter Olympius statue in the Temple.
Again, as stated above, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was an ethnic Greek/Macedonian. This 11th chapter of daniel also serves as not only an unerrant, precise prophetic view of the period of years between Alexander’s Empire and the Roman Empire relative to the Holy Land, but it also is a prophetic template of the arrival of the Beast Kingdom, and the specific, repeated act of an image of the antichrist, the “Abomination of Desolation,” which will be stood up in the coming 3rd Temple by the False Prophet.
This brings me to write here and now of a critical item of understanding. This is something I have understood via the discernment granted by the Holy Spirit for many years now, and wish to impart to all my brothers and sisters in the Lord.
It is this specific act of Abomination which our Lord keyed upon in His Olivet Discourse. I believe this absolutely critical for those left behind after the Harpazo to come to understand.
I believe Jesus words in Matthew 24:15 are the clearest sign that the act of standing up the antichrist’s image in the Temple (the Abomination) directly results in the removal of the Restrainer (the Desolation) – the Holy Spirit – from this earth for the final 3.5 years of the Great Tribulation.
Hi SeanOsbourne,
Real world historical facts are not in any opposition to the ‘eastern leg’ view at all. It is a historical fact that the “people of the prince” included Assyrians, and it is a fact that Scripture calls Antichrist “the Assyrian”, and it is a fact that Daniel 11 also calls him the “king of the north”, and it is a fact that he will come from the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. This debate reminds me what the Jewish theologians would have sounded like when discussing the Messianic prophecies – does He come from Bethelehem, Nazareth, or Egypt? Obviously, the answer was all three…
As for Daniel 11, I presumed that you understood the full context of this chapter. There is a clear break in the flow of history between verse 35 and verse 36 of Dan 11. Right up until verse 35 we are dealing with past history, but verse 36 onwards are events that are yet future. Dan 11:35 says, “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.“
time of the end = “eth qets” – literally, until the end of time
This is a specific eschatological term that refers to the last days. Daniel says it again in verse 40. When Daniel was written everything was future prophecy, but the scope is beyond the Persian and Greek eras. After this there is no historical data for verses 35-45 and there is no indication that the events recorded in those verses were fulfilled during the life of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Notice the prophetic context of the following verses:
Dan 11:36-37, “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.“
Sound familiar? It should. Notice “indignation” in verse 36. In a prophetic context this term is used almost synonymously with the tribulation period, and the description is very similar to other Scriptures referring to Antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes was proud but he never magnified himself above every god. He religiously worshiped the gods of the Greeks and tried to force the Jews to do the same!
2 Thess 2:3-4 reads, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.“
Was this fulfilled already as well?
Let’s continue looking at the context of Daniel 11 to see if there are more clues regarding the timing of these prophecies.
Dan 11:40-12:2, “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.“
Sound familiar? I probably don’t need to quote Matthew 24:21, or of Rev 20:5 that speaks of the resurrection at the end of the last days.
In summary, the historical king of the north which occupies a good portion of Daniel 11, beginning with verse 6, is the ancient King of Assyria, who is not European. The future portion of the prophecy in Daniel 11 beginning in verse 36 with a reference to the “king” who shall “do according to his will” is clearly the future Antichrist and is also referred to as the “king of the north” in verse 40 whom the king of the south comes against, thus identifying Antichrist with the historical King of Assyria.
The previous three prophecies in Daniel all refer to the Antichrist, and it makes sense that Daniel’s final prophecy follows the same pattern as well.
SeanOsborne writes, “I believe Jesus words in Matthew 24:15 are the clearest sign that the act of standing up the antichrist’s image in the Temple (the Abomination) directly results in the removal of the Restrainer (the Desolation) – the Holy Spirit – from this earth for the final 3.5 years of the Great Tribulation.“
Do you believe that when people see the Abomination of Desolation that many people will come to Christ during the 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation, perhaps due to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists?
If there were no Islam, the hatred we see aimed against Israel today would be virtually nonexistent by comparison.
Don’t you believe that for one second. The hatred for Israel transcends and precedes Islam; is not confined to the Middle East and is ultimately satanic. Remove Islam and you will still have the satanic persecution of Jews. You only need to follow what’s occurred throughout history. Our own WCC and NCC churches hate Israel. Do research on the polemics of Stephen Sizer and Hank Hanegraaff and anti-Israel propaganda in the media. Don’t make the mistake in thinking that similar hatred cannot come out of Europe or elsewhere. In fact a Euro AC (of Assyrian or whatever origin) would probably utilize Islamic hatred for his own ends.
Please direct us to the book, chapter and verse where
“Assyrians” are taking part in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.
And before you do this, please take care that you have not assumed the use of the word Assyrian as anything other than an archetype (as in a model of, a prototype) descriptor.
Take care that you have not confused the ancient Assyrian people with the subsequent Syrian Arabs.
The Assyrian people have been a Christian people since the time of Christ, and have been persecuted to the point of big-time genocide by Muslims in their original homeland since the Muslim conquest of the 7th Century A.D. (i.e. between 634-638 A.D.)
I hope you are aware that, prophetically speaking, there is no connection between the ancient Assyrians and the modern-day Syrian Arabs.
There is a reason Isaiah describes the destruction of Damascus in chapter 17 of his book in the way he does. And there is a reason why Daniel’s prophecies are worded the way that they are. Be careful, because if you have confused these two distinct ethnic peoples, then we’ll have to deal with that issue later.
“there is no historical data for verses 35-45 and there is no indication that the events recorded in those verses were fulfilled during the life of Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes."
Excuse me, but I didn't say those verses did specifically that. I daid those verse were dual-purpose and I made quite clear that I was referring to verses 31 & 32: (“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.” This event is an established historical fact of 167 BC which led to the Maccabean revolt and the eventual establishment of the Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom of 140-37 B.C.
Hi SeanOborne,
A few points need to be made again, it seems that you’re not fully understanding a few things I am saying or where I’m coming from.
As you know, Scripture does not contradict Scripture and sound hermeneutical application of the text bears this out consistently. All references to Antichrist will therefore be harmonized, just as Old Testament Messianic references stating that Messiah comes out of Bethelehem, Nazareth, and Egypt have been harmonized.
First, please keep in mind that ancient Assyria includes territories represented by present day Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.
Scripture refers to Antichrist – the last days leader who comes against Israel and is destroyed by Christ at His coming – on a number of occasions as “the Assyrian” specifically, and not just as an archetype.
For example, Isaiah 30:30-31 reads, “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of [his] anger, and [with] the flame of a devouring fire, [with] scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down , [which] smote with a rod.”
What does this remind you of?
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4,8: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God… And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
Clarence Larkin, whom you described as “one of the greatest Dispensational authors and preachers of relatively modern times”, discussed Dan 11 and wrote that:
“The ‘King of the North’ was the King of Syria, and his character and conduct is described (Dan. 11:36-39) as similar to that of the ‘Little Horn’ that came out of one of the ‘Four Horns’ it is clear that the Antichrist is to come from Syria. That the ‘King of the North’ spoken of in Dan. 11:21-31 was Antiochus Epiphanes there can be no doubt, but that he was not the ‘Little Horn,’ or the Antichrist, who is to come out of Syria in the ‘latter days’ is clear from the remainder of the chapter from the 35th verse, which describes the conduct of the future Antichrist… Jerusalem is at once the geographic and moral centre of the earth. We are to understand therefore by the ‘King of the North’ the King of Syria, which also included Assyria. This fixes the locality from which the Antichrist shall come“.
Geographically, Scripture is pointing to the Middle East. But how can that be if Dan 9:26 is referring to a Roman Antichrist from a “revived Roman empire” and therefore European? Some are incorrectly assuming that, because it was a Roman army, the people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary were only Romans from Europe. However, it was customary for Rome to conscript soldiers from territories they had conquered. In this campaign the Roman troops were largely Syrians/Assyrians. Therefore, the ruler who will come will be of such origin, as Scripture states. There is no contradiction, and European proponents have no choice but to either deny that Scripture refers to Antichrist as “the Assyrian” (or that such reference is an archetype only) or deny that the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD included Assyrians.
Chuck Missler agrees Scripture directs us to a Middle East origin of Antichrist, writing, “All of us, I suspect, tend to equate the Roman Empire with Western Europe, and there have been many books suggesting conjectures involving Rome, the Vatican, and the rise of the European Union, etc.
We, too, have published numerous materials exploring these possibilities. However, all of us may have been subject to a myopia (“nearsightedness”) by overlooking the fact that the Roman Empire had an eastern leg that, in fact, survived the western leg by a thousand years!… There are a number of Biblical texts that strongly suggest that … Antichrist, will emerge from the region of the eastern leg of the Roman Empire, and that profoundly impacts our prophetic perspectives.”
Daniel referred to the Antichrist as “the leader who will come”, the “little horn”, “the beast”, “the stern faced king” and as Clarence Larken points out, the Antichrist is referred to as the “king of the north” as well in Dan 11. The king of the north and the land of the north is what Jeremiah called the territory of Assyria and Babylon. The Assyrian Empire was conquered by the Babylonians in 626 B.C. Both the Assyrian capital of Asshur and the Babylonian capital of Babylon were located in present day Iraq. These empires essentially comprised the same territory which included present day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon. (And it is interesting that in Isaiah 14 the Antichrist is called both the Assyrian and the king of Babylon).
Are there more clues in Scripture? Yes! In Revelation 13, John said that the Antichrist and his kingdom would be like a lion, a leopard and a bear. Daniel used these likenesses for the Babylonian, Media-Persian and Greek Empires. The Bible repeatedly indicates that the Antichrist will come from the Middle East.
SeanOsborne writes, “Excuse me, but I didn’t say those verses did specifically that.”
You should have known that I was referring to verses 35-45 due to the context of the discussion. Why explain a history lesson that we’re already aware of? But I digress …
I am curious to hear your position regarding the following:
SeanOsborne writes, “I believe Jesus words in Matthew 24:15 are the clearest sign that the act of standing up the antichrist’s image in the Temple (the Abomination) directly results in the removal of the Restrainer (the Desolation) – the Holy Spirit – from this earth for the final 3.5 years of the Great
Tribulation.”
loki says, “Don’t you believe that for one second. The hatred for Israel transcends and precedes Islam; is not confined to the Middle East and is ultimately satanic.”
It sure does, I agree loki. However, these are the last days, and Satan is the god of Islam who is using Islam to rise up against the elect of God. I would argue that 99% of the hatred against Israel today is due to Islam and due to the corrupting Islamic influence in Western nations, and I believe that God is allowing Islam to become what it has for His ultimate purpose.
“In Revelation 13, John said that the Antichrist and his kingdom would be like a lion, a leopard and a bear. Daniel used these likenesses for the Babylonian, Media-Persian and Greek Empires. The Bible repeatedly indicates that the Antichrist will come from the Middle East.“
As with most of your error filled exegesis, it is conducted as if you’re walking a buffet line of different foods and side dishes, picking that which agrees with your mindset and omitting that which does not.
The quote above is yet another prime example of this habit.
Number one – The Revelation of Jesus Christ ORIGINATED WITH GOD ALMIGHTY.
The father gave the Revelation to the Son, who gave it to John on Patmos. Therefore it is scripturally incorrect to say that “John said.” He didn’t God said it.
Secondly. You have conveniently omitted from Revelation 13:1-2 some critical information, information which I will now quote verbatim to illustrate the gross errors that you make in your exegesis.
“And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.“
This is a reiteration of the 4 world empires prophecy that God gave to Daniel. The cricial thing about this is that the empires are named in reverse order.
Beast Empire – Rome
Leopard Empire – Greece
Bear Empire – Persia
Lion Empire – Babylon
This verse is telling us point blank that the Beast and his Beast Empire come from the 4th Empire and will have the three previous empires rolled up within it.
Mitchell – as I have stated from the get-go, and here again for the LAST TIME I will instruct that according to God’s Word — the Beast Empire stands on TWO LEGS AND TEN TOES.
I am now done with this discussion as there are better things to do with my time than to repeat what has already been clearly stated in the Bible and properly interpreted.
I think I have unambiguously stated my position in what I wrote.
As a Christian theology major in college of four years I am well versed in exegetical and hermeneutical application of the Biblical texts. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, but please do not accuse me of blatant “error filled exegesis”. I have shown you numerous reasons from Scripture exegetically and especially with sound hermeneutics why Antichrist will come from the Middle East, yet you still refuse to acknowledge all of the Scriptural support due to your presuppositions. That is your choice, and we can agree to disagree.
I am not sure what your point is stating that the Revelation of Jesus Christ originated with God Almighty. We already know that John wrote Revelation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SeanOsborne writes, “This is a reiteration of the 4 world empires prophecy that God gave to Daniel. The cricial thing about this is that the empires are named in reverse order.”
So your contention is that the legs of iron are the Roman Empire and the feet of iron and clay is a Revived Roman Empire of some type of European confederacy? A common understanding. But let’s have a look with what Scripture really says since there is a problem with this theory. Daniel 2:40 reads, “And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.”
Note that the fourth kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the other kingdoms. This is not true of the Roman empire. When examining a map of the Roman empire during its greatest extent, we find that it did not even reach beyond the Euphrates River in Babylon. For the Roman empire to have crushed all the other kingdoms, it must have been able to conquer the Grecian and Medo-Persian empires. Rome conquered the Western portion of the Grecian empire but not the Eastern portion. Rome did not even reach the heart of the Medo-Persian empire (Iran) which extended East to the Indus River. The fourth kingdom had to conquer all the areas of the 3 previous kingdoms in order to meet the criteria of the text in Daniel 2:40.
Some argue that the two legs of the image in Daniel 2 are the East-West division of the Roman empire. In his excellent article titled Daniel’s Scope of Prophecy Does Not Include Rome!, Dave Watchman writes:
“After that the belly and thighs of brass represent the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great, today we would call the Middle East. Then the two legs which are merely extensions of the thighs represent two of the four generals which this vast territory was divided up between at the death of Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:21-22). General Ptolemy to the south took over an area around Egypt, and General Seleucid in the north took over an area we would call Syria today, and of course Israel was a land bridge between the two. Then the feet, which are merely extensions of the Grecian legs, represent the future Antichrist Empire; which is the focus of the entire Book of Daniel in the first place.
Read carefully now the anatomy of this metal man image as it is dissected into each of it’s parts by the Authorized King James Bible in Daniel 2:32-33 :
This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33) His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Lets read again the description of the third Grecian Kingdom:
The text says …his belly and his thighs of brass. It doesn’t say his ‘belly and his hips’ of brass, or it doesn’t say his ‘belly and loins’ of brass; IT SAYS HIS BELLY AND HIS THIGHS OF BRASS. Now we know from our own body, the thigh ends just above the knee, and the legs are extensions of the thigh; in other words as that Ole song goes ‘the FOOT BONES connected to the …LEG BONE: the LEG BONES connected to the …THIGH BONE’ etc. So the legs and feet are merely extensions out of Alexander the Greats Grecian Empire; therefore making it impossible the Antichrist Kingdom in the feet will come out of the Roman Empire/E.U.! This is where the kings of the North and kings of the South in Daniel Chapter 11 come from: extensions of the Grecian Empire.”
It appears that Babylon had to be the center of the kingdoms that ruled after the Babylonian empire. This was true with the Grecian and Medo-Persian empires but not true with Rome. Even though Rome could cross the Euphrates and reach Mesopotamia around the year 116 AD, this only lasted a few months until the Roman emperor Trajan died and the Romans retreated from the region. Babylon must have been the center of the fourth kingdom as it was the center of the first three kingdoms. According to Revelation 18, Babylon will be the center of the Antichrist’s kingdom which is the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2. Babylon was the Lion in Daniel 7 and the lion’s mouth is seen on the beast of Revelation 13.
Another reason why Rome cannot be the fourth kingdom is seen in Daniel 2:34-35:
“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”
Here we read that the stone which symbolically represents God’s kingdom will destroy the Iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold (Babylon) TOGETHER! This means that when Christ returns he will destroy all the kingdoms of Daniel 2 at the same time. How can that be since Babylon, Persia, and Greece ruled in the past you might ask? Even though Daniel saw these kingdoms as successive empires, he also saw them coming back together in the future. This is true in Revelation 13 where we read that the three beasts of Daniel 7 which represent the same kingdoms of the metal image of Daniel 2 are seen together as a composite kingdom made of the body parts of the leopard (Grecian), bear (Persian) and lion (Babylonian) empires.
The fourth kingdom in Daniel 2 must be a conglomeration of the 3 previous kingdoms since all of them are destroyed together when Christ returns. If Rome was not in view in Daniel 2, which kingdom is supposed to be the fourth then? A very little mistake has led prophecy students to conclude that there will be a revival of the Roman empire to be the kingdom of the Antichrist. This mistake goes as follows: Most prophecy teachers say that since Rome fell, no other empire has ruled any part of the world, therefore Rome must return to form the kingdom of the Antichrist. History shows quite the opposite. After the Western section of the Roman empire fell in 476 AD, the Eastern section with Constantinople as its capital continued on until about 1453 A.D, when it finally fell to the Islamic Caliphate of the Ottoman Turks.
History shows that the Ottoman empire conquered the entire Middle East, parts of Asia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southwestern Europe all the way to Spain, yet prophecy teachers say that no other empire ruled since the fall of Rome. Before the Ottoman empire, there was another empire which conquered the entire Middle East, parts of Asia, North Africa etc. around the year 850 AD. This was the Islamic empire and as we can see, it ruled much of the world including the three previous kingdoms of Daniel 2, namely the Babylonian, Persian and Grecian empires which ruled the entire Middle East. It seems quite clear from the text that the Middle East is what is in view in Daniel 2.
It is hard to conclude whether the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2 which crushes all the others is the Islamic empire or the Ottoman empire. Since both empires basically ruled the same areas and had the same objectives, i.e. bring the dominated areas under Islamic rules, we can conclude that they can be one and the same in two different stages.
This Islamic-Ottoman kingdom alone qualifies to be the fourth kingdom of Daniel which was supposed to crush and brake is pieces the Babylonian, Persian and Grecian empires. As the Islamic empires conquered the three first kingdoms of Daniel 2, it crushed them and as the Islamic empire divided the conquered lands in different section under different rulers, it literally broke the others in pieces as the text says in Daniel 2:40.
Today Islam is growing to be the major power in the Middle East. Islam is not just a religion as many assume but it is also a form of government, a judicial system and a political ideology. It could be classified as a theocracy just as Israel was a theocracy in ancient times when the Torah and Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) shaped the lives of the Israelites. The Koran is not only used as a religious book, but as a political and judicial document which shapes the policies of Islamic nations in the Middle East. The text in Daniel says that the fourth kingdom will produce 10 kings as seen in the image of the ten toes of the feet of the image which are a mixture of Iron and clay:
“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” (Daniel 2:42)
The toes of the image which are ten are mixed with a new element (clay) which makes the kingdom partly strong and partly broken. In the following verse Daniel explains what the weakness of the clay represents:
Here we see that they (the toes) shall MINGLE themselves with the seed of men but shall not be united just as iron is not MIXED with clay. It is interesting that the words MINGLE and MIXED are translated from the same Aramaic word ARAB (Strong’s 6151).
Some have suggested that the Aramaic word ARAB refers to the Arab peoples. The Strong’s concordance itself says that an Arabian is a related entry to the Aramaic ARAB. We read that the kings represented by the toes will not cleave one to another even as iron does not mix with clay. This is referring to a division among these kings. Even though they are politically united they do not have the same goals.
Could it be that this is referring to the fact that within Islam itself there are disagreements regarding how to follow Islamic rules. This is a fact that can be seen in the Islamic world as some nations are Shiites whereas others are Sunnis. These are two branches of Islam that oppose each other. Could it be that Daniel was given insight into the differences of beliefs among the 10 kings of the feet of the image who supposedly are Arabs? Could it be that these differences are what the clay refers to in order to make the kingdom partly broken?
The Return of Babylon, Persia and Grecia
As we have seen in this article, the Iron, the Silver, the brass and the gold will be destroyed at the same time. This suggests that the Babylonian, Persian and Grecian empires will be present in the end times and will be partly united into a single kingdom to be destroyed by Jesus Christ. The current situation in Iraq is paving the way for this nation to become a major player in the region. Revelation 18 makes it very clear that Babylon must be the political and economic center of the Antichrist’s kingdom.
The Persian bear is awakening. Persia officially changed its name to Iran in 1935. Iran is currently becoming one of the strongest nations in the region militarily with the production of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the goal of producing a nuclear bomb. Persia (the bear) is said to crush with its feet in Daniel 7 and the feet of the bear are seen in the beast of Revelation 13. The regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan were also under Persian control.
Grecia is also arising. We should take notice of the fact that when we refer to the Grecian empire we should not think of modern Greece or Athens. The Grecian empire was divided into four major sectors and later the Seleucid dynasty which ruled the regions of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan was the major power that came out of the Grecian empire and according to Daniel 11, the Antichrist comes out of this Grecian division which is North of Israel. The other major division of the Grecian empire was the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled the regions of Egypt, Libya and Northern parts of Sudan.
Do you get the picture now? Here we have a total of 10 Islamic nations that could be the 10 kings that will come out of the fourth kingdom.
1 Iraq
3 Pakistan
4 Afghanistan
6 Syria
7 Lebanon
8 Egypt
9 Libya
10 Sudan
Since Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other nations of the Middle East were under the dominion of these kingdoms and of the Islamic-Ottoman empire, we can have more than 10 Islamic nations as candidates for the 10 kings. In our article titled The Ten Kings of the Beast: They Come From the East we explored the identity of possible 10 Islamic nations to be the 10 horns of the beast of Daniel 7 that will be the 10 toes of the feet of the image in Daniel 2.
Popular prophecy teachers all point to Rome as the fourth kingdom of Daniel. They all say that Rome must return in the form of a European confederacy in order to bring forth the 10 nations that will for the kingdom of the Antichrist. The text in Daniel seem to skip Rome which began as a Western kingdom and jump to the Islamic empire which ruled the entire Middle East, the geographical context of Daniel 2. Today we see that the Islamic nations of the Middle East that were within the confines of Babylonian, Persian and Grecian domination are rising to power and are threatening the very existence of Israel which will be the main target of this kingdom. The European Union does not fit these description as many assume. Only the Islamic nations of the Middle East meet the criteria of Daniel 2 in order to fulfill biblical prophecy.
http://www.beastfromtheeast.org/Daniel_2_Middle_East.html
Sean Osbourne,
On Bill Salus’s blog you confidently argue that only Italians were allowed to serve as soldiers in the Roman legions. Yet on this blog, you cite Santuosso, a Roman Scholar, who states that Nero in 70 AD, less than half of the soldiers were Italians. And this is with reference to the whole of the Roman Empire, not just the Eastern legions, which would have been far less Italian.
The reason I bring this up is to test your integrity. As I have observed this whole argument unfold, I have seen a refusla to admit error on not only Dave Reagan’s part, but even moreso on yours. I see you as completely unwilling to acknowldge being wrong no matter what the evidence shows. When shown to be wrong, you generally move on, essentially tacking in the wind, coming up with new and ever-evolving claims all the while insulting anyone who disagrees with you. Are you willing to admit that you were wrong and that by 70 AD less than half of all Roman legions were made up of Italians despite your adamant claims on Salus’s blog that they were ALL Italians?
Monty,
A humble observer.
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David Reagan Releases New Book on Israel in Bible
Living With Hope in the End Times 2017 Bible
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Month: July 2009 (page 1 of 2)
Deep Packet Inspection: What Innovation Will ISPs Encourage?
July 30, 2009 / Christopher Parsons / 0 Comments
All sorts of nasty things as said about ISPs that use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). ISPs aren’t investing enough in their networks, they just want to punish early adopters of new technologies, they’re looking to deepen their regulatory powers capacities, or they want to track what their customers do online. ISPs, in turn, tend to insist that P2P applications are causing undue network congestion, and DPI is the only measure presently available to them to alleviate such congestion.
At the moment, the constant focus on P2P over the past few years has resulted in various ‘solutions’ including the development of P4P and the shift to UDP. Unfortunately, the cat and mouse game between groups representing record labels, ISPs (to a limited extent), and end-users has led to conflict that has ensured that most of the time and money is being put into ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ technologies and tactics online rather than more extensively into bandwidth-limiting technologies. Offensive technologies include those that enable mass analysis of data- and protocol-types to try and stop or delay particular modes of data sharing. While DPI can be factored into this set of technologies, a multitude of network technologies can just as easily fit into this category. ‘Defensive’ technologies include port randomizers, superior encryption and anonymity techniques, and other techniques that are primarily designed to evade particular analyses of network activity.
I should state up front that I don’t want to make myself out to be a technological determinist; neither ‘offensive’ or ‘defensive’ technologies are in a necessary causal relationship with one another. Many of the ‘offensive’ technologies could have been developed in light of increasingly nuanced viral attacks and spam barrages, to say nothing of the heightening complexity of intrusion attacks and pressures from the copyright lobbies. Similarly, encryption and anonymity technologies would have continued to develop, given that in many nations it is impossible to trust local ISPs or governments.
Deep Packet Inspection and the Discourses of Censorship and Regulation
In the current CRTC hearings over Canadian ISPs’ use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to manage bandwidth, I see two ‘win situations’ for the dominant carriers:
They can continue to throttle ‘problem’ applications in the future;
The CRTC decides to leave the wireless market alone right now.
I want to talk about the effects of throttling problem applications, and how people talking about DPI should focus on the negative consequences of regulation (something that is, admittedly, often done). In thinking about this, however, I want to first attend to the issues of censorship models to render transparent the difficulties in relying on censorship-based arguments to oppose uses of DPI. Following this, I’ll consider some of the effects of regulating access to content through protocol throttling. The aim is to suggest that individuals and groups who are opposed to the throttling of particular application-protocols should focus on the effects of regulation, given that it is a more productive space of analysis and argumentation, instead of focusing on DPI as an instrument for censorship.
Let’s first touch on the language of censorship itself. We typically understand this action in terms of a juridico-discursive model, or a model that relies on rules to permit or negate discourse. There are three common elements to this model-type:
Economics of Authenticity on Twitter
I’m on Twitter all the time; it’s central to how I learn about discussions taking place about Deep Packet Inspection, a good way of finding privacy-folk from around the world, and lets me feel semi-socialized even though I’m somewhat reclusive. When I use the social networking service, I intersperse bits of ‘me’ (e.g. This wine sucks!) beside news articles I’ve found and believe would be useful to my colleagues, and add in some (attempts at) humor. In this sense, I try to make my Twitter feed feel ‘authentic’, meaning that it is reasonably reflective of how I want to present myself in digital spaces. Further, that presentation resonates (to varying extents) with how I behave in the flesh.
When you hear social-media enthusiasts talk about their media environment, authenticity (i.e. not pretending to be someone/something you’re really, absolutely, not) is the key thing to aim for. Ignoring the amusing Heideggerian implications of this use of authenticity (“How very They!), I think that we can take this to mean that there is a ‘currency’ in social media called ‘authenticity’. There are varying ways of gauging this currency. Continue reading
Facebook Got Off Easy: Third-Parties and Data Collection
I’m on Facebook, and have been for years. I also dislike Facebook, and have for several years. I don’t dislike the social networking service because it’s bad at what it aims to do, but because it’s far too good at what it does. Let’s be honest: Facebook does not exist to ‘help me connect to my friends’. Maybe that was its aim when it was first dreamt up, but the current goal of Facebook is to make money from my data. Part of this involves Facebook mining my data, and another (and more significant) part entails third-party developers mining my data. I want to think out loud about this latter group and their practices.
A core issue (amongst several others) that Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) raised in their recent findings about Facebook focused on the data that third-party application developers gain access to when an individual installs an Facebook application. Before getting into this in any depth, I just want to recognize the full range of information that application developers can call on using the Facebook API: Continue reading
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WaPo: She proved them wrong: A deaf couple is opening a pizzeria in D.C. with all deaf employees
Posted July 9, 2019 July 9, 2019 DCAD Org
From Washington Post (Article Link), by Hannah Natanson
Melody Stein grew up in restaurants.
Not only did her parents own and operate a Chinese eatery in San Francisco, but the family — all of them foodies — also constantly went out to eat. Stein still remembers the excitement of sampling Japanese, Vietnamese and French food for the first time. There was only one thing she wanted to do when she reached college age: attend the California Culinary Academy. Then, she wanted to open her own restaurant.
That’s when her deafness almost defeated her dreams.
“[The Academy] called my mom and said we can’t accept her application because she’s deaf,” Stein, 45, signed to The Washington Post via an interpreter in a recent interview. “What if they were in the kitchen trying to yell, ‘Out of the way!’ with hot soup? They viewed me as a liability.”
It took her about 20 years, but Stein proved them wrong. Today, she co-owns and runs Mozzeria, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria in San Francisco, with her husband, Russ Stein, 47, who is also deaf. But it’s not just a pizza joint. In part to ensure others do not suffer what Melody did, the couple employs only deaf individuals to run their pizzeria and its two associated food trucks.
Now, the Steins’ pizzeria-with-a-purpose is coming to Washington. Bolstered by an investment of several million dollars from the Communication Service for the Deaf Social Venture Fund, Mozzeria will open a second restaurant at 1300 H St. NE in spring 2020. (California Culinary Academy closed in 2017, though Melody Stein said it began accepting deaf students a few years after she applied.)
Russ and Melody Stein make pizzas in their first food truck in San Francisco. (Clare Cassidy Photography)
Russ Stein signed in a recent interview that the H Street location is especially meaningful because it is near Gallaudet University, the world-renowned school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Northeast Washington. Both the Steins attended Gallaudet, which is where they met.
“It’s been a longtime dream to see a deaf-owned restaurant in Washington, D.C.,” Russ Stein signed through an interpreter in a joint interview with his wife.
Mozzeria may be run by people who are deaf, but it caters to pizza fans of all kinds, hearing and not. Diners communicate their orders to waiters either by signing (if they know sign language), pointing or using paper and pens, which lie ready on every table.
The chance at employment Mozzeria offers those who are deaf is sorely needed in the United States. There are roughly 30 million Americans with severe hearing loss in both ears, and the Washington area is home to a significant deaf population. Employment rates among the deaf lag far behind those among hearing individuals: 48 percent of deaf people are employed, compared with 72 percent of the hearing population, according to a 2016 study conducted by the National Deaf Center and the University of Texas at Austin.
Deaf people confront damaging stereotypes in the workplace that can disrupt their careers or even prevent their hiring, according to Communication Service for the Deaf chief executive Christopher Soukup, who is deaf. People think because someone cannot hear, they are incapable of handling high-stakes jobs — which is false in most cases, Soukup said.
“That’s why Mozzeria is so important,” Soukup said. “The more we can put those success stories out there, brick by brick we can combat that perception.”
Still, as much as it is about fighting statistics and changing the narrative, it is also about pizza.
Mozzeria’s San Francisco restaurant sells a wide range, all fired on a 5,000-pound traditional Italian oven (“our baby,” said Russ Stein). Customers feeling adventurous might try the “Peking Duck” pizza, which is covered with spring onions, hoisin sauce, and cucumbers. Those in the mood for the traditional could stick with the “Margherita”: fresh mozzarella, grana padano cheese, pomodoro sauce and basil.
Typically, the Steins split menu responsibilities: She focuses on the more unusual, creative dishes (the Peking Duck was her creation), while he sticks to the classics. It’s a division that plays to each partner’s strengths as a cook, both said.
The Mozzeria in Washington will have slightly different offerings tailored to the sensibilities of East Coasters, according to the couple. They’re still finalizing the details, but Russ Stein hopes there’s at least one item on the menu: a meatball-heavy pizza of his own invention.
After growing up in New York City and “eating pizza every day,” he was disappointed the meatball pizza failed in San Francisco. (For the week or so it remained on the menu, Mozzeria sold just three.) He is optimistic D.C. residents will be more receptive.
The Mozzeria in Washington will also be larger than its San Francisco sister. While the California one seats about 50 customers and requires 15 full-time employees, the D.C. location will seat roughly 100 people and need at least 30 waiters, chefs, and hosts. The Steins will continue to live in San Francisco, but they plan to fly out for the opening next year. Their new restaurant will sit just seven blocks from the first deaf-run Starbucks signing store, which opened in October 2018.
As they prepare for the big day, the couple will continue to test out new pizza ideas on one another. It’s something they’ve done since the start of Mozzeria back in 2009. The two were both working in consulting at the time, but Melody Stein never forgot her aspiration to open a restaurant.
One day, the pair sat down and decided, “If we don’t do it now, we’re never going to do it,” she said. They would open a pizzeria because Russ Stein loves pizza, and they would call it Mozzeria because he is obsessed with mozzarella cheese.
Melody Stein flew to Italy to participate in two training programs on how to make Neapolitan-style pizza. (Today, Mozzeria is officially recognized for its authenticity by the international Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana.) Her husband, meanwhile, built an oven in the backyard.
After a lot of practice, and a lot of time spent raising money from friends and acquaintances, the two opened Mozzeria’s doors for business in 2011. It proved popular among diners and critics, earning rave reviews from local news outlets and 4.5 stars out of 5 from Zagat. It also required 18-hour workdays.
Now, things are a little less hectic. The couple can trust their well-trained employees in San Francisco to manage most daily tasks, though both still love spending time in the kitchen.
So they’re thinking bigger: They want to expand to other cities. No matter how far afield they range, though, one thing will remain constant: all deaf employees, all the time. Apart from everything else, Russ Stein said, the hiring policy actually gives Mozzeria a competitive advantage.
“We’re good at making sure our customer experience is a good one because we’re excellent at reading their body language,” he said. “There’s nothing more powerful than seeing that customer smile after eating that pizza.”
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Kyoto Animation Arson Fire: 33 Dead & Dozens Injured, Some Critically
Nahnatchka Khan, Hasan Minhaj And Chris Paul On Storytelling For People Of Color: “It’s Better Than It’s Ever Been” – CAA Amplify
Nahnatchka Khan, Hasan Minhaj, and Chris Paul in a conversation at CAA Amplify about Culture Creators, moderated by CAA’s Maha Dakhil. Elyse Frelinger
The third CAA Amplify kicked off with a panel featuring Always Be My Maybe and Fresh Off The Boat’s Nahnatchka Khan; stand-up comedian and Patriot Act host Hasan Minhaj and NBA All-Star, President of the NBA Players Association and producer Chris Paul spoke about the current landscape of storytelling for marginalized communities in Hollywood — particularly for people of color and the intersections thereof.
The terms “diversity”, “inclusion” and “representation” have been thrown around the industry and at times, they have been just terms but the trio on the panel look at them as an opportunity to empower.
“Sometimes you can’t really control the language around you,” said Khan. “All you can do is follow your voice and your path — dedicate yourself to stories that matter.”
'RuPaul's Drag Race' Producers Talk Staggering 14 Emmy Nominations, The Most In VH1 History
Minhaj said of the terms: “They are buzz words that are really hot right now — it’s an opportunity to create great art.” Paul adds to the sentiment saying that growing up he always wanted to see things that pertain to his identity and now, with his recent overall deal with Big Fish Entertainment, he has that opportunity to create that kind of content.
As culture creators in Hollywood, they spoke about their responsibility when it comes to storytelling and representing their community. As host of Netflix’s Patriot Act, he said that his point of view gets to exist in a space that is predominantly white. He points out how the late night and political talk show space is predominantly white and male with “Jimmys”. “American news media is myopic in its world view,” he points out adding that if you look at the front page of the New York Times, you’ll see stories about Sudan and the country’s tense relationships with Iran.
As a child of immigrants and an American citizen, Minhaj brings a fresh perspective that is rarely seen. As he puts it, he has the ability to see America through a lens “the way the rest of the world sees us.”
“These stories haven’t been told before from this point of view,” adds Minhaj.
“It’s about storytelling,” Khan chimes in. “It’s about making sure that you’re connecting to material and amplifying voices and staying true to those voices.”
Khan certainly adheres to that philosophy, specifically with her latest rom-com Always Be My Maybe. She may not be of the same heritage as the characters in the movie, but she knows how to give them shine through collaboration. “Special things happen when you center people who haven’t been centered before,” she said. She points out that Ali (Wong) and Randall (Park) are so many things beyond their race. “You can be layered and more than one thing — you can exist outside of the box.”
She later shares how when she first started in the industry, she was the only woman, person of color and a member of the LGBTQ community in other people’s rooms and how her bosses were mostly white men — but now she definitely sees a shift.
“It’s definitely been better than its ever been,” she said. “When you take stock, there are so many more choices and points of view that are necessary. All I know is what I bring to the table and what is considered important (with storytelling) — it’s just about opportunity.”
CAA Amplify
Hasan Minhaj
Nahnatchka Khan
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Julia Phillips
Julia Phillips is a Fulbright fellow whose writing has appeared in Glimmer Train, The Atlantic, Slate, and The Moscow Times. She lives in Brooklyn.
Disappearing Earth
One August afternoon, on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, two girls–sisters, eight and eleven–go missing. In the ensuing weeks, then months, the police investigation turns up nothing. Echoes of the disappearance reverberate across a tightly woven community, with the fear and loss felt most deeply among its women. Taking us through a year in Kamchatka, Disappearing Earth enters with astonishing emotional acuity the worlds of a cast of richly drawn characters, all connected by the crime: a witness, a neighbor, a detective, a mother. We are transported to vistas of rugged beauty–densely wooded forests, open expanses of tundra, soaring volcanoes, and the glassy seas that border Japan and Alaska–and into a region as complex as it is alluring, where social and ethnic tensions have long simmered, and where outsiders are often the first to be accused. In a story as propulsive as it is emotionally engaging, and through a young writer’s virtuosic feat of empathy and imagination, this powerful novel brings us to a new understanding of the intricate bonds of family and community, in a Russia unlike any we have seen before.
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Cogent Communications Commends FCC Chairman Wheeler on Proposed New Title II Framework to Protect Net Neutrality
WASHINGTON, D.C. February 5, 2015 – Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) today announced its support and commendation for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler's announcement of his proposed new framework to protect and promote an Open Internet under Title II.
Cogent, which has played a vital role in the explosive growth of the Internet, believes that Chairman Wheeler's approach strikes a reasonable balance between ensuring that consumers can access all lawful Internet content and limiting the regulatory burden on the multiple entities that comprise the Internet.
It will be critical in ensuring FCC net neutrality principles that the new Open Internet rules apply with equal force to ISPs' interconnection practices with other networks as they do to practices within an ISP's own network. Dave Schaeffer, Cogent's founder and chief executive officer, stated: "The apparent inclusion of interconnection in the Chairman's proposal is essential to delivering on the promise of an Open Internet. Without interconnection, there is no access to the entire Internet, only access to an ISP's own network." Moreover, as Mr. Schaeffer said, "because last-mile ISPs can use and have used their terminating access gatekeeper position to degrade end-users' Internet experience, Cogent urges the Commission to be vigilant in enforcing the new rules in a timely, efficient and robust manner in order to protect consumers."
The public process that has led to this point has facilitated a well-reasoned proposal, and Cogent looks forward to working with the Commission in the coming weeks to ensure that the ultimate order articulates a well-defined policy that promotes an Open Internet and makes clear that last-mile ISPs cannot violate those principles by requiring interconnecting parties to pay terminating access fees to avoid degraded service when a consumer is receiving lawful content from the consumer's chosen provider anywhere on the Internet.
Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: CCOI) is a multinational, Tier 1 facilities-based ISP, consistently ranked as one of the top five Internet backbone networks in the world. Cogent specializes in providing businesses with high speed Internet access, Ethernet transport and colocation services. Cogent's facilities-based, all-optical IP network provides services in 190 markets globally.
Information in this release may involve expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Some of the factors and risks associated with our business are discussed in Cogent's registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other reports filed from time to time with the SEC.
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The Nu Exi
On January 13, 2012 January 13, 2012 By Philip CoulthardIn Colin Wilson, Phenomenology
This summary of The New Existentialism was originally intended for a website Colin Wilson was working on which would have included “all of my books in summary”. No mean feat, unfortunately it was never completed. This essay previously appeared at the last version of this site.
Introduction the the New Existentialism (1966)
I regard this little book as a kind of appendix to the six volumes of the ‘Outsider series’. It is a conscious attempt to create what I have called ‘Romanticism Mark 3’ (bearing in mind that I regard Existentialism as Romanticism Mark 2). It was a statement of my own non-pessimistic existentialism. In Beyond the Outsider I had already spoken of Heidegger and Sartre, and tried to show that their gloomy view of human existence is not a genuinely logical consequence of their premises, but an expression of their personal temperaments. Sartre, for example, failed to see that if all consciousness is intentional, then Roquentin’s ‘nausea’ must also be intentional, not a revelation of the meaninglessness of human existence. Similarly, Heidegger speaks in Being and Time (p.173) about the ‘manifest burden of Being’ and the ‘burdensome character of Dasein’ (human existence) as if this something on which we are all agreed, failing to recognise that, for example, Nietzsche would simply declare that, as far as he is concerned, it is not at all ‘manifest’, and would go on to dismiss it as an expression of the kind of poor-spiritedness he condemns in Christianity.
I should mention that there is an important section in The New Existentialism on an interesting new concept in psychology called Transactionalism, for which Hadley Cantril was mainly responsible – it was Julian Huxley who told me about it. This could be regarded as a most interesting application of Husserl’s insights (although, in fact the transactionists were more influenced by Whitehead).
Transactionalism recognises that we do not simply ‘see’ things by opening our eyes. Perception is a transaction like buying a pound of sugar. I purchase my perceptions by ‘paying’ for them, and the coinage in which I pay is (a) energy, (b) preconceptions.
Cantril and his colleague Adelbert Ames Jnr devised an ingenious ‘trick room’, rather like something one might encounter at a fairground.
I am led to a small peephole in a screen. I look through it,and see what appears be an ordinary room. Standing in one corner is a small boy, and in the other, a tall man. There are also a couple of chairs standing somewhere near the rear wall. Now the man and the small boy advance towards one another. As they do so, they appear to change size, and when they reach opposite corners, their roles are reversed. The boy is now enormous, an the man has shrunk to half his size.
The secret is a trick of perspective. I assumed it to be a normal, square room because the wall facing me appeared to be an ordinary square. In fact, the wall was really sloping away from me, but the wall which I had assumed to be rectangular was actually trapeze -shaped, with one tall end and one short end.
The short end of the trapezium was closest to my eye, so that it appeared to be exactly the same length as the long end, which was further away. The man seemed to be getting smaller because he was walking away from me; the boy seemed to be getting bigger because he was walking towards me. (The principle is the same as in photographing a man whose feet appear huge because they are close to the camera.) Consequently I appeared to be looking at an ordinary rectangle.
Sometimes, there are two windows in the wall, also trapeze-shaped, so that they also appear to be square. This can lead to startling effects; if a man’s face looks at me first through one window, then, a moment later, through the other, it seems to me that his head has suddenly changed size.
The chairs in the room are also ‘trick chairs’, made with one leg longer than the other.
But here is the pay-off. Two of the subjects chosen to take part were a man and his wife. The man was highly distinguished and his wife’s attitude towards him was one of love and respect. And when the husband looked through one window, then the other, his wife’s respect for him prevented her vision from distorting him, and making his head appear first large, then small, and she suddenly saw through the illusion, and she said ‘Hey, those windows are different sizes’. This became known as the ‘Honi effect’ since he always called her Honi (i.e. Honey).
Now if you really wish to test how far you have understood what I have been saying about phenomenology, then just imagine that some scientist has invented a device that you put on like a pair of spectacles, and which ‘undistorts’ the world around us, and creates the Honi effect on a massive scale; i.e. it removes all the prejudices and assumptions from your ‘seeing’ and allows you to see things as they ‘really are’.
Here is the question. Bearing in mind how ‘Honi’ saw the trick behind the distorted room, what difference do you think the inventor’s ‘undistorting’ device would make to your perceptions?
Let me add quickly that there is no single answer to that question. You could go on indefinitely imagining ‘breakthroughs to reality’ – like, for example, the breakthrough I have described in Cardiff when I declined to accept the evidence of my senses that I was in an utterly dreary situation.
Mostly, in fact, the difference made by the ‘Undistorter’ would be of this kind.
Amusingly, the great science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum wrote a story about a pair of spectacles that would show things from other points of view, and I recommend it to all students of phenomenology. (It is called The Point of View.) Similarly, C. S. Lewis wrote a delightful story about seeing things through other people’s eyes, called The Shoddy Lands, in which a professor has the strange experience of seeing the world through the unsophisticated eyes of one of his students’ girlfriends.
And as a third example, here is a page from Introduction to the New Existentialism which deals with yet another literary instance of ‘phenomenological distortion’:
George Crabbe has a narrative poem called The Lover’s Journey that would have delighted Husserl. It begins with the thoroughly phemomenological statement:
It is the soul that sees: the outward eyes
Present the object; but the mind descries
The lover sets out to see his mistress, and as he rides along, everything delights him, and his reflections on the delights of nature are of the kind we find in Goldsmith’s Deserted Village or Thompson’s Seasons. He passes some gypsies, and reflects charitably that even if they are thieves and idlers, they are nevertheless ‘merry rogues.’ But when he arrives at her house, he finds a note saying that she has had to go to visit a friend, and asking him to follow. He sets out in a thoroughly black temper; now everything displeases him:
I hate these long green lanes; there’s nothing seen
In this vile country but eternal green
The sight of a newly wedded couple emerging from church arouses cynical reflections. But now he arrives and meets his mistress, and instantly forgets his anger. They go off together, completely oblivious of everything but one another. The passing scenes arouse neither delight nor irritation; they are unnoticed.
These examples offer us a glimpse of how phenomenology could be used to transform our lives.
© Colin Wilson
Colin WilsonHeideggerHusserlPhenomenologySartre
Adrift in Soho/Furnished Room
Philosophy of The Future
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Will Reliance On Extreme Military Strength Restore America’s Greatness?
(REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
Alan Keyes Former Assistant Secretary of State
That’s my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand…. When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country right now is perceived as weak… as being spit on by the rest of the world—….
I often think of nuclear war. I’ve always thought about the issue of nuclear war; It’s a very important element in my thought process. It’s the ultimate, the ultimate catastrophe, the biggest problem this world has, and nobody’s focusing on the nuts and bolts of it. It’s a little like sickness. People don’t believe they’re going to get sick until they do. Nobody wants to talk about it. I believe the greatest of all stupidities is people’s believing it will never happen, because everybody knows how destructive it will be, so nobody uses weapons. What bullshit….
It’s like thinking the Titanic can’t sink. Too many countries have nuclear weapons; Nobody knows where they’re all pointed, what button it takes to launch them. The bomb Harry Truman dropped on Hiroshima was a toy next to today’s. We have thousands of weapons pointed at us and nobody even knows if they’re going to go in the right direction. They’ve never really been tested. These jerks in charge don’t know how to paint a wall, and we’re relying on them to shoot nuclear missiles to Moscow. What happens if they don’t go there? What happens if our computer systems aren’t working? Nobody knows if this equipment works, and I’ve seen numerous reports lately stating that the probability is they don’t work. It’s a total mess (Excerpts from Donald Trump’s Interview with Playboy magazine, 1990)
Now, the votes are cast that actually determine who becomes President of the United States. The American people begin the process of learning from experience about the person official selected to be hold the highest governmental office under our Constitution. It ought to be reassuring that the individual who will take the oath of office for that position next January has thought a lot about nuclear war. But consider what came next in the Playboy magazine interview quoted above. Asked “And how would President Trump handle it?” Mr. Trump responded (speaking of his future self in the third person):
He would believe very strongly in extreme military strength. He wouldn’t trust anyone. He wouldn’t trust the Russians; He wouldn’t trust our allies. He would have a huge military arsenal, perfect it, understand it. Part of the problem is that we’re defending some of the wealthiest countries in the world for nothing…We’re being laughed at around the world, defending Japan—…
President-elect Trump made statements during the late Presidential campaign which suggest that he still holds this disdainful view. He was speaking of nuclear preparedness during President George H.W. Bush’s tenure, but Obama has certainly made things worse. Mr. Trump’s words also suggest disdain for the way America used its pre-eminent military and economic position in the aftermath of WWII. Rather than believing primarily in “extreme military strength,” our post-war leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, complemented that strength by building and making use of organizational structures to promote and defend peaceful international relations.
The citadel of that institutional structure was the NATO alliance. Around that citadel, on the common ground of mutual economic interest, they built, as it were, a fortified network of towns and villages, including economically developed countries like our erstwhile enemy, Japan. But it also included developing countries, some of whom we helped to attain political independence from the war exhausted European powers that had imposed colonial government upon them.
Using the newly minted organizational cachet of the United Nations, we eased the task of decolonization. Withal, we sought to encourage a new pattern of voluntary, peaceful, international cooperation. We made shift to forestall what might have been the rapid consolidation of Soviet and/or Communist Chinese hegemony in Eurasia (including, for example, Greece and Turkey on the one hand; and Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia on the other.)
At present the generational mix in the United States includes a lot of people who have, (I think purposely) been kept in a state of ignorance about the complex challenges America faced in the aftermath of WWII. They are accustomed to tendentious, factionally motivated portrayals of America’s post-WWII policies. Such portrayals, dripping with contempt, emanate from Marxist socialist enemies of constitutional, democratic republican self-government. They also come from right-wing nationalistic socialists, who cloak their penchant for dictatorship in the guise of “national security,” “law and order,” and government-sponsored corporate “libertarianism.” Both end up aiding and abetting totalitarian control of society.
In effect, though they appear at times to be diverse and conflicting tendencies, the left and right wing socialists stand on common ground. It is the ground of thoroughgoing materialism—in all things, but especially in governmental and political affairs. ‘Might makes right’ is, implicitly, their common mantra of power. They are, on both sides, the enemies of all who define justice in terms of a transcendent standard for evaluating material effects, a standard that encompasses aspects of human nature that can be only very partially understood in terms of materialistic cause and effect.
Such a standard takes account of the nature of humanity as informed by God’s wholesome and benevolent intention for human existence. America’s prevalent founders explicitly evoked this Godly standard to justify rebellion against the British King’s administration of government. They made arguments to prove that they had observed it in framing the U.S. Constitution. So, they succeeded in establishing it as the reference point for judging America’s activities as a nation. It endured as the moral basis for America’s survival during our Civil War; and its successful participation in the Great World Wars in the 20th century.
So far Donald Trump’s National Security appointments appear to confirm his own prognostication that, as President, he would rely on “extreme military strength.” But he has also confirmed the impression, made over a quarter century ago, that he has given little if any thought to the standard that distinguished America’s prevalent founders from the God contemning materialists of our day, whether tutored by radicals like Karl Marx or Ayn Rand, or false prophets of shallow “pragmatism,” like William James, and John Dewey. The Founders’ God revering wisdom helped carry the United States to the pinnacle of “extreme military power.” However, that very real but historically brief moment of unprecedented global, military, and economic pre-eminence is gone.
Given that reality, Mr. Trump needs to be mindful of the fact that we did not arrive at the pinnacle of global power because we were already eminently powerful. We did so by understanding that, to maximize the effectiveness of whatever material power we have, we must carefully preserve and extend the influential power of our national creed, which upholds a standard of God-endowed right and rights for all humanity. As a people, the source of that determination is not our belief in “extreme military strength.” It is our belief in the righteousness of God’s authority. We must revive and improve upon that faith. Or else, like the fallen man of power in Shakespeare’s tragedy (Henry VIII), the day approaches when we will have to bid “farewell… a long farewell” to all our greatness.
Tags : alan keyes cold war donald trump george w bush mikhail gorbachev military spending
Alan Keyes
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The Trump Administration Is Separating Families At The Border And It’s Not Because Democrats Passed A Bad Law
REUTERS/Loren Elliott
President Donald Trump once again weighed in on the controversy surrounding his administration’s policy of separating illegal immigrant families caught at the southwest border, claiming it is the result of “bad legislation” passed by Democratic lawmakers.
“Separating families at the Border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “Border Security laws should be changed but the Dems can’t get their act together! Started the Wall.”
Separating families at the Border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats. Border Security laws should be changed but the Dems can’t get their act together! Started the Wall.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018
A complex mix of federal statutes and court decisions guides the detention of migrant children and their parents, leading to widespread confusion about what the law requires. But Trump is mistaken. There is no law — passed by Democrats or Republicans — that mandates parents must be separated from their children at the border.
‘Zero tolerance’
In fact, the reason there has been a surge in the number of migrant families separated at the border is because of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy toward people who enter the U.S. illegally.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions rolled out the new enforcement strategy in early April, instructing federal prosecutors in border states to aggressively pursue violations of 8 USC 1325, the federal statute covering improper entry by an alien. Although he did not specifically mention separating families, Sessions warned that illegal immigrant parents with children in tow would not be given an exception.
The number of unlawful entry referrals from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) accepted by federal prosecutors began to rise sharply almost immediately after Sessions’s order. Prosecutors accepted 8,298 unlawful entry case referrals in April, about 30 percent more than the 6,368 they took on in March, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). (RELATED: Prosecutions Of Illegal Border Jumpers Surged In April After Sessions Issued ‘Zero Tolerance’ Order)
Since migrant children cannot legally be held in federal criminal detention facilities, they must be separated from their parents while the adults are prosecuted. As a result, the rise in unlawful entry prosecutions has led to a related spike in the number of family separations at the border.
For example, more than 650 migrant children were separated from their parents during a two-week period in May, immigration officials told Congress on May 23.
The zero-tolerance policy has drawn blowback from Democrats and immigration activists, who used images of migrant children in detention centers to paint the Trump administration’s approach as needless and cruel. The administration has pushed back, arguing that separating migrant families while adults are prosecuted for unlawful entry is a needed deterrent that will reverse the rising tide of illegal immigration, particularly by people traveling in family units.
Under the new policy, migrant children separated from their parents are treated as if they had arrived on their own. That means they are referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) charged with caring for unaccompanied alien minors. ORR then tries to locate to an adult sponsor in the U.S. if one is available, or, failing that, places the migrant child in a government-contracted shelter.
By contrast, the Obama administration typically detained families together in administrative immigration detention facilities, often releasing them with a notice to appear in court because of limited bed space. That approach was widely criticized by immigration hawks, who said it created an incentive for further illegal immigration.
It remains to be seen if the zero-tolerance policy will stanch the flow of illegal immigration by children and family units, which has grown steadily since falling to historic lows in the early months of Trump’s presidency. What is clear is that the recent spike in family separations is largely the result of the Trump administration’s own prosecution policy, not any specific piece of legislation.
Laws on the books
When Trump blamed family separation on “bad legislation” by Democrats, he might have been referring to the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).
Passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress and signed into law by former President George W. Bush, TVPRA strengthened anti-human trafficking laws and established certain procedures for dealing with alien children in the U.S. The law requires immigration authorities to transfer unaccompanied minor children to HHS for care and processing, part of which entails guaranteeing to the “greatest extent practicable” pro bono legal counsel.
The TVPRA also codified parts of a Supreme Court–ordered settlement from 1997 known as the Flores consent decree. Flores requires the government to release unaccompanied alien children from immigration detention within 72 hours to the “least restrictive” setting possible — usually parents, relatives or ORR-licensed shelters.
Subsequent federal court rulings have found the Flores settlement applies to all alien children — those who arrived in the U.S. alone and those who were brought by adult relatives. The courts have also ruled that families cannot be detained in facilities that are not licensed child care centers for over 20 days.
The Trump administration refers to TVPRA and Flores as “loopholes” that invite more illegal immigration and force authorities to practice catch-and-release enforcement. Sessions and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have called on Congress to change the policy to make it easier to deport Central American minors and keep families in immigration detention while they go through immigration court proceedings.
Tags : customs and border protection department of homeland security donald trump
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Amy Winehouse – Another Lost Legend
Posted in Bands & Music Artists, Film, Music, Songs by tilly062
Asif Kapadia, the director of the released documentary Amy stated, “She was the unlucky one to be having a nervous breakdown in the public eye.” Amy Winehouse was a singer all to similar to Kurt Cobain. An artist in her own right that wasn’t ready for celebrity. The scrutiny, judgement, and overbearing view of the press and the general public. She was always a punchline to a joke, and instead of showing support and love with her struggles and misfortune society laughed. Her drug abuse, alcohol addiction, and bulimia was pushed off as self sabotage when it was a cry for help. A cry for help that started when she was young.
Her mother couldn’t control her bad behavior and instead of doing something about it, Janis Winehouse never said no, and never disciplined. Her father, Mitch Winehouse left when Amy was nine years old. After his disappearing act she became promiscuous, skipping school, and got into drugs and smoking. She felt that no one cared, so why should she care either. It seemed that her friends became her family. Lauren Gilbert, Juliette Ashby, and Nick Shymansky became the people that would do their best to protect her, make the right choices, and they were the ones who tried to get her to go to rehab before the alcohol and drugs got worse in the height of her success; unfortunately they failed.
In the film, it showed that Amy was her own worse critic. She made the statement, “I’m not a natural born performer. I’m a natural singer, but I’m really quite, shy really.” She grew up idolizing great jazz singers such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. Artists who come along once in a lifetime, and become classic greats in the history of music. When Amy released the album Back to Black she made it in that history book. She had an edge and honesty in the album that could relate to people. The hit single “Rehab” made her a superstar and celebrity, which in her state of being with the alcohol, drugs, and self-conscientiousness would be her down fall. The album is full of sadness, heartbreak, and regret. In “Love Is A Losing Game” the lyrics express falling in love being a series of mistakes:
“One I wish I never played
Oh what a mess we made
And now the final frame
Love is a losing game”
The song “Back to Black” is one of my favorite on the album as her deep, raspy voice flows over the lyrics and melody just like Frank Sinatra’s style way of carrying the audience over the emotion of every word she breathes. She loved being in the studio – developing new songs, playing instruments, and learning and honing everything about her craft as a singer and musician. The song “Back to Black” was more than just about losing her lover. It was seemed to foreshadow her fate. She sings:
“You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I’ll go back to black”
One of the final scenes in the movie that really stuck with me was when she was watching a video of herself singing with her bodyguard Andrew Morris. Andrew said that during that time Amy said, “I would give it back, if I could walk down the street.” Those few words expressed what really mattered to her. Being normal. Not living in a fish bowl. Her life ended tragically by a drug overdose and I still don’t think society has learned anything from the loss of artists like Amy. For them to continue to create the music we love, they need respect. Personally, the paparazzi and the people trying to make a buck by making artists sign objects doesn’t show any of kind of respect. The best you can do for an artist is show your support by going to concerts, posting their music and videos to social media, as well as continuing to listen and be a fan of their work.
Amy Winehouse, Asif Kapadia, back in black, documentary, film, jazz music Leave a comment
« “That’s Just The Way It Is” – Straight Out of Compton
Chloe Arnold – Woman Tapper for the New Generation »
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Presidential system
Data on parliament’s law-making role and activities
Total number of laws adopted by Parliament in the previous legislature
Historical data for Total number of laws adopted by Parliament in the previous legislature
Year Total number of laws adopted by Parliament in the previous legislature
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by parliament
Historical data for Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by parliament
Year Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by parliament
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by the government
Historical data for Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by the government
Year Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by the government
Dates of the previous legislature
Historical data for Dates of the previous legislature
Year Dates of the previous legislature
Executive-legislative relations
Legislation adopted by parliament requires the assent of the Head of State In some countries, the Constitution foresees that legislation adopted by parliament must be signed into law by the Head of State. If so, the Head of State may, for example, have the power to veto the legislation, return it to parliament, or submit it to another body such as a constitutional court.
Source Legal documents that stipulate parliament's role.
Constitution, art. 137 and 138
Consequences when the Head of State declines to give assent to legislation Consequences when the Head of State declines to give assent to legislation: Not applicable; No further action is taken. The legislation is rejected; The legislation is returned to Parliament for re-examination; The legislation is referred to the Constitutional/Supreme Court;The legislation is put to a referendum; Other (please specify)
Other (please specify):
Not applicable. The Head of State cannot decline to give assent to legislation adopted by parliament
C.f. Article 138 of the Constitution
Final decision when parliament and the Head of State do not agree Final decision when parliament and the Head of State do not agree: Not applicable; Parliament; Head of State; Constitutional/Supreme Court; Other (please specify)
Not applicable. There is no procedure to introduce emergency legislation.
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0.607% decline
In 2017, Lea County, NM had a population of 69.5k people with a median age of 31.7 and a median household income of $59,285. Between 2016 and 2017 the population of Lea County, NM grew from 68,930 to 69,505, a 0.834% increase and its median household income grew from $58,152 to $59,285, a 1.95% increase.
The population of Lea County, NM is 56.8% Hispanic or Latino, 37.2% White Alone, and 3.62% Black or African American Alone. 42.9% of the people in Lea County, NM speak a non-English language, and 87.6% are U.S. citizens.
The largest universities in Lea County, NM are New Mexico Junior College (394 degrees awarded in 2016) and University of the Southwest (244 degrees).
The median property value in Lea County, NM is $118,500, and the homeownership rate is 68.1%. Most people in Lea County, NM commute by Drove Alone, and the average commute time is 20 minutes. The average car ownership in Lea County, NM is 2 cars per household.
Lea County, NM borders Chaves County, NM, Eddy County, NM, Gaines County, TX, Roosevelt County, NM, Andrews County, TX, Yoakum County, TX, Winkler County, TX, Cochran County, TX, and Loving County, TX.
Photo by John Fowler
United StatesNew MexicoHobbs, NM
The economy of Lea County, NM employs 28.7k people. The largest industries in Lea County, NM are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (4,888 people), Retail Trade (2,908 people), and Educational Services (2,789 people), and the highest paying industries are Manufacturing ($62,520), Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($61,399), and Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($58,272).
Median household income in Lea County, NM is $59,285. Males in Lea County, NM have an average income that is 1.31 times higher than the average income of females, which is $41,925. The income inequality in Lea County, NM (measured using the Gini index) is 0.462, which is lower than than the national average.
Households in Lea County, NM have a median annual income of $59,285, which is less than the median annual income of $60,336 across the entire United States. This is in comparison to a median income of $58,152 in 2016, which represents a 1.95% annual growth.
Look at the chart to see how the median household income in Lea County, NM compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
The PUMS dataset is not available at the County level, so we are showing data for New Mexico.
In 2017, full-time male employees in Lea County, NM made 1.31 times more than female employees.
This chart shows the gender-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in Lea County, NM by number of full-time employees.
In 2017 the highest paid race/ethnicity of Lea County, NM workers was Asian. These workers were paid 1.2 times more than White workers, who made the second highest salary of any race/ethnicity.
This chart shows the race- and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in Lea County, NM by number of full-time employees.
The closest comparable wage GINI for Lea County, NM is from New Mexico.
In 2017, the income inequality in New Mexico was 0.462 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.278% decline from 2016 to 2017, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even.
The 2017 the GINI for New Mexico was lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in New Mexico in comparison to the national average.
This chart shows the number of workers in New Mexico across various wage buckets compared to the national average.
TotalWhiteBlackNative AmericanOtherTwo Or MoreWhite Non-HispanicHispanic
Census Tract 8
In 2017, the tract with the highest Median Household Income (Total) in Lea County, NM was Census Tract 7.03 with a value of $107,031, followed by Census Tract 5.04 and Census Tract 8, with respective values of $83,931 and $70,366.
The following map shows all of the tracts in Lea County, NM colored by their Median Household Income (Total).
Males 6 - 11
16.1% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Lea County, NM (10.8k out of 67k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 13.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Males 6 - 11, followed by Females 25 - 34 and then Females 18 - 24.
The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Lea County, NM is White, followed by Hispanic and Black.
1 Year decline
From 2016 to 2017, employment in Lea County, NM declined at a rate of -0.607%, from 28.8k employees to 28.7k employees.
The most common job groups, by number of people living in Lea County, NM, are Construction & Extraction Occupations (3,916 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (3,283 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (2,994 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Lea County, NM.
The most common jobs held by residents of Lea County, NM, by number of employees, are Construction & Extraction Occupations (3,916 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (3,283 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (2,994 people).
Compared to other counties, Lea County, NM has an unusually high number of residents working as Construction & Extraction Occupations (2.74 times higher than expected), Transportation Occupations (2.19 times), and Farming, Fishing, & Forestry Occupations (2.05 times).
The highest paid jobs held by residents of Lea County, NM, by median earnings, are Architecture & Engineering Occupations ($74,737), Management Occupations ($69,122), and Management, Business, & Financial Occupations ($67,756).
The most common employment sectors for those who live in Lea County, NM, are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (4,888 people), Retail Trade (2,908 people), and Educational Services (2,789 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Lea County, NM, though some of these residents may live in Lea County, NM and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.
The most common industries in Lea County, NM, by number of employees, are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (4,888 people), Retail Trade (2,908 people), and Educational Services (2,789 people).
Compared to other counties, Lea County, NM has an unusually high number of Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction (31.5 times higher than expected), Utilities (2.23 times), and Wholesale Trade (2.01 times) industries.
The highest paying industries in Lea County, NM, by median earnings, are Manufacturing ($62,520), Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($61,399), and Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($58,272).
Domestic production and consumption consists of products and services shipped from New Mexico to other states, or from other states to New Mexico.
In 2015, the top outbound New Mexico product (by dollars) was Coal-n.e.c. with $12.9B, followed by Crude petroleum with $12.8B and Electronics and $7.72B.
The following chart shows the share of these products in relation to all outbound New Mexico products.
Showing data for New Mexico state.
In 2015, total outbound New Mexico trade was $69.2B. This is expected to increase 59.8% to $110B by 2045.
The following chart shows how the domestic outbound New Mexico trade is projected to change in comparison to its neighboring states.
Interstate trade consists of products and services shipped from New Mexico to other states, or from other states to New Mexico.
In 2015, the top outbound New Mexico domestic partner for goods and services (by dollars) was Texas with $9.94B, followed by Arizona with $8.59B and Oregon and $5.67B.
The following map shows the amount of trade that New Mexico shares with each state (excluding itself).
84.1% of the population of Lea County, NM has health coverage, with 43.6% on employee plans, 23.8% on Medicaid, 8.09% on Medicare, 7.8% on non-group plans, and 0.785% on military or VA plans.
Per capita personal health care spending in the county of Lea County, NM was $7,214 in 2014. This is a 5.16% increase from the previous year ($6,860).
Primary care physicians in Lea County, NM see 3235 patients per year on average, which represents a 1.67% increase from the previous year (3182 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 4103 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 872 patients per year.
Comparing across all counties in the state, Cibola County has the highest prevalence of diabetes (13.7%). Additionally, McKinley County has the highest prevalence of adult obesity (35.1%)
Primary care physicians in Lea County, NM see an average of 3,235 patients per year. This represents a 1.67% increase from the previous year (3,182 patients).
The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Lea County, NM in comparison to neighboring states.
Estimated Number of Chronically Homeless IndividualsPercent of Residents with Access To Exercise OpportunitiesPrevalence of Food Insecurity
Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for New Mexico.
Between 2013 and 2014, all personal health care spending per capita in New Mexico (including private, Medicare, and Medicaid) grew 5.16%, from $6,860 to $7,214.
Between 2016 and 2017, the percent of uninsured citizens in Lea County, NM declined by 10.5% from 17.8% to 15.9%.
The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Lea County, NM changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.
Cibola County has the highest prevalence of diabetes in New Mexico, at 13.7%.
The following map shows the prevalence of diabetes in New Mexico by county over multiple years.
Lea County, NM is home to a population of 69.5k people, from which 87.6% are citizens. As of 2017, 16.8% of Lea County, NM residents were born outside of the country.
The ethnic composition of the population of Lea County, NM is composed of 39.5k Hispanic or Latino residents (56.8%), 25.8k White Alone residents (37.2%), 2.52k Black or African American Alone residents (3.62%), 986 Two or More Races residents (1.42%), 452 American Indian & Alaska Native Alone residents (0.65%), 163 Some Other Race Alone residents (0.235%), 31 Asian Alone residents (0.0446%), and 27 Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone residents (0.0388%).
The most common foreign languages spoken in Lea County, NM are Spanish or Spanish Creole (26,000 speakers), French (Incl. Patois, Cajun) (154 speakers), and German (138 speakers).
In 2017, the median age of all people in Lea County, NM was 31.7. Native-born citizens, with a median age of 29, were generally younger than than foreign-born citizens, with a median age of 42. But people in Lea County, NM are getting getting younger. In 2016, the average age of all Lea County, NM residents was 32.
As of 2017, 16.8% of Lea County, NM residents were born outside of the United States, which is higher than the national average of 13.7%. In 2016, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Lea County, NM was 16.1%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.
The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Lea County, NM compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
145,710 ± 9,038 people
In 2017, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Lea County, NM was Mexico, the natal country of 145,710 Lea County, NM residents, followed by Germany with 5,026 and Philippines with 3,772.
As of 2017, 87.6% of Lea County, NM residents were US citizens, which is lower than the national average of 93.1%. In 2016, the percentage of US citizens in Lea County, NM was 88.2%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.
The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Lea County, NM compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
Black or African American Alone
2.52k ± 265
In 2017, there were 1.53 times more Hispanic or Latino residents (39.5k people) in Lea County, NM than any other race or ethnicity. There were 25.8k White Alone and 2.52k Black or African American Alone residents, the second and third most common racial or ethnic groups.
The following bar chart shows the 8 races and ethnicities represented in Lea County, NM as a share of the total population.
26,000 speakers (41.7%)
French (Incl. Patois, Cajun)
154 speakers (0.247%)
42.9% of Lea County, NM citizens are speakers of a non-English language, which is higher than the national average of 21.5%. In 2015, the most common non-English language spoken in Lea County, NM was Spanish or Spanish Creole. 41.7% of the overall population of Lea County, NM are native Spanish or Spanish Creole speakers. 0.247% speak French (Incl. Patois, Cajun) and 0.221% speak Spanish or Spanish Creole, the next two most common languages.
Lea County, NM has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 2.16 times greater than any other conflict.
In 2016, universities in Lea County, NM awarded 638 degrees. The student population of Lea County, NM is skewed towards women, with 1,310 male students and 2,186 female students.
Most students graduating from Universities in Lea County, NM are White (259 and 40.6%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (238 and 37.3%), Black or African American (85 and 13.3%), and Unknown (35 and 5.49%).
The largest universities in Lea County, NM by number of degrees awarded are New Mexico Junior College (394 and 61.8%) and University of the Southwest (244 and 38.2%).
The most popular majors in Lea County, NM are General Studies (228 and 35.7%), School Counseling & Guidance Services (63 and 9.87%), and General Cosmetology (44 and 6.9%).
The median tuition costs in Lea County, NM are $15,456 for private four year colleges, and $N/A and $N/A respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.
< 1 Year Postsecondary Certificate1 to 2 Year Postsecondary CertificateAssociates DegreeBachelors DegreePostbaccalaureate CertificateMasters Degree
Automobile Mechanics Technology
In 2015, the most common concentation for Associates Degree recipients in Lea County, NM was General Studies with 223 degrees awarded.
This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Associates Degree from schools in Lea County, NM according to their major.
New Mexico Junior College
University of the Southwest
In 2016, the Lea County, NM institution with the largest number of graduating students was New Mexico Junior College with 394 degrees awarded.
In 2016, 269 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Lea County, NM, which is 0.729 times less than the 369 female students who received degrees in the same year.
This chart displays the gender disparity between the institutions in Lea County, NM by degrees awarded.
In 2016 the majority of degrees awarded at institutions in Lea County, NM were to White students. These 259 degrees mean that there were 1.09 times more White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Hispanic or Latino, with 238 degrees awarded.
The median property value in Lea County, NM was $118,500 in 2017, which is 0.545 times smaller than the national average of $217,600. Between 2016 and 2017 the median property value increased from $111,400 to $118,500, a 6.37% increase. The homeownership rate in Lea County, NM is 68.1%, which is higher than the national average of 63.9%. People in Lea County, NM have an average commute time of 20 minutes, and they commute by Drove Alone. Car ownership in Lea County, NM is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.
In 2017, the median household income of the 22k households in Lea County, NM grew to $59,285 from the previous year's value of $58,152.
The following chart displays the households in Lea County, NM distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.
In 2017, the median property value in Lea County, NM grew to to $118,500 from the previous year's value of $111,400.
The following charts display, first, the property values in Lea County, NM compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies and, second, owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property value buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Lea County, NM the largest share of households have a property value in the $100k - $125k range.
This chart shows the households in Lea County, NM distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Lea County, NM the largest share of households pay taxes in the < $800 range.
In 2017, 68.1% of the housing units in Lea County, NM were occupied by their owner. This percentage declined from the previous year's rate of 68.8%.
This percentage of owner-occupation is higher than the national average of 63.9%. This chart shows the ownership percentage in Lea County, NM compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.
The following chart displays the households in Lea County, NM distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Lea County, NM have 2 cars, followed by 3 cars.
Using averages, employees in Lea County, NM have a shorter commute time (20 minutes) than the normal US worker (25.1 minutes). Additionally, 4.24% of the workforce in Lea County, NM have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.
The chart below shows how the median household income in Lea County, NM compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
In 2017, the most common method of travel for workers in Lea County, NM was Drove Alone, followed by those who Carpooled and those who Worked At Home.
Gaines County, TX
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Regarde les Chinois : Yung Chang 張僑勇
Pour Regarde les Chinois cette semaine, nous rencontrons Yung Chang, 30 ans, réalisateur basé à Montréal du documentaire Sur le Yangzi qui fit partie de la compétition officielle à Sundance. Né dans la région de Toronto de parents originaires de Beijing et Shanghai, Yung a grandi à Whitby, et on a parlé d’approche artistique, d’attention médiatique, (beaucoup beaucoup) de bouffe, de moustaches, et de la Chine. Up the Yangtze ouvre en anglais aujourd’hui au Forum AMC, et en français le 29 février 2008 au Quartier Latin.
For Regarde les Chinois, this week, we are meeting Yung Chang, 30, Montreal filmmaker of the documentary Up the Yangtze, which was featured in this year’s lineup at Sundance. Born in the Toronto region to parents from Beijing and Shanghai, Yung grew up in Whitby, and we spoke about artistic approach, media attention, (lots and lots about) food, mustaches and of China. Up the Yangtze opens today in English at the AMC Forum, and on February 29th, 2008 in French.
Language of the interview / Langue de l’interview : English (and a little Mandarin) / Anglais (et un peu de Mandarin)
Comme les Chinois: You were much sought after by the press lately. How does all this attention feel like?
Yung Chang: Oh, pretty overwhelming all this attention. I think it’s been a good experience though. I mean, it just means that it is nice way to share the film and the concept of the film with people.
CLC: Is it the first time you’re getting so… bombarded by the press?
Yes, this is the first time. But you just take it in stride. I think it’s an important step to share the film with people. You’ve got to do it – you’ve just got to do it. And I appreciate it in fact that people want to talk to me. I like talking about the film. In fact, today, I just did some speaking engagements at Vanier. When I was in Toronto, I spoke at U of T, to cinema students. So I like sharing the process of making the film. I think it helps to illuminate a little about how one can put together a movie. Maybe it can help young filmmakers.
CLC: As a student, you drew a lot from other people talking.
Certainly, yeah. As a cinephile, as someone who loves to read, to watch movies, I certainly have been inspired by a lot of films, filmmaking. You know, I think when you make a film, maybe you have some inspirations, maybe you’re interested by such and such film, such and such book, but it’s just kind of fodder. It’s stuff that works in the back. Eventually, it helps to make it come out of you in a movie.
CLC: Hey, so you were in Toronto, and went on CBC’s The Hour… How was George?
George was ok, he’s a nice guy, very knowledgeable. It’s kind of surreal to in on a set like that, surrounded by an audience, bright lights. You certainly go through a certain amount of out-of-body experiences I think, when you are interviewing. So, you have to be very focused. You have to look at the guy in the eyes.
CLC: How’d you get the interview on the Hour?
Well, I think it’s certainly working with publicists, and having a film that is a current affairs issues. I think it is topical that China now is on the cusp of the Beijing Olympics. There is a lot of conversation right now on the Three Gorges Dam and the future of China, and I think about modernization in China. The film has certainly fallen in a timely into the lapse of an audience.
CLC: Were you born here (in Canada)?
I was born outside of Toronto, in Oshawa. I grew up in Whitby, to be exact, and moved to Toronto and moved here. I lived and travelled in China since 1997.
I travelled throughout, mostly Southern China. My relatives are from Beijing and Shanghai.
CLC: What were you doing in Southern China?
My brother lives in Beijing, so he met me in the south of China, and we traveled extensively throughout. In fact, we were in Guangzhou when SARS broke. We were passing the hospitals, the lineups outside hospitals, wondering what the hell everyone was doing. In fact, it was because of the outbreak! I spent a lot of time in Guangzhou. I had a very good experience traveling solo, as well.
I’ve never been to Xinjiang, nor have I been to Mongolia. I’ve been out to a lot of places in between… Guizhou, Xi’an, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Hainan, Beihai.
CLC: Was there a particular experience over there that marked you?
When I was traveling with my brother through the southern cities, we spent Chinese New Year in Beihai, my brother and I, in a seedy hotel, while firecrackers were blasting 24 hours. In the smaller towns, it is legal to have fireworks, as opposed to cities like Beijing, where just recently they changed the rules, but where you could not light fireworks.
In Beihai, they were lighting it everywhere. Kids, for like two days straight, non-stop, would just point them at you, shoot them at you. It was crazy, it was chaos, it was like a war! I’ll never forget that experience.
I’ll never forget going to eat outside, very late night, street food, and lots of people lined up in the streets. And there was a little girl and a little boy. I guess they were trained in acrobatics and they were performing in the streets, probably trained by their parents and do this, so that they can make money to give to their parents.
And to witness these kids, dirty and grimy, and performing tricks next to a table, and then when the people left the table, to see the kids run up and eat the food off the table, was a very marked moment.
I think for me to see the disparities between what is happening now in China… and I think it has always been like that, that there are very very rich people and very very poor people, and middle class is considered really really rich in my opinion, and there is nothing in between. Being able to witness that was kind of stayed with me.
CLC: Because you grew up here?
Certainly because I grew up here, and you are exposed to a different sort of upbringing. When you witness things that are so extreme – there is homelessness, poverty here, of course but in China, it’s so much clearer, you really see it.
CLC: What age were you when you came back?
It was 1997, so I was 20, after my undergrad.
CLC: What did you do after your undergrad? You were trained in film at Concordia?
I trained in film in Concordia, studied film production, and I made a movie with the National Film Board, Earth to Mouth. After that, I went to study theatre at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. That was two years, and I worked in New York as well, as an editor. Then I came back here (in Montreal), and that was at the same time developing Up the Yangtze, and then consciously started working on the film for a good three years, and went to shoot it in 2006. And now I released it…
CLC: So, you presented the movie at Sundance?
Yes, we presented the movie at Sundance. I think it was an important step. We have an American theatrical release that came out of Sundance. It was good to share with an American audience, because every audience reacts differently, you know. We showed it in Amsterdam… I think that a Canadian audience is much different than an American audience.
CLC: How did they react?
I think that Americans have a certain sense of … when they see the film, and see themselves depicted in this movie, for a lot of people, it puts them in an awkward situation. And I like that, I like confronting people with how they interact with a different culture. I think that struck a lot of audiences in the US. In fact, it resonated very deeply with people.
And certainly, Sundance is a very liberal sort of audience, and you are going to get people that are moved and want to do something.
CLC: So, you met a bunch of famous people. Is that where you met Werner Herzog?
(laughs) No, Herzog, I met him in Amsterdam, at the International Documentary Film Festival, and met him over there.
CLC: Was he one of your heroes?
Oh yeah, certainly. I had like his book, Herzog on Herzog, strapped on my thigh as I made Up the Yangtze. I think he is a very inspiring person. For me, there are two extremes, there is the Herzogian approach to filmmaking, which is looking for these ecstatic truthes, and then on the other hand, there is the Cinéma-vérité technique. I think that I certainly touch on both of these in Up the Yangtze.
I am looking for moments of truth, for example, the images of the dancing girl shot on my cellphone. In fact that was a very important moment for me. On the other hand, filming intimate scenes with the family as it was fly-on-the-wall. These two opposing methods of filmmaking certainly were very important in making Up the Yangtze.
CLC: Were there other people who inspired you, who you look up to?
Certainly Herzog was one of them. There is plenty of Cinéma-vérité filmmakers that I was very inspired by. I’m inspired by lot of fiction filmmaking, italian neo-realism. The list is extensive… And especially by Chinese filmmakers, like Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Jia Zhangke, and Li Yang, who made Blind Shaft.
When I was living in Los Angeles, briefly, I managed to catch quite a few Chinese documentary films. I saw a movie by Jiang Yue, and it was called This So-called Happy Life. That was a very amazing film, because it almost played like a fiction movie, but it was very clearly a documentary. These were real people. It was about a couple of railroad workers in the West Railway Station in Beijing, and they were unbelievable characters, very human characters, flawed people. And that is what is interesting. You know, exploring human emotions through characters, through subjects that are not perfect, that have flaws, that make mistakes. And that is something that I think is very important.
And I think that the films of John Cassavetes as well are very inspiring.
CLC: I was watching you movie, and it plays like a drama, but you know it’s real-life, it’s a documentary. But you look at the storyline, and it’s almost like a fiction movie.
I think that as a director, you are very conscious about how you want to frame things. You think about the structure of the film. Because it is documentary, you can’t predict, you don’t really know the outcome of where you want it to go, or how it is going to unfold.
CLC: So you didn’t know the ending…
Certainly you don’t know the ending! But I had very specific things that I wanted. For instance, the opening scene of the film, the closing of the film. The opening of the gates of hell. These were very important images for me.
Within that, you build your blocks. Things would happen with the family, like that very pointed scene with the mother telling Yu Shui that she doesn’t want to exploit her daughter to work on the boat. First of all, as a filmmaker, I am not a passive filmmaker. You don’t sit, and I don’t wait for things to happen. I think it is very important, as a director, and in order not to waste tape to ask the right questions at the right time. And that scene came about though a very important question that I didn’t ask the family, up to the point where Yu Shui had to leave to work on the boat. And I asked Yu Shui, does she know that she had to leave to work on the boat, and that her home will be flooded forever, and then her parents, and her siblings will never be able to move back to this home.
Yu Shui asked her mother this question, and as a result, that was the scene that came out of it. So, I think it is about being very open, sensitive and perceptive of the subtext going on underneath a given moment. And through asking questions that don’t relate to specifically to what you want, so to speak. I think, ultimately, you are going to get something out of it.
CLC: It’s going to flow towards your way… Tell me about your first movie, Earth to Mouth.
Earth to Mouth was to me a romantic, poetic, meditative film. I wanted to capture the beauty of living on a farm, and to me, in a way, this very naive, romantic perspective. And having found the character of the grandmother was fascinating, the fact that she ran this farm and worked with Mexican migrant workers.
There is something also, I think, melancholic about it. The fact that she was a recent immigrant from China, isolated on this farm. When I showed the film at Hot Docs, there’s been people who’ve seen the film who are immigrants of other countries, and when they see the movie it resonates very deeply with them because they can relate to this kind of displacement, uprootedness, loneliness that one feels when adjusting to a new culture. I think perhaps there was something that just seeped through the film when I was shooting the movie.
I think it was important to capture it in a seasonal sense, and follow…
CLC: Because you shot it over a whole year… I dunno, but I am a foodie, and was very interested…
Oh yeah! And I love the food! That restaurant in the film, Magic Wok, is my favourite restaurant when I go back to Toronto. I grew up in that restaurant when it used to be a very small, kinda family establishment in Scarborough. Every weekend, we would go out there – we lived in Whitby, which is a very isolated town – and it was kind of the growing Hong Kong community. Then, the restaurant moved to a bigger restaurant, and it’s become a real establishment in the Markham area! Very good food there!
Have you done a pilgrimage to Markham to eat all the good food?
CLC: Yeah, I’ve done it…
Isn’t it great? In Chinese it is called Magic Lantern… Forgot how to say it.
CLC: So, you grew up in Whitby? I don’t know the Toronto area, is it really far?
It’s about 45 minutes east of Toronto.
CLC: Sort of like Repentigny here…
Yeah, sorta. At the time when I was growing up there, it was a very small town of 30,000 people, and by the mid-nighties, the population had tripled, 300%. So, you can imagine, it became a bedroom community, and there were subdivisions everywhere, and it was a suburban kind of landscape all of a sudden.
CLC: How was growing up there… Were you one of the only…
Yeah! I was one of the only Chinese growing up there! I’ve kind of noticed this about the films that I am interested in making, that they are certainly all about displacement, displaced people… Maybe there is a connection to myself being uncomfortable or not settled in a certain place. Growing up in Whitby, I was never very comfortable growing up there, neither than going to a very Anglican school in Toronto. And in Montreal, when it’s a French-speaking province…
So, for me, I kind of thrive on this idea of displacement. Being kind of a ghost between two spaces, two worlds. I think about it like that, but I don’t know if it’s actually…
CLC: Is there a place in the world where you would like to settle?
(laughs) I have no idea… That’s the thing. I am pretty planted here in Montreal.
CLC: You’ve been here since your undergrad, went abroad for a few years. Why did you come back? Why Montreal?
The people here are very nice. I like the city, I like the food. I like the peacefulness of this city – in fact, it is quite calming to come back here. It’s smaller, it feels more cozy. Especially that EyesteelFilm is here and people that I know. The Film Board is here.
CLC: You were in Good Will Hunting?
(laughs) It feels like the guy who does the interviews on TV… And he has all these insider information about the actors.
Yeah, that was in the beginning when I studying, and I was doing a little extra work on the side. It was in Toronto, at U of T, and I was taking a class at the time, philosophy course. They just so happened to be shooting the film, so I got in.
CLC: Another one… Let’s see. My friends tell me that you are big on bringing fruit salad for parties!
I like making fruit salads! very special, exotic fruit salads. Lemon juice is the key ingredient and add a nice flavour. I like the idea of bringing the fruit to the party and cutting the fruit fresh and making the salad on the site.
You have to have blood oranges, papaya, mango, some berries. I really like putting pomegranate… pineapple.
CLC: I noticed when e-mailing you that you had an English name. Do you use it?
I think when I was younger, growing up, it was a name that was used a lot. There is a generation of my friends who called me by my English name, Jason. But at some point, when I finished high school, I felt that I wanted to make a conscious decision to use my Chinese name. Even though it is a Wade-Giles spelling of my name, as opposed to a (Hanyu) Pinyin one.
My Chinese name is actually Zhang ChaoYong. But because it is “Yung Chang”, it is a little bit different…
CLC: So your (sur)name is Zhang?
Yes, Zhang Yimou de Zhang, and then Hua Qiao de Qiao, YongGan de Yong. (Editor’s Note: We make that it is 張僑勇)
CLC: Do you have family in Taiwan?
My (maternal) grandfather lives in Taiwan, the one that I talk about in the movie. He left (the Mainland) in 1949 and moved to Taipei with the Kuomintang.
CLC: Have you been to Taiwan?
Yeah. Good food there. Have you heard of this toilet restaurant that just opened? It’s food served to you on the toilet, and all the food resembles feces! It’s a huge hit in Taipei. I am not kidding. They serve it on the porcelain.
CLC: Is your dad side also from Beijing?
My dad’s side is from Shanghai, and then he moved to Hong Kong at a very young age, and then came to Canada when he was 15. My paternal grandfather came to McGill to go his PhD in chemistry, in the 1950s. That was his way out of Hong Kong, of China, and he brought his family consequently.
CLC: Were there a lot of Chinese?
No, not at all. But there was a community of Shanghainese. I think the hub was kind of the restaurant Wong’s, which was Jan Wong’s father who owned it. In fact, I think he is still living out in Westmount or something.
CLC: … I don’t see a lot of Asians with a mustache! So where did it come from?
(laughs) My father has a mustache. I’ve never actually seen him without a mustache. Ever since I was born, he always had his mustache. Because my maternal grandfather reads faces, he told him to grow a mustache, so he did! So, my grandfather also told me that I had to grow a mustache, so I did!
CLC: What kind of food do like?
I like all types of food. I eat everything. Maybe I don’t have a very sharp discerning food, but when I am in China, I like to eat huo guo (hot pot), kao ya (roasted duck), zhajiang mian (fried sauce noodles), and lots of Taiwan, Beijing food, Shanghai food is my favourite…
CLC: Do you eat the weird stuff, like chicken claws, pork tripes…
I _can_ eat that stuff. Tripes, I eat. Stomach, I’m not so interested. When you are in China, you don’t really have the choice; it’s the popular way to eat, especially hot pot. I’ve eaten dog hot pot. The flavour of dog meat is nice. It’s kind of like, little more intense than lamb. It’s actually a delicacy. When I had it, I was Chongqing.
CLC: Chongqing is the largest city in China?
Chongqing is the largest municipality in the world. Largest city, I don’t know…
CLC: I heard a lot of great things about Chongqing… It’s built on hills.
It’s built on hills. It’s the only city where they still have the culture of the porters, the coolies. It’s an industry. There is so much history in that city. The way it’s built is amazing, with all the nooks and crannies to explore, hidden spaces and very good restaurants.
There is also a really good noodles restaurant. I really love zha jiang mian. In Chongqing, they make it very different. It’s not as salty and thick as it is in Beijing, and it is a bit lighter, and they put sesame seeds in it… And there is a restaurant, drop-in, quick eat noodles restaurant, hole-in-the-wall.
CLC: I thought that since they are Sichuanese, they’d be high on spices, peanuts.
Yeah, spice, tomatoes, and peanuts, but a lot of chili peppers. Their Chongqing hot pot is different than Sichuan hot pot, because it is hotter. It’s really really spicy. It’s full of thick chili. And they re-use the broth, so it gets spicier and spicier.
CLC: About growing up in Canada… what do you keep of that? What marked you?
Hmmm… (pause) It’s hard to say now. What marks me as Canadian? … It’s so hard to say, because I always feel that I am seeing things in a very particular sort of way. It’s undefinable to be one or the other. In fact, I feel that, as the diaspora, as Overseas Chinese, are very unique, have our own category. That is what I appreciate. Maybe that is my answer.
CLC: I think you have a very interesting background, in the sense that you didn’t live in like Markham. You actually lived outside of Toronto, and guess that you were one of the few Chinese people in your town. Growing up in Quebec is more or less the same thing, because there are not a lot of Chinese people.
It’s a small community here… How is Brossard?
CLC: Well, I know that there are a lot of Asians, but not as overwhelming…
I want to go to that congee place… Is it good?
CLC: Yeah, gotta try it, it’s on Boulevard Rome.
It would be interesting to just go look around there… But now, the Guy-Concordia area! It’s scary!
*** We argue about some Sichuan restaurant, on De Maisonneuve, which I thought was the one east of St-Mathieu, but Yung says that the one that I thought was opened by Cambodian Chinese closer to St-Marc are people from Chongqing. I certainly been there before, and perhaps disinformed the web on the same token…
The chefs are from Chongqing, and they cook the real deal. It’s between St-Mathieu and St-Marc, on the south side of De Maisonneuve. It’s a very small standalone noodles house. It’s tiny! In fact, they have all the standards of Chongqing food…
CLC: There is another place, where they hired a new chef. Have you heard of Tapioca Cafe? It’s like a bubble tea place, but they changed their menu, hired a new chef… You know, BattleNet 24? Well, right next to it, above what used to be a comics rentals place…
Been there? Is that your favourite place?
CLC: I don’t know what’s my favourite place…
I like the Taiwan place underneath that apartment complex (on St-Marc above De Maisonneuve).
CLC: Oh yeah, been there, the cookies.
It’s interesting when you grow up in Montreal, it’s very special when you find something. When I went to Vancouver last week… it’s overwhelming, all the Asian food you can dream of. You would never come back! The quality of the food is just excellent.
*** We keep diverging about food. Apparently, a real ramen noodles place in Montreal cannot be found. But in New York, in the upper fifties… Isn’t it funny that all the sushi places in Montreal are operated by non-Japanese?! “Would’ve made a great short film”, Yung concurs. But then, hey, what is authenticity after all?
General Tao is authentic, because it is its own creation, came out of being Americanized, Westernized. It’s dying, but in Vancouver you find hundreds of these Chinese Canadian diners, that are starting to close down. They have this specific type of food. You should go search it up!…
CLC: I think I should… Diners where they’d have macaroni and soya sauce! As more and more immigrants from the Mainland are coming, do you hope that we’ll see more and more authentic food from China?
(laughs) Let’s hope that they won’t try to transform their style of cooking! Because at one point, it was only Cantonese food, Sichuanese (Szechuanese) food…
CLC: Fake Sichuanese food!
Fake Sichuanese! And all of a sudden, you start to find Beijing food, Taiwan food…
CLC: You grew up in Whitby and were like one of the only Chinese kids, was it hard, was it a realization when you got to university?
When I was in high school, I started to discover the whole issue of this sort of identity thing. I was 16, and read a book by Frank Chin, called Donald Duck. He is a Chinese American author, and considers himself the Black Panther of Chinese American activists, was very active in the 60s, 70s, and angry! What the movement was called was the Angry Asian movement. And there is a whole collection of writing called the Aiiieeeee collection, An Anthology of Asian American Writers. It’s amazing, it will rock you, it will change you…
So, I through this thing when I was 16, 17, 18. Then, you try to figure out your thing, and how you fit in. Went to China. Then, I think I realized that the cultural identity issue is very much so a kind of manufactured concept, a lot so like authenticity. When you get your head around it, you really are who you are. The idea of being one or the other is kind of a construct of this whole multicultural society, or what it may be.
We kind of all follow these ideas, and I realized that the cultural identity issues were raised by my teachers in high school who were not Chinese. I started thinking a lot about it, multicultural issues… I am who I am. I am what I am. For me, it’s that comfortable position to be, this kind of a floater. And that’s what I think informs the way I make films.
CLC: What is a future film project that you have?
I am working on a project about the Tiananmen issue, incident. It’s a film that will unfold in real-time, told through three perspectives: a journalist’s, a protester’s, and a soldier’s.
CLC: It’s going to be non-fiction?
It will be kind of like, no holds barred, all strings pulled, the Cloverfield of Tiananmen Square films. One that will be dramatic and personally told. Again, about human stories, human emotions, not about the politics, but focusing more on the people, and exploring that, and following those trajectories as it unfolds in real-time.
Whatever it takes, no holds barred: documentary, animation, fiction, I don’t know yet. It is going to be something like this.
CLC: Have you seen Gate of the Heavenly Peace?
Yes, I’ll never forget when it came out, in 93 or something. And I’ll never forget my involvement as a protester in Toronto against the Tiananmen massacre, walking with my mother, grandmother and brother to the Chinese embassy (Editor’s Note: consulate, if Toronto). That was a really important moment in my childhood. I couldn’t grasp what it meant, what was happening. Anyone who sees the images that were filmed by the news media cannot help but be moved by what was going on.
CLC: What do you think is in store for China?
That is an impossible question to answer. I’d like to say to refer to my movie, the last shot of (Up the Yangtze). What is in store is certainly an unknown, certainly unclear, foreboding perhaps. I’d like to think that it is like the image of a boat crossing through a gate lock, and at the other side awaits something.
CLC: Tell me who you are?
I’m Yung Chang. I am the director of a film called Up the Yangtze, and I am a filmmaker.
Categories Cinema, English, Regarde les Chinois
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HOME > About Us > History
WYOMING COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM HISTORY
The Wyoming Community College Commission history starts in 1951 when it was first established as an advisory council that had significant membership and decision making authority from the University of Wyoming. WCCC autonomy continued to develop over the next 34 years through legislative mandates that gave the WCCC responsibilities for distributing state aid and establishing standards. In 1967, the legislature gave the WCCC limited authority, and in 1971, restructured the WCCC to that of a lay board appointed by the governor. It was in 1985 that the WCCC gained additional responsibilities for the community colleges through final approval of college capital construction, promulgating audit requirements, approving and terminating college programs, and reviewing existing college districts.
In 1991, the legislature statutorily aligned to the WCCC, both in reporting and budget funding, the following programs: Adult Basic Education, now known as Adult Education (AE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and GED®, now known as the High School Equivalency Certification (HSEC) program.1 Including these three areas expanded the WCCC’s functions and scope of responsibility beyond the community colleges. Also added in 1991 was the legislative provision for the WCCC to develop a statewide computer network to provide comparable college data, as well as meet national post-secondary reporting requirements.
1 These programs were moved to the Department of Workforce Services July 1, 2002 and returned to the WCCC July 1, 2006.
Over the next twenty years, extensive work was done in developing the statewide administrative computing system and various aspects associated with the new technology. To assist in this endeavor, a policy analyst position was established to work alongside the WCCC’s Information Technology division, and to interface with the seven community colleges’ institutional researchers. The legislature continued to impact the programs and functions for which the WCCC is responsible through the addition of the Wyoming Investment in Nursing program, the Teacher Shortage Loan Repayment program (sunset in 2016), the Overseas Combat Veterans and Surviving Spouses/Dependent Tuition Benefit program, the Wyoming Family Literacy program (discontinued in 2016) and the Wyoming Adjunct Professor Loan Repayment program. Also added during this time was the responsibility to audit enrollment data, ensuring the accuracy of data used in the state’s funding allocation model to distribute monies to the colleges. This period also saw the further development of rules and regulations, statutes and policy/prodecures manuals to define the interconnecting functions of the WCCC, the seven colleges and the community college system as a whole.
In 2013, the agency redefined its organization by establishing five sections to better serve those entities which rely on the WCCC for funding, management, reports and direction, as well as to meet the 34 objectives and goals specified in W.S. 21-18-202. These sections were defined as follows: Administration and Budget, Business Analytics and Support, College and Career Readiness, State Tuition Assistance Program Management, and Research and Policy (later absorbed by the Business Analytics and Support Section). Also in 2013, the legislature revised the process for capital construction requests giving the State Construction Department responsibility for reviewing the WCCC prioritized project list and recommending action to the State Building Commission.
The most recent change to the commission duties and staff occurred with the 2016 legislative session’s vote to eliminate funding for the state’s seven Family Literacy Centers. This in turn, reduced the need for a full time staff member to cover the duties associated with these centers.
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People with intellectual disability are not only over-represented as victims of crime, they are also over-represented as suspects or alleged offenders within the criminal justice system (French, 2007; Hayes, 2000, in Ellem & Wilson, 2010). Some commentators have suggested that as many as 35 percent of the young people in juvenile justice detention in Australia fall into the mild to moderate range of intellectual disability (West, 2011).
Research demonstrates that people with intellectual disability are most likely to commit offences involving impulsive or unpremeditated behaviour, rather than crimes involving planning and foresight. Offenders with intellectual disability also more likely to commit relatively minor offences, but to commit these offences repeatedly. They are also more likely to be charged with public order offences (French, 2007).
Many people with intellectual disability experience wide-ranging psychological and socio-economic disadvantages, which can predispose them to being charged with public order offences. MacDonald (2008) discusses several examples of the relationship between disadvantage and crime:
Poor ability to manage daily life activities, such as budgeting for food and maintaining accommodation, which leads to ‘survival crimes’
Poor organisational skills and memory, which leads to a failure to meet minor legal obligations
Lack of education and knowledge about socially-acceptable behaviours and behaviours that constitute a crime
Limited sex education and poor ability to discriminate between ‘public’ and ‘private’ behaviours
Visibility in public spaces, as a result of poverty, homelessness and lack of daily occupation, which attracts high levels of surveillance
Congregation amongst high-need populations and ‘survival cultures’ where conflict, abuse and exploitation are common
Learned behaviours resulting from life experiences that include lack of dignity, privacy and respect afforded to their person and property, and victimisation.
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Home > Magazine
From the Society features highlights of ASCO initiatives, including news related to oncology research and clinical practice, policy and advocacy, education, and meetings, and updates on ASCO’s patient-centered site, Cancer.Net, and the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO.
Member News provides updates on ASCO member career news, awards, and recognitions, as well as profiles of ASCO volunteer leaders. If you have news you would like to share, please contact ascoconnection@asco.org.
Call for Special Awards Nominations
September 2010: ASCO’s Special Awards Selection Committee requests your nomination for the 2011 Special Awards. The awards are:
JCO's Art of Oncology: a Window to the Human Endeavor of Caring for Patients
September 2010: Oncologists have an undeniably tough job. On top of having to understand extremely high-level science, they must also keep a stiff upper lip when faced with challenging and heart wrenching patient situations. The field of oncology isn’t all about the science; there’s a delicate art to answering the tough questions,...
Journals Announce New Editorial Board Members and Author News
Newest JOP Editorial Board Members
September 2010: Five new members joined the Journal of Oncology Practice’s editorial board this past quarter. Each will be serving a three-year term in a general capacity.
Ben Ebrahimi, MD, Pomona, CA
Dr. Charlotte Jacobs Discusses Her Biography of Famed Cancer-fighter Henry Kaplan
August 2010: An obituary in the New York Times described Henry Kaplan, MD, who served as chair of radiology from 1948 to 1972, as the physician and scientist most credited with “transforming Hodgkin’s disease from a hopeless form of cancer to one of the most curable.” Oncologist and professor of medicine emeritus Charlotte Jacobs...
The Devil’s in the Details: ASCO Examines the Proposed Physician Fee Schedule
August 2010: ASCO In Action: Policy and Practice
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its proposed rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2011, ASCO identified the following areas of concern for members:
Changes arising from the PPIS
CMS Releases Final Rule on “Meaningful Use” for EHR Incentive Program
July 2010: On July 13, CMS released the Final Rule (FR) on “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program.” The FR specifies the initial criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and...
ASCO Collaborates with LIVESTRONG
July 2010 Issue: ASCO and The ASCO Cancer Foundation® recently announced a collaboration with LIVESTRONG for the development of online educational resources on ASCO University™ that address topics related to the diagnosis and care of adolescents and young adults with cancer. As there has been a lack of progress in the diagnosis and...
Behind the Scenes with Phil Mickelson’s Caddie-for-a-Day: ASCO Member Dr. Thomas Buchholz
July 2010 Issue: ASCO member Thomas A. Buchholz, MD, FACR, is Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas. One Sunday in April, however, Dr. Buchholz bore a title of a different sort—caddie for golf superstar Phil Mickelson. No, not at the Masters, where...
Congratulations to ASCO's Movers & Shakers
May 2010: ASCO Immediate Past President Douglas W. Blayney, MD, was appointed the Ann and John Doerr Medical Director of the Stanford Cancer Center. He was previously Medical Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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Leadership Development Program Prepares Aspiring Leaders
July 2010 Issue: Early-career oncologists interested in taking on a more visible role within ASCO have a unique opportunity to gain extensive exposure to ASCO’s mission and leadership positions by participating in the organization’s Leadership Development Program. This year-long program is designed to set oncologists in the early phases...
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Creating Comics (and some dogged determination): Jasper Bark reveals the secrets of making “Parassassin”, his latest graphic novel
Posted on January 12, 2018 January 13, 2018 by downthetubes Guests
One of the most intriguing graphic novels I’ve read in the past few months is Parassassin by Jasper Bark with art by Alfa Robbi, first published in the brilliant digital anthology Aces Weekly but available now as a full-blown graphic novel from Markosia. It’s a head-scratching but ultimately very cleverly-told, quite mind-boggling tale that plays with every time travel concept you can possibly think of, mashes in some angry aliens – and then ups the ante with a smooth blend of parody and outrageous treachery, delivering a hugely enjoyable thriller of a book.
Writer Jasper Bark takes you behind the scenes on the making of Parassassin, with some concept art kindly provided by Alfa Robbi… So sit, back, kick off your para-time plimsolls and find out how what was to have been a Doctor Who comic story became something very different…
If you spend a lot of time writing, then you’ll find that the stories you work on are a lot like friendships. Some last a very long time, others are short but pleasant. Some you make while at work, because they’re written on commission, others are more personal, written because you made a strong and instant connection with them.
We all have that one friend who’s incredibly hard work, yet we put up with their crap because, in the end, they’re worth it. Many writers also have stories like that, stories that took years of hard work, that we stuck with no matter how much crap they threw up, because it was worth it to finally tell them.
My latest graphic novel, Parassassin, from Markosia, was just such a story. It was over a decade in the telling, but worth the hard work to finally see it finished and in print.
It began life as a three-part serial for Panini’s Doctor Who Magazine, commissioned by then editor Clayton Hickman. Unfortunately, as it was being scheduled for publication, Clayton quit as DWM editor to pursue a career as a scriptwriter for Big Finish and CBBC. When Tom Spilsbury took the editorial reigns, as is often the case with new editors, he came in with a fresh set of ideas about where he wanted to take the regular strip. Sometimes this means orphaned stories, commissioned by the former editor, fall by the wayside, and this was the case with Parassassin. I did, however, get some brilliant input into the strip, not only from Clayton, but also regular Panini and Marvel writer – Scott Gray. This input proved invaluable, not only to the story as it was then, but also to how it was going to develop.
Luckily, I had quite a busy schedule of work, so I put Parassassin in a bottom drawer, and got on with my other scripts and novel commissions. The story wasn’t finished with me though; it would lurk at the back of my mind, turning up time and again, when I wasn’t thinking about more pressing work. It would remind me that it was still a great plot and that I mustn’t forget about it.
Sometimes insisting, in the most inopportune moments, that I get around to writing it at the first available opportunity…
An opportunity did make itself available, a few years later, when I met a brilliant, up-and-coming Indonesian artist, called Alfa Robbi, on LinkedIn. Alfa and I hit it off straight away and began discussing the possibility of working on a project together. As soon as these discussions began, the Parassassin story popped back into my mind to remind me that it was still available to be written, and I really had promised to write it, the first chance I got and – hey look, what was this, if it wasn’t a chance?
The only sticking point, in this otherwise undeniable argument, was that Parassassin was a Doctor Who story and I didn’t have the rights to use any of characters, or properties, in the Doctor Who Universe. What I did have though, was an overly fertile imagination and that, I was sure, would more than make up for this sticking point. So I went back to the story and removed anything that belonged to the world of Doctor Who, so I could retell it in my own way and repopulate it with my own characters.
In some ways, I felt a bit like a mad scientist, removing the skeleton from one of my living creations, in order to build an entirely new creature around it, from entirely new flesh.
This entirely new flesh was made up of the new characters and settings I brought to the old plot. Now that I was no longer constrained by working in an existing franchise, with a very strictly controlled fictional universe, I decided to give my imagination free reign. I wanted to come up with a bunch of characters I’d never seen before, but would really love to read about. Characters that would take the story, which was part time travel caper and part political parody, to a whole new level. As the characters changed, so did the story, and the way it was told. This was what I eventually ended up with:
“Three futures hang in the balance.
Two end in total annihilation.
One assassin’s bullet will decide.
On the planet Sedulon, a rogue band of renegade time travelers and scientific misfits fight to save the futures of two worlds.
Doc Hydrabus – a brilliant scientist whose body splits into a crowd of his past and future selves, he lives in one present and many futures all at the same time.
Cassindra – 900 years old, impossible to kill and every bit as deadly as she is beautiful. She’s travelled back in time to change the world.
Rushaar and Shartara – alien beings made entirely of gas with one simple plan, to use time travel to assassinate the leader of Sedulon and save their planet Eidolonia.
The Parassassin – will take the shot that decides the destinies of everyone in the galaxy. You’ll never guess their real identity.”
Alfa took the ideas and began to run with them, drawing up character designs, layouts and concepts that continued to build the world of the story. This was tremendously exciting for us both and I began to reach out to friends and colleagues in the comics world, to put together a creative team to work on the story.
We were joined by colourist, Yel Zamor and Dave Evans, better known to 2000AD fandom as the letterer Bolt-01 and the editor of FutureQuake, Zarjaz and Dogbreath. I can’t over emphasise how big a contribution Yel and Dave made to Parassassin in its early development. Yel is a tremendously talented colourist and her work is in great demand, not just in the comics world but in other markets too. She made an invaluable contribution to the look of the planet Sedulon, where Parassassin is set, and to all the of the strange characters that populate it.
As well as being one of the best letterers in the business, and an heir to lettering legend Tom Frame, Dave is also a great editor. He provided a lot of useful feedback on the early scripts that allowed me to improve them and get the story into shape.
Once we had a good set of sample pages we began shopping the project around different publishers. We did get a lot of interest from CLiNT magazine, but unfortunately they shut up shop before we got off the starting blocks. Finally, after a few near misses, our project found a better home than we could ever have hoped for, thanks to a mini publishing revolution, being mounted by a maverick comics legend.
Aces Weekly is the brain child of David Lloyd, co-creator of V for Vendetta and originator of the iconic Guy Fawkes mask that was worn by protestors from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring. A weekly online comics anthology that contains stories from leading writers and artists from both mainstream and indie comics. It’s run on a completely co-operative basis and all the profits of each volume are shared equally between the creators.
Parassassin ended up running across eight full volumes of Aces Weekly, meaning that we had to put out weekly instalments for a full eight months before we finally finished the story. This posed a lot of challenges to our joint schedules, and we were often skating the bleeding edge of our deadline. However we were never met with anything less than courtesy, patience and unfailing professionalism by the staff at Aces Weekly, and they were always a joy to work with.
Sadly, we lost Yel working on the second volume of Aces Weekly, due to her demanding workload, which was a shame because she was great to work with. Instead, Alfa stepped up to the plate and took on the full art chores, handling pencils, inks and colours for the rest of the project. This was no mean feat on his part, given how tight the schedule was, and what hard work this project was proving to be.
ParAssassin – Work in Progress
David Lloyd is on a crusade to take comics into the 21st century and for him that means saying goodbye to the world of paper forever and forging ahead into the digital zone. He is determined that Aces Weeklywill only be available online or through digital distribution services such as Comixology, and will never see print. Alfa, Dave and I had always envisioned Parassassin as one cohesive story, and were very keen to see it collected as a graphic novel, but we knew this was never going to happen with Aces Weekly. So, when the strip finished its extended run, we began to cast about for another publisher to bring out a hard copy.
When Markosia heard that Parassassin was available, they practically bit our hands off. Both Dave and I had worked with Markosia previously, on the graphic novel Bloodfellas, and that had been a very positive experience for everyone involved, so Markosia seemed like the perfect home for the collected edition.
Dave had a few ideas about the way the story could be expanded in a graphic novel format, that he was keen to share with me. He and I sat down at the ICE con in Birmingham, in between signings and panels, to thrash his ideas out. We were very pleased to see that we were on exactly the same page when it came to where we thought the expanded story ought to go. I went home and scripted some additional pages, and rewrote certain sections of the existing script to accommodate them. I also added extra narration to make the story clearer.
When I was done, Alfa drew up the new pages and reformatted the old ones so they’d look just as good on a printed page as they had on a screen.
Alfa Robbi’s draft cover design for the Parassassin graphic novel
I’ll admit there were times when we thought this project would never be finished. The late nights spent staring at a monitor screen, and firing off last minute e-mails to avert yet another catastrophe, seemed to never end. Like that difficult friend, who turns up at your house at two in morning with yet another crisis they need help with, Parassassin demanded a lot of our time and attention. There’s a reason you have those people in your life though, and when we finally debuted Parassassin at Thought Bubble last year, we realised why we’d gone to such lengths to get this project off the ground and to keep it running for so long.
I also hope the staff at Markosia, particularly Harry Markos, GM Jordan and Ian Sharman, who went above and beyond for us, would also agree it was worth the hard work. The response from readers has certainly been gratifying and the early reviews have all been great.
I think the main reason we maintain certain, sometime difficult relationships, is because, in many other ways, those people are a hell of a lot of fun to be around and, for all the hard work, Parassassin was a lot of fun to work on.
Hopefully, if I’ve intrigued you enough, with this behind the scenes glimpse, to pick it up, you’ll find it’s a hell of a lot of fun to read as well.
• Parassassin is available now from all good bookshops physical, digital and trans-temporal
• Jasper Bark is an award-winning novelist, children’s author and comic book writer. Famed for his imaginative story telling he’s published four novels, twelve children’s books and countless comics and graphic novels. His work has been translated into nine languages and is used in schools throughout the UK to improve literacy. He regularly performs his work all over the country, on the radio and through regular podcasts. He’s online at www.jasperbark.com
Jasper is currently working on Beyond Lovecraft is a portmanteau horror story that draws directly on the works of H. P Lovecraft, drawn by award-winning artist Rob Moran. It’s a 96 page graphic novel featuring four stand alone tales and one ongoing story that links them all together – a grim and cosmic love letter to the mythos that means so much to the creators.
• Artist Alfa Robbi is a comic artist, illustrator and character designer, working at Papillon Studio, whose many credits include Max Steel . He’s online at sharknob.deviantart.com
• Check out Aces Weekly online at www.acesweekly.co.uk and on Comixology here
• There’s more about Parassassin from Markosia is online here
Posted in British Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, FeaturesTagged Alfa Robbi, Bolt-01, Creating Comics, Dave Evans, Doctor Who Magazine, Jasper Bark, Markosia, Parassassin, Yel Zamor
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Search Victoria University Library - Special Collections
Fonds 83 - Harold Bull fonds
Harold Bull fonds
Victoria University Library - Special Collections
2 cm of textual records
45 photographs: sepia toned
Bull, Harold
Harold Bull was a student at Victoria University (Class of 1919) who served overseas in World War I in the First Canadian Tank Battalion. He was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan in 1895, and attended high school in Brampton. After graduating from Victoria he moved back to Yorkton, then was resident in a number of places before settling in Muncie, Indiana, in 1938 and working in management at a newspaper publisher. In 1941 he married Anna Marie Yates, and they had two children. Harold went on to a career in insurance, not retiring until his mid-eighties. He died in 1992.
Fonds consists of two letters written to Harold Bull when he was serving in the First Canadian Tank Battalion during World War I; printed material; and photographs primarily taken in Britain of Harold Bull, tanks, his fellow soldiers, their camp, and other military/tourist subjects.
Material was acquired from George Bull in 2014 and 2017.
http://library.vicu.utoronto.ca/collections/special_collections/f83_harold_bull
Photographs of Harold Bull as a member of Victoria University student groups are available by searching the Victoria University Archives Photo Database.
Title based on contents of the fonds.
Added by MO: May 24, 2016
Bull, Harold (Creator)
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Where are Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders in Higher Education?
Posted on September 8, 2008 by J. Kehaulani Kauanui | 4 Comments
By Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui
How does your university or college classify Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students and faculty? Most continue to misclassify Pacific peoples within the Asian category, despite the fact that over a decade ago, the federal government issued a policy directive to create the racial category of “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.” The implications of this misclassification are detrimental to the recruitment and retention of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in higher education. For example, at Wesleyan University, where I teach, the profile of the class of 2012 does not even list this category under its “students of color” category (it also leaves out the category American Indians and Alaska Natives), which only includes: “Black/African American,” “Asian/Asian American,” and “Latino/Hispanics.”
The addition of the “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” category was made in 1997, when the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Directive 15: Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative required by Congress since 1977. These standards are required by Congress and have guided the collection of racial and ethnic data by federal agencies, researchers, business and industry.
The impetus for this action was to disaggregate Pacific Islanders from Asian Americans. Native Hawaiians led the fight for this change because the widely accepted administrative term “Asian Pacific American” —coined during the Reagan era and used by social agencies for their administrative convenience—like “Asian-Pacific Islander” conflate two distinct pan-ethnic groups, to the continuing disadvantage of Pacific Islanders whose histories, ongoing struggles for sovereignty, and political futures diverge significantly from those of Asian Americans. Historically, this mis-categorization has proved especially difficulty for Native Hawaiians who have alternately been grouped with American Indians in numerous legislative acts pertaining to health, housing, and education. Yet despite being treated as indigenous on the one hand, Native Hawaiians continue to be classified as immigrant descendants on the other.
The problematic terms “Asian-Pacific American” (APA) and “Asian Pacific Islander” (API) not only offer no recognition that Pacific Islanders already constitute a pan-ethnic group that is distinct from Asian Americans, they also efface Pacific political claims based on indigeneity. For example, indigenous Pacific Islanders who have ties to islands that were forcibly incorporated into the United States (Hawai`i, Guam, American Samoa) have outstanding sovereignty and land claims, based on international principles of self-determination, which get erased by the categorization with Asians. Hence the frameworks for understanding the ills affecting Pacific peoples and their political claims are shaped by imperialism and settler colonialism, not simply civil rights.
We need to uncouple “Asian” and “Pacific” in order to examine these concerns, especially in higher education, where the socio-economic profiles of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are severely distorted due to the continued problematic lumping with Asian Americans. The UCLA Asian American Studies Center recently sent out a press release, under the auspices of the AAPI Nexus: Asian American Pacific Islander Policy, Practice, and Community, titled: “Beyond the ‘Whiz Kid’ Stereotype: New Research on Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth.” Since when have Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Chamorros, or any other Pacific Islander youth been portrayed or stereotyped as “whiz kids”? The model minority has never been a stereotype put upon Pacific Islander peoples; instead, we have stereotypes of the dumb, lazy, and simple-minded.
Pacific Islanders as a whole are too easily disappeared in terms of social, cultural and political profiles, not only because of the continued aggregation with Asian Americans, but also because we are too often seen as inconsequential by virtue of our small numbers. This is illustrated by the fact that most of the general public still has no conception of Pacific Islanders as a pan-ethnic grouping.
Fortunately, as an official U.S. Census Information Center, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center has provided a 2008 statistical portrait of these communities in two parts. The first section provides information on “Asians,” while the second part highlights “Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.” These data sets reveal the disparity between the two pan-ethnic groups that gets obfuscated whenever the terms “AAPI,” “API” and “APA” are used in reporting socio-economic profiles for Asian Americans while purporting to include Pacific Islanders in those same reports. For example, according to the Center’s website, only 14 percent of those who identified as single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 years of age and older have at least a bachelor’s degree in comparison with 27 percent for the total population and 49 percent of the Asian American population. Only 4 percent of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older have obtained a graduate or professional degree, compared with 10 percent for the total population and 20 percent of Asian Americans. Yet, despite the sharp contrast between how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are faring in terms of obtaining higher education, there are numerous studies misreporting that Pacific Islanders are doing better than whites in obtaining higher education, when that is far from the case, because of the lumping of Pacific people with Asians.
In detailing how the federal government should better serve Pacific Islander communities, we need disaggregated statistics, research, and data. The implications for not doing so are deeply disingenuous; moreover, they are unethical. Only then will we be able to get a clearer picture of the status of Pacific peoples in the United States and increase the socio-economic status of these communities. This must begin with the compliance of institutions of higher learning with the federal directive of 1997. All colleges and universities should institutionalize the category “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” in their recruitment programs, administrative applications, summary profiles, and all data for admissions, matriculation, attrition, and retention. Otherwise, potential students from these backgrounds are effectively erased as targets for recruitment while subsumed and lumped under a category where they are said to be among the most educated when they are actually severely underrepresented.
Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui is an associate professor of American studies and anthropology at Wesleyan University, Her first book, Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Indigeneity and Sovereignty, is forthcoming from Duke University Press in October 2008. She is also the host and producer of a weekly public affairs radio program, “Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond,” at WESU, Middletown, CT.
This entry was posted in Affirmative action, Diversity, Higher Ed administration, Race and tagged Asians, higher education, J. Kehaulani Kauanui, model minority myth, Native Hawaiians, OMB, Pacific Islanders, racial classifications, UCLA, Wesleyan University. Bookmark the permalink.
4 responses to “Where are Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders in Higher Education?”
Jaye Sablan | September 9, 2008 at 6:14 pm | Reply
Thank you for your eloquent and powerful argument towards the recognition of indigenous Pacific Islander issues! Although the term “Asian/Pacific Islander” can be useful in coalition-building towards social justice, it can also obscure the specific community needs of Pacific Islanders due to the conflation of identities, histories, etc. I’ve had to be assertive about my cultural and ethnic identity as Chamoru within API activist circles in the U.S. Additionally, the “model minority” stereotype has been projected unto me throughout various points in my life. This might be attributed to the ambiguity of my physical appearance, where I “look” neither “Asian” nor “Pacific Islander.” Colonial histories of different Pacific Islander nations have led to mixed-race identities, either through colonial terrorism, diasporic flow, immigration of peoples to the Pacific, and contemporary inter-racial relationships. Thanks for listening. Again, si yu’us ma’ase.
Philip Utumapu | October 13, 2008 at 8:47 pm | Reply
As a man born in American Samoa, i can apreciate your words and efforts in exstablishing a category in which we (Pacific Islanders) are not bunched in with Asians or any other minority group.As difficult as it is for Pacific Islanders to be understood as a people and our culture recognized and respected, it is twice as difficult when we do not have our own ientity. keep up the good work! Faafetai lava.
Pingback: Where is the Pacific Islander in “Asian Pacific Islander American” Part II « A Man/Me/Then Jim
tom schmidt | January 3, 2009 at 10:24 pm | Reply
Nation to Nation talks
must transpire and not conspire with the Gov. and the two perpetual and ineffectul Senators whose Kingdom the three do not own.How you figgur Brah/The UN has 46 Resolutions for the likes of the these three stoogies.They are Nationals,the Kanaka Maoli and are peoples not Populations.You Tube to:Oren Lyons and listen to a man who knows about Sovereignity.Took him over 30 years to push the string this far.Keep Watch at :free Hawaii.info and arm yourselves with the historical facts-no disneyland version from uncle Scam from the United Snakes of America.Stop hiding from your rich slave owners decrees…you are in a trance and are benefitting from your stupidity.Try jpoining a canoe club or at least read the Autobiography of the Queen Lili’okalani and WALK PROUD.See you soon gang-gee..tom “superman” schmidt
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I Am Barack Obama
Posted on October 31, 2008 by diheonline | 5 comments
Dr. Pamela Reed attended a recent Barack Obama in Richmond, Va.
A funny thing happened the other day. I attended a Barack Obama rally, one of thousands of Virginians who braved the cold and stood in line outside the Richmond Coliseum, most of whom were no doubt as aware as I of the historic significance of the moment. While waiting to gain entry—when I wasn’t chatting with familiar strangers—I engaged in one of my favorite pastimes: people watching. It was a veritable sea of diversity: Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, gay, straight, physically-impaired, men, women, and children. It was splendiferously representative of the tapestry that is America.
And get this. It was extraordinarily peaceful and orderly, in stark juxtaposition to recent images from John McCain and Sarah Palin rallies. There were no angry, hateful people ranting about socialists, communists, Marxists, Muslims, Jeremiah Wright, or Bill Ayers. No one expressed inexplicable fear of a President Obama. To the contrary, everywhere I turned, there were smiles from highly motivated and inspired Americans of all hues. It was a scene reminiscent of New Year’s Eve, or some other celebratory rite of passage, an occasion of clear demarcation and great anticipation. There was in the air the feeling that our long national nightmare could soon be over.
I have literally thought of little else since, all the while mentally composing this piece.
Indeed, the memory was still fresh in my mind the following morning when I attended the Fall Festival at my daughter’s very culturally diverse preschool. Not until then, when I saw the costume of little Jermaine, one of her classmates, did all the images swirling in my mind truly come into focus.
He wasn’t dressed in a superhero’s cape and tights, or in some cute animal suit. His mother didn’t outfit him as a monster, a ghost or an athlete. No. He was dressed in slacks, a starched white shirt, and a tie. And he wore a two-sided badge around his neck. On one side held a picture of Obama and on the reverse was the following simple declaration: I am Barack Obama.
Off-and-on, he also donned an Obama mask; however, in this writer’s view, the mask detracted from the ensemble. More precisely, it concealed his beautiful brown skin and the sparkle in his eyes. All of his classmates were drawn to him like a magnet. One little White boys, Sterling, even reached out and held the sign, as if in awe. I knew the moment I viewed the photograph of that exchange that this represented the heart of Obama’s “aloha spirit,” the idea that we are all, in the final analysis, one people. And that we must learn to fully coexist and work together, notwithstanding the race-baiting of many of those opposed to an Obama-led America.
This is the profundity that is Barack Obama. His candidacy represents the hope of a people, indeed of a nation—and the world community, which looks to America as a moral and existential compass—for better or worse. And it presents a clear choice for the people of America, between darkness and light. Betwixt night and day. And more importantly, the past and the future.
This explains the power of Jermaine’s costume, which embodies the possibility that a Barack Obama presidency would manifest. It is about the notion that anyone who works hard and is qualified, regardless of race, can truly be whatever he/she imagines—including President of the United States of America. That is what this election comes down to.
And it is by no means just the babes who are affected by this. Far from it. It is also adults of all ages, races and nationalities who may have given up on long-held dreams, even the Afro-South American politicians in Brazil who have literally changed their names to Barack Obama.
As well, it is this writer. Just observing Obama’s fierce and quiet determination—and uncommon courage—in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and the unspeakable bigotry and hatred of some Americans—has even given this sometime scribe the confidence to pursue the writing career that I have secretly dreamed of since I was a young girl chopping cotton in the fields of segregated northeast Louisiana, at the tail-end of Jim Crow, during the mid- to late-1970s. The would-be broadcast journalist who was once told by a close male relative that the profession to which I aspired was for slim, White women.
Thus, it is not just about the Jermaines of this world. Quite the contrary.
I, too, am Barack Obama.
You are Barack Obama. Joe the Plumber is Barack Obama. We are all Barack Obama. And, in my estimation, if the American people make the right choice on November 4, Mr. Obama will soon be Barack the President. As I live and breathe!
Dr. Reed is a diversity consultant and assistant professor of English and African-American literature at Virginia State University.
The Sad Reality of O.J. Simpson
Posted on October 28, 2008 by Elwood Watson | Leave a comment
October 3rd is a day that has deeply associated itself with O.J. Simpson. It is a day he will probably never forget. On this day in 1995, he was acquitted of the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her waiter, body builder friend, Ronald Goldman. More than a decade later, on the exact same day, Simpson and his co-defendant were found guilty of attempted kidnapping and robbery. Multiple other charges were levied against both defendants as well.
I was attending an academic conference once I heard the verdict announced. Seeing Simpson on Court TV as the charges against him were being read made my mind flashback to the stark differences of his current trial and the previous one conducted thirteen years earlier. The frenzied media atmosphere that saturated trial number one deeply contrasted with the virtual news blackout that greeted the more recent O.J. Simpson.
The original Simpson trial was a television spectacle with all the makings of a potential Hollywood movie. There was sex and violence, success and failure, interracial and religious issues, gender differences, racial conflict, allegations of sexual deviancy and other factors that made for a titillating spectacle.
Intense media coverage of the first trial made it difficult to avoid. Stories about the case became daily tidbits on the major three networks. Related networks such as CNN covered the trial for its entire duration.
On the contrary, the second trial produced no such level of media obsession. The truckload of media outlets, lines of adoring fans and ardent detractors and people (on both sides) arguing in public with one another was virtually nowhere to be found. In fact, the most recent trial garnered very minimal attention.
What made the seeming lack of public interest this time around so interesting was the critical absence of a response from many in the African American community. To be sure there were some African Americans who followed the second trial intensely, but they (like many Whites and other-non-Blacks), appeared to have adopted a considerable level of indifference to Simpson. The fact is, it was very difficult for many of his fellow brethren to rally around Simpson this time. The mindset among many in the Black community is that Simpson should have learned to have – to paraphrase a popular saying – “left well enough alone.” As far as people were concerned, he should have been grateful and counted his lucky stars that he was acquitted for the brutal murder of two people who were slaughtered and decapitated like animals. Many thought Simpson should have had the common sense to recede into obscurity.
Personally, I can understand this mindset. Most people who had been exonerated of sadistically murdering two human beings (guilty or not), would probably stay out of the public eye for the reminder of their lives or at the very least keep a very low profile. This is particularly true if there had been a considerable degree of ambiguity in regards to the person’s innocence. There were also other Blacks who felt that after his successful first trial – while he made some brief overtures of gratitude – that Simpson still largely “kept his distance” from the African American community.
One thing is for certain, rather than drop out of the rabid eye of the public arena, Simpson continued to have numerous run-ins with the law. From verbal altercations with police officers to testy encounters with neighbors and others; he sporadically and infamously kept himself in the news.
Once the sheriff’s deputies handcuffed Simpson and led him from the courtroom, I began to think about what must have been running through his mind. Did he realize that he would not be in such a predicament had he used better judgment in the first place? At this point, it is very likely that the 62-year-old Heisman trophy winner will spend a large portion, if not all, the remaining years of his life in prison.
It’s a situation that is as senseless as the horrific murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Tagged crime, incarceration, OJSimpson, prison
Hawaii and American Colonial Amnesia
Posted on October 27, 2008 by J. Kehaulani Kauanui | 1 comment
by J. Kehaulani Kauanui
How many college students are taught how the United States “acquired” Hawaii? Which departments are charged with teaching the ABCs of US imperialism? Now, perhaps more than ever, we need a concerted effort to bring more awareness to the plight of the Hawaiian people. On October 1, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on Hawaiian land issues, which will go before the court in early 2009. The Court granted the State of Hawaii’s petition for a writ of certiorari to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, where the state of Hawaii has asked the Court to rule on whether or not the state has the authority to sell, exchange, or transfer 1.2 million acres of land formerly held by the Hawaiian monarchy as Crown and Government Lands. This land base constitutes 29 percent of the total land area of what is now known as the State of Hawaii and almost all the land claimed by the State as “public lands.”
These lands were claimed by the U.S. government when it unilaterally annexed the Hawaiian Islands through a Joint Resolution by the U.S. Congress in 1898, after they had been “ceded” by the Republic of Hawaii, which had established itself a year after the armed and unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian monarch under Queen Liliuokalani in 1893. These are the same lands mentioned in the 1993 Joint Resolution to Acknowledge the 100th Anniversary of the January 17, 1893 Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, where Congress acknowledged and apologized for the United States’ role. Specifically, the apology affirmed, “the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum.” The apology also called for a reconciliation process with the Hawaiian people. Prior to the state government’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state should keep the land trust intact until Native Hawaiian claims to these lands are settled and prohibited the state from selling or otherwise disposing of the properties to private parties; and did so based on the 1993 Apology Resolution. What looms in the background of all of this is the question of a political settlement with Native Hawaiians about the status of and title to these lands and the potential to restore Hawaiian nationhood. What kind of nation? An independent nation-state or a domestic dependent nation under U.S. federal policy?
Currently, there is a problematic legislative proposal before Congress that would reconstitute a Native Hawaiian governing entity under U.S. federal law known as the “Akaka bill,” named after U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI). The bill, officially named the Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act is stalled in the Senate due to conservative opposition. If passed, the U.S. government would then have its federally reorganized Native governing entity empowered by the U.S. government to negotiate a cash settlement in exchange for forfeiting land title. The bill would limit the full sovereignty claim and set up a process to extinguish Hawaiians’ land title. But the state of Hawaii wants to sell these lands for its own coffers. Hence, the state hopes the U.S. Supreme Court ruling would nullify the Apology, which the state contends is merely “symbolic” as a Joint Resolution. However, the Hawaiian people have not forgotten that it was through a Joint Resolution that the U.S. annexed Hawaii in the first place; clearly there is a double-standard here—one that we need to educate our students about, especially as Hawaiian dissent calls for a process to restore Hawaii as an independent nation given our long memory of the international violation of the Hawaiian sovereignty.
Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui is an associate professor of American studies and anthropology at Wesleyan University, where she teaches courses on Native American sovereignty issues, U.S. colonialism in the Pacific Islands, and U.S. racial formations, and critical race methodologies. Her first book, Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Indigeneity and Sovereignty, is forthcoming from Duke University Press in October 2008. She is also the host and producer of a weekly public affairs radio program, “Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond,” at WESU, Middletown, Conn., which is syndicated through the Pacifica radio-network.
Posted in Culture, Politics/national affairs, Teaching
Successful Ventures Between Minority-serving Institutions and Majority Institutions
Posted on October 26, 2008 by Marybeth Gasman | 1 comment
By Dr. Marybeth Gasman
Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are recognized in many circles for their ability to nurture and empower students of color. Because of their faculty’s strong dedication to teaching and mentoring, they are particularly good at sending students to graduate school. However, at times, our nation’s MSIs do not have the fiscal resources to offer comparable research or programmatic opportunities to their students and faculty. One way to augment this lack of resources at MSIs is to partner with majority institutions.
One of the oldest MSI/majority partnerships is that between Tougaloo College and Brown University. This partnership began in 1964 during the heart of the civil rights movement and consists of faculty and student exchanges and collaborative research initiatives. One of the reasons that this program has been so successful is that there is administrative level engagement on the part of both institutions. There are advisory boards and joint committees on the campuses that oversee the activities of the partnership. In addition, the advisory boards revisit the goals of the partnership each year to make sure that each institution is benefiting equally. Since the partnership began, over 500 people have participated in it, leading to increased research, new ideas and a respect for diverse perspectives.
An innovative and timely partnership exists between University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at Austin. The partnership manifests in the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies. The center is a major player in research pertaining to the U.S.-Mexican border. The partnership ensures student research opportunities, seminar series held on both campuses, and the creation and distribution of joint publication on border issues. Interestingly, the partnership also includes universities in Mexico, offering faculty and students the opportunity to benefit from engagement and exposure to many university types and providing increased credibility to the research being conducted by the center.
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Dine College established a partnership in 2007 that focuses on using indigenous knowledge for policy development within the Navajo Nation and provides opportunities for faculty and student exchanges. The program specifically uses Navajo thinking, values and principles to solve policy related issues facing the Navajo people. The solutions are then implemented into law in the Navajo Nation government.
So, why do these MSI/majority institution partnerships work? First, benefits accrue to both sides of the partnership. This is critically important. Second, there is administrative ownership of the partnership on the part of both or all institutions involved. This ownership ensures that the partnership is valued. Third, there is frequent evaluation and review of the partnerships. As a result, the institutions benefit from new ideas and the partnerships remain vibrant. Fourth, each partner has a respect for the cultural differences between or among the institutions involved in the partnership. Likewise, the partnerships play on the strengths of the institutional types. And lastly, the partnerships have a practical application that allows participants to continuously see results.
An associate professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Gasman is the author of Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) and lead editor of Understanding Minority Serving Institutions (SUNY Press, 2008).
Tagged Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Marybeth Gasman, Minority Serving Institutions, partnerships, Tribal Colleges
Watchman, What of the Night?
Posted on October 16, 2008 by L C | Leave a comment
By Dr. Larry Cameron Menyweather-Woods
The past couple of weeks have driven home the concern and desired role of the clergy for the presidential election of 2008. America has given recognition to the 33 White pulpiteers who accepted the challenge and promise not from their divine commander, Jesus, but the Alliance Defense Fund, a neo-conservative Christian lawyers organization based in Arizona, to challenge the Internal Revenue Service 1950 amendment forbidding groups classified as 501(c)(3) to engage in the endorsement of political candidates.
These White pastors stood before their congregations and proudly pronounced their allegiance, not to the God of their weary years and silent tears, but to the man they believed stands for morality in immoral times, the honorable senator from Arizona and Republican presidential candidate, John McCain. These preachers, who evidently were wrestling how to persuade their congregations to vote for the better of two men, freed themselves from between the proverbial rock and hard place, to breathe a breath of reinvigorating air. Their unified action resulted in an internal release, just as it had done for their forefathers over 200 years previously (Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1830). Tocqueville was the French writer who stated America’s freedom was represented by the vigorousness of the Church’s message which stood for the free expressions of ideas.
Cal Thomas, former public relations representative for the late Dr. Jerry Falwell (founder of the political right, evangelical machine, The Moral Majority), broadened the discussion in a recent op-ed where he injected “race” into the scenario by offering the opinion that African-American pastors have been getting “away” with violating this policy of the IRS “today”(Thomas, “Politics-free pulpit better for Gospel, The Omaha World Herald, 10/05/2008). Thomas is quite clear and somewhat biased, racially speaking, for he declares, “churches and ministers would do better to keep their focus on things above, rather than things below.”
Thomas’ concluding words bring to focus the criticism Blacks have always made against the Black church – it is too otherworldly. This is interesting, for what Thomas does is justify the otherworldliness, which is part of the tension confronting the Black church, thoughts of authenticity and how Whites write about the Black Church. The title of this piece comes from the question which was often asked of the person assigned to care for the city while the people slept. To make certain the watchman wasn’t asleep, someone would make rounds and ask, ‘Watchman, what of the Night?’
If Black clergy are guilty of Thomas’ remarks, it is because these Black preachers marched and listened to a different drum major compared to Thomas and the 33 White clergy. The White clergy treated their message to the people as being a simple lesson in constitutional law, not of divine urgency.
When Black preachers involve themselves in the political spray, they must have a Biblical justification, not a moral imperative, for we have learned that moral imperatives are mere clichés and not necessary rooted in the word of God. It is the hermeneutical model used by the clergy which will determine if they are acting as prophet or priest. The Black preacher has historically viewed himself as prophet/priest, the emphasis on prophet, speaking what thus saith the LORD. White Preachers have historically viewed themselves as being priest/prophet, friends of the government, loyal to the government whether right or wrong. Two different views – two different tensions built within the body of Christ.
It is this phenomenon which frightens those who have too long yielded to the tension of the priestly, no change, no divine charge, simply telling people How to vote. Pat Robinson did the same thing, when for years the ballots they placed in Churches told them through coded words whom to cast their vote for. Now these lawyers believe they have the votes on the Supreme Court to change the IRS division, that’s why they are waiting for the IRS to threaten to take away the nonprofit status of these 33 White churches. The lawyers are looking not to the heavenly but the earthly in the names of Justices Roberts, Alito, Thomas, and of Scalia, and the swing vote of Kennedy, to get this regulation overturned or denied an injustice to the constitutional rights of the clergy to once again partake in the political process by telling their people whom to vote.
Watchman, what of the night? Cal Thomas calls politics the ultimate temptation which pollutes the Church. The action of the 33 White clergy, the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, and especially Mr. Thomas’ editorial, which he earnestly believes purports the freedom of the Gospel, forget we are not of the world but in the world. We, as believers, especially Black American believers have understood the importance of faith and the world being reconciled unto the Christ. Our Africanness and our faith call us not to a world where dichotomous language rings confusion, but to a world where, in spite of double consciousness of being Black and an American, Black preachers do not have to provide ballots to encourage people to vote for the right candidate. He or she doesn’t have to declare a name; all they have to do is preach the full Gospel and from their people will know the “who!”
If the White preacher is so afraid his people will cast their vote for the “wrong candidate,” try telling his people what of the night. Be prophetic, be vigilant, be focused! Do not moralize, but preach the GOSPEL! It’s not about you, nor should it be about me, it should be about the Christ we preach! Watchman, what of the night?
Dr. Larry Cameron Menyweather-Woods is an assistant professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
Posted in Politics/national affairs, Race, Religion
Tagged Alliance Defense Fund, Cal Thomas, IRS, Jerry Falwell, John McCain, Larry Cameron Menyweather-Woods
Has The SAT Test Undergone A Backlash?
There is a good chance that if you were a high school junior or senior applying to a four-year college or university you’ve seen a question like the following. “Select the lettered pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair:
BOW:VIOLIN
(A) music:piano
(B) brass:trumpet
(C) drumstick:drum
(D) string:guitar
(E) note:flute
The correct answer is C. From its conception 86 years ago in 1926, the scholastic aptitude test (more commonly known as the SAT) has been administered to thousands of high school students who have dreams of being selected to attend the college or university of their choice. Over the past few years, the SAT has undergone some significant changes. For one, in 2005, the analogy portion like the aforementioned question example was replaced with longer reading comprehension passages and a writing section. The perfect score that a student could obtain changed from 1600 to 2400.
The test has had a virtual stranglehold on parents, teachers and students. A large number of teachers gear their subject matter toward the test. Parents reach deep into their pockets to shell out as much as thousands of dollars for prep coaches, software and other assorted materials in an effort to help their children secure those high scores that are often the gateway for admission to many of our nation’s elite institutions. Many students have measured their intelligence by the test. For others, it has been a crucial portion of their self-worth.
Some teachers and guidance counselors view students with high SAT scores but with a mediocre grade point average as “lazy” or an” underachiever.” On the contrary, a student with low SAT scores and a high GPA is seen as “hardworking” or an “overachiever.” Rarely, does anyone rationalize the fact that such students are either good or poor test takers. Personally, I believe a major reason many students are entering college unable to write coherent paragraphs, let alone quality good papers and requiring remedial courses to master material that they should have learned in high school is these tests. The fact is too many high school teachers and administrators are spending too much misplaced energy on teaching to a largely problematic test as opposed to having students reading literature, writing essays and analyzing various critical works. To be blunt, the SAT has eclipsed the high school curriculum that high school students are supposed to learn.
From time to time, the SAT has found itself at the center of controversy in many secondary and higher education institutions. Just last month, a blue ribbon panel of experts on higher education recently asked a number of colleges to reconsider or possibly end their SAT admissions mandates. The panel came to the conclusion that SAT scores are often a less than accurate predictor of college performance. They also reiterated the well-known fact that studies have shown that many lower income and students of color are often at a financial and cultural disadvantage when taking the test.
There are a number of higher education institutions that have decided to forego the “SAT as gospel” message. Rather, such schools have undertaken a variety of factors in an effort to assemble a well-qualified and diverse student body. High school curriculum, leadership, community activism, personal life histories and moral character are just a few. According to Jesse Mermell, executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a Boston-based advocacy group, more than 40 institutions have dropped admissions tests since 2004. Among these schools are highly selective ones such as Smith College in Northampton, Mass. and Wake Forest University in N.C.
While there have been a few statistics over the years proving that the SAT can distinguish strong students from weaker ones, recent evidence and the emerging findings from NACAC have proven that Scholastic Aptitude Test measures one thing – a student’s ability at taking the test. It does not measure characteristics such as intelligence, creativity, motivation and perseverance. These are the qualities that a student must possess a certain amount of if he or she intends to successfully earn a bachelor’s degree. It is good to see that many parties – high schools, admissions offices and others — are working together to create an admissions process that encompasses a holistic manner of selecting students for college as opposed to relying either primarily or disproportionately on standardized tests like the SAT that fail to measure crucial elements of a person. This is particularly true in the case of students of color.
Posted in Diversity, General, Higher Ed administration, Race, Recruitment and retention, Teaching
Tagged college admissions, elwood watson, remedial education, SAT
The Fisk Jubilee Singers — A Student’s Experience
By Dr. Marybeth Gasman and Jameel Scott
In this week’s blog entry, I want to share the words of one of my wonderful graduate students. His name is Jameel Scott and he is in the masters program in higher education here at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Jameel is a graduate of Morehouse College. He plans on pursuing a Ph.D. and becoming a faculty member. He is currently enrolled in my History of American Higher Education course, which has an emphasis on underrepresented populations and institutions. For one of his assignments, Jameel is focusing on the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Unlike many students who are satisfied learning through a book, Jameel yearned to experience his research topic first hand. Below he describes his visit to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. His experience is quite moving.
A Special Blessing
Two weeks ago I decided to purchase plane tickets to visit Nashville Tennessee’s historic Fisk University. This University was having its Annual Jubilee Day, which pays homage to the original Jubilee Singers who went on tour to raise money and save the school from financial starvation. This event, which elicits persons from around the world, including alumni and friends, was held on Monday October 6, 2008. .
For the past two months I have engulfed myself in the study of this historic school. Today, I stood in front of Jubilee Hall with its colossal form looking down on me with mountains of history. I heard the sounds of students speaking to each other and the breeze of the calm winds scratch my head. The trees swayed as the small squirrels raced across the street. Teachers were clasping hands with students while young ladies walked in a flowing motion across campus. I was standing in the midst of history, where John Hope Franklin and W.E.B. Du Bois were students. I felt the spirit of compassion and promise woven together with strength. I walked into Jubilee Hall and viewed the paintings of the Jubilee Singers.
The 2008 Annual Jubilee Day Convocation was held at the Fisk Memorial Chapel located across from the historic Jubilee Hall. As I entered the Fisk Chapel, I was met at the door by finely dressed students. I was seated next to a man named Harry who was an alumnus of the school’s class of 1955. We briefly talked about his experience at Fisk and the changes that he witnessed over time. He was very proud of his school, and stated that his heart will always pump blue and gold (the school colors).
All in attendance stood as the president and the other platform attendees processed to the podium. The processional included: Dr. Anthony E. Williams, Professor of Music and University Organist; Reverend Gwendolyn Brown-Felder, Dean of the Chapel; Miss Karla Turner, Miss Fisk 2008-2009; Ms. Denise Billye Sanders, Chair- General Alumni Association; The Honorable Hazel R. O’Leary, the President; Mr. Vincent Stokes, President Student Government Association; Mr. Patrick Johnson, Alumnus; Reverend. Marcus D. Cosby, Keynote Speaker and Alumnus; and Mr. Paul T. Kwami, Music Director.
As the program progressed, each individual stood at the podium to pay homage to the Jubilee Singers and up lift their school. One by one, the speakers galvanized the audience, creating a splendid presentation of triumph, respect for heritage, and solidarity with tradition. Interestingly, the young Student Government Association president provoked the most excitement and reflection on the school’s history. He sat still all through the service, quietly waiting his turn to the microphone. He first stood and gazed at the audience and then let loose an awesome presentation. He said in a powerful voice, “…Barack Obama stands on the shoulders of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who stood on the shoulders of Thurgood Marshall, who stood on the shoulders of the NAACP, who stood on the shoulders of W.E.B. Du Bois, who stood on the shoulders of Fisk University, who stood and still stands on the shoulders of the Jubilee Singers!” He continued to talk about the sacrifice that these singers undertook. He spoke proudly of his school showcasing his knowledge of its history and how that history has influenced all of America.
Afterwards we heard the beautiful sounds of the Jubilee Singers. I sat still listening intently as these young men and women followed in the traditions of the past. All of the singers took great pride in the school with reverence to their history. They appreciated the sacrifices that the singers made in the early days of the school.
Overall, the student body at Fisk University – a group of bright black and brown children – has a love for learning that is equal to students at any Ivy League institution and these students’ appreciation for their heritage runs deeper than an ocean. These students say “I love Fisk University and will fight for her as she has fought for me.”
After the Convocation everyone in attendance traveled to the grave site of the singers for deference. A touching experience, which causes me to say I am blessed to have witnessed this wonderful event.
As a professor, it is a pleasure to see a student dive into his research. I hope that more young people will pursue research interests pertaining to Historically Black Colleges and Universities as these institutions are national treasures that play an important role in educating our country’s students.
Posted in HBCUs
Tagged black colleges, Fisk University, HBCU, Jameel Scott, Jubilee Singers, Marybeth Gasman, University of Pennsylvania
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Leading SVD Missiologist to visit Australia for Mission Conference
Leading international missiologist, Fr Stephen Bevans SVD, will visit Australia this month to deliver a keynote address at the “Mission: one heart, many voices” conference in Sydney.
Fr Stephen is the Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD, Professor Mission and Culture at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and is a renowned teacher and author on Mission. As an SVD missionary he served for nine years (1972-1981) in the Philippines.
Missionary engaged in NZ’s new model of ministry
The suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand are a long way from home for Indian-born Fr Albano Da Costa SVD, but as a missionary, he has found himself at the cutting edge of a new model of ministry which aims to fill the gap left by dwindling priestly vocations.
Fr Albano works with two priests and two lay pastoral leaders from the Archdiocese of Wellington as part of a new expression of collaborative ministry.
SVD feast days, a time of thanksgiving
January is a time of thanksgiving and celebration for the Society of the Divine Word, as the worldwide community marks the feast days of two of the Society’s founding fathers, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freidemantz.
St Arnold’s feast day is celebrated on January 15, while St Joseph’s is on January 28.
SVDs ring in Christmas spirit with Carols by Candlelight at Marsfield
A large crowd gathered at the Arnold Janssen Chapel in Marsfield on Friday, December 14 for an evening of Christmas Carols and community sharing.
The annual Carols by Candelight was hosted by members of the Divine Word Missionary community at Marsfield and attended by their friends, supporters and members of the local community who regularly worship at the Arnold Janssen Chapel.
A big Christmas thank-you for supporting us in Mission
Christmas is the perfect time to thank all the friends, supporters and benefactors of The Divine Word Missionaries who by their generosity will give the gift of love to some of the poorest and most marginalised people in the world this Christmas Day.
Fr Henry Adler SVD, Mission Secretary for the SVD Australian Province, says that the Society’s missionaries, who are present on every continent of the world, will spend Christmas with the communities they serve, helping to bring Christ’s love to people who won’t enjoy a big celebration with lots of presents and all the trimmings.
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CORY BASIL One Night Only at OZ! / July 14, 2014 by Cory Basil
OZ ARTS PRESENTS NASHVILLE ARTIST CORY BASIL’S WORK IN VARIOUS MEDIUMS JULY 17 AS PART OF THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER’S TNT (THURSDAY NIGHT THINGS) SERIES
Singer-Songwriter-Pianist Brooke Waggoner Will Perform Throughout the Evening, With Basil Reading Excerpts from His Novel The Perils of Fishboy: A Tale Split in Two and Selected Poems
For the July iteration of its monthly local spotlight series, TNT, OZ Arts will host Nashville-based, self-taught, multidisciplinary artist Cory Basil, whose work in various mediums will fill the contemporary arts center’s expansive warehouse space. On July 17, OZ will exhibit a series of new, large-scale sculptures as well as illustrations, paintings and animations spanning Basil’s career. Pianist-singer-songwriter Brooke Waggoner, a member of Jack White’s band The Peacocks and a celebrated artist in her own right, will perform throughout the event.
Doors will open, and the Rolling Feast food truck will begin serving, at 5:30pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online at www.oznashville.com or at the door.
OZ is located at 6172 Cockrill Bend Circle in Nashville, TN.
Since childhood, Cory Basil’s startling art works have told touching love stories in comical and macabre ways. In its grand entrance hallway, OZ has installed over 65 works representing various facets of Basil's technique and voice. Some are whimsical; others are more sentimental; all give insight into the artist, who has been remarkably prolific across multiple art forms in his young professional career. The installation will remain on view through August 30, 2014. The collection The Eternal Embrace is inspired by the Lovers of Valdaro, a pair of 6,000-year-old human skeletons discovered by archaeologists in Italy in 2007. In Where the Ghost Meets the Muse, Basil explores impressionist techniques, allowing color and deliberate brush strokes to tell the story of ghosts from his past. Like so much of Basil’s output, the illustrations comprising The Imagination of Cory Basil leave room for the viewer to imagine his/her own narrative. Six capricious ink drawings are displayed from Skinny Dipping in Daylight, Basil’s first published collection of poetry and prose. Also featured are the original versions of watercolors and pencil illustrations, used for the cover and inside, respectively, of Basil’s young reader novel The Perils of Fishboy: A Tale Split in Two. (The July 17 event will mark the paperback launch of the book. A limited edition print will be available to all who purchase the novel.)
Basil will use much of the 10,000 square feet of OZ’s main interior space, the Grand Salon, for two “cineplexes” that will show four animations, a live-action film and photographs. Each mini-cinema—one at each end of the room—will hold 32 people at a time, and audience members are welcome to come and go as the animations loop. Sculptures representing the characters from The Perils of Fishboy: A Tale Split in Two will frame each entrance to these animation stations and a third sculpture in the series will stand nine-foot high as a focal point in the warehouse. Basil is creating these sculptures with sculptor and OZ resident artist Brian Somerville. Local artists Jonathan Richter, Donny Smutz and Anthony Jastrow will each contribute a piece inspired by Basil’s work and interpreted in their own style.
Celebrated pianist and award-winning singer-songwriter Brooke Waggoner, to whom The Wall Street Journal has attributed “a surprising, unconventional, sophisticated style of pop” with “specificity and emotional range,” will perform live from the Grand Salon. Waggoner will perform original works and will accompany Basil as he reads excerpts from The Perils of Fishboy: A Tale Split in Two and selections from poetry and short stories.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS
About Cory Basil
Cory Basil is an American painter, filmmaker and author. His aesthetic blends gothic romanticism with the post-impressionists’ trust in emotional honesty. With a renaissance artist’s reverence for color and light, he conjures a world beyond our own—one with the soul of a baroque spectacle. He is a self-taught artist who started experimenting with filmmaking and animation in 2006. He is inspired by stop-motion animation’s embrace of imperfection and its ability to imbue self-contained worlds with mood and tone both alien and familiar. In 2011, he created his paper doll animation style, further exploring the juxtaposition of truth hidden within creations, honesty in fiction, and beauty in error.
Basil first brought his distinct style to the public in a 35-piece watercolor and India ink exhibition “Internal Exposure” (2011), in Nashville, Tennessee. The whimsical worldview of the exhibit captured imaginations, and more than half of the pieces were sold within two weeks. Since then, his work has been the focus of six additional exhibitions, including Poetry is Dead (2012, Nashville), which have sold throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
Paintings feature characters filled with innocence surrounded by an intrinsically unsettling darkness. This innocence of honesty and expression fill his paintings with hope despite darkness, exploration in the face of fear and the lurking danger of true love.
He is the author of poetry and prose books including Skinny Dipping in Daylight (2012), The Perils of Fishboy: A Tale Split in Two (2013) and, most recently, The Shovel & The Hare (2014).
hereliescorybasil.com
About Brooke Waggoner
Brooke Waggoner has garnered considerable critical praise, and accolades including a 2009 Nashville Music Award for Best Emerging Artist, since the release of her 2007 EP Fresh Pair of Eyes. Her full-length albums include Heal for the Honey (2008), Go Easy Little Doves (2009) and Originator (2013). She was featured on Jack White’s recent album Blunderbuss and toured as part of White’s band throughout 2012 and the first part of 2013. She will return from her debut tour of China just in time for OZ Arts’ TNT event with Cory Basil.
brookewaggoner.com
About Brian Somerville
Brian Somerville received his BFA from the University of Evansville and an MFA from Florida Atlantic University. His work consists primarily of entertaining animal figures that carry important social, political and personal meanings. Somerville and Basil collaborate on the concept and fabrication of mixed media sculptures of characters from Basil’s The Perils of Fishboy. Somerville is currently an artist in residence at OZ Arts.
claybeast.com
About OZ Arts Nashville
As the first contemporary arts institution in the region, the arrival of OZ Arts has begun to transform the cultural landscape of Nashville. Through a year-round program of performing and visual arts events, OZ supports the creative explorations of leading artists from around the world and inspires curious audiences of all ages. Nashville’s Ozgener family established the non-profit OZ Arts in the building that once housed their cigar company, C.A.O. Under their leadership, OZ has been transformed into a column-free, 10,000 square-foot performance and installation venue nestled amidst artfully landscaped grounds.
In addition to presenting celebrated national and international artists, OZ Arts serves as a catalyst for local creativity. Conceived by OZ Artistic Director Lauren Snelling, TNT (Thursday Night Things) is a monthly series of unexpected collaborations with Nashville-based artists from varying creative disciplines. OZ provides a platform for these artists to create, develop and present a one-time-only event that would traditionally not be seen in a visual art gallery or theatre - utilizing the vast expanse of the Grand Salon, entrance gallery and/or surrounding grounds.
oznashville.com
Posted in Blog Tags: Animator, Anthony Jastrow, Art Show, Artist, Brave New Art, Brian Somerville, Brooke Waggoner, Cinema, Donny Smutz, Film, illustrator, Jack White, Jonathan Richter, novel, OZ, OZ NASHVILLE, Painter, Peacocks, poetry, Sculptor, The Perils of Fishboy, The Shovel & The Hare
← Spoken Word Performance Cory Basil Exhibits This Weekend! →
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DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?
Mr. Bigglebottom
Big Bug
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31 Days of Horror 10: Stripperland (2011) by Jamie
Filed under: 31 Days of Horror, Review | Tags: 2011, 31 Days of Horror, bad, cinema, comedy, film, Films, halloween, horror, movie, movies, parody, Review, reviews, stripperland, Strippers, zombieland, zombies
Find and replace. It can be a pretty handy tool. Say you realize you’ve been spelling something wrong all the way through what ever your writing and for some reason your spellcheck hasn’t picked it up. A quick find and replace and bam! That little misspelling is banished to the digital afterlife, to be laughed at forever by it’s correctly spelled friends… Man, I need to stop anthropomorphising everything. Anyway, my point is that it can be a tool for good or it can result in some real shit like say if someone got there hands on the script for Zombieland and used find and replace to replace every use of the word ‘Zombie’ in that script with the word ‘Stripper’. Yes, that’d be pretty awful.
And yet someone did that, as near as I can tell. Someone took the script of Zombieland and said “You know what this movie needs? Strippers!” Except that they are really still just Zombies. Zombies dressed as strippers. So in essence this is Zombieland with a bunch of girls in another terrible “Sexy” Halloween costume. They even reference Zombieland as “That movie where they call each other by where they come from”. It’s pretty terrible.
Ok, so maybe I’m being a little unfair. It does deviate from the plot of Zombieland somewhat which is a shame because these deviations mean that this film clocks in it at just under one hour and 45 minutes, lumbering from unfunny set piece to unfunny set piece.
I just don’t understand the idea behind making a parody of a comedy, especially when the original is so much funnier than your piss-poor piss-take. Then there’s the whole idea of sexualising zombies which I’ve dealt with before a number of times.
So yeah, this film is just kinda shitty. Not even a cameo from Lloyd Kaufman, father of Troma (the only studio that can seem to get these kinds of intentionally bad films right) isn’t enough to save it. Seriously, if you want to watch a Zombie comedy there are better films out there, if you want to see scantily clad women there are better films out there as well as actual human women and the internet. If you want to see scantily clad zombies, get the fuck outta my house. Half a pint out of five since there were a couple of moments that made me chuckle slightly. Laterz.
Oh, and Daniel Baldwin is a rapper. Fuck this movie.
Review: The Hangover Part III by Jamie
Filed under: Review | Tags: 2013, Bradley Cooper, Christophe Beck, cinema, comedy, Craig Mazin, Daniel Goldberg, Debra Neil-Fisher, Ed Helms, film, Films, Green Hat Films, Heather Graham, Jeff Groth, Jeffrey Tambor, John Goodman, Jon Lucas, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Lawrence Sher, Legendary Pictures, movie, movies, Scott Moore, The Hangover, The Hangover 3, The Hangover Part III, Todd Phillips, Warner Bros. Pictures, Zach Galifianakis
In 2009 a little comedy film about four friends travelling to Las Vegas for a bachelor party was released and took the world by storm. It took a concept we could all understand, getting so fucked up that you can’t remember anything about the night before, and built a comedic mystery around it. It was a crude comedy that actually had a decent plot but more importantly, the characters were great and that was important because this kind of comedy absolutely depends on the characters. It would be the cinematic breakthrough for the actors portraying those characters as well, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis were all propelled to a level of fame they hadn’t had before and the world was glad of it.
Then in 2011, the sequel was released. It was pretty much the exact same plot except this time the Wolfpack found themselves in Bnagkok. There were many complaints about it being the exact same movie and to a certain degree those criticisms were valid. Still, I enjoyed it for the most part because I liked the charactes and getting to see another one of their adventures was, for the most part, enjoyable.
So no we come to 2013 and the release of the trilogy ending Part three. I rewatched the first two before going to see it at the cinema and so I was looking forward to it. Yes, it would most likely be the exact same thing all over again but I accepted that and was just looking forward to laughing for a bit. Fuck, was I wrong.
The Hangover Part III is literally the definition of a disappointing sequel. The second asked you to buy into the conceit that the same thing could happen to these guys all over again and I did. I was ready to buy into that conceit again. Unfortunately it seems as though Todd Philips heard the criticisms regarding this and decided that if people wanted something different, he would give them something different. And so he did. There is no hangover. He completely removed the mystery element from the plot. Sure, there’s something there which has some of the trappings of a mystery but it really isn’t. Instead it’s just a straightforward story with little hints of mystery that all get solved far to quickly and that just isn’t fun.
It isn’t just not fun for the audience however. Everyone in the film looks like they’re just here due to contractual obligations. No one wants to be here as they’ve moved on to bigger and better things. This is mostly apparent through Bradley Cooper’s performance. It’s almost like he’s begrudgingly helping a friend move house, that’s the impression you get from him. If the film’s cast can’t even be bothered to care about this movie then why should I?
It may be as a result of this disregard for the quality of the film and the boredom of the actors that all of the characters seem off as well. In the first film, Alan was a naïve manchild that you could feel somewhat sympathetic towards. In the second film he became a little more of an asshole but for the most part he was still someone you could enjoy. The third film, however, just decides to make him a complete dick. He’s a dick to his mother, a dick to his friends with the exception of Phil who it almost seems as though he just wants to fuck now. If you can’t feel sympathy for the character than there’s absolutely no reason to care about him at all and I didn’t.
But perhaps the second biggest problem with this movie is the larger role for Chow. Again, in the first movie he was a somewhat minor character without much screen time. The second increased his role and he was certainly irritating but again, his screen time was somewhat limited. Part three is Chow’s movie and Jesus fuck is it annoying. I’ll be honest, I’m really starting to hate Ken Jeong and this is a major problem because it seems as though he will be in every comedy film forever and ever. The character he plays is just an asshole.
And so we come to the biggest problem with this movie. Everyone is a fucking asshole. Like I said before, in the first film Alan was sympathetic. Stu was the straight-laced one who had gotten in over his head and Phil was admittedly an asshole but in some weird way he kept the group together and kept the plot moving forward. In this film there is no distinction between the characters any more. Everyone is just a fucking asshole. Ok, maybe Alan is different in that he’s a slightly stupider asshole than the others but still, a fucking asshole. And you know what? There’s nothing entertaining or funny about watching a bunch of fucking assholes being fucking assholes to each other so that they can save their fucking asshole of a friend.
Is there anything redeeming about this film? Anything at all? Well, I guess there’s small mercy in the fact that it’s the shortest film in the series. And on reflection, I guess there were a few moments that made me chuckle and the scene during the credits is actually funny but other than that, this movie is an irredeemable piece of shit that tarnishes an otherwise enjoyable if not always groundbreaking series. A half pint out of five. Fuck this movie.
Review: The Big Wedding by Jamie
Filed under: Review | Tags: 2013, Amanda Seyfried, Anthony Katagas, Ben Barnes, cinema, Clay Pecorin, comedy, Diane Keaton, film, Films, Harry J. Ufland, Jean-Stéphane Bron, Jon Corn, Jonathan Brown, Justin Zackham, Karine Sudan, katherine heigl, Lionsgate, Millennium Films, Mon frère se marie, movie, movies, Nathan Barr, Richard Salvatore, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon, Topher Grace, Two Ton Films, wedding
Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Weddings! They’re a joyous occasion that bring people together to celebrate the love of two individuals! Or they’re a ridiculously outdated concept that go against the natural instincts of the human animal! Whichever way you slice it, I think we can all agree that weddings are a thing that exist. And because of their existence, Hollywood makes movies out of them. The wedding comedy is a cinema mainstay that will probably around as long as the ridiculous tradition itself. It makes sense. Weddings are big, meticulously planned affairs where strangers are forced to mingle and there’s a great deal of alcohol. Any number of things can go wrong. It’s perfect comedy fodder.
It’s because of the familiarity of the setting and an almost inborn understanding of the premise that so many wedding comedies get produced. These are movies that will play to the largest possible audience because everyone understands them. Also they can be produced relatively cheaply. This combination of cheap production and large audience draw means that these kinds of films are always guaranteed to make some kind of money. They don’t even need to be big box office smashes. They just need to exist.
And so we come to 2013s entry in the big wedding comedy genre titled, erm, “The Big Wedding”. Has it got stars? It’s got Robert De Niro! Susan Sarandon! Diane Keaton! Robin Williams is there also! And you know what? Everyone in this film does a perfectly fine job. No one is terrible, nobody sucks. Everybody does just fine. It’s just that when you get a big cast together, they really should have something great to work with. The Big Wedding leave them with nothing.
Well, not entirely nothing. You’re average wedding comedy is generally not excessively crude. It’s the kind of thing a woman, her grown up daughter and the grandmother can all enjoy together. The Big Wedding decides not to go that route. Within the first twenty minutes or so, Robert De Niro has nearly eaten out Susan Sarandon and called his ex-wife (Keaton) a cunt. Am I shocked by this kind of humour? No, of course not but you know who hates the word cunt? Particularly when it‘s being used to refer to a woman? My mum. And that’s the problem with this movie.
Who is the target audience? You can’t have sophomoric, sub-frat boy jokes based on curse words and cunnilingus and expect an older crowd that would be attracted by the casting of De Niro, Keating and Sarandon in a wedding comedy and expect them to enjoy it. You can’t have a wedding comedy and expect a bunch of young guys who might be more inclined to laugh at your crude humour to show up. This movie does not know what it wants to be who or it wants to appeal to and therefore it ends up appealing to nobody. It’s like an adult version of the Smurfs movie. No, I don’t mean it contains Smurf porn but in The Smurfs they made a movie about tiny, blue cartoon characters but included a subplot involving an ad-exec who’s not doing great at a job, has a pregnant wife and he’s not sure if he wants to actually have a baby or not. You know, the kinds of things kids love!
So yes, just who this movie is aimed at is a massive problem but then so is everything else. It’s the same old tired plot line we’ve seen a thousand times before from exactly these kinds of movies but with a thin layer of crude comedy painted on top to make it seem freh. There are two characters pretending to be married, parents disapproving of the groom, a girl who doesn’t get along with her father, a boy trying to lose his virginity. Everything is telegraphed and you know exactly from the opening few scenes just where this movie is going to go.
In conclusion, it’s like I said nobody is terrible in this movie but no one is exactly acting their socks off. It’s pretty clear that this is a pay check for everyone involved. I’ll admit that I chuckled here and there but that’s about it. I saw this at a pretty full screening and I can’t really think of any times when everyone laughed out loud. In fact, it was kind of weird just how quiet the audience remained throughout. There was definitely a bad atmosphere projected from the crowd toward the movie and it did end up feeling weirdly uncomfortable. I will say that I kind of enjoyed Topher Grace’s performance the most but that’s because he was basically playing a thirty year old version of Eric Foreman, his character from That 70s Show and I used to love that show growing up. Oh, and I did enjoy some of the humour about Catholicism but I’m a sucker for jokes about religion so take that with a grain of salt. Overall there’s just not that much to recommend though. One pint out of five. Laterz. And yeah, I know I didn’t do a synopsis. Do you really care what it’s about. If you do then just watch the trailer below and you have my pity.
TelePub: Zombieland Pilot by Jamie
Filed under: Review, TelePub | Tags: 2013, Abigail Breslin, Amazon, Columbus, comedy, Eli Craig, emma stone, internet, Izabela Vidovic, Jesse Eisenberg, Kirk Ward, Little Rock, lovefilm, Maiara Walsh, Paul Wernick, Pilot, Review, reviews, Rhett Reese, sitcom, streaming, Tallahassee, televison, tv, Tyler Ross, Wichita, Woody Harrelson, zombie, zombieland, zombies
The popularity of the Undead gained new unlife in 2004 with the double header of the ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake and ‘Shaun of the Dead’. Yes, zombies as we know them had been shambling around since 1968 with the original ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘28 Days Later’ had started the trend somewhat in 2002 but they weren’t even really zombies in that film so I’m not counting it. No, it was 2004 where zombies went viral and the world hasn’t really been the same since.
In 2009, already five years into this zombie resurrection, a little comedy film came out called ‘Zombieland’. Sure, it was no Shaun of the Dead but I for one enjoyed it and it had one of the best surprise cameos in all of film history.
It was a film that originally began life as a script for a pilot for a TV show about survivors of a Zombie Apocalypse seeking shelter in their devastated world. Well, it seems as though those small screen dreams are finally coming true as Amazon ordered a pilot, no doubt wanting to get into the scripted original content business like Netflix, and it’s now available to watch online completely free of charge. See, here’s the link for UK people who can watch it on Lovefilm even if you’re not subscribed to their service.
Of course, the question is, even if it is free your time is not. Should you spend that precious half hour watching a televisual internet adaptation of a movie that came out three years ago with a completely different cast playing characters from said movie. Well…
“It’s the tiniest bit funny.” This is a line spoken by Wichita (Maiara Walsh replacing Emma Stone) and I was tempted to use it to describe the show but honestly, that’s being a little bit too hard on it. I will say that the opening scene is one of the most god-awful attempts at comedy I have ever seen in my life. It involves two employees at an unspecified job discussing the bad morning one of them has had whilst the Zombie Apocalypse occurs through a window behind them. It’s awful and laced with profanity which, hey I’m all for, but you can tell when layering something with fucks is forced in an attempt to illicit humour and it just falls flat. It’s truly fucking abysmal.
Still things do pick up after this very, very lacklustre opening scene when we’re “reunited” with the characters from the first film. There the aforementioned Wichita, Little Rock (Izabela Vodovic replacing Abigail Breslin), Columbus (Tyler Ross replacing Jesse Eisenberg) and Tallahassee (Kirk Ward replacing Woody Harrelson). Kirk Ward probably comes off best here. Sure, he’s no Woody and no one ever will be, but Tallahassee is a fun character and though I disagree a little with the direction here, seeming to bring him to almost Homer Simpson levels of stupidity, I think that he’s probably be the easiest character to step into the shoes off and Ward is certainly likeable enough in the role. Perhaps the biggest loser in this is Tyler Ross who is doing something of a knock off of pre-‘Social Network’ Jesse Eisenberg which consequently makes him seem like a knock off of a knock off Michael Cera. It worked for Eisenberg because he’s at least good at that schtick. Tyler Ross, not so much.
Perhaps the biggest casualty of the shift to the small screen is the effects budget. In the opening sequence a plane crashes in the background and it looks like something someone might have made while pissing about with After Effects for the first time. And the zombies? Oooh, the zombies take a nasty leap down in quality from what we saw in the movie and from what we expect from television Zombies thanks to ‘The Walking Dead’. They just look like someone splashed a bit of fake blood on them and stuck a few plasticy scabs on. They are not good, is what I’m trying to say.
Still despite all there is bad to say about this, there could be something good in there. The humour in this pilot is certainly a little more slapstick than I remember the movie being but that’s not always bad. If it gets picked up, I’ll give the next episode a watch just to see since there’s also a chance that getting picked up could improve their budget a bit which would solve some criticisms. I will say that I’m annoyed that the show undoes the end of the film my having had Wichita and Columbus break up but I suppose you need some kind of conflict to keep the story going in a series and yeah, it makes sense. So this pilot, not so great but I can see the potential in it and would be willing to give it another chance if it made it to a full series. Two and a half out of five. Laterz.
Review: Inseparable by Jamie
Filed under: Review | Tags: 2011, china, chinese, cinema, comedy, Daniel Wu, David U. Lee, Dayyan Eng, drama, english, film, Films, Gong Beibi, Kenneth Tsang Kong, Kevin Spacey, Mandarin, movie, movies, Peter Stormare, Thierry Arbogast, Yan Ni
Every now and then you hear about a film that you just have to check out. For me, ‘Inseparable’ was one of those films. All I really knew about it was that it was a Chinese film that starred Kevin Spacey and featured superheroes somehow. Yes, Kevin Spacey dressed somewhat like Batman was more than enough to get me on board. I wasn’t really sure what to expect maybe just another run of the mill superhero flick with a Chinese flavour or perhaps an outright Chinese rip-off of ‘Kick Ass’ but I certainly wasn’t expecting the film I got.
Danny Wu stars as Li, a man who has suffered some recent tragedies and as a result he’s having some trouble with his marriage and at work. How bad are things going for Li? Well, let’s just say that the film opens with his attempted suicide which is cut short by the intervention of his ex-pat American neighbour Chuck (Kevin Spacey). Whilst Li is depressed and morose, Chuck is carefree and all about living life. He keeps a secret garden on the roof of their apartment building and enjoys fine, large cigars. He’s that kind of guy. Through his new found friendship with Chuck, Li begins to finally enjoy his life again and decides it’s time to do something good with his life.
Li’s wife Pang (Gong Beibi) is a news reporter and a recent undercover investigation that she had gone on revealed that a company which manufactured a folic acid supplement for pregnant women was doing so without actually putting the folic acid in it and so Li and Chuck don their superhero costumes and go to bring righteous justice upon them.
That’s all I’m really going to say about the plot because really, this is a film that I think you should see for yourself. The film is never really breaking any new ground in terms of what’s happening plot wise but it’s the way it delivers the action in a quirky, charming way that makes it a must-see. Besides, in the end the plot isn’t really what’s important here as you realise that this isn’t just some Kick Ass rip-off but rather an examination of the character of Li and just how deeply the tragedies in his life have effected him.
Perhaps the best part of the whole thing is Kevin Spacey. He’s here doing something which I sometimes think people forget he can do very well, playing cool, calm and collected. It’s something he’s definitely brought to Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ and it’s something that’s on full glorious display here. It’s almost as though his character from ‘American Beauty’ survived and moved out to China. Hell, all of the actors do a great job which is particularly important in the terms of viewing this as a character study.
In summation Inseparable is a film that doesn’t bring anything particular original in terms of plot but brings a lot in terms of character and emotional depth. It manages to swing deftly from comedy, drama and even psychological thriller. It’s a little bit Kick Ass, a little bit ‘Fight Club’ and a little bit ‘He Was A Quiet Man‘ all wrapped up in a neat, quirky little package and I heartily recommend it to everyone, so grab yourself a copy and enjoy. Four pints out five. Laterz.
Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone by Jamie
Filed under: Review | Tags: 2013, Alan Arkin, Benderspink, Carousel, Chad Kultgen, Chris Bender, cinema, comedy, Don Scardino, film, Films, Jake Weiner, James Gandolfini, Jim Carrey, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Lee Haxall, Lyle Workman, Matthew Clark, movie, movies, New Line Cinema, Olivia Wilde, Review, reviews, Steve Buscemi, Steve Carell, Tyler Mitchell, Will Ferrell
There are certain movies out there that you can tell were written with a different actor in mind than the one they ended up with. Films like ‘Balls of Fury’ which stars Dan Fogler because they obviously couldn’t get Jack Black or ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ being written for the invention of time travel so a young Bruce Campbell could have been cast as the lead. ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’ may not be one of these movies but it sure as hell feels like it is.
Burt Wonderstone really, really feels like a second rate Will Ferrell character to the point where at times it even sounds as though Steve Carell is doing a half-arsed Ron Burgundy impression. And when I say a second rate Will Ferrell character I really mean that. I’m talking ‘Semi-Pro’ levels of comedy here. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is not great, is what I’m saying.
Unfortunately Steve Carell really is the problem here. Most of the other characters in the film provide small bright spots of comedy here and there but the film seems to go through long stretches following Burt Wonderstone and nobody else. This doesn’t really help with the Will Ferrell comparison because it’s so incredibly blatant in scenes when Burt is by himself, talking to a throwaway character or complaining on his phone about how small his bed is.
Like I say the other characters do bring some funny moments here and there but they’re used so sparingly that you just end up feeling disappointed. There’s Steve Buscemi as Burt’s partner Anton who has a pretty good subplot wherein he visits poor, staving people in the third world and rather than food or clean water delivers the gift of magic. Jim Carrey occupies the villain role as a magician in the style of Criss Angel and he steals every scene playing something akin to a douchier version of Ace Ventura with a masochistic streak but you can’t tell if it’s because he’s actually being really good or everything around him is so lacklustre. Alan Arkin is pretty enjoyable as Burt’s role model but again he gets so little actual screen time that it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity. Oh, and Olivia Wilde is there because Steve Carell’s character needs a woman twenty years younger than him as a romantic interest. Otherwise how would I know he’s successful?
Hell, honestly I could maybe even forgive a middling comedy if there were anything original about it but sadly there isn’t much here we haven’t seen before. It’s the story of someone famous for doing something but soon finds himself being replaced by someone younger and edgier coming along. He finds himself at the lowest he can possibly get until he decides to try one last time to pull himself out of the gutter and beat his rival. Will he succeed? Have you ever seen a movie before? So yeah it’s that plot and this time it’s with magicians.
Even the jokes are old, things we’ve seen a dozen times before. For example there is one scene where Burt and a groupie walk into a room with the promise of sexual acts about to take place. From outside the room we hear the groupie exclaim “It’s huge!” Cut to inside the bedroom and it reveals that she’s talking about the bed (Apparently it can sleep two dozen adults). Oh the hilarity!
I will give it a little credit as early on it shows Burt talking to the owner of a casino and being old he will only hire Burt if he drops Anton from the act. I thought ‘Oh great, it’s gonna be a film about two partner’s who separate because one gets greedy but then they realise they need each other and come back together.’ However Burt refuses and the casino owner relents and hires them both. ‘Oh,’ I thought ‘The film knew that’s what I was gonna think this was and cleverly fooled me. Maybe this will be something original after all! Great!’ and then it basically threw that in as a subplot later anyway. So yeah, thanks for tricking me movie.
Overall the movie is really just a meh. If you find yourself considering watching this I recommend watching a good Will Ferrell movie instead. You’ll be glad you did. One and a half pints out of five. Laterz.
Murder Week: Salvation Boulevard (2011) by Jamie
Filed under: Review | Tags: 2011, Atheism, Atheist, christian, Christianity, Ciarán Hinds, cinema, comedy, Ed Harris, film, Films, Greg Kinnear, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jennifer Connelly, Jim Gaffigan, Marisa Tomei, mega church, movie, movies, murder, murder week, Pierce Brosnan, religion, Review, reviews, Salvation Boulevard, satire, thriller, wrongly accused, Yul Vazquez
Quite by accident, I ended up watching a number of films that all seemed to revolve around the worst crime a human being can commit that doesn’t involve touching children in inappropriate ways. So I’ve decided that, hell, I might as well review ’em and make a theme week out of it. So yeah, murder. It’s something that humans are pretty good at. There are those out there that would say that humans are especially evil being the only species that kill their own kind. To that I’d say that Black Widow Spiders and Praying Mantises would have a number of arms to raise in objection to that. Hell, we’re not even the only species to go to war.
Still, there’s something which fascinates us about this darker side of human nature. The fascination with death is probably only second in the human psyche to our fascination with sex. It probably comes with being, as far as we know, the only species that is fully aware of our mortality. It’s why we created myths to ease the fear of death. The fact that we could comprehend that we were alive made it hard to accept that one day everything we were would come to an end, hence we came up with the idea of the afterlife. This idea was then taken by the ruling classes of several different societies and cultures in order to keep the peasants in line. Just work hard and do as you’re told in this life, and you’ll get rewarded in the next. Its Marx’s opiate of the masses, if you will. And so it is that we come to today’s film, Salivation Boulevard, a comedy-thriller-religious satire from 2011. Yeah, that’s right. All that build up was for the review of a little known comedy film. I’ll admit, the opening got away from me a bit there.
The most notable thing about this film is probably the cast. Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Marissa Tomei, Ed Harris, Jim Gaffigan, Ciarán Hinds. Hell, that’s a fairly impressive list of pretty solid people. So how was it that this thing slipped through the cracks and ended up with a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes?
Well, to be fair, it’s just not that great of a film. To be fair I don’t think it’s really 21% bad but it could have done so much more with the premise. The basic set-up is that Pierce Brosnan plays Pastor Dan Day, the head of a Mega Church in a small town in Western America. He’s beloved by the community, in particular former Deadhead turned Christian Carl Vandermeer (Kinnear) and his wife Gwen (Connelly). The Mega Church that every obedient follower of the Lord could want, including a daycare centre with colouring books featuring Pastor Dan’s smiling face. Yes, the people of the town pretty much worship Dan as much as they do a 2000 year old Jewish Carpenter Zombie and the film isn’t particularly subtle about it, at least at first.
After Dan engages in a spirited debate with atheist Dr Paul Blaylock (Harris), he and Carl head back to the professor’s office for a night cap. One thing leads to another and the Pastor accidentally shoots Blaylock in the head. Fearing that the shooting will put his plans for a new Christian community that he plans to build in jeopardy, he tries to pass off the shooting as an attempted suicide whilst also trying to silence Carl. “Hilarity” ensues and all manner of madcap mix-ups and misunderstandings occur.
The main problem with the film is that it never quite balances its genres. It feels like it could have been a decent enough comedy about a man wrongly accused of a crime or a decent religious satire but in trying to combine the two, the final product is a bit of an unsatisfying mess. It’s the religious satire aspect, in particular, that really seems to suffer. It just never seems to go beyond the fairly obvious. Also I was a little disappointed that Pastor Dan actually seems to believe in the product he’s selling. Yes, he’s using that belief to gain and profit for himself but it’s pretty clear that he’s a believer himself and he suffers a great deal of guilt over what he’s done. Not enough to come clean but still, it tortures his religious soul. Personally, I feel it would have been better from a satirical viewpoint to have Dan simply pay lip service to Christianity in order to get what he wants. Sure, that might have been obvious too but it could have been a little more biting.
Perhaps the oddest thing in the whole film is Pierce Brosnan’s accent. It starts of as one thing and ends up something like an Australian accent and I honestly have no idea why. Honestly, it’s just bizarre. Why not just have him using his normal, British accent if he’s not going to play an American anyway? It’s possible it’s inspired by Australian Ken Hamm, director of the Creation Museum and a man whose choice of facial hair leaves him looking far more like a product of an evolutionary process he insists didn’t happen.
This man certainly didn’t evolve from apes…
So yeah, I kinda had high hopes for this film. The subject matter put it firmly in my wheel house and I thought that maybe it might be a nice little treasure that I could appreciate even if the critics didn’t but sadly I was disappointed. There were a few moments where I did laugh out loud and Kinnear puts in a great, believable performance as poor put-upon Carl but as a whole the movie just leaves you wishing it had been so much more. Two pints out of five. Laterz.
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Freedom, coercion or torture? The political re-education of German POWs in Soviet concentration camps, 1941-1956
11th Mar 2016 2nd May 2019 Close Encounters in War Journal Leave a comment
In all ages of human history, torture has represented a fear and a reality for prisoners of war. Soldiers captured in war can be the victims of the victor’s retaliation immediately after battle as well as far behind the front line, through interrogations for intelligence, forced-labour, brain-washing. In fact, torture is not only physical. George Orwell describes the perversion of psychological torture in his novel 1984 (1948) by means of the symbol of Room 101. Primo Levi, the well-known Auschwitz-witness, once wrote that “useless violence” in Nazi Lagers consisted in inflicting apparently aimless physical and psychological suffering in order to demolish the human dignity and resilience of captives.
A mass-scale case of ideological torture was the political re-education of German POWs in Soviet concentration camps during WWII. In 1941 Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973, he was President of the Democratic Republic of Germany from 1960 up to his death), in exile in Moscow, thought that German POWs could represent a useful instrument of propaganda, if they could be won to the cause of Communism. Ulbricht believed that the Red Army would eventually win the war, and he therefore saw the necessity to create a group of German Soviet agents who would trigger a socialist revolution in Germany after the end of the war. Ulbricht submitted his project to the Soviets, who recognized the potential of the proposal and decided to install the first School of Antifascism in the concentration camp of Jelabuga, where the German Captain Ernst Hadermann began to cooperate with Ulbricht and the Soviets to win the German POWs to the cause of antifascism. The breakthrough came in winter 1943, after the German debacle in Stalingrad, where the entire 6th Army was destroyed. Although only 90.000 Germans were taken prisoners, among them Feldmarschall Freidrich Paulus and his staff were also captured. For the first time hundreds of thousands of POWs were in the hands of the Red Army (over 100.000 Germans, about 74.000 Italians, and many thousands of Rumanians and Hungarians).
On 13th July 1943 in the Lager of Krasnogorsk the National Committee “Free Germany” was founded with the purpose to create the first group of military resistance against Hitler’s regime. Soon after, in September 1943, a number of officers who had refused to join “Free Germany” because it seemed too compromised with Communism, founded the Union of German Officers, which was apparently independent but actually under the thumb of Communist political activists. By the end of 1944 some tens of officers and a few hundreds of Wehrmacht soldiers had joined the antifascist movement, small figures in comparison with the 3.500.000 German POWs in Soviet hands at the end of the war.
In November 1945 “Free Germany” and the Union of German Officers were disbanded. The former members were sent back to the Soviet Zone of Occupation in Germany between 1946 and 1948 in order to build the new socialist German fatherland. Nonetheless, although political re-education of POWs was no longer in agenda, POWs remained exposed to arbitrary Soviet policies concerning intelligence and forced-labour. In 1949 a wave of political trials stormed over the thousands of concentration camps in the USSR: thousands of German POWs were accused with war crimes and sentenced to death, life imprisonment or 25 years of forced-labour. POWs were to be used to rebuild the Russian cities and infrastructures destroyed by war as well as hostages to put pressure on West Germany, which in 1950 was to be re-armed within the NATO. Political trials against POWs took place in an atmosphere of terror and menace, which can be acknowledged from the literary memoirs of witnesses.
One must distinguish between memoirs written in the Democratic Republic of Germany and those published in West Germany because they reflect different political perspectives: in fact, all Eastern authors (e.g. Paulus, Adam, Müller, Steidle and Rühle) occupied relevant roles in politics, culture and education and their memoirs depict the political re-education in Soviet concentration camps as a rejuvenating experience of self-affirmation. Political re-education, or Antifascism, certainly was not for them torture or suffering. They consider themselves as patriots who embraced the cause of a free and democratic Germany shaped on the Marxist view of history and society. They interpret Germany’s catastrophe as the necessary outcome of imperialism and militarism, to which they oppose socialism and its vocation to internationalism and peace.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain, things were different. A small group of witnesses came from the ranks of former antifascists, such as Heinrich Einsiedel (vice-president of the National Committee “Free Germany”), novelist Heinrich Gerlach, and theologian Helmut Gollwitzer. These authors had first joined Communist antifascism because they had believed in the historical necessity to take a stand against Hitler and his war. They had later gown critical toward Communism and they had been persecuted and punished for that, in concentration camps before and once they had come back to Germany after 1948. They represent the political re-education as a two-fold experience: on the one hand it was a noble and heroic assumption of responsibility that they faced as officers and human beings; on the other that experience was also a dangerous compromise with power and corruption insofar as being antifascists in Soviet concentration camps meant claiming privilege and prominence over other fellow POWs. These authors remember in their memoirs how they had to act as spies for the Communist authorities, how they had to lie and deceive in order to keep their privileges, and how they had to go through a never-ending psychological war against other prisoners in order to conquer power. These authors recall the motto of Soviet antifascism: “whoever is not with us is against us”, or “whoever does not work does not eat”, which did not sound much different than under the Nazi yoke.
The political re-education in the memoirs of lower officers and ranks, who depict it as sheer torture, appears even worse, as a school of double-thought and as a struggle for surviving, because the periodical interrogations carried out by Communist activists made the difference between being admitted to the school of antifascism (which meant more food, warm bedrooms and no hard-labour) and being sent out to Siberia for hard-labour in the woods, in mines or on cotton fields. Interrogations were subtle and dangerous, aimed at forcing prisoners into self-contradiction. When this happened, the prisoner had to choose between becoming a spy and collaborating, and ending up in punishment camps. These witnesses recall the wave of political trials of 1949 as the most fearful experience after starvation and typhus epidemics of 1943-1944: threatened to be held for years in hard-labour camps, many a prisoner chose to denounce even close friends as war-criminals, in order to be sent back to Germany, and many even mutilated themselves in order to be spared from work and sent home.
In West Germany some authors, such as former pilot and POW Assi Hahn, caught the occasion to raise a vehement polemic against Communism, which in many cases turned out to be a shameful apology of the old Nazi regime, militarism and imperialism. What is striking is that the Soviet project of conquering a huge mass of POWs, marked as a “bunch of fascists”, to the political cause of Communism eventually ended up into a large-scale failure. In fact, the strategy of attracting POWs to antifascism in exchange of privilege and power over fellow comrades in concentration camps did not produce the model of a virtuous democratic society, but rather a “grey zone” where compromise, deceit and egoism prevailed over social virtues such as solidarity, friendship and justice.
In this sense, Soviet concentration camps of POWs also represented a sort of laboratory for social experimentation. The separateness of POWs from their homeland permitted to create the condition for an artificial acceptance of the new political and social doctrine in abstract, not as a real means to manage the life of a community. Better said, there was a community, but a fragile and weak one, of starving and frightened POWs under the thumb of a powerful and intricate structure capable of inflicting suffering and death or to grant favour and privilege. Such political re-education can be seen as torture, especially if one considers that many German POWs remained in Soviet camps up to 1956.
Torture is an evil and useless instrument. Its secrecy and separateness testify to its unlawfulness as well as to the bad will of those who use it. In the past, criminals were tormented and executed in public, as Foucault pointed out, in the course of violent ceremonies aimed at restoring the authority of the State challenged by serious offences. But torture is different. It is a closed-door activity, because it is brutal and illegal, because it is aimed at overwhelming the victim’s will, in order to force out a confession beyond evidence of crime and guilt. Torture can make up evidence as magic: in order to stop suffering and fear the victim is ready to confess what the torturer wants to hear. The case of political re-education shows that torture can also be a means to force ideologies into the mind of people. Nonetheless, experience teaches that such achievements almost always remain unattained, or that they are reached at the cost of moral degradation, illegality and inhumanity.
Bungert, Heike, Das Nationalkomitee und der Westen. Die Reaktion der Westalliierten auf das NKFD und die Freien Deutschen Bewegungen 1943-1948, Stuttgart, Steiner, 1997
Scheurig, Bodo, Freies Deutschland. Das Nationalkomitee und der Bund Deutscher Offiziere in der Sowjetunion 1943-1945, München, Nymphenburger, 1960
Schoenhals, Kai, The Free Germany Movement. A Case of Patriotism or Treason?, New York, Greenwood Press, 1989
Smith, Arthur, The War for the German Mind. Re-Educating Hitler’s Soldiers, Oxford, Berghan, 1996
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Colorado’s Lindsey Horan Scores As U.S. Defeats Rival Sweden 2-0, Finishes Atop Group
LE HAVRE, France (AP) – The defending champion U.S. national team faced its toughest test of the Women’s World Cup and remained dominant Thursday night, beating Sweden 2-0 to serve up a measure of revenge against the team that stunned the confident Americans in the last Olympics.
Lindsey Horan celebrates celebrates after scoring on Thursday. (credit: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Coloradan Lindsey Horan scored within the first three minutes, the fastest goal of this tournament. The United States went up 2-0 on an own goal by Jonna Andersson in the 50th minute that gave the Americans a tournament-record 18 goals in the group stage. The U.S. did not concede a goal in its first three matches.
Already assured a spot in the round of 16 before the game, the United States finished atop its group and will head to Reims to face Spain on Monday. Sweden will play Canada in Paris.
The meeting was the first tournament game between the two teams since the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics. The Swedes bunkered in on defense and advanced on penalties after a 1-1 draw, handing the United States its earliest-ever exit from the Olympic tournament. Former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo called the Swedes “cowards” for the defensive stand.
By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Writer
(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Soil Around Rocky Flats Tested For Radiation
By Rick Sallinger July 3, 2019 at 9:53 am
Filed Under:Colorado News, Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Rocky Mountain Greenway, Rocky Mountain National Park
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – For the first time in 13 years, the soil in and around the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons site is being tested for radiation. It is being done to see if the area is safe to build new trails to connect to the Rocky Mountain Greenway which will stretch from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in northeast Denver all the way to Rocky Mountain National Park in the mountains outside of Estes Park.
“We are sampling soil every two inches up to a foot deep,” Megan Carroll of Engineer Analytics told CBS4.
It may just be dirt, but this has been controversial dirt for decades.
It is around here where Rocky Flats once stood. The nuclear triggers were created there for hydrogen bombs.
The radioactive contamination may have spread into the ground.
Carroll explained, “The top layer could be from a different type of contamination, the dust settling.”
They want to see how far down the contamination goes. They are measuring for radioactive chemicals like uranium, and plutonium.
Even after a multi year clean up there have been those who claim the land dangerous. Roy Laws in an environmental engineer with the Jefferson County Health Department overseeing the tests.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we all try to gather the facts best we can and to understand the risks associated with the decisions that we make,” he told CBS4’s Rick Sallinger
The buffer zone of the nuclear site is now the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. It may be beautiful, but there are those who want more science not speculation.
“I think as long as human beings will be creative minds that want to create controversy. I don’t think it will put it to rest,” he said, adding that he looked forward to using the refuge.
The results from the 300 samples will be compared to results from the past. The results may determine the safety of creating more hiking trails where weapons of mass destruction were once made.
The area where the Jefferson Parkway is being planned is also being tested for contamination from Rocky Flats.
Rick Sallinger
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who specializes in hard news and investigative reporting. More from Rick Sallinger
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Exploring Artistically Significant Landscapes
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons and Jim Henderson
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Thaisa Way has been appointed chair of the Dumbarton Oaks Fellows in Garden and Landscape Studies. Way, who has been a Senior Fellow with Dumbarton Oaks since 2011 will serve a one year term.As one of six Senior Fellows, the group serves as advisors to the Director of Dumbarton Oaks in relation to the Garden and Landscape Studies Program.
As chair, Way will play a guiding role in the fellowship selection process and work with Senior Fellows to foster and nurture scholarship in urban landscape histories. “We provide opportunities for scholars to come and fully immerse themselves in their studies, in one of the world’s best landscape libraries and rare books collections,” Way said.
The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is a research institute in Washington D.C. overseen by the Trustees of Harvard University. The Garden and Landscape Studies program was established in 1972 to support advanced scholarship in garden history and landscape architecture. Dumbarton Oaks is one of the few institutions in the world with a program devoted to garden and landscape studies that is targeted at both humanities scholars and landscape practitioners. The program encompasses the analysis of culturally and artistically significant landscapes from around the world, spanning from ancient times to present day.
In her role as a Senior Fellow, Thaisa Way will curate a collegium on histories of drawing in landscape architecture, focused on urban landscapes in fall 2017. Previously, Dr. Way was the lead for the spring 2015 Dumbarton Oaks Garden and Landscape Symposium “River Cities: Historical and Contemporary.”
Along with Thaisa Way, Dumbarton Oaks Senior Fellows include: John Beardsley, Dumbarton Oaks; Sonja Dümpelmann, Harvard University; Georges Farhat, University of Toronto; Kathryn Gleason, Cornell University; Gert Gröning, Universität der Künste Berlin; Ron Henderson, Illinois Institute of Technology.
For more information contact Allie Rock in the College of Built Environments Advancement Office at: rocka2@uw.edu or Thaisa Way at: tway@uw.edu
(Originally published by UW News)
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Hal Jordan, a talented test pilot, is chosen by an alien force of warriors to become their representative on Earth and use his new powers as the Green Lantern to promote order and justice before conflict destroys his world.
Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, Taika Waititi, Angela Bassett, Temuera Morrison, Jenna Craig, Jon Tenney
Martin Campbell
Action & Adventure, Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Comic Books and Superheroes, Action Thrillers
Exciting, Imaginative
English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish (Neutral): Dolby Digital 5.1
Parents need to know that this big-screen take on the classic comic book superhero, starring Ryan Reynolds as a cocky test pilot who morphs into a superhero, offers lots of fast-paced, combat-filled action, much of it cartoonish in nature. And the movie's Parallax monster is pretty scary (especially for younger kids), but there's isn't much in the way of blood or gore -- though one scene does show a syringe going into a character's eye. The movie is humorous at some moments and intense during others; it superficially addresses heavy topics like death and childhood trauma. Expect infrequent swearing ("s--t," "a--hole," etc.), some drinking (mostly social, by adults), flirting, kissing, and a shot or two of characters in skimpy apparel (one after an implied one-night stand).
Some flirting and kissing; a couple is shown briefly under the covers on a bed. It's implied that Hal has had a one-night stand (he's shown in his underwear). Brief cleavage shot.
The main monster, the Parallax, is pretty scary and could definitely frighten younger children. The movie is filled with loud explosions and battle scenes, mostly involving a lot of punching and throwing and, in one case, deadly light rays that sear through a character's core. There's little blood or gore, though in one scene, a syringe is shown plunging into a character's eye. Another tries to attack his own father.
Occasional use of words like "s--t," "a--hole," "goddammit," "hell," "son of a bitch," "crap," "damn," "goddamn," and "bastard"; a character gives another the finger.
The movie has a pretty powerful (if superficially explored) message: It's OK to admit fear; it's the first step to overcoming it -- though acting out of fear can destroy you. And when you're called to greatness, take heed.
Tie-in to vast quantities of related merchandise. A few labels/brands visible, including Pabst, Apple, and an LG phone.
Some drinking of beer and hard liquor at a bar, but no one gets sloshed. Social drinking at parties.
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ACTOR ROBIN WILLIAMS FOUND DEAD FAMILY FRIENDS AND FANS DEVASTATED
(CNN) -- Robin Williams -- who first made America laugh and eventually touched "every element of the human spirit" in a remarkable range of performances -- died at his Northern California home this past Monday.
Williams apparently took his own life, law enforcement officials said. He was 63.
"He has been battling severe depression of late," his media representative Mara Buxbaum told CNN. "This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time."
Coroner investigators suspect "the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia," according to a statement from the Marin County, California, Sheriff's Office.
Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider in Napa Valley, California, ceremony in October 2011.
"This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken," Schneider said.
"On behalf of Robin's family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin's death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions."
Word of Williams' death stunned the entertainment community and beyond Monday. Those who worked with him knew him to be a genius and the rarest of talents. After news of his shocking death spread, his friends and professional admirers expressed their love for the man Steve Martin called a "great talent, acting partner, genuine soul."
President Barack Obama's statement sent from the White House summed it up:
"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien -- but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most -- from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets."
Comedian Steve Martin tweeted, "I could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams, mensch, great talent, acting partner, genuine soul."
Former CNN host Larry King said he would remember Williams as "a genuine caring guy. Not just a funny man, but a guy who cared about people."
Robin Williams in the movie "Good Morning Vietnam"
Marin County deputies responded to an emergency call from Williams' home in unincorporated Tiburon, California, at 11:55 a.m., reporting "a male adult had been located unconscious and not breathing," the release from the sheriff said.
Williams was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m., it said.
Williams was last seen alive at his home, where he lives with his wife, at about 10 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff's statement said.
"An investigation into the cause, manner and circumstances of the death is currently underway by the Investigations and Coroner Divisions of the Sheriff's Office," the sheriff's statement said.
"Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made."
An autopsy is scheduled for this Tuesday, the sheriff said.
Williams made at least two trips to rehab for drug treatment, including a visit this summer, and he underwent heart surgery in 2009.
Williams, born in Chicago on July 21, 1951, studied theater at Juilliard School before taking his stand up act to nightclubs. He was cast as Mork, an alien visitor to Earth, for a 1978 episode of television's "Happy Days."
"Happy Days" star Henry Winkler said it was "unimaginable that this is the reality today, that this incredible human being, incredible, delicate, funny, dramatic human being is gone."
Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978–82), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting.
His film career included such acclaimed films as The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006). He also appeared in the video "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, Williams received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards
Robin Williams delighted fans with his off-the-wall, high-energy comedy that took unexpected turn after unexpected turn. He was a comedic inspiration for many performers, but he also was a brilliant dramatic actor on stage and on the big screen.
On behalf of our magazine EL NOTICOTO MAGAZINE we would like to extend our condolences to his family, friends and fans all over the world.
Rest in Peace Robin Williams we will miss you!
ACTOR ROBIN WILLIAMS FOUND DEAD FAMILY FRIENDS AND...
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Faces International Magazine
Foto Speaks
07December
2019 polls result to reflect people’s will, Buhari says
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that all will be done to ensure that the results of the 2019 general elections reflect the will of the people.
He said Nigerians reserved the right to elect leaders at various levels in 2019 and that all efforts would be made to safeguard the integrity of the process.
The president, who is seeking a second term as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said this while receiving letter of credence from the Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Dr. Jyrki Juhani Pulkkinen.
“I respect the people’s feelings. I assure all that we will have free and fair elections next year,” the president said, adding that he understood the yearnings of Nigerians and strongly believed in their collective dream for a greater country.
Daily Trust reports that the presidential election is slated to hold on February 16, 2019, exactly 70 days from today.
He congratulated Finland on its 101 independence anniversary which was marked yesterday, December 6, and commended its growing relation with Nigeria, especially in areas of Information Communication Technology (ICT), trade and education.
The ambassador said the areas of mutual benefit in relation with Nigeria could be extended to electricity, smart technology and crisis management initiatives, pointing out that he would work hard to improve the trade figures and exchanges.
“We will like to contribute to Africa rising, and we know that Nigeria is the biggest country on the continent; so we are very interested in the growth of Nigeria,” he said.
At the level of the United Nations (UN), Dr. Pulkkinen said his country would continue to support the restructuring of the multilateral institution to give greater roles to African countries like Nigeria.
Buhari, who also received letter of credence from the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr. Jerome Pasquier, said the French president’s visit to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and the stopover in Lagos, was really impressive in bolstering both countries’ relations.
The president said he was impressed with relations between France and its former colonies in Africa, noting that France continued to play positive roles in promoting security and economic growth in the countries.
“France is investing so much in Nigeria, and we are grateful,” he added.
Buhari, however, called for more support in the fight against terrorism as the network kept expanding with fighters moving across borders to support insurgents.
The French ambassador said President Macron would continue to support Nigeria, especially in the ongoing war against terrorism with specific interest in gathering and sharing of intelligence.
He commended the president for Nigeria’s role in resolving the crises in Togo and Guinea Bissau.
President Buhari equally received Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of Czech Republic to Nigeria, Mr. Marek Skolil, assuring him of improved economic relations in areas like solid minerals exploration.
Mr. Skolil said his country would continue to support Nigeria’s military in the fight against terrorism in the North East.
Daily Trust reports that this is not the first time President Buhari would be reassuring the country and the international community of his commitment to credible elections.
The president had during a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May in Abuja in August promised to ensure free and fair elections in 2019.
He equally reassured voters that next year’s elections would be free and fair after the opposition and international observers raised concerns over the conduct of governorship election in Osun State in October.
However, the president’s reassurance yesterday came days after the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told the United Nations that the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were planning to scuttle the 2019 general elections, particularly the presidential poll.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, also told the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, that international partners must insist and encourage a free, fair and credible electoral process. “They must also caution against manipulation and other abuses that are capable of truncating our democracy and endangering the lives of Nigerians as a result of a failed electoral process,” Secondus further said.
Daily trust
Categories: Politics | 0 | Hassan Usman
Hassan Usman Author
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FACES’ is programmed to be an international magazine which seeks to expose the achievers in our midst, in the areas of politics, governance, and socio-cultural encounters. Such strong, powerful influences are bound to be voices of vision, and of mission, meant to inspire our youth towards progressive paths.
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In the Lab
Researcher Probes Dead Zone, Mysterious Loss of Marine Life
Lurking in the water near the Mississippi River delta area, where the United States' largest river empties into the Gulf Coast, is death. And while it has the same name as a Stephen King novel, this dead zone offers a different brand of horror.
In its oceanic context, a dead zone is an aptly named, oxygen-starved area of water where almost nothing can live, where all fish, clams, lobsters, oysters, and other inhabitants suffer death by suffocation, and where future marine life may never have a chance. The zones range in size from just a few square miles to more than 45,000 square miles. And they are spreading.
Scientists say there are more dead zones being created now than ever before. In its global overview statement issued March 29, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reported that dead zones top the list of the planet's emerging environmental challenges, warning that they pose as big a threat to fish stocks as overfishing.
The dead zone near the Mississippi River delta area stretches for some 7,000 square miles off the coast of Louisiana and is one of almost 150 dead zones around the globe, twice as many as there were in 1990. The main cause of these often vast expanses of ocean devoid of life, it is believed, is excess nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from farm fertilizers, sewage, and industrial pollutants. The chemicals trigger blooms of microscopic algae, or phytoplankton. Some studies have shown that as little as one pound of phosphorous can cause 500 pounds of algae. As the algae die and rot, they consume oxygen, thereby suffocating the marine life unable to flee the zone's grasp.
Dr. Antonietta Quigg of Texas A&M University at Galveston is testing that theory, basing her research on the dead zone that starts where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico and studying a combination of biological, chemical, and physical interactions there that may or may not be triggered by fertilizer runoffs. Her work is part of two three-year studies funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Levels of nitrogen in Gulf waters are especially high in the spring and summer, when fertilizers are most frequently used," Quigg said. "We sill have a lot of work to do, but it looks like fertilizer runoffs remain the culprit in helping create this large dead zone."
Quigg will closely examine bacteria found in the area to see if the suspected agents found in fertilizers are currently there. Because spring is peak fertilizing time for many farmers and ranchers all along the Mississippi River, which drains 40 percent of the country?s land area, the suspected runoff of the chemicals into the Gulf Coast area should be reaching a climax right about now.
"We will look at the nutrients in the water in the dead zone area, look at the water color, and examine the bacterial communities," Quigg said. "We want to determine what specific biological activities are going on there -- and their interactions with the chemical and physical environment. Whatever is happening is causing a large amount of marine life to die."
Because it has created a quick-acting dead zone, the Mississippi River delta area has become one of the most famous dead zones in the world, but other recent ones have occurred in South America, Japan, China, and Australia, according to the UNEP report.
"Dead zones seem to have one thing in common, and it's that they're getting bigger," Quigg said. "In our study, we hope to find some definitive answers on what is causing the dead zone in the Mississippi River delta area."
For more information, visit www.tamug.edu or www.unep.org .
Scientists Confirm That Air Pollution Contributes to Heart Disease
The very air we breathe may be killing us. Some scientists have long suspected that air pollution is dangerous for the human heart, but previous studies on the issue have been flawed, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). However, in a scientific statement released June 1, AHA asserts that air pollution is indeed a heart disease risk factor.
"The increase in relative risk for heart disease due to air pollution for one person is small compared with the impact of the established cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. However, this is a serious public health problem due to the enormous number of people affected and because exposure to air pollution occurs over an entire lifetime," said Robert D. Brook, M.D., lead author of the statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The association's experts conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on air pollution and cardiovascular disease and drew several conclusions:
1. Prolonged exposure to elevated levels of particle pollution is a factor in reducing overall life expectancy by a few years.
2. Short-term exposure to elevated levels of particle pollution is associated with an increased risk of death due to a cardiovascular event.
3. Hospital admissions for several cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are increased in response to higher concentrations of particle pollution.
The panel recommends that people with heart disease or cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes, or pulmonary diseases limit outdoor activities when pollution is high, per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality Index recommendations.
The AHA statement notes that more research is needed to determine the biological factors that may contribute to heart disease and identify the toxicities of various air pollutants.
"In addition, we hope that these conclusions will provide further support to the importance of the present-day air quality standards," Brook said.
For more information, visit www.americanheart.org.
This news item originally appeared in the July/August 2004 issue Environmental Protection, Vol. 15, No.7.
This article originally appeared in the 07/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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Producing pedagogy
Burton, Lorelle and Lawrence, Jill and Dashwood, Ann and Brown, Alice (2013) Producing pedagogy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. ISBN 978-1443-84592-2
Higher education globally is operating in a highly volatile context, a consequence of the rapid globalisation and intense technological change characteristic of the early 21st century. These forces challenge assumptions about work, productivity, and international demand for knowledge, skills and resources, igniting needs for highly competent and educated graduates. Then there are equity demands about wider access to higher levels of training and higher education for personal growth as well as demands to advance national goals of innovation and technology in a changing world. At the same time, government scrutiny and reporting is increasing, external quality audits are in place and external pressures for change are escalating. Funding per capita is decreasing while competition is up; institutions are more commercial; students are more numerous, diverse and forthright about getting value for money paid; instances of litigation against universities are emerging. At the same time rapid developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have made possible modes and approaches to learning unimagined 30 years ago. For instance, there is a proliferation of more diverse sources of education and an increasing blending of various technologies, particularly digital, to deliver, manage, and support this education.
This volatility is exacerbated by more local and personal change forces. These include the need to manage the pressures for continuous change while simultaneously dealing with slow and unresponsive administrative processes. There are also challenges in finding and retaining high-quality staff, recruiting students in unpredictable economic times, satisfying increased government reporting and scrutiny, and balancing work and family life. These change forces generate questions about the extent to which a university is a place where new knowledge is created and where learning primarily is seen to involve transmission of set content using a 'one-size-fits-all' model delivered in lecture theatres, tutorials, and laboratories on a set timetable operated at the institution's convenience over fixed semesters.
To remain viable, universities must build their capacity to respond promptly, positively and wisely to this interlaced combination of 'change forces'. One answer is the instigation of an institutional learning and teaching redesign to enhance quality and promote good practice: A redesign capable of meeting future learning needs for the 21st century. However, efforts to develop capability in relation to learning and teaching vary widely across institutions. While some institutions focus on further developing individuals' knowledge and skills within their discipline, others provide an additional learning and teaching framework to build institutional knowledge and capabilities and connect them to the university's strategic plan. This book focuses on the second approach. Taking a longitudinal perspective, covering seven years and three separate research projects, the book describes the development and subsequent evaluation of a whole-of-institution approach to pedagogy.
The book presents nine chapters peer reviewed by esteemed colleagues and international experts in the fields of learning and teaching and higher education research and development. Chapter One sets the scene by outlining the development and adaptation of a whole-of-institution pedagogy at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), a regional university in Queensland, Australia. The chapter explains how a project team developed the rationale for an institutional pedagogy based on five associated pedagogical principles: Sustainability, Engagement, Scholarship, Flexibility, and Contextual Learning. Chapter Two reviews the literature underpinning each of these principles.
The initial impetus to produce the pedagogy was USQ's 2005 vision to be Australia's leading transnational educator. However two years later, USQ's vision changed to an emphasis on USQ's commitment to sustainability and flexibility. The transnational pedagogy became a best practice learning and teaching pedagogy. The research team was able to accommodate this change, as well as the others which were to follow, because of the applicability and continued relevance of the five principles both to in relation to USQ's strategic planning, and in the higher education literature.
Chapters Three, Four, and Five report the findings of a research study conducted to investigate the applicability of the five principles in relation to both students and staff in the USQ context. The research process and student results are documented in Chapters Three (the quantitative results) and Four (the qualitative results) while Chapter Five specifically investigates the students' perceptions and experiences of the Contextual Learning principle. Chapter Six discusses the staff results (both the quantitative and qualitative results).
In 2010 the authors were awarded a USQ Fellowship to develop an on-line questionnaire–the Self-Assessment of Learning and Teaching (SALT) tool–with inbuilt sources of information and support. The online SALT platform was designed to facilitate capacity-building among USQ academic staff using the five principles as a framework. The platform enabled staff to reflect, prioritise, and develop their learning and teaching design and delivery capacities in line with the principles described in this book. Chapter Seven outlines how the fellowship project, including how the SALT platform was developed and piloted. The chapter augments understandings already developed about the efficacy of two of the five pedagogical principles–Engagement and Scholarship. Chapters Eight and Nine enhance understandings in relation to the other three principles.
The final chapter, Chapter Nine, also reflects on the journey undertaken by the project team. The journey is contextualised against both USQ and Australian higher education imperatives to draw out threads related to the rapid changes impacting on higher education, in particular technological innovation, managerial governance, and quality assurance. In so doing, the chapter reviews the applicability of the five principles in constituting the core of a pedagogical approach. The approach needs to retain its relevance and be agile enough to ably respond to the rapid and complex shifts in the contemporary higher education environment. Chapter Nine thus anticipates a conceptual framework for developing a relevant, responsive, and agile institutional pedagogy.
This refereed volume provides an opportunity to gain insights about the development of pedagogy in a regional university as well as its capacity to reflect and to build staff and student knowledge, skills, and capabilities and connect them to the university's strategic plan.
Copyright © 2013 by Lorelle Burton, Jill Lawrence, Ann Dashwood and Alice Brown. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Permanent restricted access to published version due to publisher copyright policy.
online learning; flexibility; change management; student expectations; delivery methods; philosophical aspects; higher education research
13 Education > 1301 Education Systems > 130103 Higher Education
13 Education > 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy > 130202 Curriculum and Pedagogy Theory and Development
22 Philosophy and Religious Studies > 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields > 220202 History and Philosophy of Education
E Expanding Knowledge > 97 Expanding Knowledge > 970113 Expanding Knowledge in Education
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NewsSmart Home
Google Harmonises Smart Home Unit Under Nest Brand, Ditches Works With Nest
Jordan O'Brien 8th May 2019 181 views
Smart Home0 Comments181 views 05 min read
Nest may have once been a company independent of Google’s control under Alphabet, but now the two firms are finally singing from the same song sheet. The two have come under constant criticism due to their vastly different approaches to the smart home market, but now thanks to last year’s reorganisation, which saw Nest absorbed by Google, there’s now a single vision for how to compete in the smart home market. We got to see the first part of that vision at last night’s Google I/O developer conference, with Google announcing that the Nest name will adorn the company’s smart home products going forward.
The first product to launch under the new Nest brand is the Google Nest Hub Max, a smart display that features a 10in screen and a camera for video calling. It is joined by the recently-renamed Google Nest Hub, which originally debuted as the Google Home Hub. The name change won’t apply to the Google Home, Google Home Mini or Google Home Max, however, although smart home devices from the company launched from now on will carry both the Google and Nest names.
The joining of the Google and Nest brands isn’t just a marketing tool. Google says it’s serious about bringing its values to the Nest brand too, and one of those values relates specifically to privacy.
Whether it’s Apple or Facebook, privacy has been a big buzzword in Silicon Valley over the last year or so, and now Google is jumping on the bandwagon. Arguably seen as the firm with access to more information about its users than any other, Google wants to show its users that it can be trusted with all of that data, as it’s putting the user in control. It’s already started that process with products such as search, maps and YouTube, but it’s also bringing that same approach to Nest.
Google Ends Works With Nest
Part of Google’s new approach to privacy means that we’re being forced to say goodbye to some key Nest features, such as Works With Nest, but privacy advocates will argue that it’s a small price to pay for better control over where a user’s data ends up. Thankfully, we’re also seeing the axing of some of Nest’s creepier features, such as the ability to disable the camera light when viewing the live feed.
Works With Nest has allowed device makers and app developers to build things that would interact with Nest products, but all of those integrations will break when Works With Nest is axed later this year. Thankfully, those still wishing to have their products interact with Nest cameras and thermostats will be given a new integration path, although it will be far more restrictive. Called Works With Google Assistant, this program will allow third-parties to develop integrations with Nest devices, but only a small number of thoroughly vetted partners will gain access to additional data about users, and only when the user has explicitly allowed the sharing of data with the partner.
Google has confirmed that under the new Works With Google Assistant program, users will lose access to IFTTT. That’s a major loss for the smart home community, but Google does note that much of the same functionality provided by IFTTT can be achieved through Google Assistant routines. Even if that is the case, there will still be a number of integrations that will be missing from Google’s approach vs IFTTT, with tens of millions of recipes already hosted on IFTTT for just about any smart home scenario.
Google Accounts Come To Nest
Nest’s new approach to privacy doesn’t just mean it will horde all of its users’ data and not share it with third-parties, after all there will still be some sharing, but it does mean it will be a better guardian of that data. That includes requiring approval for sharing data with third-parties, but also extends to the security of user accounts.
In recent months, Nest has suffered from some high-profile account breaches. That’s a concern amongst privacy advocates, and while Nest does offer two-factor authentication, Nest accounts are still less secure than those offered by Google. That’s why users now have the option to migrate their Nest account to a Google account – it certainly saves Google time, as it means it doesn’t have to completely rebuild the Nest account system in its image.
Nest + Google = A Smarter Home
While new product names and enhanced privacy are important, Google is not just imposing its will on Nest. Instead, the two companies are playing at their strengths and ensuring they both benefit. Google has excellent security and granular privacy controls, while Nest truly understands the smart home market and how to build products that will benefit end-users.
This two-way street is proven by the new Nest Hub Max. While it’s clear this is still a Google-made product, you can already see the heavy influences from the Nest team. That includes the fact that you can use the camera on the Nest Hub Max as a security camera – a feature not offered by competing smart displays. That makes it infinitely more useful than just a camera for video calling friends and families.
What’s next for Google Nest is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly the beginning of a new era for the smart home market.
Jordan O'Brien
Editorial Coordinator, Web Editor & Digital Development
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Archive for the ‘Tasers’ Category
(12/20/2012) GOD in Schools?
Posted: December 20, 2012 in ascension, Authority, Duty of Believers, guns, Hagee, Inspiration, instruction, mace, Public Forums, Religious Liberty, schools, systems, Tasers, The World, Value of the Church, violence, weapons, worship
Public schools as a divine tool for religious instruction, and more on the return of Christ to heaven are topics, today. A “Yahoo! Answers” Top Contributor using the ID “Olga”, (a member since November 14, 2012, Level 3 with 1,749 points) posted the following:
Christians: How can we get God back in schools where He belongs? +Pastor John Hagee…?
of the Cornerstone Church said this on the church’s Facebook page which is extremely inspirational:
“Hope for tomorrow begins with rational decisions today that guarantee a new direction for our nation. We have run God out of our schools, our lives, many of our churches
and God’s blessing has been lifted from our nation. I invite you to come this Sunday morning to hear the answer from God’s Word about “Hope for Tomorrow.” I’ll see you at Cornerstone Church Sunday morning; bring your Bibles and note-taking materials. Bring a heart that is ready to hear from heaven. God knows we’ve heard from everybody else long enough.” – Pastor John Hagee
Join us at 8:30 & 11am! See you in Church!
THE BATTLE AXE: The Ascension of Christ? (12/19/2012)—The lifting up of Jesus while he was yet in the flesh was witnessed by a group of men who had been carefully chosen and prepared through daily living, study, and laboring in ministry with Jesus. Without having first been built up through encounters and tests, the display of glory, holiness and power would have overwhelmed the carnal minds, emotions, and imaginations of the apostles. Instead of confidence and conviction, confusion and unbelief would have been the most likely result. Inarguable evidence that Jesus was truly sent from Almighty GOD to fulfill sacred covenants and promises had already been supplied by the events of Christ crucified, buried, and revived from death. The ascension appears as an irrefutable sign from heaven confirming the yet unfilled promise of a Comforter and further gifts to come from GOD. More than this, the apostles’ experience of his ascension sealed the truth that Jesus would return in glory.
THE GOLDEN ARROW: Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4: 1-7, King James Version)
THE DOUBLE DAGGER: A Slaughter of Innocents? (12/15/2012); Unexceptional Beginnings? (11/22/2012); Believing Everything? (11/23/2012); Attending Church? (11/12/2012); A Holy Kiss? (11/13/2012); Parental Duty? (10/08/2012); Why No Answer? (08/25/2012); To Be or Not To Be (08/26/2012); The Young Less Religious (08/18/2012); Why Jesus Prayed (08/19/2012); Trouble for the Good (01/15/2012); Chain of Command (01/16/2012)
Public schools are correctly understood as mechanisms to discipline, educate, and train members of a community, particularly minor children, however, public schools are not designed to fulfill the sacred purpose of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Public schools respond to mandates determined by civil law, shared resources, and social consensus. The order, process and structure of public schools are not rooted in divine law, and the various truths essential to right relationship with GOD as Creator. Having said this, public schools are “elements of the world,” not the kingdom of GOD.
In addition to issues that emerge from varying levels of faith, obedience, and trust, challenges for religious instruction through the public forum represented by schools include enforcement of dissent, demands for inclusion by those professing disbelief, imbalance that may be addressed only through interdependence, and nonnegotiable demands for sound belief essential in establishing unity. Academic settings permit only abstract and narrative descriptions of spiritual documents and events. Peculiar figures may be identified as thought leaders and objects of worship. Questionable summaries of belief systems may be studied. The bottom line is that, public education does not truly allow spirit content to be conveyed, experienced, and internalized.
The church and the home are the “god-given” devices for religious instruction that will both emerge from and demonstrate divine presence in recognizable power. This is specially true now that our schools are no longer merely centers for the 3-R’s (reading, ’ritin’ and ’rithmetic). The schools are business centers involving millions of dollars in contracts for books, building supplies, electronics, food services, and repairs. The schools are independent social systems (like a small town within a town), and now include issues of absence of parental involvement, alcohol and drug use, inappropriate sexual activity, police presence and violence. Emotionally charged issues make it that students must take to the schools a knowledge of GOD that will preserve the schools, and increasingly do not take a knowledge from the schools that will preserve the church and home.
There is far more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually apprehended. (For example, the issue of arming teachers with guns to protect students is now driven by fear and panic. In an emergency, access to a weapon worn as a sidearm and openly displayed will be very different than for weapons kept under lock and key for safety. Such options as the use of mace (stronger than pepper spray) or Tasers are not being highlighted in the present discussions. Doctrine and teaching accounted as nonviolence, and “turning the other cheek” may not be dismissed without violating the Gospel.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith.
THE BLACK PHOENIX Washington, DC
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Kona Grill Announces Strategic Leadership Changes
GlobeNewswire• November 8, 2018
Marcus Jundt and Steven Schussler appointed as Co-Chief Executive Officers
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Nov. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kona Grill, Inc. (KONA), an American grill and sushi bar, today announced that its Board of Directors appointed Marcus Jundt and Steven Schussler as Co-Chief Executive Officers of the Company.
Marcus Jundt is one of the founders of the Kona Grill concept and previously served as the Company’s CEO from 2006 to 2009. Steven Schussler is the founder of several successful concepts, among the most noticeable are Rainforest Café, T-Rex Cafe, Yak & Yeti, The Boathouse, and others. Both Messrs. Jundt and Schussler are currently directors of the Company.
“The Board of Directors believes that the combined leadership and experience of Marcus and Steve will revitalize the Kona Grill brand as we focus on what has made this brand successful over the years,” said Berke Bakay, the Company’s Executive Chairman of the Board.
“We thank Jim Kuhn for his time with the Company and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Bakay concluded.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Kona Grill working with the team and wish the Company all the best in the future,” said Jim Kuhn.
About Kona Grill
Kona Grill features a global menu of contemporary American favorites, award-winning sushi, and specialty cocktails in an upscale casual atmosphere. Kona Grill owns and operates 44 restaurants, guided by a passion for quality food and exceptional service. Restaurants are located in 22 states and Puerto Rico. Additionally, Kona Grill has two restaurants that operate under a franchise agreement in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Vaughan, Canada. For more information, visit www.konagrill.com.
Kona Grill Investor Relations Contact:
Kona Grill, Inc.
Christi Hing, Chief Financial Officer
investorrelations@konagrill.com
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NNBR - NN, Inc.
Bid 8.06 x 800
Ask 8.07 x 800
EPS (TTM) -7.86
Earnings Date Feb 27, 2018 - Mar 5, 2018
1y Target Est 15.75
Moody's•29 days ago
NN, Inc. -- Moody's revises NN's rating outlook to stable, CFR affirmed at B3, senior secured downgraded to B3
Rating Action: Moody's revises NN's rating outlook to stable, CFR affirmed at B3, senior secured downgraded to B3. Global Credit Research- 20 Jun 2019. Approximately $917 million of rated debt affected....
PR Newswire•last month
NN, Inc. Announces Amendment To Credit Facility
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, announced that on June 11, 2019, it entered into an amendment to its Amended and Restated Credit Agreement. The amendment reduced the amount available under the Company's senior secured revolver and increased the consolidated net leverage ratios for quarterly periods ending on or after March 31, 2019. The principal rationale for the amendment was to create additional flexibility for the purpose of maintaining the Company's historical dividend practice. NN, Inc., a diversified industrial company combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, NN has 51 facilities in North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America and China.
NN, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc. (NNBR), a diversified industrial company, today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per common share. The dividend will be paid on June 28, 2019, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 21, 2019. NN, Inc., a diversified industrial company combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis. Except for specific historical information, many of the matters discussed in this press release may express or imply projections of revenues or expenditures, statements of plans and objectives or future operations or statements of future economic performance.
Edited Transcript of NNBR earnings conference call or presentation 10-May-19 1:00pm GMT
Q1 2019 NN Inc Earnings Call
NN (NNBR) Q1 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
NNBR earnings call for the period ending March 31, 2019.
Associated Press•2 months ago
NN: 1Q Earnings Snapshot
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it had a loss of 44 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 20 cents per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. ...
NN, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2019 Results
CHARLOTTE, N.C. , May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NASDAQ: NNBR), a diversified industrial company, today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 . GAAP Results ...
Earnings Preview: NN Inc. (NNBR) Q1 Earnings Expected to Decline
NN (NNBR) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
NN, Inc. to Hold First Quarter 2019 Conference Call on Friday, May 10, 2019
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that it will release first quarter 2019 financial results for the period ended March 31, 2019 after the close of the market on Thursday, May 9, 2019. Management will hold a conference call at 9 a.m. ET on Friday, May 10, 2019 to review the Company's results. NN, Inc., a diversified industrial company combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis.
NN, Inc. to Close Tennessee Shared Service Center
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that it will close its shared services center in Johnson City, TN at the end of June. The move aligns with the Company's strategic focus on operating excellence and efficiency as it looks to streamline services and reduce cost as part of the NN Operating System. Richard Holder, President and CEO, commented, "The associates in our shared services center have worked diligently to support the business, and we greatly appreciate their efforts.
Why NN, Inc. (NNBR) Could Be Positioned for a Slump
NN, Inc. (NNBR) has witnessed a significant price decline in the past four weeks, and is seeing negative earnings estimate revisions as well.
Edited Transcript of NNBR earnings conference call or presentation 14-Mar-19 1:00pm GMT
NN Inc (NNBR) Files 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended on December 31, 2018
NN Inc manufactures precision bearing components, industrial plastic products and precision metal components serving variety of markets on a global basis. The dividend yield of NN Inc stocks is 3.75%. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with NNBR.
NN Inc (NNBR) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
NNBR earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2018.
NN Inc. (NNBR) Q4 Earnings and Revenues Lag Estimates
NN (NNBR) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of -18.52% and -1.76%, respectively, for the quarter ended December 2018. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it had a loss of $5.25 per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs and non-recurring costs, came to 22 cents per share. The results fell short ...
NN, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2018 Results
CHARLOTTE, N.C. , March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NASDAQ: NNBR), a diversified industrial company, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, ...
NN, Inc. Announces Anticipated Non-Cash Intangible Asset Impairment Charges
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) ("NN" or "the Company") a diversified industrial company, today announced that the Company expects to record a non-cash intangible asset impairment charge in its Mobile Solutions and Power Solutions groups in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 (FY18). The Company does not expect the impairment charge to have any impact on future operations, nor affect its liquidity, cash flows from operating activities, or compliance with the financial covenants set forth in its debt instruments. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 350 "Intangibles Goodwill and Other," the Company is required to test its goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually. During the fourth quarter of FY18, NN's market capitalization declined to a level that was less than the net book value of stockholders' equity. NN performed its annual goodwill impairment analysis as of October 1, 2018.
NN, Inc. To Hold Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2018 Conference Call On Thursday, March 14, 2019
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that it will release fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results for the period ended December 31, 2018 after the close of the market on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. NN, Inc., a diversified industrial company combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, NN has 51 facilities in North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America and China. Except for specific historical information, many of the matters discussed in this press release may express or imply projections of revenues or expenditures, statements of plans and objectives or future operations or statements of future economic performance.
Should You Buy NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) For Its Dividend?
A large part of investment returns can be generated by dividend-paying stock given their role in compounding returns over time. Historically, NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) has paid dividends to shareholders, andRead More...
William Dries To Retire From NN Board Of Directors
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that William "Bill" Dries will retire from the Company's board of directors, effective as of NN's annual meeting to be held in May 2019. Mr. Dries joined the board in 2014 and currently serves as the Audit Committee chairman and a member of the Compensation Committee. Upon Mr. Dries' retirement, the Company will reduce the size of its board of directors from nine to eight. William Dries, commented, "It has been a privilege to serve on NN's board over the last five years.
NN, Inc. Expands Its Board of Directors
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that its board of directors has unanimously voted to expand its board by appointing Jeri Harman, Founder & Chairman of Avante Capital Partners, and Janice Stipp, formerly Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer at Rogers Corporation (retired), as new independent directors, effective immediately. NN's board will now be comprised of nine directors, eight of whom are independent. Additionally, as part of its commitment to good corporate governance, the Company also announced that it will approve and recommend amendments to its Restated Certificate of Incorporation to implement the Company's transition to annual elections for directors.
Factors of Influence in 2019, Key Indicators and Opportunity within Procter & Gamble, Hertz Global, NN, Omnicell, BioDelivery Sciences International, and Movado Group — New Research Emphasizes Economic Growth
NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2019 -- In new independent research reports released early this morning, Fundamental Markets released its latest key findings for all current investors,.
NN, Inc. Enters Into New Interest Rate Swap, Lowering Rate and Moving to Fixed Rate Debt
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) a diversified industrial company, today announced that the Company has entered into a new interest rate swap transaction that will provide a fixed rate on $700 million of its senior secured debt through the end of 2020 and will amortize down through October of 2022. The transaction will also reduce NN's interest rate by six basis points on $700 million of its outstanding debt. NN, Inc., a diversified industrial company combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, NN has 51 facilities in North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America and China.
NN, Inc. To Tout Latest Engineered Solutions At MD&M West
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NN, Inc., (NNBR) ("NN" or "the Company"), announced today that its NN Life Sciences group will exhibit at the 2019 Medical Design & Manufacturing West (MD&M) show, held February 5-7 in Anaheim, California. MD&M West is the world's largest medical design and manufacturing event. NN Life Sciences, a business group of NN, Inc., partners with clients to provide end-to-end engineered solutions.
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Auburn University - Department of Fisheries & Allied Aquacultures
One of the largest schools in the South, Auburn University has an enrollment of roughly 24,600 students and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in more than 140 different fields of study through about a dozen colleges and schools. Auburn University's student-teacher ratio is 18:1.
It has a branch campus in Montgomery, Alabama. Auburn University was founded by the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1856 as the East Alabama Male College. It became a state institution in 1872 and adopted its current name in 1960.
203 Swingle Hall, Auburn University
City: Auburn
State: Alabama (36849 )
Homepage: Link to Homepage
Financial Link:
http://www.google.com/finance?q=Auburn+University
Key people & contacts:
Mr L. J. Vining
Mr Goodman R.K.
To update or add a personal profile please send an email to [email protected]
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<!-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MENY slut !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-> <!-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NAVIGERING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-> <!-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NAVIGERING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!->
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Passport: Once Upon a Time: War in Crimea Once Upon a Time: War in Crimea...
Once Upon a Time: War in Crimea
Eight years before the Civil War nearly tore the United States in two, the imperial armies of Russia, Great Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire met on the battlefields of the Crimean peninsula for what would become the first truly modern war. By the start of the conflict, in 1853, the industrial revolution had arrived, ...
By Elias Groll, Rebecca Frankel
| March 1, 2014, 11:50 PM
All photos via the Library of Congress
Eight years before the Civil War nearly tore the United States in two, the imperial armies of Russia, Great Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire met on the battlefields of the Crimean peninsula for what would become the first truly modern war.
By the start of the conflict, in 1853, the industrial revolution had arrived, creating mass urban landscapes, new methods of manufacturing, and vast gains in productivity. But with the rise of industry also came a revolution in warfare. Trains transformed logistics, the telegraph sped up communication, and modern rifles and other weaponry enabled slaughter on a whole new scale. The battlefields of the Crimean War bore witness to this ugly fact; some 25,000 British, 100,000 French, and as many as a million Russians died.
The carnage was magnified by the fact that military advances had not spread equally to the warring parties. In the Crimean war, men with swords and lances fought men armed with rifles and artillery, marking a bloody baptism for the modern world and a morbid funeral for the pre-industrial era. The disparity in capabilities is one reason why the Crimean War has gone down in history as a monument to military incompetence. Officers wantonly sacrificed the lives of unprepared and ill-equipped soldiers to much better-armed adversaries — a travesty immortalized in Tennyson’s poem “Charge of the Light Brigade,” which chronicles a suicidal frontal assault on a Russian artillery regiment by a British cavalry unit. Few episodes illustrate more profoundly the folly of Crimean War battles than a group of swordsmen on horseback charging into a hailstorm of cannon fire:
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
And, unlike wars past, the home front was not sheltered from such battlefield horrors. The Crimean War was the first conflict to be covered in real time by journalists, who sent their dispatches by telegraph back to London, Berlin, and Paris. The very citizens whose sons bore the war’s cost were therefore kept abreast of developments on the front, including the astounding incompetence and mishaps of their militaries.
This news came not only in words, but also in pictures.
Technically, the first battlefield photographs were taken during the Mexican-American War. But it is British photographer Roger Fenton who is considered the first war photographer, a distinction he gained for pictures he took in Crimea.
Fenton was only in Crimea for a few months, from March 8 to June 26, 1855. But, according to the Library of Congress, he managed “to produce 360 photographs under extremely trying conditions.” Fenton took his photographs using “large format glass plate cameras … which required long exposure times — [of] up to 20 seconds or more.”
During his time in Crimea, Fenton extensively photographed the landscape and took portraits of soldiers and officers, but he did not capture the embedded view of combat we are accustomed to today. “There are no actual combat scenes, nor are there any scenes of the devastating effects of war,” the Library of Congress explains. Not only did Fenton work with a big, bulky camera that required long exposure times, he also had to travel with a large mobile darkroom — a “converted wine merchants’ wagon” — and immediately process the images. Fenton’s view of Crimea is more still — it is calm and quiet. By capturing the moments in between the fighting, Fenton left us with a striking but nevertheless incomplete visual memory of the Crimean War — it is often bleak, but it is bereft of all its bloody, senseless misery.
Today, Crimea, the peninsula that juts from southern Ukraine, is back in the news. After pro-European revolutionaries overthrew Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, pro-Russian forces seized the regional parliament in Crimea and have threatened to secede. Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed Ukraine’s pro-Russian factions, located predominantly in the eastern part of the country, and he has deployed Russian forces to Crimea, where they have seized control of two strategic airports. On Saturday, the Russian parliament officially granted Putin the authority to deploy Russian troops in Ukraine, raising the prospect of another war in Crimea — one we would, again, be able to watch in real time.
Here is FP’s look back at the work of Roger Fenton:
At the top of this post is a view of Balaklava harbor, on the southwestern tip of the Crimean peninsula, photographed by Fenton in 1855. In addition to the ships, there is a view of the “bell tents.” In the foreground, along the shore, there is a pen filled with horses.
A cityscape showing buildings and residences of Balaklava; men and horses in the foreground and military installations in the background.
A view from a hillside cavalry camp showing people, horses, and tents on the plains of Balaklava.
A group of officers from the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, a regiment formed in 1693 that fought in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the 1854 Battle of Balaklava — the ultimately disastrous engagement that was immortalized in Alfred Tennyson’s poem.
The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment established in 1685, also fought in the 1854 Battle of Balaklava — part of the “heavy brigade” that complemented the light brigade’s charge. Here, soldiers from the 4th relax in camp, with a goat and a horse.
A photograph of Balaklava’s harbor, with railway stores in the distance.
Fenton’s famous shot, “The Valley of the Shadow of Death,” which was determined to have been taken on April 23, 1855, in a battle-worn ravine (though not, as noted by Susan Sontag, in the same location that the Light Brigade made its fateful charge). In recent years, there’s been much debate over whether or not Fenton staged the shot. Some have suggested he took cannonballs strewn alongside the road and moved them onto the road, where they would come into fuller view in the picture’s frame, and re-shot the photo.
An example of the portraiture taken by Fenton during the Crimean campaign, this photograph shows Fenton himself, dressed in a borrowed uniform of the Zouave, a French infantry regiment.
Marcus Sparling, Fenton’s assistant, seen seated atop their mobile darkroom, a repurposed wine merchants’ wagon.
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Hunting season on revisionists
Postby Malle » 1 decade 5 years ago (Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:51 pm)
Now you know why it’s hunting season on revisionists!
Jewish power in the West today has expanded commensurate with the expansion of "Holocaust" propaganda, as noted by the Israeli author Moshe Leshem: "Israelis and American Jews fully agree that the memory of the Holocaust is an indispensable weapon--one that must be used relentlessly against their common enemy...Jewish organizations and individuals thus labor continuously to remind the world of it. In America, the perpetuation of the Holocaust memory is now a $100-million-a-year enterprise, part of which is government-funded." ( Balaam's Curse, p. 228)
This is why Edgar Bronfman, the billionaire Canadian Seagram's whiskey merchant and chairman of the powerful World Jewish Congress says, "The growing numbers of revisionist supporters cannot be ignored. We must use every resource to stop revisionism now, before it's too late."
The reason it must be stopped is because revisionism is the only force preventing the holy people from finishing the job they started in Russia and Bavaria, only this time they are using intellectual means to achieve the same end.
Consider the fact that the people who bear the brunt of contemporary Jewish racist hatred and invective, the Germans, have among the lowest birthrates and the highest abortion rates of any nation in the world. Far more Germans die every year than are born.
URL: http://www.hoffman-info.com/communist.html
I must be a mushroom - because everyone keeps me in the dark and feeds me with lots of bullshit.
Valuable asset
Postby Hannover » 1 decade 5 years ago (Mon Sep 15, 2003 8:10 pm)
Racist Zionist & judeo-supremacist Bronfman said:
The growing numbers of revisionist supporters cannot be ignored. We must use every resource to stop revisionism now, before it's too late.
I got news for the old whiskey baron, it's already "too late". The cat's out of the bag.
Truth and thoughts cannot be stopped.
- Hannover
If it can't happen as alleged, then it didn't.
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When Louis Met Marc: Paris Fashion with an American Accent
In an upcoming exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris fashion meets New York know-how.
Marc Jacobs has always been about the merging of art with fashion. First it was music. His runway tribute to grunge, showing ripped jeans and oversize flannel shirts on the catwalk, may have famously got him sacked from Perry Ellis, but his friendships and collaboration with underground musicians have remained. In contrast to his experience at Ellis, at Louis Vuitton his partnerships with visual artists, such as Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, François Cadière and Richard Prince, have been a huge success, and have helped transform Vuitton into the fashion brand most closely associated with the art world.
Photo: Courtesy Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
This marriage of art and fashion has inspired the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to launch “Louis Vuitton/Marc Jacobs,” a major exhibition that tells the story of both men. It will explore the relationship between a humble Victorian trunk maker who went on to head one of the world’s best-know luxury leather goods companies and a shy, diminutive Jewish boy from New York who transformed a once conservative business into an haute couture powerhouse in just over a decade. The museum aims to demonstrate how each of these two iconic men contributed to reshaping fashion history in their own manner.
In the gallery, covering two floors and curated by acclaimed fashion writer Pamela Golbin, Vuitton’s iconic leather trunks will be displayed alongside Jacobs’s most celebrated designs for the French label. In synch with the epochs of its two subjects, the show will focus on two distinct periods in history: the time of the Industrial Revolution and today’s modern era of globalized fashion.
But for how long will Jacobs be associated with the Vuitton brand? Golbin was mum on the subject of Jacobs’s possible defection to Dior, but given the rumors that Dior was eager to hire Mr. Jacobs, we may interpret the museum’s spring show as being an attempt to even further consolidate Jacobs with the house of Vuitton.
That said, it seems Jacobs has no plans to leave. This month, he told Vogue magazine: “I am at Vuitton, and I am very happy there. . . . I don’t know; maybe someday in the future, maybe years from now, I may end up going someplace else, maybe Dior. But right now I am at Vuitton, and all that matters to me is that that’s where I am and I’m going to keep doing my thing.”
Art and fashion lovers alike dearly hope he does.
“Louis Vuitton/Marc Jacobs” will be on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs from March 9 to September 16, 2012.
Editor’s note: Have you downloaded our walk-and-shop-the-Marais tour yet? It’s available as a pdf and as an iPhone app.
Tagged in: art, Chere Di Boscio, fashion, France, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Paris, Shopping, travel
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With Canada’s military justice system in limbo, cases are being dropped or reduced
By Lee Berthiaume The Canadian Press
May 29: Canada's auditor general Michael Ferguson said their audit found the Canadian Armed Forces has taken too long in trying military justice cases, and that 10 court martial cases had to be dropped due to delays.
Canadian military prosecutors and police have dropped several cases and are changing the way they lay charges as they wait for the Supreme Court to decide whether the military-justice system is constitutional.
Seven criminal cases in the system have been abandoned and more than 30 others are either in limbo or have seen reduced charges, according to officials. More than half the cases involved sexual-assault allegations.
WATCH: May 22 — Sexual misconduct in military remains despite crackdown
Military police have also started turning to a lesser charge for what one official called “lower-end” sexual assaults to keep cases in the court-martial system and referring more serious cases to civilian authorities.
The moves follow a lower court’s bombshell ruling in a sexual-assault case last September that found military tribunals are not equivalent to a trial by jury for serious civilian offences such as murder and sexual assault.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms says anyone accused of a crime carrying a maximum sentence of five or more years can request a trial by jury – except in cases involving military law tried before military tribunals.
READ MORE: Military’s internal prison in Edmonton ‘vastly underutilized,’ report says
A special provision in the National Defence Act, which regulates the Forces, says if a serving member is accused of a civilian offence such as sexual assault or murder, the case can be handled under military law.
But the Court Martial Appeals Court found in September that “civil offences are not offences under military law” – meaning military personnel charged with serious Criminal Code offences should be allowed to stand trial by jury.
Military prosecutors appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments from both sides in March, but has yet to issue its own decision on the matter. In the meantime, the lower court’s ruling remains in effect.
WATCH: June 11 — Is there a future for Canada’s last detention barracks?
A total of 40 cases that were in the military-justice system before the appeals court ruling have been affected since the appeals-court decision, said Maj. Doug Keirstead, spokesman for the director of military prosecutions.
Eighteen of the cases, nearly all of which involved allegations of sexual assault, have since been referred to the civilian-justice system. While 14 of the cases remain under consideration, the civilian authorities decided not to proceed with four.
Four more sexual-assault cases are still in the military-justice system, but have been put on hold until the Supreme Court’s ruling. Military prosecutors decided on their own to abandon three cases. Those involved drug and fraud charges.
READ MORE: Canada’s last military prison costs $2M a year. About half the time, it has no prisoners
Military prosecutors opted in the remaining 15 to reduce or drop certain charges and proceed with courts martial, including two where sexual-assault charges were withdrawn and the service members are being tried for disgraceful conduct.
“Such decisions are based on a thorough analysis of the facts of the case and are a matter of prosecutorial discretion,” Keirstead said, adding: “Military prosecutors are required to consult victims before moving forward with such decisions.”
He said that while military prosecutors await the Supreme Court decision, they are “continuing to evaluate all affected cases on a case-by-case basis, while pursuing all available options to ensure that those accused of offences are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
WATCH: May 23, 2018 — Military prison costs taxpayers $2M a year
Military police, meanwhile, have started using a lesser charge for “low-end” sexual assaults that involves a maximum sentence of up to 18 months, said spokesman Maj. Jean-Marc Mercier.
Charging someone with a summary-conviction offence rather than a more serious indictable offence lets them keep a case in the military system, where they can add military-specific charges such as abuse of a subordinate, misconduct and others that don’t exist in the civilian system.
That doesn’t mean serious charges aren’t laid, including for sexual assault, Mercier added, though these must now be referred to civilian prosecutors who will decide whether to proceed with a case or not.
READ MORE: Military court ruling to stand pending Supreme Court hearing in case of Edmonton-based soldier
The military’s current struggle with sexual-misconduct in the ranks started five years ago with concerns such incidents weren’t being properly handled, but Mercier insisted the changes have not affected how cases are investigated.
“The purpose of the military police will be to render justice as best as it can be and using the tools that are in place to do that,” he said. “The military police will adapt … to lay their charge.”
Canada Armed forces
canada military justice
canada military justice system
canada military justice system supreme court
military justice canada
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With all of the online chatter about events this weekend in D.C. and Massachusetts, it might be useful to read over Albert Mackey's description of making Masons "at sight", in Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry [Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Vol. ii, Richmond, Virginia: The Masonic History Company, 1946. p. 941-43]:
The prerogative of the Grand Master to make masons masons at sight, is a Landmark which is closely connected with the preceding one. There has been much misapprehension in relation to this Landmark, which misapprehension has sometimes led to a denial of its existence in jurisdictions where the Grand Master was perhaps at the very time substantially exercising the prerogative, without the slightest remark or opposition...
Under the heading of "Sight, making Masons at," it states:
It is not to be supposed that the Grand Master can retire with a profane into a private room, and there, without assistance, confer the degrees of Freemasonry upon him. No such prerogative exists, and yet many believe that this is the so much talked of right of "making Masons at sight". The real mode and the only mode of exercising the prerogative is this: The Grand Master summons to his assistance not less than six other masons, convenes a Lodge, and without any previous probation, but in sight of the candidate, confers the degrees upon him, after which he dissolves the Lodge and dismisses the brethren. Lodges thus convened for special purposes are called occasional lodges. This is the only way in which any Grand Master within the records of the institution has ever been known to "make a Mason at sight". The prerogative is dependent upon that of granting dispensations to open and hold Lodges. If the Grand Master has the power of granting to any other Mason the privilege of presiding over Lodges working by his dispensation, he may assume this privilege of presiding to himself; and as no one can deny his right to revoke his dispensation granted to a number of brethren at a distance, and to dissolve the Lodge at his pleasure, it will scarcely be contended that he may not revoke his dispensation for a Lodge over which he himself has been presiding, within a day, and dissolve the Lodge as soon as the business for which he had assembled it is accomplished. The making of Masons at sight is only the conferring of the degrees by the Grand Master, at once, in an occasional Lodge, constituted by his dispensing power for the purpose, and over which he presides in person.
These excerpts, along with Mackey's complete list of "Landmarks" can be seen on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon website here, Landmarks of Freemasonry.
Mackey's Landmarks were of his own compilation, and have never been adopted en masse by any one grand lodge. They are not universally accepted, and as I said in a previous post, the practice of making Masons "at sight" is perfectly accepted in some jurisdictions, and forbidden in others. It is controversial, but the practice dates back to at least 1730.
Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, under the heading of Making Masons at Sight, says, in part
"...making Masons at sight exists wherever and consists of whatever the Grand Lodge of each jurisdiction allows."
"No statement is available as to exactly what procedure was used in the few instances that have occurred in the United States, but the general impression is that the net result is merely a shortening of time by doing in one day what usually required three days and in many places three weeks at least."
Henry Wilson Coil, Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia. [Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., Richmond, Virginia. Revised edition, 1995]
In the wake of lots of commentary this weekend, I will simply add the personal note that we don't make two categories of Freemasons in this fraternity, and I am deeply offended by terms like "McMasons" or "Microwave Masons," phrases that frequently pop up in discussions about making Masons "at sight," or "One Day Classes." My own FC and MM degrees were performed on a single day in a class situation. I contend it is not the manner in which a man is initiated, passed and raised, but the dedication of that Brother in his desire to learn and to serve. And the best way to ensure that a Brother will never return to his lodge is to disparage the way in which he received his degrees.
If you disapprove of the practice, take it up with your grand master, or propose legislation that forbids accelerated degree conferrals. But a Brother is a Brother, and you do him grave injustice by belittling his entry into the fraternity.
Michael June 12, 2011 9:56 PM
My understanding of the "Mason at Sight" was identical to what you wrote - the MWGM convenes an "occasional lodge" and confers the degrees. The difference with a Mason made thusly was not that he didn't take the degrees, but that no ballot was spread upon him, and that once the occasional lodge was dissolved, he was effectively an unaffiliated or unassociated Mason, meaning not a member of any particular lodge. He would then need to petition a lodge to affiliate in order to become a member (and gain the privileges of membership, such as voting or being able to hold office).
-- Mike Dodge, Connecticut
The Author June 12, 2011 11:46 PM
"I contend it is not the manner in which a man is initiated, passed and raised, but the dedication of that Brother in his desire to learn and to serve. And the best way to ensure that a Brother will never return to his lodge is to disparage the way in which he received his degrees. "
Here Here! Well said.
Jonathan Krull
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Hard Science
Four Ways That Our Universe Might End, According to Science
In with a Big Bang, out with a...?
Jaime TrosperMarch 3rd 2014
/ Hard Science
/ Big Bang
/ End Of The Universe
/ Universe
/Big Bang
/End Of The Universe
/Universe
There are hundreds of known cosmic events that could obliterate the life on our planet. High energy solar flares, cataclysmic impact events, gamma ray bursts, a nearby supernova, and on and on. However, the chances of Earth suffering a life-ending global catastrophe are actually rather slim.
But we know that it is coming. According to astronomers, the Sun’s luminosity increases by about 6% every billion years. While 6% might not seem like much, it’s enough to render our planet inhospitable to life as we know it in 1.1 billion years.
The end of everything else, though, is a little bit more difficult to predict, but that hasn’t stopped scientists from speculating and theorizing.
Notably, the ultimate fate of the universe depends on three things: the universe’s overall shape, its density, and the amount of dark energy that exists. The first two scenarios hinge upon the universe existing in a “flat” or “open” system (one that is negatively curved, similar to the surface of a saddle).
The Big Rip
Our universe is expanding. It happens because of a mysterious form of energy know as “dark energy.” We don’t know what it is but, each year, this dark energy causes the rate of expansion to increase.
One theory of our ultimate end relies on the assumption that this expansion will continue indefinitely — until the galaxies, stars, planets, and matter (even the subatomic building blocks that comprise all matter) can no longer hold themselves together. At which point, they rip apart.
This theory is called (surprise!) the Big Rip.
Whether or not this actually happens depends on critical density (the boundary value between open models that expand forever and closed models that re-collapse),
According to Robert Caldwell, a theoretical physicist from Dartmouth College, if the Big Rip won out over all of the apocalyptic scenarios put forth in this piece, the event would occur in some 22 billion years, when the Sun has already transitioned from a main-sequence star to a red-giant (incinerating Earth as a result) and then into a white dwarf.
If Earth did manage to survive intact (spoiler alert: it won’t), the planet would explode about 30 minutes before the grand finale.
Another popular scenario for the end of the universe that relies on deciphering the true nature of dark energy is the Big Freeze (also referred to as Heat Death or the Big Chill).
In this scenario, the universe continues to expand at an ever-increasing speed. As this happens, the heat is dispersed throughout space while galaxies, stars, and planets are all pulled farther and farther from one another. In the very distant future, intelligent civilizations will look into the sky and think they are alone. Everything will be so far away that the light from distant stars and galaxies can never reach them.
Eventually, planets, stars, and galaxies would be pulled so far apart that the stars would eventually lose access to raw material needed for star formation And thus, the lights would inevitably go out for good.
It will continue to get colder and colder until the temperature throughout the universe reaches absolute zero. At absolute zero, all movement stops. Nothing can exist in such a place, as there is literally no energy. At all. Anywhere.
This is the point at which the universe would reach a maximum state of entropy. Instead of fiery cradles, galaxies would become coffins filled with the remnants of dead stars.
Many scientists (astronomers and physicists alike) believe this is one of the most probable scenarios.
The Big Crunch
The Big Crunch is thought to be the direct consequence of the Big Bang. In this model, the expansion of the universe doesn’t continue forever.
After an undetermined amount of time (possibly trillions of years), if the average density of the universe was enough to stop the expansion, the universe would begin the process of collapsing in on itself. Eventually, all of the matter and particles in existence would be pulled together into a super dense state (perhaps even into a black hole-like singularity).
Such an event might have already happened before. Some scientists have theorized that the universe we see is the result of a cyclic repetition of the Big Bang, where the first cosmological event came about after the collapse of a previous universe. This is something called conformal cyclic cosmology.
Unlike the first two scenarios, this model relies on the geometry of the universe being “closed” (like the surface of a sphere). An event like this would be like a single breath: the universe would “breathe out” the Big Bang, and “breathe in” the Big Crunch.
This could also happen if we see a reversal of dark energy’s current expansion effect.
Similar to this theory (and the Big Bang) is the Big Bounce. A sort of symmetry is proposed here: the universe is in a continuous cycle of expanding out and then collapsing onto itself. Effectively, we could be one of many iterations of the universe. Perhaps even more eerie to think about is the idea that maybe each time the universe resets, it plays out the same way. Perhaps the you that is currently reading this article right now is just one you out of 10^googleplex versions that existed before.
Ultimately, the universe may be like the mythical phoenix: its death is actually a fiery rebirth.
The Big Slurp
This theory surfaced just a few years ago, after revelations were released about the true nature of the Higgs Boson, which is the particle that plays a role in granting mass to elementary particles.
Click to View Full Infographic
In this model, if the Higgs Boson particle weighs in at a certain mass, it could indicate that the vacuum of our universe may be inherently unstable, perhaps existing in a perpetual “metastable’ state — something that has been discussed at length many times before.
If this were the case, our universe might experience a catastrophic event when a “bubble” from another alternate universe appears in ours. If this bubble exists in a lower-energy state than our bubble. the universe could be completely annihilated.
In essence, it would cause all the protons in all matter in our universe to decay. By proxy, so would we. If that doesn’t sound unpleasant enough, this sort of a vacuum metastability event could happen at virtually any moment, anywhere in our universe. The bubble could pop over and start expanding at light-speed until it swallowed us entirely.
Truly, none of these scenarios sound very fun.
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Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch (PC)
This game's predecessor, Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena, was the best casual game I'd played in several years. It was easy to pick up and play for a ten-to-twenty-minute session (altho
Contributed by Michael Gray on August 18th, 2010 in Categories ReviewsWith content involving Tags hidden object games, Michael Gray, plot, Samantha Swift, Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch
System: PC
Genre: Hidden Object
Max Players: 1
Age Rating: Everyone
US Release: April 2009
Developer: Mumbo Jumbo
Publisher: Mumbo Jumbo
Similar Games: Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena, Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis
This game’s predecessor, Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena, was the best casual game I’d played in several years. It was easy to pick up and play for a ten-to-twenty-minute session (although I often found myself playing for longer), it had enough puzzle/adventure game elements to keep things fresh, and the hidden object mechanic worked well. You bet I was going to buy the sequel!
So how is the second Samantha Swift game? Amazingly, even better than the first.
In fact, after the first fifteen minutes of gameplay, I had to double-check that no one had implanted a computer chip in my brain, because it felt like the game developers were somehow reading my mind. They directly addressed both of the semi-problems that I had with the first game.
To begin with, unlike the first game, this game actually has a plot. OK, so technically the first game has a plot, but it wasn’t much besides “find the six special items before the bad guys do.” This game has a heaping helping of plot-based cutscenes with double agents and surprise villains, and some “what are the bad guys really up to?” intrigue thrown in for good measure. It’s a definite improvement over the somewhat barebones plot of the first game.
The second big improvement is with the hidden object mechanic. The Samantha Swift hidden object mechanic will always be good in my book, because they never use the “hiding objects where they are impossible to see” trick, which is responsible for 95% of the swearing you hear from casual gamers. It is furthermore good because, unlike most hidden object games, you’re not just given a list of items to find; you are also given silhouettes of the items that you’re looking for. It’s a nice change of pace, and it makes finding hidden objects much, much easier.
Apparently, however, the developers weren’t satisfied with that, so in this game, they threw in a radar option. Now, if your cursor is close to the hidden object, the radar screen turns red. If you’re not so close, the radar is yellow, and if you’re far away, the radar is white. So even if you’re completely stuck and can’t find something, you can simply play “hot and cold” with the radar in order to find it. It’s a creative improvement to make finding hidden objects easier, although it kind of makes the hint mechanic irrelevant, because I’d rather play “hot and cold” than use up my valuable hints.
Another change is in the number of items you have to find. The first game had you find, say, twelve items per screen. This game has you find ten items per screen, and then ten more items per screen. It’s a simple mechanic that almost doubles the gameplay length (woo hoo!), but I sometimes found myself clicking on a hidden item, only the game totally didn’t count it, because it was a hidden item on the second list of items, not the first. Grrrr.
The logic-based puzzles in the game are good. I’m not so sure about the adventure game puzzles (here defined as “puzzles where you use one item on another item”). Like the first game, the adventure game puzzles don’t always make sense—”of course I’m supposed to use the scarf on the crevice to pull out the hidden helmet!”—but at least they didn’t offend me as much as the puzzles in Tales of Monkey Island, which I maintain are totally illogical, even though my review of the game is the lowest-rated article on GameCola. Both games use the frustrating “try random items until you find the one that works” puzzle scheme, but I think the key difference is that Samantha Swift doesn’t pretend to still be logical, whereas Monkey Island does.
The solution to the puzzle on this screen is “use the broom on the dirt to sweep it away,” so not all the adventure game puzzles are totally random.
In conclusion, Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch is an improvement over the already-good Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena. Plus, did I mention that this game comes prepackaged with a free copy of the first one? That’s the first two Samantha Swift games on one CD, which is a good deal if you don’t already have the first game. As for me, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the third and fourth games in the series.
GameCola Rates This Game: 9 - Excellent
Michael Gray 521
Email: mgray@gamecola.net
Michael Gray is a staff writer for GameCola, who focuses on adventure games, videos and writing videogame walkthroughs.
John Jamey says:
I wonder if they’ll make a version for “non-casual” gamers, considering the relative ease of this release.
[NSFW] Potatoman Seeks The Troof (PC)
I'm not playing a game; I'm playing someone's bath salt-induced delusion.
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Help me help my kid
By happysmileylady, May 19 in The Chat Board
My oldest is 23 and dating someone from another culture. They are...more than semi serious. By that I mean, discussions of the future have happened, but....no rings or dates.
Here's DD23's stumbling block. Her boyfriend is concerned about his parent's reaction to him dating an American white girl. His entire family still lives in his country of origin and has no intention of moving to the US. However, he came here on a student visa, is converting that to a working visa, and ultimately intends to gain citizenship. This process is long and drawn out but ultimately, he doesn't intend to ever move back to his country of origin, which means that regardless of who he dates/carries on a relationship/marries...his family simply won't be closely directly involved in his life.
Right now, his family is here in the states. They came for his college masters degree graduation (a program with BS and MS together.) They have been here for 3 weeks and will be here another week. He hasn't told them he has a girlfriend. And he's really afraid to, specifically because his girlfriend is an American white girl. But, DD is feeling like he's ashamed of her. In addition, she doesn't want to get started with his family on the wrong foot if things do continue to progress. She has talked to him about this, but he is totally and completely freaked out about the idea of telling his parents. One of her biggest concerns is that if things continue to progress, she may be stuck meeting an unapproving MIL on her wedding day (yes......my dd thinks ahead, but yes...these are discussions.)
So...for those who have dated outside their culture, even married outside their culture of origin, how are these things handled? It's outside my experience so I don't quite know how to advise "caution" if that makes sense...
maize 62,012
Maizgyver
Is this a culture where marriages are traditionally arranged?
SereneHome 2,400
Worker Bee
I don't know if it's considered a different culture bc both my husband and i are white, but I wasn't born in US and my family is all here, but neither me at 20 or me now would find this situation OK. If he is serious about your DD, he should introduce his family to her. If he is not introducing them to each other - to me it screams all kinds of red flags.
But I am very harsh when it comes to what I consider excuses. He is not a child. He is an adult. And he is lying. He is either lying to your DD about his reasons or he is lying to his parents about his relationship. I don't like people who lie.
Innisfree 5,071
I have no insights on the question of cross-cultural relationships. However, I would hesitate to base my relationship and marriage plans on an idea that his family will never be more closely involved in his life. These things can change in unexpected ways.
8 minutes ago, maize said:
However...Her BF's brother went off an "eloped" for lack of a better word and ultimately, though the DIL is not well liked.....she is accepted and participates in family events on such.
livetoread 8,514
Hive Mind Worker Bee
I don’t have any advice, but The Big Sick is a great movie that deals with this very issue. It’s the semi-autobiographical story of the co-writers who fell in love (and the guy stars in it too).
It depends hugely on the cultures and people involved. With range of reaction ultimately possible from happy acceptance to murder.
Bambam 2,436
Hive Mind Level 6 Worker: Scout Bee
I have no advice. If I were your DD, I'd be concerned about a guy who is so afraid of telling his parents this. I'm assuming since he is getting his Master's that he is older than 22. I'd expect a 22 yo to stand up to their parents (maybe this is a cultural thing that I don't understand?). If he wasn't or couldn't, I'd be wondering exactly when/if he could tell them/stand up to them.
Ultimately I think my DD's biggest thing is that.......if she's going to meet these people it's either going to be this week.................or on her wedding day if that is where it goes. Short of major catastrophe, they aren't coming back to the states for years, and she's not going there for, well, years. Her passport is even expired.
Funny enough, she has a co-worker, female, who is from the same culture/country, who has told her very similar. Well, using less polite terms lol. So I did tell DD that if someone with that experience is telling her this, its possible it's not a cultural thing but a mother/son thing. (which I think can be pretty universal sometimes.)
One thing I also wanted to say.....we have met him. We really like him and in particular, DH, who plays the part of the overprotective dad REALLY well....REALLY likes him. He's really a great guy.
The fact that we were so accepting however, seemed to surprise him, according to DD23.
Someone asked about his age....he's older than her....late 20s.
Garga 23,178
Does his family know he’s planning on immigrating and becoming a US citizen and will rarely ever see them again? And if they know, then who did they expect him to marry? For him to find another immigrant from his homeland?
Or is it possible that they’ve already considered that he will end up marrying an white American girl, since he’ll be an American himself in a few years? And maybe his fears aren’t as founded as he thinks?
Or...if his family doesn’t approve, will he break up with your dd? Maybe that’s why he isn’t telling. His plan might be a secret wedding, because otherwise he might be afraid he’ll cave to their pressure.
Edited May 19 by Garga
1 minute ago, happysmileylady said:
Yikes. That seems old to be so afraid to stand up to the family. But I’m an American and our culture is all about leaving the nest and going your own way. In other cultures, the elder generation is to be OBEYED and you sacrifice the things you want in order to please your family.
Well, I’m not much help after all...I thought I was going somewhere with this, but I guess I’m not.
Is this a deal breaker for your dd? What if she did meet the family for the first time at the wedding? Ultimately, is she ok with that? Because it sounds like that’s what’ll happen.
5 minutes ago, Garga said:
According to him, yes they know and are happy he plans to immigrate. However, I don't suppose anyone has discussed "who he's expected to marry." Given everything I have been told both by DD and her BF.....I suspect his fears are not quite as founded as he thinks.
10 minutes ago, Garga said:
Ultimately, it might be a deal breaker for her, which is why she's struggling hard and asked my advice...................which is why I asked here. And, maybe it's an American culture thing, but meeting your ILs the day of your wedding........that's a very hard pill to swallow for her (and really, would be for me too.)
You mentioned "elder generation is to be OBEYED" and that's how she feels he's proceeding, but it's very in conflict with....well...our culture, in this regard.
Also, to be perfectly honest, my DD may very well be overthinking the whole thing because his family leaves in a week. It feels to her like the last chance to meet them before................proceeding I guess is the word I am looking for. It's not like they can fly out for a holiday or birthday. And in our family, most holidays and birthdays are celebrated family style and boyfriends and such are welcomed. So all of this is very new territory for her, and me and DH.
Edited May 19 by happysmileylady
Arcadia 16,994
I have ex-colleagues who are expected to go back to their homeland for a bride after getting their citizenship (China, India, Korea). Some of my ex-colleagues parents and siblings expect the person to sponsor them to the US after acquiring citizenship.
My husband and I are the same race and from the same country. His parents (especially his mom) has the reputation of being so nitpicky about her sons’ girlfriends and scaring them off that he told his aunts but not his parents. He got scolded by his mom for his choice of engagement ring 😛
J-rap 13,359
Hmm Just because he's afraid to tell his parents doesn't necessarily mean red flags are all over it. They sound like vastly different cultures, so I don't think it's quite fair to expect the same of him as we would a young man of our own culture. It may be the type of situation where your dd will just have to accept that it may take years before his parents get over their long-held beliefs and dreams for their son. Hopefully with patience and love, they will finally come to see that their son is very happy and that your dd is a lovely person! I think I'd prepare your dd that it won't happen fast; that she'll need to be patient. Hopefully at some point she could visit his home country? Her making an effort to get to know his family on their turf might give a very positive message.
I guess I wouldn't worry about it too much other than that. There's only so much you can do right now, and what's more important is that your dd and he build a solid and trusting relationship, if they plan to marry someday. Eventually he will have to tell his parents.
We have two inter-cultural marriages among our children, though not so vastly different cultures. However, each of our children spent quite a bit of time in the other's culture to get to know the family and understand the culture better.
Ottakee 11,714
Amateur Bee Keeper
LocationWest Michigan
Another thing for her to consider, is his philosophy on raising children, etc. as cultural differences can be huge here as well.
mathnerd 3,255
Slacker Mom
LocationNot in Kansas anymore!
certain cultures I know of ask their sons to bring their girlfriends back to their country and undergo religious ceremonies (including conversions) even if they do accept the girl as the DIL. It depends on the culture, the family and how "progressive" their outlook is towards inter-religious and inter-cultural marriages. In societies with arranged marriages (and the loss of face for the family in their communities if the male does not stick to tradition), there is going to be a lot of resistance.
desertflower 635
You have many factors to consider. Like how often his family visits. Who does his parents expect him to marry?
I dont like the fact he hasn't told his parents about her. Leads me to believe that he is not serious about her.
When my husband and I were at this stage I still told my parents and he met them. We didn't have a ring or anything yet either. Just talked about getting married.
Your daughter needs to know that he will choose her over his parent's approval. Because ultimately in the end she will be the most important person in his life until they have kids.
This is how I feel anyhow. I love my parents and all. but I left their household and have one of my own now.
If they don't come to the states often and he is serious about her, then she should meet with them. Imo.
I can't speak for all cultures, but that is what I did.
6 minutes ago, J-rap said:
She's working on understanding his culture. She is working to learn the language and cook the food, both of which she actually finds really fascinating and enjoyable. She told me that once, he walked into her apartment and remarked that it smelled like home and that gave her all the warm feels that a remark like that should. At this point, if they met today, she could introduce herself in his mother's language and he loves her even more for even that much.
kiwik 4,491
Many immigrants here go back to their COO to get marriages arranged so it may be they have someone arranged for him. Whether he knows this or not is another question.
6 minutes ago, mathnerd said:
Actually, of all things, religion is not the issue. Although the *culture* typically practices arranged marriages, the religion does not. I hope that makes sense. Religiously speaking, they actually *share* the same religion, as well as the same level of lack of practice.
Marriage itself has its ups and downs, so I would get this out of the way before the wedding.
Also, has he already been betrothed to someone else?
3 minutes ago, Pen said:
As far as we (DD, DH, me) know....no. And based on what we DO know, it's not...............likely. I suppose it's possible, but I don't know enough to answer definitively. I would say the answer is more likely NO, than YES.
So, say, like Christians from the country of India? Lots of arranged marriages in India, but not a religious requirement?
PeppermintPattie 236
Maybe this is your answer then - a dad to boyfriend chat about it all. He can ask the hard questions, and I'm betting the boyfriend won't even find it strange that the dad is so involved, being from a country with arranged marriages. In India, parents are expected to stay involved in the marriages of their children, offering advice and laying down the law when necessary, long after the wedding is over, which makes me think that this discussion with your dh is even more crucial - It's not like the in-laws' disapproval will go away once they're married. It could go on and on. The thing is, now that he has a master's degree, as soon as he has a healthy bank account, they'll be finding him a wife, so it's going to have to be dealt with soon, and it would be more honoring to his parents to be upfront about it all, to say nothing of the respect it would show your dd. Your dh should be able to get to the bottom of it all with some good questions. (Let us know if you want our help in formulating those. 🙂 )
There's a movie about a similar situation with an Indian man and an American woman called The Patels, or something like that.
12 minutes ago, PeppermintPattie said:
Part of what makes this a bit difficult is that, DD doesn't live with or near us. She's fully launched, liveing over 2 hrs away. She actually lives closer to my parents and her BF has met my parents more than he has met us.
*sigh* Having adult kids is so complicated.
If they DO get married, which is very possible, he would be a GREAT guy to welcome to the family. But it's not up to us and we can't do much beyond advise.
gardenmom5 28,282
Locationin the valley between the water surrounded by mts
I would consider not wanting to even tell his parents he has a girlfriend, let alone a white American girlfriend, a major red flag. for all his protestations he never wants to move back to his country of origin - things may change. for all he's convinced his parents are in another country and will have no impact, is naïve. if it is this difficult now, when they dont' have a ring and a date (and his parents don't even know about her) - it will be 100 times worse after they are married and start having children.
prairiewindmomma 25,688
no longer on the prairie
Look, for all that we might try to understand based on cultural practices from his home country, ultimately this is about their relationship and the inter dynamics between him and his parents. I think this should be an eye opening/caveat emptor moment that should lead to some serious questions before marriage.
Will his parents visit yearly for weeks at a time?
Will his parents come live with them, if they marry, as they age and retire from working?
Who will work? Who will care for children?
Will she be able to maintain her current levels of freedom or will his behavioral expectations for her change?
I think this experience should be giving her a strong heads up that he isn't as independent as she would prefer.
SKL 49,544
She needs to be very careful and guard her feelings. I think there is a good chance he is either going to change his mind (i.e. end the relationship), or try really hard to change her (to suit his family's customs), or both.
Also, he is lying to his family about such a big thing - what's to say he isn't just as shamelessly lying to her? I have an Indian friend who accepted a guy because he said he would allow her to have a job and play sports, but then after the marriage, he demanded that she quit those and slave in the house ... and he became abusive when she didn't submit enough. And that was said to be pretty common in that culture.
As she is a planner - that is good - I hope they are discussing how (and where, and by whom) any children they have would be raised. He may be OK with her being who she is, but his daughters may be a different story. The Indian guy I dated declared, for example, that his daughters must wear skirts below the knee; also that his kids must be raised in his conservative Hindu religion. Not to mention in a home where the woman's place is in the kitchen. Furthermore, he intended to keep my parents / extended family and friends away to minimize their influence. It was a blessing that he was so honest about these things.
Carrie12345 14,430
I do think I would share most of everyone’s concerns here. The one thing I’d be a little lighter on is the whole “he’s too old to not be telling his parents” thing. To American’s, of course he’s too darn old to be hiding from Mommy and Daddy! But there are many other cultures in which dating and marriage carry heavy parental influence no matter the ages involved. Shucking that in practice while on the other side of the world may be one thing, but exposing it in person to deep cultural roots might be an entirely different thing. I would give SOME grace for what he might be going though, internally.
That said, I still wouldn’t like it. Something is (obviously) going to have to give at some point. His girlfriend has every right to know when that point is.
FWIW, I talked future and marriage with two people before my dh. It did not happen with those two people. Perhaps he’s waiting (right or wrong) to be absolutely positive that it will be happening before he takes on that conversation. (As an American mom with American kids, I vote wrong, but I do reserve some empathy for the man’s situation.)
whitehawk 12,895
Making it go!
So, as somebody who is not close to my parents and did not discuss my boyfriend much until telling them we were engaged--though they'd met him (and we married at 22/23)--I'd like to point out that from his POV, there may be no up side to discussing it with his parents. He doesn't plan to live in the same country with them again. He may only see them once a year or so. They're not going to change his mind, but they may try because it's not a "done deal" yet (even if actually they would like her very much--they may be hoping for a high-status DIL like a doctor). If he sees them as likely to try to interfere inappropriately, and he doesn't intend to take their opinion into consideration anyway, why say anything now?
MaBelle 824
My first instinct would be to run from any guy who was afraid to introduce her to his parents. Man up or beat it.
Valley Girl 5,933
I can see why you're concerned. My question would be, at what point WOULD he think it appropriate to introduce your daughter to his family? Waiting until they're engaged and she's confronted with upset/disapproving in-laws-to-be is extremely unfair. Things can be said that may be hard to get past. (Ask me how I know.) In fairness to everyone, he needs to give his family a heads up. Everyone on his side needs a chance to get used to the idea and work out their personal hang-ups before meeting the poor girl. Is there someone in his family who would support his decision, or who could be counted on to say "I've met her. She's lovely"?
ETA: Other posters have made some really wise suggestions about things that need to be discussed between the two of the them up front so there are no unpleasant surprises with regard to expectations or his family's involvement with them. Also, just because things are agreed upon at the outset does not mean someone won't have a change of heart years down the road. That happened with DH and me on a fundamental issue that had been "covered" before marriage, and it caused a lot of friction.
Edited May 19 by Valley Girl
unsinkable 22,975
AD QUEM IBIMUS
Would she accept this (or any other cultural) behavior from a white guy who was born and raised in the US?
She has to deal with the consequences of his choices regarding their relationship at this point, not the causes.
So I talked to her a little bit ago, she apparently talked with him last night and basically told him, look, this *really* bothers me. She said he apologized and reassured her that he would tell them, but the way she discussed it, it doesn't sound like she has a lot of confidence in that. If he doesn't tell them before they go back home, I know that's going to be a major thing for her that will probably boil up sooner rather than later. If he does tell them but she doesn't get to meet them, that will still bother her, but at this point it would be difficult to make the schedules work right.
I am very close to my parents but I completely understand that many people are not. I understand not telling parents about even big events in your life if you are not close to them
But he is not simply "not telling" them something, he is lying. Bc if his parents have been here for 3 wks and have no idea that he is dating OP's DD, there HAS TO be lying going on. He is either telling them that he is single or that she is not available to meet. Bc I can not imagine a mother in ANY CULTURE not asking her late 20s' yr old son about his relationships.
marbel 22,528
9 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:
This. Huge red flag!
And, someone else said - he's telling her he's lying to his parents, how does she know he's not lying to her? He's proven himself a liar, and afraid of his parents. I don't think I could excuse that with "oh, well, that's his culture." He lives in your daughter's culture now, and says he plans to stay. How does she know he is telling her the truth about that?
Marriage is a risk no matter what, right? There is always the chance someone will change their mind about something, and the unexpected can always happen. But when you add different cultural expectations to the mix, it can be complicated. imagine in 10 years this young man's father dies, and he is called to go home to care for his mother. And he feels obligated to do so because, yeah, he's still afraid to upset his parents.
7 minutes ago, SereneHome said:
Bc I can not imagine a mother in ANY CULTURE not asking her late 20s' yr old son about his relationships.
If it is expected that matchmaking would occur when the time comes, the parents may not ask. My Korean ex-colleagues won’t ask about relationships, they were asked if they earn enough to support a wife. I know a few who were matchmade as they show us photos from the matchmaking meetings while we were taking coffee break in the office.
12 hours ago, Ottakee said:
This has been the experience of one of my siblings who married someone from a different culture. Navigating the cultural differences wasn't too difficult until children came along, but there are HUGE cultural differences in child rearing expectations and that has been very, very hard for them to navigate.
moonflower 2,574
Both of my sister in laws married men from different cultures (in their cases, Mexicans). Both were here in the US illegally and did intend to stay; one had most of his family here and the other was just here on his own.
Both ended in divorce; the cultural issues were a huge divide and I think also having family/connections/origins in another country where they had a kind of social position and currency that they lacked here made it harder to commit to stay in the US when things were difficult and easier to return to Mexico. Neither sister in law wanted to move themselves and their kids to Mexico and that contributed to the breakdown of the relationship.
So I'd say yes, in-law issues can be serious, cross cultural issues can be serious, but also just the very practical issue of return to country of origin is worth considering. Is he sure he can convert to citizenship? Would she be willing, if he can't or if he changes his mind and wants to be near his family and origin culture (completely understandable), to move to where he's from?
sassenach 9,927
Disappointing Bill like it's my job
13 hours ago, livetoread said:
That was a great movie. It kind of surprised me.
1 hour ago, happysmileylady said:
if he tells her he told his parents, but she doesn't meet them (or speak with them on the phone/skype) - how will she know he's telling *her the truth*? how does she know he's telling her the truth now? what will happen if he doesn't get permanent residency/citizenship?
remind her, breaking off a relationship with big red flags before a marriage and kids is far cheaper, both financially and emotionally- than a divorce down the road.
1 hour ago, SereneHome said:
I don't. I don't consider it my business to ask my children about their relationships. I didn't even hear about dsil until the holiday weekend when they first started talking about marriage. (because she brought him to our house.)
when they have something to announce - they'll tell me. dh was *harassed* by his family, uncles, aunts, etc because he was a late 20's something and single. everyone was demanding to know who he was dating, and what his plans were. he still takes joy in the fact his mother was out of the country when we got engaged and married. and she had no idea who I was.
eta: I'm sure dh's family thought they were only asking occasionally over a period of years, and they were "showing concern" - but there were multiple people asking on a regular basis - adds up fast. and the expressions of concern he was "being too picky".
Edited May 19 by gardenmom5
If he does tell them but she doesn't get to meet them, that will still bother her, but at this point it would be difficult to make the schedules work right.
How about sending his parents off at the airport? Would that work for your daughter’s schedule?
Edited May 19 by Arcadia
I do want to make sure I haven't given the wrong impression. The possibility of marriage is a discussion they are having, but there is for sure no commitment to anything yet. It's really the very beginning of the discussion process on that. It's not something she would fall into lightly or rush into or anything like that.
4 minutes ago, Arcadia said:
To be honest, I don't know the details of when his family is leaving, I just know it's sometime towards the end of this week. I do know DD will be travelling around the state for work like 2 or 3 days during the week, but if his family is flying out on a Saturday it probably would work.
kdsuomi 202
My husband is not white and grew up in another country and culture, and I didn't meet the sisters who raised him until the day before we got married. The other sisters I didn't meet until after we were married. The marriage is ending after eleven years, but it has nothing to do with out cultural differences. Due to my experience, I wouldn't necessarily think not mentioning her to the family is a huge red flag, but it may be in their situation.
13 hours ago, happysmileylady said:
Just remember that it won't seem strange to the bf when your dh gets involved at some point. This is completely expected in India, and expressing his expectations for how he wants your dd to be treated in the marriage will be respected.
The fact that your dd might not meet the in-laws until the wedding won't seem strange to them or even to the bf - I know many Indians who didn't even meet their fiance until the day of the wedding! So the bf may not understand why this matters to your dd.
I'm glad I didn't know how hard this stage of parenting would be when my kids were little. It is complicated!!
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Horror is powered by Vocal creators. You support Maurice Bernier by reading, sharing and tipping stories... more
by Maurice Bernier a year ago in fiction
Death never rests!
Photo by Yuriy Garnaev on Unsplash
The movie was quite enjoyable. The guys headed home for the evening. George was now driving his new van. Irene was with them. They stopped by a pool parlor for a quick game. When they were done, they headed home for good. They decided this time, not to go to the cemetery. They had enough of cemeteries for the evening. Besides, it was nearly two in the morning. There should be no activity anywhere.
They rode down the main street. There were hardly any cars anywhere. They seemed to be the only life on the street. They just had the music, each other's company, and the bad jokes. Tonight, however, added something else to their itinerary.
There was a light on within the funeral home. Why was there a light on the inside of a funeral home? George slowed the van to a near crawl. The light suddenly went out. George hit the brakes. Another light went on. Another went on after that one. Now, both lights went out. They sensed that something was amiss. What was going on at two in the morning that couldn't wait until the next day? Were there more vampires? Did they relocate? If so, then the battle was not over. This warranted an investigation. They knew what had to be done.
George parked the vehicle. They had a new situation. Irene was with them. They were now worried about having her along in this situation. Yes, they had to do something about the funeral home. Yes, they had to keep her away from the action. Caution had to be exercised in great amounts. They had to get inside. They also had a legal worry-getting inside now after business hours would be breaking and entering. They couldn't wait till morning. Damage might be complete by then. They had to act immediately. They figured that they could park the vehicle here until morning. Each occupant would take a part of the watch and alert the others to any other unusual activity. They would then enter the building legally in the morning. They had the day off anyway. Jimmy took the first watch.
The morning silence was broken by the sound of George's wrist alarm. He nudged everyone awake including Marcel, who fell asleep during his watch. They agreed that Irene would stay behind in the van. She stayed there listening to the radio. She had hoped that Jimmy would not have any close calls like they did during the last two adventures.
The guys went inside. They glanced for a name that they could visit. They agreed to look at Mr. Charlie Smith. The mortician greeted them in the foyer. He walked them to chapel A. There is where they would find Smith's body.
Smith's body looked quite normal. He was in a black suit. Oddly enough, however, there were no flowers anywhere in the chapel. In fact, there were no flowers anywhere in the funeral home. The room had a strange aura. There was a sense of impending danger, yet they saw nothing unusual.
They were slightly convinced that everything was on the up and up. George sat in a chair in the lobby. Why were there light on in this place at two in the morning? There had to be another missing clue. Jimmy looked out of the door to see if Irene was okay. There was nothing amiss with the van. Mark looked out of the window. He, nor anyone else in the gang, had been in a funeral home first thing in the morning. Still, an investigation is an investigation.
Marcel sneezed. He had spent too much time in his wet clothes from the night before. He wiped his nose with the phlegm that he felt dripping down his nose. He took a tissue from his pocket. He turned his head and blew his nose. He opened his eyes and faced the picture frame of someone on the table. Who it was wasn't important. What he discovered brought a look of shock on his face. He looked at the reflection in the glass. It was the reflection of Smith's casket. HE WASN'T IN IT!! He turned to see the actual casket. Smith was in the box, yet in the reflection, he wasn't there. Vampires have no reflection. Therefore, Smith must be a vampire. This place must be full of them. But it's daytime. How can they be around in the daytime?
He motioned for Mark to share this discovery. Mark saw the phenomenon. They quickly excused themselves and pulled Jimmy and George in tow. They very well couldn't stay there. Their lives would surely be in danger. It was time to make another game plan.
Mark and Marcel briefed the group on the latest discovery. They were in shock. The vampires seemed to have shifted their headquarters to a new location. What were they going to do now?
Irene offered her best answer: leave. Jimmy disagreed. He would have nothing of it. In the Army, he was trained to go into battle and finish it. He wanted to make sure that the vampires were eliminated. They started something that he was intent to finish it. It had to be this way. She broke down in tears. Marcel, Mark and George agreed with Jimmy. They had to eliminate these blood-suckers.
The battle seemed to have shifted from the cemetery to the city. They now have to do battle on their own turf. This might be much tougher than before. Apparently, the vampires must have sneaked away from the burial ground. There also was the possibility that they had some help. There must have been a connection between the funeral home and the cemetery. The other cemeteries had to be checked as well.If possible, they might have to get some holy water of the other places as well. The battle has now entered a new dimension. They were ready for the challenge.
They left for Mark's house. There, he had an additional laptop computer. He, through the use of his modem, was able to do the research that they needed. He looked for any possible connection between the first cemetery and the funeral home. There was none at the moment. He then ran a check on the other cemeteries. Again, there was none. There had to be something that they were overlooking at the moment. Why was he feeling so unsure? Was there a kickback between the two? Vampires don't need money. They need blood. But why does the funeral home need to be involved? Immediate answers were needed.
There is a time when one has to rise above the law. The guys felt that this has to be the time. The home needed to be burned to the ground. The question was how it was going to be done. They couldn't afford to be caught. They had to come to some sort of arrangement. They could firebomb the place, but they were afraid of leaving incriminating evidence. No, this had to be done as cleanly as possible.
Jimmy prepared a few Molotov cocktails. They would do the trick. He made a few of these in his Army days. These would blow the foundation out of the ground. This would send those creatures sprawling for cover. The only dilemma would be the time of day; doing it during the day and they risked getting caught. Do it at night and the place would be empty or they would have moved on anyway. They had to act right away. They would try a daylight bombing.
They left Irene behind. They would go on to do this without her. Besides, if anything went wrong, she would be in the middle of it. Jimmy didn't want that to happen.
They pulled up to the home. It seemed inactive. They had to be sure that there were no mourners inside. Someone had to check first. Mark and Marcel went inside.
The place seemed very quiet. On this visit, however, all of the caskets were closed. This was what they came to expect. There were no mourners. This was what they wanted. They walked over to the Smith casket. Mark opened it up. Smith was still inside. The coldness of the body could be felt by both of them. They slammed the lid shut and ran for the exit. If he was still there, chances are that the rest were still inside as well. They were ready to go for broke. George hurled the first bomb as scheduled when he saw Mark and Marcel. Within seconds, Jimmy threw the second. Soon, the home was engulfed in flames. Screams could be heard within the walls. More bombs came crashing through the windows. Now, they had to move quickly. If the police caught them, they could be arrested.
George and Jimmy pulled them in the van. Then, George drove away. Now, they went from conquerors to possible fugitives. They had hoped that the screams were actually vampires and nothing else.
They drove for a few minutes. Soon, Jimmy saw five police cars with flashing lights giving chase to the van. They heard gunshots. The police were firing at them. George had to do something to avoid getting everyone killed. Mark came up with a plan. He convinced George to pull up to a nearby corner in order to duck the police. He did so.Mark and Jimmy hopped out of the van and ran. George and Marcel would continue driving. If they were caught, they would tell the police that only they were involved in the bombing and deny that Mark and Jimmy were with them. It was risky, but they were willing, for the sake of their friendship, to take the risk.
Jimmy and Mark hailed a cab. They headed back to the apartment where they caught up with Irene. They changed their clothes to avoid identification and rid themselves of the odor of the gasoline. Now they had to find George and Marcel.
George continued to elude the police. Vans don't corner very well at high speeds. George turned a corner. He missed the pavement by a few feet. The vehicle went tumbling for a few feet. Their luck had run out. Fortunately, they were able to crawl away from the wreck. They had only gotten away for a few feet when the van erupted into a daytime fireball. The police rushed in. They slapped handcuffs on the two of them. Marcel and George were now in the custody of the law.
They were taken to Central Booking. They were fingerprinted and given the customary phone call which they chose not to use at this time. If they called Mark and Jimmy, it would risk getting them caught as well as further the vampires' agenda. No, they had to have it this way. It was a chance they had to take. George devised a plan. They were in an accident. They still felt some pain. They would need a doctor. They made a request for one.
Meanwhile, Mark couldn't let his friends stay in jail. He was willing to go to the jail and act as their lawyer. He wondered, however, if someone spotted him as one of the fire bombers. If they did, he would be putting himself at risk in the jailhouse. That would leave Jimmy and Irene at risk. Still, something had to be done and right away. The evening was beginning to fall. Even though the home was destroyed, there was still no evidence that the vampires were gone. They had to assume that there were still vampires roaming the city, wreaking death wherever they went.
It was now evening. Still, Marcel and George were in jail. They needed to get out. The vampires' plan was still unknown. Perhaps they were going to seek revenge upon the gang. Maybe they were going to take over the town. The guys only won the battle. The war was still on. They couldn't lead the fight within the jail-or could they? George had to take the chance. He requested a lawyer. The county assigned an attorney. Their counsel would have to go about and prove their innocence. That would also probably make the plan known to the public. It was a chance that he was willing to take. The lawyer was a bit on the wimpy side. He did manage to get the bail together. Because of the damage and the nature of the damage, the bail was set at $10,000. George put his lavish apartment up for collateral. Marcel did likewise. They were now, for the moment, free men in search of their innocence. The first thing they had to do was a thorough search of the funeral home. They had to make sure that they had done their job. The proof that they would need would be there in the rubble. Their lawyer advised them not to do it. They were not the type to listen to authorities. They needed this proof. They had to show that the town was in immediate danger. A town of vampires was a far-fetched notion, but they saw it with their own eyes. They had to have proof. Marcel made a request. He wanted the trial to be held in the remains of the funeral home. He remembered the body-or missing body-in the casket. If a jury saw the same thing, perhaps they could get off scot-free.It was another shot for the guys. Combined with probation, they could be free and clear. The lawyer was hesitant at first but later agreed to help with the plan.
Mark and Jimmy, coincidentally, were thinking of the something. The secret to the whole case rested in the funeral home. If the vampires chose to make some sort of move tonight, the guys could be stuck for life in jail. They decided to go in search of proof.
It was now six PM. Marcel realized that they had to both get in touch with the second half of their group and their evidence. He and George took a cab with the lawyer to the home. On the way, they heard the radio in the cab. They heard about a group of murders in the city jail. They decided to visit the jail before they went to the home.
What they found there was more than they could accept. There were police everywhere. The carnage was worse than anything that they had seen in any movie. Jimmy and Mark met the other two at the jailhouse. Jimmy tightly held Irene's hand. She broke down in fear. The whole group felt that this was meant to be a message to the group. It seems like the entire department was wiped out. Mark snuck off beyond anyone's eyesight. He entered the computer room and subsequently deleted George and Marcel's name from the database. As a result, they were once again free men. They took the lawyer outside and informed him that his services would no longer be needed.
The message was all too clear to them. They were all set to retaliate. No vampires were going to boss them around. They went back to George's apartment and organized their new battle plans. The holy water worked in the cemetery. The stake did the job on the main vampire. It was agreed that a face to face battle would do the trick. They sat and said their prayers together. They were unsure of what to expect. This could be their final battle. They probably wouldn't come out of this alive. They continued their prayers.
Read next: 'Long Lost'
Maurice Bernier
I am a diehard New Yorker! I was born in, raised in and love my NYC. My blood bleeds orange & blue for my New York Mets. I hope that you like my work. I am cranking them out as fast as I can. Please enjoy & share with your friends.
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Rotary Power and Hydrofit announce marketing partnership
Rotary Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of privately owned British Engines Ltd., has entered into an agreement with Hydrofit FZE International Ltd. to distribute its range of hydraulic motors and pumps.
Rotary Power manufactures high torque radial piston hydraulic motors together with axial piston pumps and motors and supply into almost all industry segments. Progressive design and cutting edge production techniques ensure high quality products.
The Hydrofit group, based in Dubai, is a group of engineering companies supplying hydraulic components and completely engineered systems. They have been a leading engineering company in the Middle East for more than two decades. Hydrofit FZE International has been established in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham as a strategic expansion of the Hydrofit Group in order to support customers in the UK and Europe.
Tony Kay, managing director of Hydrofit FZE International, said: “The agreement with Rotary Power is a very positive development. Rotary Power has a very good product range and there is a palpable drive and enthusiasm from its management team. We believe there is real potential for this partnership and we very much look forward to working together.”
Geoff Willis, managing director of Rotary Power, added: “Rotary Power have made significant developments in their product design and production facility in recent years, and we see this marketing partnership as the next natural and exciting step in our growth plans. Tony Kay and Mike McBurney (Hydrofit’s technical director) understand the market for our product and we believe we can work very well together.”
Photo caption: Geoff Willis, managing director of Rotary Power (left), and Tony Kay, managing director of Hydrofit FZE International, celebrate the companies’ new partnership.
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You are at:Home»Business»Staying alive
Kyle Police Department Captain Pedro Hernandez leads a course on how to react to an active shooter. The presentation was open to all residents and business owners. (Photo by Exsar Arguello)
By Exsar Arguello on August 22, 2018 Business, Community
Active shooter training extended to business owners, residents
Multiple area business owners and residents took to Kyle Aug. 16 to learn how to better prepare themselves in the event of a possible active shooter situation.
It was all part of the Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, or C.R.A.S.E, program led by Kyle Police Captain Pedro Hernandez. Created by the Alert Center in San Marcos, the program is an FBI accredited course that compiled criteria from the San Marcos Police Department, Hays County and Texas State University.
With the recent rise in civilian shootings in businesses and public schools, Kyle police offered the program to instruct residents on ways to prepare should such an event occur.
“In Kyle, our average response time is around three minutes, which compared to the rest of the country, is good,” Hernandez said. “But a lot of people can get killed in three minutes. What you do matters. When you go back to your office or home, be actively thinking about exits and different methods of escape.”
–Capt. Pedro Hernandez, Kyle Police Department and C.R.A.S.E. instructor
“The Columbine Massacre changed the way we looked at active shooting events and it was an eye-opener for the world, including law enforcement,” Hernandez said. “We weren’t trained for active shooting situations, but now, we are taught to go to the gunfight. Our initial primary goal is not to aid the injured or help people escape, but to stop the killing.”
Throughout the presentation, Hernandez reiterated run, hide and fight – three essential steps that could save one’s life during a shooting.
Hernandez said it might be difficult to speak with employees, students and children about effective responses in case of an active shooter, but adequate education and quick thinking can save lives.
According to the Chicago Tribune, of the 10 deadliest shootings in the United States, all but one occurred in a town with fewer than 75,0000 people. The majority of the deadliest shootings in the country occurred in towns with populations fewer than 50,000.
Hernandez said these shootings can occur anywhere at any time, and training one’s brain to stay vigilant and aware is one of the only things people can do to prepare themselves.
The audience was filled with a diverse pool of residents and members of the business community who feared that they too could be the victim of a shooting.
Among the crowd was Julie Snyder, CEO of the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce. She said local business owners should be proactive in preparing for emergencies.
“Learning that the majority of violent incidents happen at businesses was an eye-opener for me,” Snyder said. “I also learned that people follow the actions of others, so in an emergency, when you’re prepared, you can take the action to help others work together in that decisive moment to protect themselves.”
Hernandez said 55 percent of shooters have some sort of connection to one of the intended victims. Mental illnesses can often trigger acts of violence. Reporting suspicious behavior to law enforcement can lead to a mental health evaluation if needed.
“Sometimes when people come in, they admit that they have violent motives and that can also save lives while getting proper medical treatment to that individual,” Hernandez said. “I can promise you that when you leave here today, you will see the world, your homes and offices differently, and that’s okay. Unfortunately, the world we live in is a lot different than it was years ago. But we must adapt.”
Julie Synder Pedro Hernandez
Exsar Arguello
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Geoff McFetridge
Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization
Robert E. Quinn
Anjan V. Thakor
From the July–August 2018 Issue
July–August 2018 Issue
When employees are disengaged and underperforming, the reaction of many managers is to try new incentives and ratchet up oversight and control. Yet often nothing improves. Why? Because the assumption behind such conventional approaches is that work is fundamentally contractual and that employees are self-interested agents who will seek to minimize personal effort. And that assumption becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: Employees do just what is needed to earn a reward or meet a standard, and nothing more.
But there is another way: Rally the organization behind an authentic higher purpose—an aspirational mission that explains how employees are making a difference and gives them a sense of meaning. If you do that, they will try new things, move into deep learning, and make surprising contributions. The workforce will become energized and committed, and performance will climb.
In this article, Quinn and Thakor describe how organizations like DTE Energy, KPMG, and Sandler O’Neill have dramatically increased employee engagement after discovering their higher purposes. The authors outline eight steps other companies can follow to break free of the conventional thinking about worker motivation, help a higher purpose permeate decisions throughout the company, and set off a positive chain of events.
You’ve surely seen this happen more than once: Employees get stuck in a rut, disengage from their work, and stop performing to their potential. So managers respond with tighter oversight and control, yet nothing improves.
Most management practices and incentives are based on conventional economic logic, which assumes that employees are self-interested agents. And that assumption becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
By connecting people with a sense of higher purpose, leaders can inspire them to bring more energy and creativity to their jobs. When employees feel that their work has meaning, they become more committed and engaged. They take risks, learn, and raise their game.
When Gerry Anderson first became the president of DTE Energy, he did not believe in the power of higher organizational purpose.
We’re not talking about having a clear mission that focuses largely on how a business will generate economic value. DTE had one that set out the goal of creating long-term gains for shareholders, and Anderson understood its importance.
A higher purpose is not about economic exchanges. It reflects something more aspirational. It explains how the people involved with an organization are making a difference, gives them a sense of meaning, and draws their support. But like many of the leaders we’ve interviewed in our research, Anderson started his tenure as president skeptical about how much it mattered. The concept of higher purpose didn’t fit into his mostly economic understanding of the firm.
But then the Great Recession of 2008 hit, and he knew he had to get his people to devote more of themselves to work. Even before the financial crisis, surveys had demonstrated that DTE employees were not very engaged. It was a classic quandary: Employees couldn’t seem to break free of old, tired behaviors. They weren’t bringing their smarts and creativity to their jobs. They weren’t performing up to their potential. Anderson knew that he needed a more committed workforce but did not know how to get one.
That was when retired army major general Joe Robles, then the CEO of USAA and a DTE board member, invited Anderson to visit some USAA call centers. Familiar with the culture of most call centers, Anderson expected to see people going through the motions. Instead he watched positive, fully engaged employees collaborate and go the extra mile for customers. When Anderson asked how this could be, Robles answered that a leader’s most important job is “to connect the people to their purpose.”
At USAA, he explained, every employee underwent an immersive four-day cultural orientation and made a promise to provide extraordinary service to people who had done the same for their country—members of the military and their families. That training was no small investment, since the company had more than 20,000 employees. Its lessons were continually reinforced through town hall meetings and other forums where people at all levels asked questions and shared ideas about how to fulfill their purpose.
Before the recession, Anderson would have rejected Robles’s statement about purpose as empty, simplistic rhetoric. But having run into a dead end in figuring out how to make his own organization thrive, Anderson was reexamining some of his basic assumptions about management, and he was open to what Robles was saying.
When Anderson returned to DTE’s Detroit headquarters, he made a video that articulated his employees’ higher purpose. (He got that idea from Robles, too.) It showed DTE’s truck drivers, plant operators, corporate leaders, and many others on the job and described the impact of their work on the well-being of the community—the factory workers, teachers, and doctors who needed the energy DTE generated. The first group of professional employees to see the video gave it a standing ovation. When union members viewed it, some were moved to tears. Never before had their work been framed as a meaningful contribution to the greater good. The video brought to life DTE’s new statement of purpose: “We serve with our energy, the lifeblood of communities and the engine of progress.”
Every organization has a pool of change agents that usually goes untapped.
What happened next was even more important: The company’s leaders dedicated themselves to supporting that purpose and wove it into onboarding and training programs, corporate meetings, and culture-building activities such as film festivals and sing-alongs. As people judged the purpose to be authentic, a transformation began to take place. Engagement scores climbed. The company received a Gallup Great Workplace Award for five years in a row. And financial performance responded in kind: DTE’s stock price more than tripled from the end of 2008 to the end of 2017.
Why did purpose work so well after other interventions had failed? Anderson had previously tried to shake things up by providing training, altering incentives, and increasing managerial oversight, with disappointing results. It turned out that his approach was to blame—not his people.
That’s a hard truth to recognize. If, like many executives, you’re applying conventional economic logic, you view your employees as self-interested agents and design your organizational practices and culture accordingly, and that hasn’t paid off as you’d hoped.
So you now face a choice: You can double down on that approach, on the assumption that you just need more or stricter controls to achieve the desired impact. Or you can align the organization with an authentic higher purpose that intersects with your business interests and helps guide your decisions. If you succeed in doing the latter, your people will try new things, move into deep learning, take risks, and make surprising contributions.
Many executives avoid working on their firms’ purpose. Why? Because it defies what they have learned in business school and, perhaps, in subsequent experience: that work is fundamentally contractual, and employees will seek to minimize personal costs and effort.
Those are not necessarily faulty assumptions—indeed, they describe the behavior in many environments reasonably well. However, they also amount to a self-fulfilling prophecy. When managers view employees this way, they create the very problems they expect. Employees choose to respond primarily to the incentives outlined in their contracts and the controls imposed on them. Consequently, they not only fail to see opportunities but also experience conflict, resist feedback, underperform, and personally stagnate. So managers, believing that their assumptions about employees have been validated, exert still more control and rely even more heavily on extrinsic incentives. Employees then narrowly focus on achieving those rewards, typically at the expense of activities that are hard to measure and often ignored, such as mentoring subordinates and sharing best practices. Overarching values and goals become empty words. People do only what they have to do. Results again fall short of expectations, and managers clamp down further.
In this article we provide a framework that can help managers break out of this vicious cycle. In our consulting work with hundreds of organizations and in our research—which includes extensive interviews with dozens of leaders and the development of a theoretical model—we have come to see that when an authentic purpose permeates business strategy and decision making, the personal good and the collective good become one. Positive peer pressure kicks in, and employees are reenergized. Collaboration increases, learning accelerates, and performance climbs. We’ll look at how you can set off a similar chain of events in your organization, drawing on examples from a range of companies.
When organizations embrace purpose, it’s often because a crisis forces leaders to challenge their assumptions about motivation and performance and to experiment with new approaches. But you don’t need to wait for a dire situation. The framework we’ve developed can help you build a purpose-driven organization when you’re not backed into a corner. It enables you to overcome the largest barrier to embracing purpose—the cynical “transactional” view of employee motivation—by following eight essential steps.
1. Envision an inspired workforce.
According to economists, every employer faces the “principal-agent problem,” which is the standard economic model for describing an organization’s relationships with its workers. Here’s the basic idea: The principal (the employer) and the agent (the employee) form a work contract. The agent is effort-averse. For a certain amount of money, he or she will deliver a certain amount of labor, and no more. Since effort is personally costly, the agent underperforms in providing it unless the principal puts contractual incentives and control systems in place to counter that tendency.
This model precludes the notion of a fully engaged workforce. According to its logic, what Anderson saw at USAA is not possible; it would be foolish to aspire to such an outcome.
One way to change that perception is to expose leaders to positive exceptions to the rule. Consider this July 2015 blog post by Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs, about an experience he had at a Hampton Inn:
“I left my hotel room this morning to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, and saw part of a man standing in the hallway. His feet were on a ladder. The rest of him was somewhere in the ceiling.
I introduced myself, and asked what he was doing. Along with satisfying my natural curiosity, it seemed a good way to delay my appointment with gravity, which I was in no hurry to keep. His name is Corey Mundle….We quickly got to talking.
“Well, Mike, here’s the problem,” he said. “My pipe has a crack in it, and now my hot water is leaking into my laundry room. I’ve got to turn off my water, replace my old pipe, and get my new one installed before my customers notice there’s a problem.”
I asked if he needed a hand, and he told me the job wasn’t dirty enough. We laughed, and Corey asked if he could have a quick photo. I said sure, assuming he’d return the favor. He asked why I wanted a photo of him, and I said it was because I liked his choice of pronouns.
“I like the way you talk about your work,” I said. “It’s not ‘the’ hot water, it’s ‘MY’ hot water. It’s not ‘the’ laundry room, it’s ‘MY’ laundry room. It’s not ‘a’ new pipe, it’s ‘MY’ new pipe. Most people don’t talk like that about their work. Most people don’t own it.”
Corey shrugged and said, “This is not ‘a’ job; this is ‘MY’ job. I’m glad to have it, and I take pride in everything I do.”
He didn’t know it, but Corey’s words made my job a little easier that day. Because three hours later, when I was trying to work up the courage to leap out of a perfectly good airplane, I wasn’t thinking about pulling the ripcord on the parachute—I was thinking about pulling MY ripcord. On MY parachute.”
Corey Mundle is a purpose-driven employee. Instead of minimizing effort as a typical “agent” would, he takes ownership. The fact that people like him exist is important. When coaching executives on how to do purpose work in their organizations, we often tell them, “If it is real, it is possible.” If you can find one positive example—a person, a team, a unit that exceeds the norms—you can inspire others. Look for excellence, examine the purpose that drives the excellence, and then imagine it imbuing your entire workforce.
2. Discover the purpose.
At a global oil company, we once met with members of a task force asked by the CEO to work on defining the organization’s purpose. They handed us a document representing months of work; it articulated a purpose, a mission, and a set of values. We told them it had no power—their analysis and debate had produced only platitudes.
The members of the task force had used only their heads to invent a higher purpose intended to capture employees’ hearts. But you do not invent a higher purpose; it already exists. You can discover it through empathy—by feeling and understanding the deepest common needs of your workforce. That involves asking provocative questions, listening, and reflecting.
Deborah Ball, a former dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan, provides a good example. Like most companies, professional schools experience “mission drift.” As a new dean, Ball wanted to clarify her organization’s purpose so that she could increase employees’ focus, commitment, and collaboration.
To “learn and unlearn the organization,” as she put it, she interviewed every faculty member. She expected to find much diversity of opinion—and she did. But she also found surprising commonality, what she called “an emerging story” about the faculty’s strong desire to have a positive impact on society. Ball wrote up what she heard and shared it with the people she interviewed. She listened to their reactions and continued to refine their story.
This was not just a listening tour. It was an extended, disciplined, iterative process. Ball says, “You identify gold nuggets, work with them, clarify them, integrate them, and continually feed them back.” She refers to the process as “collective creation,” borrowing a phrase from agile and design-thinking methodologies.
As that work continued, it became clear that the school had strengths it could use for social good. For example, it had the capacity to influence how other institutions around the world trained teachers, addressed issues of educational affordability, and served underrepresented populations. Ball concluded that these foci had the greatest potential to integrate faculty members’ efforts, draw impressive new hires, and attract funding for research. So she highlighted them as crucial elements of the school’s collective identity.
3. Recognize the need for authenticity.
Purpose has become a popular topic. Even leaders who don’t believe in it face pressure from board members, investors, employees, and other stakeholders to articulate a higher purpose. This sometimes leads to statements like the one produced by the task force at the oil company. When a company announces its purpose and values but the words don’t govern the behavior of senior leadership, they ring hollow. Everyone recognizes the hypocrisy, and employees become more cynical. The process does harm.
Some CEOs intuitively understand this danger. One actually told his senior leadership team that he didn’t want to do purpose work, because organizations are political systems and hypocrisy is inevitable. His statement illustrates an important point: The assumption that people act only out of self-interest also gets applied to leaders, who are often seen as disingenuous if they claim other motivations.
A member of the team responded, “Why don’t we change that? Let’s identify a purpose and a set of values, and live them with integrity.” That earnest comment punctured the existing skepticism, and the team moved ahead.
For an illustration of a purpose that does shape behavior, let’s look at Sandler O’Neill and Partners, a midsize investment bank that helps financial institutions raise capital. The company was successful in its niche and focused on the usual goal of maximizing shareholder value. However, on September 11, 2001, disaster struck. Located in the Twin Towers in New York, the company felt the full brunt of the terrorist attack. Jimmy Dunne, soon to lead the firm’s executive team, learned that over one-third of Sandler’s people, including its top two executives, were dead, and the company’s physical infrastructure was devastated. Many of its computers and customer records were gone.
As the crisis unfolded, despite the exceptionally heavy demands of attending to business, Dunne made the decision that a Sandler partner would attend the funeral of every fallen employee, which meant that he attended many funerals. As a result of witnessing so much suffering, he began to realize that the purpose of his firm was not only to satisfy customers and create shareholder value but also to treat employees like valued human beings.
An organization often discovers its purpose when things are going badly.
That led to some sharp departures from protocol. For example, he asked his CFO to pay the families of all the dead employees their salaries and bonuses through December 31, 2001—and then asked if the company could do the same for all of 2002. The CFO said the firm could survive, but doing this would be inconsistent with its fiduciary responsibility to the partners. So the firm offered to buy out the ownership stake of any partner at par. Not one accepted.
If your purpose is authentic, people know, because it drives every decision and you do things other companies would not, like paying the families of dead employees. Dunne told us that often an organization discovers its purpose and values when things are going badly—and that its true nature is revealed by what its leaders do in difficult times. He said, “You judge people not by how much they give but by how much they have left after they give.”
4. Turn the authentic message into a constant message.
When we spoke with the CEO of a global professional services company about how to build a purpose-driven organization, his first question was “When will I be done?”
We responded by telling a story about another CEO, who had been trying to transform his construction company for a year. He showed us his plan and asked our opinion. We told him he deserved an A–. Why wasn’t it an A? After giving speeches for a year, he thought he was finished—but his people were just beginning to hear his message. He needed to keep clarifying the organization’s purpose for as long as he was CEO. When we told him that, he sank into his chair.
In contrast, Tony Meola, the recently retired head of U.S. consumer operations at Bank of America, is a leader who understands the ongoing nature of purpose work. He says one thing that makes it relentlessly difficult is that it involves getting institutions to shift direction—and existing cultures tend to impede movement. As extensions of the culture, managers, too, end up resisting the change. Other impediments are organizational complexity and competing demands.
Meola overcame those obstacles by clarifying the purpose of his division: treating operational excellence as a destination and allowing no other pressures to distract from it. He emphasized operational skills and leadership in employee training and development, and he brought that focus to every conversation, every decision, every problem his team faced, always asking, “Will this make us better operators?” He says, “When you hold it constant like that, when you never waver, an amazing thing happens. The purpose sinks into the collective conscience. The culture changes, and the organization begins to perform at a higher level. Processes become simpler and easier to execute and sustain. People start looking for permanent solutions rather than stop-gap measures that create more inefficiencies through process variations.”
Embracing this mindset meant saying no to anything that didn’t reflect it. In the division’s call center, for example, there had been a proposal to invest additional resources in technology and people so that the group could solve customers’ problems faster and better. But the project was rejected because when managers and employees used their stated purpose as a filter and asked themselves whether that investment would make them better operators, the answer was no. What the company really needed to do, they determined, was examine how the operations themselves could be improved to eliminate failures that produced call center inquiries in the first place.
When a leader communicates the purpose with authenticity and constancy, as Meola did, employees recognize his or her commitment, begin to believe in the purpose themselves, and reorient. The change is signaled from the top, and then it unfolds from the bottom.
5. Stimulate individual learning.
Conventional economic logic tends to rely on external motivators. As leaders embrace higher purpose, however, they recognize that learning and development are powerful incentives. Employees actually want to think, learn, and grow.
At the St. Louis–based not-for-profit The Mission Continues, whose purpose is to rehabilitate and reintegrate into society wounded and disabled war veterans, new hires are assigned a large amount of work. The underlying philosophy is that when a leader gives someone a difficult challenge, it shows faith in that person’s potential. The job becomes an incubator for learning and development, and along the way the employee gains confidence and becomes more committed to the organization and the higher purpose that drives it.
By helping employees understand the relationship between the higher purpose and the learning process, leaders can strengthen it. People at The Mission Continues are required to reflect on that relationship often. Every two weeks they produce a written document describing their purpose, their strengths, and their development. The exercise is not repetitive, because the experiences change, as do the lessons learned. This practice is consistent with research on effective leadership development approaches. In modern organizations, new experiences tend to come easily, but reflection does not.
At The Mission Continues, the employees have become adaptive and proactive. There is less need for managerial control, because they know the purpose and see how it has changed them for the better. You can liken this clear sense of direction to “commander’s intent” in the military. If soldiers know and internalize a commander’s strategic purpose, they can carry out the mission even when the commander isn’t there. This means, of course, that the leader must communicate the organization’s higher purpose with utter clarity so that employees can make use of their local information and take initiative. Research by business school professors Claudine Gartenberg, Andrea Prat, and George Serafeim shows how critical this is in corporations, too—it is not unique to nonprofits.
6. Turn midlevel managers into purpose-driven leaders.
To build an inspired, committed workforce, you’ll need middle managers who not only know the organization’s purpose but also deeply connect with it and lead with moral power. That goes way beyond what most companies ask of their midlevel people.
Consider KPMG, a Big Four accounting cooperative with thousands of partners. For decades those partners approached leadership like accounting. They were careful in their observations, exact in their assessments, and cautious about their decisions, because that was the cultural tone set at the top. Senior leaders were not inclined to get emotional about ideals, and neither were the partners. As a result, employees at all levels tended to make only safe, incremental improvements.
But then KPMG went through a transformation. The company began to explore the notion of purpose. Searching its history, its leaders were surprised to find that it had made many significant contributions to major world events. After conducting and analyzing hundreds of employee interviews, they concluded that KPMG’s purpose was to help clients “inspire confidence and empower change.”
These five words evoked a sense of awe in the firm, but KPMG’s top executives avoided the temptation to turn them into a marketing slogan. Instead, they set out to connect every leader and manager to the purpose. They began by talking openly about their own sense of purpose and meaning. When this had an impact, they recognized that the partners needed to do the same with their teams. When senior management shared these expectations, the partners were open to them but did not feel equipped to meet them. So the accounting firm invested in a new kind of training, in which the partners learned how to tell compelling stories that conveyed their sense of personal identity and professional purpose.
Though applying that training was difficult—it was a real stretch for experts in investment, real estate, tax, risk consulting, and so on—the culture did change. Today the partners communicate their personal purpose to their teams and discuss how it links to their professional lives and the organization’s reason for being. In doing so, they are modeling a vulnerability and authenticity that no one had previously expected to see at the middle levels of this accounting firm.
7. Connect the people to the purpose.
Once leaders at the top and in the middle have internalized the organization’s purpose, they must help frontline employees see how it connects with their day-to-day tasks. But a top-down mandate does not work. Employees need to help drive this process, because then the purpose is more likely to permeate the culture, shaping behavior even when managers aren’t right there to watch how people are handling things.
Our best illustration again comes from KPMG, where employees were encouraged to share their own accounts of how they were making a difference. This evolved into a remarkable program called the 10,000 Stories Challenge. It gave employees access to a user-friendly design program and invited them to create posters that would answer the question “What do you do at KPMG?” while capturing their passion and connecting it to the organization’s purpose.
Each participating employee created a purpose-driven headline, such as “I Combat Terrorism,” and under it wrote a clarifying statement, such as “KPMG helps scores of financial institutions prevent money laundering, keeping financial resources out of the hands of terrorists and criminals.” Beneath the statement, the employee would insert his or her picture. Each poster carried the tagline “Inspire Confidence. Empower Change.”
In June company leaders announced that if the staff could create 10,000 posters by Thanksgiving, two extra days would be added to the holiday break. Employees hit that benchmark within a month. But then the process went viral—after the reward had already been earned. Twenty-seven thousand people produced 42,000 posters (some individuals made multiple submissions, and teams produced them as well). KPMG had found a brilliant way to help employees personally identify with its collective purpose.
Once the firm’s overall transformation had taken root, surveys showed that employees’ pride in their work had increased, and engagement scores reached record levels. The firm eventually climbed 31 places, to the number 12 spot, on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list, making it the highest ranked of the Big Four. Recruiting improved, and as turnover decreased, costs dropped.
8. Unleash the positive energizers.
Every organization has a pool of change agents that usually goes untapped. We refer to this pool as the network of positive energizers. Spread randomly throughout the organization are mature, purpose-driven people with an optimistic orientation, people like Corey Mundle at Hampton Inn. They naturally inspire others. They’re open and willing to take initiative. Once enlisted, they can assist with every step of the cultural change. These people are easy to identify, and others trust them.
We have helped launch such networks in numerous organizations, including Prudential Retirement, Kelly Services, and DTE Energy. Typically, at an initial meeting, senior leaders invite network members to become involved in the design and execution of the change process. Within minutes, there is buy-in. Regular meetings are scheduled. The energizers go out, share ideas, and return with feedback and new ideas. They’re willing to tell the truth and openly challenge assumptions.
As employees judged the purpose to be authentic, engagement scores climbed.
There is often another benefit, as the experience of one human resources director illustrates. After establishing a network of positive energizers in a major professional services firm, she called us to report that she felt overwhelmed—in a good way—by the interest and commitment of the people she had assembled. They were an amazing resource that, until now, had gone completely unrecognized. They cared as deeply as she did about the organization’s purpose and getting colleagues to embrace it. She said, “I no longer feel alone.”
Although a higher purpose does not guarantee economic benefits, we have seen impressive results in many organizations. And other research—particularly the Gartenberg study, which included 500,000 people across 429 firms and involved 917 firm-year observations from 2006 to 2011—suggests a positive impact on both operating financial performance (return on assets) and forward-looking measures of performance (Tobin’s Q and stock returns) when the purpose is communicated with clarity.
So purpose is not just a lofty ideal; it has practical implications for your company’s financial health and competitiveness. People who find meaning in their work don’t hoard their energy and dedication. They give them freely, defying conventional economic assumptions about self-interest. They grow rather than stagnate. They do more—and they do it better.
By tapping into that power, you can transform an entire organization.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2018 issue (pp.78–85) of Harvard Business Review.
Robert E. Quinn is a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a cofounder of the school’s Center for Positive Organizations.
Anjan V. Thakor is the John E. Simon Professor of Finance and the director of doctoral programs at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.
This article is about EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Motivating people
Managing people
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Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (超天元突破グレンラガン, Chō Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan?, literally "Super Heaven-Piercing Gurren Lagann"), informally known as STTGL, is a transcendent God-like being formed during the final battle with the Anti-Spirals in the second movie adaptation of the series, The Lights in the Sky are Stars.
After Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann had been destroyed by the Granzeboma, Team Dai-Gurren split its power into pieces to form their own separate Tengen Toppa Gunmen, including Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's head becoming Tengen Toppa Lagann. The rest of said team was composed of a Tengen Toppa Gunmen for all surviving members, along with Nia. After a lengthy battle, Lordgenome sacrificed himself to absorb the Anti-Spiral's Infinity Big Bang Storm and create a mass of Spiral Power, which Simon absorbs into the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, combined to form the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It only appears in the second movie, and never appeared in the original television series.
STTGL is a reality-warping hyperversal entity with limitless potential, along with omniscience and omnipresence. It is a manifestation of the limitless spiral power possessed by its creator and main pilot, Simon the Digger (pronounced "Simone"). STTGL is the most powerful entity in the Gurren Lagann omniverse.
Size Edit
Size comparison between universe, Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill.
Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is 52.8 billion light years tall, according to the official guide book from GAINAX (仕事魂). This makes it about 57% the size of the observable universe, which spans 93 billion light years.
After transforming into its drill form, its size is multiplied significantly, since its Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill is at least ten times longer (528 billion light years), and about four times wider. This gives it a cone area over 180 times the size of the Super Tengen Toppa, and the size of over 100 universes.
Mass Edit
The previous Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann form contains within it an entire Super Spiral Space,[1] which includes an infinite multiverse and higher dimensions of reality.[2] This would indicate that the mass of Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is on a hyperversal scale.
Appearance Edit
This form resembled an immeasurable mass of spiral power in the form of a faceless Kamina, the former pilot of Gurren, original founder of Team Gurren, and Simon's surrogate older brother, though it has "hair" closer to Simon's, complete with crimson cape and Simon's star glasses. Its size appears to be more than a hundred times larger than its preceding form, with the Granzeboma and all the galaxies looking tiny in comparison.
Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was lost when its Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill Break was broken by the Super Granzeboma's Anti-Spiral Giga Drill Break. Even so, the ensuing decreasing scale of the Gurren Lagann line held off the Anti-Spiral. In the end, Simon surpassed the Anti-Spiral's power and defeated him in combat.
Attacks and abilities Edit
The Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann with the face of Simon as he prepares the series' final Giga Drill Break.
Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill Break - Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann forms a drill from Spiral Power out of its right fist (a variant of the Giga Drill Break). This drill is over 180 times larger than STTGL (in terms of cone area). When it collided with Anti-Spiral Giga Drill Break, an equivalent attack from the Super Granzeboma, they caused the very Super Spiral Space the fight was held in to collapse on itself. This attack proved not strong enough to overcome the Anti-Spiral Giga Drill Break, however, and only succeeded because all other forms of Gurren Lagann took its place after it was destroyed. In the end, Simon surpassed the Anti-Spiral's power and defeated him in combat.
In addition, Super Tengen Toppa has all the abilities of previous Gurren Lagann forms. These include abilities such as reality warping, creating energy and matter, bringing large entities into existence, teleporting, traversing between dimensions and universes, tanking the Infinity Big Bang Storm, and manipulating space-time and probability.
Examples of its space-time and probability manipulation abilities include punching holes through space-time, attacking targets at any point in space-time (in the past, present, and future), attacking through space-time without moving, and manipulating probability such that a 0% chance of survival becomes a 100% guarantee of victory. Its reality-warping and probability manipulation abilities go even further in being able to negate and cancel out any reality-warping powers used by opponents, such as negating any attempts to attack it through space-time, negating any form of reality manipulation (including mind, soul and probability manipulation), and negating any other reality-warping powers that an opponent attempts to use against it. This essentially makes Super Tengen Toppa an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent entity.
Super Tengen Toppa also has other abilities previously demonstrated by its creator and main pilot, Simon, up until that point, such as telepathy, negating mind and soul manipulation, limitless spiral power growth, and erasing an infinite multiverse out of existence with his thoughts (and absorbing it into the Tengen Toppa).
Power Edit
Clash between Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill and Anti-Spiral Giga Drill in Super Spiral Space.
The Super Spiral Space is a hyperverse with limitless universes and numerous dimensions contained within it, including an infinite multiverse.[3][2] A single dimension of the Super Spiral Space is shown to be at least thousands of times larger than the Super Tengen Toppa's drill form in terms of area, while individual galaxies within it are shown to be nearly as large as the Super Tengen Toppa.[4] This makes each dimension of the Super Spiral Space the size of hundreds of thousands of universes, with the mass of millions of universes. In the clash between the Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill and Super Granzeboma's Anti-Spiral Giga Drill, the Infinity sign appears, showing their power to be infinite, before the entire Super Spiral Space hyperverse is destroyed in the clash between Super Tengen Toppa and Super Granzeboma, each shown to be nearly equal in power.
Super Tengen Toppa is shown to be almost equal in power to the Anti-Spiral's Super Granzeboma, but just slightly weaker. The only other entity more powerful than the Super Tengen Toppa is its own creator and main pilot, Simon, who later defeats the Anti-Spiral without using any mech, but with a drill he creates from his blood. Simon is later mentioned to have the soul manipulation power of reviving the dead (which he refuses to abuse), and is compared to a God, implying that he is omnipotent.
Speed Edit
The Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill is 528 billion light years long (the length of about six universes), and STTGL can traverse that distance in under a split-second. That means STTGL's traversal speed is at least more than a hundred quintillion (1020) times faster than the speed of light.
The Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill spins at a very fast and smooth pace, which would indicate a spin rate of approximately 240 rpm (rotations per minute).[5] Since the drill's diameter is over 211 billion light years (four times STTGL's size), its circumference is approximately 1.33 trillion light years. At 240 rpm, this indicates a spinning speed of about 320 trillion light-years per minute, or over 5.3 trillion light-years per second.
↑ http://www.japanator.com/the-secrets-of-gurren-lagann-answered--6714.phtml
↑ 2.0 2.1 Dimensions
↑ In earlier episodes, the Dai Gurren Brigade traverse different dimensions within the space, and it contains the Infinite Multiverse Labyrinth within it.
↑ The galaxy that the Super Tengen Toppa stands on has a diameter roughly half that of the Super Tengen Toppa's height. The galaxy is thus billions of light years in diameter, with an area that is millions of times larger than that of the universe's largest galaxy (which has a diameter of 6 million light years) and with roughly 1/5 the diameter of the universe. In addition, galaxies consist mostly of matter, whereas the universe consists mostly of empty space, which indicates that each galaxy in the Super Spiral Space contains more matter than en entire universe.
↑ Some Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill calculations
Retrieved from "https://gurrenlagann.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Tengen_Toppa_Gurren_Lagann?oldid=14601"
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Home › Letter L
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WRC Events and News
Ford makes a splash in WRC with M-Sport
More “Ford” than in previous years, is this Ford’s way of quietly returing to the World Rally Championship? The M-Sport World Rally Team proudly revealed its all-new livery for the year ahead: an innovative blue and black Ford Fiesta RS WRC will be piloted by Mikko Hirvonen and Elfyn Evans on all 13 rounds of the up-coming season.
Opting for a mix of youth and experience in the driver line-up, the new-look M-Sport World Rally Team will make its first appearance on the stages at this week’s traditional season-opener: Rallye Monte-Carlo.
It is a striking livery design, and we’re mighty pleased to see more the Blue Oval showing more of its behind-the-scenes support to M-Sport and rallying.
As in previous years, M-Sport receives technical support from the Ford Motor Company. The team’s range of award-winning rally cars continue to draw strength from the Blue Oval’s advanced EcoBoost technology – as used on latest production models – and the 2014 Fiesta RS WRCs will be adorned with the company’s EcoBoost branding.
Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “I’m very happy to reveal the new 2014 livery for the M-Sport World Rally Team. There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point, and I need to commend the efforts of every single member of our dedicated team. I am also delighted to announce that we will continue our long and successful partnership with our team partners, Castrol and Michelin, as well as our valued trade partners. We also continue our excellent working relationship with the Ford Motor Company whose invaluable technical support continues to aid M-Sport in the design and development of our award-winning range of Fiesta rally cars.”
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Bangladesh diplomat in New York charged with labour trafficking, assaulthttps://indianexpress.com/article/world/bangladesh-diplomat-in-new-york-charged-with-labour-trafficking-assault-4701311/
Bangladesh diplomat in New York charged with labour trafficking, assault
According to the indictment, Islam brought another Bangladeshi, Mohammed Amin, to New York to work as a household help. On several occasions when Amin sought to leave, Islam hit him and threatened to harm his mother and young son in Bangladesh
By Reuters |Washington | Updated: June 13, 2017 8:21:57 am
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Mohammed Shaheldul Islam has limited diplomatic immunity and was ordered to surrender his passport. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. (For representation only)
Bangladesh’s deputy consul general in New York was indicted on Monday on charges of labour trafficking and assault for forcing his servant to work without pay through threats and intimidation, a New York City prosecutor said.
Mohammed Shaheldul Islam has limited diplomatic immunity and was ordered to surrender his passport when he appeared before Queens Supreme Court Justice Daniel Lewis, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown in a statement. Bail was set at $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
According to the indictment, Islam brought another Bangladeshi, Mohammed Amin, to New York between 2012 and 2013 to work as a household help for Islam and his family. “Soon after Mr. Amin’s arrival, the defendant allegedly took his passport and required the man to work 18 hours a day … Even though Mr. Amin had a contract which outlines his compensation, it is alleged he was never paid for his work,” the statement said. “If the victim disobeyed the defendant’s orders, Mr. Amin was allegedly physically assaulted by the defendant, who either struck him with his hand or sometimes with a wooden shoe,” it said.
A spokesman for the Bangladesh embassy in Washington said he had no information on the issue. The Bangladesh consulate in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An official of the U.S. State Department said it informed Bangladeshi officials of the arrest. Reuters was not able to determine if Islam had an attorney.
According to the charges, Amin’s only form of income came from tips from guests at parties and a “miniscule” amount of money Islam sent to Amin’s family in Bangladesh. On several occasions when Amin sought to leave, Islam hit him and threatened to harm his mother and young son in Bangladesh, the statement said. On occasion, Islam also stated that he would have Amin’s college-age daughter “shamed” if he did not continue to work as his servant, the statement said. The statement did not make clear what he meant by shaming. It said that in 2014, shortly after an Indian diplomat in New York was charged with labour trafficking, Islam wrote a check for Amin’s cash-tip earnings that the latter then had to deposit in a bank account to create the appearance of a paycheck.
In late 2013, Devyani Khobragade, who was India’s deputy consul general in New York, was arrested and subsequently accused of visa fraud and forcing her housekeeper and nanny to work 100-hour weeks for just over $1 an hour. Khobragade’s arrest and strip-search provoked outrage in India and caused a major diplomatic rift between the United States and India. The charges against her were dismissed because she had diplomatic immunity, but after she left the United States, a New York grand jury later issued a new indictment for visa fraud.
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Trump makes 15 new friends in Davos, three of Indian originhttps://indianexpress.com/article/world/us-president-trump-new-friends-davos-indian-origin-wef-switzerland-5040661/
Trump makes 15 new friends in Davos, three of Indian origin
Trump, who arrived here Thursday afternoon, told Schwab -- who on his part said the US President's strong leadership is open to misconceptions and biased interpretations -- that he has made "15 new friends" here in Davos.
By PTI |Davos | Updated: January 26, 2018 11:59:04 pm
A chilling letter by a billionaire warning against ‘business as usual’ has Davos chattering
WEF: Donald Trump takes his America First policies to Davos globalists
DAVOS : U.S. President, Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with German Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, WEF on the last day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday. (AP/PTI)
US President Donald Trump on Friday declared before a full house at Davos that he has made “15 new friends” whom he did not know before at a dinner last night — including three of Indian origin. After a ‘band’ welcome and a nearly 20-minute speech, Trump sat down for a brief question and answers session with WEF Founder Klaus Schwab on the last day of the annual pow-wow of rich and powerful from across the ‘fractured’ world and began by complementing him for putting together this “really great” economic forum, reports PTI.
Trump, who arrived here Thursday afternoon, told Schwab — who on his part said the US President’s strong leadership is open to misconceptions and biased interpretations — that he has made “15 new friends” here in Davos. “We had dinner last night with about 15 leaders of industry — none of whom I knew, but all of whom I have read about for years — and it was truly an incredible group,” Trump said.
“And I think I have 15 new friends. So this has been really great what you have done in putting it together, the economic forum,” he said. These 15 industry leaders from Europe — whom Trump described as “very powerful businesspeople of the world” and asked them to introduce themselves one by one and say a few words at the dinner table, as per a White House release —included Swiss pharma giant Novartis’ incoming CEO Vas Narasimhan, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri and Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen.
Others were heads of Bayer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Siemens, AB Volvo, SAP, Adidas, Statoil, Nestle, ABB and HSBC. At the dinner, Renjen said, “Mr President, thank you for having me. Punit Renjen from Deloitte. On behalf of 265,000 employees across the globe, 70,000 in the US, thank you again for having us”.
As per the White House release, Trump replied, “Great company. Thank you very much. Great job.” Suri said Nokia runs the world’s second largest telecom network and has 15,000 people in the US and one of its strongest R&D setups in the world is spread throughout the US.
He further said, “We have half of the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. We own Nokia Bell Labs, which is in New Jersey. We do a lot of stuff in the West Coast, in Chicago, and throughout the country, really. So just under half of our people do research and development, and the rest are doing services and 4G networks and 5G. So I’m very happy and pleased with your infrastructure focus…”
Narasimhan said Novartis is one of the largest health care companies in the world and its focus is on innovative medicines, generics, as well as eye care. He elaborated that Novartis has about 22,000 employees in the US across 21 sites and invests about USD 14 billion every year in the US, including USD 3.5 billion in research.
Further, he described US as one of the key markets and also key places where it drives innovation. “And we are really pleased with the tax reform, but also very pleased with the great progress being made at FDA. We believe you have a great leadership team there and they are doing all the right things to accelerate innovation,” he said.
Best Of Express
Trump replied, “Scott is great, and Alex is great. You know, Alex is just starting, and he’s highly respected. So that’s fantastic. Scott Gottlieb, as you know, is a star,” referring to his FDA Commissioner and Health and Human Services Secretary, respectively. Narasimhan said further, “He (Scott) is a star. And I think his vision for tobacco and trying to improve — reduce the use of tobacco around the world is also very inspiring.”
After everyone’s introduction, Trump said, “I want to thank everybody. Really, you have done incredible work, incredible jobs. These are some of the great companies of the world, many of the great companies of the world”.
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Weighing Obama versus McCain
It may be that I have spent too much time living in Serbia and studying it, and that some of that fabled Serbian inat, or bloodymindedness, has rubbed off on me (readers may be surprised to learn that, as an adult, I was christened in the Serbian Orthodox Church, something that occurred not because of religious belief – of which I have none – but because I was once married to a Serbian woman). Or it may be just that I don’t like jumping on bandwagons. Be this as it may, I’m not prepared to follow the herd and endorse Obama for US president. That said, there are some powerful arguments to be made in favour of Obama, which I have been hearing from Obama supporters – such as my own girlfriend, as well as my mother – for some time now. The strong reasons for supporting McCain, however, which I have outlined in previous posts, remain. Each of the candidates offers a very different set of advantages and disadvantages, and a US citizen deciding whom to vote for should weigh them up very carefully before deciding.
One of the paradoxes of this election is that Obama is perceived by much of the liberal intelligentsia in the West as being the progressive, anti-establishment candidate, even though his likely election victory will owe much to the fact that his campaign has enjoyed much greater financial resources than McCain’s. The richer candidate is spending his way to victory; even if a large part of this funding has consisted of small donations, the hated representatives of American capitalism have hardly been falling over themselves to fund his Republican opponent. Yet Obama’s greater popularity among the liberal intelligentsia, and indeed among international opinion generally, is undeniably because he is more widely – and unfairly – seen as less quintissentially American than McCain. Obama may be just another liberal Democrat in the tradition of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, but for various reasons – in part because he would represent a dramatic break with the politics of George Bush, in part because he is black, and in part because he is undeniably charismatic – he has been invested with much greater belief on the part of the outside world as a force for change than he probably warrants.
But perception matters. And here is the strongest reason for voting for Obama. A President Obama would restore the world’s goodwill toward the US. The outside world will give him the benefit of the doubt, and the US a second chance to enjoy the degree of international popularity it enjoyed before 9/11. Conversely, a victory for McCain – particularly after such a strong and sustained poll lead enjoyed by Obama for so long – would produce another great outpouring of anti-American bile across the world, and above all from the ranks of the European chattering classes. The Republicans would, once again, be viewed as having unfairly stolen the election; their regime would enjoy little international credibility or goodwill. McCain will be painted as a continuation of Bush, and continue to be punished for the sins, real or perceived, of his predecessor. Obama would, therefore, be better able than McCain to restore the US’s network of alliances and connections, rejuvenating the US’s world leadership, or what is termed on the left as ‘American imperialism’.
Yet the reason why Obama would enjoy such international goodwill, and be able to restore the US’s world image and standing, is also the reason why one should think twice before supporting him: the world prefers soft US presidents, and Obama will undoubtedly be a much softer president than McCain. George Bush Snr betrayed the Iraqi Kurds in 1991 and acted to keep Saddam Hussein in power; Bill Clinton collaborated with Slobodan Milosevic and the Taliban, and strove hard to keep the US from having to intervene to stop genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia; yet neither has earned the kind of opprobrium incurred by the current US president for the crime of overthrowing Saddam. Obama has shown himself to be less committed than McCain to the defence of democratic Iraq and of independent Georgia; his restoration of US popularity globally may come at a high price.
Obama’s choice of the tough and experienced Joe Biden as his running mate does something to allay one’s concern at the foreign-policy implications of his presidency. Biden deserves credit for his opposition to aggression and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But his instincts have not always been so good: he has supported the partition of Iraq. Biden is, like Obama, pro-Greek and anti-Turkish; they would be taking over leadership of the US at a time when, given the threats posed by the hostile regimes in Moscow and Tehran, we need to maintain the Turkish alliance, and at a time when Greece’s merciless bullying of the fragile Republic of Macedonia potentially threatens disaster in the Balkans.
So the choice between Obama and McCain revolves around the question of whether it is better to have a US president who can restore the US’s global popularity and standing but is likely to be less resolute in resisting the enemies of the democratic world, or a president who will be globally unpopular but more determined in resisting our enemies.
Some readers may feel that US domestic policy should count for more in this weighing up. All well and good; I prefer Obama to McCain on domestic issues, but there are 6.7 billion people in the world, and only 300 million of them are Americans. The United States is a sophisticated system of decentralised democracy and constitutional checks and balances, and the battle between conservatism and liberalism will continue to be fought out at multiple levels throughout the country, regardless of which candidate wins. But it is foreign policy where the president’s voice counts for most. I would discount on principle the idea that one should vote on the basis of the candidate’s age or skin-colour; Winston Churchill was presiding over the Normandy Landings when he was only a year or two younger than McCain is today, and was several years older when he became prime minister for the second time, while the social changes that have made it possible for the US presidency to be within reach of a black candidate have occurred, and will continue to occur, regardless of who wins. The fact that Obama supposedly is friends with various dangerous radicals is a big red herring; most of us probably have been, one way or another. But it is no more a red herring than the big Sarah Palin bogey; Palin was brought in by McCain to mobilise the Republican base; she will not determine US policy. McCain might die in office and leave the inexperienced and very right-wing Palin as acting president. But probably not. Finally, I have faith that US capitalism will rejuvenate itself, regardless of who is managing the economy.
So for me, it boils down to a choice between the man who will capture the world’s hearts and the man who will fight the world’s enemies. While there are strong arguments to be made for each, I would always support the candidate who, when the chips were down, defended a small nation against a brutal aggressor, against the candidate who has supported an aggressor against a fragile small nation.
Others may draw the line in a different place.
Monday, 3 November 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Balkans, Caucasus, Former Soviet Union, Former Yugoslavia, Genocide, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Kurds, Macedonia, Middle East, Russia, Serbia, Turkey | 4 Comments
A Russian war against Israel ?
Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has reportedly gloated over the Russian crushing of Georgia as a defeat for Israel. ‘[Israeli brigadier-general] Gal Hirsch, who was defeated in Lebanon, went to Georgia and they too lost because of him’, said Nasrallah; ‘Relying on Israeli experts and weapons, Georgia learned why the Israeli generals failed… what happened in Georgia is a message to all those the Americans are seeking to entangle in dangerous adventures.’ This opinion is endorsed by Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada, who writes in the Tehran Times : ‘The collapse of the Georgian offensive represents not only a disaster for that country and its U.S.-backed leaders, but another blow to the myth of Israel’s military prestige and prowess.’
Nasrallah is not the only sworn enemy of Israel and the US to feel heartened by the Russian victory. According to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: ‘It is not possible for the United States, which even failed to protect its ally Georgia, to attack Iran. The US could not even protect its own ally. US clout in world politics is decreasing. Moreover, it is in a major economic depression.’ He went on: ‘We will see that the US empire will crack and eventually collapse. There is nothing that the US can do against Iran.’
Meanwhile, Moscow is reportedly planning to establish large-scale military, naval and air-bases in Syria, including nuclear-capable Iskander missiles, and to supply previously withheld advanced weapons systems to Iran.
Until the outbreak of the current conflict in the Caucasus, Israel and Georgia had enjoyed close, friendly relations. Israel armed and trained Georgia’s armed forces, apparently supplying Georgia with some $200 million worth of equipment since 2000. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, for his part, has been a staunch ally of Israel. As Brenda Shaffer, an expert on the Caucasus at Haifa University, writes in Haaretz : ‘One of the first telephone calls I received from overseas in the summer of 2006, while missiles were showering on Haifa and the north, was from a senior adviser in Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s bureau. He said the president had instructed him to call me and say he was willing to fly over immediately to display solidarity with Israel in its hour of need.’
Now, however, Russia appears to have scared Israel away from continued support for Georgia, by the threat of increased military support for Iran and Syria. The Israeli foreign ministry has recommended suspending further military cooperation with Georgia, reportedly on the grounds that ‘The Russians are selling many arms to Iran and Syria and there is no need to offer them an excuse to sell even more advanced weapons’, in the words of an Israeli official. This, indeed, was the Russian intention. According to Theodore Karasik, director for research and development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, ‘with immense strategic implications, Russia is also trying to send Israel a clear message that Tel Aviv’s military support for Tbilisi in organizing, training and equipping Georgia’s army will no longer be tolerated… Further, Israel’s interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines is growing and Russia seeks to stop this activity at this time.’
The failure of the West to respond effectively to the Russian assault on Georgia, and Israel’s retreat before Russia’s threats, are nevertheless likely only to strengthen the confidence of other enemies of the US and Israel, including the regime in Tehran. As Shaffer writes: ‘Tehran is learning from the crisis in the Caucasus. If the U.S. fails to help its ally in Tbilisi, Tehran’s power will increase. On the other hand, serious American activity in Moscow’s back yard would teach Tehran a completely different lesson.’
Quite. Russia has opted to fight a new Cold War against the West, so there is no point in labouring under the delusion that it will join with us to contain the Iranian nuclear threat, while our failure to resist Russia in Georgia is emboldening Iran. To sacrifice Georgia – a loyal ally of Britain, the US and Israel, and the third-largest contributor of allied troops to Iraq – in the naive belief that a sufficient amount of grovelling will dissuade one sworn enemy from joining with another, can only strengthen and encourage both enemies.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Abkhazia, Anti-Semitism, Caucasus, Former Soviet Union, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jews, Middle East, Red-Brown Alliance, Russia, South Ossetia | 1 Comment
Czechoslovakia 1938 – Georgia 2008 ?
This autumn will mark the seventieth anniversary of the Munich Agreement, when the democratic powers of Western Europe, Britain and France, weakened as they were by the self-hating, ‘anti-war’ defeatism of wide sections of the Western chattering classes – on the left as well as of the right – allowed a fascist, expansionist imperial power to carve up a much smaller and weaker multinational state, using the excuse that it wanted to protect the rights of its co-nationals. Of course, Hitler analogies are very tired, and ‘anti-war’ activists are fond of complaining that all our enemies are ‘Hitler’ – from Nasser through Galtieri to Saddam and Milosevic. But in the case of Vladimir Putin of Russia, their best legitimate counter-argument no longer applies: that however brutal these despots may have been, the states that they ruled were not nearly as powerful as Nazi Germany.
Now, for the first time since World War II, the democratic West is faced by a brutal, neo-fascist, expansionist regime in command of an imperial state whose military might is comparable to that of Hitler’s Third Reich. Putin is an aggressive despot who came to power determined to reverse the defeat and perceived humiliation of Russia in the Cold War, much as Hitler aimed to reverse Germany’s humiliation in World War I (Putin even employed a stunt to cement his power that was highly reminiscent of the 1933 Reichstag fire – the stage-managed ‘terrorist’ bombing of Russian cities by his security services, that could be conveniently blamed on the Chechens). He then used weapons of mass destruction against his own Chechen civilians, destroying the European city of Grozny. He has waged campaigns of persecution against Jewish magnates (‘oligarchs’) and Caucasian ethnic minorities. He has established a fascist-style youth movement (‘Nashi‘). He has suppressed the free Russian media, murdered independent journalists and effectively abolished Russian democracy. He has threatened and bullied his neighbours – even NATO-member Estonia. His state assassins are the likely culprits in the murder of his critic, the British citizen Alexander Litvinenko. And now he has invaded a sovereign state in an attempt both to overthrow its democratically elected government and to annex part of its territory. His own supporters view this act of military aggression as a strike against the US; The Independent‘s Matt Siegel quotes one Russian volunteer: ‘This war is absolutely a war between Russia and America. The biggest mistake was in underestimating us. Now you’ll see what happens.’
At this moment of danger, democratic Europe is paralysed by the same kind of political, intellectual and moral malaise that brought our continent to ruin in the 1930s. Today, fashionable left-liberal hatred of the liberal-democratic order expresses itself not merely in opposition to military intervention abroad and to our own governments, but frequently in a readiness to solidarise with anyone with whom our governments come into conflict – be they Iraqi and Afghan Islamist rebels, Sudanese genocidal murderers, Iranian and Venezuelan demagogues, Chinese Communist apparatchiks, Serb nationalists, Lebanese Shia fundamentalists, and so on. All this is filtered through a self-indulgent anti-Americanism of unparalelled virulence – naturally, the concerns about invading a sovereign state without UN Security Council authorisation that have so fired our left-liberal intelligentsia over Iraq are not being manifested quite so strongly over Russia and Georgia. Meanwhile, our armies are stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan and our publics are war-weary.
This already toxic brew contains another dangerous ingredient – the most likely candidate for a twenty-first century Neville Chamberlain in the form of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy. With France holding the EU presidency, Sarkozy travelled to Moscow to reassure the Russians: ‘It’s perfectly normal that Russia would want to defend the interests both of Russians in Russia and Russophones outside Russia.’ No doubt the French president would have been equally tactful if Putin had invaded France to protect ‘Russophones’ in Marseilles or Nice, but this kind of language highlights the EU’s unreadiness to oppose Russian aggression. This is particularly so given Sarkozy’s disgraceful record of pursuing narrow French national interests at South East Europe’s expense, which involved, among other things, denying Georgia a NATO Membership Action Plan in order to appease Moscow. Sarkozy has joined with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to impose a six-point plan on Georgia, that requires Tbilisi to ‘agree to the start of international talks on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’, as the Moscow Times puts it, but which makes no reference to Georgian territorial integrity. With Medvedev openly advocating the dismemberment of Georgia, Sarkozy may be preparing the ground for a new Munich Agreement.
Some may ask whether we have any choice but to acquiesce in Russia’s geostrategic coup, given our existing military entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our concerns with Iran, North Korea, Zimbabwe, etc. Some may ask why we should care about distant Georgia and its territorial integrity. The best way to respond is to turn this question around, and ask whether we can afford not to care, and not to respond to Russian aggression. If we cannot afford to defend Georgia because of our existing military commitments, we presumably cannot afford to defend Ukraine, or NATO-member Estonia, should Putin decide to build upon his success by moving against one of these countries – something which, given his past record, is not unlikely. At what point do we decide that, however costly it may be, we cannot afford to stand idly by as Russia rampages across Eurasia ?
As was the case in the late 1930s, the longer democratic Europe waits before responding to the aggressor, the more difficult and costly the eventual confrontation will be. Putin has successfully crushed and humiliated a staunch Western ally that contributed two thousand troops to Iraq. We cannot legitimately expect our allies to stand by us in Iraq, or in Afghanistan, if we do not stand by them when they are under attack. The states of Eastern and South Eastern Europe – both those inside NATO, and those wanting to join it – are closely watching the Russian operation against Georgia. They may decide that a NATO unable or unwilling to protect a country whose desired future membership it has itself loudly declared is a NATO it cannot rely on, and which is not worth joining or upholding. The Balkans are finally drifting toward stability, as the dominant elements of the Serbian political classes appear finally to have turned away from destructive nationalism – a turn spectacularly demonstrated by the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. Some of them may now feel, as they witness the West’s weak response to the crushing of Georgia, that their turn has been premature, and that they can afford to be a bit more aggressive than they had thought until a week ago. In which case, we may be faced with another front opening up against us in the Balkans.
I write these words, not with any confidence that democratic Europe is likely to take an appropriately firm stance against Russian aggression in the immediate future, but with full confidence that the attack on Georgia is only the beginning, and that we will see further acts of Russian aggression in the months and years to come. Putin is an unreconstructed product of the Soviet intelligence services; a sworn enemy of the liberal-democratic order at home and abroad; an autocrat whose mission it is to reverse Moscow’s defeat in the Cold War.
Let there be no mistake: we are in for the long haul. It is time to prepare a long-term strategy of resistance to the new Russian imperialism so that, if we were caught unprepared this time, we will not be unable to respond next time. Britain must join with the US in sending troops to Georgia, even if these troops at the present time have a purely symbolic deterrent value. We must massively increase our financial and military assistance to our beleaguered ally, and reassure it that it is not being abandoned. Georgia’s accession to NATO and the EU must be accelerated – as, indeed, must the EU accession of Turkey, which will be a crucial ally in the coming confrontation; one that we cannot afford not to have on our side. We must insist that the precondition for any negotiations over the disputed territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is an acceptance by Moscow of Georgia’s territorial integrity. But this conflict is not just about Georgia, and it will not just be played out over Georgia.
Cold War II has begun. Western leaders must begin to prepare their publics for this reality, which means countering the defeatist and anti-Western currents of thought that are popular among wide sections of the chattering classes, and preparing the publics for the consequences of economic warfare with an enemy that supplies a large part of our energy. Full-scale sanctions against Russia may soon be necessary, and though this will hurt Moscow more than it will hurt us, it will hurt us too. Western leaders must state very loudly and clearly that any further military attack by Moscow against any other state in Eastern or South Eastern Europe will invite a military response from us.
There are several ways in which Moscow’s aggression can be immediately punished. We should expel Russia from the G8 group of industrialised nations, veto its accession to the World Trade Organisation and the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, suspend the EU’s Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia, abandon all negotiations for a new EU-Russia agreement, suspend the NATO-Russia Council and announce a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi. Given Moscow’s shameless promotion of the secession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia, it is time to raise openly the question of Chechnya which, in terms of size, national homogeneity and viability as an entity, has a much stronger case for independence than either of Georgia’s enclaves. Since Moscow is demanding ‘self-determination’ for South Ossetia, let us openly challenge it to recognise the same right for the much larger Ossetian population in North Ossetia. Finally, our strategy vis-a-vis Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and other trouble-spots must be modified to take account of the new geopolitical front-line; this does not mean we should surrender the battle on any of these fronts, but we cannot continue to fight them as if the Russian threat did not exist.
Dangerous ? The real danger will come from burying our heads in the sand and hoping Putin will go away and leave us alone. It is better to adopt a tough but non-violent stance against Moscow now, than to encourage further Russian expansionism that will compel us to adopt more drastic measures in the future, measures that we may not be able to limit to the non-violent. Toughness in 1938 might have stopped Hitler without war; appeasement in 1938 led to war in 1939.
See also John McCain’s excellent article, We are all Georgians
Thursday, 14 August 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Balkans, Caucasus, Former Soviet Union, Former Yugoslavia, France, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Jews, Kosovo, Middle East, NATO, Red-Brown Alliance, Russia, Serbia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, Turkey | 3 Comments
With its nose bloodied, democratic Turkey needs our support
Yesterday, Turkish democracy received a bloody nose, but not a knock-out blow. Turkey’s constitutional court voted six to five in favour of banning the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – to which Turkish President Abdullah Gul also belongs – and banning its leading figures from politics. The court vote fell short of the seven-vote majority needed for a ban. Nevertheless, the court voted to cut the AKP’s state funding. Hasim Kilic, the court chairman and chief justice, described the ruling as a ‘serious warning’ to the AKP: ‘I hope the party in question will evaluate this outcome very well and get the message it should get,’ he said; ‘The verdict on cutting treasury aid has been given because of members who decided that the party was the hub of anti-secular activities’, although ‘not seriously enough’ to ban the party.
This attempt to bully democracy is taking place in an EU candidate country with the seventh-largest economy in the Council of Europe and the fifteenth-largest in the world, and which has pursued a for-the-most-part highly progressive foreign policy in recent years. Under the AKP, Turkey has been attempting to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Syria. The Turkish government has attempted to restrain the hawkish voices favouring an onslaught against the Kurds of Northern Iraq. Turkey was one of the first countries to recognise Kosova, and was alone among the larger NATO countries in staunchly supporting a Membership Action Plan for Macedonia at the April NATO summit in Bucharest. It has sincerely worked for a resolution of the Cyprus dispute and for rapprochement with Armenia.
The AKP government has also pursued a reformist policy at home, improving Turkey’s democratic and human rights credentials to the point where the EU, despite strong opposition from some of its members, was compelled to start accession negotiations. And it has presided over an unprecedented expansion of the Turkish economy. All the more poignant, therefore, that the court’s move to ban the democratically elected party of government appears to have been triggered by the latter’s attempt to push through a democratic freedom for Muslims that is already enjoyed across Christian Europe: the right of women students to wear headscarves while attending university. The readiness of the Turkish Kemalist establishment to wreck its country’s democracy and economy and to plunge it into constitutional chaos, and possibly civil war, simply in order to maintain its exclusive grip on state power at the expense of the new Muslim middle class represented by the AKP, indicates the difficulties Turkey faces in its journey toward full democracy.
Turkish democracy is not under attack only by the secular establishment, but by fascist terrorist elements – both from the ranks of the secular ultra-nationalists and from the ranks of the Islamists. Earlier this month, Turkish police foiled preparations for a violent coup d’etat by members of the Ergenekon clandestine organisation; those arrested included three retired Turkish Army generals. This was followed by an Islamist terrorist attack on the US consulate in Istanbul, and then days ago by a terrorist bomb attack on a civilian target in Istanbul that the government and police have blamed on Kurdish PKK separatists but which some observers suggest was more likely to have been the work of Ergenekon. There have been credible suggestions that the apparently antithetical Kemalist and Islamist extremists have, in fact, been coming together on the basis of the values they share: opposition to the West, the US, ‘Zionism’, democracy and liberalisation. As Mustafa Akyol writes in the Turkish Daily News: ‘I can’t say anything about whether there are indeed criminal links between these groups, but the ideology they share is all too similar. Their aim is simply to keep Turkey as a closed society cut off from the world and ruled by an authoritarian state. What they fear and abhor is democratization and liberalization.’
With the constitutional court’s verdict, Turkish democracy has been shaken but not toppled, but the dangers facing the country remain, as do the dangers facing the Western alliance in relation to Turkey. Turkey’s political classes have been increasingly disillusioned in recent years, both with the EU and with the US. The slowness of Turkey’s EU accession process, coupled with the apparent outright refusal of some EU countries such as France and Germany ever to allow Turkey to join, have reduced the EU’s appeal among Turks. Meanwhile, Turkish relations with the US have been strained by the apparently ‘distabilising’ policy being pursued by Washington in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union: the war with Iraq; the possibility of an attack on Iran; support for regional democratisation and ‘colour revolutions’; and above all the US’s alliance with the Iraqi Kurds. Conversely and consequently, Turkish relations with both Russia and Iran have been improving. Indeed, the Kurdish issue has strained Turkey’s relations not only with the US, but also with Israel, which is also unhappy with Turkey’s broadening cooperation with Iran in the field of energy.
In the current Turkish political constellation, it is the AKP that is the EU’s and US’s best friend. Indeed, Turkey’s Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, responding to Western criticisms of his attempt to close down the AKP, denounced the EU and US as ‘imperialists’ seeking to erode Turkey’s national sovereignty by using ‘collaborators’ such as the ‘fundamentalist’ AKP and Turkish liberals who ‘claimed to be intellectuals’. While we may wish to retain good relations with Ankara irrespective of which regime holds power there, our inability to remain silent in the face of assaults on democratic freedoms, coupled with the inevitably anti-Western outlook and rhetoric of those launching such assaults, will ensure that a potential future replacement of the AKP regime with a more authoritarian Kemalist one will inevitably damage Turkey’s relationship with the Western alliance. Conversely, a more authoritarian Turkey will find authoritarian Russia, Iran and even China as increasingly congenial partners.
The lingering threat to Turkish democracy is a threat to the West’s relationship with a crucial member of its alliance; indeed to positive stability in the Middle East, Balkans and Black Sea region in general. The failure of the constitutional court to ban the AKP has averted a still worse danger – that the suppression of the democratic, moderate Islamic political option would have driven disillusioned AKP supporters into the arms of the Islamists, laying the basis for an Algerian-style civil war in Turkey. But so long as the secularist establishment remains determined to curb the AKP, this is a danger that has been kept at bay, not ended permanently.
Turkey resembles Serbia, in that it is a Balkan country undergoing a long-drawn-out transition to full democracy, in which there can be no quick or easy success. But Turkey’s size, strength, geographic location and geostrategic importance make it much less amenable to pressure than Serbia. Indeed, with Turkey at the height of its power as a country, but with its internal divisions stretching it to breaking point, the Turkish Kemalist establishment may increasingly feel rather like the Serbian Communist establishment under Milosevic in the late 1980s and early 1990s: ready to gamble on an extreme solution, on the assumption – probably correct – that the West would lack the will to resist it. In this context, although Brussels was correct to indicate that Turkey’s EU accession process would be halted in the event of the ruling party being banned, nevertheless the carrot may prove more effective than the stick in advancing the cause of Turkey’s democratisation. This, however, cannot mean unprincipled concessions over the Kurdish or Cyprus questions that would damage the West’s moral standing.
Keeping Turkish democracy alive requires keeping Turkey’s EU accession process alive, for it is EU membership that has provided the crucial motor to Turkey’s democratisation. But at present, it is Turcophobic EU leaders such as France’s Nicolas Sarkozy who are dominating public discourse in Europe over the Turkish issue. If Turkey is to be saved for democracy and for the West, the UK has to fight back in the arena of public opinion – both at home and in Europe. The UK has traditionally supported Turkey’s EU accession; quite apart from the geostrategic arguments in favour preserving Turkey’s pro-Western alignment, an EU containing Turkey would be less dominated by the Franco-German axis and more resistant to centralisation, therefore more congenial to the inclinations of both Britain’s political and its popular classes – and indeed to the inclinations of some other EU members – than an EU without Turkey.
The British government must fight a sustained public campaign in favour of Turkey’s EU membership, to persuade the Turkish people that they have a European future, to bolster the fortunes of our friends in the AKP, and to convince the British and European publics of the crucial importance of the Turkish connection. Sarkozy is pursuing a thoroughly unprincipled and damaging policy toward South East Europe, but to his credit, he is not afraid to be outspoken and assertive in pursuit of what he perceives to be France’s national interests in this region. We must not be afraid to be similarly outspoken and assertive. If the present trends in EU politics continue, we shall lose the battle for Turkey. And with it, we shall suffer a major defeat in the battle for both the Balkans and the Middle East.
This article was published yesterday on the website of the Henry Jackson Society.
Friday, 1 August 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Balkans, Former Yugoslavia, France, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Middle East, NATO, Russia, Serbia, Turkey | Leave a comment
The Armenian Genocide should be recognised by historians, not by states
Five days ago on 12 June, the Swedish parliament overwhelmingly rejected a motion to recognise the 1915 Ottoman genocide of the Armenians. However counter-intuitive it may seem, the result of this vote should not be mourned by anyone who believes in the need to educate the world public on genocide and its history.
The Armenian Genocide happened. As Donald Bloxham argues in his book The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians (Oxford University Press, London, 2005) – which I recommend as an intelligent and balanced introduction to the debates surrounding the topic – there is no reason whatsoever why the genocide-deniers should be allowed to set the agenda, and force us to justify the use of the term ‘genocide’ when we discuss the fate of the Armenians. Let us be clear about this: genocide deniers are not simply those who prefer to use a term other than ‘genocide’ – such as ‘systematic mass-murder’ or ‘extermination’ – when describing what happened to the Armenians, or to the Rwandan Tutsis in 1994, or to the Srebrenica Muslims in 1995. Rather, a true genocide-denier is one who, in the course of denying that a genocide occurred, seeks to whitewash the crime, minimise its magnitude and the tragedy of the victims, and usually also to shift the blame away from the perpetrators and on to the victims themselves. In other words, genocide deniers have an ideological agenda, and a very obnoxious one at that.
The Armenian case is perhaps alone, at least among the cases of genocide with which I am at all familiar, in that some historians who are in other respects actually very serious and competent are ranked among the deniers. There is always a temptation among foreign historians, who depend upon the hospitality and collaboration of the academic community and archivists of the countries they are studying, to become spokespeople for the nationalist or regime agendas of the countries in question. This is something that reflects badly on all those who fall into this trap. It is one thing for historians to be discreet or diplomatic when touching upon such issues, or to to use euphemisms like ‘extermination’ or ‘destruction’ instead of genocide, if that is the only way to keep the archives open. But if you start agitating on a denialist platform to ingratiate yourself with your hosts, you have crossed a line. As a historian, I am proud to say that I have always referred openly to the Armenian genocide; to the genocide of the native Americans; to the Soviet genocide of the Chechens, Crimean Tatars and others; to the Ustasha and Chetnik genocides in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II; and to the Bosnian genocide of the 1990s – both when writing about these topics and when teaching my students. If that ever means that some doors are closed to me that might otherwise be open, so be it. Some of us, at least, value our integrity more than our careers or our connections.
This is important, because it is ultimately historians and other scholars and teachers upon whom the task falls of educating the public about past acts of genocide. There are very sound reasons why the recognition of historic genocides in foreign countries should not be undertaken by national parliaments. In the case of the Armenian genocide – which, I repeat, should not be denied by respectable scholars – there are two crucial reasons why national parliaments should not actually vote to recognise it. The first reason concerns the context of the Armenian genocide itself, while the second reason concerns the concept of ‘genocide’ more generally.
The Armenian genocide was one of the last, and probably the largest-scale, of the series of acts of mass murder and expulsion that accompanied first the contraction, then the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and its replacement by several nation-states in the Balkans and Anatolia. The emergence from the Ottoman Empire of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria as autonomous or independent nation-states during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries involved the extermination or expulsion of much of the Ottoman Muslim population that had inhabited the territories of these countries under the Ottomans. A related phenomenon was the southward expansion of Russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, across the northern coast of the Black Sea and into the Caucasus and the Balkans, often in collusion with local Christian peoples and similarly involving the killing or expulsion of vast numbers of Muslims – indeed, of entire Muslim peoples such as the Crimean Nogai and the Caucasian Ubykhs.
These acts of killing and explusion culminated in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, when Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro finally destroyed the Ottoman Empire in Europe. According to Justin McCarthy (Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922, Darwin Press, Princeton, 1996, p. 164), the Balkan Wars resulted in the death of 27% of the Muslim population of the Ottoman territories conquered by the Christian Balkan states – 632,408 people. This is a figure comparable to death-toll of the Armenian genocide from 1915, which Bloxham estimates as claiming the lives of one million Armenians or 50% of the pre-war Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire, with another half million Armenians deported but surviving (Bloxham, p. 1).
These massacres and expulsions of Ottoman Muslims, and particularly the Balkan Wars, were both precursors and catalysts for the Armenian genocide, which was launched only a couple of years after the Balkan Wars ended. This was because a) Muslim Turkish nationalists copied the model of European-style nationalism already adopted by the Balkan Christian nationalists, involving the same principle of ethno-religious homogeneity; b) the decades of explusions of Ottoman and Caucasian Muslims to Anatolia, culminating in the Muslim exodus from the Balkans during and after the Balkan Wars, provided a constituency of embittered refugees and their descendants whom the Turkish nationalists could mobilise in the 1910s to attack Anatolian Christians; c) the settlement of these Muslim refugees in Anatolia began the process of Muslim colonisation of historically Armenian-inhabited lands that paved the way for the genocide; and d) the Turkish nationalists who ruled the Ottoman Empire in 1915 viewed the extermination of the Armenians as the necessary alternative to what they feared would be the establishment of an Armenian state in Anatolia under Russian protection, on the model of the Balkan Christian states and involving the same acts of killing and expulsion of Ottoman Muslims that the establishment of the latter had involved (NB to point this out is not to justify the genocide; any more than pointing out Hitler’s undoubtedly sincere belief in a ‘Jewish threat’ to the Aryan race justifies the Holocaust).
The question is, therefore, why national parliaments in Europe or elsewhere should recognise the Armenian genocide while according no recognition whatsoever to the series of Christian crimes against Ottoman and Caucasian Muslims that both led up to and catalysed it. Historians can debate how decisive this catalyst was, or whether and to what extent the earlier crimes against Muslims should rightfully be labelled ‘genocide’. But this requires a degree of nuance and sensitivity to history of which blunt, clumsy parliamentary resolutions framed by historically ignorant parliamentarians are simply not capable. At the very least, the similarity of these crimes to the Armenian genocide should not be denied; nor should they be deemed less worthy of recognition. In singling out the Armenian genocide for recognition while ignoring the destruction of the European Ottoman and Caucasian Muslims, a parliament would be saying that the victims of the one are more worthy of recognition than the victims of the other. And this is something that the Turkish public cannot legitimately be expected to swallow – given that it is itself partially descended from the survivors of the Christian crimes in question, therefore much more aware of the double standard than are most Europeans.
This brings us to the second reason why parliaments should not recognise the Armenian genocide, or indeed any other historic genocide carried out by a foreign regime in a foreign country: the danger that a genocide will only be considered a ‘real’ genocide if recognised by a national parliament. All those who would like to turn a blind eye to genocidal crimes – whether in Iraqi Kurdistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur or elsewhere – tend to do so by arguing that they are not ‘really’ genocide. They like to present genocide as something that almost never happens. Hence, they apply the term ‘genocide’ to only a very few historic cases – generally, to only the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the Cambodian genocide of the Khmer Rouge and the Rwandan genocide – or not even to all of those. Conversely, those who actually wish to see greater international efforts to prevent genocide, as well as most scholars writing about the phenomenon of genocide today, usually prefer to apply the term to a much larger number of historic crimes of mass murder. The point is not that these latter crimes are necessarily less worthy of the ‘genocide’ label than the destruction of the Armenians or Tutsis, but that they are less well known internationally.
In principle, therefore, recognition of the Armenian genocide should be followed by the recognition of other genocides: of the Herero people of German South West Africa in the early twentieth century; of the Chechens, Crimean Tatars and other Soviet peoples in the 1940s; of the Mayan population of Guatemala in the 1970s and 80s; and so forth, amounting to dozens or hundreds of cases. But we are unlikely ever to have international teams of scholarly experts deciding which of these cases warrant recognition as ‘genocide’ – more likely, genocide will only be recognised under the pressure of powerful and determined lobbies, as has been the case with the Armenians in several European countries. This would be bad for any genuine understanding of what genocide is and bad for the memory of the innumerable victims of what will be consigned to the category of ‘unrecognised genocides’. But it will be good for all those apologists for murderous regimes who will be only too happy to claim that it is only the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide that are recognised as genocide, and that we should all turn a blind eye to ‘lesser’ crimes.
No, parliamentary recognition of historic genocides is not the way forward. Rather than alienating Turkey by singling out its historic crimes for unique recognition, we should do better to encourage its further democratisation, to the point where its intellectuals can publicly acknowledge and discuss the Armenian genocide without fear of persecution or arrest. This, ultimately, is the only way to ensure that the memory of the Armenian victims is kept alive among those who most need to remember them.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Armenians, Balkans, Bosnia, Croatia, Darfur, Former Soviet Union, Former Yugoslavia, Genocide, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Islam, Kurds, Middle East, Russia, Scandinavia, Serbia, Sudan, Sweden, Turkey | Leave a comment
John McCain would be best for South East Europe
The democratic choice is an easier one for progressives to make in the UK than it is in the US. Over here, the ruling Labour Party is more progressive than the Conservative opposition on both foreign and domestic issues. But in the US, things are not so simple. Were I an American citizen, I would be inclined to vote Democrat over domestic issues – abortion, taxation, etc. But I have no doubt that the interests of South East Europe would be better served by John McCain as president than by either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Bill Clinton bears a very large share of responsibility for the problems faced by the Balkans and Caucasus today. These are, in particular, a dismembered, non-functioning Bosnia; an anti-Western, disruptive Serbia; and a dismembered Georgia. The problem was not that Clinton was a particularly reactionary president in world affairs, but that he simply was not very interested in them, something that resulted in a failure of leadership. The mess in Bosnia is above all the fault of the former British Conservative government of John Major and the former French Socialist regime of the late Francois Mitterand; they were the champions of appeasement and the architects, along with Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic and Croatia’s Franjo Tudjman, of Bosnia’s dismemberment. Clinton could and should have insisted upon a change in Western policy vis-a-vis Bosnia upon becoming president. Instead, he chose to defer to his pro-Belgrade European allies, Britain and France, not wishing to fall out with them over something trivial like genocide in the heart of Europe. This was not only a moral failing, but a betrayal of US interests; the disastrous Anglo-French policy and Clinton’s vacillating support for it greatly damaged both transatlantic relations and the Balkans. There are times when Europe needs American leadership; Bosnia was one of them.
After the initialling of the Dayton Peace Accords in November 1995, Clinton continued to neglect Bosnia, allowing the indicted war-criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to escape arrest – primarily because he did not want to risk American casualties in arrest operations. Nor does Clinton deserve particular credit over Kosova; it is highly questionable whether the US would have acted to prevent the genocide there in 1999 had not Major and Mitterand been replaced in the meantime by Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac. NATO’s liberation of Kosova should have been followed up by the prompt recognition of its independence, while the Russians were in no position to cause such trouble for us as they are today. We could have ‘punished’ the Serbia of Milosevic with Kosova’s independence, instead of the Serbia of today, led as it is by the relatively pro-Western President Boris Tadic. But that problem, too, was allowed to fester; its resolution today is proving much more difficult than it need have been.
Over Russia and the Caucasus, too, Clinton, like George Bush Snr before him, showed a disastrous failure of leadership. With Russian politics in a state of flux, with the pro-Western Boris Yeltsin in power in Moscow and financially dependent on the West, a golden opportunity existed to push Russian policy in the Caucasus in a less imperialistic direction. The Western powers should have acted decisively to halt the dismemberment of Georgia in the early 1990s and prevent the break-away regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from falling under Russia’s exclusive control. We should have recognised the independence of Chechnya, preempting Yeltsin’s violent assault on the country in 1994. But as is so often the case, the dovish policy is the one most likely to lead to confrontation in the long-run – think of Neville Chamberlain and Munich. Our failure to engage in the Caucasus, and Blair’s shameful support for Vladimir Putin over Chechnya in 1999, have been richly rewarded: Georgia, an aspiring NATO member, faces perpetual dismemberment, while an aggressive, ungrateful Putin has reentered the Balkans with a vengeance with the deliberate aim of derailing the region’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Chechnya proved to be the poison of Russian democracy and Russian-Western friendship; a Russian president willing and able to use weapons of mass destruction against his Chechen citizens is unlikely to respect democratic freedoms in Russia proper, and an undemocratic, authoritarian Russian regime is more likely to be hostile to the West.
In fairness, Russia is not solely responsible for the mess in the Caucasus; Georgia’s brutally chauvinistic former president Zviad Gamsakhurdia was one of the architects of his country’s dismemberment, as was the Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, who supported the Abkhazians. The people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia had legitimate grievances against Gamsakhurdia’s regime and its successors in Tbilisi. These are all issues that a more forward-looking US policy could have helped to resolve, but did not.
I fear, therefore, the consequences for South East Europe of a US president who is dovish, uninterested in or unserious about foreign policy. Hillary Clinton has always worked hand-in-glove with Bill in the political sphere, and should share responsibility with him for his disastrous Bosnia policy. Indeed, the story is that her influence made it worse; that she read Robert Kaplan’s truly dreadful book ‘Balkan Ghosts’ and passed it on to her husband; this book, filled as it was with crude stereotypes about the Balkans (along the lines of ‘ancient ethnic hatreds’), encouraged the perception of the Bosnian war as an expression of intractable ethnic conflict in which no moral issues were at stake, militating against any intention Bill might have had to resist Serbian aggression. Be that as it may, Hillary was more frank in welcoming Kosovo’s independence than Obama, who appears to see Balkan politics largely through the prism of his need to win the goodwill of the Serbian and Greek lobbies in the US. Hence his letter to the Serbian Unity Congress, in which he stated: ‘I support and shall help in every possible way development of the dialog between all sides in Kosova because I believe that peace and stability can be reached only by solutions acceptable for all sides’ – not far from an endorsement of the Serbo-Russian position on Kosova, which insists on a Serbian veto on any settlement. Hence also Obama’s endorsement of the Greek-nationalist position on Macedonia. These acts may be motivated by simple electoral opportunism, but they do not bode well for a principled and forward-looking US policy toward the Balkans should Obama become president. In flirting with the US’s Serbian and Greek lobbies, Obama is flirting with groups that encompass ultra-right-wing, Christian-fundamentalist, Muslim-hating bigots.
There are several reasons to believe that McCain would follow a more serious and principled policy toward South East Europe than either Clinton or Obama. He is aware of the importance of what he calls a ‘progressive Turkey’ as a strategic partner of the US and a beacon of Muslim democracy, and of the mutual inter-relatedness of democracy and stability in Turkey and Iraq. Turkey is both the most important Balkan country in world affairs and a state that borders on Iraq; the Balkans and the Middle East are adjacent, interlocking regions; McCain’s commitment to staying the course in Iraq is therefore most likely to promote stability in the Balkans.
McCain was correct to oppose Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide (here I break ranks with Norman Geras). The Ottoman Empire in 1915 was undoubtedly guilty of genocide against the Armenians, and Turkey should recognise this genocide. But it is not for an outside power like the US to single out this historic crime as uniquely totemic and worthy of recognition, particularly given that the US Congress has taken no parallel steps to recognise the genocidal crimes carried out by Russia and the Balkan Christian states against Ottoman and Caucasian Muslims during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Why should the US recognise the Ottoman genocide of one million Armenians, but not the Balkan Christian genocide of over six-hundred thousand Ottoman Muslims in 1912-13, when the latter crime was an immediate catalyst of the former ? The Turks would be entirely justified in taking offence at such double standards, and McCain is entirely correct that the US should be developing its relationship with Ankara, not creating new barriers to it – though he is also far from uncritical in his support for Turkey.
McCain was an early supporter of Kosova’s independence. He stood by the oppressed Kosova Albanians before it became fashionable in Washington to do so, and continued to do so despite the support given by many right-wing Republicans – largely for anti-Clinton and anti-Islamic reasons – to the anti-Albanian policies of Milosevic and subsequent Serb-nationalist politicians. A Republican president who is ready to put a combination of US strategic interests and morality above petty sectarian domestic feuds and religious hatred is more likely to act in South East Europe’s best interests.
Finally, McCain led a delegation of US senators to Tbilisi in August 2006, to express unconditional support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and to challenge the presence of Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, suggesting they be replaced by a UN or OSCE force. Although Moscow likes to draw a false parallel between Kosova and South Ossetia, in reality, secessionist South Ossetia is more like the Serb-controlled enclave in northern Kosova – an expression of the imperialism of a larger neighbour that seeks to punish a former colony for seeking independence by dismembering it. Georgia is not Russia’s backyard, and any policy that treats it as being so will only bolster the anti-Western Russian neo-empire that has arisen under Putin to become a dangerous enemy of the West. McCain is entirely correct in his belief that in defending Georgia, the West will be defending itself. His suggestion that Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia be replaced by a UN force should be welcomed by all multilateralist opponents of unilateral intervention by great powers in the internal affairs of other countries. But don’t hold your breath.
Thursday, 20 March 2008 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Abkhazia, Balkans, Bosnia, Caucasus, Former Soviet Union, Former Yugoslavia, Georgia, Greece, Iraq, Islam, Kosovo, Macedonia, Middle East, Russia, Serbia, South Ossetia, Turkey | 3 Comments
Untangling the Turkey – Iraqi Kurdistan – PKK triangle
Turkey has launched a large-scale military assault against Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) guerrilla bases in northern Iraq – the biggest Turkish attack on the region since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. This presents the democratic world with a dilemma.
In principle, every state has the right to defend itself from military attacks by neighbouring states, and this includes attacks by guerrillas based in neighbouring states. If a government allows its territory to be used by guerrillas to attack a neighbour, it becomes in practice an aggressor in relation to that neighbour, which then has the right to retaliate. Formally speaking, Turkey is acting within its rights when it carries out attacks on PKK bases in northern Iraq. In this case, however, there are three complicating factors.
The first is that this security problem is of Turkey’s own making. Having subjected the Turkish Kurds to decades of national oppression and forced assimilation, while at the same time outlawing any peaceful and democratic expression of Kurdish national politics in Turkey, Ankara has generated the problem it now faces: the PKK insurgency is its Frankenstein’s monster. There is ultimately no military solution to this problem, which will go away only when Ankara permits its Kurds the option of peacefully agitating for their national rights within the democratic system.
The second complicating factor is that Turkey’s interest in Iraqi Kurdistan is far from purely defensive. Ankara wishes to prevent a powerful, effectively sovereign Kurdistani entity from coming into being in northern Iraq, one that it fears might further catalyse the nationalism of its own Kurdish population. For this reason, Turkey is opposed to the inclusion of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Furthermore, Ankara is attempting to use the Turkoman minority in Iraqi Kurdistan as a catspaw with which to destabilise the region; its proxy political force, the Iraqi Turkoman Front, campaigns against the federalisation of Iraq and the incorporation of Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Region. Turkey has long expressed an interest in the territory and, in particular, the oil of northern Iraq, following claims that go back to the 1920s and the foundation of the Turkish Republic. In other words Turkey, which has not been a very good ally to the US and UK over Iraq, is pursuing an entirely selfish and destructive policy at the expense of the Iraqi Kurds, our best friends in the country.
The third complicating factor is that the impetus to attack the PKK in northern Iraq comes less from Turkey’s democratically elected leaders, President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), who are more enlightened with regard to the Kurdish question, but from the Turkish military, which is itself hostile to the AKP regime and which is putting pressure on the latter to be more hardline. A Turkish victory in northern Iraq, in the unlikely event that one were to occur, would strengthen the most undemocratic and retrograde elements in the Turkish state.
In these circumstances, it is not in our interest to support Turkey’s anti-Kurdish policy; nor are we under any obligation to do so. By collaborating with Turkey’s war against the PKK and policy of destabilisation of Iraqi Kurdistan, we become collaborators in Turkey’s oppression of the Kurdish people; participants in a nationalist conflict on the side of the party that is, quite frankly, more in the wrong. Yet we cannot ignore Turkey’s legitimate concern at PKK attacks, nor can we afford to turn our backs on this potentially disastrous conflict that pits our allies against one another and threatens our vital interests in all-too-fragile Iraq. We need to address the legitimate fears of the Turkoman and other non-Kurdish minorities in Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region, and to put pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure that all ethnic groups under its jurisdiction are properly protected and represented. But a solution to the Turkish-Kurdish question has to span both sides of the Turkey-Iraq border.
Britain and the US must engage with the PKK in an effort to bring its insurgency peacefully to an end, on the basis of a negotiated compromise, similar to that which has been successfully reached in Northern Ireland. Turkey’s conflict with the PKK is scarcely more intractable than was our own conflict with the Irish Republican Army; the coexistence of ethnic Turks and Kurds at the grass-roots level is rather better than that between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. There is absolutely no reason, therefore, why Ankara cannot pursue a similar negotiated settlement with the PKK, as we pursued it with the IRA. However comical the image of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness as partners at the helm of the new Northern Ireland might be, it is at the same time symbolic of how even the bitterest enemies can come to collaborate when given the right inducements. It might prove difficult to persuade the PKK to lay down its weapons, but our interests are sufficiently at stake for it to be worth the effort.
The concession that Ankara would have to give in exchange for a cession of PKK violence would be the lifting of all restrictions on the peaceful expression of Kurdish nationalist politics in Turkey. Kurdish parties in Turkey should be free to organise and to campaign for Kurdish national rights – for language and cultural rights, autonomy and even secession and independence, just as in the UK we permit Sinn Fein, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru to campaign for a united Ireland, independent Scotland and independent Wales respectively. Ankara has to realise that the territorial integrity of a democratic nation-state ultimately rests upon the consent of its citizenry, for which repression and coercion cannot substitute.
Turkey should, however, be reassured in the belief that ending the repression of its Kurdish population and permitting it full political freedom would be highly unlikely to lead to the emergence of an independent Turkish Kurdish state, for the simple reason that such a state would not be in the interests of the Kurdish people of Anatolia. Ethnic Kurds and Turks in Anatolia are too intermingled to make a bloodless drawing of a border between them feasible, even if the Turkish state were incomparably more enlightened and well intentioned than it is – more likely would be something similar to the intercommunal massacres that beset fledgling India and Pakistan in the 1940s. A particularly high price would be paid by the Kurds who would remain behind in a rump Turkey; they would be transformed at a stroke from ‘Turks’ into foreigners. Independence would cut the Turkish Kurds off from the prosperous cities of western Anatolia, the natural destination of their economic migration, and confine them to an impoverished and landlocked state wedged between unstable Iraq and hostile Turkey. As citizens of Turkey, by contrast, they are only a step or two away from Europe.
Self-determination does not mean simply drawing lines on a map as though it were a blank slate; one cannot disregard decades of history. However unjust the division of the Kurdish people following World War I between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria may have been at the time, the clock cannot simply be turned back. The transformation of Turkey into a bilingual state with Kurdish as an official language – as Swedish is an official language in bilingual Finland – while Iraqi Kurdistan enjoys widespread autonomy, might represent the best possible solution to the Kurdish question. Europe’s German-speakers are, after all, divided between the states of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy’s South Tyrol, and the arrangement is entirely satisfactory to all concerned.
A bilingual Turkish national state in which both Turkish and Kurdish are official languages would not be some arbitrary Western imposition; Turkish nationalists have traditionally viewed Kurds as Turks, while Kurds for their part were ready to fight in large numbers in defence of the common Anatolian homeland in Turkey’s War of Independence in the 1920s, against the European invaders and their local Greek and Armenian allies; Ismet Inonu, the most important of the founders of the Turkish Republic after Kemal Ataturk, was himself of partly Kurdish background. So too was the former Turkish prime minister and president Turgut Ozal, a pioneer in the lifting of restrictions on the Kurds.
In attempting to suppress all manifestations of the Kurdish language and identity, Ataturk, Inonu and their successors may have been doing what they saw as necessary in their endeavour to create a homogenous Turkish nation-state in place of the ruined Ottoman Empire. But today’s Turkish leaders have to realise that with the Turkish Republic a securely established fact, it is time for them to moderate a policy that has been too rigid for too long and that has come to threaten the very national unity it is supposed to uphold. Indeed, the ruling AKP has already taken major steps towards improving the rights of the Turkish Kurds, and it is imperative that Western leaders further encourage them in this direction, and help them to overcome the resistance of hardline nationalist elements in the army and elsewhere.
While the danger of radical Islam in Turkey is not to be neglected, yet it is ultra-nationalism that has proven to be the most dangerous force in contemporary Turkish politics, as witnessed by the assassination at the start of this year of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and by the attempt to prosecute the great Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, in both cases for the ‘error’, in nationalist eyes, of raising the question of Turkey’s historic crimes against the Armenians. This ultra-nationalism is ruinous to Turkey’s own interests. A Turkey that allows Kurdish political parties freely to operate and the Armenian Genocide to be freely discussed would be much more attractive as a member of the European Union, which is where Turkey rightfully belongs. So much is at stake in an untangling of the Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan-PKK triangle that we cannot afford not to attempt it, difficult though it will be.
Friday, 21 December 2007 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Balkans, Iraq, Kurds, Middle East, Turkey | Leave a comment
Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction in retrospect
I supported the US-led military intervention to oust Saddam Hussein and the Baathist regime in Iraq and, like most people who did, I have had plenty of second thoughts about it. But I can say, hand on heart, that I never felt the question of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ was in any way relevant to whether the war was justified or not. The Baathist regime may not have possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction according to some technical criteria, but it certainly possessed what I would call ‘weapons of mass destruction’, meaning weapons capable of destroying masses of human beings. In the Rwandan Genocide, between 800,000 and a million people were killed mostly using technologically simple weapons, above all the machete. This is several times more than were killed by the atomic bombs that hit Japan in 1945. Judging by the twentieth-century historical record, the machete is a more dangerous weapon of mass destruction than the nuclear bomb. Saddam Hussein had repeatedly carried out genocide and mass murder against the Iraqi population. With the weaponry still available to him in 2003, he was entirely able to do so again. That he did not possess what are technically classified as ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ may make a difference to how one evaluates the justification for the war, if what concerns one is British or American national security or even Middle Eastern regional security. But for those of us who thought about the intervention in Iraq primarily in humanitarian terms, what mattered most was his ability to harm his own people. The failure to discover ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ in Iraq following the invasion made no difference in this regard.
In considering whether invading Iraq to overthrow the Baathist regime was the correct course of action, the number one question is whether it made life better for the Iraqi population. On this basis, it is very difficult not to have, at the very least, profound misgivings about the whole enterprise. The failure of the intervention to create a stable Iraq and improve the quality of life of the Iraqi people has been due to the prolongued, murderous insurgency by ultra-right-wing Islamist and former Baathist elements; if we have failed, it is essentially because the enemy has been too good at killing Iraqi civilians and because we have not been good enough at stopping it from doing so. The US and its allies of course made many mistakes that have helped to fuel the insurgency, and it is impossible to know what the situation would be like today had these mistakes not been made. Nevertheless, the principle of democratic accountability requires that the occupying powers bear responsibility for the poor record, particularly given that the population directly concerned – the Iraqis – had no say in the matter. So far as the wider region is concerned, it is a moot point whether the Islamist insurgents now ensconced in Iraq represent a greater danger than the former expansionist, genocidal dictatorship. But perception arguably matters as much as reality, and the perceived failure of the action in Iraq has greatly set back the noble cause of humanitarian intervention. The successful international interventions in Kosovo and East Timor in 1999 have undoubtedly been vindicated from the perspectives of both humanitarianism and justice and the balance sheet in Afghanistan remains positive. It is a great tragedy that the perceived failure in Iraq has made the case for a similar military intervention to liberate Darfur that much more difficult to argue. A tragedy, that is, for the people of Darfur.
Neverthless, if the intervention in Iraq is to be condemned, it should be condemned because it hasn’t worked very well, not because it was wrong in principle. Helping to overthrow dictators is something our elected leaders should be doing more of, not less. The representatives of the Kurdish victims of Baathist genocide supported the invasion, as did many other of the best representatives of democratic Iraq, such as Kanan Makiya who, despite all the horrors his country has experienced since the overthrow of Saddam, still believes that it was the right thing to do. I do not for one minute regret standing behind these people, and behind Tony Blair – Britain’s greatest prime minister since Clement Attlee – against the Baathists, Islamists and phoney ‘anti-war movement’ spearheaded by apologists for Saddam, Slobodan Milosevic and other fascists. Let’s be clear about this: most of the people who marched in Britain against the war in Iraq may have done so for the best of motives; it was not they, but the leadership of the movement that was rotten. This leadership included Tony Benn, who praised Mao Zedong as ‘the greatest man of the twentieth century’, though Mao’s policies make the Iraq war seem positively bloodless and successful; the Socialist Workers Party, which continues to revere the Bolshevik Revolution, which was an unequivocally greater and bloodier failure than the Iraq war, and whose supporters continue to deny the Srebrenica genocide and support Hezbollah; George Galloway, who praised Saddam Hussein and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, whose leading lights in the 1990s joined with Alfred Sherman, a political friend of Jean-Marie Le Pen and political advisor to the genocidal murderer Radovan Karadzic, to form the ‘Committee for Peace in the Balkans’; Harold Pinter, a supporter of the ‘International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic’; John Pilger, a denier of Milosevic’s atrocities; and so on. Any movement spearheaded by such people should automatically be opposed, regardless of what it claims to be campaigning on. This does not mean the war was necessarily right, but it is a factor in the balance sheet.
Ultimately, the real division was not between those who supported and those who opposed the Iraq war – there were many honourable members on both sides of the debate – but between those who supported the Iraqi people and those who supported their oppressors. All those who supported the Iraqi people were, once the invasion had occurred, on the same side in support of the struggling Iraqi democracy, regardless of whether or not they had favoured the invasion. This essential division will repeat itself in future conflicts across the globe. In future crises, solidarity with freedom fighters struggling against a dictatorship, fascism or genocide may mean supporting military intervention, if that is what the freedom fighters feel is best for their country. Support for military intervention is a tactical question; solidarity with the oppressed against the oppressors – defending them against weapons of mass destruction, whether the machete or poison gas – is a matter of principle.
Monday, 26 November 2007 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Iraq, Middle East, Red-Brown Alliance, The Left | Leave a comment
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David Cameron, the Henry Jackson Society and the Libya intervention
There have been plausible suggestions that the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) think-tank influenced the foreign policy of the Cameron government. The following passages suggest, at the very least, a remarkable confluence of thinking between the HJS and David Cameron over the case in favour of military intervention in Libya in 2011.
As the HJS’s European Neighbourhood Section Director, I published the following analysis on the Henry Jackson Society website on 13 March 2011:
‘We cannot afford to let Gaddafi win… The allied invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was, of course, prompted by our desire to strike against al-Qaeda’s terrorist training-camps. That such camps were present in Afghanistan was the product of conditions arising from the state’s collapse and unresolved civil war. We should be very concerned at what the consequences for Europe would be if a similar state collapse and civil war were to be perpetuated indefinitely in Libya – it would be an Afghanistan on our doorstep. An imploded Libya could be a source of terrorism and piracy, as well as of mass immigration into Europe of the kind that sends right-wing politicians apoplectic… And Gaddafi, be it remembered, was never simply a pedestrian dictator of the Mubarak sort, but the ‘Mad Dog of the Middle East’, in Ronald Reagan’s memorable phrase. Most of us remember his support for the IRA and extremist Palestinian factions, and the Lockerbie bombing… Cameron has already shown himself a leader with vision, and must not allow himself to be deflected by US and EU irresolution from the path that he has correctly laid out. This trial will prove the efficacy or otherwise of his military entente with France, so there is a lot riding on this crisis for the prime minister’s vision of British strategy… The urgency of the situation in Libya is one that calls for immediate, decisive leadership. David Cameron must rise to the challenge.’
Five days later, on 18 March 2011, Cameron made the following statement in the House of Commons:
‘In this country we know what Colonel Gaddafi is capable of. We should not forget his support for the biggest terrorist atrocity on British soil. We simply cannot have a situation where a failed pariah state festers on Europe’s southern border. This would potentially threaten our security, push people across the Mediterranean and create a more dangerous and uncertain world for Britain and for all our allies as well as for the people of Libya. That is why today we are backing our words with action.’
Given how badly the HJS went wrong since 2011, people sometimes ask me why I waited so long before breaking with the organisation. The answer is that the policy ideas that I and my colleagues were promoting seemed to be having a positive impact. Although the Western alliance did not plan properly for the aftermath of the intervention in Libya and the situation in that country remains critical, we only have to compare it with the ongoing nightmare and bloodbath in Syria to see how much worse things could have been if we had not stopped Gaddafi. A lot of people in Benghazi and elsewhere are alive today, who would be dead if we had not acted. David Cameron should feel proud that he stood up to the tyrant.
Thursday, 15 September 2016 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Afghanistan, Britain, Conservatism, Genocide, Libya, Middle East, NATO, Neoconservatism | Al-Qaeda, Barack Obama, Benghazi, David Cameron, Henry Jackson Society, Hosni Mubarak, IRA, John McCain, Lockerbie, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi, Nicolas Sarkozy, Robert Gates, Ronald Reagan | Leave a comment
Parliament has sent a clear message to Assad: he can go on killing without fear of British reaction
We live in small-minded, mean-spirited times. More than two years into the Syrian civil war, with 100,000 dead and Iran, Russia and Hezbollah openly supporting Assad’s murderous campaign, Britain’s parliament has narrowly voted to reject Cameron’s watered-down parliamentary motion for intervention. This motion would not have authorized military action; merely noted that a ‘strong humanitarian response is required from the international community and that this may, if necessary, require military action that is legal, proportionate and focused on saving lives by preventing and deterring further use of Syria’s chemical weapons.’ Cameron would still have needed a second parliamentary vote before he could have authorised the use of force. Parliament’s rejection of even this feeble step sends a clear message to Assad that he can go on killing without fear of British reaction.
The strength of isolationist, Little Englander feeling in Britain has been demonstrated. Cameron was defeated by the same uncontrollable ‘swivel-eyed loons’ of the Tory backbenches and grassroots who tried to sabotage gay marriage and want to drag Britain out the EU. It was perhaps too much to expect a parliament that is so savagely assaulting the livelihoods of poorer and more vulnerable Britons to care much about foreigners, particularly Muslim foreigners.
Friday, 30 August 2013 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Arabs, Britain, Conservatism, Genocide, Islam, Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East, Syria, The Left | Barack Obama, Bashar al-Assad, BNP, David Cameron, Diane Abbott, Ed Miliband, George Galloway, George W. Bush, Iran, Iraq, Lee Rigby, Marko Attila Hoare, Nick Griffin, Nigel Farage, Peter Oborne, UKIP | Leave a comment
It would be a mistake for Israel or the US to attack Iran
The US and its allies have waged a series of wars over the past two decades for legitimate reasons. One reason has been self defence: the US’s intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 was a straightforward case of a state defending itself from attack. Another has been humanitarian: the interventions in Kosova in 1999 and Libya in 2011 averted humanitarian catastrophes. There is a strong case for intervening in Syria today on the same grounds. A third reason has been to promote progressive and democratic change. One of the ironies of the most controversial of the West’s recent wars – the Iraq war – was that although there were strong humanitarian and democratic reasons for waging it, these were not primarily stressed by Western leaders. Before President George W. Bush, US leaders had pursued the policy of leaving Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in power while strangling Iraq with sanctions over many years – at enormous cost to the Iraqi people. Although the Bush Administration bungled the occupation, the argument that a short war was a price worth paying to free Iraq from dictatorship, sanctions and isolation was not unreasonable. A pity, therefore, that the war was justified on the grounds of the Baathist regime’s supposed development of ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Even before the coalition failed to discover them, the grounds for invasion were not deemed sufficient by international opinion. The war was from the start a propaganda disaster from which the West’s reputation is still struggling to recover.
An Israeli or US attack on Iran would most likely be another such propaganda disaster. It would have no humanitarian justification, nor would it advance the cause of democracy or human rights in Iran or the Middle East. The argument that it would constitute a pre-emptive act of self-defence by Israel – which we shall come to – is not to be sniffed at but is nevertheless misguided. We are left with a purely strategic argument: the need to limit the power of a barbaric Islamist regime with an aggressively anti-Western ideology and foreign policy, that is promoting bloodshed and strife in the region. While this argument, too, is not to be sniffed at, it is not sufficient to go to war, and would not be accepted as such by world opinion.
It has been suggested that Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states would publicly deplore an Israeli strike against Iran while privately rejoicing in it. In other words, Israel would be doing the dirty work for a group of regimes, at least one of which is, if anything, even worse and more dangerous than the Iranian regime itself. Iran promotes regional trouble and instability; it enables the Assad regime’s slaughter of its own people and supports the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia’s promotion of trouble extends far beyond the Middle East, through its export of Wahhabi fundamentalism from Pakistan to Bosnia. Last October, a locally grown Wahhabi, Mevlid Jasarevic, carried out a terrorist attack against the US embassy in Sarajevo. Osama bin Laden himself was the bastard offspring of the Saudi system. Going to war against Iran with the silent blessing of Riyadh would be like going to war against Stalin with the silent blessing of Hitler.
The idea that ‘weapons of mass destruction’ pose a terrifying threat is a canard. Nuclear weapons have only ever been used once, against Japan in 1945. The Cold War came and went without either side falling victim to them, yet nearly three thousand civilians were massacred in the US in September 2001 by virtually unarmed terrorists. Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons in his genocidal campaign against the Kurds in Iraq in the late 1980s, but a much higher death-toll – up to one million – was achieved by the perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, using much more primitive weapons, in particular machetes. In other words, sophisticated ‘weapons of mass destruction’ are not needed to carry out mass murder, and those regimes that possess them have not used them against the Western democratic world, whose powers of deterrence have been sufficient to protect us from them – though not from more primitive forms of attack.
Israel has very legitimate reasons for wanting to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons: the regime in Tehran has made clear it will never recognise Israel, that it views the state of Israel as illegitimate, and that it seeks Israel’s destruction. Its propaganda systematically demonises Israel and Israelis, and it supports terrorist and extremist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, that are likewise formally committed to the end of Israel. It represents a real threat to the latter – broadly comparable to the threat posed by the Soviet Union to the Western democratic world during the Cold War. Yet the Tehran regime’s stated desire to see Israel abolished is no less utopian than the Soviet leadership’s formal goal of overthrowing world capitalism; it is a crucial part of the self-legitimising ideology and propaganda of a tyrannical regime, not a concrete policy goal.
Against this threat, Israel possesses very effective protection in the form of its own nuclear deterrent. Even were it to acquire nuclear weapons, Iran would be in no position to use them against Israel, or against anyone else, since to do so would lead to its own certain annihilation. It is simply unserious to portray Iran’s leaders as lunatics seeking to commit suicide by launching a nuclear strike against Israel, as opposed simply to cynical, calculating politicians seeking to strengthen their state’s power in the region while exploiting anti-Zionist rhetoric. Former enemies of the West have not lived up to the stereotype of the suicidal madman: Saddam Hussein failed to attack the US forces that were amassing against him in Saudi Arabia in 1990, and instead passively awaited their offensive; Osama bin Laden did not die fighting heroically in Afghanistan in 2001, but scuttled off to Pakistan and hid there until he was hunted down; Ratko Mladic quietly let himself be arrested in Serbia last year. Furthermore, neither Ahmadinejad nor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei possesses the sort of absolute power that Saddam possessed; the Iranian theocracy is far from democratic, but neither is it a totalitarian personal dictatorship. Its regional policies have been evil but sober rather than crazy; it has done nothing even as adventurous as trying to annex Kuwait, let alone launch a war that would inevitably destroy it. We should, perhaps, be more afraid of the nuclear capacity possessed by Pakistan – a highly unstable state deeply infiltrated by extreme, murderous Islamist currents, whose intelligence services are involved in supporting the Taliban’s war against Western forces in Afghanistan.
According to a poll carried out last month, 58% of Israelis oppose attacking Iran without US support. This is, after all, not 1967, when Israel took preemptive action in the face of a very real and immediate existential threat. Yet even that stunning victory, like the military victories won by Israel before and since, did not provide the country with lasting security. That can only come with a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement. For the longer this conflict continues, the more likely it is that Israel, not to mention the Palestinians, will suffer a major catastrophe. Meanwhile, as the Israeli author David Grossman argues, the uncertain results of a strike against Iran would have to be set against the long-term damage to Israel’s standing among the more educated, liberal and secular elements in the Iranian population that may one day overthrow the regime and come to lead the country. They would have to be set against the global anti-Israeli backlash that would inevitably occur.
Unfortunately, the same right-wing nationalist Israeli government that is apparently preparing to attack Iran, has shown itself a major obstacle to a peace agreement and to regional normalisation, from its foot-dragging over the peace process and its promotion of settlement-expansion to its obstruction of the wholly legitimate Palestinian demand for membership of the UN and UNESCO, undermining the most moderate leadership Palestine has yet produced. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was the world leader who supported the dictator Hosni Mubarak against his own people most openly during last year’s Egyptian revolution. There is absolutely no reason why Israel, the US and the West should allow themselves to be dragged into a damaging war to serve the reactionary, chauvinistic agenda of this government, which will probably use the opportunity to impose further repressive and discriminatory measures against the Palestinian population of the West Bank. A successful war against Iran would further encourage the Netanyahu government along its self-destructive nationalistic path, making a future peace agreement even less likely and further jeopardising Israel’s future.
Democrats should be deeply concerned at the climate being generated by this government and its supporters as they prepare for war. Nobel laureate Guenter Grass’s wrote a pretty innocuous and banal poem criticising Israeli policy vis-a-vis Iran, containing such lines as the demand that ‘the governments of both Iran and Israel allow an international authority free and open inspection of the nuclear potential and capability of both. No other course offers help to Israelis and Palestinians alike’. He was consequently subjected to hyperbolic verbal attacks by senior Israeli ministers Eli Yishai and Avigdor Lieberman and barred from entering Israel, while a campaign is being waged to smear him as an anti-Semite. If Israel is falling prey to this kind of hysteria, it is time for people who really care about the country to play a moderating role.
There is an Israeli left, and we in the West would do better to support them. The threat posed to the Middle East by Iran’s regime can ultimately only be resolved by a democratic revolution in that country. In the meantime, to weaken this regime, we would do better to concentrate on bringing down its murderous ally in Damascus, something that would not only save lives, but if handled properly might even improve the West’s reputation in the Middle East, instead of ruining it further.
Update: A strong case against an Israeli attack on Iran is made by Shalom Lappin at Normblog.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Iran, Israel, Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East | Avigdor Lieberman, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Binyamin Netanyahu, David Grossman, Eli Yishai, Guenter Grass, Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Marko Attila Hoare, Mevlid Jasarevic, Osama bin Laden, Ratko Mladic, Saddam Hussein | Leave a comment
Should we intervene in Syria ?
With the massacre at Homs, Bashar al-Assad’s Baathist regime has given notice to the world that the slaughter in Syria will continue until it falls, which it must inevitably do in the not-too-distant future. The question is how many people will be killed before it does. The fall of this regime will be a tremendous step for peace and progress in the Middle East. Yet set against the strong humanitarian and geopolitical arguments in favour of intervention is awareness of the price that we will have to pay to do so.
In Libya, the human loss involved in the overthrow of Gaddafi was greatly reduced thanks to Western military intervention; without it, the Gaddafi regime would probably still be slaughtering civilians today. The West has not been hypocritical in singling out Libya for military intervention. Libya differed from the start from other countries affected by the Arab spring, insofar as the rebels captured large areas of ground, which could then be defended by regular military means. It is something else entirely to protect civilians from the soldiers and police of a regime that still controls the ground in question. Even in Libya, we could not immediately protect civilians in Tripoli and other towns under Gaddafi’s military control from his security forces; these had to be driven out or destroyed first, and this was only possible because we began with rebel forces, in control of substantial liberated territories, that could be defended and built up. That is why the accusations that the West has been ‘hypocritical’ in intervening in Libya, but not in Bahrain, Yemen or Syria, have been unfounded. But the situation in Syria is rapidly approaching the stage when a Libyan-style intervention may be feasible.
The overthrow of the Syrian regime is both a pressing humanitarian necessity and would bring enormous benefits to the Middle East. Baathist Syria has shown an exceptional readiness to massacre its own citizens, perhaps surpassed in the Arab world only by its defunct Baathist counterpart in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The current slaughter still has not reached the scale achieved by Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad at Hama in 1982, when as many as 40,000 may have been massacred, but the Hama massacre should stand as a warning to what may yet occur if the outside world does not act. Furthermore, Baathist Syria plays an exceptionally egregious role in regional affairs: as the principal regional ally of Iran, supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas and most virulently anti-Israel of all Arab states, it contributes more than any other Arab regime to obstructing Middle Eastern peace. The overthrow of this regime would lower Arab-Israeli tension, weaken extremist forces in the region and further isolate the regime in Tehran.
On the other hand, however overwhelming the case for humanitarian intervention in Syria is, the West will pay a stiff price in propaganda terms if and when it does. Unlike Gaddafi’s Libya, but like Saddam’s Iraq, the Syrian dictatorship is based upon the rule of a religious minority over a majority. As Saddam’s regime embodied Sunni Arab hegemony over Kurds and Shia Arabs, so Assad’s regime embodies Alawi hegemony over Sunnis. The overthrow of the Syrian regime will inevitably be bloody and is likely to assume the appearance, at some level, of an Alawi-Sunni inter-communal slaughter. Although Western military intervention, by speeding the transition, may result in less bloodshed than would otherwise be the case, it will inevitably mean that the West will be blamed for whatever such bloodshed – undoubtedly substantial – does occur. The massive slaughter that followed the fall of Saddam’s regime in Iraq, perpetrated above all by the Iraqi insurgency, was not caused by the US intervention – although the Bush Administration’s clumsy occupation policy undoubtedly exacerbated the problem. The fall of that regime would inevitably have had a bloody aftermath involving substantial violence between Sunni and Shia elements. But the US’s role in overthrowing it did mean that the US was blamed for the violence that occurred; violence that, more than anything else, discredited the intervention.
This does not mean that the West and its allies should refrain from intervening. But it does mean that we should be extremely careful how we do so, studying the lessons of the propaganda disaster in Iraq as well as of the essentially successful interventions in Kosovo and Libya, and treating the propaganda front in any future intervention as of primary importance. We do not need a UN Security Council resolution to intervene, and it would be wrong to grant the Assad regime’s friends in Moscow and Beijing absolute power to block intervention. But we do need a broad coalition incorporating Arab states, Turkey and (informally) Israel, and enjoying at least the passive approval of a significant part of the international community as a whole.
As a precursor, Britain and other Western states that have not done so should recognise the Syrian National Council as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, withdraw recognition from Assad’s regime and draw up plans to provide arms, training and intelligence to the Free Syrian Army. The coalition should prepare the ground for the eventual imposition of a no-fly zone over part or all of Syria, and for air strikes to defend cities liberated by the Free Syrian Army and other rebel forces, if and when this becomes strategically and diplomatically feasible. A no-fly zone could be followed by the establishment of a liberated area in northern Syria under Turkish-led Western military protection, where Syrian civilians would be safe and where rebel forces could operate freely and begin to build a new administration for the country.
Two further conditions should be met before such full military intervention is launched. The first should be an unambiguous request for such intervention on the part of the Syrian National Council. The second should be confidence that any intervention would have to be reasonably safe for the forces intervening – Kosovo and Libya were successes in part due to the absence of Western casualties, which the Western public, after the experience of Afghanistan and Iraq, will not tolerate.
Western leaders need to be very clear, however: though we can help the Syrian revolution to defeat the old order, we cannot guarantee that it has a happy outcome. It is the responsibility of the Syrian people and their revolutionary bodies – the Syrian National Council, Free Syrian Army and Syrian Revolution General Commission – to do this, and above all to prevent any sectarian bloodletting. But come what may, we should never accept the premise that those outside forces trying to halt the bloodbath are the villains: that title goes to the murderous regime in Damascus, and to its criminal defenders – in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East, Syria | Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, George W. Bush, Hama, Hama massacre, Homs, Libya, Marko Attila Hoare, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Syrian National Council, Syrian Revolution General Commission | Leave a comment
Israel and the West should embrace Palestine’s independence
Palestine is set to seek formal recognition of its independence at the UN this month. A just and lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must involve full sovereignty, independence and security for both nation-states, Israel and Palestine. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian nations have the right to self-determination and national existence within fair borders, which means an Israel within its recognised, pre-1967 borders and a Palestine comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – any departure from this should only be on the basis of wholly equitable land swaps. After Israeli independence, Palestinian independence will comprise the second pillar of the future settlement. That is why all of us who support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should support Palestine’s bid for independence. It would strike a blow against the rejectionists on both sides: the Palestinian extremists who still dream of wiping Israel off the map and driving the Jews into the sea, and the Israeli extremists who seek a Greater Israel through the racist, colonialist settlement-building programme in the West Bank.
Some argue that Palestine’s independence should only come with a final, negotiated settlement, and that trying to establish it now would constitute a unilateral move. Yet Israel’s independence has, quite rightly, been established and internationally recognised ‘unilaterally’, in the absence of a comprehensive peace settlement, and there is no reason why Palestine should be treated differently. Borders and the status of refugees can be the subject of negotiations, but a nation’s right to sovereignty and independence is an absolute and cannot be. Others argue that a unilateral Palestinian bid for independence would mark a blow against the negotiated peace process. On the contrary, as things stand, the interminable, moribund peace process is going nowhere, and could only benefit from the establishment of a proper Palestinian partner. For you can channel Palestinian activity and aspirations through the medium of legitimate national statehood, or push them into the arms of Hamas and other extremists; that is the choice faced by the international community. Middle Eastern peace has, in fact, benefited from past ‘unilateral’ steps, such as the 1978 Camp David Accords and the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, both of which were taken in the absence of a general settlement. Every time any country ‘unilaterally’ recognises either Israel or Palestine, we are a step closer to normalisation.
The notion that we in the West should oppose Palestinian independence out of solidarity with Israel should also be rejected. Our friendship and solidarity should rightfully go to the state and people of Israel, not to the current Israeli government, whose continued settlement-building activity reveals it to be an obstacle to peace unworthy of any solidarity, and which has further disgraced itself by its support for the Mubarak dictatorship earlier this year. In fact, recognition of Palestinian independence is in the national interest of Israel, since Israel can have no ultimate peace and security without freedom and justice for the Palestinians. Israeli and Palestinian national interests are complementary, not contradictory.
Readers are urged to sign the international petition in favour of Palestinian independence.
Thursday, 1 September 2011 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Arabs, Israel, Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East, Palestine | Marko Attila Hoare | 1 Comment
The Guardian’s disgraceful treatment of Jelena Lecic
As one of the many people who unthinkingly linked on my Facebook page to the campaign for the release of ‘Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari’, a supposed lesbian Syrian dissident blogger who wrote under the title ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus’ and who was supposedly arrested by the Syrian authorities, I have been following the exposure of this hoax with a mixture of outrage and fascination tinged with embarrassment. The perpetrator, a 40-year old American Master’s student at Edinburgh University called Tom MacMaster, described as a ‘Middle East activist’ by The Guardian, has humiliated and discredited those who honourably campaigned on behalf of this apparently worthy cause; put real Syrian dissidents and LGBT activists who stuck their necks out to help ‘Amina Abdallah’ at real risk; diverted attention away from real victims of the Syrian regime; and has made it much more difficult for such victims to be heard in future. It reflects an immorality of sociopathic dimensions.
Not least of MacMaster’s victims is Jelena Lecic, a Croatian woman living in London and an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians. He stole photos of her from her Facebook account and passed them off as photos of the ‘Gay Girl in Damascus’. As ‘Amina Abdallah’ became a cause celebre, Lecic’s face was splashed all over websites and newspapers. This case of identity theft therefore had thousands of unwitting accomplices. One of these was The Guardian, which published two different photos of Lecic along with articles about ‘Amina Abdallah’ on 7 May and 7 June. In response to the second of these photos, Lecic phoned the Guardian at 4pm on Tuesday, 7 June to inform them that the picture was not of ‘Amina Abdallah’, but in fact of her, and demanded that the photo be taken down. The Guardian ignored this call, a subsequent call from her an hour later, and a call from her friend, demanding that the photo be removed. Lecic consequently appealed to the Press Complaints Commission, which promptly forced the Guardian to remove the photo by 6.45pm. However, the Guardian substituted it with the photo of Lecic from its earlier article.
All these details come from the Guardian‘s own lengthy attempt at self-justification, written by the newspaper’s readers’ editor, Chris Elliot. In his words, ‘The Guardian did not remove all the pictures until 6pm on Wednesday 8 June, 27 hours after Jelena Lecic first called the Guardian. It took too long for this to happen, for which we should apologise (see today’s Corrections and clarifications). The mitigating factors are… [etc.]’ Elliot does not actually link to the ‘apology’ in the ‘Corrections and clarifications’ section of the newspaper, and one has to hunt around to find it, but here it is:
‘Guardian articles about Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, a blogger on the subject of Middle East unrest, carried photographs purporting to show the blog’s author. In fact, the person pictured was Jelena Lecic, who lives in the UK. We apologise to her. An account of how these pictures came to be used appears in today’s Open door column on page 27 (Syrian revolt finds an unlikely heroine – an outspoken, half-American lesbian blogger, 7 May, page 24; Armed gang abducts gay blogger, 7 June, page 14; Fears for outspoken Syrian blogger after Damascus arrest, 8 June, page 16 [all with links]).’
So ‘We apologise to her.’ is the sum total of the Guardian‘s apology to Lecic for colluding in her identity theft, in a paragraph otherwise devoted helpfully to directing readers to Elliot’s effort at self-justification. Note that this constitutes a – highly curt – apology for misusing her photos, but there is no apology for ignoring her calls and disbelieving her; for forcing her to turn to the Press Complaints Commission; or for then republishing a second photo of her after the latter had forced it to remove the first.
As Lecic told the BBC’s Jeremy Paxman [see video above], ‘most of all, I was very upset with The Guardian, because I’ve complained, twice yesterday, and nobody got in touch with me… For me, it’s been very upsetting, and obviously it got involved my family; my friends; I’ve been disturbed at work. It’s just astonishing that just anybody can use your picture and put a story together, and before you know it, it’s everywhere.’ Readers should watch the whole video, and then see if they think the Guardian‘s apology was adequate.
Also notable is Elliot’s repeated reference to Lecic, whom he describes as a ‘distraught young woman’, throughout his article by her first name. No doubt, the UK’s flagship liberal daily newspaper thinks that this familiar form of address is appropriate when referring to someone it has wronged, when that person a) works in admin; b) is a woman; and c) comes from a Balkan country.
We can compare the Guardian‘s treatment of Lecic to the rather more fulsome and generous, indeed grovelling apology it made to the celebrity radical left-wing genocide denier, Noam Chomsky, five and a half years ago, also in the ‘Corrections and clarifications’ section of the newspaper, after its journalist, Emma Brockes, had been guilty of an error of detail in describing Chomsky’s views on the Srebrenica massacre. There was certainly no reference then to the complainant by his first name, or reference to him as a ‘distraught elderly man’; it was ‘Prof Chomsky’ this and ‘Prof Chomsky’ that. One use of ‘Professor Chomsky’ and thirteen of ‘Prof Chomsky’ in the space of a single apology ! By contrast, the Guardian‘s apology to Lecic used her name only once, in full, then directed its readers to a text which refers to the ‘distraught young woman’ six times by her first name.
That, dear readers, is how women are treated by The Guardian – the flagship liberal newspaper in the land of the Suffragettes and Sylvia Pankhurst. Maybe if Lecic had published an article or two on ZNet denying the Srebrenica massacre, like Chomsky’s friends often do, the Guardian might have addressed her as ‘Ms Lecic’ ?
Hat tip: Joseph W., Harry’s Place
Monday, 13 June 2011 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Britain, Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East | Amina Abdallah, Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, Chris Elliot, Damascus, Gay Girl in Damascus, Jelena Lecic, Jeremy Paxman, Marko Attila Hoare, Noam Chomsky, Srebrenica massacre, Suffragettes, Sylvia Pankhurst, Syria, The Guardian, Tom MacMaster | 2 Comments
Libya – What next ?
Contre nous de la tyrannie, L’étendard sanglant est levé
– La Marseillaise
The sight of the democratic world standing back and watching while a particularly murderous but not especially militarily formidable dictator drowned a popular uprising in blood, after its representatives begged for our help, while his own neighbours demanded military action against him, on the doorstep of Europe, was too heartbreaking to bear. However little it would have taken to stop him, the West appeared to have insufficent will. The whining of the Cassandras was incessant – from ‘Arabs are not fit for democracy’ t0 ‘we’ll be sucked into the quagmire’ to ‘we don’t have the money for another war’. Yet in the end, it proved too much for Western leaders as well.
The credit goes above all to David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain Juppe, Susan Rice, the wonderful Samantha Power and, perhaps, Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama has proven himself a vacillator in the mould of Bill Clinton, but this time the US president’s European allies pushed him forward instead of holding him back. Clinton came to office at the start of 1993 correctly inclined to intervene to stop the slaughter in Bosnia, but was rapidly deflected by the British and French and sent down the dishonourable path of appeasement; conversely, Obama was initially opposed to intervention in Libya, but was led down the right path by the current leaders of the very same nations. Britain is not an irrelevant poodle of the Americans; its voice does count. Though I disagree with almost all Cameron’s domestic policies, he has already made a tremendous positive difference on the world stage . And though I have been repeatedly horrified by Sarkozy’s policies in the past – toward Turkey, Macedonia, Georgia, gypsies – he has redeemed himself on this occasion. Some have suggested that he has been motivated by the desire to boost his flagging ratings before forthcoming elections, but it is actions, not purity of motives, that matter.
It is twenty years since Western and Arab states came together with UN backing to resist Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. That was a legitimate and justified intervention to defend a small nation from aggression, but it was waged in the most reactionary manner possible. The Emir of Kuwait’s undemocratic regime was restored to power without any requirement to democratise, and the Iraqi people, whom President Bush had called upon to rise up against Saddam, were betrayed when they followed his advice. Bush actually preferred the survival of Saddam’s dictatorship to his overthrow by Kurds, Shias and other Iraqis. But the West has come along way since then. Even today, plenty of voices have been heard of people who apparently dislike Arabs and Muslims so much that they would prefer even a murderous, racist, genocide-promoting and terrorism-sponsoring tyrant like Gaddafi to stay in power to keep them down. Yet unlike in the days of Bush Sr, it is no longer possible for the West openly to side with a Gaddafi or a Saddam against a popular uprising.
The success of the international intervention against Gaddafi is crucial to encourage the pro-democracy movements in the Arab world, to reassure their followers that the West is with them, and to strengthen those Western currents that are on their side, against those who prefer the dictators. But inevitably, there has been plenty of whataboutery from the usual suspects. Cameron effectively dealt with one such in the House of Commons on Friday:
Jeremy Corbyn: ‘Is the Prime Minister now suggesting we should develop a foreign policy that would be prepared to countenance intervention elsewhere where there are attacks on civilians, such as Saudi Arabia, Oman or Bahrain ? I hope he has thought this whole thing through.’
David Cameron: ‘Just because you can’t do the right thing everywhere doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the right thing somewhere.’
Corbyn’s argument was disingenuous; if Cameron had simultaneously argued for intervening in all those places and Libya at once, he would have been accused by various Corbyns of being a crazy warmonger who wanted to fight the whole world, but if he concentrates on Libya he’s accused of being inconsistent. That is the way these people operate; they banged on about how the Iraq war was ‘illegal’ because it wasn’t supported by a UN Security Council resolution, but now that this intervention is supported by such a resolution, they’re still opposed. There is a certain type of leftist whose sole raison d’etre is to rubbish and sabotage every positive initiative that Western leaders try to take on the world stage, purely as an end in itself. Leftists of this kind are, quite simply, a scourge.
In fact, the West’s intervention in defence of the Libyan rebels will put us in a much stronger position to exercise leverage over the despots of the Gulf, and prod them away from repression. The repression in Bahrain and the Saudi intervention should be seen as a direct consequence of the Obama Administration’s prior demonstrable lack of enthusiasm for the pro-democracy agitation in the Arab world; Obama dithered over Libya, and the Gulf despots took the hint. But credit where it’s due; Obama came down on the right side in the end (though the thought that the West would have left the Libyan rebels to their fate if Russia or China had vetoed the UN Security Council resolution is a worrying one). Our next step should be to follow through with the Libyan intervention by applying heavy pressure on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to lift their repression, and vocally to support the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. Libya is just a stage in a long struggle for freedom in the Arab world that isn’t going to be concluded tomorrow.
The biggest danger is that Libya will remain messy. Western leaders have correctly rejected the possibility of deploying ground troops, so this is not a danger of an Afghanistan-style military quagmire. Rather, the danger is that a combination of resiliance among the Gaddafi camp and fragmentation, division and Islamist currents among the rebels will combine to render Libya a failed state suffering perpetual instability – in that respect, like Afghanistan, Somalia or the Democratic Republic of Congo. The longer the civil war in Libya goes on, the more difficult it will be for the country to recover – something that will demoralise both the region and the West.
Western leaders cannot engage in statebuilding in Libya, but they can engage in a concerted diplomatic effort aimed at resolving the Libyan civil war. The emphasis should be on pressurising Gaddafi and his family to leave Libya, while arming and supplying the Benghazi-based rebels. But the aim should be simultaneously to prepare the ground for a negotiated end to the conflict between Gaddafi’s former supporters and the rebels, which could take effect once the tyrant has gone. Such a strategy would, hopefully, encourage further defections from the Gaddafi camp, possibly even a palace coup against him.
The immediate aim of the intervention was to save Benghazi, Misurata and other rebel-held towns. But now that the basic military task appears to have been achieved, there will be a lot of hard work ahead.
Monday, 21 March 2011 Posted by Marko Attila Hoare | Arabs, Britain, France, Islam, Libya, Marko Attila Hoare, Middle East | Alain Juppe, Bahrain, Barack Obama, David Cameron, Hillary Clinton, Jeremy Corbyn, Marko Attila Hoare, Nicolas Sarkozy, Saddam Hussein, Samantha Power, Saudi Arabia, Susan Rice | Leave a comment
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Gregg Drinnan's take on things mostly hockey-related, but not always . . .
Tag: Mark Louis
Three WHL coaches get Hockey Canada posts. . . . Rockets sign d-man from U of Denver. . . . McEwen now Blues’ GM, too
D Mark Louis (Brandon, Red Deer, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract extension with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). This season, he had three goals and 10 assists in 60 games.
Three WHL head coaches are among coaches named to Hockey Canada’s national junior team and its U-18 side. . . . Dale Hunter of the OHL’s London Knights has been named head coach of the national junior team. His assistants will be Mitch Love, who just completed his first season as head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, and Andre Tourigny, the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. . . . The 2020 World Junior Championship is scheduled for Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic, from Dec. 26, 2019, through Jan. 5, 2020. . . .
Dan Lambert, the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, will be head coach of the U-18 team that will play in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Czech Republic and Slovakia in August. . . . Lambert’s assistants will be Dennis Williams, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, and Mario Duhamel, who is an assistant coach with the 67’s.
Hockey Canada’s news release is right here.
Taras McEwen, the Winnipeg Ice’s manager of scouting and hockey operations, now also is the general manager of the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues. . . . According to 50 Below Sports and Entertainment, which purchased the Blues at about the same time it was moving the Ice to Winnipeg from Cranbrook, B.C., McEwen will continue in both roles. . . . As the Blues’ GM, McEwen takes over from Billy Keane, who has been the Blues’ head coach since 2016 and had been the GM since 2017. . . . The Blues haven’t yet announced if Keane will return as head coach. . . . McEwen, 28, is from Whitewood, Sask. He joined the Ice as the manager of scouting in 2016, and took over as manager of hockey operations a year later. His father, Brad, is a familiar face on the scouting circuit and presently is Hockey Canada’s head scout.
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The Kelowna Rockets have signed D Sean Comrie, 19, who played this season for the U of Denver Pioneers. . . . Comrie, from Edmonton, was a second-round pick by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. He chose to go the NCAA route, and had one assist in 18 games with the Pioneers as a freshman this season. . . . On May 2, prior to the 2019 bantam draft, the Rockets acquired Comrie and the 10th-overall selection from Brandon for the fifth-overall selection. . . . Last season, he had seven goals and 27 assists in 54 games with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . Comrie is eligible for the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . The Rockets, the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup, are attempting to rebuild their roster in a hurry after not qualifying for the playoffs this season.
When last we left the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, an Ontario judge had unsealed documents that were connected to the team’s having committed recruiting violations. . . . Today comes word that city council in St. Catharines, Ont., the home of the IceDogs, has voted to change the name of a street — IceDogs Way — near the team’s home arena, the Meridian Centre. . . . According to Karena Walter of The St. Catharines Standard: “The move was in response to the 2017 decision by the Niagara IceDogs’ owners not to go forward with a $1 million donation for naming rights after problems hammering out a deal with the city.” . . . Walter’s story is right here.
People are upset about a recent episode of @ArthurPBS which featured Mr. Ratburn marrying his male partner. Said one concerned parent, “It’s been two decades and Mr. Ratburn still won’t let Arthur graduate from third grade?!”
— MAD Magazine (@MADmagazine) May 14, 2019
Feel free to share what you see here.
Author greggdrinnanPosted on May 14, 2019 May 14, 2019 Tags Dan Lambert, Dennis Williams, Karena Walter, Kelowna Rockets, Mark Louis, Mitch Love, Niagara IceDogs, Sean Comrie, Taras McEwen, Winnipeg Blues, Winnipeg IceLeave a comment on Three WHL coaches get Hockey Canada posts. . . . Rockets sign d-man from U of Denver. . . . McEwen now Blues’ GM, too
Wilson heads up Victoria’s 2020 Memorial Cup bid . . . Ex-WHLer has court date in Prince Albert . . . Fire threatens eagles’ nest
Way to go @MitchCarefoot ! Your generous donation will go directly to someone in need. @itsinyoutogive always has a need for new donors and you are helping close that gap. In only one hour you have made a difference. Thank you for getting involved with #hockeygivesblood. pic.twitter.com/fjAxGwrPhj
— Hockey Gives Blood (@hkygivesblood) July 11, 2018
F Tomáš Vincour (Edmonton, Vancouver, 2007-2010) signed a two-year contract with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 39 games with Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). . . .
D Mark Louis (Brandon, Red Deer, 2003-08) signed a one-year contract extension with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). Last season, he had two assists in 30 games. Louis is spending this summer in Cardiff completing his MBA. . . .
F Sami Sandell (Brandon, 2004-06) signed a a tryout contract with Davos (Switzerland, NL A). Last season, with Ilves Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had 16 goals and 32 assists in 53 games. An alternate captain, he led the team in assists and points. . . .
F Rihards Bukarts (Brandon, Portland, 2013-16) signed a one-year contract with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, DEL). Last season, he had two goals and two assists in 17 games with Zlín (Czech Republic, Extraliga); one goal in 14 games with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL); and one assists in two games with the Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL).
Update: crews successfully contained the escape on the East Shuswap Rd. wildfire by Kamloops. 36 ground personnel remain on site tonight performing holding action to continue suppression efforts. #BCWildfire Service will be back in the morning with new updates as available. pic.twitter.com/yXcOsgW19T
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) July 14, 2018
The wheels are in motion in Victoria as the Royals prepare to bid on being the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup. . . . The Royals announced this week that businessman John Wilson will chair the bid committee, with Darren Parker, who is the Royals’ senior vice president of sales and marketing, the vice chair. . . . Wilson, a Victoria native, is the president and CEO of The Wilson’s Group, which, according to a Royals’ news release, “serves as Vancouver Island’s largest charter transportation company, and has been in operation since 1962.” . . . He is involved in the ownership groups for the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies and the junior B Peninsula Panthers. He also is part of the group that owns baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, the perennial leaders in attendance in the West Coast League. . . . Parker, meanwhile, has been with the Royals since the franchise relocated from Chilliwack over the summer of 2011. . . . The Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets and Lethbridge Hurricanes also have said they will involved in the bidding for the 2020 Memorial Cup. Organizations and cities will present their bids at a board of governors’ meeting in Calgary on Oct. 3. The host city is scheduled to be revealed at the end of that meeting.
There is an interesting sidebar involved with the fire that broke on Shuswap Road in Kamloops on Thursday. A tree that was near the fire on Thursday has a bald eagle’s nest on its top. Right now, that nest is home to a pair of chicks. . . . Firefighters were able to keep the flames away from it on Thursday. On Friday evening, with high winds having arrived as was forecast, the fire blew back and, as you can see from the below tweet, Kamloops firefighters were again working to save the tree, the next and the chicks.
#BCwildfire pic.twitter.com/cJU2QSZKTO
— Tango Hotel Charlie (@StreetVillain) July 14, 2018
Barkley Swenson, who played 150 regular-season WHL games over four seasons (1990-94), will be back in a Prince Albert court room on Aug. 2 after being charged with possession of stolen property, obstructing a peace officer, attempting to evade police, dangerous driving and being unlawfully at large while on an undertaking. . . . Swenson, 44, was in court on Thursday, according to Charlene Tebbutt of panow.com, represented himself and was released on bail. . . . Swenson was arrested following an incident on June 24. . . . He played 80 regular-season WHL games with the Prince Albert Raiders and 70 with the Tacoma Rockets. In all, he had 35 goals, 50 assists and 251 penalty minutes. . . . Tebbutt’s story is right here. . . . An earlier story from panow.com is right here.
Terry Puhl Drive is the new name of the road leading into the #Melville regional park. #TerryPuhl played 15 years w/ the #HoustonAstros pic.twitter.com/HIl5H4KcOZ
— Melville Advance (@MelvilleAdvance) July 13, 2018
Tyson Ramsey has signed on as an assistant coach with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals. . . . Ramsey, who is from Brandon, spent the past seven seasons with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, three as an assistant coach and the last four as head coach. . . . Last season, he also was the head coach of the bantam AAA Westman Wildcats female team. . . . He has scouted for the Moose Jaw Warriors for the past three seasons. . . . With the Oil Capitals, Ramsey will work alongside GM/head coach Troy Leslie.
Bon week-end! Aislin Saturday #MontrealGazette cartoon: https://t.co/1TsnXt5Cay pic.twitter.com/Y3Mz3OwBDa
— Terry Mosher (@TerryMosher1) July 13, 2018
Author greggdrinnanPosted on July 13, 2018 July 13, 2018 Tags Barkley Swenson, Darren Parker, John Wilson, Mark Louis, Rihards Bukarts, Sami Sandell, Tomas Vincour, Tyson Ramsey, Victoria Royals, Virden Oil CapitalsLeave a comment on Wilson heads up Victoria’s 2020 Memorial Cup bid . . . Ex-WHLer has court date in Prince Albert . . . Fire threatens eagles’ nest
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International Society of Audiology
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WCA 2020
WORLD CONGRESS OF AUDIOLOGY 2020
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF AUDIOLOGY STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP
INSTRUCTIONS AND APPLICATION
Please note closing date for submissions November 15, 2019
The International Society of Audiology (ISA) is pleased to offer a small number of student scholarships to the 35th World Congress of Audiology, to be held from April 19 - 22, 2020 in Warsaw. Please read the following instructions carefully to ensure that your application adheres to the eligibility criteria and selection procedures.
The scholarships, in the amount of U.S. $1,500 are sponsored by the ISA.
The scholarship is to help students to cover the costs of:
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Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
You must be a full time student in an institution of higher learning taking courses in audiology and preferably working towards a degree in audiology or hearing science. Graduates who will be completing their degree in 2019 / 2020 may also apply; and
You must be a current Student Member of the International Society of Audiology. - Click here to become a student member of the ISA
The applicant should have the paper accepted by the WCA for presentation. If the student has more than one paper accepted by the WCA, s/he should submit only one paper for consideration.
The research should represent the applicants’ own work and has not been presented or published elsewhere.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS: - CLICK HERE TO APPLY
A brief profile (photo, name, date of birth, brief biography and description of the current research project) for display in the Congress program and/or the ISA website.
An abstract and a 2 to 3 page description of the research project the applicant wants to submit for inclusion in the WCA Scientific Program. The research topic may be either in the field of clinical audiology or in basic audiological science.
The description should clearly outline:
The challenge/problem being addressed by the project;
The hypotheses and/or aim of the project;
The methodology that was employed;
The results that have been/will be obtained;
The discussion of the results; and
The conclusions drawn from the project, and its significance to audiology.
A letter of recommendation from the research supervisor/advisor.
A short (maximum 100 words) statement of why the student believes that attendance of the WCA would be important.
Applicants may be asked to attend a phone/Skype interview.
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The Selection Committee of the International Society of Audiology will judge the applications and determine the final winners of the scholarships. An effort will be made to select scholars representing the worldwide character of the Society.
OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The selected scholars will only be able to receive the scholarship after presenting their papers at the Congress.
The applicant will personally present the accepted paper at the WCA.
ISA student scholars are expected to be actively engaged in furthering audiological research and services locally and internationally.
Kurt Stephan, PhD,
President Elect, International Society of Audiology
Department for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders Medical University of Innsbruck Anichstr. 35
For Submission: November 15, 2019
Response from ISA Committee: February 15, 2020 Registration for WCA:, March 1, 2020
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Haitians shut down streets demanding jobs, rollback of prices
Posted in Haiti, Latin America & The Caribbean
By G. Dunkel
Politicians in Haiti thought they had a bright idea. Since people were following the World Cup soccer match between Brazil and Belgium on July 6, rooting deeply for Brazil, they would choose that time to obey the International Monetary Fund and raise the price of fuel by 38 percent for gasoline, 47 percent for diesel and 51 percent for kerosene.
This attack on the living standards of the masses, they thought, would be ignored in the jubilation and joy over Brazil’s victory.
But Brazil lost. Within minutes the masses were in the streets, erecting and burning barricades of tires, car bodies, debris and garbage to block traffic of cars and motorcycles. Whole neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince — Pétionville, Delmas, Lalue, Nazon, Champs-de-mars, Canapé-vert — were made inaccessible. Protesters also took to the streets in such cities as Cap Haïtien, Petit Goâve, Cayes, Jérémie, Jacmel and l’Artibonite. In Petit Goâve the courthouse was burned and the entryway to the tax office was set on fire.
In well-off neighborhoods of Port au Prince and Pétionville, luxury cars and apartment buildings were singled out, as well as offices and supermarkets constructed after the devastating 2010 earthquake with money that had been designated to rebuild the country. A particular target was the splendid and super-luxurious Royal Oasis Hotel in Pétionville, which got $2 million from Bill Clinton out of funds supposedly for reconstruction.
Because of the popular anger running through the streets, the barricades and the attacks on cars and offices, a number of airlines canceled flights to Haiti. The U.S. Embassy ordered its staff to shelter in place and sent for a special squad of Marine security. The Canadian Embassy also stepped up security.
Al Jazeera on July 14 reported that seven people had lost their lives in the struggle, while other news sources, like Haïti-Liberté of July 11, reported just a few dead, one a cop attempting to clear a barricade.
According to the Miami Herald of July 7, damage to fiber optic lines caused many cell phone and internet users in Port-au-Prince to lose service. A call for a general strike on July 7-9 was widely followed, even though it was not clear if a particular union was involved or just an ad hoc committee trying give some leadership to the struggle.
Marie Laurette Numa writing in the July 11 Haïti-Liberté made a very interesting point. Cops were so scarce in Port-au-Prince that there weren’t enough to protect all the goods of the bourgeoisie, which the masses were attacking. She had a possible explanation: “Some cops coming from the exploited masses have solidarized themselves with a cause linked to their class background, leaving the masses to cope with the country’s rapacious vultures.”
While this struggle doesn’t have a clear, established leadership, it has had a definite political impact. Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned on July 14 after it became clear that merely withdrawing the fuel price increases wasn’t going to tamp down popular discontent. This effectively leaves Haiti without a functioning government, although soon an interim prime minister is expected.
Underlying this popular uprising is the extreme poverty of Haiti, which is by far the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and the rapacious greed of its ruling class.
According to the World Bank, which is one of the most important tools of world imperialist rule, 24 percent of all Haitians live under the extreme poverty line of $1.23 a day, while 59 percent live under the “regular” poverty line of $2.41 a day. The wealthy Haitians who do the bidding of the imperialists receive so large an income that Haiti is rated the most unequal country in the world.
Haitians went into the streets because their conditions are intolerable and they are fighting to survive.
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Star Wars Rebels: Dave Filoni on Ahsoka's Fate, Maul's Return and Much More
Star Wars Rebels / April 1, 2016
Rebels' EP on who lived, who died and how an unseen Clone Wars storyline factored in.
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the Star Wars Rebels: Season 2 finale follow.
One more spoiler warning… if you haven’t seen the Star Wars Rebels: Season 2 finale, beware!
Okay, if you’re still reading this, I’m assuming you did see the massive events in “Twilight of the Apprentice,” as Darth Maul returned, a trio of Inquisitors attacked our heroes and Ahsoka and Vader came face to face at last. [You can read my review of the finale by clicking here.]
After seeing the finale at a screening earlier this week, I spoke to Rebels executive producer and co-creator Dave Filoni for an in-depth conversation about everything that occurred, including a huge question at the end of the episode…
IGN: Let’s start with the ending. I’ll just go there… Ahsoka’s totally alive, right?! That’s her walking away in the cave?
Filoni: Is that what you saw? That’s so interesting. That’s so good. You know I think it says a lot about who you are, which is great. You’re an optimist, and I think that that’s strong, I think that that’s strong. [Laughs] It’s an interpretation. I mean, the thing for me in this moment in time with this story – and I was pretty clear about this from the beginning in that Rebels is not Ahsoka Tano’s story, nor is it Darth Vader’s story, and we worked really hard to bring those characters into the story. But ultimately, I have to service Ezra and Kanan, and the crew of the Ghost. So a lot of that episode is portrayed through their eyes, and especially Ezra’s, as he witnesses this kind of titanic thing happening.
It’s just so easy – especially in that situation – it’s so easy to have Ahsoka and Vader take over the show. And I think evidence of that is that even though they don’t encounter each other until act three, you immediately get the dynamic of what’s going on. I would say that – while I’m not a huge fan of being tremendously ambiguous as far as what happened – I would say that this is the one case where I think it’s alright with Ahsoka to leave things a bit open-ended. You wondered what happened to her before, but you knew she walked away. Now she kind of leaves in a state of conflict. I would just say that there are probably – and I’ll give you this as we go back a ways – there are probably more stories to tell with Ahsoka Tano, but I would not believe that that would happen necessarily on Star Wars Rebels. I’ve been wrong in the past, but I think that she has served the part of the story that she needed to for our characters here. Then we’ll have to see. I do like the character a lot, obviously, and I think that she’s developed her own kind of fan base within the Star Wars universe. So, you know, I think there are still more stories to be told. I think there are stories to be told prior to Rebels with her. I think there are a lot of stories that happen right at the end of Clone Wars that we’re unaware of yet.
You know, I think the thing that I’ve learned is that the character has a lot of strength to be on her own, doing things. And perhaps that means she’s still alive. I don’t know. There are clues to the actual answer in what I think throughout, I will say that. And some kids at the [finale] screening were shooting pretty close to the mark, or at least were decoding the [clues] that I have left for them. It’s one of those mysteries then where maybe, beyond hope, maybe there is a future, but we’ll have to wait and see.
IGN: Let’s talk about the owl – Well, I’m sure there’s a more interesting name than an owl, since this is Star Wars.
Filoni: Right, they’re actually called Convorees, named after Anne [Convery– Filoni’s wife], but that was back on Clone Wars when I named them that. They appeared first on the Wasskah arc when Ahsoka got kidnapped by the Trandoshans. So that’s where you would first see those types of birds, but I think birds – like many things in the galaxy – appear on different planets so you have different breeds of them. When they get to the Atollon moon, these creatures start appearing.
IGN: Right. Ezra sees one at the end of the previous episode, as he’s lying on the ground and there’s a bit of the Imperial March playing there. Which made me wonder… is this an avatar of the Dark Side? I’m a big Twin Peaks fan, so I’m like, “It’s the Black Lodge!”
Filoni: I love the idea of it being an avatar! I would tell you, though, that it is absolutely not an avatar of the Dark Side. Absolutely not. But, you know, we’ll have to see. You’re going down the rabbit hole now. You know me by now – it’s not accidental that this thing is flying around. It’s not accidental that it’s there, and it’s not accidental that it’s bizarrely on this completely different world at the end of that episode. It definitely has a meaning for me, as the storyteller. It’s a subtle thing that if you know what the owl represents, then it deepens the lore of the whole thing and you go, “Okay, there are things at work here that are beyond our reckoning.” In some ways, I could say that it’s a messenger, it’s an observer. It is definitely something. And I would suggest – I would rather have fans debate – but I would suggest to say that whatever that thing is an avatar of has actually appeared in the animated Star Wars universe before. So decrypt from there… Have a fun summer!
IGN: So let me ask a bit about Maul. You’ve spoken about the fact that your first thoughts about bringing him back went to a very obvious, cool, fanboy place to go, which is “Vader and Maul can fight!” before you went another direction. In fact, they actually never met here, but Maul did get away.
So… Vader and Maul are going to totally fight next season, right?
Filoni: [Laughs]I wouldn’t count on that. What I think is interesting is that Maul has an awareness of him. I think that that’s a particularly interesting thing. Maul obviously has been somehow keeping tabs on what’s going on in the galaxy and probably wishes he was more a part of it. That’s another bit of wonderful story, which is: What has Maul been up to? How did Maul get on this desolate planet? And we obviously don’t answer those questions at this time, but it is stuff we’ve considered when we wrote these stories. It never came to be that he would face off with Vader, at least not yet. Again, the main reason being that, while that’s a fun notion in a lot of ways, the personal story of the relationship between Ahsoka and Darth Vader as Anakin is way too compelling and needed all the screen time. As we were working out how this episode was going to go, it became clearer and clearer to me that I couldn’t have all these other people in play when we got to Darth Vader. It’s too distracting. At one point we had several of the characters still battling Inquisitors and Darth Vader was in the mix. I just felt like everybody kind of had to be thinned out and exhausted, and then here comes the worst thing of all. So you really feel like you have no chance whatsoever. So just organically, it happened that way over a period. We’ll have to see. You never know, you never know. The nerd-tacular obsession with Vader vs. Maul. It’s hard to say – I mean, Vader is hard to top. Something George is pretty adamant of all the time was that Vader, you know… You never want to do anything to diminish him.
Continue to Page 2.
Star Wars: Clone Wars' Final Season Features Return of Darth Maul and Mandalore
Star Wars Rebels Creator on Season 5 Possibilities, Ezra's Fate, and the Show's Legacy
Star Wars Rebels Creator Dave Filoni Reveals How Season 4 Almost Ended and His Clone Wars Revival Plans
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Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSa.AS)
Integrated Oil & Gas
RDSa.AS on Amsterdam Stock Exchange
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Wed, Jul 10 2019
Shell, Chevron U.S. Gulf Coast refineries monitoring weather
HOUSTON Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas coastal refineries operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp were monitoring a developing weather disturbance in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico that may produce heavy wind and rain later this week, company spokesmen said on Tuesday.
Sarasin cuts Shell stake, criticizing its climate strategy
LONDON London-based asset manager Sarasin & Partners has sold nearly 20% of its holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, saying the oil and gas company's spending plans are out of synch with international targets to battle climate change.
Sarasin cuts Shell stake, criticising its climate strategy
LONDON, July 9 London-based asset manager Sarasin & Partners has sold nearly 20% of its holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, saying the oil and gas company's spending plans are out of synch with international targets to battle climate change.
German refinery halts Russian oil imports over contamination - Handelsblatt
BERLIN, July 5 The PCK refinery in eastern Germany has halted imports of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline after once again finding "slightly elevated" levels of organic chlorides, the refinery's owner Shell told Handelsblatt newspaper on Friday.
UPDATE 3-Two killed in accident at Shell Auger platform in Gulf of Mexico
July 1 Two people were killed at Royal Dutch Shell's Auger Tension Leg Platform in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Sunday morning while testing mandatory safety equipment, the company said on Monday.
BUZZ-UK energy index hits near 9-mth high on strong crude oil prices
** UK's FTSE 350 energy index up 1.9% at 95.36 pounds, its highest since Oct. 2018
UPDATE 1-Shell grabs 30 cargoes of Mideast crude for Aug on Platts, RIM platforms
* Largest purchase by single trader since Aug 2015 (Adds details)
Shell, Exxon Mobil eye re-entry into Somalia's upstream sector
LONDON Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are looking to re-enter the market in Somalia ahead of an oil block bid round taking place later this year, the country's oil ministry said in a statement.
LONDON, June 28 Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are looking to re-enter the market in Somalia ahead of an oil block bid round taking place later this year, the country's oil ministry said in a statement.
RPT-UPDATE 1-Pieridae to buy Shell Canada gas assets for C$190 mln
CALGARY, Alberta, June 26 Canada's Pieridae Energy will buy gas assets in Alberta from Royal Dutch Shell for C$190 million ($144.77 million), Pieridae said on Wednesday, securing supply for its planned liquefied natural gas plant in eastern Canada.
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This voluntary HOA keeps trying to save White Bear Lake (MN)
Posted on July 3, 2018 by deborahgoonan
Most of the posts here on IAC inform readers about issues and drama occurring in communities governed by mandatory homeowners’ associations.
But readers also need to know about voluntary HOAs, and the various purposes they serve. While some voluntary HOAs, such as Forest Hill HOA in Cleveland, exist primarily to uphold architectural standards and historical integrity in their neighborhood, other voluntary HOAs are organized purely for civic or social purposes.
The White Bear Lake Homeowners’ Association is one example. It’s primary mission is to preserve White Bear Lake for generations to come.
NOTE: Comparing a mandatory to a voluntary HOA is like comparing apples to oranges. Two entirely different animals.
Of course, that adds to the confusion of housing consumers, especially those who have never lived under the rule of a mandatory HOA, or who have never been a member of a voluntary homeowers’ group.
Today’s post is meant to illustrate that voluntary HOAs can serve a useful purpose, one that is very different from the typical “modern” mandatory HOA.
Free images at Pixabay.com
Homeowners trying to save their lake
White Bear Lake HOA (WBLHOA) was formed in response to fluctuating water levels in the community’s namesake: White Bear Lake, located about 19 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The city of White Bear Lake is a popular tourist destination, offering small town charm (population less than 24,000) and recreation on the lake. Fishing, boating, and jet skiing are popular activities. Golfing, state parks, shopping, and dining areas also surround the lake.
In other words, White Bear Lake is the centerpiece and lifeblood of the small City.
Needless to say, when residents of White Bear Lake noticed a significant drop in the water level of the lake, they became concerned. At first, the drop in water level was written off as the effect of prolonged drought. But as the problem persisted over many years, homeowners near the lake wanted to determine what was causing their precious lake to lose up to 25% of its water volume, and why it never seemed to fully recover with seasonal rains.
The WBLHOA began working alongside the White Bear Lake Restoration Association (WBLRA), a group of business owners and community activists that has been seeking solutions to the problem of their disappearing lake for many years.
Homeowners and restoration group members say that expert research from hydrologists has pinpointed the cause of dropping water levels at White Bear Lake: over-pumping of aquifers that feed the lake. They say that communities within a 5 mile radius of the lake are literally sucking the water out of White Bear Lake, using much of it to irrigate their lawns and landscapes.
Both groups believe that, because the state agency has been in the habit of issuing an excessive number of water use permits to nearby communities, DNR has failed to uphold its duty to protect the lakeside community’s most precious resource — water.
A quick search on Zillow.com confirms that, in the past two decades, quite a few new homes have been built within 5 miles of White Bear Lake. Many of those homes are likely to be part of mandatory association-governed communities, most of which have covenants and restrictions requiring homeowners to maintain lush, green landscapes. That’s in addition to water needed for ordinary human consumption.
The east side of the lake is dominated by luxurious estate homes surrounding Dellwood Golf and Country Club. That kind of land use, of course, creates a very high demand for irrigation.
Obviously, WMLHOA is not concerned at all with aesthetic restrictions and landscape standards to maintain lush greenery. Instead, the voluntary homeowners’ group seeks to preserve ground water aquifers and White Bear Lake.
Clearly, a stark contrast exists between a “keeping up property values with CC&Rs” HOA, and a “conserve water and save our lake for future generations” HOA.
(Pixabay.com free image)
Legal victory leads to legislation
Five years ago, WBLRA obtained the services of a pro bono attorney, and sued the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The HOA ultimately intervened in that lawsuit.
According to several reports (referenced below), when the lengthy lawsuit finally reached Ramsey County Judge Margaret Marrinan’s bench earlier this year, she agreed with WBLRA and WBLHOA. Marrinan ordered that communities within a 5-mile radius of White Bear Lake must implement strict water conservation standards.
The Judge’s ruling was highly controversial, because, in order to comply with the order, 11 nearby municipalities would have to severely cut back on withdrawal of water from underground aquifers. Of course, nonessential irrigation would have to be limited, making it difficult to maintain lush, green lawns and shrubs. But beyond that, water use restrictions would also requite towns to invest in expensive rebuilds of their respective water utility supply systems, tapping into surface water from rivers, rather than aquifers that continue to drain White Bear Lake.
Shortly after news of the court ruling spread, residents of towns within the proposed conservation area complained to their state Representatives and Senators. That ultimately led the Legislature to propose and pass two similar bills that would put a hold on the Judge’s conservation order. Governor Mark Dayton’s signature sealed the deal by sigining the House bill, enacting a new state law that bans DNR from enforcing the controversial court order mandating water conservation, pending the outcome of appeals of Judge Marranin’s ruling.
So, to summarize:
DNR, a state environmental protection agency, issued water use permits allowing substantial withdrawals of water from underground aquifers.
Lake levels of White Bear Lake dropped, reportedly by 25%, when nearby residents consumed increasing quantities of water from the aquifer. Normal weather patterns do not provide enough rain to replenish the aquifer or the lake. Residents are using water faster than it can be replaced by rain water alone.
Motivated to save the lake, WBLRA and WBLHOA team up to seek solutions to the problem. They sue DNR and win. A County Judge rules that communities within 5 miles of White Bear Lake must begin to restrict water usage from the underground aquifer, and make plans to draw their water supply from surface water of rivers.
Residents of affected communities contact their state Legislators to complain, and, ultimately a new law is enacted that prevents DNR from enforcing the Judge’s order.
So…in essence, the actions of a state government agency created the problem of a shrinking White Bear Lake, and now the actions of state Legislators and the Governor directly contradict a Judge’s ruling.
Some critics say the Judge’s order amounts to legislating from the bench. Others accuse the Legislature of enabling cities to ignore a court order.
Municipalities surrounding White Bear Lake plan to appeal the DNR amendments ordered by Judge Marranin. And, in the meantime, they don’t intend to take any steps to conserve water.
Bottom line: there’s still no end to the controversy surrounding White Bear Lake.
Blasting Minnesota DNR, judge stands by her White Bear Lake ruling (Star Tribune, March 30, 2018)
Mission remains to restore lake; proponents say legislation shortsighted (White Bear Press, April 11, 2018)
Lawmakers say ignore judge’s ruling on protecting White Bear Lake’s water level (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, May 9, 2018)
Lawmakers tell everyone to ignore judge in White Bear Lake case. Can they do that? (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, May 14, 2018)
New law bars DNR from enforcing judge’s order in lake lawsuit (White Bear Press, May 30, 2018)
The lake or the lawn? Watering ban hangs over heads of White Bear Lake neighbors (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, June 3, 2018)
This entry was posted in HOA Community Association Disputes & Legal Matters by deborahgoonan. Bookmark the permalink.
← Previous Previous post: Oakwood HOA faces lawsuit filed by parents of shooting victims
Next → Next post: Is the tide turning with respect to private property rights of HOA residents?
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Brave journey-to Iraq and back again
Bushra Jamil was a young mother when she and her husband fled wartorn Iraq in 1994 to live in Canada. But, six years ago, with her two children grown, Jamil bravely returned to lend a helping hand in her ravaged homeland.
“It is my role to go back and teach Iraqis whatever I learned in Canada, especially women,” she says in an interview from her daughter’s home in Burnaby. “I always thought that in my life it is not enough just to be a mother and have a job. There is something else for me. I wanted more.”
Today Jamil works in Iraq as an officer with the United Nations. She monitors and reports on human rights conditions of Iraqis, travelling to both stable and embattled regions of the country.
Growing up under Saddam Hussein’s rule, Jamil knows firsthand the experience of living in a society without rights.
“Everyone had to be in the Baath party,” she remembers of her early life in Iraq.
Jamil had been teaching biology and chemistry in a high school in Baghdad, when she came under pressure to join the government party. “So they gave me a choice,” she explains. “[They said] ‘Either become a Baathist or we will transfer you to another job.’ I knew they would transfer me to a very bad place where I would have been humiliated every day. So I said, ‘I’ll make it easy. I quit. I don’t need your job.’”
Jamil says she had faced similar discrimination when she was still a student so she wasn’t too surprised. “When I graduated university, I was among the top 10 students and according to the rule of the time, the top 10 got a scholarship to England — but I got nothing.”
So when the first Persian Gulf War rose up, it wasn’t a difficult decision for Jamil, her husband and two children to pack their bags for Canada.
“I worked here for five years as a biologist in environmental labs,” Jamil says about her initial immigrant years in British Columbia. “I then decided to go back to school and study business management.”
Moving to Prince George, Jamil volunteered with Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society while studying. After completing her business program, Jamil joined the society as a paid employee. “While I was working there, the 2003 war started and, of course, all my family was back in Iraq — my mom and dad, sisters and brothers — everybody. Deep inside I was happy. We were going to get rid of Saddam Hussein,” she says.
“And in May 2003, just after the fall of Baghdad, I got a job in Iraq as a cultural adviser with the Americans.”
It was a long commute from Canada, but Jamil felt that going back to Iraq was something she had to do. And she knew she would be able to return home regularly to Canada to visit her children. “My daughter was 23 and my son was 18,” Jamil says.
“I was divorced. My son and daughter lived with my ex-husband. So everything was OK.”
Back in Iraq, Jamil observed the growing tensions under the American occupation. “I could see people were just watching. Some of them were very happy that they got rid of Saddam Hussein. They cheered Americans. Others were just watching.” As time went on, Jamil witnessed the violence among feuding groups increase and saw many atrocities committed.
“Basically, Iraq turned from a peaceful country with institutions and structures to a lawless, dismantled place. I can’t even call it a country.”
Jamil left her position as a cultural adviser after only four months. “No one was listening,” she says.
Still determined to help, Jamil co-founded a women’s radio station in Baghdad called Radio al-Mahaba. The name means “love” in Arabic.
The only station for women in Iraq, the first broadcast hit the airwaves April 1, 2005. Programs “encourage women to be free and to be assertive, to know their rights and be clear about their rights,” Jamil says.
“The station became so popular,” she adds proudly. “The message became ‘Iraq is one.’ It has to stay united. Women are the power behind any success the country is going to have and if women are not treated well, if women are oppressed, this country will never be anything.”
The show is run mainly by young Iraqi college students. “Many are young women — brave and beautiful. Once the show was up and running, other stations started to compete with us.”
Jamil adds that Radio al-Mahaba is the only independent radio station in Baghdad, financed by advertising and donations. It is not political or run by religious groups or the government. “When we say independent, we really mean independent,” she emphasizes.
More than 10 million Iraqis, mostly women, listen to news and entertainment programs on the station in four languages, including English. Listeners also call in — one of the most popular features of the station — to ask about women’s legal rights, medical concerns and relationship issues. Considering more than 75 per cent of Iraqi women are illiterate, she says, the station provides a vital service.
“One woman listener came to the station during Ramadan and the night-time curfew,” Jamil says. “She came anyway and she fed everyone. She said, ‘You made a difference in my life. I listen to your station all day and think life is OK and there is hope.’”
Programs air 16 hours every day, with male broadcasters working the more dangerous night shift. Jamil says women listeners enjoy the station’s male radio host known as the Love Judge.
“They love what he does because he talks about relationships and love. Men and women call in and they ask questions. They are younger listeners and they feel anonymous. They can ask what they want.”
Considering the daily turmoil that continues in the country, it seems amazing that young Iraqis have love on their minds. “Iraqis are very passionate — very passionate,” Jamil explains. “Love will always be there, despite everything.”
Radio al-Mahaba was on air for only seven months when a massive car bomb targeting a neighbouring hotel destroyed its transmitter and some property. Fortunately, no staff members were hurt, and the station struggled on, its courageous paid and volunteer staff renting a smaller transmitter to keep broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Jamil and others embarked on a successful fundraising campaign in the United States, and the station received a new transmitter from the Harris Corporation and a large sum of money from California-based supporters.
Jamil was also recognized for her efforts as co-founder of the station, and received the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism in 2007 from Women’s eNews, an American journalism outlet.
“We are not popular,” Jamil told a New York audience in 2007, when she accepted the award. “We’ve been rejected. We’ve been fought. Religious groups are not fond of us — not even the American groups there, though we share the same language and the same objective. But we are determined. And we don’t let fear get into our hearts. That was the agreement we made with everybody in the beginning: no fear!”
Jamil focuses her time now on her work as a human rights officer. And she has no plans to quit, despite Iraq’s uncertain future. “I will continue to monitor and report on human rights violations through my job,” she says. “The radio station will keep going unless it is closed by the authorities. I have great hope that the station will be part of the change.”
Despite her current focus on her homeland, Jamil also recognizes her strong bond to her adopted country. “Canada is a great country and we need to keep it like this,” Jamil says.
“I can take my passport and travel anywhere in the world,” she notes, “while my family in Iraq — there is no way they can go do this. I am privileged because I have my Canadian passport and I cherish that.
“Down the road I’ll be back. I’m not going to stay in Iraq forever. I’ll do my job. Then I’ll say, ‘OK, I’ve done my part and I’ll come back.”
Even back in Canada, Jamil’s sense of purpose will not be over. “I want to volunteer — whatever I can do to give back to people.”
Reprinted from “The Canadian Immigrant”, September, 2009
Tags:Bushra Jamil, human rights, Iraq war
You are currently browsing the Janet Nicol's Blog blog archives for September, 2009.
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Archive for the Islam Category
Posted in Bible, Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, News, Religion, War, Warfare, World News on June 8, 2009 by Michael Burks
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/middleeast/09mideast.html?ref=global-home
JERUSALEM — Under mounting American pressure to define his intentions regarding peace efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Sunday that he would make a major policy speech next week mapping out the government’s “principles for achieving peace and security.”
The announcement came against the background of rising tensions with the Obama administration, which has demanded that Israel freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank. The Netanyahu government insists that construction within existing settlements should continue.
In another point of contention, Mr. Netanyahu has refused to endorse explicitly the notion of establishing an independent Palestinian state, a cornerstone of American and European policy on the Middle East.
President Obama’s Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, is expected in Jerusalem and other parts of the region this week.
On a stopover in Oslo, Mr. Mitchell said Monday that Washington wants “immediate” talks between the Palestinians and Israel to forge a comprehensive peace agreement. Reuters quoted him as saying that the aim of such talks was “a comprehensive peace and normalization of relations” between Israel and its neighbors, which would also serve “the security interests of the United States.”
“The president has told me to exert all efforts to create the circumstance when the parties can begin immediate discussions,” Mr. Mitchell was quoted as telling a Palestinian donors’ conference in the Norwegian capital.
“It’s important that there is a building of institutions and governmental capacity so that at an early time there can be an independent and viable Palestinian state,” he said.
On Sunday, in comments at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Mr. Netanyahu said, “We want to achieve peace with the Palestinians and with the countries of the Arab world, while attempting to reach maximum understanding with the United States and our friends around the world.”
His government, led by the conservative Likud Party, was sworn in nine weeks ago. Mr. Netanyahu says he has been reformulating Israeli peace policy. Some Israeli commentators have wondered how Mr. Netanyahu, whose last government fell apart in 1999, seemingly returned to office without a clear agenda.
Ben Caspit, a columnist, wrote Sunday in the newspaper Maariv that Mr. Netanyahu, “who opted to squander his period of grace on meaningless ‘reassessment’ meetings, is now going to have to be particularly creative if he wants to renew trust between the United States and Israel.”
Israeli officials say they expect the Obama administration to respect understandings they say were reached — some written and some oral — with the Bush administration on building within existing settlements.
The Obama administration has bluntly dismissed Israel’s argument. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that “there is no memorialization of any informal and oral agreements” on construction in settlements. “If they did occur, which, of course, people say they did, they did not become part of the official position of the United States government,” she said.
Both clarifying and complicating the issue on Sunday, Dov Weissglas, who was a senior adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when some of the understandings were reached early in the decade and was his liaison with American officials, said the written understanding on development within the settlements was “part of a host of understandings around the road map.”
The road map, a 2003 peace plan, called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and on the Palestinians to dismantle terrorist networks. The goal was the creation of a Palestinian state.
“In other words,” Mr. Weissglas told Israel Radio, “whoever does not accept the road map cannot demand rights without taking on the obligations.”
Mr. Netanyahu has said his government will abide by signed agreements, but he has not publicly endorsed the road map. Israeli officials emphasize that the Palestinians and Arab parties, and not only Israel, have obligations to fulfill, a point also made by President Obama on Friday.
In Germany, Mr. Obama said the Palestinians “have to continue to make progress on security in the West Bank” and deal with “corruption and mismanagement” within the Palestinian Authority.
Israel Holds War Games
Posted in Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, News, racism, Uncategorized, War, Warfare with tags Iran, Israel, war games on May 22, 2009 by Michael Burks
JERUSALEM — Israel’s air force held a large-scale exercise simulating war on several fronts with enemies that include Iran, Israeli defense officials said Friday.
The practice this week involved Israel’s entire air arm and was meant to prepare for an all-out war, including missile attacks aimed at Israeli cities, the officials said. It lasted four days, ending Thursday.
Israel periodically conducts such exercises. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the exercise were not made public.
The military said it was part of its annual training program, using the word “routine” twice in a brief statement sent to reporters.
But it comes at a time of increasing friction surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel believes is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon it sees as an existential threat.
Israel has said it prefers to block the Iranian threat through diplomacy, but will not rule out a military strike.
The military said the exercise included both regular army personnel and reservists, releasing no further information. Israel plans a nationwide exercise next month simulating missile attacks aimed at civilians.
Iran test fires misslie
Posted in Bible, cults, Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, News, Uncategorized, War, Warfare, World News with tags Iran, Iran and Israel, Iran Missiles, test fire on May 20, 2009 by Michael Burks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/20/iran-test-fires-missile-israel
Iran test-fired a solid-fuel missile capable of reaching Israel or US bases in the Middle East today, drawing rebukes from western governments and forcing the abrupt cancellation of a diplomatic mission by Italy‘s foreign minister.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the launch of the Sajjil-2 surface-to-surface missile in Semnan province, in northern Iran, claiming it landed “precisely on target”. The defence minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said the missile was “equipped with a new navigation system as well as precise and sophisticated sensors”.
Western officials confirmed the launch and said the Sajjil appeared to be a two-stage solid-fuel missile with a range of about 1,250 miles (2,000km). The Foreign Office said it “underlines profound concerns about Iran’s intentions and sends exactly the wrong signal to the region and the world at a time the international community is trying to engage Iran”.
The incident came two days after Barack Obama warned Iran had until the end of the year to respond to his diplomatic overtures and enter into serious, “good faith” negotiations over its nuclear programme. Iran insists the programme is for energy-generation purposes, but the UN security council has demanded Tehran suspend enrichment of uranium on the grounds that Iran has so far failed to convince the international community that its intentions are peaceful.
The launch led to the cancellation of a two-day visit to Iran by Italy’s Franco Frattini, who was close to boarding a plane to Tehran when he heard that Ahmadinejad insisted on meeting him in Semnan, the site of the launch.
The minister called off the whole trip, fearing Ahmadinejad would use it as a propaganda coup ahead of presidential elections next month.
The president and three challengers were officially approved today to take part in the vote by the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, out of 475 hopefuls.
The planned Frattini visit had been the source of considerable tension within Europe. The British and French governments had urged him not to go, arguing that it would help Ahmadinejad electorally and show a lack of western unity.
An earlier version of the Sajjil was tested in November last year.The Sajjil-2 appears to have a slightly longer range than the prototype. Mark Fitzpatrick, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the development of the Sajjil missile was significant because of the type of fuel it used, rather than its range.
“To be able to build a solid-fuel missile of medium range represents a significant technological breakthrough,” Fitzpatrick said. “It is technically more difficult than a liquid-fuel missile, and militarily more significant because it is not as vulnerable to attack while being fuelled.”
Pope Benedict supports Muslims – just like the Pope supported Nazi Germany during WW II
Posted in Arabs, Bible, Catholic Church, Christianity, cults, Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, New Testament, News, Old Testament, Pope, Religion, The Torah, Uncategorized with tags Catholic Church, Israel, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope supports Muslims on May 13, 2009 by Michael Burks
What a shock that the current Catholic Pope supports Muslims and not Israel. For those who don’t recall, the Catholic “Church” and Pope also supported Hitler and Nazi Germany while millions of Jews were driven from their homes to suffer and die.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/5320110/Pope-Benedict-XVI-supports-Palestinian-state-and-criticises-Israeli-barrier.html
Pope Benedict XVI criticised the concrete security wall “towering over us”, saying it was “tragic” to see barriers erected between the two communities. Photo: REUTERS
Speaking in Bethlehem, where he delivered his most sensitive speech yet of an eight-day tour of the Holy Land, Benedict XVI acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinian people following the establishment of Israel in 1948.
But he also urged moderation, telling Palestinians they should not use violence to further their cause.
Speaking later at the Aida refugee camp, he criticised the concrete security wall “towering over us”, saying it was “tragic” to see barriers erected between the two communities.
The Pope, who also celebrated mass in Manger Square in front of the ancient Church of the Nativity, believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus, sent a message of solidarity with moderate Palestinians such as Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian national authority, when he gave his support to proposals for a “two-state solution”.
“The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbours, within internationally recognised borders,” the Pope said.
“I know how much you have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil that has afflicted this land for decades,” the Pope said.
“It is my earnest hope that the serious concerns involving security in Israel and the Palestinian territories will soon be allayed sufficiently to allow greater freedom of movement, especially with regard to contact between family members and access to the holy places.”
In remarks aimed at the many militant groups within the Palestinian community, the Pope said they should “resist temptations to resort to acts of violence”.
Israel was nominally behind the two-state plan until the recent election of a Right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu which has said it is reviewing its position on the issue. The Pope is due to meet the Israeli prime minister on Thursday.
After two days in Israel the Pope had to cross into the occupied West Bank where Bethlehem is located.
This meant he had to pass through the 10-yard-high concrete wall built by Israel around Bethlehem.
Deemed illegal under international law, Israel has nevertheless pressed on with its construction on the grounds that it deters suicide bombings and other security threats.
In the afternoon he spoke at the Aida refugee camp, one of several housing Palestinian families driven from their homes through the creation of Israel in the second half of the 20th century.
Israel had forced the organisers of the event at Aida to move the stage so it would not be dominated by the security wall but this did not stop the pontiff criticising the barrier.
“Towering over us … is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached – the wall,” the Pope said.
“In a world where more and more borders are being opened up – to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges – it is tragic to see walls still being erected.”
Speaking after his visit, he issued a message of hope. “I have seen, adjoining the camp and overshadowing much of Bethlehem, the wall that intrudes into your territories, separating neighbours and dividing families,” he said.
“Although walls can easily be built, we all know that they do not last for ever. They can be taken down.”
Somali Pirates are Muslim – what a shock
Posted in Arabs, Hate, Islam, Middle East, News, racism, Religion, Uncategorized, War, Warfare, World News with tags Muslim Pirates, Muslim Somali Pirates, Somali Pirates on April 16, 2009 by Michael Burks
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/04/yes_they_are_is.html
For years, I’ve decried–on this site and elsewhere–the use of the term “pirates” in connection with the Somalians who seize ships off the coast of Africa and demand ransom. They are violent, they are Muslim, and they are tied to Al-Qaeda.
And, yes, they are TERRORISTS. Islamic terrorists. You know, the “Religion of Peace.”
Now, they’ve seized a ship with mostly American crew members on board. And maybe now, we’ll actually call them what they are. (By the way, so much for Obama’s butt-kissing of Islam in Europe, this week. Look how the Muslims “repaid” us the compliment.)
Just because they let most people live and accept money for their thuggery instead of lives, doesn’t make them any less terrorist than the ones who murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11. The ultimate end of their actions is a distinction without a difference from their not so random violence, kidnapping, and threats. It has no relevance to whether or not they are terrorists that they let their victims live.
Obama reaches out to Iran – disgrace
Posted in Arabs, Bible, Christianity, Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, News, Uncategorized, World News with tags Iran, Iran hates Israel, Israel and Iran, Obama, Obama and Iran, United States and Iran on April 15, 2009 by Michael Burks
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/20/obama.iran.video/
The message is a dramatic shift in tone from that of the Bush administration, which included Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, in an “axis of evil.” It also echoes Obama’s inaugural speech, in which he said to the Muslim world, “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
In Friday’s video, Obama said: “The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities. And that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.”
There was no immediate response from Tehran to Obama’s message, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that his country would welcome talks with the United States “in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect.”
The United States, several European nations and Israel suspect that Tehran has been trying to acquire the capacity to build nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Last month, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security released a report saying that Iran has reached “nuclear weapons breakout capability” — it has enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb.
Gaza boat blows up – Muslims can even attack correctly
Posted in Arabs, Hate, Islam, Israel, Israeli, Jewish History, Middle East, News, racism, Uncategorized, War, Warfare, World News with tags Arabs, Gabi Ashkenazi, Gaza boat explodes on April 13, 2009 by Michael Burks
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLD629202
GAZA, April 13 (Reuters) – An unmanned Palestinian fishing boat laden with explosives blew up off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday in an apparent attempt to attack an Israeli navy patrol, Israel’s military chief said.
No one was hurt in the explosion, which Palestinians said could be heard miles away. Local fishermen in the Hamas-controlled territory said the Israeli ship fired at the boat as it approached, causing the enormous blast.
The Israeli military said it had not shot at the vessel, which exploded some 600 metres (yards) from the naval patrol.
“We believe this was an attempted attack,” said Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, head of Israel’s armed forces.
He said the navy crew was unharmed because it followed regulations and did not approach the suspicious boat. There was no Palestinian claim of responsibility. (Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Richard Williams)
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Yosef Yehudah Leib Bloch
In 1910, Rabbi Yosef Yehudah Leib Bloch succeeded his illustrious father-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, as Rosh Yeshiva of the famed Telzer Yeshiva. Rabbi Bloch created a new genre known as Shiurei Daat, which were lectures on musar and basic principles. Four volumes of such lectures were published. He also had an original approach to halacha and some of his lectures have been published as Shiurei Halacha.
Rabbi Bloch saw the unity of all aspects of the Torah and their root in the supernal world. Under his guidance, a little known elite society was formed, Agudas Emes VSholom, whose purpose was to develop individuals capable of influencing the generation. He warned that the purity of the idea might be tainted by publicity (see HaMayan, Tishrei Tashnaz). The Telzer Yeshiva was a complex of institutions for all ages. The Yeshiva was also innovative in the education of girls.
Sources: Orthodox Union
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Goblin Kingdom – Volume 3: The Age of Warlords – Chapter 196 – The Beautiful Princess Wants Blood (3/3)
Posted on October 22, 2018 Author JigglypuffPosted in Goblin Kingdom3 Replies
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Spoiler Inside: Character Name Cheat Sheet
Goblin Side
Protagonist (King Class)
A human from another world who reincarnated into this world as a goblin. He once lost his mind due to starvation and hunted a monster to satiate it. He is currently revered by the goblins, and has promised to create a kingdom for them as their king. He is under the protection of the Goddess of the Underworld, and after uniting the various races of the forest has invaded the land of the humans, taking the first step in his path to world domination.
Gi Ga Rax (Knight Class)
A spear-wielding goblin who is the first goblin from Gi Village to evolve into a rare class. He is a firm believer of the king and he has sworn fealty to him. He lost his right arm and left leg, but he managed to pick himself back thanks to his indomitable will. He is currently leading other wounded goblins like him to fight for the king. He calls his platoon the imperial guards.’
Gi Gu Verbena (Duke Class)
Former leader of the village that has now become the parent organization of the protagonist’s horde. He was a rare class at the time, but he was still subdued by the protagonist’s powerful howl, and became his subordinate. He specializes in the long sword, but he can use any close combat weapon. His real specialty lies in fighting with others. He conquered the goblins from the southern region and is now leading a force second only to the king’s horde.
Gi Go Amatsuki (Baron Class)
In the face of being killed by the gray wolves or swearing fealty to the protagonist, he chose to swear. His preferred weapon is a curved sword, as it can cut his prey easily. He has received the divine protection of the Sword God, and once ended up pointing his sword to the king due to his influence. Ashamed of his weakness, he left the village. After a long time of wandering, he returned a new man and killed the Holy Knight, Gowen, who he once lost to.
Gi Za Zakuend (Shaman Class)
A mage goblin who lived in a village situated by the roots of a great tree. He became the protagonist’s subordinate after losing to him in a duel. He is a firm believer of the king and has sworn fealty to him. His appearance resembles that of humans. He has received the divine protection of the wind god.
Gi Gi Orudo (Noble Class)
A beast tamer, a goblin who can talk to animals. He came from the same village as Gi Gu, and currently has a triple head as his main beast. His preferred weapon is an axe. He is currently fighting as a part of the detached force responsible for conquering the colonial city.
Gi Ji Arsil (Noble Class)
A goblin who can use the Meld skill, and thus, specializes in reconnaissance. He gets along well with Gi Gi and has fought as a pair with him plenty of times. He used to prefer a long sword, but after specializing in reconnaissance, he has since switched to a dagger. He has learned the Assassinate skill, and is merciless to all who oppose the king.
Gi Zu Ruo (Noble Class)
When he was young, he lost his mind when Gi Ga was deeply wounded during the battle of the orcs. Using the Mad Dog skill, he was able to take down three orcs by himself. He is a powerful goblin, who has received the divine protection of the mad god. At the king’s behest, he went to the northwestern part of the Forest of Darkness to increase their forces. After arriving late to the western capital war, he has since been desperate to achieve something.
Gi Zo (Druid Class)
A water mage from Gi Za’s village. He was tasked to protect the village by the protagonist. He has received the divine protection of the water god. He is no longer among the living due to Gulland.
Gi Da (Rare Class)
A spearman from Gi Ga’s faction. His debut as a warrior was in the battle against the orcs. He possesses the Unreasonably Stubborn skill. He is no longer among the living due to Gulland.
Gi Jii Yubu (Noble Class)
The most brilliant student created by the goblin training, who now leads a regiol. As a commander, he has skills that could be matched with humans, but it seems he’s not ready just yet to take a holy knight on.
Gi De (Rare Class)
A subordinate of Gi Gi. He is also a beast tamer. He evolved into a rare class when he was caught up in the battle the orcs. As an obedient subordinate of Gi Gi, the king expects much from him. (He is currently using a triple boar and a wild dog.) He died to the Wand of Destruction, Bellan.
Gi Do Buruga (Shaman Class)
A wind mage. Also from Gi Za’s village. He has never stood out because of Gi Za, but he has gradually distinguished himself among the goblins. He has the divine protection of the wind god. He leads the druids alongside Gi Za.
Gi Ba (Noble Class)
A skillful goblin who can use the Fierce Arm skill. He has received Verid’s divine protection, and as such, deeply loathes humans. Most of his efforts have been centered against the humans, making him a valuable asset in supporting the frontlines.
Gi Bi (Rare Class)
A water mage. He is expected to be Gi Zo’s successor, but he is still a long way away from that goal. He is a part of Gi Za’s druid platoon.
Gi Bu (Rare Class)
A beast tamer. Gi Ga works him hard everyday. He is now affiliated with Gi Gi’s beast tamer army and is looking after beasts he isn’t familiar with.
Gi Be (Rare Class)
A one-armed goblin. He has received Verid’s divine protection and deeply loathes humans. He is affiliated with Gi Ga’s imperial guards.
Gi Ah (Rare Class)
A goblin who evolved into a rare class during the war with the elves. He possesses the invasion-class skill, One who Encroaches into the Divine Region.
Gi Ii (Rare Class)
A goblin who evolved during the war with the elves. He is an explorer and specializes in moving.
Gi Uu (Druid Class)
A goblin who evolved during the war with the elves. He is a water mage.
Old Goblin (Normal)
An old goblin. He isn’t very useful in combat. Because he was once enslaved by humans through magic, he is good at talking. He is the parent who riced Gi Za.
Ra Gilmi Fishiga (Noble Class)
One of the four tribes of the west. He is an archer of the Ganra tribe.
He went to the Gi Village as a messenger after receiving permission from the tribe. He invited the protagonist to the four tribes. He has been title the First Archer or Gadieta. He is constantly worried over the relationship between the tribe and the king. He is currently fighting as part of the detached force responsible for the colonial city.
Ra Narsa (Rare Class)
She had been chased from her village by the Gaidga goblins when she met the protagonist. She is the current chief of the tribe and has recently started to distinguish herself. She has remained in the tribe’s village, supporting the goblins from the back.
Ru Rou (rare Class)
A young goblin of the Ganra tribe. In the Ganra tribe, the names Ra, Ru, and Re are three most influential. The rest of the goblins have no family name, and are thus, normal goblins. He is currently fighting with Gilmi.
Aluhaliha (Noble Class)
One of the four tribes. He is the chief of the Paradua tribe.
He threw away his pride and worked with the Gaidga to save his people from starvation, but after losing to the protagonist, he and his tribe have since joined him in his quest for world domination. He is the oldest among all the goblins. His black tiger steed is named Jirouou. He is currently retired, but he frequently patrols the area around the Fortress of the Abyss.
Hal (Noble Class)
Chief of the Paradua tribe.
He used to be a young warrior who worked as Aluhaliha’s aide. After inheriting Aluhaliha’s position, he has since proven himself a worthy chief capable of standing equal to the human cavalry. He has sworn fealty to the king.
Alashd (Rare Class)
A middle-aged goblin from Paradua.
He works as Aluhaliha’s aide and is currently a member of the elders. He is staying at the Paradua village.
Rashka (Lord Class)
The biggest chief among the four tribes.
He is the strongest goblin among the four tribes, but his subordinates haven’t been as blessed. He was Narsa’s fiancé.
He evolved during the goblin’s first invasion.
Dashka (Rare Class)
A young goblin from the Gaidga tribe.
Kuzan (Rare Class)
Chief of the Gordob tribe.
She is a goblin blessed with the divine protection of the goddess of the underworld. She has a skill that allows her to resurrect the dead. She is currently responsible for managing the Fortress of the Abyss. Gi Ga respects her. She studied medicine during her stay in the elven village and has since been working with the other Gordob members to support the goblins from the back as medical practitioners.
Humans + Gods + Others
Reshia Fel Zeal (18 years-old)
The priestess known as the saint. As the Healing Goddess’ follower, she lives to spread the word and teach righteousness. She has the divine protection of the goddess, and can heal others. She has been brought back to the ivory tower.
Lili (22 years-old)
She studied the famous sword style, Zweil Style, in the capital. She has sworn fealty to Reshia. And while she may have lost to the protagonist in one hit, she has proven herself strong enough to easily defeat three normal goblins. She has become much stronger after acquiring the evil sword, Vashinant. She stopped the yugushiva attacks after Gulland entrusted the northern army to her.
Mattis (27 years-old)
The second son of a farmer. He’s largely responsible for drying the meat to preserve them. He was sent somewhere in the kingdom.
Chinos (25 years-old)
The third son of a farmer. He plows the fields and is close to Mattis. He was sent somewhere in the kingdom.
Keifel (28 years-old)
An adventurer who took on a request to escort Reshia through the Forest of Darkness. He’s strong enough that he could easily wield a steel great sword, but the protagonist still managed to kill him.
Zeon (32 years-old)
A follower of Ativ. He specializes in fire magic. In his battle against the protagonist, he used his fire magic, but still lost. In the end, he tried to blow himself up along with the protagonist, but the protagonist’s words agitated him, causing him to lose the opportunity.
Tinra (23 years-old)
A villager. She is one of the women used by the goblins as a breeding machine that the protagonist killed.
Ashtal Do Germion (60 years-old)
The king that rules the western region of the continent in which the Forest of Darkness and the connecting borders are included. He is a powerful ruler with seven holy knights under him. He has recently ordered three of those holy knights to search for the saint. He has laid out new plans after feeling the threat from the Goblin King. He’s currently trying to gather mages to strengthen his army.
Gowen Ranid (46 years-old)
The feudal lord that rules over the region next to the Forest of Darkness. As one of the country’s strongest powers, he is renowned as the Iron-Armed Knight. He is currently leading his soldiers in a quest to find the saint. He fought hard against the goblin invasion, but was eventually killed by Gi Go Amatsuki.
Gulland Rifenin (32 years-old)
A former adventurer. As one of the country’s strongest powers, he is renowned as the Storm Knight. He’d been stationed in the northern mountains, but the king called him back to send him off in a quest for the saint. He became a hero after rescuing the saint. He tried to help Gowen fight the goblin invasion, but he lost. He is currently retreating to the south.
Gene Marlon (24 years-old)
As one of the country’s strongest powers, he is renowned as Lightning-Fast Knight. He was previously stationed at the south, but the king called him back to send him on a quest to search for the saint. Killing is his favorite past-time. Whether it’s a man, a demihuman or a monster, they’re all just pieces of meat to be cut down before him. He was killed by his own slave.
Sivara Bandier (29)
One of the country’s most powerful warriors, a holy knight known as the Ripper Knight. He is a martial artist and comes from a noble family. He is popular among young soldiers, and is considered the enemy of all fathers and boyfriends. He is also known as the Marriage Destroyer. His skill at leading the cavalry is one of the best in the country.
Jize Yuuenti (40)
One of the country’s most powerful warriors, a holy knight known as the Sharp-Eyed Knight. He is currently dealing with the Kushain believers coming from the south. He was originally a traveler from the east that was coaxed by Ashtal with a huge paycheck.
Yuan (26)
A young commander under Gowen. He seems to be under the protection of some god, but…
Corseo (52)
A veteran martial artist who acts as Gowen’s aide. He used to lead the cavalry, but then the Goblin King turned him into a corpse.
Herculean Wyatt (41 years-old)
A member of the Blood Oath of the Flying Swallow. He specializes in handling great shields. He has a gentle personality, but beware for his anger isn’t one to be taken lightly. After returning from the forest, he has since been working in the Holy Shushunu Kingdom as the leader of the blood oath of the flying swallows.
Mage Killer Mill (20 years-old)
A member of the Blood Oath of the Flying Swallow. She is an assassin that favors the use of talons. Renowned as the mage killer, she is a mage’s worst nightmare. After returning from the forest, she has since been helping out in the slums and watching over orphans. She met Reshia and successfully managed to give her the orphans’ present.
Wand of Destruction Bellan (37 years-old)
A member of the Blood Oath of the Flying Swallow. He wields a fire staff. As a former knight, he cares a great deal about honor. He died while protecting his allies.
Hawk-Eyed Fick (32 years-old)
An adventurer with two names. He has exceptional perception and skill. He is currently searching through the Forest of Darkness under Gulland’s lead. After returning from the forest, he has since gone to the southern free cities on a solo adventure.
The White Hand of Life (Age Unknown)
A priest robed in white. She specializes in healing and support. Her age, name, and origin are all unknown. After converting Vitz and Yugil, she has started traveling the world to find more adherents.
Vitz (28 years-old)
A talkative sword-wielding adventurer. He’s actual strength isn’t bad, but he’s still far from being deserving of a second name. He was caught by the White Hand of Life and is currently traveling the world with her.
Yugil (26 years-old)
An adventurer and an unwilling shield bearer. He might appear old, but he is actually still young. He was caught by the White Hand of Life and is currently traveling the world with her.
Yoshu (27 years-old)
The younger brother of the slaves Gene purchased. The collar of obedience around his neck keeps him from going against Gene’s orders. Healers are rare, so he’s been made into a shield bearer. He ended up on the goblin side because of his older sister’s whims. He is currently traveling with Gi Go.
Shumea (29 years-old)
The older sister of the slaves Gene purchased. The collar of obedience around her neck keeps her from going against Gene’s orders. Contrast to her brother who bears a shield, she uses a spear. She is a gutsy woman who believes being with the Goblin King is better than living within human society. She is currently negotiating with humans.
Household of the Gods
Altesia. The underworld goddess.
The Goddess of the Underworld and the Goddess of Valor. As the goddess the snakes serve, she has given her blessing to the protagonist. She is a dangerous woman with her deep jealousy and fierce temperament.
The Goddess of Healing. She has given her blessing to Reshia. She has also warned the protagonist to protect her. The underworld goddess might hate her, but she doesn’t feel the same way toward The underworld goddess.
Pitch Black (Verid)
A one-eyed red-eyed snake that belongs to the Goddess of the Underworld.
Twin-Headed Snake
Known to the goblins as the Lord of Decay. He is one of the snakes that fought the world with the Goddess of the Underworld.
The elven woman Gene purchased. She became a slave after running away from her tribe. She was freed after she killed Gene. Since then hse has been under the care of the Goblin King with Shumea.
Hasu
A high kobold. She is one of the protagonist’s pets.
The protagonist managed to tame her by giving her orc corps and other meat as bait.
She is a fortuitous kobold who somehow managed to become the leader of her pack. She is currently leeching off the orcs. She wants to eat the orc children, but unfortunately, she just can’t find an opening. She attacked the colonial city with the orcs, but the humans weren’t very tasty.
As the pup of the gray wolves, she has been given the elven name that means lady of the lake. Reshia, Lili, and other children and women are quite taken by her lovely fur. She has grown up enough to lead her household. She has grown up to become a spectacular gray wolf even better than her own parents.
Gastra
As the pup of the gray wolves, he has been given the name of a wise human monarch that means sovereign of the wind’s howls. His uninhibited personality leads him to battle Hasu for ranks on a daily basis. He is became the leader of many beasts in the capital, then in the ivory tower. His subordinates are mostly females.
A timid orc. Gol Gol had taken a liking for him despite his small body. After Gol Gol died, he led the orcs to the west, but the protagonist managed to capture them. He attacked the colonial city with Gilmi. Recently, his greatest worry is that he’ll suddenly find himself fighting at the frontlines with the humans.
Gol Gol
The orc king that attacked the village. He is a berserker who can use skills. He was defeated by the protagonist.
Demihumans
Chief of the araneae, a female chief. She speaks firmly and possesses a proud mindset. The lower half of her body is a spider, but the uper half is that of a lovely maiden. She covers her upper body with clothes made from araneae thread. Poison drips from her talons, and she can use them alongside her threads. That fighting style has earned her the name Poison Feather. She is a descendant of the red crystal.
Nerou
An influential person of the araneae. He opposed Nikea’s plans to accept the goblin and ended up dead for it. He is a descendant of the blue crystal.
The female chief of the mud-scaled tribe. She is slow in a good way. As a member of a tribe known for moving underground, she works as a merchant just like Yushika. She knowns more than the harpyurea and is also a better messenger. She looks like a mole on the outside, but her vision is perfectly fine. Her pair of round eyes is her unique feature. She is known as the hardest claw. Shi is a descendant of the dark crystal.
Yushika.
Female chief of the harpyurea. She has a huge bag hanging from her neck that she carries with her arms. She uses it to store her cargo. She is a merchant. She is also a mischievous woman who doesn’t cower even before the king. She has white wings sprouting from her back and bird feet. She is known as the first wing. She is a descendant of the white crystal.
The old chief of the papirsag/shell tribe. He is of short stature and he carries a moss-covered shell on his back. He is a careful man, whose eyes always seem sleepy. Despite that his gaze is extremely sharp. His tribe specializes in processing trees and taming monsters. He is a descendant of the hard crystal.
Chief of the long-tailed, a subspecies of the lizardman with two heads and two tails. Half of his body is covered with a shell, but the other half has his skin exposed just like an amphibian. He is a descendant of the soft crystal.
Kerodotos
Chief of the minotaurs. He talks slowly. He tried to crush the goblins as soon as he saw one. There is almost nothing good about him when it comes to talking. His gaze is sharp and while he might talk foolishly, he is by no means incompetent. He is a descendant of the heavy crystal.
Chief of the werewolves. He is a friend of the gray wolves and he lives in the fields. He is known as the tyrant because he likes to tear his enemy apart with brute force. He is a firm believer of power and originally disliked the goblins. He is extremely friendly toward the gray wolves. He tends to be impulsive, but he’s definitely not one to be underestimated. He is a descendant of the fierce crystal.
Daizos
Chief of the centaurs. He found himself in a bad position ever since Gurfia became a ghost. He tried to kill Gurfia with the elite of his tribe but failed. He hates the goblins. He is a descendant of the proud crystal.
Rukenon
The guide Nikea introduced.
The slave werewolf from the Jirad Forest.
Shure Forni
Chief of the Sylph’s Forni village. He wishes to reform the elves. He studied under Falun and is Shunaria’s father. He is renowned as the Wise Shure. He formed an alliance with the Goblin King and promised him full support in the war with the humans.
Falun Gastair
Chief of the western Gastia Forest. Shure’s friend and master. He is considered a scheming strategist even by his own disciple, Shure. He brought back the elven school system and is currently using his village to spread knowledge.
Shunaria Forni
Shure’s daughter. She is smart and frequently does pointless things. She delivered the Goblin King’s new weapon to him. She is currently working as a civil official in a human village.
Pale Symphoria
A young sylph warrior who gathered experience in the human world. She is a versatile warrior who can lead army and fight her own battles. She managed to make the bigger goblin army retreat many times. She left the Goblin King to help her clan, Elks.
Felbi
One of Symphoria’s commanders. He fought alongside Pale against the goblins, but he mostly left the leadership of the platoon to her. He has been grudgingly leading the platoon since Pale left. He dreams of becoming a first-rate warrior.
Fenit Symphoria
Symphoria’s chief. He is Pale’s cousin. He is self-righteous and proud. He was the only one given a death penalty after the war.
Priena Sinfall
Sinfall’s chief. She is a woman but her face is cold. She never managed to take back Sinfall after it was taken from her during the Sylph Unification War. She was exiled after the war.
Nash Jirad
Jirad’s chief. He foresaw the human threat lie Shure and the Goblin King, but was rebuked because of his decision to enslave the demihumans. He was stripped of his last name and made a commoner after the war.
Silver Sheng
Sheng’s chief. He was sympathetic to Pale from beginning to end, but was coerced by Fenit to hand her over to the goblins. He was stripped of his last name and made to work at the Jirad’s hidden farm after the war.
Volume 3: Chapter 196 – The Beautiful Princess Wants Blood (3/3)
The merchant country, Pena, had a House of Elders under the queen. It was made up of old-timers that have spread their roots throughout the land, merchants who have amassed a fortune, and warriors who have vanquished monsters. Although it looked different, this was none other than the organization that regulated the profits of the influential people in Pena.
It was to that very organization that a proposal had been brought.
The marriage of Raksha El Pena and Brandika Rual Fatina.
Queen Rashka was turning 19 this year, while archduke Brandika was an honorable and brave man. Their union would essentially be a tug of war. One with Pena trying to absorb the Red King into them, while the Red King tried to suppress them.
“Nothing good would come out of getting involved with the Red King! Just look at the royal family of Elrain Kingdom!”
The one who said that was Allen, a childhood friend to the queen and a vice-commander to the Order of the Blue Knights. He was against their marriage.
His words weren’t false, for Elrain Kingdom was at the brink of defeat when they hired the Red King to fight for them. Unfortunately, the price of that was that their supposed King Yuguno was now currently being treated as nothing more than decoration. Their survival was guaranteed, but in exchange, King Yuguno now no longer meddled in politics.
“Perhaps, but the threat from the north is approaching. Already the goblins are 4,000 strong, and the Kushain believers are 5 times their numbers. Do you have any hopes of winning? What with that half destroyed Order of the Blue Knights of yours?”
Allen’s fervent speech was only met with a cold gaze from an elder.
“That’s why we should quickly rebuild the knight order! We still have the holy sword! It’s too early to be pessimistic!”
One of the people from the queen’s faction spoke, but the argument that came shooting back was equally cruel.
“But Aizas, its master, has died. It will take a year before the holy sword finds another master. Unfortunately, that is simply too long. Why did the knight-commander have to die?”
As that grave voice resounded, criticism turned to Allen.
“We shall form an equal alliance with the Red King and accept them into our lands, regardless if the weakened Elrain Kingdom, Kushain Believers, or the goblins be their prey…”
“I can’t change it. It’s obvious.”
Allen clicked his tongue internally. Just the thought of how these people could have possible struck a deal with the Red King and were currently trying to make this marriage succeed made him feel like dung had been rubbed all over him. If he could, he would really want to cut these people down right here and now.
Take care of the princess…
Aizas’ last words were what brought Allen’s raging heart back to a calm.
But he knew full well that he couldn’t fulfill them.
It would be hard to maintain this country without the support of the council. It was impossible to keep a country running on feelings alone.
That’s why Allen tried to speak reason into them once more. Again, he stood up in this battlefield without a sword.
“You overestimate the Red King! They have already lost to the goblins! Rather than relying on some mercs, it would be better for us to rebuild the Order of the Blue Knights!”
The reason the council wasn’t keen on rebuilding the Order of the Blue Knights was one – it would increase Allen and his people’s influence, and two – raising the sand horses cost a lot of money.
Sand horses were amazing monster beasts that could move quickly through the desert for a long time, but they had one problem. They could only eat living monster beasts.
Catching monster beasts were in and of itself a problem. Not to mention, finding such prey within the desert.
From the perspective of the council, Allen and his order lost a bunch of valuable gifts that the council had given him. Of course, these sand horses were indeed powerful weapons.
Truth be told, when the Order of the Blue Knights were in good condition, their might was something that earned them much envy. But after one battle, they were left half destroyed. The desert bandits thus took this to mean that their might had fallen and have once again made an appearance. Dealing with them would once again cost money. Which is why the young Allen was currently rebelling like this.
From the perspective of these people that have left their name in the council, this wasn’t an interesting situation.
The late Aizas was much better than Allen. He was someone who understood his opponents well and understood the politics of this country. Although he had few zealous supporters, that was also what made him ideal as a companion to the queen.
But then he died, and the one to succeed him was a young zealous warrior who has lived his life without having anything to do with politics.
But advantages and disadvantages were two sides of the same coin. While the zealous Allen might not have been suited for politics, he was unyielding when it came to his own beliefs.
The way he thought of his own country single-mindedly attracted a lot of zealous supporters around him, most of which revolved around the young who found the elders disagreeable.
This was also not amusing to the council, but Allen had no way of understanding this.
Pena’s misfortune was that it had no one who could calm the young army in times of need, while also mending the relationship between the elders and the warriors.
With only Queen Raksha able to stop Allen, the elders found the situation dangerous.
If they were to allow the Order of the Blue Knights to be rebuilt, all of their possessions would be gradually used up for the sake of the country. That was how dangerous they saw this situation as.
In the end, the meeting for that day closed without any conclusion.
Allen felt that if only Aizas were alive, the elders would have surely understood.
3 comments / Add your comment below
Belkar says:
goblinrou says:
Red King ruining everything everywhere he goes~
nitefthr says:
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I Say Rejoice – A Homily for Advent 3
Posted on December 15, 2018 by jimfriedrich
“Pay attention to the open sky / You never know what will be coming down.” –– Jackson Browne
Rejoice in the Lord always. Let me say it again: Rejoice! . . . The Lord is near. . . And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
–– Philippians 4:4-7
So said St. Paul 2000 years ago, and we have heard him say it again today: Rejoice!And because these words became the traditional opening chant in the medieval mass on the Third Sunday of Advent, this day became known as Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin for “rejoice.”
Rejoice is one of the most important words in the Bible. It’s full of electricity, meant to jolt you out of sleep and despair. “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” said the prophet Zephaniah. “God will rejoice over you with gladness…God will dance with shouts of joy for you.”
God will dance! In Aramaic, the language of Jesus, the word for rejoice is also the word for dance. An old Jewish Midrash takes great delight in this double meaning:
In the Time to Come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will lead the chorus of the righteous…and they will dance around Him…and point to Him…saying, “This is God, our God forever and ever; God will lead us…with youthfulness, with liveliness.”
So on Rejoice Sunday, as we celebrate the dancing God, who’s this wild man of the desert crashing our party, calling us snakes and shouting about wrath? Who let him in?
You brood of vipers! You snakes! What are you doing here? Do you really think you are going to escape from the mess you’ve made of this world? Is that what you think? Don’t tell me about your spiritual heritage. That’s not going to save you! You’ve got to show you mean business. You’ve got to turn yourselves around and get right with God. You say you’re Abraham’s children. Well, God doesn’t care a fig about that. You say you go to church. So what?
Are you bearing any fruit? I don’t see it. Your hearts are nothing but dead trees. Where’s the fruit? Where’s the juice? You know what happens to dead trees? They get cut down, leaving nothing but stumps.
Look, I’m baptizing with water the ones who really want to change. But I tell you, there’s someone coming after me who’s a lot more powerful than I am – I’m not even fit to tie his shoes. And he’s not going to be using any water to baptize you. He’s going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit – and with fire.
The winnowing fork is already in his hand. He’s clearing the threshing floor and gathering the wheat into the barn. But the chaff? Oh, the chaff he is going to burn in a fire that will never go out.”
So people, listen up. It’s time to get ready.
Stay awake. Keep watch. Change your lives.
Such an intrusion, such a message, and such a messenger, seem shockingly out of place on Rejoice Sunday. Thank God no wild prophets have wandered into our assembly today. But you never know!
About 25 years ago, a pastor in California asked me if I would make a surprise Advent appearance at his church as John the Baptist. No one else in his congregation knew this was going to happen, not even the ushers, who looked at me nervously when I entered the church in bare feet and a tattered old robe. At the moment when the gospel was to be read, I came up the aisle, looking people in the eyes as I delivered my fiery message. Then, after one last warning to stay awake and keep watch, I slipped out the door and disappeared.
This bit of guerilla liturgy got mixed reviews from the congregation, as you might imagine. But if the Bible is a living word, it doesn’t just tell stories about people in the past. It confronts and challenges us in the present as well, as the biblical truths retell themselves in our own stories.
Be that as it may, what are we to make of the Baptist’s unsettling message? Perhaps his most troubling phrase is “the wrath to come.” It conjures up all those abusive old images of an angry, judgmental and vindictive god, images which have done a lot of harm over the centuries, even though Jesus made it pretty clear that the heart of the law is mercy, and the end of all our stories is the victory of Love.
So what is the “wrath to come”? I believe it is really something of our own devising. If we break the laws of the universe, we will find ourselves contradicted by a reality more true and lasting than the constructions of our own self-will. If we engage in destructive behaviors, those chickens will come home to roost. Or as C. S. Lewis put it, “We are not punished for our sins; we are punished by our sins.”
We all experience this kind of blowback on the level of personal behavior, whenever we reap what we have sown. But it is true on a collective level as well. The rapid acceleration of climate change makes this abundantly clear. For decades we humans have been either unwilling or unable to change our ways, and now the consequent “wrath” is getting too big to ignore––although some still try!
A recent cartoon depicting a climate change denier puts this perfectly. A skeleton is lying on its back on ground that is baked and parched. Nothing is growing there. It’s a wasteland devoid of life. And the skeleton still has its fingers in its ears. Nobody’s going to convince himabout the wrath to come.
Perhaps the most interesting––and hopeful––thing about today’s gospel reading is that the people, even after being so fiercely chastised and challenged by the prophet, do not put their fingers in their ears. Instead, they ask the Baptist, “What then should we do?” John responds to each questioner in very concrete ways. And as the story concludes, what looked like judgment––the axe and the fire––turned out to be a strange form of good news, the best thing that could have happened, because it spurred people to let go of the unsustainable chaff and begin to change their ways.
Prophets can be hard, but they are so necessary to move us to repentance and action. Thank God for all those who push us where we need to go, who urge us toward transformation. We must change our lives, they tell us. And the time is now.
It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the immense challenges looming before us. Where do we turn for the hope and courage and strength we need for the facing of this hour? What faith says is this: We turn to God our Savior. We turn to the one in whom all our hope is grounded.
But in a world as secular as ours, where divine intention or activity is not a natural presupposition, and things just go on happening whether God is thought about or not, it can seem unintelligible to call God our Savior. What does it mean to say that God will save us? Doesn’t our culture teach us to act as if we are pretty much on our own, for better or worse? Isn’t God an unnecessary hypothesis?
If the question of God were nothing more than a theoretical proposition with which we agree or disagree, or simply ignore in the daily course of our lives, then it’s easy to live as if God makes no difference. But belief is not a theoretical matter. Belief is about how we live, and what kind of story we belong to.
It is certainly possible to live inside a story where God is absent or nonexistent. A lot of people do it. But I find that to be a bleak and unpromising account of reality––perhaps satisfactory, or even exhilarating, when things are good, but too vulnerable to cynicism and despair when the world goes off the rails.
People of faith, however, abide in a different story, a story where death does not have the last word, a story where Love wins. To say that God will save us is to belong to thatstory, and to live accordingly. And what are the fruits of faith’s life-shaping story?––trust, confidence, hope, and the kind of invincible joy which St. Paul proclaims with such passion. “Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!”
Paul’s own joy was often tested. Even in jail, he wrote to his friends, “Do not worry about anything. Live in hope.” And countless saints have done exactly that.
In the book of Lamentations, a text drenched in the tears of profound suffering, we find one of the most hopeful verses in all of Scripture:
When my soul is bowed down, I keep one thing in mind, and so recover hope: Love’s mercies are never exhausted; they are renewed every morning (Lam. 3:20-23).
In the faith story, no matter how rocky the road or dangerous the journey, our path leads beyond every annihilation toward an unimaginable fulfilment. What has been broken will be restored, what has been wounded will be healed, what has been lost will be found. If such a hope were a statement about the world, it would be a foolish optimism, soon blown away by the winds of calamity. But Christian hope is not a statement about the world. It is a statement about God.
Hope is not about what the creature can do; it is about the never-ending resourcefulness of the Creator, who turns darkness into light and brings life out of death. Even to the blackest night, God will bring the dawn.
One of my Advent rituals is to play my recording of Jackson Browne’s “For a Dancer,” an encouraging song imbued with prayerful hope, despite being written in a time of personal loss:
Keep a fire for the human race,
and let your prayers go drifting into space
you never know what will be coming down.
Perhaps a better world is drawing near;
just as easy it could all disappear,
along with whatever meaning you might have found.
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around.
Go on and make a joyful sound.
Into a dancer you have grown,
From a seed somebody else has thrown,
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own. . .
We are all dancers, the people who rejoice in hope, come what may. Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around. Go on and make a joyful sound.
Now to say that God is our Savior does not mean that God does all the work. Faith is not passivity. To be called into the story of God’s unfolding future means we ourselves have a lot of work to do: the work of changing our lives, the work of letting go what is unsustainable, the work of repairing the world, the work of becoming Love’s body in the here and now. Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own.
We do not do this work alone.
The Eternal One works beside us––and within us.
Our strength lies in a power deeper than our own capacities.
Our story is more than a dream of our own making.
And God’s mercies, Love’s kindnesses, are never exhausted.
Posted in Advent, Anglican spirituality, Belief, Christianity, Hope, Theology | Tagged Advent hope, Brood of vipers, C.S. Lewis, Climate change, Gaudete Sunday, God our Savior, Homily for Advent 3 (Year C), Jackson Browne "For a Dancer", John the Baptist, Lamentations 3:20-23, Luke 3:7-18, Philippians 4:4-7, Rejoice; again I say rejoice, Repairing the world, St. Paul, the wrath to come | 6 Replies
“Save us from the time of trial” –– Climate Change as Apocalypse
Posted on October 20, 2018 by jimfriedrich
The angel dictates a word of hope and promise to St. John: “Blessed are those who are invited to the feast of the Lamb.” (Rev 19)
The humanist/scholar became quite emotional in conceiving of the world devoid of human beings, which was a possibility brought on by one disaster or another, due, it must be said, to our own actions. This would be the worst thing he could imagine––worlds devoid of human beings, even if these worlds were populated by other intelligent and enterprising life forms.
–– Joy Williams, Ninety-Nine Stories of God
What have you got to worry about? We’re only adrift in an open sea with a drunken captain and an engine that’s liable to explode at any moment.
–– Humphrey Bogart in Beat the Devil
The end is near! The world as we know it is on the verge of extinction, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.[i]But where is the sense of collective alarm? Where is the will to act? Our house is burning down, but instead of shouting “Fire!” and grabbing some hoses, we carry on as usual, unable to muster a sense of emergency. Perhaps we are just too exhausted by the endless stream of horrors under Republican rule, from children’s prison camps to the spread of American fascism, to have any bandwidth left to address the environmental apocalypse.
As columnist Leonard Pitts suggests,
“So then you read where the planet is melting, dire results expected soon, and you just shrug and file it away with all the other terrible things you’ll worry about when you get a chance. That’s understandable. But it presumes a luxury we don’t have — time. Again, this report says the world has 10 years in which to save itself — and we’ll spend at least two of those under Trump.” [ii]
Don’t ask me to explain why the party in power and its corporate handlers are doing everything they can to make things worse, as if the fate of the planet––and the well-being of their own children’s children––is nothing compared to the allure of short-term power and profit for themselves. Such suicidal selfishness is utterly incomprehensible to me. But we don’t have to approve of it to be caught up in it. We are all participants in an unsustainable culture.
Death rides a pale horse. (Rev 6)
Of course, there are many people, governments and institutions who recognize the climate crisis and are working to address it. Even in the heart of Trumpian coal country, West Virginia’s Charleston Gazette-Mailis sounding the alarm:
“When today’s kindergartners are in their 20s, they may find a devastated world wracked by horrible hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, tornadoes and other tragedies made worse by global warming. Coastal cities may be abandoned, sunken wrecks. Poverty and misery may result.”
The editorial goes on to note that hurricanes Florence and Michael have “inflicted more loss than the entire worth of West Virginia’s coal industry — but conservative politicians still won’t act to reduce the damage.” [iii]
The Second Trumpet: The sea is polluted by fire, blood and death. (Rev 8)
Only ten years left to avert catastrophe! The message is clear: change or die. But given the dysfunctional paralysis of the American government, the iron grip of vulture capitalism, and the enormity of scale required for worldwide transformation, the prospects for success are bleak. The Titanic can’t turn on a dime. And when the captain doesn’t even believe in icebergs, it’s time to strike up “Nearer, my God, to Thee.”
On a recent trip to France, I beheld, for the first time, the extraordinary Tapestry of the Apocalypse in Angers, whose 84 large panels depict scenes from the Revelation of St. John the Divine. This riveting medieval visual sequence––the largest wall-hanging ever woven in Europe–– extends in parallel rows for 104 meters down the length of a vast, dimly-lit hall. It’s like a gigantic textile comic strip. Although the 700-year-old dyes have faded over time, these visionary scenes remain compellingly vivid, dense with iconography and narrative.
The Tapestry of the Apocalypse, Angers, France.
Theologian Austin Farrer described their source, the book of Revelation, as a great work of religious imagination. “It is the one great poem which the first Christian age produced, it is a single and living unity from end to end, and it contains a whole world of spiritual imagery to be entered into and possessed.” [iv] Gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson added his own appreciation. “I still read the Book of Revelation,” he said, “when I need to get cranked up about language.” [v]
The meaning and value of the Bible’s last book have long been debated. Was it a mystical vision, a theo-political critique of the Roman Empire, or a quasi-liturgical dramatization of eschatological themes? The violent imagery of Revelation has been misused by religious cranks and maniacs in notoriously unhealthy ways, but the text has also––more than any other biblical book––given us many sublime prayer and hymn texts. Often neglected in times of contentment or complacency, it speaks loudly in times of crisis. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that the book never made much sense to him until the rise of the Nazis.
“Babylon” is Revelation’s code name for the Roman empire, the oppressive and sinful social consensus whose claims of absolute totality were grounded in seduction, deceit and the enforcing threat of violence. And while that particular empire is long gone, Babylon is still around. “Bellicose, selfish, self-deluded, icy, absurdly resolute––behold the Rome of the book of Revelation,” said the Jesuit prophet-poet Daniel Berrigan. And, he added, “Behold also America.” [vi] Forty years after he wrote that, it seems truer than ever.
The Babylons of every age want us to believe that resistance is futile, because “this is the way things are.” We’re all implicated in the system. Even if we don’t like it, we can’t imagine living without it. Try preaching an exit from global capitalism next Sunday and see what happens! We may dream of the “New Jerusalem” of justice, peace and universal blessedness, but it seems impossibly distant. “If the Babylon of our time is already, from God’s perspective, a smoking ruin, how and where do we find the New Jerusalem? Is it really possible to ‘come out’ of empire when it surrounds us so completely?” [vii]
“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” The people worship the beast of worldly power as the Dragon (Satan) approves. (Rev 13)
Like all apocalyptic literature, Revelation is pessimistic about the present age and where it is headed. But it is also full of hope about the age to come––the unexpectedly redemptive future emerging from a time of emergency. “The apocalypticist sees meaning where the uninitiated sees only chaos or catastrophe.” [viii]
Revelation insists that Babylon’s “reality” is a lie: there is an alternative to its culture of seduction and death. This alternative, the New Jerusalem, is not to be sought in some unreachable elsewhere. It is here among us, though only visible to the eyes of faith. And in every moment, every time we choose life over death, we begin to make our exodus, however small and tentative, out of Babylon’s prison into the space of divine blessedness.
The fall of Babylon. Only its demons are left to haunt the rubble. (Rev 18)
The Tapestry of the Apocalypse was created by inhabitants of their own medieval Babylon, an exitless world fraught with anxiety and doom. As half of Europe was being struck down by the Black Plague, Revelation’s harrowing images of a death-haunted, perishing world struck home. The obsessive immensity of the tapestry project testifies to a depth of existential engagement with ultimate concerns, as if the artists and weavers were driven to create a comprehensive record of their longing––and their dread––before they themselves ran out of time.
As I processed slowly, contemplatively, through the crepuscular vastness of Angers’ tapestry hall, the strange images flickered before me like an old silent movie, as though their colors and forms were signaling across the centuries with the light of a long-vanished past. Whatever these visions first said to John the Divine in his Patmos cave, whatever they meant to the fourteenth-century French weavers, they were now pleading for my attention.
See! God is making all things new.
Death will be no more,
mourning and sadness and pain will be no more.
The world of the past is gone. [ix]
The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, bringing divine glory into earthly presence. (Rev 21)
Babylon is fallen. The gates to God’s eternal city are open wide. And the urgent question for believers today, in the face of a climate apocalypse, is this:
How do we hold fast to the redemptive vision
of the New Jerusalem
through the long dark night of catastrophe?
The Dragon pursues the expectant mother, “robed in the sun,” into the wilderness, trying to prevent the birth of hope. (Rev 12)
In the short term, we can practice both personal and collective environmental ethics, foster alliances with environmental changemakers, and incorporate a deep love and respect for the planet––and all who dwell therein––into our worship and our spiritual formation. And, setting aside for now our differences on a multitude of political and economic questions, we absolutely need to unite in casting our votes for defenders of the earth and against every climate change denier and pollution enabler. When the Beast is on the ballot, vote no!
In the long term, people of faith may face an even more daunting challenge––to cling to hope amid almost unimaginable destruction and loss: the disappearance of coastal cities and large land masses; countless millions of climate refugees; a horrific number of human deaths; mass extinction of species and habitats; economic havoc from fires, storms and floods; an endangered food supply; global conflicts over migration and dwindling resources; and the strain on political systems as they try to cope. How shall we declare God’s blessings then?
If we fail to change and the worst does come, our greatest enemy may be despair. I don’t need to contemplate the whole catalog of loss to feel the weight of immense sadness. Just picturing a single High Sierra meadow choked in smoke, or withered into a lifeless desert, is enough to make me weep.
Save us from the time of trial. That’s what the Lord’s Prayer really means by the more familiar “lead us not into temptation.” But the prayer is not asking to be spared from difficult challenges. That would make it irrelevant in the face of planetary apocalypse. We are all going to be tested by an uncertain future. But if we can beseech God with all our hearts to bring us through the experience of loss, despair and doubt with our faith and hope still intact, then “save us from the time of trial” may prove, in the climate crisis, our most earnest and necessary plea.
Meanwhile, get out of Babylon while you still can.
The Third Trumpet: A burning star falls to earth and pollutes the water supply. (Rev 8)
All photos by Jim Friedrich
[i] Summary and links to complete report: http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/
[ii] Leonard Pitts, Jr., “We only have 10 years to save ourselves from climage change,” Miami Herald, Oct. 12, 2018: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article219870680.html
[iii] Editorial, “Like a weather report, with time, climate change projections closer, more ominous,” Charleston Gazette-Mail, October 16, 2018: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/gazette_opinion/editorial/gazette-editorial-like-a-weather-report-with-time-climate-change/article_26d13b8a-47e3-517a-9882-037b9bff6d70.html
[iv] Austin Farrer, A Rebirth of Images: The Making of St. John’s Apocalypse(1949), q. in Richard K. Emmerson, “The Apocalypse in Medieval Culture,” in The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Richard K. Emmerson & Bernard McGinn (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992), 293.
[v] Hunter Thompson interview in Atlantic Unbound, August 26, 1997, q. in Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now, Wes Howard-Brook & Anthony Gwyther (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999), 2 n. 3.
[vi] Daniel Berrigan, S.J., The Nightmare of God (1983), q. in Unveiling Empire, 44.
[vii]Unveiling Empire, 260.
[viii] Bernard McGinn, “John’s Apocalypse and the Apocalyptic Mentality,” in The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, 9.
[ix] Revelation 21:4-5.
Posted in Anglican spirituality, Bible, Christianity, Climate change, Environment, Religious art | Tagged Apocalypse, Apocalyptic literature, Austin Farrer, Babylon is fallen, Book of Revelation, Climate change, Daniel Berrigan, Hunter Thompson, Joy Williams, Leonard Pitts on climate change, New Jerusalem, Revelation 21, Save us from the time of trial, St. John the Divine, Tapestry of the Apocalypse, UN Climate Change report | 2 Replies
All Is Grace: The Spiritual Cinema of “First Reformed”
Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed”
“Oh my Lord, when will you cease from scattering obstacles in our path?”
“Do not complain, my daughter. This is how I treat my friends.”
“Yes, my Lord, and that is why you have so few of them.”
–– Attributed to St. Teresa of Avila
Many of God’s friends have known the dark night of divine absence, when God falls silent and faith loses touch with an answering Presence. Some have understood this as a form of progress, a necessary purgation of comfortable words, images, concepts and feelings as the questing soul goes deeper and deeper into an ungraspable Mystery. Others have experienced God’s silence as nothing but nothingness, a one-way ticket into the void. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Paul Schrader’s harrowing new film, First Reformed, traverses this abyss with an intelligence and seriousness all too rare in American films about religion. The life of faith is easy to satirize, trivialize or sentimentalize in popular culture, but Schrader treats it as a subject of critical import. And in so doing, his film attempts to go “all the way, till the wheels fall off and burn.”[i]
Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the middle-aged pastor of an old Dutch Reformed church in upstate New York. The 250-year-old white colonial structure has an interesting history, but its days of relevance are long gone. Almost no one attends Sunday worship, and the building only stays open through the sponsorship of a nearby megachurch, which preserves it as a kind of museum. Tourists stop by now and then for souvenirs, and Toller’s job is to hang around and lend some authenticity to the place, like the costumed actors who re-create the past at popular historic sites.
Toller, however, is an ordained minister with a serious vocation. He conducts real worship and counsels his tiny flock. So the inescapable sense of play-acting in a museum is demeaning and demoralizing. His humiliation will be recognizable to all those clergy and congregations left behind by a culture where the biblical God has been rendered harmless––or even unthinkable.
Toller, whose very name suggests loss and mourning, lives a lonely, solitary life in a house of monastic bareness. His marriage fell apart long ago, after the death of his son in Iraq. His health is failing, and he is depressed. Prayer comes hard for him, and doubt is his constant companion. His life is a desert with no rain in the forecast.
A spiritual director once told me in a time of personal crisis, “Congratulations! You’re exactly where you need to be––fallen overboard into a raging sea.” John Donne said the same thing with seventeenth-century elegance: “No man hath affliction enough, that is not matured, and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.”[ii]
Such a rigorous spirituality may never pack the churches, but it is intriguing that First Reformed has struck a chord with critics and audiences alike. Perhaps this is due to its demanding seriousness, so refreshingly alien to the self-congratulatory spirituality of our time. We grow weary of trivia. We want to fall for something that matters so absolutely.
Half a century ago, Paul Schrader wrote a book which had a major impact on film studies. Transcendental Style in Film opened many eyes, including mine, to a different kind of cinema, in which the sacred is expressed not through psychological realism but through a film style fraught with renunciations. No expressive or self-conscious acting presuming to explain the mystery of human beings. No fancy camerawork interpreting a scene or manipulating an audience. A withholding of many of the emotional satisfactions which moviegoers have come to expect. Transcendental cinema, in Schrader’s view, doesn’t just represent religious experience. It creates it in the viewer.
“Transcendental style,” he concluded, “can bring us nearer to that silence, that invisible image, in which the parallel lines of religion and art meet and interpenetrate.”[iii]
Schrader was raised in a strict Dutch Calvinist home. Movie-going was forbidden in his childhood. But he eventually fled the constricting faith of his ancestors and, like the Prodigal Son, lived in the distant country of movies saturated with violent themes and forbidden pleasures. He also worked on the script for The Last Temptation of Christ. Some of his films, like American Gigolo, revisited the spiritual terrain of his seminal book, but First Reformed, made in his early seventies, is Schrader’s most explicit homage to transcendental cinema, and especially to the work of my favorite director, Robert Bresson, who once said, “No art without transformation.”[iv]
First Reformed strongly echoes Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest (1950) in many ways: a pastor in crisis who keeps a journal and speaks it in voice-over; a worrisome stomach ailment; a bleak environment––claustrophobic and without exit; a barren and unanswered prayer life; a heavy dark cloak as metonymy for his sense of confinement; the suicide by shotgun of a parishioner in despair; and long silences begging for divine presence. Schrader’s Bressonesque film style––the constraining “Academy” film ratio (1.37:1) instead of the expansiveness of wide screen, an austere minimizing of music and camera movement, the cold factuality of interior spaces begging for the miracle of life and breath––also tells a story. As Susan Sontag once remarked of Bresson, his form does not merely perfectly express what he wants to say. “It is what he wants to say.”[v]
Schrader’s writing in Transcendental Style about the three forms of alienation in Bresson’s film reads like a template for First Reformed:
The priest and his afflcted body: “He feels himself condemned by the weight he must bear, and associates his agony with the sacrificial agony of Christ.”
The priest and his parish: “The priest’s agony alienates his community, and it is an agony which he seems unable to control.”
The priest and the fallen world: “The priest is unable to cope with the world of sin, either in himself or others. . . He is able to bring peace to others, yet has none himself . . . His holy agony allows him none of the temporal means of release which Church, society, and body provide.”[vi]
But there are also some crucial differences between the two films. The priest’s only diet is bread and wine, identifying the priest’s suffering with the eucharist. The pastor substitutes whiskey for wine, and pours in some Pepto-Bismol to boot, creating a nauseous parody bereft of holy resonance.
The priest is young, innocent and virginal, without a haunting past. The pastor is middle-aged, burned out by an excess of experience, and carrying a burden of grief and loss unknown to the young. Their contrasting faces read like different languages. Claude Laydu, a non-actor whose face suggests an inner life attuned to divine secrets, has the expressive eyes and hieratic features of an icon. When he gazes offscreen, it seems possible he could be glimpsing the hidden God. Hawke’s face is creased, tired, tense and unexpectant; his narrowed eyes give off no light.
Claude Laydu, Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed (2018)
Both men identify with the Passion of Christ. Toller’s boss, a megachurch pastor practiced at compromise, tells him, “You’re always in the garden [of Gethsemane]. Jesus wasn’t always in the garden, sweating blood. He was on the mountain, in the marketplace, and the Temple. . . But for you, every hour is the darkest hour.”
In Bresson, the priest writes in his journal, “I am a prisoner of the Holy Agony,” and the film mirrors the Stations of the Cross. But Toller seems unable to turn his personal anguish into gift, while Bresson’s priest, though suffering inwardly and rejected by many, manages to make an immense difference in the lives of some:
Oh miracle –
thus to be able to give
what we ourselves do not possess,
sweet miracle of our empty hands.[vii]
First Reformed also draws key elements from Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light, described by Robin Wood as a “spiritual documentary” where “alienation from the past, from the traditional beliefs and customs that formed the basis of a way of life” has left church and village stranded “between two worlds, belonging to neither, bewildered and unfulfilled.”[viii] Its Swedish Lutheran parish is as much a relic of a vanished age as Toller’s “souvenir church.”
Bergman’s aging Lutheran pastor, Tomas (the name of Jesus’ doubting disciple), is also in a crisis of faith. He recites the liturgy without conviction, and his pastoral counsel has a patently empty ring. When a parishioner confesses his despair over the prospect of nuclear war (the film was made in 1962), the pastor tells him, “We must trust God.” But then he averts his eyes from the man’s gaze, a “tell” that betrays his own unbelief. After receiving such impotent counsel, the parishioner goes down to the river and shoots himself. Virtually the same incident occurs in First Reformed, but instead of nuclear winter, climate change is the engine of despair. Sickened by statistical forecasts of environmental collapse, a young activist finds no comfort in Toller’s citations from Thomas Merton on facing the abyss with courage. The activist goes out and shoots himself in a snowy wood.
Another element Schrader seems to have borrowed from Winter Light is the character of Karin, the caring woman who wants to mother the troubled pastor. The audience audibly winces when the pastor of First Reformed responds to the woman’s kindness by saying, “I despise you!” But on reflection this seems not just an inability to receive affection, but a way of saying, “This is not that kind of movie. My sickness unto death will not be cured by a romantic cliche.”
In Bergman’s film, Tomas goes even further. In what Wood calls one of the “most painful and ugly . . . in all cinema,” Tomas annihilates Karin’s illusions about their relationship. But strangely, the terrible honesty of this exchange, along with his confession of religious disillusionment in a previous scene, seems to open the possibility for an unexpected grace in which each may discover a kind of salvation in human relationships which an exhausted orthodoxy can no longer provide.
Though Tomas has lost his faith, the film ends with him at the altar, speaking the old words of praise because that’s the only language he possesses for whatever, if anything, is beyond him: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are filled with your glory.” The nave is even emptier than the one in First Reformed––only Karin and the sexton. But we see Karin, who is an atheist, listening with the utmost attention. “[T]he irony is very beautiful and touching, the disillusioned priest celebrating Vespers for the confirmed atheist, a sort of inexplicit communion between them.”[ix]
Although neither they, nor Bergman himself, have been able to retain the language or vision of inherited belief, the eyes of faith might still perceive in the ending of Winter Light (its Swedish title is The Communicants) a hint of the communion which God never stops desiring, no matter what the rest of us manage to believe.
As the poet Christian Wiman suggests,
God goes belonging to every riven thing. He’s made
the things that bring him near,
made the mind that makes him go.
A part of what man knows,
apart from what man knows,
God goes belonging to every riven thing he’s made.[x]
Or as Natalie Carnes puts it in her intriguing new book, Image and Presence, the iconoclasm of the cross ensures that the death of old words and images does not mean the death of the Reality behind them. “The cross breaks the brokenness, the violence of idolatry. It breaks brokenness to proclaim the ubiquity of God’s love. It identifies the way God is present in a special way, a riven and riving way, to those suffering divine absence. It courses through the cosmos, which takes its shape, displaying the broken center of all things.”[xi]
The ending for Bresson’s priest, in contrast, remains firmly within the language of Christian orthodoxy. Having passed through his dark night of doubt, and resigning himself to premature death from cancer, he dies in peace. His last words, spoken to comfort a doubting friend, is the best summary I know of the Christian faith:
“What does it matter? All is grace.”
The ending of First Reformed, however, is nothing like the country priest’s trusting departure from this world, nor does it settle for the potential beatitude of purely human relationships suggested by Winter Light. Something extraordinary and redemptive seems to happen in its enigmatic conclusion, but no one can say exactly what. Everybody I know who has watched the film asks the same question: What did you think about that ending?
Its highly charged mix of image, symbol, physicality and feeling resists any closure, and Schrader himself has rightly refused to explain it. Critics have applied words like “epiphany” and “catharsis” to the final scene, but have generally avoided discussing it. This reticence respects the viewer’s right to see for oneself, but it also suggests that none of us are sure what to make of it. I share that sense of indecidability regarding the climax, but can’t help thinking about it.
[SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen the film yet, read no further until you do.]
While most of the film has been inspired by Diary of a Country Priest and Winter Light, the ending shares an affinity with a third film, Bresson’s Pickpocket (1959). For most of that film, the protagonist, Michel, is locked within the prison of his ego, unable to connect with reality beyond the self. Unable to love. In the final scene, he is locked in an actual prison cell. Jeanne, a woman he knows in an unromantic way, comes to visit him. The film has so far given us little reason to think there is, or may be, a deep connection between these two. But in a famous ending that seems sudden, unexpected, and unmotivated, she reaches out to him, and he responds to Love at last. “Oh Jeanne,” he says, “what a strange path I had to take to reach you.”[xii]
The ending of First Reformed, like the ending of Pickpocket, is a powerful image of surprising and unmerited grace. Jean Collet’s reflection on Bresson’s climactic prison scene could describe Schrader’s ending as well: “If this final illumination was caused by some necessity of plot, we would no longer be required to speak of grace. By definition grace is that which is free of any necessity, and hence gratuitous. Isn’t that enough to make the conversion of Michel not appear improbable?”[xiii]
In the course of First Reformed, Toller shifts the focus of his spiritual struggle from his own inwardness to the fate of an earth in dire peril. In a prickly conversation with Edward Balq, the church’s financial patron but also a notorious polluter, he is warned by the conscience-free entrepreneur to keep politics out of church. Clergy should not meddle in public issues. And environmental concerns are too complicated to be subject to moral judgments. But Toller rebukes him with a simple but convicting question:
“Will God forgive us?”
As Toller goes on to ponder the immensity of the stakes, he comes to decide that Balq, as a servant of darkness, must be killed in an act of prophetic terrorism. This horrifying turn of mind threatens to lose the sympathetic viewer. As we watch this decision unfold, we are thinking, “Don’t go there!”
Balq’s arrival at the church’s 250th anniversary celebration provides the perfect opportunity. Vesting for the ceremony in the rectory next door, Toller puts on a suicide vest beneath his black robe as we hear him, in voice over, reciting Ephesians 9:11-12:
Put on the whole armor of God,
so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
In Toller’s troubled mind, the cosmic powers of darkness are sitting in a pew next door. But the viewer is appalled by the pastor’s descent into madness. However evil the acts of men like Balq, equating a suicide vest with the armor of God is abhorrent and wrong.
When Toller learns that Mary, the pregnant widow of the dead activist, is inside the church as well, he abruptly scraps his apocalyptic mission. Her life means more to him than his terrible burden of wrath. And her unborn child, like the child of the Nativity, signifies hope for the human future in a fallen world. To put that at risk would be the greater sin.
But he still feels compelled to make a dramatic self-sacrificial gesture, turning the violence against himself. His vocation is in tatters, he will probably die of cancer, and the end of humanity may be drawing near. He had once warned the activist about the pride of a certitude that surrenders hope in the face of despair. Now he himself has become a prisoner of that fatal arrogance, confusing his own suffering with Christ’s. He prepares to make his own body a signifier of planetary suicide.
He replaces the suicide vest with a coil of barbed wire, wrapping it painfully around his torso in parodic imitation of the crown of thorns. Then he covers his bleeding body with a Christ-like white robe––a vivid image of the paradoxical tension between the Christ of glory and the broken and desolate Christ on the edge of oblivion. But just before Toller can take his own life with a toxic glass of drain cleaner (a grotesque symbol of baptismal cleansing?), he looks up to see Mary, standing quietly on the other side of the unfurnished empty space of his living room. When did she enter? Why has she come?
“Ernst,” she says. It is the first time we have heard anyone speak his baptismal name. He’s always been addressed as “Reverend Toller.” But now, like Magdalene weeping at the tomb, he hears his name called by the tender voice of his “savior,” summoning him back from the dead. Without any hesitation, he sweeps across the room into her arms. As they embrace and kiss with unrestrained intensity, the camera, so still and quiet throughout most of the film, suddenly comes to life, circling round and round this miracle of redemptive love, like angelic praises whirling around the throne of God.
This breathtaking perichoresis [xiv] continues without ceasing for a full minute, until it abruptly vanishes in a startling cut to darkness and silence. No lingering fadeout, just this sudden absence. Over the next bewildering 8 seconds, the viewer wonders whether the projector has broken. But then, the credits begin to scroll across the blackness, accompanied by the same low-pitched waves of mournful sound heard in the film’s bleak passages of environmental dread, as if to resist any presumptions of “happily ever after.” We may have glimpsed for a moment the miracle of saving love at the heart of the universe, but our fallen world still yearns in the dark.
To me the last scene felt like something more than the natural outcome of the affinity we saw building between Ernst and Mary after her husband’s death. Reducing their union to a formula of movie romance would fail to perform the revelatory transit from the visible to the invisible. Schrader wants to give us more than a warm, familiar feeling. He wants to deliver the Wholly Other, who will not be contained by language or understanding.
So Mary, pregnant with future, provides a surplus of meanings as she offers Ernst––and the receptive viewer––the divine embrace in all its forms: grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace, healing, hope, joy and the mystery of self-diffusive love. Its very unexpectedness is a sign of its sacred character. It is not something of our own making. It is pure gift.
The essential function of spiritual cinema is not to structure a plausible narrative confined to the world we know, but to use the means of its form to create an experience of the life-giving sacred in the viewer’s inmost self. So whether Mary is the divine feminine, Dante’s Beatrice, an angel, a dream, Toller’s long-lost soul, or simply another one of God’s human children trying to connect, what does it matter?
All is grace.
Related post: The Ten Best Religious Films
[i] From “Brownsville Girl,” a song by Bob Dylan and Sam Shepard on Bob Dylan: Knocked Out Loaded (1986). “How far are y’all going?” Ruby asked us with a sigh / “We’re going all the way, till the wheels fall off and burn / Till the sun peels the paint and the seat covers fade and the water moccasin dies” / Ruby just smiled and said, “Ah, you know some babies never learn.”
[ii] Devotions lxxxvii 17, q. in Helen Wilcox, ed., The English Poems of George Herbert (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 164.
[iii] Paul Schrader, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 169.
[iv] Robert Bresson, Notes on Cinematography, trans. Jonathan Griffin (New York: Urizen Books, 1977), 5.
[v] Susan Sontag, “The Spiritual Style of Robert Bresson,” in Against Interpretation (New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1966), 180.
[vi] Transcendental Style, 73, 75.
[vii] In the film, the priest speaks these words in voice over as we see him kneel by the deathbed of a woman for whom he had been a vehicle of miraculous grace.
[viii] Robin Wood, Ingmar Bergman (New York: Praeger, 1970), 111.
[ix] Ibid., 122-23.
[x] Christian Wiman, “Every Riven Thing,” in his collection of the same name (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2010), 24.
[xi] Natalie Carnes, Image and Presence: A Christological Reflection on Iconoclasm and Iconophilia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018), 113.
[xii] Schrader uses this line verbatim, and recreates the essence of Bresson’s scene, in his own film, American Gigolo (1980).
[xiii] Jean Collet, q. in Joseph Cunneen, Robert Bresson: A Spiritual Style in Film (New York: Continuum, 2003), 82.
[xiv] This Greek word for “dancing in a circular pattern” has long been used to describe the ceaseless movement of interpenetrating, self-diffusive love which is the Holy Trinity. Schrader’s image may be more carnal than most theology is used to, but that’s the price of the Incarnation!
Posted in Anglican spirituality, Belief, Christianity, Cinema, Faith, Religion and cinema, Spirituality, Theology | Tagged "First Reformed" film, "Put on the whole armor of God", Christian Wiman "Every Riven Thing", Climate change, Diary of a Country Priest, Ethan Hawke, Ingmar Bergman "Winter Light", John Donne, Natalie Carnes "Image and Presence", Passion of Christ, Paul Schrader, Perechoresis, Religion in film, Robert Bresson, transcendental style in film | 9 Replies
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The case of the e-book in a "small-language" culture: Media, technology and effects in the digital society
An investigation is proposed into the impact, actual and potential, of the electronic book (e-book) on the authoring, publishing, distribution and use process in Sweden. The study is timely, given the recent increase in the publication, use and library loans of e-books.
The situation in Sweden with regard to the successful introduction of e-books into the national ‘book culture’ is complicated by a number of factors. It is a so-called ‘small language’ market, but with a technologically literate population, many of whom also read English. One of the consequences of the ‘small language’ phenomenon is that the Swedish book industry is prey to the effects of globalization, since books have an international market. Thus, the spread of a Swedish e-book may have to rely on somewhat other factors than in the English-speaking world.
The theoretical framework includes a focus on: the emergence of the innovation out of previous prototypes, the existence of a ‘supervening social necessity’, and the impact of means for the suppression of ‘radical potential’ (Winston). In addition Bourdieu’s field theory will be used to analyzing changes in power between the actors in the field. The research methods include personal interviews with authors, publishing executives and booksellers, focus group interviews with librarians and readers and questions in national surveys of the population.
Doc. Annika Bergström, Prof. Lars Höglund, Doc. Alen Doraci, Elena Maceviciute, PhD Skans Kersti Nilsson, Prof. Tom Wilson.
Contact at JMG
Annika Bergström
and audiences
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Journalism Is Not Crime
Atena Farghadani Forced to Take ...
Atena Farghadani
Atena Farghadani Forced to Take “Virginity Test” in Prison
12 October 2015 by Aida Ghajar
Atena Farghadani has confirmed that she was subjected to a virginity test in prison.
The human rights group Justice for Iran originally reported that the imprisoned Iranian painter, cartoonist and civil rights activist had been forced to undergo a virginity test, though her family denied the reports. But now Farghadani has sent a message from prison confirming the rumors. A legal expert with good knowledge of Farghadani’s case also confirmed reports, though there has been no confirmation from her current lawyer, Hooshang Pourbabaei.
Shadi Sadr, the director of Justice for Iran, condemned the practice, saying that subjecting prisoners to virginity tests or threatening to do so amounted to torture. Amnesty International also condemned it, reiterating that violating the physical privacy of women to such a degree is torture.
On October 3, a judge tried Farghadani and her former lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, in secret. Moghimi and Farghani are accused of shaking hands and engaging in “illegitimate relations.” Moghimi was arrested on June 13, and released a few days later.
On May 28, Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by the notorious Judge Abolghasem Salavati sentenced Farghadani to 12 years and nine months’ imprisonment after she drew a series of cartoons depicting Iranian MPs as animals.
Farghadani was originally arrested in August 2014 and was released in November 2014 after being held in solitary confinement for most of that two-month period. She was quickly re-arrested after she posted a video on YouTube stating that she had been sexually harassed while in prison. According to Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal code, she must serve at least 7.5 years before she qualifies for release. In the meantime, she has been denied furloughs.
The announcement that Farghadani had been forced to undergo a test to determine she is a virgin has met with fresh anger from activists. “The Iranian judicial authorities have truly reached an outrageous low, seeking to exploit the stigma attached to sexual and gender-based violence in order to intimidate, punish or harass her,” said deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program on October 9. Activists also say thhe experience is particularly traumatic for women in societies that continue to uphold the value of virginity.
“Coerced ‘virginity testing’ is internationally recognized as a form of violence and discrimination against women and girls,” Amnesty International stated. “It also violates the absolute prohibition of torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran has ratified.”
After reports about Farghadani’s virginity test were published, a number of women who have spent time in Iranian prisons decided to break social taboos by publishing their own accounts of undergoing virginity tests. After publishing their accounts, some of these women faced verbal assaults from men on social networking sites.
Cartoonist and activist Atena Farghadani has been forced to take a "virginity test” in prison.Read more: https://journalismisnotacrime.com/en/news/531/
Posted by Journalism Is Not a Crime on 13. oktober 2015
Make Sure they Go to Hell
The practice of subjecting female prisoners to virginity tests has a considerable history in Iran. According to Shadi Sadr, virginity tests or threats of them also took place in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election.
But it goes back further: In the 1980s, when the regime conducted mass executions of political prisoners, the dominant belief within the prison system was that executed virgins would go to paradise. One solution to this was to forcibly marry them to prison guards and then execute them so that they would end up in hell.
In spring 1982, Minoo Homaili was sent to Qom prison along with other six other women and was subjected to a virginity test. Homaili, an ethnic Kurd who was arrested because she was part of a Marxist student’s organization, still remembers the painful experience. “They told us: ’you are corrupt and have been sleeping around with men,’” she told IranWire. “They told us: ‘Later you are going to claim that we have raped you. So we are going to examine you.’ We were embarrassed, but like sheep we held our heads down and moved with shaky legs, without saying anything. We could not say anything. If we did, we were flogged and tortured. We were told that that was the law in Qom prison. Every woman who entered the prison was tested for virginity. We never found out whether the person who examined us was a doctor or an agent. Perhaps both.”
During the four years that Homaili spent in prison, the same thing happened twice more, only because her irregular periods had prevented her from participating in prayers. “They told us that if we did not pray, we would be lashed or even executed because we would be considered heretics,” she said. “Because of psychological pressures, my periods had become irregular and any little event made me afraid of menstruation. In Isfahan and Sanandaj prisons, when I told them that was why I was not praying, they sent me to a gynecologist. In Isfahan prison the doctor confirmed it, but in Sanandaj what happened was different.”
The woman who accompanied Homaili from prison to the doctor in Sanandaj was a “repentant” prisoner named Gity Shirzad who was trusted by the guards. In her report she changed the doctor’s diagnosis and Homaili was punished harshly as a result.
Homaili, who was arrested when she was 16 years old, was a member of the Marxist militant student’s organization the People’s Fedayeen Guerrillas. “A guard named Sharifi said, ‘didn’t the doctor tell you what to do to end your pain?’” she said. “He meant that I must have sexual relations with him. And two other guards present laughed.”
Excuses for Virginity Tests
According to Iran’s penal codes, any kind of physical contact or sexual relations between men and women who are not family members or married is prohibited and punishable by law. “The charge of illicit relations is one of the excuses for the virginity test,” said Shadi Sadr. “In such cases a virginity test is ordered by the examining magistrate or the prosecution at the evidence-gathering phase. In criminal rape cases the same procedure is employed but in those cases the test is to find possible evidence for rape, not for virginity.”
Sadr told IranWire about one of the many such humiliating cases she has come across. “A woman who was the plaintiff in a rape case was tested and it turned out that she was not a virgin,” she said. “The judge told her, ‘you cannot prove the rape and neither are you a virgin. As a result, you are accused of illicit relations, and you have already confessed to that.’ In effect, the plaintiff was turned into the defendant.”
Sadr says that sexual taboos and the value that the traditional Iranian society places on virginity have caused many people to remain silent over the issue, or even to deny it. Farghadani’s former lawyer said traditional Iranian society has been more concerned with upholding a sense of so-called “honor” than presenting the truth.
Virginity tests are not only used against prisoners or those who go through the court system. In 2007, Sara, a student from Tehran's Allameh Tabatabaei University who was conducting research into the “criminology of prostitution” traveled to a “chastity home” in Qom responsible for rehabilitating former prostitutes. The Intelligence Unit of the Revolutionary Guards arrested her and, despite the fact that she presented letters of recommendation from the university’s security department, the police, the department of welfare and the ministry of justice, the judge ruling on the case sent her to the forensics department for a virginity test.
“It was a scandal,” Sara tells IranWire. “The woman who conducted the test used the worst possible words when talking to me. She opened my legs in a rude manner, pushed her head inside my legs and told me, ‘you had your fun and now you pretend to be a student?’ This was very hurtful to me. And when she found out that I was a Kurd she said, ‘you Kurds have beheaded our children. Now you have come to Tehran to do your dirty things?’”
“She was violent,” Sara said. “And what made it worse was that the doctor was a woman. Even the woman who wanted to drag me to the virginity test behaved like a cat lifting a kitten by its neck. I expected better treatment from my own kind. Even though the test proved that I was a virgin, the looks that they gave me in court and the allegations of illicit relations were too much. They want to torture and mess with one’s mind. Even now, I cannot have good relations with men.”
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Without Self-Censorship, I Would Have No Friends
Jailed Journalist Hengameh Shahidi to Rouhani: “There is no justice in Iran’s justice system”
Prominent Politician Demands Answers on Arrests
Self-Censorship is Self-Defense
Mehdi Karroubi’s Son Sentenced to Six Months in Prison
Security Agents Attack Jailed Journalist Isa Saharkhiz
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Exclusive: The Indian National team may use the TransStadia soon- Constantine
Written by: Tushaar Sachdeva
The Transstadia engulfs a lot of facilities which have never been seen before in the country, and the National team can only benefit from them.
Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi inaugurated one of the Asia's biggest multi-purpose stadium on 1st July this year in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. TransStadia Arena is a project worth Rs. 550 crores, which uses world-class technology for stand convertibility from Stadi-Arena UK, and seat-retract ability by T-Box, both patented technologies and being the pioneers in India and other notable technological advancements.
Indian National Team manager Stephen Constantine paid a visit to the state-of-the-art stadium on 21st September, to check the facilities at its disposal. He was rather excited after looking at the development of the Arena. After traveling through the facilities and the world-class Sports Science center, Stephen said, "This is really a nice pitch, the surface is quite good and it could surely be somewhere the national team would come to practice and to train hard, hopefully, things work out."
Everything Stephen Constantine had to say
The Englishman continued, "So far, what I have seen is really good, obviously, we have our own sports science lab but the facilities present here are great. I don't think there are many of those in the country. It's a good thing to have a quite good facility and hopefully, we use it."
Taking note of what the 54-year-old said, it is easily understandable that the Indian National team will play some of its matches in the foreseeable future. Talking about the Transstadia, it is one of the only football stadiums in India which have the seating enclosures close to the pitch and is not divided by an athletic track.
Some of the facility's key features include:
StadiArena: air-conditioned 32,000 sq. ft. pillar-less multi-purpose indoor arena
Mumbai, Kolkata in running to host India's first World Cup Qualifier in September
I want to find solutions of how we can be better- Igor Stimac
T-box: modular and retractable seating systems.
Turf Protector - world’s only turf protection system manufactured from truly translucent HDPE material, it allows for continuous photosynthesis, which ensures optimal turf health, together with a 30-year UV degradation guarantee.
In a recent turn of events, the Indian football national Team manager, Stephen Constantine turned up to this green patch to inspect the infrastructure and its suitability for the Indian National team. He was rather excited after looking at the development of the Arena.
I assure you that Gujarat will have a football team in the near future: Udit Sheth
TransStadia officially launched by Indian PM Modi
FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Grand Coverage
Beatiful view of newly built TransStadia Arena
Khel Now understands that the National team should use the facilities at disposal, helping them to perform better. Khel Now had recently highlighted all the features of the World Class Transstadia stadium, which you can read here.
Published: Thu Sep 21, 2017 07:10 PM IST
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Story Behind the Song: ‘Kiss An Angel Good Morning’ by Charley Pride
Mark Tassler
747orangejuice via You Tube
The biggest hit of Charley Pride's career, was "Kiss An Angel Good Morning". The song spent five weeks at number one, longer than any of his other recordings.
It also got a lot of attention on the pop music charts. This was at a time when it was hard to get a country song played on a pop radio station, but the song was that good.
It was a song that just appealed to everyone. It was released in September of 1971.
"Kiss An Angel Good Morning" was written by songwriter Ben Peters. Ben and his wife Jackie had a newborn baby named Angela, that inspired "Angel".
The song would become Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride's signature song.
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Filed Under: Charley Pride, Story Behind the Song
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Watch Brad Paisley Jam on ‘Game of Thrones’ Theme With Metal All-Stars
Brad Paisley is hands-down one of the best guitarists in country music, but he pushed himself well outside his comfort zone for a recent collaboration. The country superstar joined a group of heavy metal all-stars to perform an all-guitar metal version of the theme song from Game of Thrones.
In the video above, Paisley sits in with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Scott Ian from Anthrax and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt for a precisely orchestrated metal guitar arrangement of the theme, which they are performing under the watchful eye of composer Ramin Djawadi. Djawadi and Game of Thrones creator Dan Weiss also shred on the track.
The other guitarists have already mostly worked out their carefully arranged parts by the time Paisley arrives, and they advise him that what he needs is to put the finishing touch on the piece.
Country Music's All-Time Best Guitarists:
"What we're doing is so specific to us, it would be great if somebody just did some beautiful, just sprinkle some fairy dust on it," Bettencourt tells Paisley, and Morello agrees, "That's what it's been missing!"
Paisley simply chords along during the early buildup of the piece, but he really shines when each of the players takes a solo spotlight, contributing a solo that is so unlike his own material that if you weren't watching it, there's no way you would believe you're hearing Brad Paisley. The setting allows him the opportunity to use greater distortion and employ a different range of techniques, as well as make some unusual note choices that make his solo stand out from everyone else's on the session in a way that has the rock legends all smiling over at him in appreciation.
The guitarists are all playing guitars from the Fender Custom Shop's new Sigil Collection, for which Fender joined together with HBO for a line of deluxe, built-to-order guitars that represent the three main houses in Game of Thrones.
Paisley's actually not the first country star to be associated with HBO's runaway hit. Chris Stapleton made a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo appearance as a White Walker in one of the early episodes of the final season on April 28.
Watch Lindsay Ell's Best Guitar Solos!
Source: Watch Brad Paisley Jam on ‘Game of Thrones’ Theme With Metal All-Stars
Filed Under: brad paisley
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Chinese GP: Giovinazzi Q1 issue was similar to Leclerc’s in Bahrain – F1
Antonio Giovinazzi’s participation in Chinese Grand Prix qualifying was stopped by a similar problem to the one that affected Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc in Bahrain a fortnight ago.
Following Leclerc’s failure – a dropped cylinder that cost him victory – both works Ferraris and Haas entries were fitted with a new specification ECU at the start of running in China on Friday.
However, due to time constraints in adapting the cars to a different installation, Alfa Romeo chose not to take the revised unit offered by Ferrari for China.
Giovinazzi lost a cylinder at the start of his first flying lap in Q1, and did not run again.
He will start 19th on the grid with a new example of the older-spec unit, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen will stick with the unit that has already completed the first two races.
“Ferrari proposed to us the new spec, and we didn’t have time to install it in the car due to the installation,” Vasseur told Autosport.
“We had the issue today, and we will change it for tomorrow, but we will keep the same spec. For Kimi we won’t change the unit for tomorrow.
“We have apologised to Antonio, and it’s 100% my fault.
“I assume 100% of the responsibility because Ferrari proposed to us to change it.
“It’s always easy afterwards to say it could have been better, but we knew coming to China and doing the new installation was also risky.”
Giovinazzi had already lost FP1 in Shanghai to an engine installation error that could not be rectified in time for him to take to the track in the morning session.
Vasseur reaffirmed the Italian, who has endured a difficult start to his first full F1 season, had his full backing.
“It’s not an easy one, because if you look back we had an issue in FP2 in Bahrain, and he was not able to do one lap, then we had the issue in FP1 here, again on his car,” said Vasseur.
“Then today, it’s a bit too much.
“We started the engine, and we did the out lap. He crossed the line, then he caught some guys exiting the pits, and the issue appeared at the end of Turn 1 on his first lap.
“We are 200% supportive with Antonio. I know what he is able to do, I know what he did before, I saw every single day what he is able to do.
“It’s not’s obvious so far on the timekeeping, but I’m sure that he will show it as soon as possible.”
Giovinazzi remained upbeat about his prospects for the race.
“I know tomorrow starting from the last row will be hard,” he said. “We’ll see.
“It’s a track where we can overtake, so we will try our best.
“Our target is still points. Like I said, it’s a track where you can overtake.
“I think we have a good car on race pace. The race is long, so you never know.”
Toronto IndyCar: Penske’s Pagenaud takes pole as main rivals falter – IndyCar
Wolff surprised by Mercedes front row lockout at British GP – F1
Tags: Bahrain, Chinese, F1, Giovinazzi, GP, issue, Leclercs, Q1, similar
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Academics 〉 J.D. Program
Executive Law School Program
First-Year Curriculum
Two-Year J.D. Program
If you’re already established in a profession but wish to enhance your potential even further by earning a law degree, you may be a candidate for the MC Law Executive Law School Program.
The Executive Law School Program is designed for business people, educators, real estate professionals, medical personnel, and other professionals who wish to obtain a law degree without leaving their current employment to attend law school full time. The program allows students to extend their legal studies over five years instead of the traditional three years, and allows students to continue to work while attending law school.
Flexibility in work schedules is required. Participants must take at least nine hours of law courses per semester, with most of the initial courses required taught during the day.
Admission to the Executive Program requires an interview, strong academic qualifications, excellent record of achievement in a graduate school program and/or an outstanding work history. Please call us at (601) 925-7152 if you would like to discuss these admission requirements.
To apply to the Executive Law School Program:
Apply to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
For more information, visit www.LSAC.org or call 215.968.1001.
Register with the Law School Data Assembly Service at www.LSAC.org.
Complete the standard MC Law application found online at the same site, checking the box on the application form that indicates you are applying for the Executive Law School Program.
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S.C. 2000, c. 9 - Table of Contents
S.C. 2000, c. 9
This Web page has been archived on the Web.
Canada Elections Act
Version of section 18.2 from 2019-01-19 to 2019-06-13:
Previous Versionof section
Marginal note:Power to enter into contracts, etc.
18.2 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding or other arrangements in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name in the exercise or performance of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.
Marginal note:Leases
(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may authorize a returning officer to enter into a lease in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name, subject to any terms and conditions that the Chief Electoral Officer specifies.
Marginal note:Contracts, etc., binding on Her Majesty
(3) Every contract, memorandum of understanding and arrangement entered into in the Chief Electoral Officer’s name is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada to the same extent as it is binding on the Chief Electoral Officer.
Marginal note:Goods and services
(4) Despite section 9 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act , the Chief Electoral Officer may procure goods and services from outside the federal public administration.
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PART CDrugs (continued)
DIVISION 8 (continued)
Experimental Studies (continued)
Experimental Studies Certificate
C.08.014 (1) For the purpose of obtaining an experimental studies certificate, an applicant shall submit to the Minister, in writing, the following information and material:
(a) the brand name of the new drug or the identifying name or code proposed for the new drug;
(b) the objectives and an outline of the proposed experimental study of the new drug;
(c) the species, number and production type of animals in respect of which the new drug is to be administered;
(d) the name and address of the manufacturer of the new drug;
(e) the address of the premises in which the experimental study is to be conducted;
(f) a description of the facilities to be used to conduct the experimental study;
(g) the name, address and qualifications of the proposed experimental studies investigator;
(h) the chemical structure, if known, and the relevant compositional characteristics of the new drug;
(i) the proposed quantity of the new drug to be used for the experimental study;
(j) the results of any toxicological or pharmacological studies that may have been conducted with the new drug;
(k) the written agreement referred to in subsection (2); and
(l) such other information and material as the Minister may require.
(2) Where a food-producing animal is involved in an experimental study, the applicant referred to in subsection (1) shall, for the purposes of obtaining an experimental studies certificate, obtain from the owner of the animals, or from a person authorized by the owner, a written agreement not to sell the animal or any products from it without prior authorization from the experimental studies investigator.
(3) The Minister may request the manufacturer of a new drug to submit to him samples of the new drug or of any ingredient of the drug and, in satisfactory form and manner, any other information that the Minister requests and where such samples or information are not submitted, the Minister may refuse to issue an experimental studies certificate.
C.08.015 (1) Where, on receipt of the information and material submitted pursuant to section C.08.014, the Minister is satisfied that
(a) the applicant is qualified as an experimental studies investigator for the purposes of the proposed experimental study,
(b) the facilities for the conduct of the experimental study are adequate for the purposes of the proposed experimental study, and
(c) the proposed experimental study can be conducted without undue foreseeable risk to humans or animals,
the Minister shall issue an experimental studies certificate for the purposes of the proposed experimental study and shall specify therein the quantity of the new drug that may be sold to the experimental studies investigator.
(2) If, on receipt of the information and material submitted under section C.08.014, the Minister is not satisfied that the requirements of paragraphs (1)(a), (b) and (c) have been met, he or she shall refuse to issue an experimental studies certificate.
SOR/2018-69, ss. 25, 27
C.08.016 (1) The label of a new drug that is sold pursuant to section C.08.013 shall show
(b) a warning statement to the effect that the drug is for use only in an experimental study in animals;
(c) the lot number of the drug;
(d) the name and address of the manufacturer of the drug; and
(e) the name of the person to whom the drug has been supplied.
(2) Sections C.01.004, C.01.005 and C.01.014 do not apply to a drug that is sold pursuant to section C.08.013 and labelled in accordance with subsection (1).
Conditions of Experimental Study
C.08.017 An experimental studies investigator shall
(a) use the new drug only in accordance with the outline of the experimental study;
(b) report immediately to the Minister all serious adverse drug reactions associated with the use of the new drug;
(c) report promptly to the Minister, on request, the results of the experimental study;
(d) return to the manufacturer, on request, all quantities of the new drug not used in the experimental study;
(e) maintain all records of the experimental study for a period of at least two years after the conclusion of the study and, on request, make such records available to the Minister;
(f) report promptly to the Minister any known disposition of animals involved in the study or of any products from the animals that is contrary to the terms of the agreement referred to in subsection C.08.014(2); and
(g) account to the Minister, on request, for all quantities of the new drug received by him.
SOR/2001-203, s. 10
Suspension or Cancellation of Experimental Studies Certificate
C.08.018 (1) If the Minister determines that it is necessary in order to safeguard animal health or public health or to promote public safety, he or she may suspend for a definite or indefinite period or cancel an experimental studies certificate.
(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may suspend or cancel an experimental studies certificate if
(a) the information and material submitted pursuant to section C.08.014 contains an untrue statement or contains any omission concerning the properties of the drug that were known or ought reasonably to have been known to the manufacturer or the experimental studies investigator;
(b) the labelling of the new drug is, at any time, false, misleading, deceptive or incomplete;
(c) the qualifications of the experimental studies investigator prove to be inadequate;
(d) there is evidence that the experimental studies investigator has not complied with the conditions referred to in section C.08.017; or
(e) an action of the manufacturer in respect of the new drug has resulted in his conviction for a violation of section C.08.002.
C.09.001 This Division does not apply to
(a) a drug that is required by these Regulations or the Narcotic Control Regulations to be sold only on prescription; or
(b) a drug for use exclusively in animals.
C.09.010 No manufacturer or importer shall, after June 30, 1986, sell a drug for analgesia that contains a combination of
(a) a salt or derivative of salicylic acid with another salt or derivative of salicylic acid or with salicylamide; or
(b) acetaminophen with a salt or derivative of salicylic acid or with salicylamide.
C.09.011 Each label of a drug that is intended for internal use and contains acetaminophen, salicylic acid or a salt or derivative thereof shall, after June 30, 1986, carry a caution
(a) to consult a physician if the underlying condition requires continued use for more than five days; and
(b) that it is hazardous to exceed the maximum recommended dose unless advised by a physician.
C.09.012 Each label of a drug that is intended for internal use and contains salicylic acid or a salt or derivative thereof shall after June 30, 1986, carry a warning statement to consult a physician before taking the drug during the last three months of pregnancy or when nursing.
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Building Winning Entrepreneurial Teams
Sweeping success in national competition leads to successful startups by graduates
Competitive. Disciplined. Tenacious. Those are the characteristics used to describe Carol Reeves, who has developed a hugely successful entrepreneurship program at the University of Arkansas. That’s why those who know Reeves like to call her “The Coach,” and that’s how Fortune magazine also described Reeves in 2011 when it named her one of the nation’s 10 most powerful women entrepreneurs.
Neil Bora, a graduate student at Arkansas, compared Reeves to college football coach Nick Saban, whose teams have won four national championships at Alabama and LSU.
“She preaches the process, she wants people to stick to the process, to learn and study your market, and the results will follow,” he said.
Clete Brewer, a successful entrepreneur, likened Reeves to a coach closer to the University of Arkansas’ heart.
“Carol is the John McDonnell of collegiate business competition coaches, for sure,” said Brewer, referring to the retired track and cross-country coach whose teams won an unprecedented 40 national championships at Arkansas.
Under the guidance of Reeves, the University of Arkansas has fielded competitive graduate student teams at state, regional, national and international business plan competitions since 2002. During the past decade, students have won more than $2.2 million in cash at these competitions.
Nationally, the U of A has won 20 national business plan competitions, two times more than the closest competitor. In 2012, the university became the first school to have three different graduate student business plan teams win a qualifying competition for the Venture Labs Investment Competition, which bills itself as the “Super Bowl of business competitions,” marking the first time any university won three qualifying contests for the competition in the same year.
In 2013, the U of A became the first institution to have four teams qualify for the event.
Reeves built a powerhouse by relying on a formula that utilizes students from different disciplines. They usually include strong business students from the Sam M. Walton College of Business, one of the top 25 public business colleges in the country, and then students selected from other colleges based on needs for the particular project.
“My ideal team is a science/technology person, a marketing person and an accounting person,” Reeves said, “and some of the team members need to be excellent writers and presenters.”
That system worked with Silicon Solar Solutions, which won more than $70,000 in cash and $40,000 in in-kind awards in business plan competitions in 2010.
Douglas Hutchings, who competed on the team and then became its president and CEO when it moved from student competition to a start-up company, said Reeves worked tirelessly to help Silicon Solar Solutions succeed.
“She’s one of the more giving people that I know, especially when it comes to her time,” Hutchings said. “She has, without fail, always been there for us, even on a moment’s notice. Entrepreneurship is tough and a strong support system is vital, and she’s always been perfectly willing to help when you ask for it. Dr. Reeves has been fantastic and instrumental in getting us to where we are.”
Trish Flanagan, who competed with Picasolar, a team that won more than $300,000 at competitions in 2013, agreed that Reeves is committed to her students.
“For Carol, setbacks are a sign to think of something else, to work around them,” Flanagan said. “She’s a fiercely determined, hard worker. At every one of our competitions, she spent hours and hours going over our business plans. She’s got a big place in her heart for people and their needs.”
Flanagan also sees something else that Reeves has in common with the best college coaches, like a Saban or a McDonnell.
“Her secret magic is recruiting,” she said. “She has the ability to see people’s raw talent and their willingness to work hard. She seeks it out and nurtures it.”
Reeves is associate vice provost for entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas and holds the Cecil & Gwendolyn Cupp Applied Professorship in Entrepreneurship in the Walton College. She won the 2014 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.
Office of Entrepreneurship
Professor Reeves Wins SEC Faculty Achievement Award
U of A Wins Five of Six Categories at Governor’s Cup
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Kentucky TeleCare
The Blue Angels Program
Photo by: Kyle Wooton
Blue Angels Program Brings High-Risk Obstetric Care to Rural Kentucky
By Laura Dawhare, Ashley Perry
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 1, 2015) -- Two-week old Bransen Roberts sleeps peacefully despite the bustle of the Pediatric Clinic at UK Healthcare. When his mother Becky Triplett removes him from his car seat to be weighed and measured, he grimaces slightly and stuffs his fist into his mouth, annoyed at the interruption, but otherwise submits quietly to the gentle poking and prodding.
Bransen appears the picture of health, with 10 perfect fingers and toes that his parents, like so many parents before, counted when he was born. But he's here today to be examined by Dr. Ali Ziada, a pediatric urologist, who will evaluate Bransen's condition and map out a treatment strategy.
Before Bransen was born, he was diagnosed with hydronephrosis, a rare condition where urine backs up in the kidney as a result of an obstruction in the ureter or backward flow of urine from the bladder. The condition is potentially dangerous and can result in the loss of one or both kidneys without proper intervention.
"They way they described it to me was it was like a kink in a garden hose," Becky said.
Early diagnosis and intervention in most instances is key to assuring the best possible health outcome, and hydronephrosis is no different. In Bransen's case, a new UK HealthCare program called The Blue Angels made this early intervention possible.
Becky and Bransen's father Jason are from Manchester, Kentucky. Kentucky is well known for its poor marks on health measures like obesity, diabetes, smoking and heart disease, and Clay County is among the worst of its 120 counties. The situation is further exacerbated by the lack of specialty health care nearby.
UK HealthCare saw an opportunity to fulfill its institutional mission to keep patients as close to home for their treatment as possible and worked with Manchester Memorial Hospital (MMH) to forge a partnership providing high-level specialty care to MMH patients in several areas, including cardiology, optometry, and obstetrics. In the latter case, UK HealthCare set up a twice-a-month clinic where highly trained obstetricians use special equipment to review fetal ultrasounds remotely, in real time, and talk with the patient simultaneously.
Dr. John O'Brien, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at UK HealthCare, says the program fills a need in a meaningful, expedient and personal way.
"Before Blue Angels, patients had two choices: they had to travel to Lexington for their high-risk consult, or a technician did the ultrasound in their hometown and it was shipped up to Lexington for us to assess," he said.
According to Dr. O'Brien, neither option was ideal, since it meant that either the patient wasn't with him while her ultrasound was evaluated, or she would have to travel -- sometimes a far distance -- for her ultrasound. Furthermore, explains O'Brien, if the patient's ultrasound didn’t answer all of his questions, it had to be repeated.
"It was a burden for the mother to travel, or it was expensive, or both," he said. "And the time spent traveling or waiting and wondering was stressful for the mother."
Now ultrasound techs travel to locations throughout Kentucky with a portable videoconference device, seeing patients whose hometown obstetricians have identified as high-risk based on their own ultrasound technology.
The briefcase-size video system, which includes a camera and microphone, connects to the ultrasound equipment in each location and allows O’Brien to see the ultrasound as it is being performed, guide the technician through difficult studies and communicate with the patient just as if they were in the same room.
"I can talk directly with the patient to explain right away what I see and what the next steps should be," O'Brien said. "It provides a measure of comfort to the mother when we can tell her immediately what’s going on and if necessary we can intervene more quickly, which is always the best option for both mother and baby."
In Becky's case, the ultrasound scheduled as a routine part of her checkups with her obstetrician in Manchester revealed some troubling abnormalities in one of Bransen's kidneys. She was immediately scheduled for a follow-up ultrasound with Dr. O'Brien via the Blue Angels.
“Based on my review of the ultrasound, I was concerned that Bransen's condition was worsening," he said. "I felt it was imperative that we preserve Bransen's kidney function and the best way to do that would be follow up with a pediatric urologist. So I reviewed the information with Bransen's parents and referred them to Dr. Ziada."
"I really appreciated how much time they spent with us explaining the situation, the next steps, and the possible outcomes," Bransen's father Jason said.
Bransen will continue to be followed by Dr. Ziada, who will schedule periodic tests to ensure that Bransen's condition isn't worsening. Ultimately, should the "kink in the garden hose" not resolve on its own, Dr. Ziada might recommend surgery to correct it.
"No matter what," Dr. Ziada said, "Bransen is likely to come out of this a healthy boy."
Dr. O'Brien firmly believes that Blue Angels and programs like it increase access to the highest level of health care for the poor and the rural, both of which are numerous in this state, and therefore promote more equity in the health care system. In particular, by improving access for high-risk pregnant women, the program helps build faith in the healthcare system and reinforce the connection between mothers and their physicians -- both of which serve to maintain good health long term.
"Obstetrics is the most cost-efficient way to invest healthcare dollars, since it helps prevent mortality and improves healthcare outcomes for decades," said Dr. O'Brien. "And Blue Angels is a cost efficient way to bring the highest level of obstetric care to the patient, wherever she may live."
Clinical Telehealth Programs
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740 S. Limestone, K-128
Alumni: (859) 257-6404
© 2019 University of Kentucky College of Medicine
UK Medical Center MN 150 - Lexington KY, USA 40536-0298
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Central Energy Trust Arena (NZ)
Formerly known as Arena 1 and FMG Stadium, Central Energy Trust Arena is Manawatu's main outdoor venue. Overlooking the Oval, the redeveloped Grandstand was completed in March 2005. The new Grandstand complements the highly regarded playing surface and has been the prime reason why Arena Manawatu has been so successful in recent years in securing a range of international and national sporting fixtures such as a match in the highly publicised British and Irish Lions 2005 tour. The stadium was home to the first ever Super 12 Rugby match.
The Corporate Lounge built as part of the upgrade is extremely popular as a venue both during sports matches and also as a function venue in it's own right. With the ability to host up to 200 guests seated around tables and 360 degree views of the city and surrounding region this is certainly one of the city's more spectacular venues.
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HomeBIZ WRAPCorporate Story
BT MindRush: Unlocking the secret of riding business wave
Shamni Pande | Monday, December 1, 2014 | 11:58 IST
"It is important to have a burning desire, and to be passionate about your dreams", said Mt. Everest climber Jamling Tenzing Norgay.
Management guru Ram Charan interacting with the audience at MindRush 2014
Is there a secret trick that successful leaders and businesses apply to get different results from the same business environment? Yes, as it turns out and it took five sessions and seven achievers to unlock the puzzle at Business Today's second annual leadership series, MindRush, that was held in New Delhi on Saturday.
Management guru and CEO coach Ram Charan opened the second day of MindRush with this question and pointed out that most successful leaders know how to convert complexity into simplicity and never turned their eyes away from the customer. Charan has consulted for some of the biggest corporate houses in the world including the likes of GE and Microsoft. In India, business houses including the Aditya Birla Group and Wipro have consulted with him.
Distilling decades of his management wisdom and expertise, Charan said that companies need to "keep their eye on the prize" by continuously asking themselves what can they do better for the customer.
FULL COVERAGE:MindRush 2014
Stating that good leaders don't blame external factors including government, he said: "Leaders don't commiserate or ask for it. Rather in adversity they seek / search for information. There is power in simple questions. Good leaders may face difficulties and roadblocks but they never suffer from fog (of vision and how to get there)."
Of course, practice make things perfect too. He praised the Narendra Modi-led government and said it was providing the right motivation for business. "India needs to build credibility and that comes from action. Economic strength comes not merely from GDP growth but having healthy foreign reserves. The government needs to plan to have a $1 trillion forex reserve over the next decade or more," he added.
The second session had leadership and motivational expert Peter Docker, who drew the attention of the business leaders in the audience to the secret of successful brands such as Apple and Virgin. It was the firm grip these companies have on 'why' they do what they do that makes these companies highly successful, he said. "Successful leaders and brands first begin with 'why' and then get on to the 'what' and 'how' to do what they do," he said. In other words, their integral belief and purpose of choosing to do what they do are invariably more successful than others, he added.
The post-lunch session had a panel discussion on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. The panelists included serial entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, Founder of Goqii.com; Radhika Aggarwal, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Shopclues.com; and Laveesh Bhandari, Chief Economist at Nielsen India.
The panelists opened the discussion with a background on their entrepreneurial stints. Aggarwal spoke about her previous unsuccessful stints with entrepreneurship before founding e-commerce company Shopclues. "I have been third-time lucky with Shopclues," she said.
Speaking about the hype around start-ups raising funds, Bhandari said, "I am quite surprised when VCs come to me and tell me to grow at 10 to 20 per cent. I lot of opportunities get lost because investors are looking at those that grow 10X every year, while most businesses grow only at 2X or 3X. If you are aiming at entrepreneurship, one should not miss out on those opportunities that scale slower but can be very attractive and sustainable areas to get into," he said.
Gondal said that in India there could be about 25 start-ups with a billion-dollar valuation in the next 12 to 18 months. "You can call it a bubble, but the reality is that in China there are already 50 odd companies that have achieved that. The valuation is also part of the fact that all the action that is happening is in India. If you see what Alibaba did to its investors, we are expecting the same in India," he said. "Things are more realistic this time than in late 90s."
Are a lot of young people choosing entrepreneurship? Bhandari said, "The cost of entry into the entrepreneurial ecosystem has gone down dramatically. The only thing that is stopping people is high salaries." Aggarwal said, "Earlier if you had to start a business, there was so much that you had to look at completely from scratch, including what technology to use and how. Now it is much faster because so many things are already available."
Gondal pointed out an interesting trend that is in sharp contrast to the scenario years earlier. "Today, there are people who have left everything and they ask me tell me what to do next. This means entrepreneurship is being celebrated. While earlier you would wait to get funding to take the risk of starting up. Now it is a great thing to say that I am an entrepreneur."
This was followed by an engaging session by P. Murali Doraiswamy, Professor & Director, Mental Fitness Lab, Duke University, on how to spark your grey cells to do more for you.
He talked about how the human brain was actually the biggest asset that companies had and how science had advanced to show how brain worked better and more efficiently under certain circumstances.
Companies needed to bear in mind that long monologues do not work well with people and they did not tend to retain most information. He spoke about the importance of recognizing that how the brain of men and women were actually wired differently. "It is true that multi-tasking does not lead to good results," he said. Doraiswamy also highlighed the significance of exercise, sleep and right food to boost brain efficiency.
The guest speaker for the last session was Everest climber Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Tenzing Norgay, who was the first person along with Sir Edmund Hillary to climb the world's highest mountain.
Norgay talked about his 1996 Everest expedition and explained the difficulties faced by his team that also carried an IMAX camera to film the entire climb. Talking about his father's 1953 expedition with the New Zealander Hillary, Norgay highlighted the importance of communication. He said while his father barely spoke English, Hillary did not know Hindi, Nepalese or the Sherpa language. Norgay also said that after climbing the summit of the Everest, "I felt very proud to be standing where my father stood 43 years ago."
Offering an important leadership lession to the CEOs, Norgay said individuals never get to the top of the team. It is important to have a good team. It is also important to have a burning desire, and to be passionate about your dreams, he said. Norgay recalled his father's words to end the session: "Be a leader, be a guide and accomplish... Above all, be great and make others great."
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Swiggy, Zomato served notices for delivering non-veg food in Haridwar's restricted areas
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Part 50: San Francisco: September 13, 1944
After the first few days of our invasion, we're running into stronger resistance. We aren't making advances, but we are holding the ground we've taken so far.
Axis Turn 10: September 13, 1944
The Hien is proving its capabilities against some of the better American planes.
It's an excellent day in the air for us all-around.
Our tanks force the Americans down from the hills, into open ground where the bombers can easily target them.
Fighting intensifies at the south end of San Jose, where the foot soldiers are making a push.
The East Bay probe finally discovers some forces; an artillery unit in San Leandro that seems to have no other units accompanying it. However, our own units are now out of fuel, and are forced to hold off from making any attacks.
Allied Turn 10: September 13, 1944
Our bombers did eliminate those tanks, but they end up flying too close to the flak emplacements in San Jose.
Yet another unit of Shermans comes along the ridge to disrupt our western forces.
Even more tanks show up; it's going to be quite a struggle to deal with all of them.
We work on taking out the carrier-based planes, now that we've eliminated their carrier.
The cruisers get a chance to view the San Francisco shoreline. There are some units garrisoning the city, but they don't look particularly strong.
Air power is the only possible way to deal with the American tanks.
But even then, it only manages to create a stalemate position.
Our southeastern forces come under attack from the air.
The American tanks may be better than ours, but their crews have much less experience, and it shows sometimes.
Somehow those American Helldivers are able to just break away from our fighters.
Our ships sail triumphantly through the 'Golden Gate' and we commence shelling of San Francisco.
A few more units have shown up to fight off our meager forces in the Hayward/San Leandro area.
We're getting better at knocking out the Shermans now, using combined air and ground attacks.
We had made a bit of progress, but it gets pushed back just as quickly.
The 2nd Hohei is cut off and then eliminated after multiple attacks.
We actually gain ground in the battle for Hayward; our light tanks knock out some Stuarts.
Once the shelling of San Francisco began, more troops were mobilized to defend the city.
Those Helldivers may have escaped from the Zeros, but when they come to attack us on the ground, Sabai's Flying Circus gets the best of them.
The battle of San Jose continues, without much change in position.
With all our planes forced to operate out of Monterey, we don't have enough to deal with the air threat here.
More tanks hit continue to hit us in the hills, and our AT units just aren't up to the task.
We send our ships toward Alameda to soften up the defenders there. With enough support, even the few units we have there might be enough to take control.
The Fuso is able to start shelling San Francisco. We focus on reducing the defensive guns.
The Zeros really want to take out those Helldivers, and pursue them all the way to Moffett, putting themselves in danger of being shot down. They do, however, succeed in shooting down the enemy squadron.
At San Jose, we achieve a slight breakthrough, and knock out a number of AA guns.
The tank battle is still a tough one. We're starting to grow desperately short of supplies, and can't keep all our units at full strength anymore.
The Zeros manage to survive the flak over Moffett.
Another unit of Shermans shows up, this time on the east side of San Jose.
At the same time, tanks on the west side blast us back even farther.
It turns out this is the last naval combat for the Japanese side, and unfortunately we couldn't afford picking up these units, but here's a look battleships that we could have had.
Yamato-class Battleship (2 built)
PG Name: Yamato Type:Battleship
Value:32 Cost:576 Spot:3 Move:5 MM: Deep Naval Fuel: 64
Init:5 Range:8 SA:7 HA:10 AA:[6] NA:25 DA:0 GD:25 AD:17 TD:10 Ammo:40
Special: Night Optics
The Yamato is one of the most famous battleships ever built. It was definitely the biggest ever, and possibly the toughest. The design was conceived after Japan decided to ignore treaty limitations on size, and they went all out with the Yamato, a massive beast armed with 460mm (18.1") guns. It possibly represented the culmination of the battleship as a concept. The fate of the ship also seemed to reflect the destiny of the battleship in large-scale conflicts as well, when the Yamato was sunk in 1945 by carrier-launched aircraft.
In-game analysis: This would be the best naval unit stat-wise in the game, if there wasn't something on the horizon even bigger. Of the actual ships that existed in the world, this one is indeed the best in-game. It's a difficult task to take one down in combat. The anti-air power makes it quite resistant to air attacks. It can easily outrange anything on the water, and is almost impervious to opposing fire. If you're doing naval operations, this is an unbeatable addition to the fleet, although it is one of the few capital ships that might need to monitor its fuel consumption in longer battles.
Super Yamato-class Battleship/Design A150 (none built)
Effective Date: 12/44
Value:64 Cost:1152 Spot:3 Move:5 MM: Deep Naval Fuel: 64
Init:5 Range:8 SA:7 HA:10 AA:[18] NA:26 DA:0 GD:26 AD:17 TD:10 Ammo:40
Special: Night Optics, Radar
This was a design that was actually complete by the early 1940s, but there was never a need to build it. Despite its name, it wasn't a reworking of the Yamato class. It was meant to be an even more powerful battleship, possibly to be used in the event of an escalation of battleship size that never occurred. While the full details are not known since none were constructed and the plans were later destroyed, this would have had even larger guns than the Yamato, potentially a large number of AA guns, and belt armor so thick that it could not have been built from a single piece. It doubtless would have been a more of a deadly monster than the Yamato, but it's also not hard to imagine that it would have suffered a similar fate.
In-game analysis: Well, there simply isn't a better battleship to be found in the game (though the American Montana-class is a close contender). That said, there isn't a more expensive unit to be found in the game, either. The improvement over the Yamato is really rather slight for something nearly twice the price. This just feels like it'd be a super-attractive target, and while it would also be fantastically tough to take down, I don't think the enemy would need to spend equivalently in prestige to do so.
Shinano-class Carrier (1 nearly built)
PG Name: Shinano Type:Carrier
Value:55 Cost:990 Spot:2 Move:5 MM: Deep Naval Fuel: 89 Capacity: 3
Init:3 Range:0 SA:3 HA:6 AA:[18] NA:8 DA:0 GD:25 AD:20 TD:12 Ammo:100
Special: Radar
As the Yamato was to the battleship, the Shinano was to the aircraft carrier - the biggest and the toughest on the seas. The Shinano was in fact the third Yamato-class hull, converted to a carrier. Unfortunately because it was a conversion, it had a rather meager aircraft capacity relative to its displacement (although it did have quite a lot of storage space for supplies). Despite its strength it would likely have been used as something of a resupply/escort carrier. It never sailed into combat, since it was transferred between ports in open water before completion, and was sunk easily by an American sub.
In-game analysis: This isn't unit you should get even if you can afford it, although it is indeed a ridiculously strong carrier. That said, the capacity of 3 and the sluggish movement rate give one pause, especially at this price. My opinion is that if it gets to the point where a carrier needs to rely on its own combat abilities instead of its planes or escorts for protection, things have gone seriously wrong.
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Link Between Testosterone and Asthma Seen in Study, Likely Reason Women More Prone to This Disease
by Ashraf Malhas, PhD
In Asthma, News.
Testosterone levels control the numbers of a rare subset of white blood cells that are involved in airway inflammation and asthma, a study reports. The finding helps to explain previously observed differences in asthma prevalence between adult men and women.
Sex hormones usually drive male-female differences seen in autoimmune diseases. In adults, the prevalence of asthma is twice as high in women as men, but in children, asthma is more often found in boys than girls.
The shift in prevalence usually starts at puberty, coinciding with changes in sex hormones.
Lung innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a subset of white blood cells that are involved in initiating inflammatory responses. A rare subset of ILCs, known as ILC2, has been shown to be involved in allergic responses and asthma, but the mechanisms that regulate ILC2 are not entirely clear.
A research group headed by Dawn Newcomb, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, investigated the possibility that women having higher numbers of ILC2 and that this might affect their risk of asthma.
The study “Testosterone Attenuates Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cell-Mediated Airway Inflammation” was published in the journal Cell Reports.
Researchers compared ILC2 levels circulating in the blood of adult (18-45 years of age) asthmatic men and women, and in healthy controls.
No difference in ILC2 numbers were found among healthy men and women; however, women with asthma had higher numbers of ILC2 compared to men with asthma.
Using female and male adult mice, the researchers then showed that sex hormones played a role in regulating levels of ILC2. Testosterone negatively affected — lowered — ILC2 numbers. This effect was mediated by the cytokine interleukin 2 (IL-2), and was more pronounced in adult female mice compared to pre-pubescent females and males.
Testosterone also reduced the level of inflammation mediated by ILC2.
The study suggests that the level of testosterone and its effects on ILC2 explains, in part, differences seen in asthma prevalence observed between adult women and men, and may be useful in trials to better treat this and similar diseases.
“Defining the role of sex hormones on ILC2-mediated airway inflammation is imperative to effectively design future clinical trials and develop new therapeutic strategies for asthma and other ILC2-mediated diseases,” the researchers concluded.
The incidence of asthma nearly doubled worldwide between 1990 and 2015, according to a press release.
Tagged asthma, ILC, ILC2, Inflammation, innate lymphoid cells, testosterone.
Previous: Prognosis Is Just A Number: Living for Quality vs. Quantity
Next:Inhaled Thyroid Hormone May Work to Reverse Lung Fibrosis, Early Study Reports
Margaret Pearce says:
I have adult onset asthma and desperate to find an affordable and/or permanent treatment of the disease.
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Election 2016: Your money, your vote
JPMorgan CEO is OK with paying higher taxes
by Heather Long @byHeatherLong September 20, 2015: 1:16 PM ET
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon would be fine with having to pay a bit more in taxes.
Dimon, who made $20 million last year and is now a billionaire, made the comments Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"If you said to me, 'Would you pay 10% more?' I would have no problem with that," he said. The top income tax rate for people like Dimon is currently 39.6%. In the past, America's wealthiest have faced a tax rate as high as 91%.
How much senior executives make -- and pay in taxes -- has become a hot issue on the 2016 campaign trail. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump says it's a "complete joke" that CEOs make so much money.
Related: Donald Trump says we should tax the rich more
Democrat Bernie Sanders repeatedly talks about how wrong it is that the average American CEO "now makes nearly 300 times more than the average worker."
Dimon has long been a Democrat. He supported Hillary Clinton in the past, but would not pledge his support to her on Sunday.
"I am not going to get involved in politics at this point," he said, adding that he's "still a Democrat."
Trump has yet to release his tax plan, but he has said that hedge fund managers are "getting away with murder" and should pay a lot more in taxes. Sanders has gone as far as to say he would be OK with bringing back a 90% tax rate on the wealthiest Americans, something that hasn't been in place since the early 1960s.
Related: Trump has little respect for Wall Street
While Dimon indicated he would be willing to pay higher taxes, he also emphasized that money needs to be spent better in Washington on things like roads and education.
He blasted Congress for considering shutting down the government at the end of the month.
"A government shutdown is just bad management," the JPMorgan (JPM) CEO said.
Some Republicans don't want to pass budgets for the next fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 or raise the debt ceiling -- the U.S. borrowing limit -- without defunding Planned Parenthood.
CNNMoney (New York) First published September 20, 2015: 12:41 PM ET
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Volunteer Organizations
How the Kiwanis Club Works
by Sarah Siddons
History of Kiwanis
Much like Rotary International and the Elks Club, the Kiwanis Club started out as an organization for men. Kiwanis was founded in 1915 in Lower Michigan [source: Britannica]. Two Detroit businessmen, Allen Browne (a professional organizer) and Joseph Prance (a tailor), started the club to serve the poor and help young professional men exchange business services with each other.
Within the first six months of its founding, the Kiwanis Club drew 200 members, who each paid a $5 fee to join [source: History Bulletin on Kiwanis]. By 1916, there were already Kiwanis clubs in Cleveland, Rochester, New York City, Chicago and Boston, as well as one in Canada --establishing Kiwanis as an international organization. In 1919, the young club had its first identity crisis: whether it should focus on business networking or community service. The service advocates won the debate. Since then, helping the poor -- particularly children -- has been its mission [source: Detroit Kiwanis Club #1].
Until 1962, Kiwanis membership was limited to the U.S. and Canada. But after the membership approved worldwide expansion, the organization spread across the globe, with clubs in 96 countries [source: Kiwanis International].
In 1987, Kiwanis International underwent another significant change: admitting women. For 72 years, it had been a men-only organization. But that changed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in May of that year that Rotary Club International could not exclude women based on gender. Rather than face its own legal action, Kiwanis International voted in July 1987 to become co-ed, incorporating its auxiliary "Kiwaniannes" clubs, which comprised the wives of Kiwanis members, into the general membership. Within the first six months of the rule change, more than 3,000 women joined [source: Detroit Kiwanis Club #1].
Read on to find out what Kiwanis do at home and abroad.
Some of the first women to join Kiwanis International when it became co-ed in 1987 included singer-songwriter Anita Bryant and Annette Strauss, the first female mayor of Dallas.
How Food Banks Work
How the Association of Junior Leagues International Works
How Serve.gov Works
How the Student Conservation Association Works
How the Points of Light Institute Works
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Archive for the day “November 8, 2008”
Veteran’s Day: Tombs of Honor
At the beginning of the year, I took a three-month break from editing Oilspill Dotcom and wrote the first draft of a 90,000-word novel, They Returned As Heroes (tentative title). I wrote everyday for at least an hour and the story just poured out of me onto the page (well, into the word document). In recognition of Veteran’s Day, I would like to share a scene with you.
Mr. van Ness downs the rest of his cognac in one gulp and resolutely stands up.
“I want to show you something, Will. Come.”
We leave the club in his black, shiny Mercedes and drive about twenty minutes to the military cemetery in the Presidio. There are stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and I stare silently as we pass through the tall stone and iron gates. The cemetery, like most of the city, is built on a hill. Rows of white tombstones stand in perfect, military symmetry, each defined by straight grass borders, like a white and green chessboard. A huge flag blows in the wind as I follow Jane’s father to a section of graves.
“What do you think the average soldier dreads when he goes off to war?” His question is posed without him looking back at me.
I think for the moment. “Death, captivity, maybe never seeing his loved ones again?”
Mr. van Ness nods. “That’s about it. What about an officer?”
“The same?”
“Yes, but there’s something else. The officers see the young, fresh faces when they join the unit. Sometimes, if we’re embarking together, we see their parents, wives, girlfriends, and children. They hug and cry, while the family steals surreptitious glances at the officer, silently pleading: bring my boy home, my lover, my father.
“And a shiver courses through you. You are not God, probably not much of a soldier either. You know you cannot protect them, but still you swear a silent oath; to try and bring them back alive, as many of them as you can. Fuck the war, the politics, the drive to serve your country. All you want is to bring your boys back. You’d rather face a thousand of the enemy than one of these parents, wives or children at the funeral, or remembrance service.”
We stop by a tombstone and he crouches down, tenderly cleaning some dirt that has gathered there. I crouch with him as he takes a deep breath.
“The last time my wife entered my den was about fifteen years ago, Will. She shouldn’t have, but her motives were no doubt innocent. She found a small black notebook, almost full. I had written a list of names, mainly women. The names reappeared regularly and there was a column with dates and another with dollar amounts. She found a checkbook from a bank she was sure we didn’t use.
“That evening she confronted me. We didn’t hold secrets from each other, financial or otherwise. Who were these women? Ex-lovers? Illegitimate kids? I roared back that it was none of her damn business, how dare she enter my den and I yelled other absurdities. We’d never raised our voices to each other like that and have never since. Totally out of control, total rage.”
He points to the tombstone.
“My first sergeant, Pete O’Reilly. He died in my arms. The last words he heard were an oath from my lips to take care of his two young kids. Their mother received monthly checks from the bank, anonymous. When his oldest daughter was eighteen, she received a letter from the bank about a trust fund for her and her brother to pay for university tuition. The youngest graduated from Stanford a few years back.”
We move on to another grave. “His family’s all devout Catholics. I swore that they’d never know how he died. He’s buried here as a hero, and so it’ll remain.”
At another grave, he seems lost in thought, buried memories resurfacing. Then at length he turns to me. “Jane doesn’t know this, neither does her mother.” I nod, understanding the unspoken and he continues. “I worked in intelligence as well. I oversaw the recruitment and training of a spy network, of sort. Nothing glamorous. We gave the alcoholics and junkies money for booze and drugs.
“They gave us information, basic stuff like troop movement, nothing too significant. Crumbs. They were the dregs of their society and they knew little. But sometimes they knew enough to prevent some of our troops dying. If we thought we could use methods and intimidation to get more out of them, we never hesitated. If it saved one more life…
“I didn’t care, I could justify it. Not for the great United States, or for freedom and democracy, but to get my boys home alive. If this piece of shit’s confession could save just one of my boys, let him scream.”
He took a moment to compose himself. “They were handled by Asians, usually Asian-Americans recruited over here. These people had it hard. They may have nothing to do with Vietnam, born thousands of miles away, in a different culture, a different language. They were doing their job as loyal Americans, no different from the rest of us.
“But they were seen as different. Yellow skin, slit eyes and they aroused all the wild fears and prejudices that permeated the white and black soldiers. They largely hung out together and felt betrayed.
“Then we returned home. To some we were heroes, but many felt uneasy, as they’d heard of the horrors we’d inflicted. For the Asian-American soldiers, it was twice as bad. In civilian clothes, they were just another immigrant, just another who looked like the enemy. They received no honor, no respect from their peers. Sometimes they were even rejected by their own.”
He pauses again. I watch his warm breath escape as he exhales into the chilly air.
“There are two of these men still alive, physically at least. They’re both loners, pariahs. They’ve never held down jobs, never married. They wander the streets, allowing themselves to remember only enough to ensure they return to a hostel of sorts that feeds them and gives them beds. They are luckier than the homeless you talk about, Will. Their officer turned out to be a rich bastard who cares. Their tabs at the hostel are taken care of.”
There is silence and we stand up stiffly, both staring around. I search for something to say and put my hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, James, a generous man.”
He turns sharply and looks at me incredulously. His voice becomes sharp and loud. “I don’t do it for them! I do it for me! I do it so that I can live, so that I can continue. I do it to keep away the nightmares, to prevent the faces of widows and orphans staring at me at every turn.”
He begins to walk towards the car.
“You’re still a good man, James.” I shout after him, my voice shaking with emotion. He turns to face me. My arm sweeps in the cemetery and, with considerable effort, I steady my voice. “They all know who you are and what you did. They still think you’re a fucking hero. So do I, sir, even if I can’t understand it all.”
He stares at me for what feels like hours and I walk slowly towards him. He is breathing heavily; I see this even though the winter coat he wears. When he speaks, his voice is quiet, but steely.
“Find your boss, son. Find him and help him if you can: his brother too, if the poor bastard’s still alive.”
Posted in War Veterans
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