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Tag: IJV
Liberals Defend Canada’s UN Vote Against Israel
Canada’s recent vote against Israel at the United Nations sparked spirited discussion in the House of Commons.
On Nov. 19 – the same day Canada voted for a resolution affirming Palestinian statehood – Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong demanded an explanation for Canada’s vote.
Michael Chong
“Today, the Liberal government voted against the state of Israel at the UN General Assembly for a second year in a row, contrary to our long-standing Canadian policy of opposing all resolutions that single out Israel, a policy that former prime minister Paul Martin had put in place,” Chong said.
“Even [Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob] Rae said he disagreed with the preamble of the resolution. Why did the government break with long-standing Canadian policy and vote against the State of Israel at the UN General Assembly today?”
Bob Rae
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland did not directly address the question in her response.
“Let me just be very clear: Israel is a close and important friend of Canada, and Canada will always stand with Israel,” she said. “Let me also be very clear to Jewish Canadians in my riding and across the country: We stand with them, particularly today when we are seeing an appalling rise in antisemitism here and around the world.”
Chong then asked when the Liberals would “restore Canada’s long-standing opposition to these anti-Israel resolutions, which were upheld by previous Liberal and Conservative governments and put in place by former prime minister Paul Martin?”
Freeland replied: “Let me speak to Canada’s place in the world and to our foreign policy. We are living in a world today where there is a worrying rise of authoritarian regimes, a worrying rise of anti-democratic populism – and our country in that world will always stand up for human rights and will always stand up for the rules-based international order,” Freeland said. “That may not always be popular but that is the Canadian way.”
For the second consecutive year, major Jewish organizations denounced Canada’s vote in favour of the resolution as one-sided against Israel.
Entitled the “Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” the resolution stresses “the need for respect for and preservation of the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”
The resolution passed 163 to five, with only Israel, the United States, and the Pacific Ocean nations of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Nauru voting against, and 10 other countries abstaining.
In a joint statement the day after Canada cast its ballot, Jewish advocacy groups expressed their “deep disappointment,” saying the resolution fails “to affirm Jewish self-determination in the indigenous and ancestral homeland of the Jewish people” while “intentionally erasing historical Jewish connections to Jerusalem – including the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site.”
Independent Jewish Voice of Canada, which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, lauded this country’s vote as “commendable.”
Until last year, Canada had voted against the annual resolution, part of a basket of pro-Palestinian measures introduced at the UN this time of year.
A year ago, Ottawa’s abrupt shift on the measure – skipping over abstention to support – shocked many in the Jewish community and led Israel to say it might lodge a complaint.
Canada’s support this year “is a reflection of our longstanding commitment to the right of self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis,” said Canada’s UN Ambassador Bob Rae in his explanation of the vote (EOV) to the General Assembly.
“From the time of the earliest resolutions of the Security Council on these issues, we have endorsed the principle of ‘two states for two peoples,’” Rae said. “While we do not agree with some elements of the preamble, Canada will support this resolution because of its focus on these important, core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Rae also said that Canada “does not and will not support any resolution that unfairly singles out Israel for criticism.”
He referenced the “destructive” role in the Mideast conflict of such “terrorist organizations as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.”
– By CJR Staff
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on November 24, 2020 November 23, 2020 Categories NewsTags Antisemitism, BDS, Bob RAe, Canada UN, Chrystia Freeland, EOV, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Israel, michael chong, occupied palestinian territory, Palestinian Statehood, Paul MArtin, rules-based international order, UN, UNGA
Another Complaint Against Judge in U of T Hiring Dispute
By STEVE ARNOLD
A second complaint has been filed against a Jewish judge accused of interfering in the hiring by the University of Toronto law school of a scholar who has been highly critical of Israel.
Justice David Spiro
The new complaint was filed with the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) on Oct. 10 by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, and Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (which supports the BDS campaign against Israel).
It alleges that Justice David Spiro, a judge on the Tax Court of Canada, used his influence to oppose the hiring of Valentina Azarova, a scholar with a record of supporting Palestinian human rights.
“If the allegations against him are true, Justice Spiro’s conduct fails to meet the standard of integrity and impartiality required of a judge,” the association said.
Backers of the new complaint have asked for their issues to be joined with an earlier complaint filed by two law school professors.
Valentina Azarova
The complaints allege that U of T offered to hire Azarova as director of the law school’s International Human Rights Program. The offer was allegedly withdrawn after a university donor complained of Azarova’s history of anti-Israel work.
Law school dean Edward Iacobucci has never denied being approached about the hiring, but has said that while there were initial talks with an applicant, an employment offer was never extended because of immigration difficulties.
Edward Iacobucci
Spiro, who, along with his extended family, has helped U of T raise millions of dollars, was identified as the source of the alleged interference by reports in the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail.
For Azarova’s supporters, the affair challenges academic freedom.
“The BCCLA is deeply invested in the resolution of this complaint for two main reasons: to uphold judicial independence and to protect freedom of expression, both of which are crucial to the democratic process,” said Meghan McDermott, Interim Policy Director of the BCCLA.
“As a civil liberties organization, we always fear the chilling effect that public decisions can have on the expressive rights of individuals and the general quality of public discourse. What happened to Dr. Azarova appears to us to fit into an escalating pattern of people being censored or otherwise penalized for expressing their views about the human rights of Palestinians.”
CJC communications director Johanna Laporte said in an email that the Spiro complaint is “under active review.”
Meantime, the university has appointed Bonnie Patterson, former president of Trent University and the Ontario Council of Universities, to review how the search was handled and whether any university policies were breached.
Patterson’s report is to be submitted by mid-January. U of T president Meric Gertler has ordered that the final report be submitted directly to him and not to administrators involved in the decision. He promised to make it public “subject only to respecting the privacy of individual candidates involved in the search process.”
He said he has followed the controversy with “deep concern.”
“Any suggestion that academic freedom has been violated must be treated with the utmost gravity. It is also critically important that the integrity of our search processes be upheld,” Gertler wrote.
James Turk, director of Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression, said the moves taken by Gertler are “a good step” but don’t fix the real problem.
“Clearly, the U of T felt a lot of public pressure because of its mishandling of this,” Turk said in an email. “The only proper solution is to restore Prof. Azarova’s job offer.”
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on November 6, 2020 November 5, 2020 Categories NewsTags Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, BC Civil liberties associations, BDS, Bonnie Patterson, Canadian Judicial Council, David Spiro, Edward Iacobucci, IJV, Israel, Johanna Laporte, Meric Gertler, Palestinian, Tax Court of Canada, University of Toronto, UofT, UofT Law, Valentina Azarova
Ontario Passed the Entire IHRA Definition, Government Says
Ontario’s government has flatly rejected claims that it dropped words linking criticism of Israel to antisemitism from a new order defining Jew-hatred in the province.
The Ontario Legislature
In a sudden move last week, the Progressive Conservative government cancelled public hearings on Bill 168, which adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism for Ontario. Instead, it passed an Order in Council approving the bill as law.
Opponents of the IHRA definition at first accused the government of trying to short-circuit debate by circumventing public hearings. In the days following the order, however, they suddenly claimed Ontario’s Order in Council dropped the most contentious clauses from the IHRA wording.
In an email to the CJR, a spokesman for Government House Leader Paul Calandra said the Ontario standard endorses the entire IHRA definition, including the “illustrative examples” that opponents found objectionable.
Owen Macri said the government moved “swiftly and immediately” to cancel public hearings and impose the IHRA definition by Order in Council after “a heinous act of antisemitism” at a Canadian war memorial in Ottawa last month.
“This government does not need a committee study to know that antisemitism is deplorable and fundamentally wrong,” he wrote. “We stand with Ontario’s Jewish community in defence of their rights and fundamental freedom.”
He also rejected arguments that cancelling hearings on the bill was undemocratic.
“We disagree fundamentally with the idea that it could ever be anti-democratic to condemn antisemitism,” he wrote. “The Government of Canada and other national governments have adopted the Working Definition of Antisemitism and have similarly done so as a decision of government.”
Approved in May 2016, the IHRA document defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The definition includes 11 “illustrative examples” of antisemitism meant to guide governments in using the document. According to those standards, antisemitism could include Holocaust denial, accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel than their own nations, claiming the State of Israel is a racist endeavor, comparing Israeli policies to those of the Nazis, and holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s actions.
As the bill enacting the new definition wound through the legislative process – it passed second reading last February and headed to committee – opponents, including groups like Independent Jewish Voices, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and others, argued that the examples made the definition nothing but an attempt to silence their criticism of Israel.
In one critique, for example, IJV activist Sheryl Nestel argued, “First, we don’t believe the goal of the IHRA [working definition of antisemitism] is to address antisemitism. We believe its goal…is to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism.”
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, among others, have also opposed the definition and its examples as an infringement of academic freedom.
In the days following the Order in Council, however, opponents claimed to have been told by Conservative MPP Kaleed Rasheed (Mississauga East-Cooksville) that only the main text of the IHRA definition, not the examples, had been adopted.
Rasheed was quoted as telling a Zoom meeting with CJPME and other community groups: “Rest assured, the definition as adopted by the Order in Council does not include the IHRA definition’s illustrative examples.”
CJPME president Thomas Woodley declared in a news release: “This reveals that the Ontario government made a decision that its adoption of IHRA should not be used to silence political expression about Israel.”
Going forward, Woodley continued, “anyone who refers to the IHRA definition must recognize and respect the fact that the examples related to Israel have not been adopted by Ontario, and they are not applicable to evaluating speech in Ontario.”
The CJPME statement was later removed from its website after Rasheed denied making the claim. He told CJR in an email “This is not accurate and does not reflect my views or comments…”
York Centre Conservative MPP Roman Baber also noted the content of what Ontario had approved.
“The Order in Council explicitly provides that the ‘Government of Ontario adopts and recognizes the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism, as adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Plenary on May 26, 2016.’ The Illustrative Examples helped form the Plenary’s definition, are referenced in the Plenary’s definition, and are therefore part and parcel of the definition,” Baber told the CJR via email.
The claim that the Order in Council was selectively worded was also taken up by four Arab-Palestinian groups, which sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford thanking him for not including the definition’s illustrative examples, which they alleged “allow for criticism of the State of Israel to be labelled as antisemitism.”
Palestinian-Canadian groups “should be honest with their constituents about what has occurred,” responded B’nai Brith Canada wrote CEO Michael Mostyn in a statement on Oct. 30. “The Government of Ontario has adopted the leading definition of antisemitism, and has recognized that certain attacks on Israel can and sometimes do cross the line in Jew-hatred.
“The sooner they and all Ontarians internalize this fact, the better.”
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on November 3, 2020 Categories NewsTags BC Civil liberties associations, Bill 168, Bnai Brith, Canadian War Memorial, CJPME, Doug Ford, dual loyalties, Holocaust denial, IHRA definition, IHRA working definition of antisemitism, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Israel, Michael Mostyn, MPP Kaleed Rasheed, ontario, ontario confederation of University faculty associations, order in council, Owen Macri, Paul Calandra, Roman baber, Thomas Woodley
Ontario Endorses IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: Jewish Groups Approve; Others are Upset
Ontario has become the first province in Canada to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism – motivated by the recent anti-Jewish vandalism at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa.
In a statement, Government House Leader Paul Calandra said Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet “took swift and decisive action” on Monday (Oct. 26) to “adopt and recognize” the definition, even before the legislation could be passed.
“After a heinous act of antisemitism at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa [on Oct. 14], it is crucial that all governments be clear and united in fighting anti-Semitism and our adoption of the working definition has done just that,” Calandra said in a statement on Oct. 27.
“The government of Ontario is proud to adopt and recognize the working definition of anti-Semitism. We stand with Ontario’s Jewish community in defence of their rights and fundamental freedoms as we always have and always will,” he said.
The “Combating Anti-Semitism Act,” known as Bill 168, passed second reading earlier this year. It sets out to use the IHRA definition as a framework for interpreting acts, regulations and policies going forward.
It was scheduled to go to committee hearings in late October for public input. But the government’s pre-emptive adoption of the definition means the committee suspended public hearings.
“The government decided to act swiftly in view of the events of Ottawa over the weekend,” York Centre Tory MPP Roman Baber told the CJR via-email, referring to antisemitic graffiti found etched into the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the capital.
“It also seemed appropriate given the second anniversary of the Pittsburgh shooting [at the Tree of Life Synagogue],” Baber stated.
The legislation will not go to third reading he noted, “as we have accomplished what Bill 168 set out to do.”
The move to adopt the definition and bypass public hearings was carried out by an Order in Council, which read as follows:
“On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council of Ontario, orders that:
Whereas the Government of Ontario believes that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness, respect and dignity;
And Whereas systemic racism, including antisemitism, is a persistent reality in Ontario preventing many from fully participating in society and denying them equal rights, freedoms, respect and dignity;
And Whereas on May 26, 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) decided at its Plenary in Bucharest to adopt a working definition of antisemitism;
Now therefore the Government of Ontario adopts and recognizes the Working Definition of Antisemitism, as adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Plenary on May 26, 2016.
Premier and President of the Council
Approved and Ordered: October 26, 2020.”
Jewish groups issued statements approving the development. They did so jointly – for the first time in recent memory.
Ontario joins “a growing number of jurisdictions, at all levels of government and around the world, in taking action against the growing threat posed to our society by antisemitism,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
The IHRA definition “provides a framework that can help guide Ontario government institutions interested in understanding contemporary forms of antisemitism, such as Holocaust denial,” Fogel said.
The adoption of the definition and its many illustrative examples of antisemitism “is a major step forward. From high schools and university campuses to police hate-crime units, this announcement promises much-needed relief for Jews across the province,” stated B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn.
“Ontario will now be equipped to identify and react to incidents of antisemitism in a clear and precise way, and be better positioned to prevent antisemitism and react to it whenever it rears its head anywhere in the province. We applaud the Ontario government for becoming the first province in Canada to adopt the IHRA definition,” said Mostyn.
Michael Levitt, president and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC), applauded the move.
He called the IHRA definition of antisemitism “a vital tool in the ongoing fight against hatred and discrimination targeting the Jewish community in Ontario…By making clear what antisemitism is and looks like, the IHRA definition will allow civil society and government to work together more effectively in our shared goal of eliminating hatred in our province.”
Karen Mock, president of JSpace Canada, remarked that “there is clear consensus about the need to combat the alarming rise of antisemitism. We cannot protect our society from the scourge of antisemitism if we are unable to name it, to identify it properly, and to address it consistently. By adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, the government of Ontario has demonstrated a commitment to implementing human rights and anti-racist policies.”
In a tweet, Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca welcomed the development, saying he “fully support[s] the decision by #ON to adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism. There’s no place for hatred in Ontario, and this is an important step in the right direction.”
The New Democrats appeared to have been caught off guard by the government’s unexpected move.
In a statement on Oct. 27, the NDP said the government “secretly” adopted the legislation “behind closed doors and passed it by Ford edict instead of by democratic vote.”
Nearly 100 Ontarians asked for a chance to appear before the committee and “thousands” of messages were sent, the statement said.
“Antisemitism and antisemitic acts of hate are growing in Ontario, and we need to take concrete actions as a province to stomp out this growing, racist movement,” said NDP critic for the Attorney General Gurratan Singh. “Adopting a new definition of antisemitism should be done in consultation with the people of Ontario, and discussed in open and transparent debate.
“Excluding the voices of community members is no way to build a united coalition against hate.”
The NDP had voted for the bill on second reading “while explicitly and specifically saying it was doing so in order to ensure Ontarians would be welcomed into committee hearings, and amendments could be proposed,” the statement said.
Questioned by reporters later, NDP leader Andrea Horwath said she had “no idea” how the bill was handled.
“All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the government moved ahead on it. When we’re changing the laws in Ontario, we should really have public hearings.”
She said this and other examples of the Ford government cancelling public hearings are “pretty dictatorial. We were waiting to see the outcome of the public hearings and we didn’t get that opportunity, which is the whole point of having a democracy. You’re supposed to actually listen to people and not just ram things through.”
Groups that have opposed the IHRA definition because they believe it would silence criticism of Israel and squelch support for Palestinians were angered by the Ford government’s move, charging that was undemocratic.
NDP MPP Rima Berns-McGown, in a Facebook post, said she found it “appalling” that the government “did an end-run around democracy and snuck the IHRA definition through by order-in-council, the day before it was to go to justice committee hearings and the day before 100s of civil society organizations had asked to speak to it.
“It is obvious that they were afraid of the storm of public disgust that was on their way in committee — including by many respected Jewish public figures.”
Montreal-based Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), which supports the BDS campaign against Israel, condemned the Conservative government “for pulling the plug on democracy in an attempt to protect Israel from criticism.”
“We were less than 24 hours away before members of the public were set to testify before the committee about the dangers of IHRA in regards to free expression,” said Michael Bueckert, vice president of CJPME. “Apparently, the Ontario government didn’t like to see that they were receiving thousands of emails opposing IHRA, and they shamefully decided to pull the plug before Ontarians had a chance to share their opinions,” said Bueckert.
Another pro-BDS group, Independent Jewish Voices of Canada, said the government’s “anti-democratic order is fitting for the IHRA definition, which poses such a grave threat to democratic principles of free expression and the right to protest.
“One thing is for certain: that we will not be deterred from our efforts to denounce the state of Israel for its systemic racism against the Palestinians. If that means we will be engaging in civil disobedience, then so be it,” said a statement from Corey Balsam of IJV.
Mira Sucharov, professor of political science at Carleton University and founding co-chair of the Jewish Politics division at the Association for Jewish Studies, acknowledged that the Ontario government needs to combat antisemitism. “But by conflating criticism of Zionism with antisemitism, this particular definition is the wrong way to go about it,” she told the CJR.
The IHRA working definition of antisemitism is opposed by other organizations, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, and more. More than 450 Canadian academics signed an open letter opposing the IHRA definition’s adoption by universities, citing threats to academic freedom.
The working definition has been adopted by 35 countries, including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Several cities have also endorsed it, while others have shelved it.
Bill 168 was a private member’s bill introduced by Conservative MPP Will Bouma in late 2019 and co-sponsored by fellow Tory MPP Robin Martin.
* The above expands a previous version of this story with quotes from the NDP, and clarifies that the Ford government’s move to adopt the IHRA definition unilaterally was done with all-party support.
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on October 29, 2020 October 30, 2020 Categories NewsTags Andrea Horwath, Bill 168, Bnai Brith, CIJA, CJPME, Combating anti-semitism act, Corey Balsam, Doug Ford, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Gurratan Singh, IHRA, IHRA definition, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, JSpace, Karen Mock, Michael Bueckert, Michael Levitt, Michael Mostyn, Mira Sucharov, ontario, Ontario Jewish, ONtario NDP, order in council, Palestinians, Paul Calandra, Rima-Berns McGown, Robin Martin, Shimon Koffler Fogel, TOmb of the Unknown Soldier, vandalism, Will Bouma
BREAKING: West Bank Wine Case Shuts Out Interveners
Jewish advocacy groups will not have a say in the case of the wine labels from Israel.
In a recent ruling, a Federal Court judge denied intervener status to a dozen organizations that sought input in the ongoing challenge to wines made in the West Bank but labeled as “Product of Israel.”
Psagot Winery
They included the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights.
One of wineries at the centre of the case, Psagot Winery Ltd., was added to the case as a respondent, but the court said its participation “must be limited.”
At issue in the case is whether wines produced by the Psagot and Shiloh wineries in West Bank Jewish settlements can be labeled as “Product of Israel” under Canadian law.
Last year, a Federal Court judge found that “made in Israel” labels on settlement wines are “false, misleading and deceptive” because international law does not recognize the West Bank as part of Israel, and that Canadians have a right shop “conscientiously.” She returned the case to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s appeals board for further consideration.
The government appealed her ruling. But before the appeal could be heard, a judge dismissed everyone who wanted to weigh in on the case, saying, in effect, that the court will not be drawn into a battle over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his ruling, Federal Court of Appeal Judge David Stratas said that “a number” of parties wishing to intervene wanted to address “Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including the status of the West Bank, the territorial sovereignty of Israel, human rights and humanitarian concerns, issues of international law, and other related issues. Many of them appear to want this Court to rule on the merits of these issues.
“But there is one basic problem,” the judge wrote. “This appeal does not raise the merits of these issues.”
He said the case should properly rest on Canadian laws regulating the labeling of food and drugs, which are designed to protect consumers. There is “nothing to suggest,” Stratas said, that these laws “were enacted to address state occupation of territories and, in particular, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.”
The Israel/West Bank issue “is a controversial one, with many differing views and deeply-felt opinions on all sides,” the judge went on. However, it is not “useful” for the appeals court to hear the interveners.
In addition to CIJA and B’nai Brith, Stratas dismissed requests to intervene from Independent Jewish Voices, the Centre for Free Expression, Amnesty International Canada, Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, Prof. Michael Lynk (the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights), the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, the Transnational Law and Justice Network, and Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, Al-Haq.
Independent Jewish Voices and B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights were interveners in the Federal Court case.
Stratas also took aim at other judges who “give the impression that they decide cases based on their own personal preferences, politics and ideologies. Increasingly, they wander into the public square and give virtue signalling and populism a go.”
The judge said he didn’t want to be too hard on the prospective interveners, saying he suspects that some of them were “lured” to the appeal “by torqued-up press reports distorting what the Federal Court decided. And once one group applies to intervene on a controversial issue like this, others feel they also have to apply.”
The Psagot winery, about 20 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem in an Israeli settlement of the same name, was added to the case as a respondent because the court should have notified it of the case, said the judge. The court said the winery was “never invited” to join the case but should have been, and that it found out about the matter from media reports.
The winery “is pleased to have been granted the opportunity to be a party to this important legal proceeding,” said its lawyers, David Elmaleh and Aaron Rosenberg of the Toronto firm RE-LAW.
The firm’s website leaves little doubt about how it feels when it comes to the winery’s legal status:
“Psagot Winery’s wines are produced by Israelis under the auspices of an Israeli company in an Israeli community on Israeli land subject to Israeli law, in the State of Israel, and in the Land of Israel. Its wines are products of Israel.”
In a statement to the CJR, David Matas, legal counsel to the League for Human Rights, found fault with Stratas’ “over-generalizations.”
Also, this ruling was made by a single judge. “Yet the appeal itself will be heard, presumably, by a panel of three judges. The other two members of the panel might disagree with this judge on many of the statements he made.”
Interveners may ask the court to reconsider its decision within 10 days of the ruling, but “it is too early for B’nai Brith Canada to decide whether we will or will not do so.”
The case goes back to 2017, when Winnipeg resident David Kattenburg raised concerns with Ontario’s liquor board that products from the two wineries were from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, not from Israel itself, and were deceptively labeled as “Product of Israel.”
He then complained to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which sided with him. However, after Jewish groups protested, the agency abruptly reversed course, saying the wines could be sold under the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
Kattenburg appealed to the agency’s Complaints and Appeals Office, which upheld the reversal. He then sought a judicial review at the Federal Court.
The court sided with Kattenburg, and Jewish groups urged an appeal based on what they said were errors committed by the judge. The government agreed. Due to delays brought about by COVID, it is not clear when the matter will be heard.
* The above clarifies that the Psagot winery was added to this case as a respondent, not an internever.
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on October 8, 2020 October 12, 2020 Categories NewsTags Aaron Rosenberg, Al Haq, Amnesty International, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, Bnai Brith, Canada ISrael Free Trade Agreement, Canadian Food INspection Agency, Canadian Lawyers for Human Rights, Centre for Free Expression, CFIA, CIFTA, CIJA, David Elmaleh, David Kattenburg, David Matas, Eugene Kontorovich, Federal Court, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Israels occupation, Jerusalem, Judge David Stratas, LCBO, League for Human RIghts, Made in Israel labels, Michael Lynk, Occupation, Product of Israel, Psagot Settlement, Psagot Winery, RE-LAW, Settlement, TRansnational Law and Justice Network, west bank
Barrie Endorses Antisemitism Definition
Sept. 22, 2020 – As expected, the City of Barrie has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, after withdrawing the motion a month earlier for further consideration.
City council on Sept. 21 unanimously adopted a resolution that Barrie endorse the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, as codified at the IHRA plenary in May 2016.
Jeff Lehman, Barrie Mayor
It was the same resolution Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman withdrew at the 11th hour last month just before it was to go before the city’s General Council.
Lehman and members of council had received some 200 letters and emails, the vast majority from outside Barrie, opposing adoption of the IHRA definition, alleging its acceptance would stifle criticism of Israel and silence pro-Palestinian activism.
In a recent CJR interview, Lehman said he withdrew the measure party because he didn’t want council making a decision based solely on opposition to it.
The full council “needed to hear why this was important and to hear from our local community, which really hadn’t mobilized that way,” he said. “To be frank, I don’t think anybody really expected that degree of opposition.”
In the interim, Lehman said he received support for the definition’s passage from “well beyond the [local] Jewish community. We had a number of community leaders speak to city council, and send in letters and emails of support.”
Councillors heard from both sides Monday night.
Rabbi Audrey Kaufman of Barrie’s Am Shalom Congregation told council the definition is not an attempt to silence criticism of Israel, reported Barrie 360.
“The IHRA definition has nothing to do with Israeli politics,” Rabbi Kaufman said in her deputation. “It’s not pro-Zionist, pro-Israel or anti-Palestinian. It does not prevent anyone from criticizing Israeli policies.”
She said accepting the IHRA definition “creates a sense of protection for the Barrie Jewish community. It is proof to us that expressions of hatred toward Jews will not be tolerated in this city and we have our municipal government’s full support,” Barrie 360 reported.
Critics of the IHRA definition called it counter-productive and said it has already been used to stifle Palestinian causes, including in this country.
The definition “has been used time and time again by its pro-Israel backers to silence voices for Palestinian human rights,” said Independent Jewish Voices of Canada, which led the charge against the measure.
In a statement, Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said that by adopting the resolution, the city “has sent a clear message: There is no place for antisemitism and hate in Barrie.”
Statistics Canada data confirm an “alarming trend of Jews being the country’s most frequent target of hate crime,” Shack continued. “This is not just a problem for Jewish communities – it harms society at large. The adoption of the IHRA definition is an important step in addressing this scourge. After all, you can’t effectively solve a problem if you can’t properly identify it.”
The definition has been endorsed by 35 countries, including Canada, and, according to CIJA, by the European Parliament and the United Nations. A bill incorporating the IHRA wording is before Ontario’s legislature.
Last week, the City of Brampton endorsed the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on September 22, 2020 September 22, 2020 Categories NewsTags Am Shalom Congregation, anti israel, Antisemitism, Antisemitism Ontario, BArrie Ontario, CIJA, IHRA, IHRA definition, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Jeff Lehman, palestinian activism, Rabbi Audrey Kaufman, Statistics Canada
Barrie a Step From to Adopting IHRA Definition
Sept. 16, 2020 – By RON CSILLAG
The City of Barrie, Ont. is one step closer to adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a month after it unexpectedly withdrew the motion.
Meeting virtually on Sept. 15, the city’s General Committee quietly passed a resolution to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. The measure now heads for ratification by city council, which meets Monday, Sept. 21, when members of the public can have their say.
The motion was identical to one that its sponsor, Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman, withdrew at the 11th hour last month after he and council members received a slew of letters and emails opposing its adoption.
Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJV), which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel and vehemently opposes the IHRA definition, boasted in August that “well over 100” of its members and supporters sent letters and messages to Barrie city councillors urging them to vote against the resolution.
In a CJR interview, Lehman conceded he put the item on the agenda last month “without a lot of broader discussion in the community, in part because it was the middle of the summer.”
Concern about the motion was raised after he and council members received about 200 messages opposing its adoption – “obviously a coordinated campaign by certain groups.”
Lehman said he didn’t want council making a decision based only on that.
“They needed to hear why this was important and to hear from our local community, which really hadn’t mobilized that way,” he said. “To be frank, I don’t think anybody really expected that degree of opposition.”
After the resolution was withdrawn, Lehman’s office told the CJR the motion was shelved “following a large number of requests from the Jewish community in Barrie for further consultation.”
Lehman confessed to being “a little confused by that language. I wanted to provide the time for that consultation, and I was concerned we hadn’t heard it.”
However, over the past month, he received “extensive correspondence” from the local Jewish community supporting the IHRA resolution.
In fact, that support “went well beyond the Jewish community,” Lehman added. “We had a number of community leaders speak to city council, and send in letters and emails of support.”
He said almost none of the letters and emails urging Barrie to defeat the IHRA resolution were from residents. “Of the nearly 200 emails, I believe only three that I received were from local residents.”
Should Barrie’s council pass the measure, it would join the Quebec cities of Westmount, Cote St.-Luc and Hampstead, and Vaughan, Ont., all of which have endorsed it.
As of this summer, the definition has been adopted or recognized by 18 countries. Last year, the federal government endorsed the definition as part of its anti-racism plan.
A bill before Ontario’s legislature on combating antisemitism, which contains the IHRA definition, passed second reading earlier this year and is headed to committee for public input.
IJV of Canada and other groups have called the IHRA definition “dangerous,” claiming its acceptance would stifle criticism of Israel and silence pro-Palestinian activism.
That concern is “certainly not supported by the language I see,” Lehman said, pointing out that the definition states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
On Monday, members of the public will be given five minutes each to make their views known.
David Shron, president of Barrie’s 63-family member Am Shalom Congregation, said someone representing the synagogue will address council in support of the IHRA motion.
He told the CJR that many of the messages sent to the mayor and council members opposing the measure came from outside Ontario.
In the past month, city officials were “inundated with information from people who actually know what’s going on in our local community.”
Shron said he was “very happy” the resolution was approved by the General Council, adding, “I don’t expect it having a major problem” before council.
The 2011 National Household Survey showed there were 660 Jews in Barrie.
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on September 16, 2020 September 15, 2020 Categories NewsTags Antisemitism, BArrie Ontario, BDS, Cote St Luc, Hampstead, IHRA, IHRA definition, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Jeff Lehman, WEstmount
Barrie Withdraws IHRA Definition, Cites Need for ‘Consultation’
By RON CSILLAG
The City of Barrie, Ont., has become the latest municipality to withdraw adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
A motion to adopt the IHRA’s widely-accepted definition of antisemitism was to be considered by Barrie’s General Committee on Aug. 10.
According to the city’s website, the General Committee is comprised of all members of council, and the mayor presides. The committee’s duties include studying and reporting to council on matters brought to it by smaller “reference” committees.
The IHRA motion was sponsored by Mayor Jeff Lehman. But Lehman withdrew it hours before it was to be debated.
In a statement emailed to the CJR, Lehman explained his change of heart: “Following a large number of requests from the Jewish community in Barrie for further consultation, the motion was withdrawn in order to allow for this discussion.”
Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJV), which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, boasted in a statement that “well over 100” of its members and supporters sent letters to Barrie city councillors urging them to vote against the IHRA motion.
In a letter Aug. 12 to Lehman and Ward 2 councillor Keenan Aylwin, Rabbi Audrey Kaufman, spiritual leader of Barrie’s Am Shalom Congregation, said she hopes that withdrawing the resolution “does not mean that this motion is being laid to rest. I hope that you will quickly move forward with making the right decision of passing this motion.”
The motion to adopt the IHRA definition was endorsed by local rabbis in Barrie “and represents a crucial educational tool for local authorities to address anti-Semitism,” according to Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
“We are confident that the mayor and the council will do the right thing,” Shack told the CJR.
Shack said CIJA has been “engaging” with Lehman “for an extended period” about the need to combat antisemitism, particularly following an incident in June at Berczy Park, in which playground equipment was daubed with swastikas and other Nazi symbols. Barrie police arrested and charged a 50-year-old man with nine counts of mischief under $5,000.
The 2011 National Household Survey showed there were 660 Jews in Barrie. There an active branch of Chabad.
Barrie now joins Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, where measures to endorse the IHRA definition were withdrawn or postponed following protests that its adoption would stifle criticism of Israel and squelch support for Palestinian rights.
The Quebec towns of Westmount, Cote St.-Luc and Hampstead have adopted the definition, as has Vaughan, Ont. Last year, the federal government endorsed the definition as part of its anti-racism plan.
A bill before Ontario’s legislature supporting the IHRA definition passed second reading earlier this year and is headed to committee for public input.
According to Barrie’s website, the city has included as part of its 2018-2022 Strategic Priorities “fostering a safe and healthy community and building strong neighbourhoods…we have a shared responsibility to stop antisemitism in all its forms through education and public consciousness as antisemitic demonstrations continue to threaten communities and undermine democracy.”
The resolution before the General Committee pointed out that the IHRA is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1998 that consists of 34 countries, including Canada, “each of [which] recognizes that international coordination is needed to combat antisemitism.”
It referenced Ontario’s Bill 168, the Combating Antisemitism Act, “which directly mentions IHRA” and passed second reading “with all-party support.”
Barrie “is enriched by its thriving, active and engaged Jewish and Israeli communities,” the resolution’s preamble stated.
The resolution resolved that Barrie adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism as endorsed at the IHRA plenary on May 26, 2016, as follows:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Details are contained in the many examples of antisemitism listed by the IHRA. One of them “might include the targeting of the State of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity,” the alliance explained. “However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
IJV of Canada called the withdrawal of the “problematic” resolution in Barrie “another major victory for all who oppose antisemitism and support Palestinian human rights.”
While supporters of the IHRA definition have tried to present it as innocuous and legally non-binding, “they have also attempted to weaponize the definition in order to shut down freedom of expression in relation to Israel-Palestine,” IJV said in a statement to the CJR.
CIJA called the IHRA definition “the world’s most widely accepted definition of antisemitism.”
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on August 13, 2020 August 13, 2020 Categories NewsTags Am Shalom Congregation, Antisemitism, BArrie Ontario, Berczy Park, CIJA, IHRA, IJV, Independent Jewish Voices, Jeff Lehman, Kennan Aylwin, Noah Shack, Rabbi Audrey Kaufman
Letters to the Editor: Friday, June 26, 2020
In his recent editorial “On Spellings, Antisemitism and Free Speech” (June 12, 2020), Bernie Farber defends the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism by arguing that 1) it is not a threat to free speech because it states that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”, and that 2) the vast majority of Jewish groups fully support it.
Regarding point one: This proviso has in no way prevented the IHRA definition from being utilized to shut down Israel-critical speech. Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order incorporating the IHRA definition into U.S. law has increasingly been used to prosecute allegations of antisemitism related to criticism of Israel on university campuses. High-profile cases investigating student activism in particular have arisen at UCLA Berkeley, Columbia, UC Irvine, UMass, Duke and UNC. The message these investigations send to students, faculty and administrators is this: Harshly criticize Israeli human rights violations and you risk prosecution and/or withdrawal of funding.
Farber’s second argument, that there is essentially global consensus on the definition, is clearly debatable. Kenneth Stern, the definition’s co-author, has stated that it “was never intended to be a campus hate speech code. [Trump’s] executive order is an attack on academic freedom and free speech, and will harm not only pro-Palestinian advocates, but also Jewish students and faculty, and the academy itself.” Moreover, many Jewish organizations oppose adopting the definition, including J Street, Independent Jewish Voices and dozens of others. Others may oppose it as well, but are afraid of the potential impacts of speaking out.
Recently, Independent Jewish Voices published an open letter from over 400 Canadian academics (including many Jews) who oppose adoption of the IHRA definition on their campuses. The signatories fear that the definition’s adoption will imperil academic freedom. We need to heed their voices and protect the right to research, teach and yes, protest violations of Palestinian human rights.
As Holocaust scholars Amos Goldberg and Raz Segal have argued, proponents of the IHRA definition have managed to change the discourse, diverting attention away from Israel’s human rights violations and focusing instead on what is allowed and what is prohibited when criticizing Israel. In conducting this campaign, proponents of the IHRA definition risk not only stifling legitimate speech; they also divert attention from the rise of real Jew-hatred worldwide.
Sheryl Nestel, PhD
Member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada Steering Committee
Author Canadian Jewish RecordPosted on June 26, 2020 June 26, 2020 Categories FeedbackTags Antisemitism, IHRA definition, IJV
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by CanadianSailings | Dec 8, 2020 | Other, Other Stories, Rail
North America’s railway industry collectively suffered the impacts of economic disruptions as a result of Covid-19, and Canada’s railways did not escape the hurt. For CN, revenue tonne miles in all categories were lower, except in grains and intermodal. Grain traffic, producing $608 million in quarterly revenues, was at all-time highs, allowing it to capture the second most important revenue category at CN from petroleum and chemicals, which retreated to third place. Intermodal, at $992 million in quarterly revenues, remained “top dog”. Grains and fertilizers revenue tonne miles grew by 14 per cent, but freight revenue per RTM declined by 4 per cent. For CN, coal was a particularly poor performer, losing 20 per cent in RTMs, and 13 per cent in freight revenue per RTM. Intermodal shipments represented 48.2 of all of CN’s carloads, and produced freight revenues of 6.23 cents per RTM, only 3.2 per cent less than CN’s top revenue earner per RTM, forest products.
During the quarter, CN’s revenues fell by 11 per cent, and operating expenses increased from 57.9 per cent to 59.9 cent. Cash flow from operations decreased from $1.7 to $1.2 billion, and “free” cash flow, the amount remaining from operating cash flow after subtracting net investments made during the quarter and dividends paid to investors, declined from $315 million to $90 million, because of unusually large capital expenditures. From Jan 1 to Sept 30, CN spent $379 million repurchasing its own shares, a reduction from the $1.26 billion spent during the same period in 2019, and paid $1.23 billion in dividends, an increase of $64 million over 2019.
During the quarter, CP’s revenues declined by 5.9 per cent to $1.86 billion. Operating expenses remained steady but, as a percentage of revenues, increased from 56.1 to 58.2 per cent. Cash flow from operations decreased to $493 million $823 million, and “free” cash flow declined from $246 million to negative $103 million. During the quarter, the company spent $400 million repurchasing its own shares, compared with $500 million during the third quarter of 2019. For the nine months ended September 30 it spent $945 million on share repurchases, compared with $964 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019.
CP’s best-performing product category was grain, which registered a 12 per cent increase in freight revenues to $457 million, and is CP’s single most important revenue generator, responsible for just over 25 per cent of CP’s total revenues. Although the “energy, chemicals and plastics” segment enjoyed a very strong increase in freight revenue per RTM, RTMs in this sector took a nosedive, and overall freight revenues from this sector actually declined by 16 per cent.
At CN, efficiency indicators represented a mixed picture. Through dwell time increased to 9.6 hours from 7.7 hours, and train velocity decreased from 18.7 to 17.8 miles per hour. Operating expenses per gross tonne mile (GTM) were up nominally, but train lengths and weights improved.
At CP, published efficiency indicators were largely positive. Average train weights and length were up significantly, as was average train speed. However, terminal dwell time was up.
At CN, total number of employees on September 30, 2020, was 24,008, a decrease of 12.1 per cent compared to September 30 of 2019. At CP, total employment on September 30, 2020 was 12,166, a decrease of 7.2 per cent compared to September 30 of 2019.
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EU to profit as banks consider their future
TOPICS:Banking
Banking on Paris: up to 10,000 people could move to the French capital's financial sector over the next few years
As the UK government seems determined to pursue a hard Brexit, banks in the City are planning to shift some operations and thousands of jobs to other European Union countries to ensure full access to the EU’s single market.
The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, said in Paris last week that some US banks, which employ about 25,000 people in the UK, have decided that “activities will be transferred to the continent” as Britain is about to leave the EU.
“Until now their question was whether Brexit will happen or might it take longer than expected. That’s over,” Mr Sapin said.
They are telling us clearly that there will be a transfer of activity. It’s no longer a question of if but when. I don’t know to what extent or which ones.”
Meanwhile France is working on promoting Paris as the “future financial capital”.
“Tired of the Fog? Try the Frogs!” is the title of an advertising campaign launched on Monday that promotes Paris’ financial district La Défense, featuring posters at London’s Heathrow Airport and Eurostar’s London terminus, St. Pancras.
TERRITOIRE – De la City à Paris La Défense, il n’y a qu’un saut ! Bienvenue à Paris La Défense ! Plus d’infos sur https://t.co/L5QoJN8E8r pic.twitter.com/Ty3kmNEKVN
— Paris La Défense (@ParisLaDefense) October 17, 2016
France’s financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), also announced a few weeks ago that it is “simplifying and speeding up licensing procedures” for UK-based financial companies wishing to relocate their operations in Paris, including a fast-track “pre-authorisation” programme.
The French government is next month set to debate its promised tax breaks for UK-based companies, including benefits for expatriates such as income tax breaks of up to 50 per cent and the right to exclude overseas assets from the wealth tax for eight years.
Arnaud de Bresson, chief executive of Paris Europlace, the financial lobby group, who attended this week’s Brexit & Global Expansion summit in London, told Reuters: “our estimate is that close to 10,000 people involved in the financial sector could move from London to Paris in the next few years, and Paris is getting fully organised for that”.
Germany is another major European financial centre hoping to woo banks away from London after Brexit, even considering changing its restrictive labour laws to make Frankfurt a more attractive destination.
Also speaking at the London summit, Hubertus Vaeth, head of Frankfurt Main Finance, which promotes Frankfurt as a financial centre, said that UK-based banks would be moving some operations to Germany in the second half of 2017.
“We believe that Europe needs a global financial centre,” Mr Vaeth said.
However, a report released on Monday by pan-European think tank Open Europe claims that London-based businesses and jobs in the financial sector might actually go to the United States or Asia, not Europe.
Stephen Booth, a co-author of the report and acting director of Open Europe, said: “It is not obvious that business[es] moving out of the UK would relocate to another European hub: New York, Singapore or Hong Kong would be just as well, if not better, placed to reap the benefits”.
This was echoed by James Gorman, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, who said earlier this month at the Institute of International Finance’s (IIF) annual meeting in Washington DC that “the big winner [from] Brexit will be New York; you’ll see more business moving to New York”.
A spokesman at TheCityUK, also told Chief-Exec.com last week: “there has been some suggestion that [financial] jobs are more likely to move out of Europe altogether rather than move to another part of the EU”.
The London-based think tank, which downplayed the importance of passporting rights – “important to business in some sectors, less so in others” – also stressed in its key recommendations the significance of the City as not only benefiting the UK but also Europe.
“The UK needs to convince the EU that keeping cross-channel financial markets open is a mutual interest,” Open Europe said.
“Throughout the negotiating process, the UK should make it clear to its European partners that this is not a ‘zero-sum game’ and think creatively about how to ensure that the new trade arrangements benefit EU companies and governments.”
By Katia Yezli
The City takes its fight to the House
Brexit dividend discovered in Sheffield
Pragmatic Frankfurt woos banking giant
Deutsche Bank: death by a thousand cuts?
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Set of three tea canisters
ARTIST / MAKER: Paul De Lamerie (maker)
DATE: ca. 1732 (made)
PLACE: London (made)
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES: Silver-gilt, engraved
By the early 18th century, ladies of wealthy households could adorn their tea tables and elegantly serve their guests using beautiful teawares. These canisters were made by the celebrated Huguenot silversmith Paul de Lamerie ca. 1732. They would have originally inhabited a lockable tea chest, the key for which would have been retained by the mistress of the house to deter servants from stealing the costly tea leaves. One canister is engraved with the letter ‘G’ for green tea and the other is marked with the letter ‘B’ for Bohea, a black tea blend popular at this time. The third canister was used to mix a blend of both teas or for storing sugar and is engraved with profiles of a man and woman, referring to the owners of the canisters, the newlywed Lord and Lady Sunderland, who were married in May 1732. The arms on the canisters are those of Spencer impaling Trevor for Charles Spencer, 5th Earl of Sunderland (1706-1758) and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Trevor, 2nd Baron Trevor. Lord Sunderland, as 3rd Duke, succeeded to the honours of his grandfather John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, upon the death on 24 October 1733 of his aunt, Henrietta, Duchess of Marlborough. He had a distinguished career in the army and was briefly Lord Privy Seal in 1755.
Tea set, porcelain, enamels, gilding, silver and wicker, Crown Staffordshire Porcelain Co., William Comyns and Sons Ltd, Staffordshire and London, England, 1895
Tea caddy and key
Tea caddy and key, silver-gilt, Henry Chawner, London, England, 1793
Tea and coffee set
Four-piece tea and coffee set, silver-gilt and ivory, Paul Storr, London, 1808-9
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Four Trustees Resign from Bryan College as Creation Controversy Continues
By Garrett Haley on July 22, 2014 No Comment
DAYTON, Tenn. – Four Bryan College trustees have resigned from their positions out of their disagreement with the leadership’s handling of an ongoing controversy over its holding to the literal Creation account.
As previously reported, a controversy erupted at Bryan College earlier this year when the small evangelical school clarified its stance on the creation of man. The statement of belief clarification simply affirmed the traditional biblical position that Adam and Eve were divinely created by God—not descendants of earlier life forms.
“We believe that all humanity is descended from Adam and Eve,” the statement said. “They are historical persons created by God in a special formative act, and not from previously existing life forms.”
The simple clarification quickly generated an uproar, as many critics accused the small Tennessee school of unfairly disregarding any alternate interpretations of the Genesis creation account. Several professors announced in May that they would be leaving the school as a result of the creation controversy, while two other professors went so far as to file a lawsuit against the school.
“The [school] board was asking me to exclude, even as a possibility, any other way of understanding Genesis than their view of what they think the founders probably thought,” Dr. Stephen Barnett told reporters.
Now, according to Chattanooga’s Times Free Press, four members of the Bryan College board of trustees have resigned from the school—but not because of a disagreement with Bryan’s Creation statement. Trustees Gary Phillips, Jeff Ryan, Mark Senter, and James Wolf all stepped down last week, citing their discontent with Bryan College President Dr. Stephen Livesay and Board Chairman Col. John Haynes.
On July 11, the four disgruntled trustees met with the other Bryan College board members to discuss the statement of belief clarification and the ensuing controversy. However, when the rest of the board defended the school’s decisions, the four trustees decided to resign because of the way the matter was being handled.
“The board majority has made it clear who the conductors are on this train and it’s time for me to step aside and allow them to carry out their vision with those who are unified behind them,” Ryan wrote in his letter of resignation. “A line has been crossed in that I cannot continue to support Dr. Livesay or [board] Chairman Haynes.”
Ryan also said that he did not like how the statement of belief clarification had been adopted.
“In my opinion, it was pushed through at a time when it didn’t need to be pushed through,” he said.
Despite the criticism, Chairman Haynes defended the school leadership’s decisions, saying a majority of the board supported Bryan College’s handling of the controversy.
“There was a strong spirit of support by the majority of the board for the wonderful faculty, administration, and staff at Bryan College and continued support for our Statement of Faith and our historical stand on Creation,” Haynes said in a statement, according to the Times Free Press. “We are grateful for the time, talents and treasures that have been contributed to Bryan College by each and every member of the board.”
“If the board had changed the statement of belief,” Livesay also remarked earlier this month, “I would be the first one in line to say, ‘I’m gone.’”
Four Trustees Resign from Bryan College as Creation Controversy Continues added by Garrett Haley on July 22, 2014
View all posts by Garrett Haley →
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FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS FOR NONPROFITS and SMALL BUSINESSES
The Paycheck Protection Program provides small businesses with funds to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits. All Small Businesses with 500 or fewer employees are eligible. Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The application will be available through local financial institutions for small businesses and sole proprietorships beginning April 3, 2020 and for independent contractors and self-employed individuals beginning April 10, 2020. The program is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). More details are available here.
SBA Emergency Economic Impact Disaster Loan (EIDL) Grant
This grant allows a business that has applied for an EIDL loan due to COVID-19 to request an immediate advance of up to $10,000. This assistance is available to businesses, cooperatives, ESOPs, Tribal businesses, nonprofits, sole proprietors, and independent contractors with fewer than 500 employees. Business owners should apply directly through the SBA.
SBA Disaster Assistance Loans
SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance per small business and can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. The program offers a 3.75% interest rate for small business and 2.75% for non-profits. Business owners should apply directly through the SBA.
SBA Express Bridge Loan
Allows small businesses who currently have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to access up to $25,000 with less paperwork.
Can be a term loan or be used to bridge the gap while applying for a direct SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
Will be repaid in full or in part by proceeds from the EIDL loan.
Business owners can find an Express Bridge Loan Lender via SBA’s Lender Match Tool or by connecting with your local SBA District Office.
Debt Relief for Existing and New SBA Borrowers
The bill includes $17 billion in funding to provide immediate relief to small businesses with standard SBA 7(a), 504, or microloans. The SBA will cover all loan payments for existing SBA borrowers, including principal, interest, and fees, for six months.
The CARES Act includes several new and expanded benefits to unemployed Iowans. Please visit Iowa Workforce Development’s website for the latest available details about this assistance.
BUSINESS TAX RELIEF
The business tax relief changes included in the Act are federal and will not necessarily automatically apply to Iowa taxes. The Department of Revenue will put out guidance regarding Iowa’s conformity with these changes as soon as possible that will be found here: https://tax.iowa.gov/COVID-19
There are several tax relief measures in the CARES Act that benefit businesses, including:
A refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of wages paid to employees during the COVID-19 crisis
Deferral of certain payroll taxes through the end of 2020
Modification of Net Operating Loss carrybacks and carryforwards
Allows corporations to claim 100% of AMT credits in 2019 as fully refundable.
Increased interest expense that businesses may deduct from 30% of ATI to 50% of ATI
Temporary suspension of alcohol taxes on spirits used in production of hand sanitizer in compliance with FDA guidance. Contact the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division with questions.
This information is as of March 31, 2020 and details may change. Please check program websites for the latest updates.
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Bernard Kouchner
Former Minister of Health for France Bernard Kouchner analyzes the war in Iraq and evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
November 2007 November 2007 September 2004 June 2003 June 2003 February 2003 September 1999 September 1999
Julia Preston; Dale Bumpers; Bernard Kouchner
World, Politics, Books
Julia Preston on the U.N. resolution on Iraq; former senator Dale Bumpers on Iraq; Bernard Kouchner, former French minister of health. 55:37
Jeremy Greenstock
British diplomat Jeremy Greenstock talks about the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. 13:59
World, Politics
Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski analyzes the conflict in Kosovo. 15:53
William Kristol
Author and editor William Kristol of The Weekly Standard expresses his support for the Iraq War and shares his new book. 55:02
Thomas Friedman shares his opinion on whether it was worth invading Iraq and and what it means to have won the war. 54:43
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We can look into the future – this is how we do it
“A little over a year ago I was on the stage in Davos, standing in front of the CEOs of the largest chemical companies in the world. I was invited to speak at the International Council of Chemicals Associations in connection with the World Economic Forum. Chair after chair, filled with suits and important men. I had been practising my speech and I was well prepared. Still – I’ll admit it – I was a bit nervous. It’s not the sort of place where you would normally expect an environmental NGO that is advocating strict chemicals legislation to be invited. It’s a bit like having a vegan as a keynote speaker at a butchers’ summit. On top of that I was the only woman in the room, which added yet another dimension to my out-of-placeness.
Still, considering all these outside factors I was feeling very confident, because I knew I was going to talk about one of the things ChemSec knows best – the future of chemicals. Ever since we opened up back in 2002 we have always been asked by companies to tell them which chemicals to look out for. In 2008, the SIN List sprung from this idea: To give companies a tool that shows which chemicals are likely to be regulated in the future. Prior to the SIN List it was very hard to get information on which hazardous chemicals to start phasing out. Since then the SIN List has had around 10,000 unique users per year who are seeking information about chemicals. But we’ve also had our share of non-believers. People who scoffed at the SIN List, claiming that it’s nothing to pay attention to. But in hindsight it turns out we were right. 94 per cent of the substances on the Candidate List today were on the SIN List first. 94 per cent! So we can predict the future and we will continue doing so.
So how do we do it? Well, one of my key points during my speech in Davos was that it is the anticipation of regulation that drives innovation. To demonstrate why this statement is absolutely true I’m going to give you an example. Think of the shiny, silver parts of your car and your water taps, for example. To get that shine, as well as preventing corrosion, they are all chrome-plated. The chemical used in the immersion baths is called hexavalent chromium (or chromium VI or chromium trioxide). It is very toxic and, statistically, causes fatal lung cancer in 1 of every 1,000 workers and in 1 of every 10,000 people living close to the factories. The European-wide chemical legislation REACH is now restricting its use further. In April 2013 the chemical was put on the so-called authorisation list, with a sunset date of September 2017, which means that its production and use is prohibited unless authorisation for certain applications is granted to applicants.
“If Europe bans the use of this chemical, all companies will move to China”. But time and time again we see that this is not the case.
Currently, over 150 companies have handed over a joint application asking for such authorisation (which statistically works out at around 1,500 (!) fatal cancers if granted). But since around the time this chemical started to gain attention among downstream users, NGOs and decision makers, and was later added to the authorisation list, we have seen a favourable trend: Small European companies with new ideas and products fit for the future are starting to flourish, increase sales and hire people. German company jobaTEC, Swiss Oerlikon, Italian Green Coat and Finnish Savroc, among others, have all developed technology that negates the need for hexavalent chromium.
When there are discussions about regulating hazardous chemicals you always hear the same arguments from the industry lobby. If I’m allowed to paraphrase a bit, it sounds something like: “If Europe bans the use of this chemical, all companies will move to China”. But time and time again we see that this is not the case. Instead, when chemicals are put on the authorisation list, companies like jobaTEC, Oerlikon, Green Coat and Savroc start innovating.
The anticipation of regulation drives innovation.
To me this is a question of what kind of companies we want to build the future of the European economy on. Should we reduce the “burden” of chemicals legislation in order to accommodate laggards, or, should we keep enforcing progressive legislation that promotes innovation and producers of safe alternatives?
Since my speech in Davos we have had visits from a number of the largest chemical producers, flying in to hear our opinion on their sustainability efforts, asking us to predict the future. This is something we will absolutely continue doing, and I encourage all companies, whether they are producers of chemicals or downstream users, to be transparent about what’s in their products, because that is increasingly important to a number of people, not to mention investors.
This week we also launched our new website, which feels like a fresh outlook for what’s going on in the world of chemicals. A lot of things are new, but not our aim to look into the future and change it for the better. We will continue doing so, and I hope you will too.”
Anne-Sofie Andersson
ChemSec Director
Authorisation ProcessChemicals & BusinessREACH
Commission to face EU Court over authorisation of lead chromate in paint
12 new substances added to the REACH authorisation list
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Beautiful enamelled cockerel found in Roman child’s grave
During excavations for St. James’s Place Wealth Management, at the former Bridges garage site in Cirencester, the striking figurine of a cockerel with intricate enamelled decoration was discovered. The elaborately decorated cockerel was found in a child’s grave and is thought to be Roman, probably from the 2nd century AD. It is made of a cast copper alloy (probably bronze), and stands approximately 125mm in height. The breast, wings, eyes and probably the ‘comb’ of the cockerel are beautifully inlaid with enamel, which now appears green and blue. There is a separate plate at the tail end which could be its fanned tail feathers, although it is difficult to tell at this stage. The cockerel also has its beak open as if crowing – could this be a message to one of the gods of the afterlife?
Roman cockerel - side view
Roman cockerel - face on
Cockerel - additional side view
Neil Holbrook, Chief Executive for Cotswold Archaeology commented: “The cockerel is the most spectacular find from more than 60 Roman burials excavated at this site. It was excavated from the grave of young child and was placed close to its head. Interestingly a very similar item was found in Cologne in Germany and it looks like they both could have come from the same workshop based in Britain.”
The Cologne cockerel has minor differences in the colour of the enamelling and is missing its tail, but there little doubt that both came from the same workshop and may well have been made by the same craftsman. Given Britain’s prominence in the production and export of decorative objects richly embellished with enamelling, it is clear that they were probably made somewhere here, possibly in the north of the province.
The cockerel appears to be a common artistic subject in the Roman world, it had religious significance to the Romans and is known to be connected with Mercury, the messenger to the gods. Significantly it was Mercury who was also responsible for conducting newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. It seems possible therefore, that the Cirencester cockerel may have been intended as an offering to Mercury to ensure that the child safely reached its destination.
The cockerel is awaiting specialist conservation to clean away the soil and stabilise the enamel. Hopefully after conservation, it will be on view to the general public at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.
Other finds from this grave include a small pottery tettine or feeding bottle, which was unfortunately highly fragmented. This will also undergo conservation work.
Read the article on BBC Gloucestershire’s website
Visit St James’s Place website
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Tag Archives: Primetime Emmy Awards
Hard-Boiled or Sunny-Side Up: The Divisive but Satisfying 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards
Hard-Boiled or Sunny-Side Up:
The Divisive but Satisfying 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards
How do you like your Emmys?
Oh, don’t pretend as if you don’t have an opinion. Anyone who is reading this column has some sort of an opinion about the award show and its brethren, lavish ceremonies designed to recognize the very best in a specific industry. However, the Emmys are not a universally accepted success story, and while there are some who view the awards as a valuable institution for recognizing talent others see them as an antiquated and slow-minded organization hellbent on refusing to accept that which is different in favour of more traditional “awards” fare.
As such, Emmy producers really have two entirely different bodies of viewers to be concerned with (throwing out those who would never watch the show in the first place). On the one hand, they have those people who believe in the dignity of the Emmy Awards, who highly respect the work of the Academy and believe quite strongly that this is a serious occasion meant to honour the very best in television. On the other hand, you have those who are angry that Battlestar Galactica never won a major award, and that The Wire and The Shield got snubbed for their final seasons, and who are convinced that any time the Emmys do make a good decision it was by some sort of fluke.
What host Neil Patrick Harris and producer Don Mischer put together for the 61st Annual Emmy Awards was what I would considering to be the Sunny-Side Up version of the Emmy awards. With a charming and self-deprecating Harris at the helm, and a sarcastic and rarely serious John Hodgman playing the role of announcer, they staged a show which spent nearly every moment not taken up by awards being self-deprecating or dismissive of something, whether it’s the future of broadcast television or Harris’ own bitterness over his loss in his own category.
For those who have little to no faith in the Emmy institution, this was an ideal point of view which gave them an entertaining show that one almost feels joins in on their frustration, if not directly. However, for those who look for a more hard-boiled and serious awards ceremony, chances are that they viewed this year’s Emmys as an ill-conceived attempt to pander to younger audiences.
Me? I’m just happy they weren’t scrambled.
Filed under Emmy Awards
Tagged as 2009 Emmy Awards, 24, 30 Rock, Analysis, Battlestar Galactica, Bear McCreary, Bryan Cranston, CBS, Cherry Jones, Color Commentary, Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Emmy Awards, Emmys, Entertainment, Glenn Close, Highlights, John Hodgman, Kristin Chenoweth, Little Dorrit, Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, Neil Patrick Harris, Primetime Emmy Awards, Pushing Daisies, Put Down the Remote, Review, Ricky Gervais, Sarah McLachlan, Television, The Amazing Race, The Daily Show, Tina Fey, Toni Colette, TV, United States of Tara, Who won the 2009 Emmys
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Current (https://current.org/2013/11/mathes-heading-west-to-kuow-herring-gone-from-pbs-political-junkie-rudin-returns-and-more/)
Mathes heading west to KUOW, Herring gone from PBS, ‘Political Junkie’ Rudin returns and more . . .
By Dru Sefton, Senior Editor | November 5, 2013
Subscribe to People
Caryn Mathes is leaving Washington's WAMU to manage another top NPR News station, KUOW in Seattle.
WAMU’s Caryn Mathes has been appointed top manager of Seattle’s KUOW and Puget Sound Public Radio.
Mathes will succeed longtime KUOW leader Wayne Roth, who announced his retirement in May. She begins the new job Jan. 2, 2014, according to an Oct. 21 announcement from the University of Washington, KUOW’s licensee.
As WAMU g.m. since 2005, Mathes led the NPR News station in Washington, D.C., through a period of growth, expanding its service area into eastern Maryland, expanding its HD Radio offerings and launching a separate FM service devoted to bluegrass music. According to licensee American University, WAMU operated on an annual budget of $9 million when Mathes arrived in 2005; under her management, it’s grown to $22 million.
Mathes came to WAMU from WDET in Detroit, which she managed from 1984-2005. She also served as assistant v.p. of university communications at Wayne State University, WDET’s licensee, from 1989-91.
American University appointed Carey Needham, senior director of WAMU’s business operations, to serve as interim g.m.
Joyce Herring, station relations chief for PBS, left the network Oct. 31.
President Paula Kerger announced Herring’s exit in an Oct. 24 email to station executives, attributing her departure “to a series of unexpected circumstances requiring her immediate attention.”
Herring is the third senior executive to depart PBS since September. John McCoskey, the network’s top engineer, recently joined the Motion Picture Association of America; Jason Seiken, head of digital media, took a position with the Telegraph Media Group in London.
As senior v.p. of station services, Herring’s main responsibility was ensuring that the interests of member stations were represented in decisions regarding PBS’s management and strategic direction. She oversaw the development and conference services departments, acted as a liaison to the PBS Board’s Station Services Committee and served on the board of the PBS Foundation.
Before joining PBS’s management team, in 2007, Herring was g.m. of KACV-TV/FM in Amarillo, Texas, starting in 1988.
A search for Herring’s replacement is underway, according to the email. Kerger tapped Thomas Crockett, v.p. member affairs, to lead the station services team on an interim basis.
Farhi
Voiceover and theater actress Sabrina Farhi began work Nov. 1 as the new voice of NPR’s underwriting credits.
Farhi previously voiced ads for TIAA–CREF and Bioré Skincare and has performed extensively in independent theater productions in New York. She works out of NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in her new job.
“Out of hundreds of voices, Sabrina’s immediately stood out for its warmth and conversational approach,” said Eric Nuzum, NPR’s v.p. of programming, in an announcement of her hiring. “We think listeners and supporters will find her engaging.”
NPR began recruiting a full-time announcer for its sponsorship credits earlier this year. Frank Tavares has voiced the spots for more than 30 years, and for much of that time recorded them from his home studio in Connecticut. NPR sought to bring the job in-house to make the process more efficient, it said.
Rudin
Ken Rudin, the “Political Junkie” on NPR’s former Talk of the Nation, is re-engaging his audience with a new weekly radio segment.
The 8-minute Political Junkie segments, distributed by Public Radio Exchange, reprise many of the features Rudin wove into his TOTN appearances. The first installment, released Oct. 22, features Rudin and NPR Senior Political Editor Ron Elving discussing the aftermath of the government shutdown. Rudin also plans to produce a podcast offering an extended version of Political Junkie.
Since June, when TOTN wound down and Rudin departed from NPR, thousands of listeners emailed the commentator to ask him to return to the Web and to radio. So far, about a dozen stations have expressed interest in carrying the new radio segment, but programmers asked to hear samples before committing to broadcast it, he said.
His new website, also launched last month, will soon feature the return of his weekly Political Junkie column, daily blog posts and ScuttleButton, his puzzles based on vintage campaign buttons.
Newscaster Jean Cochran, the longest-serving member of NPR’s newscast unit, has accepted a voluntary buyout offer from the network.
Cochran tweeted on Oct. 28 that she will leave at the end of the year. “Anyone need a newscast, I do birthdays, and bar mitzvahs!” she wrote.
Cochran started at NPR in 1981 as an associate producer on Morning Edition, and moved to full-time newscasting in 1989, when NPR first established a newcasting unit.
According to NPR, Cochran “worked on all production aspects” of Morning Edition, “helping to define the sound and format during the crucial early years of the show’s development.”
Previously, Cochran reported or worked as a newscaster at local radio stations including WAMU in Washington, D.C.; WVMT in Burlington, Vt.; WLNH in Laconia, N.H.; and WCFR in Springfield, Vt.
Regarding her departure, Cochran told Current: “I will not miss my alarm going off at 1:50 a.m. I will terribly miss my NPR colleagues — and the news. I love the news.”
The buyouts are part of NPR’s plan to balance its budget before fiscal year 2015. It aims to reduce staff by 10 percent to help reach that goal (Current, Sept. 27).
The Senate confirmed two FCC nominations Oct. 29 to restore the commission to full membership of five political appointees. Tom Wheeler, a telecom lobbyist and former PBS Board member, was confirmed as FCC chair. Wheeler was president of the National Cable Television Association from 1979-84 and, later, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. He served as a PBS lay director from 1999 to 2006. Wheeler most recently was a managing director at Core Capital, a firm that invests in tech startups. Michael O’Rielly, a staffer for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), also was confirmed to one of two Republican posts on the commission.
Morgese
Veteran pubcaster James Morgese takes over as g.m. of KUED-TV in Salt Lake City Dec. 1. Morgese has more than 30 years of experience in pubcasting management, programming, production, engineering, development and community outreach. In October 2012 he signed on as g.m. of dual licensee WKYU in Bowling Green, Ky. Previously he worked at Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver, Idaho Public Television and WUFT in Gainesville, Fla. Earlier in his pubcasting career, Morgese served on the boards of the Association of Public Television Stations, the Pacific Mountain Network and the National Educational Television Association.
Vivian Schiller, NPR president from 2009-11, joined Twitter Oct. 24 as head of its newly created News Partnerships division. Schiller steps down as chief digital officer for NBC News to join the social media network. At Twitter, she will cultivate and oversee partnerships with established news outlets, including NPR. During her short tenure at NPR, Schiller played a key role in developing grant-funded projects and services that accelerated public radio’s capacity to deliver news coverage online. But her presidency was marred by her handling of the controversial 2010 firing of commentator Juan Williams and the political firestorm that later engulfed the network.
Joan Rebecchi returns to joint licensee KNME in Albuquerque, N.M., as director of content; she began her pubTV career there in 1986. Rebecchi oversees all local productions, programming, scheduling, website activities, social media and promotion of content across multiple platforms. She has more than 30 years experience as a broadcaster and has worked in marketing, communications, management, website and social media development, production, special events, advertising, content distribution and programming. She previously worked for WQED in
Pittsburgh.
Send People items to sefton@current.org
This article was first published in Current, Nov. 4, 2013.
Caryn Mathes
James Morgese
Jean Cochran
Joan Rebecchi
Joyce Herring
Ken Rudin
Michael O'Rielly
People in Public Media
Sabrina Farhi
Vivian Schiller
PBS Station Services chief to exit next week
Joyce Herring, s.v.p. of station services for PBS, is leaving the network Oct. 31, President Paula Kerger announced today in an email to station executives.
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Chamber Music, Early Music Review Print
Baroque & Beyond Delivers Mediterranean Delights
Courtesy the presenter
Peter Lekx
Chapel Hill -- ( Sun., Mar. 13, 2016 )
Baroque & Beyond: "Mediterranean Baroque"
Performed by Robbie Link, viola da gamba; Barbara Blaker Krumdieck, baroque cello; Peter Lekx, baroque violin; Beverly Biggs, harpsichord
$18 -- Chapel of the Cross , (919) 942-7818 , http://www.baroqueandbeyond.org/ -- 3:00 PM
March 13, 2016 - Chapel Hill, NC:
The artistic director of Baroque & Beyond, Beverly Biggs, did some digging around in the archives of Baroque composers of Mediterranean countries for this concert at the lovely gothic Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill. What she came up with were eight delightful selections warm with sunshine, charming with Baroque lyricism, and satisfyingly entertaining.
The performing artists of Baroque & Beyond were Robbie Link on viola da gamba, Barbara Blaker Krumdieck on Baroque cello; and Peter Lekx on Baroque violin, with Biggs at the harpsichord.
The concert opened with three recercades for gamba and continuo by the only Spanish composer on the program, Diego Oritz (1510 - c. 1570). He published the first manual on ornamentation for bowed string instruments and a large collection of sacred vocal compositions while in the service of Philip II of Spain. This selection was a rhythmic setting of dance tunes. The continuo included a hand drum played by Lekx, and Link handled the tuneful gamba solo with the mastery for which he is well known.
The Sonata Duodecima for violin, gamba and continuo by Giovanni Batista Fontana featured the duo soloists alternating melodic statements, then weaving their parts together in duet. Very little is known about Fontana. He was born sometime in the 1580s and died in Padova during a plague around 1630. His collection of sonatas for string instruments was published posthumously.
Likewise, little is known of Antonio Pandolfi Mealli. He was born in Tuscany around 1630 and died in Madrid 1669/70. It is rumored that he murdered a castrati in an argument after which he fled to France and later settled in Madrid. Of his works, only two collections of sonatas for violin and harpsichord and a collection of trio sonatas survive. His Sonata, Op. 4, no.1, subtitled "La Bernabea," was in turn; dramatic, quietly impassioned, lively and playful, somber and bold. Lekx sparkled throughout this interesting piece.
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690) was not related to the Venice "San Marco Gabriellis" (Giovani and Andrea). He was a cello virtuoso and is recognized as the composer of some of the earliest solo works for this instrument. His Sonata in G for cello and continuo was given a solid and exciting reading by Krumdieck, with Link joining the continuo – a part of the versatility of Baroque & Beyond.
The Ciaccona in C for violin, cello and continuo by Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) is the best known of his compositions which include operas, oratorios, liturgical works and chamber music. The Ciaccona is a charming virtuoso work for violin with ear-catching melodies that really swing, delightful ornaments, and runs of lightning speed. The performance on Saturday was awesome – a virtual show-stopper.
Italian oboist and composer Giovanni Benedetto Platti was born in the late 1690s and died in 1763. His Sonata in D minor, Set 1, No. 2 for cello and continuo has four movements: a rather somber Largo, an energetic Allegro, a serious Adagio and a Fuga marked "a tempo giusto" that picked up a head of steam as it moved along.
Biagio Marini's Arie, madrigali et corenti on Romanesca began with a very nice harpsichord solo introduction. It was a joy to hear Biggs artistry. The solo violin then proceeded with a variety of dances – bright, stately, swinging and airy. Marini, a virtuoso violinist, traveled widely during his lifetime (1594-1663) and his music was influential throughout Europe. He expanded the performance range of the violin by incorporating slurs, double and even triple stopping and employed the first explicitly notated tremolo effects into his music. He is recognized for his inventiveness, lyrical skill, harmonic boldness, and a growing tendency toward common practice tonality.
The one piece on the program that this reviewer has known extensively was Alessandro Stradella's Sinfonia No. 22 in D minor, and this performance spurred me to do some research. Music of the Baroque era has very few performance interpretation indicators. Such elements as tempo, dynamics and phrasing are up for interpretation by the performing artists. We know through historical documents that there are a number of technical details that were interpreted differently in the Baroque era. The performance practice of HIP (historically informed performance) attempts to take this knowledge into account and, of course, to employ historically accurate instruments with their differing timbre.
In today's concert, in spoken informative comments by the artists, much was made of the dramatic elements in today's music, some of it written by composers who lived hot-blooded dramatic lives. I noticed very obvious dramatic elements in the performance of Stradella's sinfonia that I had not heard before in recorded performances with which I am familiar. First, I noticed dynamic and phrasing differences: sforzano attacks, sweeping dramatic crescendos and diminuendos, and sudden dramatic changes in tempo. The performances I am accustomed to are more restrained and sedate with easier transitions between musical episodes.
This is not to say that the performance was unpleasing or to call into question the authenticity of the performance. Surely, instrumental performers in the Baroque era had emotions just as 20th century artists do, and they most certainly experienced much of the music of their time as a moving, dramatic experience, just as we do.
There are some critics who contest the methodology of the HIP movement, contending that its selection of practices and aesthetics are a product of the 20th century and that it is ultimately impossible to know what performances of an earlier time sounded like.
All I can say is that, for this particular piece, I prefer the older, less dramatic performances I have been familiar with for so long. On the other hand I am deeply grateful to Baroque & Beyond for opening my ears to a different reading of this charming masterpiece. And for all the other selections on the program. Their musicianship was outstanding and the program was exquisite.
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God’s beauty found outside and inside Santa Rita Abbey
Sister Clare
Sister Clare Renquin, 91, is one of the founding members of Santa Rita, arriving in Tucson in 1972. She was born to an Irish-Belgian family in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, and recalled how her grandmother raised chickens, rabbits and vegetables in the back yard to provide food during the Great Depression.
Her father “achieved the American dream” when he succeeded in the textile industry, drawing a princely salary of $35 a week. It meant living in Newton, New Jersey, for several years, before her family moved back to Rhode Island and she found her vocation. She entered Mount St. Mary Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts, in January of 1950, and took the habit on Sept. 8 that year.
She was with Mother Angela, Mount St. Mary’s prioress, who traveled to Tucson in the early 1970s to investigate possible sites for a new abbey. Sister Clare recalled a sense of disappointment upon their return, finding that potential sites were either too costly or lacking access to sufficient water.
“We hadn’t even unpacked our bags when Mother got a message to return, that another property had just become available,” Sister Clare recalled. So, Mother Angela returned to Arizona and was shown - and accepted - the property on 14200 E. Fish Canyon Road in Sonoita.
To start, it was just a small ranch house, with three bedrooms. Over the years, it was expanded and includes an infirmary, dorms, a chapel, a guest house and a bakery.
Before arthritis limited her dexterity, Sister Clare wrote icons – church teaching considers such pieces as divinely inspired, like the Gospels, hence written - and was a weaver in the community. She was glad that Santa Rita decided to make altar breads as its source of income, especially coming from the Wrentham community’s dairy farm that required cow-milking twice a day.
In Wrentham, she always seemed to draw Christmas duty, Sister Clare recalled. “I was fast because I wanted to get in out of the cold.”
Mother Victoria
Mother Victoria Murray, the youngest of the first founding six, currently serves as the superior of the abbey. She was born in Ohio, and her father was an executive at Nabisco. As he was reassigned to various sites throughout the country, the family relocated to Kentucky, Indiana, Long Island in New York and finally to “dinky Dumont,” a bedroom community in Bergen County, New Jersey.
It was there, Mother Victoria said, she felt a call to a religious community. Although she considered the Poor Clares and the Carmelites, when she opened the materials sent by the Trappistines, “it was like somebody played a chord on my heart.”
She was attracted by “the simplicity of life and the focus on life in God,” she recalled.
She entered the community in Wrentham in 1971. That August, Mother Angela asked the 60 members of the community if any would like to volunteer for a new abbey in Arizona.
“I had never been west of Ohio, but I felt very strongly about it, so I volunteered,” Mother Victoria said. Being a postulant, she never believed that a future in the Southwest was in the cards for her.
In September, she was praying and “deep inside, this voice said, ‘You’re going to be going to Arizona.’ It was as clear as a bell.”
Fast forward to Jan. 1, 1972, and she’s pulled aside by Mother Angela and asked if she was sincere in volunteering to be part of the founding team. “I very calmly said yes.”
A short time later, Mother Angela gave her a note that read in part: “I think Jesus wants to see you in Arizona.”
At Santa Rita, Sister Victoria shared a room in the original building with Sister Clare. Not long after moving in, an Arizona brochure fell out of Sister Clare’s prayer book and opened to a scene of the Mustang mountains – the scene that was live and real right outside their door. “It was right there,” she recalled.
Another time, she was looking out toward Fish Canyon Road, and it dawned on her that it was the same scene she had created - from her imagination - as a young artist between ages 5-7.
“God put that landscape in me,” Mother Victoria said, noting that all these signs “built on each other.”
Mother Victoria was elected prioress in 2012 and re-elected for a second six-year term in 2018.
Sister Pam
Sister Pam Fletcher was born in Boston and moved to Tucson with her family when she was five. The abbey’s website describes her as “the kind of person who does everything well, Pam, our almost-native Arizonan, is the great rescuer. From computer glitches to leaky plumbing to an exquisite voice as chantress in choir, to a cheerfully social disposition, our ‘tall Redhead’ is a gift of God to the needs of a monastic family.”
She grew up in a religious environment she described as “Methodist and Lutheran,” and attended Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five undergraduate schools in Claremont, California. She joined the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship during her sophomore year, went on a retreat and decided to “give my life to Christ.”
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life” before the retreat, she recalled. She subsequently went to Japan on a mission but was disappointed that she could not win converts in a country where no more than two percent of the population considered themselves Christian.
“I was a complete failure as a missionary,” Sister Pam said. However, it brought one reality to the fore. “I didn’t want a career ‘in God.’ I wanted a whole way of life.”
In 1986, she took an independent study on monastic life, and the first three texts she reviewed were the Rule of St. Benedict, and books by Trappist Fathers Thomas Merton and Basil Pennington. Sister Pam admitted that she was floored by what she learned, especially because her Protestant roots came with a strong prejudice against Catholics.
She drew closer to Catholicism after meeting an Irish Presentation sister and attending Mass at a local student center. After graduation, she moved to Tucson and found herself at Our Mother of Sorrows. There, she met Msgr. Thomas Cahalane, who identified her as “a Protestant girl who wants to become a nun,” Sister Pam recalled. She was brought into the faith during the 1987 Easter vigil.
Along the way, she received as a gift a stained-glass butterfly, that came from Santa Rita. She visited the abbey for an extended retreat and met with Sister Beverly, the novice director, that fall.
Sister Pam said her family – especially her mother – was aghast. They urged her to meet with the local Lutheran cleric, Pastor Greg, to quell her Catholic urges. They were unaware that he was going through his own self-examination and would convert and enter the Catholic presbyterate as Father Greg Adolf.
It was Father Adolf who was able to explain to her the Catholic practice of eucharistic adoration, and “When I told him that I think I want to be a Catholic nun, he didn’t fall off his chair,” Sister Pam said.
Despite only having entered the faith in the spring, Sister Pam was accepted into the Trappistine formation program on Sept. 14, 1987. Mother Cecile wanted to see how the new Catholic grew in her faith before accepting her, but others in the community had a different perspective on the pre-postulant.
“You have to look at the person and the call,” said Mother Victoria, looking back on Sister Pam’s journey. “What can we do to help her? It was like, ‘Let’s see what God is doing here.’”
Although she had an uncle and aunt living in Phoenix, and they visited often, Sister Pam’s parents and siblings relocated, for various reasons, from Sierra Vista to places out of state in 1988. Meanwhile, she moved through postulancy and into her novitiate, professing first vows in 1991. When her final vows came several years later, “half of Sierra Vista” attended, Sister Pam said.
Sisters speak out against Rosemont mine
The Trappistine nuns are involved in a large community fight against the proposed Rosemont mine, “five miles away as the crow flies” said Mother Victoria.
Despite the distance, she is worried about how the dust, detonations and lights will impact the environment on the abbey and the surrounding environment. She is especially concerned about the impact on groundwater, including the wells that supply Santa Rita.
The original well hit water at about 120 feet, she said, but as the property was developed, an additional one was drilled to nearly 500 feet and serves as the facility’s primary source. In the event the new well fails, the water supply can be tapped from the older well, she said.
The concern comes if mining operations draw down the local water below current levels or if those aquifers are somehow polluted or contaminated with waste products from the mining activities.
Mother Victoria emphasized that its not just about the abbey, but the entire surrounding environment. The Trappistines are committed to proper stewardship of the land and “that’s so important that ‘stewardship’ is written into our constitution.”
Sister Pam noted that the silence and beauty of the area, which has always been a draw for people coming there for retreats, would be seriously impacted by mining operations. She cited a recent retreat for women who were considering joining the community. Five came from Phoenix where city lights are bright. One woman, seeing a full-starred night sky for the first time, said “‘I have never been in such a quiet place,’” recounted Sister Pam.
Mother Victoria agreed. “You can feel the connection to God. To be in nature brings you back to God.”
If the abbey were to lose its water supply from contamination, the unthinkable might occur: the abbey would have to be abandoned. “All our houses are autonomous,” Mother Victoria explained. “If it becomes impossible to live in a place, we would have to abandon it.”
On formation and altar bread
Formation had been about six years for women considering a cloistered Trappistine lifestyle. However, recently Pope Francis extended that to nine years in formation, with one year each as a pre-postulant and postulant, two years as a novice and five years with temporary vows. Temporary vows can be extended an additional three years, up to 12 years total in formation.
The abbey follows the traditional Rule of St. Benedict. It follows seven hours of prayer according to the Daily Office. It includes Lectio Divina, a traditional monastic practice of reading, meditation and prayer on Scripture.
It also includes some form of manual labor, which at Santa Rita means making altar breads.
Some abbeys make fruitcakes; others make candy. Traditional monastic living involved farming but Sister Pam noted, “You can’t survive on farming” because large corporate farms dominate the marketplace.
A short time after the abbey’s founding, Mother Cecile, the first superior, turned to her young 30-year-old novice and asked her to set up an altar bread business. Sister Victoria had memories as a young child, visiting her aunt, a Sister of the Poor of St. Francis, and watching the members make altar bread in a dark, dreary basement.
“It was dark, cold and boring. I thought ‘This is really awful,’” Mother Victoria recalled. “I have to say that I had a few words with God on this one.”
Determined to create a different environment, the Trappistines bought the equipment and set up shop in the kitchen, filling orders for 26,000 hosts a week. As business increased, new buildings were constructed – with an abundance of windows – and an increased production of about 200,000 a week.
“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Mother Victoria said.
Santa Rita was established as a foundation in 1972, and Mother Cecile Jubinville was the first Mother Superior. She became its first prioress in 1978 and was re-elected to a second six-year term in 1984. She took the unusual step of returning to Wrentham in 1990. She died there Dec. 31, 2017.
Santa Rita was the second foundation, or expansion, of Mount St. Mary’s, following Our Lady of the Mississippi in Iowa. It was given the name Our Lady of the Santa Rita Mountains, which rise to the east. It is located in the Coronado National Forest.
Building projects included a small church and dormitory in 1973, followed by a craft building for creating ceramics and glass art. In 1980, the bakery was added as the altar bread business continue to grow. A church expansion and dormitory were added later. A retreat house was added in 1995. In 2018, work on a new family guest house was completed.
On Sept. 14, 1978, Santa Rita was elevated from a foundation to a major priory, with full autonomy.
Besides poverty, chastity and obedience, the nuns also take a vow of stability which ties them to Santa Rita. All things being equal, they will all be buried there.
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21st August, 2018 Documentary 3
Gaul Porat & Skyler Fulton Look Beneath the Surface of Superficial Assumptions in ‘More Than the Sum’
It’s human nature to categorise people into pre-defined boxes but more often than not, we find that these superficial presumptions fall way short of the complexities and contradictions which comprise our true natures, not to mention our capabilities. Recognising an embodiment of this dichotomy in the subject of their Adidas spec ad, Gaul Porat and Skyler Fulton join us with More Than the Sum and discuss how stepping out of their respective comfort zones expanded both the ambition and depth of this passion project.
How did the two of you find yourselves sharing directorial duties on this Adidas spec spot?
Gaul Porat: Making More Than The Sum was something accidental that I fell into directing. I found myself in New Orleans for a job and wanted to hang out for a few days longer for fun. Me and a frequent director I shoot for stayed with Edward Spots, who at the time I had just briefly met in New York 4 years prior. I’m not used to people I barely know offering to host me, but I went along with it and found out that Southern hospitality is a real thing and quite refreshing after living in New York for just three years. In that time, I got to know Edward better and thought it would be fun to create a sports ad with him working out and dancing because he’s good at both.
I came back to New York with some dope looking footage and Edward looked awesome – the dance, the workouts, everything looked real fine. But after putting an edit together, it was clear that this was just another bunch of cool shots strung together that ended up looking like a sizzle without any meat to it. No story, no message. That felt weird because after getting to know Edward, I knew that he had a lot of story and a LOT more going on than meets the eye. His upbringing, his struggles as a dancer who is pursuing a path that is not ‘meant’ for his body type. His cultural upbringing in a white family as well as with an African American single mom, never knowing who his father is. He would go to boarding school for dance up in New England while retaining his roots with his family in the Ninth Ward… he had an incredible mix of things that usually don’t mix together and while those were difficult things to deal with, I saw that it was not in spite, but because of those challenges that he was such an interesting and inspiring person to me personally.
Skyler Fulton: Gaul and I are actually each other’s oldest friends. We met in 4th grade when he moved to my street in Newton, MA. Back then, we used to make short films on his VHS camcorder (which I hope never see the light of day). Fast forward 17 years and we’re collaborators once again.
Gaul invited me to be a part of this project after he had already done the test shoot with Edward in New Orleans. At the time, I had I just left my agency job to pursue freelance writing and directing. We were getting lunch to celebrate his birthday and ended up speaking only about the project. I shared some ideas on how to craft the narrative and he was like, “Cool, why don’t you come direct this with me?”
Co-direction is something that can either make or break a piece.
GP: Having Skyler join me to direct was the most unexpected blessing. He’s one of my oldest friends and I am very familiar with his comedy work. But when he started bringing so many good ideas about unfolding a story, I saw that in some ways he understood Edward’s story better than I did. Co-direction is something that can either make or break a piece. In the case of More Than The Sum, our strengths complemented each other’s weakness. Where I lack in subtlety of storytelling, Skyler excels at fine tuning the dial and how slowly to peel back the layers. Working with your best friend can be complicated, but the upside is we could get into the biggest disagreement about where to take it and yet at the end of the day we’d still be sitting down to grab a drink, talk about something completely unrelated and move forward.
With the test shoot in mind as a learning experience how did you then approach the full shoot?
SF: There were probably 5 days in between the moment I committed to the project and the first day of shooting. We shot basically everything in 3 days, with the exception of the dance sequence, which ended up coming from a reshoot months later. As for crew, we only had an additional producer/AC and sound recordist with us. The whole shoot was very run-and-gun, but everyone was passionate about the vision and was cool with working super long days.
GP: Despite being physically excruciating, production for me was the most fun part of this. It was hot, it was humid and at times torrential rains, but I’m used to shooting and operating myself a lot – I own an Alexa Mini and rented a Cooke 32mm S4i lens – so it was pretty great to have a camera in my hand wherever we went and be able to pop out of a car and grab certain shots.
I had an amazing AC who is a close friend now, Casey Shaw. We met on a flight randomly, but he’s much more than an AC. He DPs sometimes as well, which really helped him understand the overall vision and style for what we were trying to create. He had the same passion for this project as we did which is one of the hardest things to muster up when working on set. While he was my AC, we unfortunately couldn’t afford much equipment, so I pulled mostly off the barrel or at times off of a small manual follow focus. Quite difficult when shooting so much movement and in low-light… but I guess it worked in the end!
SF: Working with Gaul, I had the luxury of knowing everything was going to look incredible, which allowed me to focus more closely on the narrative. The most important aspect of the piece to me was that it felt authentic and not manipulative. Specifically, I wanted to make sure that the first act of the story did nothing to overtly mislead the viewer. If upon first glance the viewer thinks Edward is a particular type of athlete, it can’t be because we used visuals of him training for these particular sports. The idea was for the viewer to fill in the gaps on their own. That, unfortunately, meant convincing Gaul to scrap a lot of shots from the test shoot. It was also crucial that the reveal unfolded in a subtle way. It’s naturally pretty shocking, so if anything, I wanted to pair it back and ease into it. I didn’t want it to feel like, “A-ha! Got ya!”
The most important aspect of the piece to me was that it felt authentic and not manipulative.
To what extent did the structuring of Edward’s story largely take place during the edit?
GP: It evolved a lot from the start and as a first time director on this, I really learned so much. The magic when watching an edit for the umpteenth time you somehow find that you’ve lost yourself in the story and forgot about all the background, it’s a great feeling. But I also felt the pains of those ‘killing your darlings’ moments where you really feel like you’re cutting an arm off but later realize it was for the best.
The final cut and story really takes so much out of what we could have told about Edward. With our Editor, Colin Hingel, we went back and forth about whether to make this 12 to 8, to 5, to 2 and then back up to 3 minutes. We wanted to make something that people could easily watch the whole of because it’s very important that they stay with us long enough to get the reveal in the middle. We didn’t want to lose their interest before that because we do set it up like many doc-style branded spots about athletes. We wanted to have enough time to establish who he is, where he is and the basic context, but not too long that we lose interest before revealing that he is also a ballet dancer. This is where having Colin as our editor made a huge difference. He has a keen eye for story and cared so much about this piece as well. The final piece really feels like a culmination of an evolutionary process because we really had the luxury of time on this one to play and try lots of different options.
SF: We left New Orleans very excited about what we had, but the brunt of the work came in post. We really experimented with just about everything. This piece took countless different forms before we arrived at the final cut. I can’t overstate how important our Editor Colin Hingel was to the project. Not just for experimenting and finding things that Gaul and I hadn’t even considered, but for putting up with incessant rounds of notes.
GP: Also, this piece would not look the way it does without the talents of my friend Kath Raisch at Company3. More than just a good colorist, Kath had that same passion for the project that I had and pulled a few strings to fit us into her extremely busy schedule at one of the best post houses in the industry. Her positive vibe and genuinely caring attitude towards the piece went a long way in the final stages. She brought all the disparate looking scenes together that, due to the nature of our run-and-gun shooting style, were just all over the place in terms of color temp, exposure levels and all that, and she made it all fit and flow together seamlessly. She made things look and feel beautiful while still grounded in a deeply real place.
Is there anything in particular you took away from the experience of making More Than The Sum or would like audiences to consider after watching it?
SF: In some ways, I connect to this message on a personal level. For me, I had felt pinned as a comedy director. With the exception of a few documentary shorts and branded content, scripted comedy fills my portfolio. It felt good to break out of that box, especially since so many of my young director peers are told all the time that we can create either comedy or drama.
GP: Ultimately, this is just a 3-minute little branded spec spot, but I hope that it stands out as something with some more substance and a message that everyone can relate to. I think that everyone has at some point felt that they are more than the sum of their parts – that they do not fit neatly and permanently into categories of race, culture, sexuality, gender, and that there is always more to us than what others want to imprint onto us. And I’m really glad to share it with Directors Notes and whoever takes the time to watch.
Ad Spot, Dance, Gaul Porat, Skyler Fulton, USA
About the Author / MarBelle
MarBelle has a strange compulsion to watch as many films as he can get his hands on and find jobs that give him a legitimate excuse to drill filmmakers about their work. Directors Notes is the multi-decade incarnation of this disorder and remains so much cheaper than film school.
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Posted on June 14, 2017 April 8, 2020 by doxyva
Why Big Pharma Is Struggling to Profit From the Obesity Epidemic
In a decades-long struggle to control her weight, Carolyn Mills joined the YMCA many times, signed up for the Jenny Craig diet program and tried fen-phen, the drug combination later found to damage heart valves. As her size yo-yoed down and back up, her health deteriorated.
She finally found the answer in a new class of medicines. Now, those drugs and changes to her diet have helped Mills cut her weight to 250 pounds (113 kilograms) from 300 pounds over the last six months. The drawback: her out-of-pocket expenses are almost $300 a month and may head higher. She says it’s worth the cost.
Carolyn MillsSOURCE: CAROLYN MILLS
“Obesity haunts me,” said Mills, 62.
Mills highlights the difficulties big pharma faces as it seeks to profit from an epidemic that afflicts more than 600 million adults worldwide. Medicines like Novo Nordisk A/S’s Saxenda, the latest one used by the Boston resident, are safer and more effective than past treatments. Yet employers and insurers are reluctant to cover the drugs, meaning the cost often falls on patients’ shoulders, limiting the potential market.
Drugmakers such as Novartis AG, Novo and Sanofi are pushing ahead, testing even more advanced medicines they hope will deliver greater weight loss than the drugs available today. Once seen as a problem only in wealthier countries, obesity is on the rise in lower-income regions too, increasing the risks of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. That raises health costs and contributes to millions of deaths each year. More than a third of U.S. adults fall into that category.
“Given the public-health crisis around the world with obesity, if we can find a medicine that has strong efficacy and reasonable tolerability there’s no question there’s a very large market here and it would potentially have a big impact on health care,” said Vas Narasimhan, global head of drug development at Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis.
The industry faces hurdles over and above the lack of coverage. Modest weight-loss results and criticism of medicine as a way to treat obesity mean just 2 percent of excessively overweight people rely on drugs. The history in the field is also littered with failures, making some manufacturers leery.
In 2008, a Sanofi weight-loss drug was taken off the market in Europe amid concerns it could lead to depression and suicidal thoughts, while Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. ended obesity programs the same year. Those drugs were designed to suppress appetite by blocking the same brain receptor that makes marijuana smokers hungry.
“There’s a gold mine available,” said Ralph Abraham, a doctor at London Medical, a clinic in the U.K. capital that started a weight-management program incorporating Saxenda. “But it’s also been a graveyard in the past.”
Scientists are drawing lessons from treating a related disease: diabetes. Saxenda, which has a list price of more than $1,000 a month and has been sold in the U.S. for two years, has the same key ingredient as Novo’s diabetes medicine Victoza and works like a hormone the body produces naturally that regulates appetite.
Some doctors said they’re comfortable with Saxenda because they’ve been prescribing Victoza for years.
While Saxenda is relatively small today, its sales are forecast to climb to more than $1 billion within five years from about $240 million last year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Four other obesity drugs tracked by Datamonitor Healthcare—Contrave, Qsymia, Belviq and Xenical—accounted for just $280 million in sales in 2016. The global market for such drugs is projected to climb to about $24 billion in a decade from about $1 billion last year, London-based consulting firm Visiongain estimates.
The average weight loss of 5 percent to 10 percent that patients see with the existing drugs doesn’t “knock your socks off,” said Robert Eckel, a doctor and professor who focuses on obesity and diabetes at the University of Colorado. He said he’s only prescribed Saxenda “a couple of times because there are few people who are willing to pay that much for it.”
The next generation of medicines could work better.
Novartis has a treatment in mid-stage tests that could potentially help patients lose 10 percent to 15 percent of their weight, or even more, if trends seen in early studies continue, Narasimhan said. The company will decide how to proceed based on data due next year.
In the past “we could never thread the needle,” he said. “Now we have more mechanisms that we can take forward.”
An experimental drug Novo is developing showed in early studies it can achieve weight loss of as much as 14 percent, the company said last month. Combining it with other medicines could ultimately make it even more potent, leading to a possible reduction of more than 20 percent, Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in an interview.
Obese patients sometimes stop taking the drugs and regain weight when they see results plateau, and new and improved medicines may encourage people to stick with them, Thomsen said. Weight loss approaching 15 percent or 20 percent “would be a major breakthrough,” said Eric Ravussin, a specialist at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana.
Sanofi is evaluating a drug in obese patients with diabetes that has potential to move closer to the results of surgery, said Stefan Oelrich, head of its diabetes unit. People who opt for bariatric surgery can lose more than 30 percent of excess body weight within six months. AstraZeneca Plc at the same time said it’s developing a diabetes treatment that may have potential in obesity and other metabolic diseases.
Louis Aronne, a doctor at Weill-Cornell Medicine in New York, compared obesity to hypertension, which was once regarded as a lifestyle issue and is now a field with scores of drugs. He predicted that every major medical institution would have a program focused on the disease within a decade.
Read more on the obesity epidemic: QuickTake
Several insurers in Canada have picked up Saxenda, and health authorities in the United Arab Emirates have agreed to pay for some patients in public hospitals, according to Novo. In the U.S., legislation was re-introduced in April aimed partly at improving access to weight-loss medicines for Medicare beneficiaries. It’s hard to predict how policies will play out as Republicans seek to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, but the Obesity Society, a research group, called the proposal a key step in tackling a disease that contributes to $200 billion a year in health costs.
Doctors are gaining a better understanding of the biology of the condition, increasingly seeing obesity as a disease, while there are signs that more insurers are covering medication, said Caroline Apovian, the Boston Medical Center specialist who treated Mills.
“We’ve learned a lot,” she said. “The treatment of obesity will prevent many other serious disorders that in the long term will save us money.”
Mills, an operations manager at a dental practice, said she’s swimming and trying to be more active to build on the progress she’s made with drugs.
“We’re reaching the tipping point with the percentage of people who are so overweight,” she said. “It’s my hope that the tide is changing and people are understanding it’s not just a matter of pushing yourself away from the table.”
Reference: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-04/why-big-pharma-is-struggling-to-profit-from-the-obesity-epidemic
Categories: Active Lifestyle, Weight Loss
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Shop Single Malt Whiskey
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Ready to explore the intriguing world of whiskey? Shop on our website or see if we are already in your city. Here are some links to search for Drizly in your city, or look for liquor stores on Drizly near you.
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Tag Archive: linear history
The myth of progress
Filed under: Africa, Animals and the earth, Asia, Old Europe, Tales of India, the Americas — 3 Comments
Flying on a magic carpet.
It’s not that there’s no such thing as progress. Indeed there is.
If I want to travel around the world, I’ll take a plane. I won’t set out walking, or take a sailing ship, or sit by the roadside waiting for a magic carpet to appear out of the clouds.
If I fall down the stairs and break a leg, I will go to the hospital because waiting for it to get better by itself is not going to work well.
If I want to go into town I will use a car, not a horse and buggy.
All this being said, there is a very large aspect of the way we think about progress in the modern world that is illusory. It is not true.
Really, there are two ways of viewing history — the cyclical view and the linear view.
In the cyclical view, there are several ages, following each other, until eventually, the whole complete world cycle ends and begins anew.
If we’ve grown up in the west or if we’ve been heavily influenced by western culture, then we are going to lean towards the linear view of world history. It’s imprinted inside our heads, and, without our being conscious of it, it colors most of our perceptions and expectations.
According to the western worldview, history is linear. First there is prehistory and then there is an ascending line on an upwards trajectory, which is called “progress.” It is a basic part of our thinking. If we look far enough back into the past, we see hunter/gatherers, the introduction of farming, the invention of the wheel, the beginnings of civilization. Pretty soon along come the Greeks and the Romans. Then there are the middle ages, the renaissance, the industrial revolution, then along come lots of inventions, like central heating, TV, computers, and sending a man to the moon. (As you can see, this is all very Eurocentric.) It all goes upward and ever upward, as we humans progress to higher levels of technology and “better” lives.
But this is not the only way to view the past and the present. For many cultures throughout the world, there has traditionally been another model of history. In India, and also among many other peoples, including Native Americans in both North and South America, history has been seen as cyclical. Even the Greeks and the Romans believed in a succession of ages, and there is a reference to this view also in the Bible, in the Book of Daniel.
The Greek poet, Homer.
One of the key differences between these two views is that, from the cyclical worldview, “progress” isn’t necessarily progress, and our “inevitable” evolution upwards to grander and grander heights is very much in doubt.
In other word, things may not inevitably be getting better and better, and our common sense tends to agree with this observation. It may be that, all this time, the human race has been de-volving instead of e-volving.
Let’s look at it this way for a moment. There is a good chance, since you are reading this, that you live a fairly comfortable existence. This is not necessarily true, and there can be exceptions, but most likely, you are not living in a hut made of old tires and rusty hubcaps, on the banks of what used to be a river, but is now a creek filled with garbage. Instead, you have a nice home. In your home there is most likely central heating, air conditioning, a TV, computers – it is a place with modern conveniences.
We enjoy our central heating because it keeps us warm, and we wouldn’t have been happy in the European middle ages, where even aristocrats lived in cold castles – and peasants lived in squalid huts. We may say to ourselves that whatever view of history may be true (and whatever personal problems we might currently have), things are far better now in the modern world than they used to be hundreds of years ago. If we say this, then what we are expressing is a western/modern perspective; and whatever country we may live in, this is a middle or upper class view.
Suppose for a moment that instead of being you or me, living in our comfortable surroundings, we are a poor child in a developing country who lives on a giant mound of garbage which she picks through from morning to night to make a few cents a day. Suppose we are one of the billions of people who have no clean water to drink. Or one of the billions who live in horrible slums. Suppose we live in a war-torn region of central Africa, where there is hardly even a memory of any security or safety?
You and I are exceptions, and though we all do have our own problems and difficulties, (which may from time to time seem insurmountable), generally speaking, we are blessed to live in fairly decent or even very comfortable circumstances.
This means that, unless we stop to think and look around us, we may not notice that most people in the world live in conditions far worse than they would have lived in hundreds or thousands of years ago. Is it really true that the average person in the world is better off now? No, it really isn’t.
The great bath at Mohenjo Daro.
If we had lived around the year 2300 BCE in the city of Mohenjo Daro, part of the ancient Indian Indus Valley civilization, now in modern Pakistan, we might well have lived in a two story house, with a plumbing system, a furnace, and an inner courtyard lined with trees. We would have lived in clean, comfortable surroundings in a well-designed, beautiful city.
If we had lived around 1500 BCE in the Minoan city Knossos on the island of Crete, we would have lived in a city that delivered clean water through pipes into the homes of around 100,000 people and had an advanced plumbing and sewage system. We would have been surrounded by a vibrant culture that produced beautiful art, which can still be seen in murals on the walls of Knossos.
The Throne Room at Knossos.
I can hear a voice saying, but wait – these two examples are not typical! Okay, that may be true; if these two advanced societies might be considered exceptions on the world stage, then what about life in a tribal society?
To be continued in part two…
To read part two, click here.
Top photo: Author (artist): Viktor M. Vasnetsov (1848–1926) / Wikimedia Commons /”This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. Such reproductions are in the public domain in the United States.”
Second photo: “This work has been released into the public domain by its author, JW1805 at the wikipedia project. This applies worldwide.” / Wikimedia Commons / A bust of Homer in the British Museum, London.
Third photo: Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 1.0 License.” / Original uploader was M.Imran at en.wikipedia / The great bath at Mohenjo Daro.
Fourth photo: “This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throne_Hall_Knossos.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.”
© Sharon St Joan, 2013
To find Sharon’s ebook, Glimpses of Kanchi, on Amazon, click here.
Tags: cyclical history, linear history, myth of progress, progress, the modern world
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Taylor in Custody
Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president, is now in Sierra Leone to face charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He had been indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The court was set up jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations. Charles Taylor stands accused by the prosecutor of “bearing the greatest responsibility” for the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war.
Since 2003, Mr. Taylor had been living in exile in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities had agreed to transfer him to Liberia at the request of Liberia's new president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The United Nations mission in Liberia had previously been authorized to transfer him to the Special Court should he return to Liberia. But Charles Taylor attempted to flee from his refuge in Nigeria. He was arrested by Nigerian authorities at Nigeria's border with Cameroon, transferred to Liberia and further transferred to the Special Court.
Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in Washington, D.C., where he was thanked by President George W. Bush:
"I appreciate the decision he made regarding Charles Taylor. The fact that Charles Taylor will be brought to a court of law will help Liberia, and is a signal, Mr. President, of your desire to have peace in your neighborhood."
Charles Taylor was elected president in 1997, following Liberia's seven-year civil war. The war claimed the lives of more than two-hundred-thousand Liberians and displaced a million others. During Charles Taylor's presidency, the economic situation deteriorated in Liberia. Unemployment and illiteracy were more than seventy-five percent, and little investment was made in the country's infrastructure. Rather than working to improve life for Liberians, Mr. Taylor supported rebels of the Revolutionary United Front, who terrorized the civilian population in neighboring Sierra Leone and in Liberia itself. According to news reports, Charles Taylor traded Liberia’s natural resources, such as diamonds, for weapons and cash. The weapons were in turn used to kill thousands of men, women, and children in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, Charles Taylor "is through raping and pillaging. And," she says, "the Liberian people are trying to look forward and. . . .we owe it to them to look forward, not backward."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
Liberia Asks For Former President
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Tag Archives: Latvia
The 20th Anniversary of the Democratic Constitution of Belarus
Posted on March 14, 2014 by Erika Harlitz-Kern
During the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, one European former Soviet republic has kept a low profile. I am talking about Belarus. Belarus borders on Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland and is a dictatorship run by Aljaksandr Lukashenka. But twenty years ago, Belarus was headed in the direction of democracy and on March 15, 1994 adopted a constitution to fulfill that goal. What happened?
Belarus is approximately one third of the size of Ukraine and has a population of 9,441,000 (2013), 1.9 million of which live in the capital Minsk. Belarusians constitute the largest ethnic group, followed by Russians. Before World War II, Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Belarus. The Belarusian language is the official language but Russian is used on all levels of society.
The location of Belarus is marked in red.
Source: Nationalencyklopedin
Throughout history Belarus has been a region located in between the cultural and economic regions of the Baltic and the Slavs. From the middle of the ninth century, the area that was to become Belarus was part of the state of the Kievan Rus, originating in present-day Ukraine. Kievan Rus collapsed when the Mongols invaded and during the thirteenth century, Belarus constituted the western-most part of the Mongolian realm. Meanwhile, Lithuania on the Baltic increased in political power and during the course of the fourteenth century, Belarus instead became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which in 1386 entered into a political union with Poland. This political union lasted until the three partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795) when the Polish-Lithuanian area was divided in accordance with Russian interests.
Due to Polish-Lithuanian governance, Belarus became integrated into the Polish-Catholic cultural sphere while distancing itself from the Slavic-Orthodox. This development is confirmed by the fact that during the Middle Ages, Belarusian towns and cities adhered to the so-called Magdeburg Law. The City of Magdeburg, today located in east Germany, was an important trading place at the intersection of the Germanic and Slavic regions. Towns and cities of lesser importance and stature adopted the city laws of major cities to be able to participate in European trade and exchange. Magdeburg was a city whose law was adopted by several other cities. Lübeck, on the German Baltic coast, was another such city. The fact that Belarusian cities adopted the Magdeburg Law indicates their affiliation with the European continent rather than the landmasses ruled by Kiev and Moscow.
Following the partition of Poland, Belarus became part of the Russian Empire and continued as such until the Empire’s collapse during the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War (1918–1920). During this period, Belarus, together with Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, declared independence. Belarus became part of the Soviet Union, once again after being divided, this time in accordance to the borders between Russia and Poland as constituted by Poland’s First Partition in 1772. The new borders of Belarus was determined by the Treaty of Riga, signed by Russia and Poland in 1921. Of these new-born independent states, Finland was the only one not to become part of the Soviet Union.
Current flag of Belarus.
Source: Zscout370
Flag of Belarus, 1918–1921, 1991–1995.
The Soviet Union itself collapsed in 1991. The reason why the Soviet Union collapsed was because the Soviet Republic of Belarus, together with Ukraine and Russia, agreed to create a Commonwealth of Independent States instead of the Soviet Union. Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were soon joined by other Soviet Republics and the CIS began functioning on December 21, 1991, with its administrative center located in Minsk.
Soon after independence work on drafting a constitution began. While working on the new constitution, the legislators looked towards the legal foundations of sovereign states such as the United States, France, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, while constructing a legal system based on the principle of the Russian Federation. The constitution was adopted on March 15, 1994.
Constitution of Belarus. Title written in Belarusian, followed by Russian.
The constitution created the office of President as the new nation’s leader. In July 1994, Aljaksandr Lukashenko was elected to the post and has ruled the country ever since, amending the democratic constitution through two non-transparent and highly criticized referendums in 1996 and 2004, respectively.
Today, Belarus is the only dictatorship in Europe. The country has no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no freedom of organization and its domestic economy is in shambles. Its prisons hold political prisoners and the government has executed several of its imprisoned dissidents.
To stay in power Aljaksandr Lukashenko needs both Ukraine and Russia. Lukashenko needs Ukraine because that country is one of Belarus’ main trading partners. Therefore, Lukashenko needs to stay on friendly terms with whomever is in power in Kiev. Lukashenko needs Russia because Russia is one of his few supporters. But Russia’s support of the Lukashenko regime is based on strategic interests. If Russia loses interest in Belarus as an ally, Lukashenko’s days are numbered.
And that is why no voice on the Ukrainian crisis is heard from Minsk.
Nationalencyklopedin Vitryssland
Nationalencyklopedin Litauen: den ryska tiden
Nationalencyklopedin Magdeburg
Britannica.com Belarus
Britannica.com Commonwealth of Independent States
Wikipedia Constitution of Belarus
Belarusbloggen Varför tiger Lukasjenka om Krim?
There is no standard set for transcribing Belarusian names in English.
Images of Belarusian flags and constitution downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.
Posted in History, Human Rights | Tagged Belarus, Commonwealth of Independent States, constitution, Crimea, democracy, Denmark, dictatorship, Europe, Germany, Holocaust, Jews, Kiev, Kievan Rus, Latvia, Lithuania, Lukashenka, Lukashenko, Magdeburg, Middle Ages, Minsk, Mongol Empire, Moscow, Partition of Poland, Poland, Putin, Rus, Russia, Russian Civil War, Russian Revolution, Soviet Union, Sweden, Treaty of Riga, Ukraine, United States, United States of America, World War II
When the Russians Beat the Swedes in Ukraine
Posted on March 4, 2014 by Erika Harlitz-Kern
A news broadcast on Russian TV has claimed that Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt was recruited by the CIA in the 1970s and that Sweden now, together with Poland and Lithuania, seek to take revenge on Russia for losing the Battle of Poltava in 1709. This statement is an example of what I have discussed on this blog before, namely that history is political. No other science or academic discipline is used for political purposes the way history is used.
So what is the Battle of Poltava?
Poltava is a city in central Ukraine with a population of 303,600 people. In 1709, Poltava was the scene of a military battle between the Russian forces of Czar Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725) and the Swedish forces of King Karl XII (r. 1697–1718). The battle was part of the Great Nordic War (1700–1721) which was fought over supremacy in the Baltic and eastern Europe.
Map of Ukraine with the city of Poltava marked in red.
Source: Skluesner
During the 17th century, Sweden was the dominating force in the Baltic, controlling most of the coastline from the Gulf of Bothnia to Germany. Russia had no port to the west other than Archangelsk in the Arctic. The capital was in landlocked Moscow.
During the reign of Peter the Great, Russia gained ground in the region. One important aspect of the increased Russian influence is the foundation of the city of St. Petersburg in 1703. St. Petersburg was founded at the location of a Swedish fortress, Nyen, which Peter the Great had conquered. The purpose of St. Petersburg was to become Russia’s new capital and to secure Russian access to the Baltic.
The Swedish Empire in the Baltic after 1658. The location where St. Petersburg was later founded in the Gulf of Finland is controlled by Sweden.
Source: Fenn-O-maniC
The Battle of Poltava is arguably Sweden’s most crushing military defeat. The Swedish army consisted of 29,000 men while the Russian army consisted of 45,000 men. For the Swedes, the Battle of Poltava ended in carnage with 8,000 men killed and 3,000 men taken as prisoners of war. The victory enabled the Russians to march to the Baltic and take control of what remained of the Swedish territories there. When Karl XII died in battle at Fredrikshald in Norway in 1718, all Swedish possessions in the Baltic were lost and Russia dominated the region. This domination would continue until the declaration of independence of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia in 1991 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992.
Statue of Karl XII pointing east, by Peter the Great. Portrait by Paul Delaroche.
artist Johan Peter Molin, Source: Anathema
Stockholm, Sweden.
Source: AvildV
The current crisis in Crimea demonstrates the importance of knowing history. The relationship between Russia and Ukraine on the one hand, and Russia and the Baltic with Sweden on the other, go back several centuries and is both complicated and complex. It is a near impossible task to explain the historical process within the confines of a news broadcast, a newspaper article or a blog post for that matter.
The first casualty in a conflict is the truth.
The prime instrument in a propaganda campaign is history.
SVT Russian News Broadcast Accuses Carl Bildt
Nationalencyklopedien Poltava
Nationalencyklopedien Stora nordiska kriget
The maps of Ukraine and the Swedish Empire as well as the portraits of Karl XII and Peter the Great were downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.
Posted in History, Watching & Listening | Tagged Archangelsk, Baltic Sea, Carl Bildt, Charles XII, CIA, Crimea, Estonia, Finland, Fredrikshald, Germany, Gulf of Bothnia, Gulf of Finland, Halden, Karl XII, Latvia, Lithuania, Moscow, Norway, Nyen, Peter I, Peter the Great, Poland, Poltava, Russia, Soviet Union, St Petersburg, Stockholm, Stora nordiska kriget, Stormaktstiden, Sweden, Swedish empire, the Baltic, the Battle of Poltava, The Great Nordic War, Ukraine
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Extreme metal, critical thinking, shameless navel-gazing.
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Det händer alltid något oväntat....
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You are here: Home / Readers Forum / Shaping Tomorrow
Shaping Tomorrow
May 27, 2013 By Dan Brown
June is rapidly approaching and with it the annual installment of Jerusalem Conference Season. A month where up and coming communal activists, the high and mighty and the wannabees come to network, interact, shmooze and pontificate.
In addition to three high-visibility events – the annual ROI Summit, the Israeli Presidential Conference, and the Taglit academic conference – are a host of board meetings, seminars and other gatherings, missions and visits, all planned to build on the synergies created by the other.
Probably the highest visibility event will be The Israeli Presidential Conference. Planned around celebrations in honor of President Peres’s 90th birthday, guests this year include former President William Clinton; former Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Blair; Mikhail Gorbachev (the last President of the Former Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union); and actresses Barbara Streisand and Sharon Stone. However, despite all the star power, we would be remiss in not pointing out that once again those planning the program have negated the role of women in our society.
Honestly, with 26 plenary speaking positions available, couldn’t the planners find more than three qualified female presenters to speak on the Conference theme, ‘The Human Factor in Shaping Tomorrow’?
Though it is more difficult to ascertain from the program, we also suspect the number of public slots allotted to those under 40 is minimal, thus calling into question the planners understanding of who is ‘Shaping Tomorrow’. But not to worry, we expect that in the halls of Jerusalem’s Convention Center, there will be no absence of younger faces, as ROI Community members, PresenTense and Pardes almuni – among others – are out in force, bringing their enthusiasm and ideas to the hundreds of ‘hallway conversations’ that will surely take place.
Gabriel Webber, a Deputy for the Union of Jewish Students in the U.K., recently wrote: “I’m glad I was able to laugh at the 14th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress… otherwise I’d have cried.
I spent three days listening to old men reciting a litany of woes, saying how terrible and dangerous and wearing and life-threatening it is to be Jewish in Europe these days.”
Participants at Shifting Thought Shifting Action at the Berlin Wall.
It’s a shame that neither Gabriel, or the “old men” she refers to, had the opportunity to be in Berlin a few months back. For there, under the auspices of the ROI Community, Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden and Zentralrat Der Juden in Deutschland (the Central Council of Jews in Germany), and just a seven minute walk from the Berlin Wall, 50 of Europe’s most talented community organizers gathered for serious conversation, to learn new skill-sets to propel their work forward and to network with other Jewish young adult activists from across both Eastern and Western Europe. The Gathering highlighted European Jewish life that was anything but threatening; in fact, it was a magical three days.
In a city where practically every month some organization or another convenes a gathering, what made Shifting Thought, Shifting Action (STSA 2013) stand out?
First, the program – designed, and executed, by the participants – consisted of a series of presentations, skill sessions and workshops exploring how to create meaningful conversations in their individual communities. The organizers, and the facilitators, had no direct stake in the outcome(s) – unlike JFNA, or local Federation-convened community conversations ultimately intended to inform the hosts’ own work.
Participants looked at the challenges, and opportunities, for Jewish life in Europe today. Programs were framed around “weaving together histories of the past with histories of the present creating histories of the future.”
Those of us in attendance witnessed a fascinating social phenomenon: the vast majority of participants – most who did not know each other previously – were between the ages of 25 and 35. The mix was instantaneous; the energy level a continuous high. The languages spoken, an unconscious mix of English, German, French, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, and more. The attendees shared a frustration working with the established community yet yearned to work collaboratively with other organizations to learn how to do things better.
The most asked question over the three days, “who is not in the room?”
As participant, and Berlin resident, Martin Schubert expressed, “We see a new generation that has consciously decided to live our lives in Europe. A generation that knows no walls and no borders.”
Participant, Moti Ipacs, CEO of the Seidner Foundation (Budapest), spoke of the importance of a “global community working together, sharing knowledge.”
Ilja Sichrovsky of Vienna and founder of the Muslim Jewish Conference, related his thoughts of the “established European organizations not investing in their own leadership, and most worryingly, not investing in the next generation.” He continued, “I continually meet inspiring young Jewish leaders from around the world – they explain why they started their own initiative outside of the established community … The Jewish people are creating their own brain drain. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to get them back into the ‘established’ world”.
And Shawn Landres, co-founder/CEO of Jumpstart, whose 2010 Survey of New Jewish Initiatives in Europe found that there are more Jewish nonprofit startups per capita in Europe than North America, shared the thought, “STSA 2013 demonstrated to me the possibility of pursuing a strategy of institutional replacement rather than reform and the importance of supporting entrepreneurial initiatives – both within and outside of the establishment.”
In Berlin we witnessed the future of Jewish Europe – and it was alive and exciting.
Writing on his Wise Philanthropy Blog, Richard Marker says, “how can it be that I don’t believe in “NextGen”? Let me count the ways:
NextGen too easily implies that one is not yet worthy to sit at the grown-up table. In many cases, that is pure nonsense. What it often really means is that the “grown-up” table isn’t ready for younger members to sit with them to make real decisions and engage in constructive deliberation.
Too often, NextGen is nothing more than a marketing tool. An organization wants to show that it appeals to or is bringing in the young folks. Using this term is a way to demonstrate that they “get it”, are committed to new modes of expressions [but rarely their models of community], values their participation [but rarely their values], and are bridging the generational divide. Some organizations really do get it and are appropriately re-inventing themselves; far too many others, though, simply confuse branding with substance. Declaring that you are NextGen friendly doesn’t make it so.
Most important of all: NextGen really is THIS generation. The world has changed. Our categories have changed. Our daily experiences have changed. How we get information, communicate, create communities, pay bills, educate ourselves is owned and mastered by those who have come of age in the last 15 years.
Just yesterday, a reader commented on eJP,
“Whether by design or by result, are we as a community effectively stifling new Jewish leadership? No one can deny the fact that Jewish communal institutions are led by vested interests who are hesitant to let go of the reigns of power. Lay leadership are not open to new ideas and approaches that threaten their control of the communal agenda. The professional class do not want to lose their jobs and be shown up as the ineffectual foot soldiers that they are. All this would be fine, really it would, if things were going well. However, our community is beset and overwhelmed by challenges on multiple fronts that threaten our continued vitality in the US…”
Circling back to where we began, whether or not you are in Jerusalem this June, we encourage you to think about shaping tomorrow – not just as an organization professional, but how you can influence the broader community. In doing so, think about what young activists are creating in WJC’s “dangerous” Europe. Think about Richard Marker’s comment, “the “grown-up” table isn’t ready for younger members to sit with them to make real decisions and engage in constructive deliberation.” And think about what Shawn Landres had to say, “the possibility of pursuing a strategy of institutional replacement rather than reform.” In our mind, that’s not solely true in Europe.
At all levels, you can begin by triggering meaningful activities or outcomes that will not only align with organization mission and objectives, but will help build a stronger future.
If you’re in the “C” suite, stop paying lip service to conversation about the dismal numbers of women and younger professionals in management roles and move some key mid-level staff up the ladder, today! Get your board in balance with the reality that [for the first time in history] there are four adult generations important to your organizations’ future.
And lastly, whether you are in the “C” suite, or a senior lay leader, get off your expensive desk chair, away from your computer and get out in the field and meet those who will determine your legacy. Not your program recipients; not your regional staff. Now is not the time for photo-ops with other “old men”, but the time to embrace new generations of stakeholders. Otherwise, your epitaph may well read, “Here lies “xxxx” – a good, dedicated, hard-working man, though one who couldn’t comprehend the world had changed around him.”
Filed Under: Readers Forum Tagged With: Paideia - The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, ROI Community / Schusterman, Taglit-Birthright Israel / Birthright Israel Foundation, The Israeli Presidential Conference
Drew Kaplan says
What if a Jewish future conference had under-36 speakers and invited the older generation to respond and to listen? Would that get funded?
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Maps (1900-1949) (2) + -
John Warkentin Map Collection (2) + -
Cities & towns (3) + -
Railroads (3) + -
Roads (3) + -
Geology (2) + -
Imperialism (2) + -
Rocks (2) + -
Trails & paths (2) + -
colonialism (2) + -
Maps (3) + -
Indonesia (x)
Cadastral maps (x)
Department of Mines and Technical Surveys (x)
Indian reserves in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
This is a general map of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in 1965 showing roads, railways, trails, parks, First Nations reserves, cities and towns.
G/3431/G55/500/1965
yul:1151277
[Glen] Platt
Image of man and woman with two children standing behind detention bars in Halifax. Caption reads: "Immigrant family through detention bars at Halifax."
1974-001 / 282 (1970)
yul:88087
Nouvelle Ecosse partie J. Ouest [back]
Back of map of Nova Scotia, with plate detailing the author or owner of the map, Charles Picquet, and a handwritten note in French about the title of the map.
WMC0029
Nouvelle Ecosse partie J. Ouest [front]
Map of the Western part of Nova Scotia, cut into sections and affixed to a woven backing to be folded and transported. Includes ports, farms, settlements, roads or railways, lakes, rivers, water features, degrees, and other details i.e. a bad swamp, rocks dry at 1/2 tide, &c.
A plan of the city and harbour of Louisburg, with the French batteries that defended it, and those of the English shewing that, part of Gabarus Bay, in which they landed, and the ground in which the encamped during the Seige in 1745
Lithographed to accompany the report on Canadian Archives for 1886, by Douglas Brymner, Archivist. Shows the town, harbour, and fortification of Louisbourg in the French colony of Île Royale (now part of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia) as it would have been during the first siege of Louisbourg in 1745.
G/3434/L6 R4/21/1745
Province of Nova Scotia, Halifax County
Topographical map of the Halifax, Nova Scotia area that highlights topographical and geological features.
G/3434/H3/63/1908
Springhill sheet : Cumberland and Colchester counties, Nova Scotia : map 337A
This is a geological map of the Springhill, Nova Scotia region in 1938. It shows different rock and soil materials in Cumberland and Colchester counties, as well as relief features, coal fields, roads, railways, power lines, trails, rivers, and towns. It also includes regional map and notes on general, structural and economic geology of the region.
G/3431/C5/0/1863-
A new and enlarged edition of Cheetham's psalmody : harmonised in score, with an arrangement for the organ or piano forte
Halifax Board of Trade : officers and council for 1894
The utility of knowledge-making as a means of liberal training : inaugural address delivered at the opening of the fortieth session of Dalhousie College, Halifax, N.S., September 13th 1899
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Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance: translation
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (MACA) is a slotted media access control protocol used in wireless LAN data transmission to avoid collisions caused by the hidden station problem and to simplify exposed station problem.
The basic idea of MACA is a wireless network node makes an announcement before it sends the data frame to inform other nodes to keep silent. When a node wants to transmit, it sends a signal called Request-To-Send (RTS) with the length of the data frame to send. If the receiver allows the transmission, it replies the sender a signal called Clear-To-Send (CTS) with the length of the frame that is about to receive.
Meanwhile, a node that hears RTS should remain silent to avoid conflict with CTS; a node that hears CTS should keep silent until the data transmission is complete.
WLAN data transmission collisions may still occur, and the MACA for Wireless (MACAW) is introduced to extend the function of MACA. It requires nodes sending acknowledgements after each successful frame transmission, as well as the additional function of Carrier sense.
Phil Karn: MACA - A New Channel Access Method for Packet Radio (Phil Karn, KA9Q)
v · d · eChannel access methods and Media access control (MAC)/Multiple-access protocols
Channel based
OFDMA · WDMA · SC-FDMA
MF-TDMA · STDMA
W-CDMA · TD-CDMA · TD-SCDMA · DS-CDMA · FH-CDMA · OFHMA · MC-CDMA
HC-SDMA
PDMA
Packet based
Collision recovery
ALOHA · Slotted ALOHA · R-ALOHA
MACA · MACAW · CSMA · CSMA/CD · CSMA/CA · DCF · PCF · HCF · CSMA/CARP
Collision free
Token ring · Token bus · MS-ALOHA
Delay & disruption tolerant
DTN · Mobile Ad-Hoc · Dynamic Source Routing
Duplexing methods
TDD · FDD
This article related to telecommunications is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories:
Channel access methods
Telecommunications stubs
Media Access Control
José Vicente Rangel Ávalos
Rufino Pacific Tower
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance — Die Artikel CSMA/CA RTS/CTS und Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance überschneiden sich thematisch. Hilf mit, die Artikel besser voneinander abzugrenzen oder zu vereinigen. Beteilige dich dazu an der Diskussion über diese Überschneidungen.… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Multiple access with collision avoidance — MACA (siglas en inglés de Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) es un protocolo informático. La modificación incluida en este protocolo, respecto a CSMA/CD, es que ahora las estaciones, antes de transmitir, deben enviar una trama RTS (Request … Wikipedia Español
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance for Wireless — (MACAW)[1] is a slotted Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol widely used in Ad hoc networks.[2] Furthermore, it is foundation of many other MAC protocols used in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN).[2] The IEEE 802.11 RTS/CTS mechanism is adopted from … Wikipedia
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance — Pile de protocoles 7. Application 6. Présentation 5. Session 4. Tr … Wikipédia en Français
Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance — In computer networking, CSMA/CA belongs to a class of protocols called multiple access methods. CSMA/CA stands for: Carrier Sense Multiple Access With Collision Avoidance.In CSMA, a station wishing to transmit has to first listen to the channel… … Wikipedia
Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Contenido 1 Detalles 2 Usos 3 Problemas que resuelve CSMA/CA (con respecto a CSMA/CD) … Wikipedia Español
Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance — En redes informáticas, Carrier Sense Multiple Access With Collission Avoidance (CSMA/CA) es un protocolo de control de redes utilizado para evitar colisiones entre los paquetes de datos (comúnmente en redes inalámbricas, ya que estas no cuenta… … Enciclopedia Universal
Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance — The network access method used by Apple s LocalTalk networks, among others. In a CSMA/CA environment, a primary workstation attempting to transmit data sends a request to transmit signal to a secondary workstation. When the sending workstation … IT glossary of terms, acronyms and abbreviations
Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance — … Википедия
Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection — (CSMA/CD), in computer networking, is a network control protocol in which *a carrier sensing scheme is used. *a transmitting data station that detects another signal while transmitting a frame, stops transmitting that frame, transmits a jam… … Wikipedia
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Engi-Mat Co. is pleased to publish its new corporate logo.
On January 1st, 2019, the company officially changed its name from nGimat to Engi-Mat, and the new logo reflects this change. The new logo – which maintains the color scheme and general “look and feel” of the earlier logo – is intended to convey the consistency of the company’s efforts during its long history of technical innovation. Engi-Mat remains focused on the application of its expertise in nanotechnology and materials science to solve its customers’ most difficult challenges.
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Eastern Europe: Caught Between Their Own Past and Nazi/US New World Order
By Hans Vogel
Seventy years ago, World War II began with the Nazi attack on Poland. First Europe and then the rest of the world was plunged into a long war that still today influences much of our lives, our beliefs and our ways of thinking. Although most people would believe that the Nazis carry the main responsibility for the war, ever more proof that this was not the case is becoming available. If Adolf Hitler can be blamed for starting the war, he was provoked, aided and abetted especially by the British. It is certainly not true that the Soviet Union was to blame for it, as so many in the “West” would have it. Concurrently, the fact that it was the Soviet Union that defeated Nazi Germany almost single-handedly (as proven by British historian Norman Davies), is not found in mainstream “Western” historiography, and most certainly not in school and college textbooks, let alone on TV or the popular media. This is how the “West” has been distorting history since 1945. Today, these traditional, distorted “Western” views are being adopted by a number of Eastern European nations.
Just the other day, Russian president Medvedev vented his anger at the persistent attempts to rewrite history in numerous states that were once part of the Soviet Union. The small Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania are at the forefront of the efforts to rehabilitate the many thousands who enthusiastically fought under German command during World War II. At the same time they are trying to eliminate all traces of the Soviet world they were once a part of. Monuments to Soviet soldiers are being torn down.
The Soviet Union is routinely being painted in the darkest of hues, to the extent that it is being presented as just as evil as the Nazi regime. Granted, there may be some unpleasant similarities between the Soviet and Nazi regimes, but there were some big, fundamental differences. Whereas the Nazis were racist, ruthless adventurers invading all their neighbors and conquering much of Europe, the Soviets under Stalin were mainly bent on protecting their borders. And the Soviet Union may have been many things but it definitely was not racist. It makes little sense to compare Nazi Germany with the Soviet Union. Rather, Nazi Germany had much more in common with the US and Britain. The fact that today, the US and Britain so closely resemble Nazi Germany is no coincidence.
In order to clarify matters, it may be useful to outline the extent of the support the Nazis received in the Baltic and elsewhere. Some 70.000 Estonians enlisted as soldiers in the Nazi armed forces, joined by 90.000 Latvians and 125.000 Lithuanians. Many of these served in crack, highly motivated, fanatical SS-units. Counting the thousands of others who in some way or other collaborated with the Nazis (as drivers, nurses, administrators, etc.), the number rises to well above 300.000. But let us stay at this round number, just to be on the safe side. In 1939, the aggregate population of the three Baltic republics stood at about 5.4 million. Roughly half of these were men, and roughly one third of the men would qualify for some form of military service, the remainder being too old, too young, or unfit. That means that about one in three men qualifying for military duty were collaborating with the Nazis. Such rates of collaboration were extraordinarily high in Europe.
Elsewhere in the East, collaboration was also impressive. Some 30.000 Georgians fought under Nazi command, alongside 40.000 Azeris, Daghestanis and Chechens, 20.000 CrimeanTatars, 20.000 Armenians, not to speak of the many tens of thousands of Ukrainians. Same story in the Balkans, where some 20.000 Bosniaks filled the ranks of the fearsome SS Handschar division, and 6.000 Albanians served in the SS Skanderbeg division.
Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania constitute a special category, since they were formal Nazi alies, supplying the Nazis with the full force of their conscript armed forces, numbering hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Of course, Italy was also a Nazi ally of the first hour, but in the summer of 1943, Italy switched sides and began fighting as an ally of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States.
It must be said that Western European collaboration was also notable. The SS recruited 20.000 first-rate soldiers in the Netherlands and 6.000 men in Norway. In France, collaboration was also more widespread than many people think.
Still, the bulk of Nazi collaborators was to be found in the East, precisely in those regions that today are so anxious to rewrite history. That they would do so is hardly surprising. After some five decades of being either a part of the Soviet Union, or a Soviet satellite state, they feel they have now become truly independent. But what did they do with their newfound independence? Very little, I am afraid: they eagerly threw themselves into the arms of the United States.
When former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld characterized Eastern Europe as the New Europe, he struck a very receptive chord. Here was a term that the Eastern Europeans knew quite well. After all, when similar words were used by the Nazis they had reacted enthusiastically. Hoping to be richly rewarded in every sense of the word, they were forced to privatize the most prosperous and profitable parts of their economies. Privatizing being just another word for the takeover at a ridiculously cheap price by foreign-based transnational corporations. Then, their social safety nets were systematically destroyed, education and health care were “gleichgeschaltet” (synchronized) with often poor “Western” standards. Their armed forces were “professionalized” according to the questionable management standards of NATO armies and turned into mercenary forces for US military adventures in the Middle East and Central Asia. Within a few years, the former Warsaw Pact members and newly independent former Soviet republics had acquired most of the outward trappings of the “West,” symbolized by boring hotels with posh atriums and smoked glass facades, new airports, fancy motorways, dreadful food served by brand new outlets of McDonald's and KFC, and so on and so forth. Now that the true dimensions of the current crisis are beginning to appear, many must be seriously questioning the wisdom of throwing overboard everything that was to do with the “Old Regime.” I suspect Eastern European states and the newly independent former Soviet Republics must now be coping with a serious identity problem.
What is their place in history? The answer seems right at hand. Many Eastern Europeans still seem to believe they were excluded from history when they joined the Soviet Union or when they became Soviet satellites. When the USSR collapsed, they were too busy to take down the monuments to Lenin and to align their economies and societies on perceived “Western” models, to worry too much about their place in history. By now, “the New Europe” has found out that whatever they were once told about communism was wrong, but that everything they were told about capitalism was true. They are trying to regain firm historical ground.
Now, what is more logical than to turn to the last time many of these states were independent? That is to say, to World War II. Many then were fighting against communism and for a “United Europe” alongside Nazi Germany either as allies or as parts of the Third Reich. After enjoying half a century of peace under Soviet rule, today Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaidzhan are again fighting somebody else's wars. Once again, they are the privileged purveyors of mercenaries to an evil empire. The Nazis valued them as sources of high quality manpower in their epic struggle with the Soviet Union. Today these very same states are being valued by the US as a source of manpower for their quixotic adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of course they are revaluating their Nazi collaborationist past. This is not surprising, since the Nazi crimes are implicitly approved in the “West” today. Measured by the standards of the present-day United States, Nazi political, social and military practices are quite OK. Whether it is invading and occupying countries, bombing cities and killing thousands of innocent civilians, the systematic use of torture and terror methods, operating concentration camps, spying and snooping on innocent citizens, mass-killing of alleged enemies of the state in foreign lands, daily bombardment of the population with deceitful propaganda, the US is behaving like Nazi Germany every inch of the way. The Eastern Europeans must be associating the Brave New World in which they now find themselves with the Nazi environment they were once a part of.
By allowing themselves to become mere US neocolonies, instead of mature, independent states, Eastern European elites have done their countries a gigantic disservice. By joining the US Evil Empire, Eastern European nations are jeopardizing their own rich historical heritage. They seem to be forgetting that it is precisely that heritage that makes them part of European culture. It should never be forgotten or spoiled by joining the US empire and thereby denying everything that made Europe what it is.
Now that the fundamental weakness of the US Evil Empire is becoming ever more apparent, it is hardly surprising the Eastern Europeans are looking back at the Nazi period with nostalgia. Ater all, everything from the past always seems to be better than the present.
If the Eastern Europeans are truly in search of their identities, they should encourage wide ranging historical research to begin with. They should not stop at the Second World War. For instance, the lands that now comprise the Baltic republics entered written history when they were conquered by the Teutonic Order. It is impossible to ignore the historical role played by non-Baltic peoples such as Germans, Swedes, Danes, Poles and Russians. Yet this is precisely what the present-day Baltic states are trying: to write these peoples out of their histories. It would be as ridiculous if, say, President Evo Morales would attempt to rewrite the history of Bolivia without making any reference whatsoever to the Spaniards.
I am afraid the Baltic peoples and by the same token, many other Eastern Europeans, still have a long way to go before they have found their true historical identities and before they have come to terms with their past, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. One simply cannot ignore the past. And there is always a high price to pay for falsifying it and rewriting it.
Also read: 70 years on: Sound of broken glass still echoes from Nazi atrocity
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Hit of the Century
https://english.radio.cz/hit-century-8169916#player=on
Length of audio 22:37
Welcome to Hit of the Century, our series in which listeners will get closely acquainted with hit songs across 100 years of Czechoslovakia’s and the Czech Republic’s existence – one song for every year since the country was founded.
Every week we broadcast a hit song per day from Monday to Friday and every Sunday we offer a round-up of all five entries so that you can vote on the best song of the bunch.
Follow the links below and vote for the best song between 1933 and 1937. One winner will be chosen to make it to the next round, moving forward.
What are you waiting for? Vote today.
1933 – 16th segment: Camper, Start That Blaze! (Táboráku, plápolejte!)
1934 – 17th segment: Workers, Let's Go (Hej rup!)
1935 – 18th segment: I’d Like to Have Your Photo (Já bych chtěl mít tvé foto)
1936 – 19th segment: Evening above Prague (Večer nad Prahou)
1937 – 20th segment: The World Belongs to Us (Svět patří nám)
Hit of the Century – Voting Rules
Each Sunday, participants will be able to vote in our new series Hit of the Century, covering 100 years of music in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. Each episode will feature five hit songs, by decade, beginning with 1918 – 1928. After 100 songs are broadcast, two semi-finals will decide the top hits from the period of 1918 – 1968 and from 1968 – 2018.
Six songs will reach the final, in which listeners will choose a single winner: the most popular Czech song of the century,
Ten participants will receive CDs of the most successful songs recorded in a new musical arrangement on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia in October of 1918.
Author: Martin Hrdinka
‘Say It to Me Quietly’ wins Hit of the Century Music Poll
Hit of the Century: The final!
Hit of the Century music poll enters final stage
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Activists Skeptical on Asean Human Rights Body
By Equality Myanmar on August 3, 2009 HR News
The Irrawaddy – Burmese human rights activists have expressed skepticism over the role of the Asean Human Rights Body, claiming for now at least that it is a paper tiger.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are set to approve the draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the human rights body in July.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said at the 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phuket last month that the body failed meet everyone’s expectations, and that it should work to become a credible, realistic and evolutionary body.
Aung Myo Min, the director of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma in Thailand, told The Irrawaddy that the body is only a “paper tiger” and was not an organization that could protect people effectively.
He urged Asean to commit to the protection of human rights, form a commission with authority to investigate and report on rights violations and establish a court empowered to take action against violators.
Asean has proposed to name the human rights body the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission of Human Rights, which is expected to be endorsed by the group’s leaders at a summit in Thailand in October.
Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean), said, “Actually, the Asean Human Rights Body can not protect its people effectively.”
“They say their Asean Human Rights Charter has an international standard. But, they do not accept international norms about human rights.”
Some observers say that Asean’s initiative to establish a human rights mechanism is itself a positive sign.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in July that the TOR is a beginning of an evolving process. It is a living document that will provide an evolutionary framework, he said, and a platform to further Asean’s efforts in the promotion and protection of human rights.
The draft terms of reference state the body’s purpose is “to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedom” of Asean citizens.
As it now exists, the body continues the tradition of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states and, as such, is not expected to present immediate problems to countries such as Burma, Laos, Vietnam or Cambodia, which are generally ranked low on human rights rankings.
Aung Myo Min said all Asean member states and civil society groups must work together to make the body more effective and have real impact.
COVID-19 lockdown in Myanmar exposes precarious position of LGBTQI population
Myanmar Military Faulted for Information Blackout on Massacre Prosecutions
Myanmar Begins Probe of WHO Staff Killing in Rakhine Amid Skepticism
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Archive for the ‘European Court of Human Rights’ Category
A human right to seek refuge at Europe’s external borders: The ECtHR adjusts its case law in M.K. vs Poland
By Ulrike Brandl, Ass. Prof. at the Faculty of Law, University of Salzburg & Philip Czech, Senior Scientist at the…
A – pyrrhic? – victory concerning detention in transit zones and procedural rights: FMS & FMZ and the legislation adopted by Hungary in its wake
By Boldizsár Nagy, Central European University On 14 May 2020 the Grand Chamber of the CJEU delivered its judgment in the…
Adjudicating old questions in refugee law: MN and Others v Belgium and the limits of extraterritorial refoulement
Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen is a professor with special responsibilities in migration and refugee law at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen…
Comparing the Inter-American Court opinion on diplomatic asylum applications with M.N. and Others v. Belgium before the ECtHR
Andreina De Leo and Juan Ruiz Ramos, LL.M Candidates in International Migration and Refugee Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam From Wikileaks…
A Hole of Unclear Dimensions: Reading ND and NT v. Spain
By Nora Markard, Professor of International Public Law and International Human Rights at the University of Münster On 13 February 2020, the…
Hot returns remain contrary to the ECHR: ND & NT before the ECHR
By Constantin Hruschka, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy Munich. In its judgement…
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Last edited by Meztir
Sunday, November 22, 2020 | History
6 edition of George Bowering found in the catalog.
bright circles of colour
by Eva-Marie KroМ€ller
Published 1992 by Talonbooks in Vancouver .
Bowering, George, 1935- -- Criticism and interpretation.,
Canada -- In literature.
Statement Eva-Marie Kröller.
Series The New Canadian criticism series
LC Classifications PR9199.3.B63 Z75 1992
After-dinner poetry and sentiment
Guidelines for the portrayal of violence on BBC television.
Use of equifrequent character strings in computer searches of natural language data bases
Two sixteenth century taxation lists, 1545 and 1576
The book of Psalms paraphrasd
Dalzell and Campbell.
A plain address to Episcopalians on the proposed meeting at Mechanic-Hall
Industry trends, 1951-1986.
George Bowering by Eva-Marie KroМ€ller Download PDF EPUB FB2
George Bowering's books about baseball. Baseball Love, Vancouver, Talonbooks, Having written books in practically every genre, George Bowering is often introduced as someone who adores baseball, yet ironically he did not begin this book about the game until he was appointed Canada’s first Poet Laureate for – Bowering has also been a tireless champion and mentor of other writers.
In the early s, he was a founding editor of Tish, a publication that dramatically changed the course of Canadian poetry and announced a new generation ofediting Imago, Bowering provided a much-needed forum for the long university anthologies he edited-Fiction of.
George Bowering was born in Penticton, BC, in and served as a photographer in the RCAF. He has won the Governor General's Award for poetry (The Gangs of Kosmos and Rocky George Bowering book Foot, ) and for fiction (Burning Water, ).Recent publications include His Life: A Poem, which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award, Bowering's BC and A 4/5(1).
George Bowering has books on Goodreads with ratings. George Bowering’s most popular book is Burning Water. Looking for books by George Bowering.
See all books authored by George Bowering, including Burning Water, and The Heart Does Break: Canadian Writers on Grief and Mourning, and more on George Bowering was born and brought up in the Okanagan Valley, amid sand dunes and sagebrush, but he has lived in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta great sources of hockey stars.
Along the way he has stopped to write several books on baseball. He has also picked up Governor Generals Awards for his poetry and fiction, and otherwise been rewarded with prizes /5. Diamondback Dog by George Bowering and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at Layers by BOWERING, George and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at Powerful, exquisite, and intricately crafted, His Life: A Poem, George Bowering's stunning new poetic memoir spans and reconfigures thirty years of this award-winning writer's life.
A thoroughly unique project, vintage Bowering, His Life began to take shape in the early : George Bowering. About George Bowering. Born in and raised in the southern Okanagan town of Oliver, BC, George Bowering has won the Governor-General's Award for both Poetry (infor Rocky Mountain Foot) and Fiction (infor Burning Water).
George Bowering was Canada's first Parliamentary Poet-Laureate, and is a member of the Order of Canada as well as the Order of. George Bowering was born and brought up in the Okanagan Valley, amid sand dunes and sagebrush, but he has lived in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta — great sources of hockey stars.
Along George Bowering book way he has stopped to write several books on baseball. He has also picked up Governor General’s Awards for his poetry and fiction, and otherwise been Author: George Bowering. George Bowering George Bowering, Canada’s first Poet Laureate and co-founder of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH, was born in the Okanagan Valley.
A distinguished novelist, poet, editor, professor, historian and tireless supporter of fellow writers, Bowering has authored more than eighty books, including works of poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography Author: George Bowering.
Blonds on Bikes is George Bowering's first book of poetry since Urban Snow was published by Talonbooks in Characteristic of Bowering's other work, this book is largely made up of sequences. The longest one, the title poem, is a composition of daily riffs during an autumn in Denmark and Italy.
Finalist for the BC Book Prizes Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian George Bowering book. As a teenager, legendary Canadian author George Bowering lived the life of an ordinary boy.
He loved baseball, read Westerns, held a part-time job, and fantasized about girls and women. Book Review: George Bowering is still going strong after books Back to video $18, pages Before there were online blogs or Twitter accounts, there were essays.
About A Short Sad Book. With an Introduction by Erín Moure and an Afterword by George Bowering These days, Canada is a heavyweight of world fiction, boasting some of the gaudiest names in the literary firmament, its schools graduating great writers by the frontlist.
According to publicity materials, George Bowering’s 36th book of poetry, The World, I Guess (New Star, ) “shows Canada’s original poet-laureate still in MVP form as he approaches his 80th birthday.
The centrepiece of Bowering’s new book is a long poem, “The Flood,”; a complex, discursive poem whose subject is poesis and whose. A prolific and award-winning poet, provocative (though not always discerning) critic, and longtime gadfly on the Canadian literary scene, George Bowering is a prose writer whose oeuvre includes short fiction (notably Protective Footwear: Stories and Fables), a novella (Concentric Circles), and several novels, beginning with the forgettable A.
His Life: A Poem: George Bowering: Books - Skip to main content. Try Prime Hello, Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Returns & Orders Try Prime Cart. Books Go Search Hello Select your.
A Short Story, by George Bowering. Other articles where George Bowering is discussed: Canadian literature: Fiction: George Bowering’s Burning Water (), which focuses on the 18th-century explorer George Vancouver, and Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter (), the story of the jazz musician Buddy Bolden, mingle history with autobiography in self-reflexive narratives that enact the process of.
George Bowering writes these books about literary composition as well as short stories and the odd novel. He is also a poet of sorts, and won some prizes for his poetry a long time ago.
He is currently working on another book about baseball, having found another niche that will never be seen by his country’s literary types. November | Essays. Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry influencers in the know since Current Issue Special Issues All Issues Manage Subscription Subscribe.
Writers' Center. Resources & Education. Writing Editing Publishing Marketing. Services for Authors. COVID Resources.
Reliable information about the coronavirus (COVID) is available from the World Health Organization (current situation, international travel).Numerous and frequently-updated resource results are available from this ’s WebJunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle.
George Bowering, Canada’s first Parliamentory Poet Laureate, was born in the Okanagan Valley. After serving as an aerial photographer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Bowering earned a B.A. in English and an M.A.
in history at the University of British Columbia, where he became one of the co-founders of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH.
news | Book tour. This fall, George Bowering will bring the Okanagan to you (Oliver, BC) Venerable author and noted fun guy George Bowering will travel the nation this fall to read from his 80th year – and with few signs of slowing down – George Bowering will tour libraries, bookstores, and festivals in Vancouver, BC (joint birthday celebration for George Bowering.
George Bowering. George Bowering, Canada’s first Poet Laureate, was born in the Okanagan Valley. After serving as an aerial photographer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Bowering earned a BA in English and an MA in history at the University of British Columbia, where he became one of the co-founders of the avant-garde poetry magazine has taught literature at the.
BONUS: I love this old video of George Bowering – [Reading by George Bowering] () (part 1 of 3) from Western Front Archive on Vimeo. Pls plan to join us and buy your #LitFest tickets today.
() or [email protected] and enjoy this gallery of images of George at previous years #LitFest. Bowering has never won a B.C. Book Prize since the awards were introduced in Having produced more books than some people read in a lifetime, George Bowering has consistently maintained his George Woodcockian pace of productivity, like a home run hitter trying to outdo Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth.
The editors discuss George Bowering's poems "Sense of Time" and "Any" from the April issue of Poetry. Read More. More Poems by George Bowering. The White Station Wagon Strophes.
By George Bowering. On Quadra Island. By George Bowering. Passport Doves. By George Bowering. Taking Off from an Old WCW Poem. A metafictional exploration of the process and product of a novelist (named George Bowering) who travels to Italy in order to write a historical novel about Captain George Vancouver's cartographic colonization of the land mass that would become Canada's west coast, Burning Water demands its readers to confront often challenging questions about.
[George Bowering’s latest novel, No One, has run afoul of the New Puritanism.A sequel to his erotically obsessive bildungsroman, Pinboy, it picks up the story in later years.
The editor at ECW loved the novel and accepted it the middle of production, however, some female staff members complained that the novel “objectified women,” and should be. Read "George Bowering Bright Circles of Colour" by Eva-Marie Kröller available from Rakuten Kobo. The first book-length, critical study of George Bowering explores the relationship between his work and the : Talonbooks.
Congratulations George Bowering April 20th, The BC Book Prizes has announced that George Bowering is the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. The West Coast Book Prize Society is proud to recognize George Bowering as the recipient of the 8th annual Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.
George Bowering doesn't play fair. Baseball Love is so good there is no memoir in the league that can go up against it. Bowering has a Author: Judith Fitzgerald.
George Bowering has probably written baseball more than any other Canadian poet, living or dead, calling it the “thinking man’s game,” and his poetry on the subject would probably make an interesting book-length study in itself.
Stone Country: Bowering, George: Books - Skip to main content. Try Prime EN Hello, Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Returns & Orders Try Prime Cart. Books Go Search Hello Select your /5(3).
“Bowering has always been an elusive writer. No One turns that into virtue that lifts its pages above the confessional and prurient to a unique sort of discretion that contradictorily enables an exquisite and utterly surprising retelling of marriage’s most ancient story: the soul’s search for home.
If anyone has ever doubted that Bowering is a serious and courageous writer, this book. Some Answers by George Bowering All throughVancouver writer (and former Parliamentary Poet Laureate) George Bowering made it his goal was to write a chapbook a month, a piece a day, with each monthly project using a different construction (or, as he’s called it before, “baffle”).
George Bowering George Bowering, Canada's first Poet Laureate and co-founder of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH, was born in the Okanagan Valley.
A distinguished novelist, poet, editor, professor, historian and tireless supporter of fellow writers, Bowering has authored more than eighty books, including works of poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography and youth fiction.5/5(2).
Every new collection by George Bowering is an event in Canadian poetry. His latest book—topping a six-decade writing career—is an eclectic, lively mix of free verse, list poems, haiku, and more.
Whether Bowering is taking on the big themes—love, mortality, politics—or the mundane or trivial, his poems are fresh, snappy, and always. ?prod= George Bowering is fond of baseball, and he likes the alphabet.
Having written a few baseball books and a f.This latest from the Canadian Bowering is both a Western revenge quest and a spoof of the genre—a mixture as unsatisfying as his earlier Burning Water (). Caprice is an Amazon out of Quebec, almost six feet tall, a freckle-faced redhead with a lethal bullwhip.
It'sand for the past two years Caprice has been a ""saddle tramp,"" riding in and out of British Columbia in .
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Forthright Radio
Tag Archives: Congress
Les AuCoin CATCH AND RELEASE: An Oregon Life in Politics
http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1rwHFBr1qftUWC6Ipd-QI7NRQEgfFNO2O&extension=.mp3
Les AuCoin represented Oregon’s 1st Congressional District from 1975 to 1992. At the age of 32, he was the first Democrat to do so since 1936. After serving 18 years, he gave up his seat to run for the US Senate against incumbent Republican Senator Bob Packwood, who although winning that race, resigned under threat of expulsion in 1995 after allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and assault of women emerged.
In this interview he shares his thoughts and experiences as one of the first cohort to be seated after Richard Nixon’s resignation under threat of impeachment in 1974, “The Watergate Babies.”
It was recorded on December 18,1019, as the US House of Representatives was impeaching Donald J. Trump .
This entry was posted in Culture, Environment, history, Politics and tagged Congress, James Watt, Political orgranizing, Reagan, Watergate Babies on December 18, 2019 by forthrightradio.
Jon D. Michaels CONSTITUTIONAL COUP: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic
http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1MB7TSP7Y95cQdQGBLksOGfquq8FR3y6X&extension=.mp3
Professor Jon D. Michaels’ scholarly and teaching interests include constitutional law, administrative law, national security law, the separation of powers, presidential power, regulation, bureaucracy, and privatization.
After a very distinguished education including Oxford and Yale Universities, he clerked, first for Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and then for Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court. Immediately prior to his appointment at UCLA, he worked as an associate in Arnold & Porter’s National Security Law and Public Policy Group in Washington, DC.
We discuss his book, CONSTITUTIONAL COUP: PRIVATIZATION’S THREAT TO THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, which is both a history and an analysis of privatization, and the rise of what he calls ” Pax Administrativa.” It is published by Harvard University Press.
We begin with an article by Matthew Cole & Jeremy Scahill in The Intercept:
“Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter ‘Deep State'”
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private-spies-to-counter-deep-state-enemies/?link_id=0&can_id=26389c9ba4e6ef1db60b08fdce8085f1&source=email-trumps-private-cia-and-an-idiotic-msnbc-decision&email_referrer=email_271486&email_subject=trumps-private-cia-and-an-idiotic-msnbc-decision
We also referred to Professor Michaels’ essay, “First Tragedy, Now Farce”:
https://takecareblog.com/blog/first-tragedy-now-farce
This entry was posted in history, Politics and tagged Administrative Law, APA, bureaucracy, Civil Service, Congress, Government, privatization, Public Participation, Separation of Powers, The Administrative Procedures Act, The Deep State, Transparency, U.S. Constitution on December 6, 2017 by forthrightradio.
Henry Giroux: America At War With Itself
http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1yUAHRJ8mnbyaFJwJqU4910YygwsYwiiz&extension=.mp3
In this interview, we welcome back Henry Giroux, public intellectual, prolific writer, cultural critic, scholar and one of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy. He has spent a lifetime asking & analyzing important, hard, even scary questions such as these, which I quote from his essay, Thinking Dangerously: The Role of Higher Education in Authoritarian Times (http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41058-thinking-dangerously-the-role-of-higher-education-in-authoritarian-times):
“What happens to democracy when the president of the United States labels critical media outlets as ‘enemies of the people,’ and disparages the search for truth with the blanket term ‘fake news’? What happens to democracy, when individuals and groups are demonized on the basis of their religion? What happens to a society, when critical thinking becomes an object of contempt? What happens to a social order ruled by an economics of contempt, that blames the poor for their condition, and subjects them to a culture of shaming? What happens to a polity, when it retreats into private silos, and becomes indifferent to the use of language deployed in the service of a panicked rage — language that stokes anger, but ignores issues that matter? What happens to a social order, when it treats millions of undocumented immigrants as disposable, potential terrorists and “criminals”? What happens to a country, when the presiding principles of its society are violence and ignorance?”
We discuss these and other questions, and it may surprise you to learn that Henry Giroux’s analysis, although clear-sighted in the face of the forces of dystopia, leads to an energized, engaged vision of collective agency and action.
Henry Giroux currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest. He is the author of more than 65 books, has published more than 400 papers, in addition to hundreds of chapters in the books of others, as well as many essays and articles in such journals as Truthout, Truthdig, and CounterPunch. His works have been translated into numerous languages.
He is particularly interested in what he calls the war on youth, the corporatization of higher education, the politics of neo-liberalism, the assault on civic literacy and the collapse of public memory, public pedagogy, the educative nature of politics, and the rise of various youth movements across the globe.
His latest book is America at War With Itself, published by City Lights Books. His forthcoming book, The Public in Peril: Trump and the Menace of American Authoritarianism, is to be published in 2018 by Routledge.
Learn more at https://www.henryagiroux.com/
This entry was posted in Culture, economics, history, Indigenous People, Politics, Social Justice and tagged authoritarianism, Congress, democracy, economics, education, fascism, geopolitics, global capitalism, Hannah Arendt, literacy, military spending, neo-liberalism, pedagogy, Tax Bill, taxes, terrorism, third political party, violence, women, youth movements on November 29, 2017 by forthrightradio.
Dean Baker – Sensible Economics
http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1x4-8EcBfNUPO9V9PQFJPQ2mhiMf0rxQ7&extension=.mp3
Dean Baker co-founded The Center for Economic and Policy Research in 1999. His areas of research include housing and macroeconomics, intellectual property, Social Security, Medicare and European labor markets. Before that, he worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, and was an assistant professor at Bucknell University. He has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, and the OECD’s Trade Union Advisory Council. He is frequently cited in economics reporting in major media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, and NPR. He writes a weekly column for the Guardian Unlimited (UK), the Huffington Post, TruthOut, and his blog, Beat the Press, features commentary on economic reporting.
He is the author of several books, including Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer; Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People; The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive; and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer.
“I have suggested that economists who prescribe policies that turn out badly, or who can’t see multitrillion dollar housing bubbles coming whose collapse sinks the economy, ought to pay a price in terms of their careers. Invariably people think I am joking. When they realize I am serious, they think I am crazy or vindictive.” Dean Baker
This entry was posted in Culture, economics, Guest, Politics, Social Justice and tagged Alternative Minimum Tax, Arbitrations, Class Action Suits, Congress, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Deductions, Dodd-Frank Act, Economic crises, economics, economists, Estate tax, George W. Bush, Market Bubbles, Market Crashes, Paradise Papers, Pass Through Corporations, Payday Lenders, Predatory Lenders, Ronald Reagan, Tax Havens, taxes, territoriality on November 15, 2017 by forthrightradio.
Joel Clement
About Forthright Radio
Forthright Radio, with host Joy LaClaire based in Bozeman, brings dynamic and important writers, authors, and persons of interest on the program to talk about issues of the day. Forthright Radio is a Beyond The Deep End production, originally broadcast from the Philo studio of KZYXfm, listener-supported Mendocino County Public Broadcasting.
Ecotones
Abby Abinanti
Damani Baker & Belvie Rooks
Marc Bekoff
Anna Feigenbaum
Carey Gillam
David Cay Johnston
Kevin Kamps
L. A. Kauffman
Robin Lung
Nancy MacLean
Benjamin Madley
Anne Makepeace & Judge Abby Abinanti
Keith McCafferty
Ray McGovern
Jon D. Michaels
Jenny Murray
Julian Brave Noisecat
Doug Peacock
Steven A. Ramirez
Jay Riestenberg
Santiago Rizzo
Kathleen Rogers
Belvie Rooks
Bryan Stevenson
Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday
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Everett Massachusetts Newspaper
In Tribute To Julie Kehoe: Family, Friends Will Raise Funds In Her Memory at Boston Brain Tumor Walk
by Independent Staff • October 18, 2019 • 0 Comments
By Cary Shuman
Bob and Susan Kehoe will lead a group of family and friends in the Boston Brain Tumor Walk Oct. 20 at Carson Beach, South Boston.
The group is “Team Jules,” and it is named in memory of their daughter, Julie Kehoe, a retired, U.S. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer, who died on July 14, 2017 after a gallant battle against cancer. She was 44 years old, just two days shy of her 45th birthday.
Julie’s mother, Susan (King) Kehoe, is a 1967 graduate of Everett High School and lived in Everett for 22 years. Julie’s grandfather, Joseph King, served on the Everett City Council for almost 40 years.
A Talented Swimmer at Northeast Regional
Julie grew up on Willard Street in Chelsea. She attended kindergarten at the Mary C. Burke School and grades 1-8 at the Our Lady of Assumption School.
Julie took one year of dance lessons from legendary teacher Joyce Sartorelli, but she found her extracurricular passion in swimming, becoming an award-winning swimmer as a youth and later an All-Star during her career at Northeast Regional Vocational High School in Wakefield.
“Her team was all boys and she was the fastest swimmer,” recalled her mother, Susan.
Julie specialized in graphic arts at Northeast, studied at Bunker Hill Community College and then joined the United States Coast Guard.
She served her country for 23 years and was one of the first responders to the 9-11 terrorist attack in New York City.
During her 23 years of service in the Coast Guard in the U.S.A. and all over the world, Julie received numerous medals, many for her work in successful search-and rescue operations in waters. She was honored at Fenway Park as part of the Red Sox “Hats Off to Heroes” program, receiving a standing ovation in recognition of her meritorious service.
Julie retired from the Coast Guard in 2016 and was recruited to be a nautical science professor at the Northeast Maritime Institute, where a scholarship has been named in her memory.
She died of neuroblastoma, an incurable brain tumor. She was diagnosed in May, 2017 and waged a gallant, two-month battle against the rapidly progressing illness.
Vincent Patton, Master Chief Petty Officer of the USCG, delivered the eulogy at her funeral before a tremendous assemblage in Bourne, lauding Julie Kehoe’s exceptional service and exemplary leadership.
Julie was the wife of Judith ‘Jude’ Morgan and the sister of Joy Kehoe-Paige.
“We’re very proud of her,” said Susan Kehoe. “We miss her terribly.”
A Walk to Raise Funds for Cancer Research
Bob and Susan Kehoe have been planning for the National Brain Tumor Walk for the past several months. Their daughter, Joy, will walk as will other relatives and friends. The group will donate the funds raised to cancer research.
Bob Kehoe noted that it was incurable brain cancer that claimed the lives of U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain and Beau Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
“There is a lot of research being done, but there is no cure for it,” said Kehoe.
Team Jules will be wearing custom-made blue T-shirts during the walk. Bob Kehoe will wear his daughter’s 9-11 “Operation Freedom N.Y.” hat.
Said Susan Kehoe about her beautiful daughter, “She was a wonderful sister, a wonderful aunt to my other daughter’s [Joy] children – she was very supportive, very protective. She had a wonderful laugh. Everybody talks about her smile – that was the biggest thing. She had a great sense of humor. And she was a very loyal friend.”
(People wishing to make a donation in Julie Kehoe’s memory should go to: Boston Brain Tumor Walk and type in Susan Kehoe and Team Jules.)
← Encore Numbers, Revenues Take a Dip in September
Malden Catholic High School Launches Nation’s First Girls Leadership Program Curriculum →
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Brandon Ballengee
Lorrie Fredette
John Sabraw, Pam Longobardi, and Brandon Donahue
Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter, Lorrie Fredette, and Karen Shaw
Yeon Jin Kim
Brandon Donahue and Michele Banks
Pam Longobardi
AIR Biennial 2016
Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Caitlin Keogh, Dominic Terlizzi, and Aliza Nisenbaum
The presence of acclaimed artists—who have lived and worked in major cultural centers across the country—enhances the educational opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the University of Tennessee School of Art. With daily contact over the course of a full semester, resident artists develop a unique relationship with the student body which complements the creative stimulation offered by guest lecturers and the School of Art's faculty. Representing diverse ethnic, cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds, these resident artists introduce another layer of candor and a fresh artistic standard for the students who, though early in their formal art studies, are beginning to develop their own perceptions, skills, and theories in connection with the making of art.
Begun in 1947 by C. Kermit Ewing, founder of The University of Tennessee School of Art, the annual student exhibition has become one of the oldest competitions in the country and one of the highlights of the Ewing Gallery's exhibition season. The selection of a student art exhibition is a challenging but meaningful task, and we are grateful for this year's jurors: Pete Schulte and Amy Pleasant, Fine Arts, Bob Newman, Graphic Design, and Nathan Rees, Art History.
Group 1: Kelsey Stephenson, Katherine Farley, and Tatiana Potts
Group 2: Martin Lang, Natalie Petrosky, Peter Cotroneo, and AJ Masterson
Group 3: Keely Snook, Ed Miller, BJ Alumbaugh, and Jade Hoyer
May 6 - June 10, 2016
Initiated by the Ewing's Director Sam Yates 26 years ago, this exhibition recognizes outstanding students graduating from The University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Art, College of Arts and Sciences; a Bachelor of Architecture or Bachelor of Science, Interior Design, a Master of Architecture, and a Master of Landscape Design from the College of Architecture and Design.
Selected by a School of Art Faculty Scholarship committee, eight art students from various art disciplines were chosen from the qualifying applicants for this year's exhibition. These students are Youn Lee, Brandon McBath, Ashley Layendecker, Mark Bender, Anna Weible, Santiago Ortiz-Piazuelo, Alex Rudd, and Alex Raykowitz.
The College of Architecture and Design participants were selected by the faculty-at-large, and by outside review teams. The students are: Alexis Porten, Maddie Mitchell, Tatum Rumsey, Adam Buchanan, Aaron Shugart-Brown, Trevor Mayes, Geneva Frank, David Berry, and Rebecca Gillolgy.
ENCORE is an exhibition of the work of 11 graduates from the University of Tennessee School of Art living and working in Nashville, TN. Exhibiting artists are: Jodi Hays, Rob Matthews, Sterling Goller-Brown, Brandon Donahue, Briena Harmening, Jonathan Lisenby, Mary Addison Hackett, David King, Lakesha Moore, Lain York, and Terry Thacker.
Sarah Emerson: The Unbearable Flatness of Being
September 6 - 29, 2016
Atlanta-based artist Sarah Emerson creates paintings and installations that present viewers with highly stylized versions of nature that combine geometric patterns and mythic archetypes to examine contemporary landscape.
Liam Young is a speculative architect who, in his own words, “operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures”. With his London-based design think tank, Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today, he explores the future implications of emerging urban developments. Named by Blueprint magazine as one of 25 people who will change architecture and design, Young uses fiction and film to discuss probable futures.
The Lure of Maine
November 7 - December 11, 2016
Walter Hollis (Holly) Stevens arrived at UT in the fall of 1957. He was soon introduced to the work of his new Art Department colleague, Carl Sublett who was having a solo exhibition in UT’s Audigier Gallery. Sublett had arrived at UT only 2 years earlier at the request of the department’s founder Kermit Ewing to assist him with painting classes. From the newly formed friendship between Sublett and Stevens, sprang a strong professional bond that they shared for the remainder of their lives.
They enjoyed plein air painting and often traveled together to locations around Knoxville. In their own studio practice, they shared a workaholic attitude towards art production. As artists, they shared an intense studio commitment to painting and drawing.
They both, also, spent summers in Maine. Sublett’s wife Helen was a native of Maine. Her maternal grandparents were farmers on Deer Isle and her paternal grandparents were lobster fishermen in Port Clyde. Helen was born in Port Clyde and inherited her family’s home there. Carl and Helen spent every summer there. Steven’s family had purchased an old farmstead on Deer Isle in 1958. This also became a summer retreat for the Walter and his family. Both of the artists looked forward to visiting their summer homes where they were invigorated and inspired by Maine’s sensory filled environment.
Deer Isle is located on the eastern tip of Penobscot Bay while Port Clyde is on the bay’s western tip. Although across the bay from each other, a 2-hour drive by car separates the two towns. Therefore, Sublett and Stevens spent more time together in Knoxville than in Maine. However, they looked forward to sharing their summer work with each other on their return to Knoxville. They both continued the annual routine of spending the academic year in Knoxville and the summer in Maine until Stevens’ death on Deer Isle in 1980 and until Sublet’s retirement in 1982. After retirement, Sublett continued this annual travel routine until he and Helen permanently relocated to Maine in 2001. Sublett continued to paint there until his death in 2008.
The View Out His Window [and in his mind's eye]: Jeffery Becton
Jeffery Becton is a photographer and image-maker who lives on Deer Isle, a rocky and forested island off the coast of Maine. Becton makes work, in part, about his surroundings. The extraordinary sweeping coastal views that are such a part of daily life when one lives by the sea are often incorporated into his images. Equally critical is internal life, both the space inside the home (and the comfort and protection it provides from northern New England’s inclement weather), and the introspective and contemplative space that enlivens one’s imagination, which is no doubt encouraged in this stunning and remote location.
Michael Berryhill, Jaya Howey, EJ Houser, and Patricia Treib.
Representing diverse ethnic, cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds, these resident artists introduce another layer of candor and a fresh artistic standard for the students who, though early in their formal art studies, are beginning to develop their own perceptions, skills, and theories in connection with the making of art. Although the resident artists present lectures during their stays, it is access to their works of art that is highly anticipated and valued by both the students and the faculty. Therefore, the Ewing Gallery has sponsored group exhibitions of these artists since the inception of the Artist-in-Residence Program in 1982.
Begun in 1947 by C. Kermit Ewing, founder of The University of Tennessee School of Art, the annual student exhibition has become one of the oldest competitions in the country and one of the highlights of the Ewing Gallery's exhibition season.
The selection of a student art exhibition is a challenging but meaningful task, and we are grateful for this year's jurors Dr. Angela Ho, Art History; Pamela Jorden and John Pearson, Fine Arts; and Michael Hendrix, Graphic Design.
Jonathan Lisenby, April Bachtel, Victoria Buck, Cierra Reppart, Jen Scheuer, Andrew Merriss, Daniel Ogletree, and Hannah Skoonberg
Selected by a School of Art Faculty Scholarship committee, seven art students from various art disciplines were chosen from the qualifying applicants for this year's exhibition. These students are Lauren Beale, Lauren Hulse, Richard Ensor, Josie Henry, Paige Burchell, Marta Lee, and Hannah Barker.
The College of Architecture and Design participants were selected by the faculty-at-large, and by outside review teams. Exhibitors were: Amanda Gann, Daniel Zegel, Mallory Barga, Jenny Budde, Jennifer Stewart, Claire Kistler, and Leah Baker.
think / make / think
Exhibition featuring the work of current professors in the University of Tennessee School of Art.
Exhibiting faculty are: Joshua Bienko, Emily Bivens, Sally Brogden, Jason S. Brown, Paul Harrill, Paul Lee, Sarah Lowe, Beauvais Lyons, Frank Martin, Althea Murphy-Price, John Powers, Deborah Shmerler, Jered Sprecher, Cary Staples, Claire Stigliani, David Wilson, Karla Wozniak, Koichi Yamamoto, and Sam Yates.
Promiscuous Surfaces: Perry Kulper Drawn Out
October 2 - 26, 2014
Perry Kulper is an architect and associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan. Prior to his arrival at the University of Michigan he was a SCI-Arc faculty member for 16 years as well as in visiting positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Arizona State University. Subsequent to his studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (BS Arch) and Columbia University (M Arch) he worked in the offices of Eisenman/ Robertson, Robert A.M. Stern and Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown before moving to Los Angeles. His interests include the roles of representation and methodologies in the production of architecture and in broadening the conceptual range by which architecture contributes to our cultural imagination.
Color Refined
November 10 - December 12, 2014
Color Refined features the abstract works of Beatrice Riese, Siri Berg, Gabriele Evertz, Rella Stuart-Hunt, and Rachel Beach. Born outside of the United States, each woman emigrated here for various reasons – love, education, and to escape political turmoil. The women all chose New York as their home, and their mature art careers developed and flourished in the city. Color Refined focuses on each artist's utilization and exploration of color and color theory as the main feature of her abstract work. This exhibition also celebrates the creative accomplishments of immigrants who enrich and contribute to American culture.
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Tag: Trinity
Why does the Trinity matter?
May 29, 2013 April 15, 2019 gregsylerLeave a comment
Following Sunday School last week, I asked one of our kids what she learned.
“Nothing,” she said. (That’s not an uncommon response from lots of kids, but this was strange for this particular child.)
“Nothing?” I responded. “Surely you picked up something?”
“It’s the same thing we heard last year,” she said, “the Trinity, God is three and also one.”
I’m willing to wager that the vast majority of people, like that 9-year-old, are so far beyond being tired of Christian preachers asserting dogmatic truths that they’ve started to feel as if Christianity is nothing more than a wierd code language, and some of us some of the time as part of our commitment to grow deeper and help change the world are forced to listen to words which don’t actually convey meaning. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that those who are not in churches and not likely to darken the door of any church are a lot like many within those sanctuaries — wondering about the purpose of their life and how they can help make this world a more just and equitable place and if they care, whatsoever, about what Christians are doing on Sundays they’re probably wondering “Why? What’s the big deal? So what? What’s the point?”
It’s not important whether one understands Christianity. Take the doctrine of the Trinity, for instance — that God is one and in three persons. For starters, this is hardly comprehensible. And, on another level, understanding it doesn’t really matter. Ask yourself, instead, what difference it makes. That’s what the world’s asking, and it’s a very good question.
In short, the Trinity makes a difference, a big difference.
The doctrine of the Trinity wasn’t officially settled until the Council of Chalcedon in 381 A.D. That doesn’t mean that everyone still agreed, but it’s interesting that a lot of years passed between Jesus and this church council. In that time, there was a lot of wondering and figuring stuff out and discerning and talking but, if you haven’t figured out by now, there was also a whole lot of arguing, screaming, kicking out and fighting. The story of Christianity, in many ways, is also the story of a big, drawn-out family argument. Perhaps you’ve experienced or, maybe, started one. The table erupts into contention, everyone’s involved even if they don’t want to be, and as much as you want to walk away and scream and say “I’m done with all you people!” you don’t. No, they’re still your family and as much as you don’t know why you love them you still do, in spite of your radically differing opinions about whatever it was that started that argument.
That’s a real gift, the gift of different opinions and arguing parties. A brief journey through the story of how early Christians wondered and wandered toward a definition of the Trinity might highlight some of this.
In the pages of the New Testament, there’s no doctrine of the Trinity, but there is a threefold understanding of God and in places where the context wouldn’t otherwise demand it. The Apostolic Fathers of the late-first and early-second centuries, such as Ignatius of Antioch, didn’t concern themselves with figuring out dogma – they were too busy tending the lives of growing congregations – but God is clearly affirmed as creator and Jesus is not only Son of God but also “our God” (as in Ignatius’ Letter to the Ephesians) and a triadic formula is often used. Justin Martyr and other Apologists of the early second century began to develop an understanding of how the one God can be both eternal and, at the same time, also revealed in the Son. Using logos — Greek for ‘word’ and ‘speech’ – Justin affirmed that God is one but, just as your own speech comes from within your own mind, so too does God bring forth something of Godself from time to time. Building on that, Irenaeus (late second century) developed a more thought-out understanding of how the Spirit plays in all of this: there’s an economy in God, Irenaeus taught; God’s nature is one but, at various points, God’s Word (Son) and God’s Wisdom (Spirit) are disclosed.
Irenaeus’ “economic trinitarianism”, as it’s called today, sparked fervor because many felt it denied an essential part of the Christian faith: monotheism. And in the third century there was a backlash against emergent trinitarian thinking, leading to the belief that there was no distinction in the Godhead. Into this argument stepped the third-century theologian, Tertullian, who not only affirmed the one-ness of God but, going beyond Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, also showed that in God there are three unique, distinct persons. Tertullian’s synthesis of Latin and Greek philosophy with emerging Christian doctrines remained central for some time, until in the fourth century a preacher from Alexandria named Arius returned the original fear that all of this denies the belief in one God. Arianism was so popular that it led, in time, to the Councils of Nicea (325 A.D., figuring out the relationship between the Son and the Father) and Chalcedon (381 A.D., addressing the first question as well as dealing the Trinity). Both Councils officially denounced Arianism as heresy and proclaimed that the Son is fully God (so we say in the Nicene Creed: “…God from God, light from light, true god from true god…”) and that there are, in fact, three distinct persons in the one God. This we call the Trinity.
Perhaps this sounds like one of those big family blow-outs in which everyone’s argued about something for so long that someone, at some point, says “What is it we started arguing about again?”, at which the entire table erupts in laughter. Surely, parts of the story I just told do sound a lot like starting World War III because someone forgot to put out the salad dressing!
But there’s a reason why this conversation got started, and there’s a reason why it turned into an argument and why it took so long to get worked out. There is a why?, a so what? to this entire story and that is far more important to know than the answer itself.
The Trinity is essentially a very profound and progressive understanding of God. The desire which fuels all of this is the search for a way to understand with some degree of comprehension that God is both eternal, true, for all time and, at the same time, new and fresh and living. You know that God is, and if you’ve ever flirted with atheism – or tried it out for a while – you know, I’ll bet, the limits of cutting off all possibility of something beyond, something else, something more to life. But just because you experience an open-eyed wonder you might not be entirely comfortable with feeling locked into a belief system which seems to assert with dogmatic authority that there are things you must believe about God. You want to be rooted in something true, something lasting, something real … and yet you don’t want to get stuck.
The reason why Christians stumbled upon the idea of the Trinity is to explain these real-life issues. The Trinity is our way of explaining how we can be both rooted in God but not bound by that rootedness, tied to something real but not restricted by that tether, not cut-off to the ways in which God is revealing new riches and, yes, challenges. The Trinity is our way of explaining how we can be both religious and spiritual, both rooted and open.
A catch-phrase for many is that they’re “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). Ironically, there are so many ‘SBNR’s that even though it feels to them like something avant garde it’s a lifestyle which is so caught up in the mainstream that there’s no real substance, if anything there’s a palpable absence of meaning. (It’s not dissimilar to the experience of buying some new fancy outfit that everyone says is the latest in fashion while you also know, as you’re making the purchase, you’re going to dump it in the second-hand shop box in less than a year.)
We are living in a new apostolic age, and it’s much more similar to the early centuries of Christianity than these latter ones. This is not to say that the answers and the doct rines are invalid or, somehow, less valid. I am saying, though, that the challenge for us is to get underneath our dogma and listen and respond attentively to the voices and experience of real women and men, people who are really searching and quite honestly struggling to make meaning in a relatively unmoored world. The democratization of technology and widespread availability of information in our western, internet-connected world has not only led to a greater dissemination of knowledge but also, ironically, a profound disconnect for many with what it feels like to have an intellectual, spiritual home — a native language, a base-line understanding of how the world works. The challenge and, I’d say, gift is that we live in a world in which people are free and sophisticated enough to ask, with integrity, why? and so what difference does that make? And when they ask this question they are really, truly wondering and searching and yearning for something that sounds like a refreshing place to lay their spiritual and intellectual heads … but not get stuck there.
This also means that we are free, in fact we are expected to no longer simply give the answers to the test but share with a compelling narrative that our faith is progressive and open-minded, that we are spiritual people who are seeking and, when we stumble upon the Holy, we pause in the presence of a living God. Because of that, then, we’re unafraid to put down roots and journey deeper into the heart of that mystery, that God who is eternal and true and yet, at once, involved in this world and revealing something new, indeed “new every morning.” (Lam.3:23)
Posted in Liturgical Year, TheologyTagged Arius, Body of Christ, Council of Chalcedon, Council of Nicea, economic trinitarianism, Greg Syler, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, mission of the church, monarchianism, monotheism, new apostolic age, New Testament, Tertullian, Trinity
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Why The Giants Might Think Twice About Hiring Matt Patricia
Home Around FPC
by Curtis Rawls
in Around FPC, New York Giants, News, NFC, NFC East
(cred. USA Today Sports)
New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Ben McAdoo as head coach of the New York Football Giants.
On paper, Patricia is an ideal choice. He definitely has the intelligence to be an NFL head coach. Patricia is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was a four-year starter on the offensive line. He earned a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1996.
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After spending a season at his alma mater as a graduate assistant, Patricia spent two years as an application engineer. He received lucrative offers to help maintain nuclear submarines and aircrafts but decided to embark on a coaching career.
Patricia has been with the Patriots since 2004. He began as an offensive assistant, eventually climbing the ladder as an assistant offensive line coach, linebackers coach, and safeties coach. Patricia was named defensive coordinator in 2012. His innovative mind has been on full display this season as the Patriots defense got off to a slow start due to a lack of talent.
The defending Super Bowl champions ranked near the bottom of the league (29th) in yards per game, surrendering 366 yards per game. They didn’t give up many points in spite of the yards the high number of yards yielded. The Patriots allowed 18.5 points per game, fifth in the NFL.
Patricia is a young coach at 43 years of age and is known for building strong relationships with players. Hiring him would be a slam dunk for the Giants, right? Not so fast. The biggest problem with hiring Patricia is that none of Bill Belichick’s assistants have had much success outside of Foxborough as a head coach.
Charlie Weis spent five seasons as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator (2000-04), helping the Patriots win Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. He departed the Patriots to become head coach at Notre Dame (2005-09). Weis went 35-27 with the Fighting Irish, including a 10-3 season in 2006. However, Notre Dame was 1-2 in bowl games under Weis and largely underachieved. In the end, Notre Dame essentially paid Weis to go away
After two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs (where he helped the Chiefs win the AFC West with the NFL’s best rushing attack in 2010) and the University of Florida (where the Gators’ offense was ranked 102nd), Weis was named head coach at Kansas. His tenure with the Jayhawks (2012-14) is forgettable with a record of 6-22. He was fired four games into the 2014 season.
Romeo Crennel was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator while Weis ran the offense. He left Foxborough after the win in Super Bowl XXXIX to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns. The highlight of Crennel’s Browns tenure was the 2007 season when Cleveland went 10-6 but missed the playoffs. Crennel, the fourth Browns head coach after their four-season hiatus, went 24-40.
After Crennel was fired by the Browns, he landed with the Chiefs as offensive coordinator. He was elevated to head coach after Todd Haley was fired in Week 14 of the 2011 season. Crennel went 2-1 in the final three games and the interim tag was removed for 2012. Unfortunately, the Chiefs went 2-14 and Crennel was fired.
Eric Mangini spent six seasons (2000-05) on the Patriots coaching staff before being named head coach of the division rival New York Jets (2006-08), replacing the bombastic Herm Edwards. He led the Jets to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth in his first season, losing to Belichick’s Patriots in the Wild Card round. The following season, the Jets imploded with a 4-12 record. In Mangini’s final season, the Jets missed the playoffs despite starting the season 8-3 with Brett Favre behind center.
Mangini was named head coach of the Browns in 2009. Cleveland started the season 1-11. There were rumors that the team didn’t appreciate Mangini’s tendency to micromanage. He was fired after the 2010 season. His NFL coaching record is 33-47 (23-25 Jets, 10-22 Browns).
Current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who also interviewed with the Giants, is in his second tenure with the defending Super Bowl champions. He was named head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009. McDaniels’ time with the Broncos was marred by a videotape scandal and sloppy play on the field. The Broncos fired McDaniels one week after both the team and head coach were fined by the NFL. McDaniels was 11-17 as Broncos head coach.
Patricia is rumored to have flubbed during the interview process last offseason. There is also talk of Patriots defensive players’ tendency to lean on Belichick, a former defensive coordinator himself. An anonymous player believes that “Matt will struggle as a head coach”.
Matt Patricia has the intelligence and innovative mind to succeed as an NFL head coach. The odds are stacked against him given the success (or lack thereof) of many of Belichick’s assistants as head coach. All signs are pointing to Patricia becoming the Giants’ next head coach although he wouldn’t officially take over until after the Patriots’ season ends.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
Tags: Charlie WeisEric ManginiJosh McDanielsMatt PatriciaNew York GiantsRomeo Crennel
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New coronavirus cases are declining in parts of US but experts say more deaths are coming
Posted: May 29, 2020 / 05:45 AM EDT / Updated: May 29, 2020 / 05:45 AM EDT
A health worker takes a drop of blood for the COVID-19 antibody test after at the Diagnostic and Wellness Center on May 5, 2020, in Torrance, California. (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
No one wants to see another horrific milestone like the one reached this week.
The US death toll from coronavirus topped 100,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That means an average of almost 900 Americans died each day since the first known coronavirus-related death nearly four months ago.
While the number of new cases each day is slowly declining in parts of the US, several models indicate the death toll will continue rising in the next weeks.
Dr. Chris Murray, a researcher behind an influential coronavirus model from the University of Washington, said he still sees “many deaths coming” even after his model projected fewer deaths than a week ago.
The number of US deaths forecast by August shifted to 132,000 — 11,000 fewer than projected a week ago — according to the model by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME.
Murray noted that he expects the spread of the virus to increase in September and “then really pick up speed towards January.”
“That’s the part we need to get our thinking around,” Murray said. “How do we prevent that? How do we prepare for those cities where transmission may tip over into exponential growth again, and what are we going to do when that happens.”
An analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of more than a dozen models shows that the number of deaths will likely surpass 115,000 by June 20.
The CDC’s forecast does not include IMHE projections.
Socializing outdoors and wearing masks may help
Scientists say there are ways to help minimize future tragedies because the virus generally doesn’t spread outdoors as easily as it does indoors.
Those socializing with friends outdoors should still stay at least 6 feet apart, said Erin Bromage, associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
“As long as you’ve got that 6 feet of distance and you’ve got the air blowing and you just are enjoying each other’s company, then 6 feet is fine,” Bromage said. “If you’re exercising and huffing and puffing away from 6 feet, I would get a little further apart.”
Wearing face coverings is also critical to help stop the spread of coronavirus — especially because many carriers of the virus don’t even know they’re infected.
“A standard mask, the ones that we’ve been making, cut things down by 50%. I wear it to protect you, you wear it to protect me,” Bromage said.
If you’re interacting with someone who’s more vulnerable to severe complications from Covid-19, Bromage advises having “a better quality mask on both you and them.”
6 feet of distance may not be enough, experts warn
For months, health officials have urged people to stay 6 feet apart to slow its spread through respiratory droplets. But three experts are now warning that 6 feet may not be enough.
In a commentary published in the journal Science, three experts said aerosols from breathing and speaking can accumulate, remain infectious in indoor air for hours, and can be easily inhaled into the lungs.
“Evidence suggests that [the novel coronavirus] is silently spreading in aerosols exhaled by highly contagious infected individuals with no symptoms,” wrote Chia Wang of National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, and Kimberly Prather and Dr. Robert Schooley of the University of California, San Diego.
The experts, who are specialists in chemistry and infectious diseases, said “a large proportion” of the spread of coronavirus disease appears to be occurring through airborne transmission of aerosols produced by asymptomatic people during breathing and speaking.
The CDC said respiratory droplets produced when a person coughs or sneezes “can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.”
Transmission is more likely when people are in close contact with one another, or “within about 6 feet,” the CDC said.
Change of behavior is more crucial than a vaccine
The US did not have to lose 100,000 people in four months, according to an expert on viruses and biotechnology.
Better preparation and guidance could have helped lower the death toll, said Dr. William Haseltine, president of the think tank ACCESS Health International.
“We already know how to control the virus in a big population. It can be done through human behavior,” the former professor at Harvard Medical School said.
Experts had worked with the US Department of Defense and Homeland Security to plan and protect the country from bioterrorism, as well as from threats like the coronavirus.
“It was totally predictable that another coronavirus was on its way,” Haseltine said. “The mechanism exists, the stockpile, the drugs,” he said. “There was a hole in our safety net.”
China, New Zealand, and Australia have effectively dealt with coronavirus outbreaks, bringing their cases down through testing, contact tracing and isolation, Haseltine said.
The key to their success was behavior change without the benefit of a vaccine or effective drug.
Boston Marathon canceled
The Boston Marathon, planned for September, was officially canceled on Thursday.
Tom Grilk, chief executive officer of the Boston Athletic Association, described it as “difficult decision” and said a “historic virtual marathon” will be held.
The association hopes to “bring the spirit of the Boston marathon to the world” through the virtual race, Grilk said.
Meanwhile, the NBA is still in talks to resume its season.
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry told CNBC’s “Halftime” on Thursday that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will present multiple options at the league’s board of governors meeting on Friday. The vote could happen early next week, he added.
Starting on Sunday, Texas will allow outdoor sporting events to host fans, Gregg Abbott announced on Thursday.
Venues must limit capacity to no more than 25% and fans won’t be allowed for indoor events. The order does not include high school and college sports.
States are seeing up and down trends in new cases
Some parts of the country are reporting fewer new cases each day, but others are seeing the opposite.
Track the virus in your state and nationwide
Washington, DC will move Friday into Phase 1 of reopening after it had a 14-day decline in cases of coronavirus community spread, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
But as of Wednesday, there were 14 states in which the numbers of new cases each day were still trending upward.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves warned residents to stay vigilant as the state’s stay at home order is lifted on Monday and health officials are still seeing a steady number of cases.
“We continue to see new cases that are closer to 300 new cases a day rather than the 200 number where we have been for some period of time,” Reeves told reporters on Thursday.
In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said health officials were reporting one of the highest single day totals for deaths and hospitalizations in the state since the pandemic began. There were 827 people who died and 708 people in the hospital, he said.
“We remind ourselves that these aren’t just numbers. They’re people who’ve died in North Carolina, our case count continued to go up,” Cooper said. “We know that one reason is because we have increased testing, which is critical to reigniting our economy and keeping people safe.”
Cooper said the state is “ready to hold” the Republican National Convention and authorities were waiting to see the organizers potential plans.
California became the fourth state Wednesday with more than 100,000 cases. New York, New Jersey and Illinois were the first three to reach the milestone.
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‘Star Fox Zero’ Release Date: Nintendo Needs To Start Spreading The Word
Posted: February 28, 2016 in Game Articles
by Apolon via iDigital Times
The Star Fox Zero release date is on April 21, and right now, Nintendo has all of its attention focused on the release of Twilight Princess HD on March 4. That’s great for Legend of Zelda… but not so much for Star Fox Zero. In fact, Star Fox Zero isn’t getting quite the attention that it should be getting. Nintendo needs to ramp up the marketing for Star Fox, ASAP. Because the game looks great, and Nintendo just needs to get the word out there.
Star Fox Zero is going to be the first Star Fox game in a very long time—the first since Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS a gasp-inducing ten years ago. Star Fox Assault, the last console Star Fox, dates all the way back to 2005. It’s truly a series that’s been on the backburner, but Nintendo has revived it at last. And that’s a pretty serious gamble on their part.
Here’s the thing with Star Fox Zero: On the surface, from what we’ve seen so far, it looks a lot like Star Fox 64. And that’s because it’s supposed to: The game deliberately emulates the strongest game in the series. It’s got a similar structure, similar gameplay, even a similar look. But so far, it seems like only us real die-hards are excited about it.
What’s going on? Basically, Nintendo just needs to ramp up the amount of attention it’s paying to Star Fox Zero. After all, Star Fox 64 still has some of the best starship-based fighting of any game ever, and Star Fox Zero promises to finally bring us those experiences again, but modernized. Sure, the graphics aren’t the prettiest. That’s not really the point.
Somehow, a bad narrative has set in about Star Fox Zero. And maybe that’s because Nintendo has been busy promoting other things—Super Mario Maker, Fire Emblem, Twilight Princess HD. But now it’s almost Star Fox’s time, and that narrative is going to change as Nintendo goes wide with its marketing. The company is going to remind us just why we should get excited about the return of Star Fox… the reasons we wanted Nintendo to revive the series for so long in the first place. It can be done, and it will be done when we see the game again.
Visit our Official Website at http://www.gamersoutpost.net
‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ News Possibly Coming As Rockstar Prepares For Large E3 Presence
Review: The Good, The Bad, And The Bleak Of Ubisoft’s ‘The Division’
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Operating Systems & Software Support
By GlimmerMan, February 27, 2009 in Gaming
GlimmerMan
Creamed Rice
Hey all, since the release is relatively soon I'd create a didicated Arma2 thread.
Website: http://www.arma2.com
I'll try and update it as more come.
There are a heap HD videos on it.
USMC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pobLy-Wh5nc
Citizens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpc-FPMdA00
ChDKZ Faction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvhsu6W_d0k
CDF Faction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3FIm7nIBts
Here are some nice screenies for now:
some new screenies were released today:
Edited February 27, 2009 by GlimmerMan
This is from a blog update a little while ago and gives an idea of the vegetation in the game:
http://www.bistudio.com/developers-blog/ar...gress-2_en.html
And a couple more screenies
place-holder
psycho_terror
OCC 4 LIFE
Folding Member
hope they make this game what the first one should have been.
i would have enjoyed it a lot more had the copy protection not repeatedly ruined my game, prompting me to return it.
Clock Me Higher
UPDATE RUSH!!!
(pretty amazing)
Chernarus
North-Eastern Chernarus is a hilly area with rocky coastlines; the biggest hilltops reach over 700 m above sea level, covered by temperate forests. The environment is still relatively untouched
from logging and mining. The biggest cities and industry are concentrated on the southern coast. There are mostly smaller villages inland, situated in deep valleys, hidden in forested
ridges or on elevated plateaus with lush meadows.
First settlements date back to 5th Century B.C. When the valleys of the Burnaja and Svetlaya rivers were inhabited by Skyth tribes and nomads, who later formed the Takmyr and Karzeg nations. The center of modern Chernarus had been founded in the delta of the Burnaya River and on the coast, divided from the Zagorie region which was under the supremacy of a Moscow Principate by the Black Mountains ridge. The local Slavic population constantly had to fight off the raiders from the southwest so it was traditionally bound with Russia, but always kept its independence. In the 12th Century it was controlled by dukes, in the 13th century it was united by Taras Kozub. The Kozub dynasty ruled until 1631, when Chernarus joined the Russian empire. After the revolution in 1917 Chernarus became an autonomic federal republic, after the demise of the USSR in 1991 it gained independence.
* 225 km2 of real world data
* 1 million 3D objects
* 350 kilometers of roads
* 50 towns and villages
* 2 dams and numerous small lakes and ponds
* Certain hilltops reach an altitude of over 700m
* Almost 100km2 of forests
* Urban areas contain ports, factories
* Military installations including large airfield
* Direction and distance signs accompanying road network
* Civilian population and wildlife
Old sights
Chernarus has lots of old castle ruins, keeps and fortresses, which were built at the turn of the 11th and 12th century by Duke Kozlov, for the means of protecting important roads and grounds, which were often attacked from the sea and by northern neighbors. The Pik Kozlova above the Chernogorsk city is named after this duke, who is considered a founder of the first Chernarussian state. On the peak above the city there used to stand a warning post which protected the local provinces from pirate raids. This rocky peak is a favorite lookout point nowadays.
The majority of the structures of that time were made of wood, only the ruins of Rog keep and the famous Devil's Castle are preserved to this day. The Devil's Castle received its name many years later, perhaps sometime during the end of the 13th century. After the fall of Kozlov's Principate at the beginning of the 13th century, the fortress system fell apart; fortresses that weren't burned down were taken apart stone by stone, as needed for the structure of surrounding estates, or for different purposes.
The former Kozlovo Castle, now called the Devil's Castle, was supposedly inhabited by the yeoman Jakub Čert (Devil) from Gorka. His bandit campaigns started here at the castle. He enlarged the keep of the castle, using the loot from these raids and the castle holds his name to this day. According to legend, the Devil's Castle was burned down during the zagorian Karzeg's rebellion, Jakub Čert burned in the castle's main tower after he refused to surrender to Ataman Simurg. Only burned walls remain of the castle, haunted to this day by the spirit of Ivan Kozlov. Whatever the truth is, Devil's Castle is one of the most remarkable architectural sights in Chernarus and it became a rewarding destination for tourists.
Military Zones
Shortly after WWII, the small Red Army airport in the Northern province, designated for parachute training, expanded and gradually evolved into an air base with large military surroundings. In the border mountains there are a few former bases. After the regaining of independence, the Chernarussian Army took over these military bases.
At present, there is a lack of funds needed for security and maintenance; the condition of these bases has become even worse because of fighting between the regular army and rebel units who were using a number of these bases as their foot-holds. Visiting the former military areas isn't forbidden, but due to large numbers of unexploded ordnance as well as the decayed conditions of the buildings it is not recommended.
Despite the industrialization and the devastation of the coast, the Northern Province is proud of its untouched wild nature and idyllic agriculture countryside. Mostly because of the highland character of the North East part of the country, this was unsuitable for either industrial production or for collective agriculture.
A large part of the northern area is covered by coniferous or mixed forests, known as the Black forests because of their depth and inviolateness. The unique moors on the table-side Dičina on the south of the Vybor is also worth mentioning. In the scientific view the area around the Blunt rocks is very precious: rock formations with the remains of a glacial lake from ice age times. The southern part of the Northern Province suffered through thoughtless construction, so that the original coastal fauna and flora can only be found sporadically, mostly aside the mainland. The best known such place is the Skalist
Inhabited areas
The biggest city and the administrative center of the Chernarussian Northern Province is Chernogorsk. What was originally a small fisherman's village quickly grew into a city thanks to the intensive industrialization of the Chernarussian Autonomic Republic, which began in the 50's of the previous century. Chernogorsk has always been a harbor town, once connected to northern trade routes, now a place through which the raw materials flow to Elektrozavodsk.
By the decision of the Soviet Union's government, not only Chernogorsk, but also other fairly undeveloped cities of the Northern Province were supposed to change to the symbol of industrial advancement. The price for urbanization and industrialization was the environmental damage of the coastal areas. The local village population was rooted out and forced to live an urban life, or moved to the northern Kolkhozs. This fact reflects not only in the fast-engineered infrastructure and generic apartment block style housing developments, but also in the architectural spirit of socialistic realism. The dominants of the cities then aren't the historical centers, but industrial zones, lime-kiln and the buildings of long abandoned factories.
Misc Screens
These are not official screens nor are they on the highest settings, they were taken by a beta tester with a Q9450, GTX285, 4GB RAM and XP
Edited May 5, 2009 by GlimmerMan
OCC Boss
Impressive screenshots
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Posted on January 4, 2021 by feministkilljoys
It is another year, a new year. A new year, an old reality, being where we are, in a global pandemic, a time of immense loss and hardship for so many. When times are hard, inequalities become harsher.
This is a killjoy commitment.
I commit to keep going, to keep doing what I can to challenge inequalities where I am.
On the morning of January 1st 2021, I made another killjoy commitment. I tweeted:
I recommit myself to the task of explaining what I oppose without elevating what I oppose as a position worthy of being debated.
My task in this post is to show how these killjoy commitments are part of the same commitment.
To challenge inequalities where I am is to explain what I oppose without elevating what I oppose to a position worthy of being debated.
For me to undertake this task will be to return to complaint.
My study of complaint is an explanation of how hard it is to challenge inequalities.
Harassment is an equality issue.
What do you do if someone with institutional power harasses you? You know that if you did complain they could use that power to do what they can to stop not just the complaint but you, to stop you from getting somewhere.
Much harassment is the effort to stop people complaining about harassment.
That some have power can be what makes it hard to complain. Power works by making it hard to challenge how power works. We have systems in place to stop those who have power from retaliating against those who complain. But those systems often work to protect those who abuse their power from those who complain about abuses of power. My study is a study of what follows this but.
We learn about power from those who complain about power. Hence my project hashtag: complaint as feminist pedagogy.
In the year to come, I hope to write more posts that draw on the material I gathered for my study of complaint. Although my forthcoming book Complaint! is long, it was not possible to share all the stories that have been shared with me. There is so much left to share. I hope to write some shorter, dare I say it, snappier posts in the coming year. These are hopes, because I have yet to write the posts.
I hope to reflect more on how and why so much harassment today is justified as expressions of freedom. I also want to write specifically on how transphobic harassment is reproduced by the refusal to identify that harassment as harassment. These posts will not mention specific authors by name, even if I use direct quotes. I have quoted from work without naming authors in earlier posts (such as this one). I am well aware people can follow the quote to the source. But I will not cite authors by name insofar as a citation can be an invitation to dialogue. Remember: my killjoy commitment is to explain what I oppose without elevating what I oppose into a position worthy of being debated.
Why not debate the views you oppose? To oppose some views requires opposing debating some views. It can be the transformation of what you oppose into a viewpoint that is debatable that you oppose.
There are lots of debates that, if reopened, would compromise our commitments to equality. A gay journalist published an article about homophobia he had experienced. One person wrote a comment in response: “we should be allowed to debate whether homosexuality is a mental illness.” I was really struck by this sentence. Sometimes a history can be abbreviated as a sentence. This statement did not claim that homosexuality is a mental illness. It said we should be allowed to debate whether or not that claim is true. One suspects that only a person who has such a viewpoint, that homosexuality is a mental illness, would articulate a desire to make that viewpoint debatable. Viewpoints that counter existing commitments to equality are often expressed as an effort to reopen a debate. One way of saying “homosexuality is a mental illness” is by saying “we should be allowed to debate whether homosexuality is a mental illness.”
A viewpoint can be expressed in the act of calling for a viewpoint to be made debatable. This is especially the case when the viewpoint expressed is one that pathologises a group protected under equality legislation (treating a group as suffering from illness). Groups that are protected by equality legislation (in the UK, the language is “protected characteristics”) are groups that are discriminated against.
Debatability can thus be code. It can be saying: we should we allowed to discriminate.
There are some debates we must refuse if we are to express in a meaningful way our commitments to equality. A commitment to equality is a commitment to enabling what does not yet exist (a commitment to equality is necessary given the existence and reproduction of inequalities).
For equality to be possible, there needs to be restrictions in what people can do as well as say. We learn something about the nature of power and privilege from those who experience the restrictions necessary for equality as restrictions on their freedom. We learn something about the nature of power and privilege that some people experience equality as theft.
If we were to reopen the debate as to whether homosexuality was a mental illness, those of us who are lesbian or gay would be hammered, all over again, prodded and poked; we would have our lives and our loves scrutinised. Homophobia would be given legitimacy; it would be given somewhere to go. To have to defend ourselves against this claim, would be to have to go back over what made it, what makes it, very hard to exist in our own terms. Some of us know that it would not take that much for that to happen, for lesbian and gay people to have to defend ourselves against homophobic terms, how we live, how we love. We know that the public commitments to equality are conditional and can easily be withdrawn. We know that the equation between homosexuality and paedophilia is still being made in debates about sex education which is also how (and why) the legitimation of transphobia is often the re-legitimation of homophobia. We also know the gap between commitments and action: we know gay friendly organizations can be hostile environments for gay people. We also know that if homophobia is often prefaced in public as what you are not allowed to say, in private it can be expressed without any such prefacing whether in the form of jokes, slurs, insults, abuse, or in assaults.
Well then, imagine this: you say, I will not have that debate, I will not make my existence a debate, and you are told, stop being a sensitive snow-flake, too easily offended, stop censoring others. Imagine being accused of harming those who wish to have that debate because you refuse the terms of that debate.
You don’t have to imagine it: this does happen; this has happened; it is happening.
Another killjoy commitment: to document what is happening to those who refuse to debate their existence.
In my book Complaint! I explore how much verbal and physical harassment is justified as freedom. I talked to a woman postgraduate student who made a complaint against men students for sexual harassment (earlier posts that refer to her testimony are here and here). Most of that harassment took the form of sexist and misogynist language: the men students used expressions like “milking bitches” to describe women students and academics. One staff member put pressure upon her not to complain saying “he didn’t mean anything by it.” When the woman student went ahead and complained, with support from other women students, the harassment worsened, turning into threats of physical violence (statements made included “grasses get slashes”). As another student involved in the complaint described “they were talking about the women who complained as vermin who needed to be shot.” These threats were not taken seriously. She explains: “Even when threats of violence were made, it was implied it was just talk and it didn’t mean anything.” In a subsequent meeting with the students who made the complaint, their head of department said: “I don’t need to talk to you about discourse analysis and poststructuralism, and we can all do a discourse analysis on x; and we’d all come up with very different meanings.” The head of department makes reference to current theories to imply that interpreting “milking bitches” as an offensive and sexist speech act is just one interpretation amongst a universe of possible interpretations.
Just one interpretation: the implication is that the speech act can be justified. We could call this justification the theoretical justification of violence.
The head of department’s comment is the kind of justification that I have heard over and over again in my study of complaint and from my own experience of trying to challenge sexism and racism in the wider public domain. A common justification for using offensive terms is that terms have different meanings. I have heard lecturers or students justify their own use of racist terminology including terms we know by letter; I will not share the letters, a history can the violence of repeated letters, as an attempt to give those terms new meanings or even to show that they can acquire new meanings.
The justification of violence is how that violence is repeated. The justification of violence is that violence.
The transition from “he didn’t mean anything by it” to “it didn’t mean anything” to “we’d all come up with very different meanings” is teaching us something about how and why meaning matters. The implication is that to complain about what such-and-such person said is to impose your interpretation upon others. I think what is going on here is another version of stranger danger. In earlier work I have suggested that stranger danger is used to imply that violence originates with outsiders. It can also be used to imply that those who identify violence “on the inside” do so because they are outsiders. The use of words like racism and sexism become understood not only as impositions from the outside but as attempts to restrict the freedom of those who reside somewhere, the freedom to interpret what words mean and to do as they say. When you complain about offensive terms within the university you are often treated as ungrateful for the benefits you have received by the university, the freedom to make your own interpretation, the freedom to be critical; academic freedom. Replace university with nation and the argument holds: the complainer becomes the stranger, whose complaint is evidence that they do not value our freedom; they are not from here, they do not belong here.
Many terms are treated as attempts to restrict freedom not only as impositions from the outside but as made by outsiders. This is true for the terms sexism as well as harassment: consider how many people mourn a world where you can say and do certain things because feminists have called such behaviours harassment or designated them as sexist. I document these acts of mourning in The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, which I am currently compiling. This is true for the term racism: consider how many people suggest that you are not allowed to argue for restrictions to immigration because you would be called racist, or how work in the new eugenics, which is not that different from the old eugenics, implies that racism is used to stop us having certain kinds of conversations about why white people might prefer being with white people and have the right (even duty) to defend their spaces accordingly.
We call these words and actions racist and sexist. Those who use these words or act in these ways don’t call themselves racist or sexist. They claim to be censored by the words, racism and sexism, stopped from saying certain things, stopped from doing certain things, stopped from being certain things.
This is also true for the word transphobia. I have come across countless instances where the term transphobia is identified as an attempt to restrict the freedom of some people to say what they wish to say, do what they wish to do, be what they wish to be. Misgendering, for example, is often justified as freedom of speech. The requirement to use the correct pronouns is often positioned as a restriction on that freedom. When some academics say “out of politeness” they respect pronouns of their students they are implying they are free to do so or not to do so. They are not in fact free not to do so; they are required to do so under existing equality law. The guidance by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) thus includes deliberate misgendering as an example of harassment of persons (using the terms of the 2010 Equality Act) with the “protected characteristic” of gender reassignment.
Those who are members of groups with a “protected characteristic” are those who decide what counts as harassment, which includes “creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.” So, if a woman student says that the repeated use of terms like “milking bitches” made the environment hostile, that is harassment. Disputing the terms is how the harassment is enabled. So, if a person of colour says the repeated use of a racist slur makes the environment hostile, that is harassment. Disputing the terms is how the harassment is enabled. So, if a trans person says that deliberate and repeated misgendering makes the environment hostile, that is harassment. Disputing the terms is how the harassment is enabled. Some might say (some do say) misgendering is not like a slur or an insult; they might try to minimize the harm of misgendering, to make light of it. Well, those who harass almost always try to minimise or deny harm, to make light of it. It is not up to them to decide what counts as a hostile environment. Many transphobic utterances are given what I call theoretical justification. Using theories to justify misgendering (I can call you he because my theories mean I don’t recognise you as she) is no less harassment than it would be without that theoretical justification.
My book Complaint! explores how theories can be used as techniques to shut out the violence of actions. Theories can also be used as if they are exemptions, as if they exempt someone from the requirement not to act in a hostile way toward a group that is protected because they are discriminated against.
Killjoy truth: Your theories do not exempt you.
Killjoy commitment: They do not. So it must stop.
Posted on December 23, 2020 by feministkilljoys
This post is dedicated to all messy queers and other subjects in disarray. We recognise each other from the mess we make; we don’t try to tie up each other’s loose ends. This post is for all those who have been judged as having “made a mess of things” because of what they have tried to do, or tried not to do, not to accept things as they are, not to accept an existing arrangement.
It will take me some time to explain my title, how a mess can be a queer map, but I’ll get there.
Doing research on complaint felt like becoming attuned to mess. As I noted in my previous post, when I first imagined researching people’s experiences of complaint, I thought I would be doing semi-structured interviews. I realised rather quickly that complaints were “too messy,” even for a loose set of questions. What do we learn from the messiness of complaint? And what do we learn from the “too” of “too messy,” from how the messiness of complaint tends to exceed our frames for dealing with it?
On paper, complaints might not appear messy. Consider that complaints procedures are often represented as flow charts, with lines and arrows indicating paths that give the would-be complainer a clear route through.
Things are not always as they seem.
Things are not always as they appear on paper.
I talked to an administrator about her experience of supporting students through the complaints process. She talked me through the process:
So, your first stage would require the complainant to try and resolve it informally, which is really difficult in some situations and which is where it might get stuck in a department…And so it takes a really tenacious complaining student to say, no, I am being blocked…. If something bad has happened, and you are not feeling that way inclined, you can understand why a student would not have the tenacity to make sure that happens, and to advocate for themselves. They might go to the student union, and the student union is really bogged down. So, you can imagine that something on paper that looks very linear is actually very circular a lot of the time and I think that’s the problem, students get discouraged and get demoralised and feel hard done by, and nothing’s getting resolved and then they are in a murky place and they can’t get out.
On paper, a complaint can appear linear. In reality, a complaint is often more circular (round and round rather than in and out). If a procedure exists in order to clear a path, that path can be blocked at any point. Blockages can occur through conversations. When a lecturer went to human resources to make an informal complaint she was told that they were “too busy” to deal with it. Or if, as this administrator describes, a student goes to the students’ union and the students’ union is “really bogged down,” the complaint will end up bogged down. A complaint can be stuck in the mud, so to speak, muddy as well as messy.
You can be stuck by the very nature of the terrain. What it takes to get a complaint moving or to get a complaint through (such as “confidence” and “tenacity”) might be what is eroded by the experiences that led to a complaint (“something bad has happened,” “not feeling that way inclined”). The experiences you need to complain about are the same experiences that make it difficult to keep a complaint going.
A complaint is not simply an outcome of a no, a complaint requires you to keep saying no along the way. Complaints then are rarely experienced as a flow. If we were to picture a complaint, it might be less of a flow chart and rather more like this: it’s a mess, what a tangle.
A Complaint
You can enter the complaint process but not be able to work out how to get out (“they are in a murky place and they can’t get out”). Each line is a tangle, each path, leads to another path, you end up criss-crossing, going backwards, forwards, around and about.
Those cross-crossing lines can be wires; there are so many crossed wires, all that mess, all that confusion. If to make a complaint is to make the same complaint to many different people, those people are not necessarily talking to each other. One student who made a complaint about transphobic harassment from their supervisor described how they ended up having to administer their own complaint process: “I am the one who has to arrange all this information and send it to different people because they are just not talking to each other. I had to file the forms in order to get the human resources records; I had to do all the Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. It was on me to do all of this work, which raises the question of why have human resources officers at all because I am literally doing their job. And I am the one who made the complaint and I have all the emotional damage around that to deal with.” The person who makes the complaint – who is often already experiencing the trauma or stress of the situation they are complaining about – ends up having to direct an unwieldy process, becoming a conduit; they have to hold all the information in order that it can be circulated, they have to keep things moving. We sense a difficulty here given that many of the experiences that lead to complaint can make it hard to hold yourself together let alone direct an unwieldy process.
You have to keep making the same points to different people. An early career academic describes: “there are like four channels of complaint going on at the same time. But interestingly none of these people seem to be crossing over. You duplicate the complaint at different times, emails, phone calls, occupational health; the union. It is all being logged. It is generating all this material and all this paper work but actually nothing seems to shift. It’s just a file, actually.” You end up duplicating the same points to multiple parties because there are no clear lines of communication between those parties. A complaint can be experienced as the requirement to labour over the same points, which are already sore points, points that can become even sorer because of the need to keep making them. And where does a complaint end up? All of those documents many of which replicate other documents, end up in the same file (“it’s just a file, actually”).
When you make a complaint, you write papers that have to go all over the place. Where papers go, you have been; a complaint can be how you end up all over the place. All those different paths you follow lead to the same destination; all the materials you created or collected end up in the same file. I talked to another student about her experience of making complaints. She had also worked as an administrator supporting students in making complaints so she had experience of the process from different angles. She describes: “It’s messy and it’s cyclical: you file the complaint this process happens, which can cause another complaint.” Complaints can lead to more complaints because of how complaints are handled. One student who made a complaint about sexual harassment from another student was told by a member of human resources: “I need to tell you this, the only way you can go with this now; you can’t put in a complaint about a student…. The only complaint you can put in is if you complain against the university, against the way that this has been dealt with.” Being directed to make a complaint about the complaint can be how the original complaint is dropped. You end up on another route, which does seem circular, round and round, round and about, complaints end up referring to other complaints; you have to keep dealing with what is not being dealt with; yes, once you start the process, it is hard to get out.
The straight lines of a complaint procedure can be how complaints appear. But what appears is often not what the person who makes the complaint experiences, which also means that the person who makes the complaint experiences what does not appear.
A mess can be what does not appear. Or perhaps the effects of that messy process, which are themselves messy, do appear. And then it can seem that the complainer is the one who made a mess of things; that the mess is you.
Perhaps procedures are not just what exist on paper, they paper over what exists. Complaints procedures can be used rather like diversity: as a way of not addressing a problem by appearing to do so. My book Complaint! is profoundly indebted to the work of Black feminists and feminists of colour such as M. Jacqui Alexander, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Heidi Mirza who have offered critiques of what diversity does not do.
Diversity can paper over racism. Paper matters. To make a complaint is often to make use of papers. An academic describes, “In every one of my complaints I used the policies that were given to us by the university.” To make use of policies in a complaint is often to point to their failure to be followed. Having evidence of the failure of policies to be followed does not guarantee the success of a complaint. She described policy as a trip wire: “That was my experience of the complaint process. As an employer of the university, the minute you try to enact policy that you are told when you are hired to be the vanguards of, to protect the quality of education and work at the university, that in effect it is a trip wire, and that in effect you become the person to be investigated. These policies are not meant.” When you try and use a policy to do what it was meant to do, your action sends out an alarm or an alert. To make a complaint is to find out what policies are not meant. You are stopped from using the policy rather like a trespasser is stopped from entering the building. If a usage becomes an alarm, you are being told, you are not supposed to do that, you are not supposed to be here. You are stopped by becoming “the person to be investigated.”
It is worth reflecting more on how we learn about institutions from what policies do not do. She describes further: “I was told it was now a formal process. I had to look at all the policies. I found there was this fog. It was constant. Every time I found clarity – isn’t it supposed to happen in accordance with policy blah blah-blah – this has been around ten years, isn’t this supposed to happen, and they would be like no.” To be told “no” is to be told that however long a policy has been around it is not going to determine what happens. Even when a policy makes something clear (“every time I found clarity”) you end up in a fog: messy; muddy; foggy. Nothing is clear. A complaint can thus queer your relation to the institution, and I mean queer in the older sense of the word, queer as strange or wonky. Words that are everywhere in my data are odd, bizarre, weird, strange, and disorientating.
To enter an administrative process, interestingly, perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, can be the start of a rather queer experience: trying to assemble the papers in the right way can lead to odd things happening. One lecturer described what happened during his complaint about discrimination in a promotion case. He noted how documents would suddenly appear in files that had not been there before: “the lawyers had said in my file I had all these negative annual reviews. I thought that was weird as I had no negative reviews.” I have collected many stories of documents that mysteriously appear or disappear from files. The words we use to describe something tell us about something. He described his experience thus: “I would bend towards the surreal. The situations have been so bizarre. I want to believe there is some research value in that because it is so strange.”
I agree: there is research value in documenting what is bizarre and strange. The strangeness of complaint manifests in so many ways, there are so many loose ends, nothing seems to add up or line up. I remember from my own experience how disorientating the experience of complaint can be: you have to keep switching dimensions; you are having all these conversations, so many meetings, meetings after meetings, but most people you are working with don’t even know about what is going on. And you have to keep going back to your other job, your day job, different kinds of meetings; and that world, which is supposed to be the real world, the upright, brightly-lit world, feels increasingly unreal; topsy-turvy; upside down.
If complaints can be what you end up doing, where you end up going, the lack of clarity of the process becomes the world you inhabit: nothing seems to make sense; you can’t make sense of it. One early career lecturer who complained after being harassed by a professor in her department describes:
It is like being trapped in some kind of weird dream where you know you jump from one section to another because you never know the narrative. I think that’s the power that institutional abuse has on you.
Making a complaint can feel like becoming a character in somebody else’s story; what happens to you is dependent on decisions that are made without your knowledge or consent. This is why making a complaint about harassment can often feel like being harassed all over again, becoming subjected, again, to another’s will. You know that what is happening is not what is supposed to be happening, but you still don’t know what is happening. I think again of our messy picture. Perhaps those lines are not just paths, or wires; perhaps they are strings. When you make a complaint, you can feel like something or someone is pulling the strings, but you don’t know what or who.
“Too messy,” can be how you experience a complaint. “Too messy,” can be a life experience. A picture of a complaint can be a picture of a life.
A Life
Another student described multiple delays in her complaint: “Months went by. Nothing. They really botched my complaints procedure just by the virtue of missing their own deadlines.” The more precarious the situation, the more those lines become threads. In the midst of complaint, a life can be what unravels, thread by thread. I use the term strategic inefficiency to show the connection between inefficiency and inequality: for some, a botched job can be a botched life; a delay in a process the end of a line. As an international student, she was waiting for her complaint to be processed whilst her visa was running out: “Ten days before my visa was about to run out, I applied for a new visa. And they were like how can we give her a visa she is on probation. You have to have good standing to get a visa and they were like this complaint thing is open.” For students and staff who are more precarious because of their residential or financial status, the longer a complaint takes, the more you risk losing. If you are already on the edge, barely managing to stay on top of things, a delay can mean everything seems to topple over.
Not everything: perhaps some stay up by how others topple over. If we notice the toppling; it’s a mess; what a mess, we might not notice who stays up, what stays up. That mess often up being contained; remember all those letters that end up in “the same file.” Perhaps making a mess becomes what we aim for. We mess up to get the mess out. We might want to get the papers out from where they have been contained. Sometimes to get the papers out, we get out. When I make the reasons for my resignation public, I shared information, not very much, but enough; that there had been these enquiries. I became a leak: drip; drip. Organizations respond in the mode of damage limitation, treating the information you share as a mess, mopping up a mess. The more you share, the more they mop.
There is hope here: they cannot mop up all of the mess. A leak can be a lead. By becoming a leak, I became easier to find; people came to me with their complaints. That we find each other through complaint is a finding. This finding is not so much a finding from the research but what led me to it; it is how I could do it. My resignation letter, at least the version I shared in public, was how many I spoke to found me. Posting that letter was how I became part of a collective, a complaint collective.
To resign can be how you get the letters out. Even complaints that do not seem to get anywhere can lead us to each other. One lecturer who left the academy after her complaint did not get anywhere, turned her resignation letter into a performance: “I wrote a two-page letter and it was really important to me to put everything in there that I felt so that it was down on paper. And then I asked for a meeting with the Dean. I kind of read the letter out in a performative kind of way just to have some kind of event.” We find ways to make our letters matter. I think of her action, of what she expressed. You can do so much and still want to do more; still feel you could have done more. She wanted to do more, to express more, to express herself in more places, all over the place. She wanted to put that letter on the wall: “I just thought I am not the kind of person who would put my resignation letter on the wall, but I just wonder what it is that made me feel that I am not that kind of person because inside I am that kind of person, I just couldn’t quite get it out.” Perhaps that is what complaints are about; how we help each other to get it out.
What you put down, down on paper, everything in there, others can pick up. We don’t always know how. We do not always know when. A disabled student was not getting anywhere with her complaint about the failure of her university to make reasonable adjustments. After a particularly difficult meeting, documents suddenly appear: “a load of documents turned up on the student’s union fax machine and we don’t know where they came from, they were like historical documents about students who had to leave.” The documents including a hand written letter to a human rights charity by a former student who had cancer, and who was trying to get the university to let her finish her degree part-time. The student speculates that a secretary at the meeting had released these documents as a way of giving support to her complaint she was not supposed to give.
The word secretary derives from secrets; the secretary as the keeper of secrets. It should not be surprising that a secretary can become a saboteur; those who do administration, institutional housework, know where to find stuff, know what to do to get stuff out.
I think of the student who wrote that letter by hand. We can’t know, we won’t know, what happened to her. But we can make the letter matter; a complaint can be a hand stretched out from the past. If the student I spoke to hadn’t made her complaint, that file would have stayed put, the letter too; dusty, buried. If the secretary had not witnessed what happened to the student, if she hadn’t been politicised by what she witnessed, she might not have pulled the letter out of the file. Many have to meet to pull something out, to pull something off.
You can meet in an action without meeting in person.
Perhaps a mess can be how we meet. Mess as meeting; mess as eating. The word mess derives from the old French mes; a portion of food, a course at dinner. To share a mess can be to share a meal. Can we share a meal, sustain each other, be sustained by each other, without meeting in person? I picture again, that mess.
A Queer Map
A mess can be a picture of a complaint.
A mess can be a picture of a life.
A mess can be a picture of an organization.
A mess can be a queer map of an organization. Queer maps of this kind are not made by organizations or for them. A queer map of an organization is not a brochure. It is not a shiny happy picture. There are no straight lines; no flow, flow, away we go. There are no smiling colourful faces; this is not about what or who is faced. A queer map is a map of the behind, of what is ordinarily hidden from view, of what goes on behind closed doors. It is a map of what has been filed, what has been kept secret, what would be threatening if revealed; a filing cabinet can be an institutional closet.
I think of all those lines, those paths, those wires, those strings, threads too: so much can unravel, come tumbling out, so much, so many.
When I think of that mess as a queer map, I still think of complainers, of all the trails you follow, those dead ends, those stops, those blocks, going back, going this way, that, how you cannot go forward, go there, be there. To follow a trail is to leave traces behind despite the effort made by organizations (and others) to wipe those traces away. Sometimes, the work of complaint becomes the work of leaving traces of complaint: that is what it means to get mess out. A mess as a map: a tangle can tell us where you have been. A mess as a map: a tangle can be what you find; how you find, and also then, how we find you.
What we find, how we find: queer maps are useful to queer people because they tell us where to go to find queer places, places that come and go, providing temporary shelters, gay bars can be our nests. We need queer spaces because we need not to be displaced by how organisations, also worlds, are occupied; yes, compulsory heterosexuality can still take up space; time, too. If queer maps are useful because they tell us where to go to find queer spaces, queer maps are also created by use. Perhaps those messy lines are also desire lines that tell us where we have been, what we found, who we found, by going that way, by not following the official paths we are told would have opened doors or eased our progression.
I think of other kinds of queer maps. Paul Harfleet, for instance, turned his experience of homophobic violence into an art project, planting pansies where acts of violence and abuse had taken place (1). Perhaps a complaint is what we plant, a new growth marking the site of violence. The site of violence is the site of remembering violence, of protesting violence, of saying no to that violence.
A complaint leaves a trail, however faint. This is how complaints can be a queer method. I think of my own method of listening to those who complain, as well as how that listening is also a way of gathering and holding data only to let it spill; holding as leaking information. The word complaint might pick up on the word queer, sharpened by its use as an insult, queer as cutting. When we use the word queer we hold onto its baggage, the sharpness of a word repurposed as tool. We turn the word queer from insult into complaint, redirecting the no that has been flung at us back to the institutions that do not accommodate us. My method in Complaint! is all about ears: not queer eye for the straight guy but queer ears for our queer peers.
That complaints are made is how we come to know something happened there; no as tale; no as trail. It takes work to keep a no going. A no can be passed on, passed down. In the mess, that queer map, we hear each other, those who said no to what went on, no to what goes on.
(1). See also the Queering the Map project https://www.queeringthemap.com/. With thanks to Paul Harfleet and Lucas LaRochelle for creative inspirations.
Posted on December 7, 2020 by feministkilljoys
Today I sent Complaint! to my publishers! It has been an intense experience, getting this book ready to send out into the world. Earlier this year I shared the opening paragraphs from my conclusion, Complaint Collectives. I noted in that opening how much I have been helped by doing this research, how listening to other people’s experiences of complaint has helped me to come to terms with my own experiences. I cannot separate, I would not separate, how I have been affected by this work from what I have learned from doing it.
As I was getting the book ready to send off, to send away, and this is true both this time and the first time when I sent in a draft, I have felt the weight of the work, of it, in it, much more heavily. Sometimes it is only when something begins to leave us or when we begin to leave a situation that we really experience it. I noted this once about whiteness, the point was really about tiredness, how you come to realise how tiring it is, all that whiteness, when you leave that “sea of whiteness” that is so much of British academia. Yes, it can be a relief! A relief can make you realise the costs of being in something. I think I have felt the weight of this work, sad, heavy, as it is leaving me and before it can get to you. Of course, these are difficult times, times of immense loss, for so many. When the situation is sad, be sad. A feeling can embody a truth. We can feel the truth in our bones.
I know who I am writing for. I am writing for those who feel the truth in their bones. I am writing for those who have been in that place, that difficult place, complaint can be a place; I am writing to those for whom complaints of this kind, complaints about abuses of power, complaints about institutional violences, are companions. I am not writing to try and convince somebody else of something else. The expression “preaching to the converted” misses so much as it implies, well I hear this implication, that there is no point in speaking to those who “get it” and that the task of communication is to persuade others who do not “get it” to “get it.” If you don’t “get it,” the truth of these stories, in them, this book won’t be for you. I am not interested in the task of persuasion or conversion. There are so many points in speaking to those who do not need to be convinced by a story we are telling. We need to share our truths, magnify them, recognize them, be there with them. I need this book to be there with them, to be with you.
Thank you again, everyone who shared their stories of complaint with me. Thank you again, our complaint collective for all you pulled out and how you helped me pull through.
To mark the moment, I am sharing a section, “Complaint as Testimony” from the introduction.
Yours in killjoy solidarity,
Sara x
How we hear stories of complaint matters. How to describe what I was hearing? When I first imagined the project, I thought I would conduct semi-structured interviews using similar sorts of questions that I had prepared for my earlier study of diversity. I remember arriving for my first interview with the first person who had contacted me. I had my prepared questions typed out neatly. This was an in-person interview and I was conducted at the university where she was now based. I realised very quickly, in the first minutes of that first interview to be exact, that the questions I had prepared were not going to work. Complaints tend to be too messy even for a loose series of questions. From the second interview onward, I asked people just one opening and very general question: I asked people to share the experiences that led them to consider making a complaint as well as their experiences of making a complaint if that is what they went on to make. I wanted the stories to come out, fall out, in whatever order they came out. We then had time for a dialogue, a to-and-fro that was possible because I too had an experience of complaint.
Over time I came to think of the spoken words less as an interview and more as testimony. A testimony can refer to an oral or written statement given in a court of law. The purpose of a testimony in such a setting is to provide evidence; testimony is used to establish what happened; the facts of the matter or the truth. Testimony is also what is required to identify an injustice, a harm or a wrong. Shoshana Felman describes “the process of testimony” as “bearing witness to a crisis or trauma” (1992, 3). The accounts given to me had the mood of testimony, solemn statements about a crisis or trauma. Making a complaint is often necessary because of a crisis or trauma. The complaint often becomes part of the crisis or trauma. A complaint testimonial can teach us the non- exteriority of complaint to its object. In making a complaint you have already been called upon to testify, to give evidence. To testify to a complaint is to testify to testimony, or to what Shoshana Felman calls “the process of testimony.” To testify to complaint is a double testimony. You are testifying to an experience of testifying although you are also testifying to more than that experience.
Testimony was thus in the accounts as well as being how they took form. And what has been so important to the process of receiving these statements as testimony is receiving them together. To hear these accounts as testimony is to hear how they combine to allow us to bear witness to an experience, to show what they reveal, to bring out what is usually hidden given how complaints are made confidential. I too was called upon to bear witness. And that I was called upon to bear witness is to point to the many ethical dilemmas of conducting research on complaint. To testify to a complaint, to what happened that led you to complain, to what happened when you complained, is almost always to testify to a traumatic experience. I was never not conscious of this. I was aware throughout that enabling people to share painful experiences was risky and complicated. How would it affect the person testifying, where would sharing the story leave them? How would it affect me given my own experience of complaint was so entangled with the trauma of having had to leave my post? And, what responsibility did I have to those who shared an experience of complaint not only as a researcher but as a fellow human being? Ethics requires keeping the question of ethics alive.
Most of the people I spoke to were speaking about past experiences. To speak about a past trauma can be to make that trauma present. One post-doctoral researcher began her testimony by saying, “what I remember is how it felt.” A memory can be of a feeling; a memory can be a feeling. In remembering, we make the past present; we make present. The past can enter the room in and with that feeling. I had, I have, an immense responsibility in creating a time and space that felt as safe as possible for each person I spoke to. It did not always feel right; I did not always get it right. An effort can be what matters and that effort was shared. I think of the dialogues that followed each testimony as how we shared that effort by sharing reflections on what it does, how it feels, to go through complaint. Going through complaint can heighten your sense of responsibility as it can heighten your sense of fragility, you are aware of hard it can be, also how important it can be, what is hard is close to what is important, to share such shattering experiences.
Being shattered is not always a place from which we can speak. I did not talk to everyone who asked to talk to me. In some instances, people asked to talk to me in the middle of a complaint process. Mostly I explained why this would not be a good idea and offered to be in touch more informally instead. In one case I decided not to receive a testimony from someone who wanted to speak to me because I felt she needed the kind of support I was not in a position to give. I was conscious of what I could not provide, therapy or practical guidance. It was clear to me the limits of what I could do. I was an ear. That was my task. That was the point, to receive. But, of course, even if reception was the point, it was not the end point. I was being called upon not only to receive stories but to share them. It was very important, then, that if complaints were given to me that I send them back out in a different form than the form in which they were given but in a way that was true to how they were given. I did not want people to share their complaints with me only for me to sit on them. I did not want to become a filing cabinet. We have too many of them already.
Testimonies were given to me, so that I could pass them on to you, readers, audiences, complainers. I had to find a way to pass them on in confidence. So much of the material I share in this book is confidential – many of those with whom I have communicated would fear the consequences for their lives and careers if they were recognizable from the data, whether or not they signed confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements. This book offers fragments from many different testimonies. A fragment is a sharp piece of something. Each quote is a sharp piece of illumination. A complaint can be shattering, like a broken jug, we can be left in pieces. In the book I pick up these pieces not to create the illusion of some unbroken thing but so that we can learn from the sharpness of each piece, how they fit together.
A fragment of a story, a fragment as a story. How do we tell such stories? So many of those I spoke to spoke about what it meant to share the story. It can be hard to know where to begin. It can be hard to know where to begin a story of complaint because it is hard to know when a complaint begins. Let me share the opening words from a testimony offered by senior researcher who made a complaint about bullying and harassment:
It is always so complex and so difficult and so upsetting still; even just knowing where to start is. And it’s funny even just starting, I can feel emotion coming out, and all I want to do is I want to start crying. And I am also going to have to present a good front, professional and corrected, and know I just can’t let it affect me, and I am going to have to talk about this as something that is detached. And I think why I am putting so much effort into presenting something that is so much part of me.
Emotion comes out in telling the story; emotion makes it hard to tell the story. You make an effort to present something because it has become part of you, because it matters to you, to what you can do, who you can be, but how it matters makes it hard to present.
How do you pull yourself together to share an experience if an experience is of breaking apart? You talk about why you need to pull yourself together; you talk about how you pull yourself together. There are moments still, of falling apart, when something gets under your skin. She describes receiving the results of an independent investigation:
The conclusion of their report was that I participated actively in the conflict and that I monopolised the work. This word monopolised: I had so much rage and anger. Not only did they abandon me, but they made it my fault for monopolizing the work. And this is it: this thing I have it inside me in my head all the time: I monopolised, monopolised, monopolised. The word stops me from doing anything, from writing something, writing a text, writing an article. What am I doing: am I monopolising things again; how dare I even enjoy what I do now, who do I think I am, I am nothing, I am worthless my work might be good but I am not, and I have completely internalised this in a way that is very, very; very damaging.
How we feel in a situation can be how we learn about a situation. We learn from what gets under our skin. The word “monopolised” gets under her skin; when it sticks to her, she becomes stuck, unable to write, to do her work. Words carry a charge; you can end up being made to feel that you are the problem; that the problem is you.
Words can chip at your sense of self, of your own worth. Words can carry the weight of injustices; they can transmit a history. To internalise such a history can be damaging, “very, very, damaging.” The words we use to tell the story of complaint can be the same words that get under our skin, words like “monopolized.” A black feminist student told me that the word that got to her was “unreasonable.” There were many words that could have stuck; she was conscious they perceived her as an angry black woman, but it was that word that got under her skin, leading her to question herself: “I am constantly questioning am I being unreasonable?” Even if the word does not fit, it can make you question whether you fit. We can share the experience of words getting under our skin, even if the words that do that or go there are different words. An indigenous academic who described the racism she encountered from white settler colleagues described a word used by the chair of her department:
My chair constantly uses this word, in many things that she speaks about but in particular in my annual review and other meetings, she uses this word, often, inappropriate, her qualifier, at my interactions. It causes me to put this big lens upon myself, how I am in inappropriate, what does that mean, what does she see, how is that being defined?
You can hear how you are being heard in the repetition of the word, inappropriate. And that hearing can be a lens on how you view yourself, you can feel inappropriate, or ask yourself am I being inappropriate or you can ask what does it mean to be so; how is she defining it, how is she defining you. In listening to those who make complaints, I am listening to how different words can get under our skin: monopolized; unreasonable; inappropriate.
To acquire a feminist ear is to become attuned to the sharpness of such words; how they point, to whom they point. To be heard as complaining is often to become attuned to sound, to how we sound, how we are heard as sounding, to how words sound, stories too. Many of those I spoke to conveyed to me a concern about how long they were taking to tell the story; I knew this because of how often people apologised for the length of the time they were taking. I kept saying, take your time; take the time you need to tell me what you need to tell me. Many of those I spoke to told me that they had to keep abbreviating, to keep shortening the story, because the story was always going to require more time than we could take given how much time it would take to tell the story. One person used the expression “to cut a long story short,” seven times in her account; there is much cutting, so much shortening, so much consciousness of length, of time, energy too.
Another person described how she went through multiple complaints by going through them with me. You make or have multiple complaints if you encounter multiple situations you need to complain about. But even if you know this, that the multiplicity is a measure of what you come up against, you can be conscious about how it sounds; how you sound:
I’d changed quite a lot between the first time and this time. I know I sound like the people who had fifteenth car crashes, then this happened then this happened. It gets to the point, I have never told this story before, like the whole story, because I know I sound like that person and I don’t trust the space to sound like that person.
The whole story can be a story of crashing through. There is crashing in the story, waves after waves that I can hear, that transmit something, something difficult, painful; traumatic. We might need a space to tell that story, the whole story, the story of a complaint, a space that is safe because we know how it can sound, how we can sound; you can feel that you are the car crash, a complaint as how you are crashing through life. The word complaint too can sound like a crash, a collision, the loud sound of something breaking into pieces. The word complaint derives from old French, complaindre, to lament, an expression of sorrow and grief. Lament is from Latin, lamentum, “wailing, moaning; weeping.” Complaint seems to catch how those who challenge power become sites of negation: to complain as to become a container of negative affect, a leaky container, speaking out as spilling over. We can hear something because of its intensity. The exclamation point in the title of Complaint! is a way of showing what I am hearing, how a complaint is heard as intensity, an emphasis, a sharp point, a sore point, a raising of the voice, a shrieking, a shattering.
Negation is quite a sensation. The word complaint shares the same root as the word plague, to strike, to lament by beating the breast. Complaint can be sick speech. A body can be what is stricken. If in the book I approach the communications shared with me, oral and written, as testimonies, I also approach complaint as testimony in other ways, complaint as how we give expression to something. If a body can express a complaint, a body can be a complaint testimony. The word express comes from press; to express as to press out. I learn from the sense evolution of the word expression. It came to mean to put into words or to speak one’s mind via the intermediary sense of how clay “under pressure takes the form of an image.” Expression can be the shape something takes in being pressed out. My approach to the material collected in this book is to attend to its shape, to listen to what is pressed out, what spills, what seeps, what weeps. In Complaint! I hear spillage as speech.
If attending to slippage can be a method, slippage can be a connection between works. I think of Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugivity, her ode to the work and wisdom of Hortense Spillers. Gumbs attends to Spillers’ words with love and care, to what spills, to words that spill, to liquid that spills out from a container, to being somebody who spills things. Spillage can be a breaking, of a container, a narrative, a turning of phrases so that “doors opened and everyone came through” (2016, x1). Spillage can be, then, the slow labour of getting out of something. A story too can be what spills, which is to say, a story can be the work of getting out of something or of getting a story out.
I am pleased to share the comments I prepared for the launch of my new book What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use earlier this year. I titled my comments “Use is a Life Question” so that’s the title of this post. That title takes me to a different place now because we are in such a different time now. I think of what it means to get used to changed circumstances, radically changed circumstances, how change can be a point of commonality; what connects us can be that our circumstances have changed even if our circumstances are different. We can share a change in circumstances without sharing circumstances.
Words can come back to you as circumstances change. As I have been finishing Complaint! I have been thinking again about the histories of use, of utilitarianism, and upon whom the injunction to be useful falls (and on whom it does not, who is freed by that same injunction). So often, a complainer becomes a stranger. A complaint that you do not belong can be used as evidence that you do not belong. The more you are treated as a stranger, not from here, not really from here, the harder it is to complain. And the harder it is to complain the more vulnerable you become. Right now, in the middle of the pandemic, this loop between vulnerability and complaint has become a lesson; a hard, cruel lesson. As Zubaida Haque, deputy director of the Runnymede Trust describes, “We know that BME NHS staff can’t complain as much because they’re worried about the recriminations of complaining….They’re much likely to be harassed and face discrimination compared to their white counterparts. There is the question of, did they have the appropriate PPE equipment? If they didn’t, did they feel they could complain or were they worried about the recriminations from complaining?”[1] Exploitation works by making it harder to complain. And you might not complain because you are told, again and again, that you are a stranger, not from here, if you are brown or black you are treated as not from here even if you were born here; that you should be grateful just to be here.
This expectation of gratitude is performed most violently as the demand for sacrifice.
I think of the title of the powerful poem “You Clap For Me Now,” a “coronavirus poem on racism and immigration in Britain.” [2]
You clap for us now. That clap can be the same sound as the door being slammed.
“You cheer when I toil.”
A cheer can mask a hostile environment. A cheer can be a hostile environment.
You might be cheered when you are useful only to be told to go home when you are not.
To recover what I call queer use, to recover what has been stolen, to recover from what has been stolen, is to protest this violence.
In killjoy solidarity with those protesting this violence,
Use is a Life Question, Comments for Launch of What’s the Use: On the Uses of Use, Cambridge University, February 13, 2020
Thank you for being here today to help us launch What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use. It is a killjoy joy to be launching this book at Cambridge with the Centre for Gender Studies and LGBTQ+ Cam as our joint hosts. I began the research for this book at Cambridge when I was visiting Professor in the Centre for Gender Studies in the spring term of 2013. And 5 years later in 2018, I gave a lecture on queer use for LGBTQ+Cam, which was the last time I presented material from the book in this form. By queer use I refer to how objects or spaces can be used by those for whom they were not intended or in ways that were not intended. We are queering use when we create spaces like Gender Studies and LGBTQ+, spaces that help us to do our work in institutions that were not built for us, as well as our work on institutions to make them more accommodating. And if we need these kinds of feminist and queer spaces, to keep our work going, it takes work to keep these spaces going. I would like to thank in particular Joanna Bush, Jude Brown, Heather Stallard and Sarah Franklin for their work.
It is quite a loop, from 2013 to 2018, here, there, back again. When I returned to Goldsmiths from Cambridge in the summer term of 2013, I became involved in a series of enquiries into sexual harassment and sexual misconducted prompted by a college complaint lodged by students. I learnt so much from the work they had to do to keep that complaint going. During this period, I stopped working on the uses of use; I can remember the moment it became obvious that is what I needed to do. I put away my old red note book. We fill books in writing books; our notes, scribbles, records of where we have been. Instead I wrote another book, Living a Feminist Life, and yes, this book gave me somewhere to deposit my feminist rage more directly, as well as frustration, frustration can be a feminist record, and also knowledge, the knowledge you acquire from being a feminist at work.
There is no doubt that that experience was shattering: I left my job, yes, a job I had loved, although in some ways it felt more like the job left me. I had a “snap,” the moment when you can hear a bond break; a snap that moment with a history. But I left more than a job, I left a life, a structure, what I was used to, an identity, who I had understood myself to be, a way of organising my time, of giving order to things; I left what was familiar. I returned to my use project, picking up my scruffy red notebook was like catching up with an old friend, in that period after leaving my post, when I was working through, working out, what happened, as well as working out what I wanted to do.
What’s the Use helped me pick up the pieces. Writing about use whilst I was trying to get used to new circumstances made it clear to me how use was another way of posing the question of what it means to live a feminist and queer life, in other words, how use is a life question. The question, “what’s the use” can sound like it comes from a feeling of exasperation, and it can without doubt be said in exasperation. But the question “what’s the use” can also come out of a sense of curiosity, of interest, what’s the use, what is use, which is why I begin the book with Virginia Woolf who kept asking “what’s the use?” as a way of questioning pretty much everything. Perhaps we question use, or turn use into a question, use as a life question, the more we are not used to something, or because we refused to get used to something or because of our experiences of inhabiting worlds that are not used to us; how we appear; how we assemble. And although I offer a strong critique of how use can become about restriction, a restriction of who can do what, who can use what, how things and spaces when used in some ways become harder to use in other ways, I do insist that there are different uses of use and that these differences matter.
I think of this insistence as a feminist inheritance: I already mentioned Virginia Woolf, I also think of Audre Lorde who wrote often about the importance of being useful as a way of facing outwards to others (I offer in my conclusion some thoughts on Audre Lorde’s words on useful death), and I also think of Marilyn Strathern who in her paper, “Useful Knowledge,” notes the importance of critiquing the requirement that knowledge be useful in accordance with criteria decided in advance by considering other uses of use; for instance, use as a way of cultivating faculties.
I describe What’s the Use? as the third in a trilogy of books that use the method of following words around, in and out, of their intellectual histories. The “out” part really matters: although my training was in the history of ideas, I didn’t do, I am probably quite incapable of doing, a conventional history. [A side note: in 1990 I applied to do a joint honours degree in History and Literature, hoping to write my honours thesis on ideas of history in literature, but my proposal was rejected by the History Department as not being historical enough!] I could follow Natasha Tanna in thinking of my method as queer genealogy; to borrow from a description of her recent book, a way of “bringing together disparate fragments.” In each of the three books, I take quite ordinary speech acts as an impetus for thought. In The Promise of Happiness the speech act that had my attention was “I just want you to be happy,” which was often said to me in a tone of exasperation; and in Willful Subjects “I will if you will.” In this book, it is “use it or lose it,” a phrase familiar to us from personal training and self-help books. As a phrase it teaches how use can be an injunction or even a moral duty, you must use something to keep it alive. And in that quite ordinary speech act is another history, of how use became a technique, for example, you can direct people along a path by making that path easier to use; how you can discourage a course of action by making it harder to follow.
To follow words is to go where they go. But, of course, use is too used as a word to follow use everywhere. In this book I worked with materials that made use of use that most captured my interest. If I had located the book in an academic discipline that made use central as a category of thought, I would probably have located the book in design studies. But what captured my interest was, in fact, the use of use in biology, and more specifically, Lamarck’s law of use and disuse, which refers to how organs are strengthened by use, or weakened by disuse, and his law of inheritance, which suggests that, if certain conditions are met, the effects of use are inherited as modification of form. The idea that use shapes bodies in this way, which was sometimes called “the law of exercise,” was also widely articulated in nineteenth century social thought, including utilitarianism. In the book I approach utilitarianism primarily as an educational project rather than as moral philosophy with specific reference to Jeremy Bentham’s text, Chrestomathia, where he creates a plan for a school for middle-class children based on useful knowledge.[3] Bentham was influenced by the monitorial school movement; monitorial schools were introduced into poor and working-class areas of Britain as well as in many British colonies. I learnt so much from reading about the techniques used in these schools. For example, Joseph Lancaster, who opened his first school in Borough Road in 1778, used only a small number of books in his classes, with the premise that fewer books would be read more. The idea was simple: you would direct the child to what he called “useful ends” by narrowing the paths available. Andrew Bell who was appointed by the East India Company as Director of the Madras School for Eurasian Orphans of Soldiers in 1787 articulated his aim as “to rescue the children of the soldiers from the degradation and depravity of that class to which their mothers mostly belonged.” Making these children useful was about taking them from their Indian mothers, a theft narrated as redemption, utility as redemption; children were treating as orphans, as deserted or abandoned, rather like how land was treated as desert, as unused; children became raw materials that could be shaped in accordance of the needs of the company.
What was articulated as a natural law became the basis of an educational technique. And because I am a rather queer scholar, wandering willfully around rather varied terrains, I should add here that I partly became intrigued by Lamarck law of use and disuse because of the use of example of the blacksmith’s strong arm to illustrate that law (the idea being that if the blacksmith makes use of his arm, his sons will be born with stronger arms, a story of paternity turned into profession). I noticed how the blacksmith’s strong arm was used as an example of Lamarck’s law of use and disuse without that example being used by Lamarck (the other typical Lamarckian example, the giraffe’s long neck, Lamarck only uses once). I think the arm became what one commentator called “the standing illustration” for the law of use and disuse because the arm provided a way of telling the story of modernity as a story of improvement, of how workers become more attuned to what was deemed their social function. I thus draw on historical materialism understood as a useful archive in the book, which retells that same story, of workers becoming as it were the “arms of industry,” as a story of exploitation; use not as strengthening of capacity to perform a function, but use as exhaustion, use as depletion; use as used up.
I probably only noticed this arm was missing from Lamarck, a phantom limb, because of how arms had come up in Willful Subjects. And arms came to matter in that project because following willfulness, led to the Grimm story, “The Willful Child.” And in that story, an arm keeps coming up, an arm that inherits the willfulness of a child; that arm was striking. That arm became my lead. To wander is not to be without a route or a reason; it is to be redirected by what we encounter. To do cultural studies, to be an interdisciplinary scholar, for me, means being willing to go beyond the edges of fields, including those that have been shaped by our own training. And in What’s the Use, however much the arm was my lead, it was things that kept my attention; used things, old things; perhaps the arm had a hand in leading me there, worn out from being used as an example of the effects of use. In the first chapter, these are my main companions: a second-hand book, a well-used path, an unused path, a used up tooth paste, over-used exclamation marks, an occupied toilet, a broken cup; an old bag; a usable/ unusable door; an out of use post-box.
Here is a collection of some of my companion objects in writing the book as well as my old red note-book mentioned earlier. I call this collection, companions (see note 4 for why I included two copies of the book itself in the photo with its companions).
We write, always, in companionship. We present, too, in companionship.
It was from giving presentations from the work and in particular using power-point that allowed these things, which I first describe in terms of their use status, to acquire a different status in my own argument. I should note as an aside here that even if we use technologies like power-point for specified ends, using them can still mean we end up somewhere unexpected. I began to develop my argument with these used things as well as through them. I think this way of using things created moments in my text that were jarring, disconcerting, even, well I certainly experienced them that way, a feeling can be a question: can I really be discussing a used up tube of toothpaste in the same chapter that I reference Edward Said’s critique of Zionism for how it rendered Palestine unused and uncared for land? I know I can because I did, and I remain committed to telling bigger stories through smaller things, to changing scales, but it is, I admit, jarring.
Although I was using things in a different way to how I had them before, used things had appeared in my work before. In The Cultural Politics of Emotion I likened heteronormativity to a comfortable chair, a world is more comfortable if it takes your shape; in Queer Phenomenology, I used, I am sure some would say overused, the example of the table, considering how the writing table appears in philosophy because it is in front of the philosopher only to disappear again because of what (and who) he can put behind him. Tables reappear in The Promise of Happiness, this time as the family table, along with the feminist killjoys, who get in the way of how the family is occupied. In Willful Subjects, I likened an institution to an old garment, how institutions take the shape of those who tend to wear them, so they are easier to wear if you have that shape.
On reflection, it is obvious that these objects mattered in part as they were also ways of talking about the effects of use, the sociality of use, how worlds are built for and around some bodies, how worlds are shaped by whom uses what to do what.
In this work I reuse the same images with different captions. The most used image in the book is in fact the well-used path.
The image reappears six times with the following captions:
The more a path is used, the more a path is used
A longer neck
A stronger arm
An old policy
The more he is cited, the more he is cited
Heterosexuality: a path that is kept clear
If a used path is made smoother by use, from the tread of past journeys, that smoothness makes the path easier to use; the more a path is used, the more a path is used; there is more to more. I think of this “more to more” as the strange temporalities of use, how use, in pointing back, to where we have been, the tread of past journeys, points forward. I had in fact already used the well-used path in Queer Phenomenology, to talk about heterosexuality as a support system. But including an image of a well-used path alongside these captions helped me to make the argument, or perhaps to show it, about how use can be a building block for habit, how use can not only ease a route but become an invitation or perhaps an instruction: go that way! People often laughed when I showed the image “the more he is cited, the more he is cited” because I think it captures a problem we are familiar with; how we taught to cite the sources that have already had the most influence; how a citational path is created, a furrow deepened, how we end up reproducing what we inherit.
How we end up reproducing what we inherit: citation is one way of thinking about how universities are occupied. Whilst I was writing What’s the Use, I also began interviews for a project on complaint. In the project I am listening to people who have made, or tried to make, formal complaints about abuses of power within universities. This project has taught me a great deal about how universities remain occupied by learning more about what happens to those who try and challenge that occupation. I have been calling this institutional mechanics: you learn about how institutions work from how complaints are stopped from getting through.
Working on complaint and use at the same time has shaped both projects. Doors are the most tangible connection. It was because I was writing about use as building works, as scaffolding, that I noticed the doors in my complaint data; solid doors, glass doors, revolving doors; complaints as happening behind closed doors. Doors were not amongst the examples of used things in the first version of What’s the Use that I submitted to Duke. I included them when I rewrote chapter 1, because of how doors came up in accounts of complaint. Complaint changed the form of use. And it is not surprising doors kept coming up in my project on complaint: we tend to notice doors when they are shut in our face, which is to say, we tend to notice what stops our progression.
We learn about institutions from our efforts to transform them. Or to evoke Audre Lorde, we learn how the master’s house is built when we try and dismantle that house. What’s the Use is also about doing this kind of institutional work, the work of decolonizing the university, the work of challenging how racial and sexual harassment get built in, showing how universities are occupied all the way down. To open spaces up requires more than opening a door or turning up; sometimes you have to throw wrenches in the works, to stop things from working or become “wenches in the work” to borrow Sarah Franklin’s evocative terms. And it is a fight: we have a fight on our hands. It can be a fight for room, room to be, room to do; room to do your work without being questioned or being put under surveillance. A fight can be how we acquire wisdom: we know so much from trying to transform the worlds that do not accommodate us. But that fight can also be just damn hard. We have feminist and queer programmes and events not just because they are nice things to have, though they are that, what a relief, but because we need to survive the institutions we are trying to transform.
In doing this work, we need each other; we need to become each other’s resources.
Publishers also matter to how we become each other’s resources. I would like to acknowledge Duke University Press; it has been so important they provided me with a nest for my words. Duke became my publisher for Queer Phenomenology, all other publishers found this book too odd for their markets. My editor Ken Wissoker never used the word “market” when I approached him about this book (or any of the others) which is how I suspect I ended having so much room to roam. I also want to thank Combined Academic Publishers, representing Duke in UK/Europe, for their support in bringing the books to readers here.
Family: that’s another word we can reuse for our queer gatherings. I dedicated What’s the Use to my queer family, Sarah and Poppy. Being a feminist at work is also about living a feminist life; I am so glad to be sharing my life with Sarah. So many of the words and ideas in What’s the Use I worked through with you. I could replace “words and ideas” with “obsessions,” I don’t know how many times you listened to me talk about Lamarck’s non-use of the blacksmiths arm but it was a lot! I also want to thank Poppy, who is here with us today.[4] Poppy, I am not sure you would be that impressed that I only mention you by name in reference to water bowls and puddles, though the word poodle does come from puddle. But Poppy: your paw prints are everywhere. You taught me to feel what I came to know, that to queer use is not to call for the cessation of use but its animation. You taught me how you can turn an old discarded shoe into a toy, a source of endless amusement, how a stone on a beach, seemingly lifeless, can become a friend, if you pull it behind you with your paws quickly enough it will dance. You taught me how a change in perspective, being closer to the ground, say, using your nose rather than your eyes, say, can be how you find new paths.
New paths, old paths, companions, friends, those who help us pick up the pieces when we fly off the handle, when we lose it rather than use it. In the book, I use this image as my primary example of queer use: a post-box that has become a nest.
Of course, the post box could only become a nest if it stops being used as a post-box otherwise the birds would be dislodged by the letters; hence the sign “please don’t use” addressed to would-be posters of letters. Being dislodged by the letters in the box is a good way of describing how spaces become restricted by use; of accounting for the materiality of that restriction; how some have no room, no room to breathe, to nest, to be, because of how spaces are already being used.
In my conclusion I return to the image for the last time with the caption “a queer teacher.” The image teaches us that it is possible for those deemed strangers to take up residence in spaces that have been assumed as belonging to others. The post-box could have remained in use; the nest destroyed before it was completed; the birds displaced. A history of use is a history of such displacements, many violent, displacements that are often unrecognised because of how things remain occupied.
I am aware this is a rather happy, hopeful image; not a typical image, perhaps, for a killjoy. Queer use is rarely about just turning up and being able to turn a box into a nest or a room into a shelter: to queer use, to enable some to take up residence in spaces not built for them, often requires a world-dismantling effort.
My task is to keep describing that effort. I think of the birds rather affectionately as our queer kin; they turned an opening intended for letters into a door, a queer door, perhaps, a way of getting into and out of a box. I mentioned earlier that the arms travelled with me from my willfulness project into my use project. I am now writing a book on complaint. And the birds are coming with me. One person described her experience of complaint thus: “it was like a little bird scratching away at something.” It was like: note this it. A complaint as something that you are doing can acquire exteriority, becoming a thing in the world; scratching away; a little bird, all your energy going into an activity that matters so much to what you can do, who you can be, but barely seems to leave a trace.
Perhaps those scratches are a trace, what we leave behind, how we leave ourselves behind, traces for others to follow. Queer use, scratching away at something, making room, making nests, from what has been left scattered.
[1] Cited in Aina Khan (2020), “Why are ethnic minorities more vulnerable to coronavirus?”
[2] The full performance is available here.
[3] The schools provided me with a way of considering how utilitarianism travelled throughout empire not only as a body of ideas or as a way of justifying colonialism as increasing happiness, as I explored in The Promise of Happiness (2010), but also as a set of practices aimed at creating “a useful class.” See also my 2017 post, Useful, which explains how I made use of Bentham and includes some of my key sources. In the second chapter of the book, I also consider the connection between utilitarianism and eugenics. These histories meet in the formation of London University.
[4] Since I gave this presentation, our queer family has expanded! Early on during lock-down we decided to bring forward a plan to bring a puppy into our home. Her name is Bluebell. Here she is:
Caring for her, at this time, a fragile buoyant being, has been a precious task. A new being in a household is work as well as joy: there have been challenges, especially for Poppy, who will have a paw in shaping her companion. A shaping can be painful. Bluebell adores Poppy but tends to express her adoration by doing things like jumping on Poppy’s head. Poppy has been a wise and patient teacher for Bluebell (with the occasional understandable snap). Bluebell like Poppy is teaching me so much about queer use. She has found her own use for some copies of my book What’s the Use. You can see evidence of her usage if you look carefully at the photo shared in this blog. What’s the Use became a chew toy. I can’t think of anything more fitting. I am letting her chew right through.
Posted on July 31, 2020 by feministkilljoys
Killjoys and complainers,
I have been away from my blog for such a long time! I wasn’t expecting to be away from it for so long, but such are the times. I have been working on my book Complaint! Today, I am sending a draft to my publisher. It is just a small step but the book is making its way slowly into the world.
What a privilege it has been to work on complaint! I am so grateful to everyone who has shared their stories with me. It has been so very helpful to have this book project to focus on during these times, to keep my bearings by listening and working through these stories.
I am going to take a break and then I will be back. In the meantime, I am sharing a few paragraphs from the conclusion.
As this book is so much about the sound of complaint, I also spoke these words for you.
https://feministkilljoys.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/complaint-collectives-1.mp3
In killjoy solidarity,
In this book I have assembled a complaint collective. This book is a complaint collective. My task in conclusion is to reflect on how complaint collectives work; how we assemble ourselves. I have collected together different people’s experiences of complaint sharing with you, some of you, I expect, are complainers too, as much as I can of what has shared with me. A collective is a collection of stories, of experiences but also more than that, more than a collection.
I think of the first time I presented this material.[1] I was standing on a stage, and the lights were out. I could hear an audience, the sounds, the groans, sometimes laughter, but I could not see anyone. The words: they were so heavy. I was conscious of the weight of them; the pain in them. And as I read the words that had been shared with me, knowing the words were also behind me, lit up as text, I had a strong sense, a shivering feeling, of the person who shared those words saying them to me, of you as you said them, of you being there to say them. I felt you there, all of you, because you were there, helping me withstand the pressure I felt under to do the best I could do, to share the words so they could be picked up, heard by others who might have been there too; that painful place, that difficult place; complaint can be a place; so your words could do something; so your words could go somewhere. And each time I presented this work, the feeling has been the same, of you being there with me. Maybe to keep doing it, to keep saying it, that is what I needed, for you to be there with me. A complaint collective can be a feeling we have of being there for each other, with each other, because of what we have been through. We recognise each other from what we have been through; we even know each other. It can be hard to convey in writing how much that feeling matters.
A collective can be a support system, what we need, who we need, to keep a complaint going. Over the past years friends as well as strangers have expressed concern, worry even, for my welfare, because of my choice to stay close to scenes of institutional violence, the same scenes that led me to leave my post and a profession that I had loved. I too questioned myself about this: why stay so proximate to what has been so hard, and yes, so painful? Pain can have clarity. It is clear to me that I have, and how I have, been supported by doing this work. It has helped me come to terms with happened, to pick up the pieces of a shattered academic career, yes I do understand that career to have ended as a direct result of my participation in a complaint; to make and to understand the connections between what happened to me and what happened to others. And that the research has supported me has also taught me; if a complaint collective is what I have assembled, a complaint collective is how I have learnt. Learnt is one of the most used words in this book for a reason.
In sharing your words, more words have been shared with me; so many people have come up to me after lectures and seminars telling me stories of complaint. A collective: we combine; how we combine. That combination can be a matter of hearing. I listened to each account and I listened again, transcribing, reflecting, thinking; feeling. And in listening to you, becoming a feminist ear as I described in my introduction, I also put my ear to the doors of the institution, there are many reasons doors keep coming up as I explained in part 3, listening out for what is usually kept inaudible, who is made inaudible, hearing about conversations that mostly happen behind closed doors. I was able to hear the sound of institutional machinery that clunk; clunk, from those who have tried to stop the machine from working, from those who came to understand how it works; for whom it works. When I think of the collective assembled here, I think institutional wisdom. I think of how much we come to know by combining our forces, our energies. I think of how much we come to know because of the difficulties we had getting through.
The difficulties we had getting through: we have been hearing how complaint means committing yourself, your time, your energy, your being, to a course of action that often leads you away from the work you want to do even if you complain in order to do the work you want to do (as many do). Trying to address an institutional problem often means inhabiting the institution all the more. Inhabitance can involve re-entry: you re-enter the institution through the back door; you find out about doors, secret doors, trapdoors: how you can be shut in; how you can be shut out. You learn about processes, procedures, policies, you point out what they fail to do, pointing to, pointing out; you fill in more and more forms; forms become norms; files become futures; filing cabinets become graves.
So many complaints end up there: filed. When complaints are filed, they are buried. When complaints are buried, those who complain can end up feeling that they too have been buried.
Sometimes we bury our own complaints, trying not to remember what was hardest to handle. Or we might bury a complaint because it is exhausting to keep making it. A postgraduate student told me how when she started the process of making a complaint, other people kept expressing concern. She described how that concern can “rob you of your own complexity. It reduces you to one story, one narrative, and a victim one at that.” When you have to keep telling the story of a complaint, it can end up feeling like another way of being dominated. A story about what happened to you can end up being a story about what somebody else did. She added “it was almost like, I got muted out. I got removed from my own story as it became his story or their story about him.”
Sometimes in order not to be removed from our stories we bury them.
A burial of a story can be necessary. A burial is an important part of the story. To tell the story of a burial is to unbury a story. I could only write this book, pull it together, because complaints did not stay buried. I think of this book as an unburial and I think again of the arm that is still rising in the Grimm story, The Willful Child. In this book I have tried to catch complaints at that moment of suspension; a complaint as an arm still rising, still coming out of the ground; not yet done, not yet beaten. To tell the story of a complaint is how the complaint comes out from where it has been buried. The sound of the book is not just the sound of institutional machinery, that clunk; clunk, but the sound of the effort of coming up, of what we bring when we bring something up; who too, who we bring up. The physical effort, you can hear it, the wear and the tear, the groans, the moans. One academic said she could hear herself moaning when she was telling me about the different complaints she had made at different times. She said, “I am moaning now, I can feel that whining in my voice [makes whining sound].” I said, “we have plenty to moan about.” We can hear it in our own voices; we can hear it in each other’s voices. We can hear it because we feel it; the sound of how hard we have had to push; how hard we keep having to push. I think of that push as collective, a complaint collective.
I am aware that if these stories have been hard to share, to share an experience that is hard is hard, that this book might have been hard to read, hard on you, readers. I know some of you will have picked up this book because of experiences you have had that are hard, experiences that led you to complain, experiences of complaint. You might have had moments of recognition, painful and profound, as I did when I listened to these testimonies. It can help to share something painful, although not always and not only. One academic said to me at the end of our dialogue, “It’s really helpful talking to you. It reminds me that I am not alone.” It was helpful for me to talk to you too. A complaint collective: how we remind ourselves we are not alone. We need reminders.
My hope is that this book can be a reminder: we are not alone. We sound louder when we are heard together; we are louder. In this conclusion, I reflect on the significance of how complaints can lead you to find out about other complaints (and thus to find others who complained). Complaint offers a fresh lens, which is also an old and weathered lens, on collectivity itself.
[i] I am referring here to the lecture, “On Complaint” presented at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne, on October 28, 2018. I had presented material from the project before, but this was the first time I presented a lecture based entirely on the testimonies I had collected. Previously I had shared the material with the scaffolding drawn from my project on the uses of use (Ahmed, 2019). It made a difference to present complaint as complaint: without the scaffolding, I felt much more exposed.
Complaint and Survival
Posted on March 23, 2020 by feministkilljoys
It is an overwhelming time; it is hard to know what to do. For those who are non-essential workers, being at home, withdrawing from physical proximity to others, is how we express our loyalty to others, our care for others. For those who understand themselves to be less vulnerable, less likely to become seriously ill from coronavirus, withdrawal is necessary, trying not to become a link in a chain that could lead very quickly to disaster for others.
We don’t always know the situation in which others find themselves; we don’t always know about other people’s disasters. Compassion and care rest, I feel, on not making presumptions about how other people are doing. We need to listen; to learn. What makes a situation more or less hard is not always tangible or obvious even if we can point to what can ease burdens, material and economic securities, support systems; buffer zones that can protect some from the harsher consequences of crises if not from crises.
If we lose our anchors, we don’t always know what will help us get through. For me, working as an independent scholar, writing is a handle that gives me something to hold onto; I know that is not true for everyone. I don’t write to be productive or because I think what I have to say is important. It is not; it is what it is. Continuing with my own projects such as my project on complaint, keeping myself going by keeping them going, is not about “carrying on” or “staying calm” or any of the other truisms that seem to circulate as national nostalgia for a time that never was. For me, writing is about holding on; how I stay in touch with myself as well as with others because some of my other handles are broken. It won’t necessarily always be that way. For me, now, writing is a lead, leading me to others; writing as hearing from others.
We are readers before we are writers. I find myself picking up Audre Lorde, again; her words again, guide me through. I think of Audre Lorde and I think of those moments when a life-line is thrown out to you. A life line: it can be a fragile rope, worn and tethered from the harshness of weather, but it is enough, just enough, to bear your weight, to pull you out, to help you survive a shattering experience.
Words can pull us out.
In an interview with Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde described how she was so “sickened with fury” about the acquittal of a white policeman who shot a black child that she wrote the extraordinary poem, “Power” (2017, 85).
In Lorde’s own words:
I was driving in the car and heard the news on the radio that the cop had been acquitted. I was really sickened with fury, and I decided to pull over and just jot some things down in my note book to enable me to cross town without an accident because I felt so sick and so enraged. And I wrote those lines down – I was just writing, and the poem came out without craft.
She stopped the car to get her feelings out.
She stopped the car and a poem came out.
She stopped the car because she knew that what she felt would come out, one way or another; an accident or a poem.
A poem is not an accident.
I have been thinking about that: how sometimes we have to stop what we are doing to feel the true impact of something, to let our bodies experience that impact, the fury of an escalating injustice, a structure as well as an event; a history, an unfinished history.
Sometimes to sustain your commitments you stop what you are doing.
In stopping, something comes out. We don’t always know what will come out when we stop to register the impact of something. Registering impact can be a life-long project. Perhaps collectives are assembled so we can share the work of registering the impact of what is ongoing; what is shattering.
I have been thinking about stopping and starting; what we have to do to express the truth of a situation; I have been thinking about complaint and survival.
I want to share some quotes from a testimony given to me by an indigenous woman academic. She talked to me about how the project of surviving the violence of colonial occupation led her both to complain and not to complain. Both actions – complaining and not complaining – were for her about survival, not just her own survival, but the survival of her family; her people.
It is possible I learned very early that in order to keep my job and to have a stable income… that I better just keep my mouth shut, and learn how to avoid these encounters, to protect myself, and to keep quiet about it.
For many, surviving institutions requires trying to avoid “these encounters” that you recognise because they happen. You try to avoid them by being silent about them if they happen or because they happen. Not to be silent, speaking out, speaking up, can be to turn yourself into a target. No wonder some refuse to refuse to be silent – if your family, your people, have been targeted, you might lay low, be quiet, not complain, or not do anything that might be heard as complaint; doing what you can to survive.
Doing what you can to survive: to survive certain histories can require not complaining about them or at least not expressing complaints in the usual places by filling in a form or by sharing in public what you think or feel about a given situation. I noted in my previous post “In the thick of It” how complaints can come out in the middle of a situation, expressed sometimes despite ourselves. Survival can be another way of expressing a complaint, of refusing to acquiesce to the demands of a situation. The implication here is that some of the actions that seem to be about “not complaining” can be oblique complaints, complaints that are not quite expressed or fully expressed; complaints that are below the surface; hidden complaints; underground complaints; queer complaints.
We might end up expressing our complaints in less usual ways because of what happens when we make complaints in more usual ways. She did in fact try to make a formal complaint, a grievance, after her tenure case was sabotaged by a senior white manager:
I had to send an email to her with the subject line in all capital letters with an exclamation point, my final email to her after 7 months. THIS IS A GRIEVANCE! THIS IS A GRIEVANCE! And her obligation under the university rules and the process is that she has to put it forward. She did not. She did not put it forward.
A complaint does not go forward because it is not put forward by those who receive the complaint. That capitalized subject heading has much to teach us about how complaints are not heard. You have to shout because you are not heard. If you have to shout because you are not heard, you are heard as shouting. When complaints are heard as shouting, complaints are not heard.
Walls can be built from silence. Walls can be effects. The consequences of how complaints are not heard make it less likely that complaints will be heard; you become worn out, worn down, by the struggle to get a complaint through.
The more you do not get through, the more you have to do. You change tactics:
I took everything off my door, my posters, my activism; my pamphlets. I smudged everything all around the building. I knew I was going to war; I did a war ritual in our tradition. I pulled down the curtain. I pulled on a mask, my people we have a mask…and I never opened my door for a year. I just let it be a crack. And only my students could come in. I would not let a single person come in to my office who I had not already invited there for a whole year.
In order to survive institutions, we need to transform them. But we still need to survive the institutions we are trying to transform. Closing a door can be a survival strategy; she closes the door to the institution by withdrawing herself, her commitments, from it. She still does her work; teaches her students. She makes use of the institution’s door by using it to shut out what she can, who she can. Doors can hold so many histories. If she uses the door to shut the institution out, she also takes everything off the door (“my posters, my activism, my leaflets”). She depersonalizes the door; takes herself out of it; her politics off it. That door is not going to be where she expresses herself. And she pulls down the blinds and she pulls on a mask, the mask of her people, connecting her fight to the battles that came before, because quite frankly for her, this is a war.
And so we learn: you can withdraw from an institution to take up a fight. You can take the institution on by taking it out. You don’t put everything you have into it; you do what you have to do to get through.
I think of Lorde: how a poem comes out when she stops what she was doing. I think sometimes you withdraw from a situation – driving a vehicle, being in the driver’s seat – to express your commitments. You close the door; stop the car because you need to get something out; you need to get yourself out.
You need to get yourself out; get yourself through.
When there is an effort to stop you from getting through, getting through can be how you express a complaint. When you are told you are not supposed to be here, that this place is not for you, the likes of you; this university, this nation, this neighborhood, being here can be complaint; being can be a complaint; being as complaint. If not complaining gives you a better chance of being, not complaining can give you a better chance of complaining.
Can: not always and not only. It can be a difficult deal: how we survive some structures can be how those structures are reproduced. Yes, that is true. But there is more to it. The story of reproduction is a much less smooth story when told from the point of view of those who express their complaints obliquely, passing as not complaining, in order to trouble what they receive; that inheritance we call history. There can be creativity in laying low. When you pass into the background, you are not striking, you do not appear to be striking (behind a smile, there can be a strike behind a smile) there are other things you can do.
We learn from survival strategies. We are our survival strategies.
There is only so much you can take on as there is only so much you can take in.
We can’t take everything on. We can’t take everything in.
Lorde, Audre (2017). Your Silence Will Not Protect You. London: Silver Press.
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In the thick of it
A complaint can be what you have to make because of a situation you are in. Complaints are immanent. Immanence implies to be in something or to dwell; to remain. Perhaps a complaint is what you make because you do not want to remain in a situation; a complaint can be an effort to get out of a situation you are in. You are in the thick of it, right in the thick of it. To be in the thick of it means to be in a situation where it is most intense; it means to be in the most crowded of places. The idiom “in the thick of it” can also reference how much you have to do; it can imply, being occupied or busy. What do we learn from complaint, or about complaint, by considering complaint as intensity, as crowded, as busy?
Complaints might come up or come out in the middle of a journey: a middle can be a muddle. I am muddling through, at this difficult time; thinking about time. If it takes time to make a complaint; it takes time to reach a complaint. When we think of complaint as what you have to reach, we are thinking about different ways that complaints come out as expressions of dissatisfaction with a situation. A complaint might be how you say no to something whether in speech or in writing or even through non-verbal communication; complaints as objecting, calling out, contesting, naming; questioning; and so on.
When a complaint is about something, you first have to admit to something, to recognise something as being wrong, as being something you need to complain about. To admit to something can mean both to confess a truth, and to let it in. A complaint can require opening a door to the truth of a situation; letting it in; letting it sink in. Before you have any conversations with others, you might first have conversations with yourself. A complaint might begin with a sense of something not being quite right; with an uneasy feeling, with discomfort; concern. You might sense something is not right without being sure of yourself. A complaint might begin with being unsure about whether what you are experiencing is something to be complained about.
A Masters student begins her new programme with high hopes and expectations. And then “it started.”
It started I would say in the second or third lesson I had with Prof X. There were certain signs that rang alarm bells for me and my first reaction is stop being paranoid, stop being a feminazi where everything is gendered, you know, you are probably reading too much into this, you need to take a step back. What I started doing was questioning myself first rather that questioning his behaviour.
When an alarm bell rings you are hearing a warning; the sound of a bell announces a danger in the external world even if an alarm bell is what you hear inside your own head. It does not always follow that you take heed of what you hear. And so: she starts questioning herself rather than his behaviour. She recalls how she doubted herself for being alarmed. She tells herself off, even, she gives herself a talking to; she tells herself to stop being paranoid, to stop being a feminazi, to stop being a feminist, perhaps. It is striking how in questioning herself, she also exercises familiar stereotypes of feminists as feminazis, with the implication that gender is a judgement that is imposed upon a situation from the outside. We learn from what is possible: it is possible to identify as a feminist and worry that gender is an imposition. External judgements can be given voice as internal doubt.
It takes time for her to realise that her first impressions were right. Her sense that something was amiss, which was followed at first by telling herself not to be paranoid, is confirmed by what she keeps encountering. She describes how the syllabus was occupied: “he left any thinker who wasn’t a white man essentially until the end of the course.” A syllabus can tell you who is being valued, what is valued; who comes first, who has priority. You can come up against a structure in a syllabus. Many of us are familiar with such structures. Even structures can take time to reveal themselves: “and then by week 5, I was like, no, no, no, no, things are wrong not just in terms of gender, things are desperately wrong with the way he is teaching full-stop.” Perhaps her first reaction is to say no to the bell, no to no. But then she realises she was right to hear that something was wrong; those no’s come out; more of them. I think of those no’s, all four of them, as the sound of an increasing confidence in her own judgement: “it was a progressive realisation that it wasn’t just me being paranoid.” Perhaps once you get a single no out, other no’s will follow.
Sometimes if you have a sense of something wrong, you might check in with others. What did you think of this? Is that what you think? A senior woman, a professor, a head of department experiences misogyny and sexism at a table on an away day. One of the male professors says things that are particularly offensive. She checks in with friends and colleagues. This happened; this is what he said. The responses lead her to doubt herself: “the person who was the main protagonist in the banter; I was told he couldn’t be you must have imagined that because he is married to a real feminist.” You must have imagined that; it can’t be true; it couldn’t be. She knows what happened. External voices can be internalised as doubt. To proceed (and she did, although her complaint was to stall later, after she was placated by a senior manager) she has to put their voices aside, not to believe them. What if the experiences you need to complain about have shaken your confidence? She said: “it does shake you; you think oh am I making a fuss, should I make a fuss. I have already made a massive fuss at my previous institution, which went on for months.” She had participated in a formal complaint in her previous job, at an earlier time, another time, a complaint about sexual harassment that did not get anywhere. If a complaint is stopped it can have a knock on effects on those involved; you can be stopped later, another time.
We carry our complaints with us whether or not we make them.
So many of the people I spoke to made use of this expression, “making a fuss,” as if to complain is to be fussy, to be too particular, demanding even, as if a complaint makes something bigger than it needs to be, as if you are making yourself bigger than you are. But you also might know that that is how you will be judged. You might try and keep the complaint secret in order not to make a fuss. One early career lecturer describes: “I felt frightened to tell other people. I don’t know why. I did feel really frightened. I did not want to kick up a fuss. I didn’t want to make a big scene. I don’t like that anyway. I don’t like to feel that a lot of people would have known what was going on.” You might avoid talking about what you are going through to avoid making a spectacle of yourself. And it is not that you would be wrong: those who complain are often perceived as making a fuss, even making a fuss over nothing. Another early career lecturer was told: “you look like somebody who is causing a fuss.”
Those times you have not been heard: you don’t leave them behind either. One postgraduate student describes: “I would wonder how much is going to be a repetition of not being taken seriously, not being heard.” When you have not been heard, you wonder about the point of speaking out, of expressing yourself. Hearings can be walls, silence can be hard; you have to push very hard to make a complaint if that’s how you have been heard, not heard, if you have not being taken seriously before.
I have learnt from talking to people how ways of speaking and behaving that seem, at one level, obviously problematic can still be justified as how things are or how things are done. An international student, for instance, arrived into a new department only to find professors being intimate and sexual with students in front of staff and other students. No one seemed to be paying any attention, to show any signs of noticing that something was amiss. She said: “I thought at first this must be how they do things in the UK.” Sometimes it is the unremarkability of the behavior, how other people are not remarking upon something, not objecting, or showing signs of objecting, that can make you wonder whether what is happening is not objectionable after all. Leila Whitley and Tiffany Page have noted how the absence of objections to sexual harassment can work “to normalise sexual harassment in the university environment” (2015, 42).
The absence of other complaints can make it hard to recognise there is something to complain about.
This also means that: complaints can be stopped by stopping other complaints.
The work of complaint can also involve an internal process of coming to terms with what you are experiencing. Even if you have to complain about something that is being done to you, whether by somebody else or by a structure that is enabling somebody else, you still have to come to terms with yourself. A complaint can feel like an existential crisis, a life crisis. The conversations you have with others are relayed endlessly as conversations with yourself. I noticed in listening to people’s testimonies how often people when sharing their complaints with me put on “other voices,” so when they told me what the head of human resources said, or what their supervisor said, they would change their voice; it was like I was listening to a chorus. And that is probably because making a complaint can feel like becoming a chorus, all those conversations take up time and space in your head, more and more voices, they become loud; louder still.
I am talking to a postgraduate student based in small progressive university in the US. She is talking about the time it took to get the point where she realised she might have to make a complaint, to decide whether to complain. She is part of the story; she is telling the story. She is a queer woman of colour. She is the first person in her family to go to university. She’s had to fight really hard to get here. She has had to fight really hard to get here. I have repeated that sentence because of how much it matters; because of how it matters. She knows something is not right, she is feeling more and more uncomfortable: he keeps pushing boundaries, wanting to meet off campus, then in coffee shops, then at his house. She tries to handle the situation: “I tried very hard to keep all of the meetings on campus, and to keep the door open.” She keeps the door open; an actual door, at the same time she closes another kind of door, we might call this door the door of consciousness, trying to shut out what he is doing. She describes “I thought I would take myself down by admitting to the kind of violence he was enacting.” To admit can mean to confess a truth but it can also mean to let something in. Take myself down: if to admit to violence makes it real, then to admit to violence can feel like becoming your own killjoy, getting in the way of your own progression.
A closed door can be a handle, how you handle a situation, by which I mean you close a door by not letting it in, the truth of a situation sink in, because letting it in would mean giving something up. But handles can stop working:
I was sitting with another colleague at another lunch another day and he started texting me these naked photos of himself and I think I just hit a critical mass of like, I just can’t handle it anymore. I said just look at this, and she was just like, you know like, completely speechless…. And then like it suddenly started to seep into me, into her, in this shared conversation about like, how horrible and violent that I am having to receive these things, right, and so that basically put a process in motion.
When the handle stops working, the violence directed at her seeps not only into her but into her colleague; into the conversation, into the room in which they are having that conversation. That violence is only witnessed because of this seepage; a complaint is expressed, gets out, at the same time the violence gets in.
A complaint can then feel like an alarming exteriority, what you have to do to get out of a situation, yes, but also what comes at you, what would mean giving up on something you had fought very hard for. For a complaint to get out, something gets in. And I think it is important to remember that the work of complaint (including the work of reaching complaint) is work you are doing when you are still at work, when you are still trying to do your work; you are trying to hold yourself together; you are trying not to fall apart. If some of the work around complaint might seem or feel like internal work (the conversations you have with yourself), complaints often come out at work, in social situations. These points about internality and sociality are related: if you are trying to hold something in and that effort fails, a complaint is expressed; what was kept apart is shared. To express can mean to squeeze something out. The sociality of how complaints are expressed is another way of considering the effects of how complaints are contained.
In another example, an early career woman academic is being sexually harassed by a senior professor, a star professor, mainly through verbal communication. The professor arrived at the same time she did: “he was much older, late 50s, early 60s. It was a big thing in the university, what a coup we have got this extraordinary professor; he was on the side of the angels.” This new professor starts communicating with her in a way that feels increasingly uncomfortable. She does not want to make the situation worse than it is; she describes his behavior as mildly irritating; annoying yes, distracting. His behavior, however mild, is still getting in the way of her being able to do her work. And she wants to do her work:
He made me feel uncomfortable and at the time I didn’t know it was ok to say, please can you give me some personal space, that’s not appropriate. Because I wasn’t saying no, I really didn’t know how to negotiate this. He clearly read that as “all things ago here.” The comments became more overtly sexual to the point where he made this strange comment about wanting to suck my toes, even I, naïve as I was at that point, went, oh shit this is not, this is really, really not ok in the work environment.
She does not know how to tell him to stop, even if what he is doing seems small, perhaps because she feels smaller than him, he is a professor, “on the side of the angels,” no less; she a junior lecturer. Hierarchies can make handling harassment hard, which is how hierarchies enable harassment. But she wants the behavior to stop:
All I wanted at that point was for someone to talk to him and say you need to stop this. Like that’s what needs to happen. So I went to my line manager who was a woman and said this is going on, this is making me feel really uncomfortable, and I don’t know how to handle it, we are in a shared office space and we are often in the office space alone, I just want someone to have a chat with him and say, please don’t continue with this. And she assured me that she would do that. And much later I learnt because she did not want to complain, nothing happened.
She needs assistance to get no out, to say no to the behaviour. The harassment she has to deal with has already seeped in; she doesn’t know how to handle it. She wants it to stop; she wants him to stop. It is her line-manager who sits on the complaint, despite her assurance. A complaint can be stopped because others do not want to pass the complaint on. Passing on a complaint can be making a complaint (“she did not want to complain”), which in itself is telling us something about stoppages, about what does and does not get passed on; passed around.
When an attempt to stop harassment is stopped, the harassment does not stop:
And then I was in a meeting with my line manager and her line manager and we were in this little office space, like a glass fish bowl type meeting room, and then the main office where all the staff desks were and he emailed me and I made a sound, eehhhhh, there’s no way to articulate it, someone’s just dragging your insides like a meat grinder, oh god this is not going to stop, and I made that sound out loud, and my line manager’s line manager said, what’s happened. And I turned my computer around and showed him and he said for fuck’s sake, how stupid do you have to be to put that in an email. You could see a look of panic on her face. Like, crap, this has not magically gone away.
A “yes” can work rather like magic, assurance, she would do that, she did not do that, making a complaint go away, disappear into air, rather like steam: puff, puff. If the complaint was evaporated the harassment “has not magically gone away.” Her complaint comes out in the middle of the meeting, not as an account given by someone to someone, an intentional action, but as a sound, eehhhhh, a gut-wrenching expression of a no, or even a no, not again, or even, enough is enough. That sound, that eehhhhh, pierces the meeting, that meeting taking place in the little glass room, a fishbowl, where they can all be seen. Something can become visible and audible sometimes even despite yourself; a complaint is what comes out because you can’t take it anymore, you just can’t take it anymore, your insides like a meat-grinder; a complaint as how you are turned inside out.
A complaint can be expressed rather like a snap; you hear the sound of something breaking. If that sound sounds sudden, it is because of what you did not hear before, the pressure of what came before. Her sound becomes an alert, leading to a question, what’s happened, what’s up; the sound leads to her turning her computer to him, so he see what she has been sent. A complaint comes out because what she was sent is heard and then seen. And note how the problem once heard is implied to be not so much the harassment but that there was evidence of it (“for fuck’s sake how stupid do you have to be to put that in an email”).
A sound becomes a complaint because it brings to the surface a violence that would otherwise not have to be faced. Violence is often dealt with by not being faced. It is then as if the complaint brings the violence into existence; forcing it to be faced. Perhaps this is how complaints (and complainers) are often heard as forceful. For those who receive the complaint, who hear the sounds she makes, it is the complaint that alerts them to violence, to what she has to face, which means, in a certain way, the complaint can then be treated as the origin of violence. There is a clue there, in that description, her description: how the complainer becomes a problem because of what she does not contain.
A complaint can be what it takes to get through; to pierce the seal, to open the door, to let something in, to get it out. A complaint can be the work you have to do to get violence out. It can be terrifying but necessary.
Whitley, Leila and Tiffany Page 2015. “Sexism at the Centre: Locating the Problem of Sexual Harrassment,” New Formations. 86: 34-53.
Slammed Doors
Colleagues and killjoys,
How can we respond to this time, to this difficult and painful time, to this time in which those who are so much more vulnerable become so much more vulnerable? It is time to take care of each other; to look out for each other. It is always that time, but sometimes we know it, the truth of it. And we know that however compelling this truth, that that is not always what happens, that that is not always how decisions are made. Care is an urgent practical task. The less some are supported, the more they need to be supported. We do what we can, where we can.
All of my own speaking events for the rest of this academic year have been (or will likely be) cancelled or postponed. I will continue to write and to work carefully on my book on complaint, which I can only do because so many people have given me their time, their stories, their complaints, and yes, their care; their care for alternatives; their care not to reproduce worlds that are unjust. Over the next few months I hope to share posts regularly on my blog. The post below is my presentation from an event organised by Katy Sian that took place earlier this month. Please do read Katy’s important book, Navigating Institutional Racism in British Universities. It was a delight and honour to speak alongside Katy and my friend and colleague Heidi Mirza. Please also do read the book Heidi recently edited with Jason Arday Dismantling Race in Higher Education. Navigating, dismantling; we have so much work to do.
Stay safe, close in heart and spirit. More soon, Sara
Slammed Doors: Diversity and/as Harassment, Paper presented for Thinking of Leaving: Racism and Discrimination in British Universities Panel, March 6, University of York, by Sara Ahmed
I wanted to start by saying I am not thinking of leaving. I left. And when I left the academy, I am not sure I was thinking about leaving. I just reached a point when I couldn’t do it anymore, keep quiet about what was going on, going into the departmental meeting room to talk about this or that, the same meeting room in which I first heard from students about the harassment and bullying they’d been subjected to. But I do not want to go over this, what led me to leave; it is still too painful, too difficult. I want instead to use my time to share some research I have done since leaving, research that leaving helped me to do. I resigned in protest about the failure of the institution to deal with sexual harassment as an institutional problem. I shared the reasons for my resignation on my blog. I did not disclose much information but I disclosed enough. I became a leak; drip, drip. The story leaked into the mainstream press, and the university quickly responded in the mode of damage control, using tired old non-performatives: saying how much they did not tolerate sexual harassment; how they had robust procedures and policies; how committed they were to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. If any of this had been remotely true, I would not have had to resign. This will be familiar to students and scholars of colour: we know how universities respond to our complaints about racism by announcing their commitments to diversity.
I don’t want to take any more of our precious time talking about how my former employer used (and still uses) diversity as damage control. Posting about my resignation did something else, something far more important: it helped other people to find me; those who had experiences of making complaints that led them to confront institutions head on and, in some instances, also led them to leave. The research I have been doing on complaint was possible because of this finding. A leak can be a lead; complaints can be how we find each other. We follow what we find.
In my earlier project on diversity, I noticed how often walls came up. One practitioner described: “it is a banging a head against the brick wall job.” A job description becomes a wall description. In my project on complaint, doors keep coming up. Perhaps we could think of doors as “the master’s tools,” to borrow from Audre Lorde; doors tell us how institutions function, for whom they function; how only some are allowed to enter, how others become trespassers.
Doors can tell us something not only about who can get in but who can get by or who can get through. After all, when a path is no longer available to us, a door becomes a figure of speech: we say that door is closed. A women of colour academic described her department as a revolving door, “women and minorities” enter, only to head right out again: whoosh, whoosh.
Getting in can be how we are shown the way out. We can recall here that diversity is often represented as an open door, translated into a tag-line, tag along; tag on: minorities welcome: come in, come in! One university transformed the “open door” of diversity into a project of attaching photographs of Black and minority ethic staff and students to door panels across the campus. Here BME students and staff are pictured not even as going through the door but as on the door.
Just because they welcome you it does not mean they expect you to turn up. You might turn up and end up on the diversity committee. We often end up on the diversity committee because of whom you are not: not white, not cis, not able-bodied, not man, not straight. The more nots you are the more committees you end up on! A woman of color academic describes: “I was on the equality and diversity group in the university. And as soon as I started mentioning things to do with race, they changed the portfolio of who could be on the committee and I was dropped.” Certain words carry a complaint, you just have to say words like race or racism and you’ll be heard as complaining. A complaint can be how you are received as much as what you send out. She added: “whenever you raise something, the response is that you are not one of them.” A complaint seems to amplify what makes you not fit, picking up on what you are not. A complainer becomes a foreigner, a complaint a confirmation that you are not from here, not really from here.
“Whenever you raise something the response is you are not one of them.” I cannot think of a more helpful description of the problem of becoming the problem. It is not that raising something makes you not one of them. You are already not one of them. Not being one of them is a judgement with consequences: it means being put under scrutiny. As she further describes: “To retain your post you have to be whiter than white. You are not afforded any good will. You have no scope for error. You don’t have any scope for being a bit foggy. The level of scrutiny is so high.” The expression “whiter than white” is telling us something; how whiteness becomes clean, good, pure, yes, but also how people of colour have already failed to be those things even before we get here, or how easily you come to fail, because when you are under scrutiny, anything can be used as evidence of failure, any mistake you make, and we all make mistakes; or anything quirky, irregular, out of place, queer even, can be confirmation not only that you are not from here, but that you are not meant to be here. Sometimes you might try and pass not because you identify with them or wish to be one of them but just because it is safer not to stand out. I have called this work institutional passing; passing as trying to maximize the distance between you and the figure of the complainer. When passing fails, when you raise something, perhaps you use the word race, although let’s face it, for people of colour turning up is enough to bring race up, you reconfirm a judgement that has already been made.
A complaint about how you do not belong can be used as evidence you do not belong. A student of colour objects to how a lecturer is communicating with her – he is overly intimate. He had sent her an email from a private Hotmail account and suggested they “meet up during this or the next weekend in the evening.” She communicates to him that she founds his style of communication inappropriate. His response: “As for meeting in the evening and its combination with [personal email], this is how we do it here at the department (ask our MA students). Perhaps your department has some other norm which I do not understand. Also, your religion might be a problem.” Note the assertion of “how we do things here” as an answer to a questioning of how he is doing things. Note the interpellation of other students into that assertion. Note the implication that an objection is an expression of a difference in norms. And note how her religion – she is from a Muslim background – is used to explain her objection. When her complaint is explained away, she is explained away.
We often end up having to keep explaining ourselves. A trans student of colour complaints about sexual harassment and transphobic harassment from their supervisor who kept asking them deeply intrusive questions about their gender and genitals. Questions can be hammering; for some to be is to be in question. The questions were laced in the language of concern, concern for the welfare of the student predicated on judgments that they would be endangered if they conducted research in their home country; racist judgments are often about the location of danger “over there” (in a brown elsewhere). But when they complain, what happens: “People were just trying to evaluate whether he was right to believe there would be some sort of physical danger to me because of my gender identity… as if to say he was right to be concerned.” The complaints process can lead to a reiteration of yet more intrusive questions, questions that make the concern right or even into a right; a right to be concerned. So much harassment today is enacted as a right to be concerned; we have a right to be concerned about immigration (as citizens) or we have a right to be concerned about sex-based rights (as “adult human females”). A right to be concerned is how scrutiny is enacted, how the violence of that scrutiny is masked, a violence premised on suspicion that some are not who they say they are, that some have no right to be where they are, that some have no right to be.
Embodying diversity in making you more visible can make you more vulnerable. A postdoctoral researcher, a woman of colour wanted to make a complaint about racial discrimination. She was hired as part of a diversity programme. And she knows that the programme is precarious: “I don’t want to do something that is going to threaten a programme that is supposed to diversify the faculty.” Doors can be closed when we are made responsible for opening the door for others. If diversity often ends up being located in students and scholars of colour who are assumed to be here because we bring diversity with us, it can be harder to address the problems we have when we get here, which are not unrelated to the problems we have getting here. She used the term “coercive diversity” for how the university wanted to make use of her body and her research as evidence of its diversity whilst undermining her work as a colleague; as an early career academic; as a human being.
Another woman of colour researcher described how her expertise was used to secure funding for a project on diversity. Once the project was funded, she was shut out. She describes : “If you are a mascot you are silent, everything you are amounts to nothing, you are stuffing, if that, a skeleton with stuffing….I was kept out of the frame of the management structure; I had no control over how the money was spent, who was being employed, who was being invited to the advisory board.” You are stuffing; a skeleton with stuffing. As a symbol of diversity, a mascot, you are supposed to be silent, or perhaps you provide the raw materials, data; the experience, which is converted into theory, by the white academy. What happens when the stuffing speaks? What happens when those who embody diversity can theorize for ourselves? She told me what happens. She documented seventy-two instances of racial and sexual harassment directed toward her because she refused to be silent. Harassment can be the effort to silence those who refuse to comply; harassment can be the attempt to stop you from identifying harassment as harassment, which means the one who identifies harassment as harassment is harassed all the more.
Harassed all the more: a Muslim student of colour does not get the same number of classes to teach that other students do; she does not get the fellowships other students get. She is an international student; she is a mother; she does not have enough to get by. She has to complain to get what she needs: “after I made a complaint against them, I felt all sorts of overt discrimination as If the complaint made everyone free from the mask they used to put on when they were dealing with me before.” Diversity is that mask, when it slips, racism is given freer expression. Note then: a complaint can bring out what a complaint is about. She decides to leave. But she needs the support of the professors. Only two of the professors would write her letters. When she does not into any other programme, she asks to see those letters: “she wrote that ‘I am good at transcribing data’ nothing at all about my research, awards, the paper that I was working with her on, nor about the classes I took with her.” We are back to how some of us become reduced to data. References too can function as doors, how some gather speed and velocity; how others are slowed down or stopped.
Note then: power can work through what might seem a light touch: all you need to do to close a door on someone is to write them a less positive reference. This means that: the actions that close doors are not always perceptible to others. A closed door can itself be imperceptible; we can think back to the how diversity is figured as an open door; come in, come in; as if there is nothing stopping anyone from getting in or getting through. Or it might be that the effects of the actions are perceptible but the actions are not: so when someone is stopped, it seems they stopped themselves.
For those who are deemed dependent on doors being opened, those who embody diversity, whose entry is understood as debt, a door can be shut at any point. A door can be shut after you enter. A door can be shut because you enter. I am talking to a black woman academic. She had been racially harassed and bullied by a white woman colleague:
I think what she wanted to do was to maintain her position as the director, and I was supposed to be some pleb; you know what I mean, she had to be the boss, and I had to be the servant type of thing, that was how her particular version of white supremacy worked, so not just belittling my academic credentials and academic capabilities but also belittling me in front of the students; belittling me in front of administrators.
How do you know it’s about race? That’s a question we often get asked. Racism is how we know it’s about race; that wall, whiteness, or let’s call it what it is, as she has, white supremacy, we come to know intimately as it is what keeps coming up. To belittle someone, to make them little, can function as a command: be little! And that command is being sent not only to her, but to those who are deemed to share the status of being subordinate: students; administrators. She added: “I had put down that I would like to work towards becoming a professor and she just laughed in my face.” That laughter can be the sound of a door slammed. To have got there, a black woman in a white institution, a lecturer, a senior lecturer, on her way to becoming a professor, she is now a professor; is to be understood as getting above your station, above yourself; ahead of yourself.
Some of us in becoming professors become trespassers; you are being told you need permission to enter by being told you do not have permission.
Closed doors can mean that other people do not hear that laughter; they do not hear that door being slammed. And those who try to stop you from progressing are often the same people who front the institution, perhaps nodding enthusiastically about diversity. Nod, nod, yes, yes, slam. I am listening to an indigenous woman academic. She told me how she could hardly manage to get to campus after a sustained campaign of bullying and harassment from white faculty, including a concerted effort by a senior manager to sabotage her tenure case as well as the tenure cases of other indigenous academics. When you are harassed and bullied, when doors are closed, nay slammed, in your face, making it hard to get anywhere, it can be history you are up against; thrown up against. Complaints can take us back to histories that are still:
There is a genealogy of experience, a genealogy of consciousness in my body that is now at this stage traumatised beyond the capacity to go to the university. So there’s a legacy, a genealogy and I haven’t really opened that door too widely as I have been so focused on my experience in the last 7 years.
To be traumatised is to hold a history in a body; you can be easily shattered. There is only so much you can take on because there is only so much you can take in. We can inherit closed doors, trauma can be inherited by being made inaccessible, all that happened that was too hard, too painful to reveal. Decolonial feminist work, black feminist work; feminist of colour work is often about opening doors; the door to what came before; colonial as well as patriarchal legacies; harassment as the hardening of that history, a history of who gets to do what; who is deemed entitled to what; who is deemed entitled to whom. A complaint can be necessary: what you have to do to go on. But you still have to work out what you can take on. She went on by taking them on:
Closing a door can sometimes be a survival strategy; she closes the door to the institution by withdrawing herself, her commitments, from it. She still does her work; she still teaches her students. She uses the institution’s door to shut it out, to shut out what she can, who she can. She takes herself off the door; she depersonalises it. And she pulls down the blinds and she pulls on a mask, the mask of her people, connecting her fight to the battles that came before, because, quite frankly, for her, this is a war.
Our battles are not the same battles. But there are many battles happening behind closed doors. I am speaking to a Black woman. She had been a Professor; she had been a Dean. I use the past tense because she is no longer a professor; nor is she a Dean; she was dismissed from her post. The stories we share of becoming professors need to be supplemented by stories of unbecoming professors. The case begins as an administrative dispute. She has evidence that the university did not follow its own procedures. But the evidence she has becomes evidence of her insubordination. If you don’t back down, a wall comes down. Racism comes up in what comes down. As she describes: “Race and gender are always in there. I thought this has never happened before. The first time it happens is when you have a black woman dean.” Race and gender: they are always in there; in the situations we find ourselves in. If you are not compliant, if you are defiant, they will do what they can to stop you.
How we are stopped is how institutions are reproduced. In order to survive those institutions, we need to transform them. But we still need to survive the institutions we are trying to transform. Sometimes, we do end up out of it, sometimes we get out; sometimes we are forced out. But if they are trying to shut us up by shutting us out, they have failed. A complaint is a record we carry with us, we are that record, it is a painful record, no doubt, no question, a shattering; we can be left in pieces not just our careers, but our lives, ourselves. We pick up the pieces. Perhaps that is what we do for each other, with each other; each piece, however sharp, a fragment that connects us, a story shared.
Feminists at Work
Posted on January 10, 2020 by feministkilljoys
It can be overwhelming: how much feminist work there is left to do. We might need to give ourselves permission to be overwhelmed, to stop as well as to start up, to take a break from the work even if we need to keep doing that work. I stopped. In the early days of the new year and new decade, I started up again. I have gone back to work, to my feminist work. I have been working closely on complaint, working with my transcripts, reading, listening, learning; reflecting on how hard some people are willing to fight, some people do fight, in order to build environments in which they can do their work. It is my task for this year, to bring together the material I have collected from listening to complaint, to gather and to hold the data, to let it spill. As I expect to be immersed in this task for some time now, I thought I would share a lecture I gave at Malmö University last year when accepting an honorary doctorate. I share the lecture in the form I gave it, though I have not included all the images. You can also see a video of the lecture with the powerpoint slides incorporated here. Thanks so much to Camilla Lekebjer, Rebecka Lettevall and Kristin Järvstad for all the work you did to make my visit possible and for the warmth of your feminist hospitality. On the occasion, I was surrounded by feminist, queer and anti–racist activists some of whom I knew personally (a special thanks to Ulrika Dahl and Asynja Gray for being my special guests!), and some of whom I did not. We need to surround each other, as we do this work; we need to surround each other in order to do this work.
Killjoys, misfits, trouble-makers; willful wanderers and woeful warriors: we fight for room to be as we wish; we wish for room in which we did not have to fight to be.
In solidarity and with affection,
F-K.
“Feminists at Work: Complaint, Diversity, Institutions”, Lecture given at Malmö University, October 17 2019, by Sara Ahmed
To live a feminist life is to be a feminist at work. To be a feminist at work requires working on as well as at institutions. I have called the work of working on institutions diversity work: the work we have to do in order to be accommodated or the work we have to do because we are not accommodated. In my lecture today I want to retrace some of the steps in my own journey as a feminist of colour scholar and as a diversity worker. I will ask what it means, what it does, to be “on it,” and how being “on it,” trying to transform institutions, ends up being the work of complaint. A complaint can be what you have to make but a complaint can also be how you are heard. When we challenge how diversity is happily claimed by organisations, as a sign of what they are already doing, as I do think we need to do, we are heard as complaining; as being negative; destructive; obstructive. We become killjoys at work.
I first picked up the figure of the feminist killjoy by placing her where I had received this assignment, at the family table. You can be a killjoy because of what you bring up wherever you meet up. You might be identifying the sexism of a much loved film, or questioning how heterosexuality is presumed as the future of a child, or challenging how colonial occupation is transformed into a national holiday. And it might be assumed that you are saying this, doing this, even being this, because you are unhappy or because you are trying to stop others from being happy. If the feminist killjoy gets in the way of happiness, to claim this figure is to be willing to get in the way. We become killjoys at work, institutional killjoys, when we get in the way of institutional happiness or when we just get in the way.
To be a feminist at work is to inherit the effects of other feminists at work. It is important to recognise that some of us can only be here, at universities, because many before us fought for us to be here. And we created feminist programmes such as Gender Studies; feminist centers, places to do our work because of how the university was already occupied when we got here. In these programmes, on them, some of us still end up as killjoys, getting in the way of feminist happiness or just getting in the way.
Many of my own experiences of being a killjoy at work have been a result of pointing out racism on feminist programmes. I think of Audre Lorde in 1978 turning up at an event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s Second Sex. She agreed to speak; she does speak, on a panel, “The Personal is Political.” But she finds that the panel on which she is speaking is the only panel at the conference in which black feminism and lesbianism are represented. Lorde takes a stand; she makes a stand. She uses the time and the space she has been given to make a critique, perhaps a complaint, about the time and space Black feminism and lesbianism has been given. That critique was to become one of her best-known essays, “The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” In that essay Audre Lorde asks a question, “What does it mean when the tools of racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that patriarchy?” Lorde tells us what it means by showing us what it does. When a feminist house is built using the tools of “racist patriarchy,” the same house is being built, using the same doors ; doors can be the master’s tools, how only some are allowed to enter; how others become trespassers, or if they are allowed in how they end up in a little room at the back of the building. Doors are not just physical things that swing on hinges, though they are that, they are mechanisms that enable an opening or a closing. When a path is not available to us, a door becomes a figure of speech; we say “that door is closed.”
Some openings, feminist conferences, end up being closed. Lorde stresses that those who are resourced by the master’s house will find those who try to dismantle that house “threatening.” Even an attempt to open up a space to others can be threatening to those who occupy that space. In my new book on the uses of use What’s the Use, I use this image as an image of queer use: how things can be used in ways that were not intended or by those for whom they were not intended.
I think of these birds rather affectionately as our queer kin; they turned a small opening intended for letters into a door, a way of getting in and out of the box. Of course, the post box can only become a nest if it stops being used as a post-box; hence the sign “please don’t use” addressed to would-be posters. I am aware that this is a rather happy hopeful image. Queer use is rarely about just turning up and being able to turn a box into a nest or a room into a shelter: to queer use, to enable some to take up residence in spaces not built for them, often requires a world-dismantling effort.
I am not going to be talking about queer use today, though I will return to the image of the post-box that has become a nest. I want instead to focus on diversity work and complaint as world-dismantling efforts. My own work builds upon work by Jacqui M. Alexander, Heidi Mirza, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Malinda Smith, Shirley Anne Tate and Gloria Wekker, as well as many others, who have offered powerful critiques of diversity in the academy as a way of building black feminist and feminist of colour counter-institutional knowledge. There is no doubt that doing this kind of work, trying to open institutions up to those who are not accommodated, can be frustrating, exhausting and shattering; we come up against walls, doors that appear open end up being closed. This work is also how we come to know what we know; we know so much about institutions from our efforts to transform them.
Doing Diversity
How do you end up as a diversity worker? We all have our stories to tell. Sometimes we end up on the diversity committee just because of who we are not: not man, not white, not cis, not able-bodied, the more nots you are the more committees you are on! We can end up being given diversity as a task because we are assumed to be diversity, to bring diversity with us.
My own story of becoming a diversity worker is hard to separate from my own story of being a feminist at work. When I became director of Women’s Studies as a relatively junior academic, I began to attend faculty meetings. I was the only person of colour at these meetings. It is important to note that I noticed this: whiteness tends to be visible to those who do not inhabit it. And during the discussion of one item at a faculty meeting on equality the Dean said something like “race is too difficult to deal with.” I was a feminist killjoy in training at this point, and did not quite have the confidence to speak out during this meeting. So I wrote an email. I said that saying that race is “too difficult” is how racism gets reproduced. I was asked to join the new committee set up to write a race equality policy. You speak up and the diversity committee is where you end up.
There can be a problem with who ends up on such committees. There can be a problem with who does not end up on such committees. We can still learn from being on them. We talked about words like diversity, racism; we talked about the different associations those terms had for us. And we crafted a policy that made use of critical vocabularies, naming whiteness as an institutional problem, for instance. I have since then found policies interesting as a way of telling stories about institutions; who writes them; how they are written; where they do and do not go. What happened to our policy was how I first began to identify the mechanism I would later call “non-performativity.” The Equality Challenge Unit ranked the policy as “excellent.” The university was able to use the document as evidence of being good at race equality: as if to name something is to bring it about. Non-performativity: when naming something does not bring it about, or when something is named in order not to bring it about.
A document that documents racism becomes usable as a measure of good performance. However much that experience led me to recognise my own complicity, or perhaps because it led me to recognise my own complicity, the conversations we had on that committee stayed with me. Complicity can be a starting point: if we are on it, we are in it. We are implicated in the processes we identify; we can identify processes because we are implicated in them. In my subsequent study of diversity, I collected stories by talking to diversity practitioners, those who are given the task of diversifying institutions. Diversity practitioners know all about what policies do not bring about. You can still make use of such policies to show how organisations are not doing what they are saying. Diversity practitioners have to make do with what is available to them. Perhaps diversity itself becomes a tool. One practitioner observes : “I would say that the term diversity is just used now because it’s more popular. You know it’s in the press so why would we have equal opportunities when we can just say its diversity.” We can “just say its diversity” if diversity is “just used now.” Use becomes a reason for use, the circularity of a logic transformed into a tool.
The word diversity might be “just used now,” because of its affective qualities as a happy or positive term. Another practitioner described diversity as a “big shiny apple,” “It all looks wonderful but the inequalities aren’t being addressed.” Diversity can be a way of appearing to address a problem. This practitioner described her job thus: “it is a banging your head against a brick wall job.” A job description becomes a wall description. If you keep banging your head against the brick wall, but the wall keeps its place, it is you that gets sore. And what happens to the wall? All you seemed to have done is scratched the surface. This is what doing diversity work often feels like: scratching the surface, scratching at the surface.
So many of the stories I shared in my book On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, as well as in the middle section of Living a Feminist Life, were stories of how much diversity workers have to do because they did not through. One story in particular has traveled with me. A diversity worker managed to get a new diversity policy agreed after multiple attempts to block that policy; for example, the head of human resources removed reference to the policy from the minutes of the meeting. After the policy was agreed, her colleagues blank her when she refers to the policy. Blanking is an activity: you treat someone or something as if they do not exist because they do; when they do. There are many ways to stop something from happening. This is why I called diversity workers institutional plumbers. You have to work out where things are stuck; how they are stuck, because they are stuck.
The Work of Complaint
How we arrive at our research questions matters. If becoming attuned to how racism was talked about, or not talked about, led me on a path to study diversity, it was my participation in a series of enquires into sexual harassment and sexual misconduct that led me to study complaint. These enquiries were prompted by a collective complaint lodged by students. A collective complaint is created by a complaint collective: it can take a collective to keep a complaint going. I learnt so much from the work they had to do to keep that complaint going. Since then I have interviewed students, academics and administrators about their experience of the complaint process.
Making a complaint can also require becoming an institutional plumber. It is because complaints often get stuck in the system that complaints end up about the system. On paper it can seem is if making a complaint is a rather linear process ; indeed procedures are often represented as flow-charts; with paths and arrows, which give the would-be complainant a clear route through. The clarity of a procedure can be used to indicate a commitment. One university writes that complaints will “assist in identifying problems and trends across the University.” They then write that complaints will : “form the basis of positive publicity, in demonstrating that identified issues have been resolved.” Organisations use complaints procedures like how they use diversity; as a way of appearing to address a problem. When complaints record a problem they can be quickly folded into a solution; a record of how universities have resolved something; resolution, dissolution. Resolutions can be problems given new form.
Listening to those who have made or tried to make formal complaints has taught me that the gap between what is supposed to happen and what does happen is densely populated. This gap is where my study is located: I am minding the gap. I spoke to one administrator about her work in supporting students through the complaints process:
So your first stage would require the complainant to try and resolve it informally, which is really difficult in some situations and which is where it might get stuck in a department…And so it takes a really tenacious complaining student to say, no, I am being blocked…. If something bad has happened, and you are not feeling that way inclined, you can understand why a student would not have the tenacity to make sure that happens ….So you can imagine that something on paper that looks very linear is actually very circular a lot of the time and I think that’s the problem, students get discouraged and get demoralised and feel hard done by, and nothing’s getting resolved and then they are in a murky place and they can’t get out.
If a procedure exists in order to clear a path, that path can be blocked at any point. A complaint is not simply an outcome of a no, a complaint requires you to keep saying no along the way. This practitioner acknowledges that what is required to proceed with a complaint (confident and tenacity) might be what is eroded by the very experiences that lead to complaint (“something bad has happened,” “not feeling that way inclined”).
I suggested earlier that diversity work can often feel like scratching the surface. Making a complaint can also feel like scratching the surface. Let me share with you a description from an early career lecturer. She made a complaint about how the university handled her sick leave which turned into a grievance into how she had been treated as a neuroatypical person by her university:
It was like a little bird scratching away at something and it wasn’t really having any effect. It was just really small, small; small, and behind closed doors. I think people maybe feel that because of the nature of the complaint, and you are off work so they have to be polite and not talk about it and so much of their politeness is because they don’t want to say something. And maybe [it is] to do with being in an institution and the way they are built; long corridors, doors with locks on them, windows with blinds that come down, it seems to sort of imbue every part of it with a cloistered feeling, there is no air, it feels suffocating.
It was like: note this it. A complaint, as something you are doing, can acquire exteriority, becoming a thing in the world; scratching away; a little bird, all your energy going into an activity that matters so much to what you can do, who you can be, but barely seems to leave a trace; the more you try, the smaller it becomes, you become, smaller; smaller still. A complaint is made confidential as soon as it is lodged, so all this happens behind closed doors, a complaint as a secret; a source of shame, what keeps you apart from others. A complaint becomes a magnifying glass: so much appears, so many details are picked up by an attention; the building, the long corridors , the locked doors , the windows with blinds that can come down , less light, less room; you cannot breath; cloistered; suffocating.
Complaints can allow institutions to be registered all the more intensely; you acquire a sense of the institution through an experience of restriction. That sense is not always about things becoming clear. If complaints happen behind closed doors, those doors are also closed to those who make a complaint. One lecturer who complained after being harassed by a professor in her department describes :
Making a complaint can feel like becoming a character in somebody else’s story; what happens to you is dependent on decisions that are made without your knowledge or consent. Making a complaint about harassment can often feel like being harassed all over again, becoming subjected, again, to another’s will.
The gap between does happen and what should happen can be what you fall through; how you fall through. Remember “mind the gap” is familiar to us as advice and a warning. And warnings are useful because they introduce notes of caution predicted not on abstract rules but on someone’s own health and safety. Those who are trying to make a complaint are frequently warned about the consequences of complaining. A student describes : “I was repeatedly told that ‘rocking the boat’ or ‘making waves’ would affect my career in the future and that I would ruin the department for everyone else. I was told if I did put in a complaint I would never be able to work in the university and that is was likely I wouldn’t get a job elsewhere.” Complaining is framed as self-damage as well as damage to others, ruining a department, no less. The flip side of a warning is a promise, a promise that if you don’t complain, you will go further. What you are told you need to do to progress further or faster in a system reproduces that system. One academic describes not complaining as the default : “the default academia thing, the university thing: it will be fine, if we do wait, don’t make a fuss. A default is what will happen if you do not change the setting intentionally by performing an action. Not complaining is thus about not performing an action or altering the setting; not complaining as how things are set.
Warnings articulate a no, don’t get there. Complaints can also be stopped by a yes, by a nod, by the appearance of being heard. An academic brings a complaint to her line manager: “I would say he’s a yes man. So whenever I’d talk to him he would say yes but I knew the yes was definitely not a yes; it was a ‘we’ll see.’” Perhaps a yes can be said because there is not enough behind it to bring something about; we are back to the non-performative, given bodily expression as a nod, yes, yes, nod, nod. She describes yes saying as a management technique: “this weird almost magical thing that happens when you speak to people in management when you go in there and you kind of ready for it, and you are really fired up and you kind of put your complaint, your case, your story to the person, and then you sort of leave as if a spell has been cast, leave feeling like ok something might happen and then that kind of wears off a few hours later and you think oh my gosh. It is like a slight of hands, almost like a trick, you feel tricked.” The feeling that something might happen is what is being achieved; to be left with a sense you are getting somewhere is how you end up not getting anywhere. A yes can stop a complaint from progressing by diffusing the energy of the one who complains.
Another method of stopping a complaint is to declare a complaint “not a complaint” because it does not fulfill the technical requirements for being a complaint. A member of staff made a complaint about bullying from her head of department. The experience of bullying had been devastating, and she suffered from depression as a result. It took her a long time to get to the point where she could make a complaint:
I basically did it when I was able to, because I was just really unwell for a significant period of time. And I put in the complaint and the response that I got was from the deputy VC. He said that he couldn’t process my complaint because I had taken too long to lodge it.
Some experiences are so devastating that it takes time to process them. And the length of time taken can be used to disqualify a complaint. The tightening of the complaint genre – a complaint as the requirement to fill in a form in a certain way at a certain time – is how many struggles are not recorded.
If organizations disqualify complaints because they take too long to make, they can also take too long – in accordance with their own procedures – to respond to complaints. One student described how the university took seven months to respond to her complaints, and then another seven months to respond to her response to their response to her complaint: “it is my theory they been putting in the long finger and pulling this out, dragging this out over unacceptable periods of time, to try and tire me out so that I will just give up.” It can seem exhaustion is not just the effect but the point of a complaint process. Exhaustion can be a management technique: you tire people out so they are too tired to address what makes them too tired.
I have used the term “strategic inefficiency” to describe how organizations have an interest in stopping or slowing complaints. We might think of inefficiency as annoying but indiscriminate, affecting everybody, everything. Listening to those who have complained has taught me that inefficiency can be discriminatory. An international student was waiting for her complaint to be processed whilst her visa was running out: “Ten days before my visa was about to run out I applied for a new visa. And they were like how can we give her a visa she is on probation. You have to have good standing to get a visa and they were like this complaint thing is open.” For students and staff who are more precarious because of their residential, employment or financial status; the longer a complaint is kept open the more you could lose. There is a connection between the discriminatory effects of inefficiency and the efficiency with which organizations reproduce themselves as being for certain kinds of people, those whose papers are in the right place, those who are in the right place; those who are upright, straight, able; well-resourced, well-connected.
A complaint can go through the system and still nothing happens. Perhaps complaints end up in a filing cabinet; filing as filing away. One student said of her complaint: “it just gets shoved in the box.” Another student describes: “I feel like my complaint has gone into the complaint graveyard.” When a complaint is filed away or binned or buried those who complain can end up feeling filed away or binned or buried. We need to remember that a complaint is a record of what happens to a person. Complaints are personal. Complaints are also records of what happens in an institution. Complaints are institutional. The personal is institutional. One academic researcher shared her complaint file with me: “One of the things I talked about in those documents, I am very open, I was under such stress and trauma that my periods stopped….That’s the intimacy of some of the things that go into it, bodily functions like this.” A body can stop functioning. A body can announce a complaint. That body is in a document. And that document is in a file. And that file is in a cabinet. To file a complaint can mean to become alienated from your own history, a history that is often difficult, painful and traumatic.
Complaint as Diversity Work
A body can announce a complaint. It is worth remembering here that a complaint can be an expression of grief, pain or dissatisfaction; something that is a cause of a protest or outcry, a bodily ailment as well as a formal allegation. We are learning how the latter sense of complaint as formal allegation brings up these more affective and embodied senses. With bodies in mind, we can think about the work of diversity and complaint together; to show how they are part of the same work. If walls came up in my research into diversity, doors have come up in my research into complaint. I have already noted how complaints happen “behind closed doors.” If complaints provide data, that data is kept under lock and key. Doors can be about who is locked out as well as what is locked in. You might not be able to open the door because the door is too heavy or too narrow. As Aimi Hamraie describes in Building Access: “Examine any doorway, window, toilet, chair or desk…and you will find the outline of the body meant to use it” (2017, 19, emphasis added). They usefully name this outline “the normate template” (19). Those who don’t assume the shape of the norm know the norms; norms become walls: what hits you is what stops you from entering.
A disabled academic has to keep pointing out that rooms are inaccessible because they keep booking rooms that are inaccessible. She has to keep saying it because they keep doing it . “I worry about drawing attention to myself. But this is what happens when you hire a person in a wheelchair. There have been major access issues at the university.” She spoke of “the drain, the exhaustion, the sense of why should I have to be the one who speaks out.” You have to speak out because others do not; and because you speak out, others can justify their own silence. They hear you, so it becomes about you; “major access issues” become your issues. A complaint might be necessary because you do not fit the requirements of an organization, because you are a misfit to use Rosemarie Garland Thomson’s important term. She describes being a person with a disability in an ablest institution as like being a “square peg in round hole.” You can also be a misfit given what has become routine. An organization that organizes long meetings without any breaks assumes a body that can be seated without breaks. If you arrive and cannot maintain this position, you do not meet the requirements. If you lay down during the meeting, you would throw the meeting into crisis. A social justice project might require throwing meetings into crisis.
Perhaps because organizations are trying to avoid such crises, misfits often end up on the same committees (otherwise known as the diversity committee). We can be misfits on these committees. A woman of colour academic describes : “I was on the equality and diversity group in the university. And as soon as I started mentioning things to do with race they changed the portfolio of who could be on the committee and I was dropped.” Certain words carry a complaint, you just have to say words like race or racism and you’ll be heard as complaining. Given that people of colour just have to turn up to bring race up, we can be heard as complaining without even saying anything. A complaint can be how you are received as much what you send out. If you do raise something, you end up confirming a judgement that has already been made. She describes: “whenever you raise something, the response is that you are not one of them.” A complaint seems to amplify what makes you not fit, picking up what you are not; a complaint as foreign, a complainer as a foreigner, not from here, not here, not.
A structure: when the same things keep coming up. But if you keep having the same problem, you can be made to feel the problem is you. A lesbian academic describes: “if you have a situation and you make a complaint, then you are the woman who complains, the lesbian who complains. And then of course you get witch-hunted, you get scapegoated, you become the troublesome uppity woman; you become the woman who does not fit; you become everything the bully accuses you off, because nobody is listening to you. And you don’t like to hear yourself talking like that but you end up being in that situation, again. You can hear them saying, ‘oh there you go.” A diversity practitioner had said something similar to me: she only had to open her mouth in meetings to witness eyes rolling as if to say “oh hear she goes.” Both times we laughed: it can be relief to have an experience put into words. The feminist killjoy comes up here; she comes up in what we can hear. We hear each other in the wear and the tear of the words we share; we hear what it is like to come up against the same thing over and over again. We imagine the eyes rolling as if to say: well she would say that.
It was from experiences like this that I developed my equation: rolling eyes = feminist pedagogy.
Sometimes we do laugh; we need each other so we can laugh. In that laughter is also a groan of recognition. To be followed by rolling eyes is after all to be followed by eyes. A trans student of colour complaints about sexual harassment and transphobic harassment from their supervisor who kept asking them deeply intrusive questions about their gender and genitals. Questions can be hammering; for some to be is to be in question. The questions were laced in the language of concern, concern for the welfare of the student predicated on judgments that they would be endangered if they conducted research in their home country; racist judgments are often about the location of danger “over there.” But when they complain, what happens : “People were just trying to evaluate whether he was right to believe there would be some sort of physical danger to me because of my gender identity… as if to say he was right to be concerned.” The complaints process can lead to a reiteration of yet more intrusive questions, questions that make a concern right or even into a right. So much harassment is enacted as a right to be concerned. We have a right to be concerned (as “citizens”) about immigration; we have a right to be concerned (as “adult human females”) about sex based rights. A right to be concerned is how the violence of scrutiny is masked, a violence premised on suspicion that some are not who they say they are, that some have no right to be where they are, that some have no right to be.
When you complain about what you come up against, you come up against what you complain about. What complaints are “about” is how some end up “out.” A woman of colour described her department as a revolving door: women and minorities enter only to head right out again: whoosh, whoosh. You can be kept out by what you find out when you get in. Getting in can be how you are shown the way out.
And yet, we can think of how diversity is often figured as an open door, turned into a tagline; tag on, tag along; minorities welcome, come in, come in! One university transformed the “open door” into a project of attaching photographs of Black and minority ethic staff and students to door panels across the campus. BME students and staff are pictured not even as going through the door but as on the door.
Remember the post-box that became a nest? There could be another sign on the post-box: “birds welcome”.
Diversity is that sign: birds welcome, minorities welcome: come in, come in! Just because they welcome you, it does not mean they expect you to turn up. That sign would be a non-performative if the post-box was still in use because the birds would be dislodged by the letters, a nest destroyed before it could be created. Comments, jokes, questions, who are you, what are you; what are you doing here, where are you from, where are you really from function as letters in the box. They pile up until there is no room left, no room, no room to breathe, to nest, to be. This is why diversity work is work: it is not enough to open the door. For some of us to be in the room requires stopping what usually happens in that room, the usual is the structural in temporal form; otherwise some of us would be, as it were, displaced by the letters in the box.
Doors can be closed because of what you refuse not to bring up. When an MA student indicated she wanted to make a complaint about bullying and sexual harassment by the most senior member of her department, she was told by the convener of the programme: “be careful he is an important man.” Be careful: a warning not to proceed can be a statement about who is important. The student went ahead with a complaint. In her terms, she “sacrificed the references.” In reference to the prospect of doing a PhD she said: “that door is closed.” That door is closed: references too can function as doors, how it is made possible for some to progress, others not. Reference systems are how some are enabled by their connections, how some gather speed and velocity, more and more, faster and faster, “he is an important man.” Many do not make complaints because they cannot afford to lose the references. Power can work through what might seem a light touch: all you need to do to close that door is to write a less positive reference. The mere lift of a supportive hand can function as the heaviest of weights.
The actions that close doors are thus not always perceptible to others. For those deemed dependent on doors being opened, those who embody diversity, whose mere entry is understood as debt, doors can be shut at any point. A door can be shut because you are told that a door will be shut. A trans lecturer considered making a complaint after not getting a promotion and goes to their union. They are told: “because I was trans I would never be promoted.” Perceptions can be doors: how you are perceived as being as how you are stopped from progressing. This is not to say that we are always stopped; you have to work harder to get through the doors of perception. When a black woman told her white head of department, “I would like to work towards becoming a professor,” her head of department “just laughed in her face.” That laughter can be the sound of a door slammed. Some of us in becoming professors become trespassers; you are being told you need permission to enter by being told you do not have permission.
A door can be shut after you enter. A door can be shut because you enter. I am listening to an indigenous woman academic. She told me how she could hardly manage to get to campus after a sustained campaign of bullying and harassment from white faculty, including a concerted effort by a senior manager to sabotage her tenure case as well as the tenure cases of other indigenous academics. When you are harassed and bullied, when doors are closed, nay slammed, making it hard to get anywhere, it can be history you are up against; thrown up against. Complaints take us back; they take us back further still, to histories that are still:
There is a genealogy of experience, a genealogy of consciousness in my body that is now at this stage traumatized beyond the capacity to go to the university….. So there’s a legacy, a genealogy and I haven’t really opened that door too widely as I have been so focused on my experience in the last 7 years.
To be traumatized is to hold a history in a body; you can be easily shattered. There is only so much you can take on because there is only so much you can take in. We can inherit closed doors, a trauma can be inherited by being made inaccessible, all that happened that was too hard, too painful to reveal. Decolonial feminist work, black feminist work; feminist of colour work is often about opening these doors; the door to what came before; colonial as well as patriarchal legacies; harassment as the hardening of that history, a history of who gets to do what; who is deemed entitled to what; who is deemed entitled to whom. A complaint can be necessary: what you have to do to go on. But you still have to work out what you can take on. She went on by taking them on:
In order to survive institutions we need to transform them. But we still need to survive the institutions we are trying to transform. Closing a door can sometimes be a survival strategy; she closes the door to the institution by withdrawing herself, her commitments, from it. She still does her work; she still teaches her students. She uses the door to shut out what she can, who she can. She takes herself off the door; she depersonalizes it. And she pulls down the blinds and she pulls on a mask, the mask of her people, connecting her fight to the battles that came before, because, quite frankly, for her, this is a war.
Our battles are not the same battles. But there are many battles happening behind closed doors. Behind closed doors: that is where complaints are often found, so that is where you might find us too, those of us who embody diversity; and what we bring with us, who we bring us, the worlds that would not be here if some of us were not here; the data we hold, our bodies, our memories; perhaps the more we have to spill, the tighter the hold.
The more we have to spill, the tighter their hold. When organizations can’t stop a complaint from being made, there is an effort to stop a complaint from getting out. Non-disclosure agreements are the tail end of a much longer process of containing complaints. I think of filing cabinets as institutional closets; complaints are buried here because of what they could reveal. One student who made a complaint about sexual harassment describes, “The scale of the response was so extreme in a way compared to what we were complaining about. Now on reflection I guess it was because there were hundreds of complaints they had suppressed that they did not want to have a lid lifted on it.” To suppress is to contain as well as to keep secret. The more information is suppressed, the more there is to spill. This is why so many norms of professional conduct are about keeping a lid on it; silence as institutional loyalty; silence in case of institutional damage. A wall can be built from silence. And those walls can also be built around feminist spaces. Many have relayed to me how feminist colleagues, often senior feminists, often senior white feminists, were among those who told them to “keep a lid on it.” When feminists keep complaints “in house,” treating the data contained by a complaint as a secret, as what must be kept secret, they have become not the birds nesting, but the letters in the box, treating complainers as trespassers; complaints as messy matter, as straw, not as part of a nest but as “matter out of place.”
Sometimes we have to “lift the lid” to make complaints matter, to make a mess. When I make the reasons for my resignation public, I shared information, not very much, but enough; that there had been these enquiries. I became a leak: drip, drip. Organizations will try and contain the damage. The response in other words is damage limitation. This is how diversity often takes institutional form: damage limitation. Happy shiny policies will be put in place, holes left by departures will be filled without reference to what went on before; a blot becomes something to be wiped up, wiped away; as if they are mopping up a mess.
But there is hope here; they cannot mop up all of our mess. A leak can be lead. A leak can be how we leave traces of ourselves behind. Sometimes you hold on by passing a refusal on. A postgraduate student made an informal complaint about white supremacy in her classroom: using that term for what is at the university, can get you in serious trouble; she knew that but she was still willing to do that. She became in her terms “a monster,” an indigenous feminist monster, and is completing her PhD off campus. She said that “an unexpected little gift,” was how other students could come to her: “they know you are out there and they can reach out to you.” A complaint in taking you back can point forward, to those who come after who can receive something from you because of what you tried to do, even though you did not get through, even though all you seemed to have done was scratch the surface. Yes, those scratches: we are back to those scratches. They seemed to show the limits of what we accomplished. They can also be what we leave behind. They can be testimony: a complaint as writing on the wall; we were here; we did not disappear. The complaints in the graveyard can come back to haunt institutions.
I shared the image of a complaint graveyard with one person that had been shared with me by another. She said:
You have to think about the impact of doing this. Because having yet another complaint, it means that you give more credibility to the one who comes after you. When you talk about haunting you are talking about the size of the graveyard. And I think this is important. Because when you have one tombstone, one lonely little ghost, it doesn’t actually have any effect; you can have a nice cute little cemetery outside your window, but when you start having a massive one, common graveyards and so on, it becomes something else; it becomes much harder to manage.
We can and do form complaint collectives. We can and do become harder to manage. But we do not always assemble at the same time or in the same place. You might feel like a lonely little ghost: gone; gone away; a stray. Your complaint might seem to have evaporated like steam, puff; puff. That complaint can still be picked up and amplified by others. You might not be able to hear it now; it might not have happened yet. But each complaint gathers more, a gathering as a gathering of momentum; the sounds of refusal; little ghosts, little birds, scratching away at something. We gather, becoming that momentum. Thank you.
The Same Door
Posted on October 31, 2019 by feministkilljoys
In the first chapter of my new book What’s the Use: On the Uses of Use, I reflect on the use status of different things, from well-used paths, to used up tooth-paste, to over-used exclamation points. One of my examples is “usable/ unusable doors” (75-65). I photographed this door, which is a door at a university near where I live.
This door is a door I can use, I do use, it is usable for me, but it is not a usable door for disabled people with mobility restrictions. To reflecting on usability is to reflect on who a world is built for. This is why scholarship in disability studies was one of my primary sources of inspiration in writing the book. As Aimi Hamraie describes in Building Access “Examine any doorway, window, toilet, chair or desk…and you will find the outline of the body meant to use it” (2017, 19, emphasis added). Hamraie usefully name this outline “the normate template” (19). Those who don’t assume the shape of the norm often know the norms; norms become walls: what hits you can be what stops you from entering.
Doors were not originally one of my primary examples in the first draft of the book although I did have examples of signs on doors. They came into the text later. Why? When I began doing interviews for my project on complaint in the middle of 2017, I noticed how often people made reference to doors. Doors came up figuratively, certainly, but it was the actual doors that first caught my attention. That I was working on use, making use of things, was probably why I noticed these doors.[1] Something can be right in front of us, but we still do not notice it. Research can be about becoming attuned to what is already there: you notice an arrangement; you reflect on what you notice.
In the book I kept reusing the same images with different captions.[2] But there is one instance in which I use the same caption with different images. That caption is “the same door.” In this post I explore the connection between these different uses of the same door.
Why do doors come up in testimonies about complaint? Complaints are made confidential as soon as they are lodged. The expression “behind closed doors” is thus everywhere in my data. This expression might be used to refer to actual doors: you might tell the story once the doors of the office have been shut. The expression is also used to convey what is kept hidden or secret from the public. If complaints are data-full, and complaints require evidence, they require you to collect data, then that data is kept under lock and key. Doors can thus function as containers of complaints. My own task is to open the container.
My first use of “the same door” as a caption on page 181 refers to how if harassment and bullying happen behind closed doors, then they happen in the same place complaints happen. I reused the image of an usable/unusable door from chapter 1.
I will be working in future writing on accounts of physical or sexual assaults that happened in offices or corridors. In these testimonies, doors figure prominently. I am not sharing these testimonies here: to share them responsibly requires giving them the fullness of my attention. Doors came up not only because they were shut, but because someone was struggling to get out of the room. Two women academics I spoke to, one who was sexually assaulted by a lecturer when she was a student, the other who was physically assaulted by her head of department as a lecturer, described to me in acute detail the handles or locks on the doors of the office or corridor in which the assault happened because those handles or locks were difficult to use. When you are struggling to get out, a lock can be imprinted in your memory. They both managed to get out, but it was hard. It was made hard.
We tend to notice what stops us from getting out when have to get out. And if you have to struggle to get out of the room, it can be another struggle to get a complaint out. In another instance, when a student made a complaint about an assault (her assailant in this instance had locked the door) she is called to a meeting with senior academics. They were all colleagues of the lecturer who assaulted her. In talking to her, they referenced their shared history with him. As another student said, “they have each other’s backs.”
The “same door” is a device I am using to show what might be obvious but still needs to be said (the obvious is too often left unsaid): the same structures, the same networks that enable harassment are “at work” in stopping complaints about harassment. Doors can be our teachers: they teach us the significance of a complaint about harassment being lodged in the same place the harassment happened. If they have each other’s backs, their backs become doors.
The second use of the caption “the same door” (p. 202) might seem quite different. Here the image is of a sign on the door: women.
A sign on a door is often a use instruction: it tells you who should use what door. The signs are of course not referring not to the toilets themselves as men or women but to the users of the toilets. You might go that way, open that door, because of who you understand yourself to be, but still be told you are using the wrong door because of how you appear. Use instructions can be enforced not only by the police or security guards but by other users, who are invited to become police, to look out for those who are, as it were using the wrong door.
Doors exist alongside other technological methods for directing human traffic, that is, for telling us which way to go when we have to go. Doors are also telling us something about the nature of sex as an assignment. We are supposed to be as constant as an assignment. And so: if you are assigned girl, if girl is your original assignment, you are supposed to follow that path, which means using the same door that you used before; the same door. This is my other use of “the same door.” It is a use instruction that teaches us something about the nature of an assignment.
Is there a connection then between this “same door” and the other “same door”? I think there is a connection. Being told you are using the wrong door often means in practice being harassed. You can be harassed behind a door; you can be harassed for using the wrong door. Many women who are gender non-conforming, including cis as well trans women, have experiences of being harassed in toilets because they do not conform to an idea of how a woman should appear.
When you complain about harassment you are often harassed all the more. You encounter the same door. The same door can also refer to how a person is stopped when they are trying to stop something from happening. A trans student of colour complains about sexual harassment and transphobic harassment from their supervisor who kept asking them deeply intrusive questions about their gender and genitals. Questions can be hammering; for some to be is to be in question. The questions were laced in the language of concern, concern for the welfare of the student predicated on judgments that they would be endangered if they conducted research in their home country; racist judgments are often predicated on stranger danger, the location of danger “over there” (a brown elsewhere). I will return to stranger danger in due course.
When they complain, what happens? “People were just trying to evaluate whether he was right to believe there would be some sort of physical danger to me because of my gender identity… as if to say he was right to be concerned.” The complaints process can lead to a reiteration of yet more intrusive questions, questions that make a concern right or even into a right. So much harassment today is enacted as a right to be concerned. We have a right to be concerned (as “citizens”) about immigration; we have a right to be concerned (as “adult human females”) about sex based rights. A right to be concerned is how the violence of scrutiny is masked, a violence premised on suspicion that some are not who they say they are, that some have no right to be where they are, that some have no right to be.
A complaint is put out into the same world a complaint is about. The doors that are closed on complaints, which stop them from getting through or getting out, can be the same doors that are closed on persons, which make it difficult for some to get through. A trans lecturer considered making a complaint after not getting a promotion and goes to their union. He is told: “because I was trans I would never be promoted.” I think of the weight of that because: how you can be made responsible for what stops you from progressing even if it is discrimination that stops you from progressing. You have to deal with what comes at you: each time you are slowed down by trying to challenge what slows you down. In his testimony, he describes transitioning as moving between different zones of discrimination. Before he transitioned, he had experienced routine sexism:“being pushed out and side-lined in terms of my career.” He also described what it was like to witness colleagues who “make use of sexual jokes” only to be quickly promoted. In transitioning, he enters a different zone of discrimination: “I started transitioning and he fired me.” Indeed he describes how discrimination against, and harassment of, trans people is given a “green light.” I think of traffic lights, not amber, not red, but green: a traffic light is saying, yes, go, you can say that, yes, you can do that; fired; fire away.
A green light to harassment, yes, go, you can say that, yes, you can do that: is that where we are today?
That is where we are today. In the UK today, we are on a permanent green light: permission is constantly being given for transphobic harassment, creating a hostile environment for trans people. Some of this harassment operates through the logic of stranger danger: trans people are often positioned as strangers not only as “bodies out of place,” but as threatening those who are “in place.” Stranger danger is a well-oiled machine: it works so well from being used so often.[3] Just think about the use of terms like “gender extremism,” which work to creating a menace, a vague sense of menace, borrowing perhaps from racialising discourses (extremism as a term tends to stick to some bodies more than others). Just think also of the use of terms like “the trans lobby,” to imply a powerful and sinister agent that is behind this or that action. If stranger danger works to locate danger in those deemed outsiders, stranger danger also creates the figure of the endangered most often a child. Contemporary transphobia works to suggest or imply that trans people are endangering children (one headline reads, Are you transphobic? Me neither, we’re just worried about our children). Stranger danger thus creates a missionary position: we have to save the children. We have seen a proliferation of this positioning.
Contemporary transphobia is thus eerily similar to earlier forms of homophobia (and by saying earlier homophobia I am not saying that such homophobia has disappeared – it most certainly has not). Gays and lesbians too were often presented as endangering children[4]. And a “gay lobby” was deemed to be promoting “gay lifestyles,” by teaching or recruiting students, by publishing books about happy gay families.
Damn it: we needed those books!
Many of us can recognise these forms because we have seen them before.
Power is often legitimated by treating an effort of a minority to survive, to create resources to enable their survival, as the formation of an industry. Those with power often position themselves as having to defend themselves (as well as others for whom they claim to speak) or defend a group or an idea/ideal that has already taken their shape; the nation, the race, civilization, even life itself, as if they are the minority under attack. That reversal of power is a central means by which power operates.[5]
Stranger danger is about how danger is located in the outsider.[6] Stranger danger thus creates a line, a boundary, between inside and outside. Some are judged as imposing on others; by virtue of existing, or by being too proximate, you can be deemed to have crossed a line necessary for the protection of others. A category too can be assumed to be closed; a door can be used to close the category “woman,” for instance. Closures however much they are justified as natural or necessary still depend upon actions; hence the creation of new terms if the old ones are drawn in a way that risks including those some do not want to include (woman becomes “adult human female,” for instance). This is how a conversation about terms can actually be about how some are shut out of conversations. Note: you can be asked to participate in a conversation even though the terms of the conversations are about shutting you out.
I have no interest in having a conversation in these terms.
All categories have social lives. I think stranger danger can also work through category formation. My sense is that “gender” can be turned into a stranger; yes I am suggesting a category of thought can be treated as a stranger, framed as an imposition on nature or on biological reality. The externality of “gender” as a category can then be used to refer to the externality of people who are assumed to rely on a category for their existence (simplified as: gender does not exist, you don’t exist as you say you do). When gender is made foreign, those who use that category to make sense of their own selves are treated as foreigners. Part of the transformation of gender into the stranger, is the treatment of sex, often biological sex, as nature or even as native.
Categories such as “sex,” “nature” or “biology” or “biological sex” are being used to justify trans exclusion as natural and necessary, as if these categories are not themselves product of labour, as if we do not have a hand in making and shaping them.[7] Feminism gives us internal resources to challenge this use of categories, whichever categories are being used.[8]
We have behind us many feminist critiques not only of the sex/gender distinction but also of the idea that biological sex is given.[9] It would not be possible for me to review all the feminist work that would be helpful. I will just give a few pointers. In the radical feminist tradition, Andrea Dworkin’s Woman Hating, challenges what she calls “the traditional biology of sexual difference” based on “two discrete biological sexes” (1972: 181, 186). She expands further: “Hormone and chromosome research, attempts to develop new means of human reproduction (life created in, or considerably supported by, the scientist’s laboratory), work with transsexuals, and studies of formation of gender identity in children provide basic information which challenges the notion that there are two discrete biological sexes. That information threatens to transform the traditional biology of sex difference into the radical biology of sex similarity. That is not to say that there is one sex, but that there are many. The evidence which is germane here is simple. The words ‘male’ and ‘female,’ ‘man” and ‘woman,’ are used only because as yet there are no others” (175-6). Dworkin argued that transsexuals in a culture of “male-female discreteness” are “a state of emergency,” and argued that they should have access to hormones and surgery because they have a “right to survival [in their] own terms” (176). If Dworkin did imagine that transsexuals might disappear in some projected future, which she did, this was also because she imagined that discrete sexes, that is, women and men, would also disappear. Whatever we think of her androgynous solution, we can learn from her diagnosis of the problem. Dworkin teaches us that radical feminism, a feminism that is feminist at root, cannot be formulated without a radical understanding of sex and biology.
We could also turn to the evolution of arguments about sex and gender in feminist sociology. Ann Oakley’s classic, Sex, Gender and Society certainly made use of the sex-gender distinction, with sex referring to biological differences, visible differences of genitalia, and differences in procreative function; and gender to “a matter of culture” that refers to the social classification into “masculine” and “feminine”’ (1972, 16). However in a later work offers a strong critique of this same distinction. In “A Brief History of Gender,” Oakley writes: “the distinction between sex and gender does not call into question how society constructs the natural body itself” and “sex is no more natural than gender given that our speaking of both is mediated by our existence as social beings” (1997, 30). Or we could think of the work of historical materialist Christine Delphy who provided a strong critique of the sex-gender distinction in Ann Oakley’s earlier sociological work as well in the work by the anthropologist Margaret Mead. Delphy argues that gender precedes sex,. She writes: “we have continued to think of gender in terms of sex: to see it as a social dichotomy determined by a natural dichotomy” (1993, 3). Christine Delphy called as a materialist feminist for a full and feminist de-naturalization of the category of “biological sex.” So much feminist work has shown that what is deemed originary is an effect. If gender creates the effect of two distinct biological sexes, it is important we do not make the effect our cause (otherwise we would simply be reproducing the system we are trying to dismantle, taking what it creates, as our ground).[10]
We can also find resources in feminist phenomenology. Phenomenology has been an important for feminism because it is a way of doing theory in the first person. Phenomenology helps us to explore how worlds can take shape by receding into the background. When something has become natural, it tends to be looked over. Phenomenology also helps us to think about how bodies are shaped through habits, ways of acting that are repeated over time. Simone de Beauvoir or Iris Marion Young are feminist philosophers who have shown how we become women through in relation to our bodies. Biology matters, yes, but biology is always part of our historical situation. From feminist phenomenology, we might learn how bodily matter and social meaning are always entangled; I think of Iris Marion Young’s concern with how girls learn to throw “like girls;” she calls this “inhibited intentionality.” An idea of what girls can do can affect what girls do, which shape what girls can do. We can thus de-naturalise the category of “biological sex” and still talk about our lived experiences as gendered beings (in fact we have more not less to talk about when we don’t bracket sex as if was outside the social or the cultural domain). We can talk about physical and fragile bodies, aging bodies; and yes, we can still talk about women’s bodies without presuming in advance who is “women.”[11] We can talk in this way because we do not assume that others will have the same experiences; to inhabit a body is to be thrown into a world with others. Phenomenology can also help us to re-think how categories themselves are social as well as lived entities. Categories too can be how we are thrown. Some of us will be thrown by how we are known; we will not be “at home” in the categories that have been used to name us, to identify us.[12]
There is of course much work in the biological sciences, which can help us to show how biological reality is much more complicated than two discrete biological sexes.[13] And we could work more sociologically; we could track the uses of biology.[14] When biology is used to refer to something outside history or without a history, biology is performing a social function. What are the social effects of these uses of biology? This is where we come back to the same door. It is not a coincidence that the investment in biological sex has led to increasing gender conservatism: the presumption that you can tell who is a woman or man from how they appear. Simply out, gender conservatism is about sex. This is rather obviously the case in the religious right: arguments against “gender ideology” are made as arguments about the immutability of sexual difference as Judith Butler has shown. They take the form of statements: sex is given; there are two discrete biological sexes; marriage can only be about two sexes. Those who are against gay marriage (as well as gay adoption and queer families) are the same people who are arguing against the idea that gender can be experienced as an identity that does not correspond to biological sex. With the increasing spread of right wing politics across the globe, none of us can be confident that we have finished having to make the case for gay marriage (for those who would want to make that case). That is, even if we live in a country that has allowed gay marriage, the idea that gay marriage is against nature (and biology) persists. And we need to note the slide between conservative ideas about sex and gender to conservative ideas about sexuality: sex is man or woman; marriage is man and woman.[15]
To learn from the social uses of biology is to understand how and why gender critical can become very quickly gender conservative. It is not just the religious right that is spreading conservative ideas about gender. Gender critical feminists might not be making the same arguments against gay marriage (although the allegiance of some of these feminists to white supremacists and the religious right probably means that step is not far off). They are however making similar arguments about biological sex as given. The consequences are not only anti-trans, they are anti-feminist. When you are critical of gender, but uncritical of sex (sex uncritical = biological sex is given), you tighten rather than loosen the hold of the gender system. We can see the effects of this gender conservatism all around us. We are witnessing increasingly conservative judgement being made in the name of feminism on the basis of women and men’s appearance, organised around the assumption that you can always tell the difference between men and women by how they appear (on discussion forums on social media and also in everyday life, at public toilets, on streets). Many cis women as well as trans women have been caught out by this; they have been told they are not really women because of how they appear. By “being told” I am talking about being harassed. And I have heard it justified by some gender critical feminists that if some women are harassed in toilets by other women because they do not appear to them as women (including, say, butch lesbians) that would be “a regrettable cost” in the broader project of protecting women from men.
Harassment as a regrettable cost: harassment as protection; we are back to the same door. I’ve heard that door being closed before, as a lesbian, as a lesbian of colour. Lesbians have often been told we are not really women; gender conservatism has very dire consequences for lesbians; whether cis or trans. Black women and women of colour too, have had the door closed in our faces; not women, not really, not you. Some of us have been shut out of feminism, told our concerns were distractions from the real thing.
The same door can be a feminist door. To open feminist spaces, requires constant vigilance; we have to keep questioning ourselves, learning from each other about each other.
Let me share a few paragraphs from the conclusion of What’s the Use on queer doors.[16]
A transfeminist project might show how original assignments are themselves constructions. As Emi Koyama notes, “While the concept of gender as a social construct has proven to be a powerful tool in dismantling traditional attitudes towards women’s capabilities, it left room for one to justify certain discriminatory policies or structures as having a biological basis” (2003, 249). Biology can be used as a tool because biology is often assumed to be about what is fixed or immutable. The very idea of two distinct sexes is transformed into an architectural principle by the use of doors.
If we think of biological sex as a door, we learn how biology can function as technology, to return to my discussion in chapter 2. This intimacy of biology and technology helps us to explore the queerness of biology and to consider what Sarah Franklin has called transbiology. Franklin introduces the cyborg embryo picking up on Donna Haraway’s (1991) creative reuse of the figure of the cyborg as well as her use of the concept of “trans-” to describe how new hybrid entities “blast widely understood notions of natural limit” (Haraway, 1997, cited in Franklin 2006, 170). The cyborg embryo is born and made, biological and technological. The cyborg embryo is a product of what Franklin calls the IVF/Stem Cell interface: stem cell research is dependent upon “surplus” or “spare” embryos generated by assisted conception technologies. Interestingly, Franklin’s discussion of transbiology refers a number of times to doors. She describes how human stem cell derivation laboratories are built adjacent to assisted conception units and how the laboratories and clinics make use of doors to allow the passing through of biological materials—eggs and embryos—between them: “Like the cyborg embryo, transbiology is a mix of control and rogue, or trickster, elements. The hoods are noisy breathers, the eggs are dirty, and the door is queer” (2006, 175, emphasis mine). The door is there because it offers the most convenient way to pass materials through. The door is queer because it is not meant to be there; the lab is supposed to be a clean, controlled, and sealed environment.
We can pick up on the significance of the queer door. An opening created for convenience can have a queer potential: it can mean lessening control of what or who can pass through. The biological would then be about the potential of transfers and transits of many queer kinds. It might seem that doors function to contain us; to be told to use the same door is to be told who we are and what we can be. Perhaps use instructions are only necessary because they can be refused. Indeed, one might think of how the postbox can become a nest only by creating a queer door: the birds turn an opening into a door, that is, a way of entering the box.
A queer door can be the effect of unexpected arrivals: openings intended for some things to pass through can end up providing an access point for others.
By considering the uses of use, I have been able to show how the potential for movement can be eliminated or almost eliminated before that potential can be realized in this or that instance. In chapter 1, I suggest that use can lessen the queerness of use; when things are used repeatedly in a certain way it becomes harder for things to be used in other ways. Those for whom use is harder are trying to use things in other ways. Timing matters. If use instructions are made because they can be refused, use instructions are made even more forcefully when they are refused. Some forms of use are corrected, punished; do not use that is saying, in truth, do not be that. Those who refuse the instructions know how they work.
You come to know the instructions, when you are hit by them, when a door is slammed in your face. Maybe sometimes we might make use of doors ourselves, to create spaces, shelters, in which we can breathe, to survive the harshness of being shut out. To turn that door into a wall, a way of stopping other people from entering, by treating the closing of the door not as a decision, as temporary, a product of labour, what we have a hand in, but as natural, as permanent, is to turn a shelter into a fortress. We cannot afford to do that. We can never afford to do that. There are too many lives at stake.
I wrote this post to work out what the same door is doing. I also wrote this post in response to the setting up an LGB alliance. Removing T (also I, also Q) is shutting the door, the same door, on those who are part of a shared struggle against forms of power and authority that work by restricting ideas of what life can be, what it means to be a woman or man or not a woman or not a man, to be both, to be neither, which restrict who we can love; how we can love. We were in the same bars, laughing and living, surviving the worlds that decided our lives were lifestyles, our choices whims; our ideas false; that we were selfish or dangerous because of what or who we refused to give up. We marched in the same marches, recognising something of ourselves in each other, as we fought for a world that could reflect our own images of ourselves back to ourselves; however tired, however worn; we loved what we could catch in each other’s reflections. We called each other family because we turned up for each other when we are cast out from our homes, our communities. Perhaps we are sloppy, rather messy; we are not unaffected by the trauma of being rejected. Perhaps we got things wrong; when you have been treated as wrong, it can be hard not to inherit that judgment. We have been at times confused with each other or turned into inauthentic versions of each other.[17] Maybe if we were confused with each other it is not surprising we are sometimes confused by each other. But that confusion becomes what we share: we work it out by working together. We can’t sort it by creating new distinctions, by separating ourselves from each other. At this moment, they are slamming that door in your faces; trying to close our shared struggle for freedom and justice to those of you travel under the sign T.
Well: they are shutting the door on us too; the same door; turning their backs on us too; their backs become doors.
We created our letters, our assembly, LGBTQI, fragile, fabulous, furious, because we needed each other; we needed to become each other’s resources.
We needed each other; we need each other; we still do.
Beauvoir de, Simone (1997). The Second Sex, trans. by H.M.Parshley. London: Vintage Books.
Butler, Judith (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
Delphy, Christine (1993). “Rethinking Sex and Gender,” Women’s Studies International Forum, 16, 1: 1-9.
Dworkin, Andrea (1972). Woman Hating. New York: E.P.Dutton.
Franklin, Sarah. 2001. “Biologization Revisited: Kinship Theory in the Context of the new Biologies,” in Sarah Franklin and Susan McKinnon eds, Relative Values: Reconfiguring Kinship Studies. Durham: Duke University Press.
Germon, Jennifer (2009). Gender: A Genealogy of an Idea. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hamraie, Aimi.(2017). Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Oakley, Ann (1972). Sex, Gender and Society. Maurice Temple Smith.
Oakley, Ann (1997). “A Brief History of Gender,” in A. Oakley and J. Mitchell (eds) Who’s afraid of feminism?, London: Hamish Hamilton; New York, NY: The New Press.
Rich, Adrienne (1993). ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ in H. Abelove, M. Barale, and D. M. Halperin (eds), The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, New York: Routledge.
Sanz, Veronica (2017). “No Way out of the Binary: A Critical History of the Scientific Production of Sex,” Signs, 47, 1.
Spade, Dean (2006). “Gender Mutilation,” in Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle (eds). The Transgender Studies Reader. London: Routledge. pp.315-332.
Stone, Sandy (2006). “The Empire Strikes Back: A PostTransexual Manifesto,” in Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle (eds). The Transgender Studies Reader. London: Routledge.
Young, Iris Marion (1990). Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays. Bloomington Indiana University Press.
Wilchin, Rikki (2014). Queer Theory, Gender Theory. Riverdale Avenue Books.
Wittig, Monique (1992). The Straight Mind and Other Essays. Boston: Beacon Press.
[1]So for instance in my diversity research, published as On Being Included, I reflect on how diversity practitioners often talk about walls in describing their work. But I did not notice the walls until after I completed the research – I came back to the data a few years after completing the work having finished a book on happiness. I know wonder if writing about feminist killjoys is what helped me to notice the walls.
[2] It is interesting to note here that presenting the use research as a power-point changed how I presented the book. With power-point I kept using the same image but with different captions. And I noticed how this allowed me to make the points more concretely. In this first version of the book I used each image once – for example the well-used path – and then referred back to that image. In the final version the well-used path keeps reappearing with different captions: the more a path is used, the more a path is used; a longer neck; a stronger arm; an old policy; more can refer to how many; the more he is cited, the more he is cited; heterosexuality, a path that is kept clear.
[3] I began working on the uses of stranger danger as a frame in my second book, Strange Encounters. Most of my work has been on stranger danger as a technique of racialisation. A crucial aspect of stranger making is that the stranger, however singular as a figure comes to stand for a group. It is crucial to understand how this work in the media reporting of violence. Take anti-Muslim racism: if a Muslim person commits an act of violence, that violence becomes expressive of the violence of Muslims (which quickly then becomes an argument against immigration or for increased securitisation and so on). Much transphobic reporting works to make an instance of violence made by a trans person as expressive of the violence of a group (which quickly then becomes an argument against “gender ideology,” or allowing trans people to live in accordance with the gender identity and so on).
[4] We have to become good readers here about how narratives of danger work. You do not have to say “all gays are pedophiles” or “all gays endanger the well-being of our children,” all they need to do is put the category of pedophilia near to the category of homosexual to create this effect. Or note how if a lesbian or gay person is involved in child abuse, the category of lesbian or gay will often be made explicit in media reporting, which becomes an implicit invitation to make being lesbian and gay part of the problem: but when a heterosexual person is involved in child abuse (much more commonly) their heterosexuality is less likely to be brought up in the description, which allows heterosexuality to disappear from the problem.
[5] Those who speak against the rights of a minority will thus almost always position themselves as the minority. They are not. Critical feminist voices have been over-amplified by the media – and of course if you will ask people if they are not allowed to speak about x, when x is the site of a controversy, you will find those people very easily and very quickly. We can witness how this mechanism works by how much the same people speak about not being allowed to speak at all (no platform has become a big platform for a reason). I would add here that this is also the case for other positions. You can find many white academics who are involved in the new eugenics (which is the old eugenics in dressier form) who would go onto the television and talk to newspapers about how they are harassed because of expressing critical viewpoints, how talking about white displacement or differences in IQ between racial groups or colonialism as a moral project is not racism and how other people calling it racism is how they are censored. We know they could do that because they do do that. Much harassment is justified as freedom of expression. Note: all of our equality commitments are about the imposition of restrictions on what people can do and say. If some people understood these restrictions as restrictions on their freedom, you are learning about their sense of entitlement. When some gender critical academics say that “out of politeness” they respect pronouns of their students they are implying they are free to do so or not to do so. They are in fact not free not to do so; they are required to do so under existing equality law (the guidance to the Equality Law 2010 by the EHRC uses deliberate misgendering as an example of harassment of persons with the “protected characteristic” of gender reassignment). Also, using theory to justify misgendering (I can call you he because my theories mean I don’t recognise you as she) is no less harassment than it would be without said justification: your theory does not exempt you from the requirement to act in a certain way. One has a sense here of the political stakes of the attack on “gender theory.” I would add many people justify verbal forms of harassment as expressions of freedom – and also sometimes use “my theory gives me permission to say x” as well. I know this from my complaint research: I have collected many examples of sexist and racist as well as transphobic speech being justified not only as freedom of expression but with reference to a person’s “theories.” For example one student who objected to a sexist expression was told: “I don’t need to talk to you about discourse analysis and post-structuralism, and we can all do a discourse analysis on x; and we’d all come up with very different meanings.”
[6] Stranger danger can be dangerous. It can be dangerous to those deemed strangers: those who tend to be treated as dangerous are often those who are most vulnerable to violence. But it can be dangerous because of where it does not locate danger: here, at home, in the family. Women for instance are much more at risk when they are home. Stranger danger is how the violence that is close to home is often overlooked.
[7] As Sarah Franklin has noted, biology can refer to both a “body of authoritative knowledge (as in the science of reproductive biology) and a set of phenomena” (2001, 303). Biology can thus refer both to studies of living organisms and to the living organisms themselves. This confusion of different senses of biology is evident in some of the wider discourse, which has had the effect of treating “a body of authoritative knowledge” as if corresponds to a set of phenomena.
[8] Transphobia seems to create a moving target. I am exploring in this post today how and why “biology” and “biological sex” are the main terms in use. At other times it is not biology but “socialisation” that is used: trans women cannot be women because they were socialised as men and benefited from male privilege. Here it is the social rather than the biological that becomes what is immutable: as if socialisation goes one way, relates only to one category (sex) and is not contested and disputed in everyday life depending on how one might not embody or not embody that category. Feminism itself depends on the failure of socialisation to bring about willing gendered subjects. Another typical argument is that “transgenderism” as a set of medical practices depends on essentialist notions of gender because it corrects gender nonconforming behaviours and is shaped by a heterosexist imperative. Of course there has been decades of scholarship by transgender theorists that is critical of how gender and hetero norms become an apparatus of truth within medical institutions; that has shown how in order to gain access to surgery and hormones, trans subjects have to tell a narrative that is legible to authorities because it maintains gender scripts: from Sandy Stone’s wonderful “The Empire Strikes Back: A Post-Transsexual Manifesto” ([1987] 2006) to more recent work by Dean Spade (2006) and Riki Wilchins (2014). This work shows how not to be accommodated by a gender system (which requires you to “stay with” an assignment made by authorities at birth) can involve becoming more vigilant and reflexive about that system (although it is very important not to expect those who are not accommodated by a system to become pioneers or transgressors of norms, either). I think what is going on in anti-trans feminist work is the desire to exclude and police the boundaries of “women” on whatever basis can be found (hence the target is a moving target).
[9] For a discussion of how the “sex-gender” distinction was imported into Gender Studies (via the work of John Money on intersex communities) see Jennifer Gorman (2007). Gorman also explores the link between Gayle Rubin’s model of the “sex-gender system” and Money’s work.
[10] This reversal was also performed by Judith Butler in her classic Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990), which drew on many other feminist theorists to show how physical and sexed bodies are shaped right from the very beginning (or even before a beginning) by social norms and values. Following the “uses of use” deepened my understanding of the complexity of chains of cause and effect. When effects are treated as causes there are further effects (including on causes). If sex is an effect of gender, the assumption that sex is a cause is what gender effects. The very assumption of causality brings worlds as well as bodies into existence. Doors are especially useful to help us address the materializing effects of assumptions.
[11] It is also worth remembering here the strong lesbian feminist critique of the category of “women.” The history of the word “woman” teaches us how the categories that secure personhood are bound up with a history of ownership: “woman” is derived from a compound of wif (wife) and man (human being); woman as wife-man also suggesting woman as female servant. The history of woman is impossible to disentangle from the history of wife: the female human as not only in relation to man but as for man (woman as there for, and therefore, being for). We can make sense of Monique Wittig’s (1992) audacious statement “lesbians are not women.” She argues lesbians are not women because “women” is being in relation to men: for Wittig, “women” is a heterosexual category, or a heterosexual injunction. Wittig calls the lesbian an “escapee” from this system.
[12] Those who are not at home, come to know categories more intimately, which is why some of the most important work on gender, sex and sexuality is coming out of trans studies. Can I also add that to dismiss “identity” and “emotions” as somehow immaterial relative to “sex” as “material” is to forget so much previous feminist work. I have even heard a gender critical feminist say she doesn’t believe in gender because she is a materialist! I am tempted to quote here from Marx on matter and labour but I won’t. There is a huge and important literature that teaches how emotions, how we feel in relation to objects and others, are physical and embodied as well as being about judgment or cognition; how we come to know about ourselves as well as worlds. If your body does not feel right, if you feel wrong, it takes a huge amount of work, a difficult transition, to get to a point to where things feel right. I am myself a cis woman, but I have learning so much from trans people’s accounts of transition and of the emotional and physical nature of this process. On what it means to feel wrong, or in thinking about how wrong feels, it is hard not to think of my own experience of heterosexuality. I remember the work it took, how long it took, to let my bodily feeling “this is wrong,” however powerful and palpable that feeling was, to lead me to change my situation. Sometimes feelings can be traumatic, because you realize from them just how much you have to do to rearrange yourself, your life, so you can breathe, even if there is joy and hope and possibility in that rearrangement. To dismiss other people’s feelings about gender as immaterial, as I have heard people do, is deeply unethical. I can’t breathe in this version of feminism.
[13] Please also consult with the incredibly rich domain of feminist science studies. For an article that reviews the “critical history of sex” with reference to feminist science studies see Sanz (2007).
[14] Of course there is a lot of confusion about categories as the same categories are being used differently by different people. For example gender now tends to be used on equal opportunities forms rather than sex – I think gender is used almost like polite speech. But to make clear distinctions when in everyday life those distinctions are unclear would be to remove ourselves from everyday life. Yes, we can make provisional definitions, but these are working definitions: we use them to do certain work; we have to keep working on them. We have to keep working things through because or when they are messy.
[15] Gender and sexuality are not the same thing but neither can they be separated. What Adrienne Rich (1993) called “compulsory heterosexuality” is also a gender system (we could call this system hetero-gender); it rested on ideas about what men and women were like and could be. The implications for our activism ought to be obvious.
[16] These paragraphs are from the section “Refusing Instructions.” Citations for the material in this section are listed in What’s the Use: On the Uses of Use.
[17] Anyone who knows the history of sexology will know about these confusions, many early and varied categories such as that of “inversion” rested upon them (if a person wanted someone of the same sex, that was because they must really be the other sex or if a person wanted to be the other sex, that was really because they wanted the same sex).
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If Cats Disappeared From the World 世界から猫が消えたなら Dir: Akira Nagai (2016)
On November 25, 2019 December 23, 2019 By Genki JasonIn Japanese Film, Japanese Film Reviews
If Cats Disappeared From the World
If Cats Disappeared From the World Film Poster
世界から猫が消えたなら 「Sekai kara Neko ga Kieta nara」
Director: Akira Nagai
Writer: Ryoichi Okada (Screenplay), Genki Kawamura (Original Novel)
Starring: Takeru Satoh, Aoi Miyazaki, Mieko Harada, Eiji Okuda, Anna Ishii, Gaku Hamada, Eita Okuno
“If I were to disappear from this world, who would miss me?” Characters in movies usually think this while contemplating death. Of course, every person matters and our lives are connected with each other and the environment so something or someone disappearing has a big impact, but that is not always clear to people as we get swept up in dramatic circumstances and tumultuous emotions. There are tried and tested cinematic journeys used to lead a character to that epiphany of interconnection, either a path defined by hijinks or a contemplative trip down memory lane to show how important we all are, the latter of which happens in this gently powerful and moving film where the main character finds out he will die within days.
A good-natured Postman (Takeru Sato) who has recently moved away from his parent’s house after the passing of his mother learns that he doesn’t have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. After being informed by the doctor he only has a few days left, the Postman retreats home, quietly devastated, and laments his fate with his lovely and loyal cat, Cabbage. However, on this particular night, they are joined by a guest for, at the dinner table, is a doppelgänger who we can call Devil (also played by Takeru Sato). Devil offers to extend the Postman’s life by a day if he picks something in the world to disappear. It will be as if it never existed. At first, the postman selects phones and when the offer is extended again he chooses films but as these things fade from reality, so do the memories created by them because they helped connect the Postman to other people.
The director for this one is Akira Nagai and he made Judge! (2014), a bright, brash and brilliantly fun comedy about the art of advertising, something a million miles away from this, a serious drama with some simple yet profound philosophy. It is based on a book from the producer of Your Name (2016), Villain (2010), and Rage (2016), and that novel has been published with an English-language translation in the west. The story is easily accessible and really homes in on the universal truth that everything matters.
What happens is that we get various vignettes via flashback sequences that unspool the Postman’s entire life as he thinks about his relationships. Each memory he contemplates contain meet-cutes with people he cares about facilitated by the things he chooses to disappear. The more he thinks, the more he realises that these simple objects are important and helped create the greater moments of love and life shared with others and these memories colour in the present-day narrative and make the Postman appreciate how everything has a place in the world, including himself. Each vignette crescendoes in a series of heart-to-heart sequences that are heartbreaking thanks to the acting.
The film stars Takeru Satoh (Rurouni Kenshin and Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno) who is a great emotional core for the story as he plays good and bad. His performance as the Devil is smouldering and cool his Postman is withdrawn, someone only able to imagine acting out emotionally, but as the two grapple with death there are deluges of raw emotion. The most powerful come from when he is with his mother, played by Mieko Harada, that Takeru draws from a deeper depth of his character as he shows a profound sadness and fear in the scenes where he sees her illness and they say their goodbyes. That powerful bond is cemented through Harada’s gentleness as she offers guidance when he is at his most vulnerable and we see it keeps him afloat in a highly affecting mother-son story.
Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage, Eureka), as the ex-girlfriend, has the more opaque role as the vagaries of love and life split them apart – some people change after a moment they find profound and it is hard for the people left behind to fathom and she isn’t explored but offers good support. Gaku Hamada (See You Tomorrow, Everyone) as his best friend Tatsuya really impressed me with his interpretation of the movie mad character (who is also called Tsutaya as a reference to the DVD rental chain). Their friendship founded on film appreciation is funny thanks to the stiltedness of Hamada’s character. Through mannerism and facial expression, he gives off the air of someone dedicated to films but we know it is an affectation as he is someone who probably feels loneliness. The moment he realises his best friend is about to die and the words they exchange is really gut-wrenching because he drops the act and allows some true sorrow to emerge.
With each parting in the story and with each affirmation of love, the Postman realises he had his place and he will be missed.
The film is full of some really beautifully composed shots with a cold sheen to many scenes which makes the stronger colours such as red standout in scenes where passions are explored. The fancier locations, such as Argentina and the Iguazo Falls which are seen in the Wong Kar-Wai film Happy Together, are eye-catching, but it is the setting of Hakodate, it’s distinctive hill that slopes down to the harbour with the ship, which moves the heart. The homes of each character and the tranquillity and just general niceness of the place really comes through the screen. The world the Postman and his circle of friends and family live in is an ideal place.
Some films exhort their audiences to appreciate life by showing grand romances and journeys, this one reminds audiences that the things we take for granted, including ourselves, are very important and that every life matters in some way.
Here’s a music video with one of those soft renditions of The Pixies song “Where Is My Mind”:
“I’m glad I like movies because movies have sent my best friend to me.”
Akira NagaiAoi MiyazakiGaku HamadaIf Cats Disappeared From the WorldJapanese FilmJapanese Film ReviewTakeru SatoTakeru Satoh世界から猫が消えたなら
Niji Iro no Asa ga Kuru Made, The 47 Ronin in Debt, Rise of the Machine Girls, Sea, Fragtime, Until Rainbow Dawn, Yayoi Kusama∞INFINITY, The Gossip Gang, Shana-o: Oedo no Kyandi 3, Ganbare to ka Urusee / Don’t Say That Word, Sticks and Stones, Hydra Japanese Film Trailers
When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to Be Dead 家に帰ると妻が必ず死んだふりをしていま Dir: Toshio Lee (2018)
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Clinical Trials Physician, HVTN and CoVPN
Cures Start Here. At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutchs pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nations first cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Womens Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Careers Start Here.
At Fred Hutch, we believe that the innovation, collaboration, and rigor that result from diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission of eliminating cancer and related diseases. We seek employeeswho bringdifferent and innovativeways of seeing the world and solving problems.Fred Hutch is in pursuit of becoming an antiracist organization.Weare committed to ensuring that all candidates hired share our commitment to diversity,antiracism, and inclusion.
The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is the worlds largest publicly funded multi-disciplinary international collaboration facilitating the development of vaccines to prevent HIV/AIDS. The HVTN conducts all phases of clinical trials, from evaluating experimental vaccines for safety and immunogenicity to testing vaccine efficacy and is housed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch). The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) was formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the US National Institutes of Health to respond to the global pandemic. Using the infectious disease expertise of their existing research networks and global partners, NIAID has directed the networks to address the pressing need for vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against SARS-CoV-2.
The Clinical Trials Physician plays a key role in providing scientific and clinical oversight and project management for the development and implementation of HIV vaccine and monoclonal antibody trials. We are looking for a physician with active interest in early phase trials who will work with the NIH and other developers in translating preclinical to clinical development. Clinical trials physicians report directly to HVTN leadership. Some experience with early phase trials; knowledge of preclinical toxicity models is desirable but not mandatory.
In collaboration with Network Principal Investigators and CoVPN and HVTN leadership, provide scientific review and input into concept and protocol development
Manage multidisciplinary teams and institutions organized around the development and implementation of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and monoclonal antibody protocols
Represent the Network in interactions with Principal Investigators, vaccine developers, and other vaccine research and public health organizations involved in HIV and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine discovery
Contribute to a core capacity for review and summary of scientific literature and analysis related to key issues for trial design
Manage timelines for protocol development and implementation, to assure timely start dates for clinical trials. This includes process development and manufacturing of novel products
Participate in the review of safety data from all phases of vaccine and monoclonal antibody clinical trials; this includes providing clinical input into the design of clinical monitoring plans and serving as medical monitor for clinical trials
A physician (M.D. or equivalent degree) is required
Preference will be given to those applicants with experience in clinical trials and to those applicants with training in phase 1 or preclinical evaluations of vaccines or antibodies
Board certification in internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, preventive medicine, or infectious disease is desirable
The ideal candidate should:
be highly organized
have exceptional written and verbal communication skills
have experience managing multidisciplinary teams
be able to handle challenging workloads and multiple concurrent projects
be proficient with standard business productivity software, including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, and database applications
A statement describing your commitment and contributions toward greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in your career or that will be made through work at Fred Hutch is requested of all finalists.
We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) Employer. We are committed to cultivating a workplace in which diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, age, disability (physical or mental), marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology, or membership in any other legally protected class. We are an Affirmative Action employer. We encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds to apply and desire priority referrals of protected veterans. If due to a disability you need assistance/and or a reasonable accommodation during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to our Employee Services Center at hrops@fredhutch.org or by calling 206-667-4700.
Not ready to apply? Connect with us for general consideration.
About Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Researchers are discovering new ways to detect cancers earlier, improve treatments, and learn how to prevent cancers from growing. Although Fred Hutchinson opened its doors in 1975, its history began about 20 years before that. In 1962 Fred Hutchinson envisioned a center devoted to studying cancer, a disease that took his brother’s life. Today Fred Hutchinson is contributing to the next waves of breakthrough treatments and prevention strategies. Fred Hutchinson collaborates with the Seattle Cancer Alliance, the National Cancer Institute, and the University of Washington.
Connections working at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
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Home Opinion Editorials Opinion: The Problem With “The War On Coronavirus”
The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels fly in formation. (Photo by Terrence Siren courtesy of the U.S. Navy)
It’s sort of a big trend in American politics that we can’t start tackling a national issue until we’ve “declared war” on it. There’s a War on Drugs, a War on Terror and even, depending on who you ask, a War on Christmas.
It’s not much of a shock that a country with so much pride and money invested in its military would resort to martial language so often. It’s also not surprising that we’ve taken to using the same kind of language to discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Headlines the nation over, in this paper as much as any other, have taken to talking about “combating coronavirus” or honoring the medical workers and personnel on the “front lines” of our national “battle.” Hell, we had Blue Angel fighter jets fly over the island a couple weeks back to “salute” our first responders.
In some ways, the use of military rhetoric makes a lot of sense here. Coronavirus is a crisis unlike any the country or humanity as a whole has faced since Spanish Flu a century prior. A word like war conveys the severity of the situation appropriately, and gets across the need for a concerted national effort to deal with the issue at hand. As for our heroes on the front lines of the pandemic, the nurses and essential workers who do their job in the face of such a daunting crisis every day deserve the same kind of honor we normally reserve for veterans and soldiers at war. After all, they’re putting their lives on the line all the same as anybody in a combat zone.
But while all this combat terminology serves as an effective shorthand for conveying the daunting nature of the pandemic, it carries with it insidious implications that deserve more scrutiny than they’re getting.
A war, by its very definition, is a conflict between at least two powers. It requires an enemy, an “other” that must be dealt with on the battlefield. But the War on Coronavirus has no enemy. Coronavirus isn’t some belligerent state or group threatening the security of the United States. It’s a natural phenomenon, a disaster without any definitive human cause. What blame there is to be spread comes down to how well or poorly the response to that disaster has been handled by the people responsible for ensuring we’re protected in times of crisis.
But since so many people have been told we’re at war, it becomes natural to search for a guilty party that caused this. It’s language like this that contributes to the scapegoating and abuse Chinese people and Chinese Americans are facing across the world. Filtered through the dark prism of prejudice, talk like this fuels the fires of racism and abuse. It’s why so many people insist on calling this thing the “Chinese Virus,” since it originated in China, even though it began there entirely by chance.
There’s also the issue of how we talk about “front line” workers. While nobody would ever argue that nurses and the like don’t deserve the highest praise for how they’ve helped others during the pandemic, acting like we’re at war does them a disservice. As tragic as the death of a soldier is, soldiers sign up for their job knowing full well that it might require them to give their life one day. Nurses and grocery store workers never made that agreement, and it’s crazy to shift the goal posts so drastically that we imply they should accept that risk now. Nurses are brave, they are valiant and they are courageous. But they are not warriors, and should not be pressured directly or indirectly into assuming that sort of mentality. Working the wards of a hospital, let alone during a pandemic, is psychologically damaging enough as it is. Let’s not make dealing with that any harder than it has to be by foisting the wrong point of view onto anybody.
Like wars before it, the coronavirus crisis has demanded that we sacrifice and do without to reach the end as quickly and painlessly as possible. There’s positive associations that these terms have because of our instinct to come together as people to meet our greatest challenges. But lurking beneath the surface of those feelings is a world of dishonesty and harm that we need to be as vigilant about facing as the virus itself.
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Mike Adams is a reporter and editor from Kings Park, New York. Mike previously served as a senior editor at The Stony Brook Statesman, produced stories from Cuba and Ecuador and had bylines in The Osprey, The Smithtown News and The Northport Observer. He is currently the editor of the Great Neck Record.
Column: Are You Cooking With Danger?
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But Picnickers Get More Sunlight and Less Bird Doo-Doo
By Grist staff on Feb 29, 2000
The Atlantic rainforest of northeastern Brazil, one of the world’s most species-rich tropical rainforests, is in serious trouble, according to an article by Brazilian scientists in the journal Nature. Ecological processes like seed dispersal and pollination are being disrupted and may lead to the extinction of 34 percent of the region’s tree species, said researcher Jose Maria Cardoso da Silva. “I noticed that some of the larger fruit-eating birds were disappearing in the forest and I asked myself how many of the tree species that depend on the birds for seed dispersal would also die out,” da Silva said. Most of the current forest protection reserves are too small to support large fruit-eating species, da Silva said. He argues that conservation efforts need to focus on reforesting large areas if birds and trees are to survive.
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Home » HIV/AIDS » Antiretroviral Therapy of AIDS-Related Kaposi's Sarcoma in Africa
Antiretroviral Therapy of AIDS-Related Kaposi's Sarcoma in Africa
Investigator: Jeffrey Martin, MD, MPH
Sponsor: NIH National Cancer Institute
Visit project website
Location(s): Uganda
In sub-Saharan Africa, the intersection between the HIV epidemic and the endemic nature of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection has caused Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) to become the most common malignancy in many parts of the region. In HIV-infected patients with KS in resource-rich areas, use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) often causes regression of KS even in the absence of conventional chemotherapy. However, it is not known which specific antiretroviral drugs are critical to convey HAART's effect on KS and how HAART achieves this effect. In particular, recent data from in vitro systems and animal models suggest that protease inhibitors (Pis), originally developed to block the active site of HIV aspartyl protease, also have direct anti-KS effects. Now that antiretroviral therapy is becoming available in Africa, it is important to address the hypothesis that Pi-containing HAART is superior to Pi- sparing HAART in promoting KS regression. Hence, our multidisciplinary team proposes these four aims: (1) Determine whether a Pi-based HAART regimen (lopinavir/ritonavir plus zidovudine/lamivudine) is more efficacious than a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based HAART regimen (efavirenz plus zidovudine/lamivudine) in promoting the regression of KS tumor burden in persons with AIDS-related KS in Africa; (2) Evaluate which pre-HAART parameters are predictive of KS regression among HAART-treated patients with KS in Africa and how changes in these parameters after HAART is initiated predict KS regression; (3) Examine the effect of HAART, when used in African patients with AIDS-related KS, on KSHV-related virologic activity and host immune response to KSHV, including whether the use of HAART reduces levels of KSHV salivary shedding and therefore potentially reduces KSHV infectiousness; and (4) Estimate the incidence and determinants of KS-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in patients with AIDS-related KS in Africa who are treated with HAART. To achieve these aims, we will perform a randomized trial of a Pi-based HAART regimen versus an NNRTI-based HAART regimen among 224 antiretroviral-naTve persons with non-chemotherapy-requiring AIDS-related KS in Kampala, Uganda. Subjects will be followed at four-week intervals for 48 weeks, and the primary outcome will be a blinded measurement of the change in KS tumor burden. We will also longitudinally assess the response to HAART in terms of changes in KSHV DMA levels in saliva and blood, host humoral and cellular immune response to KSHV, and plasma levels of VEGF, bFGF, and MMP-2. Findings from this work will both help to inform clinical care of patients with AIDS-related KS in Africa and provide biological insights into the effect of antiretroviral therapy on underlying KSHV infection.
Locations: Uganda
Topics: HIV/AIDS, Cancer/Oncology
Organizations: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Keywords: Cancer, Kaposi Sarcoma, Antiretroviral Treatment (ART), Drug Treatment
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The trans community has our own memo — here it is
Commentary: Surviving in challenging times
Monica Prata on November 2, 2018
On October 21, 2018, The New York Times reported that a memo had been circulated in the Department of Health and Human Services seeking to amend a law which protects against gender-based discrimination in any government-funded educational program. Part of this memo argued in favor of a legal definition of sex, with the Times citing a quote from the memo, reading “Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” If such a statement would appear in just one of our nation’s laws — or even in one of their amendments — the floodgates of legalized discrimination for the transgender, intergender and gender queer communities would open, with unimaginable consequences.
When someone comes out and begins the journey to their authentic gender, there are many milestones and turning points. A necessary step in transition is when a transgender person holds their new state ID in their hands after having their gender legally changed. It is a tangible and physical reminder that they belong to a society whose government protects them, and whose law enforcement officers look out for them. ID cards can be felt, held in a person’s hands and shown to friends. School IDs, state IDs, passports and birth certificates are among a person’s most important documents; they validate and verify identity. For many transgender individuals that simple letter “F” or “M” is something they have spent years of their lives in conflict with; being discriminated against, invalidated and excluded based on a solitary character on a piece of plastic. The significance we give to the concept of gender and what it means is something to discuss, but that’s a different conversation for a different day. Today, we have transgender people fighting for a basic right, the right to be seen and the right to be recognized as who they know themselves to be.
Ignoring the existence of transgender individuals goes against an unbroken line of court decisions in this country. With the proposed policy the administration reveals yet again that it does not care about science and will ignore it when convenient. Members of the transgender community pay taxes, serve on jury duty, vote and are required to abide by the law just like any other citizen of the United States. However, under a Trump administration, they would be barred from correctly identifying themselves to the government that profits from their tax dollars, and whose laws are supposed to, but do not currently, protect them.
Many people carry the supposition that protecting transgender children who attend public high schools and middle schools is negligible because it could “just be a phase.” The age of transition, however, is getting younger and younger. More and more high school and college-aged clients are seeking the help of NouveauShe, which offers services to help transgender women through social and medical aspects of transition. More parents and students are reaching out in order to garner support for those who are questioning their gender identity. During the past five years alone, NouveauShe has seen the average age of its advisees drop from mid-50s to late-30s.
It appears that the moment the transgender and non-conforming community experiences a brief moment of relief, finally receiving some (not even all) of their much deserved rights as citizens, our administration picks at the scab, inflicting more pain, anxiety and frustration on an already marginalized population. The bottom line is that many transgender people die by suicide, many of which are adolescents. We must remember that this memo was circulated about a law that would directly affect educational institutions, which means that it would directly affect our children. For every transgender boy or transgender girl who is allowed to use the bathroom of their gender, or who is allowed to change in the locker room of their choice, there is another who is required to use the locker room of the opposite gender, and change clothing in front of a crowd that bullies them and inflicts physical and emotional harm on them. Having a legal definition of sex and gender would lead to the latter, causing an end to gender-neutral restrooms in our schools, an end to locker room and dormitory choice and an increase of bullying. This administration is turning its back on a community that seems to get bigger and younger by the minute, not by the year or decade.
The Times also stated that “any dispute about a person’s gender would have to be clarified by genetic testing.” Before I start to debate gender, I would like to say that there have been multitudes of governments before that have forced a certain population to undergo scientific tests and experiments — most, if not all, of these governments have faded into the sands of time due to their abhorrent human rights violations. No government has the right to subject its citizens to a biological test without their consent.
Furthermore, there are many instances in the past where gender and sex has been tampered with, or decided upon, by an assumedly “more knowledgeable” third party. Hospitals used to require a certain penis length before designating an “M” next to gender on a birth certificate. John T. Money was the famous experimental doctor who so crudely stated, “for plastic surgeons, it’s easier to dig a hole than build a pole.” Many children with XY chromosomes whose genitalia was underdeveloped were horribly mutilated under his medical supervision. To this day, there are survivors of John Money’s malicious practices, who had someone else decide not only how they must identify, but how their body must look. We must return to the simple fact that if you leave genitalia alone, disregard a child’s chromosomes and allow an individual to develop without arbitrary societal restriction, they will eventually be able to tell you themselves the gender to which they belong.
For some reason, the following statement is always regarded as incredibly profound, but I think it remains rather simple: the best society is a society that provides as many paths as possible for as many different communities to flourish. It has been shown time and time again, medically, psychologically and sociologically, that the best and healthiest way for a transgender individual to flourish is to be allowed to exist in their stated gender. Why not open the floodgates in the other direction? Why not allow a community to legally define themselves, instead of posing a constricting definition upon them?
Monica Prata is a feminine image consultant for those who are transgender, transitioning or exploring gender fluidity. She is a transgender rights activist, as well as the founder and CEO of NouveauShe.
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Category: Opinion
Tag: Department of Health and Human Services, intergender, lgbtq, Print Edition 2018-11-02, transgender, Trump Administration
Previous: Previous post: Transgender legal issues and family law
Next: Next post: A time to speak
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St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
The Family that built Gothic Britain – part 1
Treasury and Foreign Office, London
Giles Gilbert Scott: Liverpool Cathedral
Churches Conservation Trust’s 2015 Annual Lecture
Pupils assistant
Sculptors Craftmen
The Scott family designed over 1,500 buildings including over 50 cathedrals on every continent in the world except for Antarctica and South America.
In Herefordshire
St James the Great, Cradley
St John the Baptist’s, Aconbury
In Hertfordshire
St Mary’s, Watford
St James the Great, Thorley
St Mary the Great, Sawbridgeworth
Holy Cross, Sarratt
St Stephen’s, St Albans
Gravestone for Henry Hayman Toulmin, St Albans
St Michael’s, St Albans
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St Pancras Hotel
Hello I’m Robert. I am the great great grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott. I hope you enjoy browsing my blog.
My sister and I manage our family business Watts & Co (which was founded by George Gilbert Scott Junior).
Some facts about the Scott family
The Scott family have designed cathedrals on 5 continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America & Australia.
Two members of the Scott family feature on the new British passport. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and Elizabeth Scott.
Sir George Gilbert Scott is buried in Westminster Abbey in a grave, which he would have been pleased to learn, unearthed some of the earliest Roman remains discovered in the Abbey
The iconic red telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott who took inspiration from Sir John Soane’s wife mausoleum.
Sir George Gilbert Scott at the age of just 33 built the tallest building in the world (At the time, St Nicholas’s Cathedral in Hamburg)
Abbeys (15) Adrian Gilbert Scott (11) Bodley (5) Books (5) Bridges (4) British passport (6) cathedral (1) Cathedrals (46) Churches (523) Domestic buildings (32) Elisabeth Scott (7) Elizabeth Hoare (3) Factories and Power Stations (4) Gavin Stamp (1) George Gilbert Scott junior (43) Hospitals (10) John Oldrid Scott (43) Memorials (23) Other Architects (9) Priories (3) Public buildings (206) Pupils Assistants (1) Red telephone box (15) Richard Gilbert Scott (16) Schools and Universities (52) Scott Homes (6) Sir George Gilbert Scott (791) Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (62) Watts and Company (9) Workhouses (42)
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Albums [Heavy / Power] » Vigilante (Jpn) - IV (2008)
Vigilante (Jpn) | Related | Metal Archives | Discogs | Youtube | Ebay | Popsike | Facebook
Artist: Vigilante
Release: IV
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Tokyo,Japan
Prog Power metal act from Tokyo, Japan. For big fans of Dream Theater, Queensryche, Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Angra etc.
Hideaki Niwa - Vocals
Hiroshi Omoto - Guitar
Kazuaki Horie - Guitar
Makoto Unno - Bass
Shunji Fujino - Drums
1. Temple of Vortex 04:52
2. The Unbeliever 04:52
3. Trapped in Oblivion 04:13
4. Disharmonic Memories 06:59
5. A Vision of a Parallel World 05:48
6. Red Alert 04:25
7. Shadow 03:17
8. Forever 05:08
9. Shattered Soul 06:05
10. The Classified Table
"Of Hybrid Origins: East Meets West"
Generally, their music may be categorized as "Progressive Metal". But the music has had a great deal of depth and its own style for long enough that people can't simply consider VIGILANTE a mere Prog-metal band.
In 1988, more than fifteen years ago, the band's founder, Hiroshi Omoto, decided to form VIGILANTE. The band was named VIGILANTE after the British legendary hard rock band MAGNUM's song "Vigilante".
The early influences from which they derived inspiration were bands such as SCORPIONS, SAVAGE GRACE, RUNNING WILD, to name a few. And from that point onward they kept developing and refining their sound through their succession of demos and live shows.
When they came across the sounds of RUSH and FATES WARNING, whose progressive ways to approach music totally fascinated the band, VIGILANTE's attention turned towards making their music more artistic and dramatic.
It might have been a hard time for such a band to carry on, given the music scene in the late eighties Japan. After all, at that time, People who knew even the word "Progressive Metal" were few and far between. But despite these circumstances, they got the chance to be introduced to the manager of Gibson Japan at that time, Loyd Love. And so it came to be, that once they'd borrowed some Gibson guitars from his office, within one week, they were able to complete a new demo called "FATAL SUPERSTITION". When he finished listening to their demo, Love described the band as "A perfect hybrid sound of eastern music and western music".
Soon thereafter, Hiroshi became an endorser of Gibson USA.
However, it wasn't long before VIGILANTE had to endure the serial replacements of many of its original members.The loss of its members was a crunch for the band and they had to take a hiatus for a while.
After several months, VIGILANTE resumed with a new line-up. In addition to the stable guitar team of Hiroshi and Kazuaki Horie, they had new vocalist, Hideaki Niwa, new drummer, Kazuhisa Yoshimura, and a new bass player, Makoto Unno.
In 1997, they had their first big show in Tokyo. The show was almost 2-hours long and they played more than 20 original songs. The show was a success and the band received a good audience response.
After that historic show, they started the recording of their first album "CHAOS-PILGRIMAGE".
The album was released in April 1998 with complete self sound production. Upon releasing the album, they received a good reaction throughout the world, being highly praised by renowned metal magazines like Heavy Oder Was!?, Hard Roxx, and Burrn!, in addition to various metal radio and TV programs.
In September 1998, they were given the offer to join the famous "Bang Your Head!!!" metal festival, sponsored by Heavy Oder Was!? in Germany.
Unfortunately, their appearance as a live act didn't come to be but they had an interview session on stage.
When they returned from Germany, they made a license record contract for 5 albums with German veteran label Massacre Records. And in March 1999, the "CHAOS-PILGRIMAGE" EU version was released.
The band released their second album "EDGE OF TIME" in September 1999. Its well-defined power-metal and aggressive styling was greeted favorably by fans all over the world.
And a short two months later, EU version of "EDGE OF TIME" was released in November 1999.
After the release of this album, they continued touring and composing new sounds for their next album to coincide with the replacement of their drummer with Shu Yamaichi in March 2002.
In April 2002, they made a license contract with Korean label,Ponycanyon Korea and the Korean version of their double CD was soon released. The next month they visited Korea and interviewed with Korean music magazine "GMV".
In August 2004, finally their third album "COSMIC INTUITION" was released after five years.
The band kept touring and In April 2005, they made a successful performance in Seoul, Korea. And in June 2005, they joined "Bang Your Head!!!" festival again after seven years with "COSMIC INTUITION" album as a promotional tour. They received a good reaction from German metal fans there.
In July 2005, they played together with Australian power metal act DUNGEON and in September, played with Korean prog-metal band JEREMY again since the last gig in Seoul, Korea in April.
[SOLVED] [REQS] Vigilante (Jpn) Discography
minaswarning
Vigilante (US-MI) - Demo (1989)
RunningWild
Vigilante (Jpn) - Chaos-Pilgrimage (1998)
Bill Rizer
Vigilante (Jpn) - Edge of Time (1999)
Vigilante (Jpn) - Cosmic Intuition (2004)
Vigilante (Jpn) - Thumbnail at You, Master (Single) [1999]
Vigilante (UK) - Studio & Live Recordings [Bootleg] (198x-1992)
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Photography by Rhiannon Russell
Holiday on the Icy Golden Hell-Staircase
By Rhiannon Russell
Thousands of Gold Rush prospectors climbed the Chilkoot, and many lost their lives. In the grand tradition of Dark Tourism, I decided to join the 2,500 people who now hike it for fun every summer.
The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899
Rhiannon Russell
Rhiannon Russell is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She’s written for The...
Childless And Miserable
A rumbling in the mountains was the first warning. It had snowed heavily overnight, following weeks of storms that kept hundreds of prospectors holed up at Sheep Camp, in coastal Alaskan forest. Warm winds blew in that Palm Sunday, April 3, 1898, and some of the stampeders hit the trail. They were headed to the gold fields in Dawson City, Yukon, and were eager to get moving again—they had hundreds of kilometres yet to go. The Tlingit, the local Indigenous people, who occasionally packed goods for the white men, refused to go up into the mountains that day. They knew the risk.
When two snow slides came tumbling down the valley, people began to flee, clinging to a rope as they moved single-file down the icy slope. At noon, an avalanche came with a roar, burying everything in its path with thirty feet of snow.
“The scene was a weird and terrible one,” writes Pierre Berton in his book The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush. “Small air holes sometimes appeared in the snow to mark the spot where a man or woman had been buried, and somewhere beneath them, the searchers could hear the muffled cries of the victims… Relatives above called out their last good-byes to those entombed below.” Many people were saved, pulled from the depths by their fellow stampeders, but approximately 70 died. “As the hours wore on, those who were not rescued at once slowly became anesthetized by the carbon dioxide given off by their own breathing; they began to feel drowsy, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep from which few awoke,” writes Berton. It was the deadliest avalanche to hit the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush. The bodies were dug up in the following days, many of them frozen in running position. They were moved to a makeshift morgue—a tent—at Sheep Camp, and later buried in a hollow not far from the site of the avalanche. By summertime, though, the snow had melted, and those making a belated trip through the mountains came upon a lake full of floating corpses.
Eventually, the bodies were moved down to sea level, and buried in Dyea, Alaska, an inlet off the coast. In the gold rush days, Dyea was a bustling hub, packed with tents, log cabins, and false-fronted hotels, but today it is a ghost town. Wooden tombstones are scattered in a clearing in dense, mosquito-infested woods, the spindly-branched trees straight out of The Blair Witch Project.
The Chilkoot trailhead is less than one kilometre away. It was here that thousands began what would be the most challenging stretch of their journey to the Klondike: a months-long trek through forest and mountains to Lake Bennett in what is, today, northern British Columbia. On Bennett’s shores, they built boats and sailed some 800 kilometres down the Yukon River to Dawson City.
Today, at this trailhead, 2,500 people from all over the world begin the same hike every summer, trading in horses, crates, bulky clothing and thin leather boots for modern wonders like freeze-dried food, Gore-Tex, merino wool, and lightweight stoves.
I hiked the Chilkoot this past summer. My first day on the trail, I felt like I was dying. I had left from Dyea that morning with four friends. We felt fresh and eager, stepping around steaming piles of bear scat as we gossiped about guys and sang pop songs and shouted to scare away the animals. It was my first backpacking trip. We’d be hiking the trail’s 53 kilometres in four days, with 20 kilometres slated for day one. My pack was a monstrosity. For the first few hours, I felt like Cheryl Strayed, a badass hiker chick. But then I started to hurt. My shoulders ached. My back was sore. And then my stomach started to turn. At the 12-kilometre mark, I had to rush into the trees to shit in a hole I’d hastily dug in the moss. I was inexplicably nauseous, dizzy. (I hadn’t drunk any river water yet, so giardia wasn’t the culprit.)
When we finally made it to Sheep Camp that night, I threw up in the rickety outhouse then feebly sipped blue Gatorade while my entire body broke out in hives, red bumps creeping across my arms, stomach, and legs. I seriously doubted whether I could last three more days. When we’d picked up our permits in Skagway, Alaska, the park ranger had warned us that a helicopter evacuation, in the event of illness or injury, would cost $28,000 U.S. Implicit in her message: Unless you’re actually dying, you better hike out. Curled up in my sleeping bag that night, feeling pitiful, I wrote in my journal: Why did I want to do this?
In the summer of 1896, three prospectors struck gold on Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River. When, nearly a year later, two ships piled with gold sailed into two American port cities—the Excelsior in San Francisco and the Portland in Seattle—it was full-blown, nation-wide Klondike fever. “Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Stacks of Yellow Metal!” trumpeted Seattle’s Post-Intelligencer, with a claim that the Portland carried more than a ton of solid gold. (In fact, it carried more than two tons.) “Reports From the Far-Away Land Where the Earth Seems Lined with Gold” was the headline in San Francisco’s The Examiner.
The United States was deep in a recession at the time, and millions were unemployed. News of a gold strike invigorated people, gave them hope—no matter that these riches were thousands of kilometres away, in a region few knew much about. “Suffering seems inevitable,” one newspaper predicted. Men and women piled onto steamers that sailed up the coast, disembarking in Skagway or Dyea. (Others, in smaller numbers, took an overland route, heading northwest from Edmonton. Another option, the most expensive, was to sail further north into Alaska, then up the Yukon River.) Most were clueless about what they’d be up against. One man brought two Irish setters and a lawn tennis set. Another brought a piano.
At the ports, it was utter chaos. Towns were hastily assembled in both Skagway and Dyea. The harbours were packed, and when ships couldn’t make it to shore, horses and dogs were dropped overboard to swim for land. At Dyea, supplies were tossed into massive heaps on the beach. “With people wrangling and fighting over freight, with confusion, great avalanches booming down the mountain sides all about us, and absolutely no one able to give us anything but abuse, my first view of Dyea was accompanied by one long and two thousand short blasts of profanity,” said the American playwright Wilson Mizner, who arrived in December 1897.
There were two routes through the mountains: the Chilkoot, which had been used for centuries by the Tlingit, and the White Pass. The latter earned the nickname the Dead Horse Trail, for the bodies of 3,000 pack animals that littered the forest. The Chilkoot featured a tougher, steeper climb, but it was shorter and cheaper—people carried their own goods—so it saw greater traffic. “Whichever way you go, you will wish you had gone the other,” said a man who had tried both.
The Chilkoot’s infamous climb was the Golden Stairs, 1,500 steps the prospectors carved out of ice up the mountain. The most iconic image from the Klondike Gold Rush shows an unending line of bodies, stark against the snow, toiling up the Chilkoot Pass. “It was like climbing an icy staircase to hell,” said stampeder Ed Lung. Berton described the scene as such: “Up the golden stairs they went, the men from the farms and the offices, climbing into the heavens, struggling to maintain the balance of the weight upon their shoulders, occasionally sinking to their hands and knees but always rising up again, sometimes breaking down in near-collapse, sometimes weeping in rage and frustration, yet always striving higher and higher, their faces black with strain, their breath hissing between their gritted teeth, unable to curse for want of wind yet unwilling to pause for respite, clambering upward from step to step, hour after hour, as if the mountain peaks themselves were made of solid gold.”
Because of the area’s remoteness, the Canadian government ordered that each person must carry a year’s worth of supplies—in total, about 2,000 pounds, including 400 pounds of flour, 150 pounds of bacon, 125 pounds of beans, 75 pounds of dried fruit, 25 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of dried potatoes, and 10 pounds of coffee, as well as stoves and sleds, knives and blankets, buckets and frying pans, heavy Mackinaw coats and long underwear. The journey took months; the Golden Stairs were too steep for horses, so the stampeders had to make up to 40 trips up the pass, goods piled high on their backs.
Most didn’t make it. Over 100,000 people ventured north, but only 30,000 arrived in Dawson, 22,000 of them via the Chilkoot. Many turned back, discouraged by the terrible hardship. Others died. “I have roughed it for the past fifteen years in Siberia, in Borneo and in Chinese Tartary, but I can safely describe that climb over the Chilkoot as the severest physical experience of my life,” said the explorer Harry de Windt, in 1896. Pain and exhaustion weren’t the only tribulations: people suffered snow blindness, pneumonia, spinal meningitis epidemics, and some committed suicide. “After wearing a pair of socks a few weeks in those high, laced boots so popular then, a man could take them off and hardly recognize what he found at the end of his legs,” writes Archie Satterfield in his book Chilkoot Pass: The Most Famous Trail in the North. “If he was lucky, he would find a pair of awful-smelling feet; if unlucky, he would find them infected, swollen and rotting.”
For a whole day, a man lay on the trail with a broken leg, moaning and pleading for help. Hundreds passed by, not so much as turning their heads in his direction. “It was as if each was pulled by invisible strings from whose insistent tug he could not free himself,” writes Berton in The Klondike Fever. “The worst hardships, the most racking personal tragedies often failed to dampen the fanaticism which impelled each one.”
We reached the snowy base of the Golden Stairs on day two. Rangers advise leaving camp early in the morning, because the risk of avalanche rises with the temperature. We’d woken up at 4:30 a.m. My stomach seemed to have settled overnight—I’d eaten some oatmeal for breakfast and managed to keep it down—but my back and shoulders ached, my quads burned. We’d been climbing up, up, up for the past four hours, past the tree line and across the river, until it was just us, mountains, and sky. I’d pored over photos taken at this exact spot 118 years ago, and it looked just as it did then, though today, the imposing mass of grey boulders was bare of snow.
Climbing them was like playing a delicate game of Twister: step with my right foot, place my left hand down for balance, step with my left foot, find a stable hold with my right hand. I started to almost enjoy the methodical movements, the singularity of thought they required. With my body tilted forward to meet the mountain, the weight of my pack was more bearable. A couple from Seattle was clambering up at the same time we were, and they were annoyingly chatty, peppering us with questions and cracking corny jokes. I was in no mood to talk to anyone. About halfway up, breathing deeply, I turned around and looked out over the landscape: rocky mountains dappled with mossy greens, patches of snow, and blue peaks off in the distance. Then I stared up at the grey wall still towering over me. I felt panicky; my mind started to tally up how much further we had to go. From the summit, six more kilometres until we reached camp, plus two more days of painful, achy movement with this completely inhibitive pack. I started to cry, quietly and quickly.
My friends reached the summit before I did. Crater Lake, and its impossibly deep blue, welcomed us to Canada—at the top of the pass lies the international border. We were now in British Columbia. About 15 other hikers had gathered at the top, taking photos. The sun came out and blinded us as it reflected off the snow. We had each packed a beer—a can of Chilkoot by Yukon Brewing—to celebrate reaching the summit. From here, most of our mileage would be downhill. We stuck the cans in the snow to chill before cracking them open. At the base of the mountain, we had been sweaty in T-shirts and shorts, but here, we quickly pulled on fleece and windbreakers. The girls were chatty, feeling victorious, but I was quiet, negative thoughts still swirling around inside my head. I climbed up a rocky slope to a Parks Canada cabin, where you could write a postcard to yourself and it would be mailed to you in a year. It was part of an art project running that summer. I wrote what was, in hindsight, a very cheesy pep talk, but at the time, I needed it. Seizing on a quote I’d seen on a placard when driving through the Rockies last year, I jotted it down: “There are beautiful, beautiful mountains everywhere, the sun is warm, I’m with friends, and right now life is good.” I was desperate to make myself appreciate this moment, this hike, for what it was.
“As mortal finite beings, as we shall live so we shall die,” writes Dr. Philip Stone, in a 2006 research paper A Dark Tourism Spectrum: Towards a Typology of Death and Macabre Related Tourist Sites, Attractions and Exhibitions. “It is this very premise of the human condition that lies at the crux of the dark tourism concept. It could be argued that we have always held a fascination with death, whether our own or others, through a combination of respect and reverence or morbid curiosity and superstition.”
Stone heads the Institute for Dark Tourism Research, based at the University of Central Lancashire in England, and, as such, has become one of the world’s leading experts in dark tourism, the act of travelling to places associated with death, suffering, and tragedy. These include sites of war, natural disaster, and genocide. The term was coined in 1996, by John Lennon and Malcolm Foley in their book, Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death and Disaster. But the concept dates back to ancient civilization—the Colosseum and its gladiators could be considered one of the first dark tourism sites. Some of the most famous locations today are where truly evil acts took place: Auschwitz, the Killing Fields in Cambodia, Rwanda.
Not all sites have the same level of “darkness.” William F.S. Miles, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston, has suggested that there is a “dark-darker tourism paradigm,” and that an important distinction exists between sites of death and suffering and sites associated with death and suffering. For instance, Auschwitz is “darker” than the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Generally, cemeteries and monuments dedicated to tragic historical events are considered “lighter.” Commercialization plays a role in this spectrum positioning—namely, the presence of a gift shop or cafeteria. For instance, Ground Zero has a gift shop, as does the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which also houses a bistro. Compare that to Auschwitz, where crackers and coffee can be purchased in the visitors’ centre, but one must leave the grounds to have a meal, writes Laurie Beth Clark in the 2014 book Death Tourism: Disaster Sites as Recreational Landscape.
On this spectrum, the Chilkoot would be considered a “lighter” site, comparable to a museum or cemetery. Indeed, it has been called the world’s longest museum due to the artifacts scattered along the trail: a steel boat frame, boot soles, rusty chains, and other metal bits and pieces that have disintegrated so much they’re no longer identifiable. It is a historical location, one that witnessed death and significant struggle. But neither the trail nor the Klondike Gold Rush as a whole is uniquely associated with death. Most people today don’t visit the trail to pay respects to the dead, but rather for the challenge of a strenuous mountain hike that is central to the Yukon’s history and identity. It provides, literally, a glimpse into the past.
Stone has said that our interest in dark tourism sites has to do with “learning about history, learning about the past, mediating with yourself, looking at your own mortality, because the dead often look back at us. And what we see is ourselves, our families…”
In 2010, a Canadian reality show called La ruée vers l’or (“The Gold Rush”) was filmed on the Chilkoot Trail. The premise was that ten contestants would travel the route just as the prospectors did in 1898. They wore period outfits, carried 500 pounds’ worth of goods, ate corned beef and rice, and foraged for plants—no newfangled instant oatmeal or protein bars allowed. (For safety, they were allowed to bring bear spray and avalanche gear.) Things went horribly wrong when several contestants inadvertently ate a poisonous plant and became deathly ill. Luckily, a park ranger came upon them, and they were taken to hospital in a helicopter. They all survived, and returned to the trail to finish filming the show.
Re-enactment at dark tourism sites is not uncommon. At the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, “an immersive installation uses flashing lights to recreate the moment of the blast and represents victims using mannequins with melting flesh,” writes Laurie Beth Clark, while at South Korea’s Seodaemun Prison History Hall, “visitors walk down a hallway listening to soundtracks of prisoners screaming from behind closed doors, crawl inside an inhumanely small isolation cell and sit in a chair in front of a mannequin jury whose verdict causes the visitor’s chair to drop beneath them.”
Most people don’t hike the Chilkoot Trail in 19th-century garb. But there are many rules in place to keep the wilderness in comparable condition. Hikers must book in advance—often months before; only 50 people are allowed onto the trail each day, and eight of these spots are for walk-ons—and purchase a permit. All garbage must be carried out, and camping is only allowed at the designated sites. Each one has an outhouse. To avoid conflict with bears, fragrant items—food, sunscreen, fuel—have to be placed in lockers at each campsite, and meals must be eaten in the small wooden cook shack. There’s no cell service. The only source of water along the route is the river. For hours at a time during our days on the trail, we’d see no one else at all. When I shit in the woods, I had to gingerly place the used toilet paper into a Ziploc bag and stuff it into my pack. Not everyone cares to have the real experience, though. Some companies offer packers. One charges $1,500 for the ultimate luxury hike: someone who’ll carry your stuff, along with gourmet foods like garlic bread, smoked salmon, steak, and wine.
Two days in, I understood the desire for some comforts. Everything hurt—chafing from my pack rubbed the skin off my shoulders, I pulled a muscle in my groin that made me wince every time I took an uphill step, my legs were sunburned, my feet blistered, and my mind continued to tumble into dark, discouraging places. Accordingly, I had a meltdown a few hours after we summited. We were crossing a creek—one of many—and I slipped on a rock and fell in. The water was shallow and I wasn’t hurt, but I had hit breaking point. This time, the tears were not discreet; I sobbed. “I’m not really having fun!” It was almost a relief to say it out loud. My friends sat down around me, gave me a pep talk. The landscape was rocky, peppered with patches of slippery snow and wildflowers and alpine lakes the colour of the Mediterranean.
I felt better after, in the way you always do after a good cry. It was a couple more hours of slogging until we reached Happy Camp—“the happiest of camps!” I wrote in my journal that night. A fellow hiker told us we looked “fresh,” and we laughed because we felt anything but. From then on, we called ourselves Team Fresh. At Happy Camp, we pitched our tents on wooden platforms overlooking the river and boiled water to pour into our packets of freeze-dried dinner. I had chicken and rice and, at the end of a long, hard day, it was the best food I’d ever tasted. That night, we brushed our teeth beside the river as we had the night before, in Alaska. Just as we were about to spit into the current, we remembered that the rules on the Canadian side of the trail were different—you had to use the campsite’s wastewater pit. So we ran up the hill in our flip-flops, mouths full of toothpaste, laughing hysterically.
I shared a tent with my friend, Coralie, and every night, she and I would chat before we drifted off to sleep, a debriefing of sorts about the day and how it had gone. I remember telling her I was disappointed I wasn’t enjoying myself. I like hiking up mountains and I like camping, so what was the problem? (The likely answer: my too-heavy pack.) Coralie, an eternal optimist, told me it was okay to struggle and it was okay to acknowledge that I was fairly miserable. I didn’t want to be consumed by negativity, but I didn’t want to sugarcoat my feelings either. Often people talk about long hikes as life-changing, hyper-positive, spiritual journeys, but it doesn’t mean my experience was wrong, or any less valid, because it deviated from that. I like to think my struggle made it more real.
The gold rush, fervent but brief, lasted about two years. Traffic along the trail slowed when the White Pass & Yukon Route railway was built from Skagway to Bennett in 1899, and, eventually, to Whitehorse. Heartbreakingly, for many who persevered and made it to Dawson, most of the gold was already claimed by the time they arrived. “In that brief period, thousands of men [and women] lived a lifetime,” Pierre Berton writes in The Klondike Quest: A Photographic Essay 1897-1899. “In many ways the great quest was an approximation of life itself, for in its various stages it mirrored the naïveté of childhood, the enthusiasm of youth, the disillusionment of middle age, and the wisdom of maturity… the Klondike experience was as much a quest for self as it was for gold.”
Over the last 30 years, more than 50,000 people have hiked the Chilkoot—more than the number who traversed it from 1897 to 1900. Through the 1960s, the trail was cleared; in 1976, it became a U.S. National Historic Park. Parks Canada began monitoring the other side of the border in the 1970s. In 1993, the Chilkoot was established as a Canadian National Historic Site.
I felt like I had lived a lifetime in those four days, and I am being only a little overdramatic when I say that. After our night at Happy Camp, we hiked through more bear-infested woods and sang more pop songs at the top of our lungs. We swam in a lake that was very likely leech-infested—my friend Steph pulled one off her toe—but I tried not to think about that. We talked openly about our bodily functions. (After my gastrointestinal drama on day one, there were no boundaries among us.) We shouted words of encouragement at each other—“You’re a mermaid!” and “New legs, baby girl!” from this silly YouTube video of American runner Alexi Pappas cheering on her friend Jordan Hasay during a race. “Imagine doing this 40 times?” Steph said as we stepped over rocks and tree roots in 25-degree heat.
I was overjoyed to reach Bennett. As we hiked down the final stretch to the lake, trees lining the trail, tourists snapped photographs of us in our dirty, disheveled glory. The White Pass train still runs, dropping sightseers off to admire Bennett’s gold rush remnants, among them, a since-restored Presbyterian church built in 1899. Chilkoot hikers depart on the same train, seated in a separate car, away from the clean, nice-smelling tourists. We dumped our packs on the porch of the campsite’s cook shack, and I pulled out two large fuel canisters we hadn’t had to use. “Sorry you had to carry those,” Steph said. “You got the real experience. It’s like carrying a piano—the same level of unnecessary.”
During the 1897-1898 winter, Bennett’s shores were crowded with tents, lumber, sawmills, cabins, and boats. Stampeders who arrived after the lake froze up had to wait out the winter here. At one point, it was home to 2,000 people. Today, the place is nearly deserted, save for the train station and two or three cabins. We walked along the beach, where countless pieces of glass, left over from the bottles of booze downed in saloons and hotels, intermingled with the stones.
As I looked out over Lake Bennett, I was once again struck by how identical, how unchanged, the scene was compared to the photos I’d seen. That may seem obvious—mountains don’t move. But I could feel the history that had happened right here, that a prospector had stood in the same spot I was standing, over a century ago, and taken in this exact view: the mountains, imposing and majestic, rising up from the blue-green waters, and I felt stunned. I thought to myself: The things these mountains have seen.
Rhiannon Russell is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She’s written for The Walrus, Maisonneuve, and This Magazine. She used to work as a newspaper reporter in Whitehorse, Yukon.
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There’s No Good Alternative to Investing in R&D
You can’t acquire your way to innovation.
Anne Marie Knott
April 17, 2018, Updated April 19, 2018
Even companies that claim to have a long-term orientation worry about whether R&D is worth the investment. This is because they worry the resulting knowledge might walk out the door, as employees join other firms or start their own and because you can acquire firms that have the needed technology instead. If everyone followed that logic however, there’d be little innovation to walk out the door or to acquire. Fortunately, neither of these concerns is warranted, and research shows why companies, investors, and the nation will be better off if companies make long-term investments in R&D. In summary, there is no free lunch. Acquiring your way to innovation doesn’t work — the only way to stay innovative as a big company is to invest in R&D. Luckily for big companies, investing in R&D is a good strategy.
vincent tsui for hbr
Even companies that claim to have a long-term orientation worry about whether R&D is worth the investment. Sarah Williamson is the CEO of FCLTGlobal (formerly Focusing Capital on the Long Term), an organization cofounded in 2016 by BlackRock, CPPIB, Dow Chemical, McKinsey, and Tata Sons to encourage a longer-term focus in business and investment decision making. According to Williamson, a current concern among many institutional investors as well as corporations is that companies don’t get credit for long-term investments in R&D. This is both because the resulting knowledge might walk out the door, as employees join other firms or start their own, and because you can acquire firms who have the needed technology. If everyone followed that logic, however, there’d be little innovation to walk out the door or to acquire! Fortunately, neither of these concerns is warranted, and my research shows why companies, investors, and the nation will be better off if companies make long-term investments in R&D.
R&D Seldom Walks Out the Door
If an employee comes up with a great new product or a technical discovery during R&D, aren’t they likely to leave the company, either to found a startup or to join a competitor? In fact, this is unlikely. For one thing, most industries just don’t have many new startups, period. A recent study indicates that the average rate of new firm creation in an industry is 0.06%. This means in an industry of 100 firms, you can expect a new firm every 17 years. Related research looked at employee movement to both startups and existing firms and obtained similar results. Although the setting was law firms, rather than technology firms, all the assets in those firms reside in human capital. Even in that setting, where starting a firm is as simple as hanging a shingle, the researchers found that the probability of employees leaving to create new firms is 1%. Moreover, their work indicates that the employees you most want to keep are the ones most likely to stay. The likelihood of staying increases with both education and company tenure. Furthermore, if you treat these employees well, they are even more likely to stay. The likelihood of leaving decreases with pay (until salary reaches $5.2 million).
Small Firms Are Not More Innovative
What about the claim that companies can buy technology downstream through acquisitions? The first problem with this view is that it ignores where most innovation comes from. The prevailing view is that small, entrepreneurial companies are the source of innovation and growth in our economy. While it’s true that a small number of new firms are disproportionately innovative, big companies are the primary source of invention. Recent research I conducted under a grant from the National Science Foundation, and documented in my book, How Innovation Really Works, reveals that large companies invest more in R&D and have higher RQ (research quotient, a measure of the return on R&D investments). Companies with more than 500 employees not only do 5.75 times more R&D than small companies, but their R&D is 13% more productive — meaning large firms are the real engine of economic growth.
Given that large companies have more-productive R&D, why are small companies considered more innovative? For one thing, small-company innovation is often more visible. Small companies have to swing for the fences to attract market share from large companies, and home runs attract attention. The problem with swinging for the fences, however, is that the probability of hitting a home run is extremely low. Similarly, the probability of small company success is low: On average, only 25% of venture capital–backed startups ever return their invested capital. Further, VC-backed companies are a select group, as fewer than 5% of companies receive venture capital. So while hitting a home run attracts a lot of attention, it is the exception, not the rule.
A second reason people may think small companies are more innovative is that when they say “small,” they are typically thinking “young.” The general impression that small companies are more innovative stems from the fact we see the tremendous success of a handful of former startup companies: Amazon, Google, Apple. These former startups are still relatively young by corporate standards, and most have an advantage in that they still have their founders. While we don’t know all the reasons this is important, founders have stronger strategies (which is why they became successful) and better intuition about how all the pieces work and fit together (because they’ve managed the company from the seed stage). Both of these lead to better management and higher RQ. In addition, however, the company’s success allows the founder to maintain their strategy in the face of investor pressure for current profits. Thus, they exhibit less short-termism.
Startup Innovations Don’t Really Come from the Startup
So far, you might say, OK, there aren’t too many innovative startups. But shouldn’t big companies just try to acquire those few startups as a substitute for doing R&D internally? The answer is no. The reason why is that those startups appear more innovative than they really are, because their initial innovation typically comes from outside. It is well-known that Bill Gates didn’t develop DOS — he bought it for $50,000 from Seattle Computer Co. Similarly, Steve Jobs developed a graphical user interface after seeing one at Xerox PARC and hiring employees who had worked there. These stories are the rule rather than the exception. In a 2003 survey of Inc 500 companies, only 21% were based on ideas the founders researched on their own. The most likely source of ideas is the founder’s prior job. Fully 52% of venture ideas come from their prior company or industry, and another 14% come from a buyer or supplier to that industry. This isn’t to say that founders walked out the door with their employers’ intellectual property. This is merely saying that when all your expertise and contacts are tied to one industry, they likely have the greatest value as a new venture in that industry.
The late Steve Klepper conducted a series of industry studies examining how founders’ origins affected the likelihood that they would succeed in their new ventures. What he found across these industries is that the most successful startups came from founders who had worked for young, successful companies in the same industry. What these founders brought with them was a deep understanding of how the industry operates. They also brought with them a sense of how the product offered by the prior employer could be improved and where there was opportunity for new products that weren’t profitable for the former employer to pursue. The point of all this is that the innovations small companies are credited with often originate in large companies. So the best place for large companies to find innovation is to look inside. This is precisely what Xerox did when it created Xerox Technology Ventures. Whereas other corporate venture capital funds invest in external startups, Xerox’s invested in technologies emerging from Xerox PARC. The result was that its annual returns were four times that of the average VC fund.
What Happens When Companies Acquire Technology Firms
We’ve seen that when large firms have forgone developing a technology internally, it’s highly unlikely that it will be able to find a small company with that technology. Let’s assume for the moment, however, that such companies did exist. What’s the record on technology acquisitions?
Yazin Ozcan shared data on 2,378 technology mergers and acquisitions that he compiled for his paper “Innovation and Acquisitions.” His paper identified the top 16 technology acquirers (those with more than 10 technology acquisitions between 1986 and 2007). For each of the 17 companies, I compared their RQ with that of their industry. Seventy percent of these acquirers have lower average RQ than their industry, and all but three of them have below-average RQ. Thus these companies seem to be following the maxim “Those that can, do; those that can’t, acquire” — precisely the strategy captured in the ethos Sarah Williamson mentioned: “Instead of doing R&D, we’ll acquire companies who do.” The problem is that this ethos applied to the new acquisitions kills the target’s R&D as well — thus the lower RQ of acquirers.
In addition to this simple check of the 16 “high acquirers,” I conducted more formal analysis for the full set of technology acquisitions. In the analysis, I controlled for the initial quality of the acquiring company and examined what happened to their RQ as they assimilated their targets. I found that an increase in three-year acquisition intensity (dollars of acquisitions divided by acquirer’s revenues) corresponds with a significant decrease in company RQ. On average, a company with acquisitions whose value is 50% of its revenues sees a nine-point decrease in RQ following the acquisitions. At the very least, technology acquisitions fail to turn around troubled companies. More likely, they actively harm them.
There’s No Easy Alternative to R&D
In summary, there is no free lunch. Acquiring your way to innovation doesn’t work — the only way to stay innovative as a big company is to invest in R&D. Luckily for big companies, investing in R&D is a good strategy. Your inventors will seldom walk out the door with your ideas. And recognizing that you can’t buy the technology downstream will force you to be more productive with your R&D investment. Higher R&D productivity yields higher profits, growth, and market value per dollar of R&D.
But these conclusions make big companies’ reluctance to invest in R&D all the more concerning. If the large companies currently responsible for the innovation engines in this country shut down those engines in anticipation of acquiring technology startups downstream, they won’t just hurt themselves. With less big-company R&D to exploit, there will be fewer or less innovative startups. Most important, the entire nation will experience lower growth.
Editor’s note: We’ve updated this article to clarify Sarah Williamson’s view of long-term investments in R&D.
Read more on Research & development or related topic Innovation
Anne Marie Knott is the Robert and Barbara Frick Professor in Business at Washington University’s Olin Business School and author of the book How Innovation Really Works.
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3,017 14 0 5 2 7 58 22 30 6
Westville is a village in Georgetown Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,202 at the 2010 census, and 2,990 in 2018. The town was laid out in May 1873 by William P. and Elizabeth A. West, although it started out as a station on the Danville and Southwestern Railroad, and there had been settlements in this area prior to the platting. The first known settler was Moses Scott, who purchased land and built a structure in 1827. The post office was established on January 12, 1874.[4] Telephone lines were first installed in 1900, and electricity arrived in 1901.
During its early days, Westville had many immigrants who lived separately in their own neighborhoods that evoked the tastes, smells, and sounds of different cultures in each neighborhood; the town was known as a “Little Chicago” as it mirrored the different cultures there. Today, many people still carry on the Eastern European names of their ancestors, though it has become more integrated. Mining was an important industry here; there were several coal mines in the area, including the Kelly mines numbers 1 through 4, and mines operated by the Bunsen, Peabody, and Dering coal companies. The town boasts several taverns where these miners, at the end of their work day, would convene to relax and have a drink with buddies.
Westville, Illinois Home Security
Did you know that ADT Home Security monitoring is so effective that many homeowners insurance providers offer discounts to policyholders with their security systems. By having an ADT-monitored securi
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Clinton adviser: Reno had the goods on Clinton over Waco
Ed MorrisseyPosted at 1:36 pm on April 20, 2010
Bill Clinton has spent the last couple of days alleging that Tea Party protesters remind him of Timothy McVeigh, who killed over 160 people in the worst case of domestic terrorism on April 19th, 1995, in Oklahoma City. Dick Morris, a one-time political adviser to the former President turned opponent, tells Sean Hannity that Clinton may want to reflect on his own responsibilities for that attack. Morris says that Clinton personally told him that Janet Reno’s appointment to a second term as Attorney General was to keep her quiet about the Waco disaster in 1993 that McVeigh claimed as his inspiration (via Yid with Lid and HAP):
I find this less than compelling for a couple of reasons. First, Morris doesn’t have the best reputation for credibility, and this story relies entirely on his recollection. Morris doesn’t even know the “big secret.” Second, Clinton had already won the last election he would ever contest — so what was the danger in kicking Reno out?
Next, I’m not sure there really is much of a secret about the Waco raid and the dozens of people killed in it. Clearly the Clinton administration botched it, and Reno took the responsibility for the entire debacle shortly afterward. If it turned out that Clinton had personally ordered the final assault on the compound, it would have certainly put him in a bad political situation — but after the election, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Congress didn’t impeach Reno for it when she took the blame, and they wouldn’t have impeached Clinton for it either, although he did get impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice on an unrelated matter later.
Most importantly, though, I dislike the idea of giving McVeigh any credibility by suggesting that Clinton holds some responsibility for Oklahoma City by pushing McVeigh to violence. It’s as appalling as Clinton blaming Rush Limbaugh for the exact same thing, and it’s as objectionable as Clinton suggesting in a pre-emptive manner that Tea Parties will be responsible for any acts of violence later. That shifts the blame away from the individuals who commit terrorist acts and onto those who get victimized by them, at least indirectly. McVeigh is the one responsible for his actions, not Clinton or Reno, and that holds true for Osama bin Laden, Ted Kaczynski, and Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, too.
Tags: Oklahoma Tea Party terrorism
Realtor from Dallas who was arrested for storming the Capitol asks President Trump for a pardon
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The Roots of Our Partisan Divide
February 2020 • Volume 49, Number 2 • Christopher Caldwell
Christopher Caldwell
Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute[br]Author, The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties
Christopher Caldwell is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a contributing editor at the Claremont Review of Books, and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. A graduate of Harvard College, he has been a senior editor at the Weekly Standard and a columnist for the Financial Times. He is the author of Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West and The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties.
The following is adapted from a talk delivered on January 28, 2020, at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., as part of the AWC Family Foundation lecture series.
American society today is divided by party and by ideology in a way it has perhaps not been since the Civil War. I have just published a book that, among other things, suggests why this is. It is called The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties. It runs from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to the election of Donald J. Trump. You can get a good idea of the drift of the narrative from its chapter titles: 1963, Race, Sex, War, Debt, Diversity, Winners, and Losers.
I can end part of the suspense right now—Democrats are the winners. Their party won the 1960s—they gained money, power, and prestige. The GOP is the party of the people who lost those things.
One of the strands of this story involves the Vietnam War. The antiquated way the Army was mustered in the 1960s wound up creating a class system. What I’m referring to here is the so-called student deferment. In the old days, university-level education was rare. At the start of the First World War, only one in 30 American men was in a college or university, so student deferments were not culturally significant. By the time of Vietnam, almost half of American men were in a college or university, and student deferment remained in effect until well into the war. So if you were rich enough to study art history, you went to Woodstock and made love. If you worked in a garage, you went to Da Nang and made war. This produced a class division that many of the college-educated mistook for a moral division, particularly once we lost the war. The rich saw themselves as having avoided service in Vietnam not because they were more privileged or—heaven forbid—less brave, but because they were more decent.
Another strand of the story involves women. Today, there are two cultures of American womanhood—the culture of married women and the culture of single women. If you poll them on political issues, they tend to differ diametrically. It was feminism that produced this rupture. For women during the Kennedy administration, by contrast, there was one culture of femininity, and it united women from cradle to grave: Ninety percent of married women and 87 percent of unmarried women believed there was such a thing as “women’s intuition.” Only 16 percent of married women and only 15 percent of unmarried women thought it was excusable in some circumstances to have an extramarital affair. Ninety-nine percent of women, when asked the ideal age for marriage, said it was sometime before age 27. None answered “never.”
But it is a third strand of the story, running all the way down to our day, that is most important for explaining our partisan polarization. It concerns how the civil rights laws of the 1960s, and particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1964, divided the country. They did so by giving birth to what was, in effect, a second constitution, which would eventually cause Americans to peel off into two different and incompatible constitutional cultures. This became obvious only over time. It happened so slowly that many people did not notice.
Because conventional wisdom today holds that the Civil Rights Act brought the country together, my book’s suggestion that it pulled the country apart has been met with outrage. The outrage has been especially pronounced among those who have not read the book. So for their benefit I should make crystal clear that my book is not a defense of segregation or Jim Crow, and that when I criticize the long-term effects of the civil rights laws of the 1960s, I do not criticize the principle of equality in general, or the movement for black equality in particular.
What I am talking about are the emergency mechanisms that, in the name of ending segregation, were established under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These gave Washington the authority to override what Americans had traditionally thought of as their ordinary democratic institutions. It was widely assumed that the emergency mechanisms would be temporary and narrowly focused. But they soon escaped democratic control altogether, and they have now become the most powerful part of our governing system.
How Civil Rights Legislation Worked
There were two noteworthy things about the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965.
The first was its unprecedented concentration of power. It gave Washington tools it had never before had in peacetime. It created new crimes, outlawing discrimination in almost every walk of public and private life. It revoked—or repealed—the prevailing understanding of freedom of association as protected by the First Amendment. It established agencies to hunt down these new crimes—an expanded Civil Rights Commission, an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and various offices of civil rights in the different cabinet agencies. It gave government new prerogatives, such as laying out hiring practices for all companies with more than 15 employees, filing lawsuits, conducting investigations, and ordering redress. Above all, it exposed every corner of American social, economic, and political life to direction from bureaucrats and judges.
To put it bluntly, the effect of these civil rights laws was to take a lot of decisions that had been made in the democratic parts of American government and relocate them to the bureaucracy or the judiciary. Only with that kind of arsenal, Lyndon Johnson and the drafters thought, would it be possible to root out insidious racism.
The second noteworthy thing about the civil rights legislation of the 1960s is that it was kind of a fudge. It sat uneasily not only with the First Amendment, but with the Constitution as a whole. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed largely to give teeth to the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal rights for all citizens, did so by creating different levels of rights for citizens of southern states like Alabama and citizens of northern states like Michigan when it came to election laws.
The goal of the civil rights laws was to bring the sham democracies of the American South into conformity with the Constitution. But nobody’s democracy is perfect, and it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to distinguish between democracy in the South and democracy elsewhere in the country. If the spirit of the law was to humiliate Southern bigots, the letter of the law put the entire country—all its institutions—under the threat of lawsuits and prosecutions for discrimination.
Still, no one was too worried about that. It is clear in retrospect that Americans outside the South understood segregation as a regional problem. As far as we can tell from polls, 70-90 percent of Americans outside the South thought that blacks in their part of the country were treated just fine, the same as anyone else. In practice, non-Southerners did not expect the new laws to be turned back on themselves.
The Broadening of Civil Rights
The problem is that when the work of the civil rights legislation was done—when de jure segregation was stopped—these new powers were not suspended or scaled back or reassessed. On the contrary, they intensified. The ability to set racial quotas for public schools was not in the original Civil Rights Act, but offices of civil rights started doing it, and there was no one strong enough to resist. Busing of schoolchildren had not been in the original plan, either, but once schools started to fall short of targets established by the bureaucracy, judges ordered it.
Affirmative action was a vague notion in the Civil Rights Act. But by the time of the Supreme Court’s 1978 Bakke decision, it was an outright system of racial preference for non-whites. In that case, the plaintiff, Alan Bakke, who had been a U.S. Marine captain in Vietnam, saw his application for medical school rejected, even though his test scores were in the 96th, 94th, 97th, and 72nd percentiles. Minority applicants, meanwhile, were admitted with, on average, scores in the 34th, 30th, 37th, and 18th percentiles. And although the Court decided that Bakke himself deserved admission, it did not do away with the affirmative action programs that kept him out. In fact, it institutionalized them, mandating “diversity”—a new concept at the time—as the law of the land.
Meanwhile other groups, many of them not even envisioned in the original legislation, got the hang of using civil rights law. Immigrant advocates, for instance: Americans never voted for bilingual education, but when the Supreme Court upheld the idea in 1974, rule writers in the offices of civil rights simply established it, and it exists to this day. Women, too: the EEOC battled Sears, Roebuck & Co. from 1973 to 1986 with every weapon at its disposal, trying to prove it guilty of sexism—ultimately failing to prove even a single instance of it.
Finally, civil rights came to dominate—and even overrule—legislation that had nothing to do with it. The most traumatic example of this was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This legislation was supposed to be the grand compromise on which our modern immigration policy would be built. On the one hand, about three million illegal immigrants who had mostly come north from Mexico would be given citizenship. On the other hand, draconian laws would ensure that the amnesty would not be an incentive to future migrants, and that illegal immigration would never get out of control again. So there were harsh “employer sanctions” for anyone who hired a non-citizen. But once the law passed, what happened? Illegal immigrants got their amnesty. But the penalties on illegal hiring turned out to be fake—because, to simplify just a bit, asking an employee who “looks Mexican” where he was born or about his citizenship status was held to be a violation of his civil rights. Civil rights law had made it impossible for Americans to get what they’d voted for through their representatives, leading to decades of political strife over immigration policy that continues to this day.
A more recent manifestation of the broadening of civil rights laws is the “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the Obama Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in 2011, which sought to dictate sexual harassment policy to every college and university in the country. Another is the overturning by judges of a temporary ban on entry from certain countries linked to terrorism in the first months of the Trump administration in 2017.
These policies, qua policies, have their defenders and their detractors. The important thing for our purposes is how they were established and enforced. More and more areas of American life have been withdrawn from voters’ democratic control and delivered up to the bureaucratic and judicial emergency mechanisms of civil rights law. Civil rights law has become a second constitution, with powers that can be used to override the Constitution of 1787.
The New Constitution
In explaining the constitutional order that we see today, I’d like to focus on just two of its characteristics.
First, it has a moral element, almost a metaphysical element, that is usually more typical of theocracies than of secular republics. As we’ve discussed, civil rights law gave bureaucrats and judges emergency powers to override the normal constitutional order, bypassing democracy. But the key question is: Under what conditions is the government authorized to activate these emergency powers? It is a question that has been much studied by political thinkers in Europe. Usually when European governments of the past bypassed their constitutions by declaring emergencies, it was on the grounds of a military threat or a threat to public order. But in America, as our way of governing has evolved since 1964, emergencies are declared on a moral basis: people are suffering; their newly discovered rights are being denied. America can’t wait anymore for the ordinary democratic process to take its course.
A moral ground for invoking emergencies sounds more humane than a military one. It is not. That is because, in order to justify its special powers, the government must create a class of officially designated malefactors. With the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the justification of this strong medicine was that there was a collection of Southern politicians who were so wily and devious, and a collection of Southern sheriffs so ruthless and depraved, that one could not, and was not morally obliged to, fight fair with them.
That pattern has perpetuated itself, even as the focus of civil rights has moved to American institutions less obviously objectionable than segregation. Every intervention in the name of rights requires the identification of a malefactor. So very early on in the gay marriage debate, those who believed in traditional marriage were likened to segregationists or to those who had opposed interracial marriage.
Joe Biden recently said: “Let’s be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time. There is no room for compromise when it comes to basic human rights.” Now, most Americans, probably including Joe Biden, know very little about transgenderism. But this is an assertion that Americans are not going to be permitted to advance their knowledge by discussing the issue in public or to work out their differences at the ballot box. As civil rights laws have been extended by analogy into other areas of American life, the imputation of moral non-personhood has been aimed at a growing number of people who have committed no sin more grievous than believing the same things they did two years ago, and therefore standing in the way of the progressive juggernaut.
The second characteristic of the new civil rights constitution is what we can call intersectionality. This is a sociological development. As long as civil rights law was limited to protecting the rights of Southern blacks, it was a stable system. It had the logic of history behind it, which both justified and focused its application. But if other groups could be given the privilege of advancing their causes by bureaucratic fiat and judicial decree, there was the possibility of a gradual building up of vast new coalitions, maybe even electoral majorities. This was made possible because almost anyone who was not a white heterosexual male could benefit from civil rights law in some way.
Seventy years ago, India produced the first modern minority-rights based constitution with a long, enumerated list of so-called “scheduled tribes and castes.” Eventually, inter-group horse trading took up so much of the country’s attention that there emerged a grumbling group of “everyone else,” of “ordinary Indians.” These account for many of the people behind the present prime minister, Narendra Modi. Indians who like Modi say he’s the candidate of average citizens. Those who don’t like him, as most of the international media do not, call him a “Hindu nationalist.”
We have a version of the same thing happening in America. By the mid-1980s, the “intersectional” coalition of civil rights activists started using the term “people of color” to describe itself. Now, logically, if there really is such a thing as “people of color,” and if they are demanding a larger share of society’s rewards, they are ipso facto demanding that “non–people of color” get a smaller share. In the same way that the Indian constitution called forth the idea of a generic “Hindu,” the new civil rights constitution created a group of “non–people of color.” It made white people a political reality in the United States in a way they had never been.
Now we can apply this insight to parties. So overpowering is the hegemony of the civil rights constitution of 1964 over the Constitution of 1787, that the country naturally sorts itself into a party of those who have benefitted by it and a party of those who have been harmed by it.
A Party of Bigots and a Party of Totalitarians
Let’s say you’re a progressive. In fact, let’s say you are a progressive gay man in a gay marriage, with two adopted children. The civil rights version of the country is everything to you. Your whole way of life depends on it. How can you back a party or a politician who even wavers on it? Quite likely, your whole moral idea of yourself depends on it, too. You may have marched in gay pride parades carrying signs reading “Stop the Hate,” and you believe that people who opposed the campaign that made possible your way of life, your marriage, and your children, can only have done so for terrible reasons. You are on the side of the glorious marchers of Birmingham, and they are on the side of Bull Connor. To you, the other party is a party of bigots.
But say you’re a conservative person who goes to church, and your seven-year-old son is being taught about “gender fluidity” in first grade. There is no avenue for you to complain about this. You’ll be called a bigot at the very least. In fact, although you’re not a lawyer, you have a vague sense that you might get fired from your job, or fined, or that something else bad will happen. You also feel that this business has something to do with gay rights. “Sorry,” you ask, “when did I vote for this?” You begin to suspect that taking your voice away from you and taking your vote away from you is the main goal of these rights movements. To you, the other party is a party of totalitarians.
And that’s our current party system: the bigots versus the totalitarians.
If either of these constitutions were totally devoid of merit, we wouldn’t have a problem. We could be confident that the wiser of the two would win out in the end. But each of our two constitutions contains, for its adherents, a great deal worth defending to the bitter end. And unfortunately, each constitution must increasingly defend itself against the other.
When gay marriage was being advanced over the past 20 years, one of the common sayings of activists was: “The sky didn’t fall.” People would say: “Look, we’ve had gay marriage in Massachusetts for three weeks, and I’ve got news for you! The sky didn’t fall!” They were right in the short term. But I think they forgot how delicate a system a democratic constitutional republic is, how difficult it is to get the formula right, and how hard it is to see when a government begins—slowly, very slowly—to veer off course in a way that can take decades to become evident.
Then one day we discover that, although we still deny the sky is falling, we do so with a lot less confidence.
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The Open 2019: Caddie gives Brooks Koepka home advantage at Portrush
Northern Irishman Ricky Elliot has been key to the world No 1’s success – and he knows this course well
By Kevin Garside
Updated October 8, 2020 12:19 pm
Brooks Koepka sits alongside caddie Ricky Elliott during a practice round at Royal Portrush Golf Club (Photo: Getty Images)
The chip on the shoulder is not getting any smaller. Whatever Brooks Koepka spent perfecting that smile was money down the drain, unless of course he laughs his head off in private. On this property in the week of a major championship the jaw opens only to breathe and mutter in monotone.
Koepka’s record in majors this season is 2-1-2. Indeed, he is aiming for a fifth major victory in 10 starts. Since, in his view, the Open champion will come from the same tiny cohort capable of winning, you might say he fancies his chances. “If the conditions are the exact same for everybody, yeah, the number doesn’t change,” he said.
i's fantasy football tips newsletter: get ahead
Lack of love only hardens Brooks Koepka’s resolve to just keep on winning
Though he had never been to Northern Ireland before last Friday, Koepka’s already keen prospects are buttressed by the man on his bag, Ricky Elliott, a Portrush native who was Ulster Boys and Ulster Youth champion.
“Every hole I just step up on, [I say] you tell me what to do, you’ve played it more than anybody,” Koepka said. “So just let him figure it out. He knows his spots to miss it. The spots to come in from, with different hole locations and different winds.”
Home advantage
Koepka’s record in majors this season is 2-1-2 as he prepares for The Open with his Caddie (Photo: Richard Sellers/PA)
Koepka’s affection for Elliott is obvious. For the most part, Koepka’s public pronouncements are delivered by a man charm forgot.
When speaking about Elliott the mask cracks a little. The pair have been together since 2013. Apart from his knowledge of the game, Elliott brings an intuitive understanding of the psyche to the piece. Sensing what to say and when is just as important than pulling the right club.
“He keeps it light,” Koepka said. “He knows not to talk about golf while we’re out there. He knows if I’m getting a little bit tense, maybe upset, angry, whatever it is, he can tell just by my walk. He can tell, just by body language. That’s what makes a great caddie. A lot of times he’ll tell me to slow down, slow my walk. If I get angry, my walk just gets a little bit quicker. And then under pressure he knows exactly what to say at the right time, and that’s what you want in a caddie. I wouldn’t want anybody else on my bag. He’s been tremendous. He’s part of the reason why I’ve had the success I’ve had. And I love the guy to death.”
Good influence
‘I’ve got my own goals I want to set, and that’s where I find my chip’, says Brooks Koepka (Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Koepka offers an intervention at Shinnecock Hills during the US Open last year as an example of Elliott’s influence.
“We were seven over after maybe 25 holes. And he turned to me and said, ‘You’re not far out of it. I know it looks that way, but you’re not far out of it, so get it going.’ I kind of laughed at him and for the first time he really got serious with me and was like, ‘No, get it going. You’re not far out of it.’ That propelled me and then I was lucky enough to win it.”
Golf’s unloved superstar shows poster boys how it’s done at PGA Championship
Koepka enjoyed a tour of Elliott’s youth along the Antrim coast. He should do more of this. It makes him appear almost two-dimensional.
“We took a little drive around, and then went into town. It’s fun to go down there. It was nice to see everything he’s talked about for so long. We went and visited his parents, saw where he grew up. It’s neat for him. It’s neat for me to see because I feel like I’ve heard so much about this place.”
And then the shutters lowered again. Asked about the discrepancy in results between standard PGA Tour events [two wins] and majors Koepka was effortlessly dismissive. “I just practise before the majors. Regular tournaments I don’t practise. If you’ve seen me on TV, that’s when I play golf.”
Back to that canyon on the shoulder. Being the outsider suits him. He feeds on affronts. He claims not be that bothered about the media’s love of others who have achieved less. Koepka is convincing in most things, but not this. “I just felt like if other guys had done what I had done it would be a bigger deal. Now it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got my own chip on my shoulder for what I’m trying to accomplish.
“I’ve got my own goals I want to set, and that’s where I find my chip. How many majors I want to win, how many wins, my own accomplishments. I’m over that. You either like me or you don’t, that’s life in general.”
The Open 2019
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Tim Wise – a White Jewish, Southern Man Speaks on racial discrimination – video
Tim Wise – a White Jewish, Southern Man Speaks
Published on Jan 25, 2016 – The continued prominence of racism is explored through the prism of white privilege in the engrossing documentary White Like Me. Based upon a book of the same name by anti-racist advocate Tim Wise, the film explores the many advantages afforded to whites throughout the history of the United States, and the extent to which they have defined a culture of racial discrimination that continues to this day.
The shameful days of blatant segregation thankfully exist in the rear-view mirror of the country’s history. But although great strides have been made in the arena of racial equality, the residue of discrimination still reverberates in nearly every corner of society. The film argues that the promise of a post-racial society has not yet been realized, and that the deeply embedded traditions of white privilege are largely to blame.
“For more than twenty years now, I’ve been trying to better understand for myself and to raise awareness among others how dangerous and damaging it is when white people like me are blind to racial inequality and our own privileges,” says Wise in the film. That search for understanding begins in a study of the laws, policies and institutions that have long informed America’s identity, including the Naturalization Act of 1790, and the initial enactments of programs that ensured social security and veteran benefits.
Whether obvious or insidious in their approach, the documentary contends that each of these instances catered to some level of racial discrimination in their formation, and set a foundation from which individual attitudes and governmental policies continue to operate.
White Like Me goes on to explore avenues like education, housing, the prison system, the government-waged War on Drugs, and additional aspects of American society in which racial discrimination still plays an informing role. Along the way, the film also tackles the notion of reverse racism in the age of affirmative action, and the belief that America has moved beyond matters of race in the wake of electing its first president of color. White Like Me handles these potentially inflammatory subjects with great sensitivity and frankness, and supports its assertions with a wealth of enlightening facts and data.
By guyaneseonline, on 07/12/2016 at 6:24 am, under Commentary, Geography, Personalities, Racial Conflict, USA Politics and Economy. Tags: “War on Drugs”, culture of racial discrimination, documentary White Like Me, Education, housing, racial discrimination, Southern Man Speaks, the prison system, Tim Wise – a White Jewish. No Comments
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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw
'Nusəns Sax Gwigilas' - Reclaiming our future based on our ways, our traditional laws and teachings
We are the Gwa’sala and the ‘Nakwaxda’xw peoples who have strong cultural and family ties. In the 1960’s we were amalgamated and forcibly relocated to a small, semi-rural community. Our population is 1,100, with about 56% of members living as on-reserve community members. The Tsulquate Reserve, where most of us live, is adjacent to the town of Port Hardy on the North-eastern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Tsulquate is within the boundaries of the Regional District of Mt. Waddington.
Our LANDS and languages
We are considered part of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nations, stretching from the Campbell River area up to Smith Inlet. The Gwa’sala and ‘Nakwaxda’xw have our own language dialects: Gwa’cala and ‘Na‘kwala. These dialects are also referred to as Bak̓wa̱mk̓ala”. Prior to 1964, we lived as two separate tribes. The Gwa'sala people mostly lived and traveled around Smith Inlet and the surrounding islands. The 'Nakwaxda'xw people were in Seymour Inlet, the Deserter's Group, Blunden Harbour, and surrounding islands. While many of our practices were similar, we spoke different dialects and each tribe had our own distinct culture. In 1964 we were amalgamated with each other (and the Kwakiutl, temporarily) and relocated to the Tsulquate Reserve, far away from our home lands. For more information about this and other aspects of our history, please visit our Language & Culture Department Page.
We strive to protect and manage our local resources in a respectful and responsible manner.
Celebrate Our Culture
We are a strong people, with a rich history and bright future. Join us in celebrating our Nations.
Our Nations' Future
Our Nations’ future is bright. Discover the goals and priorities of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations.
CHIEF Paddy Walkus, GWA'SALA-'NAKWAXDA'XW NATIONs
"This is an emotional day for our community, the realization of a vision we had to proudly share all of who we are and where we come from as a people. "
OUR history and our vision forward
Our Nations' future is bright. Discover the goals and priorities of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations.
10,000 B.C.E. – 1860
Excerpted from “Tsulquate: The Demographic Story” (1984):
Prior to the beginning of on-going contact with Europeans in the nineteenth century the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala, like others on the coast, lived by harvesting sea and land resources and were socially, politically, economically and culturally involved with other bands in the region through trade in goods and labour, inter-marriage and involvement in potlatches. Again like other coastal and interior bands, the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala participated as trappers in the European fur trade which began in earnest in this region during the mid-nineteenth century.
In Bella Bella to the north, the Hudsons Bay Company established Fort McLoughlin in 1843 and it was to this fort that the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala first traveled to exchange furs for European goods. (Holm, 1983) Following the discovery of coal on Northern Vancouver Island, to the south of ‘Nakwaxda’xw/Gwa’sala territory, the Hudsons Bay Company established a second fort – Fort Rupert – near what is now the town of Port Hardy. Several First Nations in the area moved to the new fort and the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala also began to centre their trading activity there. However, due in part to their relatively isolated geographic location, the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala involvement in the fur trade was peripheral compared to that of their neighbours to the north and to the south. Isolation, however, did not protect the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala from the onslaught of a series of epidemics of contagious diseases brought by the Europeans and against which the First Nations population had no immunity.
Beginning in 1862 with a smallpox epidemic which alone is estimated to have wiped out 1/3 of the First Nation population of British Columbia, subsequent epidemics of measles, pneumonia, tuberculosis and influenza continued to take their toll through the 1920s. Poor health among the First Nations population was further exacerbated by confinement to frequently overcrowded reserves, changes in diet, lack of medical care and attention, the introduction of liquor, and the crowding together of children from all over the coast in residential schools. Research has shown that such massive declines in population immediately following the arrival of the Europeans has been the experience of Indigenous peoples throughout North, Central and South America as well as Oceania and Africa.
By the late nineteenth century the market for furs in Europe was declining and the fur trade era on the northwest coast was coming to a close while permanent European settlement was beginning in earnest [sic]. During the 1880-1900 period an Anglican missionary, Reverend A.J. Hall, established missions in both Fort Rupert and Alert Bay and opened a school for First Nations children in Alert Bay. Two entrepreneurs, Spencer and Hudson, opened a fish saltery in Alert Bay and the Nimpkish Nation was persuaded to move from their traditional home at the mouth of the Nimpkish River to Alert Bay in order to work in the saltery. Logging camps and fish canneries began to spring up all over the coast and pressure from both missionaries and employers began to be applied to the provincial and federal governments to prohibit potlatching which was seen by both employers and missionaries as a detriment to the spiritual, moral and economic development of the First Nations people of the region.
The period 1900-1920 saw development proceeding along these same lines with Alert Bay quickly becoming the administrative, economic, religious and educational centre of the region. The first St. George’s Hospital was built in Alert Bay in 1909.
While the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala peoples continued to live in the more remote region of Seymour and Smiths Inlets and were less involved on a day-to-day basis with the new settlers and political and religious authorities than were the Kwawkewlth [Kwakiutl] who lived in closer proximity to the centres of Alert Bay, Campbell River, and, now, Victoria, their isolation was by no means complete. St. Michael’s Residential School, a large institution to which most Indigenous children in the region were taken at around the age of six from the 1920s through to the 1970s, was built in Alert Bay in 1929. ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala children are noted as having been in attendance there on 1929 and subsequent census. Adult members of the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala Nations worked in the new commercial fishing, logging and fish canning industries now beginning to locate in and around their home territory.
Their relative isolation was, however, significant in a number of ways. Bill Holm, in his book “Smoky Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed”, notes that the ‘Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala remained more “culturally conservative” – meaning that First Nations religious beliefs, art, ritual and social organization persisted for a longer period of time than their neighbours. Isolation also meant less access to what few educational and employment opportunities existed and to medical care and treatment.
The 1930s were the years of the Great Depression throughout the western world and the fishing industry, like most others, slowed during these years, bringing hardship to the entire region. During the years 1932-1943 the [Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw] population began to stabilize in size and 1944 marked the beginning of their recovery from the initial onslaught of European settlement.
In the post World War II era (after 1945), Canada entered a period of liberalism and social welfare programs and health care services began to expand and became available to larger and larger portions of the Canadian population as a whole and to First Indigenous people in particular. Following the defeat of Hitler and the revelation of Nazi atrocities, Canada’s image of itself both nationally and internationally as a free and democratic nation where all citizens are equal regardless of race became increasingly marred by the existence within Canada’s borders of a group of people who were legally, politically, economically and socially differentiated Indigenous from non-Indigenous Canadians became more glaringly obvious and more socially unacceptable. Programs designed to better the material conditions on reserves, to improve health standards and to assimilate the Indigenous population began to be implemented on a larger scale than previously.
1950's-1997
Since the end of World War II, and particularly during the 1960s, the Canadian federal government stepped up its activities in the field of Indigenous administration and various “solutions” were being investigated. Since the objective of government policy was to assimilate Indigenous peoples into the mainstream of Canadian society and to eliminate any special status for Indigenous peoples as quickly as possible and within budgetary constraints, geographic isolation was seen as a serious impediment to this goal. It was in this context that the amalgamation of small Nations into larger units and the relocation of geographically isolated Nations to urban and semi-urban locations was encouraged and implemented throughout Canada by the D.I.A.N.D. [Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development].
The following is excerpted from “Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw Stories” (1997):
About 50 years ago the Canadian government decided that the ’Nakwaxda’xw people in Blunden Harbour and the Gwa’sala people in Takush were not living in very good places. Actually the Gwa’sala people agreed. They wanted to move to another place in Smith Inlet with better water, a better place for houses, near a store and a cannery where they worked. But the government officials had a different idea. They wanted the people to move close to a town like Alert Bay or Port Hardy. It would cost less to pay for education for the children there, and for medical help, and they hoped that the First Nations would become like white people, if they lived near them.
If you want people to do something, you have two ways of making them listen. You can threaten bad results if they don’t do it, or you can promise them something good if they do. The Canadian government used both methods to make the ’Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala people move to Port Hardy. They said that the government would no longer help the people build good houses and have school and medical help, if they stayed where they were, but the government would supply everything the people needed, if they moved. There would be new houses, a community hall, a place to moor the fishing boats, good jobs, a good school in Port Hardy, and so on.
For about ten years the government kept making these threats and promises. Finally the people gave in and agreed to move. But then the government suddenly said, “We don’t have enough money right now to keep all these promises. A few people should move. The rest can come later.” But that was impossible. How can you leave an auntie behind, or a grandfather, or your sister and her baby?
So in 1964, after the fishing season was over, almost all the people moved to the Tsulquate reserve. The Tsulquate reserve was not meant to have a whole village of houses built on it. It was just a campground the Kwakiutl people from Fort Rupert used when they wanted to dig clams. Even today you can see how hard it is to build houses here. Big rocks are in the way, and the road is steep in places. When the people came from Takush and Blunden Harbour, just three small houses were built for them in the flat part of the reserve near the bridge, and even those weren’t finished. They didn’t have water or toilets. There wasn’t a good place to moor their boats. People had to leave them in the Tsulquate River. You can see how even today it is hard to keep the boats from breaking or sinking in the River. The people in town and the children in the schools were strangers, most of them not at all friendly. And if you felt terrible about how you had to leave, liquor was easy to get. Then you could forget your troubles for a while.
All of us have heard stories about that terrible time from our relatives who lived here then. Most of those people don’t really want to talk about it because it was so bad. Six years after the move, the government investigated what had been promised and what had actually been done. The government workers doing the investigation decided that the government had handled everything badly and had not kept its promises. Another government worker wrote a book about the village. He called the book “How a People Die”, because he didn’t believe that the ’Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala people would last through this terrible time.
When he wrote his book, there were about 200 ’Nakwaxda’xw and Gwa’sala people living in our village and nearby… [Now] we build our own houses, run our school, medical clinic… and invest in fishing and forestry. Nation members study at colleges and universities to become teachers, lawyers, policemen, accountants, managers. Others operate seiners and gillnetters, or are loggers. Some are painters and carvers. Some are learning how to look after the forest and the rivers so that there will always be trees and fish. Families hold potlatches and young people are learning to dance and sing, learning their names, so that they can potlatch when their time comes. And now the government of Canada and the government of B.C. have finally agreed with the First Nations living here that things went wrong when the white people came… If we wrote that book about our village now, it would be better to call it “How a People Live”.
Comprehensive Community Plan 2015
We will be a community with a strong and distinct culture, where our language, traditions, and the teachings of our ancestors live on throughout the generations. We will continue to be care takers of our sacred and important places. We will gather often to celebrate and support each other.
We will be educated, hard-working and responsible, making sure that we provide for ourselves and our children. We will cherish our traditional home lands, making sure that we care for the natural world so that it can continue to care for us.
We will have strong leaders who are accountable to their people. We will look after one another and strive for good health on all levels, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. We will build strong families and respect ourselves and those around us. We will show this respect by taking care of our community.
We will be strong and independent, but we will also be connected to other communities across the globe, working together to achieve common goals. We will exist forever as the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw people, building on the legacy left to us by our ancestors and moving towards a bright future.
Links to Historical Documents & Articles
Fort Rupert Wins Dissolution Battle (North Island Gazette, March 26, 1969)
Split of Integrated Tribes Proposed by Gov’t Official (The Sun, March 31, 1969)
Indian Input Urged by Hardy Council (North Island Gazette, June 3, 1976)
OUR COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY PLAN
We have an elected Chief and Council with nine Councillors. We use our own custom election regulations. Our Chief and Councillors are appointed for a three-year term.
Paddy Walkus
Crystal Walkus
Councillor
Dodie Rufus
Leslie Walkus
Darryl Coon
Terry Walkus
Eddie Charlie
Sandra Charlie
Lands and History
© 2020 All rights reserved Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations, Site By Red Toque Creative.
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hailey bachrach
critical writing and essays
let’s talk about shakespeare
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October 26, 2017 October 26, 2017 hbachrach diary, Shakespeare
Blackfriars Diary: Day 2
The Panels
My definite favorite paper of the day was presented by Lindsey Snyder, a scholar and ASL interpreter who discussed the possibilities contemporary gestural languages like ASL can present for attempting to revive early modern gestural vocabulary. The part of the paper that really blew my mind was her translation of several speeches by Juliet, to illustrate the dramaturgical power of ASL’s embodied notions of time– the way that time, past, and present are located upon and in relation to the speaker’s body. Not only was this a fascinating intellectual point, her translations of Shakespeare (and her wonderful performances of them!) were immensely moving. I have an ongoing fascination with ASL in general, and translations of Shakespeare in particular, and I loved getting to see the topic approached from such a rigorously scholarly point of view.
There is definitely a propensity for highly theatrical papers– not just those that use actors to demonstrate points, but speakers, like Matthew Kozusko’s discussion of the rhetoric of Coriolanus, who structure the papers themselves in a self-aware and performative way.
An exciting paper on a more practical note was Megan Brown’s presentation on the Folger’s new Digital Anthology of Early Modern English Drama, a resource that sounds very exciting and that I hadn’t previously known about.
The Play: Peter and the Starcatcher
Okay, it’s not Shakespeare. But I absolutely adore this play, and saw it more times than I should probably admit during its Broadway and off-Broadway runs (don’t judge me, it was always for free).
Unsurprisingly, the play’s DIY, Nicholas Nickleby-inspired aesthetic works extremely well with the Blackfriars’ shared lighting and lack of sets. The actors were obviously having a huge amount of fun, and so the audience was, too. It was interesting to see how differently and more flexibly this show used the space. Where The Fall of King Henry only had one entrance from the house, here the actors were all over the place, moving through rows, clambering over audience members, and jumping off the stage. There was more use of the trap door and upper gallery, too.
I felt extremely aware of the elaborate language, and the delight the play takes in its own kind of poetry. There really is something so Shakespearean about such awareness of the musicality of words and taking such pleasure in building delightful sounds out of them. I’m not sure if it was the actors’ Shakespearean training that made them handle the language in a Shakespearean fashion, thus raising my awareness of the dialog’s complexity and pleasingness, or if it was the simple fact of the setting that drew my attention. But in either case, it seemed a highly fitting choice for this company.
October 25, 2017 hbachrach diary, Shakespeare
I’m in Staunton, Virginia for the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Conference! Terrifyingly, I’ll be giving a paper on Saturday morning, but before that there’s three days of panels, papers, and performances that I’m going to try to write about.
So, day one…
Blackfriars strictly enforces a quite short paper limit of ten minutes, and perhaps because of this brevity, the most compelling papers for me were ones that took a specific, concrete, and sometimes extremely narrow (like, one word level narrow) focus. Lena Cowen Orwin’s keynote address, while obviously longer than the other panel papers, set the tone in this respect with her investigation of the origins of Shakespeare’s monument in Stratford, and suggesting evidence that Shakespeare himself had likely designed it. She also made the brief but fascinating point that the evidence suggests that, unlike, say, Edward Alleyn who seems to have been colloquially known as Ned, Shakespeare was known to his friends and colleagues (and maybe even his family) as Shakespeare.
Other highlights for me:
Tiffany Stern’s exploration of the use of the word “playhouse.” Cuthbert Burbage’s court testimony of the 1630s describes both the Theatre and the Globe as being known as “the House,” and while we have taken that word to be a general term– and it has become one– she queries whether it may not have been specific to those buildings.
Paul Menzer’s reflection on his loathing of the word “nuncle” and how Shakespeare has become a lens through which we refract our concepts of good and poor taste.
Tim Fitzpatrick’s excellent explanation of the methods by which they derived the measurements for New Zealand’s Pop-Up Globe. His comparisons between Wenceslas Hollar’s sketches for his famous engraving and a very well-explained theory of ex quadrata geometry make a very compelling argument for a second Globe that was distinctly smaller than the dimensions chosen for the Globe reconstruction in London (which was based off its own well-founded theories).
James Marino’s study of the effects of revision on cues in the two editions of Doctor Faustus. His originating question was to ask how much revision to cues were actors willing to tolerate. And the answer seems to be “a fair amount.”
Claire Bourne’s illumination of the use of “printer’s lace” divisions as more than just a way to take up space/make up for half of Q1 Romeo and Juliet being printed in the wrong text size, and not just simple scenic divisions (which really didn’t exist as such at that point) but as indicators of thematic divisions.
The necessity of matching form to content– the form in this case mostly being defined by time constraint, but also by the fact hearing a paper is much less kind to wandering or vague connections than reading one is– has been a useful reminder that while conferences are often framed as a “state of the field” check-in, they’re really kindest to very specific kinds of work.
The Play: The Fall of King Henry (3 Henry VI)
I’ve never seen any Henry VI play live before, and diving into part three, arguably the strongest one, seemed like a fair enough way to begin. The ASC has been putting together the first tetralogy, retitling the Henry VI plays as The Tragedy of Joan of Arc, The Rise of Queen Margaret, and now The Fall of King Henry. Like my beloved Oregon Shakespeare Festival, such multi-year cycles are enabled by their resident acting company, many of whom (as their bios attest) have been working for the ASC for years.
This was my first show in the Blackfriars, a replica of the indoor playhouse used by the King’s Men. I’ve been in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the Globe’s version of an indoor, 17th century playhouse, but it’s much smaller than the Blackfriars. I had some hopes that this would ameliorate the major sightline issues that one encounters in the SWP when sitting anywhere along the sides… but it didn’t. The sight-lines are just as bad (and the seats are just as uncomfortable). In the SWP, I happened to see a series of Jacobean tragedies, so I ran into a new problem seeing a sprawling history play: 3 Henry VI introduces a bunch of new characters in the second half, who are naturally doubled by actors whose characters died in the first half. But because I frequently couldn’t see new characters’ faces when their names were first mentioned, for most of the second half, I had no idea who any of the secondary characters were. Unless we assume that the average playgoer was extremely well-versed in heraldry and every character just wore their coat of arms– which I strongly doubt– this seems like a problematic staging issue that must have had a better solution in the 17th century than the directors managed to find here.
There was a detour at one point earlier today into the classic question of whether early modern audiences went to “hear” a play rather than “see” a play, and thus didn’t care about the apparently crappy sight-lines in these indoors spaces. I am unconvinced by this, particularly because we know for certain that companies spent most of their money on costumes. That would certainly be a waste of money if audiences didn’t care about seeing– or couldn’t see.
But the sight-lines aside, this production was a great reminder that the Henry VIs are really much more engaging and performable than they get credit for being. The early (probably collaborative) verse, while sometimes a bit clunky, is also simple and easy to follow. The extremely heightened action is actually really compelling, even if, in this instance, the production couldn’t resist making jokes out of some of the more ridiculous moments. Then again, maybe they were meant to be jokes in the first place.
The Blackfriars’ irreverent spirit is definitely well suited to a messy, extreme show like 3 Henry VI. I’m looking forward to seeing how some straightforward comedies play… and maybe if I’ll be able to get a better view.
October 7, 2017 hbachrach essay, Shakespeare
Back to the Source
I’ve finally started reading some of the older Elizabethan history plays I probably should have read a long time ago. I’ve read some Holinshed and the other chronicle sources that have been identified as Shakespeare’s source material, but it’s instructive to see that some of his strongest influences were really earlier plays.
The case that has intrigued me most– in large part because it’s one I’ve barely seen discussed– is Shakespeare’s King John and its predecessor/maybe-source, The Troublesome Reign of King John.
I fully recognize that this has almost certainly been discussed at length in scholarly literature I haven’t yet read, but I’m equally interested in the fact that while Shakespeare’s relationship to predecessor plays like The Famous Victories of Henry V and The True Tragedy of Richard III is common knowledge, this one doesn’t seem to be. Which is particularly interesting because some of the most famous features of the play– ones that Shakespeare gets a lot of credit for– actually derive from this earlier play.
Mostly, I’m talking about the Bastard.
He’s frequently correctly credited as Shakespeare’s only wholly fictional main character, but in such a way that also tends to give Shakespeare credit for making him up. But The Troublesome Reign of King John makes it plain that, fictional or not, he was an established aspect of the King John story that Shakespeare was adapting. So is the prominence of Queen Eleanor and Constance, and their sudden disappearance partway through the play, a structural feature I’ve seen frequently puzzled over.
While it’s not quite an answer just to say “it happens because he was copying his source play,” it does shed some light. We can’t fully understand what Shakespeare is doing in a play if we incorrectly believe he has originated characters and ideas that in fact he has borrowed from others. And it obscures what Shakespeare did innovate– in this case, for example, the deep ambivalence of the Bastard character, or Constance’s effusive mourning. And what he didn’t: the abrupt disappearance of Elinor and Constance.
It highlights the problems with only considering Shakespeare in isolation. Not only can it paint an inaccurate picture of the theatrical scene as a whole, it can create misleading assumptions about the plays themselves.
September 24, 2017 September 24, 2017 hbachrach review, Shakespeare
Thoughts: King Lear & Much Ado
Over the weekend, over the course of two productions, I had my first chance to see the Globe Theatre’s controversial new lighting rig and sound system, which it has been all but confirmed will be departing the space along with artistic director Emma Rice. The shows were King Lear, directed by Nancy Meckler, and Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Matthew Dunster. Both were matinees, which turned out to be a key element of my experience.
I could tell that both Lear and Much Ado had a lighting design because I could see the bulbs flashing on and off, see them changing colors, but I couldn’t actually see the effects of the lighting onstage. Because of course, in the daytime, the Globe’s only possible lighting plot is… the sun. You can’t see lighting design without darkness to contrast against. Neither show was noticeably harmed by this omission. If there was something important or particularly interesting that I missed because of the daylight, then frankly, that’s bad design. Because nearly half the performances at the Globe are matinees, and if nearly half your performances are missing an essential element, that’s a problem. And on the other hand, if the lighting matters so little that matinees aren’t materially harmed by not having it… then why have it? Why should the full experience of a show only be possible in half the performances?
This is an element of the controversy I haven’t seen discussed, and which hadn’t occurred to me before I experienced it firsthand. But having seen it, it feels essential. In many respects, the Globe is best approached not as a normal theatre, but a site specific performance space. If a show isn’t going to work with the physical conditions that the Globe imposes, then there’s not really any point in performing that show there. Similarly, if a design is just going to attempt to erase or fight against the facts of the space, then it doesn’t belong. A fact of the space is that matinees will take place in natural daylight, mostly during the summer. Yes, it’s England, and I was blessed with two particularly sunny days, but there aren’t that many summer afternoons where it’s going to be as dark as nighttime at 2pm.
Theatre is unpredictable, and every performance is different. But a design that demands such a fundamental difference between daytime and evening shows can’t really be waved off as merely a quirk of live performance. I don’t think any lighting designer would accept an argument that their work matters so little that it’s just fine if a large percentage of audiences just don’t see it. Setting aside questions of authenticity or historical accuracy or popularity, the simplest fact is that the lighting rig at the Globe Theatre, in the very literal sense of functioning correctly in order to perform its intended artistic role in a production, actually doesn’t work.
September 24, 2017 hbachrach review
Review: Ink
Politics and analytics website FiveThirtyEight recently came out with the conclusion of their series evaluating the role of the media in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. There have been similar analyses and reckonings regarding the role of the press in the outcome of the Brexit vote, all pointing, like the FiveThirtyEight piece, to one question: how did all of this happen?
James Graham’s new play Ink, transferred to the West End from the Almeida, proposes that our world today is nothing but the natural culmination of a shift in media culture set into motion a long time ago.
It’s an indirect connection, however. The play doesn’t directly address anything about the present day: it’s all set in 1969 and 1970, and concerns the purchase of failing newspaper The Sun by an Australian upstart named Rupert Murdoch, who woos Larry Lamb, a working-class former reporter with a chip on his shoulder, to be its editor. Murdoch’s goal: to embrace capitalism, not any lofty notions of journalistic responsibility, in order to crush the narrow-minded elites of Fleet Street. Most of all, he wants to surpass the circulation numbers of the most popular newspaper in the world, The Mirror— which just happens to be Lamb’s former paper, where he never received the editorship he felt he deserved.
Though Murdoch is the more internationally famous name, Lamb, played with slouchy Northern charm by Richard Coyle, spends most of the play as the guiltier party in the game of dragging the ideals of journalistic integrity into the populist, lowest-common-denominator mud. Murdoch is the distant, awkward money man, prone to fits of scruples and prudishness; Lamb accepts his mission to give the people what they want, to do whatever it takes to beat the Mirror, and (almost) never wavers from it.
Though his role is the smaller of the two central characters, Bertie Carvel’s Murdoch begins the play, and is magnetically fascinating. Carvel is an improbable chameleon. His voice is incredibly distinctive, his choices in physicality and characterization all similarly strange, and yet every character he plays seems completely different and completely human. He is always himself (or at least whatever version of that appears onstage), but he can always seem to shift that same essence into something different. Murdoch is no exception.
Rupert Goold finds the perfect staging language to complement Graham’s not-quite-naturalistic script. This, along with Graham’s sparkly dialogue, help elevate what is otherwise a fairly standard structure and recognizable Fleet Street Faustian story arc. Clever movement sequences and even a bit of singing create cinematic-feeling montages, most of which are recognizable from any movie about young upstarts: the “getting the gang of misfits together” montage, the “spitballing new ideas” montage, the “look at our successes” montage. Even if they follow a slightly familiar pattern, they are– much like the newspaper this band of outcasts is trying to build– cheeky and fun, and thus mostly avoid cliche. As the play moves into its darker second act, the pace grows even more driving.
The protagonists’ moral downfall (and it’s surely not a spoiler to say that there is one, since both the play’s structure and actual history make this obvious) hinges on two crises, both of which center around women: one murdered, and one naked. The latter subplot introduces a laudable, if not wholly integrated, attempt to include the perspective of a woman of color in this very white, very male world and play. It also somehow comes off as seeming more depraved, more scandalous, and more heartless than the murder. Graham’s script seems generally uncertain about how to draw the moral lines around what Lamb and Murdoch are trying to do, when to suggest they have gone too far. Though it’s clearly intentional that the play lacks a clear right and wrong, the characters lack a clear moral compass, too, which is a detriment when telling the story of men selling their souls for success. Lamb and Murdoch trade off moments of hesitation, only to be seduced once more by their own power and success– but these waverings don’t always come off as totally logical. They seem to swap capitalist ruthlessness for scrupulous reticence as needed to balance the other’s state of mind, not out of their own convictions.
Lamb and Murdoch’s rivals are relentlessly painted as stuffy, snobby, and elitist, with only glimpses of sympathy for their position. Given that all the weight of our present media crises falls firmly on their side of things, perhaps the play can stand to stack its cards– at least at first– in favor of the broad-minded populists. But with hollow protestations of working-class solidarity on the one side and ivory tower elitism on the other, Graham certainly presents two dispiriting poles, with very little hope for what could come in the middle.
But, as Murdoch says in the play, it’s a writer’s job to hold the mirror up to society– it’s not their fault if we don’t like what we see.
September 18, 2017 September 18, 2017 hbachrach essay, link
Artemisia Gentileschi and Historical Fictions
One of my pet peeve posts is back in circulation– this tumblr thread, which, despite the correct attribution of date and artist in the original post, excitedly seizes onto the idea that an x-ray scan has revealed that 16th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi ‘originally’ painted a much more anguished and angry portrait of the Biblical Susanna than the one patriarchal forces ultimately permitted her to reveal.
Perhaps this did indeed happen, but that image isn’t proof of it: it’s an original work created in 1998 (by Kathleen Gilje— let’s not erase one female artist in favor of another).
If you don’t feel like reading it, the gist of the thread is that this x-ray is important because of course Gentileschi, a rape survivor, would have wanted to portray a more realistic version of Susanna (who, in the Bible story in question, is harassed and assaulted by two elders, who threaten to falsely accuse her of adultery if she won’t have sex with them). That Gentileschi’s original concept was evidently suppressed and forced to be altered is just another example of the ways in which the patriarchy has suppressed the voices of women– especially rape victims– throughout history.
Now, the latter is certainly true, at least in general. Whether or not it’s true of Gentileschi and this painting is a question we can’t answer.
One of the subsequent posters praises the x-ray version for being “real,” and points out that Gentileschi’s paintings are of particular interest today (particularly from a feminist perspective) for generally portraying less sanitized, idealized versions of Biblical heroines than those that were popular at the time. Just not quite as much so as the x-ray.
Annoyingly, there are several posts floating around that attempt to correct this post and identify the actual artist of the x-ray painting, but they never seem to catch on the way the original, incorrect post has.
Working with Shakespeare– especially Shakespeare in performance– means working in a field where these kinds of historical myths proliferate. I’ve always been fascinated in what causes certain historical fictions to take hold rather than others (or rather than the truth), and as annoyed as this post makes me, it does point to a couple assumptions that I think often apply in these cases.
First, that a historical artist’s idea of “real” would look exactly like ours. The x-ray photo is indeed more realistic than Gentileschi’s painting to a contemporary eye– both in the sense that the figure is less idealized than we are used to seeing in Renaissance art, and that (as the poster reinforces) this is what we imagine a woman being assaulted would or should look like.
Next, that Gentileschi would naturally express her understanding of a woman’s place in the world and a woman’s experience of sexual trauma in ways we find immediately recognizable. It’s related to the first idea– this is how a woman who had experienced trauma would express herself. Because it’s how we’d expect a female painter to do so today.
All of these assumptions stem from an ignorance or rejection of Gentileschi’s historical artistic milieu. We can’t seek to interpret the style and content of her work simply by glancing at a few paintings of the same Biblical scenes and declaring hers more “real.” We have to understand the breadth of the movement she was working within– and understand that the ways bodies, emotions, and trauma were depicted within that style may have looked just as “real” to the people seeing them as film and television look to us, because that was their familiar artistic language.
It’s like the way CGI can look perfectly realistic, or at least acceptable, in the moment– but when you return to that movie five years later, you suddenly can see how distractingly bad it looks. We become accustomed to the tropes and techniques that are presented to us– the development of new fashions or technologies makes the old ways look strange.
This also plays into the idea, so common with Shakespeare too, of the solitary artistic genius, who is not working within or expanding upon, but in constant, active defiance of their surrounding artistic landscape. Such people existed, of course, but not every artist we admire is or has to be one of them. (And again, Gentileschi may secretly have been, but this painting is not proof of that.)
The problem is basically a lack of historical context (though in this specific instance, also a failure to actually read the original poster’s caption). The assumption that artists would work exactly as we do today, in styles and shorthands that are identical to ours– and that we, from our own context, can look at a historical work and read it as clearly and easily as we do contemporary art. The historical myths that catch on seem to be the ones that reinforce these ideas.
The appeal is obvious: it says that your personal response to and understanding of a work is not only valid (which it is) but also objectively true (probably not). I don’t think it’s elitist or gatekeeping to say that all art is borne of its historical moment, and you need to have some understanding of that historical moment to attempt to interpret what a work was trying to do and say in its own time, rather than what it seems to say now.
That’s what makes historical art so fascinating to me: the reminder that, while some things do seem to come down to human nature, so much of what we take as objective truth about humanity and the way we see the world– both good and bad– is really just a product of our time and place. Fundamentally different perspectives have existed, and can and will.
August 20, 2017 hbachrach essay
Caroline, or Change & Nice White People
I’ve been wondering for a few months now why Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s amazing musical Caroline, or Change hasn’t been a go-to for theatre companies this season given its intense relevance to some of our most urgent social issues (the recently-discussed subplot involving the defacing of a Confederate statue not least among them).
Because Kushner and Tesori are amazing, the piece resonates on so many levels. One that I think is particularly urgent, and a bit subtler than the Confederate statue subplot, is its treatment of the role of well-intentioned white people in questions of racial equality. In Caroline, or Change, the family the titular Caroline works for are not your average middle-class white Southerners: they’re also Jewish, raising the still-timely question of how white people who have their own claims to oppression can still be complicit in white supremacy.
The achingly awkward Rose, Northern transplant to New Orleans, unhappily married stepmother to a resentful ten-year-old, and Caroline’s boss, clings to an all-too-recognizable attempt at friendliness in order to overcome her discomfort with the power relationship between herself and Caroline. Rose insists that her scheme to give Caroline the unofficial raise they otherwise can’t afford– letting her keep any change her stepson Noah leaves in his pockets when Caroline does the laundry– is her “trying to be friendly… just trying to be a friend.” But she doesn’t see any contradiction between her protestations of friendship and her frantic asides wondering why Caroline isn’t as nice as other people’s maids.
Rose is not one of the virulently racist housewives of something like The Help: after Caroline quits unannounced, her bewilderment seems sincere when she says that, “It’s just no way to treat a friend.”
The recurring word friend becomes a mask behind which white characters hide their discomfort and insincerity. While eulogizing President Kennedy, Rose’s mother and father-in-law describe him as “friend to the colored, friend to the Jew”– while the two black characters who comment are far less sure of that.
“JFK/Swore to help black folks someday/sure he was a little slow/getting round to doing so/but he swore it and I know/he was set to help our cause,” Caroline’s friend Dotty says. But the best she can conclude is: “Our almost-friend has gone away.”
Caroline’s daughter Emmie is blunter: “I ain’t got no tears to shed/for no dead white guy.”
Dotty and Emmie recognize that friendship is an action, not a title; something that is earned through behavior that demonstrates one’s commitment, not just something one can decide to say they are. Rose may claim to be Caroline’s friend, but as long as she’s Caroline’s boss (not to mention so painfully uncomfortable around her), she can’t be.
In a gesture that feels particularly radical these days, Kushner gives no extra credit for good intentions. Rose is held responsible for her ignorant bumbling, even though it’s well-meant, even though she’s far from home and sad and sincerely wishes she could help Caroline more. He holds Noah, her ten-year-old stepson, responsible for his racism, too. The show’s emotional climax is triggered when Caroline decides to keep a $20 bill Noah accidentally leaves in his pocket and Noah, enraged at the ‘theft,’ responds by furiously parroting racist threats he’s obviously overheard, or at least made up based on things he’s heard.
When Caroline does decide to return to work anyway, Noah hides from her. But in one of the play’s dreamy nighttime dialogues that take place between physically distant characters, Caroline reassures him that the rupture is not permanent. Noah asks, “Will we be friends then?”
Caroline’s melody is gentle and her words blunt: “Weren’t never friends.”
It’s the culmination of a recurring thread of her denying their friendship while Noah insists upon it, but it’s also clearer than ever in that moment that it’s true. But it leaves open the possibility that it could become true, if Noah ceases to hide behind that meaningless word and grows up to confront the deep cultural and systemic issues that keep him and Caroline apart.
Caroline’s friend Dotty says near the end of the play, “I know it hurt to change./It actually hurts, learning something new.” Dotty reminds Caroline of what Rose and Noah’s contrasting examples prove: not just that change can hurt, but that it must hurt. That’s the only way it can take place. Caroline has personal change to work through over the course of the play, but the weight of the painful personal changes that can lead to broader social transformation is placed firmly on the backs of the white characters. Politeness and protestations of friendship are meaningless without the courage to confront the prejudices, personal and social, that they’re attempting to paper over.
August 10, 2017 September 5, 2017 hbachrach essay, Shakespeare
Justice for Ellen (and the women of Will)
(this post contains spoilers)
We’re four episodes into TNT’s new Shakespeare drama Will before we learn Ellen Burbage’s first name.
Between the boy players and Shakespeare’s absent wife and, you know, the general sexism of 16th century England, it’s easy to create stories about the early days of English drama that include no women at all. So Will deserves credit for its inclusion of James Burbage’s wife Ellen as a clearly integral part of the day-to-day running of the Theatre. But she’s Mistress Burbage, and Richard and Alice’s mum, and it’s not until four episodes in that anyone actually bothers to identify her by her first name.
It’s a little thing, but emblematic of Will’s not-quite-there treatment of its female characters. The show comes so close to finding a space for women in the tale of the early modern English theatre that it’s all the more frustrating that it falls short. The desire for interesting, important female characters is obvious, but the show stumbles in the execution, falling back on tired and disempowering period drama tropes.
Take Ellen Burbage. One of the best episodes gives her props as the power behind the throne, the real manager of her husband’s playhouse– but we never really see her doing this, and the idea is never quite mentioned again. Her real role is to alternately nag and support her family– and, in classic period drama mama fashion, push her daughter towards a sensible but loveless marriage and become furious when she refuses it.
It’s not nearly as bad as poor Anne Shakespeare, who of course Shakespeare does not love, and spends most of the series cheating on. Her role is only to realize that she is a fool for wishing her husband would be sensible and make money and help their three children, and instead must recognize his genius and– in her own words– “leave [him] free to succeed.” That is literally what she says. Literally. We’ll return to this idea.
Will gets points for including Emilia Bassano (and for casting her with a black actress), and loses them again for how she is used. There are a few striking scenes– and parallel scenes earlier, with Alice– in which Emilia makes key suggestions about the shape of Shakespeare’s works-in-progress. It might be an exciting example of someone finally depicting the collaborative nature of early modern playwriting– but it’s not. Shakespeare happily absorbs Emilia and Alice’s ideas without expectation of credit or acknowledgement on either side. He’s the writer, of course they have no use for their words or ideas (though Emilia’s own poetry is referenced, once) except to give them to him.
Obviously this is a slightly uncharitable reading– any writer knows that friends offer ideas and you duly steal them all the time. But it’s the positioning of both these women, both of whom claim to be artistic and ambitious in their own right, as having no real function except to serve Shakespeare. One suspects the writers think they are paying the women their due by having them make major contributions to famous works like Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and lines that will eventually go into Romeo and Juliet, but it only highlights their inferior position: they may make contributions, but the plays and the genius are still firmly Shakespeare’s.
Which brings us to Alice Burbage, Richard Burbage’s sister, Shakespeare’s love interest. To define her in any other terms is almost impossible, though there is a funny scene wherein she’s asked what she does at the playhouse, and she replies, “Not much,” before rattling off an endless list of scrivening, prop sorting, prompting, costume mending…
Like Ellen, the show fully accepts Alice’s role in the family business, though unlike Ellen, there are always hints that perhaps it’s inappropriate, perhaps she needs to marry. When Shakespeare firmly rejects her (at Ellen’s command), Alice turns to another idol, represented by another handsome young man: she converts to Catholicism under the guidance of Shakespeare’s cousin, the underground priest Robert Southwell. His luring of Alice smacks of nothing so much as the way cultists prey on the vulnerable, but by the end, the show tries to insist that we view this choice as Alice finally exercising her free will, that it has nothing to do with Shakespeare– though, of course, it has everything to do with him, as every single episode of the show has demonstrated. Even her departure has to do with him: she writes that she cannot be “part of [his] world”– even though it was her world first.
Alice, whose only wish has been to find a place for herself in the playhouse, is forced out to make room for Will, surrendering her piece of the Burbage family legacy in an act the writing attempts to frame as self-actualization, but just reads– ship voyage and all– exactly the same as Viola at the end of Shakespeare in Love, removing herself as a real, full person in order to become something more important: a character of Shakespeare’s, a piece of his mythology. Viola becomes Viola of Twelfth Night; Alice, associated throughout with lines from Romeo and Juliet, signs her final letter as Shakespeare’s “bright angel,” suggesting Shakespeare will use her as inspiration for Juliet. What better fate for a woman, these endings seem to say, than to be subsumed into a man’s legacy as a fictionalized, idealized version of yourself?
Joking discomfort with the fact of boy players means that, as Shakespeare conceives of and we see snippets of the plays performed, female characters are consistently erased or marginalized. The example I continually find most galling is Richard III. Even though Shakespeare and Alice earnestly discussed the character of Queen Margaret in previous episodes, no mention of her is made in that play, nor of the fact that Shakespeare’s only wholly original scenes, with antecedents in none of his sources, are those featuring the female characters.
The other female characters consist of a prostitute older sister who dies trying to flee with her younger brother; Richard’s friend/maybe-love-interest Moll, who gives him shit but ultimately believes in him; a love interest for Richard’s best friend, who is introduced and dies in a single episode; a tavern hostess/landlady; and a host of peripheral wives and children who are often, in traditional period drama fashion, used as the living emblem of the cost of whatever conflict their male relatives have become embroiled in.
The existence of Ellen, Alice, and Emilia alone put Will a step ahead of almost any other Shakespeare-related show or movie I can think of. But though it tries to make room for women, and deserves credit for the effort, it still can’t conceive of them as anything but satellites to men’s stories, defined primarily by their ability to advance or impede a man’s ambitions.
July 31, 2017 hbachrach Shakespeare, year in review
Best OSF Doubles 2017
One of the greatest delights of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the repertory company, wherein actors play multiple roles in multiple plays across the season. As far as I know, dramaturgically engineering these roles for cross-show resonance is not really a priority. But sometimes it happens anyway. Here are some of my favorite pairs from the 2017 season:
Ned Alleyn (Shakespeare in Love)/Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) – James Ryen
James Ryen made his festival debut last year as Quang in Vietgone and Polixenes in A Winter’s Tale. His roles this year are more similar, but also amazing: the scenery-chomping Ned Alleyn (played in the film version by Ben Affleck and a valiant attempt at an English accent) and the scenery-scaling Gaston. There would not be a single line out of place if Ned Alleyn sang “Gaston” about himself (swapping out the names, of course) and that makes this the perfect double.
Mark Antony (Julius Caesar)/The Beast (Beauty and the Beast) – Jordan Barbour
As I said to my viewing companion at intermission of Beauty in the Beast, there’s just a slight, subtle difference between the temperamental Beast and Shakespeare’s scheming orator. It’s always exciting to see an actor traverse such a wide section of their range in a single season, something that doesn’t often happen quite so dramatically even at OSF. In this case, the contrast between Mark Antony’s consummate emotional control and the Beast’s inability to manage his temper (or any other feelings) is fantastic, and Barbour’s ability to shift from such opacity to such vulnerability (while wearing Beast prosthetics, no less) is really impressive.
I also got to see Barbour go on as an understudy for the preening Richard Burbage in Shakespeare in Love, which added another fun layer of rivalry with James Ryen/Alleyn/the Beast.
Will and Viola (Shakespeare in Love)/Fenton and Anne Page (The Merry Wives of Windsor)- William DeMeritt and Jamie Ann Romano
I didn’t realize this neat echoing of lovers until near the very end of The Merry Wives of Windsor. If you don’t like how Shakespeare in Love ends, you can just pop across the courtyard to see these two get together after all. Their situations are reversed in the two plays, to a certain extent: one of the Pages’ concerns about Fenton is that he’s too high-status to actually be interested in their daughter, in contrast to the wealthy Viola’s inability to match beneath her station.
Portia (Julius Caesar)/Penelope (The Odyssey) – Kate Hurster
There were quite a few actors who appeared in both of these shows, but these were the most resonant examples. Kate Hurster’s two waiting wives– the patient Penelope and the ultimately despairing Portia– paint contrasting images of idealized femininity, both in the eras of their source material and, perhaps, our own: a core of strength that is still defined by and ultimately subject to her relationship with her husband.
Octavius (Julius Caesar)/Telemachus (The Odyssey)- Benjamin Bonenfant
Benjamin Bonenfant’s two heirs likewise feel like echoes, two young men grappling with their father’s (or uncle’s) legacies, with the choices that will bring them from boy to man. Telemachus is sweet and loyal, Octavius bubbling with latent danger; both the emblem of an uncertain future.
July 30, 2017 July 30, 2017 hbachrach essay, Shakespeare
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Isabella?
Measure for Measure might be my least favorite Shakespeare play. Actually, I’m surprised it’s not being performed more often these days: it’s so perfectly in keeping with the black-and-grey, sexually obsessed moral flavor of so many popular prestige television shows.
One of the show’s key difficulties in my experience lies with the ostensible protagonist, the novice Isabella. Isabella goes to Angelo, standing in as leader while the Duke of Vienna is mysteriously absent, to plead for her brother’s life. Claudio has been sentenced to death for fornication under Angelo’s draconian new morality laws, and Isabella hopes to convince him that Claudio should be spared. Angelo, fastidiously morally upright, makes a shocking offer: he’ll free Claudio if Isabella will sleep with him. For Isabella, this is a no-brainer. But Claudio is shocked that she would choose her chastity over her brother’s life– and in my experience, modern audiences and readers tend to agree.
The fact that we don’t generally see this potential encounter as rape points to the shortcomings of popular understandings of consent. But it’s also a great example of a place where the gap between Shakespeare’s culture and ours tips the moral scales of his writing out of balance. We cannot conceive of weighting a woman’s virginity– even a nun’s– in equal balance with a man’s life. In the play itself, Claudio also represents this point of view, but it seems clear we’re meant to view Isabella’s dilemma as far more difficult than Claudio is right and Isabella is being a prude. I’ve read so many reviews that eagerly describe the chemistry between Angelo and Isabella– or condemn the lack thereof, as if the play clearly requires that Isabella share some form of Angelo’s attraction.
Randy Reinholz’s Off the Rails, an adaptation of Measure for Measure making its world premier at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, comes close to resolving this dilemma for a modern audience. Reinholz sets the action in late 19th century Nebraska, in a tiny wild west town that lies at the end of the railroad line, with one saloon, one jail cell, and an Indian boarding school. The ‘kill the Indian, save the man’ philosophy that formed the heart of the era’s forced assimilation policy for Native Americans becomes a central moral conflict of the play. Isabella (now Isabel) has converted to Christianity, graduated from her boarding school and is studying to become a teacher there. Her younger brother Momaday (the Claudio role) is rebellious and unwilling to renounce their Pawnee culture. When he impregnates an Irish servant in town, Angelo’s anger is as much racial as moral.
When Momaday criticizes Isabel for her refusal to sleep with Angelo to save his life, he turns the argument into a condemnation of her assimilation: she has chosen Christian morality, and the value it places on chastity, over her brother– and, by extension, their family and their culture.
Off the Rails does provide a more explicit outside defense of Isabel’s decision than Shakespeare, in the form of Madame Overdone, transformed from a bawdy, comic-relief bit part into the formidable proprietor who takes over the Duke’s role as orchestrator of the play’s resolution. To her, Isabel explains that she can’t bear the thought of bearing Angelo’s bastard, a position Madame Overdone sympathizes with, and one the program, if not quite the production, hammers home with its detailing of the characters’ mixed parentage: Lakota and French, Choctaw and Scottish.
But this grounds Isabel’s emotional and moral objection in practical reality, thus suggesting that these reasons– to not want to be coerced into sex, to think that chastity is important, to genuinely believe in her adopted Christian faith– are not enough. The racial politics of the situation (not to mention the utterly reprehensible Angelo of this production, who, despite hiding his violent religious fervor beneath a genial demeanor that’s honestly sort of charming, is established as a brutal hypocrite from the moment he’s introduced as the superintendent of the boarding school) helps weight the scales in Isabel’s favor, but Momaday’s castigation of her decision as a cowardly surrender to white, Christian morality swiftly unbalances them again. The physical practicality (one that you’d think a madame like Overdone would know how to avoid) is what allows Isabel to carry the day, not any respect for her ideological standpoint.
It’s enough for the purposes of the play. But it points to our enduring difficulty with granting a woman true autonomy over her body, with recognizing that violation can take place without violence. In Shakespeare’s day and Shakespeare’s play, there are troubling patriarchal mores that lend weight to Isabella’s obsessive defense of her virginity, and those are best lost. But even without them, there’s power in her refusal. I don’t know that we’re meant to think Isabella is wholly right– but nor should we think that Claudio is.
It’s ironic that we find Isabella’s lack of lines to accept or reject the Duke’s ending proposal so troubling, but often argue that her staunch unwillingness to take up Angelo’s offer is slightly absurd, or proof of her flawed character. Reinholz finds a workable dramatic solution, but not one that truly respects the simple fact of Isabella’s right to choose.
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Nachdruck eines Plakats der Frankfurter Buchmesse von 1949 © HMF Horst Ziegenfusz
Besucher im Hüttendorf 7.6.1981 © HMF Matthias Feyerabend
Frankfurt = a critical city?!
Frankfurt is considered a city of stubbornness, protest and critique. Without the printed word, the critical mind would not have made it very far. In his model, Florian Göttkespresents the unwavering connection between word and critique over the centuries.
Since modern book printing was invented around 1540 by Johannes Gutenberg,
Frankfurt has been one of the centres from which it has spread. He worked on his ground-breaking, world-changing discovery in Frankfurt for a few years. The first copies of his famous bible were sold at the Frankfurt fair. Since the 15th century, there has been a book fair in Frankfurt; today, the Frankfurt Book Fair is one of the most important gatherings in the book industry.
In the 19th century, Frankfurt became a place of political protest: Supporters of the early national movement, radical democratic parties and the first labour movement all protested here. Critical newspapers are published in the publishing centre of Frankfurt. In the early 20th century, German sociology developed at the university, which was still very young, as well as the Frankfurt School, whose critical theory is famous all over the world. The Frankfurt School was an important source of inspiration for the student movement. Frankfurt became the centre of the West German student movement. The radicalisation which led to the founding of the Red Army Faction also originated here and had an important base in Frankfurt through to the 1990s.
Frankfurt = the eternal construction site?!
The never-ending back and forth of demolition and construction turn Frankfurt into a permanent construction site
Frankfurt = a Jewish city?!
Up until the Second World War, Frankfurt had the second largest Jewish community in Germany
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From opening Canada’s first drive-in bank to launching North America’s first full-service internet banking system, BMO has been at the forefront of technology and innovation in banking – and making banking easier for customers.
HomeAccueil › Innovation in banking
Product & service innovations
At the forefront of technology
Miles milestone
With the introduction of the AIR MILES Reward Program in 1992, BMO became the first major bank to reward customers for their personal banking. BMO and the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard remain pillars of the bank’s successful loyalty program.
BMO SmartFolio
In 2016, BMO Wealth Management launched BMO SmartFolio, an affordable digital portfolio management service. BMO SmartFolio provides a digital and hands-off approach to investing that is aligned to clients’ objectives. While the service is digital, a team of expert portfolio managers make each investment decision.
InvestorLine
In 1988, Bank of Montreal launched a self-directed investing service for clients. In 2000, the bank offered self-directed online investing. Since then, InvestorLine has grown into an award-winning investment service for Canadians.
InvestorLine provides leading-edge, innovative tools and client-focused support to help clients reach their goals. The service provides access to research from independent industry leaders, and educational tools to empower clients to make informed and confident investment decisions. And its mobile and tablet apps give customers access to their accounts for on-the-go, anytime, anywhere banking.
Bancardchek – the cash card, 1968
In the late 1960s, the bank introduced a unique new international service that combined the benefits of carrying cash and travellers’ cheques.
The Bancardchek, exclusive in Canada to Bank of Montreal at the time, allowed customers to carry secure guaranteed cheques. A matching signature on the customer’s Bancardchek card and Bancardchek was required for merchants to cash their cheques.
Unlike travellers’ cheques, the customer did not pay in advance, and was only charged if the cheques were used. The Bancardchek was one way the bank responded to the changing needs and lifestyles of customers.
BMO brings MasterCard to Canada
In the early 1970s, Bank of Montreal entered the credit card market. The bank mobilized its considerable technological resources to pilot, test and introduce Master Charge to Bank of Montreal customers.
First mortgage loan
Bank of Montreal was the first Canadian bank to grant a housing loan under the new National Housing Act in 1954.
Multi-branch banking becomes a reality
BMO was the first bank to introduce multi-branch banking in Canada. Addressing the bank’s Annual Meeting in 1979, President W.D. Mulholland stated, “For the first time, any customer of the Bank of Montreal will be able to go into any on-line branch in Canada, make deposits and withdrawals and obtain the balance in his account just as if he were in his own branch.”
Security around the clock
The installation of around-the-clock depositories in the 1950s provided an additional measure of security and convenience to customers, eliminating the risk of loss or theft of cash held overnight on client premises. The depositories were part of a larger movement in the post-war period to constantly improve business services for customers.
Steel Teller
The Steel Teller was introduced in Quebec in the late 1970s. Customers could drop deposits, bills and passbooks into the mailbox-like structure, and branch personnel processed the transactions after hours. The passbooks and receipts were then mailed back to the customer, helping reduce lineups at the branch and saving the customer valuable time.
Tyme Machine
In 1976, M&I introduced Wisconsin’s first automated teller machine (ATM).
The little bank that’s always open
The Instabank machine was a significant innovation in customer convenience, providing 24/7 access to automated banking services including cash deposits and withdrawals, bill payments, money transfers and more.
Introduced in the mid-1970s in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, Instabank machines also allowed customers to request that a bank representative contact them by telephone or mail.
TV teller, 1979
In February of 1979, Bank of Montreal’s Winnipeg main branch opened television tellers in its concourse level. These new tellers connected customers and bank employees through four colour TV screens with telephones. Transactions were carried to and from customers via pneumatic tubes. These tellers were intended to attract young professionals walking to and from work.
Banking in cars
In September 1949, the bank received unprecedented national media coverage for the introduction of “Drive-in Banking” at the 10th and Granville branch in Vancouver. It was the first drive-in bank in Canada – and another example of the Bank of Montreal’s drive to be first.
Canada’s first home-banking service
In 1983, Bank of Montreal was the only bank in Canada to participate in a bank-at-home research project, which enabled select customers to make transactions at home, using a keyboard computer terminal attached to their TV set and telephone. The service was created with farmers and rural business owners in mind, allowing them to access their account information no matter how far they lived from their Bank of Montreal branch.
“Sidewalk banking,” 1958
A Bank of Montreal branch in Saint-Lambert, Quebec installed Canada’s first “walk up teller wicket.” The new service allowed customers to do their banking without even entering the branch.
The BMO World Elite MasterCard, launched in 2010, offers premium travel rewards, benefits and travel insurance. BMO was the first financial institution to leverage MasterCard’s World Elite program and create a best-in-class travel rewards credit card.
Banking for children
In 1952, the Bank of Montreal became the first bank to have a children’s wicket where youngsters could make transactions (usually deposits, and usually held in trust). Children also received a passbook, which was aimed at helping to instill a sense of the value of money, savings and thrift in the younger generation.
Semi-electronic book keeping, 1958
With the adoption of NCR technology, posting and chequing operations took less than half the time needed under former methods, and provided customers with a “neat and uniform statement.” This innovation was part of the continuous process of search, adaptation and improvement of the bank’s key technological systems.
The magic of GENIE
On Canada Day 1963, BMO announced the launch of its first fully integrated automatic banking system, named GENIE (GENerating Information Electronically). The first of its kind in Canada, this early data processing unit operated using magnetic ink character recognition. It could post 3,000 banking transactions per minute.
The dictograph
This telecommunications relic was once used in the executive suite of the bank’s Montreal head office. It functioned as a supplementary intercom system to provide a direct connection among a small number of executives. The call button labels indicate that this machine served the top decision-makers of the bank in the late 1970s.
The instruments, processes and systems of banking have evolved throughout the bank’s history, making way for more efficient and modern tools of the trade. Here are some of the office supplies you might have found in a Bank of Montreal branch or office over the years.
Remember passbooks?
An innovation in customer convenience, this small document passed routinely between customer and teller after each transaction — hence the name. Bank of Montreal’s archives has passbooks that date as far back as 1820 – three years after the establishment of the bank.
Carrying around bulky wallets is no longer necessary for BMO customers in Canada and the U.S. Beginning in 2015, BMO Harris Bank introduced Apple Pay, allowing customers a convenient and safe way to pay in-store, in-app and online using their Apple phone or tablet. Apply Pay was introduced to BMO’s customers in Canada in 2016, followed by Android Pay in 2017. BMO Harris Bank also released BMO Harris Bank Masterpass, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, giving customers the freedom to make secure purchases whenever and wherever they want, seamlessly.
In 1984, Bank of Montreal was the first Canadian bank to announce plans to link its network of automated banking machines to another network of ABMs though Cirrus (an American ABM network at the time, which has since become global), allowing BMO to better serve customers throughout North America.
Smart Branch
With more customers banking online and through mobile phones, the role of the bank branch is changing.
Biometric security features
In 2016, BMO announced a phased launch of the first biometric corporate credit card program in Canada and the U.S., which will enable cardholders to verify transactions for online purchases using facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics.
In 1969, Bank of Montreal announced a five-year program to create an online network of branches with a real-time connection to a central computer. The system was hailed as the “most revolutionary development in the history of Canadian banking and a world first in terms of its scope.”
The new system connected 1,100 branches, spanning six time zones, via communications terminals linked to a large central computer – the IBM System/360 Model 65 located in Toronto.
MECH gave the Bank of Montreal the largest banking terminal network in the world. The enhanced efficiency offered convenience for customers, and allowed branch personnel to concentrate on customer service and expanded service capabilities.
mbanx
In 1996, BMO launched mbanx, North America’s first full-service internet banking system. mbanx was an entirely new virtual banking enterprise, designed to meet the needs and realities of time-pressed customers. The new system showed that BMO understood the potential of the Internet, and was not afraid to push the boundaries of banking.
Mobile banking, 1999
In 1999, BMO became the first bank in North America to offer financial services over a browser-enabled mobile device. Wireless banking allowed customers to use their cellphones to access their bank or brokerage accounts while on the move. They could also transfer funds, pay bills and get stock quotes.
A leader in EDI technology
In September 1989, BMO was the first bank to install an automated ordering process,along with Telecom Canada. The process used Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which involved the electronic exchange of business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices, through computer-to-computer communication.
By the 1990s, BMO was recognized as a leader in electronic banking, and had taken a proactive role in the development, implementation and evolution of Canada’s financial EDI within the Canadian Payments System.
Computerworld Smithsonian Award
Bank of Montreal won the prestigious Smithsonian Award for Technology in 1996 for its Pathway application, which combined branch sales and training onto one central desktop application.
Mobile Cash
In 2015, BMO Harris Bank launched Mobile Cash, the card-less way to withdraw money. The technology allows customers to withdraw money from designated BMO Harris ATMs using their smartphone, saving time while enhancing security.
The definitive history of one of North America's most enduring banks, Whom Fortune Favours: The Bank of Montreal and the Rise of North American Finance, Volume 1 & 2, by Laurence B. Mussio.
Visit the McGill Queen’s University Press site to order your copy.
A visually rich tribute to Canada’s first bank, A Vision Greater than Themselves: The Making of the Bank of Montreal, 1817-2017 by Laurence B. Mussio tells the compelling story of the bank from its origins to present day.
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inSKN :: St. Kitts Nevis
State of Emergency extends in St. Kitts-Nevis as Government continues to protect citizens and residents against the spread of COVID-19
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 15, 2020 (SKNIS)
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will extend the State of Emergency and COVID-19 Regulations made under the Emergency Powers Act – which includes the 24-hour curfew – as it continues to work to protect citizens and residents from the spread of the Novel Coronavirus.“The Cabinet of Ministers has therefore determined that it is necessary to extend the State of Emergency currently in place and to extend regulations made under the Emergency Powers Act in order to continue the fight against COVID-19,” said Prime Minister Harris during an address to the Nation on April 15, 2020.
Prime Minister Harris said that The St. Kitts and Nevis Constitution states that a declaration of emergency cannot run for more than 21 days unless approved by the National Assembly. The current State of Emergency will expire on Saturday, April 18, 21 days since it was proclaimed on March 28.
“As a result, there will be an Emergency Sitting of the National Assembly on Friday 17th April at 10 am. This sitting has been called to debate and pass a Resolution to extend the State of Emergency. Further regulations would be made to come into force once the current Regulations expire on Saturday, 18th April,” said Dr. Harris. “My Government is deeply concerned about the spread of COVID-19 throughout our Federation as it has done in other countries throughout the world and which would cause significant harm to the health and well-being of our people and could even result in deaths among our population.”
Prime Minister Harris said that the new regulations that will come into force over the weekend, will extend from Saturday, April 18, at 6 am to Saturday, April 25, at 6 am. A 24-hour lock-down – a total lock-down –will take effect from 6am Saturday, April 18 until Monday, April 20, at 6 am.
“The Team has recommended that there be a gradual relaxation of the limited or restricted curfews on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st and on Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th between the hours of 6 am and 7 pm each day,” said the prime minister. “There will be nightly curfews from 7 pm each evening to 6 am the following morning. Please note that in the middle of the week, from Tuesday 7 pm to Thursday at 6 am, there will be a further 24-hour lock-down or total curfew.”
Tagged covid-19ExtendsProtectresidentsState of Emergency
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Trade Ideas & Analysis
Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 2,765 Shares of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:DIA)
ByInvestor Newsletter
Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:DIA) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,053 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock after selling 2,765 shares during the quarter. SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust comprises 2.2% of Conservest Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust were worth $18,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DIA. Country Trust Bank bought a new stake in SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust by 362.5% during the third quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 111 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC bought a new stake in SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000.
Shares of DIA traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $310.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,845,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,756,622. SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust has a one year low of $182.10 and a one year high of $311.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $303.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.22.
About SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust
SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (the Trust) is a unit investment, which issues securities called trust units or units. The Trust seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yields performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an Index of 30 blue chip United States stocks.
Featured Story: Return on Investment (ROI)
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DIA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:DIA).
Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.
Record Valuations Raise Alarm in India’s Frenzied Stock Market
Pfizer Inc. stock falls Wednesday, underperforms market
By Investor Newsletter
Dow, Nasdaq hit record highs as focus turns to Biden's stimulus speech
Jan 15, 2021 Investor Newsletter
Nasdaq (NDAQ) Introduces Enhanced Cloud-Based Risk Platform
Camden National Co. (NASDAQ:CAC) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $45.64 Million
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MoviesDC Universe
Those Batman Rumors Pissed Off Robert Pattinson—Because He'd Been Gunning for the Part for a While
Robert Pattinson speaks at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Film Comment Free Talk for High Life at Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.
Photo: Nicholas Hunt / Staff (Getty Images)
All the back and forth this summer over just who would actually be replacing Ben Affleck in the Batcowl was enough Hollywood drama to put our heads in a batarang-worthy spin. But for one of the subjects of that back and forth, Robert Pattinson, they were in part frustrating, because he thought he’d lost out on a part he’s been hoping to have for a while.
Pattinson revealed his long game for getting the part of Batman as part of Variety’s newest cover story, which dives deep with the actor about his role in Robert Eggers’ haunting Witch follow up, The Lighthouse, and moving on to Gotham City.
Fall Movie Guide: 49 Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies to Look Out For
If you like weird genre movies, fall 2019 is for you.
The initial rumors that he had been cast in Matt Reeves’ Bat-film came while Pattinson was on the way to the Cannes premiere of Lighthouse, sending the actor into a spin of anger and confusion...mainly because he hadn’t actually auditioned yet:
When that thing leaked, I was fucking furious. Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.
The reason Pattinson was so angry wasn’t because he was being associated with some superhero project he wanted no part of, having built a post-Twilight career on esoteric, independent films. It was because, despite that, he’d actually had thoughts about becoming Batman for quite some time.
I’d had Batman in my mind for a while. It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt [Reeves]. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.
High Life's Claire Denis and Robert Pattinson Dissect the Film's Messages About Prison
Claire Denis’ High Life is a film you have to go into while in the right frame of mind in order to…
Eventually Reeves did, and there were enough sparks that—those premature rumors of his casting aside—Pattinson did indeed audition, and did so wearing the still-mysterious Batsuit from Reeves’ film:
I put it on. I remember saying to Matt, ‘It does feel quite transformative!’ He was like, ‘I would hope it does! You’re literally in the Batsuit.’.
You do feel very powerful immediately. And it’s pretty astonishing, something that is incredibly difficult to get into, so the ritual of getting into it is pretty humiliating. You’ve got five people trying to shove you into something. Once you’ve got it on, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I feel strong, I feel tough, even though I had to have someone squeezing my butt cheeks into the legs.’ You’re trying to think of the way to balance, how to bring something new to it and not want to scare people off, and work in the confines of the costume.
We know how the rest of it goes at this point: Just days later, Pattinson did actually become the Dark Knight, albeit after another round of will-he-won’t-he rumors. In the process, he apparently successfully acted on a plan he’d been hatching for far longer than any of us had realized...which, to be fair, is an extremely Batman thing to do! He’s gonna be a fine Caped Crusader.
Brawl2099
He’s going to be a good Batman. It’s too bad most people can’t see past a poorly written and directed YA fantasy series a decade ago. (Not to say that the writers and directors were bad, but the film itself).
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IR Quick View
Sustainability Governance
The Group Internal Audit (“GIA”) was established under the board of directors to assist the board of directors and management in inspecting and evaluating the effectiveness of the internal control system, assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the company's operations; the reliability, timeliness and transparency of reports; and the compliance with applicable laws and regulations, as well as making timely recommendations for improvements to reasonably ensure the continuous operating effectiveness of the internal control system and to serve as the basis to review and revise the internal control system.
GIA comprises an internal audit officer and appropriate number of qualified, dedicated internal auditors, as required by business scale, business condition, management needs, and the provisions of other applicable laws and regulations. Any appointment and dismissal of internal audit officer is subject to approval by the audit committee and is submitted to the board of directors for a resolution. The performance appraisal and salary and benefits of the internal audit officer are submitted by a director who is designated by the chairman of the board and are subject to approval by the chairman of the board. Except for the internal audit officer, any appointment, dismissal, performance appraisal, salary and benefits of internal auditors are subject to submission by the internal audit officer to the chairman of the board for approval. All the personnel policies and regulations mentioned above have been stipulated in the internal audit implementation rules.
GIA establishes a risk-based internal audit approach and performs internal audit activities in accordance with the annual audit plan approved by the board of directors, and the scope of internal audit includes internal control systems of the company and its subsidiaries. The internal control self-assessment reports, prepared by the company and its subsidiaries and reviewed by GIA on an annual basis, along with audit reports on findings of internal control system identified by GIA serve as the primary basis for the board of directors and general manager to assess the overall effectiveness of the internal control system and to produce internal control system statements.
GIA submits the audit reports and audit follow-up reports by e-mail to the Audit Committee on a monthly basis. The internal audit officer presents and communicates the audit results to the audit committee in the direct communication or other meetings, as well as reports internal audit activity report to the board of directors on a quarterly basis.
Corporate Governance Comparison
Conflict Minerals Compliance
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Copyright © ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Contact Us | Terms of Use
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George Washington and the Continental Congress
F. Sherwood Rowland
Markus Pössel
(1927–2012). U.S. atmospheric chemist F. Sherwood Rowland was a specialist in atmospheric chemistry and radiochemistry. He was among the first scientists to warn that chlorofluorocarbons released into the atmosphere were depleting the Earth’s protective ozone layer. In 1995 he won the Nobel prize in chemistry for that discovery.
F. Sherwood Rowland was born in Delaware, Ohio, on June 28, 1927. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1948 and a master’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1951 and 1952, respectively. He held faculty positions at Princeton University and the University of Kansas before moving on to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in 1964 as the first chair of the department of chemistry.
In 1972 Rowland attended a lecture given by British scientist James Lovelock, who had been the first to detect chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere two years before. This encounter was to change the course of his career. CFC was a man-made compound that had become widely used as a coolant in refrigerators and cars, a propellant in aerosol sprays, and a cleanser for electronic components. One reason for the popularity of CFCs was their chemical stability—nothing in the Earth’s atmosphere seemed to cause them to break apart into their constituent atoms of chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. However, no one was certain what happened to the manufactured compounds after they were used and released into the atmosphere. Rowland and a newly hired chemist, Mario Molina, decided to find out.
Rowland and Molina found that CFCs remained stable in the lower atmosphere but began to break down at extremely high altitudes (8 to 12 miles [13 to 19 kilometers] above the Earth’s surface). It was at this altitude that a special form of oxygen, O3, existed. O3 is also known as ozone. A thin layer of this gas surrounds the Earth, acting as a natural shield against ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Rowland and Molina discovered that the released chlorine from the CFCs interacted with the O3 and spawned a chain reaction in which 100,000 molecules of ozone could be wiped out with a single chlorine atom.
The ultraviolet radiation normally absorbed by the ozone layer can be extremely harmful to the Earth and its creatures. In humans, it contributes to skin cancer and immune system deficiencies and can injure the eyes. In 1974 Rowland and Molina published their findings in the journal Nature. Alarmed by the potential danger of ozone destruction, the scientists also began to alert the scientific and political communities to the problem. In the late 1970s, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Sweden banned the use of CFCs in aerosol sprays.
Later research brought more bad news: the ozone problem was even worse than Rowland and Molina had predicted. There was already a significant hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica, and most of the CFCs had not yet hit the upper atmosphere. As the ozone-depletion story began to circulate in the mainstream press, Rowland, Molina, and other scientists exploring the problem came under increasing fire from industry leaders. The controversy over the role of CFCs in ozone depletion went on for decades, but the scientific community eventually came to a consensus: CFCs were destroying the ozone layer, creating many potentially harmful effects on the Earth and its inhabitants.
One by one, countries around the world agreed to ban CFC production. In 1987 Rowland and Molina’s research was used as the foundation for the United Nations Montreal Protocol, which called for a ban on the use and production of all ozone-damaging gases by 1996. Even with the ban in place, however, it was predicted that the ozone layer would take at least 100 years to restore itself completely. Rowland and Molina were credited with averting what would have been a deadly environmental crisis.
In addition to his ozone work, Rowland’s research extended over a broad range of atmospheric-chemistry problems. He published over 300 articles that identified smog-producing chemicals in large urban areas, explained seasonal variations in the distribution of atmospheric chemicals, and investigated the effects of methane gas, which, he proposed, was having a warming effect on the Earth’s atmosphere. He also served from 1982 to 1984 on a White House committee to evaluate the problem of acid rain.
Rowland’s many honors included the Tyler World Prize in Ecology and Energy, the American Chemical Society’s Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology, and numerous honorary doctoral degrees. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Academy for Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union. He was named the Bren Professor of Chemistry at UCI. In 1995 he, Mario Molina, and another atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen of Holland, won the Nobel prize in chemistry. Rowland died in Corona del Mar, California, on March 10, 2012.
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(1855–1935). Irish-born self-educated U.S. engineer William Mulholland was best known for devising a way to bring water to Los Angeles, Calif. He built an aqueduct across the Mojave Desert that brought enough water for a population of 2 million people, one of the most difficult hydraulic feats ever accomplished. This new-found water allowed the city to prosper.
Mulholland was born in Belfast, Ireland, on Sept. 11, 1855. When he was 15 years old he joined the British Merchant Marine. After a few years on the seas, he landed in the United States. He worked odd jobs until about 1877, when he moved out west and took a job with the Los Angeles Water Commission. He worked his way up from ditch overseer to chief engineer to superintendent of the municipal water system by 1902.
With Los Angeles facing an inadequate water supply after the 1892–1904 drought, Mulholland oversaw the building of a 233-mile (375-kilometer) aqueduct, allowing the water to flow from the Owens River to Los Angeles by 1913. The water was propelled entirely by gravity, moving through open canals, pipes, and tunnels onto a spillway in the San Fernando Valley.
Mulholland had become a U.S. citizen in 1886. In 1928 a California dam that he had supervised during construction collapsed, killing about 500 people. Mulholland was blamed and resigned from the water department the next year. He died in Los Angeles on July 22, 1935.
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Glossary of baseball (N) facts for kids
Glossary of baseball
!$@
W X
nail-biter
neighborhood play
next batter's box
nickel curve
NL or N.L.
NLCS or N.L.C.S.
NLDS or N.L.D.S.
no decision
no-doubter
no-hitter
northpaw
nubber
(NABBP) - the 1857-1870 first governing body of baseball, the National Association of Base Ball Players
(NA) - the 1871-1875 first professional league (in any sport), the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
(NAPBL) - the 1901-to-date trade association of minor leagues, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues — officially renamed Minor League Baseball in 1999
A close game. Nervous fans may be biting their nails.
Hit by a pitch, drilled, plunked.
The last pitches or last play of a winning game nail down the win or put the nails in the coffin of the opposing team.
To throw a runner out. "Laureano nailed him at the plate."
A relief pitcher who is as "tough as nails" or very effective at nailing down a win is sometimes said to be "nails". "As the season has progressed, you can see that he looks forward to that 9th inning and he has been nails lately." Phillies and Mets center fielder Lenny Dykstra was known as "Nails" for his all-out style of play.
An informal rule that used to apply to double plays. As long as the defensive player covering second base was in the "neighborhood" of second base when he caught the ball and threw it on to first base, the runner would be called out. The rule was designed to compensate for runners who slid into second too hard, making it dangerous for the defensive player. In recent years, umpires have required the defensive player to have a foot actually on second base, not just in the neighborhood, and have penalized runners who slide toward the defensive players too aggressively, so neighborhood plays are rarely seen today.
The official name of either of the two on-deck circles. Each team has its own circular area, five feet (1.5 m) in diameter, which is designated for unencumbered use by the on-deck batter (the next batter due to bat after the current batter); the on-deck batter may wish to stretch, run in place, or take practice swings immediately prior to taking his turn in the batter's box (which actually is rectangular in shape). Especially during finals and semifinals, each circle is typically painted with the corresponding team logo. The location of the next batter's box is specifically defined in MLB rules, and the most common method to locate it was granted a patent.
When a pitcher focuses on pitching just at the left or right edges of home plate rather than throwing a pitch over the heart of the plate where a batter can get the meat of the bat on the ball, he's said to nibble at the edges. Tigers manager Jim Leyland praised Scherzer for his aggressiveness against such a powerful lineup: "The one thing you can't do against the Yankees is get behind in the count. If you do, they'll just sit on pitches and hit a lot of them hard. Max went after them. He understood he couldn't nibble around the edges of the plate, and he did a heckuva job."
A slider. Also used to mean an average or possibly "hanging" slider. Hitters look at the spin on a ball when it is released by the pitcher, so the "dot" (circle which is created from the pitcher's rotation on the ball that the batter sees to identify a pitch as a slider out of the pitcher's hand) is said to be "nickel sized". Also, it could be used to mean a pitch with more lateral movement (closer to a slurve than to a slider) rather than velocity.
The second game of a doubleheader.
Abbreviation for National League, the older of the two major leagues.
Abbreviation for National League Championship Series: the final, best 4 out of 7, playoff series to determine the National League champion. The winners of the National League Division Series play in this series. The winner of the NLCS is the winner of the National League pennant and advances to the World Series against the pennant winner from the American League.
Abbreviation for National League Division Series: the first round of the league playoffs, to determine which two teams advance to the National League Championship Series (NLCS). This round pits the winners of each of the three league divisions plus the winner of the wild-card slot (the team that wins the most games in the regular season without winning a division) in two pairings, each of which plays a best three out of five series to determine who advances to the NLCS.
Any starting pitcher who earns neither a win (W) nor a loss (L) is said to have a "no decision", which has no special meaning in official baseball statistics; however, it has become conventional to note whether he made a quality start.
A home run whose landing destination in the stands is in no doubt from the moment it leaves the barrel of the bat. A no-doubter will be seen/heard to "leap" off the bat, usually having a launch angle between 20 and 40 degrees and high exit velocity.
A game in which one team does not get any hits, a rare feat for a pitcher, especially at the major league level. Also colloquially called a "no-no". If no batter reaches base safely by any means (walk, error, etc.) the pitcher is said to have pitched a perfect game, which is much rarer than a "normal" no-hitter.
It is a superstition that when a pitcher is working on a no-hitter (or perfect game), his teammates stay far away from him (sometimes even a whole bench length) and will not say anything to anyone about the no-hitter. Some play-by-play on-air announcers will also avoid mentioning the no-hitter until either an opposing batter gets a hit or the no-hitter is completed; others however will mention one in progress and are sometimes blamed for jinxing no-hitters.
The area of the outfield between the middle infielders and outfielders, where a fly ball can fall for a hit (a Texas leaguer).
A baserunner caught in a pickle is said to be in "no man's land".
The portion of a ballpark's spectator area, usually the front row of seats, where a fielder may legally reach into to catch a fly ball, while a spectator or other personnel may legally touch same fly ball even if it interferes with the fielder's attempt to catch it. A ball touched by a spectator in this manner is not spectator interference.
Sometimes said by a play-by-play announcer when the bases are loaded, i.e., there is no open base. Usually means that intentionally walking and pitching around the batter are poor strategies for the fielding team, as a walk will score a run for the batting team. Also "no place/nowhere to put [the batter]".
A no-hitter and a shut-out. Thus no hits, no runs. Headline: "Start of something good: Verlander's no-no may foreshadow future greatness".
A right-handed pitcher. See southpaw.
A Non-Roster Invitee (NRI) is a player invited to Spring training who is not yet on a Major League team's 40-man roster. He may be a young prospect, a veteran who has been released from or retired from a previous contract with a team, perhaps someone who left baseball after an injury. If he performs well, he has a chance to be placed on the roster and assigned to a minor league team or even join the major league team.
A batted ball that travels slowly and not very far, typically because the ball is hit with the very end of the bat.
Glossary of baseball (N) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
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Posted on February 1, 2017 by kajmeister
Gradatim Ferociter
This past Saturday marked the 31st anniversary of the Challenger disaster, and it’s hard to resist the urge to still be depressed about it. 73 seconds after liftoff, the ship exploded, killing the seven astronauts including teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first civilian in space. Later analysis revealed the likely cause to be an O ring failure as a sealant due to unusual freezing temperatures before the launch. I’d like to think that the disaster led to new, safer ways to explore space or a determination to solve scientific problems in ways to benefit us all. But thirty years in, I’ve come to realize some of that is probably fantasy, and the reality is a mix of pessimism and pragmatism.
I remember exactly where I was: at the office on Montgomery Street in San Francisco, only six months into a job with a company I would eventually support for decades. In those “yuppy” days, we still wore suits and heels and spoke in hushed tones, as if every discussion were of utmost importance. In the middle of an intense debate over something on a spreadsheet, we noticed that everyone was suddenly going into the big conference room with the television, and on the screen was this odd blotch of smoke flowering outward. Whoever had been in the room first – to watch the launch initially – had to retell the story over and over as more people came out of their offices and cubicles to join the crowd. All you could see for several minutes was smoke blossoming further and NASA Houston mumbling something about “waiting to see,” until finally the news generated some kind of replay. Then, the announcers explained what had happened, and started replaying it over and over. We’re now used to that instant replay on a loop, but that was the first time I remember seeing it put to use.
There was crying; a lot of us had to sit down. We watched for about fifteen minutes until there was no more to see, no explanations, and no actions we could take.
This wasn’t NASA’s first disaster. Many people are familiar with Apollo 13 (especially after Ron Howard’s excellent film about THAT incident); how the crew and NASA worked together to bring the ship bound for the moon home after a major section exploded in space. Back in 1961, during the water landing of the second Mercury flight, Gus Grissom and crew nearly drowned when the hatch blew early before they could shed their heavy spacesuits. Later in 1967, Grissom did perish with two other astronauts when Apollo I blew up on the launch pad during a testing phase. After each of the incidents, NASA diagnosed the problems and made significant design changes which improved safety and reduced risk.
But between the sinking of the Mercury capsule and Apollo 13, leaders soured on the Kennedy ideal of space flight as a grand venture and became increasingly concerned with expense and negative publicity. The concept of a reusable space shuttle was developed under the Nixon administration in part as an attempt to be more cost-effective. That need to enable landing – like an airplane — created multiple design requirements that limited others. But the original shuttle notion was supposed to integrate with a larger scale Space Transportation System (STS) that supported the creation of an international space station and followed with further exploration of the moon. Most of the funding for those ideas was yanked under Nixon, and only the shuttle program remained to launch a few satellites or very slowly put pieces up for a station. While the shuttle remained a popular concept in our national ethos, the loss of the second shuttle Columbia in another explosion hastened the ending of the shuttle program in 2011.
NASA did use the Challenger disaster to examine their internal culture. Scientists on staff had registered significant objections to the launch after freezing weather in Florida. Tests done on O Rings had shown their vulnerability. However, when those tests were presented to NASA leaders, the communications glossed over or minimized the risks possibly because of the pressure exacted on middle management to demonstrate cost effectiveness. Scrubbing a launch would waste money. How exactly do you quantify the risk and the cost-benefit trade-off for a tiny vulnerable O-ring?
One of my other heroes, Edward Tufte, (see blog 2/29/2016 ) analyzed the presentation of data for NASA. He showed that using approaches and tools – like Powerpoint– worked to make communication of risks harder He’s now made a living explaining better ways to present information that is both concise and complete. NASA has changed its approach to reviewing engineering safety results, whistle-blowing, and the way group decisions are made.
I’m a child of the Kennedy decade – I believe as JFK said that we should still go to space and to the moon and to Mars “because it’s hard” and “because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies.” As emotionally painful as the disaster was, I wanted to believe that NASA would figure it all out, fix it, and go back twice as hard. As human beings, that’s what we do. I even wrote some fanfiction using the disaster as a premise. This was before the Star Trek movie First Contact; my idea also involved time travel and changing the historical timeline. Some bad Klingons figure out how to prevent the disaster from happening, and history was changed so that Klingons were able to control space rather than the Federation. Kirk and Spock have to thwart them and let the explosion take place. In my head, if the disaster hadn’t happened, the space shuttle program would have been limited to launching satellites and publicity flights instead of forcing a new vision of the rocket design that launched us to Mars and beyond. Which we somehow should have done by now.
Instead, in the decades since my fantasy and the disaster happened, the United States has taken a back seat to other countries and to corporations, and we have not fulfilled JFK’s vision for the U.S. to occupy “a position of pre-eminence.” The space program has stalled with even more focus on cost cutting. Any federal spending for visionary ideas – on space, the arts, the national parks, or education – becomes subject to overbearing scrutiny and contempt. We seem to retreat further every year from the idea of America as the shining place of wonders created by its citizens for the enjoyment of all. Instead, we’ve abandoned the collective support for vision and left them to companies or private foundations.
Maybe that’s where there’s some hope after all. In this wake left from the slowdown of federal investment, entrepreneurs have stepped in. While early notions of space tourism by Richard Branson and the Russian Mircorp seemed farfetched, that may end up the best way to funnel money to achieve the infrastructure needed. On the one hand, it seems unfair that only billionaires would be able to afford to go into space as tourists, but that also address the disaster issue. It’s still dangerous to launch, but now the risk is individual rather than national. American pride is not at stake if a billionaire’s rocket fails. (I can’t think of a way to write that sentence without it seeming callous, but I’m sorry, I don’t cry for billionaires.)
I didn’t even know until I just researched it that nearly a dozen people have already gone up as space tourists, most taken in Russian rockets. Or that, for instance, New Mexico passed an act in 2010 giving legal protection to companies who provide those flights so that passengers have to sign an informed consent waiver. In case of, you know, a failed O ring. Wait until the lawsuits start coming.
But that would be a good thing. That would make it part of our daily life. Just as it’s becoming more and more conventional that Elon Musk’s SpaceX Corporation can launch rockets. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is also actively working ways to get humans into space. Since our country can’t seem to manage it, it appears to be left up to the monopolists and visionaries in the technology world. True to Bezos’ vision, his Blue Origin company even has its own coat of arms. While I’m not a fan of Amazon’s nasty trade practices, I like the idea of “Gradatim Ferociter” — step by step, ferociously.
We have to keep going into space. Whether “we” is America, Elon Musk, the international community, scientists, or @RogueNASA, we have to keep going into space. Marco Polo wasn’t the first guy to set out for new markets and new ventures over the Asian deserts and he wasn’t bankrolled by a huge central government. Columbus was bankrolled by a government – but not his own – and the information he brought back benefited the European world.
So, if we can’t follow the idealistic vision of a president to “explore new worlds and new civilizations” – and that seems ever less likely now – we can follow the idealistic visions of the braintrust of America. It wasn’t NASA entirely that developed the communicator technology that we hold in our hand or the access to instantaneous information or the ability to tell everyone we know about it. That was Apple, Google, Wikipedia, Twitter and Facebook. I know that, collectively, those inventors and idealists don’t shrink from tasks because they are “hard” or just to save money.
SpaceX landing platform:Just Read the Instructions
Perhaps I wasn’t wrong after all. The Challenger disaster heralded an era where technology flourished in thousands of ways. Our government could provide intellectual leadership and the way forward, but if it won’t, it doesn’t have a sacred right to or ownership of all great ideas. We as a people can still go. And we will. Gradatim Ferociter.
CategoriesBusi-ness, Memoir, Science/Technology
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A Land Developer’s New Frontier: The Mind
Home / A Land Developer’s New Frontier: The Mind
Progress is often a funciton of flexibility. At first, the idea was to help improve test scores of schoolchildren. The thinking was that higher test scores at local schools could attract higher income workers and their families to live in the San Bernardino area. But as CSUSB administrators proposed creating a literacy institute to help students with reading problems, something clicked in Jim Watson.
“I was a very poor reader when I was in the fourth grade,” said Watson, president of Watson & Associates in Seal Beach. “I was put in a special class with a wonderful teacher who inspired me and taught me how to read. That one class, which lasted about a semester, was probably the most significant class I ever took. It affected my life all the way through college and helped me to become a success.”
Watson’s work with CSUSB and local school officials has spawned the initial $100,000 grant from his company. With the funds, the university will launch a new literacy institute on campus to help the area’s K-12 schoolchildren. “We try to do a lot within the community and education is really important to this community,” Watson said. “If we help build up education then we’ll be able to reach a lot of people. This is very exciting for us.”
CSUSB President Albert Karnig said the institute would target one of the major problems affecting society — illiteracy. “If you look at what enhances the likelihood of success in life, the most vital skill is the ability to read,” Karnig said. “With generous funding from Jim Watson, we have a remarkable opportunity to help schoolchildren become better students, as well as ultimately more productive citizens who have fuller and more informed lives.”
The new institute is designed to help children meet their lifelong literacy needs with specially developed programs to improve and enhance their reading abilities, said Patricia Arlin, dean of the College of Education, which will oversee the institute.
Charles Diamond, an associate vice president with Watson & Associates, said the company believes it is important for business to be active participants in their communities. “We saw the need not only for the local community, but for the students,” he said. “You’ve got to give back to your community to be a good neighbor.” “Besides the $100,000 grant, the company will also offer $50,000 for the university to obtain matching funds,” said Ronna Kivisto, the college’s development officer.
The institute will be directed and administered by the College of Education’s language, literacy and culture department. Graduate students working on their reading specialist credentials will staff the institute under the supervision of faculty. Mary Jo Skillings, the institute’s director, said the institute will focus on tutoring primary schoolchildren at risk of failing. “We want to help them continue their education. Education success will keep children in school longer and help them meet the challenges of getting into college.” But the institute will also work with children’s parents who themselves have literacy problems, specifically those parents whose native language isn’t English. “Lots of parents use their children as their interpreters. Now this is an opportunity for the parents to do the same. Parents will have an opportunity to learn English reading skills here at the institute,” Skillings said.
Research has shown that students who receive focused instruction in reading post high general literacy scores even over a short period of time, Arlin said, adding that the graduate students will themselves benefit from working at the institute because it will be a good training ground. “Our graduate students will receive clinical experience in reading development by working with these children.
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Tag: Friendship Series
Reimagining the World Together: A Conversation with Shane Battier and Ravi Gupta
Shane Battier is Vice President, Basketball Development & Analytics of the Miami Heat, using his 13-year NBA career and collegiate career at Duke University to help guide the Heat’s basketball development strategy. Ravi Gupta is a partner at Sequoia Capital where he focuses on consumer, mobile/Internet, and fintech investments. Join Battier and Gupta for a conversation of how their friendship has shaped their lives, work and purpose. Reimagining the World Together: Why Friendship Matters for Our Future is a fall series that examines the problems of the present and the possibilities for the future through moderated conversations between pairs of friends. The series is open to the public and for Duke students is also available as a course. The series, which is being co-sponsored by the Fuqua/Coach Center on Leadership and Ethics, is part of The Purpose Project at Duke, a new initiative funded by The Duke Endowment and hosted by the Kenan Institute for Ethics in collaboration with Duke Divinity School and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
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Reimagining the World Together: A Conversation with Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods
Dr. Brian Hare is a core member of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience, a Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology, and Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Vanessa Woods is the Director of the Duke Puppy Kindergarten and an award winning writer and journalist. Join Hare and Woods for a conversation of how their friendship has shaped their lives, work and purpose. Reimagining the World Together: Why Friendship Matters for Our Future is a fall series that examines the problems of the present and the possibilities for the future through moderated conversations between pairs of friends. The series is open to the public and for Duke students is also available as a course. The series, which is being co-sponsored by the Fuqua/Coach Center on Leadership and Ethics, is part of The Purpose Project at Duke, a new initiative funded by The Duke Endowment and hosted by the Kenan Institute for Ethics in collaboration with Duke Divinity School and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
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Reimagining the World Together: A Conversation with Paul Farmer and Todd McCormack
Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer has dedicated his life to improving health care for the world’s poorest people. He founded Partners in Health to achieve this end. Todd McCormack was one of the founding Board members of Partners in Health, and is also a senior corporate vice president at IMG Media, the largest independent producer and distributor of sports programming in the world. Join Farmer and McCormack for a conversation of how their friendship has shaped their lives, work and purpose. Reimagining the World Together: Why Friendship Matters for Our Future is a fall series that examines the problems of the present and the possibilities for the future through moderated conversations between pairs of friends. The series is open to the public and for Duke students is also available as a course. The series, which is being co-sponsored by the Fuqua/Coach Center on Leadership and Ethics, is part of The Purpose Project at Duke, a new initiative funded by The Duke Endowment and hosted by the Kenan Institute for Ethics in collaboration with Duke Divinity School and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
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Reimagining the World Together: A Conversation with Jim Yong Kim and Marshall Goldsmith
Reimagining the World Together: Why Friendship Matters for Our Future is a fall series that examines the problems of the present and the possibilities for the future through moderated conversations between pairs of friends. The series is open to the public and for Duke students is also available as a course. The series, which is being co-sponsored by the Fuqua/Coach Center on Leadership and Ethics, is part of The Purpose Project at Duke, a new initiative funded by The Duke Endowment and hosted by the Kenan Institute for Ethics in collaboration with Duke Divinity School and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
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Jill Sinclair
landscape historian
Book: Fresh Pond
Jill regularly gives illustrated lectures, informal talks, guided history walks, and academic presentations on historic landscapes. Here are some examples:
“Percy Cane”, as part of the Garden Trust‘s Great 20th Century Gardeners series, September 2020.
“Rediscovering the Oriel House Garden.” Illustrated talk for National Libraries Day at Broomhill Community Library, Sheffield, 6 February 2016; for the Vulcan Rotary Club, 12 April 2016; for the Friends of the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, 26 April 2016; as the 2016 BBEST Lecture for the Broomhill Festival on 11 June 2016; at the Crosspool Festival on 28 June 2016; as part of Heritage Open Days, September 2016.
“Co-existence and collision: a history of Fresh Pond in the nineteenth century.” Illustrated lecture for the Victorian Society in America, New England Chapter, Annual Preservation Awards, Cambridge, Mass., 24 June 2014.
“It just looks kind of silly.” Poster presentation on Dan Kiley’s 1960s design for the North Court at Lincoln Center in New York City, at the ICOMOS conference “Filling the Gaps: World Heritage and the 20th Century” in Chandigarh on 3-4 October 2013.
“’For beauty, and air, and view’: contemplating the wider surroundings of sixteenth-century Mughal and European gardens.” Paper presented in the “Islamic and Renaissance Gardens: A Case for Mutual Influence?” panel at the second international meeting of the European Architectural History Network, Brussels, 31 May-3 June 2012.
Guided history tour of the British sites in Delhi’s Civil Lines for the Seven Cities of Delhi Programme, 7 December 2011.
Guided history tour of the gardens at Vaux le Vicomte, Seine et Marne, for staff of the American and British Embassies in Paris, 14 May 2011.
“ ‘These beautiful pleasure-grounds of Death’: cross-cultural comparisons of values and meaning in the inceptive responses to the Parisian garden cemetery and its American interpretation.” Paper presented at the symposium Foreign Trends on American Soil, University of Pennsylvania School of Design, 18-19 March 2011.
Garden guide for the hôtel de Charost, Paris, for les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine [European Heritage Days], 18 September 2010.
“The Design Work of the Olmsted Brothers and Charles Eliot at Fresh Pond.” Illustrated lecture sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations and the Landscape Institute, 23 April 2009.
“The Ice Industry at Fresh Pond.” Thursday Morning Lecture at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 23 April 2009.
“A Place to Play.” Keynote lecture for the Cambridge Historical Society Spring Fundraiser, 19 April 2009.
Guided history walk for the Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation, 18 April 2009.
“Shifting Patterns, Shifting Significance.” Various lectures on the history of Fresh Pond, for the British Consulate-General, Boston, 28 April 2006; the Cambridge Historical Society, 19 March 2006; the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 4 December 2005; and the City of Cambridge, 20 September 2005.
“Significant Private Gardens in Old Cambridge.” Illustrated lecture for Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., 27 April 2006.
“The Garden Gate Opened.” Thursday Morning Lecture at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 20 April 2006.
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Sexual assault: Why are court cases brought so long afterwards?
Elizabeth Grace | February 11, 2013
On February 7, 2012, Gordon Stuckless a former assistant equipment manager at Maple Leaf Gardens, was charged with six more counts of indecent assault against young boys in a historical sexual assault case. You may remember Stuckless because he pleaded guilty to 24 counts of sexual and indecent assault in 1997. Subsequently, one of his victims, Martin Kruze, jumped to his death off the Bloor Viaduct. Stuckless was sentenced to jail and was paroled in February 2001. The allegations currently being pressed against Stuckless, now 63, include that he assaulted two more boys, one 11-year-old and one 13-year-old, at a school, a community centre and various other locations across Toronto in the late 1970s.
It is likely that the individuals who say they too were abused by Gordon Stuckless and are now coming forward to police will also consider claiming compensation through our civil courts, not only against Mr Stuckless whose ability to pay is probably limited, but also against the organizations that placed him in positions of authority and responsibility over them as children. Certainly, it is their right to seek compensation through a civil court process for the harms they have suffered, and this is something that the criminal courts, which are geared to punishment not compensation, are simply not equipped to offer.
In my experience as a civil litigator practicing in the abuse field for almost two decades now, it is extremely common for individuals who were abused as kids or teens to delay for years and sometimes decades before coming forward with their allegations. These individuals generally feel great shame and guilt about what happened to them and one of their coping mechanisms – both while the actual abuse is occurring and subsequently – is to avoid thinking about or dealing with the abuse. This phenomenon is well recognized by those in the mental health field who treat individuals who have suffered a trauma like sexual assault. I have seen a whole range of triggers cause individuals to come forward with their allegations of abuse many years after the fact. These include seeing their own children reach the age they were at when they were abused and realizing how innocent and vulnerable they too must have been at this age. It can also be something in the public domain, such as media reports about victims coming forward or a child abuser being convicted and being sent to jail. This can sometimes serve to empower victims to break their silence. I have also seen many instances where, despite widespread publicity such as that which Gordon Stuckless attracted in the 1990s when the sexual assault allegations against him were previously before the courts, victims of the same perpetrator hold back for many years more before finally coming forward. This is usually because they are just not in a state of mind or a place where they feel strong enough, or they have the supports necessary, to open up what can be a very painful and disruptive Pandora’s box both to them and to their families or communities.
Historical sexual abuse cases are commonly brought before the courts many years, even decades, after the abuse happened, when they can finally gather up the strength to go to the police or to seek legal advice from a civil lawyer like me about whether they can pursue compensation for what happened to them. Sometimes they do both – participate in a criminal case against their alleged perpetrator and initiate a claim for compensation against their perpetrators and/or the organizations they believe put them in harms’ way. In recognition of how long it can take those who have suffered sexual abuse to come forward, the courts and, more recently legislatures through legislative reforms addressing limitation periods, have relaxed the legal principles that might otherwise have stopped abuse victims from successfully putting forward their allegations and claims before the courts.
Read More About Sexual Abuse
« Confidentiality of Settlements in Sexual Abuse Cases – Necessary Evil or Positive?
Helping You Help Your Patients: Learning about insurance issues in MVA cases »
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Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer
The Accurate Source To Find Transcript To Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer.”
[Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer]
[Marshawn Terrell Lynch:] Source: LYBIO.net
Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer
Like all gifts, speaking in tongues was not for private use but for the common good.
Many believe that speaking in tongues is for private prayer, however, there is not one verse that supports the private use of tongues. The Bible tells us that –
All mentions of tongues are in public settings – other people were always present.
Interpretation was necessary, meaning others were present (1 Cor. 14:27-28).
Tongues were a sign to the Jews, meaning Jews were present (1 Cor. 14:21-22).
1 Cor. 12:7 and 1 Pet. 4:10 say that all gifts are for serving others, for the common good. There is no suggestion that tongues or any other gift was for private use. 1 Cor. 14:4 says that tongues would edify the individual and that is quite understandable. It would probably be even more edifying to heal someone, however, personal edification was not the intended purpose of any gift. Tongues, with interpretation, were given to build up the church, not the individual, as the following show:
1 Cor. 12:7 – “… the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…”
1 Pet. 4:10 – “… each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others…”
1 Cor. 14:5 – “… so that the church may be edified.” (Note 1 Pet. 4:10)
1 Cor. 14:6 – “… [without interpretation] what good will I be to you?”
1 Cor. 14:7 – “… [without interpretation] how will anyone know…?”
1 Cor. 14:8 – “… [without interpretation] who will get ready…?”
1 Cor. 14:11 – “… If I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying…”
1 Cor. 14:12 – “… try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”
1 Cor. 14:16 – “… how can one who does not understand say ‘amen’?”
1 Cor. 14:16 – “… he does not know what you are saying.”
1 Cor. 14:17 – “… the other man is not edified.”
1 Cor. 14:19 – “… to instruct others…”
1 Cor. 14:26 – “… all things must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
1 Cor. 14:27 – “… if anyone speaks in a tongue … someone must interpret.”
These verses all point to the public use of tongues with interpretation for building up the church. There is not a single verse that supports the use of tongues for private prayer. (This list is taken from All About Speaking In Tongues by Fernand LeGrand)
A passage said to support tongues as a private prayer language is 1 Cor. 14:13-17. These verses talk about praying in tongues but interpretation is called for so that others can say “Amen” so clearly this passage describes a public prayer setting and has nothing at all to do with private prayer.
1 Cor. 14:2 is also used in the attempt to prove that tongues is a private prayer language. It says, “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit”. Obviously, this verse cannot support private prayer either as it says, “no one understands him”, telling us that it’s a public setting. Three other points about this verse are –
i) Many believe that the “mysteries” of 1 Cor. 14:2 are angelic languages but this comes from a misinterpretation of 1 Cor. 13:1-3 in which Paul uses exaggerated speech to show that love is greater than all. He is not saying that he could do the impossible and fathom all mysteries or have all knowledge etc but even if he could, yet didn’t have love, then he had nothing. Likewise, he is not saying that anyone could speak in the tongues of angels; that too is exaggerated language.
ii) By itself, 1 Cor. 14:2 makes absolutely no sense as it says that no one, except God, ever understood anyone who spoke in tongues. Obviously, this is wrong because tongues were understood (Acts 2:8). To make sense of this verse we need to look at v.28 which is also talking about speaking to God. It says, “If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God”. So, if we consider v.2 in the light of v.28 we see it is saying that, without an interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet and talk to God as no one understands him. Again, this is a public setting and, without interpretation, the speaker would have been uttering mysteries in the same way that any foreign language is a mystery to us, unless interpreted.
iii) The KJV has helped to confuse this issue by adding “unknown” to the text implying that some tongues were unknown languages. However, all tongues from God were known, human languages just as 1 Cor. 14:10 tells us: “There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning”.
Finally, a careful study shows that every verse on tongues, whether about prayer or otherwise, is in the context of a public setting with interpretation called for every time. Not a single verse speaks of the private use of tongues. This is because tongues was a sign of judgement to unbelieving Jews and, once that purpose had been served, speaking in tongues ceased. See “Speaking In Tongues – A Sign” at –
Published with permission:
Christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/blogarticles/tonguesandasign.pdf
The following books on the cessation of Tongues, Prophecy and Knowledge are free to download.
All About Speaking In Tongues by an ex-Pentecostal Pastor –
Christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/tongues/allaboutspeakingintongues.pdf
Sola Scriptura – very good, author unknown –
Christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/tongues/tongues_solascriptura.pdf
The Doctrine Of Tongues written by a New Zealand Barrister in the 1960s –
Christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/tongues/tonguesbywgbroadbent.pdf
Christianissues.biz/tongues.html
Christianissues.biz/downloads2.html
Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer. Like all gifts, speaking in tongues was not for private use but for the common good. Complete Full Transcript, Dialogue, Remarks, Saying, Quotes, Words And Text.
Filed Under: People & Blogs Tagged With: Mick Alexander, Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer, Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer Dialogue, Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer Video, Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer Videos, Read Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer News, Read Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer Transcription, Read Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer Transcripts, Read The Mick Alexander Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer News, Speaking In Tongues And Private Prayer, Text
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(thing) by ConfusionTheWaitress Fri Jun 22 2001 at 3:22:39
British off-the-wall and under-the-carpet television sketch show.
UK sketch show from TalkBack Productions, written primarily by Father Ted writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews and starring Amelia Bullmore, Julia Davis, Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap and Simon Pegg. Additional writing credits went to Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish.
"We couldn't think of an idea for a sitcom and we owed TalkBack, the production company, a sitcom for our office. TalkBack gave us an office so we wouldn't have to live together any more and we had to give them a sitcom in exchange. We were sitting there, torturing ourselves, trying to come up with an idea. We had half ideas, some of which were exciting and then we'd hit a wall and couldn't go any further. And suddenly we just said what we could do is a sketch show. We've got so many ideas for sketches and it's a form we really like."
- Graham Linehan. Source: www.house-of-hatch.com
When asked to explain the show's title, the writers' usual response was that Big Train wasn't big and nor was it a train which left a lot of people wondering exactly what it was. What it actually was was a collection of silly, surreal sketches in the same vein as Monty Python's Flying Circus with no running characters and no sketches based entirely around single catchphrases, hence the polar opposite to The Fast Show which was deemed by the UK public to be the cutting edge of comedy genius at the time.
We saw Chairman Mao (played by the actor Kevin Eldon) leaping from his deathbed to sing Virginia Plain, Sir George Martin telling non-stop Beatles anecdotes while being taken hostage by Middle Eastern terrorists and a glimpse into one of Adolf Hitler's after-show parties. Animated segments popped in and out in the form of line drawings showing coverage of the World Stare-Out Championships, created by Paul Hatcher which became the only running gag in the show but one that still kept a stock of surprises to be revealed throughout the series. In the world of Big Train, nothing was quite as it seemed.
The result? Vastly under-appreciated comedy that, while not being as good as Father Ted and, yes, patchy in areas, sank into obscurity while The Fast Show kept growing and growing in popularity. But then aren't most things in life always best when they're not hugely popular?
Six half-hour episodes were made and shown on BBC2 in 1998. A second series was promised but never materialised while Matthews returned to the genre of the sitcom with Hippies and Linehan assisting with the writing and direction of the Dylan Moran comedy Black Books.
"One of the freshest and funniest things in ages, this rises to Python heights in some moments of inspired daftness."
- The Guardian
"It's nonsense. It's ridiculous. It's wonderful."
- The Mirror
"...I was looking forward to BBC2's Big Train - but I'm still waiting for it to pull out of the station. It is a collection of weak sketches stretched beyond breaking point, intermixed with ill-judged docu-soaps spoofs and surrealism that falls flat on it's face. And when the writers run out of ideas they drop in some swearing to get a cheap laugh. Hysterical. If this is the level of comedy the BBC is commissioning, I suspect there are many out there who think they could do better - and I'm sure they probably could."
- Jonathan Mock, letter to the Radio Times
during my time with usenet, jonathan mock contributed to the newsgroup alt.comedy.british and his hatred for the programme was so intense that he 'quickly' (so he said) wrote a sketch to what he considered was the standard of big train. to be honest with you, it was very funny and i doubt that he didn't have a chuckle to himself when he wrote it. i'll try and node it some time, but in the meantime search for 'big train sketch writing made easy' on deja.com.
The second coming. Comedy without frontiers, sketches without ends.
The moderately-anticipated, will-they-won't-they second series began broadcasting on BBC2 weekly from the 7th January, 2002 with a slight change of line-up. Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg and arguably the true star of the first series, Mark Heap stayed on, joined with Rebecca Front and Tracy-Ann Oberman.
For the most part, the series started well but by the time the third episode arrived it had started to go drastically downhill. Rather than present funny, surreal situations the comedy element was dropped leaving only a bunch of short films that made no sense whatsoever. Anti-comedy which was embarrassing to watch, I can only assume that Arthur Matthews and Graham Linehan's input to the series was either minimal or under duress to fill the BBC's all-important Monday Night Comedy schedules, the number of writers listed in the credits seems to suggest that maybe the BBC started to fall back on the sketch show submissions they recieve. I dunno, that's my theory. Still. At least there'll always be the first series.
World Stare-Out Championships The Fast Show Simon Pegg Ack! You lost consciousness!
Mark Heap Screaming Lord Sutch Adam and Joe Black Books
Ken Morse TalkBack Productions Father Ted Learning European history from Porn
Chris Morris The 99p Challenge Amelia Bullmore Simon Greenall
Nightmare pictures at an Internet exhibition, set to music Bobbins Walter Johnson Kevin Eldon
Souvlaki Staring contest Monty Python's Flying Circus
The Three Laws of Thermodynamics
Mutant brains of London cabbies
Alcohol vs. ecstasy
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Join Brian Rose as he travels to Brighton to spend time with Norman Quentin Cook aka Fatboy Slim at his beachside home and studio in Brighton. Fatboy Slim now tours the world relentlessly as one of the most in-demand DJs on the planet with one mission in life: to make people happy.
We also talk to Wyclef Jean, the legendary musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. Wyclef goes deep talking to us about life in Haiti, what it was like to be young and catapulted to international stardom and life after The Fugees.
Listen to Darryl DMC McDaniels, the legendary musician, author, publisher, and founding member of the iconic, hip-hop group Run DMC talk about his time coming up in the ’80s to what it’s like to run his own comic book publishing house.
Learn from author Graham Hancock, whose mission is to rewrite history. His breadth of historical knowledge is immense and fascinating and we go deep into the gruesome Aztec history behind his new book “WarGod”, and why he believes all politicians should drink Ayahuasca 10 times before taking office.
Or listen to gonzo journalist Jon Ronson, the author of “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and “The Psychopath Test” tell stories about his latest screenwriting project “Frank” starring Michael Fassbender.
Join Brian as he sits down with the powerhouse author, Robert Greene, to talk about mastery, his best-selling books “The 48 Laws of Power” and “The Art of Seduction” and what he learned from rapper 50 Cent when co-writing “The 50th Law”.
The Visionaries And Entertainers
Listen to the hilarious comedian and actor Eddie Izzard, talk about his craft as a comedian, actor and all-round creative chameleon. Or gain insight from Diego Perez, the meditator, writer, and speaker known as Yung Pueblo. His message is of self-healing, self-love and the wisdom that comes with truly knowing oneself.
We also sit down with the British musician, actor, and producer, Ashley Walters, who is best known for playing the lead role in ‘Top Boy’, the Netflix show and modern cultural phenomenon.
Roy Jones Jr - Mike Tyson Fight Is My Biggest Test Yet: Why I’m Prepared To Die
Roy Jones Jr, AKA Superman, Captain Hook or just plain old RJ is, without doubt, one of the pound...
Lord Alan Sugar - We Need To Get Everyone Back To Work: Why My Employees Have Returned to the Office
Lord Alan Sugar is the iconic British business magnate, former political adviser, and host of the long running and...
Michael Franzese - Mafia Secrets Revealed: How This Former Mob Boss Became The Highest Paid Gangster
Michael Franzese, the American former New York mobster. He masterminded brilliant scams on the edge of the legitimate business...
Free Business Course 1/3 BULLETPROOF YOUR BUSINESS IDEA
John Cleese - Creativity: How Modern Culture Has Stifled Comedy And Shifted What Is "Funny"
Peter Bleksley - Former Scotland Yard Detective: Why I'm Hunting A Killer Who Has Been On The Run For 15 Years
Peter Bleksley is a former cop and undercover detective turned author, and broadcaster, who spent over twenty years of...
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306 U.S. 118 - Tennessee Electric Power Co v. Tennessee Valley Authority
306 US 118 Tennessee Electric Power Co v. Tennessee Valley Authority
83 L.Ed. 543
TENNESSEE ELECTRIC POWER CO. et al.
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY et al.
Argued Nov. 14, 15, 1938.
Messrs. Raymond T. Jackson, of Cleveland, Ohio, John C. Weadock, of New York City, and Charles C. Trabue, of Nashville, Tenn., for appellants.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 119-126 intentionally omitted]
Messrs. John Lord O'Brian, of Buffalo, N.Y., and James Lawrence Fly, of Knoxville, Tenn., for appellees.
Mr. Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Tennessee Valley Authority Act1 erects a corporation, an instrumentality of the United States, to develop by a series of dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries a system of navigation and flood control and to sell the power created by the dams. Eighteen corporations which generate and distribute electricity in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and one which transmits electricity in Tennessee and Alabama, filed a bill in equity, in the Chancery Court of Knox County, Tennessee, against the Authority and its three executive officers and directors. The prayers were that the defendants be restrained from generating electricity out of water power created, or to be created, pursuant to the Act and the Authority's plan of construction and operation; from transmitting, distributing, supplying or selling electricity so generated, or to be generated, in competition with any of the complainants; from constructing, or financing the construction of, steam or hydro-electric generating stations, transmission lines or means of distribution, which will duplicate or compete with any of their services; from regulating their retail rates through any contract, scheme or device; and from substituting federal regulation for state regulation of local rates for electric service, more especially by incorporating in contracts for the sale of electricity terms fixing retail rates. The defendants removed the cause to the United States District Court for Eastern Tennessee and there answered the bill. As required by the Act of August 24, 1937,2 a court of three judges was convened which, after a trial, dismissed the bill.3
Fourteen of the complainants are here as appellants.4 They contend that water power cannot constitutionally be created in conformity to the terms of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the United States will, therefore, acquire no title to it, because it will not be produced as an incident of the exercise of the federal power to improve navigation and control floods in the navigable waters of the nation. They affirm that the statutory plan is a plain attempt, in the guise of exerting granted powers, to exercise a power not granted to the United States, namely, the generation and sale of electric energy; that the execution of the plan contravenes the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution, U.S.C.A., since the sale of electricity on the scale proposed will deprive the appellants of their property without due process of law, will result in federal regulation of the internal affairs of the states, and will deprive the people of the states of their guaranteed liberty to earn a livelihood and to acquire and use property subject only to state regulation. The appellees contest these contentions. For reasons about to be stated we do not consider or decide the issues thus mooted.
The Authority's acts, which the appellants claim give rise to a cause of action, comprise (1) the sale of electric energy at wholesale to municipalities empowered by state law to maintain and operate their own distribution systems; (2) the sale of such energy at wholesale to membership corporations organized under state law to purchase and distribute electricity to their members without profit; (3) the sale of firm and secondary power at wholesale to industrial plants.
The appellants are incorporated for the purpose and with the authority to conduct business as public utilities. Several do so only within the states of their incorporation; those chartered elsewhere have qualified as foreign corporations under the laws of the states in which they manufacture, transmit, or distribute electricity. Most of them have local franchises, licenses, or easements granted by municipalities or governmental subdivisions but it is admitted that none of these franchises confers an exclusive privilege.
While the Authority has not built or authorized any transmission line, has not sold or authorized the sale of electricity, or contracted for, or authorized any contract for, the sale of electricity by others, in territory served by nine of the appellants, it has done some or all of these things in areas served or susceptible of service by five of the companies; and it plans to enter in the same way the territory of other appellants. It is, clear, therefore, that its acts have resulted and will result in the establishment of municipal and cooperative distribution systems competing with those of some or all the appellants in territory which they now serve, or reasonably expect to serve by extension of their existing systems, and in direct competition with the appellants' enterprises through the sale of power to industries in areas now served by them or which they can serve by expansion of their facilities. The appellants assert that this competition will inflict substantial damage upon them. The appellees admit that such damage will result, but contend that it is not the basis of a cause of action since it is damnum absque injuria,—a damage not consequent upon the violation of any right recognized by law.
The appellants invoke the doctrine that one threatened with direct and special injury by the act of an agent of the government which, but for statutory authority for its performance, would be a violation of his legal rights, may challenge the validity of the statute in a suit against the agent.5 The principle is without application unless the right invaded is a legal right,—one of property, one arising out of contract, one protected against tortious invasion, or one founded on a statute which confers a privilege.6 The appellants urge that the Tennessee Valley Authority, by competing with them in the sale of electric energy, is destroying their property and rights without warrant, since the claimed authorization of its transactions is an unconstitutional statute. The pith of the complaint is the Authority's competition. But the appellants realize that competition between natural persons is lawful. They seek to stigmatize the Authority's present and proposed competition as 'illegal' by reliance on their franchises which they say are property protected from injury or destruction by competition. They classify the franchises in question as of two sorts,—those involved in the state's grant of incorporation or of domestication and those arising from the grant by the state or its subdivisions of the privilege to use and occupy public property and public places for the service of the public.
The charters of the companies which operate in the states of their incorporation give them legal existence and power to function as public utilities. The like existence and powers of those chartered in other states have been recognized by the laws of the states in which they do business permitting the domestication of foreign corporations. The appellants say that the franchise to be a public utility corporation and to function as such, with incidental powers, is a species of property which is directly taken or injured by the Authority's competition. They further urge that, though nonexclusive, the local franchises or easements, which grant them the privilege to serve within given municipal subdivisions, and to occupy streets and public places, are also property which the Authority is destroying by its competition. Since what is being done is justified by reference to the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, they say they have standing to challenge its constitutionality.
The vice of the position is that neither their charters nor their local franchises involve the grant of a monopoly or render competition illegal. The franchise to exist as a corporation, and to function as a public utility, in the absence of a specific charter contract on the subject, creates no right to be free of competition,7 and affords the corporation no legal cause of complaint by reason of the state's subsequently authorizing another to enter and operate in the same field.8 The local franchises, while having elements of property, confer no contractual or property right to be free of competition either from individuals, other public utility corporations, or the state or municipality granting the franchise.9 The grantor may preclude itself by contract from initiating or permitting such competition,10 but no such contractual obligation is here asserted.
The appellants further argue that even if invasion of their franchise rights does not give them standing, they may, by suit, challenge the constitutionality of the statutory grant of power the exercise of which results in competition. This is but to say that if the commodity used by a competitor was not lawfully obtained by it the corporation with which it competes may render it liable in damages or enjoin it from further competition because of the illegal derivation of that which it sells. If the thesis were sound, appellants could enjoin a competing corporation or agency on the ground that its injurious competition is ultra vires, that there is a defect in the grant of powers to it, or that the means of competition were acquired by some violation of the Constitution. The contention is foreclosed by prior decisions that the damage consequent on competition, otherwise lawful, is in such circumstances damnum absque injuria, and will not support a cause of action or a right to sue.11
Certain provisions of state statutes regulating public utilities are claimed to confer on the appellants the right to be free of competition. Each of the states in which any of them operates, save Mississippi,12 has established a commission to supervise and regulate public utilities. While the statutes13 differ in their provisions, all but that of Virginia require a public utility to obtain a certificate of convenience and necessity as a condition of doing business. The appellants commenced business in the various states prior to the adoption of the requirement of such certificates and, so far as appears, they have none covering their entire operations. They have, however, obtained certificates for extensions made since the passage of the statutes; and they claim that, in any event, these laws afford them protection from the Authority's competition since any utility now seeking to serve in their territory must obtain a certificate, and hence they have standing to maintain this suit against the Authority which has none. The position cannot be maintained. Whether competition between utilities shall be prohibited, regulated or forbidden is a matter of state policy. That policy is subject to alteration at the will of the legislature.14 The declaration of a specific policy creates no vested right to its maintenance in utilities then engaged in the business or thereafter embarking in it.
Moreover, the states in which the Authority is now functioning have declared their policy in respect of its activities. Alabama has enacted that federal agencies, instrumentalities, or corporations shall not be under the jurisdiction of its Public Service Commission;15 that municipalities and improvement authorities may own and operate electric generating and distributing systems and may contract with a federal agency such as the Authority for the purchase of energy, and stipulate as to the use of the energy, including rates of resale;16 that nonprofit membership corporations may be formed for the distribution among their members of electricity with like power to contract with the Authority for the required energy.17 Tennessee has amended Section 5448 of its Code, which defines public utilities, so as to exclude federal corporations such as the Authority from the jurisdiction of the State Utilities Commission;18 has authorized municipalities to own and operate electric generating transmission and distribution systems and to contract for power with the Authority on terms deemed appropriate, including the fixing of resale prices;19 has authorized the formation of nonprofit membership electric corporations with like powers to contract.20 Kentucky has authorized municipalities to establish and maintain light, heat, and power plants;21 and has provided for the organization of nonprofit cooperative electric corporations which may contract with the Authority for purchase of energy and stipulate as to resale prices.22 Mississippi, which has no state law for regulation of utilities, has empowered municipal and county governments to establish and maintain electric distribution systems which may buy power from the Authority and contract as to resale prices;23 has created a rural electrical authority and authorized the formation of power districts and nonprofit competitives, all competent to purchase energy from the Authority and distribute it and to contract with the Authority as to resale rates to consumers.24 The Authority's action in these states is consonant with state law, but, as has been shown, if the fact were otherwise, the appellants would have no standing to restrain its continuance.
As the Authority has not acted in any way in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia, the appellants' contention that its proposed entry into some or all of them confers a right to sue for an injunction against injury thereby threatened has even less support.25
The appellants may not raise any question of discrimination forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment, Const.U.S.C.A., involved in state exemption of the Authority from commission regulation. For this reason Frost v. Corporation Commission, 278 U.S. 515, 49 S.Ct. 235, 73 L.Ed. 483, on which they rely, is inapplicable. Manifestly there can be no challenge of the validity of state action in this suit.
A distinct ground upon which standing to maintain the suit is said to rest is that the acts of the Authority cannot be upheld without permitting federal regulation of purely local matters reserved to the states or the people by the Tenth Amendment and sanctioning destruction of the liberty said to be guaranteed by the Ninth Amendment to the people of the states to acquire property and employ it in a lawful business. The proposition can mean only that since the Authority sells electricity at rates lower than those heretofore maintained by the appellants such sale is an indirect regulation of appellants' rates. But the competition of a privately owned company authorized by the state to enter the territory served by one of the appellants would, in the same sense, constitute a regulation of rates. The contention amounts to saying that competition by an individual or a state corporation is not regulation but competition by a federal agency is. In contracting with municipalities and nonprofit corporations the Authority has stipulated respecting the price at which the energy supplied shall be resold by its vendees. That is said to be a regulation of the appellant's business. But it is nothing more than an incident of competition; it is but a method of seeking and assuring a market for the power which the Authority has for sale, and a lawful means to that end.26 The sale of government property in competition with others is not a violation of the Tenth Amendment. As we have seen there is no objection to the Authority's operations by the states, and, if this were not so, the appellants, absent the states or their officers, have no standing in this suit to raise any question under the amendment.27 These considerations also answer the argument that the appellants have a cause of action for alleged infractions of the Ninth Amendment.
Finally, it is asserted that the right to maintain this suit is sustained by certain allegations of concerted action by the officials of the Authority and the Public Works Administrator. The bill alleges that having adopted an unlawful plan the defendants have cooperated, and threaten to continue to cooperate in its execution, with Harold L. Ickes, as Administrator of the Federal Administration of Public Works, in a systematic campaign to coerce and intimidate the complainants into selling their existing systems in municipalities or territory in which the Authority desires to seize the market for electricity; that, in order to make this coercion effective, Ickes has, in cooperation with, or on request of, the Authority, announced loans and grants of federal funds to municipalities; that the Authority and Ickes have cooperated, and continue to do so, to force municipalities to purchase the Authority's power under threats that, unless they do, proposed loans and grants for municipal systems will not be made. The bill states that, though Ickes 'confederated and acted with the defendants in some of its illegal acts and is, therefore, a proper party, he is not a necessary party and is not joined as a defendant because he is beyond the jurisdiction of the court.' There is a prayer that the defendants be restrained from confederating and acting in concert with Ickes for the described ends.
The District Court finds that the Authority has not indulged in coercion, duress, fraud, or misrepresentation in procuring contracts with municipalities, cooperatives or other purchasers of power; has not acted with any malicious or malevolent motive; and has not conspired with municipalities or other purchasers of power. The record justifies these findings. It is claimed, however, that they are inconclusive since the court erroneously excluded much proffered evidence tending to sustain the charge. An examination of the record discloses that certain of the evidence offered was properly excluded, and that in other instances the rejection of that offered constituted, at most, harmless error.
Error is assigned to the trial court's refusal to permit the taking of the deposition of the Public Works Administrator. In view of the prior opportunity which the claimants had to take this deposition, the lateness of the application, and other factors, permission to take the deposition was a matter within the court's discretion and it does not appear that the discretion was abused.
The remaining assignments of error directed to the exclusion of evidence of cooperation between the two federal agencies go to the rejection of evidence consisting largely of correspondence between them and press releases or announcements by officers of one or the other. The record contains all but a few of these rejected documents, those omitted apparently not being thought of importance. Scrutiny of them compels the conclusion that if the rejected evidence had been admitted, the trial court's holding that a conspiracy had not been proved should not be overruled.
The only findings on this subject requested by the appellants were to the effect that the Public Works Administration has cooperated with and assisted the Tennessee Valley Authority in the furtherance of the latter's power program and that the former has made contracts and allotments for loans and grants to twenty-three municipalities in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, amounting to about fourteen million dollars, for the purpose of constructing municipal systems of distribute the Authority's power in competition with the appellants; that the applications for loan and grant in some instances specify that the municipal system will duplicate a privately owned system; in others that a large business will be done by the municipal plants because of the low promotional rates of the Authority; that some of the applications state they were filed to take advantage of the low rates offered by the Authority and that, with few exceptions, they state that the electricity to be distributed in the city will be purchased from the Authority. A further requested finding is that the applications of certain Alabama cities recite that they have secured written contracts from practically all consumers; that these contracts refer to lower rates to be secured, provided the rates charged by the city shall be thus prescribed by the Authority for resale at retail. The court refused to make the requested findings and error is assigned to this refusal. It is apparent that if the court had made the findings no conclusion of confederation or conspiracy, with malicious intent to harm the appellants or to destroy their business, would thereby have been required.
Cooperation by two federal officials, one acting under a statute whereby funds are provided for the erection of municipal plants, and the other under a statute authorizing the production of electricity and its sale to such plants, in competition with the appellants, does not spell conspiracy to injure their business. As the court below held, such cooperation does not involve unlawful concert, plan, or design, or cooperation to commit an unlawful act or to commit acts otherwise lawful with the intent to violate a statute.
In no aspect of the case have the appellants standing to maintain the suit and the bill was properly dismissed.
The decree is affirmed.
Mr. Justice REED took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
Mr. Justice BUTLER dissenting.
The decision just announced goes too far. It excludes from the courts complainants seeking constitutional protection of their property against defendants acting, as it is alleged, under invalid claim of governmental authority in setting up and carrying on a program calculated to destroy complainants' business. The issues joined by the parties, tried below and fully presented to this Court, include the question whether, when construed to authorize the things done and threatened by defendants, the challenged enactment is authorized by the Constitution or repugnant to the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments, U.S.C.A. The issues also include the question whether, as being applied, the Act is void because the execution of defendants' program will deprive complainants of their property without due process of law in contravention of the Fifth Amendment. This Court holds complainants have no standing to challenge the validity of the Act and puts aside as immaterial their claim that by defendants' unauthorized acts their properties are being destroyed.
The opinion states: 'The Authority's acts, which the appellants claim give rise to a cause of action, comprise (1) the sale of electric energy at wholesale to municipalities empowered by state law to maintain and operate their own distribution systems; (2) the sale of such energy at wholesale to membership corporations organized under state law to purchase and distribute electricity to their members without profit; (3) the sale of firm and secondary power at wholesale to industrial plants.'
That the substance of complainants' case may not be so compressed is disclosed by the summary of their bill that follows:
Complainants are 19 public utilities. Each, authorized by law, is engaged in generating and selling electricity within the political subdivisions of various States. Some have long-term contracts under which they furnish large quantities of electricity. They are more than able to fill the needs of the territories in which they operate and are ready to supply such additional facilities as may be needed in the future. Their properties are modern and economically operated and possess great value as going concerns. Their rates yield no more than a reasonable return and are fully regulated by the States in which they serve.
Defendants are the Tennessee Valley Authority, a body corporate created by the Act of May 18, 1933, with the right to sue and be sued, and its three directors, charged with the duty of exercising the powers of the Authority. Harold L. Ickes, the Administrator of the Public Works Administration, has confederated with defendants in some acts charged to be illegal; he is not sued because beyond the jurisdiction of the court. From its principal office at Knoxville, Tennessee, the Authority carries on a proprietary business as a public utility for the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.
On its face, the Act discloses purpose to authorize a large and indeterminate number of great works for the primary purpose of creating a vast supply of electric power, to use this power to establish the United States in the business of producing, transmitting, and selling electric power, and to dispose of this power in a manner inconsistent with the principles of our dual system and so as to govern the concerns reserved to the States. Any references in the Act to navigation or to any other constitutional objective are unsubstantial and mere pretenses or pretexts under which it is sought to achieve an object reserved to the States. Except with respect to power available at Wilson Dam prior to the acts complained of, the program is one of creating an outlet for power deliberately produced as a commercial enterprise to be sold in unlawful and destructive competition with power now available in adequate quantities.
The program contemplates ultimately the development of all power sites on the Tennessee River and all its tributaries as an integrated electric power system, the construction and operation of hydro-electric plants at these sites, the use of auxiliary steam plants, the interconnection of all plants, and the elimination of existing privately owned utilities.
In the area of over 40,000 square miles, there are 149 water power sites which, with auxiliary steam plants, will produce 25 billion k.w.h. annually. Present consumption of the area is 56% of that quantity. The electric power to be produced by defendants can only be sold through displacement of the complainants. Execution of the program will necessarily destroy all or a substantial part of the business and property of each of the complainants.
Defendants have taken over Wilson Dam and the nitrate plant and have commenced, or recommended to Congress, the construction of 10 other dams; their pro gram calls for 11 completed dams by July 1, 1943. They have prepared plans for the construction of high-tension transmission lines from the dams to at least 14 cities and indeed to the whole area. They have purchased or are attempting to purchase distribution systems in at least 15 cities. They have entered into contracts to sell power to various communities and industries for a 20-year period and have agreed to supply firm power to other and larger cities.
The avowed purpose of the program is to effect a federal regulation of intrastate electric rates and service by a so-called 'yardstick' method or 'regulation by competition'. The yardstick for wholesale rates is the wholesale rate charged by the Authority. It is unreasonable and confiscatory as a measure of complainants' rates in that it excludes the cost of the major part of the investment necessary to render the service and excludes necessary operating expenses. The yardstick for retail rates is the sum of the wholesale rate and the amount which the Authority allows municipalities to add to the wholesale rate to cover cost of local distribution; it excludes many items of necessary cost of rendering the service.
Pursuant to a plan promulgated in 1933, defendants are conducting a systematic campaign for the purpose of disrupting the established business relations between complainants and their customers, destroying the good will built up by complainants, seizing their markets and inciting the residents of communities served by them to cooperate with defendants in their scheme to develop an absolute monopoly.
With full knowledge of the noncompensatory and confiscatory character of the yardstick rates, they have represented to the inhabitants of communities served by complainants that these 'yardsticks' were fair measures of reasonable rates and have thereby attempted to incite the inhabitants to build publicly owned systems using power furnished by the Authority, to lead them to believe that they are being charged unreasonable rates, to stir up political agitation against privately owned utilities and to bring complainants into disrepute and disfavor.
The defendants attempt to coerce complainants to sell distribution systems and transmission lines, in territories which defendants intend to appropriate, at prices far below fair value by threatening that, unless complainants accede, they will construct, or cause to be constructed, duplicate facilities subsidized in construction and operation by federal funds and render complainants' properties wholly valueless. The Administrator of the Public Works Administration has cooperated with defendants. Defendants inform the owners that, unless they sell, either the Authority or the municipalities will build duplicate systems with federal funds. At defendants' request, the Administrator authorizes and announces a gift to the municipality of from 30% to 45% of the cost of the duplicate system and agrees to lend the balance, repayable out of earnings, if any, of the duplicate plant, upon condition that the municipality will agree to use power of the Authority and will, as soon as possible, oust the existing utility. If the utility agrees to sell, the allotments are canceled without regard to the will of the municipality. This policy has already been applied in certain cities. The defendants and Administrator also cooperate to force municipalities to agree to purchase power furnished by the Authority by threats that otherwise federal allotments for public works will be canceled or denied.
Defendants have caused bills, designed to forward their power program, to be submitted to the legislatures of various States in the area and have lobbied for and brought about their passage. They have installed Authority personnel throughout the area to disseminate propaganda in behalf of the program. The Electric Home and Farm Authority, a corporation set up as a governmental agency of which the individual defendants are directors, finances sale of electrical devices, prints and circulates costly advertising in praise of the Authority program. Defendants have offered to supply electricity to large industrial customers of some of the complainants at noncompensatory and discriminatory rates. They have attempted to persuade complainants' customers to break existing contracts. Complainants cannot meet this competition because of the noncompensatory rates and because they are forbidden by state law to make discriminatory rates.
The bill prays invalidation of the Act as unconstitutional and injunction and other relief against defendants.
Unquestionably, the bill shows that complainants are not asserting a right held or complaining of an injury sustained in common with the general public. They allege facts that unmistakably show that each has a valuable right as a public utility, non-exclusive though it is, to serve in territory covered by its franchise, and that, inevitably the value of its business and property used will suffer irreparable diminution by defendants' program and acts complained of. If, because of conflict with the Constitution, the Act does not authorize the enterprise formulated and being executed by defendants, then their conduct is unlawful and inflicts upon complainants direct and special injury of great consequence. Therefore, they are entitled to have this Court decide upon the constitutional questions they have brought here. See Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447, 488, 43 S.Ct. 597, 601, 67 L.Ed. 1078; Frost v. Corporation Commission, 278 U.S. 515, 521, 49 S.Ct. 235, 237, 73 L.Ed. 483.
Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS joins in this opinion.
Act of May 18, 1933, 48 Stat. 58, as amended by Act of August 31, 1935, 49 Stat. 1075, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 831 et seq., 16 U.S.C.A. § 831 et seq.
50 Stat. 751, 752, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 380a, 28 U.S.C.A. § 380a.
D.C., 21 F.Supp. 947.
Georgia Power Company was enjoined from maintaining the action. See Georgia Power Co. v. Tennessee Valley Authority, D.C., 17 F.Supp. 769; Id., 5 Cir., 89 F.2d 218; Id., 302 U.S. 692, 58 S.Ct. 11, 82 L.Ed. 535. Four other complainants have since been permitted to withdraw from the litigation without prejudice to its prosecution by the remaining appellants.
Philadelphia Co. v. Stimson, 223 U.S. 605, 619, 32 S.Ct. 340, 343, 56 L.Ed. 570; Stafford v. Wallace, 258 U.S. 495, 512, 42 S.Ct. 397, 400, 66 L.Ed. 735, 23 A.L.R. 229; Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447, 488, 43 S.Ct. 597, 601, 67 L.Ed. 1078. The same rule applies to suits against state officers: Osborn v. Bank of United States, 9 Wheat. 738, 857, 859, 6 L.Ed. 204; Terrace v. Thompson, 263 U.S. 197, 214, 44 S.Ct. 15, 17, 68 L.Ed. 255; Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U.S. 378, 393, 53 S.Ct. 190, 193, 77 L.Ed. 375.
In re Ayers, 123 U.S. 443, 8 S.Ct. 164, 31 L.Ed. 216; Walla Walla v. Walla Walla Water Co., 172 U.S. 1, 19 S.Ct. 77, 43 L.Ed. 341; American School of Magnetic Healing v. McAnnulty, 187 U.S. 94, 23 S.Ct. 33, 47 L.Ed. 90; Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714, 13 L.R.A., N.S., 932, 14 Ann.Cas. 764; Scully v. Bird, 209 U.S. 481, 28 S.Ct. 597, 52 L.Ed. 899; Philadelphia Co. v. Stimson, supra; Lane v. Watts, 234 U.S. 525, 34 S.Ct. 965, 58 L.Ed. 1440; Truax v. Raich, 239 U.S. 33, 36 S.Ct. 7, 60 L.Ed. 131, L.R.A., 1916D, 545, Ann.Cas. 1917B, 283; Lipke v. Lederer, 259 U.S. 557, 42 S.Ct. 549, 66 L.Ed. 1061.
See Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 11 Pet. 420, 548, 9 L.Ed. 773; Washington & B. Turnpike Co. v. State of Maryland, 3 Wall. 210, 213, 18 L.Ed. 180; Hamilton Gaslight & Coke Co. v. Hamilton City, 146 U.S. 258, 268, 13 S.Ct. 90, 93, 36 L.Ed. 963; Pearsall v. Great Northern Railway Co., 161 U.S. 646, 664, 16 S.Ct. 705, 709, 40 L.Ed. 838.
Compare Lehigh Water Co. v. Easton, 121 U.S. 388, 7 S.Ct. 916, 30 L.Ed. 1059.
Joplin v. Southwest Missouri Light Co., 191 U.S. 150, 24 S.Ct. 43, 48 L.Ed. 127; Helena Waterworks Co. v. Helena, 195 U.S. 383, 393, 25 S.Ct. 40, 43, 49 L.Ed. 245; Madera Waterworks v. Madera, 228 U.S. 454, 33 S.Ct. 571, 57 L.Ed. 915; Green v. Frazier, 253 U.S. 233, 40 S.Ct. 499, 64 L.Ed. 878; Puget Sound Power & Light Co. v. Seattle, 291 U.S. 619, 624, 54 S.Ct. 542, 544, 78 L.Ed. 1025.
Walla Walla v. Walla Walla Water Co., supra; Superior Water, L. & P. Co. v. Superior, 263 U.S. 125, 44 S.Ct. 82, 68 L.Ed. 204.
New Orleans, M. & T.R. Co. Ellerman, 105 U.S. 166, 173, 26 L.Ed. 1015; Alabama Power Co. v. Ickes, 302 U.S. 464, 479—483, 58 S.Ct. 300, 303—305, 82 L.Ed. 374, and cases cited; Greenwood County v. Duke Power Co., 4 Cir., 81 F.2d 986, 997; Duke Power Co. v. Greenwood County, 4 Cir., 91 F.2d 665, 676, affirmed 302 U.S. 485, 58 S.Ct. 306, 82 L.Ed. 381.
In Mississippi there is no State Commission, but municipalities are given the authority to regulate utilities within their territorial limits. Mississippi Code (1930) §§ 2400, 2401, 2414.
Alabama Code (1928) § 9795; Carroll's Kentucky Statutes (1936) § 3952-25; North Carolina Code (1935) § 1037(d); Williams' Tennessee Code (1934) § 5502-3; South Carolina Code (1934 Supp.) § 8555-2(23); Virginia Code (1936) §§ 3693—3774k; West Virginia Code (1937) § 2562(1).
Compare Wheeling & B. Bridge Co. v. Wheeling Bridge Co., 138 U.S. 287, 292, 11 S.Ct. 301, 302, 34 L.Ed. 967; Williams v. Wingo, 177 U.S. 601, 604, 20 S.Ct. 793, 794, 44 L.Ed. 905.
Alabama Acts, Regular Session 1935, No. 1, p. 1.
Alabama Acts, Regular Session 1935, No. 155, p. 201.
Alabama Acts, Regular Session 1935, No. 45, p. 100.
Tennessee Public Acts 1935, chap. 42, p. 98.
Tennessee Public Acts 1935, chap. 32, p. 28; Tennessee Public Acts 1935, chap. 37, p. 78.
Tennessee Public Acts 1937, chap. 231, p. 882.
Caroll's Kentucky Statutes (1936) §§ 3480d-1 to 3480d-22.
Kentucky Acts, Fourth Extraordinary Session, 1936—1937, chap. 6, p. 25.
Mississippi Laws, 1936, chap. 185, p. 354; Chap. 271, p. 531.
Mississippi Laws 1936, chap. 183, p. 334; chap. 187, p. 370; chap. 184, p. 342.
In fact several of the states in question have statutes which would to some extent, and in some circumstances, permit the purchase and use of power created by the Authority. In all of them municipalities may establish and operate their own distribution systems: North Carolina Code (1935) § 2807; South Carolina Code (1932) §§ 7278—7280, 8262; Virginia Code (1936) § 3031; West Virginia Code (1937) §§ 494, 591(86). North Carolina and Virginia have statutes permitting the formation of cooperatives which may buy power from the Authority under contracts fixing resale rates: Public Laws of North Carolina, 1935, chap. 291, p. 312; Virginia Code (1936) chap. 159A, section 4057(1), et seq. South Carolina has created a State Rural Electrification Authority with power to buy electricity from any federal agency: South Carolina Code (1936 Supplement) § 6010-2.
Oregon & Calif. R. Co. v. United States, 238 U.S. 393, 35 S.Ct. 908, 59 L.Ed. 1360; United States v. Gratiot, 26 Fed.Cas. pp. 12, 13, 14, No. 15,249, affirmed 14 Pet. 526, 10 L.Ed. 573.
Compare Georgia Power Co. v. Tennessee Valley Authority, D.C., 14 F.Supp. 673, 676.
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Arts & Culture » Eye Drive
Hoard mentality
Consider this: In its most recent earnings statement, the Walt Disney Co. announced that its "revenues for the year increased 9 percent to $25 billion." That's BILLION. With a B.
Obviously, we're talking about a company with incredible resources and cash flow. Yet there was Disney CEO Michael Eisner in London last week, poor-mouthing the company's profit potential to European investors. In his speech, Eisner likened Disney's recent performance to that of a badly maintained car running "on only half of its cylinders."
OK, so some of Disney's most recent films -- "Fantasia 2000," "Mission to Mars," "Dinosaur" and "102 Dalmatians" -- failed to catch fire at the box office. And, what with the suddenly softening economy, consumers might be opting to put off their next trip to Disney World or Disneyland for a year or so. But in spite of these concerns, the Disney Co.'s recent performance could hardly be compared to that of an out-of-tune Yugo.
And yet there have been numerous signs this year that senior Disney officials were making a real effort to economize. Take, for instance, the recent confirmation that Epcot's Millennium Village building -- designed to house an array of ever-changing international exhibits, along the lines of the "Innoventions" pavilion -- will instead become corporate meeting space. Why? Because huge corporations like Microsoft or Ford are able to pay top dollar for the privilege of holding their conventions right at the edge of the World Showcase Lagoon.
Add to this the two new low-budget attractions that will be added to Disney World in 2001. Sure, the Magic Kingdom's "Magic Carpets of Agrabah" and Animal Kingdom's "Triceratops Spin" look like fun. But there's no hiding that these attractions are just lightly rethemed carnival rides, not like the state-of-the-art theme-park extravaganzas we're used to seeing from Walt Disney Imagineering. (Disney also has announced plans to add a third cost-conscious attraction in the not-so-distant future. "Primeval Whirl" -- a scaled-down, family-style roller coaster -- is tentatively slated to open in Animal Kingdom's Dinoland U.S.A. in the spring of 2002.)
It's worth noting that these two attractions were fast-tracked for Orlando over the Imagineers' objections. WDI had designed two ambitious additions for the Florida theme parks -- the "Fire Mountain" roller coaster for the Magic Kingdom as well as a whole new land for Animal Kingdom, Beastly Kingdom. But the sharp-pencil boys back in Burbank thought that the stuff Imagineering had proposed cost too much to build. The ideas were tabled in favor of rides that Disney could buy right off the shelf from outside vendors.
Also disturbing is Disney's recent decision to begin selling off the company's old artwork, costumes and props through the Internet auction site eBay. By signing on to www.ebay.disney.com, anyone can bid on vintage pieces of Disneyana. Among the more impressive items sold recently was the "Disneyland" sign. Full House star John Stamos snapped up that 14-foot-tall bauble for a mere $30,700.
Granted, Disney's probably got warehouses full of stuff that they'd be glad to get rid of. And selling this junk at top dollar to crazed collectors is a smart way to both clean house and make a buck.
And still the economies continue. Last week, Eisner announced plans to turn around Walt Disney Studios' losing streak by cutting $500 million worth of overhead and development cost for its underperforming live-action division.
But when it's all taken together -- a theme-park display turned into lucrative meeting space, high-cost attractions canceled in favor of low-budget carny rides, the dumping of company memorabilia via the Internet, the slash in the studio's budget -- one has to wonder: What is Disney planning to do with all the money it's been saving?
It's not as if stockholders can count on a windfall; historically, the Walt Disney Co. is reluctant to pay out dividends. It prefers to reinvest any profits and then reward stockholders for their loyalty by doubling or tripling their holdings through well-timed stock splits. Is the Disney Co. being so aggressive about containing costs because itÃ?s really having financial problems? Or is something else in the wind?
During his talk with European investors, Eisner hinted that the company might be looking outside the United States for another acquisition, similar to Disney's $19 billion purchase of Capital Cities/ ABC in 1995. It was rumored that the Mouse was looking to buy UK music giant EMI. But Eisner refuted that rumor last week, saying that the British recording company's asking current price was billions more than the Disney Co. is willing to spend.
It's certainly not beneath Eisner to downplay Disney's recent financial performance as a negotiating tactic. It's not exactly begging, but by poor-mouthing the company's profit potential he could be trying to avoid paying top dollar for some European entertainment conglomerate that he'd like Disney to acquire.
Given all the money Disney appears to be stockpiling, obviously something big is in the works. Better keep an eye on Mickey's wallet. When that baby finally opens up, the company's going to add something pretty impressive to its portfolio.
If only Eisner would share the contents of his Christmas list.
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7 MARCH 2014 – PROTEST ACTION AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN BRITISH CONSULATE
by MRN | Mar 4, 2014 | Press Releases | 0 comments
FREE MUAZZAM BEGG NOW !!!
The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA), Johannesburg will be protesting against the unjust and morally reprehensible incarceration of Muazzam Begg (Begg) presently held by British Police Authorities at West Midlands Police in Birmingham.
Begg, a Muslim British citizen, who, with his family , moved to Afghanistan in 2001 to run a girls school , was held in the US run military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for nearly three years. This followed his detention in Islamabad in Pakistan where he lived after the war in Afghanistan started; and his subsequent incarceration at the Bagram internment centre in Afghanistan for about a year .He was never charged with any offence. He was released in January 2005 along with three other British citizens and returned to the UK.
On 25 February 2014 Begg, together with amongst others, Gerrie Tehari, was arrested in London. He faces alleged “terror offences” related to Syria. He has been remanded in custody after appearing in courton 1 March 2014.
The MLA calls for the immediate release of Begg, and all other prisoners incarcerated under the unjust and inhumane British “anti terror “laws. The British “anti terror” laws define terrorism so broadly that almost any act (even one intended and done to pursue a just and legitimate cause) would constitute a terrorist act.
Thus far only Muslims have been prosecuted under the British “anti-terror” legislation.
The MLA stands in solidarity with CAGE, UK, an organisation Moazzam Begg co-directs, and one committed to protecting the rights of Muslim prisoners incarcerated by countries such as the UK and the U.S.A in their much publicised “war on terror”.
The MLA calls on all people and organisations of conscience to stand for justice, and protest against yet another attempt by the UK to terrorise Begg and other campaigners for justice.
You are invited to join our protest action due to take place at the British Consulate. The details are provided hereunder:
Date: Friday, 7 March 2014
Physical Address: 275 Jan Smuts Avenue, Dunkeld West, 2196
Issued by the MLA
1. Nadeem Mahomed – The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA)
E-mail: nadeem@mahomedlaw.co.za
2. Feroze Boda – The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA)
Contact No. 082 903 0427
E-Mail: feroze@iafrica.com
3. Yusuf Dockrat – The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA)
E-Mail: yusuf@dockrat.co.za
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Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, describes the use of radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communication.
I Have A Cell Phone. Why Do I Need Amateur Radio?
In an age where communication is often taken for granted, it’s easy to overlook the importance of Ham Radio.We often receive questions like: “Why do I need Ham Radio when I have a cell phone?” or “Didn’t the internet kill Ham Radio?” While these modern forms of communication may have shifted the attention away from Ham Radio, by no means did it make it unnecessary. In fact, during a disaster, it’s very likely that these modern forms of communication will be the first ones to fail.The number one reason for preparedness minded people to consider Ham Radio is its reliability during times of crisis. Since the early 1900s, this form of communication has reliably made it through every major crisis, disaster, and emergency situation with flying colors. When all other forms of communication fail, Hams are often the ones who are called upon to help communicate in and out of the disaster zone.When the grid goes down, the Ham Bands will still be alive and very active.
Why Should I Become Involved?
Being an amateur radio operator is a good way to provide community service.
While casual communication is one of the first things that attracts people to Ham Radio, operators also serve a larger purpose – in times of crisis, many modern technologies for communication fail. When this happens, radio channels are frequently used to communicate critical information to help those in need, and Ham operators will work to help with these communications. Operators also work with public service agencies when necessary, assisting in relief efforts during natural disasters or other crises. As such, Amateur Radio provides interested operators a meaningful way of volunteering. Besides, Amateur Radio is involved in the STEM curriculum in schools.
Check out our “Getting Started” page for a step by step guide to getting started.
What Equipment Do I Need To Get Started?
Basically you need a handheld radio. Our recommendation is to purchase an analog/DMR or analog/D-Star radio along with a Hotspot. With this setup a new technician will be able to communicate locally and around the world. MCARS will help guide you on specific equipment.
Can I Really Talk Around The World?
Absolutely! Not too many years ago that privilege was for the General and Extra Class operators. Now technology allows Technicians to communicate around the world via voice or digital.
How Can I Help My Community And Others?
First, get your license. Second, get involved with your local club (MCARS). Third, practice your communication skills by getting involved with Nets. Fourth, learn how to really operate your equipment. Fifth, Get involved with your local RACES, ARES or NTS group. Your involvement not only helps the community but other surrounding areas when disaster strikes.
Why Is It Called Ham Radio?
Well, it goes like this: The word “HAM” as applied to 1908 was the station CALL of the first amateur wireless stations operated by some amateurs of the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY and POOGIE MURRAY. At first they called their station “HYMAN-ALMY-MURRAY” then changed to HAM for short.
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/ Research / Biographies / Hewett, Edwin C.
Hewett, Edwin C.
Author: Candace Summers, 2007 and 2020
Edwin Charles Hewett taught at Illinois State Normal University and served as president from 1876 to 1890. As president, he assembled a teaching exhibit for the Philadelphia Exposition—the World’s Fair in 1876—and hired Ange Milner as ISNU’s first fulltime librarian. He debated famed feminist and suffragist Susan B. Anthony on the topic of women’s right to vote when she visited Bloomington in 1870. He was decidedly against women participating in the “unfeminine act” of voting. Anthony is visiting Evergreen Memorial Cemetery this year, where Hewett is buried.
If you would like to read the full-citation version of this biography, please download the PDF (97KB).
Student Biography
Edwin C. Hewett was born November 1, 1828 in Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was the first child of Timothy and Lavina Hewett. Hewett’s father was a farmer, wheelwright, and plow-maker. His family was a frugal, God-fearing household and members of the Congregationalist Church. One of the core values of the Congregationalists, which his parents instilled in him and his brothers and sisters, was the value of earning their livelihood by honest labor. Thus, because of his parents’ beliefs, Hewett was subject to earning his own living at a young age and learned the trade of shoemaking by the age of 13. He was also educated in the common schools where he received his primary education.
After being a shoemaker for eight years, Hewett began to teach—taking his first position at the age of 21, making $13 per month for his efforts (which would be about $420 in 2018). His interest in teaching came from attending an academy when he was a younger man. He went on to attend the State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and graduated in 1852. In 1853, he became an assistant teacher at this school and taught there for four years.
It was during his time at Bridgewater that Hewett became engaged to Angeline Benton of Franklin County, Massachusetts. However, Benton and her family soon moved to Illinois and settled in the town of Sublette in Lee County. Hewett subsequently obtained a new job as the principal of Thomas Grammar School in Worcester, Massachusetts. The larger salary of his position at Thomas Grammar School allowed him to journey to Illinois, where he married Benton on August 23, 1857 in Lee County, Illinois. This union produced two children—Paul, who died in infancy; and May, who lived into adulthood.
Charles Hovey, the first president of Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) in Normal, Illinois, was recruiting teachers for the new school and somehow had heard of Hewett, probably from others who had been at Bridgewater. Having moved to Illinois to marry, when Hovey offered Hewett a position at $1,200 a year (which would be $36,363 in 2018), he gladly accepted the offer. In the fall of 1858, he was officially hired as a professor of history and geography at ISNU.
The first classes offered by ISNU were held in Majors Hall located in downtown Bloomington at the corner of East and Front streets. Hewett and his wife rented rooms near where he taught. When classes moved to campus in 1860, upon the competition of the Old Main building, the Hewetts built a house at 202 W. Ash Street. They followed Hovey’s advice to build it large enough to house students and collect some rent, as well as provide some much-needed living space for students on the tiny campus.
College was quite different during those times than it is now. While Hewett was a history and geography professor he also, at one time or another, taught mathematics, literature, pedagogy (how to teach others), spelling, and psychology. He claimed later in his teaching career that he probably had every enrolled student in at least one of his classes.
Hewett’s classroom was no place to “dawdle.” He was a man who believed in the “facts” and the “truth.” He strongly encouraged his students to “pay attention and guard against uttering nonsense,” and to really think before they speak or act. His pet aversion was “sham.” Hewett’s sterling character “demanded that people and things should be what they seemed and he practiced his belief in his own life.” He was a firm believer in thoroughness, and, because of this belief, he practiced the exacting method of recitation—which he had learned at the Bridgewater Normal School. His methods of teaching would probably be difficult to accept these days. In geography the prime concerns were map drawing and definitions. No student was allowed to pass his geography class unless he or she “could go to the blackboard and draw freehand, to approximate scale,” any of the continents, and locate countries, states, important cities, and significant physical features, such as rivers, peninsulas, and mountains. Hewett was never out to win popularity contests. Yet, he was held in the highest regard by students, faculty, and the community alike because of his high standards, skills as a teacher, and genuine qualities as a person.
Hewett, like many men of the time, was a known opponent of women’s right to vote. He felt that voting was “essentially an unfeminine act” and that the “hand that casts the ballot must be able to use the musket in its defense. The vote and muscle must go together.” The earliest known instance of Hewett speaking on this subject was March 6, 1868. He presented the lecture “Is it Best for Women to Vote?” (arguing that it was not best) at Normal Hall that evening. In his lecture he characterized female orators as “bawling women” (perhaps referring to such renowned female orators as Susan B. Anthony), and that “a marriage must have one person as the head—not a confederacy of two.” The Pantagraph reported that his lecture against woman’s suffrage was listened to attentively by a good audience, “a goodly number of whom seemed to appreciate what the speaker said”—though it is not known how many, if any, of the audience were women.
However, a two-part letter to the editor of the Pantagraph appeared four days after the lecture, giving a scathing account of Hewett’s views on women’s suffrage. The author of the letters (simply known as S) stated that, “intelligent truth seekers can never be satisfied with a dogmatic assertion” that “voting is essentially an unfeminine act.” According to the author, how can it be that women are allowed to “vote her wish in church…in the literary society, sewing circle, or school,” but not use a similar piece of paper “to deposit in a ballot box where she has a similar opinion and equal interest as a man?” The author ended their scathing summary by complementing Professor Hewett about the stories he told, which were “good—very good.” “They made us laugh twenty years ago, and have had a similar effect…ever since.”
Hewett in turn wrote his own letter to the editor in response to this criticism. On March 17, the Pantagraph printed his response defending his position and his opinion. Hewett stated that he had “taken my position on this after long and careful thought, and investigation of both sides of this question.” He further stated that he did “not care to say any more about it, till I find an opponent who can fairly hear, and fairly make, an argument.” It appears, he would get that chance almost exactly two years later.
On Friday, March 18, 1870, Hewett debated renowned suffragist and lecturer Susan B. Anthony at Schroeder’s Opera House in downtown Bloomington. The topic, “Is it best for the women of America that they should vote?”—with Hewett again arguing that it was not best. Tickets were 50 cents (which today would be the equivalent of about $10), with reserved seating costing an extra 25 cents.
Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts in 1820. From an early age, she was inspired by the Quaker belief that everyone was equal under God, and eventually became an icon of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. In addition to suffrage, she was an ardent supporter of temperance and abolition.
Throughout much of her life, Anthony traveled the country to give speeches, circulate petitions, and organize women’s rights organizations. When she debated Hewett, she was in the midst of a lecture tour across Illinois, having already delivered suffrage speeches earlier that month in Peoria and Bloomington, among other communities. Several days before her debate with Hewett, the Pantagraph noted that Anthony “appears to be an earnest, ardent, conscientious worker for the elevation of woman from the social and political disadvantages under which she rests.” In a similar article two days before the much-anticipated debate, the Pantagraph noted that Hewett was a “gentleman of high talent, and great ability, an independent thinker and a logical debater.” In particular, the Pantagraph made a point to report that Hewett was an “honest, conscientious opponent of Woman Suffrage, not from mere prejudice, but from deliberate conviction.”
That evening, the opera house was filled to capacity—every seat, the aisles, galleries, and stage “were occupied by an intelligent and eager audience.” The streetcars “brought crowds of people from Normal,” and the trains from various railroads brought spectators from many adjoining towns.
The debate began following the “ladies first” dictum, and Anthony declared in her opening 25 minutes that women were “treated as minors—and it is always demoralizing to any body[sic] to be treated as a minor or irresponsible being. The laws hold women as little better than slaves. The laws are such and the conditions of society are such that women are compelled to seek marriage as a condition of support and maintenance.” In her opinion, if women were given the right to vote, it would give “her corresponding power for protection.” And that if women had the vote, “long neglected issues involving prison reform and prostitution, among other things, would be given their due.”
When Hewett took the stage in rebuttal, he first announced that he “felt as if he labored under some disadvantages.” He suggested that Anthony had much more opportunity to study the question under debate and that this was “right in the line of her business; whereas he had only the slight preparation which he could snatch from a large school, just at the close of a term, and from a sick family at home.” While there may be some truth to this statement, Hewett had spoken on this topic on several other occasions, and was thus it was not completely foreign to him as he appears to have implied.
Hewett continued on to argue that, “women had enough to do already without the responsibility of voting. Her brain is full, her hands are full and her arms are full.” Plus, women always get what they want—“they rule by an influence that the ballot cannot equal.” Hewett went on to explain that “old oppressive laws, not only in this State, but in others, have been removed upon the demands of the women, and they were changed without the ballot in the hands of the women…Women have shown these laws unjust—men have repealed them—now the law leans to the woman’s side.” In Hewett’s opinion, “there was different work for men and women to do. It was shown in every relation of life, and voting seemed to him to be peculiarly man’s work as was digging ditches, cutting wood, etc…” And, according to Hewett, a large portion of the women of the United States did not want to vote. And because they did not vote, they were “thankfully free from the corrupting influence of politics.”
Anthony retorted by stating that voting was, in fact, not dirty work and that it would not “contaminate women any more to vote with men than to live with them.” And furthermore, that “the women Mr. HEWETT speaks for—those who don’t want to vote, put her in mind of Henry Clay’s sleek, fat, and well-kept slaves, who were perfectly satisfied with their lot in life.”
By all accounts, Hewett and Anthony engaged in a lively, but exceedingly civil, two-hour long debate. Anthony closed the debate by stating that she would rather “run the risk of bad women’s votes” if they would “at least vote for honest work and honest bread.” She polled the ladies in the audience, asking them to vote on whether they wished the right of suffrage. It was reported that the response was “almost unanimous in the affirmative,” with a few women “having the courage to vote that they preferred the present condition of things.” Both speakers were enthusiastically applauded by their friends. But who won the debate? One of the local newspapers, The Leader, reported that the winner of the debate was the promoter of the event, A.D. Ray, “under whose auspices the discussion was gotten up and who pocked nearly $200 clear of all expenses” (which would be about $4,000 today).
Hewett debated Susan B. Anthony two more times while she toured Illinois; on March 31 and April 1, both in Peoria. Again, Hewett took the negative, stating that women should not vote. During these debates, it was reported that Hewett stated he was sorry that it had become “necessary to discuss this subject at all.” And he felt that the question of whether or not women should have the right to vote had been “treated with a great amount of ridicule from the opponents of the proposed scheme,” and that few had ever “treated it with soberness.” While he believed that she was mistaken in her views, Hewett stated that he would treat his opponent fairly, “treat her the same as if a man, grant the same courtesies and expect the same.”
It appears that the follow up debates were not as well received as the one in Bloomington. Susan B. Anthony noted in her diary of 1870 that their audiences in Peoria on March 31 and April 1 were much smaller. She also stated that, “The Prof. no spirit. don't draw fire at all” during their debates. It appears that Hewett did indeed leave this subject behind, as no further evidence can be found that he continued to speak on the topic of woman’s suffrage.
In 1876 Hewett was appointed President of the ISNU and served in that capacity until 1890. When Hewett became university president, he inherited a job with numerous challenges. Economic problems across the country were making it more difficult for students to afford the luxury of college, especially when many of them could find jobs in teaching without any required formal training. Hewett had his staff attend many teaching workshops to encourage those already in the field to enhance their skills. One of the new president’s first acts was to assemble a display at the Philadelphia Exposition (the first world’s fair held in the United States in 1876 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence), illustrating how his school was training teachers. In order to get it there, the students and faculty contributed $108 to pay for the expenses involved. Even enrollment in the model schools was not adequate for training teachers, so Hewett sent around a circular offering a free semester of tuition to parents in order to find 18 students willing to enroll in the schools. The hard times caused Hewett’s salary to be cut from $3,500 to $3,150 (or from about $82,000 to about $73,000 in 2018).
One of Hewett’s final actions as president was hiring ISNU’s first full-time librarian, Angeline Vernon Milner, in 1890. In 1889, he had been given permission by the board of directors to combine several libraries of books on campus and hire a full-time librarian. Milner had been recommended to him by Stephen Forbes, the head of the Illinois State Library of Natural History.
Hewett continued to have a very active career even after his presidency ended in 1890. He was treasurer of the National Education Association from 1886-1890, while still president of the Normal School. Upon his retirement he became associate editor of the publication School and Home Education, a post he held until the time of his death on March 31, 1905. He was also responsible for founding the University Center (now called the Normal Literary Center). The University Center was founded in 1896 as part of ISNU’s Extension Movement. Hewett led the group in regular Monday night meetings, and once a month guests were invited to a social hour that followed the study period. Hewett was president of this organization from 1897 to 1905.
After over 38 years of marriage, Angeline Hewett died on November 21, 1895 at the home of their daughter Mary Reeder in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. Angeline had gone to stay with Reeder the previous spring, as she had suffered from cancer for many months. Edwin joined his wife at their daughter’s home the last few weeks of her life. Her remains were brought back from Massachusetts that spring, and she was buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery on May 20, 1896.
Hewett married for a second time on August 31, 1898 to Mrs. Helen E. Paisley. Helen survived Hewett by 18 years, dying of pneumonia on March 8, 1923. She is buried in the Hewett family plot at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.
Hewett was a very religious man. He was a Baptist with a license to preach, and taught Sunday school for many years at the Baptist Church in Normal. He studied the Bible and theology in great detail, and religion was a centerpiece in the Hewett household—both when he was a child and as an adult. For many years, he contributed $100 a year for the education of young men to be ministers. It was during his time that a campus YMCA, the fifth such campus organization in the US, was founded. Shortly after, in 1873 a campus YWCA was founded—the very first in the nation.
Edwin Hewett played a central role in the first three decades of what is now Illinois State University. He was a man with strong convictions about the importance of education and firm ideas about how things should be taught. His students left him with a clearer appreciation of truth and an intensified desire to live a more noble life. Many students moved on to be teachers in their own right and instilled these same values into their own students.
On March 31, 1905, Edwin C. Hewett passed away at his home on West Ash Street after a brief illness. Since December of the previous year, Hewett had suffered from heart trouble caused by a severe attack of pneumonia and erysipelas (a potentially serious bacterial infection of the skin), which left his heart in a weakened condition. According to the Pantagraph, “even though his condition was known to many, it was hard for them to realize it and the news of his death came as a distinct shock to the community in which he had lived and labored for so many years.” Hewett’s funeral was held the afternoon of April 3 at the Baptist Church in Normal, and he was buried at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington immediately following the service.
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Contact us/Participate
Cambiar a español:
Ana Tajadura-Jiménez (Principal Investigator) studied Telecommunications Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. She obtained an MSc degree in Digicom and a PhD degree in Applied Acoustics, both at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. Ana was post-doctoral researcher in the Lab of Action and Body (LAB) at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2012 she moved to University College London Interaction Centre (UCLIC) as an ESRC Future Research Leader and as principal investigator of the project The Hearing Body. Since 2016 Ana is a Ramón y Cajal research fellow, first based at Universidad Loyola Andalucía, and currently at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. She is also an Honorary Research Associate at UCLIC. Ana coordinates the research line “Multisensory stimulation to alter the perception of body and space, emotion and motor behavior.” Her research is empirical and multidisciplinary, combining perspectives of psychoacoustics, neuroscience and HCI.
Twitter: @AnaTajadura @MagicShoes_Proj
Publications: www.researchgate.net/profile/Ana_Tajadura-Jimenez
Milagrosa Sánchez Martín (Principal Investigator) received her Ph.D. degree with European mention at Universidad de Sevilla. She was awarded in 2011 with the young researcher award by the Spanish Association of Methodology of Behavioral Sciences. She is the coordinator of the Psychology degree at the Universidad Loyola Andalucía, where she teaches different courses related to methodology and data analyses. She is also a founding partner of the spin-off Metodik, dedicated to providing methodological advice for data analysis in research projects – this company was awarded as one of the best business ideas in 2013 from the University of Seville. She has participated in several funded projects in the area of Social Sciences and Health, as well as research contracts with companies like Pearson Education or Coca Cola Happiness Institute. She has several high impact publications in the above mentioned topics derived from her trajectory.
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Milagrosa_Sanchez-Martin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mila-sánchez-095ab135/
Frédéric Bevilacqua is the head of the Sound Music Movement Interaction team at IRCAM in Paris (part of the joint research lab Science & Technology for Music and Sound – IRCAM – CNRS – Université Pierre et Marie Curie). His research concerns the modeling and the design of interaction between movement and sound, and the development of gesture-based interactive systems. He holds a master degree in physics and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Optics from EPFL in Lausanne (awarded the 1st Prize of the French Society of Medical Lasers in 1999). He also studied music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (1992-93) and has participated in different music and media arts projects. From 1999 to 2003 he was a researcher at the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California Irvine, where he contributed to the development of a tissue imaging technique that lead to the creation of the startup Modulated Imaging. In 2003 he joined IRCAM as a researcher on gesture analysis for music and performing arts. He co-authored more than 120 scientific publications and co-authored 5 patents. His research projects and installations were presented internationally, including the Pompidou Center, MoMA (USA), ZKM (Germany), EMPAC (USA), YCAM (Japan). He was keynote or invited speaker at several international conferences such as the ACM TEI’13. In 2006 he was the co-chair of the International conference New Interfaces for Musical Expression. As the coordinator of the “Interlude project”, he was awarded in 2011 the 1st Prize of the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition (Georgia Tech) and received the award “prix ANR du Numérique” from the French National Research Agency (category Societal Impact, 2013).
Twitter: @fredbevi
Website: http://frederic-bevilacqua.net
Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze is a Full Professor in Affective Computing and Interaction at the Interaction Centre of the University College London (UCL). She received her PhD in Computer Science for Biomedicine from the University of the Studies of Milan, Italy. Her research focuses on designing technology that can sense the affective state of its users and use that information to tailor the interaction process. She has pioneered the field of Affective Computing and for more than a decade she has investigated body movement and more recently touch behaviour as means to recognize and measure the quality of the user experience in full-body computer games, physical rehabilitation and textile design. She also studies how full-body technology and body sensory feedback can be used to modulate people’s perception of themselves and of their capabilities to improve self-efficacy and copying capabilities. She has published more than 170 papers in Affective Computing, HCI, and Pattern Recognition. She was awarded the 2003 Technical Prize from the Japanese Society of Kansei Engineering and she has given a TEDxStMartin talk (2012).
Twitter: @NadiaBerthouze @EmoPain
Website: https://uclic.ucl.ac.uk/people/nadia-berthouze
Mercedes Bordá Más is a full professor at the University of Seville. She holds a BSc degree and PhD in Philosophy and Educational Sciences (Psychology Section) from the University of the Basque Country (UPV). She obtained an extraordinary doctorate award. She has taught Behavior Change at MSc and Doctoral level from 1993 to the present. She has been a Specialist in clinical psychology and psychosocial factors in the Occupational Risk Prevention Service of the US since 1997. She is the co-author of more than fifty scientific articles, most of them in journals indexed in international databases. She has directed several doctoral theses and is responsible for the research group CTS-432 “Clinical Intervention in Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology”, participating as researcher in several research projects related to clinical and health psychology.
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mercedes_Mas
Francisco José Cuadrado is PhD in Communication, researcher and professor at Universidad Loyola Andalucía, as well as the responsible for musical activities and director of the postgraduate program “Leaders for the world” at Loyola Leadership School. He has also been professor at University of Seville, University Ramón Llull (Barcelona) and National University of Quilmes (Argentina). He works on two main research lines. The first one is focused on music and sound creation and perception in media (music and sound design for audiovisual and interactive products, surround sound perception, emotions generation through sound and virtual audio/music technologies mainly). In this field, Francisco Cuadrado is the IP of the project “The unconscious listening” funded by BBVA Foundation. The second one is centered on music education and children development through music. As part of this research line, he is the coordinator of the Erasmus KA3 research project “Learn To Be”. Since 2012 Francisco Cuadrado has lead the research and educational project “Music and Talent”, focused in the use of music as a resource for the cognitive, social and emotional development of school aged children. As a professional, he has worked as composer, sound designer and music producer for more than 16 years in projects for Universal Music Spain, TVE, Lotus Films, Nickel Odeon Dos, Flamenco Vivo Records, Acciona Producciones y Diseño, Hall Academy of Media Arts or Fundación Baremboin-Said.
Twitter: @fjcuadrado @ProyectoLEI
Website: http://www.franciscocuadrado.com
Patricia Rick Rivera graduated from Psychology with a Certificate in Health Psychology and Mental Disorders and Behavioral Intervention at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED, Madrid, Spain). She remained at UNED obtaining a Psychology Research master’s degree. From February 2015 to February 2017 she collaborated as a researcher in the Learning and Other Basic Psychological Processes department, conducting animal behavior studies. She joined a PhD program at Universidad Loyola (Sevilla, Spain) in March 2017 at the “Multisensory stimulation to alter the perception of body and space, emotion and motor behavior” research line, led by Ana Tajadura-Jimenéz.
Aneesha Singh is a Human-Computer Interaction Researcher at the UCL Interaction Centre. She is interested in the design, adoption and use of personal health and wellbeing technologies in everyday contexts. She is working in the research areas of digital health, ubiquitous computing, multisensory feedback and wearable technology. She received her PhD at UCL in Human Computer Interaction and her MSc in Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems from University of Sussex. Before that she has previously worked in industry in various roles as a software developer, analyst and project leader, and as a technical journalist.
Twitter: @puddlelogic
Website: https://uclic.ucl.ac.uk/people/aneesha-singh
Google scholar: scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=vYSVHBEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Aleksander Väljamäe received his PhD in applied acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2007. During his PhD studies on multisensory perception he also worked at University of Barcelona, Spain and NTT Communication Science Labs, Japan. In 2007-2010 he has being a postdoctoral fellow and the psychophysiology lab director at SPECS Laboratory, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain. In 2011-2012 he was a senior postdoctoral fellow at Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Graz, and Graz BCI lab, Technical University of Graz, Austria. From 2013 till Feb. 2015 he was Marie Sklodowska-Curie International Outgoing Fellow (Sankt Petersburg State University and Linkoping University) working on collaborative neurofeedback applications. During this time he has being active in a number of EU projects: POEMS, PRESENCCIA, BrainAble, TOBI, Future BNCI, CONTRAST and GALA; and acted as an external expert for EC. Currently he is an associate professor in physiological computing at HCI group, School of Digital Technologies, Tallinn University, Estonia. His psychophysiology research concerns how audiovisual media influence humans on perceptual, cognitive and emotional levels, with particular stress on the novel methods for diagnosis and treatment of various brain disorders (e.g. depression, migraine) and new applications (Brain-Computer Interfaces, neurocinema). Dr. Väljamäe also participates actively in art and science projects, e.g., his technical directing of the “Multimodal Brain Orchestra” performance in 2009, Prague (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8016869.stm), or supporting video roadmapping activities of Future BNCI project (youtube.com/user/FutureBNCI).
Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aleksander_Vaeljamaee
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksander-valjamae-7740552b/
Judith Guadalupe Ley Flores is a PhD student of Computer Science and Technology at Universidad Carlos III of Madrid. She is working on the research line “Multisensory stimulation to alter the perception of body and space, emotion and motor behavior”. She studied Software Engineering at ITSON, Mexico and earned an MSc degree in computer Sciences at CICESE Research Center, Mexico. Her research interests are Human Computer Interaction (HCI), ubiquitous computing, sound computing for multimodal interfaces like interactive surfaces in combination with sound feedback to support activities in physical health such as motor therapies, rehabilitation or some application of physical computing.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-ley-flores/
Sergio Navas León is currently a PhD student at University of Loyola in the area of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. He studied Psychology at University of Huelva (Spain) and obtained a MA degree in Health Psychology from the same university. His interests are data analysis, human multi sensory perception and auditory-feedback technologies. His research is based on the modification of perceptual distortions normally present in people with eating disorders in order to improve their physical and emotional health.
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sergio_Navas-Leon
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Supercharged LT4 V-8 Makes 650 Horsepower!
Category: Engine Tech
DETROIT – The all-new 2015 Corvette Z06 is the most powerful production car ever from General Motors and one of a few production cars available in the United States that delivers more than 600 horsepower.
The Z06’s LT4 supercharged 6.2L V-8 engine is SAE-certified at 650 horsepower (485 kW) at 6,400 rpm and 650 lb-ft of torque (881 Nm) at 3,600 rpm.
“The LT4 Small Block sets a new benchmark for power and torque at GM,” said Steve Kiefer, vice president, GM Powertrain Engineering. “The engine also puts the new Corvette Z06 on par with the most powerful supercars offered in America, while delivering performance with impeccable manners that make it suitable for daily driving.”
Compared with other supercar engines, the LT4 is a veritable fountain of low-end torque, producing 457 lb-ft (619 Nm) just off idle and 625 lb-ft (847 Nm) by only 2,800 rpm. The V-12-powered Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, for example, produces about 28 percent less torque than the Z06, despite offering about 12 percent more horsepower – and its peak torque isn’t achieved until 6,000 rpm. The LT4 maintains 90 percent of its peak torque, or 592 lb-ft (802 Nm), from 2,500 to 5,400 rpm.
The new LT4 engine eclipses the Porsche 911 Turbo S engine’s peak power levels by 90 horsepower (67 kW) and 134 lb-ft of torque (182 Nm).
“Torque is the pulling power of an engine and the LT4’s abundance of it at every rpm in the engine’s speed range helps the 2015 Corvette Z06 accelerate quicker and respond nearly instantaneously,” said Jordan Lee, chief engineer for Small Block engines. “It’s the very definition of power on demand.”
The new Z06 engine produces 40 percent more peak torque (180 lb-ft / 244 Nm) than the previous-generation’s 7.0L LS7 engine – and 7.5 percent more than the supercharged 2013 Corvette ZR1’s 604 lb-ft (819 Nm). At 3,200 rpm, the new LT4 surpasses the LS7 by 208 lb-ft of torque (252 Nm). On the horsepower side of the graph, the LT4’s 650-hp rating is 29 percent greater than the LS7’s 505 horsepower (376 kW), and 12 horses more than the ZR1’s LS9 engine.
“The new LT4 engine builds on the design strengths of our previous supercharged engine and leverages the technologies introduced on the Corvette Stingray – direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing – to take Corvette performance to an all-new plateau,” said Lee. “Our new, very compact supercharger also helps the engine make power more quickly, and perhaps more importantly, it helps produce more torque earlier in the rpm band.”
“It’s also worth mentioning that the LT4’s supercar performance numbers are achieved with an engine that is nearly the same size as the very compact LT1 engine introduced in the 2014 Corvette Stingray,” Lee said. “The power density of the LT4 makes it one of the smallest and lightest 650-hp engines in the industry.”
LT4 details
The new LT4 engine is based on the same Gen 5 small block foundation as the Corvette Stingray’s LT1 6.2L naturally aspirated engine, incorporating several unique features designed to support its higher output and the greater cylinder pressures created by forced induction, including:
Rotocast A356T6 aluminum cylinder heads that are stronger and handle heat better than conventional aluminum heads
Lightweight titanium intake valves
Machined, forged powder metal steel connecting rods for reduced reciprocating mass
High 10.0:1 compression ratio – for a forced-induction engine – enhances performance and efficiency and is enabled by direct injection
Forged aluminum pistons with unique, stronger structure to ensure strength under high cylinder pressures
Stainless steel exhaust manifolds and an aluminum balancer that are lighter than their LT1 counterparts
Standard dry-sump oiling system with a dual-pressure-control oil pump.
A new 1.7L supercharger spins at up to 20,000 rpm – 5,000 rpm more than the supercharger on the Corvette ZR1’s engine. The rotors are smaller in diameter, which contributes to their higher-rpm capability – and enables them to produce power-enhancing boost earlier in the rpm band. That boost is achieved more efficiently via a more direct discharge port that creates less turbulence, reducing heat and speeding airflow into the engine.
“The Small Block’s cam-in-block design heritage has always enabled very high performance and responsiveness in a small, compact package – an attribute amplified by the performance of our new supercharger’s design,” said Lee.
The LT4 is assembled at the new Performance Build Center at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly Plant and at GM’s Tonawanda engine plant in New York. It is matched with a standard seven-speed manual transmission or an all-new, paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission built in Toledo, Ohio.
Designed to deliver shift responses on par with the world’s best dual-clutch transmissions, it is the first automatic offered in a Z06. It also makes the Z06 one of the few cars this powerful to offer the choice of a conventional manual transmission or an eight-speed automatic.
The 2015 Corvette Z06 goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
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Taos PuebloHeritage Travels
Taos is a remarkable example of a traditional type of architectural ensemble from the pre-Hispanic period of the Americas and unique to this region which has successfully retained most of its traditional forms to the present day. Thanks to the determination of the latter-day Native American community, it appears to be successfully resisting the pressures of modern society.
The culture of the Pueblo Indians extended through a wide geographical area of northern Mexico and the south-western United States. Taos is the best preserved of the pueblos north of the borders defined by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Located in the valley of a small tributary of the Rio Grande, Taos comprises a group of habitations and ceremonial centres (six kivas have been conserved), which are representative of a culture largely derived from the traditions of the prehistoric Anasazi Indian tribes who settled near the present borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
Taos's modest rural community appeared before 1400, characterized by common social and religious structures and traditional agricultural practices. In the modern historical period the two major characteristics of the Pueblo civilization were mutually contradictory: unchanging traditions deeply rooted in the culture and an ever-constant ability to absorb other cultures. Their faculty for acculturation gradually began to appear following the first Spanish expedition of the Governor of New Galicia, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, in 1540-42.
The entire 18th century was a time of wars in which Taos played an important part in resisting the colonizers. The breeds of cattle and types of grain were introduced by the conquerors into their agricultural system. Attempts to convert the Pueblos to Christianity were ill-received but unconsciously the religious mentality of the people changed.
Taos Pueblo shows the traditional method of adobe construction: the pueblo consists of two clusters of houses, each built from sun-dried mud brick, with walls ranging from 70 cm thick at the bottom to about 35 cm at the top. Each year the walls are still refinished with a new coat of adobe plaster as part of a village ceremony. The rooms are stepped back so that the roofs of the lower units form terraces for those above. The units at ground level and some of those above are entered by doors that originally were quite small and low; access to the upper units is by ladders through holes in the roof. The living quarters are on the top and outside, while the rooms deep within the structure were used grain storage. The roofs are made from cedar logs, their ends protruding through the walls; on the logs are mats of branches on which are laid grasses covered with a thick layer of mud and a finishing coat of adobe plaster. It is a massive system of construction but one well suited to the rigours of the climate.
In 1970 the people of Taos obtained the restitution of lands usurped by the government, which included the sacred site of the Blue Lake. At the same time, their ritual ceremonies include both a Christmas procession and the Hispano-Mexican dance of the Matatchines.
The two main adobe building complexes retain their traditional three-dimensional layout. Certain features, such as doors and windows, have been introduced over the last century. Taos Pueblo represents a natural evolutionary process: it has adjusted to a changed social and economic climate and reflects the acculturation of European traits and the relaxing of needs of defensive structures.
Administration of Taos Pueblo is vested in the Taos tribe, which is deeply conscious of its heritage and of the material expression of that heritage in the buildings of the settlement. The pueblo of Taos has tended to become a seasonal habitat reserved for ceremonial functions and tourist attractions.
The culture of the Pueblo Indians extended through a wide geographical area of northern Mexico and the southwest United States. It can still be found in a certain number of communities in the States of Chihuahua (Mexico) and Arizona and New Mexico (United States). Taos is the best preserved of the pueblos north of the borders defined by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Located in the valley of a small tributary of the Rio Grande, Taos comprises a group of habitations and ceremonial centres (6 kivas have been conserved). which are representative of a culture largely derived from the traditions of the prehistoric Anasazi Indian tribes, who settled around the present borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. Their culture went into an irreversible decline, and in the later 13th century major sites like Mesa Verde and Chaco (included on the World Heritage List in 1978 and 1987 respectively) were abandoned, perhaps because of major climatic changes.
The proliferation of small pueblos in the valley of the Rio Grande and its tributaries, when considered along with the disappearance of the Anasazi tribes, was one of the major characteristics of the settlement of the North American continent. Modest rural communities. characterized by common social and religious structures, traditional agricultural practices perfected during the "classical" period. and a systematic use of irrigation, were built. Taos is thought to have appeared before 1400.
In the modern historical period the two major characteristics of the Pueblo civilization were mutually contradictory : unchanging traditions deeply rooted in the culture and an ever-constant ability to absorb other cultures. Their faculty for acculturation gradually began to appear following the first Spanish expedition of the Governor of New Galicia, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. in 1540-1542. Beginning in 1613, the inhabitants of Taos resisted the system of encomiendas which allowed certain Spaniards to exact a tribute in kind from the village. In 1634 the missionary Fray Alonso de Benavides complained to the Pope of their "rebellious" attitude.
The entire 18th century was a time of wars in which Taos played an important part in resisting the colonizers. However, the breeds of cattle and types of grain introduced by the conquerors were readily adopted into their agricultural system. Attempts to convert the Pueblos to Christianity were ill-received (during the major Pueblo revolt of 1680 the first church was burned down) but unconsciously the religious mentality of the people changed. A similar dichotomy between an irredentist attitude in principle and an assimilation in fact marked the two subsequent historical stages : from 1821 to 1848, under Mexican administration, and from 1848 to the present, under the US administration. In 1970 the people of Taos obtained the restitution of lands usurped by the Government, which included the sacred site of the Blue Lake. At the same time, their ritual ceremonies include both a Christmas procession and the Hispano-Mexican dance of the Matatchines.
Today, the village appears at first sight to conform with the description given in 1776 by Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez. However, although the earthen enclosure which he likened to one of the Biblical cities survives, numerous modifications can be observed.
To the west, the missionaries' convent and church lie in ruins. A new church was built at a different location of the west side of the north plaza in the 19th century. The multi-tiered adobe dwellings still retain their original form and outline, but details have changed. Doors, which traditionally were mostly used to interconnect rooms, are now common as exterior access to the ground floors and to the roof tops on upper stories. Windows, which traditionally were small and incorporated into walls very sparingly, are now common features. The proliferation of doors and windows through time at Taos reflects the acculturation of European traits and the relaxing of needs for defensive structures. In addition to ovens located outdoors, fireplaces have been built inside the living quarters.
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Discover the Make Time Online Podcast Here
Normal people share how they started and scale their online business
Hi, I'm Mike
I built a passive income online working as a full time PE teacher with no prior marketing or technical experience.
Learn how i did it
SEO & Backlinking Tips w/ Brendan Hufford
If you're new here, take this quick make money online quiz to discover what route is the best one for you.
Brendan said this on the podcast...
When you really understand SEO, you can help almost anyone's business
STOP.
Now, re-read that statement.
Getting a website found on Google (Search Engine Optimisation) is a skill that every single business uses today. So Brendan Hufford joined the podcast to share his vast experience!
We chat about:
His best backlinking tips
Where Brendan will focus his time with a brand new website
Some quick wins for anyone to use for more organic traffic
The importance of intent (he probably said that word about 50 times... so yes, it's important!)
SEO and Backlinking Tips
Brendan Hufford
From 100 Days of SEO
Make Time Online Podcast on iTunes - Online Entrepreneur Tips
Listen to the full Brendan Hufford podcast episode
Never miss out on a new episode! Subscribe using your favorite app for listening to podcasts.
Apple Podcasts
Backlink tips mentioned on the podcast
Outreach for backlinks has a place. However, if 90% of people hate you because you spam their inbox with cold emails, do you want to be that person? Is it really going to help you build quality links?
Link building comes down to 2 main things:
Your relationship with the person
What the "ask" is (make something for your audience that helps them)
Figure out what the person wants, for example...
Help their audience
Find a gap on their website that could help them achieve their wants! Pitch them an idea to write a guest post on topics that they could rank for, help their audience and make them more money!!
Brendan's secret sauce for getting on Pat Flynn's podcast in the past...
Take action on tips/ advice from other people
Send them a message showing them how it helped you
People love to have success stories as social proof and share those transformation stories.
Other tips and tools mentioned
There are 2 buckets for Brendan's new website, Project Money:
It's a business so it needs to drive revenue (build an email list, rank for certain keywords etc.)
Find areas you have something unique to say- write fiery and passionate articles (shareable content)
SEO tips for a new website (I AM)...
Intent- figure out what do people want when they type in a keyword
Asset- blog post, core page on the website
Medium- your website (use a fast lightweight theme i.e. StudioPress, Brian Garnder or Carbonate- check out my chat with Matt Giovanisci, who created this theme)
Some other plugins to try:
WP Rocket (affiliate link- it improved my speed from 4.4s to 1.58 seconds, check out my review here)
Autoptomize
Async JavaScript
Choosing questions and keywords people search for in Google:
Answer the public
Export document
Upload into keyword research tool like Ahrefs
Google the low competition keywords you find (figure out search intent & figure out the main articles that cover most of these "search clusters")
Quick wins to get more SEO traffic:
Improve the speed (try those plugins above... some don't work well with each other so you will need to test these out- I found WP Rocket did well for me!)
Posts you want to rank well for- put in 10 internal links (i.e. home page, about page, 5 or 6 other related articles)
Google what you are trying to rank for and figure out the intent
Full Brendan Hufford Podcast Transcript
Brendan Hufford 0:00
The asset is how are we going to give that to them? Typically? Is it a blog post? Is it like a core page on the website? What does that structure look like? And then the medium is in our case, talking about Google SEO is your actual website. So as long as we’re hitting those three buckets, I have a lightning fast website. I understand what kind of asset I’m creating, and I understand the search intent behind the things I’m trying to the topics I’m talking about. I think you’re really set up for success.
Mike Beatty 0:30
Hey, guys, it’s Mike from Make Time Online. And today, we’re joined by Brendon Hufford, who certainly knows a thing or two about St.
So Brendan, is his full time job at the moment is doing some pretty high client work for SEO search engine optimization, basically getting ranked in Google. He has done low stuff over the years with SEO, including the hundred days of SEO, where he did 100 days of SEO, speaking to different people and putting out content basically, you can find so much on YouTube through Brendan’s work basically all about this, but I just have in the chat with him today, he’s just gonna explain a little bit more about his story and like, what, what he’s actually planning on doing and what he’s got coming up. But it’s just a really good one to listen to, if you have any interest in getting some like basic SEO knowledge, or if you have like a website that’s already starting to get some traction and things. He has some really actionable advice in this chat to explain what you can do. So I do hope you help. I hope you enjoy it, guys. So Brendan, obviously you were just mentioned in there, you’ve got a new website coming out. I want to do a lot of digging into SEO and stuff like that, but I just just wondered if you could share a little bit about what that website is and like how you’re planning on running it?
Yeah, I mean, the my biggest problem is in maybe you’re the same way maybe not. I, I tend to take on way too many projects at once. And I say yes to everything like that’s, I was a teacher for 10 years and was really dissatisfied with it and tried to climb that ladder and be an assistant principal and all of this stuff and realise it wasn’t for me. And, you know, I was tired of waiting an extra 3540 pounds and having a bad relationship with alcohol and having panic attacks on Sunday night.
But then if you know, but I’m a teacher as well. qualified teacher. This is my first year out of teaching, so
hopefully I can I can
feel your pain there.
Yeah, man, it was brutal. And the way I got out of it was just saying yes to everything. Every project, anybody I can help with sending out a dozen emails a week. Hey, can I help you with SEO? I know this building my own little projects on the side those growing. And I’m actually at the point now where you know, I can look right here I have these like giant sticky notes on my walls that kind of serve as a white board. And I have like a big thing called items out of just like people that I’ve said yes to and still haven’t delivered what I told them, I was going to help them with summer clients, a lot of them are just friends. And I’ve got three or four of them recently that I just crossed out, and was like, I’m not doing this. Yeah, I had a big idea to raise a bunch of money to support different charities during the pandemic and everything. And I started getting people and I’m like, here’s what we’re gonna do, and we’ll set up this and that and I was just like, I can’t do this. I should not do this. Yeah, I should write like, ethically. This is a great thing that would help a lot of people but I just, it’ll be terrible. I’ll ruin relationships. It’ll be done halfway. I’ve done that before. like trying to do charitable stuff. And when you don’t do it all the way, right, like it’s very dangerous people get really mad. Yeah, you screw it up and rightfully so. Yeah. Right. So I’ve learned from that experience and you know, starting this new thing, I’m starting project money is really, for me about two things. Number one, it’s a bit of a manifesto. But number two, it’s I wanted to say all of that at the beginning to say like, when I choose projects now, it’s something I really believe in. Because with SEO, I can plug myself into almost anybody’s business, almost anybody’s project and help them I’m valuable to a lot of people. And that’s great. But it also means a lot of people want help. And I say no to most things. And this is one of the things that you know, I love Pete and I love this idea. And yeah, it’s something that I’m absolutely saying yes to So, really project money is, you know, two things. Number one, me Amanda Festo of like having something to say. So many blogs and whatever you Google things if you if people want to see this, played out Google digital marketing skills and see what comes up. Every single article is 10 Essential Skills 17 essential digital marketing skills, eight digital marketing skills 19 Essential Skills for digital marketers, like it’s a full first page of copycat content. Yeah, they all sound the same. You can’t tell who they are whatever else and Pete you know, is is has been in personal finance long enough that and the topic I’m passionate about, but he’s been in it long enough. He’s like, This all sounds the same to you. No,
yeah. No.
We were just like, let’s let’s have something to say let’s like put a put a flag in the ground and do things differently.
Yeah, I think I actually heard you on Pete’s podcast before while ago. And you were just just the way that you were talking about different things was really interesting. And I think I think Wish you could have been someone else. But I think you were sort of saying how if you were starting a brand new website, so I don’t know if this is what you’re planning on doing with with this one, you would kind of like get some real, like really good content, and kind of like, just make it amazing and find out. I, us, I think you said have another website Anyway, what would you do? What What
are you planning on doing with us? Oh, that’s a better question.
Well, it’s two buckets. Right. It’s things that we know, first of all, it’s a business it needs to drive revenue. Yeah. Right. So we have to have things we’re gonna rank for that are gonna build our email list, get affiliate revenue, whatever. That’s a big part, something people leave out a lot. Second, it’s what are the most helpful, like, how can we be most helpful in the areas where we actually have something unique to say, I don’t know that we have anything unique to say about Roth IRAs. I don’t know. Maybe we do. Maybe he does. But like, let’s find this stuff. We have something unique to say and try and rank for those. That’s kind of bucket two. And then bucket three is like let’s say the thing like let’s go back to our roots like I crushed my first e commerce business and later sold it because I understood blogging and all these other companies like they loved it was a jujitsu Brazilian Jiu Jitsu e commerce company and everybody else loves Jiu Jitsu and I loved blogging, I loved the e commerce side of it, right? And, you know, like, Pete and I just want to go back to our roots of blogging and writing these like fiery passionate, you know, mister money moustache, kind of blogs of like, let’s just say the thing that needs to be said. And that’ll catch fire like people are waiting for that they’re hungry for that. They’re tired of like, here’s my five tips on how to invest your, you know, government subsidy check or whatever. I don’t know. So I’m making up some terrible thing but like, nobody’s pumped about that. Nobody’s retweeting that.
Yeah. But like, let’s just flip every little, you know, let’s watch walk in the room and flip some tables over. Yeah, that’s cool. So it’s just trying to get stuff that actually makes people want to read. It wants to share it, like shareable content, basically, that’s the aim. That’s the idea. And I guess that’s gonna get like backlinks and do all of that sort of work for you. So you don’t need to go out and do the whole outreach yourself.
Yeah, I think there’s outreach has a place, right. But what I found in my my decade of doing SEO is that link building and things like that really comes down to how good of a relationship you have with that person. And then what the ask is, right, like, if the ask is like, Hey, we’re really good friends. I would love to make something for your audience. What can I make for your audience? Is it a video? Is it a guest post? Is it whatever? That’s a very easy ask versus, hey, I saw you wrote about a topic similar to mine and you link to a competitor Would you like to link to me, I’ll share it on my social media, blah, blah, like that garbage script that I get 20 of per day like I’m over everybody’s over that Yeah. Anybody worth getting? Here’s the thing, too is people are like, No, no, I see a good ROI from that, you know, you send out the script. And 10% of people will link to you. And it’s like, Yeah, but the other 90% hate you. And things like true. That’s, that’s not you know, you’re literally walking up to every person at the bar and asking them to go on a date. And it’s like, you know, you might get a date out of it. And like, if that’s how you win, that’s great. But everybody else there the next time they see you, they’re like, oh, there’s that guy that asks out everybody
in that. It’s very real.
Yeah, that is so true. I never thought of it like that. But it is so so true, actually, isn’t it like the cold outreach? Just blanket emails and stuff? So what what would you say is like the best way to do it, and you obviously said, like, if you build up a real relationship with someone, then I guess it’s just easy. Isn’t it? Like just a
one way? Yeah, it’s a long game. It’s hard link. Building for clients is really hard. You have to have a really smart strategy. link building for a personal project is way better because you’re invested long term, you have relationships in the industry, you can build those relationships in the industry, you’re helpful. And to be honest, like one of the most effective ways is I just try to understand what they want. Like most people want one of two things, they want to help their readers they want to help their audience or they want to make more money. Well, what if I can help them with both of those things? What if when I pitched a guest post, I’m like, hey, look, I did a competitive analysis. I know these two other websites are competitors of yours from a search standpoint, they both have articles that are ranking on this topic. It looks like you know, looking at the the value that I see in sem rush and H refs and whatever looks like those articles are worth like two or three grand a month to them. You don’t even have an article on this topic. Turns out I’m an expert on this topic. Can I write something for you can put your own affiliate links in it, whatever you want, but like, Can I can I create that for you? All of a sudden it’s like, oh, this is a real professional that I’m dealing with here. It’s not some smarmy garbage thing. The thing is, you also have to be able to deliver on that, right? Like, if you send them some garbage article, they’re not gonna put it on their site, but like showing that you care about them, and that’s not the first email that I would send to them to start a relationship. But, you know, I was one of the first 50 guests on Pat Flynn’s podcast and it was still super early on the Smart Passive Income podcast and that was because I literally just emailed him and said, You told me to do these five things. I did these five things here’s screenshots of what I did. Here’s the results I got just wanted to let you know and just kind of like backed off and he was like, you want to come on the podcast to talk about that? And I’m like, Yes.
Mike Beatty 11:44
It was not your plan was your was it to try and get on the podcast or anything? You just Oh, send him an email and yeah, just say thank you for what he’s done.
Brendan Hufford 11:53
That’s what of course like that’s all people want the the number of people who will take it. I have people pay me a little lot of money and still not do the thing that they paid me to help them with. Hmm, yeah, the number of people that do it based on free information is even less. So you’re like a diamond in the rough if you’re one of those people that’s like I read your free blogs and like it changed my life. Can I tell you more about that? You know, I’ve reached out to my favourite author Ryan Holliday, I’ve connected with him in that way, Pat Flynn in that way, and just built a network of people that I would consider friends, mentors, whatever. A lot of my mentors I would never call them that I’m not I’ve never asked him to be my mentor. But there are people that I asked him a question they told me what to do. I went and did it came back told him I did it what happened and then just built those relationships and I think like link building you can get we can get really tactical but that’s at the core of it is you have to give a crap about the person. Yeah, um, on a tactical standpoint, you have to have something worth sharing, right? Either some unique data, a unique, a totally unique story of like, Oh my gosh, like I would love for you to talk to my audience about that on a podcast on in a blog, YouTube, whatever. Um, that’s the second part of it is you have to have something worth sharing. Well, I really liked what you said there, which I haven’t really heard people mention before is how you just take something that they’ve actually like it’s real value that they’ve given before, and you take action on it and showed in the results. I mean, that is from like, from my own point of view, that would just be a mate. If someone came to me and just said, Look, I listened to your podcast last week with Brendan, and I did this and look what happened, you know, or like, two months later, three months, whatever, you know,
that is like real. That what a better way to make a connection with someone and I just, I’ve never heard it put like that, but now you say it’s kind of like,
yeah, I think
I think I have kind of done that in the past but just not realising what I’ve done. If you know, I mean,
yeah, I mean, it’s it also then like makes you Want to promote those people? Right? Like your best case studies like, you know, it’s gonna make next time, whoever like Pat’s on a podcast, maybe he’ll mention me. And that’s not the goal. But like that is how it works. You know, like I have people that are in my SEO community who are crushing it. And I have like top of mind for people for stories I can tell you of like, here’s, here’s what they did, how they did it, here’s how the money they made, like I have those burned into my brain, because it’s great social proof. But it’s also like, I want to share that stuff. You know, you want to share those transformation stories. I think we’re living in a time where like, we’re more connected than ever, and in some ways, but we’re also more alone than ever, especially during a pandemic. That’s the reality of it. But I don’t think that’s really that different than how alone we were before. we’re lacking that depth in relationships. And I think what people really want whether you’re selling a product or a service or whatever, is they want transformation. Right you want to be I was here, and I want to get here. And are you the bridge to get me there? And if it’s like, if you see that bridge, that’s great. If you see that bridge with like 50 people that are waiting for you on the other side because they’ve already crossed it. You’re like that’s a safe, sturdy, reliable bridge. I can walk across it to things like that matter. But yeah, it really is. It really is about relationships. It really is about having something worth sharing your crappy blog posts that you know is skyscraper whatever. Like it’s to. The other problem with things like the skyscraper technique is they’re like build a taller building make it like 5% better. Nobody respect like, I don’t know if you’ve seen a skyline of a big city in a while, but nobody’s super impressed by the building. That’s one storey taller than the other buildings. Yeah, it has to be like twice as tall. Yeah, and that’s the that’s the big thing that people make a mistake on with content is it has to be twice as good as everything else out there.
Yeah, and it’s always gonna get beaten. I think that’s the thing that is you’ll get if it’s a if it’s something that people are already doing, then. That’s that’s always been my issue about that about like the skyscraper skyscraper technique. I do like the idea in the fact that you’re actually writing content and you’re actually putting real things out there rather than just getting a backlink. You know, just trying to like, like you say, just the cold outreach email and stuff I way prefer. If it had to be like one of the two, I’d rather someone like actually put out content, like either skyscraper or stats or something like that something that’s actually like real content to try and get links and things like that. But I guess there’s there’s a whole other side to it, SEO other than just like link backlinks and things like that. So I wondered if you could just kind of let us know, with a brand new website. Now, what are some of the things that you would do just to kind of like make sure it’s set up in the right way?
Yeah, I mean, it’s funny SEO is mostly links, like let’s be honest, Google hasn’t figured out a better you know, as much as link building and whatever else like It is still like one of the most democratic ways for Google to figure out
things. is still the case.
That it’s the most democratic way or that it is still the most. The biggest like, wait for them.
Just not probably right now, I guess. Well, I guess I know what your odds is gonna be. But do you think that’s always going to be the case?
Oh, no. Oh, no. I mean, I think we’ll figure it out. And marketers ruin everything, right? Like, we’ll figure if they change, we’ll figure out what the lever to pull is. But no, I don’t I don’t think it’ll always be the case. I’m just not smart enough to think about what is next. I’m more concerned as far as like the future of SEO, understanding a couple of things that like, while Google will still dominate their other search engines, we need to pay attention to Amazon, Pinterest, YouTube, those are all search engines. Understanding SEO for those platforms is really important to me. podcast platforms, especially as you know, Spotify. is making big plays into podcasting. What does their algorithm look like? Right, like, What does their search on their platform look like? How do I get my podcasts to show up top? And they’re like things like that are interesting. As far as like, yeah, I think links are the biggest right now. But going forward, it’s just so hard because content is so subjective. Like how helpful is this? In the most recent update? One of the things that I was reading about is it actually actually D ranked and D prioritised. People were building website structures where they had like along the top, like, different chapters, they kind of linked up there content hub along the top, but it pushed the content further down the page. Google’s like we don’t we don’t think that’s best for people. You know, if I get to your website, and everything above the fold is like an opt in form a title and image and then some other places to go. And I have to scroll just to see any content. That’s not a great experience. And I’m like, I would agree with that. Right. So they’re there. They’re starting to make those plays about like what’s actually best for people? To answer your question around like, what if I starting a brand new website? The easiest thing on a brand new website is just make sure it’s lightning fast. Like it has to be as instantaneous as possible is super lightweight. If you’re using WordPress, which is what I learned on and what I use now, I know there’s a bunch of other CMS is that people like and that’s totally fine. There’s not a totally agnostic in that department of like, whatever is fast, I don’t care whatever works for you. Yeah, with a lot of people honestly. If you want to do a Wix or Squarespace and that is the thing that’s holding you back from starting, by all means, go Go ahead, do your Squarespace. Do your Wix I don’t think it’s the best solution long term. Having tried to help clients with SEO on those platforms, it’s usually pretty rough. But yeah, so my recommendation is usually WordPress find like, super fast, lightweight theme to use something really minimal. You don’t need a lot like let the content Be the thing. It doesn’t have to be this beautiful design or whatever else. And I think that’s usually the core, I have a this framework of how I think about SEO, that I think is unique to me. It’s called the I am framework. And it’s just intent, asset and medium. So the intent is like, what is the actual search intent behind? what people are googling, like you’re typing these words, but what do you really want? Yeah, the asset is, how are we going to give that to them? Typically, is it a blog post? Is it like a core page on the website? What does that structure look like? And then the medium is, in our case, talking about Google SEO is your actual website. So as long as we’re hitting those three buckets, I have a lightning fast website. I understand what kind of asset I’m creating and I understand the search intent behind the things I’m trying to the topics I’m talking about. I think you’re really set up for success.
So if well, first of all, can you give like an example of a really lightning fast theme? I know that’ll be something. I’ll be like, asking if I was listening to this a lot. But what Which one? That’s it. That’s what people kind of want to know.
Yeah, um, so I think there’s a couple of them. I think. I forget. I know. I haven’t tried it yet. But I will shout out. Matt GVC at money lab. He’s got away.
I didn’t Well, he would have actually been last week’s podcast. I spoke to him last week or something. And he said about his theme. And I was like, Yeah, that sounds really cool. I will.
Matt has a lot of He’s really good. And he’s done it a lot. Like what I love about Matt is he’s not his thing carbonate. Like he’s not one of those jerks. That’s like, I the only money I’ve made is teaching people how to make money. Most of his money comes from you know, he and i a lot of our early conversations was about like, you know, vice and Vox these like my Media, these digital first media companies, barstool sports. That’s what he was building out. He had a website about coffee, one about swimming pools and hot tubs, one about home brewing beer, and all these other things. And that’s what he’s building. I’m building similar things, right? I have a website about things I’m passionate about. Coffee, same one about camping. What about with we were just talking about a personal finance, like, I’m building my own portfolio of these things. Um, so I think that that’s a good place to start. Matt’s theme is pretty cool. I’m also a big fan of a lot of the StudioPress themes. I also think I use those on the Genesis platform for almost all my websites. They do good enough. Yeah, I’ve gotten compliments from designers and I’m like, Great because that’s just I didn’t make this but yeah, them or even Brian Gardner who is okay, the I want to say the creator of StudioPress. But when they sold that to WP Engine, he now has a bunch of themes that are Also very minimalist and very fast. So that’s usually where I would start.
So is that would Brian’s be WP rocket and things like that as well like the plugins?
No, I don’t think he’s a rocket. Okay, because
I think that’s what that’s something that Matt recommended as well like if you’re looking to, you know, just like the lazy load or something like that he recommended.
Yeah. So there’s also Yeah, there’s also plugins you can use. I’m a big fan of async JavaScript, it just loads JavaScript asynchronously. So it doesn’t load the whole page. It only loads the JavaScript when it actually hits that part of the page. And then there’s another plugin by the same team. I forget what it’s called. But yeah, WP rocket is very similar kind of thing. Whether it’s lazy loading images or different scripts and that sort of thing. Having your site set up, I mean, you can get into the weeds on a lot of this but most of it is just going to be like how big Is the page and how many requests are we making to load to this page? The less requests the better.
Yeah. I actually went through this with Matt last week and I looked at he looked at my website and the speed and everything like that. I think I was loaded about five seconds. For someone like that hasn’t really done anything on speed. It was like that’s not bad. To be fair, like it could have been much worse. But he’s always said like, try and aim to get it at two seconds. I haven’t actually tried WP rocket yet, but that’s definitely he said that and also, just like,
optimise that’s good. There’s a couple. Yeah, they don’t all play nice with each other. So you kind of have to pick like, yeah, that’s what I was gonna do. But like, feel free. You’re not gonna break it, trying to make it faster, more not running anything that complicated on most of our websites that like, if two plugins are doing the same thing. They’re not it’s not like well, if I break this and that breaks and the forms don’t work, then your risk of that is pretty low. Yeah, you can always just go in and turn one off.
Yes. Okay. Isn’t it like just to try one? Turn it off? Get rid of it, try another one. So I remember when I first started, I was like, I don’t want to do that. What if it all just crashes? And like, you know, breaks, but now I’m a lot more like, yeah, I’ll try this. And I’ll try to,
yeah, for sure, I would start there. And then think after that, like, really, the name of the game is keeping as much of your content as close to the homepage as possible. your homepage tends to be your most authoritative page, that’s where most of your links will be. So if you think about, like, you know, the authority passes from the homepage, and then everything the homepage links to it sends it there. And then those send more of that authority to different pages. So the closer you can put your content to the homepage, like on some of my websites I have, if you scroll to the bottom of the homepage, there’s 10 or 15 articles linked on the homepage, and those are ones that I want to rank really high in search. So I keep them on the homepage. So they have that authority. I think that’s the biggest thing is just don’t bury anything on your website don’t make anything like not super easy to get to.
Yeah. And do you go down like the whole silos route of? I don’t really understand what that is to be totally honest. I hear this all the time being thrown around. But yeah, I’ve never really like dug into doing that whole thing by this is my understanding, I don’t know if it’s right, is that you just have different almost like, sections that you want to talk to. And then like, everything just webs off from there sort of thing. So like, if you were doing personal finance website, you’d have probably saving money making money. Investing maybe would be potentially three silos or something and then everything like spider webs off there.
Yeah, you can silo it like that. You I’m a big fan of called content clusters or content hubs, where it’s like, Alright, let’s have the like, let’s make sure the search intent for all of these different things are, can I just kind of walk you through like how I would do it? Yeah, definitely. So If I had a topic, I would and I didn’t have access to, well, maybe let’s say you do have access to a fancy tool. The first thing I do is I go I take that topic I drop it in, answer the public, do an export of what it comes up with. Because answer the public takes all of the autocompletes from Google, YouTube and Cora and a couple other places, pulls it all together. And then now I have all of the questions around my topic, right? What are people searching for? I then literally just drop that into h refs. And h refs will tell me instantly, search volume and all these different things and I can start to prioritise Now don’t get me wrong. Keyword Difficulty and search volume are not like that’s not a content strategy. What I’m looking for There is everything around that. And then also looking at what is the separate search intent so actually go there’s something silly that people don’t do when they’re doing SEO, they don’t actually Google The thing they’re trying to rank for, to see like, what does this even look like? And what I noticed is that sometimes people write five articles. But if you google all those topics, it’s the same articles ranking for every single one, which means that Google knows that it’s those while people are typing different things. And the tools tell you they’re different volumes in different difficulties. It’s really the same articles for all of that. Yeah. And you don’t need to write five separate articles, you just need to write one. That’s amazing. So I then go Google all of those things and start putting together a content cluster of like, Alright, what’s the Main article that’s going to cover most of these? Great, we’ll create that, what are the longer tail articles around it? And then just making sure like, you know, you don’t need to turn it into Wikipedia where every other word is a link to another page. Wikipedia is worse. But well, I mean, it’s also great, right? They pass that equity really well through their whole website. It just keeps on that, doesn’t it? Yeah, it doesn’t. It also shows how everything’s really related to each other which helps everything rank Better. It’s one of the reasons that Wikipedia ranks really well. I think the biggest thing for me from there is Yeah, just making sure everything’s interlinked internal linking is, you know, if we started out by talking about External links from other websites, yeah, people forget that links from your own website count. So continuing to link to stuff, a lot of people don’t go back into their old content and link to the new stuff that they’ve made since then. really effective tactic to increasing rank. So yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing is just having a smart content strategy that’s tied to business, but also close to the homepage and building out those content clusters. Yeah,
that makes sense. Have you got like any just little quick wins, if someone’s already got a website established, and, you know, they might have their ranking for some stuff, but they just want to like, do a little tweak. Is there anything that you could do to just help a piece of content rank a little bit better?
Totally. So the first thing I would do is we talked about making the website Super fast like installed instal it if you’re on WordPress instal async JavaScript instal optimizer, WP rocket or whatever, super easy take less than 45 seconds to do. So that’s a super easy win. Next, take the article, the keyword you want it to rank for the Google doesn’t really look at keywords as much as topics right the best content ranks for 2000 keywords more, but the tools can’t track that much longtail stuff. So, go through the rest of the pages on your website, and give yourself 10 internal links, go to 10 other articles that you have, make sure there’s a link to it on the homepage, make sure there’s a link to it on your about page, go into five or six other articles and link to that article. Like get that internal linking locked in. And then from there, there’s I mean, that’s the easiest wins, like you’ll see things pick up from that. I guarantee you unless your website is 100% brand new. There’s only You know nothing else links to you on the internet etc it’s an uphill battle it takes time but that’s such a good practice to like to be in just because going forward that’s the the easiest win. And I’m going to tell you that works all the way from like our personal blogs all the way to clients that I work with like Allstate. The tactics aren’t don’t change that much is incredible.
It’s just you kind of think when you learn this stuff, you think oh, this is only gonna work in like my little tiny website that I’m building but his interest is amazing how many times I’ve heard that kind of thing you know, from someone that is obviously working with huge websites. It’s actually all very similar by the sounds of it. I’m sure there’s way more tactics and little things that you can do. But it does sound like the core fundamentals is really the same love writing great content, getting backlinks, you know, just just making stuff that stands out really I think is is going to be something huge moving forward.
Yeah, the last one I could give people is just Google, the thing you’re trying to rank for. Look at the Auto suggests, look at what the actual intent is behind your search. You’re like, yeah, people want to like, for example, we talked about digital marketing skills. You’re like, Alright, cool. People want to, like, get a list of digital marketing skills. That’s the intent. I disagree. If you Google Let me see if what comes up right now I can tell you what’s come up like historically. digital marketing skills. here’s here’s the top four digital marketing skills for resume, digital marketing skills, 2020 digital marketing skills to learn. The intent behind digital marketing skills is that people want to know what they need to put on their resume, what’s relevant in 2020? And what how and what to learn. So this is not somebody who’s hiring, looking for the digital marketing skills they need to assess. Yeah, right. This is an actual now all of a sudden, if you have that, that article that says these three digits No marketing skills changed my life and career. All of a sudden, you’ve mastered that search intent. And people are like, Oh my god, that there’s three digital marketing skills that could change my life and career. That’s what I actually want. All the sudden, it’s like, get out, you know, you’ve kind of like start to, it’s like inception. Right? Like, yeah, you know, they’re like, just get out of my head. That’s crazy. This is exactly what I needed. They’re gonna opt in for your thing. They’re gonna click to another blog post. And there’ll be fans because you understood what they were really looking for.
Yeah, that’s incredible. To me, that sounded like they were all completely different things, but it’s amazing how you managed to make that link. I guess it’s just experience and like, you know, doing it all the time.
Sure. And I think it’s I look like I’m, I hate it when digital marketers use digital marketing as their only example. But I think that’s true. For everything is like what do people actually want? A lot of times when people are googling their problems, they don’t want a solution. We think that well there they want it, you know, they’re googling back pain. Let me give them all the back pain solutions. At that level they don’t they just want you to empathise with them. They want to, they want to understand when they get to your website and read an article about back pain, like, yeah, I want you to give me the solutions. But I also want to know your story. I also want to know like, how you got to this point, I want to be empathised with deeply. So all right, that person, same kind of chronic back pain, same like I can’t sit for too long. I can’t stand it makes it hard to work, all of this sort of thing. Like Alright, cool. This is somebody I’ll listen to. And that’s what you really want is that connection that trends. Can we circle back that transformation?
Awesome. I mean, I could literally just keep talking to phases because I know there’s so much I could love. I know you’re a busy guy. So I do really appreciate it. Brendon, if if anyone’s listening to this and they want to reach out what’s the best way for them to contact you?
Yeah, I mean, I’ll pretend it’s because I’m good at SEO that you can google Brendan Hufford spell it any way you want. You’ll probably find me. It’s not because I’m good at SEO. I have a very unique name. But you can google Brendon Hufford, that’ll bring up all the things that’ll be On Twitter, my personal website, it’ll bring up the hundred days of SEO project really depends on where you like consuming stuff, right? If you’re a video person, check out just look me up on YouTube. I’ve got a tonne of SEO videos on YouTube education, something I take super seriously. If you like podcasts because you’re listening to this podcast, like, check me out, like, look me up on podcasts, I’d be entrepreneurs and coffee podcasts, 100 days of SEO podcast. And if you like blogs, like I said, Just Google me you’ll find my personal blog and the hundred days of SEO blog. Awesome.
Thanks so much, Brendon. Really appreciate it.
Yeah, of course, and thanks for having me.
So as you can tell, he really knows his stuff. And it is incredible. Just some of the things that he managed to give away within like 30 minutes of I’m gonna chat with him Really? Yep. You know, he is obviously super busy. So I felt really bad like taking too much of his time because he has some serious stuff that he wants to be doing. So it’s amazing that he is Could he could actually even do that just for a little while. And I just want to summarise some of the main things that I took from the chat. And hopefully that can also help you as well. So number one was kind of what Brendan was saying about with a new website, the two main buckets that he was kind of talking about. Yeah, the random revenue generating articles, but then also unique articles and you know, like making real amazing content that people want to share and shareable content and things like that, you know, getting back to his basics blogging, he said, that’s what stuff difference really there is, you know, if it’s like a personal finance website, you revenue generating content are going to be like reviews of different apps and credit cards and all that sort of stuff. Because, you know, that’s where you’re gonna get loads of affiliates, and things like that. Whereas unique is
stuff that is not already being written about and just put in a new angle on certain things because obviously everything has been covered before, but not in your style or with your point of view. So if you can actually do that, and something that actually makes people be like, wow, yeah, I see that’s really interesting or that’s really cool, then that’s the sort of stuff that gets shared and it just brings backlinks naturally talk quite a lot of backlinks around after that point as well. But number two is actually all to do with backlinks and outreach and things like that.
spoke a lot about actually finding people and giving to them first. So something that he said, and I’ve not really heard people I’ve heard people saying the same sort of thing before. And I always try and do this. I never, personally I never just blank, cold outreach someone and say, Hey, you want to come on the podcast or something like that. In fact, actually, Brendan, the reason he’s on the podcast is because, you know, Pete McPherson who had a chat to and Pete said about him and he knows there’s loads of stuff about SEO and he gave me like her Intro basically to Brendan. So it wasn’t just me saying, hey, you have no idea who I am. But you want it when it got more focus. And so that’s just a really good way to, rather than just going to someone and being like, hey, I’ve got some idea or something that’s going to really help me find ways that you can help them. If they produce content. Look at it, figure it out, do what they’re saying, and show them the results. say, Look, I’ve tried this. And I thought that was a great way to actually just make connections wherever it is to get backlinks or whatever, it doesn’t matter. You’re actually making real connections with real people. And if you can show transformations, people love transformations, you know, the whole losing weight and things like that. Going from a skinny guy to a muscle. That is what people really want to see going from broke to 50 million whatever, you know, that’s what’s tough. Number three, is speed. Something that Matt spoke about as well on last week’s podcast. The speed of your website is something that you can control. It is something you can control whether you want to admit that or not. You can just google google house and previous speed. And that’s something that you can do straight away. But he gave some actual advice. You know, a lightweight theme. Even said, Matt, Matt. Jeff machine is theme carbonate, I think it is called. He also said StudioPress. WP Engine, and then just some plugins that he said that I’ve not heard of before async JavaScript, which just sounds like it’s a like a lazy load for JavaScript. And I’ve heard JavaScript, JavaScript and pictures. Images are like two massive thing that can really slow your website down. I’ve never even heard of getting like async JavaScript or I think it’s like a lazy load. But that’s that’s basically what he said. And then auto auto optimise or optimizer with optimizer. I think he said, I’m not entirely sure what that is, but I’ll find out I’ll leave a link And then also just the number four then is internal links. So we spoke about External links, internal links are really, really important. And he was saying how they’re a real quick win as well, you know, if you’ve just got, you’ve got an article you really want to improve, get 10 internal links to it, find relevant internal links, but so also, your homepage is like a huge, huge page to actually link from because you’re basically showing Google Hey, look, this is important. It’s on my homepage. So if you have something that’s really important, make sure it’s on the home page. And that’s just a quick win. And a way for you to get more links to your article, which at the end of the day is what Google is kind of looking forward to. I think there might be backlinks, but it may also be internal links. It’s just getting into good habits. And number five, I really liked what he said about ways for even if it’s just generic, next time you Google something, as you’re reading the article, just think is this Just some robot. Obviously, it’s not a robot, but is it just robotic? Is it just factual? Or is there someone’s voice is there someone’s actual story in whatever it is because, like, the example he gave was, if someone types in back pain, they don’t just want, they don’t always just want a solution for back pain, they actually want to feel em pathologized with, they actually want someone to feel like they are listening to them and hearing them. So if you can share your story, something that is real honest, and actually empathising with someone if you can do that, that is gonna be huge. But if you compare that to the other kind of articles that you that may be in that same topic. It’s just gonna be if it’s skyscraper stuff and stuff like that. If you can put your own individual spin and your story on something and say, hey, look, I understand what you’re going through. I also think the same thing. I’ve done research into it and this is what I found out. That is That’s always more effective that’s building a real relationship with someone rather than just writing generic words. Anyway, I’m gonna stop rambling now. Hope enjoyed that one, guys. Take care. Thanks for listening in to this episode of Make time online. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss any future episodes. And please take a moment to write a review for our podcast in the App Store. keep changing for the better guys. Take care
Podcast Summary
I learnt tons from this chat!
Here's my main takeaways:
Create revenue generating content & unique, sharable content
Build real relationships and help other people to build backlinks (backlinks still really matter, no matter what anyone says... sure people claim they never use backlink strategies and get found in Google. But they will have accumulated backlinks whether they know it or not!)
Improve your site speed to improve SEO
Internal links to help give a post some good juice
Tell your story and use your own voice
If you want to connect with Brendan, just type in Brendan Hufford anywhere online and you'll find him!
What was your main takeaway? Drop a comment below...
P.S. Still want more?
I 100% recommend checking out this "dream team" link building strategy explained in detail by Brendan. If there is one thing I could recommend you to ever read about SEO, it is this.
Blew.
Mind.
(And anyone can do it!)
Also these top 10 FREE link building tools.
"If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Warren Buffet
Mike Beatty has built a passive income online whilst working as a full-time PE teacher without any marketing or technical experience. Learn more about how he's done it here.
Prosperity of Life Review: Pyramid Scheme or Easy Money Opportunity? [Honest Review]
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Kalle & Marie says:
Thank you Mike for great article, very informative.
I agree with Brendan – It is a actually a business (even sometime you created your blog post from living room or in a cafe), so the main purpose is to generate money (income), and of course it should be interested enough for some one, and unique so they willing to share it with others…
Kalle & Marie
Mike Beatty says:
Glad you liked it Kalle and Marie! I totally agree too
Hi Mike! Great article and thanks for the simple tips for getting started. I’m very new at all of this but how can I tell which sites are linking to my site? How do I know if these are quality links? I hired a company to do some backlinks for me but I’m not sure that I did the right thing. Is there a way to “rate” the quality of the links and the impact they might have on my site seo score?
Hey Cheryl, try Moz chrome extension so you can see the domain authority of sites. That helps to give you an idea.
also check out Brendan’s “dream 100” article linked above. That will explain a great way to get those quality back links. I wouldn’t recommend outsourcing it as most of those companies are useless… in fact they may have used some black hat techniques and that could end up damaging your site in the long run.
Lucas Moore says:
Thanks a lot Mike for the article, it was very informative. I handle a couple of websites for diverse business and like was mentioned in the article most if not all business want to be easily seen by their target audience and for a very long time now SEO has made that possible. That is why i can’t wait to begin implementing the tips and tools that was mentioned here.
Glad it could help Lucas!
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Discover how I make passive income online
Make $1,000+ a month online
Ultimate Pinterest guide for bloggers
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A Foot-Powered Lathe
Michael Colombo
In addition to being an online editor for MAKE Magazine, Michael Colombo works in fabrication, electronics, sound design, music production and performance (Yes. All that.) In the past he has also been a childrens' educator and entertainer, and holds a Masters degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
View more articles by Michael Colombo
By Michael Colombo
April 26, 2013, 8:45 am PDT
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG9R0q9QJQc]
Youtube user QueticoChris recently acquired an old cast-iron flywheel, and it got him to thinking. Why not use it as a power-plant for a wood lathe? You see, Chris is quite passionate about old-style woodworking techniques and uses hand tools whenever possible. Keeping in this tradition, Chris used the flywheel to build a wood lathe that’s powered by a foot treadle.
Other than having a machinist cut a groove in the flywheel to fit a pulley, he exclusively used hand tools and wood to craft the apparatus that fit the lathe. Every part is friction fit and held together tightly by wooden pegs. It’s really a marvel of vintage engineering, and as you can see at the end of the video, his contraption works gorgeously. Chris manages to pump out quite a nice handle for a large chisel in need of one. I’m excited to see more projects from this maker.
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James O’Shea
The O’Shea brothers John and James, and their relation Edward Whelan, were the incarnation of Ruskin’s ideal of the medieval craftsman reborn. They appear at the Museum Building in 1854 seemingly ready-made – a force of nature unleashed upon mid-nineteenth century architecture, conforming to Ruskin’s idea of the rude Northern European creative spirit:
…with rough strength and hurried stroke, he smites an uncouth animation out of the rocks which he has torn from among the moss of the moorland, and heaves into the darkened air the pile of iron buttress and rugged wall, instinct with work of an imagination as wild and wayward as the northern sea; creations of ungainly shape and rigid limb, but full of wolfish life; fierce as the winds that beat, and changeful as the clouds that shade them.
On meeting the O’Sheas later in Oxford (where they executed the carvings on the Oxford Museum) Ruskin saw them as wild Irishmen, obstinate and generous who by natural instinct brought a fluidity, freshness and life to their work. This energy was already apparent in their work at TCD’s Museum Building. The carving is profuse, weighty and sinuous. Tendrils spring forward from the deep undercutting, giving space to the bend of a stem or the subtle curve and dip of a leaf. They varied the tone of their work as they moved around the building: where rude imagination dominates the central bays of the north front, on the outer bays flowers and foliage appear in neatly curated rows, symmetrical, and precise (fig. x).
When they began work on the Museum Building the O’Sheas creative engagement was hailed by the Dublin press as a vindication of Ruskin’s ideas.
…the first experiment which has been made in the United Kingdom of giving the artisan’s power of design full play, with only the necessary restriction, that he shall use none but natural objects for his models: a restriction which, indeed, leaves him illimitable scope; for every leaf and flower, properly studied, offers suggestions to the artist’s eye, and, either imitated or idealized, affords innumerable forms adapted to architectural decoration.
Their work at Trinity brought a slew of high-profile commissions in Britain, including the Oxford Museum and Manchester Court House. Relatively little is known about the background of the O’Shea brothers, except that they came from the village of Ballyhooly in north Cork.
It is not clear where the elder brother, John, was born as he does not appear in the baptismal registers for Ballyhooly, which do however record the birth of a James O’Shea on 3rd February 1824, son of Daniel O’Shea and Eliza Spellane. This date accords well with the age of James O’Shea recorded in the 1861 census. His father’s name, Daniel, is that given to the first born sons of both James and his brother John. James gave his second son, named James, the middle initial ‘S’, likely derived from his mother, and used the initial himself in his advertisement at Derby in the 1860s.
No surviving evidence has yet been found regarding the training the O’Sheas received, but it is likely that they fell into the ambit of Sir Thomas Deane in County Cork. The births of all James O’Shea’s children, in 1847, 49, 51, 53, and 55, are recorded in Ireland (see pedigree, below), while John’s wife gave birth to their youngest children in 1850 and 1852 in Ireland, leaving little opportunity for an extended sojourn abroad during these years. Their work for Deane and Woodward coincides with changes in art education in Ireland and expresses well the wider contemporary movement to cultivate native craftsmanship. Indeed, in both stylistic and methodological terms, the work of the O’Sheas (and their younger relation, Edward Whelan) shares much in common with the new approaches advocated by the new Government Schools of Design.
Deane, Son and Woodward were well-placed to draw from this new pool of formally tutored artisanal talent. From April 1848, members of Cork town council had proposed establishing a school of design in the city which would train designers for artistic and manufacturing purposes, some eleven years after the first such school was established in England. Sir Thomas Deane helped establish the school at the Cork Institution, converting rooms in the building for this purpose, remarking that ‘it gives me life and energy to think we have the entire concurrence of the Government.’ The lord lieutenant, Lord Clarendon (1847-52), formerly president of the Board of Trade, who had originally proposed the establishment of schools of design in Ireland, took a particular interest, visiting the new school at Cork in October 1849, when he was led around by Deane.
One third of the pupils at the Cork School of Design, as nominated by the Corporation, were admitted free – inspired by the Gewerbeschulen in Germany. By 1852 there was an average of 50 free pupils each quarter, who could not afford to pay and who were supplied with half-price drawing materials. Their names do not appear in the fee register, so we do not know if the O’Sheas were among them. However it is notable that the O’Sheas came from Ballyhooly – not only an area where Deane and Woodward were working during these years – but also the seat of the Earls of Listowell, to whose generosity and memory a plaque was erected in the Cork School of Design. The earl of Listowell’s father had been responsible for acquiring the Canova casts from George IV for Cork, which had helped create the artistic environment at the Cork Institution from which John Hogan subsequently emerged. Sir Thomas Deane had provided the present earl with a design for a temperance hall in Ballyhooly in 1840 and Benjamin Woodward was involved in two architectural projects at Castletownroche, a parish conjoined with that of Ballyhooly, in the period immediately prior to the commencement of the Museum Building: the gatehouse at Annesgrove[6] and the Catholic church (1847-52). The church, partially destroyed in a fire later in the century, was described in 1850 as being ‘the prettiest Gothic Church in the Province, without being extravagant…with stately columns and splendid arches’. [8] It is possible, therefore, that the O’Sheas came to work for the firm at this time. The training of artisans was something of a hobbyhorse with of Sir Thomas Deane, as he admitted in his lecture on sculpture to the RIAI in January 1851, and the O’Sheas may well have been protégés of his at the Cork School of Design.
Twenty nine-year old James O’Shea was living in the parish of St Catherine in the Dublin Liberties as early as November 1853, where his son Daniel was baptised, some three months prior to the commencement of the Museum Building. A James O’Shea is recorded on Thomas Street (in the same parish) in Griffiths Valuation (1854), living in Madden’s Court, a group of ten tenements around a courtyard leased out by shoemaker Thomas Madden, who in turn held them from the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church. It was immediately next to the city saw mills and O’Shea (if the same person) lived here with his twenty-six year old wife Eliza née Burke, with whom he would have at least eight children. The O’Sheas and Whelan did not advertise in the Dublin trade directories of the 1850s, presumably being too preoccupied with their work in Trinity. However, James O’Shea did carve a speculative statue of the Immaculate Conception ‘4 feet 9 inches high, sculptured in Caen Stone’ representing the Virgin Mary as a girl ‘of twelve or thirteen years old’, which was offered for sale to interested members of the clergy at 25 Wellington Quay in July of 1856. This was likely intended to capitalise upon Pius IX’s papal bull proclaiming the dogma of the Immaculate Conception two years earlier. Where the statue went is unknown.
The later career of the O’Sheas has been charted by Frederick O’Dwyer, to which might be added the rather tragic demise of James O’Shea in 1881. In this year he left his family in Manchester to return to Oxford, the city where his fame had reached its height twenty years earlier – but now he was homeless, arrested ‘drunk and incapable in Littlegate street’, described as ‘much addicted to drink’. He was, however, still described as ‘well-known’ in the town, suggesting his former success was not entirely forgotten.
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Jaime Freilich
Jaime Freilich is an associate in the Litigation Department. Ms. Freilich joined Debevoise in 2018. She received her J.D. summa cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2018, where she was an executive articles editor of the Brooklyn Law Review and a member of Brooklyn Law School’s Moot Court Honor Society. She received her B.S. from Cornell University in 2013.
Brooklyn Law School, 2018, J.D.
Cornell University, 2013, B.S.
What types of cases Attorney Jaime Freilich & Debevoise & Plimpton LLP can handle?
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP can handle cases related to laws concerning Litigation. We manually verify each attorney’s practice areas before approving their profiles and reviews on our website.
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Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is located at 919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, USA. You can reach out to Debevoise & Plimpton LLP using their phone line 212 909 6249. You can also check their website debevoise.com or email them at [email protected].
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Evan Hamme
Ben Lee Friedman
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North to Alaska: Call of the Wild Leads Visitors to the Last Frontier
Today, it may seem hard to imagine that the decision to buy the territory from Russia for $7 million was unpopular. Transcript of radio broadcast:
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Among the fifty states, California is the largest in population. But which state is the largest in area? Texas? No, another state is even bigger than Texas: Alaska.
Alaska is a state of wild beauty. It calls itself the Last Frontier. Alaska is on the border with northwestern Canada -- so far north, part of it is within the Arctic Circle.
It has a million and a half square kilometers of territory. It has forests to hike, mountains to climb and waters to sail or fish. Alaska is known for its salmon, crab and other seafood.
The travel season in Alaska is between May and September. Some areas, especially in the interior, get surprisingly warm in the summer.
The Alaska Climate Research Center says one rule has been found to work for most travelers in Alaska. Always be prepared for one season colder than the time you are traveling. This is true especially if you visit Alaska early or late in the travel season.
Much of Alaskan life is shaped by ice and snow, especially in the Arctic north. Not surprisingly, then, climate change is an important issue for the state.
September marked the end of what scientists call the melt season for Arctic sea ice. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado says the sea ice fell this year to the lowest levels since satellite measurements began. That was in nineteen seventy-nine. If earlier ship and aircraft records are included, Arctic sea ice may have fallen by as much as half from levels in the nineteen fifties.
In September, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed an order establishing an advisory group within her cabinet. The Climate Change Sub-Cabinet will prepare a plan for dealing with the expected effects of global warming.
In a statement, the governor said many scientists note that Alaska’s climate is changing. She said Alaskans are already seeing effects like coastal erosion, melting ice and record forest fires.
The cabinet group will also look at ways to develop and expand programs for renewable energy from wind and other sources. In addition, the governor is seeking a natural gas pipeline that she says would help the nation by providing clean energy.
Native groups have lived for thousands of years in Alaska. In the seventeen hundreds, Russia took control of the territory. Alaska is just across the Bering Strait from Siberia. The Russians traded with the local people and brought animal furs back home to Russia to sell.
Later, the Russians decided to sell the territory itself. The United States bought it in eighteen sixty-seven for seven million dollars. Alaska became a territory of the United States. The name came from Alyeska, an Aleut native word for "great land."
Many Americans did not think Alaska was such a great land. They did not think it had valuable resources. In fact, it was one of the best deals the United States ever made.
Today, Alaska's biggest industries are oil production, tourism and fishing. The state also has gold and copper mines and other mineral resources.
Around nineteen hundred, gold was found in the Yukon area. Many people went to Alaska hoping to get rich in the Yukon gold rush. Most of them did not succeed.
Finally, in nineteen fifty-nine, Alaska entered the Union as the forty-ninth state -- the forty-ninth star on the American flag. Later that same year Hawaii became the fiftieth. Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that are not physically connected to the others.
Alaska has fewer people per square kilometer than any other state. But the population has been growing. The most recent estimate from the Census Bureau shows there were six hundred seventy thousand people last year.
Most Alaskans live in central and southern Alaska. The climate is more moderate compared to the north and there is more daylight during winter.
Alaska’s largest city is Anchorage, with about two hundred eighty thousand people. Fairbanks and Juneau, the capital, have about thirty thousand each.
The Alaska Native Heritage Center says Alaska Natives represent about sixteen percent of the state population. The Heritage Center says eleven native Alaskan cultures and twenty languages survive today.
Sled dogs are an important part of the history of Alaska. For many, many winters, sleds pulled by dogs provided the only transportation across the frozen territory.
Dog sled drivers are called mushers. The early ones in some cases even used wolves to pull their sleds.
Mushers and their dogs carried mail, food and other supplies to miners after the rivers were frozen and boat travel was blocked. Sometimes the sleds carried the miners’ gold on the return trip.
In nineteen twenty-five, heavy snows blocked all the roads into the city of Nome. A serious disease, diphtheria, was spreading among children there. The nearest medicine was in Anchorage. Twenty dog sled teams took part in getting the medicine from Anchorage to Nome. They got it there in five and a half days.
Even as airplanes and snowmobiles came to replace dog sleds, that event has never been forgotten.
In March of each year, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held in Alaska. Organizers wanted to create an event that would preserve the memory of dog sleds. They chose a race over what had been the Iditarod Trail, one of the paths traveled by dog sleds.
The race from Anchorage to Nome, on the Bering Sea coast, is more than one thousand eight hundred fifty kilometers long. The first one took place in nineteen seventy-three.
The mushers travel from one rest area to another, much the same way mushers did many years ago as they took supplies to the miners. But the modern sleds travel much faster.
Alaska is a popular vacation place. One reason is its eight national parks. The best known is Denali National Park. Denali is home to North America’s highest mountain. Mount McKinley is over six thousand meters high.
Denali National Park also has rivers and large glaciers. Wildlife in the park includes wolves, moose and grizzly bears.
There are hotels in the park, but some visitors like to set up tents and sleep outdoors. Most visitors come in the summer months. During winter, the road into the park is closed except for visitors using skis, snowshoes or dog sleds.
Tourists in Alaska do not have to go camping to see glaciers. Many people go on cruise ships that sail past these slow-moving mountains of ice. Another way to experience Alaska is by train. There are railroad tours that are several days long.
In nineteen seventy-three the United States was facing a Middle East oil crisis. Congress passed legislation that President Richard Nixon signed into law to permit the building of an oil pipeline across Alaska. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is almost one thousand three hundred kilometers long. It extends from the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope to the port of Valdez.
Oil brings money for Alaska, but also risks. Almost twenty years ago, Alaska experienced an environmental disaster that killed fish, birds, seals and other animals.
In nineteen eighty-nine, the tanker ship Exxon Valdez tore open on underwater rocks and created a huge oil spill along the coast. The clean-up took a long time and led Congress to pass legislation to try to reduce the danger of oil pollution.
Today environmental groups are fighting calls to open protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. Drilling supporters say the oil is needed to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Opponents say it would defeat the purpose of a wildlife refuge.
One thing cannot be disputed. Alaska's biggest industries -- oil, tourism and fishing -- all depend on its natural resources. That includes the wild and wide-open beauty that every year brings more than one million visitors to the Last Frontier.
Our program was produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Steve Ember.
And I’m Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, Is McCain's Surprise Choice
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Opens Rooms with a View First Exhibition to Focus on Motif of the Open Window in 19th Century Art
During the Romantic era, the open window appeared either as the sole subject or the main feature in many pictures of interiors that were filled with a poetic play of light and perceptible silence. Rooms with a View: The Open Window in the 19th Century, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 5 through July 4, 2011, is the first exhibition to focus on this motif as captured by German, Danish, French, and Russian artists around 1810–20. Works in the exhibition range from the initial appearance of the motif in two sepia drawings of about 1805–06 by Caspar David Friedrich to paintings of luminous empty rooms from the late 1840s by Adolph Menzel. The show features 31 oil paintings and 26 works on paper, and consists mostly of generous loans from museums in Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, and the United States.
The exhibition is made possible by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and The Isaacson-Draper Foundation.
In 1805–06, the important German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) created two sepia drawings that became greatly influential showing views outside the windows of his studio in Dresden. In Friedrich’s treatment of the open window, the Romantics recognized a potent symbol for the experience of standing on the threshold between an interior and the outside world. The motif’s juxtaposition of the very close and the far away became a metaphor for unfulfilled longing, a sentiment first expressed by the Romantic poet Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772–1802), who wrote: “Everything at a distance turns into poetry: distant mountains, distant people, distant events: all become Romantic.” Like Friedrich, other Romantic artists were drawn to the view from the window for its symbolic power, and not simply for the beauty of the landscape itself. For them, the rectangular or square shape of the canvas echoed perfectly the window as a view of the world.
Rooms with a View features the two seminal Friedrich images—shown for the first time in this country—as well as works by some 40 other artists, mostly from Northern Europe, including Carl Gustav Carus, Johan Christian Dahl, Georg Friedrich Kersting, Léon Cogniet, Wilhelm Bendz, and Adolph Menzel, among others. Many of the artists are little known on these shores, their works unseen until now.
The works in the exhibition are in distinct groupings: austere hushed rooms with contemplative figures reading, sewing, or writing; studios with artists at work; and windows as sole motif. The mood in these pictures can shift from early Romantic severity to Biedermeier coziness to poetic Realism, yet they all share a distinct absence of the anecdote and narration that characterized earlier genre painting.
Exhibition Overview
Rooms with a View begins with a gallery of works depicting rooms with figures. The vogue for pictures of bare rooms that reflect their sitters’ frugal lifestyles coincides with the Napoleonic Wars of 1803–15 and their aftermath, when daily life in both Germany and Denmark had turned grim. Ironically, this period coincided with the “golden age” of Danish painting, characterized by visual poetry in the works of Wilhelm Bendz (1804–1832) and Emilius Bærentzen (1799–1868), who celebrated modest family life and gatherings. Similarly, none of the upheaval of the time is reflected in the works of the German artist Georg Friedrich Kersting (1785–1847), who countered outward chaos with idyllically ordered interiors. Sober attention to detail marks these 19th-century interiors, in which silence and light become the main subjects. Figures are seen from the back or in lost profile as they sit at a window to read, write, sew, or, as in Friedrich’s iconic Woman at the Window (1822), gaze through it.
Artists’ studios are featured in the next gallery of the exhibition. Depictions of artists in their studios have a long tradition, especially in the interiors of 17th–century Dutch genre painting. The moods created in 17th–century and early 19th–century pictures are quite different, however, as is the treatment of the window. In the earlier pictures, windows are most often shown in an oblique, foreshortened view, and as sources of light, without views. By contrast, in the 19th–century pictures, windows usually run parallel to the picture plane, with views seen through them. Some of the works featured in this section are a painting of Caspar David Friedrich in his austere Dresden studio as portrayed by Georg Friedrich Kersting, his admiring younger colleague, canvases by French artists showing unidentified female artists working in elegant drawings, rooms overlooking picturesque Parisian views, as well as pictures by their male colleagues, who could compete for the prestigious Prix de Rome, which allowed them to spend five years as pensionnaires at the Académie de France in the Villa Medici in Rome.
The two Caspar David Friedrich sepia drawings of 1805-06 that inaugurated the Romantic motif of the open window are highlighted in the next gallery devoted to works on paper. Unlike the stark balance between the darkened interior and the pale landscape rendered in these views, the artists who followed Friedrich created gentler versions of the motif. Their windows open onto flat plains in Sweden, parks in German spas, or rooftops in Copenhagen, and artist’s studios overlook houses in Dresden or Turin, bucolic Vienna suburbs, or Roman cityscapes saturated with light.
Rooms with a View concludes with a gallery of paintings of open windows and empty rooms. For artists, the enduring attraction of this subject lies in its purely visual appeal: echoing the rectangular or square shape of the canvas, the window view turns into a “picture within a picture.” Even a barren landscape, when framed in a window, can be transformed into an enthralling scene. Some artists recorded actual sites—Copenhagen’s harbor, the river Elbe near Dresden, the Bay of Naples—while others invented, or even largely blocked, the views from their studios or painted them in the chill of moonlight. Highlights of this section include View of Pillnitz Castle (1823) by Johann Christian Dahl (1788–1857) and four paintings by the German Realist Adolph Menzel (1815– 1905). Created between 1845 and 1851, Menzel’s pictures are devoted to the effects of light in mostly empty rooms, such as his bedroom in daylight with a view of expanding Berlin outside the window, his sitting room with closed shutters at twilight, and the building’s staircase at night.
Menzel never exhibited these small works during his lifetime, regarding them as mere experiments, and they were discovered only after his death.
Curatorial Credits
Rooms with a View is organized by Sabine Rewald, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Curator in the Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum.
Image: Constant Moyaux (French, 1835-1911), View of Rome from theArtist’s Room at the Villa Medici, 1863. Watercolor on paper, 11 5/8 x 9 in. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes, Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY
The exhibition and its related programs are featured on the Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org
Northern Latitude: The Frye Museum and Alaska
Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes of Havana Presents Wang Xieda Chinese Art
Royal Academy Opens Journeyings: Recent Works on Paper by Frank Bowling RA
« High Museum of Art Presents Alfred Stieglitz and His Circle: American Moderns from Atlanta Collections
Museum Tinguely Opens New Version of the Two-Man Orchestra Led by Wilhelm Bruck and Matthias Wursch »
Museo di San Marco opens Fra Angelico Room with new layout and enhancements made possible by Friends of Florence
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Police promise heavier presence after four shootings on Sunday night
Published Monday, November 30, 2020 6:46AM EST Last Updated Monday, November 30, 2020 7:26PM EST
MONTREAL -- Montreal police are beefing up their presence in part of the city after four shootings were reported in five hours on Sunday night.
The four shootings took place in Montreal North and the east end, injuring at least four people.
"Police officers from different units will be more visible on the ground to reassure the population, while others carry out priority investigations to identify those responsible," the SPVM said in a statement.
In its latest update, the Montreal police (SPVM) still hadn't arrested anyone in connection to the events and none of the people who were injured had died. Police say none of the injuries are life-threatening.
The first event took place at around 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Pascal and Lapierre Sts. in Montreal North, where SPVM officers found bullet holes on a car and casings on the ground.
A little while later, a man in his 20s showed up to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his upper body and had to undergo surgery. Police called his condition serious, but have yet to determine whether or not his injuries are linked to the event in Montreal North.
Then, at around 9:30 p.m., a man in his 50s was parking his car in the entrance of his Riviere-des-Prairies home when he was shot at least once in the upper body. Officials showed up to the scene on 63rd Ave. near Perras Blvd. and took the man to hospital.
About 10 minutes later, another shooting took place in the same neighbourhood; this time in the parking lot of a residential building. A man who was travelling on foot reportedly shot at a car with at least one person in it before fleeing.
Around 10:20 p.m., a man in his 20s who was on the balcony of his home on Armand-Bombardier Blvd., also in Riviere-des-Prairies, was shot multiple times by someone on the ground. He was taken to hospital but his injuries weren't life-threatening, police say.
Police are still trying to shed light on the circusmtances surrounding this string of events, in addition to determining if there's a connection between the man who showed up to hospital with gunshot wounds and the vehicle with bullet holes.
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Fractured Crater
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this detailed look at the floor of Komarov crater on the far side of the Moon. The spectacular fractures that cut across the floor of Komarov, which is about 53 miles (85 kilometers) in diameter, were formed when magma rose from the mantle, uplifting and fracturing the crater in the process. In this case, the magma did not erupt to the surface, so the fractures remain visible. This image shows an area just over 9 miles (15 kilometers) wide.
The view of the July 27, 2018 total lunar eclipse from the desert in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Total Lunar Eclipse from Abu Dhabi
Get out your red/blue anaglyph glasses for a three-dimensional treat! This extreme closeup of the south side of the Moon's Tycho Crater shows melt flows and pools, small craters, sagging slopes tha...
The South Side of Tycho Crater in 3D
A natural color composite mosaic of the Moon.
Lunar Surface in Color
Equipped with handheld cameras, Apollo astronauts documented their journey, capturing photos of the moon and its rocky terrain.
From Earth to the Moon
A distorted view of a full Moon intersecting Earth's horizon, as seen from the International Space Station.
Moon as Seen from ISS
Astronaut David R. Scott, right, commander of the Apollo 15 mission, gets a close look at the sample referred to as "Genesis rock."
Genesis Rock
Earth appears in the far distant background above the hi-gain antenna of the Lunar Roving Vehicle in this photograph taken by scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt during the third Apollo 17 extr...
View of Earth Above the Antenna of the Lunar Roving Vehicle During EVA
These three astronauts are the prime crew of the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission.
Apollo 15 Prime Crew Portrait
Ranger 8 image of the Moon from 302 km.
Ritter and Sabine Craters on the Moon
Carrying astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., the Lunar Module (LM) “Eagle” was the first crewed vehicle to land on the Moon.
A spectacular oblique view of the rim of Shackleton crater near the south pole of the Moon.
On the Rim!
Orion, the Apollo 16 lunar module, as captured on April 23, 1972 by astronaut Charlie Duke.
Orion on the Horizon
Close-up view of the plaque which the Apollo 11 astronauts left on the Moon in commemoration of the historic lunar landing mission.
Apollo 11 Plaque
Young unnamed crater located within Mare Fecunditatis.
Young Crater
This image of the Moon was obtained as the Galileo spacecraft passed the Earth and was able to view the lunar surface from a vantage point not possible from the Earth.
Hardware and trails created by astronaut footsteps at the Apollo 11 landing site in Mare Tranquillitatis, as seen by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Apollo 11 Landing Site
Astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., commander of the Apollo 13 lunar landing mission, pauses for a quick photo while training for the Apollo 13 mission.
Portrait - Astronaut James A. Lovell Jr.
In 1994, during its flight, the Clementine spacecraft returned images of the Moon.
Clementine Observes the Moon, Solar Corona, and Venus
The Moon's Montes Carpatus region, seen here by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, contains numerous examples of volcanic materials.
Montes Carpatus
This bootprint marks one of the first steps human beings took on the moon in July 1969.
Apollo 11 Bootprint
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Home » True Crime » The Untimely Death of an Innocent Husband – John Grega
The Untimely Death of an Innocent Husband – John Grega
15th April 2018 • 5 min read
John Grega was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. An advance in DNA technology proved that he was innocent and he was exonerated.
It was the 12th of September, 1994, when a man living in the Timber Creek condominiums in West Dover, Vermont, heard a loud banging at his door. When he opened it, he was met by 32-year-old NASA contract engineer, John Grega. John told him that he needed to use his phone to ring 911 after finding his wife, Christine, slain in the bathtub. John told police that he had taken his son to a play park before returning back home. When he arrived back to the condominium, he said he then discovered his wife’s body in the bathtub. An autopsy determined that Christine had been raped, sodomized, and then strangled to death.
John, Christine, and their 2-year-old son had been vacationing in West Dover near the Mount Snow Ski Area and had rented a condominium. The family were from Long Island, New York where Grega worked for his family’s window-washing business and Christine was a physician’s assistant who worked in a rehabilitation center. While Grega had no criminal record or a history of violence or mental illness, police focused on him as the prime suspect. Three months following the murder, John was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder.1 “I came to Vermont on vacation. I loved my wife. I did not come to Vermont to hurt my wife,” Grega declared.
Grega denied any involvement in the shocking murder but police claimed the couple had been having marital issues and went on vacation as a make or break ultimatum. Grega had allegedly told police that he and his wife had engaged in rough sex before her death which could have explained some of the physical injuries. Furthermore, investigators noted that he was scheduled to receive $350,000 in life insurance proceeds from his wife’s death if she were to die accidentally. Investigators noted that during their investigation, Grega had suggested that Christine fell and died. During his trial, there was no physical evidence against him and the prosecution mounted a circumstantial case.
The defence had offered a counter theory in the case that focused on two painters with criminal records who had been working at the condominium complex where Christine was murdered. On the day of the murder, Bryant Comi and Michael Carpenter were working as day laborers painting the exterior of the complex. Comi had a “substantial violent criminal record” and a history of sexual aggression towards women. He had also entered and stolen property from at least one other condominium according to records. Moreover, Comi smoked Marlboros. This was a crucial piece of evidence, Grega’s attorney believed, because a piece of a Marlboro cigarette box was found partly flushed in the toilet yet neither Gregas smoked.
Comi and Carpenter both gave false addresses and phone numbers. They gave inconsistent stories as to whether Grega’s car was parked at the condominium around the time of the murder and told inconsistent stories about what part of the condominium they were painting. Furthermore, they both lied about what time they got home that night. “Even more disturbingly, Bryant Comi himself admits that when he arrived home that night ‘he may have joked about the death of the lady and jokes that he had killed the lady’ to his girlfriend,” according to the defence.2
Nevertheless, Grega was found guilty of Christine’s murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
As Grega languished in Southern State Correctional Facility, he continued to maintain his innocence. While there, he was an upstanding inmate. He worked as the librarian at the prison’s legal library and aided other inmates with their legal work, while fighting to throw out his own conviction. “He’s a very well-spoken young man,” said Southern State Correctional Facility Superintendent Mark Potanas. “If I had more inmates like him, I’d be a happy man.”
In 2010, his attorneys requested that evidence collected at the crime scene be tested. The evidence included swabs taken from inside Christine’s rectum. At the time of the crime, DNA testing wasn’t as advanced as it is now. When DNA from the swabs were eventually tested two years later, it was found to not match John’s DNA. The DNA from this unknown person came from skin cells that were left behind as Christine was brutally sodomized. “Given the damage done… and the violence it suggests, you would think that the person that left the DNA was responsible for the violence that occured,” said Matthew Valerio, the state’s defender general. The DNA also didn’t match Bryant Comi and Michael Carpenter, the painters that Grega’s defence put forward as alternative suspects.
After these results, Grega’s legal team filed a motion asking that their client be freed or at least be granted a new trial.
“It is difficult to overstate the game-changing nature of this new evidence, especially in a case where, as here, the evidence of Mr. Grega’s guilt has at all times been purely circumstantial,” the lawyers wrote in the motion. “Under the reasonable doubt standard, this new DNA evidence – which was never presented to the jury and therefore was never considered in deliberations – would have not just slightly, but vastly, increased the likelihood of an acquittal or a hung jury in the original trial. Put simply, we now have compelling evidence that John Grega did not commit the crime for which he has served nearly two decades in jail.”
On the 22nd of August, 2012, Grega was released from prison.
Credit: Zachary P. Stephens/Brattleboro Reformer.
“I always said I would walk out,” he said. “I never gave up. I feel good.” At approximately 5PM, Grega walked out of the doors of the Southern State Correctional Facility after spending 18 long years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. His mother, brother, sister and attorney, Ian Carleton, were waiting for him. He dropped his two large garbage bags which contained all of his possessions, and hugged them all. “Johnny. You look great. I brought you a Snapple,’” said his mother, Marion Grega.3
Grega’s case marked the first time a conviction had been overturned under a 2008 Vermont law that allows convicted felons to request DNA testing that may not have been available at the time of their trial. Following his conviction being overturned, the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office reserved the right to retry him but announced that they had no plans to do so.
Following Grega’s release, he filed a lawsuit against the town of Dover, former State’s Attorney Dan Davis, and Vermont State Troopers William Pettengill, Richard Holden and Glenn Cutting. In his lawsuit, Grega accused these officials of maliciously and improperly pursuing him as the sole suspect in his wife’s murder.
Unfortunately, however, Grega never got the chance to receive that compensation.
On the 23rd of January, 2015, John Grega crashed into a tree and died. He was just minutes away from the home he shared with his elderly mother in Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island. He had been driving his 1999 Chevrolet van when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree. He was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Bennington Banner, 26 January, 2015 – “John Grega Dies in Car Crash”
The Times Argus, 25 July, 2012 – “DNA Puts Old Murder Case in New Light”
Battleboro Reformer, 23 August. 2012 – “Judge Vacates Grega Murder Conviction”
DNAInnocentJohn GregaTrue CrimeWrongful Conviction
Dave Wholly
I knew John when I was a CO in Vermont. He told me this story and I believed him. He was always a nice guy and I wished I could have helped him.
Firstly; I know I am not the only one that is sickened and perturbed by cases such as this whereby it seems that law enforcement are either so desperate to close a case that that’s all that matters to them or they are shockingly corrupt for one reason or another. The cops that do that kind of thing should be prosecuted as far as I am concerned. Surely on a conspiracy charge at least?! Secondly; as tragic as this story is, I feel a sense of.. something (I can not think of an adequate word right now) that the issue… Read more »
Econobiker
Reply to Jedi
Its typically not about getting the truth but only getting an arrest and conviction.
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On Education Research
HomePosts tagged 'opt-out'
Testing my patience
October 22, 2015 October 23, 2015 mpolikoff opt-out, testing
PBS is out with a truly awful report on testing/opt out/Common Core. You can watch it here and read one takedown here.
I’m not going to do a full takedown, but I’ll highlight a few points that weren’t made by Will Ragland.
Hagopian says testing is a multi-billion dollar industry. That’s true but overwrought and misleading. We have 50 million kids in school–spend $20 a kid per year and you’re at a billion. Yes, we spend billions on evaluating how well kids are learning. That’s far less than 1% of our total education dollars, in order to offer some evaluation of how our system is doing. Seems like a perfectly reasonable amount to me (if anything, it’s too little, and our limited spending on assessment has resulted in some of the poor quality tests we’ve seen over the years). Saving that <<1% wouldn’t really do anything to reduce class sizes or boost teacher salaries or whatever else Hagopian would like us to do, even if we cut testing expenses to 0.
There’s an almost farcically absurd analogy that testing proponents think a kid with hypothermia just needs to have his temperature taken over and over again, whereas teachers just know to wrap the kid in the blanket. First of all, given horrendous outcomes for many kids, it seems like at least a handful of educators (or perhaps more accurately, the system as a whole) has neglected their blanketing duties more often than we’d care to note. Second, these test data are used in dozens of ways to help support and improve schools, especially in states that have waivers (which, admittedly, Washington is not one).
Complaining about a test-and-punish philosophy in Washington State is pretty laughable, since there’s no exit exam for kids [CORRECTION: there appears to be some new exit exam requirements being rolled out in the state, though students did not opt out of these exams; apologies that I did not catch these earlier; I was referring to old data], no high-stakes teacher evaluation, and less accountability for schools than there was during the NCLB era (though parents did get a letter about their school’s performance …). Who, exactly, is being punished, and how?
Finally, the report lumps together Common Core with all kinds of things that are not related to Common Core, such as the 100+ standardized test argument and the MAP test. Common Core says literally nothing at all about testing, and it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with a district-level benchmark test.
It shouldn’t be asking that much for a respected news organization to get very basic details about major education policies that have existed for 4+ year correct. Instead, we get misleading, unbalanced nonsense that will contribute to the tremendous levels of misinformation we see among voters about education policy.
Some quick thoughts on opt out
June 16, 2015 June 18, 2015 mpolikoff Accountability, opt-out, testing
In general, I have not opined much on the subject of “opt out,” for a number of reasons. First, there’s little/no good data or research on the topic, so my opinions can’t be as informed as I would typically like them to be. Second, I don’t know that I have much to add on the issue (and yet I’m about to give my two cents). Third, it’s a trend that actively worries me as someone who believes research clearly shows that tests and accountability have been beneficial overall. I don’t really see much policymakers can do to stop this trend short of requiring public school students to test [1].
Despite my best efforts to avoid the subject, over on Twitter, former MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr asked me what I think of this EdWeek commentary on opt out. Here are some excerpts of their argument and my reactions.
First, the title is “Test-taking ‘compliance’ does not ensure equity.” Probably the authors did not write this title, but it’s a very weak straw man. I know of few/any folks who believe that test-taking compliance ensures equity. I certainly don’t believe that. I do believe having good data can help equity, but it certainly doesn’t ensure it.
Some parents have elected to opt their children out of the annual tests as a message of protest, signaling that a test score is not enough to ensure excellence and equity in the education of their children. Parents, they insist, have a right to demand an enriched curriculum that includes the arts, civics, and lab sciences, and high-quality schools in their neighborhoods.
I don’t have good evidence on this (I don’t think anyone yet does, but hopefully several savvy doctoral students are work on this topic), but my very strong sense is that the folks opting out of tests are not typically doing it as an equity protest. Everything I’ve seen and heard so far says this is largely, but not exclusively, a white, upper-middle class, suburban/rural phenomenon [EDITED TO ADD: Matt Chingos has done a preliminary analysis of this issue and largely agrees with this characterization: http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/06/18-chalkboard-who-opts-out-chingos%5D. My conversations with educators in California, for instance, suggest that the high rates of opt-out in high schools in some affluent areas are because the exam was seen as meaningless and interfering with students’ abilities to prepare for other exams that actually matter to students (e.g., APs, SAT).
Since it was signed into law in 2002, No Child Left Behind has done little to advance the educational interests of our most disadvantaged students. What’s more, the high-stakes-testing climate that NCLB created has also been connected to increased discipline rates for students of color and students with disabilities.
I think the first sentence there is not correct–as I showed in the previous post, there’s evidence that achievement has increased due to NCLB for all groups, including the most disadvantaged (but not much evidence it has narrowed gaps). I’m not aware of well designed research showing the latter claim, but that’s not my area. Regardless, as I also discussed in the last post, sweeping claims of harm to disadvantaged students are hard to square with empirical evidence on outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates.
And even after these tests reveal large outcome gaps, schools serving poor children of color remain underfunded and are more likely to be labeled failing. Most states have done nothing to intervene effectively in these schools, even when state officials have taken over school districts. Moreover, despite NCLB’s stated goal of closing the achievement gap, wide disparities in academic outcomes persist.
I think this is mostly true, though of course it depends on state (some states are much more adequate and equitable in their funding than others). And the lack of intervention in low-performing schools really is about a lack of effective intervention, though I’d be very curious what interventions these authors would recommend. It’s true that achievement gaps persist, though I believe racial (but not income) gaps are about as small now as they’ve ever been.
We are not opposed to assessments, especially when they are used for diagnostic purposes to support learning. But the data produced by annual standardized tests are typically not made available to teachers until after the school year is over, thereby making it impossible to use the information to respond to student needs.
Some of the new state tests get data back faster. For instance, some California results were made available to teachers before the end of the year. In general I think it’s a bad idea to heap too many different goals for a single test. It’s not clear to me that we always want our accountability test to also be our formative, immediate feedback test–those probably should be different tests. But that doesn’t necessarily obviate the need for an external accountability test.
Thus, students of color are susceptible to all of the negative effects of the annual assessments, without any of the positive supports to address the learning gaps. When testing is used merely to measure and document inequities in outcomes, without providing necessary supports, parents have a right to demand more.
Again I think the intention of both the original NCLB and the waivers was that, in the early years of school “failure” students would be provided with additional supports and options (e.g., through supplemental education services and public school choice) to improve. Those turn out not to have worked, and perhaps future supports will not either, but it’s not necessarily for lack of effort. I’m curious what specific supports these authors would advocate, bearing in mind the intense hostility among half our nation to raising any additional funds for schools or anything else.
The civil rights movement has never supported compliance with unjust laws and policies. Rather, it has always worked to challenge them and support the courageous actions of those willing to resist. As young people and their allies protest throughout the country against police brutality, demanding that “black lives matter,” we are reminded that the struggle for justice often forces us to hold governments and public officials accountable to reject the status quo. Today’s status quo in education is annual assessments that provide no true path toward equity or excellence.
This strikes me as a stretch, though I agree with the first half of it. I’m not sure the “black lives matter” movement was really about holding the government accountable to reject the status quo, as much as it was about holding both government and individuals accountable for centuries of unjust laws and actions (but this is not remotely my area).
The anti-testing movement will not be intimidated, nor is it going away.
I think that’s right. Though reducing or eliminating teacher accountability based on state tests would probably at least reduce the extent to which the unions are actively encouraging opt-outs.
Some may choose to force districts to adopt a more comprehensive “dashboard” accountability system with multiple measures. Others may push districts to engage in biennial or grade-span testing, and still others may choose to opt out. What remains clear is that parents want more than tests to assess their children’s academic standing and, as a result, are choosing to opt out of an unjust, ineffective policy.
With respect to the first sentence, some states did this (and all states had the opportunity to do this in their waivers). With respect to the sentence, it’s not clear to me how biennial or grade-span testing is any more “just” than yearly testing. Perhaps if these authors stated what they think is the optimal testing regimen from a “justice” perspective, that would help.
So, I don’t think it’s an especially convincing argument. But I don’t know that the pro-opt-out movement really needs convincing arguments. If parents have the right to opt their kids out of tests, at least some of them will do so. I suspect this will lead to increased inequity, but that’s an empirical question for another day.
[1] Were I omnipotent, I would enact that rule, and I’d also require private and homeschool kids to test.
A letter to the U.S. Department of Education (final signatory list)
My quick thoughts on NAEP
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Richmond Motorcycle Shipping
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Richmond (/ˈrɪtʃmənd/) is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Greater Richmond Region. Richmond was incorporated in 1742 and has been an independent city since 1871. As of the 2010 census, the city’s population was 204,214; in 2018, the population was estimated to be 228,783, making Richmond the fourth-most populous city in Virginia. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state.
Richmond is at the fall line of the James River, 44 miles (71 km) West Of Williamsburg, 66 miles (106 km) east of Charlottesville, 91 miles (146 km) east of Lynchburg and 92 miles (148 km) south of Washington, D.C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 and encircled by Interstate 295, Virginia State Route 150 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the southeast, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast.
The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in 1775 at St. John’s Church, and the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. It entered the 20th century with one of the world’s first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a traditional hub of African-American commerce and culture.
Richmond’s economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms in the downtown area. The city is home to both a U.S. Court of Appeals, one of 13 such courts, and a Federal Reserve Bank, one of 12 such banks. Dominion Energy and WestRock, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, with others in the metropolitan area.
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Is it possible The Purge franchise director James DeMonaco is looking to make a sixth movie for the franchise starring Frank Grillo? It sure sounds like it based on the comments Grillo, who starred in The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year, told Collider in a recent extended interview for No Man’s Land with our own Steve Weintraub. A new Purge movie, The Forever Purge, is currently set for release this July and previous reports indicated it would be the final movie in the franchise. But Grillo‘s comments to Collider hint at the possibility that DeMonaco has at least one more great Purge idea worth committing to film.
Before Grillo opened up about possibly doing a sixth Purge movie with DeMonaco, he discussed another movie he worked on with the director, Once Upon a Time in Staten Island. Grillo began by teasing how this outing with DeMonaco is unlike anything the pair have done in the past: “I did two Purge movies with him and then Once Upon a Time in Staten Island, which is a complete, 180-degree departure from [The Purge movies]. It’s a really amazing film. It’s another film that got caught up with COVID. I can’t wait for people to see this movie.”
He continued, explaining that Once Upon a Time in Staten Island is a very personal movie for DeMonaco.
“I think part of it is [autobiographical]. It’s a family drama surrounded by this idea of Staten Island, where he still lives, and what the ‘Rocky’ movies represented in the ’80s to all the people on Staten Island, the Italian- and Irish-Americans. But what’s inside of it is this broken little family that goes on this journey and each one of them has this revelatory change by the end of the film in growth. Naomi Watts — this is now my third movie with her — she’s so amazing. To me, she’s the best actress that I’ve ever worked with. Bobby Cannavale is great. People will understand just how talented [DeMonaco] really is.”
And before getting off the subject of working with DeMonaco, Grillo, unprompted, brought up the possibility of another Purge movie. Grillo kicked the discussion off by revealing that, “We are talking, [DeMonaco] and I, another Purge movie,” and went on to explain the genesis of the possible Purge reunion: “He reached out to me not too long ago and Sébastian [K. Lemercier], the producer, and they’re like, ‘What do you think?’ and I’m like, ‘What do you think?’ and they’re like, ‘We talked to Universal and we’ll see Leo Barnes in the [next] Purge if we can come up with something great.’ I said, ‘I’m in. I’ll do it in a heartbeat.'”
Grillo also shared his thoughts about the Purge franchise’s enduring popularity, speaking as someone who has worked closely with DeMonaco on two of the sequels.
“Oh, [DeMonaco] hit the button. He connected to the zeitgeist. ‘What would you do if you could get away with anything for 12 hours?’, ‘What would you do with a million dollars?’ It’s one of those scenarios that everyone thinks about. ‘Well if I had a million dollars I could…,’ ‘Well if I could kill this guy and get away with it, I would…’ And so everybody can relate to it. It’s hyperrealism, the way he cuts and the way he shoots it. It’s almost cartoonish. They’re fun movies. I think that ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ is one of the coolest B-movies that I’ve seen in a long time. Forbes magazine wrote a great article about the importance of the ‘Purge’ franchise and how it relates to what we’re going through in the world. Not in our country — the world. I think [the movies are] an important thing, it’s an important franchise. In a minute I would do another one.”
Tags: #frankgrillo, #OnceUponaTimeinStatenIsland, #TheForeverPurge, #ThePurge, #thepurgeanarchy, #ThePurgeElectionYear
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The table has 5 fields, id, country, city, latitude, longitude, altitude. select any country to list cities or places categories with latitude and longitude. Note : You could also suggest new features or report any error, to help us improve this website. So, it can be easier to understand the geographical conditions of a country as per the time zones and longitudes and longitudes. For many countries latitude and longitude are determined with an algorithm that searches the place names in the main geonames database using administrative divisions and numerical vicinity of the postal codes as factors in the disambiguation of place names. From their name, I hope you can understand their significance. And do the same for your longitude data. 3. a US state or Canadian province). List of Latitudes and Longitudes for Every State. The GeoNames geographical database covers all countries and contains over eight million … Here, the geographical addresses of the capitals of all countries are given below in the table. Name the 5 largest countries on these lines of longitude. But the problem is where to get a comprehensive list of latitude and . iso2: The alpha-2 iso code of the country. The Global Airport Database (GADB) is a FREE downloadable database of 9300 airports big and small from all around the world. I needed the latitude and longitude of each state recently for a project I was working on. These are not small countries demographically, and to that extent deserve some attention as possible exemplary cases. Longitude is a similar measurement east … This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources. It also helps in specifying the countries as per the specific time zones and latitudes and longitudes. 2. Latitude is a measurement of location north or south of the Equator. 1. Latitude and Longitude by Countries. Find Latitude and Longitude for Each City in Excel. The table has in 10,567 rows (means 10,567 unique cities, their locations and 170 countries). In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Cities Databases by Country We're happy to offer free world cities databases (by country). We do not recommend you to attempt to view this site without enabling Javascript. Browse the world's countries and get their GPS coordinates, latitude and longitude. All Countries and Capitals with Latitude and Longitude Data. Possibly blank. If you are visiting any country, it is useful to know their locations and plan your trip before going. Python’s geopy makes it easy to locate the coordinates of addresses, cities, countries, and landmarks across the globe using third-party geocoders and other data sources. the geographical address of New Delhi is denoted as 28°37'N (latitude), 77°13'E (longitude). The databases come complete with feature names, latitude and longitude, region and country information and additional information spanning across 249 countries or territories in 6 world continents. Find the Global Positioning System (GPS) Coordinates of any countries in the world in different formats of Decimal Degrees (DD), Degrees Minutes Seconds (DMS) and Degrees Decimal Minutes (DDM). Find Country list with popular places, their states and latitude and longitude. lng: The longitude of the city/town. Second, longitude and latitude information are extracted based on these alpha 2 country codes. Registered® Trademark™ and Copyright© 1973 -, CSG, Computer Support Group, Inc. and CSGNetwork.Com, This table is a quick reference for countries, capitals and a close latitude and longitude. You can now delete the extra columns B & C. I searched around a bit but couldn't find anything online. country latitude longitude name; AD: 42.546245: 1.601554: Andorra: AE: … The below shows the list of Latitude, Longitude and GPS Coordinates of all Countries. Power BI has special buckets to help make the map data unambiguous. GeoDataSource.com offers the database of 3 million cities features for immediate online download. The database is presented in a simple token delimited format. This is a list of official national capitals by latitude, including territories and dependencies, non-sovereign states including associated states and entities whose sovereignty is … Use latitude and longitude fields (if they exist) In Power BI, if the dataset you are using has fields for longitude and latitude -- use them! Before you can interpret the map above, you need to know about the pair of numbers used to plot map coordinates: latitude and longitude.Latitude is the Country: Capital: Latitude: Longitude: Afghanistan: Kabul: 34°28'N: 69°11'E: Albania: Tirane: 41°18'N: 19°49'E: Algeria: Algiers: 36°42'N: 03°08'E: American Samoa: Pago Pago: 14°16'S: 170°43'W: Andorra: Andorra la Vella: 42°31'N: 01°32'E: Angola: Luanda: 08°50'S: 13°15'E: Antigua and Barbuda: W. Indies: 17°20'N: 61°48'W: Argentina: Buenos Aires: 36°30'S: 60°00'W: Armenia: Yerevan: 40°10'N: 44°31'E: Aruba Do countries have a Latitude and Longitude range?. Find their main cities and administrative regions. But the problem is where to get a comprehensive list of latitude and longitude values of these cities? Example: The location of New Delhi is 28° N, 77° E. By using the GPS coordinates and other tools that we provide, you can navigate better from country to country. Latitude is an angle (defined below) which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South) at the poles. Get longitude and latitude. Choose a country to learn more and download. Latitude Locations 90° N North Pole: 75° N: Arctic Ocean; northern Siberia, Russia; northern … South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands. The following shows the latitude and longitude of all the countries around the world. The shape of the earth is ‘Geoid’. Find List of States in Netherlands with Latitude and Longitude and popular places in Netherlands. Is it possible to get the latitude and longitude range or boundary for each country. To make a search, use the name of a place, city, state, or address, or click the location on the map to find lat long coordinates. country: The name of the city/town's country. List of countries with the places count, select a country to list places categories with latitude and longitude. iso3: The alpha-3 iso code of the country. The following information will appear, when available, in the response when using this country query through the World Bank API: 3 letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code 2 letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code 2. Since latitude and longitude is now (as of 2011) a reference that is within a few feet, having a latitude and longitude for a city is a broad estimation at best. This is a comprehensive database of world city names with latitude and longitude for all the cities and places of each of the continent's every country and region. Latitude and Longitude are the units that represent the coordinates at geographic coordinate system. For more information and potential lookup information of world cities, try, Porto-Novo (constitutional cotonou) (seat of gvnt), Pretoria (adm.) / Cap Town (Legislative) / Bloemfontein (Judicial), The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Structure. Press Ctrl + C to Copy. Longitude Lines of longitude run from the top of the Earth to the bottom. Select D2:E999. Latitude Longitude City ° ' ° ' Time; Aberdeen, Scotland: 57: 9 N: 2: 9 W: 5:00 p.m. Adelaide, Australia: 34: 55 S: 138: 36 E: 2:30 a.m. 1: Algiers, Algeria: 36: 50 N: 3: 0 E: 6:00 p.m. Amsterdam, Netherlands: 52: 22 N: 4: 53 E: 6:00 p.m. Ankara, Turkey: 39: 55 N: 32: 55 E: 7:00 p.m. Asunción, Paraguay: 25: 15 S: 57: 40 W: 1:00 p.m. Athens, Greece: 37: 58 N: 23: 43 E: 7:00 p.m. Auckland, New Zealand: 36: 52 S: 174: 45 E: … They include fields such as latitude, longitude, population and more. As with latitude and longitude, you can able to see the country geographic location in map. Earth is not the same, so different latitudes and longitudes explain the purpose of time zone in the world map. The below shows the list of Latitude, Longitude and GPS Coordinates of all Countries. So, I went to my zip code database and grabbed the average latitude and longitude … Country: Latitude: Longitude: Taiwan: 23.6978° N: 120.9605° E: Tajikistan: 38°33’N: 68°48’E: Tanzania: 6.3690° S: 34.8888° E: Thailand: 13°45’N: 100°35’E: Timor-Leste: 42°01’N: 21°26’E: Togo: 06°09’N: 01°20’E: Trinidad and Tobago: 10.6918° N: 61.2225° W: Tunisia: 36°50’N: 10°11’E: Turkey: 39°57’N: 32°54’E: Turks and Caicos: 21.6940° N: 71.7979° W Latitude and longitude, coordinate system by means of which the position or location of any place on Earth’s surface can be determined and described. Or, view our entire world cities database. Measuring the geographical address: The correct geographical address of any place is addressed by the combination of latitude and longitudinal lines; e.g. And the location of a place on the earth can be mentioned in terms of latitudes and longitudes. Just drag the field that contains your latitude data into the Visualizations > Latitude area. The database provides detailed information about the airports listed including: Disclaimer We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. The latitude of the city/town. The 150°E parallel doesn't make landfall anywhere in Fed States of Micronesia, and neither does the 180° parallel with Kiribati (where the islands either side of the 180° line are over 600 miles apart). With its large Cm measure, Poland looks at first an unlikely candidate, but note that its figure is equal to that of Sweden, and much lower than those of Spain (29,692), or France (26,769), or the huge Belgian figure of 42,547. 1. admin_name: The name of the highest level administration region of the city town (e.g. Right-click and choose the Paste Values icon to convert the latitude and longitude to values. Latitudes and Longitudes are imaginary lines used to determine the location of a place on earth. UK lat and long is 51.5000° N, 0.1167° W. As … countries and capitals in JSON countries and capitals in CSV Finally, unlike most lists out there, I am also providing the geographical coordinates for each capital and below the table you can find links to CSV and JSON representations of this country and capital list. They are not parallel as lines of latitude are - they meet at a point at the north and south poles and are called meridians. Usage Place Name Find Add the country code for better results.
countries latitude and longitude list
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countries latitude and longitude list 2020
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Sons of Apollo’s Next Album ‘Mixed, Mastered + Off to the Record Company’
Inside/Out Music
Sons of Apollo are checking some major boxes as they wrap up the year. The progressive supergroup spent a good portion of 2019 working on a new record and they're getting the last few things in order to release it in early 2020
The group will hit the road in January and while an official release date has yet to be announced, the new record is expected to arrive somewhere close to the tour. Both founding drummer and keyboardist Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian offered an update on the progress of the upcoming set.
"Another one in the books," stated Sherinian in a tweet. "SOA 2 is mixed, mastered and off to the record company! Can't wait for you to hear this!!! @SonsOfApollo1 @MikePortnoy @bumblefoot @jeffscottsoto @BillyonBass @InsideOutUSA."
Portnoy added, "Yesterday, Derek & I signed off on the SOA2 masters! The album is now officially signed, sealed & delivered to the label...I’m now on my way to LA where the 5 of us will reconvene tomorrow to shoot videos and photos for the new album. More info coming soon!"
The group kept fans occupied between albums with the release of their Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony live album this past summer. The album was recorded during their September 2019 stop at the Roman Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
They'll have a chance to show off their live prowess, and perhaps work in some of their new music, when they hit the road on Jan. 24 in Pomona, California. The group will bring along Tony MacAlpine for the run, and dates can be found here.
Top 50 Rockers Who've Been in Multiple Successful Bands
Source: Sons of Apollo’s Next Album ‘Mixed, Mastered + Off to the Record Company’
Filed Under: Sons of Apollo
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Engineering the microbiome
Programming a Human Commensal Bacterium to Sense and Respond to Stimuli in the Murine Gut Microbiota
Magdalena Skipper
Editor in Chief, Nature, Nature Research, Springer Nature
Several parallel lines of evidence show that differences in gut microbiota associate with different host phenotypes and disease states. In cases where causality could be established a question emerges whether members or composition of the gut microbiome could be modulated or engineered to affect the host phenotype in a desired direction. But this is just one way in which the gut microbiome could also be engineered.
New work from Christopher Voigt and Tim Lu now provides a tool kit with which a human commensal bacterium - Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron – can be engineered.
There is a lovely description of this work in the NIH Director’s Blog (http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2015/07/14/manipulating-microbes-new-toolbox-for-better-health/) . It eloquently describes how Voigt and Lu, and colleagues used CRISPR/Cas9 system to insert specially designed genetic circuits into this common human gut bacterium. The idea is that these bacteria are modified to sense specific molecules present in the water or food injected by their host (in this case it was mice).
This is very exciting work. I met Tim Wu in person at the Keystone on Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology In January this year, where we talked about future prospects of using gut commensals to monitor wellness and disease states alike.
Programming a Human Commensal Bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, to Sense and Respond to Stimuli in the Murine Gut Microbiota
Cell Systems
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2015.06.001
I am a geneticist by training. Having done research using classical genetics and molecular biology in a variety of model organisms I left the bench to become an editor, first for Nature Reviews Genetics and then Nature. I have worked with the research community as an editor, in a variety of roles, for over 17 years
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Bob Collpitts Obituary
Posted: January 15, 2014/Under: Industry News & Events/By: NSCP
COLPITTS, ROBERT “BOB” MERLE – With great sadness the family of Robert “Bob” Merle Colpitts of Fredericton, NB, beloved husband of Eva (Cranton) Colpitts, announces his passing on Sunday, January 12, 2014 at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, Fredericton, NB. Born on May 2, 1933 at Colpitts Settlement, Albert County, NB, he was the son of the late Leigh and Annie (Fenton) Colpitts. Bob worked with the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture for 35 years, retiring as director of the Animal Industry Branch. He graduated from the Nova Scotia Agriculture College, Truro, NS, and McGill University (MacDonald College, 1958) with a B.Sc. in Agriculture. During his career he was a member of the Canadian Society of Animal Science, Director of the Atlantic Winter Fair, Halifax, NS, and the Fredericton Exhibition. He served as Secretary-Treasurer for the NB Hereford Association, NB Angus Association, NB Fairs and Exhibitions Association, and NB Livestock Breeders Co. Ltd. He was also Manager of the NB Provincial Livestock Show. He was the recipient of the James Rob Award for significant contributions to Agriculture over his lifetime. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Farm Credit Corporation, a member of the Atlantic Agriculture Hall of Fame, and named to the Canadian Hereford Honor Roll – the first non-farmer to receive this award in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of the Hereford Breed in Canada. Throughout his life he was actively involved in various organizations including, Nashwaaksis United Church, where over the years, he served on several committees, led Youth Group, and taught Sunday School. He was a volunteer at York Care Centre for 18 years. Bob enjoyed travelling, people and above all cherished time spent with his family. He was very proud of his four grandchildren. In addition to his wife, Bob is survived by his children, Anne (Guy Vézina), Robert Leigh and Bruce (Nancy); grandchildren, Claire and Lucie Vézina, Chandler and James Colpitts; sisters, Eleanor Thibodeau (Paul), Clara Black and Neva Norman (Gus); brother, Grant Colpitts (Janet); sisters in law, Jacqueline Colpitts and Kay MacDonald (Fraser); brother in law, Gordon Cranton (Betty); several nieces, nephews and cousins. Besides his parents, Bob was predeceased by his infant son, Allison; brother, Maurice Colpitts, and brother in law, Gordon Black.
Visitation will take place at York Funeral Home, 302 Brookside Drive on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm. A Memorial Service will take place at Nashwaaksis United Church, 46 Main Street, Fredericton, NB on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 2 pm with Rev. J. D. Kennedy officiating assisted by Rev. Gil MacKenzie; followed by a reception. Interment will take place in Colpitts Community Cemetery at a later date. For those who wish, remembrances may be made to Nashwaaksis United Church, Canadian Diabetes Association or the New Brunswick Heart and Stroke Foundation. Personal condolences may be offered through www.yorkfh.com
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Country profiles (2020)
The “Country Profiles for Early Childhood Development” are developed by UNICEF in collaboration with Countdown to 2030 Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health. The profiles are an attempt to compile, in one place, the available data for country and cross-country monitoring and to provide a baseline against which progress can be monitored.
The profiles are updated annually. An initial set of 91 country profiles was released in May 2018, alongside the launch of the Nurturing Care Framework. The set was expanded and updated to include 138 low- and middle-income countries in 2019.
The 2020 country profiles cover 42 ECD indicators and 197 countries, including 60 high-income countries (HICs), that encompass 99·8% of the world's children younger than 5 years. The profiles include data on child disability, and translations into Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish.
Refer to the Technical Appendix in the full report for more detailed information on the indicators, including the rationale for including the indicator, the definition of the indicator and the data source.
Click the country name below to download the individual 2020 profiles in .PDF format
Lao, People’s Democratic Republic of
2020 Country profiles for ECD
• Master database
• Lancet commentary, Nov 2020
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Members in the News – June 2018
June 22, 2018 | Category: Uncategorized
Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium Celebrates Inaugural Internal Medicine Resident Graduation
MountainView Hospital celebrated its inaugural Class of 2018 Internal Medicine Residents. During a graduation ceremony at MountainView Hospital, the first class of 19 Internal medicine residents were honored. Now that the residents have graduated from training, they can sit for the medical board exams and upon successful completion; they can practice independently in our communities. During the festivities, the “graduating” Transitional Year residents entering the next phase of their residency were also acknowledged.
“This has been a tremendous journey over the past several years – from an idea of building an accredited graduate medical education program to graduating our first class of residents,” said Jeremy Bradshaw, MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “Sunrise Health GME Internal Medicine Residency Program, based at MountainView, has come a long way after receiving accreditation in September 2015.”
The first class of 20 Internal Medicine residents were matched and started their residency at MountainView Hospital in 2016. In the same year, MountainView Hospital opened the MountainView Medical Associates practice, which focuses on providing exceptional care in an academic environment.
Following the inaugural class of Internal Medicine residents, the Sunrise Health GME Consortium has grown and received accreditation for General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Transitional Year, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology.
“Our growing GME enterprise has a significantly contributed to the growth of graduate medical education in Las Vegas. It allows medical students more local options for medical residency, with the goal of growing the base of physicians in southern Nevada to serve our greater community by improving patient’s access to care,” said Dr. Ferenc Puskas, Designated Institutional Official.
The Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium currently has 110 residents based at MountainView and Southern Hills, and 80 new talented residents will be joining the program in July. This year Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education received a significant amount of applications for a limited number of positions, and successfully matched and filled all resident positions. As of this year, MountainView’s inaugural class of Anesthesiology residents and Pharmacy residents will be joining the campus.
Southern Hills Hospital Announces ER at Blue Diamond
Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center is excited to announce it will be opening a second provider-based emergency room at the corner of Blue Diamond and El Capitan. ER at Blue Diamond—a Department of Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center—will allow faster and more convenient access to medical care for thousands of southern Nevadans by providing full-service emergency and critical care services for adults and children.
Unlike an urgent care, ER at Blue Diamond will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by board-certified emergency room physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals providing services available at hospital emergency rooms, with significantly shorter wait times. The new facility will include around-the-clock laboratory testing, X-ray, CT scanning and ultrasound. Patients who require additional emergent care will be admitted to affiliated hospitals.
“Our hospital continues to provide fast ER care where our patients need access in a convenient, neighborhood location,” said Adam Rudd, Chief Executive Officer, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. “With this second provider-based emergency room opening, we are able to offer the community a full spectrum of care in a location close to home and with a significantly shorter wait time.”
More information on the new facility and its opening will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Valley Health System Wins Unanimous Approval for Freestanding Emergency Room Facility on Blue Diamond in Southwest Valley
The Valley Health System has acquired land and won unanimous approval from the Enterprise Town Advisory Board and Clark County Board of Commissioners for a Special Use Permit to construct a freestanding emergency room facility at the intersection of Blue Diamond and Cimarron in the southwest Las Vegas valley.
The facility will operate as a 24-hour extension of Spring Valley Hospital’s emergency department and will feature eight treatment rooms, with an additional three rapid medical exam rooms, advanced imaging services such as CT, ultrasound and X-ray, and an on-site laboratory. It will use the Cerner FirstNet electronic medical record system that is compatible with Spring Valley Hospital and other Valley Health System facilities, and will allow patients to access their private health information online. The ER will be staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physicians, nursing, imaging and laboratory staff.
Spring Valley Hospital CEO Leonard Freehof, said “This freestanding ER aims to treat many of the most common emergency cases with short wait times and high-quality, friendly care. Groundbreaking is planned for later this summer with an opening in early 2019.”
Sunrise Hospital Receives Award of Distinction
HCA Healthcare presented the HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction to recipients at a ceremony in Nashville. As part of the ceremony, HCA Healthcare presented a special honorary Award of Distinction to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada for their response and courage on October 1, 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers on the Las Vegas strip. As the closest trauma center to the strip, Sunrise treated more than 200 victims in the first hour alone.
“Our hospitals prepare for the worst scenarios imaginable, and pray it never happens,” HCA Healthcare Chairman and CEO Milton Johnson said. “The team at Sunrise reacted quickly and professionally, working together to support each other, reunite families, and save lives. I am incredibly proud of their efforts in the face of overwhelming trauma.”
This mass casualty event was unprecedented in our nation’s history. It was met with an outstanding effort from Sunrise Hospital, as well as support from our entire HCA Healthcare family.
MountainView Hospital First in Las Vegas to Upgrade MRI to Latest System
MountainView Hospital’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system is the first in Las Vegas to receive the latest, clinically advanced system update.
The upgraded system is the latest offering, from GE Healthcare, is devised to help clinicians improve workflow, lower cost of ownership and improve patient comfort. The system uses 34 percent less power than previous generation MRI systems, and requires a smaller footprint for installation.
The upgrade covers various productivity-enhancing applications and new features to improve patient care and comfort to previous generation systems. The upgraded system also extends the power of MRI to patients with MRI-conditional metal implants. With the system, two to three more patients per day can be scanned due to new features and increase in productivity.
“MountainView Hospital is grateful for the support provided by HCA Healthcare that has enabled us to be the first in Las Vegas to offer our clinicians and patients with the latest MRI system,” said Jeremy Bradshaw, MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “This upgrade will enable us to provide more patients with a more efficient process of care in a comfortable environment.”
MountainView Hospital continues to provide the latest in imaging care. The upgraded MRI system is now operating at MountainView along with the latest CT, nuclear medicine, X-ray and bi-plane machine systems. Outpatient imaging services are offered through Red Rock Radiology. Red Rock Radiology radiologists are board certified and fellowship trained to offer superior service and quality to our referring physicians. Red Rock Radiology is the only facility in Nevada currently offering 3D Computer Aided Detection (CAD) mammograms, which studies have shown can help detect breast cancer earlier, when it can be more easily treated.
MountainView Hospital and Red Rock Radiology have taken the pledge to reduce the imaging radiation dose for adults and children. For more information on imaging services provided by MountainView Hospital, please visit: MountainView-Hospital.com.
Summerlin Hospital Adds New Technology to Improve Detection of Certain Bladder Cancers
In its ongoing commitment to the detection and treatment of cancer, Summerlin Hospital now offers Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview®, an optical imaging agent for the detection of papillary cancer of the bladder in patients with known or suspected bladder cancer. Cysview is the only FDA-approved imaging agent for use with blue-light cystoscopy.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 81,190 new cases of bladder cancer will be diagnosed in 2018, including an estimated 770 cases in Nevada. It is the fourth most common cancer in men, and occurs mainly in adults over age 55.
“Some high grade, aggressive bladder tumors can be difficult to detect with conventional white light cystoscopy,” said urologist Michael Verni, MD. “Timely detection and treatment of these tumors can improve cancer specific survival. Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview offers improved detection of potentially deadly bladder tumors compared to the white light cystoscopy.”
White light cystoscopy had been has been the gold standard for visualizing suspicious lesions during transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT).
In Blue-Light Cystoscopy with Cysview,® the imaging solution (Cysview) is delivered into the bladder about an hour prior to the cystoscopy and is absorbed by cancerous tissue. After first using white light, the doctor then switches to blue light mode. Because of the imaging solution, other tumors that may be present become more visible, glowing bright pink under the blue light. This makes it easier for the urologist to identify and remove tumors.
Teri Koehler, bladder cancer survivor and co-founder of the Bladder Cancer Support Group that meets at Summerlin Hospital, knows firsthand how the Blue-Light Cystoscopy can benefit people. “Because of the Blue-Light, my urologist found two bladder tumors that weren’t visible under the white light, as well as one pre-cancerous tumor,” said Koehler. “The procedure itself is simple and by detecting tumors much earlier, it gives me peace of mind knowing this new technology is available.”
“Investing in technology like the Blue-Light Cystoscopy is an investment in our community’s health,” said Rob Freymuller, CEO of Summerlin Hospital. “We see this as another opportunity to improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Southern Nevada, and to improve our patients’ quality of life.”
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A New Yorker State of Mind
Reading Every Issue of The New Yorker Magazine
Mosher’s Monster January 12, 2021
Yankee Doodles January 7, 2021
All That Glitters Is Not Gold December 26, 2020
The Tragic Pose December 11, 2020
Through a Glass Darkly November 16, 2020
1920s advertising
1920s Air Travel
1920s cigarette ads
1920s New York
Alice Harvey
Barbara Shermund
Constantin Alajalov
Gardner Rea
Helen E. Hokinson
Helen Hokinson
I. Klein
Janet Flanner
Jazz Age
John Mosher
Julian de Miskey
Leonard Dove
Lois Long
Mayor Jimmy Walker
Morris Markey
Murdock Pemberton
Otto Soglow
Ralph Barton
Rea Irvin
Reginald Marsh
speakeasies
William Crawford Galbraith
William Steig
Tag: Irving Berlin
Chaplin of the Jungle
In the 1920s and 30s the concept of the documentary film was still in its infancy, and beginning with the silent Nanook of the North (1922), the idea that a documentary and a drama were separate things was unknown to filmmakers.
Feb. 28, 1930 cover by Theodore Haupt.
What was known, however, was the box office appeal of films that explored unknown and exotic lands, like Ernest B. Schoedsack’s 1927 blockbuster Chang, which featured a mix of staged events as well as the actual slaughter of wild animals. Audiences (and most critics) seemed little troubled that these films were a mix of fact and fiction. It was a movie, after all, and movies followed a story arc, and they had drama, and sometimes comedy. And so when Schoedsack (1893-1979) introduced audiences to an orangutan named Rango, publicists described the simian star as the “Charlie Chaplin of the Jungle.” The New Yorker’s John Mosher found the performances of the various apes “astonishingly adept”…
MONKEY BUSINESS…Clockwise, from top left, the Iowa-born Ernest B. Schoedsack cut his filmmaking teeth as a producer/director of quasi-documentaries, beginning with 1925’s Grass, which followed a caravan from Angora to Persia; a young Sumatran boy, Bin, bonds with the orangutan Rango; promotional theater card for the film. (filmaffinity.com)
NOT SO CUDDLY…Two years after Rango, Ernest B. Schoedsack would co-produce and co-direct 1933’s King Kong, with Merian C. Cooper. (Britannica)
If interpretations of tropical life weren’t accurate in 1931, it wasn’t completely due to filmmakers taking dramatic license. Attitudes toward “exotic” lands and people commonly ranged from naively paternalistic to downright racist. In a letter to the New Yorker, Patrick T.L. Putnam (1904-1953) is decidedly of the former, portraying Congo pygmies as clever, amusing children who hoodwink unsuspecting “explorers”…
To Putnam’s credit, he showed a genuine interest (and respect) in the lives of tribal peoples, and particularly the Mbuti of the Congo’s Ituri Forest. He remained in the Congo for the rest of his life. This thumbnail is the only photo I could find of Putnam:
(geni.com)
Big Bill Turns Pro
In first decades of the 20th century it was still widely believed that athletic competition should be for its own sake rather than as a means for making money, so many top stars competed as amateurs. Professional golf wasn’t established until 1916, and professional leagues in basketball and football first formed in the 1920s. Amateur status was especially prized in tennis — before the “Open Era” began in 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in Grand Slam tournaments.
Sports promoter C. C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour in 1926 with American and French stars playing exhibition matches in front of paying audiences. According to the New Yorker’s John Tunis, many in the crowd were finely dressed, with men in top hats and women turned out in the latest high fashion.
America’s top draw was “Big Bill” Tilden, the world’s number one player from 1920 to 1925 and the first American to win Wimbledon. It caused quite a stir when Tilden went pro on Dec. 31, 1930. He barnstormed across the country, playing one-night stands with a small group of professionals including the top Czech player Karel Koželuh. “The Talk of the Town” had this to say about the fledging game of professional tennis:
BARNSTORMERS…Bill Tilden (left) and Karel Koželuh toured America and Europe with a handful of other players in a series of exhibition matches in the fledgling professional tennis circuit. (Britannica/cyranos.ch)
In his sports column, John Tunis offered this description of the competitors:
NOW AND THEN…At left, you can still spot a few neckties at Wimbledon as the audience watches Roger Federer and Andy Roddick enter Centre Court in 2009; at right, Wimbledon crowd in 1925. (BBC/Vintage Every Day)
Triple Tripe
Dorothy Parker continued to sub in the theater column for her friend Robert Benchley, who was traveling abroad. She found little to like on the Great White Way, including three forgettable plays she reviewed in the Feb. 28 issue:
Apparently audiences agreed with Parker’s assessment. The Gang’s All Here closed after just 23 performances, The Great Barrington, after just 16. And Heat Wave was not so hot, closing after a mere 15 performances.
NOT SO GREAT…Program for 1931’s The Great Barrington. It lasted 16 performances. (IBDB)
Parker once again closed the column with a plea to her dear friend:
To Swash No More
In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White lamented the end of Douglas Fairbanks as the swashbuckler of the silents, and rejected the talkie version of the actor in Reaching for the Moon, a film in which Fairbanks portrayed Larry Day, a Wall Street millionaire who later loses his fortune in the 1929 stock market crash.
KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON, DOUG…From left, Douglas Fairbanks in the silent era’s The Thief of Bagdad (1924); Fairbanks on an ocean cruise with Bebe Daniels in Reaching for the Moon. The 47-year-old Fairbanks was still fit enough to pose shirtless, but E.B. White wasn’t having any of it. Despite his fit appearance, Fairbanks would die of a heart attack at the end of the decade. (IMDB)
The film today is perhaps best known for its sumptuous Art Deco sets…
…and for one of Bing Crosby’s earliest film appearances. Reaching for the Moon was originally intended to be a musical featuring numbers by Irving Berlin, however Berlin found director Edmund Goulding difficult to work with, so only one of the original five songs recorded for the film was used, “When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down,” sung by Crosby. It was filmed late at night after he had completed his gig at the Cocoanut Grove.
SINGING WITH BA-BA-BEBE…A young Bing Crosby sings “When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down” with Bebe Daniels in Reaching for the Moon. (IMDB)
E.B. White also commented on the modern world’s reliance on electric appliances, a habit a mere decade in the making since the gadgets he lists below did not exist before the 1920s:
ELECTRIC SURGE…Prior to the 1920s none of these electric appliances existed. By 1931 many homes were dependent upon them — although many country houses would have to wait for the Rural Electrification Administration (1935) and other New Deal programs get electrical service. (Pinterest)
I’ve written before about Lux Toilet Soap’s celebrity-studded ad campaigns, but this two-page ad in the Feb. 28 issue caught my eye because it featured one of my favorite actresses, Jessie Royce Landis…
…who appeared in two of my favorite films, both by Alfred Hitchcock: To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).
MATERNAL ROLES…Jessie Royce Landis usually played older than she was in real life. Clockwise, from top left, detail of Lux ad; Landis circa 1930; opposite Cary Grant in 1955’s To Catch a Thief; and again with Grant in 1959’s North by Northwest. In the latter film she played Grant’s mother, but in reality she was only seven years older than Grant. (IMDB)
…much of the Douglas Fairbanks/Bebe Daniels film Reaching for the Moon was set on a luxury ocean liner…if the stock market didn’t get you down, you could also afford to travel in style with the Empress of Britain…
…or on one of the fine ships of the French Line fleet…
…the Imperial was one of the luxury cars that could get you to the docks…
…among the stranger ads to appear in the New Yorker was this one by the maker of clay plumbing fixtures…
…on to our cartoonists, Ralph Barton returned with this illustration for the theater section…
…Rea Irvin brought us another of his two-page series cartoons…
…Gardner Rea commented on the state of the art world…
…Peter Arno peered in on an unfortunate infant…
…Helen Hokinson gave us this exchange along a city street…
…Garrett Price illustrated a tall order for a blues musician…
…Kindl found clashing styles in the shoe department…
…and James Thurber returned with a prelude to his battle of the sexes…
Next Time: The End of the World…
Posted on March 2, 2020 Categories advertising, Broadway, celebrities, cinema, Great Depression, New Yorker cartoons, sports, The New Yorker Magazine, TheatreTags 1930s advertising, 1930s New York, Bebe Daniels, Bill Tilden, Bing Crosby, Broadway, Congo Pygmies, Dorothy Parker, Douglas Fairbanks, E.B. White, Electricity 1930s, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Gardner Rea, Garrett Price, Great Depression, Helen Hokinson, Irving Berlin, James Thurber, Jessie Royce Landis, John Tunis, John Mosher, Karel Koželuh, Kindl, Patrick T.L. Putnam, Peter Arno, Ralph Barton, Rango 1931, Rea Irvin, Stock market crash, The New Yorker, Theodore HauptLeave a comment on Chaplin of the Jungle
Why We Go To Cabarets
Nov. 28, 1925 cover art by H.O. Hofman.
If you are looking for a watershed moment in the history of The New Yorker, this is one of them. The issue of Nov. 28, 1925, featured an article written by 22-year-old Ellin Mackay titled “Why We Go To Cabarets: A Post-Debutante Explains.”
Mackay was the daughter of a Catholic multi-millionaire, Clarence McKay, who was threatening to disinherit his daughter because of her romance with Jewish songwriter Irving Berlin. Mackay’s essay explained why modern women were abandoning the forced social matchmaking of débutante balls in favor of the more egalitarian (and fun-loving) night club scene:
At last, tired of fruitless struggles to remember half familiar faces, tired of vainly try to avoid unwelcome dances, tired of crowds, we go to a cabaret. We go to cabarets because of the very fastidiousness that Our Elders find so admirable a quality. We have privacy in a cabaret…What does it matter if an unsavory Irish politician is carrying on a dull and noisy flirtation with the little blonde at the table behind us? We don’t have to listen; we are with people whose conversation we find amusing. What does it matter if the flapper and her fattish boy friend are wriggling beside us as we dance? We like our partner and the flapper likes hers, and we don’t bother each other.
MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER…Irving Berlin and Ellen Mackay Berlin return from their Atlantic City honeymoon. They were married on Jan. 4, 1926, in New York Municipal Court, a union that lasted 62 years. (NY DAILY NEWS)
Mackay’s piece provided a huge boost to The New Yorker’s circulation, which had dipped below a death-rattle low of 3,000 in August 1925 before it rebounded a bit with new and more aggressive advertising and marketing strategies.
The “Debutante” article was featured on the front page of the New York Times, and was also covered on the front pages of other New York newspapers and even in papers across the country. By the end of the year circulation of The New Yorker neared 30,000.
TIME magazine later observed that with the Mackay piece, The New Yorker “suddenly found that it had succeeded in storming the penthouses of High Society. Its success opened the eyes of Editor Ross to the importance of the Manhattan socialite, to the fact that Broadway gossip sounds dull on Park Avenue.”
In The New Yorker’s 90th anniversary issue (Feb. 23, 2015), Ian Frazier wrote about the “débutante to the rescue in the Harold Ross era…”
Sometime during the magazine’s early months, Alice Duer Miller gave him (Ross) Ellin Mackay’s “Cabarets” essay. Jane Grant recalled that Ross kept it at the bottom of the pile of manuscripts he brought home, procrastinating because he liked Ellin and expected he would have to reject it, as he often did with others. Grant urged him to run the piece. “It will make wonderful publicity,” she said. Alexander Woollcott, the Times drama critic, with whom the Rosses shared a house…also championed Ellin’s piece. Woollcott knew her through Berlin, whose worshipful biography he had written.
Frazier writes, “In 1,076 words, the “Cabarets” essay had hit precisely the sophisticated young night-club-going, speakeasy-patronizing, up-and-coming, unimpressed-by-their-elders readership Ross was aiming for. The grateful editor gave Ellin Mackay a lifetime subscription to the magazine.” You can read Frazier’s entire article about Mackay and Berlin here.
Mackay and Berlin pose for Cecil Beaton in the June 1930 Vanity Fair. (LIVEJOURNAL/Conde Nast)
Mackay, who would publish several novels, would marry Berlin on Jan. 4, 1926. The marriage would last until her death in 1988 at age 85. Berlin would die the following year at age 101.
Here is Mackay’s full article:
Even as one grand house after another fell to the wrecking ball along “Millionaires Row,” it was hard to believe that the Vanderbilt Mansion between 57th & 58th Streets would also succumb to the commercial interests transforming Fifth Avenue seemingly overnight.
“The Talk of the Town” noted that the doomed mansion, once the largest private home in New York City, was being descended upon by all manner of curiosity seekers:
According to writer Adrian Dannatt, the 130-room, full-scale Renaissance-style château was “originally built to accommodate an entire regal court, a small army, huntsmen and ladies in-waiting, but it was given over instead to a family of eight.”
A photo of the 58th Street side of the house, taken shortly before the house was sold for $7.1 million, demolished and replaced by the Bergdorf Goodman store. (newyorksocialdiary.com)
This grand pile was designed by George B. Post in 1882, with interior design by John LaFarge and Augustus Saint-Gaudens among others. Post, along with Richard Morris Hunt, substantially expanded the house in 1893. Demolished in 1926, Bergdorf Goodman Department Store now occupies the site.
Opened in 1928, the Bergdorf Goodman store occupies the Vanderbilt site today. (Wikipedia)
According to Benjamin Waldman, writing for untappedcities.com, a few remnants from the mansion weren’t reduced to dust, including a pair of monumental gates relocated to Central Park and two of six bas-relief sculptures by Karl Bitter that were relocated to the lobby of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. Apparently the other four disappeared without a trace.
REMNANT…Caryatid-flanked fireplace designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, topped with a LaFarge mosaic, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Metropolitan Museum)
A fireplace designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, topped with a John LaFarge mosaic, was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is displayed in the courtyard of the museum’s American Wing.
EPIC…In 1923 Cecil. B. DeMille built the largest set in movie history near Guadalupe, California, for his silent epic, The Ten Commandments. (Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
“Profiles” looked at the life and work of movie director Cecil B. De Mille. R. E. Sherwood wrote that De Mille was the “archetype of the motion picture director—a composite photograph of all the Olympian gods who have descended from Mount Hollywood to dominate the earth.”
Harry Este Dounce (“Touchstone”) reviewed John Dos Passos’ new novel, Manhattan Transfer, and noted that Dos Passos’ version of Manhattan was “not the hypothetical typical New Yorker reader’s, but as far as this department knows, it is very much like the real, complete thing—which is to say, like a hell of chaotic futility.”
In “Sports of the Week,” football continued to dominate the column, with a report on Harvard and Yale battling to a 0-0 tie.
With this issue, “Motion Pictures” was moved from the “Critique” section and given its own page under the Johan Bull-illustrated heading “The Current Cinema.” Theodore Shane wrote that he found Laurence Stalling’s The Big Parade “utterly satisfying,” but he was less impressed with the much-hyped Stella Dallas, which he viewed as a contrived weeper designed to draw lovers of such fare to the box office.
BOO HOO…Belle Bennett and Lois Moran in Stella Dallas, 1925 (Yam Mag)
Near the back of the magazine the editors printed an exhaustive list of prices on the bootleg liquor market. The prices are quite astonishing, given that $50 in 1925 would be the equivalent of roughly $675 today, based on inflation. Of course that number could vary depending on all sorts of other economic and historic factors, but nevertheless fascinating reading if you are into that sort of thing:
At the conclusion of “The Talk of the Town,” the editors offered this qualifying note regarding their liquor market list:
Next Time: Courtin’ and Sparkin’…
Posted on July 30, 2015 June 6, 2018 Categories The New Yorker MagazineTags 1920s New York, Bootleg liquor prices, cabaret, Debutantes, Ellen Mackay Berlin, Fifth Avenue, Irving Berlin, Jazz Age, Millionaires Row, prohibition, Stella Dallas, The New Yorker, Vanderbilt Mansion2 Comments on Why We Go To Cabarets
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Construction Passes Halfway Mark on The Charlotte at 25 Columbus Drive in Jersey City
8:00 am on May 22, 2020 By Michael Young
Construction has passed the halfway mark on The Charlotte, aka 25 Columbus Drive, a 57-story mixed-use skyscraper in Jersey City. Designed by Handel Architects and developed by Mack-Cali with Fogarty Finger as the interior architect, the building will eventually stand 626 feet tall.
Demolition Underway at 1 Park Row in Financial District
7:00 am on May 5, 2020 By Michael Young
Demolition work is moving along at 1 Park Row in the Financial District, a small triangular plot at the corner of Park Row and Ann Street. Little information on the scope of the forthcoming project has been announced since December 2017, when renderings surfaced for the lower portion of the structure. Designed by Fogarty Finger Architects and developed by Guardian Realty Management, the property will feature three floors of retail space, according to permits filed in October 2017, though the rendering in the main photo shows at least nine total stories.
Foundations Underway At 308 Livingston Street In Downtown Brooklyn
8:00 am on April 12, 2020 By Michael Young
The foundation work is underway at 308 Livingston Street, a 23-story, 160-unit rental building in Downtown Brooklyn. The project is designed by Fogarty Finger Architecture and is being developed by Lonicera Partners, which purchased the lot in May 2019 for $11 million and demolished several low-rise structures to clear the way for the new development.
Permits Filed for 169 North 1st Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
7:00 am on April 8, 2020 By Vanessa Londono
Permits have been filed for a seven-story residential building at 169 North 1st Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Located between Bedford Avenue and Driggs Avenue, the lot is a short walk to the Bedford Avenue subway station, serviced by the L train. Gemini Rosemont, a Los Angeles-based developer known for its office portfolio, is listed as the owner behind the applications under the 171 North First Street LLC.
Exclusive Reveal for Charney Companies & Tavros Capital’s 50-Story Skyscraper at 45-03 23rd Street, in Hunters Point
Permits have been filed for a 50-story mixed-use skyscraper at 45-03 23rd Street in Hunters Point, Queens. Located at the intersection of 23rd Street and 45th Avenue, the corner lot is steps from the Court Square subway station, serviced by the E, M, G, and 7 trains. Tavros Capital under the Court Square 45th Avenue LLC is listed as the owner behind the applications.
White Terracotta Facade Nearly Complete for The Dime in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Exterior work is moving along at The Dime, a 23-story mixed-use building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Located at 209 Havemeyer Street, the 350,000-square-foot project includes the refurbishment and incorporation of the 112-year-old landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh. The topped-out structure is designed by Fogarty Finger Architecture and developed by Charney Companies (formerly Charney Construction & Development) and Tavros Holdings. Douglas Elliman is handling leasing for The Dime’s 177 rental units, JLL is the commercial broker, and Ripco is in charge of the retail component. Grain Collective is the landscape architect, and 1 Oak Contracting is the general contractor.
Fogarty Finger Architecture Proposes Retail Expansion at 15 Park Row in the Financial District
7:00 am on February 17, 2020 By Sebastian Morris
The Landmarks Preservation Commission recently reviewed proposals from Fogarty Finger Architecture to renovate and expand existing retail area within the landmarked 15 Park Row tower in Manhattan’s Financial District. The structure was originally constructed in 1899, then converted in the early 2000s to accommodate rental apartments with ground-floor retail area.
Avison Young Reveals Conceptual Renderings of 176-178 Delancey Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
7:30 am on January 1, 2020 By Sebastian Morris
Avison Young’s investment sales team has revealed new renderings of a 50,000-square-foot building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The property’s address is listed as 176-178 Delancey Street, where two vacant low-rise structures are currently located.
New Rendering Posted for The Charlotte at 25 Columbus Drive in Jersey City
A new rendering with a slightly modified exterior design has been posted on the construction fence of 25 Columbus Drive, along with a new name: The Charlotte. Meanwhile, work on the ground level of the 626-foot-tall Jersey City property is underway. The 57-story skyscraper is designed by Handel Architects and being developed by Mack-Cali, with Fogarty Finger as the interior architect. The structure will contain a total of 750 rental apartments, a 35,000-square-foot privately funded public school for pre-K through first grade, four storefronts covering 16,485 square feet of retail space, and a public plaza.
The Lively Nears Completion at 321 Warren Street in Jersey City
Work is wrapping up on the exterior of The Lively at 321 Warren Street in Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District as the 18-story, mixed-use structure nears completion. Designed by Fogarty Finger Architecture and developed by LMC, the box-shaped, light-colored structure will contain 180 apartments, 1,343 square feet of ground-floor retail, and a 14,200-square-foot black-box theater with dedicated space for local artists. The property sits in the heart of downtown Jersey City, steps away from the Grove Street PATH station.
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Project - GLOBE Vancouver conference
Major success for Quebec
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and its team of international trade experts, the World Trade Centre Montréal, successfully carried out a trade mission to the GLOBE 2016 conference in Vancouver last week.
Organized in cooperation with Export Québec, a unit of the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation, in partnership with the Bureau du Québec à Toronto, this trade mission helped promote the sustainable development expertise of Quebec companies to around 3,000 world leaders in clean tech. While Écotech Québec, CO2 Solutions, Filtrartech, the National Optics Institute and Rackam exhibited at the Pavillon du Québec, Enerkem, Gaz Métro, the Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec and Technoparc Montréal rounded out the delegation.
Highlights of the trade mission included the Quebec-Ontario reception with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, attended by close to 300 guests.
“Participating in GLOBE 2016 was meant to position the Quebec clean tech industry – an industry with 1,500 businesses representing 28,000 jobs – as a global leader,” said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade. “Revenue from the environmental industries represented $8 billion for Quebec in 2011, including $3 billion in sales outside the province, over half of it to the rest of Canada and the U.S. The signature of an agreement at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris and the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as shifting international public opinion on the environment will generate many business opportunities in the coming years, and local businesses have to be positioned to further increase their international sales.”
“The GLOBE 2016 conference gave Quebec a chance to make its mark yet again as a Canadian leader in clean tech,” said Nicole Lemieux, Head of the Bureau du Québec à Toronto. “With the most ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in Canada, revenue of over $3 billion by 2020 and a carbon market shared with California and Ontario, Quebec is showing that climate change is an important economic driver and encourages all provinces and territories to get fully involved in the fight against climate change.”
“During GLOBE 2016, we ratified a partnership framework agreement with clean tech organizations in British Columbia and Ontario,” said Denis Leclerc, President and CEO of Écotech. “This agreement, a first in Canada, will allow Quebec companies to explore business opportunities in these provinces.”
“GLOBE 2016 was a chance to share Hydro-Québec’s international business and technology orientations, to position innovation as a driver of change and important leverage for growth for Hydro-Québec and the industry, and above all, to showcase Quebec’s know-how in the field of energy,” said Jérôme Gosset, General Manager of the Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec, who took part in an expert panel on the future of electricity and network infrastructures.
“The GLOBE 2016 conference was an enriching, productive experience, and we had a chance to form quality relationships and meet political leaders who have direct influence on environmental legislation,” said Jacques-Alexandre Fortin, Vice-President of Rackam. “During the show we got in touch with some 30 stakeholders who may be useful for our marketing efforts, growth and development.”
About the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has over 7,000 members. Its mission is to be the voice of Montréal’s business community and to promote the city’s prosperity. It is involved in key areas of economic development, advocating a philosophy of action based on engagement, credibility, proactivity, collaboration and innovation. The Board of Trade also offers a range of specialized services to individuals and to business of all sizes to support them in their growth at home and abroad.
About Export Québec
Export Québec is a unit of the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation which delivers many services to Quebec companies to help them reduce timeframes, costs and risks related to exports. Through its specialists in international trade and its network of experts abroad, Export Québec supports Quebec exporters who want to consolidate their presence outside Quebec, diversify their clientele beyond their current markets and establish an effective global business network.
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Project - SPARK Animation Conference
News - Convergence Network
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