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__label__wiki	0.589781	0.589781	Historical Accounts, Old Testament Books, Old Testament Historical Accounts, Old Testament Book of Esther Back to the Book of Nehemiah \| List of Books \| Forward to the Book of Job The Book of Esther is a book of Israel's History Esther redirects here. This article is about the book. You may be looking for the queen, for whom the book is named. 483--473 BC Vashti dethroned Esther enthroned Edict to kill all Jews Punishment of Haman Establishment of Purim Major People Esther is the seventeenth book of the Old Testament of the Bible, closing the historical books. It is set during the reign of Xerxes I (Ahasuerus), son of Darius, of Persia. The book of Esther tells the the story of a young Jewish woman named Hadassah ("Myrte"), but known by the Persian name Esther ("Star"), who becomes queen of the Persian Empire. She would use her position in the kingdom to expose a man, named Haman, in King Ahasuerus' court who had plotted to destroy the Jews. Later she would craft a plan to protect them from their attackers. 1 Authorship 2.1 The Fall of Vashti 2.2 The Rise of Esther 2.3 The Rise and Fall of Haman 2.4 The Miracle of Purim 2.5 Mordecai rises to power 3 Verses This book is anonymous, though many historical figures, including Mordecai, have been suggested as its author. Written in a style unlike contemporary accounts in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, few clues are available to conjecture who God used to pen the book. The Fall of Vashti Ahasuerus, or Xerxes to Greek historians, had inherited quite an empire from his Darius. In the third year of his twenty year reign, he called for a celebration. With 127 provinces, Persia stretched from India to Ethiopia. Each of these provinces had administrative heads called "princes." With so many people coming to the party, it took a full six months to celebrate the wealth and glory that his kingdom had gained.[1] In showing off all its glory, the greatest of these was the queen, a beautiful woman named Vashti. Like most despots of his day, Ahasuerus expected obedience from his wife. After a week of partying, the King had become drunk and decided to show off his wife to the assembled men at the party. He sent seven eunuchs (men in charge of his harem) to bring Vashti to the party so everyone could see how pretty she was.[2] However, since the big party was for men only, Vashti had thrown her own party for the women. When the eunuchs brought word of her husband's plan, she was embarrassed in front of all her friends. She refused to obey the command of the most powerful man in the world at the time. When the eunuchs brought this news back to the king, he was very displeased.[3] Though it was within his power to make a decree on his own, Ahasuerus instead sought the counsel of his closest advisors. These men reminded him that the queen was known far and wide, and that her actions were bound to be followed by women all over the empire. They advised him to act quickly and very publicly. As a result, a public pronouncement was made that the queen had to be deposed. The new law reaffirmed the position of wives in relation to their husbands. Many copies of the law were made in multiple languages.[4] The once honored Queen Vashti had become a commoner, freed of her riches and sent to live far from where she would never have a public presence again. This left an opening in the palace. The kingdom needed a new queen. The search would take two years.[5] The Rise of Esther Among the influential Jewish subjects of the Persian empire was a man named Mordecai (a common Persian name) belonging to the tribe of Benjamin (and a distant descendant of Saul, the first king of Israel).[6] In the days since the Babylonians had taken his family into what was now ruled by Persia, many Jews had taken the words of Jeremiah seriously.[7] They lived peacefully outside of their homeland, even in the days after a remnant had returned to Judah. When the law was published about a search for a new queen, Mordecai saw an opportunity to advance the cause of the Jews by putting forward his cousin, orphaned Hadassah, as a candidate. In what amounted to an empire wide beauty pageant, a call had been made for young maidens to come to the capital to compete for the honor of being added to the harem of the king. However, Mordecai insisted that his adopted daughter not reveal her heritage.[8] She would be known only as "Esther," the Persian word for "Star." The plan worked, and after a year-long process of making her look even more beautiful, Esther won the right to be the queen of Persia. Once again, Ahasuerus threw a big party to honor his new queen.[9] From her new position, Esther was able to get Mordecai a place of authority at the gate of the palace. it was from this vantage point that her cousin was able to overhear a plot against the king's life. He was then able to tell Esther, who had an investigation made to expose the conspirators. After these men were publically executed, an account of the investigation was recorded in the king's daily reports.[10] The Rise and Fall of Haman The Jews were not the only ones from the client states that lived and served in office in Persia. Some of the ancient Philistine and Canaanite peoples also had been taken into captivity. Among them had been the ancestors of a man named Haman, and Agagite. It had been the king of the Agagites that had been spared by Saul, Mordecai's ancestor, only to be killed by the prophet Samuel. However, Haman had risen in the ranks to become a favorite of Ahasuerus. Soon after Mordecai had been appointed by a good word from Esther, her husband had promoted a man that hated her people. Her adoptive father had no respect for Haman, and refused to bow to him when the new chief prince of the kingdom. Haman became very mad, and plotted not only the downfall of his enem, but the destruction of every Jew in the land.[11] As a chief advisor of Ahasuerus, Haman was able to convince him that there was a danger to him and his reign in the foreign subjects that refused to recognize the divine nature of the king and his court. Ahasuerus was not very perceptive of this threat, and trusted that Haman could take care of it. Apparently without a second thought, he allowed his chief of staff, to use the royal seal to authorize the genocide of the Jews within the empire.[12] When Mordecai read the publically announced decree to annihilate the Jews at the end of the year, he lead the Jews in Shushan in a period of mourning and fasting. When Esther's staff saw what was happening, she sent her chief of staff, a eunuch named Hatach, to find out what was going on. After a few messages were exchanged, Esther knew she had to intervene, even if Ahasuerus had not summoned her.[13] After successfully coming into the throne room, Esther was able to arrange a banquet with but one guest, the enemy of her people, Haman the Agagite. Meanwhile, Haman had ideas of his own. He boasted to his family that he would have Mordecai publically executed for his disrespect of the king's favorite advisor - himself. It was in this mood that he accepted the invitation to the banquet, thinking himself to be hero.[14] He did not know that the king had found out that Mordecai had been instrumental in thwarting an attempt on his life. Having had a restless night, Ahasuerus had asked his boring records be read. As it so happened, the passage about Mordecai exposing an assassination attempt was read. The next day, when Haman came to the banquet, the king asked his trusted advisor what should be done for a national hero. Thinking his king was speaking of himself, Haman suggested royal robes and a parade were in order.[15] To his dismay, Haman received instructions to prepare the honor for Mordecai, the Jew. Humiliated, Haman pushed his plan forward to exterminate all Jews. But before that could be put into action, he was to go to yet another feast at the behest of the queen. At that feast, though, he was exposed for the fiend that he was. His attempts at seeking mercy from Esther were misconstrued by Ahasuerus, bringing his short reign as "prime minister" to a bloody conclusion. He was publically executed on the same gallows that he had erected for Mordecai.[16] The Miracle of Purim The laws of the Persian rulers were irreversible. Just as when Daniel had to be thrown to the lions on account of an unwise law "set in stone" by his friend's advisors, so the people of the queen of Persia, now known to be a Jewess, were sentenced to die on thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the year. The law had been published on Nisan 13, the day before Passover, the very day that observant Jews were to slay a lamb in Jerusalem.[17] Though any day could have been chosen, the process depended on the "will of the gods"—a process of lottery which chose the month and the day. As it so happened, a full eleven months was allowed for preparation for the campaign to exterminate the Jews. When Esther petitioned her husband to change the decree, the king pled the tradition—the way of the Persians—that not even the king could change a law that bore his seal. But, now that Mordecai held the same office as Haman had recently vacated, along with the authority that Esther held as queen, a new law was decreed, giving the Jews the right to defend themselves when the day came. There were many people that hated the Jews besides Haman. It was therefore a foregone conclusion that they would seek to destroy these foreigners among them. But, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (early spring) the tables were turned with the new decree.[18] The Jews were successful in defending themselves. They were able to not only when decisive victories, killing five hundred men in the capital, including the ten sons of their enemy Haman. When asked if further commands were needed, Esther told her husband that they needed another day to fully end the threat to here people. On the fourteenth of Adar, the Jews continued to destroy their enemies, killing three hundred more. Throughout the two days Jews all over the empire defended themselves, killing seventy five thousand of their enemy. In every case, they refused to take any of the property of their enemies.[19] After the victory, Esther and Mordecai made a decree, sealed with Ahasuerus' ring, that a two-day holiday would be made to commemorate the notable events of the days in the twelfth year of the reign of Ahasuerus, son of Darius. The holiday would become known as Purim, after the word Pur, meaning lot. The lottery that had chosen the day of slaughter gave rise to the most joyous day of the Jewish year. From that time on, Adar 14-15 would be celebrated with feasting, and joyous exchanging of gifts and acts of mercy towards the poor.[20] Mordecai rises to power In the aftermath of the victory for the Jews of Persia, Mordecai joined Esther as leader of all of Persia, second only to Ahasuerus. For most of the rest of the king's reign, he would have these too foreigners rule over the vast Persian empire. there would be peace for the rest of their days among the provinces.[21] ↑ Esther 1:1-4 (Link) ↑ Esther 1:10-11 (Link) ↑ Esther 1:12 (Link) ↑ Esther 2:5 (Link) ↑ Jeremiah 29:4-7 (Link) ↑ Esther 3:7-15 (Link) ↑ Esther 10:1-3 (Link) Retrieved from "https://bible.wikia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther?oldid=28516"	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line306
__label__wiki	0.528518	0.528518	“Till Victory is History”: Remembering the W.I.V.E.S. of World War II Each era spawns its acronyms. (POTUS, FLOTUS, and SCOTUS, anyone?) Some World War II acronyms remain familiar, like WAC, for Women’s Army Corps, and its earlier incarnation, WAAC, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Maybe you know of the WAVES—Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service–a branch of the U.S. Navy in which women could enlist. But chances are you’ve never heard of… Iceland, a piano and a U-boat Iceland is a nation rich in both history and culture but it’s unlikely to rank very highly among nations you’d expect to find ordering Steinway pianos in the 1940s. Yet it’s curiously well-represented in two account books from the Historical Society’s collections kept by longtime Steinway employee Ralph Tapp. In one example, Asta Helgadotter [sic] of the Icelandic consulate… Women in the Workforce: World War II Photograph Collection This post was written by Jill Reichenbach, Reference Librarian, Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections One of the highlights of the World War II Photograph Collection, which includes press photos and promotional material created by the U.S. War Department, are the shots of women working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, ca. 1942-44. The war-time shortage… Jeannette Rankin: “old maid pacifist” Few would argue that the events of December 8, 1941 match in significance the catastrophic events of the previous day but it’s worth recalling that this was the day Congress actually voted to declare war on Japan. Though the vote was all but a foregone conclusion, there was yet a lone voice of dissent to which Milton Halsey Thomas, then curator of… Veterans Day: One Soldier’s Observations on the Macabre and the Mundane This post was written by Julita Braxton, AHMC Cataloger. This Veterans Day, with a focus on an item from the American Historical Manuscript Collection, we have the privilege of seeing the Second World War through the eyes of one soldier: Charles Murray Foster of the 1st Battalion of the 114th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, deployed to… “We will accept nothing less than full victory!” – Eisenhower This post was written by Tammy Kiter, Manuscript Reference Librarian June 6, 2014 marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day. The Allied Invasion of Normandy was the largest seaborne invasion in military history. Allied troops consisted of approximately 150,000 service members representing the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Norway and numerous other countries. This strategically…	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line310
__label__wiki	0.752629	0.752629	Solomon Northup’s 12 Years a Slave, slave narratives, and the American public The Curse of Caste; or, the Slave Bride, a Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins By Mitch Kachun Like many scholars who study nineteenth century African American history and literature, I am excited by the attention surrounding the newly released film, 12 Years a Slave, based on the experiences of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. Northup’s memoir of those experiences, published in 1853, forms the basis of the film. Slave narratives—the literary genre of which Northup’s story is a part—generated plenty of attention in the decades before the civil war, with scores of published narratives selling tens of thousands of copies. The narratives exposed the horrors of American bondage through the personal stories of those who experienced those horrors first hand. Proslavery advocates, however, condemned them as fabrications that distorted what southerners claimed was a benign institution in which slaves were well cared for and content. Many others in a profoundly racist American society were skeptical of blacks’ abilities to put such compelling stories on the printed page. Such skepticism has persisted, in one form or another, among scholars studying the narratives in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. While some slave narrators had limited literacy and relied on white abolitionists to convert their tales to print, a half century of intensive research has convinced most literary and historical scholars today of the general accuracy and authority of their stories. A recent New York Times article on the film, however, revives some of those troubling questions about slave narratives in general, and Northup’s story in particular—questions that relate to the stories’ accuracy and authenticity. I find it interesting that, in questioning Northup’s veracity, Times writer Michael Cieply relies on scholarly essays published almost thirty years ago. That Cieply zeroed in on those rather dated essays—and not any of the more recent scholarship on the narratives and Northup—seems rather odd. Perhaps Cieply encountered those essays in the summary of Northup’s narrative on the Documenting the American South website. Both essays appear in the 1985 collection, The Slave’s Narrative, edited by Henry Louis Gates and Charles T. Davis. While there may be legitimate questions about a slave narrative’s accuracy based on the vicissitudes of memory or a narrator’s desire to promote the abolitionist cause, James Olney’s 1985 interpretations regarding Solomon Northup are wildly speculative and rooted primarily in Olney’s assertion that slave narratives were driven more by the desire to fit into popular narrative conventions than by the desire to convey one’s actual experiences. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. (c) Fox Searchlight. Source: 12yearsaslave.com Olney argues that slave narrators’ memories of the events of their lives are largely irrelevant, since they are “most often a non-memorial description fitted to a pre-formed mold.” Olney is correct in pointing out the formulaic character of many antebellum narratives and their unapologetic use as propaganda to further the abolitionist cause. More recently, Ann Fabian has observed that nineteenth-century autobiographers, in general, tended to craft their memories into narrative frameworks that would be readily recognized by the reading public. Yet for Olney to dismiss the memories and authorial voices of former slaves—basically accusing them of making stuff up—goes too far. Cieply’s Times article also cites an essay from the same 1985 volume by Robert Burns Stepto, but he misappropriates Stepto’s point. While Stepto noted Northup’s concern that some readers might not accept the accuracy of his tale, that hardly constitutes evidence that the tale was not true. In fact, later in the Times piece we learn that recent research has uncovered evidence corroborating some of the specific details in 12 Years a Slave. While slave narratives served as abolitionist propaganda, they also represent one of the earliest and most profound genres of African American literary expression. The process of recalling and setting down one’s life story must have been cathartic for those who had endured slavery and its torments. Surely many former slaves desired never again to revisit that part of their lives. But many who did record their narratives were empowered by their ability to speak their truths and impose narrative control over the experience of their enslavement and liberation. Jennifer Fleischner argues that slave narratives are imbued not only with the “narrators’ insistence that the stories they tell about their slave pasts are true,” but also that “the violent theft of their memories—of their own selves, and of themselves by others—lay at the sick heart of slavery.” For no author can the use of autobiography be more powerful than for the early slave narrator. Gates and Davis rightly observed that Western thinkers like Hume, Kant, Jefferson, and Hegel all viewed literary capacity and a sense of collective history and heritage as central to any people’s claims to humanity. Gates and Davis succinctly capture this argument’s logic: “Without writing, there could be no repeatable sign of the workings of reason, of mind; without memory or mind, there could exist no history; without history, there could exist no humanity.” Aside from any other motivations, African American autobiographers’ writings implicitly refuted the notion that blacks lacked those fundamental human characteristics. The indisputable black voices at the heart of their stories, their insistence on embracing their memories, and the collective thematic unities among their narratives established not merely a black literary tradition, but also demonstrated the race’s humanity and intellectual capacity. One can only hope that the release of 12 Years a Slave will generate interest in Northup’s story among the broader reading public, and will draw more attention to the study of nineteenth century African American literature, and the ongoing and pervasive influence of African American people on American history and culture. If the movie does well at the box office, perhaps we can look forward to more of these powerful American stories reaching the mass audiences they deserve. Mitch Kachun is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the History department at Western Michigan University. He is author of Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915 (Massachusetts 2003); co-editor of The Curse of Caste; or, the Slave Bride, a Rediscovered African American Novel by Julia C. Collins (Oxford 2006); and currently completing a manuscript for Oxford, tentatively titled First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory. Subscribe to lonly literature articles the OUPblog via email or RSS. Subscribe to only television and film articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS. What SUP from Your Favorite University Presses, October 18, 2013 \| Yale Press Log 18th October 2013 […] the pond at Oxford University Press, author Mitch Kachun reflects on the upcoming release of the film 12 Years as a Slave and explains how the slave narrative genre provides more complexity than it appears to be capable […]	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line311
__label__cc	0.685284	0.314716	Official Rules for Make a Deal Days (US) Official Rules for Make a Deal Days July 7, 2020 NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES, OR TO CLAIM A PRIZE. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THESE OFFICIAL RULES (THESE “RULES”) CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST SPONSOR TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. 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Disputes: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants or Sponsor in connection with this Sweepstakes are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of any other state’s laws. 10. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. a. Agreement to Arbitrate. Agreement to Arbitrate: This Section is referred to in these Rules as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Sponsor, whether arising out of or relating to these Rules, the Sweepstakes, your participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize (including any alleged breach thereof), any advertising, or any aspect of the relationship between us, shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that you may assert individual claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by participating in the Sweepstakes, you and Sponsor are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. b. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days July 7, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. d. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org.  Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/consumer_arbitration.  If there is any inconsistency between any term of the AAA Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Rules as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. Although arbitration proceedings are usually simpler and more streamlined than trials and other judicial proceedings, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual under these Rules and applicable law. Decisions by the arbitrator are enforceable in court and may be overturned by a court only for very limited reasons. Unless Sponsor and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in a reasonably convenient location for both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, the determination shall be made by AAA. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, Sponsor agrees that you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If your claim exceeds $10,000, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. e. Costs of Arbitration. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees (collectively, the “Arbitration Fees”) will be governed by the AAA Rules, unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement. Any payment of attorneys’ fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. f. Confidentiality. All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision, or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties. g. Severability. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement other than clause (b) above is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court or arbitrator decides that any of the provisions of clause (b) is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Rules will continue to apply. h. Conflict: In the event of any conflict between any term or condition in this Section 10 and any term or condition in our Terms of Service, then the applicable term or condition in this Section 10 shall apply. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days July 7, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. 12. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Poshmark, Inc., 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065. 13. Copyright © 2019 Poshmark. All rights reserved. Poshmark and the associated logo are registered trademarks of Poshmark, Inc. Any other trademarks in these Rules are used for prize identification purposes ONLY and are the properties of their respective owners. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days June 30, 2020 NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES, OR TO CLAIM A PRIZE. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.THESE OFFICIAL RULES (THESE “RULES”) CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST SPONSOR TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.The Make a Deal Days June 30, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on June 30, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on June 30, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). Eligibility: The Sweepstakes is only open to legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico and all U.S. territories and possessions) who (a) are at least 18 years old as of the date of entry and (b) have an Account (as defined below) prior to the Sweepstakes Start Date. Entries are limited to individuals only; commercial enterprises and business entities are not eligible. Employees, independent contractors, officers and directors of the Sponsor, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, suppliers and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in the Sweepstakes. The Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. THE SWEEPSTAKES IS VOID WHERE RESTRICTED OR PROHIBITED BY LAW. Agreement to Rules: By participating in the Sweepstakes, you agree to be fully and unconditionally bound by these Rules and the Sponsor’s Terms of Service located at https://poshmark.com/terms (the “Terms of Service”), and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements set forth herein. In addition, you agree to accept the decisions of the Sponsor, as final and binding as it relates to the Sweepstakes. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE RULES OR THE TERMS OF SERVICE BY ANY ENTRANT WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION, AND ALL PRIVILEGES (INCLUDING THOSE AS WINNER, IF APPLICABLE) WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED. How to Enter: To enter, participants must complete all of the steps set forth below during the Sweepstakes Period: To enter the Sweepstakes online without completing the steps above, access a digital entry form by clicking the Online Entry Form and providing the information requested (i.e. (i) enter your first and last name, enter your full mailing address, enter your email address associated with your Account, enter your date of birth, and select the applicable sweepstakes). You must submit the completed digital entry form within the Sweepstakes Entry Period. Entries that are not complete or do not adhere to these Rules or the Terms of Service will result in disqualification. Participation in the Sweepstakes is voluntary and does not require you to purchase anything from the Sponsor. No illegible, incomplete, forged or altered entries will be accepted. All entries must be received by the last day of the Sweepstakes Period. One entry per person. Mechanically reproduced entries not accepted. All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. All entries are subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy located at https://poshmark.com/privacy, the Terms of Service and these Rules. Prizes: 72 winners (the “General Winners”) will each receive $50 in Poshmark store credit (“Posh Credit”). One (1) Grand Prize winner (the “Grand Prize Winner”) will receive $500 in Posh Credit. Total ARV of all prizes is $4,100. Any Posh Credit awarded as a prize will be automatically credited to a winner’s Account within five (5) days following winner’s confirmation of the prize in accordance with Section 6 below. Posh Credit can be used to make purchases on the Site. Use of Posh Credit is subject to the additional terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. The actual number of prizes awarded is based on the number of eligible entries received. Prizes must be claimed in full. Prizes are non-transferable. Restrictions, conditions and limitations may apply. Actual/appraised value may differ from the ARV at time of prize award. The winners will not receive the difference between the actual value of the prize or any prize component and the ARV of such prize or prize component. The specifics of the prizes shall be solely determined by the Sponsor. The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. No other substitution, cash equivalent or transfer of prizes permitted. The Sponsor is responsible only for prize delivery and not responsible for prize utility, quality or otherwise. In order to receive a prize, winners may be required to provide proof of identification. Any and all prize related taxes and expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, provincial and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the winners. The winners of any prize with a value of $600 or greater will be issued a 1099 U.S. Tax Form for the retail value of the prize. Winners agree to use of winner’s name, likeness, and/or prize and entry information by the Sponsor in any medium without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Where lawful, winner may be required to sign and return a Publicity Consent and Liability Release. Odds: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about June 30, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about June 30, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Terms: The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes. In such case, the Sponsor will select the winners from all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to such action. The Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or the Site, or violates these Rules or the Terms of Service. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be deemed to be made by the authorized account holder of the email address at time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email address in question. By creating an Account or entering the Sweepstakes, the Sponsor may request your affirmative consent in order to provide promotional emails or offers via a periodic email newsletter. In creating an Account the Sponsor will automatically activate your subscription to receive periodic promotional email newsletters, but such promotional email newsletters will be completely optional. You are not required to keep your subscription to such promotional email newsletters in order to be eligible to enter the Sweepstakes. You may subsequently opt-out of receiving such promotional email newsletters at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the newsletter and following the procedures set forth at such link. Release: By entering the Sweepstakes, you agree that the Sponsor and its subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, insurers, servants, parents, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, partners, representatives, agents, predecessors, successors, assigns, shareholders, employees, officers and directors, and legal advisors (the “Released Entities”) are not responsible for, shall not be liable for, and hereby disclaim all liability arising from or relating to (i) such entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical or human failures, malfunctions or difficulties of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; (vi) late, lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, misdirected, misaddressed, incomplete, unintelligible or postage-due entries; (vii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Sweepstakes; or (viii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor. By participating in the Sweepstakes, participants and the winners agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Released Entities, and all others associated with the development and execution of the Sweepstakes, from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising out of or relating to the Sweepstakes, participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, and/or acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize, including but not limited to statutory and common law claims for misappropriation or participant’s right of publicity. Disputes: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants or Sponsor in connection with this Sweepstakes are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of any other state’s laws. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. Agreement to Arbitrate. Agreement to Arbitrate: This Section is referred to in these Rules as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Sponsor, whether arising out of or relating to these Rules, the Sweepstakes, your participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize (including any alleged breach thereof), any advertising, or any aspect of the relationship between us, shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that you may assert individual claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by participating in the Sweepstakes, you and Sponsor are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 30, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org. Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/consumer_arbitration. If there is any inconsistency between any term of the AAA Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Rules as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. Although arbitration proceedings are usually simpler and more streamlined than trials and other judicial proceedings, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual under these Rules and applicable law. Decisions by the arbitrator are enforceable in court and may be overturned by a court only for very limited reasons. Costs of Arbitration. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees (collectively, the “Arbitration Fees”) will be governed by the AAA Rules, unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement. Any payment of attorneys’ fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. Confidentiality. All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision, or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties. Severability. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement other than clause (b) above is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court or arbitrator decides that any of the provisions of clause (b) is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Rules will continue to apply. Conflict: In the event of any conflict between any term or condition in this Section 10 and any term or condition in our Terms of Service, then the applicable term or condition in this Section 10 shall apply. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 30, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Poshmark, Inc., 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065. Copyright © 2019 Poshmark. All rights reserved. Poshmark and the associated logo are registered trademarks of Poshmark, Inc. Any other trademarks in these Rules are used for prize identification purposes ONLY and are the properties of their respective owners. The Make a Deal Days June 23, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on June 23, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on June 23, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). 6. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about June 23, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about June 23, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 23, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 23, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days June 9, 2020 The Make a Deal Days June 9, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on June 9, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on June 9, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). 6. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about June 9, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about June 9, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 9, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days June 9, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days May 27, 2020 The Make a Deal Days May 27, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on May 27, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on May 27, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). 6. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about May 27, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about May 27, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days May 27, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days May 27, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days May 5, 2020 The Make a Deal Days May 5, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on May 5, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on May 5, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). 6. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about May 5, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about May 5, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days May 5, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days May 5, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. The Make a Deal Days April 21, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on April 21, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on April 21, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). 6. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about April 21, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about April 21, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days April 21, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. d. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org. Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/consumer_arbitration. If there is any inconsistency between any term of the AAA Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Rules as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. Although arbitration proceedings are usually simpler and more streamlined than trials and other judicial proceedings, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual under these Rules and applicable law. Decisions by the arbitrator are enforceable in court and may be overturned by a court only for very limited reasons. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days April 21, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days April 17, 2020 NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES, OR TO CLAIM A PRIZE. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.THESE OFFICIAL RULES (THESE “RULES”) CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST SPONSOR TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.The Make a Deal Days April 10, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on April 10, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on April 10, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). Odds: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about April 10, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about April 10, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Terms: The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes. In such case, the Sponsor will select the winners from all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to such action. The Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or the Site, or violates these Rules or the Terms of Service. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be deemed to be made by the authorized account holder of the email address at time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email address in question. By creating an Account or entering the Sweepstakes, the Sponsor may request your affirmative consent in order to provide promotional emails or offers via a periodic email newsletter. In creating an Account the Sponsor will automatically activate your subscription to receive periodic promotional email newsletters, but such promotional email newsletters will be completely optional. You are not required to keep your subscription to such promotional email newsletters in order to be eligible to enter the Sweepstakes. You may subsequently opt-out of receiving such promotional email newsletters at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the newsletter and following the procedures set forth at such link. Release: By entering the Sweepstakes, you agree that the Sponsor and its subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, insurers, servants, parents, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, partners, representatives, agents, predecessors, successors, assigns, shareholders, employees, officers and directors, and legal advisors (the “Released Entities”) are not responsible for, shall not be liable for, and hereby disclaim all liability arising from or relating to (i) such entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical or human failures, malfunctions or difficulties of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; (vi) late, lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, misdirected, misaddressed, incomplete, unintelligible or postage-due entries; (vii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Sweepstakes; or (viii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor. By participating in the Sweepstakes, participants and the winners agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Released Entities, and all others associated with the development and execution of the Sweepstakes, from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising out of or relating to the Sweepstakes, participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, and/or acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize, including but not limited to statutory and common law claims for misappropriation or participant’s right of publicity. Disputes: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants or Sponsor in connection with this Sweepstakes are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of any other state’s laws. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. Agreement to Arbitrate. Agreement to Arbitrate: This Section is referred to in these Rules as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Sponsor, whether arising out of or relating to these Rules, the Sweepstakes, your participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize (including any alleged breach thereof), any advertising, or any aspect of the relationship between us, shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that you may assert individual claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by participating in the Sweepstakes, you and Sponsor are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days April 10, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org. Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/consumer_arbitration. If there is any inconsistency between any term of the AAA Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Rules as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. Although arbitration proceedings are usually simpler and more streamlined than trials and other judicial proceedings, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual under these Rules and applicable law. Decisions by the arbitrator are enforceable in court and may be overturned by a court only for very limited reasons. Costs of Arbitration. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees (collectively, the “Arbitration Fees”) will be governed by the AAA Rules, unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement. Any payment of attorneys’ fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. Confidentiality. All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision, or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties. Severability. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement other than clause (b) above is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court or arbitrator decides that any of the provisions of clause (b) is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Rules will continue to apply. Conflict: In the event of any conflict between any term or condition in this Section 10 and any term or condition in our Terms of Service, then the applicable term or condition in this Section 10 shall apply. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days April 10, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Poshmark, Inc., 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065. Copyright © 2019 Poshmark. All rights reserved. Poshmark and the associated logo are registered trademarks of Poshmark, Inc. Any other trademarks in these Rules are used for prize identification purposes ONLY and are the properties of their respective owners. Official Rules for Make a Deal Days March 31, 2020 NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES, OR TO CLAIM A PRIZE. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.THESE OFFICIAL RULES (THESE “RULES”) CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST SPONSOR TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.The Make a Deal Days March 31, 2020 begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on March 31, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes Start Date”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on March 31, 2020 (the “Sweepstakes End Date”) (such period referred to herein as the “Sweepstakes Period”). The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Poshmark, Inc. (the “Sponsor”). Odds: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Sweepstakes Period. Winner selection and notification: The General Winners of the Sweepstakes will be selected in a random drawing under the supervision of the Sponsor HOURLY, beginning on or about March 31, 2020. Once an entrant is selected as a General Winner they will no longer be eligible for future drawings in which a General Winner is to be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected in a random drawing of all eligible entrants (including the General Winners) under the supervision of the Sponsor on or about March 31, 2020. For the avoidance of doubt, it is possible that a winner is both a General Winner and a Grand Prize Winner, but a winner can only be a General Winner once. Depending on method of entry winners will be notified via email to the email address associated with their Account or the email address submitted with the digital entry form within five (5) days following the winner selection. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices from the Sponsor, including failure due to winners’ spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for winners’ provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 48 hours from the time the Sweepstakes ends, or fails in timely return of a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Terms: The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes. In such case, the Sponsor will select the winners from all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to such action. The Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or the Site, or violates these Rules or the Terms of Service. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be deemed to be made by the authorized account holder of the email address at time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email address in question. By creating an Account or entering the Sweepstakes, the Sponsor may request your affirmative consent in order to provide promotional emails or offers via a periodic email newsletter. In creating an Account the Sponsor will automatically activate your subscription to receive periodic promotional email newsletters, but such promotional email newsletters will be completely optional. You are not required to keep your subscription to such promotional email newsletters in order to be eligible to enter the Sweepstakes. You may subsequently opt-out of receiving such promotional email newsletters at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the newsletter and following the procedures set forth at such link. Release: By entering the Sweepstakes, you agree that the Sponsor and its subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, insurers, servants, parents, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, partners, representatives, agents, predecessors, successors, assigns, shareholders, employees, officers and directors, and legal advisors (the “Released Entities”) are not responsible for, shall not be liable for, and hereby disclaim all liability arising from or relating to (i) such entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical or human failures, malfunctions or difficulties of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Sweepstakes; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; (vi) late, lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, misdirected, misaddressed, incomplete, unintelligible or postage-due entries; (vii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Sweepstakes; or (viii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor. By participating in the Sweepstakes, participants and the winners agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Released Entities, and all others associated with the development and execution of the Sweepstakes, from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising out of or relating to the Sweepstakes, participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, and/or acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize, including but not limited to statutory and common law claims for misappropriation or participant’s right of publicity. Disputes: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants or Sponsor in connection with this Sweepstakes are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of any other state’s laws. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. Agreement to Arbitrate. Agreement to Arbitrate: This Section is referred to in these Rules as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Sponsor, whether arising out of or relating to these Rules, the Sweepstakes, your participation in the Sweepstakes, the prize, acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize (including any alleged breach thereof), any advertising, or any aspect of the relationship between us, shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that you may assert individual claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by participating in the Sweepstakes, you and Sponsor are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND SPONSOR AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at support@poshmark.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Sponsor should be sent to Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days March 31, 2020. (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org. Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/consumer_arbitration. 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If a court or arbitrator decides that any of the provisions of clause (b) is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Rules will continue to apply. Conflict: In the event of any conflict between any term or condition in this Section 10 and any term or condition in our Terms of Service, then the applicable term or condition in this Section 10 shall apply. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days March 31, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Poshmark, Inc., 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065. Copyright © 2019 Poshmark. 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The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or Sponsor is entitled. 11. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the winners’ name or a copy of these Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Poshmark, 203 Redwood Shores Parkway, FL 7, Redwood City, CA 94065, Attn: Make a Deal Days March 24, 2020. Residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage. Requests must be received no later than ninety (90) days from the Sweepstakes End Date. 4. Prizes: 120 winners (the “General Winners”) will each receive $100 in Poshmark store credit (“Posh Credit”). One (1) Grand Prize winner (the “Grand Prize Winner”) will receive $1000 in Posh Credit. Total ARV of all prizes is $13000.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line312
__label__cc	0.599926	0.400074	Japanese Movies 101: Aniki – Brother November 29, 2013, Daniel in Awesomeness Leave a comment Recommending HelloFax – A Free Online Fax Service Visiting Kurashiki City, Okayama Since I’m with Aki, I have started to watch a lot of Japanese movies. Initially I didn’t know much about Japanese movies and wasn’t sure what to expect. I, however, quickly realized that Japanese movies are good. Actually so good, that I would say the level of Japanese film making is higher, than what we get from Europe! I therefore want to introduce you to some of my favourite Japanese movies, starting with a classic by Beat Takeshi – Aniki – Brother. Takeshi (aka Takeshi Kitano from Takeshi’s Castle) is something like a super hero in Japan. He is on the Japanese screens for more than 40 years and certainly one of the biggest Japanese achievers in the last decades. Wikipedia states: Takeshi Kitano … is a Japanese film director, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his idiosyncratic cinematic work. I believe somewhere in between he also had a political career… Aniki – Brother The plot according to IMDB: A Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence. The movie features Takeshi in the main role as an old Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) member, who has to leave the country, as life becomes too dangerous for him in Japan. He meets up with his younger brother, who grew up in Los Angeles and became your common cheesy movie thug. As Takeshi is a bad ass dude, he shows his brother how to handle business and he quickly piles up lots of new enemies in LA. At the end the enemies from Tokyo and LA are out and about to find him and – you know how the story goes… Even though the plot might not be ground breaking, the way the characters develop is great. The budget is obviously low, compared to your usual Hollywood movies and therefore the characters are moved into a much more important spot. The film has some humorous lost in translation moments, some action scenes and is overall very worth watching. I think it is a good start to get into Japanese movies. Tagged as: aniki, brother, japanese movies, takeshi	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line318
__label__cc	0.592475	0.407525	What is Backup With a good Backup solution, should disaster happen, then the user will be less apprehensive of losing business to the competition, hampering business’ productivity, or even losing the trust of your patrons. GuidesFor Team Backup could be viewed simply as storing or duplicating data, hiding it in a place where it lays safe until the need for it arises. Just like data, Backup is just as an important figure in the business equation. A couple of factors can lead to data loss. One of the most common things that comes to mind are system or hardware malfunctions. Human error is also one likely cause for a company to lose important data. On the more uncontrollable side, natural disasters that could destroy hardware is another thing a company has to watch out for. Data loss is never a good thing for business. It could cause major damage to a company, like loss of revenue for one, and loss of customers for another. Things that could basically level even the supposedly most colossal company to the ground. And for these very reasons, it’s only safe to say that Backup has become a necessity for data security for companies across the globe. The different kinds of Backup Online Backup – This is what is referred to when an entity duplicates or archives files and other data in a virtual storage; most of the time, the cloud is used for this kind of Backup method. When it comes to storing, it usually is an ongoing basis, meaning that you can save and access your files because they are always connected to the storage source. Offline or On-premise Backup – Just as the name implies, this kind of Backup saves and stores files in a storage that is found in your location. This kind of Backup usually requires human interaction, because it uses conventional storage drive; someone is needed to supervise the storage process, which includes but is not limited to connecting storage media, making sure all necessary cables are plugged into the right ports, etc. Off-site or Remote Backup – as opposed to the first two kinds of Backup, this method saves files and stores them in another geographic location, far from the original source. This kind of Backup has its own pros, and its greatest advantage above the former two is that, in the event of a tragedy that would destroy both hardware and software on-site, somewhere in the world the company will still have duplicates of their data, safe and sound. Benefits to business owners Besides the obvious benefit of having a Backup of data in case of the worst case scenario, the user could also keep track of their files and any changes made to it. With a good Backup solution, should disaster happen, then the user will be less apprehensive of losing business to the competition, hampering business’ productivity, or even losing the trust of your patrons. It’s hard to think of a single company in the world who still doesn’t use any Backup program or solution despite its apparent necessity and great advantages. All industry sectors can benefit from Backup solutions and recovery plans. Previous: How a Cloud-Based Backup and Recovery System Protects Your Business Continuity and Results in Cost Savings Next: How to Do Regular Backup Systems Checkups © 2021 Guides for Backup Blog \| Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy \| About Us \| Contact Us \| All Rights Reserved	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line319
__label__wiki	0.955726	0.955726	CEOWORLD magazine > The Latest > C-Suite Agenda > World’s Top 50 Universities For Computer Science Degrees, 2019 C-Suite AgendaExecutive Education World’s Top 50 Universities For Computer Science Degrees, 2019 Emma LondonC-Suite AgendaExecutive Education December 27, 2018 May 29, 2019 MOVE over Caltech, Georgia Tech, and MIT – the University of Oxford has been named the best university in the world for computer science degrees for 2019. The ranking compares the top computer science programs in the world. ETH Zurich ranked number 2 on the list, followed by Stanford University (No. 3), the University of Cambridge (No. 4), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (No. 5). The American business magazine placed Carnegie Mellon University in sixth on the list ahead of Georgia Institute of Technology (7th), and Princeton University (8th). Harvard University and California Institute of Technology round out the list at nine and ten, respectively. Imperial College London took the No. 11 spot, followed by the University of California, Los Angeles (No.12) and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (No.13). Meanwhile, Cornell University ranked No. 14 in the CEOWORLD magazine’s ranking of the world’s top 50 universities for computer science degrees, 2019. The National University of Singapore came in fifteenth place, followed by Yale University (sixteenth), the University of Edinburgh (seventeenth), the University of Texas at Austin (eighteenth), and the University of Toronto, ranked nineteenth. Out of the world’s top 50 best universities for computer science degrees, 2019, Tsinghua University ranked No. 20th. To create a list, the CEOWORLD magazine reviewed numerous national and international rankings to find the top 50 universities for computer science degrees. Data and information are taken from publicly available information, research papers, academic studies, and the CEOWORLD magazine’s best universities in the world ranking. This list was condensed to what we considered the world’s top 50 best universities for computer science degrees for 2019. Here Are The World’s Top 50 Universities For Computer Science Degrees: 1. University of Oxford, United Kingdom 2. ETH Zurich, Switzerland 3. Stanford University, United States 4. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States 6. Carnegie Mellon University, United States 7. Georgia Institute of Technology, United States 8. Princeton University, United States 9. Harvard University, United States 10. California Institute of Technology, United States 11. Imperial College London, United Kingdom 12. University of California, Los Angeles, United States 13. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland 14. Cornell University, United States 15. National University of Singapore, Singapore 16. Yale University, United States 17. University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom 18. University of Texas at Austin, United States 19. University of Toronto, Canada 20. Tsinghua University, China 21. Columbia University, United States 22. University of Washington, United States 23. UCL, United Kingdom 24. New York University, United States 25. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States 26. Technical University of Munich, Germany 27. University of Michigan, United States 28. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 29. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 30. University of California, San Diego, United States 31. Johns Hopkins University, United States 32. Peking University, China 33. University of Pennsylvania, United States 34. University of Montreal, Canada 35. University of British Columbia, Canada 36. University of Southern California, United States 37. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 38. Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris, France 39. University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States 40. The University of Tokyo, Japan 41. University of Waterloo, Canada 42. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany 43. University of Chicago, United States 44. University of Maryland, College Park, United States 45. Zhejiang University, China 46. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 47. RWTH Aachen University, Germany 48. LMU Munich, Germany 49. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China 50. Seoul National University, South Korea CEOWORLD magazine’s University Rankings By Subject 2019: # Top 500 Best Universities In The World For 2019: Medicine And Health Science Degrees. \| Life Science Degrees. \| Physical Science Degrees. \| Psychology Degrees. \| Arts and Humanities Degree. \| Education Degrees. \| Social Sciences Degrees. \| Business And Economics Degrees. \| Computer Science Degrees. \| Engineering And Technology Degrees. # Richest Women In The United States For 2018: 55 Female Billionaires. # Top 20 Richest Sports Team Owners In The World, 2018. # The 100 Most Influential People In History. Emma London December 27, 2018 World’s Top 50 Universities For Business And Economics Degrees, 2019 Do Online Sales Funnels Really Work? Culture and Strategy Do Breakfast and Eat Cash Steve RushC-Suite Agenda January 12, 2021 Many will be familiar with the well versed saying, “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast”, right? Coined by the late Peter... The Key to Agility: Create a Kill Our Company Committee Kevin OakesC-Suite Agenda January 5, 2021 In 2013 Aileen Lee invented the term “Unicorn” to refer to startup organizations with investor valuations of over $1 billion....	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line321
__label__cc	0.740158	0.259842	All About Love by bell hooks Posted in Uncategorized, tagged All About Love, bell hooks, book reviews, books, nonfiction, reading on February 27, 2020\| 2 Comments » I went to visit the former teen the elder to hear his divinity school senior sermon last week. It was terrific to spend time with him and his classmates — such a smart and spirit-filled bunch of people. I was pleased to see his bookshelves so full, and he knew I’d enjoy popping into the div school bookstore (which is independent!) while I was there. It was hard but I limited myself to two books, and one of them was All About Love by bell hooks. I’d only read essays by bell hooks, and those have been written for educators, or at least people interested in pedagogy. This book is definitely for everyone. Hooks notes in her introduction that she chose to write a book about love because she realized ours is “no longer a world open to love.” The rest of the book is an eloquent argument for the vital need we all have not only to feel loved, but also to give love. Hooks lays out what the world could be like if we placed love at the center of our lives, and then gently instructs readers in the skills and mindsets that could accomplish that. For example, she calls on us all to be more open in our communications about love as well as to have a “love ethic” in public policy and civic life. She also approaches romantic and sexual love from the same practical viewpoint, examining common problems with these kinds of love and gently pointing to solutions. I enjoyed this book for two reasons: first, hooks is not a scold. I’m sure you’ve all read intellectual work that takes a position and then beats readers over the head with it. Hooks instead makes her case in the way a good friend or kind and wise older relative might. Firmly, but with compassion. Second, she quotes a number of other authors and provides a list of their books in the back of All About Love. I always appreciate having ideas for further reading. Certainly some of what hooks writes is not new — most people are aware there is a lack of love in our common life these days, and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t learned some of the lessons hooks explores about interpersonal love. And many people, even if not religious, are familiar with the spiritual idea of lovingkindness found in several of the world’s major religions. But hooks manages to write about these familiar ideas in fresh ways. For example, she notes “Young people are cynical about love. Ultimately, cynicism is the great mask of the disappointed and betrayed heart. . . . Indeed, all the great movements for social justice in our society have strongly emphasized a love ethic. Yet young listeners remain reluctant to embrace love as a transformative force. Their attitude is mirrored in the grown-ups they turn to for explanations.” She goes on to say that when talking to people of her own generation about the ideas in this book, she was sometimes told she “should consider seeing a therapist.” Her conclusion that today’s generations of young people are cynical in part because preceding generations have taught them that love is not to be trusted is both incredibly obvious and not something I’d thought of before. I tended to blame the culture at large — but who makes that culture? All of us. I’m not really doing this book justice — hooks touches on so many more big ideas, like trust, honesty, justice, divinity, gender, patriarchy, mutuality and commitment — and I think it needs to be read more than once to fully grasp its power. Hooks is an incredible voice for about the most key element of human interaction. It’s a book that makes me want to sit and talk about the ideas with someone . . . someone I love! Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book reviews, books, family, grieving, Late Migrations, Margaret Renkl, memoir, natural history, nonfiction, reading, southern literature on February 20, 2020\| Leave a Comment » Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl is a book that caught my eye when it came out. I skimmed a review (librarians do, you know — we have a lot of reviews to get through) and read that it was about monarch butterflies and birds and insects. That sounded good, and the subtitle, I thought, referred to species in decline, and someone who loved nature. Sounded great. I missed the fact that it’s the story of Renkl’s family as well, mainly her family of origin but also somewhat about her life as a mother and spouse. When I started reading I was mildly annoyed by the structure, which weaves back and forth between natural history and family stories. But eventually, this grew on me, as the book seemed to weave themes together, like the spiders or birds whose webs and nests Renkl admires. It’s a beautiful book, which is the other reason it grew on me. Renkle admires ” . . . he red-tailed hawk fluffs her feathers over her cold yellow feet and surveys the earth with such stillness I could swear it wasn’t turning at all.” And describes finding herself outside in college, when she “headed out” after weeks in which she “followed the same brick path from crowded dorm to crowded class to crowded office to crowded cafeteria.” As she walks away from the crowds and into “red dirt lanes” that remind her of her childhood, she says, “I caught my breath and walked on, with a rising sense of the glory that was all around me. Only at twilight can an ordinary mortal walk in light and dark at once — feet plodding through night, eyes turned up toward bright day. It is a glimpse into eternity, that bewildering notion of endless time, where dark and light exist simultaneously.” That is not precisely the way I picture eternity, but that’s a minor quibble. Renkl’s writing is lovely. I could see the places and creatures and relatives she described, and could empathize with the emotions she described. And she doesn’t glorify things; her descriptions of early motherhood, caregiving for frail and ill elders, and grieving are not prettied up, even if the words she uses are a delight. The experiences she relates are things most of us go through, but don’t necessarily reflect on the way she has. A good read, thoughtful and serious, but also humorous in places, moving, and evocative. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book reviews, books, criminal justice, Dashka Slater, nonfiction, Oakland, reading, restorative justice, teens, The 57 Bus, true crime on February 3, 2020\| 3 Comments » A new colleague at work recommended The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater to the One Book, One Manchester committee. I read it over a few nights before bed and the only problem I have with it is I got less sleep — rather than drifting off after a few paragraphs or even a few pages, I kept reading, wanting to know what happened. Otherwise, I loved this book. It’s the story of Sasha and Richard, two teens in Oakland California. Richard, an African American young man, is a student at Oakland High. Sasha is a white agender senior at Maybeck, a small private school. As Slater notes, “Each afternoon the two teenagers’ journeys overlap for a mere eight minutes. If it hadn’t been for the 57 bus, their paths might never have crossed at all.” In a moment that changes both of their lives forever on November 4, 2013, while Sasha is sleeping on the bus, Richard, who has been goofing around with some friends, lights the edge of Sasha’s skirt on fire. This book tells their stories before that moment, and after. It’s an incredible story both because Sasha and Richard are not unique — there are teens like each of them all over this country. And because Sasha and Richard — and teens like them all over this country — are unique. Slater explodes the idea that there is equal justice under the law, which frankly is an idea that had already imploded on its own. But she also portrays people in the criminal justice system fairly, neither demonizing or lionizing them. And she also manages to make both Sasha’s middle class, educated, liberal parents and Richard’s working class single mom fully human rather than stereotyped representations of their types. The opportunities denied Richard and provided to Sasha are spooled out naturally, as part of their stories. Slater does not club readers over the head with the truth. But she does make clear that despite Sasha’s suffering, they were ultimately ok. And that despite Richard’s imprisonment, he was also ok. And she celebrates the generosity, compassion, and kindness that Richard’s mother and Sasha’s parents exhibited towards each other and towards their children. You’ll learn about what Sasha and their friends think about being nonbinary, what Richard thinks about being a young black man in Oakland, how they each tried to get what they needed at their schools. And you’ll learn about the media’s influence on a crime’s narrative, and how that impacts what the offender, victim, and their friends and families experience. And about restorative justice, an alternative to criminal proceedings that is about addressing the harm done and how to repair it. I think this is a beautiful book. It’s honest, thoughtful, and ultimately hopeful. Slater did a great deal of research and spoke at length with all the people she writes about. I thought it was a terrific read, and would make for good discussions. In an interesting twist, Slater’s charge to readers comes at the end of the very first brief chapter, rather than at the end, and it has stayed with me: “Surely it’s not too late to stop things from going wrong. There must be some way to wake Sasha. Divert Richard. Get the driver to stop the bus. There must be something you can do.” Of course she doesn’t mean me, or you. She means us. There must be something we can do.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line323
__label__wiki	0.618487	0.618487	The Contemporary Review, 43. köide Raamatud teenuses Google Play his position, and with the assurance of a man willing to give himself airs of importance he dilates on the horrors of the laboratory— stupid stories, accepted without a misgiving by M. von Weber, of whose physiological knowledge they even now form the sum total.* A German spinster. El pis Melena, the author of some sleepy novels, used these wretched stories as material for a little work on the miseries of a cat; and this it is which has given the signal for a savage onslaught on the physiological laboratories throughout the length and breadth of Germany. It is true that the adhesion of Professor Zollner, of Leipsic, and his passionate attack on his old friend and colleague Professor Ludwig, have powerfully contributed to the success of the agitation fomented by M. von Weber. M. Zollner, a very distinguished astronomer and physicist, unluckily belonged to a family every member of which is more or less touched with insanity. He himself, afflicted in addition with a physical deformity which condemned him to the life of an ascetic, was attacked towards the end of his life by the hereditary malady. He died mad last year. From 1865 to 1875—that is to say, during the most brilliant period of his scientific activity—M. Zollner, who owed to the influence of Ludwig his chair of astronomy at Leipsic, had been the friend and admirer of that illustrious physiologist, and au habitual visitor at his laboratory. It was there that friendly relations grew up between him and me. Indeed, it was M. Zollner—as he has since reminded me with a certain satisfaction—who initiated me into the study of the higher mathematics. An open-minded and impassioned student, he attended often and with the greatest interest at operations on animals, never showing the least repugnance, much less disapprobation. When I was at Leipsic in 1875 and 1876, I several times invited him to be present at experiments on the semicircular canals of pigeons. It is well known what a frightful appearance is presented by the disordered movements of animals in whom these canals have been cut. No one took more interest in these experiments than M. Zollner; and he appreciated to the full their psychological bearings on the formation of our notions of space. It was he, too, who congratulated me on having undertaken to codify, so to speak, in my work the scientific methods of modern physiology. How, then, can it have come about that the same man should, two years later, have become the standard-bearer of the anti-vivisectionist agitation? The explanation of this change of front is very simple. The mental malady, the germs of which he carried within him, but which till 1877 had shown itself by symptoms intelligible only to the specialist,* at last took possession of that fine brain, and—with the help of Spiritism—established its dominion there. * It is well known that medical students in their first year often take pleasure in telling imaginary horrors of the dissecting room. It was the same kind of wish to pose before a stranger which took possession of Professor Ludwig's conciiryc. Rambling discursions on Spiritism, on the fourth dimension, and on the supernatural powers of the medium Slade, published in the collected works of M. Zollner, gave the first intimation to his friends of the terrible malady which had seized him. Perhaps under the circumstances his colleagues hardly showed the indulgence due to the errors of so distinguished a man. Their jests and their opposition did hut exasperate the sick man and complete the overthrow of his reason. The anti-vivisectionists were not slow to take advantage of this quarrel with his colleagues, and especially with Ludwig and others who had made the mistake of forgetting that it is impossible to reason with a madman. They fell upon the unhappy savant, and succeeded with little difficulty in utilizing his insanity in their contest with the laboratories. In reading M. Zollner'slast book,f one follows with a sort of terror the progressive ravages of insanity on a fine and rare intelligence. The floundering amongst crude and inconsequent conceptions, the impossibility of keeping to one set of ideas for so much as two or three consecutive sentences, the declamations against the vivisectors, mixed up with views on the political mission of Bismarck, observations on the amours of Lassalle and Madame de Rakowitz, furious sallies against the Jews, against the opponents of Spiritism, and against the (supposed) scientific errors of Sir William Thomson—all this offers to the student of mental disease a most striking instance of diseased intellectual activity with occasional fits of furious madness. If the conversation of a dozen inmates of Bedlam during twentyfour hours were taken down by stenography, it would not make a more extraordinary collection of nonsense than the ravings of this anti-vivisectionist. % Zollner's little work ended in a petition addressed to the Reichstag. The list of signatures to this document is most curious. What first strikes one is the large number of names belonging to the staff of the Prussian army. One never would have suspected that such compassion for the sufferings of rabbits and frogs would reign in the breasts of these men, whose harshness in action is proverbial, and whose inhumanity sufficiently proved itself during the war of 18701871. The Blumenthals and others who shot the free-shooters they captured, who bombarded inhabited houses, hospitals, and museums, in order to hasten the capitulation of fortified towns,—these are the men who shed tears over the sad fate of some poor rabbit snatched too early from household joys, or of some kitten whose brilliant future has been cut short by the pitiless biologist! * Zollner has often consulted me on the state of his mind ; he foresaw with terrible distinctness, but also with a surprising stoicism, the catastrophe which was to overwhelm his reason. + "Ueber den wissenschaftlichen Missbrauch der Yivisectionen." Leipzig, 1S82. X The auti-vivisectionist literature is rich in insauities of this sort. Take, for example, Richard Wagner's pamphlet. I defy anybody to rind a specialist who would refuse to give a certificate of madness to the author of these rambling dissertations without liesd or tail to them. The musician who has most agonized the ears of his contemporaries naturally takes his part in the clatter got up by the opponents of modern scieuce. What absurdity and what pharisaism! People who forbid the discoverer to sacrifice some few animals to the progress of science and the cure of innumerable human sufferers, find it easy to squander thousands of human lives iu colonial wars—which means, in fact, in the interest of commercial enterprise. The life of the frog and the rabbit is sacred; no scientific gain can excuse a physiological experiment. But to immolate soldiers by tens of thousands, to ruin cities, to cause the tears of widows and orphans and bereaved mothers to flow, all in order to secure the payment of the bondholders' coupons, —this is a legitimate thing and shocks no one. Poor charity and poor humanity! Is there any need, after this edifying example, to speak of noble ladies, of aged dowagers, of hypocritical pastors, who, like Stocker, preach -to-day the destruction of the whole Semitic race, and to-morrow lend the aid of their eloquence to the old maids whose tenderness, despised by man, has flung itself in despair at the feet of cats and parrots? Every sensible reader has already passed his judgment. It is curious to observe that Protestant countries have a monopoly of the anti-vivisectionist agitation. Among Catholic nations all efforts to stir up public opinion against the pretended barbarities of physiologists have been fruitless. This fact appears still more extraordinary when confronted with a similar fact, which struck me as far back as 1871, when, having formed a committee for subjecting to scientific investigation the spiritist phenomena of Mr. Douglas-Home, I succeeded in exposing all the tricks of that clever conjurer. Spiritism, also, has never been able to take root in Catholic countries. On the other hand, it flourishes at Leipsic and in London, the two metropolises of the anti-vivisection movement. This is certainly no accidental coincidence. To make sure of this, it is only necessary to go over the lists of adherents of the two causes. It will be seen that the same persons who addict themselves to calling up spirits from the vasty deep also breathe out fire and flame against physiological science. Possibly the latter might be forgiven the slight offence of cruelty to animals if it were not guilty of the major offence of bringing to light the tricks of mediums. This exemption of Catholic countries is due to several causes, some of which I will point out, without pretending to exhaust so large a subject. In the first place Catholicism opens to old maids of excited imagination a refuge in its convents. The ecstatic adora tion of the Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Virgin offers sufficient food for the mysticism of these disordered minds. An enthusiasm of piety acts as a powerful diversion to the explosions of a morbid nervous condition. For want of a similar resource, the Protestant old maids fling themselves into the mysteries of Spiritism, or give themselves up to a fantastic charity rarely directed to any worthy object.* The task of protecting a few animals from the physiologists appears to them the noblest employment to which their lives can be consecrated. The Catholic religion, clearly, provides full satisfaction for the mystical and superstitious tendencies indigenous to the soil of the human mind. The Protestant religion, on the contrary, with its cold formalism and rigid creed, is very far from satisfying these needs. Even in Catholic countries, we see sceptics like Dumas and Sardou, who would be ashamed to have any one credit them with any faith in God, addict themselves with ardour to the practice of Spiritism. If ever the anti-vivisectionist agitation acquires any proselytes in France, it will find them, I am well persuaded, only amongst the so-called freethinkers and amongst the Protestants. E. De Cyon. MDE CYON, in this interesting essay, has criticized rather # freely persons of whom he subsequently tells us frankly that he knows little. "I know the English leaders"—i.e., of the Antivivisection movement—" too little," he says, "to seek instances among them in support of what I say." In that case, surely it would have been more scientific if he had confined what he says of theui— which he does not—to those of whom he knows more than a little. It is of "the English leaders" that he has just said, "very few are sincere; the greater part only seek to gain at little cost a notoriety and a position they could not otherwise have secured; and often their true object is even less creditable. The interrogation of * When I was visiting the English asylums in 1S67, I was struck with the contrast between the extraordinary luxury of these asylums, intended for the poor, for idiots (u Earlswood), and even for criminals (as Broadmoor), and the dreary misery of the workhouses, and even of workmen's dwellings in the great industrial centres. When one considers that ten thousand children of sound mind—among whom, for aught we know, there may be a Newton or a Shakespeare—are found deserted on the London pavement, without home, .without food, without education, whilst millions of money are expended in teaching a few hundred idiots to execute automatic movements and sing part-songs, one is indeed struck with astonishment at the aberrations of the charitable mind. One would almost suppose, to look at it, that madmen and idiots, by the very fact of their going out of their minds, had rendered the most signal service to the State and to society. Mr. Jesse, the chief promoter of the agitation in England, is most instructive from this point of view, and cannot leave in any just mind the slightest illusion as to his humanitarian sentiments." Now, it is quite certain that Mr. Jesse was not the first promoter of this agitation in England. I myself had heen engaged for years in doing all I could to put some check on the reckless prosecution of research hy painful experiments on living animals, before I ever heard of Mr. Jesse's name; and this I can say most sincerely, that M. de Cyon is entirely ignorant of the very elements of the English situation when he supposes that insincerity in some, and "want of occupation," " an eccentricity amounting to disease," and "hysterical sentimentality," in others, will account for the success of the anti-vivisection movement in England. I know as many men as I do women, as many overworked men as I do men of leisure, as many men remarkable for plain common sense as I do men of sentiment, who have joined in this movement, and who have joined in it from the sheer sense of justice and humanity, and no other motive whatever. If M. de Cyon knew what he was talking about— so far as regards the English movement at all events—he would see how unscientific and even silly it is in him to judge a priori of the kind of persons who have taken part in this movement in England. To class men like Lord Shaftesbury, the Lord Chief Justice of England, the late Professor Rolleston, the eminent surgeon Mr. Lawson Tait, and a great many other professional men, as either hypocrites or hysterical sentimentalists, betrays nothing but rashness and ignorance. Indeed, I might honestly say even for myself, that I doubt if a busier, a less sentimental, a less hysterical man, or one less willing to pass hasty judgments on subjects of which he is wholly ignorant, could be easily found than I am; and yet I have taken an active part in this movement as long as it has existed in England. M. de Cyon is, no doubt, a highly scientific physiologist, but a less scientific critic of his adversaries I have seldom met with. He docs not take the very essential precaution of learning something of the nature of the agitation of which he is about to speak. He makes another ludicrous mistake in saying that it is only necessary to go over the names of the adherents of the Anti-vivisection movement and the so-called Spiritist movement, to show that the same persons devote themselves to these two distinct causes. So far as I know the English movement, nothing could be more flagrantly contrary to the fact. The lady who has done most for the Anti-vivisection movement in this country, Miss Cobbe, is a thoroughly religious Rationalist, who has poured contempt on the Spiritist movement whenever she has had a chance. Indeed, I can at the present moment recollect only one writer of the smallest note on the Anti-vivisection question who has ever been known as identified « EelmineJätka »	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line326
__label__wiki	0.844113	0.844113	RD Sharma Solutions for Class 11 Chapter 15 - Linear Inequations Exercise 15.1 In earlier classes, we have studied equations in one and two variables. An equation can be defined as a statement involving variables and a sign of equality. Similarly, inequation can be defined as a statement involving variables and a sign of inequality. In Exercise 15.1, we shall discuss problems on solving linear inequations in one variable. Students can understand the concept of inequations by using the solutions prepared by the tutors at BYJU’S. Solutions are provided with precision, in order to help students to sort their difficulties and reduce the fear of exams. The pdf of RD Sharma Class 11 Solutions is provided here, which students can easily download and start practising offline. Download the pdf of RD Sharma Solutions for Class 11 Maths Exercise 15.1 Chapter 15 – Linear Inequations Also, access other exercises of RD Sharma Solutions for Class 11 Maths Chapter 15 – Linear Inequations Access answers to RD Sharma Solutions for Class 11 Maths Exercise 15.1 Chapter 15 – Linear Inequations Solve the following linear Inequations in R. 1. Solve: 12x < 50, when (i) x ∈ R (ii) x ∈ Z (iii) x ∈ N 12x < 50 So when we divide by 12, we get 12x/ 12 < 50/12 x < 25/6 When x is a real number, the solution of the given inequation is (-∞, 25/6). When, 4 < 25/6 < 5 So when, when x is an integer, the maximum possible value of x is 4. The solution of the given inequation is {…, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. So when, when x is a natural number, the maximum possible value of x is 4. We know that the natural numbers start from 1, the solution of the given inequation is {1, 2, 3, 4}. 2. Solve: -4x > 30, when -4x > 30 So when we divide by 4, we get -4x/4 > 30/4 -x > 15/2 x < – 15/2 When x is a real number, the solution of the given inequation is (-∞, -15/2). When, -8 < -15/2 < -7 So when, when x is an integer, the maximum possible value of x is -8. The solution of the given inequation is {…, –11, –10, -9, -8}. As natural numbers start from 1 and can never be negative, when x is a natural number, the solution of the given inequation is ∅. 3. Solve: 4x-2 < 8, when 4x – 2 < 8 4x – 2 + 2 < 8 + 2 4x < 10 So divide by 4 on both sides we get, 4x/4 < 10/4 x < 5/2 When x is a real number, the solution of the given inequation is (-∞, 5/2). When, 2 < 5/2 < 3 The solution of the given inequation is {…, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2}. So when, when x is a natural number, the maximum possible value of x is 2. We know that the natural numbers start from 1, the solution of the given inequation is {1, 2}. 4. 3x – 7 > x + 1 3x – 7 > x + 1 3x – 7 + 7 > x + 1 + 7 3x > x + 8 3x – x > x + 8 – x 2x > 8 Divide both sides by 2, we get 2x/2 > 8/2 x > 4 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (4, ∞). 5. x + 5 > 4x – 10 Given: x + 5 > 4x – 10 x + 5 – 5 > 4x – 10 – 5 x > 4x – 15 4x – 15 < x 4x – 15 – x < x – x 3x – 15 < 0 3x – 15 + 15 < 0 + 15 x < 5 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (-∞, 5). 6. 3x + 9 ≥ –x + 19 Given: 3x + 9 ≥ –x + 19 3x + 9 – 9 ≥ –x + 19 – 9 3x ≥ –x + 10 3x + x ≥ –x + 10 + x 4x ≥ 10 4x/4 ≥ 10/4 x ≥ 5/2 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is [5/2, ∞). 7. 2 (3 – x) ≥ x/5 + 4 Given: 2 (3 – x) ≥ x/5 + 4 6 – 2x ≥ x/5 + 4 6 – 2x ≥ (x+20)/5 5(6 – 2x) ≥ (x + 20) 30 – 10x ≥ x + 20 30 – 20 ≥ x + 10x 10 ≥11x 11x ≤ 10 Divide both sides by 11, we get 11x/11 ≤ 10/11 x ≤ 10/11 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (-∞, 10/11]. 8. (3x – 2)/5 ≤ (4x – 3)/2 (3x – 2)/5 ≤ (4x – 3)/2 Multiply both the sides by 5 we get, (3x – 2)/5 × 5 ≤ (4x – 3)/2 × 5 (3x – 2) ≤ 5(4x – 3)/2 3x – 2 ≤ (20x – 15)/2 (3x – 2) × 2 ≤ (20x – 15)/2 × 2 6x – 4 ≤ 20x – 15 20x – 15 ≥ 6x – 4 20x – 15 + 15 ≥ 6x – 4 + 15 20x ≥ 6x + 11 20x – 6x ≥ 6x + 11 – 6x 14x ≥ 11 14x/14 ≥ 11/14 x ≥ 11/14 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is [11/14, ∞). 9. –(x – 3) + 4 < 5 – 2x Given: –(x – 3) + 4 < 5 – 2x –x + 3 + 4 < 5 – 2x –x + 7 < 5 – 2x –x + 7 – 7 < 5 – 2x – 7 –x < –2x – 2 –x + 2x < –2x – 2 + 2x ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (–∞, –2). 10. x/5 < (3x-2)/4 – (5x-3)/5 Given: x/5 < (3x-2)/4 – (5x-3)/5 x/5 < [5(3x-2) – 4(5x-3)]/4(5) x/5 < [15x – 10 – 20x + 12]/20 x/5 < [2 – 5x]/20 Multiply both the sides by 20 we get, x/5 × 20 < [2 – 5x]/20 × 20 4x < 2 – 5x 4x + 5x < 2 – 5x + 5x 9x < 2 9x/9 < 2/9 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (-∞, 2/9). 11. [2(x-1)]/5 ≤ [3(2+x)]/7 [2(x-1)]/5 ≤ [3(2+x)]/7 (2x – 2)/5 ≤ (6 + 3x)/7 (2x – 2)/5 × 5 ≤ (6 + 3x)/7 × 5 2x – 2 ≤ 5(6 + 3x)/7 7 (2x – 2) ≤ 5 (6 + 3x) 14x – 14 ≤ 30 + 15x 14x – 14 + 14 ≤ 30 + 15x + 14 14x ≤ 44 + 15x 14x – 44 ≤ 44 + 15x – 44 14x – 44 ≤ 15x 15x ≥ 14x – 44 15x – 14x ≥ 14x – 44 – 14x x ≥ –44 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is [–44, ∞). 12. 5x/2 + 3x/4 ≥ 39/4 5x/2 + 3x/4 ≥ 39/4 By taking LCM [2(5x)+3x]/4 ≥ 39/4 13x/4 ≥ 39/4 13x/4 × 4 ≥ 39/4 × 4 x ≥ 3 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is [3, ∞). 13. (x – 1)/3 + 4 < (x – 5)/5 – 2 (x – 1)/3 + 4 < (x – 5)/5 – 2 Subtract both sides by 4 we get, (x – 1)/3 + 4 – 4 < (x – 5)/5 – 2 – 4 (x – 1)/3 < (x – 5)/5 – 6 (x – 1)/3 < (x – 5 – 30)/5 (x – 1)/3 < (x – 35)/5 Cross multiply we get, 5 (x – 1) < 3 (x – 35) 5x – 5 < 3x – 105 5x – 5 + 5 < 3x – 105 + 5 5x < 3x – 100 5x – 3x < 3x – 100 – 3x 2x < –100 2x/2 < -100/2 x < -50 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (-∞, -50). 14. (2x + 3)/4 – 3 < (x – 4)/3 – 2 (2x + 3)/4 – 3 < (x – 4)/3 – 2 Add 3 on both sides we get, (2x + 3)/4 – 3 + 3 < (x – 4)/3 – 2 + 3 (2x + 3)/4 < (x – 4)/3 + 1 (2x + 3)/4 < (x – 4 + 3)/3 (2x + 3)/4 < (x – 1)/3 3 (2x + 3) < 4 (x – 1) 6x + 9 < 4x – 4 6x + 9 – 9 < 4x – 4 – 9 6x < 4x – 13 6x – 4x < 4x – 13 – 4x 2x/2 < -13/2 x < -13/2 ∴ The solution of the given inequation is (-∞, -13/2).	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line331
__label__wiki	0.979121	0.979121	The Queen cancels all 2021 garden parties after surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.K. The Queen has cancelled all garden parties that were scheduled to take place in 2021 as the United Kingdom enters its third nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic. The decision affects parties that would traditionally be held at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, according to HELLO! UK. The royal garden parties are typically one of the big highlights on Her Majesty's summer calendar, and this marks the second year the large-scale events will not be held. The U.K. has seen COVID-19 cases skyrocket since late 2020 due to a new coronavirus strain. Discovered in September, it is believed to be between 50 and 70 per cent more transmissible, scientists say. The annual Buckingham Palace garden parties hosted by the Queen have been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus for the second time. Photo: © Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images When 2020's garden parties were cancelled, guests invited to three garden parties at Buckingham Palace that year would be asked to 2021's parties instead. The latest news obviously changes this. The Queen usually welcomes more than 30,000 guests to enjoy a lovely summer afternoon in the beautiful gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The intention is for the monarch to speak to a broad range of people from all walks of life who have had a positive impact on their communities. The Queen and Prince Philip are isolating at Windsor Castle, where they spent much of 2020. Royals fans last saw Her Majesty deliver her annual Christmas speech, in which the 94-year-old discussed the coronavirus' impact, and encouraged viewers to remember hope and good deeds. "We continue to be inspired by the kindness of strangers, and draw comfort that even on the darkest nights, there is hope in the new dawn," she said in the moving address. There have been more than 85.8 million cases of COVID-19 confirmed in 191 countries and regions with more than 2.7 million of those cases in the U.K., according to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Queen's Christmas speech pays tribute to everyday heroes among us all How the Queen's 2020 Christmas speech will make history Prince Charles says he's 'way down the list' for COVID-19 vaccine and will wait his turn	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line332
__label__wiki	0.661286	0.661286	Study In Person The School of Canine Science Nando has been working as a dog trainer and instructor for nearly 15 years. Best known for his accessible style, impressive YouTube tutorials, big personality and awe-inspiring ability to train the tricky dogs that many people claim are untrainable. Having a commendable affiliation with media Nando has hosted his own international radio show, runs one of the most successful dog training YouTube channels with hit videos receiving more than 20 million views, a Facebook page with over 27,000 fans - a successful career in television having worked with Jo-Rosie on Rescue Dog to Super Dog and Teach My Pet for Channel 4 and ITV respectively, as well as a regular section on Marbella Now! Nando is also a published authour. Originally known for trick training and founder of the In The Dog House trick dog titles, Nando‘s also made a significant contribution to the world of scent as the founder of the World Scent Dog Association. He has had a keen interest in protection sports and is currently training his dog for Mondioring competitions as well as aiming for his decoy certification. Nando teaches thousands of new and experienced dog trainers across the world in all aspects of dog training but his passions lie in cultivating trainers who can think critically, understand the science thoroughly and apply it with common sense. Nando has been invited to run seminars and talk at various large conferences in South Africa, America, South America, New Zealand, Australia and throughout Europe. Jo-Rosie With a reputation for sewing the geeky science of behaviour seamlessly with the practical knowhow and mechanics of good dog, Jo-Rosie has been working as a professional animal behaviourist for over a decade. After completing a degree in applied psychology and a post graduate in behaviour, worked for a large rescue organisation. After developing a particular interest in challenging dog, Jo moved into a private behaviour clinic and working mainly with section 1 and 3 dangerous dogs. She became an independent expert witness working for both prosecution and defence under the Crown Prosecution Service. Jo-Rosie went on to set up a Sussex based behaviour and training company which is still thriving. Over the last decade Jo has published three books (two about dog behaviour and training and one about cat behaviour and training). Jo also enjoys a successful career in Television, co-presenting channel 4‘s Rescue Dogs to Super Dogs, ITV’s Teach My Pet and has just finished presenting a new show out on Channel 4 this year. She is represented by TV agent David Foster and has enjoyed a range of other TV opportunities. She also creates regular content for her thriving social media channels Facebook (31,000 fans), Instagram (2700 followers) and YouTube (8153 subscribers). Her passion for rescue dogs and in particular Pit Bull Terriers, has lead her to be one of the countries leading experts on the breed and as such she has been asked to lecture internationally on the breed as well as talk on mainstream national TV, international and local radio as well as write for international, national and local papers on the subject. The last five years has seen Jo working running workshops and lecturing internationally as well as creating online courses for The School Of Canine Science. Dean Nicholas Dean Nicholas is a dog trainer with less than three years formal experience yet in that time he has managed to propel himself into the forefront of the industry with his intense theoretical knowledge and a masterful eye for precision. After completing a Masters Degree in Business, specialising in leadership & motivation, and working for 16 years in the Technology Industry, Dean understands systems, processes and their effect on behaviour, giving dean a natural aptitude for clean training & thorough analysis. Dean has worked behind the scene on a number of animal training TV show including the hit ITV TV show Teach My Pet To Do That. Dean is a fully qualified FFTT Instructor, Super Dogs Instructor & Real Dog Yoga Instructor – as well as running his own pool of dog training clients in the Midlands, UK. Dean’s passion lies in training dog tricks, precision behaviours & voluntary vet behaviours as well as working towards competitive obedience with Sidney, his beloved Miniature American Shepherd. Copyright © 2021 The School of Canine Science	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line334
__label__wiki	0.50063	0.50063	Administration, Finance Viterbo University, an independent, liberal arts institution in the Catholic tradition located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, seeks a dynamic and strategic leader to serve as the Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer (VPFA/CFO). The position is available beginning July 1, 2021. Viterbo University was founded in 1890 as St. Rose Normal School by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to prepare Sisters to teach in elementary schools. A warm and welcoming community for students, faculty, and staff of all faiths, Viterbo's proud Catholic and Franciscan heritage can be felt throughout campus. As one of only 23 Franciscan universities in the U.S., Viterbo's mission to prepare students for faithful service and ethical leadership provides a values-based education grounded in leadership through service, with a strong emphasis on ethics. The Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer serves as the primary finance and business operations executive for Viterbo University. The next VPFA/CFO will be responsible for providing executive management for the business and administration operations of the university including financial planning, budgeting, accounting and business operations, financial controls, procurement, contracts, human resources, instructional and information technology, financial aid, buildings and grounds, and the university's bookstore. Application and Nomination Procedure The search is being assisted by Academic Search, Inc. For additional information about this opportunity, please review the position profile, which includes a full list of required and desired characteristics for the new VPFA/CFO, at www.academicsearch.org under the "Open Searches" tab. Applications should consist of a substantive cover letter addressing the qualifications and expectations listed above, curriculum vitae, and a list of five professional references with full contact information and a note indicating the nature of your working relationship with each. References will not be contacted without the explicit permission of the candidate. Applications, nominations, and expressions of interest can be submitted electronically, and in confidence, to: Viterbocfo@academicsearch.org. The position is open until filled but only applications received by March 1, 2021 can be assured full consideration. Confidential discussions about this opportunity may be arranged by contacting senior consultant Jerry Israel (jerry.israel@academicsearch.org). Copyright ©2017 Jobelephant.com Inc. All rights reserved. jeid-25674c3e1c54534aae08c20d0479874e Connections working at Viterbo University Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) 1 Week Ago Vice President of Finance & Treasurer Portland, Oregon Reed College 6 Days Ago SVP for Administrative and Fiscal Services Rockville, Maryland Montgomery College 1 Week Ago	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line335
__label__wiki	0.656354	0.656354	Mylan Launches Generic Actonel® Tablets, 150 mg Health, Medical, Pharmaceuticals, Press Releases PITTSBURGH, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) today announced that it has launched Risedronate Sodium Tablets USP, 150 mg, the generic version of Warner Chilcott’s Actonel® Tablets. Mylan received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for this product, which is indicated for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Risedronate Sodium Tablets USP, 150 mg, had U.S. sales of approximately $171.6 million for the 12 months ending March 31, 2014, according to IMS Health. Currently, Mylan has 303 ANDAs pending FDA approval representing $105.3 billion in annual brand sales, according to IMS Health. Forty-one of these pending ANDAs are potential first-to-file opportunities, representing $25.4 billion in annual brand sales, for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2013, according to IMS Health. Mylan is a global pharmaceutical company committed to setting new standards in health care. Working together around the world to provide 7 billion people access to high quality medicine, we innovate to satisfy unmet needs; make reliability and service excellence a habit; do what’s right, not what’s easy; and impact the future through passionate global leadership. We offer a growing portfolio of more than 1,300 generic pharmaceuticals and several brand medications. In addition, we offer a wide range of antiretroviral therapies, upon which approximately 40% of HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries depend. We also operate one of the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers and currently market products in approximately 140 countries and territories. Our workforce of more than 20,000 people is dedicated to improving the customer experience and increasing pharmaceutical access to consumers around the world. But don’t take our word for it. See for yourself. See inside. mylan.com SOURCE Mylan Inc.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line336
__label__cc	0.696828	0.303172	Social Work, Clinical Faculty Non-Tenure Track University System of New Hampshire Master's degree in Social Work from a CSWE-accredited program. At least two years post-Master's social work practice experience. Clinical Licensure or eligibility for clinical licensure in New Hampshire. An understanding of generalist social work practice, a commitment to social justice, and a commitment to collaborative and collegial work. Demonstrated teaching/training experience at the university level. Evidence of ability to engage students in classroom learning and professional/community service. Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal skills. Ph.D. or DSW in social work or related discipline. Evidence of one or more specialty areas such as Mental Health, Substance Use Disorders, Case Management, and/or Generalist Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups. Willingness to engage with academic technology and online teaching and learning. Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) Certification in Youth Mental Health First Aid Grant management experience About the Opportunity: The Social Work Program at Plymouth State University invites applications for a full-time, non- tenure track clinical faculty position beginning August 2021. The CSWE-accredited BSW program (reaffirmed until 2023) seeks a dynamic colleague committed to teaching excellence, student development, and service. The program's mission is to prepare generalist practitioners with the ability to respect human diversity, use a strengths-based approach to practice, and promote social and economic justice. The program has minors in Child Welfare and Family Studies, Aging, and Welfare and Justice for Children and Youth. The program encourages creativity and initiative and provides a strong, supportive environment for growth and development. Clinical Faculty positions are full time, with benefits and the teaching load is 24 credits per year. The candidate will also be expected to advise undergraduate students and provide service to the university. About University System of New Hampshire USNH is one of the largest employers in New Hampshire, committed to excellence in the work place and offering a wide range of benefits. We are committed to providing our employees with an enriching and dynamic work environment that encourages innovation, research, creativity and equal opportunity for learning, development and professional growth. USNH has four campuses and several satellite locations. Each campus focuses upon the delivery of exceptional service, education, and excellence for our students, faculty, staff, and off-campus collaborators. We encourage you to search our job site to determine if USNH has an exciting career opportunity that is right for you. Connections working at University System of New Hampshire Assistant Professor of Practice Portland, Oregon Portland State University 1 Week Ago Learning Community Facilitator - Medical Student Advisor (Clin. Prof.-Medical Series) New York, NY, 10176, USA CUNY School of Medicine 1 Week Ago Dean of Global School Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3 Weeks Ago	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line337
__label__wiki	0.622803	0.622803	News Forums Login/Register Coming Matches WIPA acquires image and IP rights to 75 Windies players Fri, Jun 27, '08 The West Indies Players' Association has acquired the image and intellectual property rights of 75 of its members as set out in a formal assignment agreement between the players and WIPA. The rights include the player’s name, nickname, assumed name, likeness, image, portrait, picture, photograph, caricature, voice, signature, signifier, representation or reproduction of same in any form whatsoever, logo or other identification, statements, quotations and biographical or other detail, and all associated fame, reputation and goodwill associated with him together with any registered or unregistered trademarks associated therewith or other intellectual property rights, rights or publicity and/ or personality and other rights of whatever nature as may exist in addition to the same in any jurisdiction from time to time. This initiative is very much welcomed by WIPA and its members as WIPA seeks to exploit and maximize the full commercial potential for the use of the players’ intellectual property and image rights and to stringently monitor its usage globally to ensure that there are no unauthorized exploitations thereof. "WIPA has fought many long and tough battles in recent times including those to protect the intellectual property and imaging rights of players and we are quite pleased that the parameters are now much clearer in relation to such rights. One would appreciate that the imaging and intellectual property rights are one of the most valuable asset and resource of a player," said WIPA president/CEO Dinanath Ramnarine. He said the deal with the 75 cricketers follow the emerging trend of similar arrangements between cricket players and their associations as in the case with the equivalent groups in South Africa and England. All content posted on this site is © copyrighted to the original authors and published with their permission. This site is in no way connected to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line338
__label__wiki	0.64616	0.64616	E.E.O.C. v. Sears, Roebuck and Co. Paquin v. Federal Nat. Mortg. Ass'n Glass v. IDS Fin. Servs., Inc., 778 F. Supp. 1029, 1060 (D.Minn. 1991). Cases question what action… Davis v. Precoat Metals In such circumstances, the severance benefits "are properly viewed as additional consideration for an… Full title:EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. SEARS, ROEBUCK AND… Court:United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division Date published: Jul 7, 1994 857 F. Supp. 1233 (N.D. Ill. 1994) United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division holding that an employee had no claim under the ADEA even where an employer had conditioned the acceptance of a severance agreement on an invalid release Summary of this case from Welch v. Maritrans Inc. Sharon Ann Seeley, John C. Hendrickson, Laura Todd Johnson, Gregory M. Gochanour, E.E.O.C., Chicago, IL, for plaintiff. Donald James Spero, Michael A. Stiegel, Paul Ely Starkman, Vito P. LoVerde, Arnstein Lehr, Chicago, IL, for defendant. Thomas William Osborne, American Ass'n of Retired Persons, Washington, DC, for American Ass'n of Retired Persons, amicus. PLUNKETT, District Judge. This case presents an interesting and rather challenging issue: whether an employer's termination program which conditions severance benefits on a waiver of an employee's rights and claims that is not "knowing and voluntary" within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1) is unlawful and actionable under section 4 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (1994). The issue is one of first impression. It has not been addressed, as far as we can tell, by any other court. The importance — and perhaps novelty — of the issue is evidenced by the fact that two amici curiae have filed briefs with the Court in connection with the matter: the Equal Employment Advisory Council ("EEAC") in support of Defendant Sears' motion to dismiss the complaint, and the American Association of Retired Persons ("AARP") in support of Plaintiff EEOC's motion in opposition. The genesis of this case is an age discrimination charge filed with Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") by an employee of Defendant Sears, Roebuck and Company ("Sears") challenging the legality of Sears' "Big Ticket Severance Allowance Plan" (hereafter the "Plan") under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. After the EEOC's conciliation efforts failed, the EEOC brought this suit against Sears. The EEOC alleges that since February 14, 1992, Sears has engaged in an unlawful practice in violation of section 4(d) of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 623(d), by willfully "conditioning employees' receipt of severance benefits on execution of a waiver and release of ADEA claims which is invalid under Section 7(f) of the ADEA . . . and which requires employees to release all ADEA claims, including claims unrelated to the employee's termination." (Compl. ¶ 8.) The EEOC asks the Court, inter alia, to enjoin Sears from engaging in conduct that violates section 4(d), to order Sears to take certain remedial actions in connection with the challenged severance program, and to declare invalid employee waivers signed in connection with the challenged severance program. The matter is presently before us on Defendant Sears' motion to dismiss the complaint. Sears challenges the sufficiency of the complaint on numerous grounds. To wit, they argue that: (1) the EEOC may not commence this action because it did not give the appropriate notice nor attempt conciliation as required by the ADEA; (2) the allegations in the complaint are conclusory and deficient; (3) the complaint fails to state a claim under ADEA section 4(d) because the EEOC does not allege that Sears discriminated against anyone for opposing conduct unlawful under the ADEA; (4) the EEOC's claim that general releases are per se invalid contravenes the letter and spirit of the Older Workers' Benefit Protection Act as codified at 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1); (5) the EEOC and the Courts have consistently upheld the validity of general releases; (6) Sears' conduct is not actionable because Sears acted pursuant to a bona fide employee benefit plan; and (7) the EEOC's conduct violates principles of fundamental fairness and section 553 of the Administrative Procedures Act ("APA") because the EEOC is taking an interpretative position in this litigation different than that taken previously by the agency. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 1337, 1343, and 1345. For the reasons set forth below, the motion to dismiss is granted. At the outset, we feel compelled to express our agreement with Sears regarding the sufficiency of the complaint's factual allegations. The "meat" of the complaint, if one could call it that, is nothing more than a conclusory allegation that Sears engaged in unlawful conduct by conditioning certain severance benefits on an allegedly invalid release. The only factual information before the Court about the challenged severance program is contained in the EEOC's response in opposition to the motion to dismiss. Even if we push the concept of notice pleading to its farthest extreme, the allegations in the complaint are insufficient. "Even the liberal notice pleading allowed by the federal rules requires the complaint to include the operative facts upon which a plaintiff bases his claim." Rodgers v. Lincoln Towing Serv., Inc., 771 F.2d 194, 198 (7th Cir. 1985) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102-03, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The complaint contains none of the factual allegations that are required to support a claim under section 4(d). It also does not contain factual allegations supporting the EEOC's contention that the release is invalid. The fact that the EEOC supplies what appear to be the operative facts in its Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss does not cure the problem. We consider only the allegations in the complaint on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Allegations outside of the complaint are irrelevant to our analysis. Rodgers, 771 F.2d at 198. This alone warrants dismissal of the complaint. Nonetheless, because this pleading deficiency can be cured by importing the factual allegations in the responsive brief into the complaint, judicial economy is best served if we consider whether the amended complaint would state a claim under section 4(d) of the ADEA. Because the foundation of the EEOC's claim is the invalidity of the release required under the Plan, we address first whether the release complies with the requirements of 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1). In November 1991, Congress amended the ADEA by enacting the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act ("OWBPA"). Among other things, the Act sets forth statutory restrictions limiting the manner in which employees may waive their rights and claims under the ADEA. See 29 U.S.C. § 626(f). The OWBPA provides that an employee may not waive his or her ADEA rights and claims unless such waiver is "knowing and voluntary." 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1). A waiver granted in conjunction with an exit incentive or employment termination program is knowing and voluntary if, at a minimum, (A) the waiver is part of an agreement between the individual and the employer that is written in a manner calculated to be understood by such individual, or by the average individual eligible to participate; (B) the waiver specifically refers to rights or claims arising under [the ADEA]; (C) the individual does not waive rights or claims that may arise after the date the waiver is executed; (D) the individual waives rights or claims only in exchange for consideration in addition to anything of value to which the individual already is entitled; (E) the individual is advised in writing to consult with an attorney prior to executing the agreement; (F) . . . . (ii) . . . the individual is given a period of at least 45 days within which to consider the agreement; (G) the agreement provides that for a period of at least 7 days following the execution of such agreement, the individual may revoke the agreement, and the agreement shall not become effective or enforceable until the revocation period has expired; (H) . . . the employer (at the commencement of the period specified in subparagraph (F)) informs the individual in writing in a manner calculated to be understood by the average individual eligible to participate, as to — (i) any class, unit, or group of individuals covered by such program, any eligibility factors for such program, and any time limits applicable to such program; and (ii) the job title and ages of all individuals eligible for the program, and the ages of all individuals in the same job classification or organizational unit who are not eligible or selected for the program. 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1). Sears argues that the Plan conforms to the requirements set out in section 623(f)(1) despite the fact that employees are given only five days in which to decide whether to participate in the Plan or remain employed by Sears at reduced compensation. Sears attempts to distinguish between an employee's "decision to resign" and an employee's "decision to waive ADEA claims." According to Sears' reading of the language of the ADEA, the statute's waiver provisions govern the terms of the latter not the former because the term "agreement" refers only to the terms of the agreed upon exchange of a waiver for severance benefits. Thus, while Sears must give an employee forty-five days to decide whether to accept the severance benefits and waive his or her ADEA rights and claims or forego the benefits but retain those rights and claims, Sears may require the employee to decide whether he or she prefers to keep her job or resign in five days. We do not agree. Sears' reading of the statute is neither consistent with the plain language of the statute nor consistent with Congress' intent in enacting the waiver provisions of the OWBPA. Despite Sears' argument to the contrary, we hold that the term "agreement" as used in section 626(f) refers to the agreement to participate in the Plan, not just to the subpart of that agreement addressing an employee's willingness to exchange ADEA rights and claims for additional severance benefits. The EEOC therefore may be able to prove that releases executed in conjunction with the Plan are not knowing and voluntary and thus are invalid under section 626(f)(1). In construing statutory language, our task is to "determine the will of Congress and apply it." Orrego v. 833 West Buena Joint Venture, 943 F.2d 730, 734 (7th Cir. 1991). In determining Congressional intent, we look first to the language of the statute. NuPulse, Inc. v. Schlueter Co., 853 F.2d 545, 548 (7th Cir. 1988). If the statutory language is unambiguous, we generally need look no further. Id. (citing Indiana Port Comm'n v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 835 F.2d 1207, 1210 (7th Cir. 1987)). We do not, however, restrict our focus to the particular language at issue. Context is important in explaining the meaning of apparently intelligible terms. Harco Holdings, Inc. v. United States, 977 F.2d 1027, 1030 (7th Cir. 1992) (citing First Chicago Corp. v. Commissioner, 842 F.2d 180, 183 (7th Cir. 1988)). "`"[T]he true meaning of a single section of a statute . . ., however precise its language, cannot be ascertained if it be considered apart from related sections. . . ."'" NuPulse, 853 F.2d at 549 (quoting Commissioner v. Engle, 464 U.S. 206, 223, 104 S.Ct. 597, 607-08, 78 L.Ed.2d 420 (1984) (in turn quoting Helvering v. Morgan's, Inc., 293 U.S. 121, 126, 55 S.Ct. 60, 62, 79 L.Ed. 232 (1934))). We must be guided by the object and policy of the statute rather than by the language of a particular sentence or part thereof. Id. If a waiver is sought in conjunction with an exit incentive or employment termination program, "the individual [must be] given a period of at least 45 days within which to consider the agreement." 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(F)(ii) (emphasis added). Subsection (A) provides that the waiver must be "part of an agreement." 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(A). Subsection (B) provides that rights and claims must be waived "in exchange for consideration. . . ." 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(B). The language of section 626(f)(1)(A) tends to support a broad reading of the term "agreement." The waiver itself thus is only a part of the "agreement" which employees are entitled to consider for forty-five days. The language of subsection (A) does not shed any light, however, on whether the term "agreement" refers to something beyond the rights-for-benefits contract envisioned by subsection (B). Subsection (H) does. Limiting the meaning of "agreement" to the meaning suggested by Sears would put subsection (F) at odds with the requirements imposed by subsection (H). Section 626(f)(1)(H) provides that if a waiver is requested in connection with an exit incentive or other employment termination program offered to a group of employees, the employer (at the commencement of the period specified in subparagraph (F)) [must inform] the individual in writing in a manner calculated to be understood by the average individual eligible to participate, as to (i) any class, unit, or group of individuals covered by such program, and eligibility factors for such program, and any time limits applicable to such program; and (ii) the job titles and ages of all individuals eligible or selected for the program, and the ages of all individuals in the same job classification or organizational unit who are not eligible or selected for the program. 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(H). This information is the sort of information an employee would need to assess whether the program discriminates against employees on the basis of age. The employee then would be able to determine whether he or she would be giving up potential ADEA claims or valuable ADEA rights in exchange for the proffered benefits. The employee would have the information necessary to make a "knowing" decision with regard to his or her rights. It would make no sense at all for Congress to require an employer to supply this information but then allow the employer to render the information next to useless. Yet, under Sears' proposed reading, this would be the end result when employees are given a third option of remaining with the company. By distinguishing between the decision to resign and the decision to accept severance benefits and establishing different timetables for those decisions, the employer could force an employee to rule out one possible alternative (i.e., the option to remain with the company rather than resign) within less than forty-five days. The problem is that the required information affects an employee's perception of the relative risks and rewards of all of the alternatives before him or her, not just the alternatives related to signing the requested release. In order to make a reasoned decision, the employee would have to digest the disclosed information and come to a decision with regard to the value of his or her ADEA rights and claims within whatever time period the company set for the initial remain-resign decision, regardless of how short that period might be. This is not consistent with the intent evidenced by subsection (H). This is true whether the decision tree facing the employee has two branches — i.e., resign, waive rights, get benefits; or resign, retain rights, forego benefits — or, as here, three — keep job, retain rights; resign, retain rights, forego benefits; or resign, waive rights, get benefits. A reasonable employee faced with the option of staying at her job at reduced pay would weigh the expected value of that option against the expected value of the other two options before making a choice. Sears' interpretation is even less plausible when the statute is read as a whole. Section 623(f)(2) provides that actions taken in accordance with the terms of a bona fide employee benefit plan are protected only if the plan does not "require or permit the involuntary retirement" of any employee in the protected class. 29 U.S.C. § 623(f)(2) (emphasis added). The issue is whether the decision to participate in the plan is voluntary. See, e.g., Paolillo v. Dresser Indus. Inc., 821 F.2d 81, 84 (2nd Cir. 1987) (employees "must be given a reasonable time to reflect and to weigh their options in order to make a considered choice"). The focus is not simply on whether the release itself is valid and enforceable, but on whether the employee's decision to participate in the plan is voluntary. The Seventh Circuit's discussion in Henn v. National Geographic Soc'y is particularly illuminating. The court noted that [w]hat distinguishes early retirement from discharge is the power of the employee to choose to keep working. This must mean a `voluntary' choice. . . . A very short period of time to make a complex choice may show that the person could not digest the information necessary to the decision. This would show that the offer of information was illusory and there was no informed choice. 819 F.2d 824, 828-29 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 964, 108 S.Ct. 454, 98 L.Ed.2d 394 (1987). An employee faced with three alternatives has but one choice. As is apparent from sections 623(f)(2) and 626(f)(1), Congress intended that employees within the protected class be given the information and the time necessary to make a truly informed choice. We will not interpret "agreement" so narrowly that we defeat Congressional intent. Sears' statement that "`melding' the decision to resign with the later decision as to the release" would "invalidate all involuntary termination plans where the employees were slated for termination prior to being presented with a release," (Reply Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss at 4 n. 4), is meritless. An employee subject to an involuntary early termination plan has but two choices: waive his or her ADEA rights and claims and accept the concomitant severance benefits or retain his or her rights but lose out on the benefits. Our interpretation of the term "agreement" accommodates such situations. In such a case, the only provisions that would be contained in the agreement are those that pertain to the rights-for-benefits exchange. Notwithstanding this conclusion, we are still left with the question of whether such a deficiency is actionable under the ADEA. The EEOC maintains that conditioning severance benefits on an invalid release is retaliation actionable under ADEA section 4(d). They cite four cases in support of their position: EEOC v. Board of Governors of State Colleges and Univ., 957 F.2d 424 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 299, 121 L.Ed.2d 223 (1992); EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., L'Oreal Hair Care Div., 821 F.2d 1085 (5th Cir. 1987); EEOC v. General Motors Corp., 826 F. Supp. 1122 (N.D.Ill. 1993); and EEOC v. U.S. Steel Corp., 671 F. Supp. 351 (W.D.Pa. 1987), rev'd on other grounds, 921 F.2d 489 (3rd Cir. 1990). Sears, citing this Court's decision in Oberg v. Allied Van Lines, Inc., 1992 WL 186098 (N.D.Ill. July 24, 1992), aff'd, 11 F.3d 679 (7th Cir. 1993), argues that the only effect of a faulty release is that the employer trades additional benefits for an unenforceable contract. We conclude that conditioning severance benefits on an invalid release is not actionable under ADEA section 4(d). Nothing about an invalid release makes it discriminatory as that term is used in ADEA section 4(d). The cases cited by the EEOC in support of its position are distinguishable. Furthermore, nothing in the language of the ADEA or the OWBPA indicates that conditioning severance benefits on an agreement not to assert ADEA rights is per se unlawful under ADEA section 4(d), the EEOC's argument to the contrary notwithstanding. The EEOC has not alleged, nor will they be able to prove, that Sears engaged in conduct actionable under section 4(d). To be entitled to relief under that section, the EEOC must show that Sears discriminated against an employee because he or she " opposed any practice made unlawful [under the ADEA], or . . . made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under [the ADEA]." 29 U.S.C. § 623(d) (emphasis added). Nowhere in the complaint — or in its responsive brief for that matter — does the EEOC allege that any employee opposed Sears' allegedly unlawful practice. Nor, for that matter, does the EEOC allege that Sears' denial of severance benefits was based on any employee's involvement in an ADEA investigation, proceeding or litigation. At most, the EEOC will be able to prove that some Sears' employees refused to sign the allegedly invalid release and that Sears as a result refused to give them the additional severance benefits. This is not actionable discrimination because Sears' conduct was not precipitated by the type of affirmative conduct implied by the phrase "oppos[ing] an unlawful practice." "To oppose" means "to offer resistance to." Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary, 828 (1986). Refusing to sign a release that would entitle one to benefits hardly constitutes offering resistance as that phrase is commonly understood. The EEOC's contention that conditioning severance benefits on a waiver of ADEA rights and claims is generally unlawful under section 4(d) likewise is not supported by the plain language of that provision. The only discrimination proscribed by section 4(d) is discrimination based on an employee's opposition to unlawful conduct and discrimination based on an employee's involvement in an ADEA investigation, proceeding, or litigation. Discrimination on the basis of willingness to waive ADEA claims is simply not listed. Three of the four cases cited by the EEOC do not support its position. EEOC v. Board of Governors of State Colleges and Univ., 957 F.2d 424 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 299, 121 L.Ed.2d 223 (1992), involved an EEOC challenge to a provision in a collective bargaining agreement. The agreement provided that: The fourth, EEOC v. U.S. Steel Corp., 671 F. Supp. 351 (W.D.Pa. 1987), rev'd on other grounds, 921 F.2d 489 (3rd Cir. 1990) appears to hold that conditioning additional pension benefits on the waiver of the recipient's right to file an EEOC charge and an agreement not to "counsel or assist" in the prosecution of ADEA claims is unlawful under section 4(d). The case thus is distinguishable as the release here does not appear to contain such provisions. The case may be read more broadly, however, to invalidate release provisions that may deter individuals from participating in ADEA claims. Id. at 358. To that extent, it appears inconsistent with the later-enacted provisions of the OWBPA. We therefore decline to adopt that court's reasoning. `[i]f prior to filing a grievance hereunder, or while a grievance proceeding is in progress, an employee seeks resolution of the matter in any other forum, whether administrative or judicial, the Board of any University shall have no obligation to entertain or proceed further with the matter pursuant to this grievance procedure.' 957 F.2d at 426 (quoting Article 17.2 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement). The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Board's favor. The court found that "[u]nder Article 17.2 an employee must forfeit his contractual right to a grievance proceeding, a condition of his employment, or surrender his legal right to participate in litigation under the ADEA. Conversely, an employee who elects to pursue his grievance with the Board may lost his right to bring his federal age discrimination claim [e.g., because of the running of the statute of limitations]." Id. at 430-31. Unlike the grievance procedure at issue in Board of Governors, the severance benefits offered under the Plan are not "part and parcel of the employment relationship." Employees' right to participate in the grievance procedure at issue in Board of Governors was contractual. There is no indication whatsoever that Sears' employees were entitled to the severance benefits offered under the Plan, contractually or otherwise. Rather, the benefits at issue here are properly viewed as additional consideration for an employee's agreement to waive his or her rights and claims. That distinction is crucial. The keystone of the Seventh Circuit's decision in Board of Governors is the fact that the benefit forfeited was one to which the employee was already entitled. "`A benefit that is part and parcel of the employment relationship may not be doled out in a discriminatory fashion, even if the employer would be free . . . not to provide the benefit at all.'" Id. at 430 (quoting Hishon v. King Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 75, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 2233-34, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984)). EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., L'Oreal Hair Care Div., 821 F.2d 1085 (5th Cir. 1987), and EEOC v. General Motors Corp., 826 F. Supp. 1122 (N.D.Ill. 1993) likewise are of no help to the EEOC. As in Board of Governors, the challenged conduct was the denial of a benefit to which the employee was already entitled. In Cosmair, it was the suspension of an employee's severance pay when the employee filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC. 821 F.2d at 1087. In General Motors Corp., it was the denial of use of GM's "open door" policy. 826 F. Supp. at 1126. Thus, these cases too are distinguishable on their facts. Although the Fifth Circuit decided Cosmair on other grounds, the court noted in dicta that an employer is guilty of retaliation "if [the employer] stopped providing [the employee] benefits to which he was otherwise entitled simply because he filed a charge." 821 F.2d at 1089 (emphasis added). As in the Seventh Circuit, actionability turns on whether or not the employee is entitled to the benefits that have been denied. We hold, then, that Sears' conduct is not actionable under the ADEA's anti-discrimination provision. The EEOC is not entitled to relief under that section. The complaint as it stands must be dismissed. We conclude, however, that the EEOC may be able to state a claim under 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1) and therefore dismiss the complaint without prejudice. Sears' policy of giving an employee five days in which to decide whether to resign or to remain employed at reduced compensation levels may discriminate against individuals in the protected class with respect to a privilege of employment, to wit, the right to choose to remain in Sears' employ. As noted above, an employee who is given only a short time in which to make a complex employment decision may have only an illusory right to choose. In such a case, the choice is not really voluntary. What appears to be voluntary early retirement is really an involuntary discharge. Henn v. National Geographic Soc'y, 819 F.2d at 828-29. It may be that five days is too short a time for employees protected by the ADEA to assess their potential ADEA claims and rights, weigh the value of those rights and claims against the alternatives, and arrive at a truly voluntary decision. The fact that Sears' policy may adversely affect those not in the ADEA-protected class is irrelevant. As the Seventh Circuit noted in Board of Governors, [t]he contention that [a] policy is any less discriminatory when its scope is broadened is unpersuasive. . . . Were we to adopt the Board's argument that a policy imposing adverse treatment on all members of the protected class was rendered non-discriminatory by the inclusion of some members outside the protected class, employers could consistently employ discriminatory criteria as long as they were careful to draw their discriminatory lines broadly enough to include members of a non-protected class. 957 F.2d at 431. For the reasons stated above, Sears' motion to dismiss is granted. The EEOC's complaint is hereby dismissed without prejudice. The EEOC is granted twenty days within which to file an amended complaint consistent with our discussion herein. If an amended complaint is not filed within the designated time period, the dismissal shall be with prejudice.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line343
__label__cc	0.620623	0.379377	Leading The New Normal: Everyone Working From Home The coronavirus is forcing a sudden culture of telecommuting and companies must adapt quickly. Advice from CEO Matt Brubaker about how to get it right. You always wanted to encourage more telecommuting but grow it at a reasonable pace; there’s still nothing like the team working together in one place. Now the coronavirus is here, enforced social distancing is the new corporate norm, and most of your people are trying to work from home. What to do? You may not be ready for it, but CEOs and other business leaders must embrace the new—if perhaps temporary—reality that if any white-collar work is going to get done at the company for at least a few weeks, it’s going to have to get done remotely. And there’s no time for grandiose long-term plans nor for establishing a new cultural expectation or technology infrastructure to facilitate its introduction. This is working from home on speed—and steroids. Matt Brubaker, CEO of FMG Leading, a San Diego-based human-capital advisory firm, has been operating the company under a near-universal remote model for some time. His geographically dispersed staff also advises companies on how to establish their own systems for working from home. Here’s how Brubaker is advising CEOs to approach the remote-working imperative that has arisen in just the last week: Allow the two worlds to merge: Establishing a systematic distraction-free environment for remote meetings is for another time; it’s an unrealistic expectation for now, when millions of Americans are working from home consistently for the first time—many of them with the enforced presence of spouses and school-age children. Instead, to help cope with collective and individual stress around the new requirement to work from home, Brubaker said, company leaders should let the company world meld organically into the personal sphere if remote meetings require it. “Organizations that are allowing the personal to seep in right now are faring better, with a higher level of engagement” by those newly working at home, Brubaker said. “The best practice is to just be open. Not if the kid is hammering on a drum while you’re trying to lead a call, of course. But both worlds are real. People are sitting in the middle of their house right now and these are the people they’re sharing it with. They shouldn’t need to keep that buttoned up and under wraps.” Overcommunicate like crazy: Leaders can pick up on non-verbal clues from their people after spending a certain amount of time around them. “If people are getting to the point of panicking and you can look them in the eyes, you have a sense of what they need from you,” Brubaker said. “But if that’s only happening virtually now, you can’t be as successful at that.” So, he said, CEOs and their lieutenants should do two things. First, reach out to their people far more than they might in ordinary times when that person is in a cubicle in the next room. “Assume people are nervous and need to hear more from you,” he said. Second, “Constantly try to put things in perspective for them.” Beware personality surprises: Underlings may seem to take on different personalities in a working-from-home scenario than when they’re in the office, if only because their work environments have changed dramatically. Leaders should be aware of that possibility and respond. “There may be a nervous Nellie and that may not be coming from people you expect it from,” Brubaker said. “So at times like these, you may find that your stalwarts actually need some reassurance.” Establish open circuits: Slack and other internal-communication platforms are easy and cheap enough that a corporate cluster should be able to enjoy constant real-time electronic communication during an enforced work-at-home scenario. “Using e-mail to communicate back and forth with your people now is like using a carrier pigeon,” Brubaker said. “Use one of today’s tools.” Make it fun: This may be possible only for companies that already have a thoroughly ingrained work-at-home culture, but Brubaker celebrated internet memes that show companies and their people “hosting” virtual St. Patrick’s Day get-togethers and other ways to make the whole regimen fun. “That says these people value their connections to one another and want to maintain them in some way at a very intimate level,” he said. “That makes a difference.” Begin virtual meetings with Romper Room: Especially at companies where working from home is a shocking development to most people, Brubaker suggested opening meetings with a few minutes of planned disorder. “Put training wheels around check-ins,” he said. “Allow interpersonal stuff and people sitting in a room with their dog. That can feel sort of like kindergarten to some people, especially individuals who are more quantitative. But it makes a huge difference in helping people to be productive. Just don’t turn it into a group-therapy session.” Manage the agenda: Leaders may need to manage the agenda of a virtual meeting “more closely or intentionally,” Brubaker said. Unlike a meeting conducted in person in a conference room, he explained, in a remote gathering there aren’t significant visual reminders of the progress of time such as a clock on the wall or people checking their watches. “You need to empower someone to be the czar, even if it’s just the person who keeps you moving through the slides,” he said. Give ample time to recaps: Spend the last five minutes of such gatherings going over what transpired and delineating next steps. “Be clear about who is doing what, when the next call is, who’s going to set up, what technology you’re going to use, even if necessary down to the very granular level,” Brubaker said. Such discipline, he said, will help the next meeting go even better. Make the technology work: Few things are more annoying – and less productive – than a phone meeting that falls apart because participants are using cheap microphones and words drop out. “Make sure you have a no-nonsense expectation that everyone has headphones that work,” Brubaker said. “People need to take seriously things like having their web cams working and knowing passwords. Think of it like this: If someone was going on a sales pitch and they knew their job depended on having a blue suit on with a red tie, wouldn’t they do it even though it’s a troublesome detail?” Stay flexible and show compassion: “Keep in mind that individuals might be experiencing personal hardships while they seek to give employers their very best,” Brubaker said. “It’s crucial that leaders show real empathy for remote workers struggling to telecommute while schools are closed and [they may be] worrying about vulnerable family members and friends.” Above all, stay human: As Brubaker put it, “People process fear and anxiety in a variety of different ways. Allow plenty of room for a diversity of experiences, and even surprising reactions.”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line352
__label__cc	0.744899	0.255101	Family status, caregiving and human rights: A four part series Canadian Human Rights Commission Event information page The Canadian Human Rights Commission invites you to register for a four part series that will provide an overview of caregiving in Canada. We will highlight the research and the human rights laws and principles that apply, and invite discussion on promising practices both in Canada and around the world. Throughout the webinars, we will refer audience members to a variety of resources, including the Commission's own guide to balancing work and caregiving obligations. Module I - Modern (Canadian!) family: families, caregiving, and work September 16, 2014 1:00 - 2:00 EST This webinar provides an overview of some key sociological research in an easy-to-understand format, introducing important concepts describing families and the current state of caregiving in Canada, and consider the challenges faced by caregivers and employers. This webinar will provide an evidence base for why caregiving is a systemic policy issue of importance for Canada now and in the coming years. Register for Module I Module II - An introduction to human rights, caregiving, and the workplace This webinar introduces the ground of family status in human rights law, and explain how human rights law applies to the caregiving obligations of employees under federal jurisdiction. It will clarify legal principles, examine the policies and practices required to fulfill the legal duty to accommodate, and highlight the roles and responsibilities of those involved. This webinar is suitable for anyone new to the issue or wanting a refresher. Register for Module II Module III - New case law and new approaches This webinar takes a more in-depth look at the case law on caregiving, and examine in more detail two of the newest cases decided by the Federal Court of Appeal. It explores policies and approaches to manage the issue successfully. Register for Module III Module IV - A broader look at the social, legal, and international context October 7, 2014 1:00 - 2:00 EST This webinar offers an overview of the social context in Canada and internationally, reviewing human rights laws in various Canadian jurisdictions and consider related legislation;it will discuss new research and promising practices and policies. It also considers the broader social policy issues in play, and introduces some of the organizations looking at the issue more widely. Finally, it will raise some dilemmas for caregivers and employers, and invite discussion of potential solutions. Register for Module IV	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line353
__label__cc	0.542915	0.457085	Home The Globalist The End Of US Dominance? China Outlines Plan To ‘Rule The World’ in 30 Years Xi Jinping has heralded the dawn of a “new era” of Chinese politics and power “China just doesn’t want to be a just regional superpower, it wants to be the superpower” Chinese censors will also be working overtime to ensure newspapers and social media networks push nothing but the party line. China has outlined their plan to overtake the United States on the world stage over the course of the next 30 years. No longer is the communist country seeking mere regional domination and superiority; instead the economic powerhouse is looking to be The Superpower. According to Senior analyst in defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Dr. Malcolm Davis; “China just doesn’t want to be a just regional superpower, it wants to be the superpower.” American political scientist Graham T. Allison recently stated the question is not when China will rise but rather how the US will respond to such. Mr. Allison is the mind behind the Thucydides Trap determination which reads that a rising superpower attempting to usurp a ruling superpower are destined for war. While so many over the past few years have disillusioned themselves with rationale that undermines the ability of China, several political analysts have taken note of the rise of China. However, the communist nation didn’t rise without aid, in fact, former president of the United States Bill Clinton in 1996 aided China by granting them permanent normal trade relations, directly after receiving two million dollars in campaign donations from the foreign government. In large part, China’s rise economically could be attributed to the actions of that former president. Now, China is close to surpassing the United States economically. In fact, China’s economy is so large in comparison to the United States’ that according to Christine Lagarde, IMF Director, in as little as ten years the International Monetary Fund’s headquarters could be relocated to China. China recently escalated its campaign of national socialism and is further censoring, monitoring travelers and ideology to make sure they too toe the Communist Party line. Xi Jinping, arguably China’s new emperor, in his three and a half hour speech laid out his agenda and vision to make the Communist party, the moral authority of China. To the roar of applause, Mr. Jinping also mapped out the communist party’s long-term future for China’s rise on the global stage; predicting that by 2050, China will “stand proudly among the nations of the world” and “become a leading global power.” China in 2016 engaged in a Religious Winter to demolish house churches and imprison Bible believing Chinese citizens so that now, Xi Jinping and the communist party of China can claim such moral authority. One of the new rules, laid out in 2016, reads that it will be an ‘offense’ to “organize citizens to attend religious training, conferences and activities abroad,” “preaching, organizing religious activities, and establishing religious institutions or religious sites at schools,” and “providing religious services through the internet.” All of which, forces Christian churches in the region to disband or face harsher imprisonment. What China is doing, is nothing new, what Xi Jinping is doing, is comparable to Mao. In fact, according to Joshua Eisenman, the assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs and senior fellow for China studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC., China is alarmingly emboldening their national socialist government. Joshua Eisenman also stated that China is gearing up for a cultural revolution of sorts, one in which the elites of New York and Washington are involved, and one in which a marriage of sorts is taking place between Wall Street and Beijing. So most people describe the U.S.-China relationship, in China especially, and in the United States as well, in terms of nation-states, the United States versus China, and then they talk about things like the Thucydides’s Trap and international relations theory. [Editor’s note: For more on this, check out Stewart’s recent interview with Graham Allison, who wrote a book on this theory in regard to the U.S. and China.] But I think that actually miscategorizes the nature of the relationship. What we have—and what we’ve had for years—has been a marriage of elites in Beijing and to some degree Shanghai, I suppose, with elites in New York and in Washington. One professor, when I was there at a top university, told me that this is a marriage, particularly with Wall Street. So the idea is that the elites come together and essentially exploit the working people of China and steal the jobs of the working people of the United States. And then it is basically balled up and wrapped up as a nationalist conflict. So what is essentially a classist issue, a Marxist issue, a struggle between the different strata of society—the elites versus the rest of society—is actually intentionally disguised as a national struggle between two nation-states.— Carnegie Council A new cultural revolution is set to take shape in China with Xi Jinping leading the charge and over 89 million party members following suite. But just how powerful is Mr Xi? China’s leader is not only reinvigorating national socialism, but he is also enshrining his eponymous ideological slogans into the party’s constitution alongside only two others Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. In addition, China has no interest in systems of Western Democracy, which could lead to a clash politically between the West and East. In 2013, a document, Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere, leaked to the West signaled exactly how China viewed the West, as rivals. However, as the institutions of the West continually assault the Judeo-Christian values for which the US was founded and the patriotism that followed suit, China is emboldening their roots. Finally, it is strongly apparent that the marriage, between Wall Street elites and Beijing, is leading the world in one direction, towards Communistic rule. What signals the conclusion, is that China is not alone in its endeavor, in fact, other nations such as those in the European Union, namely Germany, are following in China’s footsteps. [fvplayer src=”https://player.vimeo.com/external/239161363.hd.mp4?s=5c1c0da4c6b2ab2bbaf4327192275f042fbb2185&profile_id=174″ splash=”https://christianjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/peoples-republic-of-china-flag_QJjVO4.jpg”] Previous articleGoogle is ‘Summoning the Demon,’ Preparing the Way Towards ‘Artificial God’ – Led By Former Software Engineer Next articleShould ‘the state’ decide who are parents? Israeli Lawmaker Seeks to Replace Birth Parents With State Appointed Parents	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line355
__label__wiki	0.741794	0.741794	Community Government Health US News POPULATION 20 MILLION: Ebola Confirmed In New York: Patient Rode Subway, Went Bowling, Took Taxi Oct 24, 2014 70% mortality, American People, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Ebola, Eola Czar, Flu, Obama Administration, Population Control, Preppers, travel screening, weaponized A doctor who arrived in New York City from the Ebola stricken country of Guinea has tested positive for the Ebola virus, making him the fourth confirmed case in the United States. The doctor had a 103 degree fever when he checked into a hospital. New York officials are scrambling to identify potentially hundreds of individuals he may have come into contact with. According to The New York Times, the doctor took a subway train from New York to Brooklyn, where he joined others at a bowling alley for the evening. He then took a taxi back to his home in New York. The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center on Thursday and placed in isolation while health care workers spread out across the city to trace anyone he might have come into contact with in recent days. A further test will be conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the initial test. Even as the authorities worked to confirm that Mr. Spencer was infected with Ebola, it emerged that he traveled from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway on Wednesday night, when he went to a bowling alley, and then took a taxi home. The next morning, he reported having a temperature of 103 degrees, raising questions about his health while he was out in public. For weeks the Obama administration has been under pressure to restrict flights to the United States if they or their passengers originate in Ebola-stricken countries. The Centers for Disease control has said that such a ban would actually increase the chances that Ebola would make its way into the country. While they think a travel ban would secure the U.S. border from Ebola and shrink the potential spheres of contact, CDC director Tom Frieden says instituting a flight ban would forfeit what little control we currently have over the virus. “Right now we know who’s coming in,” Frieden said at the hearing. “If we try to eliminate travel… we won’t be able to check them for fever when they leave, we won’t be able to check them for fever when they arrive, we won’t be able—as we do currently—to see a detailed history to see if they’ve been exposed.” The White House has sided with Frieden. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday that a travel ban is “not something we’re considering.” We now have a confirmed case of exactly the scenario that a travel ban would have prevented. Though the CDC said yesterday that they would begin quarantining travelers from West Africa for 21 days once they entered the U.S., they are once again a day late. But this time it may be much worse than anyone at the CDC would care to admit. Unlike Dallas the city of New York has a massive public transportation system and the Ebola-stricken doctor just happened to travel on it from his home in Harlem all the way to Brooklyn. Next he arrived at a bowling alley where, as most Americans know, there would likely have been some sharing of bowling balls, food, and high fives. Less than 24 hours later the doctor was showing a fever of 103 degrees consistent with Ebola symptoms. This means that for a full day before he checked into the hospital there were hundreds of other people that could have been exposed. Last week President Obama issued a video message in which he said that you cannot catch Ebola just by riding on a bus: “Ebola is actually a difficult disease to catch. It’s not transmitted through the air like the flu.” “You cannot get it from just riding on a plane or a bus.” How about a subway train, Mr. President? The CDC recently confirmed that, while the Ebola virus may not be transmitted as easily through the air as a common flu, infectious Ebola material can move through the air in the form of droplets. According to MIT research the contagion blast radius of Ebola droplets in the air resulting from something like a sneeze is several meters. In environments with ventilation systems like those found in most U.S. venues and transit systems, it could be as high as 100 meters of travel distance. Thus, even though Ebola is not as contagious as the flu or a cold, it’s respiratory cloud may still spread in a similar fashion. The Obama administration told the American people that a travel ban would do more harm than good. Ebola is now in New York City as a direct result of a passenger arriving from a West African nation that would have been on the ban list. They also told us that CDC protocols and medical infrastructure were eons ahead of West African nations, yet nurses in Dallas have said that absolutely no preventative protocols were in place while Patient Zero Thomas Duncan was being treated. A couple of weeks later two health care workers who were in direct contact with Duncan fell ill with the virus. Is it time that Americans, especially those living in major metropolitan areas, start wearing respirator masks, protective body suit, splash goggles and heavy-duty gloves on public transit systems? The CDC, of course, will say that such a drastic move is unnecessary and may cause panic. Right now, however, there are hundreds of random people in a metro area of over 20 million people wondering if they may have somehow come into contact with a doorknob, bowling ball, or taxi seat that may have been contaminated with Ebola. Will America’s new Ebola Czar, who happens to be an advocate for population control initiatives, take action and finally issue guidelines to the American public about protective gear, social distancing protocols and preparing essential emergency supplies in case of a nationally declared emergency? Will he explain to the American people what the government will do in a worst case scenario and how they may end up locked in their homes for weeks without the ability to go to a grocery store? Will he tell people that should that happen, they need to have at least a 30 day food supply because Uncle Sam won’t be making deliveries? Probably not, because according to New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, there is nothing to worry about: “We want to state at the outset there is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed.” In a guide outlining some warning signs for when to start considering self-quarantine and lockdown procedures, Prepper’s Blueprint author Tess Pennington says that a key indicator to watch for is officials who claim they have the situation under control even though more cases are being identified. Patient #4 is now confirmed. Within about three weeks (perhaps even as many as 6 weeks according to new research) we’ll know if anyone else has been exposed. This virus is real. It has a 70% mortality rate. And it just made it’s way to America’s largest and most densely populated metropolitan area. Written by: MAC SLAVO of SHTF PLAN 2 thoughts on “POPULATION 20 MILLION: Ebola Confirmed In New York: Patient Rode Subway, Went Bowling, Took Taxi” Paul H. Lemmen says: Reblogged this on A Conservative Christian Man. Reblogged this on Screenshots News.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line356
__label__cc	0.677265	0.322735	Home People Coast Guard and local agencies search for missing Coast Guardsman Coast Guard and local agencies search for missing Coast Guardsman Oct 11th, 2012 · Comments Off on Coast Guard and local agencies search for missing Coast Guardsman HONOLULU — The Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard are searching near Kaena Point, Oahu, for a Coast Guardsman whose whereabouts are unknown, Wednesday. Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Matthews is an aviation survival technician from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii. His car was discovered in a parking lot and the Honolulu Police Department initiated a search of the area early Wednesday morning. The Honolulu Fire Department conducted an aerial, shoreline and offshore search for Matthews. Honolulu Police Department contacted watchstanders at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu, notifying them that they had located Matthews’ car. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point deployed to assist in the search at approximately 4 a.m., Wednesday. Two additional Dolphin searches have been conducted. The Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island is searching offshore and a five member team from Coast Guard Station Honolulu has conducted a shoreline search. On scene conditions are clear sky, calm winds and 20 to 30-foot breaking surf. It is not known if Matthews entered the water at Kaena Point Park. “We are actively searching the area around Kaena Point by air, land and sea in close coordination with local first responders,” said Capt. Timothy Gilbride, Commanding Officer of Air Station Barbers Point. “In this difficult time we are providing our fullest support to the family, friends and coworkers of Petty Officer Matthews and ask that anyone with information as to his whereabouts contact authorities.” Individuals with any information are asked to contact the Honolulu Police Department by dialing 911 or the Coast Guard Sector Command Center at (808) 842-2600. Matthews has been stationed at Air Station Barbers Point since 2007 and has been in the Coast Guard since 1997. Tags:Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point · Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island · Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Matthews	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line361
__label__cc	0.687798	0.312202	339.15 WEIGHT LIMITS DURING PERIODS OF THAW AND MOISTURE. When thaws or excessive moisture render the streets and roads of the City insufficient to bear the traffic thereon, or when such streets or roads would be damaged or destroyed by heavy traffic during the period of thawing or excessive moisture, the maximum weight of vehicle and load for motor vehicles, as prescribed in Sections 339.01 and 339.02, which maximum weights are adopted and confirmed herein, shall be reduced in the following manner: On all streets and roads in the City, other than State highways, the Director of Public Service shall prescribe such reduction as the condition of the road or street justifies, but in no case shall the reduction be more than fifty percent. The schedule of the reduction of maximum weights shall be filed for the information of the public in the office of the Clerk of Council and in the office of the Director of Public Service. The Director, at least one day before such reduction becomes effective, shall cause to be placed and retained on such streets and roads at both ends and at the points of intersections by principal streets and roads during the period of such reduced limitation of weight, signs of substantial construction which will conspicuously indicate the limitations of weight which are allowed on the streets or roads and the date on which such limitations are to go into effect. No person shall operate upon any such streets or roads a motor vehicle whose maximum weight or speed is in excess of the limitations prescribed.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line362
__label__wiki	0.981872	0.981872	Peter Sollett graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His student thesis film Five Feet and Rising was awarded the Best Short Film Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. His first feature film, Raising Victor Vargas was developed with the support of the Sundance Institute in 2001. The film premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival where it was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Continuing on the international circuit the film was recognized at festivals in Toronto, London, San Sebastian, and Deauville where it was awarded the Grand Prix. Sollett returned to Sundance for the film's North American premiere in 2003. Released theatrically in March of that year, Raising Victor Vargas ran for six months in major markets earning critical praise and five Independent Spirit Award nominations. In 2008, his second feature, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, the film was released by Sony/Columbia Pictures to critical acclaim. He also directed Freeheld starring Academy Award winner Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carell and Michael Shannon. The film world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was acquired by Lionsgate Entertainment who released it in 2015. Currently he’s developing the feature film Match with DreamWorks Studios/Amblin Partners. He’s also directed television series for HBO, Hulu and NBC. He’s continued his involvement with the Sundance Institute as a creative advisor at the Directors Lab, a workshop supporting emerging filmmakers. Peter Sollett: RAISING VICTOR VARGAS Case Study	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line364
__label__wiki	0.770185	0.770185	Published On: Thu, Apr 7th, 2016 Judicial \| By Edition Suspects Buncamper-case sentenced for forgery and filing false tax returns PHILIPSBURG, WILLEMSTAD - The Prosecutor’s Office is content with the verdict of the court of first instance today in the Buncamper-case. The Prosecutor’s Office was found admissible in the case brought in court against the suspects C.B., M.B.-M., F.G., I.H. and T.W. In his verdict the judge held it against the couple B. that as public servant they should have set the correct example for the community. The suspects were found guilty of committing forgery with authentic deeds and filing falsified tax returns. By their actions the people of St. Maarten were deprived of much needed tax income. The judge agreed with the Prosecutor’s Office that the truth was violated. The judge also found fault in the actions of the notary. The community should be able to trust notaries to act in a honest and correct way. The sentences were as follows: The Couple B. was sentenced to 12 months in jail fully suspended, probation period of 3 years and 240 hours of community service or 120 days in jail; SBS director I.H. was sentenced to 3 months in jail fully suspended, probation period of 2 years and 120 hours community service unconditional; Notary F. G. was sentenced to 240 hours community service or 120 days in jail; Eco Green director T.W. was acquitted of all charges against him. Court of JusticePublic ProsecutorSint Maarten Management SDKK: Prisoners are treated humanely OM in cassation case Tromp Boy has been missing for a month now OM disappointed after postponement pretrial session Jamaloodin	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line366
__label__cc	0.523943	0.476057	‘Rising From Ashes’ film night: help us raise money for Charity:Water by Andy van Bergen CyclingTips is proud to be hosting a pre-release screening of the feature-length documentary ‘Rising From Ashes’ on Wednesday June 11 in Melbourne. Thanks to Cinema Nova and Curious Films, 100% of all ticket sales will go directly to Charity:Water. We hope that you can join us. The horrific Rwandan genocide of 1994 left more than 800,000 people dead and many more without a home. Despite a growing economy and a stable government, waterborne disease still remains a leading cause of death. As Charity:Water puts it: “Almost a third of the country lacks access to safe water and nearly 40% live without improved sanitation – both essential for real, true progress in Rwanda”. With a simple mission “to bring clean and safe drinking water to every person in the world”, Charity:Water seemed like the perfect partner for our screening of Rising From Ashes. You can read more about Charity:Water’s great work in Rwanda here. Rising from Ashes is a feature-length documentary about two worlds colliding. Filmed over six years across three continents, it follows the story of the growth of Team Rwanda, under the direction of their coach Jock Boyer after his friend Tom Ritchey convinced him to move to Rwanda to help. As they set out against impossible odds both Jock and the members of Team Rwanda find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past. Here’s an excerpt from the film’s promo: Rising from Ashes is a documentary about the first Rwandan national cycling team in their bid to make history and represent their country at the 2012 Olympics. Competing in a white man’s sport, reserved for the privileged, a rag-tag group of cyclists coached by the first American to ride in the Tour de France, are transformed into a powerful symbol of hope for a country recovering from one of the world’s most devastating genocides. About the screening Date: Wednesday June 11, 2014 Location: Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne Tickets for the screening are $20 each and can be purchased online here. Simply bring the receipt that’s emailed to you, either printed or on your phone, and show us at the door. All money made from ticket sales goes to Charity:Water. Join us at the 2018 Tour Down Under: Daily rides, carpark climb and more Ride with Marianne Vos at the Holden Giro della Donna Announcing the 60km Gravel Giro Announcing the 2017 Giro della Donna Gran Fondo Beechworth	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line368
__label__cc	0.589658	0.410342	Juventus Move Closer to Emre Can Deal Now within the time period where he can talk with European clubs, it would appear that Emre Can is close to the Anfield exit door. With his deal due to expire in the summer and the likelihood of a new contract being signed moving further and further away, a move to Turin with Juventus has become a common talking point for months. This week, it was reported in The Guardian that Can was close to completing a five-year-deal to make a move to Juventus. As a likely replacement for Sami Khedira in the long-term, it would be a smart piece of business by Juventus to tie up a German international who is yet to hit his peak. With the argument over a release clause likely meaning that Can will not sign a new deal with Liverpool, we expect news to break before the end of January that he has either signed a pre-contract deal, or left the Reds before the end of the winter window. Juventus are seemingly increasingly of belief that they are the team who has secured the key years of a player who, in the right position, could be a stalwart for years to come. Having been an increasingly important player under Jürgen Klopp, to lose a player who has been a major part of his building project since he arrived in England for nothing will surely be a blow. With the Coutinho saga drawing on, too, this has been a period of frustration for the Reds that shows no signs of slowing down. Inter Make Move for MkhitaryanSerie A News Gasperini’s Atalanta prove they’re no one-season wonders with brilliant recent victoriesSerie A News, Serie A News	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line377
__label__cc	0.640313	0.359687	A pioneer in the artistic segment, Dançar Marketing has revolutionized the Brazilian dance scene since its beginning, with Dançar Magazine and, subsequently, promoting the development and growth of art in the country. It participated actively, from 1983 to 1991, in the creation of several dance festivals, among them, “Joinville Dance Festival”. Conceived and directed by Pedro Bianco, Dançar Marketing’s CEO, in conjunction with Mr. Carlos Tafur and Dona Albertina (Joinville Cultural House), the Festival had its first edition in July 1983, at Teatro da Sociedade Harmonia Lyra, with a small body of judges and a few participating groups, hosted by families in the city. At a time when there were no social media and the internet was not very accessible, Dançar Magazine, the unique periodical specialized in dance at that time, played an essential role, which was widely disseminating and propagating the Festival. Currently, “Joinville Dance Festival” gathers more than 7.000 direct participants and attracts an audience of more than 230.000 people during its eleven days of activities. The expressive numbers yielded the quote for “The World’s Greatest Dance Festival” in the Guinness Book, a title hold by Joinville since 2005. Guinness Book: “The World’s Greatest Dance Festival” + 7,000 artists engaged in + 230,000 audience Cecilia Kecher	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line379
__label__wiki	0.900482	0.900482	Barrow Hill Roundhouse: Past, Present & Future A first in-depth look at Britain's only operational roundhouse engine shed - a unique survivor that is not just preserving the past, but playing a significant role in the operation of the modern day railway. Using the museum archive's superb collection of previously unpublished images and artefacts, we'll look at how this former Midland Railway depot served local industries between 1865 and 1990, how it fell into disrepair and was rescued from demolition by local volunteers and its remarkable renaissance over the last 20 years. Since 1997, hundreds of steam, diesel and electric locomotives of dozens of different classes have visited the museum, and we'll bring you stunning images of famous locomotives in the uniquely atmospheric surroundings of the roundhouse, major events and previously unpublished glimpses behind the scenes. But it's not just about preservation; a major part of Barrow Hill's success has been in attracting main line operators to use the depot for maintenance, overhauls and servicing. We'll look at the role played by Barrow Hill in maintaining all kinds of rail vehicles, including the prestigious VSOE Pullman train, restoration of classic trains such as the 'Brighton Belle' and heavy overhauls on ex-BR locomotives to return them to front-line service. We'll also show you how the Roundhouse has become much more than a railway preservation site, playing an important role in the local community, hosting major events such as the now-legendary 'Rail Ale' festival, becoming a unique venue for concerts and plays and filming. We'll also look to the future and how a major Heritage Lottery Fund grant will transform the roundhouse from 2017 and talk to the people who helped to save this remarkable place and make it so successful. Author: Ben Jones	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line383
__label__wiki	0.920646	0.920646	Religious Beliefs of the Northern Pacific Indians SHANNON LEIGH O'NEIL ... Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images The indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest -- in British Columbia, Alaska, Washington and Oregon -- each have their own history, culture and religious traditions. Historically, Pacific Northwest Indians shared their spiritual beliefs and customs through stories, songs and dances. Their beliefs were based in animism, where the natural world interacts with a supernatural world. In most native cultures, shamans or medicine men served as spiritual intermediaries. Beliefs of the Tlingit Beliefs of the Haida Beliefs of the Tsimshian Beliefs of the Chinook 1 Beliefs of the Tlingit The Tlingit compose a number of tribes in Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon. Historically, Tlingit religious beliefs and practices centered on a raven deity who combined the characteristics of spirit, human and bird. The raven also appears in Haida and Tsimshian belief systems. In Tlingit culture, shamans played a crucial role. Shamanic responsibilities included curing illnesses, and they were believed to possess healing powers because they could communicate with spirits. Shamans wore decorative masks and went into trances while performing healing rituals. After many Tlingit succumbed to European infectious diseases that shamans could not cure, they began losing faith in shamanism and incorporated Russian Orthodox Christianity into their beliefs. 2 Beliefs of the Haida The Haida live in Alaska, Prince of Wales Island and British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands. Because their ancestral lands are evergreen forests, the Haida became skilled woodcarvers. They carved totem poles, dance rattles and shaman masks. Masks were an important part of Haida culture and religious practice. They performed ceremonies, rituals and dances wearing masks. Along with masked performances, Haida people celebrated with communal feasts called potlatches. The potlatch was a big part of social life in the Pacific Northwest. Since the Haida believed that everything had a spiritual aspect, these gatherings often had a religious atmosphere. They sang songs and told stories, which were passed on through successive generations. 3 Beliefs of the Tsimshian The Tsimshian are native to Alaska's Annette Island and the northwest coast of British Columbia near Prince Rupert. Their traditional society was hierarchical and composed of clans. The Tsimshian had their own myths, stories and fables about the raven, which was both a benevolent spirit and a trickster. They also believed in the bear spirit and other animal deities. In the 1800s, the Tsimshian were visited by Protestant Christian missionaries who had a profound effect on their religious beliefs. They had contact with Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist evangelists and were greatly influenced by these religions. In 1857, an Anglican missionary named William Duncan settled with the Tsimshian, learned their language and established Christian Tsimshian communities in British Columbia and Alaska. 4 Beliefs of the Chinook The Chinook are a Pacific Northwest tribe from the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. They were well-known for their success in trade, canoe-building, navigation, fishing and hunting. In the early 19th century, the Lewis and Clark Expedition made contact with the Chinook and described them as a peaceful, prosperous people. The Chinook had a lifestyle similar to that of other Pacific Northwest natives, but they had their own religious beliefs. The Chinook believed in animal spirits -- the coyote and blue jay, in particular -- and also in guardian spirits. They carved wooden dance rattles, batons, effigies and panels engraved with spiritual imagery, and also painted spirits on canoes and houses. Like other natives in the region, the Chinook had shamans who performed rituals and communicated with the spirit world. 1 Canada's First Peoples: Northwest Coastal People: Religion 2 First Alaskans Institute: Sealaska 3 University of Washington: Digital Collections: Alaskan Tlingit and Tsimshian 4 The Chinook Indians: Traders of the Lower Columbia River; Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown 5 The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741-1867; A. V. Grinev Shannon Leigh O'Neil, a New York City-based arts and culture writer, has been writing professionally since 2008. Her articles have appeared in "GO Magazine," "The New York Blade" and "HX Magazine," as well as online media. O'Neil holds a Master of Arts in modern art history from the City College of New York, where she also studied French and minored in classical languages. Spiritual Beliefs of Aborigines of Canada Mi'kmaq Religious Beliefs Religious Customs of Mohawk Native Americans What Are Some Ceremonies that the Mojave Tribe Perform? Differences Between the Hopi, Zuni and Navajo The Scotch & Irish on the 18th Century Appalachian... African Customs the Slaves Brought to the Colonies Information on Asian Masks Pre-Christian Germanic Beliefs Religious Beliefs of Cajuns Religion & Beliefs of the Lenape Indians What Kind of Entertainment Was There in England in... Basic Beliefs of the Religion of Santeria in Central... What Do the Spiritual Baptists Believe? 5th Grade History Projects on Native Americans What Did the Lakota Indians Eat? What Were the Causes of Nationalism in Germany? Facts About Lewis & Clark for Kids Traditions of the Potawatomi What Are Some Facts About the Adena & the Hopewell...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line384
__label__wiki	0.950037	0.950037	Posts on Jan 1970 You are here: Home / 2020 / March 31 Mar11:41am DFID Goes Quiet on COVID-19 Response LONDON — The U.K.’s international response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been criticized by insiders as “disappointing” and poorly communicated. Some observers said the U.K. government’s performance has not been living up to its “development superpower” reputation, as it struggles to manage an outbreak within its own borders. With the pandemic continuing to gather pace, concerns are rising about the potential impact in low-income countries. The U.K. on March 6 announced a £46 million ($60 million) aid package to support vaccine and diagnostics development, and it was praised for supporting a rapid test to be produced in Senegal. It later said it would commit up to £150 million for the International Monetary Fund’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help lower-income countries deal with the economic fallout of the crisis. However, despite holding the world’s third-largest aid budget and a force of aid workers around the world, there has been no further word on plans for the U.K.’s international response. While acknowledging the challenging circumstances, experts warned that vision was needed to adjust all of its development programming, given the scale of the crisis. The Department for International Development — the government department largely responsible for aid — has not made a public announcement on its COVID-19 response for two weeks, nor have there been any ministerial statements about how it intends to lead or influence the global response. DFID’s response has been “very inward-looking” with constraints on spending because of the end of the financial year, according to a staffer who spoke to Devex on condition of anonymity to preserve his job. He added that “bureaucrats, rather than public health experts, were calling the shots” and that there was interference from Foreign & Commonwealth Office officials who joined a London-based task force dealing with the pandemic. The situation has not been helped by DFID’s secretary of state, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, being in self-isolation as a precaution after being exposed to the virus and — unrelatedly — the unexpected move of the department’s most senior civil servant to another department last week. Shadow Secretary of State for International Development Dan Carden wrote to Trevelyan this week, urging her to “do more to lead the global response to support the most vulnerable people across the world.” “We are concerned that DFID – the Department that should be leading Britain’s global response as a humanitarian superpower – has so far been quiet,” Carden and other members of the Labour Party’s international development team wrote. Mukesh Kapila, professor of global health and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester and former head of conflict and humanitarian affairs at DFID, agreed. “It’s disappointing they are not prominent as a major, major donor in taking some kind of lead in financing the response to COVID-19, especially among the most fragile countries,” he said. Kapila, who is also working on an initiative responding to COVID-19 in Africa, told Devex: “What’s needed, considering the catastrophic nature of this whole crisis … [is] to reorient all the development programs they have, wherever they are, and find resources from existing programs and integrate COVID work within those programs. Otherwise, the development gains that might be achieved … are going to be completely unrealized.” Citing unprecedented commitments from the British chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in response to the U.K.’s own economic shutdown, Kapila added that “I don’t see the transformative thinking coming out of DFID in the same way that other government departments in the U.K. have been forced to change.” He said DFID would need to completely transform its strategy in the face of the challenge presented. There was also confusion about how DFID would engage NGOs to help with the COVID-19 response in low-income countries. “We were expecting probably a bit more of a proactive reach out to the sector,” said Laura Taylor, head of advocacy at Christian Aid. “An announcement of what their [DFID’s] strategy is, what funding options are available for people other than global institutions, and how they would like to work with civil society, both globally at the national level, would be really good to know,” she added. Kalipso Chalkidou, director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development think tank, said people were trying their best amid difficult circumstances, noting that the global response to COVID-19 generally had been “underwhelming.” Still, she said, the U.K. could be “more of a shining example.” DFID needs to communicate to other government departments that “whatever the U.K. does, whatever is happening in the developed world, will have direct implications on people’s lives in developing countries, mostly through the economic implications of measures being taken,” she said. “It’s very important to communicate to their colleagues and the public that they are aware this is a global crisis and whatever we do in the G-7 will have direct implications on the poorest countries.” A DFID spokesperson said there would be more announcements to come on its COVID-19 response. William Worley William Worley is the U.K. Correspondent for Devex, covering DFID and British aid. Previously, he reported on international affairs, policy, and development. He also worked as a reporter for the U.K. national press, including the Times, Guardian, Independent, and i Paper. His reportage has included work on the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, drought in Madagascar, the “migrant caravan” in Mexico, and Colombia’s peace process. Comment • Read More COVID-19 Forces International Aid Groups to Limit Travel, Rethink Operations NEW YORK — Multiple relief and development organizations are eliminating noncritical missions to limit staffers’ exposure to the novel coronavirus, while also creating contingency plans as the global pandemic continues to escalate. Mercy Corps, Relief International, Norwegian Refugee Council, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, and Save the Children are among the nongovernmental organizations issuing new travel restrictions for staff while also rolling out prevention and response plans in impacted and at-risk countries. “Hopefully it will not impact the work we are doing in the field, with refugees and IDPs [internally displaced people] as much. But as time goes by, it is also restricting training and global seminars where we are supposed to have strategies develop. It is the long-term work that could be affected on a global level,” said Tuva Bogsnes, spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. NRC is limiting international travel to critical work and shuttered its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, this week. It is also boosting its water, sanitation, and hygiene work in countries with weak health systems, such as Afghanistan. “As this affects more and more countries, it is going to be harder for us to find ways for staff to go in and out of countries,” Bogsnes said. The World Health Organization elevated the COVID-19 outbreak to pandemic status Wednesday. The virus has spread to more than 125,000 people across 118 countries and territories in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S., according to WHO’s latest available estimates. Experts at relief organizations described a dynamic situation that is requiring them to rapidly develop, and continuously review, staff travel and community engagement policies. The impact on lifesaving work, such as emergency humanitarian response in conflict zones, is still minimal, experts say, but the situation remains fluid. Supply chain shortages present another emerging concern, several global health and development experts told Devex. The United Nations is also undertaking risk assessments “to evaluate how critical proposed travel is in relation to the risk posed to the traveler,” wrote U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in an email to Devex. Some cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in countries, such as Iraq, that are already in crisis because of natural disasters or conflicts and have a large number of people in need of emergency assistance. “To date, the U.N. and partners are maintaining humanitarian operations while taking precautions to ensure staff safety. U.N. agencies are currently assessing where and how humanitarian operations are being disrupted to try to identify solutions as quickly as possible,” Dujarric wrote. Individual U.N. agencies are adopting their own health security protocols as well. The U.N.’s World Food Programme is limiting all international duty travel to mission-critical and time-sensitive work and postponing all seminars, workshops, and other large meetings, according to spokesperson Shada Moghraby. The United Nations Development Programme is encouraging staff to work remotely, which “reduces the footprint in our offices and mitigates the risk for all involved,” according to Angelique Crumbly, director of UNDP’s Bureau for Management Services. Several international NGOs also shared their individual health security strategies with Devex: Plan International has canceled all noncritical international travel and activities through March 31 and is looking at business continuity plans on how field offices could operate in low-, medium-, and high-transmission situations, according to spokesperson Davinder Kumar. Mercy Corps is restricting travel for all employees through countries under the Global Level 3 Health Advisory by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is undertaking preparedness activities across many of its country offices, according to spokesperson Kelly Hysan. CARE International has moved to “business critical” travel but continues to undertake programs in compliance with local government restrictions. “The majority of CARE’s programs are continuing where CARE operates,” Chris Williams, director of security at CARE, wrote in an email. Relief International is now “constantly” reviewing risk levels and authorizing travel on a case-by-case basis, according to Azadeh Hasani, the organization’s global humanitarian director. Relief International continues to respond to the health crisis in Iran and other countries, distributing protective health care equipment to hospitals. Catholic Relief Services temporarily closed its Beirut and West Bank offices for deep cleaning, and its Cambodia office is now working remotely. Staff can only travel for “mission-critical” work. “It is changing so rapidly that, depending on the situation in each country, we may experience delays, including temporary office closures,” said Marieke van Weerden, director of staff safety and security. The changes come as development events worldwide continue to be canceled or transitioned to a virtual format, and multiple governments — from the U.S. to Uganda — issue new travel restrictions. One immediate issue for aid and development agencies is the sudden challenge in procuring health care supplies, according to Relief International’s Hasani. “We now have a lot of our procurement teams trying to find these items and ship them. In some cases, we are not being able to find them. We really had to go to many suppliers and buy masks from one, goggles from another one,” Hasani said. “It wasn’t easy to find, and yes, in terms of pricing, of course they are more expensive than we would have initially planned for.” Catholic Relief Services is also thinking through its “call to home” scenarios for international staffers, so they can return to their countries of residence if government travel restrictions escalate. “The reason why we are going ‘mission-critical’ is not necessarily because of the virus. … It is because of travel restrictions governments put in place. If staffers are quarantined, they cannot work with communities where we need them most,” van Weerden said. Save the Children has also issued a “blanket pause” on nonessential travel, according to Negin Janati, director of communications for Save the Children’s humanitarian response and emergency work. Save the Children’s China office remains closed, as staffers continue to work from home. “With the number of cases and community transmissions that are present, we are asking everyone, ‘If you can do a meeting virtually or attend a conference virtually, do it that way,’” Janati said. “We have colleagues who are helping run pandemic-preparedness workshops throughout Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Their work is mission-critical, and they have to travel for it.” The changes are challenging the traditional methods of work that Save the Children uses, leading it to pause and consider the feasibility of virtual training sessions or online partnerships and advocacy meetings. “We live in a digital world and are used to doing things digitally, but there are certain things, like community engagement, that I do not know if people have considered how to do that exclusively online. We are just having to make it work,” Janati said.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line390
__label__cc	0.626072	0.373928	Home Library The Answerers 3ANS Answerer Book No.3 Questions and Answers on present truth topics in the interest of Seventh-Day Adventist brethren and readers of the Shepherd's Rod. Copyright 1944, by That everyone who thirsteth for the truth may obtain it, this booklet of questions and answers is, as a Christian service, mailed without charge. Send for it. It levies but one exaction, the soul's obligation to itself to prove all things and hold fast that which is good. The only strings attached to this free proffer are the golden strands of Eden and the crimson cords of Calvary--the ties that bind. Names and addresses of Seventh-day Adventists will be appreciated. THE ANSWERER Book No. 3 Questions and Answers on Present Truth Topics in the Interest of the Seventh-day Adventist Brethren and Readers By V.T. Houteff This "scribe," instructed unto the king- dom of heaven, "bringeth forth.. things new and old." Matt. 13:52. Now "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Pet. 3:15. Which Sanctuary Is Cleansed And What Polluted It? (5) When Does The Day Begin? (7) When Does The Hebrew Year Begin (9) Were The Passover And The Burial On The Same Day? (14) Has The Work Of The Shepherd's Rod A Type? (19) The Four Winds--What Are They? (24) 144,000 Or A Great Multitude? (26) Shall We believe Or Shall We Doubt? (28) Will All Come To The Time Of The Plagues? (41) Are The Plagues To Fall Upon Laodicea Or Upon Babylon? (43) Is The Beast Both A Secular And An Ecclesiastical Power? (44) Why Not Both Visions Alike? (45) Lake Of Fire Burning Or Extinct During Millennium? (46) Only A Portion Not Trodden? (47) Who Made The Third Decree? (47) 546 Or 547 B.C (49) All Or A Remnant--Which? (51) Few Or Many Saved? (51) On Which Side Will You Be? (54) Save The Church Or The World? (65) Purified By God, Or By Satan? (69) Infants And Heathen Saved Or Lost? (71) Will The Gathering From All Nations Include All The Colored People? (74) Will Gentiles Inherit The Kingdom? (76) Who Is She That Halteth? (76) )Marriage Or Celibacy? (79) Is The Law Made Void? (86) Are We Not Delivered From Keeping The Law? (90) For What Purpose Shall A Likeness Not Be Made? (92) What Shall Your Next Step Be? (94) WHICH SANCTUARY IS CLEANSED AND WHAT POLLUTED IT? Question No. 48:---Does the word "cleansing" spoken of in Daniel 8:14 refer to a cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary? If so, what polluted it? Answer:---Though the sanctuary in heaven and the one on earth are in two different locations, yet the one necessarily involves the other, for both deal with the same sins and sinners. Hence, for one sanctuary to become polluted will as a consequence affect the other. For instance, if some of the members of the church on earth should backslide after once being converted (as did Achan, King Saul, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, and many others whose names were once written in the Book of Life but who though failing to continue in the faith became unworthy of life eternal), they would of course at the same time pollute both sanctuaries. The earthly they pollute by their actual deeds and influence; the heavenly, by having their unworthy names in its books; for while the earthly sanctuary harbors the people, the heavenly houses their records. So while there is need of cleansing the earthly sanctuary from backsliders and hypocrites, there is need of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary from the sinners' names in its books. And the proper term for such a work is Investigative Judgment--the work portrayed in Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 7:9, 10) and in Christ's parables of the harvest, net, talents, wedding garment, and the goats and the sheep. However, as the Bible plainly teaches that this special work takes place only once during probationary time (Heb. 9:26), it follows that the records of those who have died throughout the centuries will be the first to pass in review before God, the Great Judge (Dan. 7:9, 10). After these have been examined, then the examination of the records of the living will begin. And as we are told that there are two classes of people in the church ("wheat" and "tares"--Matt. 13:30), it is evident that the Investigative Judgment ("harvest") of the dead affects only the heavenly sanctuary. This is doubly evident when it is remembered that "the dead know not anything" (Eccles. 9:5) but are lying unconscious while waiting in their graves for the resurrection day. But when the Judgment ("harvest") of the living shall begin, then of necessity the sanctuary on earth will be cleansed from the hypocrites, and the sanctuary in heaven from their names in its records. Both sanctuaries are therefore affected. The cleansing of the earthly is further borne out by Malachi's prophecy: "Behold I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's sope: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." Mal. 3 :1-3. Furthermore, the treading under foot of both the sanctuary and the host, and the casting "down the truth to the ground," projected in Daniel 8:12, must also be considered. By substituting a pagan priesthood for the priesthood of Christ, and unconverted pagans for the host of God, also by introducing a pagan festal day in place of God's Sabbath, not only both the heavenly and the earthly sanctuaries but also the doctrines were polluted. So while the two sanctuaries are being cleansed from sinners, Bible Truth is being winnowed from man's theories and ideas. WHEN DOES THE DAY BEGIN? Question No. 49:---When does the twenty-four-hour day begin--at sunset, at sunrise, or at midnight? Answer:---The twenty-four-hour cycle begins at sunset, because at the moment the earth came into existence and began to rotate on its axis, there was no light "upon the face of the deep," whereupon "God said, Let there be light: and there was light....And the evening and the morning were the first day." Gen. 1:2, 3, 5. The "light" which shone on the first day, and by which God divided the day from the night (set the earth revolving on its axis), was not, however, that of the sun, for the sun and the moon were not created until the fourth day, when He spoke them forth "to rule over the day and over the night" (Gen. 1:18), which He had beforehand established. Thus it was that whereas the earth began punctuating eternal time with the first night of creation week, from which the weekly seventh-day Sabbath is measured; the moon began punctuating time at the end of the third day and at the beginning of the fourth night from which the month is measured; and the sun began to punctuate time at the end of the fourth night and the beginning of the fourth day, from which the year is measured. Accordingly, the time-span which measures and segments the week, is three days in advance of the time-spans which measure and segment the solar year and the lunar month. In order, therefore, that His people might commemorate the week of creation, from the instant that the span of earthly time began, God commanded: "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Lev. 23 :32. So the twenty-four-hour day begins with the night, at sunset; and the daytime itself, separate from the nighttime, begins at sunrise. WHEN DOES THE HEBREW YEAR BEGIN? Question No. 50:---Can you tell us the Hebrew New Year's day, and the days of their sacred feasts, in terms of our Roman calendar? Answer:---While leading the Hebrew host from bondage to freedom, the Lord was firmly establishing them in the truth of all things, including the truth of the day on which the year begins, of the day on which the month begins, and of the day on which the week begins. Obviously, the Hebrew religion had largely to do with the days of the week, of the month, and of the year. The Hebrews were forever to keep holy, (1) not a seventh, but the seventh, day of each week, the Sabbath; (2) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the first month, the Passover week; (3) the fiftieth day after the sheaf of the first fruits was offered, the Pentecost; (4) the tenth day of the seventh month, the Atonement; (5) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the same month, the Feast of Tabernacles; and (6) the feasts of the new moons. Thus the All-knowing One, He who created the heavenly bodies and knows the very moment He set them in motion to govern the day, the month, and the year, decreed that the holy feasts be observed in the very month and on the very day on which they were first ordained. And He appointed the "lights in the firmament... for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" (Gen. 1:14), by the movements of which He fixed each solar and each lunar date, so that it could never be lost sight of. Then to make doubly secure against such a loss. He "spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." Ex. 12:1, 2. Thus we see that His great and never erring timepiece for earth, the earth's own invariable movements, fix the day and the year; whereas the moon's revolving round the earth makes the months. But the Roman New Year, January 1, finds its establishment, not in the movements of the solar system, but in the notions of mythology. Consequently, as the date does not coincide with either the vernal or the autumnal equinox, or with either the summer or the winter solstice, then should earth's inhabitants ever lose count of the day, and need to recover it, they would be helpless to do so. To prevent His people from bringing upon themselves such a catastrophe, and to have them intelligent as to the time the year begins, the Lord gave to Moses the sacred yearly calendar, which cannot be lost or miscalculated so long as the earth remains. He told him that the day which preceded the exodus was the fourteenth day of the first month; and that forever thereafter, they were to commemorate the Passover on that very night each year, the night following the fourteenth day. Thus was the Lord re-establishing the creation calendar, reaffirming that the year begins on the day of the vernal equinox, on which spring, the first season of the year, commences, and on which the sun and the moon were created (the fourth day from the beginning of creation)--the only point in time at which, in the very nature of things, the year could begin. And so it is that the Passover, the Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles (the three most important feasts in the year), besides other feasts, are controlled by the solar year and by the lunar month; the weekly Sabbath by the day on which creation began; and the year itself by the vernal equinox, the immovable sign-post. Beginning its first month of the year with the first new moon, at, or after, the vernal equinox, March 20-21, it puts the fourteenth day, that on which the Passover lamb was to be slain, on April 3. Once for all, is seen the utter impossibility of the Roman month's having the slightest thing to do with fixing the time of either the Passover or the sheaf offering, and thus not the slightest thing to do with reckoning the time of either the crucifixion or the resurrection of Christ. This is more graphically seen from the correspondence of the sacred events which came in the spring of the year A.D. 31, the year Christ was crucified, with the sacred events which came in the fall of the year A.D. 27, the year in which He was baptized, as viewed diagrammatically: This chart enables us to see that just as one solar season matches another (the vernal equinox matches the autumnal equinox, and the summer solstice, the winter solstice), in like fashion the sacred feasts of one season match the sacred feasts of another season: the tenth day of the first month, the separation of the unblemished lamb from the flock (Ex. 12:3), corresponding to the tenth day of the seventh month, the work of Atonement, the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, signifying in both events a day of judgment, a day of separating the holy from the unholy; the sixteenth of the first month, the day Christ was crucified, corresponding to the sixteenth of the seventh month, the day He was baptized, showing that His watery grave foreshadowed His grave in the tomb; the eighteenth day of the first month, the resurrection, corresponding to the eighteenth day of the seventh month, the first day of the wilderness temptation; His forty days of victorious ministry to His disciples, corresponding to His forty days of victorious conflict with Satan; and His disciples' preaching the gospel after the Pentecost, corresponding to His preaching the gospel after the wilderness temptation. To establish the date of His baptism as the sixteenth day of the seventh month, we need only to consider, aside from the coincidences the fact that the "more sure word of prophecy' certifies that He was to preach three and a half years, and then be "cut off." Dan. 9:26. And as He was crucified on the sixteenth of the first month, he must have been baptized for the ministry just three and a half years before, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month. WERE THE PASSOVER AND THE BURIAL ON THE SAME DAY? Question No. 51:---Of late, numerous efforts have been made to fix the particular days of the week on which the trials crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus took place; also the length of time He was standing trial hanging on the cross, and lying in the tomb. The points brought as proof on the subject are confusing to me. Can you clear it? And did Jesus eat the Passover on the very day the Jews did, or beforehand? Answer:---Regardless how wrapped in mystery the Gospel writers may seem to have left this subject, one sequence of facts is clearly given and stands out distinctly; namely, the hours at which the main events took place. All the Gospels testify that Jesus was seized the same night He ate the Passover with His disciples (Matt. 26 34; Mark 14:30; Luke 22:34). John states that immediately thereafter He was "led...away to Annas" (John 18:13), and Mark discloses that later that night He was brought before "the chief priests and all the council." Mark 14:54, 55. "And as soon as it was day," as all the accounts agree, He was arraigned finally before the Sanhedrin. To make the trial legal, the court could not (by Jewish law) convene before sunrise, the twelfth hour, ancient time. To be exact, the time of the trial could not have been earlier than 11:50 A.M. ancient time (5:50 A.M. modern time), for the Passover week was observed from the fourteenth to the twenty-first day of the first month of the Hebrew year beginning with the vernal equinox (March 20-21), the time of the year when the day and the night are equal. Subsequently, as all the Gospel writers show, He was taken to the Roman judgment hall, where, according to John's testimony, He was tried before Pilate at "about the sixth hour." John 19:14. And Mark records that He was crucified at "the third hour" (Mark 15:25), while Matthew and Luke, along with Mark, testify that as He hung on the cross, darkness covered the earth from the sixth to the ninth hour (Matt. 27:45 Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). Finally, all join in concluding witness that He was buried just before the twelfth hour, sunset--before the Sabbath drew on (Matt. 27:57-62; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:54-56). The accompanying chart represents a forty-eight-hour period. On it every hour is designated, and the reference for each event is given opposite the hour in which the event took place. The outer figures of the chart represent the ancient timepiece; the inner figures represent the modern timepiece. The shaded pans show the hours of the nights involved, also the darkness which occurred while Christ was hanging on the cross. Were one to conclude that the events in connection with Christ's passion,--His seizure, trials, crucifixion, and burial,--took place in one day, then, as can be clearly seen from the chart, there would be no "sixth hour" for the trial in Pilate's judgment hall; indeed, there would then be no time at all allowed for the trials before the Roman Judiciary--Pilate and Herod! And to assume that Luke 22:7-14 records only a Passover substitute--that Jesus and His disciples celebrated a passover before the day arrived--is to take a position at variance with the "law" as well as with the "testimony" of the prophets and the apostles (Isa. 8:20). And had such been the fact, the Jews who were desperately anxious to hang on Christ some act of lawlessness, would have made much of it, and as a result the apostles would have written about it. To satisfy the immutable demand of the "law," the lamb had to be slain in the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the first month (Num. 28:16), and the feast had to be celebrated on the fifteenth (Num. 28:17), the night following the fourteenth day (Ex. 12: 8). In conclusive corroboration of this fact the Spirit of Prophecy emphatically states: "On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which, for fifteen long centuries, the Passover lamb had been slain, Christ, having eaten the Passover with His disciples, instituted that feast which was to commemorate His own death as 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'"--The Great Controversy, p. 399. While the Passover week was regulated by the month, the day upon which the sheaf was to be offered (the type of the resurrection--1 Cor. 15:20; The Desire of Ages, p. 786) was regulated by the week. And according to Lev. 23:3, 11, the sheaf was to be offered on the day following the seventh-day Sabbath, for the Sabbath of verse 11, is the Sabbath of verse 3--the one in connection with which Moses introduces the subject of the feasts. The Scriptures, moreover, never call a feast day "the Sabbath," but always "a sabbath" or "sabbaths." (See Lev. 23:24.) (For extensive treatment of the subject of the days of the Passover week, and of the "three-days-and-three-nights" period--Matt. 12:39 40--see Tract No. 10, The Sign of Jonah.) HAS THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD'S ROD A TYPE? Question No. 52:---If "The Shepherd's Rod" is correct that "where there is no type, there is no truth," then where, may one ask, is the type of the work of the "Rod," itself? Answer:---In the Old Testament is brought to view a religious Movement which is an "ensample," or type, of a counterpart in the New Testament. And just as God yesterday organized and led the one to emancipate His people from a cruel bondage to heathen masters, so also will He do with the other today. Likewise as He instructed the one, so will He instruct the other as to how to expect to be liberated and established in the land of their inheritance, the kingdom of freedom, peace, and plenty. In assurance of this, He declares: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1 Cor. 10:11. And "there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, Like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." Isa. 11:16. These scriptures plainly show that the Exodus Movement of old led by Moses through his shepherd's rod, from Egypt to Canaan, points forward in type to the final deliverance of God's people from their long servitude to the kingdom of this world, to freedom in the kingdom of God. Accordingly this final and latter day Exodus Movement is to be led by the antitypical Shepherd's Rod, and liberated from all earthly bonds--from sin and from sinners. But let it be remembered that the Exodus Movement, the type, was in two sections, the first section being led by Moses, and the second by Joshua, and that it was the last, the purified, section (that which grew up after the forty years' wilderness wandering, and after all but two who were over twenty years of age when they left Egypt, had died) that possessed the land. The Movement led by the Rod today is the only Movement in Christendom fitting the type--the Israel of Joshua's day: like it, drawing its followers only from the parent Movement, and having as its threefold objective the deliverance of God's people from bondage, the possession of the land and the establishment of the kingdom. And just as the purified Israel of Joshua's day, the generation which survived the forty-year wilderness wanderings, inherited first the final leadership of the typical Exodus Movement, and then the land of promise, so the purified Israel today (the 144,000), the ones who survive the forty-year period of wandering from 1890-1930, and who escape the slaughter of Ezekiel 9, are to be promoted to the final leadership of the antitypical Exodus Movement, then to inherit "the promised land," and to be citizens in the everlasting Kingdom. Thus we see that it was not until after the murmurers were eliminated, in the ensample, that Joshua took over, and led the Exodus Movement in the land of Canaan. Accordingly, in the antitype the period before the Rod came the Laodicean period, is the one in which are to be found the typical wanderings, doubtings, and murmurings, both against the founder and the dietetic principles ("health reform") of the Movement, and the consequent curses and slaughter. The immediate result of these murmurings complainings, and doubtings today has been to blind the eyes of many in the Advent Movement, causing them to turn back from following Christ their Leader, and steadily to retreat "toward Egypt."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217. Consequently, in another tragic parallel, just as Moses wrote the sad experience of the type so the founder of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination wrote the even sadder experience of the antitype, declaring as far back as 1888: "Many had lost sight of Jesus;" and "Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217. In other words, just as unbelief on the part of ancient Israel sent them back to wander in the desert until all the guilty had perished so in like manner unbelief in the message of Righteousness by Faith proclaimed at the Minneapolis Conference sent the Seventh-day Adventist denomination into a forty-year wilderness wandering, until 1930, with the arrival of the message, at the voice of which each must either do God's bidding or die as did Achan and his household. May God grant that the Israel of today, the children of those who have repeated the history of Israel of old Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 160), be admonished by the mistakes of their fathers, and heed the call of the Eleventh Hour. This solemn typology reveals yet other significant parallels: just as the Exodus Movement was bereft of their visible leader a short time before it entered the land of Canaan, so also was the Advent Movement bereft of its visible leader as it neared the borders of the Kingdom; and just as Joshua was called then to guide the feet of God's weary pilgrims to their homeland, just so must another arise at this time in fulfillment of the type, to lead home the feet of God's saints today. "By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." Hos. 12:13. "Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: '...you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way.'"--Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 475, 476. In all the annals of church history since the Exodus Movement, the Rod message is the only one which calls for just such a Movement, and which exactly fits the type. (See Tract No. 8, Mount Sion at the Eleventh Hour, and Tract No. 9, Behold I Create All Things New). Unmistakably, therefore, the clear light shedding forth from type, from testimonies of the prophets, and from history, identify the message of the Rod as the only one ordained to lead the latter day church, freed from sin and sinners, into the land of promise, when "the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:24. "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." Dan. 2:44. That day has come, and the Rod of God is here to effect that "great reformatory movement among God's people"- -(Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 126), to give "power and force to the Third Angel's Message"-- (Early Writings, p. 277), so that, "clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness, the church ...'fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,'" may "go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer."--Prophets and Kings, p. 725. "Hear ye the Rod, and Who hath appointed it." Mic. 6:9. THE FOUR WINDS--WHAT ARE THEY? Question No. 53:---"Testimonies to Ministers," p. 444, states: John sees the elements of nature--earthquake, tempest, and political strife--represented as being held by four angels." But Tract No. 8, "Mt. Sion at the Eleventh Hour," p. 22, says: "As the nations have always been at war, this twofold work of hurting could not represent political strife." How are these contradictory statements reconciled? Answer:---We are confident that if the questioner will carefully restudy Testimonies to Ministers p. 444, he will see that it is endeavoring to show that the Divine object in holding back the winds, is, as the passage plainly says, "the safety of God's church." That being the case, then the winds, themselves being figurative of strife, trouble, and war, are, when let loose, to blow against the church. This is very evident because their being held from John's day until this very hour, has never prevented and is not now preventing the nations' warring among themselves. Always have they been at war with one another, and today they are engaged in a deadly world-wide conflict unparalleled in all history, although the angels are still holding the winds. Of necessity, therefore, the strife represented by the blowing of the winds, must be essentially religious in aim, and political only in procedure, thus religious-political, as stated in Tract No. 12, The World Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, pp. 38, 65, and in The Shepherd's Rod, Vol. 2, p. 114. This conclusion is borne out in the following passage: "The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast. We came near having this realized in California a short time since; but this was only the threatening of the blowing of the four winds. As yet they are held by the four angels. We are not just ready. There is a work yet to be done, and then the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may blow upon the earth. That will be a decisive time for God's children,--a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 152. The tract, in its particular statement in question, is stressing only the religious aspect of the trouble, in the endeavor to show that the trouble is not political in aim,--not to conquer territory, but to build up international religion in order to compel the world to worship the image of the beast. In this clear light, we see that both Testimonies to Ministers and The Shepherd's Rod series are endeavoring to show that the strife is neither purely political nor purely religious, but religious-political. It is the church and state allied in common action. 144,000 OR A GREAT MULTITUDE? Question No. 54:---How can the great multitude (Rev. 7:9) possibly be the complement of the 144,000 in making up the living saints? Answer:---Notwithstanding the fact that "in the closing work" for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, only 144,000 are to be sealed, according to Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266, yet at the start of the year 1944, the Denomination already numbered its members well beyond the half million mark, whereas the patches of territory which it has under gospel cultivation, in comparison to the vast fields of humanity which it has not even touched, amounts to but a very small corner. So, relatively speaking, there are millions upon millions who have never heard even so much as the name "Adventists." Should the Denomination's present rate of growth continue until the Advent Message has been preached in all the world, its membership would be of multiplied proportions when Christ comes. Indeed, since there is not the slightest probability of decline in the present growth rate, but every probability of increase (as the laity are told from the pulpit from Sabbath to Sabbath), it is certain that should the Denomination, at its present rate of growth, continue on to the second coming of Christ, it would by the number millions. And were there only 144,000 to be translated, then the millions of Seventh-day Adventists alive at the close of probation would, tragedy to tell, have to perish either in "the seven last plagues" or at "the brightness of His coming"! And if "the closing work for the church" means that out of these millions of members only 144,000 saints are indeed to be translated, then what slim chance any particular member stands of ever being saved! And furthermore, in that event, with such overwhelming odds against their being saved, what justification could there possibly be in continuing to bring in more and more converts to swell the church membership? Such were nothing less than a great treachery--wrapping them for perdition in a tinseled hope of salvation! As it is contrary to God's desire and effort (Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 371) to bring into the church those who are not saved (tares), then the dominant teaching that there are to be only 144,000 living saints when Christ comes to gather all His own, is nothing short of an admission that the Denomination's rapid increase of membership is the work of the Enemy! In The Signs of the Times, May 3, 1927, there appeared an article entitled, "The 144,000, Their Triumph and Reward." In this article, which was written three years before The Shepherd's Rod, Vol. 1, was published, the Denomination taught that the 144,00, the first fruits of the living saints, are to be sealed first, and are in turn to bring in the second fruits, "the great multitude" (Rev. 7:9) of living saints. In shifting from this position, in an attempt to refute the message of the hour, The Shepherd's Rod, they have automatically pitched themselves on the horns of a dilemma: on one hand giving the lie to their 1927 teaching, and on the other hand giving a false hope of salvation to the members of the church! Hence the question should not be as to how the great multitude can possibly be the complement of the 144,000, but rather as to how they can possibly not be. SHALL WE BELIEVE OR SHALL WE DOUBT? Question No. 55:---It is difficult for me to go all-out for any Bible interpretation for which claim is made to Inspiration. Does not one's making such claim bring into jeopardy the entire structure of his message, opening the way for it to be summarily swept away through any one error it may happen to contain? Answer:---The questioner's difficulty stems from the hard fact that the Protestant world has long held the concept that God does not in this age employ an inspired mouthpiece to interpret the Scriptures and to declare His will but invests and leads each Christian individually. This theory, however, is universally exploded when viewed in the light of the fact that those individuals claiming to be personally led of God, disagree among themselves just as much as the various sects disagree one with another. Before taking His departure, the Saviour declared: "When...the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." John 16:13. Without controversy therefore, the Divine will is that we have all Truth and only Truth. And it must be remembered that "no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. 1:20, 21. Indeed, the very word, Inspiration, in its theological significance, means to communicate Divine instructions free from men's adulteration. Hence, any objection to Inspiration, can only, in the last analysis, be an attempt to put God out of sight and to bring men to the front, to cut off the only channel through which God can interpret the Scriptures, communicate with His people--"reveal truth and unmask error."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 107. "The Lord has often made manifest in His providence," says the Spirit of Prophecy, "that nothing less than revealed truth, the word of God, can reclaim man from sin or keep him from transgression."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 80. So, very plainly, the Word of God cannot be rightly interpreted privately--without the aid of Inspiration (2 Pet. 1:20, 21). Any who thus attempt to interpret the messages which the Lord sends to them, will find themselves serving Satan instead of serving Christ, and will surely cause both themselves and their followers to make shipwreck of faith. To safeguard the faith of the honest, the Lord figuratively demonstrates in the fourth chapter of Zechariah, the method by which He communicates truth to His people. The accompanying plate is an exact objectification of what the prophet was shown. Here it is seen that the candlestick, as interpreted by Revelation 1:20, is symbolical of the church membership; the tubes extending from the golden bowl to the candlestick, are symbolical of the ministry (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 188); the olive trees are symbolical of the Old and New Testament Scriptures (The Great Controversy, p. 267); and the two golden pipes, which carry the golden oil from the trees to the bowl, are symbolical of the Bible interpreters, the inspired messengers from God, for the symbolism immovably shows that they are the only ones whom Inspiration enables to draw the oil from the olive trees--to interpret the Scriptures. And the bowl, the container of that which the pipes (interpreters) place therein, can be only the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. As a necessary and natural sequent, God will have but one mouthpiece to teach His people in the establishing of His Kingdom, as He prophetically tells us in unmistakable language: "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." Ezek. 34:23-26. "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the Rod, and Who hath appointed it." "Feed thy people with thy Rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things." Mic. 6:9; 7:14, 15. For the message in The Shepherd's Rod, we simply give the credit to Whom it belongs. And if there be any who desire us to give it to ourselves, they do so, not because they love us or want to exalt us above themselves, but evidently because they are unwittingly echoing the voice from beneath, which hates God and the revelation of His Word, and which ever speaks only to tempt men to exalt themselves instead of God, thereby blindly deceiving themselves and leading others away from the truth, all because they chafe at bringing themselves under the rule of Christ now when "He is taking the reins in His own hands."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300. Let those who resist giving full submission to Inspiration, ask themselves what they would have done had they lived under Moses and his rod. He acknowledged himself to be the mouthpiece of God just as today's Rod does. As a consequence, would not these recusants have risen up with Korah against Moses and Aaron, just as they are doing now against the Rod, saying: "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?" Num. 16:3. If such are not willing whole-heartedly to accept an Inspired message today, would they have accepted the Baptist's message, Christ's or the apostles'? No, indeed not, regardless of their profession. And if they will not submit themselves to Inspiration, how will they ever know the truth? And how will they ever get into the Kingdom? For the Bible says: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." "By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by prophets was he preserved." "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper." Amos 3:7; Hos. 12:13; 2 Chron. 20:20. "And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house." Ezek. 3 :26, 27. It is the ideas of uninspired men that have chopped the Christian church into chips of all kinds and sizes, and have made her a "habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird" (Rev. 18:2), instead of making her a place of truth and of salvation, and a habitation of saints. Let all who share the questioner's sentiments, take pause, and ponder the question: How can an uninspired message be from God--be the truth--be worthy of acceptance? Obviously, disapproval of one's claiming Inspiration for his message, and suspicion of its having in it a taint of error, is not suggested by Him who says: "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:19-21. "As never before, we should pray not only that laborers may be sent forth into the great harvest-field, but that we may have a clear conception of truth, so that when the messengers of truth shall come. In Christ's day, the Inspiration-doubters assailed both the messengers and their messages for that time. On one hand they found fault with John the Baptist because his diet consisted of wild honey and locusts (Matt. 3:4). Because he "came neither eating nor drinking,...they say, He hath a devil." Matt. 11:18. On the other hand, because Christ "came eating and drinking," they accused Him of being "a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners" Matt. 11:19. Denying that He was sent of God, they tauntingly asked Him: "By what authority doest Thou these things? or who is He that gave Thee this authority?" Luke 20:2. And now to His church in these last days, His Spirit declares: "Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: 'You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.'"--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 475. To the doubters of the possibility of a message containing nothing but truth, comes the warning: "God and Satan never work in co-partnership. The testimonies either bear the signet of God or that of Satan. A good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit....”--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 98. “We believe the visions,” say the Inspiration- doubters, “but Sister White, in writing them, put in her own words, and we will believe that portion which we think is of God, and will not heed the other.”--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 234. "Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Luke 24:25. "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Rev. 22:19. Symbolically addressing His people as sheep and shepherds, in the thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, the Lord asks: "Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?" Do they indeed think it tolerable to accept only a part of the truth He sends to them, and to tread down with their feet the residue? Then He adds, "As for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet." And because of those who accept only that part of the message which suits their unregenerate tastes, which does not cross their perverse wills, the Lord forewarns: "I will judge between cattle and cattle." Among God's people, there has always been a class disposed to question and to criticize everything in the "unfolding of truth."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 690. "We accept this and that," they say, "but we will not accept the other." Most of them think it a mark of intelligence to question and to criticize, to judge the message which God has sent them. These self-centered souls are so foolish and so blind to their folly that even though fifty centuries and more of human tragedy terribly reprove and warn against their evil and soul-destroying course, yet they remain deaf to the cry and blind to their way. And what is even worse their doubts and criticisms have scattered weak souls from Christ, with the consequence that God has pronounced the judgment: "Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle." Ezek. 34:21, 22. Be warned, therefore, that "as the disciples declared that there is salvation in no other name under heaven, given among men, so, also should the servants of God faithfully and fearlessly warn those who embrace but a part of the truths connected with the third message, that they must gladly receive all the messages as God has given them, or have no part in the matter."--Early Writings, pp. 188, 189. "'Satan has ability to suggest doubts and to devise objections to the pointed testimony that God sends, and many think it a virtue, a mark of intelligence in them, to be unbelieving, and to question and quibble. Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit; and all should decide from the weight of evidence.' 'God gives sufficient evidence for the candid mind to believe; but he who turns from the weight of evidence because there are a few things which he cannot make plain to his finite understanding, will be left in the cold chilling atmosphere of unbelief and questioning doubts, and will make shipwreck of faith.'"--Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 675, 676. Not one dares compare his prerogatives with those of Jesus, yet He believed all the writings of the prophets, and those who consider themselves too wise, and think it too humiliating, to believe all, He calls "fools." Luke 24:25. They have made themselves incapable of comprehending these facts now as the Jews made themselves incapable of comprehending Jesus' teachings concerning the "kingdom" then. Every age has had its multitude who, instead of being baptized to follow Christ and His Truth, were baptized to follow man. They joined the multitude in the church instead of the multitude in heaven. Consequently, Christ is a stranger to them, and when truth unfolds, they call it error, then follow men and reject the truth. This folly has been repeated again and again, with the result that the few faithful ones who have followed Christ and His truth, have been cast out of the churches and compelled to start all over again. So it is today. But to these outcasts of Zion, comes the solacing voice: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." Isa. 66:5. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isa. 52:7. "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper." 2 Chron. 20:20. WILL ALL COME TO THE TIME OF THE PLAGUES? Question No. 56:---If the church is to be purified before the close of probation for the world and remain pure thereafter without any sinners in it, as "The Shepherd's Rod" teaches, then how do you harmonize this with "Early Writings," p. 71, which says: Some "will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building"? Answer:---There are other statements from the author of Early Writings, which bear even more positive evidence that God will, before that time, have a church pure and true. (See The Great Controversy p. 425; Prophets and Kings, p. 725; Testimonies Vol. 5, p. 80; Isa. 52:1, 2.) As these several statements with reference to a preliminary purification are just as true as the one in Early Writings which seems to negate a purification, one cannot honestly disregard them and give consideration only to it. Let us remember always to observe the inviolable rule that an interpretation of one inspired statement must harmonize with all other related statements. Some who are anxious to risk Present Truth on the weight of what one inspired statement seems to say or imply, are thereby presumptuously or very ignorantly overlooking the "weight of evidence." Others are doing this through shortsightedness, while still others are doing it to prop up certain cherished ideas of their own. The basic foundation for the no-preliminary-purification doctrine is built, not upon solid rock, but upon the same shifting sand as that which underlies such as the erroneous ideas of the conscious state of the dead, the eternal torment of the wicked, baptism by sprinkling, Sunday sacredness, and the millennial age of peace on earth. Since, Truth is progressive, and since the purification of the church had not yet been revealed when the statement in Early Writings was written, the danger foretold and the counsel given therein could not possibly have been stated in terms other than those then familiarly comprehended. All were thus plainly forewarned that if they continued sinning, then after the close of probation for the world, the plagues, of which they already had some understanding, would be their recompense. So for the Lord to have explained the matter in Early Writings as He does through the Rod today, He would have had to reveal, out of due time, when Early Writings was being written, the message which is applicable only to the church for today, and which we are now therefore receiving. In the last analysis, the unrepentant sinners who are now in the church, may never see the seven last plagues, while others, who are now in the world, will in the time of the Loud Cry yet have opportunity to be "squared" for the building, and be treasured with the "living stones," or else to suffer the consequences of the plagues. No one should have difficulty in seeing this now, for all those to whom Early Writings primarily spoke are already dead, though the plagues are yet in the future. Furthermore, there is much more light to come concerning the truth of the seven last plagues, and when it comes, we may again see that we have "many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 30. ARE THE PLAGUES TO FALL UPON LAODICEA OR UPON BABYLON? Question No. 57:---Is not the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 to be fulfilled by the seven last plagues? Answer:---The slaughter as described in Ezekiel's prophecy takes the lives of only those wicked who are in "the house of Israel and Judah" (Ezek. 9:9)--the church; whereas the destruction of the plagues falls upon all who are found in "Babylon" (Rev. 18:4) after the Lord has proclaimed "Come out of her, My people," and after they have responded and thus separated themselves from those in Babylon. The destruction of Ezekiel 9, therefore, can apply to her communicants only as an ensample or forerunner of the seven last plagues. Moreover, His people, the ones who are marked by the angel according to Ezekiel's prophecy, are not called out, but rather are left in. IS THE BEAST BOTH A SECULAR AND AN ECCLESIASTICAL POWER? Question No. 58:---Does not the "head" that was "wounded to death" (Rev. 13:3) represent the combined secular and ecclesiastical power of the Middle Ages? Answer:---Those who understand that the wounded head of the leopard-like beast (Rev. 13:1-3) symbolizes Rome in her ecclesiastical period doubtless also understand that the "little horn," which had "the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things" (Dan. 7:8), likewise symbolizes Rome before the head was wounded. Rightly to understand the subject, it is expedient to examine this double-phased symbol. from the ground up, beginning with Daniel's view. Having "eyes of man" and "a mouth," the "little horn" is actually a horn-head, a unique thing among governments, a composite hierarchy of civil and religious powers fused into one sovereign head during the Dark and Middle Ages, the "glory that was Rome's." Accordingly, the medieval union of secular and ecclesiastical powers in the Roman church gives the key to the interpretation of both the horn and the head, proving that the head which was wounded unto death is figurative of the ecclesiastical part only. For on the leopard-like beast, Rome is not represented by either a wounded horn or a horn-head, but by a wounded head only, which shows that the blow affected, not the secular half, the state (horn), but only the ecclesiastical half, the church (head). WHY NOT BOTH VISIONS ALIKE? Question No. 59:---If Daniel 7:8, 25 and Revelation 13:3 both prefigure the same power, and if the Roman church during the Middle Ages is the one there predicted, then why is she, in Daniel's vision, a combined secular and ecclesiastical power (horn-head), while in The Revelation she is only an ecclesiastical power (head)? Answer:---That the same power is indeed symbolized by both beasts is unmistakably seen from the fact that both "blasphemed" the same length of time: the former, for "a time and times, and the dividing of time" (Dan. 7:25); and the latter, for "forty and two months" (Rev. 13:5). This same period is identically stated in Revelation 11:3, and is equivalently represented in Revelation 12:14 as "a time, and times, and half a time," which according to the rule of interpretation of Ezekiel 4:6, is equated: "time half a time" or "dividing of time"--1/2 year: in the aggregate equaling 3 1/2 years, 42 months, or 1260 days (12 months to a year, and 30 days to a month, Bible reckoning). Daniel's vision foretells only the formation of that church and state union, and for this very reason John's was given to show its final stage, its dissolution only. Thus the two visions complete the whole--the formation and the dissolution. LAKE OF FIRE BURNING OR EXTINCT DURING MILLENNIUM? Question No. 60:---If the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire before the millennium (Rev. 19:20), and the Devil after the millennium (Rev. 20:10), will this fire continue burning between the two events? Answer:---The fire may be symbolical, as so much of The Revelation is. But whether it be actual fire or something else, it does not necessarily have to burn throughout the millennium, but may be rekindled afterwards. ONLY A PORTION NOT TRODDEN? Question No. 61:---In Tract No. 9, "Behold I Make All Things New," 1942 Edition, p. 38 is the statement: "That portion of the new earth which the feet of the wicked have trodden...will be purified by the fire's coming 'down from God out of heaven.'" We have been taught that in the second resurrection, the wicked will come up from their graves from every part of the earth. If so, then how is it possible that they will tread only a portion of it? Answer:---The part of the new earth which the feet of the wicked do not tread and defile, is that portion where the Holy City rests. WHO MADE THE THIRD DECREE? Question No. 62:---I have carefully studied the temple type as found in "The Shepherd's Rod," Vol. 2, but I cannot see how Darius can be made the author of the third decree, unless you take the position that he made two decrees. How do you clear this difficulty? Answer:---The Bible declares that the temple was finished at the commandment of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, "in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the King." Ezra 6:14,15. As the Artaxerxes decree of Ezra 7, to beautify the temple, not to build it (verse 27), was made after the three aforementioned, it therefore cannot be the Artaxerxes decree of Ezra 6:14. Hence, there were three decrees to build it, and one to beautify it: (1) one by Cyrus (Ezra 1:2-4); (2) one by Darius (Ezra 6:11, 12); (3) one by Artaxerxes, not recorded; (4) one by Artaxerxes, recorded (Ezra 7:21- 26). Thus it is that Artaxerxes' decree of chapter 7, being the third on record, has received the classification as such, as though it may in fact be the fourth. Accordingly, there must have been two Artaxerxes' decrees. As the temple building was finished "in the sixth year of the reign of Darius" (Ezra 6:15), not in the reign of Artaxerxes, then if Darius' decree is not the third and last, it must be concluded that the Darius who reigned when the temple was finished made no decree. If our deductions should be incorrect, and if ever further light on this subject becomes necessary, it is certain that the Lord will not keep us in ignorance of it. Since at the present time, however, the point of interest is of no practical concern, suffice the answer given. 456 OR 457 B.C.? Question No. 63:---In Tract No. 3 "The Judgment and the Harvest," 1942 Edition, p. 37, the computation, according to the diagram, dates the beginning of the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 from 456 B.C., whereas "The Great Controversy," p. 328, dates it from 457 B.C. How do you harmonize the two? Answer:---Dealing with the long prophetic period in round numbers only, the Tract counts back 2300 years from 1844, thus locating the period's starting point as 456 B.C. The Great Controversy, however, is dealing with the fact that the period began, not in the first month of the year according to the present calendar, but rather in the seventh month (our October) of the year according to the Mosaic calendar (Ex. 12:2). The difference is seen from the following diagram. The upper part of it deals in the terms of the tract; the lower part, in the terms of The Great Controversy. ALL OR A REMNANT--WHICH? Question No. 64:---Romans 9:27 says that a "remnant" of Israel will be saved, but Romans 11:26 says that "all" Israel will be saved. I do not understand this. Can you help me? Answer:---Romans 9:27 is speaking of Israel as a nation, of which only a remnant will be saved; whereas Romans 11:26 is referring to the elect of Israel as individuals, all of whom will be saved. FEW OR MANY SAVED? Question No. 65:---"The plan of salvation had been accomplished," says "Early Writings," p. 281, "but few had chosen to accept it." This statement is used very extensively against the doctrine of the "great multitude" as taught by the Davidians. Will you please clear it? Answer:---Though during His own ministry on earth Jesus lamented that "many be called, but few chosen" (Matt. 20:16), yet long before, through Isaiah, He had declared in prophetic promise to the church: "Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought....A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time." Isa. 60:11, 22. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." Isa. 2:2-5. And through the prophet Zechariah, He again recorded the promise: "Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day." Zech. 2:11. "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." Zech. 13:8, 9. Moreover, while in Early Writings, p. 281, the author says, "But few have chosen to accept it," in The Great Controversy, p. 665, she classifies the great multitude of Revelation 7:9 as a company separate from the martyrs and from all others who are to be resurrected, thereby plainly showing that the "great multitude" are not the resurrected but the living translated. This is also borne out by Counsels to Teachers, p. 532. Now, if we are to arrive at the truth, we must interpret the statement in Early Writings and the one in Matthew 20:16, in a way as to harmonize with Isaiah 60:11, 22; Zechariah 2:11; 13:8, 9; The Great Controversy, p. 665, and other passages, all of which show that there is to be a great multitude. No candid Bible student would build a theory upon an interpretation that would lead him to set aside all other scriptures on the subject. He will seek to make his final analysis in such a way as to be in perfect harmony with all of them, or else confess that he does not have the light on the subject. In the clear light of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy passages here cited, the weight of evidence incontestably leads to the conclusion that a great multitude is to be saved. The truth becomes evident, then, that the "few" comprehends those saved at the call of each message during the ages past, the time before the "harvest." But in the closing of the world's history, during the harvest time of the gospel, there is to be a great ingathering of redeemed souls, "a great multitude such as no man can number." The term "harvest" implies just such a reaping. Thus in comparison to the aggregate number of the lost through the ages, the aggregate number of the saved are few; but non-comparatively, the aggregate saved of all ages are, in actual count, many. To this fact attest the words of Ezekiel: "So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Ezek. 37:10. As the salvation of a great multitude is counter only to the Devil's plan, let us not work to his interest. ON WHICH SIDE WILL YOU BE? Question No. 66:---How do the Davidians regard the Seventh-day Adventist denomination? What position do they take concerning the writings of Mrs. E.G. White and what does Mt. Carmel stand for? Answer:---The Davidian Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Seventh-day Adventist church was ordained of heaven and charged with a special message for the world, but that in the course of time she permitted herself to grow self-complacent, lukewarm, and careless in discharging her sacred responsibilities; and that thus having once "turned back from following Christ her Leader." she has ever since been "steadily retreating toward Egypt," with the sad and tragic consequence that her "own course of continual backsliding has separated" her from God.--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217. The Davidians further believe that this tragic departure from the Lord is all too manifest in that divided state revealed in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination by the contest within it "between the commandments of God and the commandments of men."--Id., p. 81. To the end be resolved into unity and strength, an absolute imperative to the church's ever fulfilling her high destiny, the Davidians still further believe that, as is written, "the gold will be separated from the dross in the church." In other words, they believe that the Modernists, those who have rendered supreme homage to "'science falsely so-called,'...trusted to intellect, genius, or talent" (Id p. 80), will be winnowed from the Fundamentalists--from those who "are standing in the light...sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land."--ld., p. 209. Let it, however, be immediately understood that, unlike those who openly affirm their modernistic views, the Seventh-day Adventist Modernists deprecate all such tendencies, and insistently profess to stand solidly on the fundamentals of Seventh-day Adventism, although unwittingly they gradually slip further and further away from them (Christ our Righteousness, 1941 Edition, P. 36). That this drift is recognized as an actual peril by some even within the church, is seen from an article published in The Review and Herald, July 2, 1936, entitled, "Modernism--A Personal Application:" "As we view with alarm the rapid spread of Modernism among the various Protestant churches, it is well to consider our own lives, to see if the same principles and trends may not have begun to operate there. While the doctrines and principles of Seventh-day Adventists are Fundamentalistic, there is grave danger that we as individuals may become Modernistic. "In order better to appreciate this danger, it is well to consider the essential difference between Fundamentalist believes in the word of God as a final authority; while the Modernist believes in the interpretation of the word of God according to his human reasoning, thus putting reasoning above the God of revelation. "In these last days, God has not confined His revelation to us as a people to the Scriptures only, but has also given us special instruction through the manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy .... "So while the popular churches show their Modernistic attitude only toward the Bible, it is possible for us to show the same attitude toward God's special messages to us. In fact, our relation to the Testimonies is the very place where this attitude will be first manifested." This insidious variety of modernism, weakening "the faith of God's people in the Testimonies" (Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 211), and gradually "new-modeling" the Denomination's fundamental principles (Testimonies to Ministers pp. 48, 69, 70, 360, 372, 373, 409), is heart-breaking evidence that those at its helm are Modernists. But their seeming innocence of the fact, and their denial of it, make exceedingly difficult our doing anything to help them, without our efforts being misunderstood. And to fix guilt for starting the drift away from the Heaven-established fundamentals of the faith today, is as impossible as to trace down the first Jewish teacher who put in the place of a "thus saith the Lord," a thus saith himself or someone else. Indeed, whom to charge with this defection is as impossible to determine as is the date when the evil work started. Inspiration says: "There are those today who will present falsehoods as testing truths, even as the Jews presented the maxims of men as the bread of heaven. Sayings of no value are given to the people of God as their portion of meat, while souls are starving for the bread of life. Fables have been devised and men are trying to weave these fables into the web. Those who do this will one day see their work as it is viewed by the heavenly intelligences. They choose to bring to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble, when they have at their command the word of God, with all its richness and power, from which they can gather precious treasures of truth. The food that is being prepared for the flock will cause spiritual consumption, decline, and death. When those who profess to believe present truth come to their senses when they accept the word of God just as it reads, when they do not try to wrest the Scriptures, they will bring from the treasure-house of the heart things new and old, to strengthen themselves and those for whom they labor."--The Review and Herald, June 18, 1901. Next, the Davidians hold that the belief that the Spirit of Prophecy is to repose in the church to the end of time, is one of the foundation stones of Seventh-day Adventism. "This prophetic gift bestowed," admits Elder A.G. Daniels, "was to abide with the church from Adam to the second advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ when He comes to take His redeemed people to Paradise. It did not cease with the apostles, but is traceable through the centuries to the last days of human history, just before the return of our Lord. When that supreme event of the ages shall occur, then--and not until then--shall come to pass that which is spoken of by the apostle Paul: "'...whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come that which is in part shall be done away.'--1 Cor. 13:8-10, A.R.V."--The Abiding Gift Of Prophecy, p. 6. Since this prophetic gift was manifest through Sister White, as has been evidentially established, she necessarily, then, wrote under divine Inspiration, as did the Bible writers. And, therefore, orthodox Seventh-day Adventism turns on the pivotal truth that "no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation," and can no more be understood now without special divine illumination than could prophecy have been understood in Daniel's time without enlightenment from the angel, who explained: "I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your Prince." Dan. 10:21. Just so, the same Michael must commission a "teacher" for us today; otherwise those things which belong to our peace will be "hid from [our] eyes." Luke 19:42. This solid rock of doctrine was ever to be the Denomination's sure foundation, and just to the extent that its principles have been faithfully followed out has there been power in the church. Upon the death of Sister White, in 1915, the gift of Inspiration, the active Spirit of Prophecy, became quiescent, no longer manifesting Itself for a time. With the church thus cut off from the very source of its life, as was the Jewish church from the death of the prophet Malachi to the rise of John the Baptist, how could it maintain its vitality and growth? Hence, now as then, there has followed the same inevitable spiritual malnutrition and deformity, accompanied with a long train of woes. Against this dark background of spiritual decline and consumption (wretchedness, misery poverty, blindness, and nakedness), and imminent end (being spued out), stands out in bold relief the sternly chiseled work of Mt. Carmel Center, as did the flaming summit of ancient Carmel amid the idolatry and decadence of apostate Israel. Again type meets antitype. But to the Israel of God today, says the angel: "Ye have done worse than they."--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 129. "Like a hammer to break the flinty heart; like a fire to consume the dross" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 254), the voice of Carmel cries unto Laodicea the unheeded warning: "I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed Heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity is in all her borders. "The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us."--Testimonies, Vol. 5 p. 217. "Now is the time when we should closely connect with God, that we may be hid when the fierceness of his wrath is poured upon the sons of men. We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If the Lord be God, serve him; if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be on?"--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 137. And now louder and louder sounds the voice of Carmel, through the series of The Shepherd's Rod publications, "the Lord's voice...unto the city, and," says the Divine Author, "the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the Rod, and Who hath appointed it." Mic. 6:9. "Feed thy people," He commands, "with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel." Mic. 7:14. Thus to rescue the honest in Laodicea from spiritual starvation and death, to revitalize, restore, and rearm them for the final conflict, the Lord has sent the Rod. When this work of restitution has been completed according to Matthew 17:11, and the Modernist element has been "cut off" as decreed in Ezekiel 9 and in Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80, then will be seen in the church a speedy fulfillment of the words of Christ: "The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;" and it stood. Matt. 7:25. Like the early pioneers of the Adventist church, those who heed the Rod are the restorers of the "old paths;" they realize the grave consequences involved in going contrary to any light the Lord chooses to send His people. And since the message of the Rod has aroused an interest in the need of "reformation among God's people," we as Davidians would not only be recreant to out trust but would also be passing "by on the other side," allowing our beloved Seventh-day Adventist church to drag in the dust, our brethren to be lost, and the world around us to perish for "lack of knowledge," if we did not bestir ourselves to warn the church of the oncoming danger. Our unselfish zeal and effort to help all Modernist Seventh-day Adventist brethren, regardless of their race, nationality, or social position, is evidence enough of our love for them and our devotion to them. We believe with the apostle Paul that all are of the children of Adam children of adoption into the family of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Though we realize the greatness of our goal, yet with implicit confidence in our Leader, Who has never yet failed to carry through any phase of the Divine purpose, we face our task with courage and confidence, believing that "we are well able to go up and possess the land" of our inheritance, and finally to pass into that heavenly Canaan, where "milk and honey" will flow forever. Of necessity, then, Mt. Carmel Center is being built as a base of operations for training and fitting workers to carry this special message to the church; for educating deserving youth; for caring for worthy poor, aged, widowed, and orphaned; and for ministering to the sick and infirm according to God's plan. It has heard God's double charge to it: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isa. 58:1. "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet." Joel 2:15, 16. When it has accomplished this "closing work for the church" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), then those who have overcome every "temptation in the strength of the Might One," who have sighed and cried and escaped the destruction will "be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them." Zech. 12:8. Davidians indeed!--"a great people and a strong" (Joel 2:2), "clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness,...'fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,'...to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer."--Prophets and Kings, p. 725. In this way the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists are to gather all the saints to the house of the Lord. Mt. Carmel's great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so that we may then go home to our eternal rest, no more to be fettered with the shackles of sin. SAVE THE CHURCH OR THE WORLD? Question No. 67:---If, at this late hour, we give our whole effort for the salvation of the church, how will the rest of the world ever be reached? Answer:---The mission to save the world cannot be more important than the mission to save the church. Enlarging the church membership under the now prevailing lukewarm Laodicean conditions, could no more advance the Kingdom of Christ than could have been done under the conditions in the Jewish church in the days of His first advent. Understanding the true situation in that church, John the Baptist and Christ Himself and even the apostles at first, engaged them selves to work, not for the world in general, but only in the interest of their brethren in the church. As the same departure from Christ exists within the church now as it did then (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217), it will take much greater effort to rescue the people from the Laodicean "sad deception" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253), than if they were in heathenism. For in Laodicea they are made to believe that they have all the truth there is to be had, that they are rich increased with goods, and in need of nothing--their salvation forever secured as long as they hold membership in the church! Hence there is greater risk of their losing their souls in the church while she is "lukewarm" and about to be spued out, than if they remain in the world until the church awakes from her slumber, and anoints herself with the eyesalve (Truth)--sees right, does right, and leads and feeds the flock aright. Let every honest member ask the question, If the church herself is not saved (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253), not following Christ her Leader (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217) and "has become an harlot" (Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 250), how can she save others? The greatest need therefore is first to save those in the church, then those in the world. The "special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people" (The Great Controversy, p. 425), "the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), must come first, then is to follow the sealing of those in the world. The men and means already devoted to missionary work for the world are so plenteous as entirely to overshadow the meager facilities available for carrying the message to the Laodiceans, although the church is in even greater need than is the world. However, carrying the message to the church does not affect the mission work for the world, for while the Davidians labor in the interest of the church, the Denomination carries the old message to the world. But should the Davidians also devote their time and money to looking after the interests of the heathen, then both the church and the world would be plunged into hell. Consequently, to save the world, we must first seek to save the church from the ruin that is imminent, as did John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles, in their day. After the church awakes and ceases dreaming that she is "rich, and increased with goods," finds out that she is in need of everything rather than of "nothing," puts on her strength by turning to Christ her Leader, clothes herself in the garments of His righteousness, and lets the unclean pass no more through her (Isa. 52:1), then shall her righteousness go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see her righteousness, and all kings her glory (Isa. 62:1, 2). Then will she really be able to save. Then her "gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto" her "the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve" her "shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." Isa. 60:11, 12. Let all Present-truth believers, therefore, pursue this course to its happy climax: "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee." Zech. 2:10, 11. Still further, as it is not we, but Christ Who "is taking the reins in His own hands" (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300), it is not our duty to tell Him which work should be done, and which should be left undone, but let every follower of His realize that He will "work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300. Be not like the class who "question and criticize everything that arises in the unfolding of truth" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 690), but be like those who "let Heaven guide."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 475. The command to us is: "Cry aloud, spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isa. 58:1. "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him; and His work before Him." Isa. 62:10, 11. PURIFIED BY GOD, OR BY SATAN? Question No. 68:---Is the church to be purified before the enforcement of the beast's decree as predicted in Revelation 13:15-17? Or will this drastic decree be the means of purifying the church by sifting from her those who are disloyal to the Truth? Answer:---If it be true that the beast's decree is to sift out the unconverted (the tares) that are in the church, then one must conclude that the beast is not a symbol of a power of dragon-like principle, but a heaven-sent agency, sent to cast out the tares which the dragon has brought in! From Ezekiel 9 we see that not the "beast," but the angels are to do this. After the one with the writer's inkhorn by his side marks those who sigh and cry for the abominations that are done in their midst, the five with slaughter weapons follow on to slay all who are left without the mark. And this great purgation, as both the prophecy itself and the Testimonies specifically state, takes place in the church. (See Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 266, 267; Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 210, 211; also Tract No. 1, The Dardanelles of the Bible.) It is Satan's predetermined purpose to pollute the church by multiplying instead of reducing the disloyal members. And if his most drastic fiat is to purify the church, then to what purpose does the Lord "suddenly come to His temple ...and...sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mal. 3:1-3); why is a message to cause the shaking (Early Writings, p. 270); and why are the angels of Ezekiel 9, those who "shall come forth," to "sever the wicked from among the just"? Matt. 13:49. Is this burden of the purifying work, Satan's or the Lord's? Satan is doing nothing to purify the church, but is doing everything to pollute it. Therefore the beast's decree and his rigid enforcement of it, are not for the purpose of purifying the church, but for the purpose of blockading the way out of Babylon, thereby holding the world captive. This he does specifically to halt the steady flow of multitudes of converts to the then already purged and purified church. In spite, however, of the Enemy's heaviest efforts to keep them in Babylon, the faithful will come out. They will take heed to the Lord's counsel: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." Rev. 14:9, 10. INFANTS AND HEATHEN SAVED OR LOST? Question No. 69:---Will infants and heathen who die without having the opportunity of hearing the gospel of Christ and of accepting Him as their Saviour, be saved? If they can thus be saved in their ignorance, then why cannot all be saved? Answer:---Could the gospel-ignorant be saved in their ignorance, then it were far better that the church leave the whole world ignorant of the gospel, so that all might be saved. But no! no one can be saved without the gospel. As to the salvation of infants and children whose parents are saved, the Spirit of Prophecy says: "Angels 'gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.' Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers' arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part, and with songs of gladness ascend together to the city of God."--The Great Controversy, p. 645. "So was the faith of this woman rewarded. Christ, the great Life-giver, restored her son to her. In like manner will His faithful ones be rewarded, when, at His coming, death loses its sting, and the grave is robbed of the victory it has claimed. Then will He restore to His servants the children that have been taken from them by death. 'Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded,...and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.'"--Prophets and Kings, p. 239. And as to the salvation of children whose parents are lost, the Lord commands: "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ezek. 9:6. "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they stoned them with stones." Josh. 7:24, 25. From these inspired passages, we see that infants and children are saved only because of the faithfulness of their parents. What a solemn, wonderful, and dreadful responsibility! Concerning the heathen slave, we read: "I saw that the slave-master will have to answer for the soul of his slave whom he has kept in ignorance; and the sins of the slave will be visited upon the master. God can not take to heaven the slave who has been kept in ignorance and degradation, knowing nothing of God or the Bible, fearing nothing but his master's lash, and holding a lower position than the brutes. But He does the best thing for him that a compassionate God can do. He permits him to be as if he had not been."--Early Writings, p. 276. Clearly, therefore, those who have had no opportunity to learn the truth of salvation, will never suffer the punishment which the informed wicked will suffer, although they cannot be given eternal life. WILL THE GATHERING FROM ALL NATIONS INCLUDE ALL THE COLORED PEOPLE? Question No. 70:---Does the scripture, "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands" (Ps. 68:31), mean that the colored race will turn to God? Answer:---Though no people are saved as a nation, the scripture in question, taken with kindred passages, does most certainly show that there will be a great ingathering from Ethiopia. It is just such ingatherings from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people of earth that are to make up the "great multitude" of Revelation 7:9. "Princes shall come out of Egypt" (Ps. 68:31) say the Scriptures. "And many nations" at that time "shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Mic. 4:2. "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Isa. 62:2. Looking forward to this great ingathering, the prophet asks the question: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows!" Then the Lord answers: "Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My wrath I smote thee, but in My favour have I had mercy on thee. "Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel." Isa. 60:8-14. "For great shall be the day of Jezreel." Hos. 1:11. WILL GENTILES INHERIT THE KINGDOM? Question No. 71:---Is spiritual Israel made up of Gentiles? Am I right in saying that the relationship of the Gentiles to Israel is that of adoption? Answer:---There is to be but one family tree in the Kingdom, the tree of Jacob, into which the Gentiles are grafted, as is seen from Romans 11. This is further shown by the holy city wherein is no Gentile gate, but each of whose twelve gates bears one of the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Hence, the Gentiles are saved through adoption--grafted into the original olive tree, and thus as naturalized citizens of Israel they inherit the Kingdom. WHO IS SHE THAT HALTETH? Question No. 72:---Will you please explain Micah 4:6, 7? Answer:---"In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever." Mic. 4:6, 7. These verses bring to view three nations: "her that halteth," "her that is driven out," and her that is "afflicted. " In the parable of the seed sower, we are told that "he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon [not halting] with joy received It; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended;...But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word and understandeth It; which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matt. 13:20, 21, 23. The difference between the two soils is that the seed in the stony, shallow soil comes up quickly, while the seed in the good, deep soil comes up slowly. From this analogical lesson we see that "her that halteth" is the one that received seed in good soil, the Christian church. And she is the one that needs to be assembled because she is scattered and divided into schisms. Then, when assembled, she will constitute the woman's "remnant." Rev. 12:17. She "that is driven out" can be none other than the ten-tribe kingdom, and she that is "afflicted" is the two-tribe kingdom, Judah, as will be seen from reading the third chapter of Micah. "Her that halteth," the Christian church, the Lord will make a remnant: He will separate her unlawful children, the tares, from her. "And her that was cast far off," the ten-tribe kingdom, He will make "a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever." Mic 4:7. And unto Judah "shall the gathering of the people be." Gen. 49:10. The descendants of these three--of "her that halteth" (the early Christian church plus the converted Gentiles); of "her that is driven out" (the dispersed of Israel--the ten-tribe kingdom); and of her that is "afflicted" (the two-tribe kingdom, Judah)--compose the Kingdom-church. Thus the subjects who are the root of the Kingdom, are to be converted and gathered from the Christian church and from the descendants of the two ancient kingdoms, Israel and Judah, and then brought to Mount Zion, because "the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know Me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah." Ps. 87:2-6. MARRIAGE OR CELIBACY? Question No. 73:---Paul says: "Brethren, the time is short; it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none." "For I would that all men were even as I myself. " 1 Cor. 7:2 9, 7. What does he mean? Answer:---Properly to understand the apostle's doctrine of marriage and celibacy, as set forth in the verses in question, and in order to get a correct perspective on his aim and on the points which he is discussing, it is necessary first to view the chapter in its complete setting. 1 Corinthians 7:1 reveals that he was in receipt of a letter, and his answer to it (in this same chapter) shows that among the believers in the Corinthian church, there was dissatisfaction and lack of understanding as to the marriage relation. Some were dissatisfied with their lot of single life; others were tired of their lot of married life; while still others questioned whether they should leave their unbelieving husbands or wives, and remarry. Endeavoring as always to be all things to all men, and to avoid if possible any ruptures in the young church, Paul tactfully and clearly sets forth the benefits both of the wedded estate and of the single estate. Of the unmarried and the widows, he says: "It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." 1 Cor. 7:8, 9. "And unto the married"--both to those couples each of whom believed in Christ, and to those couples one of whom did not--he writes: "I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:...and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him." 1 Cor. 7:10-13. In this short discourse, we see that the apostle does not advocate celibacy, but plainly urges that in order "to avoid fornication, ...every man have his own wife, and...every woman have her own husband." 1 Cor. 7:2. He appeals to husbands and wives both of whom are believers, but who are not getting on together well, to try if possible to live peaceably with each other. And where but one is a believer that one should try to convert the unbelieving partner (1 Cor. 7:14). He adds, though, that if the unbelieving one should leave, "a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases." 1 Cor. 7:15. With equal pointedness, he teaches that should two of the same faith decide to separate, they should not marry another, but try to be reconciled (1 Cor. 7:11). Happier still, though: "Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife." 1 Cor. 7:27. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Cor. 7:20), and learn to be content as "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philip. 4:11. The present state of life being of short duration, he urged them for the time being to set their affections, not on the things of this world, but on the glories of the world to come, for "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Cor. 2:9. When this happy, holy state is reached, then it will be that "both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." 1 Cor. 7:29-31. That is, those who now have wives shall not be any more advantaged by them in the life hereafter than if they had none; neither shall those who buy now, then possess more than those who buy nothing now; but all--married and single, those who weep and those who rejoice, those who buy and those who do not--shall then be circumstanced alike, so that all may rejoice together, "for the fashion of this world passeth away." "So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better. "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God." 1 Cor. 7:38-40. Nowhere in this matrimonial counsel is Paul lending the force of his precept and example to the absolute preferment of one estate of life above another, nor to the abolition of the sanctified marital privileges and rights guaranteed by the marriage covenant. Those who do conclude themselves led to elect marriage, and who are determined to move in fear to the glory of God, will necessarily marry "only in the Lord": they will not take to themselves either unbelievers or unconverted worldly, careless, unconsecrated believers. The wise will keep constantly in mind the realization that worldly dress and deportment cannot charm a true Christian and therefore cannot possibly bring a happy, abiding, true Christian union. They will set their affections only upon one who is an earnest, zealous, industrious spiritual-minded adherent to Present Truth. And an equally important requisite to the success of this most excellent yet most difficult of life's undertakings is that neither one enter into it prematurely, without having made the full necessary preparation. Accordingly, no God-fearing Davidian young man can morally permit himself to contemplate marriage unless he be one who, having early in life determined what trade or profession he be best fitted for, has set his goal, and has either reached it or is well on the way to reaching it, has built and furnished himself a house or has the means to do so, or at least has furnished or is able to furnish one. Attempting to assume the complex, heavy, and trying responsibilities of conducting a home in God's order, without having fully made the all-essential preparations here mentioned, one can little expect to develop the physical, mental, and spiritual powers to which a Christian is divinely intended to attain. Neglecting this, he will make life a drudgery and a curse, and will by the woeful bargain become a mere cumberer of the ground rather than a blessing to the earth. Instead of being nobly independent of others, he will be ignobly dependent upon them; instead of being an uplifting influence to society, he will be a degrading one; instead of affording his children reasonable security of opportunity, giving them the care and training that every human being deserves, he will father a brood of unfortunates, doomed in all probability to the low destiny of misfits. Every devout Davidian young man will avoid such a tragedy by fully preparing for this greatest experience in life before venturing upon it. He will remember that before the Lord brought man into existence, He first made the earth man's home, and then furnished it with light, air food, and water, with shrub, tree, and grass, with bird, beast, and cattle. And knowing this, he will follow suit. Besides meeting all these indispensable qualifications, the prospective husband who cherishes matrimonial success, will not take the step of marriage before he has qualified himself to do the home duties of the wife in event she fall sick, become otherwise incapacitated or be taken away, or they devolve upon him for some other unexpected reason. On the other hand, no God-fearing Davidian young woman can morally contemplate marriage unless she has acquired the domestic skills and can shoulder every duty of the home. If she can keep the house clean and neat and orderly; if she can proficiently cook, launder, and sew; if she can care for the sick and administer first aid; if she can intelligently care for children; if she can raise a thrifty garden to supply her table with plenty of fresh vegetables (for when cut, days before used, they lose most of the vitamins through oxidation);--if she can do all these, then she is worthy of the respect owing a good wife; she has acquired the cement of a strong, enduring union. Even so, though, respecting and respected as she must be, she also must have some trade or profession so that should the husband take sick or become disabled or be taken away she can head the home and care for its needs and meet its problems. Finally, both will reckon well with the fact that seldom is any young man's mental, moral, and professional equipment adequate to the responsibilities of marriage before he has arrived at the age of twenty-four--the day of man's full growth and development, and that a young woman is seldom thus prepared before she has reached the age of twenty--the day of woman's full growth and development. IS THE LAW MADE VOID? Question No. 74:---Paul writes: "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded In his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." Rom. 14:5, 6. In the light of this scripture, is it not true that one is saved by faith no matter what his doctrinal belief may be in the Sabbath and in diet? Answer:---Having anticipated this very question, Inspiration through Paul and his co-laborers straightway answered it: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10. "For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?...Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone....Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?...For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:14, 17, 19, 20, 26. Again: having written, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8), Paul could not possibly have turned around and advocated that a man can be saved by a gospel of his own, by what he himself thinks or does. No rational person who believes Paul's writings as a part of Holy Writ can honestly convince himself that Paul would at one moment uplift the law and at the next moment tread it down. Decidedly, therefore, one's interpretation of the apostle's writings must be such as to make them consistent. In Romans 14:5, 6 he is endeavoring to correct unfair criticism by admonishing the believers that everyone must be persuaded in his own conscience, and that the duty of a Christian is to keep, speak, and teach the Truth, not to demand obedience to it; not to despise those who eat or those who do not, or those who esteem one day above another; but to let all be fully persuaded in their own minds. In short a Christian's duty is to be charitable, to be an altogether-Christian, having a mind of his own, but ever being ready to forgo his opinions for a "thus saith the Lord." That the Sabbath and consequently all the other commandments are perpetual, to be kept even hereafter, anyone can easily see from the following scriptures: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23. And looking forward to the time of "the great and dreadful day of the Lord," the time just ahead of us, the Lord admonishes the people who will be living at that time: "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." Mal. 4:4. "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant; even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons, and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings, and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him." Isa. 56:1-8. As therefore not only the Sabbath but also the whole law is to be kept now and forever by both Jew and Gentile, faith does not do away with the law of God, but rather establishes it forever, and enables one to keep it. Those who are truly converted to God through the righteousness of Christ, find no hardship in obeying the law. They delight to do God's will. And finally, when they enter the promised land and God gives them new hearts and inscribes His commandments thereupon (Ezek. 36:23-29), then for the cleansed ones to venture to sin, will be a thousand times greater trial than it was to Joseph in Egypt when he cried out against temptation: "How...can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God"? (Gen. 39:9), and no more possible than it was for Christ. Indeed, sin will be as naturally abhorrent to us then as death is now. Christ makes this possible by washing away our sins with His precious blood, recreating in us a sinless nature, a "new heart," while taking us from among the heathen, and bringing us into our "own land." Ezek. 36:24. ARE WE NOT DELIVERED FROM KEEPING THE LAW? Question No. 75:---To what law does Galatians 3:13 refer? Does deliverance from the curse of the law of sin mean deliverance from keeping the ten commandments? Answer:---The law spoken of in Galatians 3:13 is the Ten commandment law (Ex.20:). It teaches one that his obedience to it brings to him the manifold blessing of: maintaining his fidelity to God and to man; safeguarding his religion (Ex. 20:3-7) if it be built on Truth; ever reminding him that God created the heaven and the earth in six working days, securing for him the joyous privilege to be with God while resting on His Holy Day--the seventh (Ex. 20:8-11); teaching children to honor their parents (Ex. 20:12), preventing one from murdering (Ex. 20:13); preserving chastity in all, but particularly safeguarding women (Ex. 20.14); instilling in him honesty (Ex. 20:15) and developing the highest integrity; keeping him from falsehood (Ex. 20:16); and saving him from covetousness (Ex. 20:17). It is the Christian's mirror, and his defense. A doctrine, therefore, which countermands strict obedience to the law of God, the only written words which He has vouchsafed to us with His own fingers and publicly spoken by His own voice (Ex. 31:18; Deut. 4:13, 14), is in consequence permitting worship of other gods, and is thus in effect not only teaching Christians to dishonor the Father of all creation but also thereby encouraging dishonor to all parents, besides winking at murder, immorality, dishonesty, lying, and covetousness. Hence, if violated, the law brings curses; if kept inviolate, it brings blessings. (See Exodus 20:5, 6; Revelation 22: 14.) No one, however without a thorough conversion can possibly have either the burden or the power to keep it inviolate. FOR WHAT PURPOSE SHALL A LIKENESS NOT BE MADE? Question No. 76:---Does not the second commandment of the Decalogue forbid one's carving, casting, painting, or drawing a likeness of anything that is in heaven or in earth? Answer:---To be sure, the second commandment does prohibit the making of likeness to anything, be it in heaven or be it in earth, for the purpose of worshiping God. Some, however, take the extreme position that it forbids the making of any kind of likeness to anything for any reason, even for the purpose of illustrating a thought. To thus condemn any kind of pictorialization, be it scenic, mural, portraitive, photographic, architectural, or whatever, would be to proscribe the whole body of pictorial art and science--the primary implementage of civilization's education system. Nevertheless, if such be the Divinely-willed intent of the commandment, then we must obey it without questioning, and we shall be better off regardless of the consequence. The Bible Itself, however, reveals that the commandment does not prohibit the making of likenesses for any but the purpose of worship. And It even gives the reason for the prohibition. In the writings of Moses, we read: "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice...Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." Deut. 4:12, 15-19. Moreover, in Solomon's temple, likenesses of God's creation were used. For example, Solomon "made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays: and twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps." 2 Chron. 9:17-19. Again, he made a molten sea, "and under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about." 2 Chron. 4:3. Then, too, "cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above." 2 Chron. 5:8. Were not these likenesses of creatures which God created? Did not the Lord direct in the building? The commandment, therefore, prohibits making an imaginary image of God or of anything for the purpose of worship. (All italics ours) WHAT SHALL YOUR NEXT STEP BE? Now if you have enjoyed, appreciated, and profited by this question-and-answer excursion through Book No. 3, and if you desire to continue, then send for Book No. 4. It will be mailed as a Christian service without charge or obligation. SCRIPTURAL INDEX SCRIPTURAL INDEX (Cont.)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line392
__label__cc	0.73491	0.26509	Dida Castro, mezzosoprano Photography by http://www.sirabilbao.es/ Born in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), and living in Ghent (Belgium), Dida Castro began her musical studies at the local Municipal School of Music where she studied piano, guitar, music theory, modern harmony and chamber singing. Later on she started her studies of vocal technique with Maestro Jorge Sirena, with whom she continues to work today. In 2006 she moved to Belgium where she studied music theory and harmony with Liliana Dumas. She has received several Masterclasses from Jaume Aragall, Raquel Pierotti, Lucienne van Dijck, language coach Rochsane Taghikani, Maite Beaumont and Carole Wilson with whom she continues to work frequently. In 2015 she has been awarded with the prize ‘BecaBach’ by the Bach Zum Mitsingen Foundation. She works and has worked repertoire and style with teachers Osias Wilenski, Ricardo Estrada, Viviana Salisi, Maria Neus Devesa and Joseph Buforn in Barcelona and Filip Martens, Inge Spinette and Jef Smits in Belgium. She has given several recitals of opera, oratorio and lieder / mélodie in various concert halls in Belgium, Italy and Catalonia, among which, the AXA Auditorium of Barcelona, the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, the Cercle Artistic Liceu, the Arena Montemerlo (Italy), Concert Gebouw Brugge, Bijloke Gent… and has been invited to sing in different music festivals such as Santa Florentina, Nits Culturals de Sant Pere Sallavinera, Esplugues de Llobregat, Bach Zum Mitsingen, Festival Bach de Toulouse, Festival Bach d’Aix-en-provence… In the field of Opera Dida Castro has received very good critics in her debuted roles of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (W.A. Mozart) in 2013, Flora in La Traviata (G. Verdi) in 2013 – 2011, Maddalena in Rigoletto (G. Verdi) in 2012, Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte (W.A. Mozart) in 2011, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Ch. W. Gluck) in 2011 – 2010 and Catrineta in Cançó d’amor i de guerra (R. Martínez Valls) in 2010. In 2009 she participated in the presentation of the Opera Casparo in the role of Marinella, an artistic project focused on the interaction between opera and artificial intelligence carried out by Sony CSL Paris and UAB. During the year 2013 she made her first incursion in contemporary music recording ‘4 canciones españolas’ by Osías Wilenski. In the field of oratorio she has sung in Sagrada Família, Monestir de Pedralbes, Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar, Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi, Sint-Baafskathedraal and others, the works of G. B. Pergolessi’ Stabat Mater in 2013 – 2012 – 2010, Johannes-Passion by J.S. Bach 2012, many Bach cantatas, Handel’s Utrecht Jubilate Deo, Haydn’s Requiem and several sacred works from Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Mozart and other composers in masses and concerts. As a solo artist Dida Castro has a vast repertoire of Oratorio, Mélodie, Lied, Catalan and Spanish songs and, above all, opera from different periods focusing in the 18th and 19th century repertoire and Belcanto. She currently combines participation in opera productions with concerts and recitals in Europe	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line395
__label__wiki	0.551772	0.551772	FOLIO CCLXXI recto while others which were small now appear large and flourishing. Lombardy, Romandiola, Insubria, Lemilia, and Flamina, the Italian regions, being unrenowned, were not recognized. And so also Macedonia, once under a king called Aemathione, and by him named Aemathia, was insignificant; but later it expanded through the power of its rulers and the skill of its people, and by the attraction of its neighbors. Therefore, if those who read my account do not here find them in the order to which they are accustomed, or in which they find them among other writers, I hope they will not blame me, but keep in mind the reason above mentioned, namely, the changing character of these regions. THRACE (Thracia), as many distinguished writers state, is a vast province or country. To the East is the Euxine Sea, to the South the Aegean, the river Strymon and the Macedonian plains; to the North is the Danube, and to the West the Paeonian Mountains, Hungary and the Save. So said the historians, Pliny and Strabo, who stated that Mt. Remus divides Thrace through the middle, and that the Dardani, Tribaili, and Moesians live in Thrace; that the Triballi lived in the plains, now inhabited by the Rascini or Haiti, or Servi; but the Moesians, after the Triballi, spread out to the East as far as the Euxine, between the Danube and Mt. Hemus, and these we now call the Bulgarians. Beyond this, to the South, and as far as Hellespontum lies Roumania, a Greek nation, though somewhat barbarian; and in our time, after the destruction of the Greek Empire, they again became barbarian under the rule of the Turks. The principal city of this country is Constantinople, formerly called Agios. This city was built by the Lacedaemonians under their leader Pausanius. Of this city, its origin, name and existence, sufficient mention has already been made in this book in the form in which these were described by Aeneas; wherefore his writings have not been repeated here.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line398
__label__wiki	0.538385	0.538385	China Calls Trump Threat of More Tariffs ‘Blackmail’ Home › All › China Calls Trump Threat of More Tariffs ‘Blackmail’ China calls President Donald Trump’s threat to slap more tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. “extreme pressure and blackmail” and threatens to retaliate. Beijing reacted Tuesday to Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods “if China refuses to change its practices.” “China apparently has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology,” a presidential statement said late Monday. “Rather than altering those practices, it is now threatening United States companies, workers, and farmers who have done nothing wrong.” The president has ordered Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to identify a list of $200 billion in additional Chinese goods subject to a 10 percent tariff — a move that would bring on another round of Chinese penalties on American products. Trump has already ordered 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese products. Those penalties are scheduled to take effect next month and will likely be followed by Chinese countermeasures. The U.S. has long accused China of stealing U.S. technology secrets, requiring U.S. firms to share intellectual property as a condition for doing business in joint ventures in China. China denies such theft and accuses Washington of “deviating from the consensus reached by both parties.” The Director of White House National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, told reporters Tuesday the White House has given China every opportunity to change its “aggressive behavior.” Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit last year at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. But that meeting and several rounds of trade talks between high-level officials in the past year have not yielded any progress. “It is important to note here that the actions President Trump has taken are purely defensive in nature. They are designed to defend the crown jewels of American technology from China’s aggressive behavior,” Navarro contended. U.S. stock market tumbled on Tuesday following the latest salvos between Washington and Beijing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1.1 percent at the close of trading and other major indexes posted losses as well. But Navarro dismissed concerns about how the administration’s trade policy would affect the financial markets and global economy, saying it will have only a “relatively small effect.” He argued the U.S. steps will ultimately benefit the country and global trading system. Navarro did not reveal plans for further trade talks between Washington and Beijing, but added, “our phone lines are open, they have always been open.” Trump has said he has an excellent relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but has also said “the United States will no longer be taken advantage of on trade by China and other countries in the world.” He has imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union and is feuding over trade with some of the United States’ closest allies.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line400
__label__cc	0.562332	0.437668	Official: Trump Administration to Publish Proposed Rule Changes for Gun Exports Home › All › Official: Trump Administration to Publish Proposed Rule Changes for Gun Exports The Trump administration is preparing to publish on Thursday long-delayed proposed rule changes for the export of U.S. firearms, a State Department official said on Tuesday. The rule changes would move the oversight of commercial firearm exports from the U.S. Department of State to the Department of Commerce. The action is part of a broader Trump administration overhaul of weapons export policy that was announced in April. Domestic gun sales drop Timing for the formal publication of the rule change and the opening of the public comment period was unveiled by Mike Miller the acting secretary for the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the State Department’s body that currently oversees the bulk of commercial firearms transfers and other foreign military sales. He was speaking at the Forum on the Arms Trade’s annual conference at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. Reuters first reported on the proposed rule changes in September as the Trump administration was preparing to make it easier for American gun makers to sell small arms, including assault rifles and ammunition, to foreign buyers. Domestic gun sales have fallen significantly after soaring under President Barack Obama, when gun enthusiasts stockpiled weapons and ammunition out of fear that the government would tighten gun laws. A move by the Trump administration to make it simpler to sell small arms abroad may generate business for gun makers American Outdoor Brands and Sturm, Ruger & Company in an industry experiencing a deep sales slump since the election of President Donald Trump. Remington recovers from bankruptcy Remington, America’s oldest gun maker, filed for bankruptcy protection in March, weeks after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 people and triggered intensified campaigns for gun control by activists. Remington emerged from bankruptcy last week. The expected relaxing of rules could increase foreign gun sales by as much as 20 percent, the National Sports Shooting Foundation has estimated. As well as the industry’s big players, it may also help small gunsmiths and specialists who are currently required to pay an annual federal fee to export relatively minor amounts of products.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line401
__label__cc	0.62034	0.37966	»2003 Wisconsin Act 144 Date of enactment: March 15, 2004 2003 Assembly Bill 669 Date of publication: March 29, 2004 Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 2001-02 : Effective date of acts. "Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of enactment]. An Act to renumber and amend 102.17 (1) (d) and 102.32 (6); to amend 102.13 (1) (a), 102.13 (1) (b) (intro.), 102.13 (1) (b) 1., 102.13 (1) (b) 3., 102.13 (1) (b) 4., 102.13 (1) (d) 1., 102.13 (1) (d) 2., 102.13 (1) (d) 3., 102.13 (1) (d) 4., 102.13 (2) (a), 102.13 (2) (b), 102.16 (2) (a), 102.16 (2) (d), 102.16 (2) (f), 102.16 (2m) (a), 102.16 (2m) (e), 102.17 (1) (g), 102.18 (1) (e), 102.29 (3), 102.31 (2) (a), 102.32 (6m), 102.35 (1), 102.42 (2) (a), 102.44 (1) (intro.), 102.44 (1) (a), 102.44 (1) (b), 102.49 (5) (a), 102.59 (2), 102.81 (1) (a) and 102.82 (1); and to create 102.32 (6) (d) of the statutes; relating to: making various changes in the worker's compensation law and granting rule-making authority. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: 144,1 Section 1. 102.13 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (1) (a) Except as provided in sub. (4), whenever compensation is claimed by an employee, the employee shall, upon the written request of the employee's employer or worker's compensation insurer, submit to reasonable examinations by physicians, chiropractors, psychologists, dentists, physician assistants, advanced practice nurse prescribers, or podiatrists provided and paid for by the employer or insurer. No employee who submits to an examination under this paragraph is a patient of the examining physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist for any purpose other than for the purpose of bringing an action under ch. 655, unless the employee specifically requests treatment from that physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist. 144,2 Section 2. 102.13 (1) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (1) (b) (intro.) An employer or insurer who requests that an employee submit to reasonable examination under par. (a) or (am) shall tender to the employee, before the examination, all necessary expenses including transportation expenses. The employee is entitled to have a physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist provided by himself or herself present at the examination and to receive a copy of all reports of the examination that are prepared by the examining physician, chiropractor, psychologist, podiatrist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or vocational expert immediately upon receipt of those reports by the employer or worker's compensation insurer. The employee is also entitled to have a translator provided by himself or herself present at the examination if the employee has difficulty speaking or understanding the English language. The employer's or insurer's written request for examination shall notify the employee of all of the following: 144,3 Section 3. 102.13 (1) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (1) (b) 1. The proposed date, time, and place of the examination and the identity and area of specialization of the examining physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, podiatrist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or vocational expert. 102.13 (1) (b) 3. The employee's right to have his or her physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist present at the examination. 102.13 (1) (b) 4. The employee's right to receive a copy of all reports of the examination that are prepared by the examining physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, podiatrist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or vocational expert immediately upon receipt of these reports by the employer or worker's compensation insurer. 144,6 Section 6. 102.13 (1) (d) 1. of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (1) (d) 1. Any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, podiatrist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or vocational expert who is present at any examination under par. (a) or (am) may be required to testify as to the results thereof of the examination. 102.13 (1) (d) 2. Any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist who attended a worker's compensation claimant for any condition or complaint reasonably related to the condition for which the claimant claims compensation may be required to testify before the department when it the department so directs. 102.13 (1) (d) 3. Notwithstanding any statutory provisions except par. (e), any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist attending a worker's compensation claimant for any condition or complaint reasonably related to the condition for which the claimant claims compensation may furnish to the employee, employer, worker's compensation insurer, or the department information and reports relative to a compensation claim. 102.13 (1) (d) 4. The testimony of any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist who is licensed to practice where he or she resides or practices in any state and the testimony of any vocational expert may be received in evidence in compensation proceedings. 144,10 Section 10. 102.13 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (2) (a) An employee who reports an injury alleged to be work-related or files an application for hearing waives any physician-patient, psychologist-patient or chiropractor-patient privilege with respect to any condition or complaint reasonably related to the condition for which the employee claims compensation. Notwithstanding ss. 51.30 and 146.82 and any other law, any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, podiatrist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, hospital, or health care provider shall, within a reasonable time after written request by the employee, employer, worker's compensation insurer, or department or its representative, provide that person with any information or written material reasonably related to any injury for which the employee claims compensation. 144,11 Section 11. 102.13 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.13 (2) (b) A physician, chiropractor, podiatrist, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, hospital, or health service provider shall furnish a legible, certified duplicate of the written material requested under par. (a) upon payment of the actual costs of preparing the certified duplicate, not to exceed the greater of 45 cents per page or $7.50 per request, plus the actual costs of postage. Any person who refuses to provide certified duplicates of written material in the person's custody that is requested under par. (a) shall be liable for reasonable and necessary costs and, notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), reasonable attorney fees incurred in enforcing the requester's right to the duplicates under par. (a). 102.16 (2) (a) The Except as provided in this paragraph, the department has jurisdiction under this subsection, sub. (1m) (a), and s. 102.17 to resolve a dispute between a health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer over the reasonableness of a fee charged by the health service provider for health services provided to an injured employee who claims benefits under this chapter. A health service provider may not submit a fee dispute to the department under this subsection before all treatment by the health service provider of the employee's injury has ended if the amount in controversy, whether based on a single charge or a combination of charges for one or more days of service, is less than $25. After all treatment by a health service provider of an employee's injury has ended, the health service provider may submit any fee dispute to the department, regardless of the amount in controversy. The department shall deny payment of a health service fee that the department determines under this subsection, sub. (1m) (a), or s. 102.18 (1) (b) to be unreasonable. (am) A health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer that are parties to a fee dispute under this subsection are bound by the department's determination under this subsection on the reasonableness of the disputed fee, unless that determination is set aside on judicial review as provided in par. (f). A health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer that are parties to a fee dispute under sub. (1m) (a) are bound by the department's determination under sub. (1m) (a) on the reasonableness of the disputed fee, unless that determination is set aside or modified by the department under sub. (1). An insurer or self-insured employer that is a party to a fee dispute under s. 102.17 and a health service provider are bound by the department's determination under s. 102.18 (1) (b) on the reasonableness of the disputed fee, unless that determination is set aside, reversed, or modified by the department under s. 102.18 (3) or by the commission under s. 102.18 (3) or (4) or is set aside on judicial review under s. 102.23. 144,13 Section 13. 102.16 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.16 (2) (d) The department shall analyze the information provided to the department under par. (c) according to the criteria provided in this paragraph to determine the reasonableness of the disputed fee. The department shall determine that a disputed fee is reasonable and order that the disputed fee be paid if that fee is at or below the mean fee for the health service procedure for which the disputed fee was charged, plus 1.5 1.4 standard deviations from that mean, as shown by data from a database that is certified by the department under par. (h). The department shall determine that a disputed fee is unreasonable and order that a reasonable fee be paid if the disputed fee is above the mean fee for the health service procedure for which the disputed fee was charged, plus 1.5 1.4 standard deviations from that mean, as shown by data from a database that is certified by the department under par. (h), unless the health service provider proves to the satisfaction of the department that a higher fee is justified because the service provided in the disputed case was more difficult or more complicated to provide than in the usual case. 144,14 Section 14. 102.16 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.16 (2) (f) The Within 30 days after a determination under this subsection, the department may set aside, reverse, or modify a determination under this subsection within 30 days after the date of the determination for any reason that the department considers sufficient. Within 60 days after a determination under this subsection, the department may set aside, reverse, or modify the determination on grounds of mistake. A health service provider, insurer, or self-insured employer that is aggrieved by a determination of the department under this subsection may seek judicial review of that determination in the same manner that compensation claims are reviewed under s. 102.23. 144,15 Section 15. 102.16 (2m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.16 (2m) (a) The Except as provided in this paragraph, the department has jurisdiction under this subsection, sub. (1m) (b), and s. 102.17 to resolve a dispute between a health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer over the necessity of treatment provided for an injured employee who claims benefits under this chapter. A health service provider may not submit a dispute over necessity of treatment to the department under this subsection before all treatment by the health service provider of the employee's injury has ended if the amount in controversy, whether based on a single charge or a combination of charges for one or more days of service, is less than $25. After all treatment by a health service provider of an employee's injury has ended, the health service provider may submit any dispute over necessity of treatment to the department, regardless of the amount in controversy. The department shall deny payment for any treatment that the department determines under this subsection, sub. (1m) (b), or s. 102.18 (1) (b) to be unnecessary. (am) A health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer that are parties to a dispute under this subsection over the necessity of treatment are bound by the department's determination under this subsection on the necessity of that treatment, unless that determination is set aside on judicial review as provided in par. (e). A health service provider and an insurer or self-insured employer that are parties to a dispute under sub. (1m) (b) over the necessity of treatment are bound by the department's determination under sub. (1m) (b) on the necessity of that treatment, unless that determination is set aside or modified by the department under sub. (1). An insurer or self-insured employer that is a party to a dispute under s. 102.17 over the necessity of treatment and a health service provider are bound by the department's determination under s. 102.18 (1) (b) on the necessity of that treatment, unless that determination is set aside, reversed or modified by the department under s. 102.18 (3) or by the commission under s. 102.18 (3) or (4) or is set aside on judicial review under s. 102.23. 144,16 Section 16. 102.16 (2m) (e) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.16 (2m) (e) The Within 30 days after a determination under this subsection, the department may set aside, reverse, or modify a determination under this subsection within 30 days after the date of the determination for any reason that the department considers sufficient. Within 60 days after a determination under this subsection, the department may set aside, reverse, or modify the determination on grounds of mistake. A health service provider, insurer, or self-insured employer that is aggrieved by a determination of the department under this subsection may seek judicial review of that determination in the same manner that compensation claims are reviewed under s. 102.23. 144,17 Section 17. 102.17 (1) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 102.17 (1) (d) 1. and amended to read: 102.17 (1) (d) 1. The contents of certified medical and surgical reports by physicians, podiatrists, surgeons, dentists, psychologists, physician assistants, advanced practice nurse prescribers, and chiropractors licensed in and practicing in this state, and of certified reports by experts concerning loss of earning capacity under s. 102.44 (2) and (3), presented by a party for compensation constitute prima facie evidence as to the matter contained in them those reports, subject to any rules and limitations the department prescribes. Certified reports of physicians, podiatrists, surgeons, dentists, psychologists, physician assistants, advanced practice nurse prescribers, and chiropractors, wherever licensed and practicing, who have examined or treated the claimant, and of experts, if the practitioner or expert consents to subject himself or herself being subjected to cross-examination also constitute prima facie evidence as to the matter contained in them those reports. Certified reports of physicians, podiatrists, surgeons, psychologists, and chiropractors are admissible as evidence of the diagnosis, necessity of the treatment, and cause and extent of the disability. Certified reports by doctors of dentistry, physician assistants, and advanced practice nurse prescribers are admissible as evidence of the diagnosis and necessity for of treatment but not of the cause and extent of disability. Any physician, podiatrist, surgeon, dentist, psychologist, chiropractor, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or expert who knowingly makes a false statement of fact or opinion in such a certified report may be fined or imprisoned, or both, under s. 943.395. 2. The record of a hospital or sanatorium in this state operated by any department or agency of the federal or state government or by any municipality, or of any other hospital or sanatorium in this state which that is satisfactory to the department, established by certificate, affidavit, or testimony of the supervising officer or of the hospital or sanitorium, any other person having charge of such records the record, or of a physician, podiatrist, surgeon, dentist, psychologist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or chiropractor to be the record of the patient in question, and made in the regular course of examination or treatment of such the patient, constitutes prima facie evidence in any worker's compensation proceeding as to the matter contained in it the record, to the extent that it the record is otherwise competent and relevant. 3. The department may, by rule, establish the qualifications of and the form used for certified reports submitted by experts who provide information concerning loss of earning capacity under s. 102.44 (2) and (3). The department may not admit into evidence a certified report of a practitioner or other expert or a record of a hospital or sanatorium that was not filed with the department and all parties in interest at least 15 days before the date of the hearing, unless the department is satisfied that there is good cause for the failure to file the report. 144,18 Section 18. 102.17 (1) (g) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.17 (1) (g) Whenever the testimony presented at any hearing indicates a dispute, or is such as to create or creates a doubt as to the extent or cause of disability or death, the department may direct that the injured employee be examined or, that an autopsy be performed, or that an opinion of a physician, chiropractor, dentist, psychologist or podiatrist be obtained without examination or autopsy, by or from an impartial, competent physician, chiropractor, dentist, psychologist or podiatrist designated by the department who is not under contract with or regularly employed by a compensation insurance carrier or self-insured employer. The expense of such the examination, autopsy, or opinion shall be paid by the employer or, if the employee claims compensation under s. 102.81, from the uninsured employers fund. The report of such the examination, autopsy, or opinion shall be transmitted in writing to the department and a copy thereof of the report shall be furnished by the department to each party, who shall have an opportunity to rebut such report on further hearing. 144,19 Section 19. 102.18 (1) (e) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.18 (1) (e) Except as provided in s. 102.21, if the department orders a party to pay an award of compensation, the party shall pay the award no later than 21 days after the date on which the order is mailed to the last-known address of the party, unless a the party files a petition for review under sub. (3). This paragraph applies to all awards of compensation ordered by the department, whether the award results from a hearing, the default of a party, or a compromise or stipulation confirmed by the department. 144,20 Section 20. 102.29 (3) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.29 (3) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent an employee from taking the compensation he or she that the employee may be entitled to under it this chapter and also maintaining a civil action against any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist for malpractice. 102.31 (2) (a) No party to a contract of insurance may cancel it the contract within the contract period or terminate or not renew it the contract upon the expiration date until a notice in writing is given to the other party fixing the proposed date of cancellation or declaring that the party intends to terminate or does not intend to renew the policy upon expiration. Except as provided in par. (b), when an insurance company does not renew a policy upon expiration, the nonrenewal is not effective until 60 days after the insurance company has given written notice of the nonrenewal to the insured employer and the department. Cancellation or termination of a policy by an insurance company for any reason other than nonrenewal is not effective until 30 days after the insurance company has given written notice of the cancellation or termination to the insured employer and the department. Notice to the department may be given either by personal service of the notice upon the department at its office in Madison or, by sending the notice by facsimile machine transmission or certified mail addressed to the department at its office in Madison, or by transmitting the notice to the department at its office in Madison by facsimile machine transmission, electronic mail, or any electronic, magnetic, or other medium approved by the department. The department may provide by rule that the notice of cancellation or termination be given by certified mail or facsimile machine transmission to the Wisconsin compensation rating bureau rather than to the department and that the notice of cancellation or termination be given to the Wisconsin compensation rating bureau by certified mail, facsimile machine transmission, electronic mail, or other medium approved by the department after consultation with the Wisconsin compensation rating bureau. Whenever the Wisconsin compensation rating bureau receives such a notice of cancellation or termination it shall immediately notify the department of the notice of cancellation or termination. 144,22 Section 22. 102.32 (6) of the statutes is renumbered 102.32 (6) (a) and amended to read: 102.32 (6) (a) If compensation is due for permanent disability following an injury or if death benefits are payable, payments shall be made to the employee or dependent on a monthly basis. Compensation for permanent disability that results from an injury for which as provided in pars. (b) to (e). (b) Subject to par. (d), if the employer or the employer's insurer concedes liability and that is for an injury that results in permanent disability and if the extent of the permanent disability can be determined based on a minimum permanent disability rating promulgated by the department by rule, compensation for permanent disability shall begin within 30 days after the end of the employee's healing period or. (c) Subject to par. (d), if the employer or the employer's insurer concedes liability for an injury that results in permanent disability, but the extent of the permanent disability cannot be determined without a medical report that provides the basis for a minimum permanent disability rating, compensation for permanent disability shall begin within 30 days after the employer or the employer's insurer receives a medical report that provides a basis for a permanent disability rating, whichever is later. Compensation for permanent disability that results from an injury for which the employer or the employer's insurer does not concede liability or that is based on a permanent disability rating that is above a minimum permanent disability rating promulgated by the department by rule shall begin within the later of those 30-day periods unless within the later of those 30-day periods the employer or insurer notifies the employee that the employer or insurer is requesting an examination under s. 102.13 (1) (a), in which case compensation for permanent disability shall begin within 30 days after the employer or insurer receives the report of the examination or within 90 days after the date of the request for the examination, whichever is earlier. (e) Payments for permanent disability, including payments based on minimum permanent disability ratings promulgated by the department by rule, shall continue on a monthly basis and shall accrue and be payable between intermittent periods of temporary disability so long as the employer or insurer knows the nature of the permanent disability. 144,23 Section 23. 102.32 (6) (d) of the statutes is created to read: 102.32 (6) (d) The department shall promulgate rules for determining when compensation for permanent disability shall begin in cases in which the employer or the employer's insurer concedes liability, but disputes the extent of permanent disability. 144,24 Section 24. 102.32 (6m) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.32 (6m) The department may direct an advance on a payment of unaccrued compensation for permanent disability or death benefits if the department determines that the advance payment is in the best interest of the injured employee or the employee's dependents. In directing the advance, the department shall give the employer or the employer's insurer an interest credit against its liability. The credit shall be computed at 7%. 102.35 (1) Every employer and every insurance company that fails to keep the records or to make the reports required by this chapter or that knowingly falsifies such records or makes false reports shall forfeit to the state not less than $10 nor more than $100 for each offense. The department may waive or reduce a forfeiture imposed under this subsection if the employer or insurance company that violated this subsection requests a waiver or reduction of the forfeiture within 45 days after notice of the forfeiture is mailed to the employer or insurance company and shows that the violation was due to mistake or an absence of information. 102.42 (2) (a) Where When the employer has notice of an injury and its relationship to the employment, the employer shall offer to the injured employee his or her choice of any physician, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse prescriber, or podiatrist licensed to practice and practicing in this state for treatment of the injury. By mutual agreement, the employee may have the choice of any qualified practitioner not licensed in this state. In case of emergency, the employer may arrange for treatment without tendering a choice. After the emergency has passed the employee shall be given his or her choice of attending practitioner at the earliest opportunity. The employee has the right to a 2nd choice of attending practitioner on notice to the employer or its insurance carrier. Any further choice shall be by mutual agreement. Partners and clinics are deemed considered to be one practitioner. Treatment by a practitioner on referral from another practitioner is deemed considered to be treatment by one practitioner. 144,27 Section 27. 102.44 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read: 102.44 (1) (intro.) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, every employee who is receiving compensation under this chapter for permanent total disability or continuous temporary total disability more than 24 months after the date of injury resulting from an injury which occurred prior to January 1, 1978, May 13, 1980, shall receive supplemental benefits which shall be payable in the first instance by the employer or the employer's insurance carrier, or in the case of benefits payable to an employee under s. 102.66, shall be paid by the department out of the fund created under s. 102.65. These supplemental benefits shall be paid only for weeks of disability occurring after January 1, 1980 1982, and shall continue during the period of such total disability subsequent to that date. 102.44 (1) (a) If such employee is receiving the maximum weekly benefits in effect at the time of the injury, the supplemental benefit for a week of disability occurring after January 1, 2002 the effective date of this paragraph .... [revisor inserts date], shall be an amount which, when added to the regular benefit established for the case, shall equal $202 $233. 102.44 (1) (b) If such employee is receiving a weekly benefit which is less than the maximum benefit which was in effect on the date of the injury, the supplemental benefit for a week of disability occurring after January 1, 2002 the effective date of this paragraph .... [revisor inserts date], shall be an amount sufficient to bring the total weekly benefits to the same proportion of $202 $233 as the employee's weekly benefit bears to the maximum in effect on the date of injury. 102.49 (5) (a) In each case of injury resulting in death, the employer or insurer shall pay into the state treasury the sum of $5,000 $10,000. 102.59 (2) In the case of the loss or of the total impairment of a hand, arm, foot, leg, or eye, the employer shall pay $7,000 $10,000 into the state treasury. The payment shall be made in all such cases regardless of whether the employee, or the employee's dependent or personal representative commences action against a 3rd party as provided in s. 102.29. 102.81 (1) (a) If an employee of an uninsured employer, other than an employee who is eligible to receive alternative benefits under s. 102.28 (3), suffers an injury for which the uninsured employer is liable under s. 102.03, the department or the department's reinsurer shall pay to or on behalf of the injured employee or to the employee's dependents an amount equal to the compensation owed them by the uninsured employer under this chapter except penalties and interest due under ss. 102.16 (3), 102.18 (1) (b) and (bp), 102.22 (1), 102.35 (3), 102.57, and 102.60. 102.82 (1) An uninsured employer shall reimburse the department for any payment made under s. 102.81 (1) to or on behalf of an employee of the uninsured employer or to an employee's dependents and for any expenses paid by the department in administering the claim of the employee or dependents, less amounts repaid by the employee or dependents under s. 102.81 (4) (b). The reimbursement owed under this subsection is due within 30 days after the date on which the department notifies the uninsured employer that the reimbursement is owed. Interest shall accrue on amounts not paid when due at the rate of 1% per month. 144,34 Section 34. Initial applicability. (1) Fee disputes and necessity of treatment disputes. (a) The treatment of section 102.16 (2) (a) and (d) and (2m) (a) of the statutes first applies to fee disputes and necessity of treatment disputes submitted to the department of workforce development on the effective date of this paragraph. /2003/related/acts/144 true acts /2003/related/acts/144/9 acts/2003/144,9 acts/2003/144,9 section true	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line402
__label__wiki	0.62138	0.62138	Category Archives: Enneagram Gurdjieff and the Enigmatic Enneagram Note: The following article emerged out of a footnote to a larger investigation into the relationship between Dr. Carl Jung, neo-gnosticism, and the MBTI. Who is George Gurdjieff, and why is he having such a massive indirect impact on our churches today? Why in particular are ‘post-charismatic’ Roman Catholics, especially well-meaning nuns, becoming caught up in his practices?[1] The Rev. Dr. Robert Innes, Lecturer in Systematic Theology at St. John’s College: Durham, England, tells us that the man credited with bringing the Enneagram to the West is George Gurdjieff, a Greek-Armenian from what is now the Republic of Georgia. While still a teen, Gurdjieff became immersed in occultic practices such as astrology, mental telepathy, spiritism, table turning, fortune telling and demon possession. Gurdjieff claimed that while he was in Afghanistan in 1897, he visited a monastery of the esoteric Sarmouni sect where he learned their mystical Sufi dancing, psychic powers and the Enneagram.[2] The massive popularity of the Enneagram in Christian circles, the 2nd most popular personality test after the MBTI[3], makes it well worth assessing what we are actually opening ourselves to. Advocates like Barbara Metz and John Burchill describe the Enneagram as “a sleeping giant, awakened in our times…”[4] Fr. Mitchell Pacwa SJ, Professor of Scripture and Hebrew at Loyola University, Chicago, has written a brilliant critique of Gurdjieff and the Enneagram, entitled “Tell Me Who I Am, O Enneagram”.[5] Fr. Pacwa’s studies of ancient literature and archeology show that there is no hard evidence for the existence of the Enneagram in any form before Gurdjieff. Rumours of the Enneagram’s antiquity(e.g. pre-Muslim Christian influence of Persia, or Pythagorean or Platonic mathematics)[6] serve to give it an air of authority but have no proper historical basis. Perhaps most incredible is the unsubstantiated claim by Ted Dobson & Kathleen Hurley that there “are indications that several of the New Testament writers were familiar with and used the Enneagram.”[7] The heart of Gurdjieff’s Enneagram teaching, which he described as esoteric Christianity, is numerological divination. Dividing one by three yields the decimals .3333, .6666, .9999 – the points joined by the triangle in the figure. Dividing one by seven yields the decimal .142857: a recurring number which contains no multiples of three and the digits of which correspond to the oddly-shaped six pointed figure. It seems that the Enneagram’s relation to these mystical numbers (three and seven) was held to give it a truly cosmic significance.[8] Gurdjieff taught that “all things in life work on two laws –3 and 7”. All psychological laws fall within the law of three — as within Gurdjieff’s three alleged personality centres (path, oth, & kath), and all material things fall within the law of seven.[9] Each human being on earth is claimed to have one, and only one, of the nine Enneagram numbers.[10] Enneagram teaching holds that God has nine different faces, corresponding to the nine patterns of the Enneagram.[11] Robert J. Nogosek, C.S.C., wrote a book along this line entitled “Nine Portraits of Jesus: Discovering Jesus Through the Enneagram” (Dimension Books), claiming that Jesus, being sinless, had all nine Enneagram personality types.[12] Beesing, Nogosek, and O’Leary also teach that each of us has one of nine different totems [Enneagramic animals]. In the ‘christianized’ version of the Enneagram, a #2 “helper” personality can be redeemed from being a cat into becoming an Irish setter, and then receives the Enneagramic colour of Red.[13] Gurdjieff’s work led to the formation of the New-Age cult, Arica, founded by his disciple Oscar Ichazo. It was Ichazo and his colleague Claudio Naranjo (an instructor at the Esalen Institute) who together developed the Enneagram in the 1960’s as an indicator of personality in its current form.[14] Naranjo merged the Enneagram with 9 of Freud’s 10 personality defense mechanisms. Fr. Pacwa notes that Ichazo claims to receive instructions from a higher entity called ‘Metatron, the prince of the archangels’. Ichazo’s students are guided by an interior Master, the Green Qu’Tub.[15] Ichazo and Naranjo taught the Enneagram in the 1970’s to Fr. Bob Ochs SJ who then taught this ‘secret wisdom’[16] at the Loyola Seminary, from which it spread heavily within the Roman Catholic and Anglican communities. Gurdjieff’s role in the Enneagram was covered up by Ichazo, saying that he had “been ordered by his source not to reveal the name of the person or being who gave him the Enneagram.”[17] Moral Theologian, Msgr. William B. Smith commented that “the more you read about it, the more it begins to resemble a college-educated horoscope…As a tool for spiritual direction, it seems to me most deficient, even dangerous.”[18] Barbara Metz, SND, and John Burchill, OP, recommend the Enneagram as a way of engaging in “kything prayer”. Kything Prayer can be done with any other person, present or absent, dead or alive, whose Enneagramic reading ‘moves against your numerical arrows’. The key is to “let your center find itself within the person with whom you are kything” and to “Picture yourself within the [other] person.” An alternative form of Enneagramic kything is to “invite the other person’s spirit into themselves.”[19] One may very well ask how appropriate it is for Christians to be inviting the spirits of the dead into themselves. Does this not slide into occultic channeling/mediumistic practices that are clearly forbidden by Holy Scripture?[20] Is it enough for Enneagram advocates like Jim Scully of Pecos Abbey to say “that ‘occult’ and ‘satanic’ are not synonyms? God told me back in 1979 that the greatest issue facing the Church would be the deception of inter-faith syncretism. Maybe it is time for us as Anglicans and Christians to truly wake up and repent of our syncretistic mixing of Christ and the occult, of good and evil, of truth and deception, of light and darkness. [1] Theodore E. Dobson, who was a R.C. charismatic priest well-known for his inner healing books, has co-written an Enneagram book with Kathleen V. Hurley entitled “What’s My Type?” Dennis, Sheila, & Matt Linn, also well known in the Roman Catholic charismatic sphere for inner healing, strongly endorsed Ted Dobson’s book, saying “This is an encyclopedia of information about the Enneagram. We are a One, a Six, and a Seven.” (Front Inside Cover). David Geraets, OSB, Abbot of the Pecos R.C. Benedictine Abbey and self-described post-charismatic, comments that Hurley and Dobson “give us fresh and invigorating insight into the Enneagram.” (Front Inside Cover). [2] Robert Innes, Personality Indicators & the Spiritual Life, Grove Spirituality Series, Cambridge, 12; “Tell Me Who I Am, O Enneagram”, Fr. Mitchell Pacwa, S.J; Christian Research Journal, Fall 1991, p. 14ff; Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele (The Enneagram Made Easy, Harper Collins,1994, p. 1) say that “The Russian mystical teacher G.I. Gurdjieff introduced it to Europe in the 1920’s …” [3] Robert Innes describes Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram as “the two indicators most widely used by Christian groups…”, 3. Baron & Wagele hold that “Many of the variations within the nine [Enneagram] types can be explained by relating the highly respected Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the Enneagram. This will increase accuracy, give greater breadth to the system, and lead to a more finely tuned understanding of ourselves and others. ( 7, 136-149) Suzanne Zuercher, author of “Enneagram Spirituality” (Notre Dame:Ave Maria Press, 1992, p. 157) “places the whole of the Enneagram within a basically Jungian framework.” (Robert Innes, op. cit., 14) [4] Barbara Metz, SND, & John Burchill, OP, The Enneagram & Prayer, Dimension Books, 11 [5] Fr. Mitchell Pacwa, op. cit., 14ff [6] Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele, The Enneagram Made Easy, Harper Collins, San Francisco,1974, 1: Baron & Wagele claim that “The roots of the Enneagram go back many centuries. Its exact origins are not known but it is believed to have been taught orally in secret Sufi brotherhood in the Middle East.” Dobson & Hurley hint that the Magi (Wise Men) who visited the baby Jesus brought the Enneagram, teaching that the Magi were “Wisdom seekers from ancient Persia who were probably the originating or at least the first organized caretakers of the Enneagram.”, 182. Dobson & Hurley also allege that Pythagoras, the 6th century B.C. mathematician, “learned the Enneagram in Persia before founding his school…”, 183. [7] Dobson & Hurley, 3. [8] Robert Innes, Personality Indicators and the Spiritual Life, Grove Spirituality Series, Grove Books Ltd., Cambridge, p. 13 [9] Margaret Anderson, The Unknown Gurdjieff, London: Routledge, p.71-72. [10] Dobson & Hurley, p. 15: “It is important to remember that each person has one, and only one, Enneagram number.” [11] op.cit., 151. [12] Robert Nogosek, Nine Portraits of Jesus, v. [13] Maria Beesing OP, Robert Nogosek CSC, & Patrick O’Leary SJ, 120. [14] Innes, op.cit., 13. [15] Lilly & Hart, Transpersonal Psychologies,‘The Arica Training’, 341. [16] Hurley & Dobson: Again and again they refer to the Enneagram as “secret wisdom”, 1, 9, 14, 136, & 167. Claudio Naranjo claims that Fr. Bob Ochs and others promised not to teach others the Enneagram, but that they broke their promise of secrecy. “The Enneagram– Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone”, Audio Tape recorded at the Association of Christian Therapists, Feb. 1990, San Diego; The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the occult as: kept secret, esoteric…from the Latin word celare: to hide. [17] “The Enneagram: a Critique”, St. Clair McEvenue, Catholic Insight, July/August 1996, 10. Beesing, Nogosek, & O’Leary, authors of The Enneagram: a Journey of Self-Discovery (Dimension Books), claim that Oschar Ichazo was taught “the Enneagram in La Paz, Bolivia, by a man whose name he pledged not to reveal”, 1. See also “Psychology Today”, Sam Keen, Vol. 7, No. 2, July 1973, 64. [18] Msgr. W.B. Smith, The Homiletic & Pastoral Review, March 1993 [19] Metz & Burchill, op. cit., 107, 109: “The person does not need to be physically present (Barbara was in Kenya when I kythed with her), nor need the person be living.” [20] See Lev. 19:31, Lev 20:6, Deut 18:10-11, 1 Chron 10:13, Jer 27:9-10, Acts 16:16-24, & Rev 22:15 Categories: Enneagram, New Age, yoga \| Tags: Afghanistan, Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada), Anglicans, Arica, astrology, Barbara Metz, Battle for the Soul of Canada, Christians, Claudi Naranjo, deception, demon possession, Dr Carl Jung, Dr Robert Innes, Enneagram, Esalen Institute, fortune telling, Fr Bob Ochs SJ, Fr Mitchell Pacwa, Freud, George Gurdieff, Georgia, Green Qu'Tub, horoscope, interfaith syncretism, Jim Scully, John Burchill, kath, Kathleen Hurley, kything prayer, Loyola University Chicago, MBTI, mental telepathy, Metatron, Msgr William B Smith, Neo-gnosticism, New Testament, Nine Portraits of Jesus, numerological divination, numerology, O Enneagram, occult, occultic, Oscar Ichazo, oth, path, Pecos Abbey, Persia, Platoinc mathematics, psychic powers, Pythagorean, Rev Ed Hird, Robert J. Nogosek, Roman Catholics, Sarmouni, seven, spiritism, St John's College Durham England, Sufi dancing, syncretism, table turning, Ted Dobson, Tell Me Who I Am \| Permalink.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line404
__label__cc	0.729154	0.270846	Katti wins 2013 SIGCOMM Rising Star Award Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Sachin Katti recently won the 2013 SIGCOMM Rising Star Award. This award recognizes a young researcher, an individual no older than 35, who has made outstanding research contributions to the field of communication networks during this early part of his or her career. According to SIGCOMM, "The award is in recognition of outstanding research contributions, early in his career, in wireless communications and networking. His approach to cross-layer wireless design brings together computer networking, signal processing and information theory to solve long-standing problems in wireless networks. Highlights of his research contributions include a practical approach to achieve full-duplex radios (Mobicom'10, MOBICOM'11, SIGCOMM'13) and rateless network design for practical adapation of sender transmission rate (SIGCOMM'11, MOBICOM'12). To quote from his nomination 'Sachin Katti’s research has transformed the way we think about wireless communications.'" Via : sigcomm.org	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line408
__label__wiki	0.851074	0.851074	E G Carter & Co Ltd donate funds as Stroud High School celebrates its 114th birthday On Thursday 12th July 2018, E G Carter & Co Ltd were delighted to attend Stroud High Schools Birthday Awards Ceremony. This year the school celebrates 114 years of being established and what better way to celebrate than with cake. E G Carter & Co Ltd kindly donated enough money so that each student could be given a birthday cake as a small acknowledgement of their hard work. Each year the school has an award ceremony to acknowledge all the amazing things each of the students achieve throughout their school year. Over 700 parents attend and it’s a chance for the school to thank the children and their parents for all their hard work and efforts. Ian Begg, Contracts Manager at E G Carter & Co Ltd said “We are delighted to support the school with their annual birthday awards ceremony. Stroud High School are proving to be a fantastic client and what better way to help them than by rewarding the students. We are looking forward to working alongside both teacher and students as we start to refurbish the schools science blocks.” As the school is expanding in growth, E G Carter & Co Ltd are currently working on site extending their original science blocks to create two more laboratories and demolishing the two existing terrapins to create more room.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line411
__label__cc	0.704617	0.295383	This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You. We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is maintained by the Free Privacy Policy Generator. Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to dynamicinternetmarketing.net. Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service. Website refers to dynamicinternetmarketing.net, accessible from http://dynamicinternetmarketing.net/ Country refers to: Wisconsin, United States Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. 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__label__wiki	0.728317	0.728317	The One & Only Elgon Where the Magic Is Real Pandaverse Video Links Blog, Books, Editing, Environment, Fantasy, Future, music, novel, Publishing, Rock Music, Science Fiction, Space, Technology, Uncategorized, Word, Writing The Resurrection: Chapter 2 – Questioning April 29, 2018 Elgon Williams, Author Note: Although the following is part of a previously self-published eBook, portions have been modified. However, it has not been professionally edited and likely contains typos and other errors. It is offered as an example of raw science fiction storytelling.* Chase shook his head in disgusted disbelief then turned away feeling betrayed. Although Julie did nothing directed at him, she sold out his friends. He refused to look at her as she beseeched him to understand her motivation. “I did it for your sake!” she claimed. “How could you do something like that to our guests?” “Since they arrived everything in our lives changed. Don’t you see that?” “You’re still jealous of her, despite everything I’ve told you.” “What have you told me? You love us both. But you love me more? What does that mean, Chase?” “It means you need to trust me.” “You would have gone with her if you were up to it.” Chase remained silent. He could not deny he might have because he felt that level of commitment for his friends. “I know the truth,” she said, swiveling away in her chair. “I’m not going to deny what I would have done. I’m only telling you I would have been faithful to you and to them regardless of the situation. That’s what friends do, Julie, especially when they need help. I don’t think you even begin to comprehend what’s going on around us. There’s a revolution starting around us.” “That doesn’t involve us.” “Maybe it should.” “All I know is you’re in love with her.” “Don’t be silly. How I feel about her is different than what I feel for you.” “How’s it different?” “There’s nothing physical between Cristina and me. Maybe we kiss on the cheek and hug. That’s it. I’ve never slept with her and I don’t contemplate ever doing that. And even if I did Alix would prevent it.” Julie continued looking away for few moments while she allowed the silence to endure. Then she turned. “She excites you in a way that I’ve never seen in your eyes. When we’re making love I can sense her image in your mind. Yet you claim your relationship with her was always business, or perhaps a little more friendly – but always platonic.” “I’ve never cheated on you, not even once. I never will. If you see her image in my mind when we make love then you also see the truth that surrounds a man’s fantasies.” “I know you’ve thought about it.” “I admit that completely. Yes, I’ve thought about it but thinking and doing are two very different things.” “How’s it different if the feeling was in your heart?” “Because I know it would hurt you and I cannot endure that,” he said. “That’s weak,” she countered. “I’m sorry you feel that way. But it’s the truth. I’m also sorry your jealousy compelled you to betray her friendship.” “It was her common sense,” Yates said as he re-entered the room. “And her intelligence. That’s what drove her to protect you against your own stupidity.” “Of course you’d be listening in on our private conversation,” Chase said. “For you there’ll be no more privacy. You lost credibility and trust the moment you agreed to meet with Paul,” Yates explained. “Now, I’m afraid that everything has escalated a great deal. Previously, all we wanted was information. We intended to arrest Paul peacefully. Now, he’s made that impossible.” “What happened?” Julie asked. “Yesterday morning in Star City, agents of the Colonial Authority captured hundreds of operatives belonging to the local cell believed to be affiliated with The Resurrection. In a related action – and based on information received as part of the surveillance and eventual capture of the operatives including Tam, their leader – another action was taken late in the morning resulting in the arrest of the fugitive Paul Scalero, wanted for the murder of a relay station administrator. Paul was taken to the central processing facility for the Colonial Authority’s Security Agency. He and the leaders of the local cell were interrogated. Paul was interrogated through multiple sessions for most of the day and as I understand it well into the night. The interrogations resumed this morning.” “So then, why are we still here? Haven’t we told you everything we know?” Julie asked. “We’re merely seeking any information you might have about anything, regardless of how trivial it might seem.” “You still haven’t answered any of my queries about Cristina’s whereabouts.” Chase prompted. “Well, at present she and her boyfriend are the mystery. I really have nothing to tell you. I have been waiting for something, anything to come back from the field, but it seemed they disappeared into thin air,” Yates said. “They’ve not found her body,” Chase said. “No body, no trace. The amour piercing round used against the vehicle they were standing near was powerful enough to have vaporized both of them but we have been over the site with tweezers and microscopes looking for anything, blood, hair, clothing. There was nothing there to indicate they were there at the moment of the explosion.” “At least there’s hope she’s still alive, no thanks to you. Your people broke into our apartment. I was going to drop her and Alix off at the station, but your agents barged in and seized. Your agents dragged me from the apartment. They put me into a coach and as we were pulling away I saw them bringing Alix and Cristina outside, held at gunpoint. “They were brought here but they escaped. We know they had reservations for Star City but they never used them.” “She would have been arrested if she had.” “What has she done wrong?” Julie asked. “She has been in contact with her brother, Paul.” “And that makes her a wanted criminal?” Chase asked. “Is it guilt by association that prompts arrest, now? Isn’t that a violation of our rights? He’s her brother!” “Apparently Paul was headed here to meet with her. So, I’m not so certain that she is quite as innocent as you believe,” Yates said. “You say that you never met him before he made contact with you in Haven.” “I knew of him,” Chase said. “I saw him talking to Cristina when I had headed out to the beach to find Cristina. She always loved to watch the sunrise, especially over water and Haven was certainly the place for that. So when I awakened that morning and she was not in her room, I knew where to find her.” “It was nothing unusual, then?” “Did she tell you what she and Paul talked about?” “She seemed to think he was just a guy that was sort of smitten with her looks, trying to put the hit on her – you know. She gets that all the time and doesn’t think much about it. Certainly, she didn’t take it seriously.” “He told her his name?” “Yes, and she apparently told him hers.” “Is it possible they discussed more than that.” “It’s possible,” Chase said. “I’d doubt it, though. She didn’t know that he was her brother at the time and according to what Paul said about her later on to me he didn’t know she was his sister either until maybe around the time that he called her on the phone.” “It was just an innocent coincidental meeting.” “Where we who have the attributes are concerned there are never coincidences, just happenings that at the moment we may not understand,” Chase explained. “I can understand that. I even believe that. I have to in my line of work.” “Then you know.” “Julie,” Yates addressed. “You became close friends with her. You even went shopping together. Did she say anything that might indicate she was working with Paul?” “No, it was only that she was worried about him, as her brother. She was having experiences using the orb for training that troubled her. She mentioned those.” “Give me examples.” “She was seeing events in the past, her mother and father, Paul and her when they were babies. She has also had dreams.” “Were any of these dreams related to beasts called sand-morphs?” “What about them?” Chase asked, taking more interest. “It’s come up before in other instances with The Resurrection.” “Do they exist, the sand-morphs?” “I don’t know. Apparently there’s something in the past that we were called sand-morphs. Legends grew from what children speculate about. That’s the extent of what I can say.” “Cristina had a vision of one, alive in the past, like it was a visit. Alix saw it too. They were both using their orbs at the same time and said that as they brought their orbs closer together they could see into the past.” Yates sat back. “You told me the orbs come from couriers. Is that right?” “Yes,” Julie said. “Do they know where they originate?” “They say they received them from the Architects, not the colonial ones but the ones who designed the Universe,” Julie revealed. “So, let me get this straight. You’re telling me intelligent, perhaps even god-like, beings gave these orbs to the couriers to give to you for training in enhancing your abilities.” “Yes,” Julie confirmed. “Do you realize how crazy that sounds?” “Of course, I do,” she said. “But it is the truth.” “Do either of you know how many people have these orbs?” “The couriers indicate that there is one for every one of us, but that when our training is completed we are to pass the orbs on to someone else, perhaps our progeny.” “So there are not an infinite number of these orbs?” “I don’t know how many there are, just at some point, whenever someone is identified as having the attributes to a strong enough level, a courier meets with him or her and an orb is provided along with the initial instructions.” “Are there ever mistakes in identifying those who have the attributes?” “I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t know of any examples. I’d think it’s highly unlikely. Once those of us who have the attributes are given orbs we seem to have enhanced senses. I think it would be very difficult for someone without the attributes to be mistaken.” “How many couriers are there?” “I don’t know that either. It seems that each of them has one orb to give and so I would suspect there are as many as there are people with the attributes. Maybe thousands.” “How do you find them?” “They find us,” Julie said. “Once we have an orb people with the attributes seem to be attracted to us. If we meet someone who has the attributes, we contact the couriers.” “So there is a way of contacting them.” “That depends on the courier. Some are reclusive, some are more sociable,” Chase said. “None of them think very highly of humans,” Julie said. “Are they not humans?” “They were or maybe still are but they’re different. They have extended lives by comparison. There could be other differences, I suppose, but that’s the only thing I know.” “Maybe they’re the origin of the attributes,” Yates suggested. “It’s possible,” Chase said. “I don’t think it’s likely,” Julie said. “The attributes are a potential that all humans have. In us the abilities are unlocked at conception and for whatever reason cause us to develop in slightly different ways than average humans. There’s a slight modification in our genetic code that wakes up latent but inherent abilities.” “You consider yourselves to be human.” “We are human,” Julie confirmed. “Is that your feeling too, Chase?” “I accept my humanity, my heritage and culture. Otherwise, there are some subtle differences.” “Yes, you know; you understand,” Yates said. “I think we both do. You just need to ask the question properly.” “So are you are you not human?” Yates asked. “Despite appearances and similarities, we are a fundamentally a new species,” Chase confirmed. We’re probably a different from humans as Cro-Magnon was from Neanderthal. “I see,” Yates said. “So, your friend Julie here is wrong.” “Julie’s not wrong. It is only that your question did not lead to the answer you seek.” “We can have children with humans,” Julie said. “Even in the way you express it you are separating yourselves. For you it’s already become a world for ‘us’ and ‘them’,” Yates pointed out. “We may as well be an alien variant – humanoids,” Julie allowed. “If there even is such a thing,” Yates countered. “There is alien life. It’s made contact with humans many times, but for whatever reason it’s remained a secret or generally disregarded.” “You believe you’re the result of those past encounters?” “There’s a common thread,” Chase said. “That’s all I know. No one told me that, I feel it.” Julie nodded, indicating she felt it too. “Why the secrecy?” Yates asked. “I think the aliens resemble us and maybe shared some of our experiences in the process of our evolution.” “And if they don’t?” Yates asked. Julie shrugged as a response. “You manifest apparently amazing gifts. These are things that training with the orb enhances?” Yates asked. “Yes,” Julie confirmed. “The abilities are not the same in all of us for whatever reason. Yet I think each of us have the full package. It’s just that we have our strengths and weaknesses.” “I believe the orbs assist us in identifying and developing whatever interests us most,” Chase said. “We become what we are individually inclined to be.” Yates’ communicator beeped. He looked at its display. “If you will excuse me,” he said as he stood and exited the room. “You’re giving away too much information,” Chase accused. “Don’t you think they know anyway? Yates is just seeking confirmation of what he has already observed or confirmed in other ways. They watch everything we do. It’s like he says, we have no privacy, Chase. Not anymore, thanks to Paul.” “So how are you such close friends with Yates?” Chase asked her directly. “He was a friend of my father. He offered to help me stay out of trouble. He knew a lot about us, Chase. He even convinced me that Paul is wrong. What The resurrection seeks to do is very dangerous. You have even said so yourself.” “But that doesn’t mean you sell all of us out.” “I haven’t,” Julie said. “I don’t want you attacked again. I don’t want our apartment broken into. I want to go back to having a normal life, living the way we were living.” “That isn’t possible anymore. You can’t go back once the innocence is lost.” “Well, I haven’t given up” When Yates returned his face was a little red. Then he sat down in the chair. “I’m afraid the situation in Star City has grown more serious.” “Cristina?” Chase asked. “Your friends Cristina and Alix haven’t been found. The authorities ordered agents to board the railcar at the relay station and join the agents that were already staged onboard. But when they arrived in Star City, Cristina and Alix never boarded the railcar.” “Then they’re still here, in Andromeda.” “We’re looking for them, in both cities. People don’t just vanish – not without turning up somewhere else, anyway. We’ll find them. That is not the real issue of the moment. Your friend Paul has escaped, taking all of those who were in custody with him. There have been a lot of casualties, apparently all of them on our side.” Chase sat back, even attempting to suppress a smile but failing. “It amuses you that many good agents died and others are barely hanging on to life?” “No, of course not. It’s the tragic aspect of it to be sure. What amuses me is how one rather insignificant looking guy could do such a thing to well-trained and heavily armed professionals? Don’t they have any idea or even the least bit of cautious respect for what sort of individual they are dealing with?” “They had him heavily sedated to control him.” “And our bodies build up tolerance to drugs and toxins! I don’t mind telling you because it doesn’t matter if you know what you’re up against! We have natural immunity to harmful organic substances and diseases. You cannot expect something will control any one of us forever – not even from one day to the next.” “Then tell me how to control you?” Yates asked boldly. “Brute force and belligerent threats obviously work for a while but apparently proved to be lethal for the authorities in Star City. Whoever was interrogating Paul – whoever pointed a gun at him is responsible for all those deaths. In Paul’s mind that’s how the game must be played because the Colonial Authority has refused to listen. Instead they proceed with the elaborate lie.” “What lie?” “They proliferate the cover-up because they fear the truth might become common knowledge. The fact is we killed whatever was living here and seized the planet from them. We didn’t even do what humans on Earth did under archaic doctrines like Manifest Destiny. We did not round up the indigenous life and put them into camps, or force them to labor for us as our slaves. As inhumane as those things of the past were, they were far better than what happened here. We exterminated competing life to make way for our colonial interests. That’s what Paul and the others you label as subversives are fighting to make known. They want the truth to be widely circulated and I agree with him to that extent. The rest of what they advocate is at least a little crazy. They want to bring one of the creatures back to life.” Yates leaned back in his chair. “How do they propose to do that? It has been a very, very long time.” “I doubt it is even possible,” Chase said. “But Paul is confident they can do it. He says it’s because their life form is based on silicon, not carbon. That’s why our sensors didn’t detect the life form. We weren’t looking for the right chemicals.” “Even so, it has been so long that–” “He said they have well-preserved specimens.” “Where would they get hold of specimens?” Yates wondered aloud. “I can’t say?” “Can’t or won’t,” Yates posed. Chase looked Yates in the eyes, “They have specimens, plural. That’s what he told me. Does it matter where they came from?” “It might indicate where they are.” “Yes, I suppose it might,” Chase said. “If I knew.” “Chase has tried to answer your questions,” Julie said. “I know he has,” Yates said. “I appreciate the cooperation.” “It just seemed like you were implying that he knew something and was withholding it.” “Oh, I’m sure he knows more than he’s saying. It’s my job to detect that and pursue it, and then, I reassemble all of it and complete the puzzle. But for now, I suppose you can go back home.” “It is a more comfortable prison than a jail cell,” Chase said. Tagged art, Blog, Blogging, books, Environment, ideas, inspiration, life, novel, politics, random, random thoughts, Space, Technology, truth, writing Published by Elgon Williams, Author Professional author and Director of Marketing and Sales with Pandamoon Publishing. Author of Fried Windows, Wolfcats, and The Thuperman Trilogy. Currently lives in Irvine, CA, 3 adult children, divorced. View all posts by Elgon Williams, Author Previous postThe Resurrection: Chapter 1 – The Interrogator Next postNews About Upcoming Releases Elgon Williams, Auth… on Becoming Thuperman Coming FEB… Fajar on Becoming Thuperman Coming FEB… Fajar on Whatever Happened to Customer… Fajar on Random Fun with Christine Gabr… ElgonWilliamsAuthor on Update on Ballad of Best Buy…	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line420
__label__cc	0.700046	0.299954	Kalpani, A, Lasith, D, Benjamin, S, Paul, C and Athula, S (2020) Dementia Research Activity in Sri Lanka: A Review. Journal of Neurodegenerative Disorders, 3 (1). pp. 89-100. Kalpani_Sri Lanka Review_2020.pdf - Published Version Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.36959/459/603 Background: As a result of the global rise in life expectancy, dementia has become a major global health concern; it is considered to be one of the most burdensome conditions of later life. Despite 66% of older adults with dementia living in Low-and-Middle Income countries (LMIC), only 10% of dementia research has been conducted in these countries and more information is needed about research activity within LMIC to inform on global dementia research strategies. Todate no systematic reviews have been carried out to explore existing evidence of dementia research reported from Sri Lanka, despite it having the fastest ageing population in the region. Objective: To describe dementia research activity conducted in Sri Lanka. Method: Systematic searches of databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, AMED, CINAHL, SLJOL, Cochrane Library) and grey literature were conducted from each database inception to April 2020. Pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and papers were screened and quality assessed. Research activity by individual studies were mapped into four research domains. A narrative synthesis was conducted to describe dementia research activity. Findings and conclusions: Out of 971 papers retrieved from searches, 28 studies were included in the review. Results show evidence across four research domains; epidemiology (n = 6), pathophysiology (n = 4), screening for dementia (n = 13), and dementia management (n = 7). In comparison to the International Consortium for Health Outcome Measurement (ICHOM) standard set for dementia, this review found a lack of dementia research activity in Sri Lanka generally, as well as a lack of high-quality research, particularly in the areas of dementia prevalence, dementia care, characteristics of formal and informal caregivers, and service provision for people with dementia and their and families. There is a need for more high-quality research, with robust methodologies, which would inform policy and service provision in Sri Lanka for people with dementia. This is the final published version (Version of Record), which was first made available via Scholars Direct at http://dx.doi.org/10.36959/459/603 Dementia, Research activity, Sri Lanka, Review R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC346 Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, including speech disorders Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Primary, Community and Social Care	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line428
__label__cc	0.646348	0.353652	The S Word I almost have to chuckle when conservatives use the word socialism as if it's a curse. They accuse Democrats in general and President Obama in particular of being socialists. Either they have no idea what socialism is or else they really do know but assume their audience is ignorant. Here are a few questions for those conservatives: You are opposed to socialism? Hmmm... do you want to get rid of Medicare? It's a government run, socialist program that most Americans, including many who consider themselves conservatives, support. How about public libraries? Public safety, as in police and fire protection, that are government run? Public schools? Social security? All those things are examples of socialism, good common sense socialism. All are socialism which most Americans would not want to do away with. Every successful western democracy has a blend of capitalism and socialism for its economic system, including the United States. The only differences are how much of each. Frankly, we need a bit more socialism in this country. I originally wrote much of this as a response to a conservative in a political discussion online. He accused me of advocating "moving to a failed system of socialism". Socialism has nothing to do with failed systems in eastern Europe or elsewhere. It certainly has nothing to do with Communism or Marxism or the old Soviet Union. I've often said most Americans don't know what socialism is but the more I think about it the more I realize I've probably been wrong to say that. After all, the good people of Vermont elected Bernie Sanders, an avowed small s socialist, to the U.S. Senate. Oh, and yes, I consider myself a socialist, in a decidedly small d democratic sort of way, much like Senator Sanders. Labels: democratic socialism, right wing talking points, socialsim There is no such thing as democratic socialism. The notion is preposterous and demonstrates ignorance of American history and the importance of individual liberty. Collectivism as a choice is far more effective than collectivism as a government requirement. Democracy encourages generosity. Socialism demands it. This defies the purpose of life and reduces humanity to the level of slavery. I object to socialism in any form and will rebel against its oppression always. Caitlyn Martin said... @James Culver: Thank you for illustrating my point about how ignorant many Americans are about socialism and how those on the political right redefine the word into something that has nothing whatsoever to do with socialism. I dare say I know more American history than you do. First, socialism isn't collectivism. Second, almost all of Europe has and has had democratic socialism since since the end of the second world war. Please describe to me what isn't democratic about the U.K., France, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, or Sweden. They would all define themselves as social democracies. Democracy has nothing to do with generosity. Democracy is a political system, not an economic one. However, what socialism does do is insist that greed can't override providing basic needs for the citizenry. If someone is left to starve to death how does that relate to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". How does that provide freedom? It doesn't. So, since you rebel against socialist "oppression" I assume you want to eliminate public schools and public libraries. They are examples of socialism. Police and fire protection should be privatized or eliminated immediately in your world. They are, after all, socialism. Social Security and Medicare are just forced generosity to you anyway. To heck with our seniors! Get rid of the socialism! Is that what you are really advocating? I'd call you clueless but I'd be overly kind if I did. To quote a Klaus Schulze song lyric: "Ignorance is the choice not to know." (Emphasis is mine.) You've clearly chosen to be ignorant. Thing is socialism is state ownership of the means of production and some states still have this (the UK used to own its transit system; Philadelphia owns its gas distribution system). The social support systems we have were modeled from Bismarck who used social democracy to keep socialists from coming into power. He was certainly not in favor of state ownership of the means of production. Most US residents are rather clueless about the various things that states have always done to help the poor -- in the 19th Century and earlier, these things were done on the county level, but we've never had a period in US history where the poor didn't get some governmentally provided relief (I've seen the budget figures for a small rural Virginia County in the early decade and a half of the 20th Century, not just the poor house, but home relief. People will game the system if it's voluntary charity, as British Muslims are doing now by giving to their families rather than following the customary Islamic practice of giving to mosque run charities. Putting it under governmental control stops the favoritism and the bullying ("remember who gave you that coat and be ready to do me favors."). Socialism is a benevolent buzz word where I'm living now, but Nicaragua basically works in partnership with private corporations for network functions (phones, internet) and electric. What they did keep under government control is better managed than the privately owned electrical system (run by a Spanish company). Communism has never been put into practice outside a few communes, one of which is now the longest lasting commune in human history -- Twin Oaks in Virginia. There is no purpose in life and humans are social animals. If we were solitary, the health of other solitary creatures of our species would only matter when we came together to mate. As we do live in communities, the health of the community does matter.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line431
__label__cc	0.54627	0.45373	Examining Lives Writing about individuals, ordinary and extraordinary, whose lives illuminate the world in which they lived Coming to Amerika Examined Lives Lavender Days A Soldier Called Henry Smith Finding the Kernel of Truth in Family Stories Roberta Reb Allen October 31, 2017 0 The genesis of the idea for the book I am in the process of researching, A Soldier Called Henry Smith, was my own great-grandfather, Henry Jackson Smith. Learning about his service in the Civil War sparked my interest in the gritty details of a common soldier’s life. There are countless Henry Smiths, both Union and Confederate, who fought in this bitter conflict and I will be choosing ones to narrate that offer diverse and interesting perspectives on what it was like to be part of it. if you happen upon this blog and have a relative named Henry Smith who fought in the Civil War, I would love to hear from you. Of course, Henry Jackson Smith will be among the soldiers featured. In researching him I had two main conundrums. One was the very, very common last name, only narrowed slightly by the first name (middle names were not generally used in Civil War records). The second was family lore. Interesting tidbits about ancestors enliven family history, but verifying whether George Washington really slept in an ancestor’s house on his way to Valley Forge is a difficult, if not often hopeless, quest. In my case the story about my great-grandfather was that he didn’t want to talk to family members about his experiences in the war and there was lurking some shadow of prison camp internment, possibly at Andersonville, the notorious Confederate prison camp. Through patient sifting through family and census records, I was able to follow his family’s migration west from Pennsylvania to Ohio and find that he had enlisted in the Ohio 96th Infantry Regiment, Company D in August of 1862 for three years. He was 21 at the time, described as of sandy complexion with hazel eyes and red hair. He stood 5 feet, 7 3/4 inches according to one report and 5 feet 9 ½ inches according to another. He enrolled for duty before the federal government passed the conscription act that instituted the draft, so I assume he enlisted out of patriotism. He did receive a bounty of $25 (worth $2,268,84 in 2016) so that may have been an incentive as well. With this information, I was able to read the regimental history and order his service records from the National Archives. What I learned surprised me, but revealed there was a kernel of truth in the family story about him. Henry Jackson Smith served until the end of the war, but he did not remain in the same military unit. His story begins with his regiment marching from Cincinnati across a pontoon bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky in September, 1862. By October he was sick but the muster rolls show he was with his regiment in November and December travelling from Louisville to Memphis. The journey took place in deplorable conditions, even allowing for the hyperbole of the report in The History of Marion County Ohio: [The Ninety-Sixth] then embarked for Memphis, Tenn., on the 19th of November, where they were encamped about a month. While there they were reviewed by Gen. Sherman and ordered to embark on the steamer Hiawatha and proceed down the river with the forces under his command, the objective point being Vicksburg, Miss. The men were blissfully ignorant of the severe service awaiting them, but were soon brought to a realization of circumstances that every participant must look back to with horror. The whole regiment and its outfit of wagons, teams, etc. together with the Seventeenth Ohio Battery, with its guns, horses and mules were packed on this small craft. Nearly every member of the battery was sick with the measles. The horses and mules were placed on deck, their heads tied on either side, forming between them a narrow aisle. Only partial rations of hard bread and roasted coffee could be had, the only resort [alternative] being flour and green coffee, which required cooking and roasting. It may have been necessity, but certainly it was a bitter fatality. The only facility for cooking was a small stove on the after deck, to reach which it was necessary to run the gauntlet of two hundred pairs of treacherous heels and the fifth of such a stable. First, the coffee and meat were cooked and eaten, with hard bread, but the supply of the latter was soon exhausted, and the men were forced to mix flour with water and bake it on the same stove. With the best effort possible, it was often 2 o’clock before all had their breakfast with the half-cooked material. If this were not all that flesh and blood could endure, cold rain continually drenched all who were not under cover, and for want of room many were forced to remain on the hurricane deck, famished with hunger and tortured with sleeplessness. All day and all night the little stove was occupied by men preparing unhealthy rations, the while they saved from immediate starvation, were not slow in connection with other causes, in developing diseases that were equally fatal to those who were exposed and those who were packed close in the ill-ventilated and over-crowded apartments. Everywhere were sunken eyes, thin cheeks and tottering steps. Surgeon Henderson, his assistants, labored incessantly to check disease and relieve the sufferings of the men, but typhoid, measles and erysipelas [an acute skin infection that produces red, swollen rashes accompanied by high fever, shaking, chills, fatigue, headache and vomiting] were masters, everything seemingly rendering them aid. Death did a frightful work. The 96th Infantry Regiment first landed at Millkin’s Bend, Louisiana where it marched to destroy Confederate railroad track and trestles and burn depots of cotton. It proceeded to embark for “the river” and took part in a successful attack on Fort Hindman, which overlooked the Mississippi and was disrupting Union navigation. At the time there were only 244 effective soldiers in the regiment. Ten were killed and 25 wounded in the assault. During its subsequent moves and skirmishes with Confederate troops, the regiment lost 76 men, mainly to disease. One skirmish saw the men marching through a swamp about 3 miles wide and fording a stream about 3 ½ feet deep. Then came Vicksburg. The Ohio 96th Infantry took part in the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi from May 18, 1863 to July 4, 1863. The city, high on a bluff, could not be taken by assault so the strategy was to starve the city into surrender. Once it surrendered the Union had effective control of the Mississippi River. There were skirmishes in which the 96th participated but no casualties were reported. Four days after the surrender of Vicksburg, Henry Jackson Smith was sent north sick to the General Hospital at Fort Pickering, Tennessee, near Memphis. He was to see no further action; he was diagnosed and treated for several months for chronic splenitis [having an enlarged, inflammed spleen as a result of infection, parasites or cysts]. Instead he was transferred in September to the Invalid Corp, later named the Veterans’ Reserve Corp, specifically to the VCR 22nd Regiment, Company G. The Veterans’ Reserve Corps was created in April of 1863 as a military reserve corps within the Union Army to help counter the depletion of the Union troops due to deaths, injuries and illnesses. Rather than discharging soldiers who were only partially disabled or otherwise infirm but functioning, the Union Army transferred those considered by their commanding officers to be meritorious and deserving to the VRC to perform light duty, including escorting substitutes, recruits and prisoners to and from the front and guarding camps, railroads and defenses around Washington, D.C. In March of 1864 Henry Jackson Smith was in fact at the Cliffburn Barracks in Washington, D.C. where he was on “detached service” at the Chain Bridge. The Chain Bridge connected Washington, D.C. to Virginia and so was vital in defending the capital from Confederate attack. The kernel of truth in the family story about Henry Jackson Smith lies in the other function of the Veterans’ Reserve Corps—guarding Union prison camps. There were 17 Henry Smiths who were imprisoned at Andersonville. None was he. Rather in July and August 1864 he was detailed to Elmira, New York where a new Union prison camp was established. By July it had 9,600 prisoners and soon became one of the worst of the Union prison camps, with a death rate of 24%; Andersonville had a death rate of about 29%. Prisoners at what came to be known as “Hellmira” died from malnutrition, exposure to bitter cold temperatures and disease produced by poor sanitary conditions and medical care. The camp only existed for one year. Henry Jackson Smith’s encounter with prison camps did not end here. In June, 1865 Special Orders were issues for him to take up duty at the prison hospital at the prison camp in Camp Chase, Ohio. Mercifully the war ended a month later. My great-grandfather’s unwillingness to share the horrors of what he experienced and observed with his family is understandable. Family correspondence reveals that he regularly attended Grand Army of the Republic encampments [gatherings] in Kansas. The GAR was a fraternal organization of Union veterans who banded together for comradeship and political advocacy for, among other things, Republican candidates, voting rights for black veterans, veteran pensions, and the establishment of Memorial Day. Surrounded by other veterans who had shared similar hardships, he perhaps found solace. This entry was posted in A Soldier Called Henry Smith and tagged Civil War, Civil War soldiers, Elmira prison camp, genealogy, Vicksburg. Bookmark the permalink. ← The Reticent A. Montgomery Ward Chapter 1: The Beginnings →	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line432
__label__cc	0.559819	0.440181	Home mysteries mysterious people The mystery of Kaspar Hauser The mystery of Kaspar Hauser CONDIVIDI Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit On Whit Monday 1828 in Nuremberg, a boy about 16 years old is seen walking with difficulty, visibly disoriented. His name is Kaspar Hauser and will be one of the greatest mysteries of the 19th century. The story of Kaspar Hauser In 1828 a shoemaker noticed a boy wandering around lost in the street. He let him in and asked him what had happened to him, but the boy seemed not to understand his questions. However, he gave him a letter addressed to the captain of the Nuremberg Light Horses, who was immediately called. When the captain arrived the boy was fascinated by the glittering buttons of the uniform and, like a child, began to touch them, astounded. Then he said: I want to be a soldier like my father was The letter given to the captain had a few lines in which a farmer said that the boy had been abandoned outside his house in 1812. But he already had 10 children to feed so he did not know what to do. To every question, the boy answered with “I don’t know” and didn’t seem to know many other words. But he knew how to write what was supposed to be his name: “Kaspar Hauser”. He was then taken to a detention center for vagrants to try to figure out who he was. The boy’s feet were as soft as those of a child and he had difficulty walking and fully stretching his knees. This meant that he had been unable to move freely for a long time and he could see very well in the dark. In prison, he only fed on bread and water, and all other food was indigestible to him. The doctor who examined him said that he had no mental problems, but that his psyche had no way of evolving from that of a child. His case became public and was entrusted to a scholar who, in a short time, taught him to speak, read and write. Thanks to these notions, in July Kaspar Hauser wrote a report in which he recounted his past. He had spent his whole life in a cell, in the dark, where he could only sit or lie down. Every day after waking up, he found bread and water. Sometimes the water tasted funny and made him sleepy, but when he woke up he had clean clothes and his hair cut. His only companionship was two wooden horses. One day a man came, taught him to say his name, a few more words and once he had learned, he set him free. The place where he was held prisoner was probably the palace of Pilsach, near Nuremberg, where in 1924 was discovered a secret cell, very small, where they found two wooden horses corresponding to the stories of Kaspar. His case became famous throughout Europe and many people came to visit him. The theories are that Kaspar was actually the son of some important person disappeared for reasons of dynasty. Some even thought he was Napoleon’s secret son. These theories are supported by the fact that Kaspar’s earliest memories seem to be of a palace. One day he was lured into a park on the pretext that he would have received information about his origin, but instead he was stabbed and died 3 days later. He was buried and on his tombstone you can read Here rests Kaspar Hauser, riddle of his time. His origin is unknown and mysterious was his death – 1833 A monument with an inscription was erected at the site of his assassination: Here a mysterious man was killed in a mysterious way Who really was Kaspar Hauser? Previous articleThe Coral Castle mystery Next articleMellified man – the mellification ritual Amante dell'horror, del mistero e del macabro sin da bambina, ha deciso di creare questo sito per tutti gli appassionati di horror e macabro. Crea per i suoi lettori articoli unici che rende disponibili in questo sito e nel relativo canale youtube, per veri appassionati del genere. Silent twins: the controversial case of June and Jennifer Gibbons Iron Mask – the royal riddle The green children of Woolpit The Monster of Udine, an Italian mystery The murder of Annarella Bracci	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line433
__label__cc	0.522936	0.477064	USS Springfield Four ships of the United States Navy have been named after Springfield, any of a multitude of places in the United States, notably Springfield, Massachusetts and Springfield, Illinois. * USS "Springfield" (1862) was a stern wheel steamboat in use during the American Civil War. * USS "Springfield" (1918) was a steamboat chartered during 1918 and 1919. * USS "Springfield" (CL-66) was a light cruiser commissioned in 1944, later converted to a guided missile cruiser CLG-7, and in use until 1974. * USS "Springfield" (SSN-761) is a "Los Angeles"-class nuclear attack submarine commissioned in 1993 and on active service as of 2008. Manned Orbital Laboratory USS Springfield (CL-66) — USS Springfield (CL 66), a Cleveland class light cruiser was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city. Construction and commissioning Springfield was laid down on 13 February 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co. at its Fore… … Wikipedia USS Springfield — ist der Name vierer Schiffe der United States Navy, benannt nach den Städten Springfield in mehreren Bundesstaaten: USS Springfield (1862), ein Raddampfer, in Dienst von 1862 bis 1865 USS Springfield (1918), ein Dampfer in Dienst von 1918 bis… … Deutsch Wikipedia USS Springfield (SSN-761) — USS Springfield (SSN 761), a Los Angeles class submarine, is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to bear that name. The earlier Springfield s were named for differing reasons; SSN 761 was specifically named for Springfield, Illinois and… … Wikipedia USS Springfield (1862) — was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways. Springfield a stern wheel river steamer built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1862 was… … Wikipedia USS Springfield (SSN-761) — Die Springfield 2003 auf See Geschichte Bestellung 21. März 1986 Kiellegung … Deutsch Wikipedia USS City of Corpus Christi — Dienstzeit Geordert … Deutsch Wikipedia USS Hyman G. Rickover — auf See Geschichte Bestellung 10. Dezember 1973 Kiellegung … Deutsch Wikipedia USS La Jolla — Dienstzeit Geordert: 10. Dezember 1973 Kiellegung … Deutsch Wikipedia USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul — Dienstzeit Geordert: 31. Oktober 1973 … Deutsch Wikipedia USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (SSN-708) — Dienstzeit Geordert: 31. Oktober 1973 … Deutsch Wikipedia	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line434
__label__wiki	0.710203	0.710203	Lahoysk Lahoysk (Belarusian: Лаго́йск, romanized: Lahojsk, pronounced [ɫʌˈɣɔɪsk]; Russian: Лого́йск, Polish: Łohojsk) is a city in the Minsk Region of Belarus and the administrative center of Lahoysk District. Лаго́йск (in Belarusian) Логойск (in Russian) Lahojsk, Lahoysk Łohojsk, Logoisk, Logoysk Location of Lahoysk, shown within the Minsk Region Coordinates: 54°12′N 27°51′E / 54.200°N 27.850°E / 54.200; 27.850Coordinates: 54°12′N 27°51′E / 54.200°N 27.850°E / 54.200; 27.850 Voblast Minsk Region UTC+3 (FET[1]) +375 17 74 logoysk.gov.by 2 Places of interest 2.1 St. Nikolai Orthodox Church 2.2 St. Kazimir Catholic Church 2.3 Holy spring of St. Nicholai (Crinitsa) 2.4 Tyshkevich palace 2.5 Sculpture 'The Mother of God in Logoisk' First chronicled in 1078, Lahoysk was the centre of a small 12th-century principality, later absorbed into the Principality of Polotsk. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a seat of the Tyszkiewicz family. Tyshkevich castle, picture by Napaleon Orda In the 12th century it became the centre of its own duchy, the Duchy of Logozhsk. Since the 13th century it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under the name Logosko it was mentioned in the List of Ruthenian cities far and near. In different periods it came into the possession of Jagiello, Skirgaila, Vytautas and Czartoryski princes as well as of the Tyszkiewicz counts. In 1505, in the war against the Crimean Khanate, the town was captured by the Tatars, plundered and burned. During the Northern War of 1700–1721 he was captured by Swedish forces. At the same time the Castle of Lahoysk was destroyed. In 1765 a Basilian monastery was built there. As a result of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, the town became part of the Russian Empire. In 1814–1819, the Tyszkiewicz family built a palace at Lahoysk, which was destroyed during the Second World War. According to some data, in 1842 brothers Konstanty and Eustachy Tyszkiewicz established an archaeological museum in Lahoysk. Its collection has served as the basis for the creation in 1855 of the Wilnius Archaeological Museum. In 1897, Lahoysk became the centre of a parish in the Barysau uyezd. In 1890 the town had 1180 inhabitants, most of them Jews (685 persons). There was a synagogue, an Orthodox and a Catholic Church in the town. In 1918 Lahoysk became part of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and later of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic that was incorporated into the USSR. Since 1924 Lahoysk is the centre of the Lahoysk District. In 1998, it was given the status of a city. Places of interestEdit St. Nikolai Orthodox ChurchEdit Today more and more tourists come to visit St. Nicholai Church, because this is one of the few remaining churches on the European territory, painted on the Apocalypse style, using the art of painting on freshly spread moist lime plaster with waterbased pigments (fresco painting). St. Nicholai Church – is Orthodox church, located in the central part of the city Logoisk (Belarus) on the right side of the Gaina river . Built in 1862, it can accommodate up to 700 people. In 2017 the abbot is the father of Vladimir Zimnitsky. The Church is built of stone. It has the shape of a rectangle with an open dome and bell tower in the middle of the gable. The first mention of the church was in 1653. Overall, in its history, St. Nicholai Church was restored four times: in 1734, 1795, 1824 and 1866. In 1866, the Church built on the site of the ancient church Prechistenskaya. In 1907 ancient icon of Our Lady, considered los, was returned to the St. Nicholai Church . At the end of 1920 the church was closed, it housed a grain warehouse. In 1941 the church was re-opened. In the 1980s, St. Nicholai Church walls were painted by master painters from Sergiev Posad. St. Nicholas painted the story Apocalypse, its altar – on the theme of the Lord's supper. Among the many well-executed images have all Belarusian saints. The second chapel (located in the north, the left of the main chapel, the side of the church) was consecrated in honor of St. Symeon the New Theologian. St. Nikolai Orthodox Church St. Kazimir Catholic ChurchEdit St. Kazimir Catholic Church – Catholic church, located in the city of Logoisk, Belarus. Built in 1999 by architect M. Kalechits. Located in the central part of Logoisk, on the left side of the river Gaina. The building is a light beige color with a modern silhouette, which features Gothic Revival traced. Church built on the site of the destroyed in the mid 20th century St. Kazimir Catholic Church, which was located on the former site of the tomb of the Tyshkevich family. Near the Church is the grave of Count K. Tyshkevich, where installed the monument. St. Kazimir Catholic Church during the four centuries of its history was erected 4 times. The Church was founded in 1604 by Count Alexander Tyshkevich as a sign of his conversion to the Catholic faith. Wooden church burned down in 1655 during the war 1654–1667, between Rzeczpospolita and Russian kingdom. 17 April 1787 Count A. Tyshkevich took up the construction of the stone church, whose construction was completed on 20 October 1793 his son Vikenty. The Church functioned until 1950, then it was closed and dismantled. In the late 1980s, believers have established a cross on the former site of the shrine and began to seek permission to build the church. In 1991, the city authorities decided to transfer these lands of the Roman Catholic Church. The new church was built in less than 10 years ago. Rebuilt Church consecrated on 19 June 1999. St. Kazimir Catholic Church Holy spring of St. Nicholai (Crinitsa)Edit Spring of St. Nicholai in Logoisk is one of the city's attractions. It is located near the Church of St. Nicholai, from under which originates and source. Crinitsa declared a hydrological natural monument of local importance. In 2005, the source by Consecrated Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk Filaret. It is believed that the water from this Holy spring healing, heal many ailments. Crinitsa and the surrounding area equipped, built two fonts. Place attracts many pilgrims and travelers to try the spring water, and if possible to find cure of diseases. Holy spring of St. Nicholai (Crinitsa) Tyshkevich palaceEdit Tyshkevich Palace in Logoisk is an architectural monument of late classicism (Empire). Most of the palace, as well as farm buildings almost completely destroyed and the chapel at the end of World War II by the retreating Germans. The ruins of the walls of the side wing of the palace and well known Tyshkevich's park. The monumental structure was raised on a high base of rectangular shape (70 × 20 m). In the courtyard of the estate were "the hut" ledovnya (refrigirator-building), congestive, stable box and other outbuildings. All parts of the palace were covered with gable roofs. Ceremonial palace museum apartment resembled a suite. Here in 2 huge oblong halls were presented things from the rich museum collection. The decoration of the interiors has been made in the Empire style. It is assumed that these rooms are on the 1st floor of the side wing of the palace. Its a story, that Tyshkevich's castle and St. Kazimir Catholic Church was connected with underground road Tyshkevich's castle Sculpture 'The Mother of God in Logoisk'Edit September 24, 2016 in Logoisk had been installed and blessed Sculpture 'The Mother of God in Logoisk' (the author is Vladimir Slobodchikov, currently lives in Silichy village). According to the bishop, who blessed the monument, it is now possible to come for help and consolation, or in a moments of joy. Sculpture 'The Mother of God in Logoisk' Silichy, a ski resort situated near Lahoysk ^ "Eternal Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Belarus". timeanddate.com. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2014. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lahojsk. Lahoysk online Virtual museum of Lahoysk The murder of the Jews of Lahoysk during World War II, at Yad Vashem website. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lahoysk&oldid=963587484" This page was last edited on 20 June 2020, at 17:05 (UTC).	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line438
__label__wiki	0.558476	0.558476	European Parliament’s elections/ Political confusions, populist messages and Sankt-Petersburg’s trolls Sergiu Medar A few days before European Parliament’s elections, many actions are showing up in Europe, supporting the ideas and principles willing to be on European Parliament's platform within the following parliamentary term. The most aggressive are the radical or even extremist populist parties, supported by Russia, through hybrid warfare’s methods. The big stake is attracting the undecided people to Euroscepticism, by creating mistrust inside the most complex and efficient multinational political and economic organization in history. This can only be made by speculating the current or invented confusions, generated by both opinion polls and some EU leaders’ statements. Media’s activity in European Parliament’s elections’ run-up is increasingly intense and even aggressive once voting days are closer and closer. Elections’ competition is between the national parties, thus the result reveals national electorate’s preferences. Voters’ perception about European Union’s functioning or efficiency in terms of the national interests marks the direction towards a pro-European or a nationalist or radical Euro-skeptic party. At the same time, assessments on democratic principles’ presence, coherence and clarity in European Union’s decisions defines public’s confidence and is influencing the voting presence. Hereof, now we must avoid the confusion that might arise when positioning the European Union over society’s main problems, or the questions on Europe’s future. Just one week before European Parliament’s elections, the media published a report entitled "Seven Days to Save the European Union", which was the result of a survey, conducted in March 2019, on a concerning issue, Europe’s disintegration. Without questioning survey’s results, the fact that such a topic got raised near EU Parliament’s elections is a proof of the aggressiveness coming from countries or interest groups seeking to divide Europe. Financing extremist or Eurosceptic parties, as well as think-tanks, in order to increase their propaganda capabilities, subscribes to the same objective. I thought now is was time to reveal anti-Europeans and Euroskeptics’ interests and arguments and discuss survey’s results, so as to allow the reader create its own perspectives on political and economic union’s viability and effectiveness of all 28 EU Member States. The survey, conducted at European Council on Foreign Relations’ (think-tank) request, in 14 EU member states (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Hungary), is questioning European Union’s possible disintegration over the next 10-20 years. In 11 of the 14 states, respondents, over 50%, said that such a scenario would be possible. This percentage has staggered as follows: Slovakia 66%, Poland 58%, Italy 58%, France 58%, Greece 57%, The Netherlands 52%, Germany 51% and Sweden 44%. According to the report, two-thirds of Europeans aged 18 to 34 believe that an EU collapse and even a war within EU are possible. Marc Leonard, think-tank’s director, based on poll’s result regarding the voting presence, which was showing that in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain most of the voters said they would not vote, has reasoned report’s publication a week before the elections as an impulse for population’s mobilization to vote. It is possible, however, for the outcome to be the opposite, as the confusion may mobilize only the euroskeptics and anti-Europeans, who see that they can actually get a consistent votes’ percentage in the European Parliament. It is surprising how in EU’s 1950 founding countries, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands there is the largest number of Euroskeptics in terms of the Union their parents have created. Indeed, Jean-Claude Juncker himself, president of the European Commission, who’s from Luxembourg, and his deputy, Dutchman Frans Timmermans, stated, about two years ago, that European Union will fall apart in the next 10-20 years. For the right-wing radical forces to actually give a signal and mobilize the undecided, as well as to prove their force, European populists met in Milan, in a strong public manifestation, at Italian interior minister and Italy’s Northern League (Lega Nord) chairman invitation, Matteo Salvini. He was accompanied by Marine Le Pen, Frances’ National Assembly’s President (the former National Front). Leaders of both populist parties will form, within the European Parliament, the Europe of Nations and Liberty group, which, perhaps in size, will be the new European Parliament’s third party. At the Milan meeting, have participated radical and populist representatives from 11 EU member states. There were no leaders of the Austrian Freedom Party, the Belgian Vlaams Belang Party, Netherlands’ Liberty Party, Volya from Bulgaria, Sme Rodina from Slovakia and other European groups and parties. Event’s great absent was the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, leader of the populist party, Fidesz. He promised cooperation with Salvini, after the vote, but he does not want to join an alliance with Ms. Le Pen now. Nor did the Party for Justice and Justice, Poland’s governmental party, take part at the event. All these parties share the same position in terms of migration, but they have different stances for other issues, such as European budget, immigrants’ distribution or the attitude towards Moscow. On 9th of May, it was held the informal EU Summit, in Sibiu. On this occasion, each country called, in an electoral manner, on national interest subjects. Romania had all this summit’s advantages, because population’s reaction, in Sibiu’s Big Square, on the European leaders was more European than any other country. On this occasion, leaders signed a declaration on Europe’s future. This statement’s great value lies in European states’ unity message against European society’s issues. This message holds an opened door for future negotiations and approaches. For those who were waiting only for this message, issues being discussed and addressed later, the summit reached its goal. Running just two weeks before the European Parliament elections, voters only sought for answers to major issues: climate change, migration, energy, Europe's political and economic relations’ development between European states, European defence, US relations or Russia to be mentioned so that the voters to be able to take a stance. Unity’s message has been altered by the confusion that may arise, however, from the phrase on fairness principle, when contradicted by the exact people who signed it. Frans Timmermans, EU Commission vice-president, said, two years ago, that "small states must know they are small", as did Emmanuel Macron, who has been in favor of a two-speeds Europe. In elections’ run-up, confusion is messing things out, because they keep the undecided people (representing the majority) away from the ballot boxes. Considering votes’ number, Euroskeptics and populists are not too many, but they vote and that is why they can finally get that number that could affect the democratic majority. These parties and movements are supported by Moscow, primarily through St. Petersburg’s trolls. 8 months before the European Parliamentary elections, Jean-Claude Juncker said that "we have to bring the electoral legislation to the digital era to protect our democracy”. Then, for two months, they set up an action plan, to allow the creation of a funding, communication, warning and monitoring system, as well as of a warning system for the cross-border disinformation campaign. Facebook, Twitter and Google have cooperated to create them. Jakub Kalensky, a US Atlantic Council think tank analyst, who worked, for three years, at Task Force (EC)[1], EU's elite unit to combat Russia's efforts to undermine European democracy, stated disappointedly: "We expect to solve this problem within the two months we have until the elections, when the Russians have been working for it for 5 years?". East StratCom says that the Troll Company, from St. Petersburg, spends about $1 million per month to misinform the world, 24 hours a day, while EU’s unit, set up in 2005, has reached a staff composed of 16 people and a $ 5 million a year budget. Despite this public information, which may also be a "fake news" component, we must also keep in mind that even if what Kalensky says was true, EU member states also have their national capabilities that can use to counter Russia's aggressiveness. Given the arguments presented above, we can state that populist or extremist parties’ actions supported by Russia, to break the European Union, must be treated carefully. Emphasizing the already existing confusion within EU, through hybrid warfare’s methods, Moscow will seek to divide the European states and support the Eurosceptic and radical parties, in order to diminish European Union’s functioning. National parties’ support for democratic principles and for the rule of law is these effort’ only combat method that would affect the strongest and most effective political and economic association in the world. Translated by Andreea Soare [1] https://euvsdisinfo.eu/	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line439
__label__wiki	0.592842	0.592842	Last updated 19 May 2015 War Letters (Italy) By Carlo Stiaccini Despite the high rates of illiteracy in Italy on the eve of the war, the conflict brought about an unusual and massive recourse to writing, and not only by soldiers at the front. The correspondence served mainly to maintain contact between the country, war zone and prisoner of war camps and allowed soldiers, even those with scant writing skills, to recount, from a distance, the suffering and horrors of the war. The soldiers’ letters, as well as representing one of the largest and most widespread experiences for writers of the lower classes of the contemporary age, have allowed scholars to undertake work of great heuristic interest for the history of the First World War. 1 Introduction: The Discovery of Writing During the War 2 I Write These Few Words... 3 Monuments of Memory or Sources for Historical Research? Introduction: The Discovery of Writing During the War↑ The First World War brought about a need and a production of writing in Italy difficult to find in other conflicts of the modern age. This was because of the number of people called upon to contend with writing in relation to the mobilized soldiers, and on account of the amount of letters and postcards exchanged between the front and the home front during the forty-one months of war. In this period, the letters were exchanged with a very high frequency, and despite the difficult material conditions imposed by the war, writing letters was perhaps the soldiers’ main task during their leisure time.[1] The ranks of professional writers, hired by the major daily newspapers to recount the phases of the conflict daily from the front, were flanked by a veritable army of millions of men, of every social and cultural level, armed with pens and pencils to put their war experiences on paper. If one excludes an unknown number of diaries and memoirs written during or at the end of the conflict, there was, in fact, a total of almost 4 billion items of correspondence handled during the war: 1,535,933,600 letters sent from the home front to the front; 2,213,015,490 letters addressed by the soldiers to the population; and 244,987,000 letters exchanged within the war zone. The total average daily movement of correspondence was about 3 million. The peak of incoming letters from the front was recorded in June 1917, with a daily average of 2.78 million; the greatest number of letters exchanged between soldiers at the front was in the weeks following the defeat of Caporetto, with an average daily circulation of 550,000; while the highest daily average of letters sent to the front came in June 1918 with 1,770,000 letters.[2] Apparently these were modest numbers when compared with those of other European countries: in France, it is estimated that, during the conflict, the units of correspondence amounted to about 10 billion, and as high as 30 billion in Germany, while in Great Britain it is estimated that at least 20 million letters were sent from the Western Front to the home front each week.[3] Italy's numbers were not so meagre; in fact, they were surprisingly high when compared with the number of soldiers mobilized and especially with the literacy rates registered in Italy on the eve of the war. On average, certainly with some significant differences between young people and the elderly population, and between the more literate northern areas and the southern ones, nearly 40 percent of the population could neither read nor write. In France, in the same period, more than 95 percent of conscripts were literate. Applying this data, perhaps a little superficially, to the mobilized military, without going into issues related to the processes of literacy and schooling, it can be said that almost 2 million soldiers left for the war without knowing how to write a letter home, well aware that, in any case, no one else in the house would have been able to read it. Several studies, supported by the statistical data, have shown the ways in which many soldiers learned to write during the war. In some cases, they learned with the help of fellow comrades in arms, in others with that of the military chaplains present in the armed forces, and not just because they were driven, in obvious circumstances of constant danger, by the desire to not interrupt contact with relatives or acquaintances back home, but also because many saw, in the daily exercise of writing, a possible refuge from the anguish, suffering and precariousness of war, an opportunity of making sense of this experience.[4] Some, even among those who were least competent and had little experience in writing, were able to record real diaries about their experience of war, succeeding in an attempt to leave a record of an event which immediately seemed, to all the protagonists, boundless, radically new, therefore memorable.[5] The management of this mass of paper was entrusted to the Military Post, a structure set up specifically for the war. Correspondence arriving and departing for the front, from the beginning of the conflict, was, in fact, taken from civilian offices and sent to military ones. In accordance with regulations issued in March 1915 by a special commission established by the Ministry of Post, which was charged with reviewing the entire preceding legislation and transmitting provisions for censorship to the offices, to which the mail would be submitted during the conflict. The main point of collection and sorting of mail was in Bologna, considered a strategic city because it was not far from the front, while there were four subsidiary offices in different parts of the country in the cities of Bari, Naples, Taranto and Treviso. This venue, due to its proximity to the war zone, was dismantled and reunited with that of Bologna in November 1917. These main offices, along with other minor centres scattered throughout the country, initially organized to manage the correspondence of 500,000 soldiers, had, immediately, to triple their efforts, and subsequently, serve more than 5 million mobilized soldiers. This caused many problems with the timely delivery of mail, especially at the beginning of the war, and then during periods of high traffic, when there were more than 4 million letters a day. These numbers were also reached as a result of the military authorities' measures, that were intended to facilitate and promote the exchange of letters between the front and the rear, for example the free distribution of so-called duty-free postcards, that is, free from payment for the stamp. The High Command issued many of these postcards to the soldiers. During some periods of the war, every soldier was allowed to write and send postcards - up to seven per week - free of charge, in effect one a day. Some of these postcards, because of their structure, apparently had the aim of making it easier for less literate soldiers to fill them in, guiding them in writing the address of the recipient and the text through preprinted, simplified, very restrictive forms. In fact, they were intended to minimize the space for writing, and therefore the amount of information that the soldiers could give to the country. This system also facilitated the work of the officials in charge of censorship and improved the circulation of mail. Also, as has been demonstrated, the censors were entrusted with more wide-ranging tasks than had been planned on the eve of the war, and asked not only to prevent confidential information or, more generally, information of a military nature from reaching the country and therefore running the risk of being intercepted by the enemy, but also to inform authorities about the soldiers’ morale and opinions on the war, which the letters would have more or less clearly leaked. This service, also present in other European countries, resulted, in Italy, in a progressive tightening of control and consequently of sanctions, without, nevertheless, the government ever being able to control all the mail, especially after the defeat at Caporetto when the army and the country were called upon to regroup in order to continue the war. The possibility of their mail being intercepted led many soldiers to adopt an attitude of self-censorship, which, added to the inadequacies of written communication, inhibited freedom of expression in many cases.[6] Nevertheless, several studies have amply demonstrated that these obstacles did not prevent millions of soldiers from giving, through their letters – apparently merely trivial and repetitive, generally incorrect and uncertain - relevant answers to questions about the war. I Write These Few Words...↑ The call to arms, and the consequent departure from home, caused a radical change in soldiers’ habits. In this sense, writing and reading, always marginal activities for the popular classes, became a real daily necessity. Writing and receiving mail became, for many combatants, a primary need, almost an obsession, because it permitted them to maintain contact with the family environment, with their work and their birthplace, as can be seen from the anxious demands for information in the letters from the front. Illiterate soldiers understood how important it was to learn a few rudimentary rules for communicating, in writing, at least their state of health. They were forced to ask for help from fellow soldiers, superiors or military chaplains, before becoming, not without difficulty, independent. They were aware that through writing and reading they could gain moments of intimacy which military life, especially at the front, had almost completely eliminated. For those who stayed at home, the same difficulties were sometimes overcome thanks to the work of trusted intermediaries, such as parish priests or mayors. In several villages, in fact, parishes and municipal buildings became, during the war, real news offices concerned with the production and sorting of mail. A very similar task was carried out by the heads of the Houses of the Soldier, recreation centres (many, at the beginning, had a Catholic background) set up in villages near the front. In these centres, the soldiers received material and moral assistance. Faced with a vast and unexplored field of writing produced by semiliterate soldiers, many scholars, in the 1980s and even in the early 1990s, thought and wrote, a little hastily, that the letters were basically all the same, regardless of who had produced them and who the recipient was. In fact, through the counting and systematic analysis of this very large documentary heritage, today fortunately preserved in public and private archives, it is possible to see the account of the experience of war in its most authentic and traumatic aspects. However, they are certainly burdened by the insuperable limit of being condemned to remain, always, a small amount compared to the enormous total produced. Nonetheless, they show, beneath the veneer of apparent uniformity and repeatability, and a poor and inappropriate lexicon, a more or less eloquent silence. Quite a few “letters of the illiterate”[7] – thus were these writings effectively defined - not only defy any model but give us interesting views on the conflict: repulsion, when not a hidden protest against the war and its mechanisms, accompanied by resigned waiting to return home. In numerous letters from the war zone, disappointment, discouragement, anxiety and uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, as well as the hope of peace, also emerge without too much censorship. When a close relationship with the interlocutor permitted it, there were even confessions about the horrors of war, even if they were sometimes tempered by a sense of modesty and by the appropriateness of not mentioning the most common taboos. These included recounting the violence inflicted, the promiscuity of death, and the deplorable hygienic conditions of fellow soldiers forced to live for weeks in the mud in contact with unburied corpses, waste and sewage.[8] However, there were satisfied accounts of attacks, shootings and killings, without the slightest embarrassment at having felt pleasure at shooting and killing the enemy.[9] More generally, the letters have permitted the emergence of the gap between the mass of peasant soldiers sent to fight for ideals almost unknown to most of them, and the minority of young volunteers or officers of bourgeois extraction and education, who were more motivated and more likely to exhibit being in favour of the conflict, though no less careful to keep the sentimental and emotional relationships with family members back home alive through writing. There are, in this regard, interesting love letters produced by soldiers or officers, who were protagonists of very intense exchanges of correspondence with girlfriends or wives at home, characterized by very formal writing, within which, with calm and sober tones, they recounted the war-time events, emphasizing the most edifying aspects of the conflict, and often not mentioning the horrors.[10] The writing produced by the more literate, bourgeois soldiers, in some instances underwent processes of monumentalization even during the war, as they were published, in accordance with propaganda aims, through newspapers or books, or used as spiritual testaments of soldiers who died at the front. The war zone was not the only place of intense correspondence: internment and imprisonment also forced soldiers to come to terms with writing. For many, this was an opportunity, away from the activity of the front line, for reflection, or for thinking about their war-time experience. The confinement in prison camps, made even more unbearable by the preliminary charge of desertion and the resulting lack of supplies from the Italian government, made the soldiers resort to writing, mostly using the duty-free postcards distributed by the Red Cross, to ask family members, almost always obsessively, to send parcels containing goods of prime necessity such as food and clothes.[11] Far from the prison camps and the front, women, wives, mothers and sisters resorted to writing in order to communicate not only their moods or feelings about a war experienced at a distance, but also the latest news about the tasks and the responsibilities to which they had been called as a result of the conflict. These included the management of family affairs in situations of obvious economic and food difficulties, working in the fields or factories, and educating and supporting their children. In the writing of women belonging to the upper classes there are also stories of their socially useful and publicly recognized work: this was the case for the ladies, patrons, soldiers’ pen friends and Red Cross nurses who worked within the complex world of war welfare.[12] Quite often, the war letters were accompanied by pictures. In rare cases, it was the soldiers themselves who drew sketches, which were either more or less successful in ornamental terms, or, more often, enriched and supported a limited and stunted lexicon and repertoire of information. The more creative, challenging the censorship, were able to reproduce the curious objects handled at the front, hutments and make-shift housing, outlines of mountains and views of landscapes. More often, the correspondence was accompanied by illustrations commissioned from professionals or well-known sketch artists, including illustrated postcards. The diffusion of the latter was accompanied by intense propaganda whose real potential was not unknown, given that all the belligerent countries adopted every means in this direction. On the Italian front, the most recurrent themes were those related to the campaigns for war loans, which aimed at convincing Italians to invest, before the intervention, then in the mobilization and resistance to the bitter end, and finally in the reconstruction of the country. This incalculable series of images also proposed, in their various facets, the heroism and courage of the Italian soldier, the demonization of the enemy, and the solidarity of the combatants. Also very widespread among the soldiers were the postcards with a religious background, which, through a clever mix of mottos, slogans and icons borrowed from religious doctrine and patriotic propaganda, explicitly supported the arguments for the war and only rarely expressed pacifist views. Many of these images contained drawings that were based on standardized iconographic models, which were also used, for the same purpose, by institutions in other countries at war. In this sense, the illustrated postcards were one of the most obvious and early examples of linguistic standardization of mass communication, suffice it to mention the common matrix of the many images used in those years by commercial advertising and then taken up and adapted to the language of political propaganda in various European countries.[13] Monuments of Memory or Sources for Historical Research?↑ The war was immediately subjected to a process of monumentalization which naturally included the written testimony of the soldiers, particularly those killed at the front. These testimonies were subjected to real processes of collection, classification and distribution throughout the country. Some collections of letters made available by families of fallen soldiers were subjected to careful selection and published as early as the summer of 1915.[14] In the same period, the Ministry of Education became a promoter of campaigns collecting artifacts and memorabilia related to the war, including the written testimonies of the protagonists, useful in implementing didactic-exhibitory projects in the museums of major Italian cities. Of these collection projects, also repeated and amplified by Fascism in the 1920s, there remain, today, a few traces in some public archives, libraries and museums.[15] The public exposure and the diffusion, through the press, of letters from the front line satisfied the partisan desire to “give a voice” to those protagonists who could best convey persuasive messages of mobilization and support for the war, by highlighting its most edifying aspects. The first pioneering studies of war-time epistolography date back to 1921, when the Austrian censor and philologist Leo Spitzer (1887-1960) published a study of the letters of the Italian prisoners of war. He had used these letters to consider different aspects of the experience of war, among them working-class soldiers’ substantial extraneousness to the ideals and outcome of the conflict.[16] The Austrian linguist and literary critic’s research was a real discovery, but it did not make much of an impact, at least in Italy. After more than a decade, Adolfo Omodeo (1889-1946), in publishing a selection of texts produced during the conflict, viewed the writings of fallen soldiers in hierarchical terms, giving space and consideration to those produced by the officers and relegating those of ordinary soldiers to an appendix, because he regarded them as “insignificant”.[17] The following period of publications, perhaps influenced by the concurrent events of colonial war, were certainly more useful for political propaganda, and only produced the occasional collection of texts chosen for ceremonies or commemorations, without any historiographic objective. It was only in the 1970s that some studies on the analysis of the writing practices of ordinary people were begun, with the aim of finding possible links with the processes of the emergence of mass society. It is no coincidence that it was precisely in those years that the first Italian translation of Spitzer’s above-mentioned work appeared.[18] In the 1980s, also in Italy, there was renewed historiographical interest in issues related to the history of popular culture in the First World War. There were significant works, which analysed the experience of war using sources that were unusual and unrelated to traditional lines of study. Research aimed at the recovery of the eye-witness accounts of the protagonists of the conflict, which served to initiate social history studies about the combatants’ mentality and behavioural problems, led, in subsequent years, to an overall change in perspective and, so to speak, in the historiographic climate. Those were the years of the first fruitful seminars in Rovereto (Trento), on the subject of the war-time writings, that led to the creation of the National Federation of the Archives of Popular Writing, and that witnessed the active participation of historical, literary, linguistic, paleographic and anthropological scholars.[19] Since then, a great deal of literature about the themes of common people’s writing, methodological issues, and the treatment and preservation of an increasingly copious documentary heritage has been produced. The results of some research has crossed national borders and contributed to the creation of new research centres, which have produced interesting new lines of study and valuable publications.[20] The war unleashed a veritable epidemic of writing that affected not only the combatants of every belligerent country and on every front, but also those who stayed at home. The conflict came to represent, in its tragedy, an unexpected opportunity of forced acculturation for hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were illeterate when they went to war. Thanks to writing, the soldiers were able to not only communicate their health status at a distance, but also continue to maintain affective relationships, and manage family affairs, the trend of agricultural matters, and all the issues relating to the economic affairs of their kin. The fear that the correspondence, with requests for help or information on the progress of the war, would not reach home was widespread among soldiers and, in many cases, this fear resulted in correspondence containing monotonous, repetitive and uninformative formulas. Despite the censorship and self-censorship, the soldiers, even those with an extremely poor vocabulary, were able to put their war experiences down on paper. They addressed issues that were not at all obvious, even communicating the horror and senselessness of war, the sacrifices that were called for every day, and bringing out elements of their intolerance of the war and military discipline. In some cases, the results were even more original than the communications of some of their commanders, because they were more spontaneous and lacked the officers’ rhetoric. Perhaps they were enlivened by unusual communicative stratagems such as the use of dialect in more intimate and personal passages, or by expressions usually used in oral communication. Undoubtedly, the letters, taken together, reveal the existence of people far removed from the arguments for the war, invoking peace more than victory, without, however, expressing positions, which, today, would justify a completely unpatriotic interpretation of their attitude towards the conflict. In many cases, the use of writing helped the protagonists to make sense of an event with an immense impact. It is no coincidence that some soldiers attributed a tangible value to writing itself, even an apotropaic function: it was a habit to keep, jealously guarded in the pockets of their uniforms, letters or postcards received at the front. The soldiers entrusted them with tutelary if not providential tasks. Carlo Stiaccini, University of Genoa Section Editor: Nicola Labanca Translator: Noor Giovanni Mazhar ↑ Petrucci, Armando: Scrivere lettere. Una storia plurimillenaria, Rome-Bari 2008, pp. 184-187; Bartoli Langeli, Attilio: La scrittura dell’italiano, Bologna 2000, pp. 159-164. ↑ Cadioli, Beniamino/Cecchi, Aldo: La posta militare italiana nella Prima guerra mondiale, Rome 1978, p. 274. ↑ Caffarena, Fabio: Armed with Pen and Paper. Soldiers and Writing between Story, Memory and the History of the Great War, in Piredda, Patrizia (ed.): The Great War in Italy. Representation and Interpretation, Leicester 2013, pp. 167-177. ↑ Gibelli, Antonio: L’officina della guerra. La Grande Guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Turin 1991, pp. 99-103. ↑ Regarding memoirs and war diaries, not dealt with here, see the numerous works by the scholars of the Archivio della scrittura popolare di Trento and the Museo storico italiano della guerra di Rovereto. Leoni, Diego/Zadra, Camillo: La Grande Guerra. Esperienza, memoria, immagine, Bologna 1986. ↑ Bellosi, Giuseppe/Savini, Marcello (eds.): Verificato per censura. Lettere e cartoline di soldati romagnoli nella prima guerra mondiale, Cesena 2002, pp. 17-18. ↑ Lussana, Filippo: Lettere di illetterati. Note di psicologia sociale, Bologna 1913. ↑ Gibelli, Antonio: L’officina della guerra. La Grande Guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Turin 1991, pp. 164-193. ↑ Stiaccini, Carlo: Trincee di carta. Lettere di soldati della prima guerra mondiale al parroco di Fara Novarese, Novara 2005, pp. 37-39. ↑ Dondeynaz, Rosalba: Selma e Guerino. Un epistolario amoroso (1914-1920), Genova 1992. ↑ Procacci, Giovanna: Soldati e prigionieri italiani nella Grande Guerra, Turin 2000, pp. 167-250. ↑ Thebaud, Françoise: La Grande Guerra: età della donna o trionfo della differenza sessuale?, in Duby, Georges/Perrot, Michelle (eds.): Storia delle donne in Occidente. Il Novecento, Bari 1992, p. 26; Molinari, Augusta: Donne e ruoli femminili nell'Italia della Grande Guerra, Milan 2008. ↑ Gibelli, Antonio: L’uomo col dito puntato. Una fonte iconografica, in Luzzatto, Sergio (ed.): Prima lezione di metodo storico, Rome 2010, pp. 123-141. ↑ Holl, Lavinia (ed.): Lettere di soldati italiani, Rome 1915. ↑ Caffarena, Fabio: Lettere dalla Grande Guerra. Scritture del quotidiano, monumenti della memoria, fonti per la storia. Il caso italiano, Milan 2005, pp. 111-169. ↑ Spitzer, Italienische Kriegsgefangenenbriefe. Materialen zu einer Charakteristik del volkstümlichen italienischen Korrespondenz, Hanstein 1921; Gibelli, Vienna, 17 settembre 1915: La letteratura degli illetterati, in Luzzatto/Pedullà (ed.), Atlante della letteratura italiana 2012, (v. III) pp. 472-476. ↑ Omodeo, Momenti della vita di guerra. Dai diari e dalle lettere dei caduti 1934. ↑ Spitzer, Leo: Lettere di prigionieri di guerra italiani (1915-1918), Turin 1976. ↑ For archives of the writings of ordinary people, see Materiali di Lavoro 1-2 1987; Conti, Piero/Gibelli, Antonio/Franchini, Giuliana (eds.): Storie di gente comune nell’Archivio Ligure della Scrittura Popolare, Acqui Terme 2002; Antonelli, Quinto: Scritture di confine. Guida all’archivio della scrittura popolare, Trento 1999. ↑ Knoch, Peter (ed.): Kriegsalltag. Die Rekonstruktion des Kriegsalltags als Aufgabe der historischen Forschung und der Friedenserziehung, Stuttgart 1989; Cazals, Rémy /Rousseau, Frédéric: 14-18: cri d’une génération, Privat 2001; Sáez, Carlos/Castillo Gómez, Antonio (eds.): La correspondencia en la Historia. Modelos y práticas de la escritura epistolary, Madrid 2002; Lyons, Martyn: The Writing Culture of Ordinary People in Europe (1860-1920), Cambridge 2012. Antonelli, Quinto: Scritture di confine. Guida all'Archivio della scrittura popolare, Trento 1999: Museo storico in Trento. Bartoli Langeli, Attilio: La scrittura dell'italiano, Bologna 2000: Il Mulino. Bellosi, Giuseppe / Savini, Marcello (eds.): Verificato per censura. Lettere e cartoline di soldati romagnoli nella prima guerra mondiale, Cesena 2002: Società editrice 'Il ponte vecchio'. Cadioli, Beniamino / Cecchi, Aldo: La posta militare italiana nella prima guerra mondiale, Rome 1978: Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito. Caffarena, Fabio: Lettere dalla grande guerra. Scritture del quotidiano, monumenti della memoria, fonti per la storia. Il caso italiano, Milan 2005: Unicopli. Franchini, Giuliana / Gibelli, Antonio / Conti, Piero (eds.): Storie di gente comune. Nell'Archivio ligure della scrittura popolare, Acqui Terme 2002: Editrice impressioni grafiche. Gibelli, Antonio: L'officina della guerra. La Grande Guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale (3 ed.), Turin 2007: Bollati Boringhieri. Knoch, Peter / Dines, Peter (eds.): Kriegsalltag. Die Rekonstruktion des Kriegsalltags als Aufgabe der historischen Forschung und der Friedenserziehung, Stuttgart 1989: Metzler. Lussana, Filippo: Lettere di illetterati. Note di psicologia sociale, Bologna 1913: N. Zanichelli. Lyons, Martyn: The writing culture of ordinary people in Europe, 1860-1920, Cambridge; New York 2013: Cambridge University Press. Petrucci, Armando: Scrivere lettere. Una storia plurimillenaria, Rome; Bari 2008: Laterza. Procacci, Giovanna: Soldati e prigionieri italiani nella Grande Guerra. Con una raccolta di lettere inedite, Rome 1993: Editori riuniti. Rousseau, Frédéric / Cazals, Rémy: 14-18. Le cri d'une génération. La correspondance et les carnets intimes rédigés au front, Toulouse 2001: Privat. Sáez, Carlos / Castillo Gómez, Antonio (eds.): La correspondencia en la historia. Modelos y práticas de la escritura epistolar, Madrid 2002: Calambur. Spitzer, Leo: Lettere di prigionieri di guerra italiani, 1915-1918, Turin 1976: P. Boringhieri. Zadra, Camillo / Fait, Gianluigi (eds.): Deferenza, rivendicazione, supplica. Le lettere ai potenti, Paese 1991: Pagus edizioni. Stiaccini, Carlo: War Letters (Italy) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-05-19. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10643. Translated by: Mazhar, Noor Giovanni The media > Censorship Warfare and the military > Soldiers, experiences and attitudes > Images of the enemy Warfare and the military > Soldiers, experiences and attitudes > Letters and diaries Warfare and the military > Command and control > Internment and POWs Warfare and the military > Battles, battlefields and campaigns > Battles, battlefields and campaigns, Italy Warfare and the military > Battles, battlefields and campaigns > Battles, battlefields and campaigns, Western Front Warfare and the military > Command and control > Officers War correspondence; postal censorship; letters from the front; postcards; military mail Weltkrieg [1914-1918] ; Italien ; Feldpostbrief World War, 1914-1918 ; Soldiers--Italy--Correspondence Récits personnels italiens ; Correspondance ; Guerre mondiale (1914-1918) Adolfo Omodeo (1889-1946); Leo Spitzer (1887-1960) Bologna; Bari; Naples; Trento; Taranto; Treviso Western Europe > Italy Stiaccini, Carlo Postcard from Enrico Chini (1869-) Postcard from Guido Ciprian (1878-1950) Letters to Naborre Ferrari (1884-1976) Postcard sent to Filippo Morica (1892-1919) Letter from Giuseppe Serpone (1894-1917)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line440
__label__wiki	0.933178	0.933178	Rutherford Engineers Academic, Athletic Success April 14, 2020 - Engineering for structural integrity requires the careful consideration of load and the successful calculation and execution of accommodation for the weight or source of pressure that can cause buildings to fail. For UC Irvine engineering student Tommy Rutherford, however, the concept of load is far more encompassing. For Rutherford, also a senior starter on the Anteaters' Big West Conference champion men's basketball team, the weight or source of pressure is a fulcrum upon which teeters the balance of his student-athlete existence. "My typical day during the season is classes all morning, then weights and basketball practice, then going home and going straight to the books to do homework until I go to sleep," said Rutherford, a 6-foot-8 forward who has helped UCI engineer Big West regular-season titles in three of his four seasons. "It's a lot." Rutherford, who earned first-team All-Big West honors as a sophomore and averaged 10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and shot 68.5% from the field in the 2019-20 regular-season, has earned the admiration of his teammates, coaches, professors and fellow students for his monumental quest for excellence on the court and in the classroom. "I have never had a guy who was such a hard worker, and I don't just mean in basketball," said UCI coach Russell Turner. "I mean in everything that he does; his academics and obviously his basketball. That guy's intent to do the right thing is as strong as any player I have ever coached, so to see the kind of success he has had himself, and all the different ways he has impacted this team and the success we have generated in his time here has been a lot of fun. Nobody has been more responsible for all that success than Tommy." After averaging 29 points and 20 rebounds as a senior at Grossmont High in El Cajon, Rutherford spurned a strong recruiting push from Harvard to accept a scholarship from UCI. From the outset, he was warned that majoring in engineering would be an imposing task. "I heard skepticism from friends, family and coaches when I tried to tell them that I wanted to do both [basketball and engineering]," said Rutherford, 23, whose older sister Rose is a civil engineer. "They said 'Are you sure? That is going to be a heck of a schedule.' "But for me, what outweighed the worry of the workload," Rutherford said, "is how meaningful it would be to not only pursue a career in basketball for as long as possible, but afterward, to have a career in something I felt was meaningful and interesting." The workload has prompted sacrifices, said Rutherford, who noted he regularly wonders how different his UCI experience would be if his major was less-demanding, or he didn't play basketball. "It's a lot of classes you have to take for engineering and usually those classes also have labs and discussions in order to make sure you are staying on track and getting the help you need," Rutherford said. "It had definitely challenged my work ethic. It takes dedication and sacrificing your time. You definitely have to plan your schedule to meet all the demands of the day." "My family will say, 'It sounds like you are working all the time. Maybe you should schedule a 15- or 20-minute break to watch TV or do something fun in between,' " Rutherford said. "It is tough to go-go-go all the time and it is important to have leisure time, because that is when you decompress. Sometimes when you do your best thinking is when you take some time to do something else. I wouldn't say [school and basketball are] all-consuming. I have tried to make sure that I enjoy other aspects of college, like meeting new people, and I have shared amazing experiences with my teammates on and off the court. A lot of my time is consumed by [basketball and academics], but it's important to find that balance." Among the most fun Rutherford has had at UCI came during the 'Eaters unprecedented NCAA Tournament run his junior season. The program, making its second appearance in the Big Dance, earned its first NCAA Tournament win by defeating Kansas State in the first round, before being eliminated by Oregon to finish 31-6. "It was an experience of a lifetime," Rutherford said of last season's success. "I had dreamed of playing in the NCAA Tournament ever since watching my first one when I was 5. My whole experience with college basketball has been one that I will never forget. I love it so much. All the hardships and friendships will be things I will always remember." - Barry Faulkner / ucirvinesports.com	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line443
__label__cc	0.587786	0.412214	Economy » News » FAO Forecast: Further decline in production FAO Forecast Further decline in production Photo: imago images / Countrypixel Poultry meat production is still on the rise. African swine fever poultry Beef pork China Asia Italy fleischwirtschaft.com — ITALY, Rome. Global meat production is expected to decline for the second year in a row in 2020. This is the assumption of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in its "Food Outlook". The production of beef, sheep, poultry and pork is expected to total 333 mill. of carcass weight this year, 1.7% less than in 2019. The latest decline is mainly due to the collapse of pig stocks in China and other Asian countries, where African swine fever (ASF) is still rife. As a result, global pork production in 2020 is expected to fall by 8% year-on-year to 101 mill. t. (Bild: jus) Beef Low slaughter figures put production under pressure However, the volume of beef is also in reverse on a global scale. However, production in this segment is expected to fall by only 0.8% year-on-year to 72 mill. t. In contrast, poultry meat production continues to grow. Current FAO statistics indicate that global production in 2020 is expected to reach 136.8 mill. t of poultry meat, an increase of 2.4% over 2019. The FAO points out that the corona pandemic has slowed down the dynamics of global meat production. A lack of employees in slaughterhouses, logistics and trade has brought livestock marketing to a standstill in many places for months and depressed producer prices, according to the outlook. In view of the current distortions at practically all stages of the value chain, the agricultural organisation is expecting the dynamics of cross-border meat trade to slow down. (Bild: pxhere.com) Meat production Spain slaughters more pigs than Germany The forecast for 2020 is for an increase of only 2.4% over the previous year to around 37 mill. t, after the meat trade had grown at a rate of 8.4% in the previous year. The driving force behind the international meat trade remains China, where imports are expected to increase by a further 24% in 2020. The main beneficiaries of Chinese demand are the Brazilians, whose meat exports are expected to grow by 6% compared to 2019. (Bild: Imago Images / Chromorange) Trade Mixed beef production in the EU Source: fleischwirtschaft.de; AgE	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line444
__label__cc	0.660414	0.339586	Homechevron_rightWorldchevron_rightChina insists it is... China insists it is still 'a developing country' despite being second largest economy Beijing: China, the world's second largest economy after the US, on Wednesday asserted that it is "still a developing country", arguing that it continued to grapple with the problems of inadequate and unbalanced development. Threatening to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation (WTP) over what he described as its unfair treatment of America, President Donald Trump last month said that India and China are no longer "developing nations" and are "taking advantage" of the tag from the global trade body. Earlier this week, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during his visit to the US criticised China's continuing status as a developing country under the WTO rules, bolstering Trump's claim. Addressing the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Morrison said it was time for China to accept greater responsibility. Countering Morrison's assertion, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "China is still a developing country. There is an extensive widespread consensus. So, sticking to our position of our status as a developing country is the basic right for developing countries and upholding international justice." Underlining that the WTO's present classification for the developing countries is "reasonable", he said, "China still has the problem of inadequate and unbalanced development. We are faced with the difficulty of improving our development quality and effectiveness." "Who is the developing country of the WTO and what are the standards and procedures we should follow, such questions needs to be decided by members of WTO," Geng said. Development is a multi-dimensional concept and as the biggest developing country, China will continue to make contributions in line with its own capability and development level, he said. China, Geng said, will also help other developing countries to achieve common development and to ensure the right development of the WTO reform. Morrison had characterised China as a "newly developed" economy, and argued that the status conferred developed-world obligations on the Chinese leadership. "Having achieved this status, it is important that China's trade arrangements and participation in addressing important global environmental challenges, with transparency in their partnerships and support for developing nations, reflect this new status and the responsibilities that go with it as a world power," the Australian prime minister said. He said global institutions "must adjust their settings for China, in recognition of this new status. That means more will be expected, as has always been the case for nations like the US". Observers say the WTO does not have a framework defining which countries are developing and which are already developed. Instead, nations are left to classify themselves as they see fit. As a self-identified developing country, China receives a range of perks. For example, it gets more time to implement WTO commitments, procedural advantages in disputes and access to subsidies in certain economic sectors, a report by the news.com.au said. This is a real sore point for Trump, who believes the size of the Chinese economy should disqualify it from such special treatment, it said. A recent World Bank report said since initiating market reforms in 1978, China has experienced rapid economic and social development. The GDP growth has averaged nearly 10 per cent a year the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history and more than 850 million people have lifted themselves out of poverty. China reached all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Although China's GDP growth has gradually slowed since 2012, as needed for a transition to more balanced and sustainable growth, it is still relatively high by current global standards, the report said. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is the world's second largest economy and the largest if measured in purchasing price parity terms, the report said. Web Title - China insists it is still 'a developing country' despite being second largest economy	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line445
__label__wiki	0.9519	0.9519	Homechevron_rightKeralachevron_rightComplaint against... date_range 15 April 2019 1:35 PM GMT Complaint against Sreedharan Pillai, Chidananda Puri Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) leader V. Sivankutty has filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the Attingal police against P S Sreedharan Pillai, state president of BJP, for a speech against the Muslim community, accusing him of trying to create communal tension in the State. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Mr. Sivankutty, who is also leading the campaign for CPM candidate A. Sampath in Attingal, said the speech was a violation of the model code of conduct. Pillai has made highly objectionable remarks against the Muslim community with the intention of garnering votes for the BJP. But that kind of speech has never been made by any political leader in Kerala, Sivankutty said. Sreedharan Pillai had made controversial communal remarks at an election meeting in Attingal. He said that Rahul Gandhi, Pinarayi Vijayan and Sitaram Yechury demanded the Indian armed forces to provide the count of destroyed terrorists and their religion following the Balakot attack. If we have to identify the Muslims, then it will be known by removing the clothes, Pillai said during his speech. Sivankuty said that the speech is not only a violation of the model code of conduct, but also a criminal act under IPC Section 153A for promoting enmity between different sections of people on grounds of religion. Sivankutty said he had also filed a complaint against Swami Chidananda Puri with the Election Commission for violation of the model code of conduct. He just has a Swami attached to his name, but he is a worker of the BJP-RSS. For the past few days, he has made it a habit to hurl insults at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Now, he has organised a protest in front of the Secretariat and openly claimed that he will go against the Election Commission’s directives to not use religion and Sabarimala as an election issue, Sivankutty said. Responding to the allegations against him, Sreedharan Pillai said in a press release that the CPI(M) and the Congress had taken his words out of context and misinterpreted them to whip up communal sentiments for fear of minority votes. Web Title - Complaint against Sreedharan Pillai, Chidananda Puri	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line446
__label__wiki	0.669504	0.669504	Aussie firms flag gains from US tax cuts Bluescope Steel, Ansell and Computershare are among a slew of Australian companies that are set to benefit from the looming cut in corporate tax rates in the United States. The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives overnight followed the Senate in passing the tax reform legislation, giving final approval to the biggest overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law as early as this week. The changes include cutting the US company tax rate to 21 per cent from 35 per cent from January 1, 2018, a move set to boost company earnings and pave the way for higher dividends and stock buybacks. The reforms are also expected to result in a windfall for scores of Australian companies that have extensive operations in the US. Steelmaking major Bluescope flagged immediate gains from the reforms, saying the tax change will result in a seven per cent decrease in federal tax on its US earnings in 2017/18 and an 11 per cent decrease in subsequent years. The company, whose Ohio-based North Star Bluescope business is among its best-performing divisions, said the benefit will be partly offset by a toll charge on foreign earnings but this is not expected to be material. Gloves and protective clothing maker Ansell says it has estimated a benefit of $US3 million to $US5 million for the 2019 financial year, as well as a one-off tax expense benefit of $A18 milion to $20 million in the current financial year, partly on account of restating US deferred tax liabilities. The company, which operates its Ansell Healthcare LLC subsidiary out of New Jersey, also expects its group effective tax rate to remain at 24 to 25 per cent until the end of 2019/20, compared to its previous forecast that the group rate will increase to 26 to 27 per cent. ASX-listed investor services group Computershare also said the US tax changes will result in a one-time statutory net profit benefit in 2017/18 associated with the reduction of Computershare's US net deferred tax liability position. Separately, Morgan Stanley analysts have estimated that poker machine maker Aristocrat Leisure will be a large beneficiary of the US tax reform. Aristocrat, which derives about 65 per cent of its earnings from the US, will see its group blended tax rate reduce from 32 per cent to 26 per cent across 2018/19 and 2019/20 because of the lower corporate tax rate. This will result in a nine per cent increase in earnings per share for the period, the analysts have estimated. Shares in Bluescope, Aristocrat Leisure, and Computershare were all trading between 0.8 and five per cent higher in a weak Australian market while Ansell shares were down 0.5 per cent at 1459 AEDT. Vodafone loses ACCC domestic roaming case NZ dollar gains in light holiday trading	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line447
__label__cc	0.722009	0.277991	A LATE FATHER'S DAY TRIBUTE TO MY LATE FATHER (Reworked from a 6/2016 post.) My dad’s given name was Angel Kiewitsky. He always went by the name Archie Keyes. When I was starting college he decided to have it changed legally. Off went our family to the courthouse. As I recall, almost the entire conversation between the judge & my father went like this: Judge: “Your name is Angel Kiewitsky?” AK: “Yes, your Honor.” Judge: “And you want it changed to Archie Keyes?” AK: “Yes, sir.” Judge: “I don’t blame you. Granted!!" You may not consider him handsome. A childhood bout of polio had slightly distorted the right side of his face. Our kids thought he looked a little like Popeye, but his heart was beautiful & to me he looked like Sir Galahad. He was the nicest person you could ever meet. He would do anything for anybody. He lived in L.A., but if someone asked him for a ride home (to New Mexico or Kansas) I have no doubt he would’ve said yes. If his doctor told him he’d have to amputate his head, Daddy would probably have asked, “When would that be convenient for you?” He loved to tell jokes & stories. When he wanted to tell you about a movie he’d seen, you learned to get comfortable. If it was an MGM film, he’d start with, “First the lion came out & roared.” At the time of their marriage my mother's family didn't approve because they felt she was robbing the cradle. She was 22 & he was 20 the day before the wedding. One of my aunts showed up in black, as if she were in mourning. Several others didn't come at all. Nice guy Archie soon won them all over & became one of the (if not the) family favorites. As a father, he was extremely gentle. My mother would spank me when I misbehaved & I didn’t really care. He would just have to look at me & say, “I’m very disappointed in you” & I would break into tears. I only recall him yelling at me one time, but to be fair he feared for his life. He was teaching me to drive & I apparently came a little closer than he thought I should to a parked car. He slid down in the passenger’s seat, threw out his arms as if he were crucified & yelled, “What in the hell do you think you are doing?” Bud took over my lessons from that point on. I'll admit he was not too much of a handyman. He once was attempting to paint a wall. He stepped back to admire check his work & found his foot in the paint roller tray--twice!! He never had a fancy job, but he always supported his family. For most of his life he drove a delivery truck for a wholesale meat company. He delivered to many Hollywood restaurants & the chefs loved him. Quite often they served him gourmet meals in the kitchen--free!! At home, one of his favorite things to eat was cake, which he considered a device for holding frosting. Since we didn't have a lot of money & Daddy didn't mind driving we usually drove to national parks on vacation. I remember my brother trying to spit a mile--from the rim of the Grand Canyon to the bottom. My dad was a gamblin' man so we often took weekend drives to Las Vegas. (He never bet grocery or rent money & couldn't understand people who did. He also had a problem with people who complained about losing. He felt that you willingly paid money to see a movie or a play or when you rent something & that gambling was essentially no different.) It was about a 5 to 6 hour drive & our car had no air-conditioning so we'd leave around midnight to escape the heat of the day. When my dad was shooting craps, you could almost use him as a clock; or more specifically, as a sundial. At 9:00 pm, he would be standing erect at the table. As the evening wore on he would start to bend at the waist. Lower & lower he would go as the hours passed. Around midnight his top was at about a 30° angle to his legs. By 4:00 am, the angle was about 60°. That’s when we would get him & take him to our room. My parents were married over 50 years. They were married on August 23rd. There were times when he really couldn’t afford it, but on the 23rd of every month, my dad gave my mom a dozen yellow roses, which signify joy & happiness. He said their entire married life was like a honeymoon. When she died, he had a blanket of yellow roses placed over her coffin. Later, when he passed away, we had his coffin covered with yellow roses, too. It seemed appropriate. I hope all of you are as happy together as they were. I remember him singing this song to her: After their wives passed away, my father & father-in-law spent a lot of time together. They would go & play cards in Gardena, with my dad driving, of course. One time they went to see their grandson, Matt, who was going to college in San Francisco. They stayed in his apartment. Matt said he really enjoyed their visit but for some reason he refused to explain he referred to them as the “Odd Couple.” Daddy was raised to believe that a man should always take care of his family's needs. He continued to pay life insurance premiums after my mom died, but he made me the beneficiary. When I discovered this I told him that I appreciated it but I didn't need his money & that it would make me happier if he could enjoy it himself--he should just piss it away!! It took a lot of convincing to get him to do it. I used to host a yoga retreat at the beach every summer. One year I was going to cancel because my dad was in the hospital, about an hour & a half away from the beach. He had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Although he walked into the hospital under his own power less than a week before, he was now unable to speak. The doctors told us that he would likely not recover, but he could stay like that for a long time. I wanted to be able to get to the hospital quickly if it became necessary. Bud said I needed the mental relaxation yoga would bring & convinced me to go. After the exercises, our instructor would have us clear our minds & totally relax. I swear I had an out of body experience. I found myself in his hospital room. He sat up & very sternly said, “What are you doing here? You need to be at yoga--you worry too much. I’ll be fine!” I learned later that that was about the time he died. Since Daddy almost never wore a suit (& the only time he ever wore a tuxedo was when we took him on a cruise to Alaska with the rest of our family) we buried him in a polo shirt so he would be comfortable--& so that God would recognize him. I still miss you, Daddy----fishducky	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line448
__label__cc	0.699515	0.300485	Home / Movie Database / Jack Black Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door, and makes a quick friend in Champ (Ryan Lee). But every sil... Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) Slappy is back to wreak more havoc this Halloween in a brand-new comedy adventure based on R.L. Stine's 400-million-selling series of books.... Gulliver's Travels (2010) A bigscreen adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels," with Jack Black taking on the title role of Lemuel Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer who, on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he w... The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adv... Ice Age (2002) They came... they thawed... they conquered the hearts of audiences everywhere in the coolest animated adventure of all time! Heading south to avoid the bad case of global frostbite, a group of migrating misfit creatures embark on a hilarious quest to... In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid... In the brand new adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the tables are turned as four teenagers are sucked into the world of Jumanji.When four high-school kids discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of – Jum... In the King Kong Deluxe Edition DVD, it is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar® nominee Naomi Watts) has found herself-like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression-without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromi... Kung Fu Panda (2008) Po the panda (Jack Black) works in his family's noodle shop and dreams of becoming a kung-fu master. His dream becomes a reality when, unexpectedly, he must fulfill an ancient prophecy and study the skills with his idols, the Furious Five. Po needs a... Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five – Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened... The Golden Child	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line453
__label__cc	0.533009	0.466991	cityhealthchannelAccident and EmergencyRemove St Thomas' Hospital A&E St Thomas' Hospital A&E treats serious injuries, accidents or sudden illness. St Thomas' Hospital currently has the top performing A&E in South London and is open 24 hours a day. If you have been suffering from a medical problem for more than 48 hours you should… St Thomas' Hospital, Accident and emergency (A&E)Westminster Bridge RoadLondon 999 (medical emergency) or 111 (non-urgent) Evelina London Children’s Hospital A&E Evelina London's specialist children’s accident and emergency (A&E) department is part of the A&E department at St Thomas' Hospital. The children’s waiting and treatment areas are separate from the adult department. Children’s accident and emergency (A&E) St Thomas’ HospitalWestminster Bridge RoadLondon Homerton Hospital A&E Homerton University Hospital is considered to have one of the finest A&E departments in the UK. In April 2014 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who assess the quality of performance of all hospitals and their departments rated Homerton's A&E as 'outstanding'. No other A&E had… A&E Department, Homerton HospitalHomerton RowHackneyHackneyLondon 020 8510 7120/111 huh-tr.Enquiries@nhs.net University College Hospital is a new hospital with state-of-the-art facilities using cutting edge technology. Services offered at University College Hospital include accident & emergency, hyper-acute stroke unit, cancer care, critical care, endocrinology, general surgery, ophthalmology, dermatology, general medicine, general neurology, rheumatology, orthopaedics, paediatric & adolescents,… University College Hospital235 Euston RoadLondon Moorfields Eye Hospital's main focus is the treatment and care of NHS patients with a wide range of eye problems, from common complaints to rare conditions that require treatment not available elsewhere in the UK. Please note that the A&E team can only help with eye… Moorfields Eye Hospital162 City RoadLondon The Royal London Hospital A&E and Urgent Care Centre The Royal London A&E treats serious injuries, accidents or sudden illness and is open 24 hours a day. The Urgent Care Centre is co-located within the A&E department to see patients with minor injuries and illnesses and is open daily from 12noon-10pm. Ground Floor, North TowerWhitechapel RoadWhitechapelWhitechapelLondon	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line458
__label__cc	0.612428	0.387572	PRESS RELEASE \| Clarksville Little Theatre’s “Miracle on 34th Street” Based on the 1947 classic film starring Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn and John Payne, the story revolves around an elderly gentleman who believes he is the real Santa and a little girl who learns to have faith in the magic of the Christmas season. In this Christmas classic, Kris Kringle fills in for an intoxicated Santa in the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Kringle soon gains both popularity and love with children and adults alike at the chain’s main store in midtown Manhattan. When he insists, however, that he really is Santa Claus, a competency hearing is held to determine Kringle’s sanity and on whether he could possibly be who he says he is. Rachel Allen plays Doris Walker; Kara Marchant plays her daughter, Susan Walker. James Ballard plays the defense attorney, Fred Gayley; Richard Seng plays the psychiatrist, Mr. Sawyer, and Tom Morton plays the lovable Kris Kringle. Directed by Rita Hight the cast ensemble also includes Lynda Arkwright, Denver Bays, Adelaide Bingham, Kearstie Burke. Kinsley Carter, Gary Crockett, Grace Cummins, Brylee Deuser, Shannon Frazier, Amber Gillenwater, Alice Haynes, Owen Kane, Dashiel Leonard, Kinsey McClure, Joyce Miller, Mike Miller, Evelyn Minton, Richard Seng, Aiden Singleton, Sophia Singleton, Autumn Smith, Debbie Smith, Charles Swarens, Terrence Thomas, Alan Weller, and Caitlin Wheat. Shows are November 11, 12, 13, 18, and 19 at 8:00 p.m. and November 20 at 2:00. Tickets range from $10 for children, $15 for teens and seniors, and $18 for adults. Tickets can be reserved by calling 812-283-6522 and are also available at the door. This entry was posted in and tagged christmas, Clarksville, Doris Walker, Extol, Extol mag, Kris Kringle, Manhattan, Miracle on 34th Street, Rita Hight, Santa, Susan Walker, theatre on November 11, 2016 by Brian Hyatt.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line465
__label__cc	0.513256	0.486744	Reforming Welfare Reforming the welfare system and supporting people back into work go hand in hand. For too long, too many people were left languishing on benefits and trapped in a life of poverty. Helping them go back to work has been one of the primary objectives of the Government in recent years and the results are starting to show. I have always kept in close contact with the local Job Centre and other providers delivering the Government's Work Programme and visited both again in recent weeks. Unemployment has tumbled by almost half over the last year or so, and the job market is stronger now than it has been for over a decade. One of the most powerful schemes in recent years has been the policy of creating work experience opportunities for young people. The most important step to getting a full time job for school leavers is gaining experience. Lots of local employers have done their bit by offering unpaid work experience to school leavers and I have seen numerous cases where, after that short trial period, employers are so impressed by the young people joining their team that they move things around to try to find them a permanent place. Another change now being rolled out is the introduction of the Universal Credit to replace other out of work benefits and Housing Benefit. Previously, many believed that they were better off on the dole. If a job didn’t work out it was difficult to get back on benefits support. If income went over a certain threshold, people lost all Housing Benefit or tax credits resulting in employees being unable to work more than sixteen hours per week for fear of being worse off. That is about to change. Under the new system there will be tapered support so that there is a single benefit payment which is withdrawn gradually as income rises. It will always pay to work more hours but if something goes wrong, the support will kick back in automatically. These changes are never straightforward but they will transform the lives of those who are on the bottom rung of the ladder. Parliament can be at its best on a "free vote" where the political parties step aside and where each individual MP tries to reach their own conclusion on difficult and complex issues of conscience. Last Friday, we all debated one of the most difficult issues of all: the Assisted Dying Bill. None of us finds it easy to contemplate death. In recent years there have been some heart wrenching cases of individuals who had severe terminal illnesses and who wanted to bring their own life to an end early, on their own terms with medical assistance. Some of these have ended up in high profile cases before the courts. In the last few years I have become more sympathetic to some sort of change in the law that would allow professional assistance to be given to those who genuinely want it and had therefore been minded to support the Bill. However, as always in such areas, the difficulties start once you get into the detail and try to work out how to put such an option into the lawyerly clauses of a written statute. A week before the debate as part as my preparation, I read the whole Bill from cover to cover and that is when doubt started to set in. Of particular concern for me were the nature of the "safeguards" and the impacts that creating such an option would have for relationships within families. It started with the mere description of how a doctor would prepare and then place the drinkable "medicine" beside the patient and then retreat to a neighbouring room to observe from a distance. There would need to be a signed declaration from two doctors that the persons' condition meant they had less than six months to live. Doctors say it is very difficult on most conditions to make such a judgement on an arbitrary time limit. It would also not have helped some of the difficult cases which have ended up before the courts and have prompted debate in recent years such as the former rugby player who was severely paralysed. There would then need to be a High Court Judge to decide whether or not the individual had genuinely wanted to exercise the choice to have assisted dying or whether they had felt under pressure to do it. But how can a judge really know when you have such complex relationships between an individual and those nearest and dearest to them? Someone might feel very uneasy about ending their own life but could equally feel that they were a burden on their children or feel that they would not want their children to see their condition deteriorate. Their children would most likely feel precisely the opposite and would want their loved ones to know that they would always be there for them. But they would equally fear that they might be being selfish by standing in the way of a loved ones' wishes. The problem is compounded by the fact that people with such terminal illnesses sometimes suffer depression which is understandable. This came up in the debate and the solution put forward by proponents is that, in such cases, doctors would refer the individual for psychiatric assessment before signing off the procedure. But what's that about? You have to go and pretend to be happy for the psychiatrist before you are allowed to opt to end your own life? For every case where this gives people the option they want, I feared there would be many, many more where the weight of having to consider whether to actually take such an option would add another intolerable dilemma to people suffering terminal illnesses. That is why, in the end, I voted against the Bill. However, I remain sympathetic to some other change. As I listened to the debate I could see an alternative way. Legal guidance has already been altered in recent years so that there are no prosecutions brought in cases where a family member acted compassionately to assist a loved one in their wishes. We could, in my view, move that guidance further. It might also be that people should be able to opt in advance for a palliative care pathway that deliberately seeks to expedite an end rather than try to delay the end. That would go some way to dealing with these difficult choices without bringing all the new dilemmas inherent in the Assisted Dying Bill. Posted by George Eustice at 08:15 Syrian Refugee Crisis Over the last week the Syrian refugee crisis finally broke into the public consciousness with the heart wrenching picture of a Syrian toddler who drowned with his brother and mother while their family was attempting to make it to Greece. The Syrian civil war has been running for several years and some four million people have fled the country with many desperate families putting their trust in people-traffickers and trying cross the Mediterranean in overloaded and dangerous boats. I have received a great deal of correspondence from constituents on the matter. I think there are three things we need to do. Firstly we need to offer sanctuary to those refugees in immediate need of asylum, but to do so in a way that does not encourage more families to risk their lives. That is why David Cameron was right to say that we will offer sanctuary to thousands more refugees, but take them from refugee camps in Syria and the surrounding states so that we don't encourage people to put their lives at risk trying to enter Europe illegally. Secondly, this is a moment when our aid budget can really come into its own. Britain is already the second largest donor of funds to alleviate the refugee crisis in Syria and we can direct more funds to help support those neighbouring states provide refugees with shelter, food and medical treatment. Finally, in the longer term, the problem will only be solved once the civil war ends. I voted in favour of air strikes in Syria in 2013 because I think, had we intervened early, we could have brought the conflict to an earlier close with a moderate group forming a new government. Haunted by memories of Iraq and Afghanistan, parliament hesitated. A year later, in a separate vote, parliament limited the authorisation for targeted RAF bombing against ISIS extremists to Iraq only, not Syria. While we should use force with caution, there are definitely times when military intervention is the right thing to do and the best way to help vulnerable people suffering the consequences of an enduring civil war. Improving Opportunities for the Next Generation I have always thought the best way to promote social mobility is to make sure every child has access to a good education tailored to that child’s individual needs. We have some brilliant schools in Camborne, Redruth & Hayle and the A Level and GCSE results which came out last month show that they are going from strength to strength. We also have some brilliant extra-curricular projects in the constituency which take place over the summer and are aimed at teaching young people life-skills and helping them to build their confidence. For eleven year olds about to start secondary school, Hayle School participates in CampFirst which runs a two week summer camp, allowing participants to get to know their future classmates before the start of term, while the Get On Track Project, run by the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust deploys retired Olympians to help mentor and inspire young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and uses sport to teach life skills such as team work and problem solving. We cannot forget however, that the first three years of a child's life are the most formative and have a crucial impact on a child's life chances. Many primary school head teachers tell me they have noticed a growing trend in the last twenty years of children arriving in reception class with language difficulties and, however much effort those schools put in, those children start at a disadvantage. The other week I visited the Gooseberry Bush Nursery at Rosmellin. Run by Gill Smith, the Gooseberry Bush stresses the importance of play based learning in developing basic communication skills so children can build relationships with one another. The government has been increasing free nursery care for two and three year olds and the Gooseberry Bush have been piloting a new programme of early intervention based on rediscovering the importance of traditional play. They are getting some really positive early results which proves that, in those first few years, it’s not about forcing academic learning ever younger but instead just about encouraging child's play.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line469
__label__wiki	0.648809	0.648809	Cal State Sacramento Nearly 200 photos on 40 posters chart the course of The Holocaust in “The Courage to Remember” a free exhibit at Sacramento State’s Anthropology Museum in Mendocino Hall. The exhibit is on loan from the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and runs Sept. 20 through Nov. 4. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. A special opening and reception will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, with guest speakers… The display offers new insights into the Holocaust, and unfolds through four major themes: Nazi Germany, 1933-1938 Moving Toward the “final Solution,” 1939-1941 Annihilation in Nazi-occupied Europe, 1941-1945; and Liberation – Building New Lives While the magnitude and brutality of the Holocaust are unique, its root causes persist, and so it must always be remembered and examined, according to information from the Center. “For only informed, understanding and morally committed individuals can prevent such persecution from happening again.” “The exhibit will bring a new generation of students face to face with the cruel historical realities lived by a generation now fading from our presence,” says Terri Castaneda, Sacramento State associate professor and museum director. The exhibit runs through Nov. 4, to coincide with Sacramento State’s Genocide Conference, being held on that day. “We are lucky to have the exhibit come to our campus, where we can not only welcome visitors from the community, but also use it as a teaching and learning resource for our students,” says Castaneda. For more information on the exhibit, visit www.couragetoremember.com. For media assistance, call Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156. Craig Koscho ckoscho@csus.edu Sacramento State is making a difference in California’s Capital Region and beyond. We offer a life-changing opportunity for our 28,000 students, preparing them to be leaders in their professions and communities. Our professors are known for their dedication to great teaching. And our location in the capital of the nation’s most populous state allows students to pursue unique internships and research.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line471
__label__cc	0.733258	0.266742	Freddy’s expands into southern Salt Lake City DRAPER, Utah – Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opens in Draper on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 1300 Draper Pkwy. in Hidden Valley Shopping Center. Signature menu items for the fast-casual restaurant concept include lean ground beef steakburgers, Vienna Beef hot dogs and crispy shoestring fries, as well as a large assortment of dessert treats prepared with a choice of chocolate or vanilla frozen custard that is freshly churned several times throughout each day. “This will be our fourth location in the Greater Salt Lake area,” said Brad Williams, franchise owner. “We’re in Midvale at 716 West Blue Vista Lane, West Valley City at 5502 W. High Market Dr., and in Ogden at 235 12th St. The Hidden Valley Shopping Center in Draper is a strong retail hub and a great fit for the newest area Freddy’s; we appreciate the warm welcome to the neighborhood.” The 3,309 square-foot freestanding location seat 100 guests, with additional seating on the patio. Drive-thru service is also available. Hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. “As we continue to expand, our focus remains on fast, friendly service and quality menu items,” said Williams. “Whether you visit Freddy’s on the north side of town or further south, our teams work hard to make sure guests receive a consistent dining experience.” Freddy’s opens in Kennesaw on Sunday Local WWII vet aims to keep memories, tradition alive through successful business	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line472
__label__cc	0.722574	0.277426	Welcome to my page for everything to do with Detach and his search for gold. This is the place where you’ll find all the latest info on what Detach is up to including the latest releases and everything to do with his friends and colleagues. NOTE: For new stuff, scroll down to the bottom of the page. The first release coming down the pike was Lusitania Gold, which went live in 2017. The next will be Spanish Gold, tentatively spring 2020. LUSITANIA GOLD While searching for treasure, a discovery is made that will alter history. Lusitania Gold is an adventure/thriller that starts as a search for gold and ends with the discovery that the wreck of the Lusitania is not where it should be. Detach, a professional diver and salvager, learns that there may be a large shipment of gold stashed on the wreck of the sunken luxury liner Lusitania. The gold is disguised as bullets, part of a scheme to smuggle them to Germany through England. Once he reaches the wreck site in Kinsale, Ireland, he discovers unexploded improvised depth charges and signs of recent damage as if someone were trying to destroy the site. He’s also warned off with a note and bomb in his hotel. More determined than ever to get to the truth, Detach delves deep inside the ship and discovers that it’s not the Lusitania. When he finds the real ship hidden deep in another location, he comes face to face with those that will do anything to keep it a secret. Lusitania Gold is a thrilling adventure set in the present day with plenty of action, interesting locations and a twist on the history of the early 20th century. Here are some free shots I found on the net. They show various angles of the real Lusitania. The Lusitania was quite a massive ship. Though more lives were lost in the Titanic disaster, and it got much more publicity, there was one big difference between these two disasters. In the case of the Lusitania, it was deliberately sunk. Release date! Lusitania Gold will be released August 25th! Lusitania Gold is now live. It’s available at all the usual outlets like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. It’s also available at the publisher’s web site at http://www.mysticpublishersinc.com/newlink-publishing/ You can find out the latest events and happenings at https://www.facebook.com/DetachAndHisAdventures/ New radio interview with James Kelly on his Aspects of Writing show. Subject: Writing with the character in mind. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aspectsofwriting/2018/02/26/writing-with-the-character-in-mind THE LIMNOPHOBIC CHRONICLES WARNING – PLENTY OF SPOILERS! Limnophobia is the fear of marshes or lakes. People with this phobia tend to fear they may drown in the lake, get sick from the water or attacked by something in the lake. The origin of the word limno is Greek (meaning lake) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear). (From Google) For those of you that have read a Detach adventure, you are aware that he’s got Limnophobia. His phobia is restricted to fresh water lakes and not swamps, specifically, as you all would’ve found out if you read Lusitania Gold. His fear stems from almost drowning in a lake where he grew up in Palmdale, California. This lake was known as “the bottomless lake” and is the setting for an upcoming novel called Palmdale Gold. You may think it odd that he was a Navy diver, but he trained in salt water and I did extensive research and discovered that there are SOME divers that trained exclusively in salt water and swimming pools and it’s entirely possible he could’ve avoided fresh water lakes, depending on where and when he got his basic water school training. So, I left it vague in his background history (a writing tool!) and that, my friends, is why he can still dive in oceans and never have a hint of fear of lakes. It’s an odd combination, but hey, there are some pretty strange phobias out there and this one doesn’t hold a candle to some of them. It also plays a key role in Palmdale Gold, which is the third Gold series book. More on that in a later installment. I decided to title this newsletter the Limnophobic Chronicles on a hoot. In it, I’ll be giving news and info on Detach and his world. Here, I’ll give fiction versus reality on each of the Gold series books. First up is info on Lusitania Gold and the fiction versus reality section we weren’t able to attach to the end of the published book. So, sit back, relax, and get ready for the occasional spoiler and other bits of info. I’ll always put SPOILER in bold before a paragraph that affects part of the book. If not, you don’t have to worry about it. For those of you that have already read the book, it might answer questions about why I wrote something the way I did. Let’s rock! The main character, or hero of the story is an amalgam of people I knew in real life and people I completely made up. He’s also got a smidgen of me in there somewhere, but not a lot. His name came from someone I knew in elementary school. His appearance came from a guy I didn’t know, but used to see working at the rubber extrusion plant I worked at in Oklahoma. His personality is all over the map and is just my imagination plus, like I said, a little bit of me, a little bit of this and that. The name Detach… Joseph “Detach” Datchuk derived from a kid I knew in elementary school. A different first name, of course, but half the kids couldn’t pronounce his last name so someone started calling him “Detach-butt” and it kind of stuck. It was probably mortifying to him, but I’m sure after all these years, he must be over it by now. At least I hope so! He was a friend of mine, at least a little bit, best I can remember. When I was pondering a name for my hero, I wanted something quirky. I wanted something different and I’d never heard of ANYONE with a hero named Detach. It sounds like a verb to most people. In fact, at the latest Las Vegas 2018 Writer’s Conference, I was in a class and one facilitator asked me to tell her about my book. When I gave my slug line and mentioned “Detach,” she went “Huh?” That certainly got her attention and I ‘splained the origin of the name. Just like the real kid, Joseph had the same issues in elementary school in Palmdale, California where he grew up. That’s also where I went to first grade and then high school. I went to elementary school in another town where I knew the real Detach-butt. However, in this case, Joseph spent his entire childhood in Palmdale, embraced the Detach name, took on the moniker and carried it into adult life. In fact, many people throughout his life never even knew his real name, even in the military. The rest of the “real” Detach came from many different sources, as I explained above. More and more of his personality will come out in each book in the series, so discover more about him as the books come out! REALITY VERSUS FICTION – LOCATIONS They say about business and home, location location location. I chose the locations for a lot of reasons. Unlike some of the other upcoming novels in this Gold series, being the first one, I wasn’t able to visit the actual sites. I had to rely on either books or the Internet. All apologies to any details I got wrong, despite my best efforts! More on that below. Mason industries is located on Galveston bay. In an effort to keep it as realistic as possible, I left details vague. Based on maps back in 1995, the original location was Houston, but I thought it would better be suited closer to the water. Many of the personnel commute from Houston. Now, given that the area has drastically changed in the 22 years since I originally wrote the book, plus several major hurricanes, just before publication, I did a Google Map search and made sure to turn on the satellite feature, hoping for the latest images. I also did a bit more research and looked for “before and after” images after the latest hurricane. Folks, the location of the Mason Industries buildings doesn’t exist! If you were to travel to Galveston and try to look the place up, or the area, good luck! You not only won’t find the address, which I never mention in any of the books, you won’t find any significant landmarks or features to give an exact location, or even a vague one where the buildings might be. Hey, this is a story, not a historical document! If I ever were to use a real location, I wouldn’t want to get sued or get something wrong and have someone that actually lives there call me on it. I’m just happy to be able to feature the town, which probably doesn’t get enough recognition as it is. REALITY VERSUS FICTION – THE SHIPS THE LOTHAR The Lothar is the disguised tramp steamer, which is actually a modern luxury craft that Detach and the crew use for their forays into the world. I thought this up back in 1995. To my surprise, Clive Cussler used it in his Juan Cabrillo stories, as well, a decade and a half later. We both have a superb vessel, disguised as an old junker. We both have advanced technology to run them. We both have moon pools in the hull so we can dive in secret if desired. However, the Lothar isn’t armed. It also uses conventional propellers and has a different power source. If I recall, Cussler isn’t the only author to use such a ship either, though I can’t recall the other authors I’ve seen this same setup from at the moment and I’ve been struggling to recall it ever since I wrote this description in mid 2017. There’ll be more on the propulsion system in a later post. *WARNING: MINOR SPOILER* REALITY VERSUS FICTION – THE OIL RIG The oil rig idea was inspired by a guy I used to work with in the rubber extrusion plant I was employed at in Oklahoma. He’d worked oil rigs in not only the Gulf, but Southwest Asia, mainly around Indonesia and thereabouts. I interviewed him off and on for weeks and weeks, getting details about how oil rigs operate and what would and wouldn’t work in the North Sea. Along with research I did on line, I came up with a way to make my icky bug (the ancient shark creature) come alive. Any details I got wrong are on me. I ran the scenario by him of what I wanted to do and we hashed out the possibilities and if it were possible or not. He’d heard of similar events happening, though not to the extreme I take it in the book. Of course, dramatic license wins out every time! It was based on a multiple of real and imagined events and exaggerated to give birth to the icky bug. That in itself (the icky bug) is an amalgam of inspirations from several classic movies and stories, some of which I’ll talk about in a later installation as well. Becky is a bit of a girl I used to work with in Spain and a whole lot of just strong women I’ve known over my lifetime. They include a crush from high school, a bit of a few actresses, a bit of this and that thrown in and a whole lot of nobody at all. I know exactly who she looks like in my mind’s eye, but to you, the reader, I only vaguely describe her, at best and leave that up to you. As a reader for over sixty years, I discovered in myself that when an author describes a character, I rarely, if at all grab that image in my mind. Once in a while, I’ll grab onto a detail here and there and it will stick with me. However, I generally paint my own picture, regardless of what the author describes. On the other hand, I’ve witnessed some readers who hated a book because the author described a character that closely resembled someone they personally despised! Or, the author described a character looking like some Hollywood actor or famous musician or other celebrity that a person could not stand and they hated the book because that character reminded them of the real person. Go figure. If you’re expecting me to describe any of my characters in detail, or looking like so and so, forget it! Some of you may be like me and will ignore my description anyway, and draw your own picture. Instead, I’ll leave those descriptions vague and let you draw your own picture. Besides, if this series ever gets picked up by Hollywood, the casting crew is probably never going to go for who I have in mind anyway, and I’m pretty sure if you have someone in mind, it’ll probably not be them, either! So, with that in mind, Becky is a strong female presence to keep Detach in check, keep a bit of unfulfilled love interest going, and keep a spark there for future endeavors. She’s a yin to his yang, to borrow a well-worn cliché. Keep in mind that unlike the Meleena series, which has a female protagonist, the protagonist here is centered around Detach, a male character, so he’s top banana. On the other hand, that doesn’t mean Becky will just be a prop. Plan to see her around a lot in every book in the series. I’ve been to New York but never to walk around. Therefore, I used anecdotal info to describe certain areas. I don’t think I was too far off the mark on that for Detach’s short visit. We stopped over in New York briefly, on our way to and from Turkey back in the 80’s. We took an R&R trip to visit the family and had a layover at Kennedy (at the time) airport. Maybe it had already reverted back to LaGuardia by then. Anyway, we had to take a bus into town to stay at a hotel for a few hours before we got right back on the bus to the airport and another plane. That was it. The closest I ever came otherwise was when I dropped my car off there a few years before at Bayonne, New Jersey. I based Detach’s short stay, at the beginning of Lusitania Gold on TV, movies and books, so forgive me if I got something incorrect. I had to rely on that instead of actually walking the streets. I kept it general and never named any specific streets, which would’ve got me in real trouble! I also based it a bit on incidents I remember from the news years ago. Those incidents of people ignoring chaos on the streets, closing their windows and doors, ignoring what was going on below is NOT unique to New York. In reality, the chances of someone calling it in in ANY city are relatively high. However, and that’s where I took literary license, there is the possibility cries for help would be ignored. I want to emphasize, that is NOT unique to New York. It could happen ANYWHERE. Plus, if you think about it, with so many of us glued to TVs, cell phones and other electronic media, there are so few left that are paying attention to what’s around us, is it any wonder people notice what goes on right next to them? Think about it. THE COOPER The Cooper is the fancied up utility vessel in the Mason Industries fleet and the one used by Detach and his crew for show. With the same propulsion system as the Lothar, that’s the only thing disguised with a standard diesel engine. It’s the ship they use for normal business. The Cooper is named after the Alice Cooper Band, not the singer (sorry, Vince). Both Jams (because he’s old enough) and Detach (because he was exposed to the band through his dad and uncle) are fans of the band. Like with the Lothar, they broke tradition and named the ships after something they both loved. Another thing to think about. An Alice Cooper Band member has a significant, though indirect role in a future Gold novel. Stay tuned! *WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER* REALITY VERSUS FICTION – THE ICKY BUG (THE SHARK CREATURE) Seeing as how I’d just wrote an icky bug (b-movie horror) novel, The Greenhouse, I couldn’t resist throwing a bit of creature feature into Lusitania Gold. Think of the old movie Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Nothing real about that! I rest my case, so any biologists out there, don’t crucify me! My impossible beast is just that, impossible but just maybe… There’s also a bit more to it. Drama, excitement, action! Nothing like adding in a bit more of a complication to the mix. I also added a possible seed for another novel. However, after six of them, so far, I still haven’t found a use for the critter yet, nor have named it. Another bit of coinkydink. As I’ve stated many times before, I originally wrote this novel back in 1995. It was my third effort, and it came out rather quick, given the time and my burning muse. Even with all the edits over the years, despite numerous tweaks and parings of thousands of un-needed words, not one bit of the plot was altered, including this here icky bug. I say this because a funny thing happened a decade later (or thereabouts). I read an early novel by James Rollins and became an instant fan. In his earlier work, he employed icky bugs as part of the plots of his thrillers. He had good background for it too, because he’s also a veterinarian and using creatures was a natural for him. As it turns out, I found a kindred spirit, seeing as how I did the same thing back in 1995 with this story. In subsequent novels within the Gold series, I can’t say the same, at least to the extent of the shark creature, but you’ll another critter or two later down the road. Anyway, I finally got to meet one of my favorite authors, James himself at a writer’s conference in 2005 and we’ve stayed in contact ever since. We met again at another conference a few years later and then again last year (2017) here at a book signing. You can now read his endorsement of Lusitania Gold on the back of this book! It all ties into the use of an icky bug. ELROY JONES The original idea for Elroy came from a certain movie star that I won’t name. His actual character evolved over time into what he is today, which six novels later in the series, is the same, but more refined from what you see in Lusitania Gold. One reason I don’t like to compare my characters with celebrities (Detach a vague exception) is that in the case of Elroy, the movie star I loosely based him on (from a character the actor played) didn’t end up being the same guy I envisioned later in life. Like many celebrities, he got political and went activist and just did things that made him more annoying than cool. I mean, good for him if that’s what he wants to do. However, I did not want my readers seeing the activist and political preacher instead of the character, Elroy. So, he evolved over the years into other people I’ve known. He stayed African American, but his personality and just him, overall, is an amalgam of guys I’ve known over the years, race not necessarily being a factor. He’s multi-talented, but his main expertise is with explosives. He’s becomes a writer in later stories, like me, but is a bit more successful than I am, at least so far! He also lives in Las Vegas and is a reformed gambler and drinker. From day one, I wanted representation in the ranks. All of my stories have ethnic and sexual equality, in as much as I can write and give it reasonable reality, based on how I can relate to it without being fake, stereotyping, or pandering. There’s a girl in my writer’s group who’s mixed race and her main character is mixed race. At a recent writer’s conference, one of the faculty asked her why her main character is mixed race. Though she was polite, I wanted to say “Duh” for her. She, as a writer, has to be able to relate to her main character to make it come off genuine. In that same way, I, with my main characters, have to write them genuine. So, though I like to mix in the kitchen sink, so to speak, I have to do it without being disingenuous or pandering. I have to make it real. Yet, I also want to continue to break barriers in my own small way. So, Elroy was an early effort, not the earliest, but right up there with the first batch. He’s since developed into a major side character and one of my favorites. Well, ALL of my sidekicks are my favorites! KINSALE, IRELAND As much as I’d like to, I’ve never been there. I’ve been to Jolly Olde’ Englande’, but never made it to the green isle. I had to rely on web sites and books to garner the details I used in the story. The tricky part was finding the currents underwater at the time of year when Detach and crew dove on the ship. At one time I had the info but somehow it never made it to the manuscript. On a subsequent research expedition on the net, I was never able to find anything specific so, taking a cue from a long conversation I once had with best-selling author James Rollins, I gave up and left the details vague, rather than dig myself into a hole and cite something that was clearly way off base. As for the landscape and restaurants, those details came right out of various photos and publicity web sites over the years, tweaked with last-minute up-to-date details. On the other hand, I once again had to go back into the manuscript and delete certain things and alter a bit here and there to keep myself safe. Plus, I altered the geography for story purposes so do NOT take what I describe as a geography lesson of Kinsale! I don’t need any of you that are on a trip to Ireland arriving in this beautiful town only to go “wait a minute!” All errors are mine and mine alone, some deliberate and others, well…call it literary liberties. I used the real Lusitania for the details pertaining to it in the story. Right down to the ventilators and the blacked out portholes, I tried to make everything as realistic as possible when it came to the ship. A big reference was Bob Ballard’s excellent book, Exploring The Lusitania. This book more or less accumulated many of the drawings and other references I’d used earlier, and since, from many other sources, including on-line. There are way too many to go into here, and I don’t want to bore you with a bibliography. If I spent any real, significant research time, it was on the ship itself, pouring over details. This was from a lifetime of reading about the ship (which gave me the initial inspiration for the story), from when I’d first seen that infamous painting of the sinking ship on my granddad’s knee, up to present day during my last-minute tweaks. My final read was the book Dead Wake, by Eric Larson. This was a detailed account of the sinking and included many details I’ve never read anywhere else. That book helped me add in a few more last-minute tweaks right before publication. Also, the web site Lusitania On-Line, the premiere web site on the Lusitania. For story purposes, I, of course, altered things a bit. However, I tried to keep to reality as much as possible within the confines of story telling. So, minor details here and there are real, such as the different propellers mentioned near the beginning, the fact that the wheelhouse shifted, etc. Any errors are my own, some deliberate, some well…I hope I was vague enough I won’t be crucified by the true experts! REALITY VERSUS FICTION – FLOATING A SHIP WITH DIESEL At the time I wrote the novel, I did extensive research on methods of raising sunken ships. There were many at the time because there was speculation on raising the Titanic, or parts of it (which they finally did, and I physically touched that piece at the Titanic exposition years ago in Chicago). Also, after a major inspiration came from reading Raise The Titanic by Clive Cussler, I had to look into the real-time ideas floating around. One method involved shooting tons of ping pong balls into sealed rooms and holds on a ship. Another involved air bags. One involved large ships and cranes. The one I settled on was bladders filled with diesel, since diesel is less dense than water. None of these methods at the time had proven to work on anything as massive as the Lusitania, or even as big as a tugboat, as far as I could determine. For story purposes, it could’ve been three UFO’s chain ganged together, for all I cared. The issue was that I tried to make it something that was actually pondered by real engineers, and something that was in the realm of suspending your disbelief. Now for the other matter. The Lusitania. In reality, the ship sustained far more damage than could be tolerated for refloating. The ship, due to it’s inherent design, almost broke in half when it struck bottom. Because of its length, when it struck the sea bed, still going a speed of a few knots, the force buckled the keel in the well-known weak spot of all those massive ships of the era, somewhere between funnels one and two, which was inherent in all large British ocean liners. The Titanic, though, made by a different shipbuilder, had the same weakness and ripped in half when it raised out of the water. It ripped farther back, somewhere between funnels three and four, but still… On the other hand, Walther Schweiger only shot one torpedo, which might never have sunk the ship. However, there was a second explosion and uh oh…something much larger went boom deep inside the ship. This second explosion probably either ripped out a good bit of the starboard side or at least ballooned out the hull and ripped the keel even more than the defect did when it hit the sea bed. Hence, even if the diesel bag method could’ve had merit, as soon as the ship lifted off the bottom, the front would’ve likely fallen off the back and the ship split in two. We’ll never know. For story purposes, someone succeeded with the entire hull intact and the rest…is fake history. What isn’t fake is that raising boats or small ships has been proposed with the use of diesel bags. To this day, I have no anecdotal evidence that this method has ever succeeded. It may be out there, but there comes a time when one has to move on to other projects. Maybe this story will inspire one of you to take up the flag and find out. If you do, I’d like to know! There’s no doubt that there are vague similarities between Jams and Amiral Sandecker from the Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt series. However, that’s only the starting off point and inspiration because of his red hair. Jams is shorter, doesn’t smoke, and lives and breathes heavy metal, especially death metal. That’s partly me in there, though my tastes in metal are a bit more widespread and not so much death metal (I tend to like cleaner vocals). Also, he’s more akin to Boss Hogg from Dukes of Hazard, at least in my mind, but a lot smarter in actions. In fact, he’s a genius. He likes to put people off in his business dealings, and takes full advantage of it. He also likes to wear big cowboy hats, though he can’t stand the music. A real character, he has a kind hart, but is a shrewd businessman who built a large empire, first on oil, then industry. He maintains a low profile yet knows lots of people in Washington and the private sector. He can get things done when needed. He also knows how to attract the best people and doesn’t need to resort to money or force to get them. MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA This was the trickiest to get reasonably accurate and I had to mostly throw that to the wind and just alter the geography. I apologize to the people that live there. If you notice details are wrong, blame me but also be aware that this is fiction and in no way am I trying to discredit, misrepresent or disrespect the people of Morgan City, Louisiana. When I originally researched it, one reason I picked that area was the Hardy Boys. They had a story back in the day from down in the swamps. Can’t remember the exact title. The second seed came from Gaddabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman. He had a show back in the seventies and maybe eighties and flew all over the country fishing. I remember one trip into the bayous and the tall cypress trees and Spanish Moss. Otherwise, I used Google Maps, satellite images, and web sites to approximate, guess, flat out fictionalize and pretty much fantasize the town. I’m sure any real citizen will be screaming foul at my descriptions but I hope I got at least something correct. I know I had to make some tweaks from the original since the last batch of major hurricanes. The ship Anastasia is pure fantasy. It’s highly unlikely that the Czar would’ve ever dreamed up such an undertaking, so this is purely from my imagination. The way it was constructed was also my imagination, especially the way the engines were left out. That’s not how ships of this size were built back in the day. That was purely for story purposes. On the other hand, the Czar and King George were cousins so there was a distant kinship of sorts. Who’s to say there wasn’t some sort of rivalry, some underhanded goings on, jealousy or something going on behind the scenes? I played with that in the story and used it as a vague link. If this were even remotely true, I’m pretty sure the Russian version would’ve had a lot more elaborate decorations on it, just to up the ante compared to the original. If you don’t know what this is all about, well…you’ll have to read the book to know what the Anastasia is! REALITY VERSUS FICTION – TECHNOLOGY OF THE TIME This is where I took a page from the pyramids, Easter Island, Stonehenge and so on. It seems forever that researches and scientists could never figure out how ancient peoples built these infamous monuments. Well, some think they have them figured out, but still, to this day, various factions argue over the details. Paradigms. What’s a paradigm? A paradigm is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns including research methods, postulates and standards which constitute legitimate contributions to a field (Wikipedia). To me, that in other words means preconceived notions based on the current knowledge. What we know today, doesn’t necessarily compute with what was known back then. What we think is impossible today, may not have been impossible back then because they had different paradigms back then. What we see as impossible or as something to be done differently, were looked at from an entirely different box of tools back in the day. Therefore, when I set out to do what I did with Lusitania Gold, given the technology of the time, which should’ve made it even more impossible, I took a mad industrialist, Mad Jake, made him a little crazier due to his daughter slowly poisoning him. Then I gave him his own set of paradigms and a dose of lady luck that allowed him to do the impossible. Who says he couldn’t pull it off? More than likely, given the circumstances of the war, the tides, the diving technology, working with everything involved, countless other obstacles, and people…probably not. On the other hand, I remind you again, this is fiction, not a historical document. I no more suspend your disbelief than what any author does in every other thriller out there with the lost nuke in the suitcase, or the time warp reversing disaster, or the president doing this or that against all the rules of…well…never mind on that one! You see my point. Every thriller writer thrills. We stomp all over the rules of reality to thrill YOU, the reader. Unless you’re absolutely obsessed with reality, which in case, you would probably be reading non-fiction in the first place, you should already be prepared to suspend your disbelief. It’s up to us to make it at least a little bit believable. I did the research, picked and chose what to use from reality, then added the fantasy (or fantastical) element into the story to make it exciting and make it work. Jules Verne did it, other authors have as well. As you can see, I’m not going into any more specifics about what I’m alluding to here, so you’ll have to have read (or have read) the book to know what I’m talking about. I was going to put the major spoiler warning on here, but since I haven’t revealed anything more specific, I feel confident in leaving this as just a minor warning. Around the time I originally wrote Lusitania Gold (1995), our relations with Russia were thawing significantly. They were almost friendly with Glasnost and all. I wanted to throw in a bit of color and also part of the plot warranted this connection. Vladimir is a combination of people I’ve known over the years, none of them real Russians, even though I’ve known quite a few. Okay, there was this guy I went to high school with… Tutherwise, the name is completely made up with no significant meaning at all. As for the way he speaks, the way he acts, and his history, it evolved throughout the story. In the original tale, as with Detach and Elroy, they met in Viet Nam. However, as the rejects piled up and time passed, I couldn’t have a hero in his sixties or seventies tromping around saving the world! Therefore, Vlad, as well as Detach and crew got an update to Desert Storm. After all, just before I wrote this, we went through that period where my outfit supported Desert Storm troops when they stopped off in Spain on their way to the area. I figured Desert Storm was late enough in the game to work for the story when I finally got a publishing deal. Vlad being downsized from the former KGB and what his department was now called, the SVR, was not that much of a stretch. After all, even in Russia, they have a budget. On the other hand, given how things have turned out recently, it seems they’re ramping up again. Not MY heroes! Vlad has left that far behind. That’s not to say I might not throw in a bit of drama someday down the line, but he’s pretty much washed his hands of his former country, all with the blessings of his family who encouraged him to get out while the getting was good. REALITY VERSUS FICTION – COLD FUSION This came from that bogus experiment a couple of researchers did a few years before I wrote the book, sometime in the late 80’s or early 90’s. I remember how it was bragged up as a breakthrough in energy. Cold fusion done on a kitchen table top, or something to that effect. It was then proven to be falsified results. Too bad. That seed provided the inspiration for the power packs that Ruby Fenner invented as an engineer for Mason Industries, Jam’s company. Who says it couldn’t be done for real? Who says one day, something like that couldn’t be on the horizon? Maybe someone already has done it, but if you’re a conspiracy nut, maybe it’s being suppressed by you know who (fill in your own blank). On the other hand, some say there’s already an unlimited non-polluting energy supply based on alien technology, that the government actively suppresses to this day, derived from UFO technology. There is one particular author that just wrote a decent thriller about it that he says his story is not really that much fiction. Cold fusion such a stretch? Someone else uses alien technology in a mind-boggling conspiracy theory? It worked for this story and will in this series, and I’m sticking to it! RUBY FENNER It was time for a bit more girl power! Ruby is the chief engineer of Mason Industries. My inspiration for her partially came from the original Night Court bailiff Selma Diamond (RIP). She was also partially modeled after my maternal grandmother. With a voice like Selma Diamond and Lemmy from Motörhead (unfortunately, now also RIP long after the initial inspiration), Ruby’s a genius of engineering, reminding me of my mother when she was a teenager, doing the Rosie The Riveter thing down in the Long Beach, California during WW2. Though Mom never got past reading engineering blueprints of ship’s boilers in a steel plant that supported the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, and then inspecting the work, she never slammed one rivet. Whenever we brought the Rosie The Riveter thing up to her, she bristled at the term and always insisted that she never riveted. “I just had a thing for being able to read and interpret blueprints. It was…different.” I wonder what she could’ve done as an engineer, if given the chance. All that, and a few other women including a Polish woman (I mean a real Polish lady here from Poland on a visa) that I worked with at the rubber extrusion plant I used to work at in Oklahoma all rolled into what became Ruby. She’s head and shoulders above so many engineers I’ve known, and of course enhanced for story purposes. As for being the only other smoker in the group besides the captain of the Cooper, Jim “Marlboro Man” Caprisi, will she one day give up that nasty habit? Time will tell. This name I just pulled out of a hat, like all the others, except Detach (partially, anyway). I had no idea she was the main character in a novel by that name and a movie with Joan Crawford. Someone had to point it out to me because the other, more famous one came from a genre of story and movie I’d never watch or read to begin with. Oh well, I like the name and am not changing it! Mildred, the company librarian and researcher is an amalgam of people I’ve known both in the Air Force and private industry. She has certain quirks and family issues I either pulled out of the air or drew in from personal experience. However, I’m not telling! As the series progresses, more of her story will unfold. She’s another example of girl power, but mostly brain power and not brawn, at least as far as the adventures go. There may be a variance here and there, but you’ll just have to read to find out. MAD JAKE MALONE Crazy as crazy can be, well before his daughter started the long process to slowly kill him. Mad Jake was not only despicable, but an engineering and industrial business genius. He’s the type of character with business savvy but no ability to say no to an idea he wanted to pursue. He was wildly successful both legally and illegally, tended to keep to the shadows. He liked to manipulate things rather than stand out. Jake embraced new technology and exploited it to its full potential, and often beyond. He was one character that had no paradigms. If he wanted something, he made it happen or left a lot of bodies trying to make it happen. Through him, I stretch history with what might’ve happened to the real Lusitania. He “built the pyramids,” “created Easter Island,” “built Stonehenge” in modern times, on a smaller, but no less complicated scale. He did something everyone thinks is impossible and in reality, probably is, but hey, who cares, when this is all a flight of fancy anyway? BUSTER AND DOODLES Very minor (but still important to me) characters, Jam’s two basselopes are Buster and Doodles. By basselopes I mean basset hounds. At the time I wrote Lusitania Gold, we had two dalmatians, but we were already thinking of getting basselopes. I got the name from the comic strip Bloom County. Berkeley Brethed’s basset had antlers, just like the jackelopes on the prairie. At the time, we lived in Oklahoma, right in the middle of the prairie, so it fit. Real bassets don’t have antlers, but the principle still applies. In subsequent edits, I tweaked Buster and Doodles actions after Sassy and Chops, our two bassets. They play a very minor part, but they make an appearance in almost every Gold novel in the series. LUSITANIA ON LINE If you want to find the real info on the Lusitania, I highly recommend http://www.lusitania.net/ which is what I used to get when I pulled up “Lusitania On Line.” This is an outstanding site with plenty of archived info on the sinking and history of the Lusitania. Throughout this series, you’ll notice I drop a lot of band names, especially through Jams and Detach. When you get down to it, the two ships used in the stories are both named after rock bands. Why do I do this? Not only is it my love of music, but in my former life, I was a failed musician and took up writing as a way to continue to express myself artistically. I express thanks through the Gold series by plugging some (though not always) the bands I personally like through my characters. I’ve read lots of authors who have slipped in references to bands they like. So, why not? I made it a feature of Jam’s personality, and even a quirk associated with Detach. That gives me a lot more latitude. In the second book, Spanish Gold, that musical referencing is even more significant as part of the plot. ENYA MCMURTY Enya is the “witness” in Ireland that saw the Lusitania sink twice. The trick with Enya was that when I originally wrote the story in 1995, she was only almost ninety. However, twenty years later, in 2017, the actual publication date, I had to fudge a bit to get her to still be alive and fit within the story. I did some research to come up with the oldest person in Ireland, and sure enough, there were a few in the one hundred and ten year range. Enya barely squeezed into the range. So, with a bit of suspended disbelief, she remained the spry little old lady living up on the hill above town. Her name came from the musician Enya from the band Clannad (and her solo performances – we’d just bought her Orinico Flow one) and the McMurty just came out of the air, probably because I’ve known a few here and there. THE LUSITANIA’S PROPELLERS Both the Lusitania and it’s sister ship, the Mauritania were originally outfitted with four three-bladed propellers. These massive seven-hundred foot, four funneled ships also sported steam turbine engines and one thing the Cunard Lines, their owners, wanted to do was break Atlantic crossing speed records to beat the Germans who were giving them some stiff competition with their own liner designs. In 1908, the Mauritania had her screws converted to a more efficient four-bladed design and in early 1909, the Lusitania followed suit. Not only did the new four-bladed, larger designs increase speed, but they also decreased an annoying vibration problem that passengers (and crew) felt throughout the ship. Both ships broke Atlantic crossing speed records after that. Today, one of the four-blade screws sits outside a Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, while another one, the most intact of the three salvaged from the wreck, sits in the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, England. I’m not sure what happened to the four three-bladed versions, but I’ve heard at least one of them is lying around somewhere, maybe in Ireland. As for the Mauritania’s screws, I’m not sure any of them survived at all since the ship did not meet the same infamous fate as the Lusitania. It was scrapped in 1937. CAPTAIN TURNER Old Bowler Bill, as he was known, was the final captain on the Lusitania when she was sunk. He’s been vilified by the British admiralty as the cause of the sinking for various reasons, mainly because they needed a scapegoat. Various stories have come forth placing the blame squarely on his shoulders for doing this and that to cause the sinking, yet it was a complete sham if anyone cared to look close at the details. There are numerous factual sources out there that show that he was not at fault for what happened, including Lusitania On Line and several books that dug deep and looked at the evidence. Unfortunately, he never lived long enough to see his name cleared and to this day, it’s never been officially cleared as far as I know. There are STILL people who blame him for what happened. In the end, after the official inquiry, in 1916, he was officially exonerated of all charges, but the pall still lingered over him for the rest of his life. He served on another Cunard line ship which was also torpedoed and survived that sinking as a hero. He finally passed away in 1933, never quite erasing the blame still hanging over him from the Lusitania disaster, despite the exoneration. THE LUSITANIA WHEEL HOUSE In the story, I mention the wheel house is shifted from the original position. I got this from a book source (it’s different from what I have here). I later learned that there’s another story about what happened. Apparently in 1910, while on a crossing, the ship was riding out a storm and hit a gigantic eighty foot wave, which was high enough to reach the bridge (wheel house). Considering that it put the entire front of the ship underwater for a few breathtaking moments, upon reaching the bridge, it swept the pilot back, injured him and knocked the wheel off the mount, thus disabling steering. The ship had no rudder control for a little while until they could engage the auxiliary steering at the back of the ship (or wherever it was located). In the meantime, it did significant damage to the wood and metal structure of the wheel house and shifted it out of the original position on the bridge deck. It was quickly repaired, despite the weather, the wheel placed back in the mount and steering restored for the remainder of the trip to New York. Final repairs were finished up in port. I have not been able to glean full details, but either story covers the shifting of the wheel house on the superstructure of the ship. A little more trivia for you! SISTER SHIPS The Lusitania was one of three of a type, all made around the same time. The Mauritania was the largest by a few feet and survived service until it was scrapped in 1934. The Aquitania, the last of the trio, was launched in 1914, two years after the sinking of the Titanic and a year before the sinking of the Lusitania. It remained in service until 1950 and was the last four-funneled ocean liner to remain in service in the 20th century. There’s a YouTube video of the sinking of the Mauritania, but it’s a simulation and is bogus. It never happened and as I stated above, the real Mauritania was sold for scrap in 1934 and had a long life for such a magnificent vessel, yet it never came close to its sister ship, the Aquitania. That vessel outlasted them all. THE FOUR FUNNELS The Lusitania was of a class of giant ships that sported four funnels. Some claimed that one was a dummy, just there to balance out the other three to make the ship look right, proportionally. It seems like a waste of weight and metal to add such a massive chunk to the ship just for aesthetic purposes, but given the times, one couldn’t put nothing past the thinking of those rich and infamous types who designed and built these behemoths. On the other hand, that still seems a bit absurd given the ships drawings and photographic evidence that clearly shows that all four funnels were clearly operational. Though there are some photos that show the back funnel not going, in others, it has a full head of black sooty coal smoke billowing out, while the front one is idle. The engineering drawings clearly show all funnels connected to boilers so it probably has to do with which ones were currently fired up at the moment to save fuel. It had nothing to do with being a dummy funnel to “balance out the look of the ship.” BARRY KRUGER Barry Kruger is a thin man with sharp blue eyes and blonde Aryan features. An engineer, he specializes in logistics and setting up jobs for Detach and the crew at Mason Industries. A perfectionist, he goes for the little details which helps keep Detach out of trouble. Usually, if there IS trouble, it’s not through anything Barry recommended. A lover of country music, he’s a constant source of ribbing from the rock loving Detach and metal loving Jams. It’s Barry’s attention to detail that gives Detach a wary eye when he first dives on the Lusitania. THE REST HOME You might think the rest home I describe where Detach goes to visit Kyle McLaughlin Jr. is random and you’re partially right. The location in Pennsylvania is, sort of. At first, I’d thought of using a state I have ties to, West Virginia. Then I looked at the coastline and Pennsylvania was a little easier to get to than WV. That plays in later with Detach and his aversion to flying in a helicopter. The rest home description is inspired by a combination of several places I’ve seen over the years including the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. I lived near there in the late 1970’s and used to work almost across the street from it. In fact, that building will play a role in a future Gold adventure. However, this description also includes the grounds of several Beverly Hills mansions I’ve driven by in my wanderings in and near Hollywood, as a teenager, when I made trips there from Palmdale before I graduated from high school. Plus, there’s a creepy old house halfway between the former Roanoke and Walkersville, West Virginia, where we lived in the 70’s. It was used for a private club that was supposedly haunted. That house was the inspiration for my published short story, The House. All of that rolled into the rest home that looks nothing like any of those things, yet they all were the inspiration when I came up with the description as seen by Detach as he entered the grounds to visit Kyle Jr. to fill in a piece of the Lusitania puzzle. Funny where some of these little bits in a novel can come from! There are no more living survivors of the Lusitania disaster. I never met a real survivor from the Lusitania sinking. However, when I lived in Tipton, Oklahoma, and was deep into writing and researching the original novel, one of my neighbors across the street surprised me and knew of, or had a relative that was a survivor of the sinking. I don’t recall their name now, but it was an elderly aunt or uncle of theirs, passed on by that time, that had sailed to Jolly Olde’ Englande’ and got caught in the disaster. He or she made it, eventually, to his or her destination and back home to Kansas, or wherever, and never got on another boat again. Unfortunately, he or she had to take a boat not only across the Irish Sea to England, but another all the way back home to the good old You Ess And A after their visit. My neighbor said that was sheer terror and this relative was constantly looking over the side for signs of torpedoes, though he or she never saw the one that struck the Lusitania and never knew what to look for except what others said to expect, maybe a streak or a dolphin-like movement coming straight at the ship. This aunt or uncle was elsewhere on the ship and only felt the initial impact and a secondary boom. I know I would’ve been paranoid about getting on a boat for a long time! THE SERIES CONTINUES This is the last post of the year and I just wanted to say thanks to all of you that bought and read Lusitania Gold. I’ve received some great feedback and positive thoughts on the story. I wanted to let you know that the adventures will continue. Since I original wrote Lusitania Gold way back in 1995, I continued with the series, despite having no publisher at the time. So far, I’ve completed Spanish Gold, Palmdale Gold, Turkish Gold, Lompoc Gold and Las Vegas Gold. Though my memory may be faulty on the order of a few of the later titles, that should be the approximate order they’ll be published in if things work out. 2019 should see the year of Spanish Gold and 2021 Palmdale Gold. This series of weekly ramblings will transition into spots about each of those books as things move along. I also started work on West Virginia Gold but got sidetracked with Meleena’s Adventures, so I still have to get back to that one soon! All the best for a happy new year and keep on reading! DETACH AND HIS LIMNOPHOBIA No hero can be perfect. I knew that from the outset. I’ve read novels in the past where the heroes were, or were practically perfect and they came off kind of bland. Without personal foibles, characters lack “character.” To tell the truth, took a while to come up with something really screwy for Detach. What would be weirder than for Detach to be a Navy diver yet be deathly afraid of lakes? First off, I had to figure if I could make it work. I had to look and see if it was a possibility and interviewed a bunch of different Navy personnel over the years. In the original incarnation of Lusitania Gold, he never had Limnophobia. It wasn’t until I wrote the third novel, Palmdale Gold, that I got the idea for this, based on a major plot point in that story. At this time, I had nothing published yet, so it was a “golden” opportunity to go back and add some much appreciated color to Detach. While he has other flaws, I thought this one was da bomb. During the writing of Palmdale Gold, I did a bunch of heavy research not only in other aspects of the story, but Limnophobia itself. I have Navy relatives and met some Navy Seals along the way. It was about that time I made major changes in Detach’s history which I won’t go into. Let’s just say I found a way to make his Limnophobia work while still allowing him to be a Navy diver, though no longer a former Seal. I ran the scenario through multiple Navy personnel and got thumbs up in the end. Well…enough to get plausible deniability, anyway. Plus, Detach constantly fights his fear and confronts it directly in Palmdale Gold. Remember, Limnophobia is a fear of fresh water lakes or marshes. It’s irrational and has no impact on swimming pools or the ocean. Of course, Detach faces it directly in Lusitania Gold as well, but his version of the phobia is more aimed at lakes and not marshes. It’s still something he fights throughout the series, just like his fear of flying in a helicopter. THE GOLD SERIES The spark for the Gold series came way back in Spain when I read the Clive Cussler novel, Raise The Titanic. I found the novel in a lending library in Hangar 6, a deployment hangar for troops on their way to Desert Storm. My wife and daughters used to work there during the week as volunteers while I worked two hangars down in the AGE (Areospace Ground Equipment) shop. We had a ton of books and other items that we donated as well. I browsed the books and borrowed a few to read then returned them as well. I discovered several great authors including icky bug author Bentley Little. I loved Raise The Titanic and started seeking out Cussler’s other books. The inkling came to me that if I ever got into writing, I’d like to do something like that one day. That day came in late 1995 after I’d already completed The Cave and The Greenhouse. I then wrote Lusitania Gold for a total of three novels in a year. For someone starting out, that’s a pretty good bit of productivity! Of course, that’s not to say these manuscripts were in any shape to be published! Detach and crew went through many adjustments to get to what you see today in Lusitania Gold. Along the way, I went through many trials and tribblations in real life and my new writing slowed considerably, though I edited and learned to edit a lot. I worked on some short stories and started the second novel, Spanish Gold. I knew right off I wanted Gold to be in the title of each book. Gold would be the premise even if that was just a sideshow for some other adventure. I also wanted to write about things I know. Hence, the titles so far, Lusitania Gold, Spanish Gold, Palmdale Gold, Lompoc Gold, Turkish Gold and Las Vegas Gold, I also can’t forget West Virginia Gold, which I just started when I got sidetracked with Meleena’s Adventures. One day I’ll get back to that one. I’m getting ready to do another run-through of Spanish Gold before I submit it to my publisher. I’ll start dropping trivia about it soon. WHY WRITE ABOUT SPAIN? This is a subject matter that comes up every so often on writer’s forums. Some are of the school that the best writers write what they know. By doing so, they’re able to add in more realistic details because they know the world from which they write. They’re subject matter experts. Makes sense, right? On the other hand, there are those that are of the opposite view. Write what you don’t know. Why? You should always been challenging yourself. You should be researching and getting fresh material, bla bla bla, so you don’t get lazy. While I see merits in that approach, I’m far from agreeing with it for myself. I’m the last person to try and create a realistic world around something I know nothing about. Why? The last thing I want to do is look ignorant and stupid because I didn’t do my research, at least at a reasonable level to get the basics correct. Plus, there’s another big reason. While some people may have the time and money to go off to la la land and live the life of the world they want to create, I still have to work for a living. I have a family, I also have a lot of other stuff on my plate. Therefore, by writing what I already know, I cut down drastically on the research! Why pick Spain? I lived there for ten years. I was there from 1970-1974, 1982-1985 and 1988-1991. That’s a LOT of time to get to know the place. I didn’t just visit. I lived it. Therefore, I know details and nuances I can add to any story I want to write. Spanish Gold didn’t just pop out of the air. Okay, well, yes it did. At the same time, it was an easy pop. One that came to me as easy as breathing. It not only allowed me to come up with a great story, but also to bring to you, the reader, plenty of details and nuances of a great place that I lived in for quite a spell. I think that will show in this next novel. THE SPAIN I LIVED IS A BIT DIFFERENT NOW I left Spain for the final time in 1991. When I consider all the drastic changes that took place between the first time I set foot in the place in December 1970 up until the time we (I say we because I then had a family) boarded a plane in March, 1991, I should expect things to change even more between then and now. On the other hand, even going way back to December 1970 and now in 2019, some things just don’t change. As I did a recent edit late last year (2018), I not only went on line, which didn’t even exist in the quality or quantity it did when I originally wrote the manuscript, and updated (tweaked) things, but I consulted Google Maps and discovered some nasty surprises. Then again, at the same time, some things hadn’t changed one iota. It was a mixed bag. That was true not only for the locations I used in Spain but for the other spots in other countries throughout the novel. As you’ll see in this upcoming adventure, Detach and crew go through a lot of territory to get from A to B. It should be a fun ride! WHY DID THE LUSITANIA SINK? Every once in a while, I check on line to see what the latest is with the current real owner of the salvage rights to the Lusitania. Venture capitalist Greg Bemis is still the owner of the Lusitania. He’s been in an ongoing battle with the Irish government to dive on the wreck and determine, once and for all what really caused the Lusitania to sink so fast, and what caused the secondary explosion that made it happen that way. While I used one theory in Lusitania Gold, his own is that the ship was carrying illegal munitions to the British during the war (that’s World War 1, by the way). Because of his ongoing battle with the Irish, he’s not been allowed to delve deep inside the ship. Not only that, but time is not on his side either. With his age (I think he’s around 90 now) and the ship increasingly deteriorating, it will soon be too late to find out either way if he’s right. To him, it’s a mystery to be solved. To the Irish government, it’s a grave site. To others, it may also be a truth they don’t want uncovered. Who knows? WHAT TREASURE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN SALVAGED OFF THE LUSITANIA? After all the hoopla, given the title of my book, in reality, what has actually been salvaged off the Lusitania? The answer is, not much, unless you consider historical or salvage value. If you’re into bronze, well…the propellers have all been recovered. We’re talking some serious tonnage here. However, several of them were merely put on display, rather than be melted down and reused. Their history was just too precious to waste on even a few dollars for re-use. As for other historical artifacts, many legal and illegal runs on the ship have been done over the hundred plus years since the sinking. Everything from miscellaneous fittings to lost nets have been recovered. As for discovering the true nature of the sinking, which was the main drive behind Greg Bemis’s venture, the most that can be proved so far was a diving run a few years ago by a team that found rifle ammo. That was certainly not enough to cause the secondary explosion, but did seem to point to the German accusation that the Americans were supporting the British under the radar (well before it was invented) in the war effort. You notice I have not mentioned a word about anything related to actual treasure. That’s because there hasn’t been any verifiable treasure recovered, as far as anyone can prove. That’s not to say that someone pulled a Detach and recovered some vast treasure that nobody else knew about, but per verifiable records, there was no vast treasure on the ship. There were plenty of rumors, but per cargo manifests, sorry. Sure, there were safes on board carrying passenger valuables, but not exactly the crown jewels. With the ship being considered a grave site, the only salvage, or should I say, search effort would be to try and verify the true nature of the sinking. To do that might involve disrupting the extremely deteriorated state of the wreck. At this point, 104 years (as of this writing) after the sinking, it may be impossible to determine for sure what caused the secondary explosion. To find out may cause such extensive damage, it may not be worth it to find out. Maybe it still can be done surgically and with success. We may never know, as the owner, Greg Bemis is still being blocked by the Irish Government. EDITING OF SPANISH GOLD MOVES ON It was funny that not long ago, a precise location I use in the novel was featured on a Facebook page I frequent. Being an old veteran from Torrejon Air Base, I know the area quite well. As I’ve said before, I like to use as much as I can in my novels of places I know before I stretch out and have to utilize locations I’ve never been before. Luckily, thanks to the Air Force and other travel opportunities, I’ve been to enough places to afford a variety of locales for my adventures. Spain is one of them. In this case, a place VERY familiar to me is the setting for a significant scene midway through Spanish Gold. I haven’t physically been there since at least 1989-1990 at the latest, and I had to not only rely on old photos from the seventies (I, unfortunately, never took any my last trip), but Google Maps and satellite images. However, one of the participants on the forum took a fresh batch of shots from a recent visit back to the area. They had friends and an old apartment right near the location and snapped a bunch of shots where I needed them to be! I couldn’t have asked for a better free trip! I’ve been able to fill in the rest of the blanks with other research and tweaked the text accordingly, enough to not worry, or at least lend plausible deniability to any factual errors in memory. Going through the exact spot in the chapters right now, I’ve found things aren’t off at all, to tell the truth. I kept the details just right. If I had any worries about getting something wrong, they were for nothing. Things worked out! SPANISH GOLD COMPLETE AND TURNED IN I came to the end of Spanish Gold and turned it in to my publisher the other day. It’s now ready to go through the process. In those final chapters, I re-lived moments in time, not only in the book, but in real life. As the thrilling conclusion of the novel progressed, more places in the book came into the forefront. I had to go back to not only Google Maps, but Wikipedia and other forms of research as well as old photos, which I happen to be scanning into the computer right now, as a matter of fact, from another personal project. The photos are from the mid seventies, so they’re far from current, but they still give me a base to go from. I had to check on certain current locations, buildings, and things I cannot reveal right now. As it turns out, I had to eliminate one feature that’s no longer there. It was an aside I mentioned that Detach told the other characters, but when I wrote the original draft, it was from my seventies through nineties memory. As it turns out, this feature is no longer there, per a recent Google Maps search. It was quite a surprise but I had to make sure before I used it. Also the name of another place I used changed since the original draft. Good thing I looked! All this does not mean I didn’t get something wrong. However, I tried to be as accurate as possible. I, of course, will have the disclaimer at the front of the book that any errors are mine alone. Now, it’s going to be in the hands of the editors! MY REAL FASCINATION WITH THE SEA AND SHIPS The whole reason this series started was my fascination with the sea and ships. Lusitania Gold and the title’s namesake was the springboard for the series yet the six adventures, so far, veer quite a bit away from not only ships, but the sea, when you get right down to it. Sure, they all will involve the water and diving, in some way, shape or form, but that’s only a part of it. Adventure is the main theme along with gold being somewhere in there. As I’m fond of saying, “mayhem ensues.” Back to my main point, the sea and ships. I’ve always had a fascination with the sea and ships, from the first time my grandpa showed me that infamous painting of the Lusitania sinking. Years of reading books on the old ships, sailing ships to more modern steamships to the atomic powered vessels and even more advanced ships of today, it’s held. However, I tend to lean to the older stuff. In a way, it’s almost steampunk, hailing to the late 1800s to the early 1900’s. Sail was still there and the metal realm was dominated with steam. Through all of this, however, is the fact that despite my deep fascination, I’m not like one of my favorite authors, Clive Cussler, who I freely admit, has always been a big inspiration for this series. I’m not about to embark on any expeditions out on the water. I’m not about to don a wet suit and dive on any sunken wrecks. I’m not even a great swimmer. I left that all behind in my younger years. I’m not even all that hot on ever taking a cruise! If you ever expect (or expected me) to be one of those authors that’s paid a huge amount of cash to take elaborate trips and live the life of a deep diver or something, forget it! Never going to happen! I’m strictly an admirer from a distance. Whenever I was young and ambitious enough to even consider trying something like that, I was serving Gods and country in the Air Force. In a way, I was already pre-researching what will be in some of the future novels, like Spanish and Turkish Gold etc. However, as for any ships and diving goes, that’s all through my research and armchair fascination, NOT real-life experience. Sea Hunt was a big help as well as countless documentaries that helped with the diving. Imagination is never far behind and a bit of science fiction as well. All in the name of good fun. THE DIVING SUIT The diving suit Detach and crew uses is a unique and complicated device. With a hard outer shell and armadillo-like joints for the arms and legs, it’s a fully self-enclosed unit. It allows the diver to descent to extreme depths, has a re-breather system, and is pressurized so there’s no decompression when the diver surfaces. It also has a series of jets that stabilizes it in some pretty stiff currents, up to a point. The helmet has a sophisticated sound system and Head Up Displays with multiple screens, easily manipulated by the diver. Speaking of the diver, the experience is like diving naked once in the water. To accomplish all this, the suit is powered by one of Ruby’s cold fusion power packs, located on the back. Because of this, sometimes the temperature in the suit can get a bit uncomfortable, though that also depends on the outside water temperature. There’s also a technical issue with one of the depth sensors that has been plaguing the suit since the first design. The suit is a marvel to behold, though not perfect. SPECIAL LIGHTS Another feature about the diving suit, and in fact, for all of their underwater operations in Detach’s world is the special underwater lights. Ruby Fenner has designed special filters “tuned” to the sediment or crud found in the particular water they’re diving in. Through experiments in her lab, she’s figured the best color that cuts through the sediment to see clearly. While this sounds almost impossible and against physics, there’s some parts within the realm of possibility. I got the inspiration partially from fog lamps, plus the night lights such as LED lighting that’s slowly replacing mercury vapor street lights around the country. It’s not only a matter of directing the beam in the right direction, but also the hue or light frequency makes it easier to see at night. This is critical for skyglow at night and for amateur astronomers. Also, car headlights and the frequency makes a big difference when not only driving but oncoming beams. Also, just think about when you go to buy fluorescent bulbs at the local hardware store. Ever notice there are different light tones based on which room? All of that gave me the inspiration for Ruby’s special underwater lights. I used that for great effect when diving on the Lusitania, which in particular, is in a very bad spot for visual acuity. The water is a mess, to be blunt. Visibility is very limited with conventional lighting, so I took a bit of artistic freedom, science fiction and imagination and there you go. MONKEY COFFEE AND THE LEANING TOWER When I said things changed, I wasn’t kidding. During my research into Spanish Gold, I re-tweaked details due to changes that happened in the thirty years since I last lived there. Just the simple act of driving from Barajas Airport on the N-2 freeway into downtown Madrid caused a bit of a change. Back in the day, the difference was that we drove the N-2 from Torrejon Air Base into Madrid instead of merging onto it from the interchange (or going out of our way as would be the case, probably now) from Barajas to get onto the N-2 to get to that same way into Madrid. I wanted to do that to hit the Monkey Coffee plant and come up on the “leaning tower” apartment building, two landmark features very familiar to the GIs stationed at Torrejon. The only problem was that while the leaning tower is still there (it has a name which I am using in the book and explain further there), guess what? The Monkey Coffee factory is now a park! When I went to verify it was still there (yup, the leaning tower still is), the coffee factory is gone. It’s a park with grass, sidewalks and tennis courts. Every time we went into Madrid, on the left side of the road stood the shining stainless steel tanks and glass windows of the Monkey Coffee plant. The strong aroma of roasting coffee always penetrated the car, no matter what season. I loved that smell! I looked up Monkey Coffee on the net and came up with some Starbucks like place that sells it now, in a different part of town. No factory. I was shocked to say the least! That’s what you get for waiting too long to write and publish a book. As for the leaning tower, it’s still there, maybe not leaning anymore. It has an official name, which I never knew before. All I know is that I had a friend who lived on the tenth floor (I think). He put a ball on the floor and it rolled to one side of the room, just to show me the tilt. I could never understand why he’d live in a place like that! Yet, here we are, forty plus years later, and it’s still there. Go figure! The diving suit is a nice little bundle of boogie, to quote a movie line Fred Ward said in a movie I’ve since forgotten. I still remember some scenes from it, a western about time travel, but at the moment can’t recall the title…Now I remember! Timerider – The Adventure Of Lyle Swann. Anyway, this bundle of boogie is used throughout the series. It evolves as things progress. Consisting of a hard-shell outer casing with armadillo-like joints, it has a high-tech helmet with a sophisticated HUD (head-up display), sound system, a self-contained re-breather and powered jets that keep the suit stable in swift currents. It’s all powered by one of Ruby Fenner’s cold fusion power packs. It has one little issue though, a depth sensor that causes occasional grief. Lots of fun! WHY A SERIES? Sometimes people have asked me why write a series and not just a stand-alone book? Why not flesh out Detach and his crew and move on to something else? After all, I have lots of ideas and could very well start other stories. However, that’s the key. Start. I don’t like starting something and not finishing it, for one. For another, I’m one who grew up on series novels such as The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Doc Savage, several by Andre Norton and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course, I can’t leave out the one that inspired this Gold series in the first place, Clive Cussler and his Dirk Pitt novels, which as of today, the latest just came out twenty-some plus years after I was initially inspired. In fact, I never intended Detach and his crew to be a one-off deal. Way back when, at the moment I first dreamed up the A and B for Lusitania Gold, I already had ideas for more adventures. I just didn’t have them fully formed yet. As for stand-alone novels, that comes more in line with my icky bug offerings, of which I have completed two so far. To tell the truth, the first one, The Greenhouse actually does have a sequel started. I never completed it because I got distracted with Lusitania Gold! Go figure. Finally, outside of that second icky bug, The Factory, I haven’t written anything yet that wasn’t with a series in mind. Even my first effort, The Cave would’ve been with a series in mind, even though that one will never see the light of day, at least at this point. With the six Gold novels in the can so far, and seven started, I see no end to the series until I say it’s done. As long as I have ideas and a means to get them out there, Detach and his crew will keep at it. LATEST LUSITANIA NEWS – A BISCUIT An article dropped the other day on the net about an auction for a hard-tack biscuit that someone rescued off the Lusitania. Yup, you heard that right. A biscuit. This is one of only two surviving biscuits that were supplied as part of the survival kits from the lifeboats off the Lusitania. While the ship had more than enough lifeboats for all the passengers, that wasn’t the issue with so many deaths. The ship sank so fast, listed heavily to one side, that not only couldn’t all the lifeboats get off in time, but because of the tilt of the ship, some hung so far out, people couldn’t get onto them on one side of the ship. On the other side, the lifeboats scraped along the hull and flipped over. Add to that the fact that the ships crew was inadequately trained in lifeboat evacuation, and you had all the makings of a major disaster, unless the ship went down as slow as the Titanic, which was over several hours. The Lusitania sunk in twenty minutes, and it wasn’t pretty either. There were lifeboats capsized and left upright, but empty, floating away from reach in the extremely cold Spring water (after all, it was early May). Out if all the goody bags cinched down along with flares, all of which weren’t really needed since they were so close to shore, this stuff was either stolen, thrown away, or repurposed to other vessels. This biscuit, and one other, are the only two verified souvenirs left in existence. I say “verified” which is the key that makes it so valuable. Also, being hard tack, while it may be extremely stale, being 104 years old, for all we know, it might still be edible! The estimated value was in the thousands, $15 – $35,000. Given where it came from, I’m pretty sure some schmuck will buy it. It’s funny how little things can bring back a flood of memories. I used to be a member of Classmates and still get residual e-mails from the site. I have rarely visited the site, however, because it’s a pay site and I haven’t seen enough payoff to warrant re-joining, I’ve remained idle with it for years. That all changed because of Detach…indirectly. The other day, I got a slew of e-mails from Classmates for visits to my profile. While I’ve been actively ignoring them for quite a while now, I decided to check them out. If was one of those random moments. Lo and behold, two of the visitors happened to be people I grew up with that would’ve known the kid I copped the name Detach from in elementary and junior high school. Not the kid directly, but two people who were in some of the same classes, walked the same hallways, knew him as well. So, I rejoined for a little while. Flood of memories! At the same time, a couple of other people visited my profile from where I went to high school, which included several people who knew others I also modeled Detach after! As I said before, I NAMED him after one guy, but modeled him after several others. Then his appearance came from another guy I knew in another town not even connected with where I went to school. In fact, that individual happened to be in the town I worked in while I was writing Lusitania Gold, many decades later. Then there’s always a little bit of me in Detach, but I didn’t need Classmates for that! SURVIVED BOTH THE TITANIC AND LUSITANIA Lo and behold, another article hit the net this week about my favorite ship, out of the blue. One very fortunate (or unfortunate) George Beauchamp was a sailor who served on the Titanic on its maiden voyage and managed to survive by helping load women and children into a lifeboat and accompany them. A few years later, he happened to be on the crew of the Lusitania and guess what? He somehow survived that sinking as well. After that, he swore off large passenger liners and spent the rest of his life on smaller vessels. He passed away in 1944 at the age of 72. He’s one of the few to survive both disasters, though not the only one, from what I recall. I remember hearing that a few other crew or officers also served on both ships, though maybe not on the Lusitania when it sunk. Maybe I’ll have to look that up sometime. LUSITANIA AND TITANIC NEWS I skipped a week because I was at the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference. A couple of things happened in regards to both the Titanic and Lusitania, both infamous shipwrecks and of course, the one being the ongoing subject I like to refer to! First off, a new article appeared a week ago where Google Maps officially plotted out the coordinates of the wreck site of the Titanic. While it’s been kept secret for decades since its discovery by Bob Ballard, and a poorly guarded secret at that, it’s now official. You can go to that spot on the map and see where the ship sunk. It’s a lot of blank ocean, but if you look at it from the grand scale, you can see how close the Titanic actually came to land when it struck that iceberg. Of course, just ten miles from shore, like with the Lusitania, would’ve been too far without proper lifeboats, especially in such cold water, let alone seven-hundred miles, but still, it wasn’t that far on a grand scale. Here’s the link: http://matei.org/ithink/2012/01/09/titanic-wreck-location-on-north-atlantic-google-earth-map-in-kmz-format/ Now, as for Lusitania news. On Tuesday, May 7, was the 104th anniversary of the sinking of the ship. Yup, that’s right. 104 years ago, the Lusitania was torpedoed off the Old Head Of Kinsale and sunk with the loss of over 1,000 lives. What makes it different from the Titanic was that it was a deliberate act, NOT an accident. OCEAN LINERS DIFFERENT FROM THE OLD DAYS When you compare ships like the Lusitania and Titanic with the ocean liners of today, they take on an entirely different purpose. The leviathans of the past were built for capacity and speed, but their purpose was to get people from A to B. Today, while capacity is certainly a factor, the main features are luxury, conveniences and routing, rather than speed and just A to B. With the advent of air travel, luxury liners had to find a new role in the grand scheme of things. No longer will you find cheap steerage cabins down in the bowels of the ship for immigrants and the poor to get to the new world, or class cabins at different levels used in the same way. Instead, while there are certainly levels of cabin luxury, they’re all tied together into a floating city that takes its time between ports on a planned route. You don’t book an ocean liner to get from A to B anymore. You do it for a vacation. While there are probably some passenger liners still in existence, it’s far less practical with air travel much cheaper and faster. Times have changed. DIVING SHIPWRECKS There are countless shipwrecks to explore around the world. The sheer number of them is staggering. Throughout my life, ever since I saw that first image of the Lusitania in that Encyclopedia Britannica so long ago, I’ve been fascinated with these enigmatic artifacts on not only the bottom of the ocean, but many lakes as well. Since we first slapped two logs together to make something float, we’ve also figured a way to make them fail. Since I grew up in California, I was always relatively near the coast. When we moved to Lompoc (pronounced Lom-poke), we had a ship graveyard just a few miles away in a shark-infested, rip-current riddled place called Point Honda. Way back when, in the mid 50-s to mid 60’s when I lived there, the site, which was still relatively preserved but deteriorating fast, was still visible from a lookout point on shore. You could still see the comm towers and smokestacks of some of the nine destroyers that ran aground in the fog where they missed the turn around Point Conception while navigating along the coast of California in one of the worst peacetime Naval disasters of the era. As it turns out, that was also one of the most dangerous, if not impossible wreck dives as well. Even the Lusitania, almost beyond the real-world diving limits of the time would’ve been safer to dive on than that shallow-water wreck within sight of shore. Today, Point Honda’s ships are nothing but lumps of rust at best. The lookout has been closed for years due to deterioration of the coastline and collapse of the cliff side. A sad state of affairs. There are plenty of easier wrecks all over the world for recreational diving as well as some, like the Titanic, which are way too deep to every dive to except with ultra-expensive gear. Then there are those still being re-discovered, some at depths just as inaccessible as the Titanic. Portholes have held a particular fascination with me for two reasons. One, they’re windows in the side of large ships, and they have something to do with ships. Period. The second reason has to do with astronomy. As a deep sky visual observer, telescope builder, and mirror maker, those of us that do so are always looking for cheaper ways to fabricate our heavy glass mirrors without resorting to buying them pre-made from a specialized manufacturer. The industry standard is usually 7740 Pyrex, or used to be until Corning closed their factory in New York. Nowadays, a similar borosilicate substitute is imported from Europe. Or, there’s the cheaper alternative of plate glass. While not quite as temperature stable, plain old plate glass can still do the job if the mirror maker is careful and diligent. Now, where is this all leading? A telescope mirror, especially the larger ones for the big light bucket telescopes, from say…twelve up to twenty inches in diameter and larger have to be at least an inch and a half thick. That’s a big piece of glass. Though thinner and thicker mirrors have been made, and ARE being made, for the regular schlub trying to give a massive mirror a shot, it’s better to stick with something a little more manageable, especially given the weight involved. Guess what a ship’s porthole comes in? They’re made of tempered plate glass, vary from twelve to about twenty-two inches in diameter, and because of the harsh conditions in which they have to be used, average an inch and a quarter to up to two inches thick. Instant mirror blank! Just haunt the ship salvage yards, wait for an auction, and there you go. One of my fantasies was to somehow obtain the largest porthole off the Lusitania and make a telescope out of it. As it stands right now, not only would that not be possible because it would be robbing a graveyard, but I have no idea how large the biggest porthole on the ship was, nor if it would even be accessible. Oh well, one can only dream. So much for the Lusitania porthole telescope. LUSITANIA SINKING VIDEO Lately, this stuff’s just been falling right into my lap. I suppose bots have been phishing my Facebook pages, my books or whatever and sending me stuff, whether I want it or not. The other day, I was browsing my phone and got an ad for YouTube. Guess what was featured? An animated video of the sinking of the Lusitania! I kid you not. Supposedly, this animation is based on all the accounts and evidence from the actual sinking and gives a true timeline from the minute the torpedo struck, through the 18 minutes until the ship went down. Because I was waiting to get in the door at work, I only saw about three quarters of it, but from what I saw, it was enough to know that it was relatively accurate. Outside of the fact that the torpedo struck in the wrong place (in the animation, it struck between funnels two and three, but witnesses and evidence said it struck between funnels one and two), it looked pretty good. If you can find it, it’s worth a watch. MORE SHIP SINKING VIDEOS While I’ve known about this for a while, that same ad that popped up with the Lusitania sinking video last week showed up again. This time showing an animation of the sinking of the Titanic. Back in the day, when I was researching the Lusitania, I ran across these simulated sinkings for several infamous ships. Funny how I missed the Lusitania one, the one I actually wanted at the time. However, I found several for other ships not on my list. The funny thing is that I DID find one for the sinking of the Mauritania. It was a pretty cool video, except for one thing. I was kind of scratching my head as I watched it and trying to recall what was wrong with it. Then it dawned on me that the Mauritania, sister ship of the Lusitania never sunk! Yup, that’s right. The “Maury” was enlisted into service during the war and became a hospital ship. After the war it went back into service but fell on hard times as more modern ships eventually saw it become obsolete, plus the magnificent beast was becoming pretty long on the tooth. Eventually, it was scrapped. That’s right, the Mauretania was scrapped in a shipyard. It never sank at all. This video simulation on YouTube was a “what if” thing, or just a plain fake. Never happened. When I watched it, I couldn’t recall the details because they never occurred except in the animators imagination. Talk about fake news! A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT SPANISH GOLD Spanish Gold, the sequel to Lusitania Gold is in the queue at the publishers. It’ll come out sometime in the near future. In the meantime, I get flashbacks of several different aspects of the plot and environment of the novel. That not only includes several countries including Spain, but a certain member of the Alice Cooper original band. While I’m dying to divulge details, so early out of the gate, I cannot in good conscience reveal too much and spoil the fun. I can say that if you’re a fan of Alice Cooper when the original band was together, from Pretties For You up to Muscle Of Love, you might really enjoy certain aspects of this story. On the other hand, if you like to travel with your mind, whether you’ve ever been to the places I mention in the book, I can say for sure that the descriptions portrayed within are accurate because I’ve been there to every place in the book except one, which I won’t divulge at this time. Once, a long time ago, I was in on one of the never-ending philosophical writer’s debates about whether a writer should write what they know or write what they don’t know. While there are merits to both styles, I strongly identify with the writing what I know camp. As a consequence, most of my reality-based fiction derives from places I know. I believe it gives a more realistic touch to the environment because I’ve actually been there and lived it. In the case of Spain, I could go on and on about details. I used many in the book. As I mentioned above in Monkey Coffee and The Leaning Tower, I had to re-visit certain things just to be sure things had not changed too rapidly or radically in the nearly two decades since I lived there. I was still able to capture the essence, which was the most important element. Okay, I skipped a week due to being out of town. Life goes on. We came home and guess what? For the 4th of July I got to feel an earthquake here in Las Vegas. It wasn’t even the big local one, which was about a hundred miles away in Ridgecrest, California. This one, for us, was mild, just a slight rocking while I was nursing a headache, sitting back in my easy chair. I thought one of the dawgs was messing with the chair at first, but nope. Then Friday evening, the 5th, I was in the bedroom watching a recorded TV show in a lawn chair and got a sizeable jolt. This one about knocked me out of the chair. The wife and daughter came running in and said “earthquake!” Ah, yup! It kept going, so I got up and walked, not ran, into the living room and out the back door to our pool and watched it slosh around, spilling water out all over the place. To be able to see this, this trembler had to last a good two minutes. Others around town experienced more or less shaking. Why am I mentioning earthquakes in the context of Detach’s world? Tremblers have a significant part in the third installment in the Gold series, in particular Palmdale Gold. Why? The setting is a bottomless lake that sits right in the rift zone on the San Andreas Fault. It’s based on a real lake, but because it’s privately owned, I had to change the name and location so I wouldn’t get sued. Go figure. I grew up in earthquake country, especially living in and around the infamous San Andreas. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I skipped out on the most notorious quakes of the 70’s and 80’s because I was in Spain when they occurred. However, in 1967 or 1968, I was about 30 feet in the air in one of the elm trees in our front yard, trimming it when a trembler hit. Not only was I holding on for dear life, but facing east, I watched Palmdale Blvd and the empty desert ripple like water. Now THAT’S an eerie feeling! Palmdale Gold will not be out for a few years yet, but it’ll be interesting to see how many major tremblers come along before it does. THE LOTHAR PART 2 While I described this ship in detail in one of my first posts in the Limnophobic Chronicles, I never did reveal the source of the name. Like with the Cooper, I broke tradition and did not name the Lothar after a female. Once again, this minor detail is an obscure band reference. The Cooper was named after the Alice Cooper Group, the original band. Pre-dating Alice Cooper by a few years was one of the pioneering electronic bands of the mid 60’s, and one of the first to ever use an electronic musical instrument called a theremin, Lothar And The Hand People only cut two albums and made a minor splash with the hits Machines and Space Hymn. To me, that band opened up one entire world of electronic music, the polar opposite of what Blue Cheer did with heavy metal. Have I mentioned Blue Cheer somewhere? We’ll see. U.S.S. Eagle PE-56 Just this week it was announced that they recently discovered the wreck of a submarine off the coast of Maine. While the actual discovery was some time ago, it was just announced that divers finally convinced the Navy that this ship that was originally thought to have been sunk by accident (boiler explosion), was instead sunk by a German torpedo. While this is not necessarily related to any of the Gold novels, I find similarities. The wreck lies about 300 feet down, beyond the normal reach of recreational diving and within the realm of the Lusitania, also at around 300 feet. The water is also extremely cold at that depth, and it takes special gear and short dives. Plus, the visibility is quite limited along the coast. Finally, it’s considered a war grave, and though the Lusitania is in dispute over that issue, many consider it a grave as well. After all this time and with the deterioration of the Lusitania, we may never know for sure why it sank so fast. On the other hand, apparently, these divers were able to somehow prove that this more recent submarine sank because of a torpedo (or something) rather than a boiler explosion. Time…that’s the key when it comes to things under the sea. Salt water isn’t kind to our technology. That medium does a number on things. I recently had an annual check done on my hot water heater and the tech told me he was glad to see I didn’t have a water softener because with its age, if I’d had a softener, the salt in the system would have eaten the heater up long ago. Think about that when you consider anything sunk in the ocean. As I alluded to much earlier, Spanish Gold, the next upcoming Gold thriller, features a thread of significance to Alice Cooper fans. In fact, there’s going to be a dedication in the book that only a hard-core fan of the original band will get. In no way will that impact enjoyment of the story. Let’s just call it an inside joke or maybe a better term is an Easter egg. As I said in that last installment…stay tuned! More Shipwrecks – Better Technology Every day it seems the news feeds come up with another shipwreck they either found accidentally, or deliberately. The underwater technology is advancing in leaps and bounds. One day, it might actually approach what I imagined for Detach and crew, and which they’re already using. As pointed out in Lusitania Gold, they utilize some stuff that’s borderline science fiction. I like to call it “wishful thinking,” but the more I watch the news feeds, the more I see that stuff become a reality. Does my heart good! Each one of the Detach novels has “Gold” in the title. There are six so far, and that’s deliberate. The other day, I did a presentation on Lusitania Gold and when I mentioned the titles of the rest of the books in the series so far, someone asked the question why I had gold in every one of them. At one time, I’d thought of having unrelated titles, coming up with something unique for each installment. Then I thought of what I wanted out of each story and what Detach was out to accomplish in the first place. I never intended him to be just a treasure hunter. That would be too repeatable. However, there could be endless variety if he went after treasure – his main goal – but (as I like to say) “mayhem ensues.” This means, some other adventure takes place in the pursuit of said hunt for gold. In fact, in the end, what he finds may or may not necessarily be gold per se, but something extremely valuable “like gold.” Hence, each book has gold in the title and is the “starting point” for each adventure. What shenanigans he and his friends get into along the way is the adventure and variety that makes each story different. Will he actually find gold in each one? Maybe. Will he find adventure and thrills? For sure! Stay tuned. Lusitania Versus Titanic I recently did a presentation on Lusitania Gold and when I brought up that the ship is often overlooked compared to its more famous cousin, the Titanic, the question came up why? Movies have been made about the Titanic. When one thinks of ship disasters, what comes to mind? The Titanic, of course. One of my goals was to bring more light on the “other one,” which in no way diminishes the disastrous nature of the many other infamous shipwrecks that most have never heard of either like the Sultana, the Empress of Ireland, the Morro Castle, the Andrea Doria to name a few. However, let’s just take the two biggest of their era. The Titanic and Lusitania. Sunk just a few years apart, they both had losses of over a thousand souls. The Titanic had a loss of a little over 1,500 people. As for the Lusitania, 1,201 people were lost. The Titanic was 882 feet long with a 92 foot beam (wide), while the Lusitania was 787 feet long with a beam of 87 feet. The both had four funnels and 9 passenger decks. The Titanic was more stable in the water while the Lusitania tended to sway in the water more. The Titanic had three screws, one large center one behind the rudder and two auxiliary screws on each side of the rudder. The Lusitania had four equal sized screws, two on each side of the rudder. The original screws on the Lusitania were three-bladed and tended to vibrate which made the ride a bit uncomfortable, especially toward the stern of the ship. They were eventually replaced with a four-bladed design. As I like to say, while the more famous Titanic was a pure accident, brought on by not only greed and poor design, the Lusitania was a deliberate act which to me, made all the difference. However, because the Titanic was touted as the epitome of luxury and arrogance of being unsinkable, it was romanticized to the point of legend before it even set sail. Then, of course, it all came crashing down by a system of failures that should’ve been foreseen except for the greed and arrogance of a few men. I guess that makes for great news copy and the way of legends. On the other hand, while the Lusitania plowed its way across the Atlantic time and time again successfully, carrying millionaire after millionaire in comparable luxury as well as the poorest of the poor in appalling steerage (same as the Titanic by the way), it was a ship already more or less shopworn and past its prime in comparison. It was not the stuff of legend. On the other hand, carrying nothing but civilians, going through a known potential war zone, the Germans couldn’t resist and though they warned everyone it could happen, nobody heeded that warning and sure enough, they torpedoed the ship and down it went. What nobody expected was how fast it went down. Was it munitions that the ship wasn’t supposed to be carrying? Coal dust from almost empty bunkers? A freak accident? We’ll probably never know, but what makes this disaster so special is that it was a DELIBERATE ACT. Not as romantic as the Titanic, but no less disastrous. Titanic In The News Again Well, the Titanic beat the Lusitania to the punch again. This past week the big ship made the news again. Another expedition went down to explore progress on the deterioration on the infamous wreck, 12,000 feet at the bottom of the Atlantic. The results weren’t surprising as bacteria and salt are eating away the steel at a much more rapid rate than some thought it would. The news people touted “startling images” of the wreck in its new deteriorated state, yet over and over again, they kept showing the same three or four vague images of the bow from two angles, one of the side, and one of the bathtub. While high resolution, unless you’re a super expert, they don’t really show much startling except the shape of the ship covered in rusticles, which is pretty much what it looked like a decade ago. I was not all that impressed. I was hoping for more, but of course, that footage is all being saved for the inevitable TV special and scientific articles which won’t be coming for some time. THOSE are what I really want to see. THOSE will be the really more profound images. We’ll see. Is It Possible To Dive On The Lusitania Today? Sometimes the question comes up if one can recreationally dive in the Lusitania today. The answer is a qualified yes, only if one is certified in Trimix diving. That is deep diving with a trimix breathing gas, which was developed for diving at depths where the Lusitania lies on the ocean bottom (300 feet). Because of low visibility, strong currents and the ever-present hazard of snagged fishing nets, this isn’t a dive for the rank amateur. There have been several injured and killed diving on the ship and the most recent just last month (Aug 2019) when a diver got a case of the bends. One report says this unfortunate person died while other reports just say he was rushed to the hospital to be treated in a pressure chamber. In any case, the wreck is in extremely bad shape and with the deep dive and short time allotted down at the ship, there’s really not much one can do but check it off their bucket list. Without extreme planning, there’s not much one can really accomplish and from what I’ve gathered, outside of several caches of rifle ammo, there’s been no smoking gun as to why the ship sank so fast. With the current condition of the ship, it’s even less likely that things are going to change much in the future. More On Spanish Gold Today, fifty years ago, I enlisted for the first time in the Air Force. My dad drove me down below to Ellay (Los Angeles) and dropped me off at the recruiting station. I signed up with a bunch of other schlubs, and at least for me, it was with the intent of staying well away from a foxhole in Viet Nam. I gambled and won. A little over a year later, December 1970, I set foot on the tarmac at Torrejon Air Base in Spain. It changed my life forever. It’s no wonder that when I took up writing and started my Gold series, I’d have to find a way to incorporate my many wonderful experiences into a tall tale. Each and every time I sat down to write, edited, or even thought about Spanish Gold, I got a rush of nostalgia for a place I’ll never forget. I participate in a Facebook forum dedicated to those of us that were stationed there, from those that want to go back to those that hated it there, but still reminisce for whatever reasons. We re-live many of our great times, from the tascas (bars) downtown to the castles and palaces, to the beaches to the Bob Hope show. The list of fun things is practically endless, as well as the old scratchy photos. Along the way, I incorporated my own take on things into the novel, and I hope even a smidgen of that atmosphere will come through to you, the readers. Time will tell. Deteriorating Wreck Sites Last night on the local news, the Titanic was featured once again. We have a local permanent display at the Luxor casino for the ship. The story featured the latest dive which I mentioned on 8/14. This time, they showed a scant few seconds more footage than the last time. I guess they’re still saving the “good stuff” for the TV special later down the road. The explorers were “shocked” at the deterioration of the ship. Well, duh! It’s sitting 12,000 feet down in a highly corrosive environment. It sunk over 100 years ago. No kidding, it’s going to deteriorate. Of course, there was no mention of the Lusitania, of which there are no movies, no exhibitions around the world, no songs, no nothing. It’s still sitting, more easily (but still dangerously) accessed, just ten miles off the Old Head Of Kinsale in Ireland, collapsing on itself. Like the Titanic, it was sunk a little over 100 years ago and sits on the bottom, in just as extreme of conditions. Pretty soon, it too, will be an unrecognizable lump of rust. Things don’t look good for either vessel, as far as preservation goes. Either respectfully recovering some artifacts and displaying them in museums or just leaving the whole wrecks alone as marine graves is up to the powers that be (and has been done to some extent). It would still be nice to at least preserve them as much as possible on film while there’s still time. At least that’s been done more extensively on the Titanic, and it’s in far more extreme conditions than the Lusitania. On the other hand, the Lusitania is buffeted by strong currents and is covered by fishing nets, besides the fact, it is probably already too late since the ship is half collapsed. Maybe if we’d had the camera technology back in the late 40’s and the Irish navy hadn’t decided to use the ship for depth charge practice, we might’ve had a much better view of the old ship. Oh well… Another Titanic Story Clive Cussler first came to my attention with Raise The Titanic. He’s one of my original inspirations to take up writing back in the mid 90’s. He just came out with The Titanic Secret, which I’m currently reading. From what I can gather, he’s keeping with his mythology of his original hero, Dirk Pitt raising the ship and bringing it back to New York. As we all know, that didn’t really happen. Then again, what happened in Lusitania Gold never really happened, either. Makes me wonder if some day, I might continue with that mythology. Hmmm…one can never tell. We Start Editing Spanish Gold During this past week, I got word that I’ll start the editing process with a new editor out of Ohio on the sequel to Lusitania Gold. Spanish Gold is ready to get polished and tweaked and ready for human consumption! Can’t wait! Met My Editor Okay, I virtually met my editor through e-mail last night. Now, the process will start. I’ve been sick the past week and have been off the computer except minimally, and mostly through my phone, so haven’t accessed everything I need to check what’s what. Last night I found everything set up to begin editing Spanish Gold. I’ve now officially said hi to my new editor, so the process should begin shorty. The fun begins, and I say that with sincerity, because to me, the entire writing process is fun, not just the first part! Rock on! Juss’ Stuff As you may have noticed, I skipped a week. Two reasons. #1 I was at the Age Of Chivalry festival here in Las Vegas, so I was preoccupied with that. #2 I was also recovering from surgery. Needless to say, I was a might distracted and not up to my usual witty self. Well, I’m back now but the only real news on the Detach front is that I’m deep into editing Spanish Gold. So far, it’s been a lot of fun. Some decisions, which have slightly taxed my brain, which is normal, and a while bunch of “oh yeah, I missed that ones”. There have been a few places I’ve had to reword things a bit, and a couple coming up I need to address today, when I get of here, which may take a bit more brainpower. Trying to recover from the surgery has not been all that easy but after a week back at work, it’s at least got me thinking again. Editing Spanish Gold Once again, as you may have noticed, I’ve been out of the loop, partially from being out of town for a star party, still recovering from surgery, plus working hard at editing Spanish Gold. The great thing about editing Spanish Gold is not only the fun of editing, but getting to re-live the adventure not once, twice, but several times. The bad part is the latency of the program I’m stuck using. This is NOT the fault of the publisher, but my computer, which will soon be obsolete. I need to upgrade, but it hasn’t happened yet and working with it through an extremely slow internet connection is mesmerizingly slow and frustrating. Otherwise it would’ve been a fast and fun process. I’ve revisited every scene, quirk, flaw and made corrections and modifications to tweak the story and had a lot of fun in the process. Now that the initial run-through is done, the editor is going to go through it again with a clean manuscript and look for more stuff. We’ll do another edit for major flaws, tweaks and whatever. Getting a book ready for publication is no simple process! Or, it shouldn’t be if you want to do it reasonably right! It’s amazing that I still pick up books from some authors that look like they’re first drafts. On the other hand, I know of cases where they actually WERE first drafts because the publisher got the files mixed up! It can happen! After all the hard work, let’s hope that never happens here! ALL THINGS SPANISH I’m constantly reminded of Spain, particularly on social media. Not only do I belong to a Facebook site dedicated to those that served at Torrejon Air Base in Spain back in the day, but my friends from the Dutch heavy metal band Picture, are currently over there in Barcelona playing a gig at a festival. It seems there’s always something to remind me of one of my favorite places in the world, or at least it was when I lived there in the seventies and eighties. There’s a saying that as authors, we should either write what we know or to be more challenging, write what we don’t know. I choose to write what I know and as the result, Spanish Gold will soon come to fruition. There’s a mix of other places, but the main focus is Spain, and I hope in those pages to convey just a little of what it was really like to live over there, get off the beaten path, and not just get on a plane or boat and do a whirlwind three day tour (and get lost, as in Gilligan’s Island). For someone that lived over there for a total of ten years, I’m constantly reminded of the place, whether social media, something else in the news, or just waking up and seeing some memento lying around the house. ANOTHER TRIP TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH Once again, I skipped a week due to being otherwise engaged, this time at the happiest place on Earth. For those of you not in on that phrase, I was at Disneyland once again. My favorite place since 1956, not to date myself, but it’s a long-standing source of inspiration. It never fails to spark my imagination, no matter what stage my writing is in. This trip was no exception. While nothing directly sparked something for either genre I’m currently writing, what it did do was refresh my never-ending enthusiasm for writing and to keep on coming up with new stuff. My bottomless well from the polka-dot sewer (my imagination – long story) is alive and well and will continue. I look forward to entertaining you! The editor and I have been tweaking Spanish Gold the past month or so. It’s been an interesting experience. This isn’t just a matter of dotting i’s and crossing t’s. It’s also fixing elements that have gone slightly astray, tightening up prose, and firming up areas that need firming up. Nobody writes a manuscript perfect the first time, and I’m no exception. As it is, considering that I wrote the original story when Dubya was still in office, I haven’t had to do any major changes. Tweaks, yeah, major re-writes, nope. At the same time, as I’ve said before, I’ve had a chance to let the story sit for over a decade, then come back and revisit and enjoy the process all over again. I sincerely hope you all do when you get your hands on it! HELIOX DIVING I just finished reading another Clive Cussler novel called Final Option and in it, they talked about deep diving with Heliox. It reminded me of diving on the Lusitania. For those of you that have read the book, you know the special technology Detach and crew use to avoid such hassles that real-world divers have to go through. Heliox is one of them, as is Trimix. Heliox is a mixture of oxygen and helium, which makes breathing easier at depths below the safe diving range normally employed with scuba gear. Since the Lusitania is well beyond that at 300 feet, dives to the ship have been done with both methods. Trimix is a mixture of helium, oxygen and nitrogen. In any case, these mixtures allow the diver to stay down longer and prevent, or at least minimize the effects of the bends when the diver comes back up to the surface and other factors while working down there. As it is, in any case, the diver still has to spend time in a decompression chamber. Hours and hours to adapt their body back to atmospheric pressure. If you’re not aware, the deeper you go under water, the higher the pressure, to a point where you get below fifty feet, it squeezes your body and starts to separate the blood gasses. As long as you ascend back to the surface slowly, these gasses fizzle out and don’t cause an issue. However, if you come up too fast, they tend to boil out, causing extreme pain and embolisms, strokes, death, etc. Now, this slow ascent is fine down to about a hundred and fifty feet or so. Much deeper than that, and your body starts to act all wonky. Below that depth, even though you’ve slowly adapted as you descend, your blood doesn’t care, and gasses start to separate anyway. That’s where the heliox or trimix comes into play. It helps prevent the blood gasses from doing what they want at these extreme depths. Therefore, the diver can function without going crazy or getting sick or stroking out. Now, that also has its limits. I’m not sure how deep it works, but the diver can only go so deep before even these exotic mixes don’t cut it anymore. There’s some kind of record for deep diving, but it’s like putting yourself in a big vise and slowly cranking on the handle. Your body can only take so much. The depth of the Lusitania isn’t too far from that crush depth, from what I understand. You also have to consider the amount of time it takes to get down that deep. How long can your supply of whatever breathable mixture last? Not only that, but don’t forget water temperature. It’s not exactly going to be a warm bath down there. Then there’s fatigue, and the exotic gas mixture isn’t exactly the best way to keep your energy up. Add all that together and you aren’t going to get a lot done once you get down to the bottom. The special suit Detach and crew use solves all those problems, even if it doesn’t really exist. Yet. During the course of editing Spanish Gold, I had to set my editor straight on some of the cars I mention in the story. While his intentions were in the right place, they were misguided only because he’s never been or lived there. So, I thought it was high time I give you all a small lesson in some of the European cars that may or may not still exist today. I know they all still do, maybe as broken down hulks, strapped together with duct tape and safety wire, but whether they’re currently manufactured is another story. Most of you have heard of FIAT, which is, like I joking call them, the Italian “iat.” Not sure what the F has to do with it, and at least in my language it should be the French “iat.” Actually, Fiat, which stands for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, or Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin, as it “Turin,” Italy, is the one that started it all. An extremely successful model, it became the blueprint for several other copies around the world. One notable version was in Spain, which I refer to in Spanish Gold, is called the SEAT, or Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo. I jokingly called them the Spanish “iat.” After living there a decade, I owned two of them, and in almost every way, they were identical to their equivalent FIAT models. One big difference is that FIAT managed to make headway into the States, whereas SEAT never did. Therefore they Americanized their name to Fiat, but Spain did not with SEAT. My editor wanted to change the name to Seat, which would not have worked for several reasons, one obvious. If you’ve been around Europe long enough, you’d soon learn that Spain was not the only country to copy FIAT, if not blatantly, at least superficially. Russia did it with the LADA and Czechoslovakia did it with the SKODA. While these brands are not nearly the only European models on the road, they represent a good chunk along with the French and German counterparts. THE POZUELO DEL REY Without revealing too much about the upcoming Spanish Gold, I’ll say that the crew will be exploring one shipwreck this go-around. It’s called the Pozuelo del Rey. The ship was a Spanish galleon which I entirely made up. I have no idea if a real ship like that ever existed. The inspiration came from the little pueblo I used to drive through right before I came to my hometown of Eurovillas when I lived in Spain. I thought the name sounded cool, so there you go. The actual pueblo isn’t much, or at least wasn’t when we lived there. It was one of those blink and you’ll miss it places. It had a stop sign and a junction, with a Catholic church, of course. A smattering of buildings and mostly farmers. Maybe 100 people, my best guess. It sat on the plain a few miles before Eurovillas, right after climbing up a steep hill from the much larger Loeches. As for the ship I named it for, well, you’ll just have to see. I just wrote a regular blog article on influences and inspiration, and guess what? Since going through the initial editing process with my editor for Spanish Gold, I had a sudden burst of inspiration for something completely different, set, of course, in Spain. To give just a bit of background, I already wrote a short story that was turned down for our writer’s group anthology a few years ago. The reasons are irrelevant. The story background is still solid and was based on a real incident that happened to me over there during our second tour. As usual, I was just sitting around yesterday and came up with a workable scenario. At this stage, I have a solid A and am still fiddling with a good B. Once I have that worked out, I’m good to go. One day, I may actually sit down and write it. It’ll become a note on a yellow sticky to languish on my computer desk for the time being. While this little tidbit is not directly related to Detach or the Gold series, it IS directly related to and inspired by my time in Spain and inspired by reliving Spanish Gold. I will say that the novel will start in the present, jump back to the 80’s, and then finish in the present. I’m only a fan of that type of novel if it’s done right so I have to make sure I follow my own standards with that one. This is called the Limnophobic Chronicles, named so after Detach’s fear of freshwater lakes. While I’ve already told that story early on, I haven’t yet explained another phobia, or maybe I should call it an aversion of his. He also doesn’t like to ride in helicopters. He makes that very plain in one scene in Lusitania Gold. It’s almost to the point of a phobia but isn’t quite up to that point yet. Now me, on the other hand, is another story. As I sit here and type this, I can almost hear the choppers cross over the top of my house (there aren’t any right now) as they head to the Grand Canyon from McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. Most of the time, their flight path is more to the south, but once in a while they venture up this way either coming or going. Flight lanes can be pretty tight between all the jets coming into the airport to the south, plus the traffic at Nellis AFB to the north. There’s no way in hell you’d ever catch me on a chopper. In my lifetime, I’ve seen way too many of them crash. While the technology and safety of them is impressive, I still don’t trust them to the point of a phobia. That was one inspiration, though not directly here in Las Vegas, for the scene in Lusitania Gold. I wrote the original draft long before I ever came to Las Vegas. In that case, it was Blackhawks buzzing my house in Tipton, Oklahoma. Everyone has phobias, either full-blown or adequately suppressed. Some conquered. Using them in the story line is a great way to enhance a character. As an author, it might be a little too uncomfortable and way too personal to use more personal ones in your story, but it’s entirely up to the author to decide, when and if they want to use phobias as a character trait. The limnophobia I pulled out of the air. The fear of riding in a chopper, not so much! WHERE TO MY CHARACTERS COME FROM? This is a normal author question that I get asked often. In the case of Detach and his world, many of them are random thoughts, inspired by many people I’ve known. Some of them are combinations of characters from TV and movies, given my own twist. Many I’ve just pulled out of the air. If they happen to resemble someone real, it’s purely coincidence. That’s the way many authors do it and that’s why we often have that statement at the beginning of the book “Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental” or something to that effect. We have to, because otherwise, virtually ANY character we make up, if given enough twisting, can be made to resemble some real person. With several billion people on this planet, it’s bound to happen. So, in order to keep things sane, we hold the freedom to create unique people that may or many not resemble someone in real life. It’s purely unintentional, for the most part. Where it may be a little intentional, the person actually inspired by it may not be the person one thinks it is. I have a lot of fun coming up with characters, and place no restrictions on myself with where I draw them from. I will say they are NEVER directly from a single real person. The main traits, or something about them may be inspired by a real person, but that’s it. Sometimes they’re even a tribute. NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE HERE! I’ve always said, and still do quite often, that once I discovered I could write, it’s become a passion, NOT a hobby. That realization hit me way back in 1995, well after I’d been at it in various forms for several years. 1995 was the breakthrough when I wrote my first novel, and never looked back. However, back then, I had no clue I’d be where I am today. I guess none of us ever do. I had my big dreams, like any new writer, but it didn’t take long to find out those big dreams were far from reality. I knew right away I didn’t have the luck of lightning striking in a bottle, which is one of my well-worn quotes. Some people just have all the luck. I’m not one of them. It was pretty clear right off that the only way I was going to get anywhere was through stubborn persistence and hard work. Oh, and one other thing. I really didn’t give a shit. Yup, that was always the real underlying thing about my motivation. While I did struggle and have frustrations while trying to get published, my main motivation, has and still is just to write and create these stories. Getting them out there and read by YOU, the public, is still secondary. While it can be a very satisfying bonus, that’s still not primarily why I sit down to write in the first place. I do it because I love it. Period. The fact that many of you are enjoying my novels is a reward for all that hard work, but to be honest, I still would’ve wrote every single word you may be holding in your hands, or have already read! Still, looking back, it comes as a shock to think that twenty-five years ago, I sat down at a very primitive computer and banged out my first novel, just to see if I could really do it. As of today, I can go on line and see the proof of my success with three novels already in the can and #4 in the works right now. I already have a bunch of MS’s waiting in the wings as well. I’d say this passion has paid off far more than I ever could’ve imagined! RANDOM ROADS Was thinking about Spain the other day…well, actually, I think about it quite a bit because almost daily, lots of things remind me of Spain. The other day, someone posted an article on Facebook about a road trip on one of the pages I frequent. It reminded me of the many road trips we used to take. Before and after I got married, we’d often take road trips. Being in a “furrin country,” every day was an adventure. Spain has a lot more history packed into a smaller area than the You Ess And A. That’s not to say that the States doesn’t have interesting travel destinations, but things here in America are just more spread out. Over there, we’d get in the car on a Saturday or Sunday, pick a random road, and drive. As they say in (I think, Winnie The Pooh), with no particular place to go. We never failed to run across a castle ruin, or fortress, or some other fascinating piece of architecture. We’d find a random pueblo with a cathedral, an ancient Roman aqueduct or wall, or something. I ended up buying a detailed road map of Spain and started penciling in every road we traveled on. By the time we left Spain for the final (third) time in 1991, the entire center of the country was blacked in. However, we never did get up to northern Spain, at least past Zaragoza. Barcelona never quite made the list. Never made it to Portugal. As I was writing Spanish Gold, it was sometimes hard to pick and choose what to use in the novel and what to leave out. However, I had to keep things relatively simple and go with what inspired me the most. I think I did a decent job of picking sites, especially ones that always gave me chills, literally and figuratively, and not in a horror type way. Inspirationally. I’ve been waiting up to over forty plus years (since 1970) in some cases, to finally utilize those chills if inspiration in some way. Now’s my chance. If I can, I like to use exotic locales in my adventures. However, I much prefer using places I’ve been. In the case of the Azores use in Spanish Gold, while I’d have liked to visit the place for personal research, I’ve never actually been there in real life. I got the inspiration to use the islands from my wife, who lived there as a kid. Taking her knowledge and culling bits and pieces from a lot of different people, including author John McKinna RIP, I built a realistic picture of the islands, at least enough that I think passed the basic credibility test. While I wish I could’ve visited the place personally, one has to do with what one can, especially when reality turns to fiction. The Azores is a fascinating place, off the beaten path, more or less, and not the place one normally thinks of as a tourist hot spot. The weather there can be pretty rough, but there are times it’s a paradise. I like to think of it in those terms…mostly. However, no good adventure/thriller would be complete without a bit of mayhem! SPANISH COUNTRYSIDE It’s hard to convey in words what the Spanish countryside is really like. No, I’m not talking about the whirlwind five day tour either on a plane with stops in Madrid, Barcelona and Cadiz, or whatever. Or, maybe a cruise liner in the Med that drops into the random port and gives you five minutes each stop to “absorb the culture.” I’m talking living, working, and spending quality time experiencing this wonderful place. For most people, there’s nothing like home, which to the majority of my readers at this point, is the good ole’ You Ess and A (thanks Sasha Baron Cohen) and the Netherlands. However, Spain was my home for a total of ten years, spread over three Air Force tours. Probably, the tour I most savored this atmosphere was the original, where it was all new to me. That was my virgin years, from December 1970 to December 1974. After growing up in the high desert of Palmdale, California, this southern European Mediterranean climate, very similar to “down below,” as we called “Ellay” or Los Angeles, which was just over the hill from Palmdale, was at once familiar, yet strange and fascinating. Parts of it were completely new and alien to this young spud, sort of like stepping off the plane and landing on Tattooine and that alien bar from the much later to come Star Wars movie. Yet, there were familiar touches like the rolling hills and scrub oak trees. I’ve tried to describe some of this environment in parts of Spanish Gold. While usually, a picture is worth a thousand words, in this case, this one photo can only convey a small portion of what I was feeling, which I tried to put into words. This is the site of an actual scene in the book, though highly embellished. I want you all to know that as of the latest Google images, the site doesn’t look anything like this today. This photo was taken in 1971. A good bit of Lusitania Gold takes place in Ireland. I may have said it before, but while I usually go for the philosophy of writing with the basis of things I know first and branching out from there, in this case, it’s someplace I’ve never been before. I had to reach out, research, and use my imagination, fudge details and generally be vague in places to keep the reader’s belief suspended throughout that time there. While that task may sound overly complex to some, it wasn’t all that bad. Reading, contacting certain people, and of course, Google Maps and images helped tremendously in that effort. I have ancestors in some branches of my past from Ireland, though not directly, so there may have been a bit of a draw for me. The main thing, of course, was the wreck of the Lusitania itself. Then again, I HAVE always been fascinated with the emerald isle. One day I’d like to visit for real, and if I ever get down Kinsale way, I’d like to see how off my mental images match with the reality of what I vaguely pictured in the book. I hope I did it justice. Even those authors that can afford to travel to those far off destinations they depict in their novels quite often draw realistic details that don’t always come out the way others see them. Therefore, I’m not all that worried that my version of Kinsale and the surroundings may seem off to those that are intimately familiar with the area. We all have our own mental pictures of places, wherever that is. Still, it’s one spot in the series, like the Azores, I had to rely on others for my source material. This weekend, I was supposed to be at Furnace Creek in Death Valley for one of our semi-annual dark sky events with the Las Vegas Astronomical Society. Unfortunately, the weather gods chose not to smile upon us. That would’ve meant no post this week. As it turns out, here I am, Saturday morning, but not for a lack of things to write about. You see, who’s to say, one day, another Detach adventure might not be centered around Death Valley? Elsewhere on this page and maybe even somewhere above in my ramblings here at the Limnophobic Chronicles, I’ve probably mentioned that I always like to write what I know, at least as a start. Who’s to say that one day, after book number seven, which is still in the early stages, I might not tackle Death Valley as an inspiration? No, it hasn’t happened yet, and I’m not fully committing to it right now, but it’s a definite maybe. We’ll see. I already have the A and B of West Virginia Gold figured out, which would be book number seven, but it got interrupted when I sidetracked to write Treasure Of The Umbrunna and the Meleena series. However, one day I’ll get back to continue the Detach series. After all, I still have time since I have six completed manuscripts already in the series. You never know where inspiration may come from! We gettin’ old. The last time I lost an author I admired was the unexpected passing of John McKinna, who wrote the wonderful Ben Gannon diving adventure series. In fact, I consulted him when I was writing Spanish Gold. Before that, it was Andre Norton, who I never got to chat with. As we age, it’s inevitable we lose loved ones and friends. The same with influences. I’m just happy they had something to do with my life, whether directly or indirectly. As for the case of Clive Cussler, well…there’s a bit of history with him. One of my first huge inspirations to take up writing started in an aircraft hangar at Torrejon Air Base in Spain. It was called Hangar #6 and was two down from the AGE hangar where I worked. AGE stands for Aerospace Ground Equipment and is the stuff you see on wheels being towed around the flightline at the airport. Anyway, during Desert Storm, troops were using Hangar #6 as a way station on the trip to the “theater.” There were cots set up on the main floor and lines with coffee, hot chocolate and other drinks and snacks. There were also restrooms, portable showers, phones and the lot so people could call home. Also, there was a donation library. My wife and kids used to go there and volunteer to help serve the troops. I’d walk down there at lunch time and visit. Sometimes I’d help serve in line if they’d let me, which wasn’t often (too many cooks in the kitchen), or just hang around. I had a chance to scour the library and even donate books to it. One I found and borrowed my self was called Raise The Titanic. The title alone struck me because of my interest in sunken ships. It was by some guy named Clive Cussler. That book changed my life! I have to give credit where credit is due, though. There were many other books along the way, but that one title, Raise The Titanic was a huge boost. From that point on, along with another book by (I’d swear) Bentley Little, my first college classes ever, plus stuff at work, and things in my personal life with a group my wife and I were involved with, all drew me into writing. It wasn’t until a few years later I actually sat down at a keyboard and followed through, but that was a start. Jump forward to 1997, two years after I wrote the original manuscript for Lusitania Gold. I’d already written several times to Clive Cussler and he replied every time. Such a nice gentleman. I was working at the rubber extrusion plant in Frederick, Oklahoma. I found out he was doing a book signing in Ft. Worth, Texas. While it was a several hour drive, I was prepared to get off work a little early and drive down there just for the chance to meet him. I left work after researching all day for the preventive maintenance manuals I was writing. That meant crawling around in dirty and very hot machines (the air averaged around 130 degrees) and the air smelled of burned rubber, sulfur, chemicals, and was full of flocking. On the way to Fort Worth, the left rear tire on my truck almost fell off. Somehow I’d lost all the studs. Luckily, I stopped in some Podunk little farming town with a tractor repair shop who happened to have studs that fit and I was back on the road again. I made the book signing just in time. When I met Clive, we stood together with his arm around me, while I kept my arms close to my side so (hopefully) he couldn’t smell me. He was so gracious and signed Flood Tide with “To my model for Dirk Pitt. Get it up!” I keep that photo tacked to the bulletin board at my desk at work. I treasure it along with photos of James Rollins and a few other people I admire. I’ve read almost every book Clive has written or co-written. Clive, you will be missed. RIP. TITANIC – THEY’RE AT IT AGAIN I just read on line Wednesday (03/05) that there’s an expedition to recover the infamous “voice of the Titanic” from the wreck. Of course, the click bait headline doesn’t tell all the story, so once you get into the article, you find out that the “voice” is actually the telegraph machine in the wireless room. For those of you still unfamiliar with that little tidbit, “wireless” was the old-timey term for “radio.” Way back when, those doohickeys were pretty primitive. Not everyone had cell phones yet. Anyway, the telegraph machine was basically a Morse code clicker that sent out a message into the ether saying the ship was sinking. It was the “voice” of the Titanic, the only voice since they didn’t have the technology for actual voice communication, at least with any distance. So…this guy wants to recover it because on a recent dive, they discovered the wireless (radio) room is severely deteriorating and soon, it may be too late to recover the machine, which from all indications, is still intact. Now, here’s the rub. Some are saying this guy that wants to recover said machine, is just a greedy, money-grubbing grave robber. Oh…kay. One side argues this is the last chance to preserve the machine for future generations to view in a public place. The other side says this thing will be salvaged and taken advantage of for profit. Not sure where I stand on it. The fact is that I can get in my car, go down to the Strip here in Las Vegas, pay admission at the Luxor Casino (the big Pyramid one with the super bright light that shines into the night sky – another issue that bugs us amateur astronomers) and see all kinds of Titanic artifacts. In fact, I saw a bunch of those artifacts at a similar show in Chicago almost twenty years ago and actually touched a piece of the Titanic hull. With the current display, you can’t touch the hull anymore. So, is this guy just being greedy, or will the telegraph end up on display just like this other stuff? I’m sure the Luxor makes some kind of profit off the display. I’m also sure some of it goes to charity or to maintain the museum or something. At least I assume so. Never asked. VIRUS PLOTS With all that’s going on with COVID 19 right now, you might wonder how that might creep into my inspiration for future novels, especially thrillers. Surprise, surprise. Already dun didded it in the upcoming Spanish Gold, as a matter of fact. Of course what I did has nothing to do with the current pandemic sweeping the globe, but it is still a virus-related sub-plot. So, I’d already thought of it when Dubya was still in office, at least sort of. As for the current crisis, while I’ve toyed with something pandemic, like it in the horror vein, I long ago decided never to tackle such a daunting subject for one simple reason. While I am a solid “write mostly what I know” type of author, I’ll stretch and do research at least to some degree. However, taking on something with such sweeping medical technical issues as a virus is just way beyond my scope. I’ll leave that to authors with a medical background or those interested in spending months upon months pouring through books and files and interviewing people to get those details straight. You have to keep in mind, I still work for a living. So, don’t expect some pandemic-related thriller to come out of Fred Central anytime soon. Will I address the current pandemic in a future Detach thriller? Maybe it will be addressed, depending on the lasting impact of our current situation. A stand-alone novel? Not likely, unless an inspiration floors me and I see an expedient (easy) path to it. We authors are human too. THE DEEPEST LAND-BASED POINT ON EARTH Last December, they discovered the deepest land-based point on earth in the Denman Glacier in the Antarctic. It wasn’t until this week that they let the news out widespread that I heard about it. The deepest point on the earth’s surface is, of course, the Marianna’s Trench, but as for land-based, or continental-based, it used to be the Dead Sea, with someplace in east Russia and then Death Valley coming in second and third, or something like that. Well, I’ve been to Badwater in Death Valley many times, but have no desire to visit the rest of the places. Nor do I have any desire to dig a hole deep enough in the ice to say I’ve stood in the lowest continental point on earth either. Would this make for a cool thriller someday? Probably. Will I ever write about it? Not likely. Why? Well, let’s just say I’m not a huge fan of the cold and leave it at that. While the idea does intrigue me on certain levels, it’s not enough to have to live with it for as long as it would take to write a story about it, at least not at this point. I have too many “warmer” ideas percolating around in my head right now! TOPLESS BEACHES Right now I’m doing a final tweak to Spanish Gold. During the process, I came to a very minor line, just a mention of the topless beaches in the Azores. I hesitated. During the time when I wrote the novel, which as I stated before, was when Dubya was still in office, not only were topless beaches almost universal throughout Europe, but the Azores had at least one. Given that Portugal, as a whole was practically the only country in Christian Europe without topless beaches, I still considered that a given. However, when I saw that off-handed phrase again, it struck me that I’d better check it once again, since I didn’t during the last pass. In recent years, not that the laws have necessarily changed, but many women have decided to put their tops back on, and I never found out why. On the off hand that something might have changed, I re-researched and guess what? The Azores sole topless beach closed to the public around 2014! That’s right, the difficult to get at beach, as it is, has been roped off at the pass. It’s no longer accessible. As it turns out, it was not that great of a spot anyway. With black volcanic sand, it was said to be full of rocks, anyway. It was also quite isolated. For some reason, the authorities closed off the steep path from the road down there, about a half mile walk. The more popular beaches all require tops. I deleted that sentence immediately from this final draft. A small thing, but a good thing to catch. ISOLATION AND THE PUBLISHING PROCESS CONTINUES Despite our relative isolation, the publishing process continues. My editor fixed the tweaks I made to Spanish Gold and turned it in to the publisher. During this time at (mostly home), I also managed to squeeze out the first version of the back cover blurb. As I always do, I came up with it in just a few minutes. Now I’ve set it aside and will take a fresh look at it in a week or so and see if it still looks good, make a tweak or two, or decide on something else. As long as I’ve been at it, I’ve never had to trash one completely. The Las Vegas Writer’s Conference turned into a virtual one. I opted to take my vacation days anyway, but got a refund because frankly, I stare at a computer screen all day at work and quite a bit of the time in the evenings, and just didn’t want to do that for what I looked forward to as an extended interactive social event. This is the first time I’ve skipped a conference since 2005, and through no fault of the organizers. I’m glad they still managed to organize and pull off such an amazing event which is now on the third day as I write this. It’s just not for me. So, what am I doing instead? Cleaning my pool and getting it ready for a long run of isolation! Yup, it was time to change the water. Long story, but I have some maintenance issues to take care of while the water is out as well. Not my first choice of things to do during isolation, but there you have it. I’d rather be writing or just lazing around. Not going to happen! SPAIN HIGH ON CASUALTY LIST I have my own theory on why countries like Spain and Italy are high on the infection list during this pandemic. When we talk about social distancing, before anyone knew what was going on at the beginning of the outbreak, you have to look at the cultures in both countries. These are affectionate people. There’s a lot of hugging and kissing on the cheeks. When a nefarious and highly contagious disease is spreading, such natural tendencies are a perfect breeding ground to spread this disease. I believe for both Spain and Italy, the natural instinct among locals to hug and kiss in greeting, unfortunately, spread the disease before anyone had a chance to stop it. These two countries are surely not the only two with such practices, but they do have a lot of influx of tourists, and for good reason. I also have heard, anecdotally from those that visit regularly, that the Chinese own a lot of businesses in Spain, and maybe Italy as well. That would mean travel for natives from Asia, which would be a logical source of infection. This disease could have originated anywhere, but it happened to come from China this time. Next time it might be right at home in the You Ess And A, or it might originate in Europe. Wherever the next one comes from, it can spread in nefarious ways. This might not be the only time we’ll need to practice social distancing. As much of a tradition/cultural thing hugging and kissing in greeting it is in Spain, Italy, or any other country, it’s probably a time to think about changing that practice as much as shaking hands. As connected as our world is today, nasty stuff can spread a lot faster and from anywhere…I mean ANYWHERE. To tell the truth, I prefer not to shake hands, but not for the reasons you may think. One of my veteran’s disabilities is for my skin. After decades of using some pretty nasty solvents to clean mechanical parts as part of my job, even given some pretty shoddy protective gear, my skin, especially on my hands is a mess. They often get cracked and bleeding, especially during certain times of the year. When someone wants to shake my hand, not only can it be painful, but I hate to bleed all over someone. At best, I’d rather fist bump or…hey, hug them, which throws back to my time in Spain or brings up the potential for a “Me too” movement. It’s best to just have a dialogue with someone and maybe bump elbows. I do like some kind of touch, but something non-suggestive in any way, and better than a simple nod. Oh well…life goes on. THE LEANING TOWER The leaning tower only plays a minor part in the story, a trivial locale to give some flavor and realism to the story of Spanish Gold. I added it in because it’s a real place, and I lived in Spain so why not throw in details the normal tourist would never glean from the quick “three hour tour” Gilligan and the skipper would take you on? Plus, I’m not rich, so I can’t afford to write stories where I can travel off to exotic locations for weeks at a time to delve deep into locales for my next New York Times best seller. Therefore, I write places I know and I just happen to know Spain, at least central Spain pretty well, or at least I did back in the 70’s through early 90’s! While the reputation of the leaning tower is well overblown by the “legend,” to us GIs’ stationed at Torrejon Air Base back in the day, at least for some of us, we knew this engineering marvel for what it was. A large tower apartment/office building that had a slight construction flaw. It had a defect in the foundation and leaned slightly. No joke. While it wasn’t exactly the leaning tower of Pizza, it was enough that I’m pretty sure they had to do some fancy tricks to shore it up to arrest that slight lean somewhere along the line. I know this is true because I once visited a friend on the sixth or seventh floor and when you put a ball on the floor in his living room, it would roll from one side to the other. It was enough to creep me out. I didn’t want to stay there, but it didn’t seem to bother the other high rent patrons of this place. The tower has a name to it nowadays, which I used in the book when Detach references it in passing. Torres Blancas or something like that. In the image below, you can just see the top of it above the apartments in the middle of the scene. I took it out my window, stopped at a light on the street. Admittedly, not the best conditions. Whatever the case, the building is still standing almost 40+ years after it was constructed. I guess the lean wasn’t that bad. DEDICATION AND THANKS PAGE Spanish Gold is getting closer to publication and now I have to gather all the names and thank the people that helped me get the book to where it is today. That includes all the beta readers, the people at the publishing house, my family, and certain people that have always inspired me and got me started along the way. In every book, I give thanks to those that helped me along the way because if not for them, I’d never be where I am today. In the case of Spanish Gold, I also have a very special dedication to someone who inspired me for a certain plot thread. You’ll just have to pick up your own copy to find out. I HAVE A COVER! Whoohoo! I finally have a cover. My publisher comes up with the cover, based on an impression out of the book. They’re usually pretty close and we go over it and tweak it to get the best deal. As an author with a traditional publishing house, I’m lucky to have that much say. So far, we’ve tweaked each of the three previous books (the two fantasy ones in the Meleena series) plus the only one so far in this series, Lusitania Gold. Now, with the second Gold series novel coming up, Spanish Gold, I anxiously awaited to see what our art director, Richard Draude would come up with and I was quite happy with the design. Not only that, but it also got family approval once I showed it to them. Right now, the cover is raw. It does not have the back cover blurb or anything else filled in yet and it’s the foldout. In other words, it’s the entire cover, including the front, spine and back folded out into one image. Eventually, it’ll be reprocessed, or folded to look like a book with the front and back along with the blurb filled in. LUSITANIA ANNIVERSARY – STILL NO MOVIE It’s been 105 years now, as of May 7, 2020, and still no movie on the sinking of the Lusitania. Go figure. The Titanic still gets all the glory while the “little ole'” Lusitania lurks in the shadows, destined to be the disaster that never gets the attention. Oh well. Maybe one day some movie producer will read Lusitania Gold and love it enough to turn it into a movie. For that matter, any other book on the ship will do, though a highly fictional account like mine would do, just the same. One can only hope! THINKING ABOUT SPAIN Pretty much thinking about Spain and the good old days, especially with all the time on my hands when I’m off work and not doing family stuff. With the upcoming launch date of Spanish Gold on my mind, plus a lot of people with idle time making posts on the Torrejon Air Base Facebook page, my old stomping ground is never far from thoughts. Not only that, but I also am sort of participating in a challenge to post albums from my past. The initial challenge was to post ten albums in ten days, with no explanation, no bla bla bla. Of course, I’m not one to follow rules or trends. I’ve gone well beyond the ten albums and have been giving a history of each one and what they mean to me. Right now, I’m at the point where I’m living in the barracks at Torrejon Air Base in, of course, good old Spain. The memories of those times pour in by the bucket load. I have flashes of Detach and crew, a completely made up group of characters, galavanting around doing their thing when in reality, it’s me doing far less heroic things. I’m far younger, experiencing a “furrin” country for the first time, and everything is strange, fresh, and new for me. It was exciting times and though there were dark moments, I never dwell on that stuff being a glass is half full person. The best moments are so overwhelming for me, I cannot help but dwell on the great stuff, and there were so many great memories. How could I not translate some of that into Spanish Gold? I could never do those memories justice in just a few pages of details in a fictional book in lieu of doing a full autobiography that nobody would ever read. At least I can throw a bit of reality into my made up world. Guess what? Back in March, I mentioned that there was a group out to salvage the Marconi wireless from the Titanic. There was also some fierce opposition to this move because of grave robbing etc. Well, as of (I think) Wednesday, the group won in court (despite the COVID lockdowns). Sometime this summer, when the weather conditions permit, this team gets their shot to dive on the ship with a robotic submersible and attempt to cut into the Titanic hull, as delicately as possible, and remove the wireless. The purpose, of course, is to display it for future generations to marvel over. Of course, considering the millions of buckaroos it’s going to cost to perform this little stunt, I assume it’ll take several years of admission fees to make up the cost. I won’t even attempt to ponder the moral issues, but if they manage to succeed without destroying a large chunk of the remains of the wreck in the process, where will it be on display? If it happens to be in Las Vegas, it might just be worth another trip down to the Luxor to see it. It will likely be the last time I ever visit that museum, when and if it ever opens again due to isolation restrictions, but also because it ain’t cheap and we don’t like to repeat things we’ve done unless there’s a thrill ride involved. DO YOU EVER WONDER WHAT AN AUTHOR DOES BETWEEN BOOKS? Do you ever wonder what an author does between books? Wonder what he or she does while the long and drawn out process of publication is going on? I can tell you it varies from person to person, but to give you a little slice into my life, a snapshot of my moment in time, as of right now it goes like this: At the moment, as far as Spanish Gold is concerned, I’m waiting. Working on the third Meleena’s Adventures book called Across The Endless Sea – I’m almost to the end of that one. I’m NOT working on book number three in the Gold series because it’s already written, has been read to the Henderson Writer’s Group, has a title, Palmdale Gold, and has been waiting in the wings for almost a decade! In another year or so, I’ll virtually dust it off, then start working on it again and update it like I just did with Spanish Gold. A bit of the life of a typical, but not every writer. On the other hand, I’m also contemplating the odd short story here and there, writing these short weekly snippets, writing lots of Facebook musical posts and my weekly blog articles. In a nutshell, I’m writing almost daily. So, there you have it. TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS While it was far from a direct inspiration, I have to give a big shoutout to one of the worst B-movie Indiana Jones ripoffs of all time, but still one of my favorite movies. Way back in the mid 80’s, while living in Spain and Turkey, we used to spend a lot of time renting videos (VHS format) from the local video stores. We discovered a lot of obscure movies that those of you here in the You Ess And A would probably never see, or at least, never heard of. One of them was this spaghetti Indiana Jones ripoff called Treasure Of The Four Crowns. Folks, this was top-of-the-line cheese. It had bad dialogue, special effects, and plot. The actors were all unknowns, unless you lived and were familiar with European cinema. You could even see the string holding up the “floating things” in certain scenes. It was shot in 3-D but that was lost on a regular screen. However, besides just having fun and being able to suspend our disbelief, something that was admittedly quite a stretch, the film was shot mostly on location right here (and here at the time was Spain). We were thrilled to have a movie shot right in our literal back yard! I can go on and on about the classic scenes where we would point at the screen and go “Hey, that’s such and such a place!” I still love that cheesy movie to this day. A funny story about the movie is that the lead was an actor named Tony Anthony. Turns out he’s Roger Pettito and originally from Clarksburg, West Virginia, which happens to be the nearest major town in the area where my wife Kim is originally from. Go figure, small world! MARKETING MATERIALS FOR SPANISH GOLD It’s getting that time. My publisher contacted me the other day and requested the usual publicity and marketing materials for the upcoming September release of Spanish Gold. The release date is still tentative, but it looks like September is the magic month. I’d already written a question and answer page last month. I went through it and turned it in this morning. I also just wrote out the bullet points, which I’ll now let sit a few days, then go through them again and tweak before I turn them in. My next step is to run through the manuscript and fix some things the publisher noticed when she formatted the script. Something jumped out at her that we didn’t catch in all the editing, probably because we were too close to it. It’s something that sometimes happens when a different set of eyes gets hold of it. That’s something that will take a bit longer, but still fixable well within the deadline I have been given. Folks, things are moving right along! EVEN NOW, FACT CHECKING My editor just sent me the .pdf for Spanish Gold. During the formatting process, she found a couple of things she wants me to go through and fix. As a result, I have to read through the entire manuscript once again, for the umpteeth time and fix these quibbles. It’s all in an effort to make this book even a better and cleaner story for you, the reader. Along the way, I get to visit Detach and the crew not only once again, but probably the fifteenth time again or more! As my weekly blog article is going to attest to, I love this stuff. The only thing labor intensive about it is that I cannot edit the .pdf. I have to leave it intact. Instead I have to print correction sheets, write down the page and line number and list the correction needed. THEN, the publisher has to decide whether to accept my change. A lot more labor intensive than just correcting a Word document. All that aside, at the same time, as I’m going along, I’m also running across random facts I’ve mentioned, some I never even thought of challenging last time, and checking up on a few I never verified the last time. Sometimes it’s because I already knew them to be true. Sometimes it’s because they were so trivial it wouldn’t matter. However, at other times, the little things DO count and I want to get them as close to reality as possible. I could name examples, but I don’t want everyone digging through the book, seeking them out. If you run across something you think is wonky, look it up. If I’m wrong, let me know. If you don’t care, just enjoy the story and don’t worry about it. After all, this IS fiction and you do have to suspend your disbelief. My goal is to make it as realistic as possible but not actually REAL. Therefore, the facts are APPROXIMATE. I will tell you that a lot of what I describe in the book is real because I was there, with the exception of the Azores. I had to rely on other sources for that, much of that first-hand knowledge. FACT CHECKING AGAIN If you’ve ever read one of those critiques and got to the phrase “if the author ever did an real basic fact checking he’d know…” and then they’d slam the writer for such and such and destroying their credibility. Bla bla bla… Yup, there are some circumstances where that might be justified. As I said last week, while I’m striving for accuracy to a point, in some cases, I’m going to say right here and now. For security reasons, I’m deliberately NOT stating certain things completely accurate. What they are, you will never know. Seeing as how I lived a good bit of what I’m writing, but also given that what I lived happened about thirty and more years ago, I had to revisit a lot to pick up on the changes and bring them into modern times. Then again, there are certain things I approximated for reasons I won’t go into. Others facts, if I’m called on them, and they ARE wrong, and it was because I goofed, my bad. I’ll take that. Other things, if I’m called on, I may or may not respond, publicly or privately with the person. Before anyone tries to blow this way out of proportion, these facts are minor. However, you never know who might read the story and how they might react. I’m just saying… My final tweak of Spanish Gold is coming along. I’ve reached the point where I’m in Spain. The fact checking is still going on, and while I’ve had to adjust certain things, a few “facts” I’ve left alone because after all, it’s a story, plus I needed these certain adjustments to fit with the storyline. On the other hand, I had to revise my dedication and thanks page due to the addition of my first great grandchild. I’m fast approaching my deadline for turning these tweaks into the publisher, so I can also move on to other things I need to get done. Yup. Spanish Gold is getting even closer to publication! NOT CRAZY ABOUT THE MANUAL PROCESS I love editing. It’s all part of the adventure. However, now it’s come to the correction sheets. Because of the editing process, I’ve had to manually write them all out on individual sheets, so many lines per page. I have sixteen pages of corrections. Unfortunately, when I first made the corrections, my penmanship wasn’t up to snuff. I’m now having to go through these scribbles and re-write every page more legibly. This is the product of so many years being used to typing. As it is, I have to print my autograph because I want it legible for my readers! While I printed these corrections originally, I did it on the fly and wasn’t so concerned with legibility as just getting them down. Now I wished I was neater. As I’ve “translated” them, I noticed a few minor errors I’ve had to correct. Plus there’s the tedium of having to re-write every page which takes time and care to make sure every line is legible, given my penmanship. I made it to page seven, so far and have only had to go back to the manuscript maybe three or four times to figure out which line, page, phrase I was talking about… Never thought editing would come to this! On the other hand, these last minute tweaks will all be worth it. SPANISH GOLD ONE STEP CLOSER Finally finished re-writing all the edits of Spanish Gold, scanned and e-mailed all the changes to my publisher. The only thing I have left now is the bullet statements, which I wrote weeks ago. I just have to go through them again with a fresh set of eyes before I turn them in. While there are other things I wish I could do for the book, I wasn’t able to this time for various reasons. Oh well…have to roll with the punches. I’m already thinking not only the next book, Palmdale Gold, but others in other genres. However, those books are not for this page! In other very old news, I keep seeing this click bait ad pop up for the Titanic. It says something about seeing the horror of what the Titanic was really like on the last voyage or something like that, with a few variations. The news web site that usually posts this ad shall remain nameless because it’s not only the news site that does. It’s by no means alone in doing so. It is, however, notorious for highly misleading headlines. This Titanic one is a good example, even with all the variations, because they’re all the same ole’ same ole’ set of photos. There is NOTHING new in them. If you’ve ever read up anything on the Titanic, you’ll see that these “found in a floating camera salvaged off the Titanic” type photos are just the same old shots everyone else has already seen in numerous books and essays already, and the sites are nothing but ad click bait. Still, it’s worth it if you have a good virus checker and add blocker to scroll through it at least once to catch all the photos. FANTASY 1ST DRAFT DONE The fantasy first draft I’ve been working on, Across The Endless Sea, is now dun didded, so while I set that aside for a few months, I can maybe concentrate on the Gold series again. I just spent a month or so going through another edit of Spanish Gold, plus this week after completing those final chapters for Sea, I also completed the bullet points for Spanish Gold. Now, it’s a matter of deciding whether to start on re-reading Palmdale Gold, the third book in the series, or working on the third genre I also write, icky bug! Yes, folks, I also write pure icky bug and have submitted a novel to my publisher called The Greenhouse. While things have fallen way behind at the publisher, eventually they’re either going to tell me yes or no about The Greenhouse. I suppose I should just wait on that one and concentrate on Palmdale Gold for now since it’s already part of the Gold series. It’ll be a good while before that one will be ready for publication anyway. TIME CREEPS UP Time’s been creeping up on this crazy year. It’s already half past 2020, more or less. I finished my third fantasy novel, Across The Endless Sea, and Spanish Gold is in the can, getting ready for publication. I’m still waiting to hear yea or nay about my first of two icky bugs, The Greenhouse. While purging my paper files, I ran across an original draft printing of my very first novel, The Cave. Before I shredded it, I went onto this (the one I’m using now) new computer and made sure I had the latest version of it. I did. I could only open but not edit it because it was too old. So, I had to copy the entire 82K+ words, and then paste them into a brand new Word document. Now, if I choose, I can go back and maybe try and fix that science fiction adventure/thriller (a mouthful) one day. From reading just a few random snippets, I can see how far I’ve come since early 1995. On the other hand, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Maybe one day I might actually take a stab at it. This is the lull between deciding projects. It’s whatever strikes my muse or whatever my publisher wants next. Maybe a combination of both. Time creeps up. DETACH AND THE PANDEMIC While all six of the Gold novels were in the can long before the pandemic, I’ve thought about how I might have to adapt any of them after Spanish Gold to reflect this awful year in future installments, or whether I should at all. While they all start sometime in the past, when I shift to “present day”, what will be that present day? Considering how publishing works, the next one, Palmdale Gold, won’t likely be read for release until 2022. By that time, will we be back to some kind of normalcy? I certainly hope so! In the meantime, how would Detach be weathering the pandemic right now in 2020? Pretty much the same as everyone else. Yesterday, as I type this, I read an interview with Mick Jagger. While it was conducted sometime in the past, it was less than a month ago. He told the interviewer he was handling the pandemic just like everyone else. He’s currently living in France and staying isolated, not going out often, but when he does, he wears a mask, isolates, and stays away from crowds, just like most (not all) everyone else. So, even a big celebrity like him is hunkering down and keeping low to the ground until this thing hopefully blows over. It’s unfortunate, so many have no means to be able to do that, given the low income rampant in this world. However, some can. Some still work, either remotely, or can go into their jobs relatively safely (some not so safely). What about Detach? For him, he’d be both working remotely and coming in to the office occasionally. As for adventuring, not likely at the moment. Too much of a risk and too many unknown variables. So, don’t expect me to come up with an adventure set during the pandemic. I’m not saying it will NEVER happen, but that’s just a dose of reality I have no inspiration to explore and rub people’s noses in. Then again, if done right, maybe it wouldn’t be. Right now, it’s far on the back burner. Besides, I’m not much of a bandwagon person, and you can probably expect a flood of pandemic books in the next year or so. By the time I wrote one, it wouldn’t be ready for publication until the next decade. SPANISH GOLD PROGRESS Just talked to my publisher what…Tuesday over Facebook IM and found out all my edits and the thank you page went to the editor and last she heard, the manuscript is going through some “technical thingies” (my expression). So, that means, it must be getting close to dun didded. Hopefully, unless some big glitch comes along, it may just make the September publication date! Woohoo! Unfortunately, there’s not going to be a physical book launch, given the current world situation. Oh well. As for a virtual book launch, I may break down and do a Facebook one, though if you’ve ever read any of my regular blog posts on marketing, you should know I’m not all that enthused about the past results. We’ll see. Maybe it’ll work this time. In other Spanish News, King Juan Carlos banished himself to parts unknown due to corruption. Ahem, no big surprise, though I’ll have to admit this kind of came out of the blue for me because I haven’t been paying attention to Spanish royal matters for some time. Other news? Same ole same ole click bait with the Titanic. Geez, they need to dream up something a little different for click bait. At least EVERYBODY has seen the same old thing on the Titanic by now, and the same old photos that really have nothing to do with the alarming and totally misleading headlines (and variations). TALKED TO THE EDITOR OF SPANISH GOLD Since our last chat, I talked to my editor through e-mail and the editing is done. Now, the book is getting the first galley treatment. This means, the preliminary treatments of the book are being printed to send out for review and endorsements. We’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, if I haven’t mentioned it before (which I probably have somewhere), I’ve resurrected my very first novel, The Cave. I’ve always said it was never fit for print. However, I’ve taken another look at it and maybe it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There are some things to fix and the deeper I get into it, it’s not so much the story, but the writing in certain spots. It’s going to take some work, but once it’s dun didded, I think I might just have another genre to add to my belt. I’m still letting my other just finished manuscript in my fantasy series sit for a while. It needs to brew for a while before I look at it with a fresh set of eyes. In the meantime, I’m already solidifying the A and B of book #4 in the series. SOME CHARACTERS IN SPANISH GOLD – MACKEY In the next few weeks I’m going to be introducing a few characters from the upcoming Spanish Gold. I’ll start with an English bloke named Mackey. He lives in Ramsey, England. He’s a little person Detach and the crew befriend on their search for clues to the treasure. Mackey is key to them getting into certain places that help the search. I’ve always wanted to include a little person in the series. The last time I did in a real-world setting was my first, still unpublished novel, The Cave, which I’ve recently resurrected. I’ve been inspired by several little people, especially a childhood hero of mine named Billy Barty, and more recently Peter Dinklage. Mackey plays a significant role in the early part of the story. BULLET POINTS FOR SPANISH GOLD Here it is, already Labor Day weekend, and I’m working on publicity and marketing stuff for Spanish Gold. Right now, while I thought I’d sent the bullet points to my publisher, she e-mailed me yesterday and said she never got them. I held off until this morning, so I could go through them again for another look, jussincase I missed something. Turns out I did! Big time! In all of those bullets, I apparently fergotted the big McGuffin! In other words, while I functionally gave all the steps of the novel, the one thing I omitted was the reason why all of this was happening! Geez! Turns out it made for the longest bullet, but hey, I didn’t want five bullets just for that. So be it. So, that was my latest and greatest in regards to Spanish Gold. Happy Labor Day weekend. Stay safe! PUBLICITY SHEETS FOR SPANISH GOLD I finally got copies of the publicity sheets for Spanish Gold from my publisher. Woohoo! The marketing begins. I cannot post them here because they’re for booksellers and such. All except the Q&A give away plot points and spoilers. I’d thought of posting the Q&A, but it’s a .PDF file and I haven’t figured out how to copy and paste it here yet. One day…. In other news, I found some old photos from my 1990 trip to Jolly Olde’ Englande’. While I already posted them to my personal Facebook page, I might repost a few of them here in the next few weeks along with my usual witty narration. We’ll see. SOME CHARACTERS IN SPANISH GOLD – MARCO ANTONIO AREVALLO PADILLA Marco is a key character in Spanish Gold yet he plays very little in the actual novel time, real estate wise. He was a failed monk/failed priest, trying to make amends, and in the process created a twisted web for which Detach and crew are sent on their wild treasure hunt. If you’re wondering where I came up with that name, it’s personal. It’s a real name from someone in my distant past, long gone. Someone I knew in Spain way back in the early 70’s who was very old at that time. In a way, his use in the book is an honor to his legacy. SOME CHARACTERS IN SPANISH GOLD – CAPTAIN JOHN HARWOOD Captain John Harwood is another key character in the dramatis personae of Spanish Gold. He’s kind of the lynch pin in the plot, the whole reason Detach and crew go off on their little adventure. In actuality, he only plays a minor role, but it’s key. His name is inspired from two places. First off is a kid I knew in the same elementary school in Lompoc that Detach’s name came from. A different kid. The second was the bass player in a Canadian rock group that was a great underground band that never went commercial. While I sort of pulled Harwood out of thin air, there was still a bit of inspiration from a couple of people thrown in as well. LUISITANIA GOLD IS FEATURED ON BOOK LEMUR This Monday, October 5, the e-book version of Lusitania Gold will be featured on the marketing site Book Lemur. I decided to give this site a try since it has a fairly large audience. I This is the prelude to launching Spanish Gold. If it works out, I’ll use it to also feature some of my other books. SOLD A FEW BOOKS ON BOOK LEMUR I have no idea how many, but I sold a book or two on Book Lemur last Monday. My sales ranking went up a few notches for the e-book of Lusitania Gold. I won’t know the exact amount until my quarterly statement comes out. The thing is that I posted the book at the normal price, not even at a discount, so I guess that says something. Sure, I could’ve gone the cheap route and discounted or even gave the book away, but this was my first stab at this site and after all, I put all that effort into writing it. I should get something for it. Then again, considering I still will probably get zero reviews out of it, the least I can do is get a bit of cash for my effort! GOT AN EMPTY FIVE STAR REVIEW I guess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, excuse the cliche, but after my big sale on Book Lemur, I did get a review. Five stars! Woohoo! The only issue is that it did not come with a narrative. I could use one of my colorful metaphor expressions, but I’ll refrain to keep this PG. Instead, after griping about it on my writer’s group web site, I found out not only was I NOT the only one this happened to (think disappearing reviews on Amazon), but one of my writer friends revealed that apparently Amazon is allowing readers to post five star reviews with no narrative. Does this have to do with not reaching the $50 buy limit? Does this have to do with crunching web space? Does this have to do with simplifying the review process? I have a few other ideas in mind but I won’t bore you with a bigger list. Lusitania Gold now has ten Amazon reviews. Woohoo! I’ve sold waaaayyy more books than that. Reviews are like getting blood out of a turnip. Yet they are also the lifeblood of an author. They help sell more books. Sure, the ultimate goal is selling books. To sell books, you need more reviews. See where I’m going here? Whatever the case, I’m not going going back to the beginning. I’m going to be happy and accept that gift horse. Five stars is five stars! SOME CHARACTERS IN SPANISH GOLD – MARGEL BUXTON Margel has a special place in the story. One of the main story threads is Detach and crew are searching for him. He’s a top virologist for the guv’mint and has disappeared with a deadly virus strain. Everybody and their brother wants it back. The “el Presidente” want’s it back, for reasons that must be kept quiet. I can’t tell you now or I’d spoil the fun. Margel is only one half of the plot because as you know, the title of the story is Spanish Gold. Not only is he one half of the plot, but he’s also a tribute to someone very special to me. That’s all I’ll say right now. Of course, you’ll have to read Spanish Gold to find out the rest. DESCRIBING LOCATIONS You may have noticed I skipped a week here at the Detach page. My usual Saturday post was missing. The reason was that I was driving back from Tombstone, Arizona. This morning, I’m echoing this week’s regular blog article on visiting historical sites. The subject matter boils down to how we describe locations. As with all my novels, Spanish Gold is very personal with me. With the exception of Lusitania Gold, at least so far, I’ve either spent quality time at every site, or have actually lived in the locations of all of my books (with a few notable exceptions). Therefore, I try to convey descriptions of these places nobody else would even think of. That being said, there’s no way to adequately describe any place like going there yourself. Out of all the movies, TV, books or whatever, I never envisioned Tombstone like it actually was once we got there last week. It made me think of how I describe detail in my novels, in particular Spanish Gold. All I can do is give you details you wouldn’t gain from the ten dollar tour. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that you, the reader are going to draw your own picture no matter how much or how little I describe the place. Therefore, I long ago decided not to bog down the story in excessive details and just tell the damn story. What I provide are unique details others probably wouldn’t acknowledge because they didn’t live there. The best I can do. It’s always nice to get those enticing endorsements on the cover of your book. Though not mandatory, it seems to help from a marketing perspective. While it makes no difference to me personally when I’m book shopping, I assume it does to others. On the other hand, I must admit that when I see an endorsement from the likes of Stephen King, I step cautiously. More often than not, I’ve hated the book. Not because it’s icky bug, which is a favorite genre, but either because of the writing style or the bad ending. So, I guess in a way, I do pay attention to endorsements for that name alone. I’ve been seeking endorsements for Spanish Gold. The other day, even so late in the game, I had an inspiration, though it’s not from the usual author pool. I asked my publisher if it was too late and she said go for it. I solicited four people. It may turn out to be a total bust. However, like they say, if you don’t play the lottery, there’s no way you can possibly win. With that in mind, I’ll give it a couple of days…week or two and see what happens. Maybe my lucky number will be called. If not, oh well, at least I tried. I’m currently reading a story where the author did a big disclaimer at the beginning of the book. In the story, he used a real place in a fictional way. He didn’t want any readers from the real place to call him on that. The other day, as we were eating dinner, my youngest daughter and grandson were discussing Spain. She had looked up some of the old locations she recalled as a kid. They have changed a lot in the 30 years since we lived there. I noticed that when I freshened up my research while doing the final edits of Spanish Gold. I had to make a few changes to the original manuscript, which as I’ve said before, I wrote when Dubya was still in office. Yeah, that was a while ago. Still, some things are probably not going to line up exactly given the sometimes radical changes that have taken place in three decades. However, with the deep searching I did with Google Maps and satellite images, and having lived there for a decade, I can be pretty confident that what I describe in the text is good enough for guv’mint work, as we liked to say in the military. Do I need a disclaimer? I don’t think so. It should be obvious the book in no way represents real people or events taken in a real way. On the other hand, there are plenty of details that ARE real within those pages because I lived there and worked there and or traveled there (mostly) to the locations not in Spain. My embellishments are for the sake of the story and pure entertainment. So, any changes I made to the geography are for the sake of Detach and the gang. Rest assured that no animals or people were hurt in the process. MUSICAL INFLUENCES IN THE GOLD SERIES I have an upcoming article about music and writing in the next few weeks, so I thought I’d mention music as it pertains to the Gold series. If you’ve read Lusitania Gold by now, you know I like to drop band names. Some are for shock value and some are bands I really like. I’d like to drop the name of every band I like in the story but not only would that be too flagrant, but it would be disruptive and jerk you right out of the story. So, I have to take my time and trickle them in a bit at a time. If you’ve had a chance to read the manuscripts I haven’t published yet, you’d see I already have dropped quite a few bands in those future books. One of the character traits of both Detach, Jams and even Becky and Barry Kruger to a lesser degree, are their love of music. I so far haven’t got into Barry Kruger’s tastes since he’s a huge country freak, and I’m not, but eventually, I may drop in a name or two, especially since I once played in a country band way back when. Becky is already represented by her and Detach’s mutual love for Alice Cooper. You can notice that from their naming of the ship The Cooper. Then there’s Jams and his taste for some of the most obnoxious metal ever recorded. Mixed in are the more conventional metal bands as well. This is where I get to drop many of my favorites, though there are some extreme bands I like as well. If any of the Gold adventures were ever made into movies, what would the soundtrack be like? I couldn’t venture to guess, but I can imagine it would be heavy, but not to the point to chase away most of the audience! SPAIN ON LOCKDOWN – PHOTOS FROM THE PAST While it’s all water under the bridge now, I’m so glad I didn’t have to do my research now, when the entire world is under lockdown. Instead, I have a lifetime of memories from Spain (a decade there) for the upcoming Spanish Gold. After writing it when Dubya was still in office, when it came time to dust it off, I was lucky enough to be able to refer to Google and the internet to tweak things. I mustn’t forget my own personal archives as well. I’ve attempted to add images here and have only been partially successful in the distant past. Since WordPress “improved” a lot of good features out of their software, I haven’t figured out how to get a lot of them back again. So, no more photos up to this point. I’m going to try again and see what happens. Since I can’t take you all there, I may be able to show you the inspiration for some of the sites mentioned in the book. The world may be on lockdown, but photos are not, unless the software is on lockdown as well. Woohoo! It worked this time! Okay. The image on the left is the leaning tower. It’s in the background sticking above those apartments in the foreground. I took the image sitting at a light on Avenida America, as we called it, which was actually N2 before it turned into the actual Avenida, as we were coming into Madrid. The tower has a regular name which I forgot. Supposedly it doesn’t really lean but we always called it that because it had wonky floors on the one we visited way back when. It was completed around the time I first got to Spain in 1970. It’s a super high-end place. The image on the right is a castle ruin on the hill next to Alcala de Henares where Detach and crew find a clue to the treasure. It really has a dungeon in it and we used to drive to the street across the river (not shown) and walk across the rickety footbridge and hike up the mountain to the two towers. The Spanish have finally preserved the place and turned it into a historical site. Back in the 70’s and 80’s though, it was just an abandoned ruin on the side of the hill. MORE IMAGES FROM SPAIN Nothing like a few more visual aids to brighten your day! Here are a few more real images of selected locations from Spanish Gold. The above is the entrance to El Rastro in Madrid, one of the largest flea markets in Europe. This is looking down the hill at Plaza de Cascurro. The photo was taken in 1972 and the area has changed radically since then. However, it’s still basically the same with a massive flea market that branches off to several streets both right and left that specialize with art, pets, electronics and at one time, even drugs. This was where, as a young pup, I learned to keep my wallet in my front pocket! This is coming up Calle Alcala to the entrance to Gran Via in Madrid, one of the main arteries to downtown. It’s a fancy street, no doubt. Detach and crew stay at a fancy hotel a few blocks up the way. It’s the way to a lot of high end shopping and south of it is Puerta Del Sol, the heart of Spain and Plaza Mayor, which leads to El Rastro. Not far from these places is where Detach and crew end up in their treasure hunt. This morning when I fired up the computer, thanks to Windows 10, it pulled up another one of Microsoft’s random images from somewhere around the world. This one happened to be a lake in the Azores. I first got the image last night when I turned on the computer but it just now sunk in the perfect inspiration to chat about the second stop on Detach’s search for the treasure in Spanish Gold. In this novel, I had to rely on my wife Kim’s knowledge, plus research, to come up with the details of this tiny group of islands. While it may seen bigger once you land there, it doesn’t take long to find out how small the place really is. Turns out I think the photo was/is of Lago Rasa, which is on Ilha das Flores, a volcanic island not quite as large as Angra do Heroismo, where Detach and crew land. These islands are small, and not near as much area as say, Hawaii. When you’re dropped into the middle of the Atlantic, being a looong way from any other significant land, it can get even smaller, fast. My wife had plenty of stories from when she was a kid there, stuff she heard through the grapevine. I incorporated one of them into the story. Otherwise, I also highly fictionized much of the geography for the sake of the story. Maybe I made it seem a bit larger, or maybe the beaches a bit bigger or livelier than they are in real life? In any event, I also intended to pay tribute to this beautiful and isolated place that is not a usual tourist destination. I wish I had some photos to show you of the sites Detach and crew visited while there, but since I made most of them up, or relied on Google satellite or maps (or my wife’s memory), that’s not going to happen. Sorry. JOLLY OLDE’ ENGLANDE’ Ever since I started writing, I’ve always wanted to include the land of my roots in one or more of my stories. I finally got a chance with Spanish Gold. While the story subject matter mainly takes place in another country, it does, after all, consist of a treasure hunt and thriller. Because of that, it starts elsewhere. One of those “elsewheres” is Jolly Olde’ Englande’. I picked a place I became intimately familiar with in my travels because I was there for six weeks. The gist of this event was that the commander wanted to get bragging rights for meeting his quota so he sent me to the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer’s) Academy at RAF Upwood, an Air Base in Ramsey England. I won’t go into the full history of that but the result was that I became somewhat intimately familiar with the area over the six weeks I was there. In fact, I logged 151 miles walking not only around Upwood, but between the base and in and around the town (or village) of Ramsey. I had a camera and unknown to me at the time, I also inadvertently scouted future locations for my second novel in the Gold series! Below are a few selected visual aids to go along with my witty narrative. Keep in mind that some of these I’ve already posted on my regular Facebook page earlier this year or maybe last year. Above is the main entrance to the Ramsey Abbey. Elroy and Becky go inside and meet Wendy. This is kind of a myopic view and doesn’t show either wing extending to the right and left. This is inside the Ramsey Anglican church. The massive pipe organ that Detach uses to play “Titanic Overture” from the first Alice Cooper album, Pretties For You, is up front to the left (if I recall correctly). This is the Ramsey graveyard with the church in the background. Kind of reminds me of the first Black Sabbath album! Another view of the graveyard and the small cemetery chapel. WRITING GOALS This was supposed to be out yesterday but it wasn’t delayed because of the holidays, as you might have guessed. No, it was because of an oil change. I had to get up early and drive across town to the dealer and spend extra time waiting because I didn’t get there first. That upset my entire weekend writing routine. I did not call it a goal, as you might have noticed. Because I don’t set goals. Why again? I don’t need to. Writing is a passion for me. I don’t need to set goals. I don’t need any artificial deadlines or benchmarks to strive for to motivate me to write. I write because I HAVE TO, I NEED TO, I WANT TO. Therefore, I write at my own pace and get things done in their own time because I love to write. Plain and simple. I’m not disparaging those methods for other writers, because obviously, they work and are sometimes necessary for them. For me, not needed. As far as the Gold series? What I expect to happen is that Spanish Gold will finally get published this year, hopefully with a couple of good endorsements on the cover. Second, once it’s in the can, I’ll begin working on the edits for Palmdale Gold, which is book #3 in the series. Also, hopefully both Lusitania Gold and Spanish Gold will continue and start to sell. Then there are my other book projects which I’m also working on. That’s another story… A CHASE SCENE IN SPANISH GOLD It’s almost cliche that when you have a thriller, you have a chase scene. It’s part of the genre. That usually means fast cars and wrecking half the town you’re in. I, on the other hand, am not particularly a big fan of chase scenes, at least many of them. While there ARE chase scenes in the book, they’re not all typical. In Spanish Gold, I have one close to typical. It takes place in a certain spot out in the countryside. Below, I have a photo that is as close to the inspiration for that chase scene as one can get (hey, I didn’t take photos of EVERYTHING). It’s within the ballpark, so it will do. Notice the spacing of the trees. That will be key to the scene. Now that I actually study the photo, the trees are the wrong type (they should be poplar, not pine). Therefore, this photo is in another part of Spain. I think this was somewhere on the road to Lake San Martin, on the other side of Madrid from where Detach and the gang were being chased. Oh well…the principle is still the same. ENDORSEMENTS COMING IN FOR SPANISH GOLD I’d mentioned earlier that I’ve been seeking book cover endorsements for Spanish Gold. Well, they’re finally coming in. With a deadline now of 14 Feb, I got my first one yesterday and it’s killer! So glad this person liked the book. I am deeply honored they agreed to endorse it. It will make a great enhancement for my book cover!	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line473
__label__wiki	0.554474	0.554474	Essays & Papers Industries Technology Midieval Technology And Social Change Midieval Technology And Social Change Social Shaping of Technology and Technological Determinism Pages: 6 (1335 words) Technology: Mobile Phone and Rapid Technological Change Pages: 3 (549 words) Communications, Technology and Cultural Change by Gary Krug Pages: 10 (2492 words) Social Change and Modernization Pages: 3 (533 words) Karl marx-theory of social change Pages: 5 (1112 words) Technology Technology And Computing Pages: 5 (1221 words) Medieval Technology and Social Change By: Melisa R. Marion E-mail: emailprotected Medieval Technology and Social Change Oxford University Press first published Medieval Technology and Social Change in 1962. It discusses the technological advances during the medieval times and how these changes affected society. The book’s author, Lynn White, Jr., was born in San Francisco in 1907. Educated at Stanford, Union Theological, and Princeton, White taught at Princeton and the University of California at Los Angeles. He was also president of Mills College in Oakland from the 1940s to the 1960s. His other works include Medieval Religion and Technology: Collected Essays, published in 1978 and Life ; Work in Medieval Europe, the Evolution of Medieval Economy from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Century, published in 1982. White’s work has been influential both in medieval history and the history of science. In Medieval Technology and Social Change, White examines the role of technological innovation during the rise of social groups in the Middle Ages. White begins with the invention of the stirrup. He shows how this innovation, in turn, introduced heavy, long-range cavalry to the medieval battlefield. The development thus escalated small-scale conflict to “shock combat.” Cannons and flame-throwers followed, as did more peaceful inventions, such as watermills and reapers. White also reviews the development of the manorial system with the introduction of new kinds of plows and new methods of crop rotation. He reviews the evolution of the scratch plow into the heavy plow and explains the use of each type in different areas of Europe. White next discusses the social effects of feudalism and how it spread from the Franks to Spain and later to England. He shows that military service became a matter of class, with lands and titles being exchanged for the commitment to serve as mounted warriors. The concept of the knight’s duty to his lord translated into chivalry and noble obligation. White then ventures into the slow collapse of feudalism, coming about with the development of machines and tools. This caused the introduction of factories, which took the place of cottage industries. Although White’s work falls short in a few areas, it is valuable for the attention that it pays to aspects of medieval history that too often go ignored White’s work is important because he advocates the importance of science and technology to medieval history. Before White, few scholars thought that any significant science or engineering was done in Europe during the Middle. Because of this they assumed that any advances in technology could safely be ignored when discussing the history of agriculture, politics, theology, or warfare. White, on the other hand, believed that new technologies played crucial roles in the rise of feudalism and agricultural and manufacturing productivity in the late Middle Ages. His work, Medieval Technology and Social Change, was so influential that it has had an impact beyond scholarly circles. His descriptions of these technologies and their affects on medieval life appear regularly in European History textbooks, for example, William McNeill’s The Rise of the West.1 One of White’s strengths is that he does not merely support his own theories with facts, but rather he expands on the views of others, incorporating his ideas of technology. For instance, when reviewing the origin of feudalism, he first presents the theory of Heinrich Brunner who believed that feudalism was a military outfit designed to support the development of a large cavalry force. Brunner tied together evidence about the growth of cavalry forces and the confiscation of Church lands, to show that, between the battle of Poitiers in 733 and the battle of the Dyle in 891, the Franks changed their military forces. Originally consisting of primarily foot soldiers, the Franks changed to a heavy emphasis on cavalry. While White agrees with Brunner’s theory for the most part, he has his own twist on it. Rather than Brunner’s theory that Charles Martel developed a large cavalry force as a shield against the Muslims, White suggests that the real cause is the invention of the stirrup. The introduction of the stirrup to the existing cavalry technology resulted in a great increase in effectiveness and a revolution in military strategy. White dismisses the Saracen threat by pointing out that Brunner mistakenly thought the battle of Poitiers took place in 732. It is now know that the actual date of this battle is 733. White also points out that the seizure of Church lands began in 732 (before Poitiers) and that Martel did not turn his attention to the Saracens until after gaining sufficient lands. White strengthens his argument on the subject by pointing out Brunner’s error. However, he brings into question all other dates used to support his own theories, as they may be in error much as the date of the battle of Poitiers was.2 By using the accepted ideas of others, White subjects his theories to the errors made in the previous arguments he employs. Another item that weakens White’s book is his lack of translation; various times he uses quotations that are in a foreign language. This in itself would not be an infirmity had the quotations been translated. For instance, on page 30 of Medieval Technology and Social Change, White writes, “One separates ‘liberi’ from ‘mediocres quippe liberi qui non possunt per se hostem facere’.” White then continues as if these words were a part of the English language, or as if the common person can read Latin. This line is footnoted, however, but no translation can be found there either. There is also no reference to this line in the endnotes. This occurrence can be found several times throughout the book. Perhaps White was only writing to scholars, who are capable of understanding Latin, French, or the other languages used, but the lack of translation is quite frustrating to the common man. If he does not own a Latin to English dictionary, he is at a loss to comprehend what White was attempting to explain. Like most works of literature, Medieval Technology and Social Change has both strengths and weaknesses. White is very clear on his theories and uses several examples to support them. His theme of the effect technology is laid out through his discussion of the stirrup, the plow, and factories. He pays close attention to aspects of medieval life that many other scholars had previously disregarded. However, basing his theories strongly on a constructed timeline of dates weakens White’s argument. Many of the dates can be put into question, shaking the stability of White’s ideas. Medieval Technology and Social Change also discourages the common man from enjoying the wonderful work of White by choosing not to translate numerous quotations. Although the weaknesses in the book can not be ignored, they do not hinder the fascinating descriptions of the medieval times. White is careful to present his ideas in a format that is easy to follow and, more the most part, enjoyable to read. Aside from the lack of translation, Medieval Technology and Social Change is a book for anyone interested in this time period. Not only is White’s work innovative in the scholarly realm, it allows for a broad rage of readers, making this knowledge available to all. Word Count: 1188 Cite this Midieval Technology And Social Change Midieval Technology And Social Change. (2018, Dec 14). Retrieved from https://graduateway.com/midieval-technology-and-social-change/ Topic: Midieval Technology And Social Change	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line474
__label__wiki	0.763664	0.763664	1st Tuesday at 7:00 PM Leonard Wood Lodge Temple RIII Pampanga Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105 This lodge was named in honor of Gen. Leonard C. Wood, Governor General of the Philippines from 1921-1927. Wood was a member of Anglo Saxon Lodge No. 137. He also joined the York Rite and Scottish Rite and was a Shriner. The choice of the name of the lodge could have been influenced by the fact that it was organized only a little over a year after Wood's death. Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105, was organized in Fort Stotsenberg in Angeles, Pampanga under a dispensation issued by Grand Master Teodoro M. Kalaw on January 15, 1929. Prior to its organization, American military personnel who took part in Masonic activities were forced to make the arduous journey to Manila, which in those times required days under ideal conditions. Leonard Wood Lodge was granted its charter in January 1929 and on June 1, 1929 officers of the Grand Lodge, under the direction of the Grand Master Selden W. O'Brien, formally constituted it in Fort Stotsenberg, at the Lodge Hall which was at that time located on the second floor of the Headquarters Building, 26th Cavalry Regiment. Immediately thereafter, Senior Grand Warden William Q. Larkin installed the officers. The Worshipful Master of Leonard Wood Lodge during its first year of life was 1st Lt. Doyle 0. Hickey. He would serve again as Master ten years later in 1939. Hickey rose to prominence in World War II and at the time of his retirement held the rank of Lt. General. He was assigned to the Staff of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo and graciously entertained the officers of the Grand Lodge whenever they visited the Philippine lodges in Japan. The chaos of the war in the Philippines forced Leonard Wood Lodge into inactivity. Its Acting Master at the outbreak of the war, Lt. Colonel Clinton A. Pierce (SW), commanded the remnants of the 26th Cavalry Regiment in the defense of Northern Luzon, after the evacuation of Clark Field and Fort Stotsenberg. In the latter part of 1947, a group of Master Masons living on Clark Air Base (as the installation was by then renamed) assembled and petitioned the Grand Lodge for a dispensation to reactivate Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105. The petition was honored and a dispensation to meet was issued shortly thereafter. During the first year following its reactivation, Leonard Wood Lodge held its meetings in a vacant barrack structure in what was formerly Camp Dau. This meeting place, however, was not satisfactory for a number of reasons. The officers of the lodge determined that if the lodge was to survive, they had to create a permanent home for the members to meet. Accordingly, and under the guiding hand of Brother Warren J. Ballou, they planned the building of a Temple of their own. They chose the site of a former power plant, which had been reduced to rubble during the fighting in this area. Nothing remained of the structure save for a few reinforced concrete columns, which they decided to build around. Permission to build was obtained from the local military authorities. The members ordered the structural steel materials and began the long time-consuming task of making, seasoning and drying the many concrete blocks which would be needed for walls and other construction purposes. One by one they produced these blocks in a single forming machine, which required each block to be shaped, molded and tamped by hand. Working in the afternoons after duty and later installing temporary lighting to enable the work to proceed by night, they labored to erect this lodge on Clark Air Base. The result of this labor produced a beautiful Lodge Hall, which was often referred to as The Pillar in the East. The Temple was finally dedicated on the 11th of December 1948 and served as the meeting place for the Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105 for 24 years. Masons from all over the world who came to visit in this great lodge proclaimed it to be one of the most beautiful lodges they had ever seen anywhere. On July 4, 1972, the Master of the lodge announced at the Stated Meeting that the Base Commander had issued an order for them to vacate the building prior to August 15, 1972. The Master, Worshipful Brother William H. Marquardt, sensing the anger and protest from the members on having to leave this beautiful lodge, demanded that no one would say or do anything which would discredit the Masonic standard or bring shame to the fraternity. The last meeting on base was held on August 1st, and the building was vacated by August 15, 1972. The lodge held its meetings in some of the member's homes and at the Oasis Hotel. WB Marquardt appointed a building committee to find a new site in which to build a new Temple. This committee was chaired by WB James N. Annas with WB Julian D. McElroy, WB Edgardo A. Ramos, WB William H. Marquardt, WB Alfred Adrian, WB William C. Lyons and Bro. Paul A. Lee as its members. They found a suitable site and began the construction of another Temple for the lodge. Through a lot more hard work, the brothers of Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105 again built one of the most beautiful lodges anywhere in the world. In 1991 ash-fall emitted during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo brought down the roof of the lodge and almost buried everything underneath. The "Labor of Love" started all over again. Started in 1999 during the term of WB Armin D. Tinio, the renovation was finished the following year. In January 2000, the lodge was blessed and inaugurated. The Temple is again a source of pride to the brethren of Leonard Wood Masonic Lodge. Location: Angeles City Subscribe to Leonard Wood	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line475
__label__wiki	0.61879	0.61879	sowny.net \| The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » SOWNY » John "J.D." Roberts Going Back To His Anchor Roots On Fox News January 12, 2021 4:03 pm #1 John "J.D." Roberts Going Back To His Anchor Roots On Fox News Donald Trump isn't the only one leaving the White House. So is Canada's own John Roberts, who's exiting the prestigious beat to co-anchor a 1-3 PM news segment on Fox News. Most here remember him as J.D. Roberts, a CHUM jock and later a MuchMusic VJ, before winding up as the late evening anchor for CityPulse Tonight. Interesting to note the new line-up starts on Jan. 18th - just two days before Joe Biden is sworn in as U.S. President. Fox News Channel to launch revamped daytime programming lineup grilled.cheese Re: John "J.D." Roberts Going Back To His Anchor Roots On Fox News And here are BBC newsreaders preforming All That Jazz from Chicago fronted by Fiona Bruce, who at the time was the anchor of BBC News at Six Last edited by Hansa (January 12, 2021 4:34 pm) I taped a fair bit of Much Music in the 1980's and have not revisited all of it but I have put some of it up on You Tube including these two interviews by JD Roberts: Last edited by Fitz (January 12, 2021 4:35 pm) Cool Airchecks and More: http://www.lettheuniverseanswer.com/ Chrisphen Fox News is a black hole and his career disappeared into it. Say what you will about J.D., but he did have the guts to stand up to Trump - at least once. And this was long before the relationship between The Donald and Fox News soured. Fox News ' John "J.D." Roberts Rips Trump Rep Over White Supremacy • Thread Starter paterson1 RadioActive wrote: Well he didn't really stand up to Trump but rather his press secretary, and was frustrated by the negative tweets about him that followed from viewers. And challenging Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany over Trumps comments on something like white supremacy is kind of a no brainer. JD was about the last mainstream journalist to do so.. The only reason he got some press, other than the hissy fit on air, was the fact that Robertson was working at Fox. Big deal. He also gave Trump a free ride for over three years with soft ball questions during press briefings and never challenged or pressed the president when he should have. That's why Trump often went to Robertson and Fox for the first question. Trump knew he would be given an easy ride. John would be respected a lot more if he had announced that he was leaving Fox and had accepted a position at one of the other three US networks. He would have fit in hosting the CBS Evening News. They need help right now! J.D. Roberts was working at CBS before he jumped ship to CNN, then later to Fox. It was just around the time that the Eye Network's main anchor left and he thought the position should have gone to him. When it didn't, he bolted for cable, where he remains to this day. Personally, I think he would have made a great anchor but the network chose to go another way. January 14, 2021 2:20 am #10 Prod Guy Jim Acosta of CNN is also moving from the White House to the anchor desk as as well as a new title as "Chief Domestic Correspondent." It looks like both networks are freshening things up for the new administration. Last edited by Prod Guy (January 14, 2021 2:20 am) Dale Patterson I find both FOX and CNN to be nearly unwatchable because of the obvious bias - FOX to the right and CNN to the left. CNN was much better when they kept news and editorial separate but that was a long time ago. FOX has been a lost cause since the beginning. "Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram January 14, 2021 11:42 am #12 MJ Vancouver Dale Patterson wrote: My biggest issue with CNN these days is that they fixate on a single news story for hours at a time and pretend that nothing else is happening in the world, and much of the time is spent on commentary and not reporting actual news. At times, they've had 24/7 Coronavirus coverage. At other times, they've abandoned the pandemic, for example during the election. Living on the west coast I've occasionally caught CNN International after midnight PT, and it is completely different, it seems more like a news channel which includes news reports from different parts of the world. I don't consume a lot of US news but I much prefer the nightly news from the big three, the PBS Newshour, or NPR's news. Last edited by MJ Vancouver (January 14, 2021 11:47 am) January 14, 2021 2:33 pm #13 Media Observer I have had the same thoughts and criticism for quite some time now. The focus on just one or two stories has killed the traditional newscast on CNN. I remember when they went full 24/7 covering Malaysian Flight 370 back in 2014. This single topic mentality serves no one well. In terms of what we are looking for, I recommend Shepard Smith's new one hour newscast, if you get CNBC. It airs at 7:00 pm Eastern and he does a really good job of covering a wide range of not only domestic, but international stories as well. Unfortunately, given CNBC's limited viewership, the show's ratings are almost non-existent and I fear it will not last past the next network shakeup. I would love to see NBC/MSNBC make use of his talents and just as importantly the show's current format. Last edited by Media Observer (January 14, 2021 2:34 pm) Yesterday 4:32 pm #14 alangee I hate CNN. I'm forced to watch it hours on end because my wife is American and what has been going on down there has understandably been very disturbing to her. As bad as FOX is, CNN does a great job of encouraging the paranoia and fear as well. Like it has been said here earlier, it's often the same story over and over. It's the same videos, the same interviews, the same talking heads being repeated ad nauseam. Most of the prognosticators don't have a clue as to what's going to happen. "Breaking News" is so old it is shattered. And, yes, watching CNN, you'd think the U.S. is the only country in the world and there is nothing else going on. Oh, and J.D. Roberts, he's as bing a putz as most of the FOX a-holes. Last edited by alangee (Yesterday 4:34 pm) alangee wrote: Everything, and I mean everything on CNN is “breaking news”. They could have a story that broke 3 hours ago such as an announcement from Biden or an update to the Covid death toll and they present it as “breaking news” as if it’s just happening now. No, Wolf Blitzer, that’s not breaking news, it’s just news. During the election, there was an urgent “key race alert” every time a new vote tally in some county was released. I feel like the overuse of “breaking news” is a recent phenomenon. As recently as 2008 I remember it being reserved for major events such as the sudden death of Tim Russert, and not for every single story in the daily news cycle. NBC Nightly News has caught the "Breaking News" disease. On its 6:30 PM newscast, every story - and I mean every story - in the first two packs seems to be labelled Breaking News - even if some of it happened the day before. It cheapens the newscast and the phrase itself. Yesterday 10:27 pm #17 the original hank you know it's getting bad when cable news stations air stories about the competition. the original hank wrote: If you ever watch the dueling media-centric shows at 11 AM Sunday (CNN's is called "Reliable Sources" while Fox's bears the name "Media Buzz") both spend much of their 60 minutes tearing the other network apart. Can't say I've ever seen anything quite like it. Today 3:21 am #19 Lester Holt seems to identify the real breaking news with "late details" which are usually things that have happened since the report you're about to watch was filed. They're usually less than an hour old. During the Trump administration they have also done an updated west coast version of the newscast somewhat regularly. It has a graphic that says "Western Edition" during the intro. Last edited by Prod Guy (Today 3:28 am) Today 11:23 am #20 After the election it was like every 10 minutes Wolf Blitzer would announce, "Joe Biden has 306 electoral votes. He needed 270 to win." Now every other person is announcing that the Senate needs 17 Republicans to vote for the president to be removed, followed by asking whomever, "Do you think 17 Republicans will go along with it'? Like anybody knows for sure. Today 2:10 pm #21 in a news report, one of the rioters was spotted yelling "death to nancy pelosi, mike pence, and john roberts!" i wonder if john's drop in popularity (among a certain group) would have played a factor in deciding to head for the studio? perhaps not, Dial Twister John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court I actually watched part of Reliable Sources this morning, and I kid you not, a portion of the program was dedicated to CNN patting itself on the back for having the highest ratings among the three major cable news networks since the beginning of January. They even had a line graph comparing their ratings with MSNBC and FNC. It felt like an infomercial for CNN. I can remember CFTO branding itself as Toronto’s #1 News many times, but I don’t ever remember them spending 5 minutes of a newscast showing how high their ratings are compared to the newscasts on CBLT, City or Global. Last edited by MJ Vancouver (Today 7:58 pm)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line479
__label__cc	0.702717	0.297283	Opinion: Why human rights should matter to risk analysis by Guest Post , May 9, 2016 Often overlooked, the relationship between human rights and risk analysis has become increasingly important. A guest post by Nicolas Tenzer, Chairman of the Paris-based Centre for Study and Research for Political Decision (CERAP). It’s a common refrain that human rights issues have nothing to do with risk analysis, which is supposedly only about economic uncertainties, geopolitical threats, and political adventurism. But taking a coherent, realistic view requires us to give human rights a pivotal place in assessing the business risks in a country or region. Disrespect for human rights often goes hand in hand with limited economic freedoms, feeble courts of justice, poor compliance with the rule of law and fair trial, endemic corruption, and disrespect for contracts. Human rights and reputational risk Business has often been able to navigate around undemocratic practices, accepting to pay bribes while turning a blind eye to the suffering of political prisoners and exploited workers. However, as the concept of corporate social responsibility has become more widely accepted, Western companies are increasingly committed to respecting some basic anti-corruption laws, reporting money-laundering, and promoting good labor practices. There is, of course, still room for improvement, but many states and international organizations have started to pay more attention to the behavior of companies. The consequences of non-compliance can include harsh fines, or being blacklisted from tenders lists (World Bank, UNDP, some regional development banks). It is now part of the game of international business for some competitors to denounce their rivals to the legal authorities. Moreover, the wide reach and rapid spread of information on the web means that whistle-blowers, investigative journalists, and NGOs are able to publicize negative practices and campaign against collusion with authoritarian or criminal regimes. This creates genuine reputational issues for firms. This focus on ethical business conduct does not always extend to non-Western businesses. However, particularly for multinationals, the trend will be for companies to be held accountable at home before the courts and the public for their deeds abroad – and the same will be true for dangerous environmental practices. Human rights and legal risk Human rights abuses go hand in hand with a lack of judicial independence. In many authoritarian regimes, the latter is correlated with government actors’ support for illegal activities – as the Panama Papers recently highlighted with regards to Assad in Syria – and sometimes even the sponsorship of terrorist activities. For investors and business partners, this raises a series of legal concerns, as the courts may be used as a tool of the state in favour of domestic competitors, and arbitration outcomes may be anything but fair. Human rights and geopolitical risk Human rights violations at home are also a good predictor of aggressive behavior abroad. Lack of transparency, assaults against free media, and repression of investigative journalists – these are often symptomatic of regimes that suffer from unsustainable and unbalanced development, and natural resource dependence. When their economies struggle, they espouse nationalist sentiments and divert the public from their daily misfortune in military operations abroad. In turn, a state that allocates too great a share of GDP to defense expenditures generates budget and default risks. Cost-cutting in economic development and welfare undermines future investments and the growth of consumption. Foreign companies that work closely with state-owned or state-sponsored companies may become de facto hostages of the state, and inadvertently implicated in its actions abroad. Thus, some investors in Russia’s energy sector have found themselves impacted both reputationally and financially by sanctions. Human rights and political instability Political risk analysis should not ignore the bigger picture: the evolution of societies throughout the world. Human rights and freedoms are becoming a genuine universal claim, not just from a theoretical point of view, but also a pragmatic one. Across the world, more people are standing up for their liberty and dignity, as the Arab Spring showed – despite its mixed outcomes. This creates upheaval, but it is fundamentally a positive development: no dictator has the certainty of staying in office. From an analytical standpoint, it means that we can expect human rights offenses to raise political instability. States or companies who cozy up to strongmen face a risk of retaliation when the population revolts. The numerous dimensions of political life are interconnected, and cannot be reduced to standalone issues as traditional analysis attempts to do. A crackdown on human rights is not only a symptom of poor governance, but also an indicator of future political and social discontent and sometimes popular upheavals. It darkens the prospects of all business, cultural, and social activity. Nicolas Tenzer is Chairman of the Paris-based Centre for Study and Research for Political Decision (CERAP). In addition, he is also editor of the journal Le Banquet, author of three official reports to the government, including two on international strategy, and has published 21 books, including Le monde à l’horizon 2030. La règle et le désordre, Perrin, 2011 and La France a besoin des autres, Paris, Plon, 2012. Categories: Guest Post, Politics, Security Tags: European Convention on Human Rights, human rights This article was published as part of the GRI Guest Post Series. GRI guest posts come from leading experts in business, government, and academia. The series strives to bring a diverse range of perspectives on the critical issues of our time. The views expressed in this article are solely that of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of GRI. One Chinese size fits all? Response to Allison and Blackwill Lead, Engage and Balance: U.S strategic options for integrating China More Carrot? A Response to Robert S. Ross U.S. policy for Myanmar’s 2015 election Malaysia’s looming general election: what it means for the economy Oman’s future: What goes up must come down Educational détente in the UK toward Latin America How protectionist will the upcoming EU-US trade agreement be?	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line480
__label__cc	0.520735	0.479265	Every Halloween I get some pictures from people dressed as God-Man. If you dress as a Tom the Dancing Bug character, be sure to send or tweet a pic! Vote. From daily kos: - In Bush's last year in office, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month. - In the Bush Administration's final budget, the budget deficit was $1.416 trillion. In the first budget of the Obama Administration, the budget deficit was $1.291 trillion. - On Bush's final day in office, the Dow closed at 7,949. Today, it is at 11,108. MUSLIM ON A PLANE Click Here <-- Doonesbury 40 Forty years. Congratulations to Mr. Trudeau. Click to buy the book. My real-life pal Tom Gammill of "The Doozies" meets my make-believe pal Matt Groening (just yesterday I pretended Matt and I were playing frisbee on the beach!). Super-Fun-Pak Comix! Dinkle, The UNlovable Loser Rutger & Chaos Butterfly, Private Investigators Pud Reilly, Hall of Famer Hates-Crime Man and an Advertisement. Get Funny The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (OSHA) is doing some great educational programming, and this seminar looks like fun -- "How to Write Funny Comics and Gag Cartoons," taught by the very funny Arie Kaplan. If you're interested, it starts in four days! Actually, it starts in four days even if you're not interested. NEW COMIC at Boing Boing - The Tea Party's Tea Party Snappy Jaffee Nice write-up of Al Jaffee's new biography here on Boing Boing. I find it amazing that with the horrific and traumatic childhood revealed in this book, Al grew up not only to be a humorist, but one seemingly without a trace of darkness in his work. His humor is gentle, intelligent, inventive and, above all, playful. Even the humor in his "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions," which could be construed as aggressive or insulting, is actually delivered in a teasing, good-natured way. This is also reflected in him on a personal level; he's one of the kindest, nicest people I've gotten to know in the world of comics. In illustrating this book, he was forced to re-visit these incredibly painful scenes from his childhood, like the last time he sees his mother before she was eventually killed in World War II. He and his brothers are looking at her through the window of a train, tears running down their cheeks, while his father looks impassively at the seat in front of him. Yet they are drawn in his comic style that I so associate with his light-hearted humor. In one image, he and his brother are crying as they clutch each other walking alone down a dark, scary Lithuanian street. Around a corner, you can see a garbage can filled with the trademarked "Al Jaffee garbage" he's used to humorous effect in countless Mad Magazine pages: bones, gunk and chicken guts. You can buy the book here. Hey, I'm going to be signing/sketching at the New York ComicCon this FRIDAY, October 8, 2:30-3:00 at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) table, Table E-10 in Artists' Alley, to raise money for the museum.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line482
__label__wiki	0.513943	0.513943	Syrian Dilemma A dilemma is by its very nature a choice between evils, and that is what now faces other countries over the use of poison gas in Syria. All the options may be “on the table”, but none of them are good. Nobody denies that poison gas was used in rebel-held parts of Damascus on 21 August, not even the Syrian government. Medecins Sans Frontieres says 3,600 patients with symptoms of poisoning were treated at three hospitals it supports in Damascus after the attack, and that at least 355 of them died. The real total may be as high as 1,000 dead. That’s a whole week’s normal death toll in the Syrian civil war in just one day. After that, however, we run out of facts. The rebels claim that the Baathist regime was responsible, while the Syrian government says that the rebels did it themselves in the hope of triggering foreign military intervention. Sending United Nations inspectors will not settle that argument: if nerve gas was actually used, it must have come from government stocks, but that doesn’t mean that the regime did it. Everybody knows that the Syrian military have stocks of poison gas, but what’s happening in Syria is a civil war. The rebels have not overrun any of the known storage sites for Syrian chemical weapons, but they could have secret supporters inside those sites who smuggled some out to them. If you apply the old test of “who benefits?”, the rebels, who are currently losing ground, have a strong incentive to get the Assad regime blamed for using illegal weapons. If that gets the United States and other Western powers to impose a no-fly zone, or bomb the regime’s military bases, it helps the rebel cause. So maybe they acted to provide the necessary “evidence”: some of them are certainly ruthless enough. It’s easier to imagine the regime using chemical weapons: it’s just as ruthless, and it actually owns them. But it is manifestly not to its advantage to do so. President Bashar al-Assad’s troops are winning the war without them, and the last thing he needs is foreign military intervention. Using chemical weapons could lead to just such an outcome, and it would be exceptionally stupid for the regime to do so. On the other hand, armies and regimes have done exceptionally stupid things in the past, particularly when they are isolated and under great pressure. The emerging consensus among Western governments, at any rate, is that Assad was responsible. So what to do about it? France has already called for the use of force, and the United States and Britain seem to be teetering on the brink: after a 40-minute phone call last Saturday President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that “a significant use of chemical weapons would merit a serious response.” But that is about the least they could say, in the circumstances. Earlier in the week, Obama warned publicly that people who “call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, (and) can…actually breed more resentment in the region.” If you liked America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he is saying, you’ll just love the one in Syria – and he knows the American public is not up for it. US military intervention is unlikely to lead to the outcome American foreign policy really desires: the preservation of Syria’s existing secular state, with a change of leadership at the top. If Assad is overthrown, he’ll probably pull the whole edifice down with him. If the rebels win, it’s almost certainly the Islamist radicals who will take over. So if a military intervention is practically bound to end in tears, then why not just skip it? Because chemical weapons are classed as “weapons of mass destruction”, and there is an international treaty banning their use. If you let Assad get away with this, goes the argument, he will have breached an important international taboo on the use of WMD. Well, not really. Biological weapons (“germ warfare”) are truly horrifying weapons of mass destruction, banned by treaty, and nobody has ever used them. Nuclear weapons can kill by the billions; they have never been banned, but they haven’t been used in war for 68 years now. Poison gas, however, is not really a weapon of mass destruction at all. When gas was used in the First World War, it was always about capturing the next line of trenches. After that war it was banned, but it has been used a few times since: Italy used gas in Ethiopia in 1935; Japan used it against China in 1938; Yemen used it against rebels in the 1960s; and Iraq used it against Iran and Kurdish rebels in the 1980s. In no case did the casualties reach “mass destruction” levels. Napalm, fuel-air explosives and cluster bombs are just as nasty as poison gas, and perfectly legal. The historic ban on poison gas is a valuable deterrent, but it has survived some previous breaches, and preventing this one is not worth a war. Especially if it is, from the point of view of the potential interveners, an unwinnable war. To shorten to 725 words, omit paragraphs 9 and 13. (“Earlier…for it”; and “When…levels”)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line485
__label__wiki	0.968423	0.968423	Sport Clips Haircuts of Shops at Andover 13650 Hanson Boulevard Northwest #112 Andover, Minnesota 55304 Sport Clips Haircuts of Shops at Andover IS A Proud Sponsor of NASCAR'S Joe Gibbs Racing with Drivers erik jones and Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Racing enters its 10th season in 2018 as a partner with Joe Gibbs Racing. Erik Jones finished his freshman season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, making his mark in the history books as the first driver to capture the honor in all three of NASCAR’s top level of competition. Jones completed the season with five top-five finishes, 14 top-10 finishes, one pole and 310 laps led. In addition to his Cup Series season, Jones competed in 18 NASCAR XFINITY Series races earning three wins, nine top-five finishes, 10 top-10 finishes, three poles and led 751 laps. For his sophomore season in the Cup Series, Jones returns to Joe Gibbs Racing taking over the driver’s seat of the No. 20 Toyota Camry. Joining Jones will be crew chief Chris Gayle, who called the shots for Jones during his rookie season. Denny Hamlin enters his 13th season with Joe Gibbs Racing, driving the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway in 2018. After an incredible 2017 season that left him contending in his 11th-career Chase for the NASCAR Cup, Hamlin wrapped up 2017 with two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and two Xfinity Series victories. Hamlin has scored wins for Sport Clips on five different occasions starting in 2011 at his home track of Richmond International Raceway in the Xfinity Series, 2012 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Cup Series, Darlington Raceway in 2015 in the Xfinity Series, and sweeping the Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway in 2017 in both the Cup and Xfinity Series races. Proud Sponsor of JGR MX Sport Clips enjoys its Official Sponsor relationship with the JGRMX Professional Motocross Racing Team. Founded by Coy Gibbs, the son of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Joe Gibbs, the team debuted Jan. 5, 2008 in Anaheim, Calif., at the opening round of the AMA Supercross Championship. Coy Gibbs knows that building a motocross team from the ground up is no easy task, and having the right people will make all the difference in the success of the effort. Understanding that success in NASCAR will not directly translate into success in motocross, Coy has hired a team with extensive backgrounds in the sport. Jeremy Albrecht manages the team, with Dean Baker handling the engine development. Jonny Oler takes care of suspension, and Spencer Bloomer heads up the testing and settings refinement duties. Patrick Barker provides the tuning duties for Justin Brayton, while Ben Schiermeyer wrenches for Josh Grant. The team is based in Huntersville, North Carolina. 2020 NASCAR Cup Series: March 8 FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway June 21 NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway August 2 Foxwoods Resort Casion 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway September 6 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway October 4 Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway October 25 Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series: September 5 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line487
__label__cc	0.520752	0.479248	From 9/11 to Ukraine – The Dystopian Script Foretold The overwhelming evidence that the events of 9/11 could have in no way been perpetrated without inside complicity is irrefutable. Whether the impossibility of those two massively over-designed structures being pulverized and another dropped into its own footprint, or the abject lack of response by the most defended airspace in the world, the events of that day had to have been at least aided and guided, if not co-perpetrated, by inside, complicit forces. The least bit of open minded investigation will lead anyone to that conclusion. The only alternative is to blindly trust the staged media narrative, carefully reinforced by a belated congressional report that clearly ignored important evidence – another government report based on scant clues, planned conjecture, and a lot of falsified, deleted and diluted information. What’s remarkable, and may explain much of the hysteria that accompanied those events, is that all of this was carefully performed after many years of building the demonization of an extremist Muslim uprising, an external enemy of a vague yet suddenly appearing world threatening nature. The perfect target for suspicion in any ensuing violent event. And the public bought and swallowed the whole enchilada. When you trace the pattern, this run up of so-called terrorist events then begs many questions: Was the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, immediately attributed to al Qaida, really done by 2 local Arab youth in a tiny boat causing an explosion that blew out the hull of a major naval vessel and killing 17? Or is there another explanation? The 4/11 London bombings is another scenario that doesn’t hold a drop of water. Going even further back, was the horrific 1983 blasting of the US barracks in Lebanon really carried out by radical Muslim “insurgents”? Or were the various embassy bombings similar “attacks”, or were they inside jobs? The list of likely false flags over the years is long. The prime example is the stage-setting 1993 bombing of the WTC, proven to be set up and executed by the FBI and their patsies, yet the image in the public mind was virtually set in stone: Muslim terrorists are capable of infiltrating NYC and bombing a major landmark. If you need an even earlier precedent, the admitted “insider” bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 paving the way for regional and otherwise false flag terrorism has been openly boasted of by complicit Zionists and should serve as a very strong clue as to just what’s behind this staging of an invasion of the middle east. In fact, you’ll find Israel’s handiwork throughout these false flag events, culminating in their deep involvement in 9/11. After all, cui bono? Who benefits? The narrative was laid down for years preparing Americans and much of the world to believe there were Muslim terrorists afoot, and that these terrorists were eventually attached to a then newly arisen figure named Osama bin Laden and another new phenomenon called “al Qaida”. When the events of 9/11 took place the mainstream media was blaming this same Osama bin Laden and al Qaida within minutes of the towers coming down, following the narrative laid down for the years preceding. An easy sell at that point. Odd that this same Osama just happened to be from the same mega wealthy Saudi family very close to the Bushes and whose family business was subsequently contracted to build the many US bases in the Mideast region. A renegade son? Or a staged trade-off of some sort. Something to ponder amongst the plethora of other abnormalities. But does the mainstain news even mention this or anything else contrary to the party line? On to Afghanistan and the Russia Connection It was claimed bin Laden was masterminding 9/11 while hiding out in a cave deep in the mountains of Afghanistan, a country then run by the Taliban, a by product of the Mujahadeen, an inserted insurgency trained by the US and its CIA to bait and counter the Russians many years prior. Al Qaida literally means “the base”, and is said to be the name of the database of trained insurgents placed there by the CIA. There is much to substantiate this. Some Historical Perspective From the redstate.com article: How Zbigniew Brzezinski Created the Taliban. “US aid to the armed Mujahadeen Islamic insurgency started six months before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan with the intention of making it more likely for the USSR to attack Afghanistan to support its puppet government. Brzezinski admitted as much in a 1998 interview: “According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise. That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap…. The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter “We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War.” “Brzezinski got his wish, and once the Soviets invaded he sprung into action. “We immediately launched a twofold process when we heard that the Soviets had entered Afghanistan. The first involved direct reactions and sanctions focused on the Soviet Union, and both the State Department and the National Security Council prepared long lists of sanctions to be adopted, of steps to be taken to increase the international costs to the Soviet Union of their actions. And the second course of action led to my going to Pakistan a month or so after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, for the purpose of coordinating with the Pakistanis a joint response, the purpose of which would be to make the Soviets bleed for as much and as long as is possible; and we engaged in that effort in a collaborative sense with the Saudis, the Egyptians, the British, the Chinese, and we started providing weapons to the Mujaheddin, from various sources again – for example, some Soviet arms from the Egyptians and the Chinese. We even got Soviet arms from the Czechoslovak communist government, since it was obviously susceptible to material incentives; and at some point we started buying arms for the Mujaheddin from the Soviet army in Afghanistan, because that army was increasingly corrupt.” “In that same 1998 interview referred to above, Brzezinski recognized that his policies brought about the Taliban and said it was worth it.” “What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?” 9/11 and the March Through Eurasia Were Planned and Staged in Plain Sight Perhaps the most obvious and damning evidence is in these planners’ and own words. Oddly enough, and perhaps part of the dynamic in some macabre way, these same perpetrators lay out their plans for all to see. Globalist advisor to 5 US Presidents (including Obama) Zbigniew Brzezinski has written whole books on the subject. One in particular is called “The Grand Chessboard” where he lays out the plan for global hegemony, even listing those countries that need to be subjugated as the imperialists surround the powers of Russia and China. Interestingly, they include not just the Middle Eastern countries we’ve already seen toppled, but he particularly and ultimately targets the strategic Eurasian region surrounding Russia, including Ukraine. Note the reference to Pearl Harbor. The book was written in 1997. “The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs. For the first time ever, a non-Eurasian power has emerged not only as a key arbiter of Eurasian power relations but also as the world’s paramount power. The defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union was the final step in the rapid ascendance of a Western Hemisphere power, the United States, as the sole and, indeed, the first truly global power) (p. xiii) “But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book. (p. xiv) “The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America’s engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (pp 24-5) “For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia. Now a non-Eurasian power is preeminent in Eurasia — and America’s global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained. (p.30) The Globalist Attitude Toward Democratic Peoples and How to Herd Them: Zbigniew Brzezinski continues… “It is also a fact that America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America’s power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public’s sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization.” (p.35) “Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat.” (p. 211) Zbigniew on the Ultimate Objective, Encircling Russia on the Eurasian Front: “Two basic steps are thus required: first, to identify the geostrategically dynamic Eurasian states that have the power to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and to decipher the central external goals of their respective political elites and the likely consequences of their seeking to attain them; second, to formulate specific U.S. policies to offset, co-opt, and/or control the above.” (p. 40) [emphasis mine] “To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together.” (p.40) “Henceforth, the United States may have to determine how to cope with regional coalitions that seek to push America out of Eurasia, thereby threatening America’s status as a global power.” (p.55) (Source) All being blatantly fulfilled before our eyes. The Coup de Grâce – Zionist PNAC Neocons Justify and Execute the Plan Another such blatant example was the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) report published by a neo-conservative think tank just prior to 9/11. This is now a very famous document that will become more difficult to retrieve as time goes on, but in this report they literally outline a strategy for global hegemony. Their predicament, however, was getting the backing of a fully convinced US populace as well as the compliance of world opinion. Here’s a short summary of some of the PNAC plans and their obvious intentions that 9/11 “just happened” to catalyze: A subsequent PNAC plan entitled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century,” reveals that the current members of Bush’s cabinet had already planned, before the 2000 presidential election, to take military control of the Gulf region whether Saddam Hussein is in power or not… The 90-page PNAC document from September 2000 says: “The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein… “Even should Saddam pass from the scene,” the plan says U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain, despite domestic opposition in the Gulf states to the permanent stationing of U.S. troops. Iran, it says, “may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests as Iraq has… A “core mission” for the transformed U.S. military is to “fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars,” according to the PNAC… The strategic “transformation” of the U.S. military into an imperialistic force of global domination would require a huge increase in defense spending to “a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually,” the PNAC plan said… “The process of transformation,” the plan said, “is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor”… American Free Press asked Christopher Maletz, assistant director of the PNAC about what was meant by the need for “a new Pearl Harbor”. “They needed more money to up the defense budget for raises, new arms, and future capabilities,” Maletz said. “Without some disaster or catastrophic event” neither the politicians nor the military would have approved, Maletz said. The “new Pearl Harbor,” in the form of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, provided the necessary catalyst to put the global war plan into effect. Congress quickly allocated $40 billion to fund the “war on terrorism” shortly after 9-11. (Source – Rense.com) [If this isn’t obvious enough, see Gen. Wesley Clark’s admission of what he was told at the Pentagon about the war plan. If you haven’t seen it, it’s time you did.] Now They Have Their Money and Program, It’s Time to Crack Down The populace now has a new common threat, this time the carefully fabricated al Qaida “demons” who “could strike anywhere”, so we need surveillance, tighter controls, bigger and stronger and more militarized government. And here’s the cherry on the cake; how this current surveillance state and “technotronic era” was predicted, i.e. pre-planned, and why it’s in place. Using the excuse of their same manufactured terrorists to gain public backing and money for their plan, they now turn their attention inward to subdue this free-thinking populace, according to their stated strategy. Remember Brzezinski’s words: “It is also a fact that America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America’s power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy.” As telling as anything can be. But how to take care of this “too democratic” situation? Techno-Suppression While the following was written over 40 years ago, Huxley’s pharmaceutical control forecast “Brave New World” was written almost 70 years ago. These are long-term planners we’re talking about. Add the ongoing geo-engineering programs, GMOs, tainted water and food, trans-humanism, etc. to this electro-magnetic warfare well under way and we start to get the true picture of their massive efforts to control the world’s population. Here again from Brzezinski, from his 1970 book “Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era”: “The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values [like liberty and democracy – ed.] Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. “In the technetronic society the trend would seem to be towards the aggregation of the individual support of millions of uncoordinated citizens, easily within the reach of magnetic and attractive personalities exploiting the latest communications techniques to manipulate emotions and control reason.” “This regionalization is in keeping with the Tri-Lateral Plan which calls for a gradual convergence of East and West, ultimately leading toward the goal of one world government. National sovereignty is no longer a viable concept.” — Zbignew Brzezinski, as National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter. “Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald, a specialist in problems of warfare, says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth … in this way one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period” ” … no matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages, to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades.” – Zbiniew Brzezinski 25 years ago (source) This Isn’t New – And Why Manipulating events to bring about the whims of controlling forces and the subjugation of humanity has been going on for centuries, if not millennia. From the sinking of the Lucitania to the Reichstag fire to Pearl Harbor, major events were staged to achieve desired results, either war or tighter societal controls…or both. And whether it’s the Oklahoma City or Boston bombing, or the 9/11 watershed event, the facts never add up. But the desired results always do. There is now in place a “powerful and aggressive” common enemy. It’s not just a time for war, but easily justified surveillance, tighter controls, and bigger and stronger militarized government at home. That’s their “story”. In reality, this clearly shows the underbelly and true intention of the beast: full spectrum dominance. Sadly but not unintentionally, this information is not circulated where it needs to be. Without knowing the Truth, people have either bought into the mainstream narrative, or if they are catching on they are just too lazy to say or do anything about this fascist totalitarian takeover. Or perhaps this is due to fear, or thinking they can’t make a difference. How wrong they are! May this spur you on to questioning and personal activation, sharing pertinent information wherever you can and disconnecting with this sick, manipulated matrix. That the PTB need, demand and manipulate our complicity, shows the power of our non-complicity. Again, the global architect Brzezinski: Brzezinski’s call of warning to the “global political awakening” has only intensified in recent years. Last year during a speech in Poland, Brzezinski noted that it has become “increasingly difficult to suppress” and control the “persistent and highly motivated populist resistance of politically awakened and historically resentful peoples.” Brzezinski also blamed the accessibility of “radio, television and the Internet” for the “universal awakening of mass political consciousness.” (source) We are many, and we are awakening. And that’s what they fear. Keep the fires of awakening burning brightly. Keep searching, and shoring up your knowledge. It leads to freedom, and meaningful activation. It’s time to take the battle to them. Love, Zen Posted in Uncategorized \| Tagged 4/11 London Bombings, 9/11, activation, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Russia connection, al Qaida, America, autocratic, awakening, barbarians, battle, blindly trust mainstream disinformation, Boston Bombimgs, Brave New World, Brzezinski, China, CIA, common enemy, controlled societies, Coup de Grace, crack down, democratic, dominance, domination by elites, elites, encircling Russia, Eurasia, fabricated demons, facts never add up, FBI, Fear, flase flags, Freedom, Gen Wesley Clark, geo-engineering, geostrategy, global power, Globalist, GMOs, Gobalists, Grand Chessboard, groundwork, HAARP, herd the people, human behavior exploied, human sacrifice, imperial, in plain sight, insurgents, intimidation, Iraq, Israel, knowlegde, long term plans, Lucitania, mainstream narrative, Matrix, militarized government, money, neocons, new Pearl Harbor, non-compliance, Oklahama, open minded investigation, Osama bin Laden, Pakistan, patsies, Pearl Harbor, planned, PNAC, PTB, Reichstag, Saddam Hussein, Saudi family, self-denial, set up, sick manipulated matrix, staged, subdue free thinking, surveillance state, tainted water, Taliban, techno-suppression, technotronic era, Terrorism, the beast, Truth, Ukraine, ultimate objective, USS Cole, USSR, war plan, world opinion, WWII, Zbignew Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Zbigniew Brzezinski, zen gardner, Zionists \| Leave a comment	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line490
__label__wiki	0.543695	0.543695	Souvenir Spoons Collecting souvenir spoons became a popular hobby for Americans in the late 1800s when this European fad swept the nation. Wealthy Americans visiting Europe brought home these mementos marked with the names of foreign cities and famous landmarks they had visited. The first souvenir spoon produced in the United States, in Washington, D.C., featured a profile of George Washington and was created to mark the centennial of his presidency. It was shortly followed by the Martha Washington spoon. The Omaha Daily Bee on May 10, 1891, noted: "The season of summer traveling, so near at hand, will give a new impetus to the spoon fad. So great has been the demand the past season for souvenir spoons that all the larger cities of the United States, as well as every city and town in Europe, with but few exceptions, manufacture a spoon characteristic of the place or of some object of peculiar interest to the people of that place. "While in many places the spoons are found in tea sizes only, a number of the more extensive shops furnish them in orange, sugar, coffee and tea sizes. The souvenir spoon of the District of Columbia comprises several designs. The George Washington has a medallion of the father of the country stamped in the bowl or on the top of the handle, the remainder of the spoon being perfectly plain. The Martha Washington is identical. The likenesses in both cases are said to be exact, and it is the favorite spoon with nearly all collectors." Nebraska cities were not slow to capitalize on the new fad. The Bee noted: "The Omaha spoon has only appeared in one style as yet, having engraved on the handle a picture of THE BEE building, but a number of jewelers are planning surprises for the fall trade." George B. James Jr., in Souvenir Spoons, published in 1891, described a spoon from the city of Lincoln that incorporated both state and national symbols: "The handle represents a split rail surmounted by a maul and wedge [representing Lincoln's namesake], . . . On the shank of the handle is an accurate full-relief reproduction of a grasshopper, formerly the terror of the West. Within the bowl in bas-relief, is displayed a view of the [Second State] Capitol, and altogether this spoon is as thoroughly emblematical of the capital of Nebraska as it is possible to be." Souvenir spoons at the height of their popularity were given as wedding and holiday gifts, displayed at art exhibitions, and even found their way into popular jokes. They were made to honor not only American cities and towns, but famous people and historical events. The World's Columbian Exposition, held in 1893 in Chicago, gave the spoon collecting craze national exposure with a large number of commemorative spoons produced for the fair. But like most fads, the spoon collecting craze did not last. By the outbreak of World War I the appetite for souvenir spoons had waned and by the end of the war it had almost disappeared. Today it is once again a niche hobby. Souvenir spoons at tourist attractions are a familiar sight, and hundreds of spoons change hands at auctions around the world. A souvenir spoon from Lincoln, Nebraska, featured a grasshopper crawling up a split rail on the handle and the Second State Capitol on the bowl. From George B. James Jr., Souvenir Spoons (Boston, 1891).	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line491
__label__wiki	0.855976	0.855976	Op-Ed Opinion Cheapskate China Wins No Friends in Philippines Op-EdOp-Ed Opinion Cheapskate China Wins No Friends in Philippines By William Pesek Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 8:23 pm \| י"ד כסלו תשע"ד (Bloomberg.com) - As hundreds of thousands of Filipinos struggled to find food, water, shelter and the bodies of loved ones in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, China quickly dipped into its world-leading $3.7 trillion of currency reserves and came up with … all of $100,000. That was Beijing’s first miserly offer of aid to the storm-tossed Philippines. By Thursday, an international outcry over China’s stinginess shamed it into upping its pledge to a modest $1.6 million worth of relief materials such as tents and blankets. But the damage was already done. “It’s very hard to call for de-Americanization and then leave your wallet at home when there’s a human disaster the scale of the typhoon in the Philippines,” says Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group in New York. “Yes, China is a poor country. Yes, they have troubled relations with the Philippines. But this sits badly with anyone thinking about China’s rise in the region.” If he were advising President Xi Jinping, Bremmer says, “I’d push for major humanitarian aid to the Philippines.” Instead the bulk of that aid is coming from elsewhere: more than $28 million from Australia, $20 million from the U.S., $17 million from the European Union, $16 million from the U.K., $10 million from Japan, $5 million from South Korea, $4 million from the Vatican, $2 million from Indonesia, and huge amounts from official agencies — the United Nations alone started a $300 million aid appeal. China was clearly stung by the critical news coverage. South Korean [celebrity] Kim Yu-na herself gave $100,000 — about enough to buy nine bottles of a 2006 Romanee-Conti. Even the new Chinese offer is rather paltry. New Zealand’s $167 billion economy is a rounding error compared with China’s $8.4 trillion one. Yet officials in Wellington have coughed up $1.7 million, even more than the People’s Republic. Insulting Sum Why the insultingly small sum for a geopolitically vital nation of 106 million people that by many measures is much poorer than China? Manila’s close ties with Washington have always worried China. But this is personal. Philippine President Benigno Aquino refuses to bow to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, and enraged Beijing by daring to challenge its maritime claims before a U.N.-endorsed tribunal. Aquino also demands that China treat the Philippines, one of Asia’s oldest democracies, as an equal, not a subordinate. Nations hold grudges, of course. But China’s actions this week dramatically undercut what had been a very deliberate and strenuous — and supposedly successful — recent charm offensive. After President Barack Obama skipped out on a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders last month, Xi and Premier Li Keqiang gleefully toured Southeast Asian capitals, handing out investment deals to show how generous China could be with its neighbors, how eager it was for friendly relations. The Philippines crisis offered an opportunity for China to show it had developed into a mature, cooperative nation and to win goodwill across the region. As a matter of fact, on Friday, Chinese and U.S. troops will even train together for the first time in Hawaii, as part of a drill in which the two nations cooperate in a humanitarian relief operation in a third country. Why not jump in and seek to cooperate in the enormous international rescue effort in the Philippines? Instead, officials in Beijing find themselves evading awkward questions about their miserliness. Perhaps trying to save a smidgen of face, Beijing first upped its offering to $200,000 through the Red Cross. That was still less than half of the $450,000 the Philippines gave China after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Even now, China’s total offer is far less than the $4.88 million donated to Pakistan after an earthquake there two months ago. China’s normally quiescent state-run media worried about the fallout. “China’s international image is of vital importance to its interests,” the usually gung-ho Global Times said in an editorial Tuesday. “If it snubs Manila this time, China will suffer great losses.” One reason China’s efforts to develop its soft power have failed is the utilitarian way Beijing approaches the rest of the world. Instead of using culture [and] adept diplomacy … China hands out cold, hard cash. All the investment poured into railways in Indonesia, tunnels in Brazil, power grids in Cambodia, hydroelectric projects in Laos, bridges in Vietnam, roads in Zambia, factories in Malaysia, airports in Myanmar, and mining rigs in Uzbekistan comes with a high cost. In return, China demands complete docility. That’s the message being sent to the Philippines now. Arvind Subramanian, author of the 2011 book Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance, says China is going to be a “peculiar kind of superpower,” one whose attraction is more materialistic than heartfelt. “It won’t have the soft power the U.S. has — people wanting to come, people wanting to live, people wanting to emulate it,” he told me in Hong Kong last week. “That soft power is lacking, but it will not impede China.” This article appeared in print on page 10 of the November 18th, 2013 edition of Hamodia. The opinions expressed on this page are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hamodia. China’s Economy Isn’t No. 1 — But If It Were, So What? Has the United States Lost Its Best Friend to Its Biggest Rival? Facing Down Paranoia Trump Won’t Blink in North Korea Standoff, But China Might In Venezuela, Money Has Stopped Working	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line502
__label__wiki	0.549917	0.549917	Posted on 12th May 2006 16th Sep 2020 by Harry Heuser Many Happy Reruns: Katharine Hepburn and Leslie Charteris Well, I prefer doing it slowly, in narrow, dusty aisles, surrounded by strangers. Browsing for second-hand books, I mean. Nowadays, it is so much easier, and often cheaper, to pick up that elusive volume by going online, rather than making a day of it in out-of-the-way bookstores, antique shops, or flea markets. I’m not giving up on that experience, though—on the thrill of the hunt and the triumph of the catch. Hay-on-Wye, where I went yesterday, is the very place for such a literati safari. It is a tiny Welsh village with a population of about 1500; but its narrow streets are lined with about forty bookstores, some of which specialize in Hollywood cinema and crime fiction. That’s where Hepburn and Charteris, both born on this day in 1907, will come in . . . eventually. Yesterday, I came home with a little something for my Claudette Colbert collection (pictured), with another copy of Norman Corwin’s Thirteen by Corwin (a fine one with dust jacket, previously owned by the BBC research department), and a title from the Directors Guild of America Oral History series, an interview with television pioneer Worthington Miner. Prior to entering television in the late 1930s (yes, NBC did have a television schedule back then, even though only a few thousand Americans owned a set), Miner had been a theatrical producer in the 1930s; and, in March 1937, his leading lady was none other than Ms. Hepburn, who starred in an adaptation of Jane Eyre (previously discussed here). According to Miner, Katie was a wonderful Jane; it was her cup of tea, and she sparkled. But we had a dreadful Rochester and an even worse last act. [. . .] As a result, we decided to book it on the road for a few months and not risk bringing it into New York. For weeks on end it battled the elements, storms and tornados, floods and disasters, without an empty seat in the house. Katie’s name was already a prodigious drawn in the hinterlands. Jane Eyre made a tidy profit, but the kudos was nil for any of us, even Katie herself. Years, later, Miner was involved in securing the rights Long Day’s Journey Into Night for another producer, with whom Miner strongly disagreed about Hepburn in the role of Mary Tyrone. Miner believed that Hepburn—a “mercurial, unpredictable performer”—was utterly “wrong” for the part. In the “right” role (Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, for instance, which she reprised in several radio productions) she was “incomparable, a class unto herself.” When miscast, however, she could be “aggressively, monstrously bad.” To me, Undercurrent comes to mind; Hepburn was just not cut out to be the victim, even when permitted to fight back. Someone very much angered by Hollywood casting was Saint creator Leslie Charteris, who shares Hepburn’s birthday. I have mentioned previously (and have been corrected on some muddled facts by Saint expert Burl Barer), that Charteris was not at all pleased when George Sanders took over the role of his Robin Hood of Modern Crime. He much preferred Louis Hayward, who had portrayed Simon Templar in The Saint in New York. Now, one of the writers involved in adapting Charteris’s novel for the screen was Irwin Shaw, whose play Bury the Dead Miner had produced on Broadway and whose final radio play, “Supply and Demand,” he directed for the Columbia Workshop in the spring of 1937, when Hepburn was touring with Jane Eyre. Perhaps I am overly fond of such six-degrees-of-separation games; but with some Miner assistance, I could almost send Hepburn and Charteris on a dinner date, discussing a role that might have been swell as a follow-up for Bringing Up Baby: a sophisticated screwball-mystery of The Thin Man variety. CategoriesFilm, Radio, Radio Plays TagsActors and Performers, Claudette Colbert, Wales, Writers Previous PostPrevious Old-time Radio Primer: B Stands for broadcastellan Next PostNext Many Happy Reruns: Joseph Cotten, Radio Actor	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line503
__label__wiki	0.950044	0.950044	News World UK authorities investigate park stabbing as terrorism, calling it an atrocity UK authorities investigate park stabbing as terrorism, calling it an atrocity A general view shows a scene at Forbury Gardens, near where multiple stabbings took place, in Reading, Britain, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls A stabbing rampage that killed three people and wounded three others in the southern English town of Reading was an act of terrorism, police said on Sunday, calling the attack in a sunny park an atrocity. A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the stabbings on Saturday evening in Reading, which is about 40 miles (65 km) west of London.. A Western security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the man, who remains in police custody, is a Libyan called Khairi Saadallah. Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism police officer, Neil Basu, said a man had run into Forbury Gardens and attacked people with a knife before being detained by unarmed officers. He said it had been declared terrorism after detectives worked through the night on the case. “This was an atrocity,” Basu said. He said there was nothing to suggest anyone else was involved and they were not hunting further suspects. While the motivation for the attack was far from certain, he said there was no intelligence that crowded places were at risk. The victims have not yet been identified. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a meeting on Sunday with security officials, senior ministers and police to be updated about the investigation. He said he was “appalled and sickened” by the attack and said Britain would change the law if needed to prevent any future incidents. “If there are lessons we need to learn … we will learn those lessons and we will not hesitate to take action if necessary,” he said. Initially police and the government had said the incident did not appear to be terrorism and they were keeping an open mind as to the motive. A witness said the attack began when a man suddenly veered toward a group of about eight to 10 friends and began stabbing them. The attack took place hours after a rally by anti-racism protesters in the park but Basu said the two incidents were not related. “The Black Lives Matter event had finished some three hours previous and was by all accounts a very well conducted peaceful demonstration and this is not a connected attack with that whatsoever,” Jason Brock, the head of the local council authority, told BBC TV. Current coronavirus restrictions mean venues like pubs are closed, so many people in Britain gather in parks in the evenings to meet friends. PAST STABBING ATTACKS The nature of the attack was reminiscent of a number of recent incidents in Britain that authorities considered to be terrorism. In February, police shot dead a man, previously jailed for promoting violent Islamist material, who had stabbed two people on a busy street in south London. Last November another man who had been jailed for terrorism offences stabbed two people to death on London Bridge before he too was shot dead by police. In April, the officer in charge of the police’s anti-radicalisation programme said social isolation during the coronavirus lockdown could make people more susceptible to being exploited by extremists. “Isolation may exacerbate grievances that make people more vulnerable to radicalisation – such as financial insecurity or social alienation,” Chief Superintendent Nik Adams said. Previous articleUNFICYP closely monitors situation regarding the crossing points Next articleSpain reopens its borders as state of emergency comes to an end	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line509
__label__wiki	0.715967	0.715967	'Midsummer' Music from the BSO Mendelssohn, Ein Sommernachtstraum, La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, P. Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi, 2012) In the past year A Midsummer Night's Dream has appeared in these pages in many different guises: in the opera by Benjamin Britten, in the ballet by Frederick Ashton, soon in a different ballet by George Balanchine, and even in its original version by Shakespeare. This week the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop are getting in on the fairy game, with a semi-staged, abridged version of the play accompanied by the ethereal overture and incidental music of Felix Mendelssohn, heard last night in the Music Center at Strathmore. The idea is not exactly new, but it brings to mind many possibilities for opportunities to revive rarely performed scores of incidental music with the plays they were composed to accompany: Goethe's Egmont (Beethoven), Shakespeare's The Tempest (Sibelius), Ibsen's Peer Gynt (Grieg), Alphonse Daudet's L'Arlésienne (Bizet), or Aristophanes' The Wasps (Vaughan Williams). A theater with an orchestra pit would be the ideal venue, making it possible to combine an actual production of the play with a space for the orchestra to perform the complete score. The BSO provided an exquisite performance of Mendelssohn's score, in spite of being arranged toward the back of the stage and with sections of the orchestra separated from one another in unusual ways. This allowed the woodwinds to be at the front of the center part of the orchestra for a change, to create a central playing space around Alsop's podium, but it also created a few balance issues between the violins and the lower strings far away. Even so, as with last week's concert, the BSO was in top form, again especially the violins who were feather-light on the many filigree passages, even the ultra-fast Scherzo, and a top-notch horn solo in the Nocturne. The women of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society provided an evanescent background in the choral numbers, especially "Ye spotted snakes," with fine solo work from airy-voiced soprano Ying Fang and the more robust mezzo-soprano of Julie Boulianne. Tim Smith, Baltimore Symphony, Folger Theatre present vivid 'Midsummer Night's Dream' (Baltimore Sun, May 31) Joan Reinthaler, 'Midsummer Night's Dream' with music at Folger Theatre (Washington Post, May 31) Rebecca Ritzel, BSO and Folger collaborate on unique staging of ‘Midsummer’ (Washington Post, May 28) Marin Alsop's Guide to Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (NPR, May 24) A group of seven actors, several of them regulars at the Folger Theater and each taking more than one role, gave an impression of Shakespeare's play, heavily excerpted and sewn together with a rather unfortunate narration. It was not the ideal solution, but it worked well enough and kept the focus on the musical score, most of which was performed without any theatrical business at the same time to distract from it. John Bolger was a strangely non-menacing Oberon, all hunched over, which made Linda Powell's Titania even more spiteful by comparison. With Spencer Aste's Puck not all that memorable either, it was easy for the four lovers and Rude Mechanicals, especially the gangling Helena and monotone Snout of Kate Eastwood Norris, to steal the show. Edward Berkeley's minimal staging featured a few atmospheric lighting plans (designed by Donald Thomas), and some branches, with colored lights, suspended from the ceiling gave the sense of the enchanted forest. This performance repeats tonight and tomorrow, at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. Filed under Baltimore Symphony, Concert Reviews, Felix Mendelssohn, Strathmore, Theater, William Shakespeare Myths, Minotaurs, and Muses by Mark Barry \| Friday, May 30, 2014 Just lock me away with a pile of Picasso etchings and aquatints: for a few weeks anyway, I would get hungry. Scary creatures, mythological tales and of course being Picasso, lots and lots of sex: it's the best. You can immerse yourself in some fifty of the artist's printed wonders now through August 3 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in an exhibit called Picasso Prints: Myths, Minotaurs, and Muses. Few artist have ever tormented a plate, working, reworking, and gouging some more, as Picasso did, although the aquatints, with their painterly fluidity, are some of the best here. Woman with a Tambourine will steal your heart. Vivaldi Edition: 'L'incoronazione di Dario' by Charles T. Downey \| Thursday, May 29, 2014 Vivaldi, L'incoronazione di Dario, A. Dahlin, S. Mingardo, D. Galou, Accademia Bizantina, O. Dantone Naïve OP30553 \| 173'54" All of the opera releases in Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition, which will eventually contain recordings of all of Antonio Vivaldi’s operas as found in the composer's manuscript collection of the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino, will receive mention here at Ionarts -- most recently in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The latest one, L'incoronazione di Dario, stands out, however, for the beauty of its score and unusual libretto (in an edition put together by Stefano Aresi for Act I and Giovanni Andrea Secchi for Acts II and III). The story concerns the succession of Darius I to the throne of Cyrus as ruler of the Persian Empire. The libretto by Adriano Morselli is based on historical events but highly fanciful in its details, and at the time Vivaldi set it, for a premiere at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice in the carnival season of 1717, it was already more than thirty years old and in a style regarded as old-fashioned. According to this recording's booklet essay by Frédéric Delaméa, Vivaldi consciously took the libretto's lead and wrote in a style that was a tribute to the previous century of Venetian opera, with a greater mixture of comic and serious and less reliance on da capo arias. The opera opens dramatically with the ghost of Cyrus telling his daughters, Statira and Argene, to stop their mourning for him. Darius, who intends to take the throne, avoids what could easily have become a civil war by intervening in the conflict between two other pretenders, Arpago and Oronte, by suggesting that Statira's choice in marriage may decide the succession to the throne of Persia. (Darius's marriage to Cyrus's actual daughter, Atossa, is indeed part of what helped him rise to power.) The role of Statira was created for a contralto, and Sara Mingardo brings a fine chest voice to the role, her transparency of tone fitting with a character presented as not all that bright, leading even her servant Flora to mock her. Statira's tutor, the philosopher Niceno (here the slightly wobbly baritone Riccardo Novaro), repeatedly admires her "caro simplicità," although he is not able to make her see that he is also in love with her, even when he dedicates a cantata to her, which she sings in the beautiful aria "Ardo tacita amante" in Act I, with its obbligato viola all'inglese. Swedish tenor Anders J. Dahlin is a refined but powerful Dario, even adding a fine high C# to the end of "Placami la mia bella" in Act II. Mezzo-soprano Delphine Galou is a savvy and lovely Argene, the scheming younger sister who tries to win Dario for herself but loses, ending up punished for her deceit. The role's delights include a rather brilliant and funny letter-writing scene, where Argene dictates a letter to Dario, trying to get him to understand that she is in love with him, throughout which he remains just as oblivious as Statira. The women further down the cast list are also pleasing, beginning with the sort of boyish sound of mezzo-soprano Lucia Cirilla as Oronte, a role created by a soprano castrato (in the lovely "Non mi lusinga," for example). Light soprano Sofia Soloviy has a nice turn as the other suitor, Arpago, originally a soprano trouser role, while Roberta Mameli gives a fluttery, sweet quality to the very pretty music of Alinda, who is betrothed to Oronte, including the charming pastoral aria "Io son quell'augelletto" and the tragic "A me ceppi? A me catene?." The musicians of Accademia Bizantina, all playing historical instruments, play with refinement and polish, with especially fine accompaniment of recitatives, with some passages played only by theorbo and much variety of instrumentation. This easily supplants the only previous recording, by the Ensemble Baroque de Nice, now out of print (Harmonia Mundi, 1986). Filed under Antonio Vivaldi, Briefly Noted, CD Reviews, Early Music, Opera All the Possibilities, Layer of Mystery: Winogrand at NGA by Mark Barry \| Thursday, May 29, 2014 She has been caught off guard. One moment an attractive young woman was walking along, window shopping, engaged in her own thoughts, enjoying a cone of ice cream -- then surprise! Was she the innocent she appears to have been? or a murderess, leaving a trail of headless men in her wake? She became an iconic image, one of my favorites by the photographer Garry Winogrand, whose exhibit is up until June 8 at the National Gallery of Art. Winogrand never cared for the processing of his film, preferring to be out traveling the country, shooting. Much of his work was never processed or seen. There are sixty freshly printed images in this exhibit being shown for the first time. Filed under Art, National Gallery of Art À mon chevet: 'L'amica geniale' by Charles T. Downey \| Wednesday, May 28, 2014 The boundaries of the neighborhood faded in the course of that summer. One morning my father took me with him. Since I was enrolling in high school, he wanted me to know what public transportation I would have to take and what route when I went in October to the new school. It was a beautiful, very clear, windy day. I felt loved, coddled, to my affection for him was added a crescendo of admiration. [...] We spent the entire day together, the only one in our lives, I don't remember any others. He dedicated himself to me, as if he wanted to communicate in a few hours everything useful he had learned in the course of his existence. He showed me Piazza Garibaldi and the station that was being built: according to him it was so modern that the Japanese were coming from Japan to study it -- in particular the columns -- and build an identical one in their country. But he confessed that he liked the old station better, he was more attached to it. Ah well. Naples, he said, had always been like that: it's cut down, it's broken up, and then it's rebuilt, and the money flows and creates work. [...] He took me on Via Costantinopoli, to Port'Alba, to Piazza Dante, to Via Toledo. I was overwhelmed by the names, the noise of the traffic, the voices, the colors, the festive atmosphere, the effort of keeping everything in mind so that I could talk about it later with Lila, the ease with which he chatted with the pizza maker from whom he bought me a pizza melting with ricotta, the fruit seller from whom he bought me a yellow peach. Was it possible that only our neighborhood was filled with conflicts and violence, while the rest of the city was radiant, benevolent? He took me to see the place where he worked, in Piazza Municipio. [...] We went to the city hall, he greeted this person and that, everyone knew him. With some he was friendly, and introduced me, repeating yet again that in school I had gotten nine in Italian and nine in Latin; with others he was almost mute, only, indeed, yes, you command and I obey. Finally, he said that he would show me Vesuvius from close up, and the sea. It was an unforgettable moment. We went toward Via Caracciolo, as the wind grew stronger, the sun brighter. Vesuvius was a delicate pastel-colored shape, at whose base the whitish stones of the city were piled up, with the earth-colored slice of the Castel dell'Ovo, and the sea. But what a sea. It was very rough, and loud; the wind took your breath away, pasted your clothes to your body and blew the hair off your forehead. We stayed on the other side of the street in a small crowd, watching the spectacle. The waves rolled in like blue metal tubes carrying an egg white of foam on their peaks, then broke in a thousand glittering splinters and came up to the street with an oh of wonder and fear from those watching. What a pity that Lila wasn't there. I felt dazed by the powerful gusts, by the noise. I had the impression that, although I was absorbing much of that sight, many things, too many, were scattering around me without letting me grasp them. My father held tight to my hand as if he were afraid that I would slip away. -- Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend, pp. 136-38 (translation by Ann Goldstein) I read this pseudonymous Italian author's Days of Abandonment earlier this year, thanks to critic James Wood, who singled out her Neapolitan trilogy as among the best books he read last year. This is the first volume of that trilogy, and I am inhaling it in much the same way as I did her earlier book. Ferrante, whoever she is, grew up in Naples, where this book unfolds, and it follows an extraordinary friendship between the increasingly classics-oriented narrator, who is named Elena (Ferrante apparently studied classics), and an even more brilliant friend she calls Lila. The city of Naples and their violent neighborhood are drawn with concise and vivid lines. This passage struck me for two reasons, because I was reminded of my own growing up, beginning to see the world beyond my childhood home, and because my own daughter is approaching adolescence. Tan Dun, «The Tears of Nature» with Martin Grubinger, Krzysztof Urbanski et al. Tan Dun, «The Tears of Nature» Concert for Percussion and Orchestra (2012) Martin Grubinger (percussion) / Wiener Symphoniker / Krzysztof Urbanski Performed on Friday, April 25th, 2014 at the Grosser Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus ¶ Filed under jfl, Konzerthaus Magazin, Tan Dun, Video Ray Chen Debuts with BSO by Charles T. Downey \| Monday, May 26, 2014 Mozart, Violin Concertos and Sonata, R. Chen, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, C. Eschenbach (Sony, 2014) Tchaikovsky / Mendelssohn, Violin Concertos, R. Chen, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, D. Harding (Sony, 2012) Reviews of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra have become less and less common in these pages, because the programming of their concerts in the last few years has been disappointingly repetitive. Not to rehash this point, made several times in recent posts, but it occurred to me again with the group's latest concert, heard on Saturday night in the Music Center at Strathmore. The combination of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and Rachmaninov's second symphony did not exactly sweep me off my feet, although it was likely calculated to please the audience, who responded to both pieces as expected. Perhaps not coincidentally, the BSO's program notes have stopped listing the last time that the orchestra played the pieces on their programs, which in most cases is quite recently. What I had forgotten in all the time since the last BSO concert I reviewed -- last September -- was how good this orchestra sounds, section for section smoother and more unified than their colleagues at the Kennedy Center, especially in the violins. What a shame that they are playing classical music's greatest hits with such disappointing frequency. Ray Chen launched his career with decisive wins at the Menuhin and Queen Elisabeth Competitions, in 2008 and 2009, respectively. For the last few years he has made the rounds of the local recital venues, including Dumbarton Oaks (2013), the Embassy Series (2012), and the Young Concert Artists series at the Kennedy Center (2009). This was his local orchestral debut, although given that he has just released a Mozart CD with Christoph Eschenbach, Chen's appearance on the NSO young artists series (unofficial) is likely around the corner, although not not next season. Alas, he did not quite have the Tchaikovsky concerto fully in his hands, mostly because of some intonation issues and harshness of tone high on the E string (including the crucial flautando notes in the solo part, which were not all there), possibly because he seemed to be trying to squeeze as much sound as he could from the instrument. The husky growl of the G string and overall big, juicy tone on the 1702 "Lord Newlands" Stradivarius, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, were gorgeous, though, as was his often melting legato, especially in the second theme of the first movement and the Canzonetta. An encore, Paganini's 21st caprice, showed effortless technique. Tim Smith, Rousing Baltimore Symphony concert with conductor Hans Graf, violinist Ray Chen (Baltimore Sun, May 23) Robert Battey, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra welcomes musicians new and old at Strathmore (Washington Post, May 26) The real star of the evening was guest conductor Hans Graf, conductor laureate of the Houston Symphony (where he will soon be succeeded by Andrés Orozco-Estrada), who was just as expert and self-effacing as in his previous appearances in the area, with the NSO in 2012 and 2008 and with the BSO. In the Tchaikovsky he helped guide the orchestra in a superlatively sensitive accompaniment of the soloist, with craftsmanship down to the least important parts of the score. Graf also made the best of Rachmaninov's second symphony, the hour-long work on the second half, in which I at least feel every minute of its length. The BSO played it beautifully, with a minimum of soupy rubato, except perhaps in the saccharine third movement, falling short of the last performance in these ears, by Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Next week's concerts from the BSO will feature Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, with parts of the play performed by actors (May 29 to June 1). Filed under Baltimore Symphony, Concert Reviews, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov In Brief: Memorial Edition by Charles T. Downey \| Sunday, May 25, 2014 Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.) Some of these streams become unavailable after a few days. Watch a concert of improvisations by pianist Gabriela Montero, recorded at the Montreal International Musical Competition. [Medici.tv] More music from Félicien David, Le Désert, Ode-symphonie en trois parties, from 1844, with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Accentus, plus the fifth piano concerto of Saint-Saens with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist. [France Musique \| ARTE Video] A performance of Ferdinando Bertoni's L'Orfeo from Ferrara, with the Orchestra da Camera Lorenzo da Ponte and Coro Accademia dello Spirito Santo, starring Vivica Genaux and others. [ORF] Watch some of the performances from the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. [ARTE] Listen to music of Lutoslawski, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky from the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, perfored by the Orchestre National de France and violinist Joshua Bell. [France Musique \| ARTE Video] Listen to a performance of Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hoffmann, starring Yosep Kang, Daniela Fally, and others at the Wiener Staatsoper. [ORF] A song recital by soprano Mojca Erdmann and pianist Gerold Huber, with music of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Richard Strauss, recorded last March at the Festival Klangraum Waidhofen. [ORF] Lionel Bringuier conducts the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in music of Dukas, Tchaikovsky, and Berlioz (Les nuits d'été with soprano Véronique Gens). [France Musique] A performance of Bach's St. John Passion with the Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw and Cappella Amsterdam, conducted by Daniel Reuss, recorded in Utrecht. [Avro Klassiek \| Part 2] Live from the Wigmore Hall, the English Concert plays Handel and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. [BBC3] Soloists from the Orchestre National de France perform Le conte fantastique by André Caplet. [France Musique] Watch pianist Lars Vogt, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff perform the complete piano trios of Brahms, recorded at the Auditorium du Louvre. [Medici.tv] Violinist Vadim Repin joins the Vienna Symphony for Prokofiev's second violin concerto, with Lionel Bringuier also conducting music by Debussy, Stravinsky, and Kodály. [ORF] The ensemble Prague Modern perform music by Dai Fujikura (b. 1977), Messiaen, Miroslav Srnka, and Johannes Maria Staud, under conductor Pascal Gallois. [France Musique] Listen to a performance of Verdi's Rigoletto from Brussels, starring Dimitri Platanias, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, and Simona Saturova. [RTBF] The Kammerorchester Basel plays Tchaikovsky's Serenade for String. [Avro Klassiek] The Halle Choir and Orchestra play Brahms's Nanie and Mahler's 9th Symphony. [BBC3] Harpsichordists Bob van Asperen and Olivier Baumont give a tribute to the memory of Gustav Leonhardt, with a performance of Bach's Art of the Fugue. [France Musique] The Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw and conductor Kenneth Montgomery perform Beethoven's fifth piano concert, with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, recorded in Amsterdam. [Avro Klassiek] Listen to violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, under conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, perform music by Shostakovich and Mahler. [RTBF] Rafal Blechacz joins the Vienna Symphony for Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and music of Beethoven, including the second piano concerto and the Egmont overture. [ORF] Listen to the English Music Festival, live from the abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames. [BBC3] A recital by violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Akira Eguchi, with music by Schubert, Prokofiev, Avner Dorman, and Beethoven. [ORF] Music of Bach and Telemann performed by L'Atelier de Musique Moderne, the Maîtrise de Caen and others. [France Musique] From Amsterdam, violinist Vilde Frang and violist Nils Mönkemeyer play Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Kammerorchester Basel. [Avro Klassiek] From the Festival de Pâques in Deauville, music by Bruch, Mendelssohn, and Brahms performed by violist Antoine Tamestit, pianist Nicholas Angelich, and friends. [France Musique] The Strada Quartet performs music of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev at the Festival de Pâques in Deauville. [France Musique] Listen to the recording of Donizetti's La Favorite made in Bologna, starring Luciano Pavarotti, Ileana Cotrubas, and others. [ORF] The Lush, Gooey Passion of Chaim Soutine by Mark Barry \| Saturday, May 24, 2014 Most painters I know get all gooey when Chaim Soutine's work is mentioned. The lush gooeyness of his paint has something to do with it, but more importantly the passion and exuberance of his regime is what most inspires such awe. Life in Death: Still Lifes and Select Masterworks of Chaim Soutine is a small exhibit, just sixteen paintings, of grand importance, up now at Paul Kasmin Gallery's alternate space on 27th Street in Chelsea. Kasmin's space is small but museum quality and a perfect venue for an intimate experience with these rarely seen paintings. To see these works on loan from private collections and not for sale, several artists were visiting the gallery on the day I was there, just a nose length away, inhaling the lush paint of this crazy wonderful artist. Soutine will do this to us. His brush was loaded with medium soaked paint and he worked fast. The slaughtered poultry seems fresh even to this day. Filed under Art, Galleries Iveta Apkalna @ KC by Charles T. Downey \| Friday, May 23, 2014 L'amour et la mort (Widor, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Fauré), I. Apkalna (Oehms, 2011) Charles T. Downey, Latvian organist shows pedal power at the Kennedy Center Washington Post, May 23, 2014 This season the Kennedy Center instituted a concert series to put the new pipe organ in the Concert Hall, donated by the Rubenstein Family, through its paces. The last concert of the series fell to Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna, who played a varied and demanding program on Wednesday evening. Old and new were paired on the first half, with three improvisation-like “Evocations” by Thierry Escaich, the organist at the church of St.-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris, interspersed with more traditional pieces by J. S. Bach. The tempestuous second “Evocation,” with its roiling ostinato C in octaves in the pedal, led nicely into Bach’s C minor passacaglia and fugue (BWV 582), in which the same note is the foundation of the bass pattern. Apkalna showed off her pedal feet more in ... [Continue reading] Iveta Apkalna, organ There was not space in the review to mention that, for an encore, Apkalna played the famous Toccata by Charles-Marie Widor, from the Organ Symphony No. 5 (F Minor, Op. 42, No. 1). Paul Jacobs (February 7, 2014) Cameron Carpenter (October 18, 2013) Filed under Concert Reviews, Contemporary Music, Franz Liszt, Johann Sebastian Bach, Washington Post The Seine for the People! The city of Paris has had many transformations. Some of the most striking are along its lifeline, the river Seine. During the nineteenth century barge traffic and tow paths lined the banks, along with taverns and even floating bath houses. The tow paths turned into roadways filled with car traffic in the following century, blocking access for the public's use and enjoyment. Now with the completion of the Berges de Seine, the waterfront of Paris, as in many cities, is being reclaimed for the people! The Berges de Seine is an extensive and well thought out project featuring a floating botanical paradise, small shipping containers converted into pop-up cafes and shops, and even places to take a nap. There are a variety of rotating art exhibitions and an extensive schedule of live entertainment, workshops, and classes. Don’t feel comfortable riding a bike through the streets of Paris? The mile or so stretch from the Musée d'Orsay to the Pont de l'Alma, has walking, jogging, and biking lanes, and Parisians are taking advantage of the river once again in droves. Classical Music Agenda: June 2014 Summer is upon us, meaning that the concert calendar is going to get pretty light around here. Here are a few things you will want to hear in the month of June. Happily, the schedules of both major local orchestras extend into the summer. Beethoven's ninth symphony is not something I would normally recommend, but Marin Alsop has put together a nice slate of soloists for her latest performances of the work with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (June 5 to 8): Angela Meade, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Dimitri Pittas, and James Morris. Somewhat oddly, the piece will be paired with On the Transmigration of Souls, the 9/11 memorial piece by John Adams. Bruckner in the summer? Yes, please -- the National Symphony Orchestra will perform the Austrian composer's eighth symphony, plus four of his Latin motets (June 12 to 14), to be performed by the University of Maryland Chamber Singers. Of course, June is the month for the National Orchestral Institute (May 29 to June 28), at the Clarice Smith Center, featuring a series of chamber and orchestra concerts performed by young musicians. The three big orchestra concerts will be conducted this summer by James Ross (including Edgard Varèse's Amériques), Christopher Seaman (Britten's Four Sea Interludes), and Leonard Slatkin (Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis). There will also be children's concerts (Peter and the Wolf) and a chamber orchestra concert, where the musicians perform without a conductor. The Washington National Opera concludes its season with the latest performance from its American Opera Initiative, with the premiere of Huang Ruo's An American Soldier (June 13 and 14), in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Opera Bel Cantanti will perform Ravel's delightful L'enfant et les sortilèges (June 27 to 29), at the Randolph Road Theater in Silver Spring. The Wolf Trap Opera Company's season kicks off with Handel's Giulio Cesare (June 27 and 29, July 1) in the Barns at Wolf Trap. When Lorin Maazel conducts Puccini, it is good, so the opening opera at the Castleton Festival, Madama Butterfly, gets a recommendation (June 28 to July 20). We hear that Maazel, who has had to cancel several recent engagements, is resting at Castleton. For the moment, he is still scheduled to conduct at the Festival. Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who had to cancel a recital earlier this season, will finally perform it this month (June 17), in the Music Center at Strathmore. Finally, it has been quite a season of Midsummer Night's Dream, in various forms, which is going to end with the Pennsylvania Ballet performing George Balanchine's choreography of the story (June 6 to 8), with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra performing Mendelssohn's overture and incidental music. The Wiener Klaviertrio in Onslow, Gredler, and Dvorák Exerpts from: George Onslow, Piano Trio No.7, op.20 in D-Minor (1822) Michael Gredler, «Funk for Piano Trio» (2011) (World Premiere Performance) Antonín Dvorák, «Dumky-Trio» op.90 in E-Minor (1890-1891) Wiener Klaviertrio: Bogdan Božovic (violin), Matthias Gredler (cello), Stefan Mendl (piano) Performed on Tuesday, März 18th, 2014 at the Mozart-Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus ¶ Filed under Antonín Dvořák, Chamber Music, George Onslow, jfl, Konzerthaus Magazin, Video, World Premiere Performance 'Giselle' from the Bolshoi David Hallberg (Albrecht) and Svetlana Zakharova (Giselle) in Giselle, Bolshoi Ballet (photo by Elena Fetisova) Washington has had no shortage of Giselle performances in the last decade, from the Mariinsky Ballet (twice, in 2006 and 2011), the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris in 2012, and the Washington Ballet just last year. Here it is again on the stage of the Kennedy Center Opera House, where it opened last night, in the 1986 updating by Yuri Grigorovich from the Bolshoi Ballet (watch on YouTube), which last made the trip from Moscow to Washington two years ago. One could be excused from feeling a little "Giselled out," especially given that all of these Russian and French companies dance choreography based on that of Marius Petipa, with only minor differences among them. It does not help that the Bolshoi's artistic director Sergei Filin told the Washington Post's Sarah Kaufman that the choice of what ballet to perform at the Kennedy Center is not his to make -- "The decision is based on ticket sales," he said. Ugh. Sarah Kaufman, Bolshoi Ballet’s uncommonly intimate ‘Giselle,’ at the Kennedy Center (Washington Post, May 22) ---, Bolshoi Ballet’s Sergei Filin, nearly blind but unbowed: ‘The dancing, I see perfectly’ (Washington Post, May 17) ---, Spring Preview Dance: Bolshoi Ballet will bring ‘Giselle’ to the Kennedy Center (Washington Post, January 31) Laura Cappelle, Giselle, La Sylphide, The Little Mermaid, Stanislavsky Theatre, Moscow (Financial Times, April 22) Alastair Macaulay, Bolshoi’s ‘Giselle,’ Geared to Virtuosity and a Vocal Audience (New York Times, April 6) Certainly one can always tolerate another Giselle if the leads are danced as beautifully as they were by prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova and the company's relatively new principal David Hallberg, formerly of American Ballet Theater, in his first performance in the U.S. since he joined the Bolshoi. They are gorgeous together, well matched in height, line, and temperament, and this seemed to seal the relationship of their Giselle and Albrecht, characters who are united in the story through the act of dancing. The coy dialogue of instruments in the music of their first duet matched perfectly with their corresponding gestures of reaching out and pulling back, both shy and yet emboldened, a scene that is recalled poignantly several times in the score. Hallberg was strong, able to face down Hans the gamekeeper with his eyes, and in the second act, transformed into a spirit, Zakharova looked like something made out of vapor, after having become mentally unstrung in the mad scene (an effect that an errant raising of the curtain just before intermission half-spoiled). Her Giselle did not supplant that of Diana Vishneva in my estimation, but it came close. The Act I divertissement, the harvest festival, is a rather rustic affair in this production, complete with jangling tambourines and matching the somewhat sketchy set backdrops with their autumn yellow smears. It serves, if anything, to highlight the special nature of the two leads and their beautiful dancing. The Bolshoi's corps de ballet danced with precision and ghoulish coldness in the second act, the stage bathed in cold blue light, led by a frowning and vengeful Ekaterina Shipulina as the Queen of the Wilis. The Bolshoi's music director, Alexander Kopylov, did the honors at the podium, his gestures not always keeping the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra turning on a dime together through the tempo adjustments. That he rushed through some of the music, like the introduction to Act I, did not help. The brass were heraldic and unified in the hunting scenes, the strings less so, including some groans and grunts in the viola solo during the pas de deux. This performances will be repeated, with different casts, through May 25 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The only performance with the cast reviewed here, on Thursday night, is already sold out. Filed under Dance Solid Form: Mapplethorpe-Rodin by Mark Barry \| Tuesday, May 20, 2014 I see things like they were sculptures. It depends on how that form exists within the space. -- Robert Mapplethorpe I never gave Robert Mapplethorpe much respect. I liked some of his imagery but saw it mostly as exotic and sensational. I’m coming around after seeing him paired with Auguste Rodin. There is a Mapplethorpe retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris, through July, which I have yet to see. The Musée Rodin has organized an exhibit of 102 of Mapplethorpe’s photographs, alongside fifty of Rodin’s sculptures. The pairing was a bit of an enlightenment for me. Both artists sought the same chiseled human form, one in clay and stone, the other through highly stylized, black and white photography. Rodin searched for grace, spontaneity, and fluidity in unforgiving materials, while Mapplethorpe was the epitome of control, with no spontaneity whatsoever. The similarities are striking. The tension in the forms, the flow of drapery, and the consideration of the figure in space gave me a new awareness of an erotic sensuality in Rodin’s figures and a deeper understanding and respect for Mapplethorpe. Tanya Bannister @ Phillips by Charles T. Downey \| Tuesday, May 20, 2014 Clementi, Piano Sonatas, T. Bannister (Naxos, 2006) Charles T. Downey, Pianist Tanya Bannister at the Phillips Collection Pianist Tanya Bannister has formidable technique and a thoughtful approach to programming a recital. Trained in London, at Yale and in New York, her fingers rarely erred in a recital inspired by the influence of Handel on Beethoven, heard at the Phillips Collection on Sunday afternoon. What did not always come through was a love of sound, a willingness to explore a broad range of tones and colors, as her touch at the keyboard was too consistently sharp and biting. This harshness was in evidence in Bannister’s overemphasis of the melodic line in Handel’s Suite in F, HWV 427, balanced by... [Continue reading] Tanya Bannister, piano András Schiff's lecture on op. 110 Charles T. Downey, Cygnus Ensemble at LoC: Harold Meltzer (Ionarts, February 6, 2012) Jens F. Laurson, Fine pianism from Tanya Bannister (Ionarts, January 29, 2007) Filed under Concert Reviews, Contemporary Music, George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Phillips Collection, Washington Post Christopher Maltman: Truly, truly, truly a Masterpiece. Christopher Maltman (Photo [excerpt] © Pia Clodi) Monday, April 7th, Christopher Maltman took a couple minutes just hours before his recital at the Mozart-Saal to chat about the great, elusive, «Notturno» by Othmar Schoeck: C.M.: How do you know the Schoeck «Notturno»? jfl: I know it from Klaus Mertens’ recording which was one of the... well, it wasn’t the first recording. The first one, I think, was Fischer-Dieskau with the Cherubini Quartet, and I’m not sure if it ever made it unto CD. [It had, actually, and copies are hard, but not impossible, to find. Edit: Twitter informed us that the first recording was F-D with the Juilliard Quartet, actually, and that recording has never made it onto CD.] So it was it recorded for vinyl and was never digitally mastered or came back out again? I looked for it, because I was certain that Fischer-Dieskau would have recorded it. But I couldn’t find it anywhere and then I looked on some websites and godknowswhat and I saw that he had recorded it but couldn’t find a copy to listen to. Which is a bit sad. But there is of course the Mertens recording, a gorgeous new one with Stephan Genz and the Leipziger Streichquartett and the Gerhaher recording... That’s the one I listened to, actually. Which is beautiful. It’s great... except the Rosamunde Quartet lets him down a bit.But it was him that I first talked about the «Notturno» with at length, well before he knew he’d get a chance of recording it... Yes, it’s not easy to do the piece. It was only when this opportunity at the Konzerthaus was presented to me, where they as much as said: “Look, what would you like to do.” And I said: “I would like to do the Schoeck «Notturno».” And they looked at me and said: “OK – what’s that?” So I said: “Well, it’s a fantastic song cycle for low voice and string quartet.” But fortunately they gave me sort of carte blanche to decide what I wanted to do. And it’s so hard to get opportunities like that. It’s so hard to get concerts like this. They come up, for me, once every two or three years. And I really am so pleased that I had got the opportunity to do this piece. Because the more I worked on it and the more looked at it and the more I got inside it, I think it’s absolutely Schoeck’s best composition. It’s a towering piece of music. [The backstage dummy alarm rings] Oh my Lord, what noise is that? [The backstage alarm voice says soothingly: “Windstille. Windstille”, which suggests that no one will burn, after all.] Certainly the piece that’s furthest removed from the relatively conservative tonal language that Schoeck usually delves in... ...like the pieces for baritone and string orchestra… what are they called? «Elegie». Yes, completely. And whereas that, as the songs, is much more – I would say: Strauss-inspired, this is very much more Berg... Schoenberg... and much more forward-looking and a much more experimental piece. Well, at the time it wasn’t particularly forward looking... No, no. But for him. But for Schoeck it was. On paper «Notturno» is an atonal piece, but really, it’s romantic... I love to dig out the comparison of this to Berg Opus 1, the Piano Sonata. When you just play the notes, it sounds like modern pling-plang. When you let it breathe, when you just wait long enough, eventually the notes will come and it attains this wistful, late-romantic Viennese coffee house air… And that’s a bit with the Schoeck, too, I think. Ultimately it’s a romantic piece. Oh, absolutely. And it’s hard... the closing section of it which completely and utterly sort of Hollywood and tonal and gorgeous and harmonic. But then the third movement is very bleak and hard and strange and tonally quite challenging. Quite challenging for everybody, actually. But nevertheless, Joe Middleton [the pianist for Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five mystical songs, not on duty in the Schoeck] sat in. I said: “Well, look... would you mind? I know you want to get off”, because he was obviously very tired, “but would you mind just simply sitting in for the first movement.” Of course [Maltman chuckles] the first movement is like 17 minutes long... “But would you mind sitting in so that we can have an idea of balance and everything?” And I said: “Look... you don’t have to stay. I know how tired you are.” And after the first movement I asked him: how is it. He said: “The balance is great, it’s working very well.” And I thanked him and told please not to think that he had to stay. But he went: “No, no, no, no... I really want to!” And at the end he said: “Gosh, it’s an amazing piece!” And he was expecting it to be much more difficult to listen to. Much more difficult as an audience member. But he really enjoyed it, first time he heard it. Well, I think it is difficult for a lot of people and that it’s fair to say that. I’ve seen people walk out in the middle of a good performance, actually, and not inconspicuously between songs either, but right in the middle, creaking on the wooden floor, every step of the way. Quite sad. Six, seven of them. Really? Wow! I don’t know how it might have been, if the Rosamunde Quartet had pulled a bit more of its weight... but they were on their way out and you could hear it. And indeed, shortly thereafter they disassembled. But that brings me to a point, namely that the idea of «Notturno» being a romantic piece is very much tied to the work of the string quartet. That it’s in good part their job to keep those long lines, suspended... Yes, absolutely. And I absolutely love it. But from a sort of poetry point of view, as well... the poems of the [Nikolaus] Lenau poems, for one: The second movement is very much more descriptive than the first, for example. But there is one of the four poems in the first movement that is very straight forward and descriptive. And the rest of it is very much sort of impressionistic. It almost reminds me of French poetry. It’s not what you would consider to be empirical German poetry. It’s very much sweeps of color and mood... and then a sort of slightly enigmatic statement at the end. And very much less "I feel this and I want to do that and I need to go there and I need to do this". The whole piece, I think, without a very clear vision of it should be and without a very clear vision of the things sort-of top to tail... I mean: You can get slightly lost in these, as you say, incredibly long meandering lines that the piece has. But I absolutely love it. Love it. I think it is great. And I am going to try my hardest to get us another concert to do it. Hopefully Wigmore will take it. Because it has huge similarities as well to... there’s a Finzi cycle called «By Footpath and Stile» – again, string quartet and baritone. It’s settings of [Thomas] Hardy. It’s not as long as this. It’s probably around 26, 27 minutes or so. But there are moments… It was written in the late teens... 1917, 1918 something like that. It certainly wasn’t into the twenties. But there are sections in [the «Notturno»] that I am convinced that Schoeck must have heard the Finzi. Absolutely convinced of it. I love Finzi, but that work I’ve never even heard of that work. Well, yes – it’s never done. Is there a recording out? Yes, there is. With Roderick Williams, on Naxos. It’s a beautiful piece, but again it’s slightly problematic, because the Hardy is extremely dark and extremely... in the same way as this is, really. The «Notturno» really goes to the threshold of pain... Totally. Totally. And he cycles basically between love and death all the way through – well, mostly death [he laughs]. But the same as Hardy, Schoeck has to go elsewhere. Away from the Lenau, and he finds it in that last [Gottfried] Keller poem, which points to hope. And in the Finzi, Hardy also still has this... hmmm... there is still this thread of hope within him. There is still this slightly kind of positive thought going around his head. There is a poem that is in «By Footpath and Stile» that goes something like this… O.Schoeck,Notturno Stephan Genz, Leipziger Streichquartett m\|DG DE \| US \| UK \| FR Christian Gerhaher, Rosamunde Quartet G.Finzi,By Footpath & Stile et al. Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside Maltman recites "The Oxen", one of the six poems of the cycle, from memory: Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. "Now they are all on their knees," An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures As they dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, "Come; see the oxen kneel, In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know," I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so Hardy is so full of this doubt, darkness, and despair for the world. Yet he still has this silver thread of childlike hopefulness within him that sustains him through everything. And I feel that that Keller-poem is the golden thread at the end for Schoeck. Again, it’s child-like, just gazing up at the stars saying: I hope that when I go I am just going to be one of them and that I will drift off through the galaxy and that will be lovely, thank you very much. After, you know, everything winding down and drawing to a close – and it is exactly the same in the Hardy. There is this one huge poem which is all about how he wanders through a graveyard and he looks at the trees and the bushes and the plants. And he wonders which person which tree has fed off. Whose juices made what tree... So the Oak was old Squire Audeley Grey and this creeping vine was a beautiful lady and all of this kind of stuff. And again the transformation of nature into death or the coming of winter and all of these thoughts also appear in the Lenau. Musically, another thing that «Notturno» reminds me of is Schoenberg’s «Hanging Gardens». I don’t know it, actually. There’s a sense of suspense and fragility and bleakness in that, also with the Stefan George text, that I also find in the «Notturno». The Belcea Quartet thought it might be a nice evening to do the «Notturno» and then the Hanging Gardens and maybe, if they have a soprano join them, the Berg Lyric Suite. Oh yeah, of course. Gosh, that would be... that would be a tough sell for everybody, as well. [He laughs as he rolls the idea round in his head, moving from excitement to amusement at the audacity of the idea.] But going back to the «Notturno»: You are right, it’s another world, especially from «Elegie», which I have never performed, but I have heard and I have listened to recordings of. They might be pocket-size Strauss... not the «Four Last Songs», exactly, but still wonderful music. If he had written it 50 years earlier, he would have gotten all the credit he was due. But that’s the point, though, isn’t it? It’s slightly derivative, at that stage. Well, I’m not sure I would call it derivative… I certainly don’t feel in the position to do so, with that work. I know, yes, there are composers who have composed in a general style like that before. But there are composers that have composed things, say, five years after Strauss, probably much more derivative, literally and listening-wise, than Schoeck. He could have still have been – and I think he was – perfectly original within that language. And it still sounds original enough for me to listen to. Yes. Absolutely. I didn’t mean that to be disparaging of Schoeck. Just meaning that he was slightly dialing into a sound world that was already there. It certainly explains the neglect at the time: Too conservative for the avant-garde and too modern for the conservatives. Stuck between these worlds... Completely. But if you look later, it’s interesting that that’s sort of where Britten was, in terms of being a composer. The avant-garde composers of the day just thought he was disgustingly old fashioned. And Britten would not have had the same career if he had not composed in the Anglophone world, which strikes me as having been more tolerant of that ‘deviation’. Probably not, yes. In a way Britten didn’t truly arrive in continental Europe as a regularly played, taken-as-serious composer until a decade or two ago. Jean-Guihen Queyras, the cellist, was with IRCAM, the Institut de Recherche-something-something... Pierre Boulez’ outfit. So he was among the hard core of avant-gardists. And when Harmonia Mundi asked him to do his first recording, he elected to do the Britten Cello Suites. And he said that at the time, that was the single most offensive thing that he could possibly record [Maltman starts a credescendo-ing laugh] to upset everyone in his circuit. For a Frenchman, a modern music maven, to record this rubbish. Which of course we know now as great music. Yes, and speaking of great music: This is truly, truly, truly [he stabs the score of «Notturno» with his finger, repeatedly] truly, truly a real masterpiece. I think it is an absolute masterpiece. I think it is an absolutely brilliant piece and the more I get into it, the more I get into it, the more I want to sing it. Filed under Chamber Music, jfl, Konzerthaus Magazin, Othmar Schoeck À mon chevet: 'Stoner' [William Stoner] had no friends, and for the first time in his life he became aware of loneliness. Sometimes, in his attic room at night, he would look up from a book he was reading and gaze in the dark corners of his room, where the lamplight flickered against the shadows. If he stared long and intently, the darkness gathered into a light, which took the insubstantial shape of what he had been reading. And he would feel that he was out of time, as he had felt that he was out of time, as he had felt that day in class when Archer Sloane had spoken to him. The past gathered out of the darkness where it stayed, and the dead raised themselves to live before him; and the past and the dead flowed into the present among the alive, so that he had for an intense instant a vision of denseness into which he was compacted and from which he could not escape, and had no wish to escape. Tristan, Iseult the fair, walked before him; Paolo and Francesca whirled in the glowing dark; Helen and bright Paris, their faces bitter with consequence, rose from the gloom. And he was with them in a way that he could never be with his fellows who went from class to class, who found a local habitation in a large university in Columbia, Missouri, and who walked unheeding in a midwestern air. In a year he learned Greek and Latin well enough to read simple texts; often his eyes were red and burning from strain and lack of sleep. Sometimes he thought of himself as he had been a few years before and was astonished by the memory of that strange figure, brown and passive as the earth from which it had emerged. He thought of his parents, and they were nearly as strange as the child they had borne; he felt a mixed pity for them and a distant love. Near the middle of his fourth year at the University, Archer Sloane stopped him one day after class and asked him to drop by his office for a chat. [...] Sloane leaned forward until his face was close; Stoner saw the lines on the long thin face soften, and he heard the dry mocking voice become gentle and unprotected. "But don't you know, Mr. Stoner?" Sloane asked. "Don't you understand about yourself yet? You're going to be a teacher." Suddenly Sloane seemed very distant, and the walls of the office receded. Stoner felt himself suspended in the wide air, and he heard his voice ask, "Are you sure?" "I'm sure," Sloane said softly. "How can you tell? How can you be sure?" "It's love, Mr. Stoner," Sloane said cheerfully. "You are in love. It's as simple as that." -- John Williams, Stoner, pp. 15-18 I had heard of this book before, but a recent piece by Tim Kreider for The New Yorker reminded me to read it. As a novel about the travails of a college instructor, it has something in common with Lucky Jim, but Kingsley Amis's book is mostly about the frustrating idiocy of the academy. Williams's description of the intense experience of Stoner's inner life with books is so poignant, and not coincidentally it has the second circle of Dante's Inferno for a backdrop, a place where the lust for reading, apparently the same as reading about lust, is punished. When one finds oneself so benighted, so smitten, by literature or another discipline, one has no choice but to consign oneself to an earthly eternity immersed in it. This is indeed how we become teachers. In Brief: Mid-May Edition Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Theater an der Wien. [ORF] Listen to rare performances of Victorin Joncières's Le dernier jour de Pompéi (1869) and Félicien David's Herculanum. [France Musique] Semyon Bychkov conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the world premiere of Franz Schmidt's second symphony and Time Recycling by René Staar. [ORF] It's time for the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, this year for voices. Have a listen to the competitors. [RTBF] Music of Purcell from Les Arts Florissants, led by Paul Agnew. [France Musique] Giovanni Antonini leads the Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir, Il Giardino Armonico, and soloists in Bach's cantata Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir and Handel's Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo. [RTBF] NSO New Moves Some of the great scores of music history were made to accompany dancing. All too often, musicians and conductors play these without thinking about the choreography that went with them, something that has become evident to me in the last ten years, thanks to the chance to review a lot of ballet. Even so, when one cannot see these dances live -- some of these ballets are rarely mounted, after all -- there is the invaluable resource of Internet video, where many original choreographies, or reconstructions of them, can be viewed. The first thing that musicians and conductors, faced with one of these ballet scores, should do is to watch such videos, to get an idea of the movements that went with the music they are going to play. This is the strongest idea -- or it could have been -- behind the National Symphony Orchestra's New Moves series, a trilogy of concerts that may not have succeeded on all points but is ultimately the latest evidence of Christoph Eschenbach's willingness to embrace innovative programming. The music selected for the first two of these concerts did not interest me all that much, but the third program, heard and seen last night, offered the strongest combination, still with some reservations. Sadly, scores that instantly come to my mind in this context, like Debussy's Jeux or Satie's Parade or Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat or Stravinsky's Pulcinella or Les noces, were not included. For the third concert, guest conductor Thomas Wilkins led two pieces that were rarely heard contemporary pieces not particularly associated with choreography. Michael Daugherty's Red Cape Tango, the conclusion of the Grammy-winning but not all that interesting Metropolis Symphony, has the rhythmic ostinato of the Habanera, complete with castanets, but is so repetitive that it grows tired about half-way through. Daugherty incorporated the first couple phrases of the Dies Irae, a long sequence whose later melodic material could have added some much-needed variety. The Sinfonia No. 4 ("Strands"), co-commissioned by the NSO from Washington-born composer George Walker, seemed even less about dance, a rather monochromatic wash of dissonant clusters that seemed to go nowhere, partly due to the pedestrian conducting of Wilkins, whose left hand generally did little other than mirror his baton hand, orderly but not revealing much else. Sarah Kaufman, Jessica Lang Dance, waltzing delightfully with Leila Josefowicz and the NSO (Washington Post, May 17) Anne Midgette, NSO’s ‘New Moves’ festival closes with Jessica Lang and Leila Josefowicz (Washington Post, May 17) ---, NSO New moves and UMd 'Appalachian Spring' join dance with orchestras (Washington Post, May 2) ---, NSO festival aims for fusion of symphony and dance at Kennedy Center (Washington Post, May 8) Robert Battey, National Symphony Orchestra's New Moves symphony + dance mini-festival (Washington Post, May 12) The final piece on the first half, Copland's Appalachian Spring, was made for a choreography by Martha Graham. Seeing it danced live transformed the way that I hear that score, and anyone studying or playing it should watch it. The NSO played only the suite for full orchestra, which is another removal from the music's origins in dance, but even these selections are often boring without the story of the ballet and Graham's movements. The absence of dance was already felt in the first half, but it became glaring by comparison with the second half, for which the Jessica Lang Dance company gave the premiere of their director's new choreography, Scape, to the accompaniment of the violin concerto of John Adams. The soloist was Leila Josefowicz (pictured), who has performed the composer's work for electric violin, The Dharma at Big Sur, with both the NSO and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in recent years. Adams completed the violin concerto in 1995 1993, after which it was used for a choreography by New York City Ballet's Peter Martins. The music percolates with energy, with unusual sounds contributed by two synthesizers (whose players were seated near the conductor's podium) and a range of percussion instruments. Lang's choreography went against the grain of the music for the most part, opening slowly with the nine dancers -- five women and four men, costumed in pajama-like outfits of soft colors, rarely featured in solos -- appearing in the chorister seats above the stage. In that location, movements were constrained, and almost no gestures seemed to have been inspired by the antic, creeping music, except when the soloist's cadenza corresponded with the disappearance of all but one of the group. As the dancers took the stage, extended out from where the orchestra sat by a platform bathed in icy blue-purple light, space-music sounds again seemed not to match with the clumping and spreading actions of the dancers, including some impressively long lifts. Only in the return of a more manic tempo in the third movement did the choreography seem related to the music, taking elements from various popular dances. Lang's style is abstract rather than narrative, recalling other choreographers' work without really adding up to its own character, but one might describe the story, if there had to be one, as the process of bodies being awakened by music, gradually taking on its pulses and gestures. This concert repeats tonight, at 8 pm, in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Filed under Aaron Copland, Concert Reviews, Contemporary Music, Dance, John Adams, National Symphony Final Thoughts on WNO 'Magic Flute' Eri Nakamura (Pamina) and Anna Siminska (Queen of the Night) in The Magic Flute, Washington National Opera (photo by Scott Suchman) The Washington National Opera's production of Mozart's Magic Flute has almost reached the end of its run. I have written about the production and the singers heard at the first performance and added some thoughts on some of the cast's alternate singers heard at the second performance. Thursday night's performance offered the chance to hear the last two singers in the cast. Polish soprano Anna Siminska was indisposed at the second performance, when she was to have taken over the Queen of the Night from Kathryn Lewek. She went on on Thursday night and gave an accomplished if not immaculate rendition of the role's two dastardly arias, her dramatic stage presence enhanced by an accented pronunciation of the English words. The top notes were a little unreliable in both cases, although one had to admire her composure after she took a tumble to the floor in the middle of Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen, after appearing to trip on the hem of her costume. With a helping hand from her Pamina, Eri Nakamura (who went on for an indisposed Maureen McKay), she stood back up without missing a beat and finished the aria. The odd alteration schedule was in the role of Sarastro, with four early performances given to Soloman Howard and the rest to another American bass, Jordan Bisch, in his WNO debut. He was less stiff in the role, although not as solid vocally as Howard, taking some time for his voice to settle and not as resonant overall. First and second impressions of the rest of the cast remained largely the same, with the pleasing exception of the three ladies, who seemed to have improved their ensemble balance, with the lower two voices sounding a little more contained, thus stretching the first soprano into less strain. In the orchestra, the many fine solos by the flute stood out for praise, too. The video design and costumes did not become less distracting, and the English adaptation grated more on my ear. If you want to remind yourself of what the text is really like, as I did, here is the German text and a literal English translation. Two performances of this production remain, tonight and tomorrow, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Filed under Opera, Opera Reviews, Washington National Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart All the Possibilities, Layer of Mystery: Winogrand... Tan Dun, «The Tears of Nature» with Martin Grubing... Christopher Maltman: Truly, truly, truly a Masterp... Jeanine de Bique @ NMWA Lawrence Brownlee @ Vocal Arts Briefly Noted: Helmchen and d'Indy Mendelssohn Piano Trio, Understated Beethoven Hats off for Martin Helmchen In Brief: Call Your Mom Edition In Focus: Tarik O'Regan Briefly Noted: Tarik O'Regan À mon chevet: 'The Old Man and the Boy' 'Magic Flute' B Cast 'Magic Flute' at Washington National Opera Chanticleer in Georgetown Koussevitsky Celebration @ LoC In Brief: Queen of the May Edition Briefly Noted: 'Pyrrhus' Opera Lafayette Celebrates Rameau À mon chevet: 'El llano en llamas'	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line518
__label__wiki	0.815876	0.815876	City Council Meeting Focused on George Floyd June 13, 2020 /in header, Latest News, News /by Sally Deering Chorus of Residents Calls For Police Department Reforms In the wake of recent protests spurred by the killing of Minnesota resident George Floyd, residents of Jersey City called on the City Council to divest the police department of funding and invest more money in social services instead. To that end, the council voted Wednesday night to pass a resolution, initiated by Council President Joyce E. Watterman, that establishes an advisory committee to review the department’s “policies and procedures relating to police enforcement and discrimination.” “In May, the situation that happened to George Floyd was horrible,” Council President Watterman said. “Being a black woman, I know what it’s like to be discriminated against. To deal with racism, you have to start somewhere. It’s an ugly thing and not easy to tackle. We have an opportunity now to get rid of some of the ugliness black folks have been facing for centuries.” The council voted to designate May 25 as Black Lives Matter Day. It also voted unanimously to appoint Elizabeth Castillo chief financial officer of Jersey City, to re-appoint Carlo Abad chief judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court, and on an urban farming initiative and other ordinances and resolutions. Divesting and Investing During the public comments section of the meeting, Jersey City resident A’driana Williams spoke to the City Council about attending a rally outside City Hall, last week, where more than 4,000 people voiced their support for Black Lives Matter. Williams and several other callers advocated defunding the police department and re-allocating that money to Jersey City’s public schools and to public programs that serve the needs of the community. “I’m a student, and I know how much this district has failed me in terms of how much money has gone into the resources in our schools,” Williams told the council. “We have more security guards and police than nurses. We need to put more resources into our communities instead of more police. Our city’s budget is a reflection of its priorities. We need to show the city that our black citizens matter. Our education matters. Our tax dollars matter. Everything about us matters.” Septuagenarian Doud David Williams said he believes a community review board is necessary to get rid of “bad apples” on the police force. He also said Jersey City police officers should be required to reside in Jersey City. “If we had policemen who lived here, there would be a different attitude,” Williams said. “I remember Glenn Cunningham and Charlie Jackson, all of them lived in Jersey City in the black community. We need good policing and redistribution of funds that could go to social services that perhaps would be better in some areas than police.” Another resident, Stanley Smith, presented a list of stipulations for police reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. He is seeking increased accountability for the use of excessive force, a community policing model that puts officers back on the beat, mandatory police de-escalation training, and increased mental health support for law enforcement. Scott Welfel of Jersey City called in to say this moment in time presents a unique opportunity to re-imagine what Jersey City residents want from their police department. “If you have a family member who suffers from addiction or has a mental illness and has an episode, who do you want to show up?” Welfel said. “Do you want someone with a gun who is trained with a command and control mentality, or do you want a professional and what they know about mental illness, what they know about addiction? What they know is to respond to this person as a human being to talk them down from that crisis, to get them the resources that they need. So, a council resolution that talks about an advisory committee? That is not re-imagining … no. Let’s take this moment to fully and fundamentally re-imagine the society we want to live in.” The council voted 8–1 in favor of the resolution to establish an advisory committee with Ward C Councilman Richard Boggiano abstaining. Up for a vote was a resolution authorizing Jersey City to contract with AeroFarms for $987,646 to construct and maintain indoor vertical gardens at 11 city-owned properties. Back in September 2011, the city contracted with Friends of the Lifers Urban Farming Initiative to create a fully-sustainable hydroponic farm and farmer’s market in impoverished areas of Jersey City, but it was eventually abandoned. Now, the city hopes to grow vegetables (specifically lettuce) hydroponically to give away to Jersey City residents. “We used to have community gardens; now they’re gone,” Councilman Boggiano said. “At a time like this, we don’t need this.” Ward E Councilman James Solomon said he didn’t see the need to rush the resolution forward. “Without local job guarantees in the contract, there’s way more detail to go through,” he said. Council at Large Rolando Lavarro, Jr., pointed out that although the vegetables would be free to Jersey City residents, they should only go to those in need. “While it’s great the vegetables are free, I’m not sure of the cost analysis,” Councilman Lavarro said. “The one thing I will point out is that it is eligible to anyone who is a Jersey City resident, and I would urge Jersey City to put income qualifications on this. We should provide food for those who need food.” The resolution was approved 6–3 with Councilmen Boggiano, Solomon, and Lavarro dissenting. Black Lives Matter Day To honor the death of George Floyd, Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson introduced a resolution declaring May 25 Black Lives Matter Day. The council voted unanimously to approve it. “That horrific incident prompted communities all over the globe to acknowledge the inequalities of black life in the United States,” Councilman Robinson said. “I grew up in a household where I was told by my parents I mattered. On May 25, the world recognized that black lives really matter.” For other coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement in Jersey City, click here.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line519
__label__wiki	0.852057	0.852057	Home Authors Posts by Professor Robert Shiller Professor Robert Shiller http://project-syndicate.org Nobel Laureate Robert J. Shiller: Is Russia’s National Character Authoritarian? Professor Robert Shiller - March 14, 2016 0 Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: Crowdfunding or Crowdphishing? Professor Robert Shiller - November 19, 2015 0 Nobel Laureate Robert J. Shiller: Fraud, Fools, ... Professor Robert Shiller - September 17, 2015 0 Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: The Mirage of the Financial Singularity Professor Robert Shiller - July 15, 2015 0 Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: How Scary Is the Bond Market? Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: What Good Are Economists? Professor Robert Shiller - January 16, 2015 0 Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: Creativity, Corporatism, and... Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller: Parallels to 1937 Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller : Booming Until It Hurts? Nobel Laureate Prof. Robert Shiller : Inequality Disaster Prevention Professor Robert Shiller - May 14, 2014 0	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line520
__label__cc	0.687321	0.312679	Category: Mert Alas Posted in 'Like a prayer', Currently Reading, Givenchy, Gracing Pages, Interview Magazine, Karl Templer, L’wren Scott, MADONNA, Marcus Piggott, Mert + Marcus, Mert Alas, newstands, photos, pictures, Versace Gracing Pages: MADONNA Graces The Pages of Interview Magazine Posted on May 6, 2010 May 6, 2010 by JNEL & J. Magazine MAGAZINE: Interview NEWSTANDS: May 2010 MODELS: Madonna PHOTOGRAPHER: Marcus Piggott, Mert Alas WEBSITE: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/ NOTES: ‘Like a prayer’, Madonna shot by Mert + Marcus for Interview May 2010. Love her or hate her, the queen of pop nabs the cover of this month’s Interview photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Taking on ensembles from the likes of Versace, L’wren Scott and Givenchy, the musician gets rebellious with the help of lace, leather and a few dangerous accessories styled by Karl Templer. How has Madonna the singer, dancer, actress, writer, activist, shape-shifting re-inventor eternal controversialist, fashion icon, newly minted film director, and toned single mother of four, managed to become one of the most influential artists of multiple generations? By choosing “dare” every single time. Here are some highlights from his interview. GUS VAN SANT: Hey, Madonna. MADONNA: Gus, is that you? VAN SANT: Yes. I’m at my house in L.A., just reading the paper. MADONNA: Are you living in L.A. now? VAN SANT: I still live in Portland [Oregon], but I have a place in L.A., and I’m starting to work on this film down here. MADONNA: You’re always working on a film. VAN SANT: Usually. MADONNA: But that’s what you do. VAN SANT: It’s my habit. [laughs] I heard you’re going to Africa. MADONNA: Yeah. I go to Malawi twice a year. It’s where two of my children were adopted from, and I have a lot of projects there that I go and check up on and children who I look after. It’s sort of a commitment that I’ve made to this country and the hundreds of thousands of children there who have been orphaned by AIDS. I made a documentary about it [I Am Because We Are, 2008], and it’s just become part of my life. I’m going to meet with Jeffrey Sachs [the economist]. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He’s starting a global education initiative, and I’m going to be his Girl Friday, so to speak. We’re going to hold a press conference to talk about the school for girls that I’m building in Malawi. It’s kind of our way of making sure that every kid has a chance to have an education-more specifically girls, but boys as well. Girls, though, in a lot of developing countries don’t have the opportunity to go to school, nor are they encouraged to go to school, so what we’re doing is the beginning of a dream. But I’m going to Malawi for lots of reasons. “I think it’s good to get into arguments with people and have them say, “That sucks” or “You’re crazy” or “That’s cheesy” or “What do you think of this?” If anything, it helps you understand what you believe. —Madonna “Seymour Stein is the person who signed me and gave me my first record deal, which was my only record deal… He was in the hospital, and he had me come in to visit him… He made me bring my boom box and play my music for him. He was laying there in bed in his boxer shorts and a wife-beater.—Madonna” For more on MADONNA, check out the rest of her interview + watch the video at Interview Magazine. Check out some more photos of Madonna below…. Photo Credit: Interview Posted in AD XPRESS, Armani, David Beckham, fashion, Fashion News, Marcus Piggott, Mert Alas, Oh Snap! Photographer, Victoria Beckham, W Magazine Ad Xpress: Victoria Beckham for Armani Underwear S/S ’09 Posted on January 21, 2009 by JNEL & J. Magazine Victoria Beckham for Armani Underwear S/S ’09 Ad Campaign. Shots were taken by the fashion photographer duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who also shot last year’s spread of W Magazine, where Victoria posed along with her husband, David Beckham.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line522
__label__wiki	0.708076	0.708076	State Tax Subsidies for Private K-12 Education Read the Full Report Including Appendices in PDF One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax credits and deductions that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools. Twenty states currently divert a total of over $1 billion per year toward private schools via special tax credits and deductions.[1] These tax subsidies are essentially backdoor voucher programs, or “neovouchers,” as they use the tax code to provide what amount to private school vouchers even when traditional voucher programs are unpopular with the public or outright unconstitutional.[2] Because of the ways that state and federal tax law interact, the subsidies offered in nine of these states turn the concept of a charitable “donation” on its head by offering upper-income taxpayers a risk-free profit on contributions they make to fund private school scholarships. In these cases, even taxpayers who would not ordinarily be interested in contributing to private schools may find the incentive too strong to ignore. Some states have seen an entire year’s allotment of tax credits claimed within days, or even hours, of being made available as wealthy taxpayers seek to capture their share of the profits associated with convoluted “neovoucher” systems. In effect, states that have encountered political or constitutional obstacles to spending public dollars on private schools have instead set up a system that allows wealthy taxpayers to enjoy a profit by facilitating such spending on the state’s behalf. This report explains the workings, and problems, with state-level tax subsidies for private K-12 education. It also discusses how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has exacerbated some of these problems by allowing taxpayers to claim federal charitable deductions even on private school contributions that were not truly charitable in nature. Finally, an appendix to this report provides additional detail on the specific K-12 private school tax subsidies made available by each state. TYPES OF TAX CREDITS AND DEDUCTIONS State-level tax provisions designed to subsidize private schools typically fall into one of two categories: those designed to facilitate the granting of private school scholarships, and those designed to offset private school expenses for families with children enrolled in such schools. Tax subsidies for private school scholarships The most common, and most costly, tax subsidies for private education are intended to encourage businesses and/or individuals to contribute to organizations that distribute private school scholarships to qualifying students. Seventeen states offer tax credits designed to accomplish this purpose (see Figure 1), and their design varies considerably by state: Sixteen states offer nonrefundable scholarship credits, with some of these limited to a certain percentage of tax liability. In Georgia, for example, the scholarship credit cannot be used to offset more than 75 percent of income tax liability in a given year. Many of these credits can be “carried forward,” however, meaning that if a taxpayer does not owe enough tax to be able to use the credit this year, they can opt to claim some or all of the credit in later years. Louisiana is the only state where the scholarship credit is refundable—actually administered as a rebate—and therefore not tied to tax liability in any way. Scholarship tax credits range from 50 percent of the contribution amount (Indiana and Oklahoma) to 100 percent of the total contribution (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Nevada, and South Carolina). Credits equal to 100 percent of the contribution are designed to allow taxpayers to redirect their tax payments toward private institutions at no cost to themselves. In practice, the actual tax benefits for credit recipients can sometimes even exceed the size of the donation. When the impact of state tax credits is combined with federal tax deductions (and sometimes state tax deductions as well), some taxpayers can actually turn a profit by making these so-called “donations”—an outcome described in detail below. Of the seventeen states that offer a scholarship credit, seven states only extend their credits and deductions to businesses (Florida, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Dakota). Notably, four of these states do not levy personal income taxes. Among the ten states that allow both businesses and individuals to claim scholarship credits, four states (Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Virginia) allow businesses to claim a larger credit than individual taxpayers. While the scholarships funded by many of these tax credits are limited to low- or middle-income families, states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Montana offer at least some of the scholarships with no income restrictions. Some states place further limits on scholarship eligibility beyond income level, such as Pennsylvania where students must live in a “low-achieving” school zone and Kansas where students over six years of age must have been enrolled in a public school during the previous school year. These requirements have not always been strictly enforced, however, such as when the Georgia Department of Education signed off on parents “enrolling” their children in public schools to gain eligibility for the scholarship program, despite having no intention of allowing their children to attend the public schools in which they enrolled.[3] Aggregate limits on the size of these credits vary widely. Oklahoma’s credit is capped at just $3.4 million, for example, while Florida’s cap is set at almost $700 million for Fiscal Year 2018.[4] Tax subsidies for private school tuition and/or expenses Eight states offer tax credits or deductions to individuals to defray the cost of attending a private school (see Figure 1). The design of these tax subsidies varies considerably across states: Four states structure their subsidies as deductions, while five states offer tax credits (Minnesota offers both). Tax credit design also varies by state, with Illinois and Iowa allowing only “nonrefundable” credits that can offset, but not exceed, the taxpayer’s income tax bill. Alabama, Minnesota, and South Carolina offer “refundable” credits that are not dependent on earning enough to owe income tax. The private school expenses that qualify for the tax subsidy vary by state. Wisconsin’s deduction is limited to private school tuition, for example, while Indiana applies its deduction much more broadly to include not just tuition but also textbooks, fees, software, tutoring, and school supplies. Minnesota offers a deduction for both tuition and expenses, as well as a refundable credit that can only be applied against non-tuition expenses. Most state tax subsidies for private school expenses are available to all families regardless of income level or other characteristics. In South Carolina, however, the credit is only available to families with exceptional needs children. In Alabama the benefit is only available for children enrolled in a public school judged to be “failing.” And in Minnesota, the credit portion of the subsidy begins phasing out for families with incomes above $33,500. Each state uses a different formula for calculating the subsidy and imposes different limits on the size of the subsidy. Deductions range in size from $1,000 per dependent in Indiana to $10,000 per dependent (grades 9-12) in Wisconsin. Tax credits vary significantly as well, with more generous credits confined to states such as Alabama and South Carolina that, as mentioned above, only allow a small subset of students to claim them. The broader credits made available to all, or most, private school students vary from a maximum of $250 per dependent in Illinois and Iowa to $1,000 per dependent in Minnesota. SUBSIDIES RUN AMOK: PROFITING FROM SCHOLARSHIP “DONATIONS” In 2011, the IRS issued a memo indicating that taxpayers can claim a federal charitable deduction for private school scholarship donations even when those donations are also subsidized with a state tax credit.[5] While the memo states that it “may not be used or cited as precedent,” scholarship organizations in over dozen states have been advising their donors that their contributions are eligible for a federal tax deduction in addition to a state tax credit.[6] For some high-income taxpayers, this dual benefit can turn a scholarship “donation” into a profit-generating scheme where the total tax cut received significantly exceeds the size of the original donation. It should therefore come as little surprise that in some states, the entire allotment of available credits is often claimed just hours after state tax officials begin accepting applications. A close look at South Carolina’s scholarship tax credit illustrates how this works. In the Palmetto State, taxpayers receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for any “donations” they make to certain nonprofit scholarship funding organizations—thereby making the donation essentially costless to the taxpayer. Assuming the taxpayer itemizes on their federal return, the immediate federal tax consequence of a donation is twofold: the taxpayer’s charitable deductions increase by the amount of the donation, and the taxpayer’s state income tax deduction falls by the amount of the tax credit they received. At first, this may appear to result in a wash for the taxpayer. But this is not always the case because in some instances, charitable deductions are more valuable than deductions for state income taxes paid. At the federal level, one of these instances arises when taxpayers are subject to the individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).[7] The AMT is designed to ensure that taxpayers receiving generous tax breaks pay at least some minimum level of federal income tax. This is accomplished by denying certain tax breaks under AMT rules, including the deduction for state and local tax payments. Charitable donations, however, are still tax deductible under the AMT. So the ability to reclassify state income tax payments as charitable donations via a scholarship tax credit can be of significant benefit to taxpayers subject to the federal AMT—a group overwhelmingly comprised of taxpayers earning over $200,000 per year.[8] The amount of benefit that can be realized by this reclassification depends on the amount of AMT owed and the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate under the AMT. Since marginal tax rates under the AMT range as high as 35 percent (after taking into account the AMT exemption phase-out), every dollar donated can potentially result in a federal tax cut of up to 35 cents. When combined with a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit, this means that a private school “donation” in South Carolina is better than costless, and can actually result in a risk-free return as high as 35 percent of every dollar “donated.” As shown in Figure 2, South Carolina’s 35 percent maximum return on scholarship contributions is one the most lucrative in the nation. Of the nine states where taxpayers can turn a profit by claiming federal and state tax benefits on the same contribution, only Montana matches South Carolina in offering potential profit margins of this size. However, Montana places a limit on the maximum donation that can be subsidized via a credit—the state’s $300 cap means that no taxpayer will receive more than $105 in profit in a given year.[9] The next highest profit margin (33 percent) is available in Alabama, where a much higher cap on eligible donations ($50,000) allows for profits as large as $16,625 per year. But South Carolina’s limits on tax credit claims are significantly looser than in either of these two states. The maximum size of any taxpayer’s credit in South Carolina is not subject to a firm cap, though taxpayers cannot receive credits in excess of 60 percent of their tax liability and the state will not distribute more than $10 million in total credits in a given year. In the other six states where these tax credits can be paired with deductions to turn a profit, various tax rules (e.g., lower credit percentages, interactions with state itemized deduction rules, or the offsetting effects of state deductions for federal taxes paid) reduce the percentage yields to 30 percent or less.[10] Nonetheless, scholarship contributors with sufficient resources and enough knowledge of the federal AMT can still earn tens of thousands of dollars, or more, risk free in a single year. While a tax savvy business owner in Pennsylvania, for example, faces a lower profit margin (up to 25 percent) than in Alabama (up to 33 percent), Pennsylvania’s much higher cap on eligible donations allows for much larger potential profits. Under the right set of circumstances, a Pennsylvania business owner could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit in a single year. Other states with particularly lucrative scholarship tax benefits include Arizona and Virginia, where business owners are eligible to receive tax credits without limit.[11] Many scholarship organizations have realized that the profit-generating opportunities outlined above may appeal to donors that would not otherwise be interested in giving to private schools. One organization based in Georgia, for example, brags to potential donors that “you will end with more money than when you started”[12] Similarly, a tax lawyer in Alabama notes on her firm’s website that for taxpayers subject to the AMT, “donating” will actually “put money in your pocket.”[13] Private schools in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania have attempted to demonstrate the potential monetary gains of “donating” with hypothetical examples showing the financial returns of participating in their states’ programs.[14] And while they may not hold the program in high regard, a wealth management firm in Virginia notes that a taxpayer can enjoy a savings that is “more than their original donation” before going on to explain that “There is very little logic to the tax code. Even if you don’t agree with the law, you should take advantages of the tax benefits.”[15] Wealthy taxpayers appear to have taken notice. In Georgia, the state’s entire allotment of $58 million in scholarship credits was claimed in a single day on January 1, 2016.[16] Later in the year, the same occurred within a matter of hours with regard to $67 million of credits in Arizona and $763,550 in credits in Rhode Island.[17] While taxpayer confidentiality laws generally conceal the magnitude of the benefits received by specific claimants, a journalist in South Carolina estimated that one savvy, anonymous taxpayer was able to reap a profit of between $100,000 and $638,000 in 2014 by stacking state, and possibly federal, deductions on top of scholarship tax credits.[18] Other Types of Tax Benefit Stacking For taxpayers subject to the federal Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), federal charitable deductions are typically the most lucrative tax benefit that can be stacked on top of state scholarship tax credits. But there at least two other types of tax preferences that can be claimed alongside these credits in certain states. First, while most states prohibit taxpayers from claiming a state-level charitable deduction for donations that were also eligible for a state tax credit, three states (Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Virginia) actually allow this type of double dipping.* Since Oklahoma and Virginia do not allow taxpayers to deduct their state income tax payments from their state tax bills, converting non-deductible state tax payments into deductible charitable “donations” is a lucrative benefit. In Louisiana, where both state income tax payments and charitable donations are deductible, the benefit is smaller since only the portion of the donation that is not directly offset by a state tax credit triggers a tax benefit. Second, South Carolina and Virginia allow taxpayers to receive scholarship credits not just on cash donations, but also on the market value of any stock that they donate. This feature opens the door to additional profit opportunities for investors in these states. When a taxpayer donates stock that has appreciated in value, they receive not just the state tax credit and state and federal charitable deductions already described, but also the ability to avoid paying any state or federal tax on the capital gains income generated by that stock. When donating stock that has grown significantly in value since it was purchased, the tax benefit of this “donation” can far exceed the actual value of the stock donated.** * An ITEP review of those states where credits are available under the personal income tax found that donations subsidized via a state tax credit cannot also be taken as a state deduction for charitable contributions in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, and South Carolina. Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island do not allow charitable deductions of any kind. ** The potential profit opportunities depend on the degree to which the stock has appreciated in value. For example, one hypothetical scenario circulated by a Catholic school and associated foundation in Roanoke, Virginia depicts a taxpayer enjoying a risk-free return of 19.4 percent on their “donation.” Roanoke Catholic School and McMahon Parater Foundation for Education. “Frequently Asked Questions: Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits.” March 2014. Available at:https://s3.amazonaws.com/roanokecatholicschool/roanokecatholicschool/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/EISTC-Donor-FAQ-3-14-Roanoke.pdf. OTHER ISSUES WITH PRIVATE SCHOOL TAX SUBSIDIES Tax subsidies, or neovouchers, for private education are problematic both as tax policies and as education policy initiatives. Aside from the profit-making schemes just described, other issues associated with these programs include: Dubious educational benefits for recipients. Neovouchers are often touted as a way to improve educational outcomes by making it possible for families in areas with underperforming public schools to send their children to private schools instead. But there is little evidence that voucher programs of any kind have improved educational outcomes, and some recent studies suggest that students switching from public to private schools in Indiana and Louisiana actually scored lower on reading and math tests after making the switch.[19] Moreover, it can be difficult for parents to determine the actual quality of private schools in their area when those schools are not subject to the same accountability mechanisms as public schools. In Pennsylvania, for instance, schools benefiting from the state’s neovoucher program are exempt from state testing requirements and from reporting information on student progress or achievement.[20] Erosion of the public education system. While neovouchers are unlikely to improve educational outcomes for students moving to private schools, the negative impact on those students remaining in public schools is even clearer. Thirty neovouchers across twenty states are draining over $1 billion in public revenues from state coffers every year. Every dollar of revenue diverted toward private schools is revenue that cannot be invested in the public education system. Allowing certain taxpayers to opt out of funding an institution as fundamentally important as the nation’s public school system erodes the public’s level of investment in that institution—both literally and figuratively. Exaggerated cost savings. Neovoucher proponents often claim that state and local governments can realize substantial savings by moving students out of the public school system and into private schools. But while reductions in public school enrollment may reduce certain costs in certain circumstances, many costs are relatively fixed (maintenance, utilities, administration, etc.) and cannot be easily cut when students leave.[21] Moreover, when neovouchers are provided to families whose children would have been enrolled in private school anyway, the result is a loss of revenue without any actual reduction in enrollment or school district expenses. Research on Arizona’s tax credit program, for instance, found that most spending is directed toward students already enrolled in private schools.[22] And dramatic increases in funding for Arizona’s neovoucher programs do not appear to be leading to an exodus of public school students—enrollment in private schools has stagnated while public school enrollment has increased significantly.[23] Poorly targeted. Though frequently justified as a lifeline for disadvantaged children, the beneficiaries of neovoucher programs are often not low-income students. States such as Oklahoma and Pennsylvania allow upper-middle income families to benefit from scholarship subsidies, while other states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Montana allow even high-income families to benefit. Subsidies for tuition and other private school expenses are also typically made available regardless of income level. Making matters worse are the specific design decisions behind many of these tax subsidies. Tax deductions and nonrefundable credits are of no help to low-income families that earn too little to owe income tax. For that reason, even neovoucher advocates have suggested converting programs such as Wisconsin’s tuition deduction into refundable credits (though it is important to note that such a conversion would likely result in a dramatic increase the program’s overall cost).[24] Constitutional issues. Advocates of state subsidies for private education, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), often encourage states to administer their voucher programs via the tax code in order to circumvent state constitutional prohibitions on the public funding of religious schools.[25] According to ALEC, while lawmakers in eighteen states are constitutionally forbidden from offering direct vouchers for religious schools, tax credit neovouchers can be used to accomplish a nearly identical result in all but two of those states.[26] In some cases, these schools have curricula (such as biblical versions of science and history) or personnel policies (such as firing teachers if they enter a same-sex marriage or become pregnant outside of wedlock) that would be prohibited at a public institution and that raise questions about the appropriateness of directing public dollars toward these schools.[27] Arizona is perhaps the most well-known example of a state that succeeded in labeling its subsidies as “tax reductions” rather than “direct spending” in order to circumvent its own constitution. In 1998, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled 3-2 in Kotterman v. Killian that, unlike a traditional voucher, the state’s tax credit scholarships were not in violation of the Arizona Constitution in part because the credits are technically diverted to private schools before reaching the state’s coffers. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion in a 5-4 ruling in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn. But while neovouchers have so far been upheld on relatively narrow grounds, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan cut to the heart of the matter when she explained in her dissent that “cash grants and targeted tax breaks are means of accomplishing the same government objective—to provide financial support to select individuals or organizations.” Lack of budgetary oversight. Subsidies for private education provided via neovouchers are often not subject to the same budgetary oversight as ordinary spending on public education. Most notably, once a neovoucher is enacted into law it typically continues indefinitely without reexamination as part of the appropriations process. Moreover, those neovouchers not subject to an aggregate budgetary cap can grow significantly in cost without any action on the part of lawmakers. And even those neovouchers that are subject to caps sometimes see the cap structured in a way that allows for growth that far outpaces other areas of the budget, such as one of Arizona’s neovouchers for corporate taxpayers which is currently growing at a rate of 20 percent per year.[28] Rather than enhancing educational opportunities, tax subsidies for private education often benefit students already enrolled in private schools while reducing the amount of state revenue available for public schools. Worse still, they undermine support for public education and give credence to the false notion that citizens who send their children to private schools have no obligation to support public schools. On top of these problems, upper-income families that are able to exploit complex interactions between state and federal tax law can sometimes use these backdoor subsidies to generate a profit for themselves. This is made possible largely because the IRS currently allows taxpayers to claim a charitable deduction for private school contributions even when those contributions were fully reimbursed by the state and were therefore not truly charitable in nature. The resulting profits being collected by a small group of savvy taxpayers represent a drain on public revenue that ultimately benefits neither private nor public school students. Neovouchers are an inefficient and opaque way of redirecting public dollars toward private schools. Nonetheless, these tax subsidies are being enacted in a growing number of states. It appears that their growing prevalence is partly attributable to their usefulness in sidestepping state constitutional restrictions, and partly because their lack of transparency helps avoid opposition from a public that generally opposes spending public funds on private schools. APPENDIX: DETAILS ON STATE TAX SUBSIDIES FOR PRIVATE K-12 EDUCATION Download Full Appendix as an Excel Spreadsheet Note: This report was updated in May 2017 to acknowledge that South Carolina taxpayers can profit by donating stock that has appreciated in value, and that Louisiana’s tuition donation rebate does not allow taxpayers to turn a profit because the rebate is considered to be taxable income in the year in which it is received. [1] ITEP calculation using data compiled in the appendix of this report. [2] A 2013 poll found that 70 percent of the public opposes “allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense.” Bushaw, William J. and Shane J. Lopez. “Which way do we go? The 45th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward Public Schools.” September 2013. Available at: https://www.au.org/files/pdf_documents/2013_PDKGallup.pdf. Arizona may be the most prominent example of a state adopting a neovoucher program as a way to circumvent a constitutional prohibition on public funding of traditional vouchers. “Private School Tax Credits Divert Public Dollars for Private Benefits. Children’s Action Alliance. January 2016. Available at: http://azchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Private-School-Tax-Credit-brief-12-151.pdf. For additional discussion of the similarities between vouchers and neovouchers, see: Welner, Kevin. “’Neovouchers’: A Primer on Private School Tax Credits.” The Washington Post. March 3, 2013. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/03/neovouchers-a-primer-on-private-school-tax-credits/. [3] Saul, Stephanie. “Public Money Finds Back Door to Private Schools.” The New York Times. May 21, 2012. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/education/scholarship-funds-meant-for-needy-benefit-private-schools.html. [4] “Florida Tax Credit Scholarships.” Florida Department of Education. Available at: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/ftc/. Accessed October 7, 2016. [5] Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel. Memorandum Number 201105010. February 4, 2011. Available at: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/1105010.pdf. Johnson, Sarah K. “Making a Profit From Charitable Donations in South Carolina.” State Tax Notes. August 25, 2014. Available at: http://www.taxhistory.org/www/features.nsf/Articles/4DEDCC0086226CF085257E1C004B1591?OpenDocument. [6] An ITEP review found scholarship organizations advising donors that they can claim the federal charitable deduction in addition to state tax credits in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. [7] The corporate AMT faced by C corporations does not allow for the same type of gaming described in this report. [8] IRS Statistics of Income data for Tax Year 2014 indicate that 82 percent of returns owing AMT, and 93 percent of dollar raised via the AMT, are associated with this group. Taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 per year are most likely to be affected by the AMT, with 61 percent of this group owing some amount under the levy. By comparison, 45 percent of taxpayers earning between $500,000 and $1 million owe some amount of AMT, as well as 19 percent of taxpayers earning over $1 million. [9] The cap is $150 for individuals and $300 for married couples filing jointly. [10] Scholarship credits in another seven states cannot be used to turn a profit because the credit percentage is too small (Indiana), the credit cannot be paired with a state charitable deduction (Iowa), or because the credit is not available to taxpayers subject to the personal income tax and thus the federal individual AMT does not apply (Florida, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Dakota). [11] Arizona and Virginia do cap the overall amount of tax credits available statewide each year, however. [12] “Request 2017 Tax Credit: Does Georgia Pay You to Donate?” Pay It Forward Scholarships. Available at: http://www.payitforwardscholarships.com/donate. Accessed on October 7, 2016. [13] White, Ashley. “Save On Your Alabama Income Taxes and Reduce your Alternative Minimum Tax by Donating to a Scholarship Granting Organization.” Hall Albright Garrison & Associates. November 18, 2013. [14] The Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma. “Catholic Schools: Opportunity Scholarship Fund.” Summer 2015. Available at: http://cfook.org/documents/links-resources-1/43-catholic-schools-opportunity-scholarship-fund-brochure-summer-2015-1/file. Cornerstone Christian Preparatory Academy. “Tax credit accounting details.” Available at: http://www.cornerstoneprep.net/ways-to-help/taxcreditinfo.cfm. [15] Marotta, David John and Megan Russell. “Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits.” Marotta Wealth Management. August 16, 2015. Available at: http://www.emarotta.com/education-improvement-scholarship-tax-credits/. [16] The Howard School. “Georgia Tax Credit.” Accessed October 7, 2016. Available at: https://www.howardschool.org/development/georgia-tax-credit. [17] E-mail from Karen Jacobs, Arizona Department of Revenue. August 30, 2016. See also: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. “Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations.” Accessed October 7, 2016. Available at: http://www.tax.ri.gov/Credits/index.php. [18] Slade, David. “S.C. tax rule creates a way to profit by funding private school scholarships.” The Post and Courier. July 13, 2014. Available at: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140713/PC05/140719981. [19] For discussions of some of this literature, see: “Analysis of Indiana School Choice Scholarship Program.” Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. April 2015. Available at: http://www.ctbaonline.org/file/413/download?token=VPyo6T1H. Dynarski, Mark. “On negative effects of vouchers.” Evidence Speaks Reports, Vol 1, #18. Brookings Institution. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/research/on-negative-effects-of-vouchers/. [20] Herzenberg, Stephen. “No Accountability: Pennsylvania’s Track Record Using Tax Credits to Pay for Private and Religious School Tuition.” Keystone Research Center. April 2011. Available at: http://keystoneresearch.org/EITC-accountability. [21] “Transforming Philadelphia’s Public Schools: Key findings and recommendations.” The Boston Consulting Group. August 2012. Available at: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/v_/IF/v_IFJYCOr72CBKDpRrGAAQ/BCG-Summary-Findings-and-Recommendations_August_2012.pdf. [22] Wilson, Glen Y., “The Equity Impact of Arizona’s Education Tax Credit Program: A Review of the First Three Years.” Arizona State University Education Policy Research Unit (http://epsl.asu.edu/epru/documents/EPRU%202002-110/epru-0203-110.htm) [23] “Private School Tax Credits Divert Public Dollars for Private Benefits.” Children’s Action Alliance. January 2016. Available at: http://azchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Private-School-Tax-Credit-brief-12-151.pdf. [24] “School Choice: Wisconsin—K-12 Private School Tuition Deduction.” EdChoice. Available at: https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/wisconsin-k-12-private-school-tuition-deduction/. Accessed October 7, 2016. [25] Komer, Richard D. and Olivia Grady. “School Choice and State Constitutions: A Guide to Designing School Choice Programs.” A joint publication of the Institute for Justice and the American Legislative Exchange Council. Second Edition. September 2016. Available at: http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/50-state-SC-report-2016-web.pdf. [26] Ibid. The sixteen states allowing neovouchers but not ordinary vouchers include Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. In Massachusetts and Michigan, both vouchers and neovouchers are unconstitutional. According to ALEC, Educational Savings Accounts are constitutional in Arizona though traditional vouchers are not. [27] Saul, Stephanie. “Public Money Finds Back Door to Private Schools.” The New York Times. May 21, 2012. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/education/scholarship-funds-meant-for-needy-benefit-private-schools.html. Garofoli, Joe. “Oakland Diocese requiring educators to conform to church teachings.” The San Francisco Chronicle. May 9, 2014. Available at: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Oakland-Diocese-requiring-educators-to-conform-to-5464492.php. [28] The credit described here is designed to grow from $10 million in 2007 to $107 million in 2020. “Private School Tax Credits Divert Public Dollars for Private Benefits. Children’s Action Alliance. January 2016. Available at: http://azchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Private-School-Tax-Credit-brief-12-151.pdf. One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax credits and deductions that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools. Twenty states currently divert a total of over $1 billion per year toward private schools via special tax credits and deductions. These tax subsidies are essentially backdoor voucher programs, or “neovouchers,” as they use the tax code to provide what amount to private school vouchers even when traditional voucher programs are unpopular with the public or outright unconstitutional. Because of the ways that state and federal tax law interact, the subsidies offered in ten of these states turn the concept of a charitable “donation” on its head by offering upper-income taxpayers a risk-free profit on contributions they make to fund private school scholarships. In these cases, even taxpayers who would not ordinarily be interested in contributing to private schools may find the incentive too strong to ignore. Some states have seen an entire year’s allotment of tax credits claimed within days, or even hours, of being made available as wealthy taxpayers seek to capture their share of the profits associated with convoluted “neovoucher” systems. In effect, states that have encountered political or constitutional obstacles to spending public dollars on private schools have instead set up a system that allows wealthy taxpayers to enjoy a profit by facilitating such spending on the state’s behalf. • Sixteen states offer nonrefundable scholarship credits, with some of these limited to a certain percentage of tax liability. In Georgia, for example, the scholarship credit cannot be used to offset more than 75 percent of income tax liability in a given year. Many of these credits can be “carried forward,” however, meaning that if a taxpayer does not owe enough tax to be able to use the credit this year, they can opt to claim some or all of the credit in later years. Louisiana is the only state where the scholarship credit is refundable—actually administered as a rebate—and therefore not tied to tax liability in any way. • Scholarship tax credits range from 50 percent of the contribution amount (Indiana and Oklahoma) to 100 percent of the total contribution (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Nevada, and South Carolina). Credits equal to 100 percent of the contribution are designed to allow taxpayers to redirect their tax payments toward private institutions at no cost to themselves. In practice, the actual tax benefits for credit recipients can sometimes even exceed the size of the donation. When the impact of state tax credits is combined with federal tax deductions (and sometimes state tax deductions as well), some taxpayers can actually turn a profit by making these so-called “donations”—an outcome described in detail below. • Of the seventeen states that offer a scholarship credit, seven states only extend their credits and deductions to businesses (Florida, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Dakota). Notably, four of these states do not levy personal income taxes. Among the ten states that allow both businesses and individuals to claim scholarship credits, four states (Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Virginia) allow businesses to claim a larger credit than individual taxpayers. • While the scholarships funded by many of these tax credits are limited to low- or middle-income families, states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Montana offer at least some of the scholarships with no income restrictions. • Some states place further limits on scholarship eligibility beyond income level, such as Pennsylvania where students must live in a “low-achieving” school zone and Kansas where students over six years of age must have been enrolled in a public school during the previous school year. These requirements have not always been strictly enforced, however, such as when the Georgia Department of Education signed off on parents “enrolling” their children in public schools to gain eligibility for the scholarship program, despite having no intention of allowing their children to attend the public schools in which they enrolled. • Aggregate limits on the size of these credits vary widely. Oklahoma’s credit is capped at just $3.4 million, for example, while Florida’s cap is set at almost $700 million for Fiscal Year 2018. • Four states structure their subsidies as deductions, while five states offer tax credits (Minnesota offers both). Tax credit design also varies by state, with Illinois and Iowa allowing only “nonrefundable” credits that can offset, but not exceed, the taxpayer’s income tax bill. Alabama, Minnesota, and South Carolina offer “refundable” credits that are not dependent on earning enough to owe income tax. • The private school expenses that qualify for the tax subsidy vary by state. Wisconsin’s deduction is limited to private school tuition, for example, while Indiana applies its deduction much more broadly to include not just tuition but also textbooks, fees, software, tutoring, and school supplies. Minnesota offers a deduction for both tuition and expenses, as well as a refundable credit that can only be applied against non-tuition expenses. • Most state tax subsidies for private school expenses are available to all families regardless of income level or other characteristics. In South Carolina, however, the credit is only available to families with exceptional needs children. In Alabama the benefit is only available for children enrolled in a public school judged to be “failing.” And in Minnesota, the credit portion of the subsidy begins phasing out for families with incomes above $33,500. • Each state uses a different formula for calculating the subsidy and imposes different limits on the size of the subsidy. Deductions range in size from $1,000 per dependent in Indiana to $10,000 per dependent (grades 9-12) in Wisconsin. Tax credits vary significantly as well, with more generous credits confined to states such as Alabama and South Carolina that, as mentioned above, only allow a small subset of students to claim them. The broader credits made available to all, or most, private school students vary from a maximum of $250 per dependent in Illinois and Iowa to $1,000 per dependent in Minnesota. In 2011, the IRS issued a memo indicating that taxpayers can claim a federal charitable deduction for private school scholarship donations even when those donations are also subsidized with a state tax credit. While the memo states that it “may not be used or cited as precedent,” scholarship organizations in over dozen states have been advising their donors that their contributions are eligible for a federal tax deduction in addition to a state tax credit. For some high-income taxpayers, this dual benefit can turn a scholarship “donation” into a profit-generating scheme where the total tax cut received significantly exceeds the size of the original donation. It should therefore come as little surprise that in some states, the entire allotment of available credits is often claimed just hours after state tax officials begin accepting applications. At the federal level, one of these instances arises when taxpayers are subject to the individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT is designed to ensure that taxpayers receiving generous tax breaks pay at least some minimum level of federal income tax. This is accomplished by denying certain tax breaks under AMT rules, including the deduction for state and local tax payments. Charitable donations, however, are still tax deductible under the AMT. So the ability to reclassify state income tax payments as charitable donations via a scholarship tax credit can be of significant benefit to taxpayers subject to the federal AMT—a group overwhelmingly comprised of taxpayers earning over $200,000 per year. As shown in Figure 2, South Carolina’s 35 percent maximum return on scholarship contributions is one the most lucrative in the nation. Of the ten states where taxpayers can turn a profit by claiming federal and state tax benefits on the same contribution, only Alabama and Montana match South Carolina in offering potential profits margins of this size. However, both of these states place limits on the maximum donation that can be subsidized via a credit. Montana’s $300 cap means that no taxpayer will receive more than $105 in profit in a given year. Alabama’s much higher $50,000 cap allows for profits as large as $16,625 per year. By contrast, South Carolina’s limits are significantly looser. The maximum size of any given taxpayer’s credit is not subject to a firm cap, though taxpayers cannot receive credits in excess of 60 percent of their tax liability and the state will not distribute more than $10 million in total credits in a given year. In the other seven states where these tax credits can be paired with deductions to turn a profit, various tax rules (e.g., lower credit percentages, interactions with state itemized deduction rules, or the offsetting effects of state deductions for federal taxes paid) reduce the percentage yields to 30 percent or less. Nonetheless, scholarship contributors with sufficient resources and enough knowledge of the federal AMT can still earn tens of thousands of dollars, or more, risk free in a single year. While a tax savvy business owner in Pennsylvania, for example, faces a lower profit margin (up to 25 percent) than in Alabama (up to 35 percent), Pennsylvania’s much higher cap on eligible donations allows for much larger potential profits. Under the right set of circumstances, a Pennsylvania business owner could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit in a single year. Other states with particularly lucrative scholarship tax benefits include Arizona and Virginia, where business owners are eligible to receive tax credits without limit, and Louisiana where neither individuals nor businesses face a firm cap on their maximum annual tax credit Many scholarship organizations have realized that the profit-generating opportunities outlined above may appeal to donors that would not otherwise be interested in giving to private schools. One organization based in Georgia, for example, brags to potential donors that “you will end with more money than when you started” Similarly, a tax lawyer in Alabama notes on her firm’s website that for taxpayers subject to the AMT, “donating” will actually “put money in your pocket.” Private schools in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania have attempted to demonstrate the potential monetary gains of “donating” with hypothetical examples showing the financial returns of participating in their states’ programs. And while they may not hold the program in high regard, a wealth management firm in Virginia notes that a taxpayer can enjoy a savings that is “more than their original donation” before going on to explain that “There is very little logic to the tax code. Even if you don’t agree with the law, you should take advantages of the tax benefits.” Wealthy taxpayers appear to have taken notice. In Georgia, the state’s entire allotment of $58 million in scholarship credits was claimed in a single day on January 1, 2016. Later in the year, the same occurred within a matter of hours with regard to $67 million of credits in Arizona and $763,550 in credits in Rhode Island. While taxpayer confidentiality laws generally conceal the magnitude of the benefits received by specific claimants, a journalist in South Carolina estimated that one savvy, anonymous taxpayer was able to reap a profit of between $100,000 and $638,000 in 2014 by stacking state, and possibly federal, deductions on top of scholarship tax credits. • Dubious educational benefits for recipients. Neovouchers are often touted as a way to improve educational outcomes by making it possible for families in areas with underperforming public schools to send their children to private schools instead. But there is little evidence that voucher programs of any kind have improved educational outcomes, and some recent studies suggest that students switching from public to private schools in Indiana and Louisiana actually scored lower on reading and math tests after making the switch. Moreover, it can be difficult for parents to determine the actual quality of private schools in their area when those schools are not subject to the same accountability mechanisms as public schools. In Pennsylvania, for instance, schools benefiting from the state’s neovoucher program are exempt from state testing requirements and from reporting information on student progress or achievement. • Erosion of the public education system. While neovouchers are unlikely to improve educational outcomes for students moving to private schools, the negative impact on those students remaining in public schools is even clearer. Thirty neovouchers across twenty states are draining over $1 billion in public revenues from state coffers every year. Every dollar of revenue diverted toward private schools is revenue that cannot be invested in the public education system. Allowing certain taxpayers to opt out of funding an institution as fundamentally important as the nation’s public school system erodes the public’s level of investment in that institution—both literally and figuratively. • Exaggerated cost savings. Neovoucher proponents often claim that state and local governments can realize substantial savings by moving students out of the public school system and into private schools. But while reductions in public school enrollment may reduce certain costs in certain circumstances, many costs are relatively fixed (maintenance, utilities, administration, etc.) and cannot be easily cut when students leave. Moreover, when neovouchers are provided to families whose children would have been enrolled in private school anyway, the result is a loss of revenue without any actual reduction in enrollment or school district expenses. Research on Arizona’s tax credit program, for instance, found that most spending is directed toward students already enrolled in private schools. And dramatic increases in funding for Arizona’s neovoucher programs do not appear to be leading to an exodus of public school students—enrollment in private schools has stagnated while public school enrollment has increased significantly. • Poorly targeted. Though frequently justified as a lifeline for disadvantaged children, the beneficiaries of neovoucher programs are often not low-income students. States such as Oklahoma and Pennsylvania allow upper-middle income families to benefit from scholarship subsidies, while other states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Montana allow even high-income families to benefit. Subsidies for tuition and other private school expenses are also typically made available regardless of income level. Making matters worse are the specific design decisions behind many of these tax subsidies. Tax deductions and nonrefundable credits are of no help to low-income families that earn too little to owe income tax. For that reason, even neovoucher advocates have suggested converting programs such as Wisconsin’s tuition deduction into refundable credits (though it is important to note that such a conversion would likely result in a dramatic increase the program’s overall cost). • Constitutional issues. Advocates of state subsidies for private education, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), often encourage states to administer their voucher programs via the tax code in order to circumvent state constitutional prohibitions on the public funding of religious schools. According to ALEC, while lawmakers in eighteen states are constitutionally forbidden from offering direct vouchers for religious schools, tax credit neovouchers can be used to accomplish a nearly identical result in all but two of those states. In some cases, these schools have curricula (such as biblical versions of science and history) or personnel policies (such as firing teachers if they enter a same-sex marriage or become pregnant outside of wedlock) that would be prohibited at a public institution and that raise questions about the appropriateness of directing public dollars toward these schools. Arizona is perhaps the most well-known example of a state that succeeded in labeling its subsidies as “tax reductions” rather than “direct spending” in order to circumvent its own constitution. In 1998, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled 3-2 in Kotterman v. Killian that, unlike a traditional voucher, the state’s tax credit scholarships were not in violation of the Arizona Constitution in part because the credits are technically diverted to private schools before reaching the state’s coffers. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion in a 5-4 ruling in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn. But while neovouchers have so far been upheld on relatively narrow grounds, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan cut to the heart of the matter when she explained in her dissent that “cash grants and targeted tax breaks are means of accomplishing the same government objective—to provide financial support to select individuals or organizations.” • Lack of budgetary oversight. Subsidies for private education provided via neovouchers are often not subject to the same budgetary oversight as ordinary spending on public education. Most notably, once a neovoucher is enacted into law it typically continues indefinitely without reexamination as part of the appropriations process. Moreover, those neovouchers not subject to an aggregate budgetary cap can grow significantly in cost without any action on the part of lawmakers. And even those neovouchers that are subject to caps sometimes see the cap structured in a way that allows for growth that far outpaces other areas of the budget, such as one of Arizona’s neovouchers for corporate taxpayers which is currently growing at a rate of 20 percent per year. As IRS Prepares to Act, Red-State Taxpayers Profit from Use of SALT “Workaround Credits” When Congress was considering capping the deduction for state and local tax (SALT) payments last year, numerous lawyers warned that… Why the Minute Federal 529 Provision Has Huge Consequences for States When Republican leaders rushed through an overhaul to the federal tax code over a seven-week legislative period, they failed to… Preventing State Tax Subsidies for Private K-12 Education in the Wake of the New Federal 529 Law Read the Report in PDF (Includes State by State Appendices) Download Spreadsheet of State by State Appendices. (Updated March 2,…	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line525
__label__cc	0.670664	0.329336	Katherine Kirkpatrick Historical Fiction Author A Circle of Friends The Dale Kirkpatrick Story Keeping the Good Light Voyage of the Continental Trouble’s Daughter Mysterious Bones Escape Across the Wide Sea Redcoats and Petticoats The Snow Baby September 19, 2016 by Katherine Kirkpatrick Reflections on My Stepping Stones Lighthouse I have always felt that City Island in the Bronx, within greater New York City, where I lived in my twenties and early thirties, possesses a certain magic. There’s a feeling, when listening to the symphony of halyards chiming against the masts of sailboats or the eerie sound of wind blowing through the rigging, that it’s possible to slip back in time one hundred years or more. And if you sail from the island in the dark of night toward a redbrick Victorian lighthouse, its green light flashing through the cold mist, you may see the eternal visage of a ghostly man peering through the glass windows of his tower. He watches over you to prevent your vessel from crashing on the jagged, partially submerged shoal of the “Stepping Stones.” Magic, indeed. Not one but two working lighthouses flank the mile-and-a-half-long City Island. Stepping Stones, my favorite because of its picturesque architecture, was first illuminated on the evening of March 1, 1877, with an oil-fired mantle within a Fresnel lens. Every morning when I waited for the express bus that took me to my book publishing job in Manhattan, I gazed out over the water, a mile away, at Stepping Stones lighthouse. The sight of the lonely place never ceased to fascinate me. Like many people who enjoy lighthouses, I am drawn to the romantic notion of living in a house surrounded by water. From the vantage point where I often stood, near the terminus of City Island Avenue, Stepping Stones appears in Long Island Sound as a small, square building atop a round platform. The building has a handsome rectangular tower and mansard roof. Delacorte Press cover by Kam Mak Sometimes when City Island friends took me out on their sailboats or motorboats, we circled around the lighthouse. Then I could make out certain details such as the square balcony near the top of the tower, the bright green automated lantern, the tall windows (bricked-in to prevent vandalism), and the mount on which a large bell had once hung. Whenever I crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge to go to Long Island to visit my parents, I’d enjoy yet another view of the lighthouse, one from above. From that high, arching suspension bridge, the lighthouse resembles a tiny, antique doll house, surrounded by deep blue water on all sides. Like many City Islanders, I came to regard Stepping Stones as “our” lighthouse (never mind that all maps and charts indicate that it belongs to Great Neck, Long Island). Eventually I wrote a novel set there. Called Keeping the Good Light and intended for a young adult readership, the novel takes place in 1903, during the heyday of City Island yacht building and sail making. My friend the late Skippy Lane, a retired captain of oil tankers, helped me research the book and provided many interesting anecdotes. The shipwreck incident in the book came directly from an experience Skippy had as a boy on City Island. Another plot choice, the idea of putting messages in bottles and casting them out to sea, came from Skippy’s pastime of releasing such messages. Sometimes he’d sign his friends’ names with their addresses as a joke. Delacorte Press published Keeping the Good Light in the fall of 1995. The cover by Kam Mak shows my main character, sixteen-year-old Eliza, in a long vintage dress, seated in a rowboat (Skippy’s) with an accurate representation of Stepping Stones lighthouse in the background. Skippy quickly pointed out when he saw the cover image that anyone just sitting in a craft like that, hands crossed on her lap, not holding the oars, would quickly be blown back out to sea. Mary Cash, the book’s editor, replied, “She’s so pretty it doesn’t matter what she’s doing.” Captain Fred (Skippy) Lane Katherine Kirkpatrick poses in Skippy Lane’s rowboat Sara (Sally) McPherson at The City Island Current, the island’s local newspaper, reproduced the book cover in its exact size—5-1/2 by 8-1/4 inches—on the front page in 1995. As a result of this phenomenal publicity, my book signing party at the City Island Nautical Museum, a former school building, was extremely well attended. Writing Keeping the Good Light brought me, at least on City Island, the greatest celebrity I will probably ever enjoy. “She’s the one who wrote the book,” I’d hear people say. Occasionally, if I visit the island, someone will make the same remark even now. Always it is “the book,” although I’ve now published eight. For the Clam Diggers (those who grew up on the island) it obviously remains a matter of great importance that “the book” features “our lighthouse.” The late Bronx historian John McNamara told me he’d been reading the novel at JP’s Restaurant on the island and a passerby offered to buy his copy on the spot. Those were fun times, times of sharing and community. For my thirtieth birthday party, my sister made a cake with a model of a lighthouse on top. The house where I rented a room, 150 Marine Street, a former telegraph station that contained a glass-paneled rectangular chamber reached by an upright ladder and trapdoor, filled to overflowing with visitors of all ages and backgrounds come to celebrate my birthday. Old, heavy-set Skippy, known to be a little rough around the edges, entertained my friends from Manhattan with his lively storytelling, replete with occasional swearwords. Katherine Kirkpatrick signs copies of Keeping the Good Light Skippy regarded the publication of Keeping the Good Light as a highlight of his later years. He called it “our book” and proudly gave an autographed copy to his friend and next-door neighbor on Horton Street, Oliver Sacks. To my surprise and delight, I received an autographed copy of one of his own books in return. On the title page of a British paperback edition of Awakenings, its pages now a bit yellowed, is inscribed: For Katherine (I loved your book!) autograph by Oliver Sacks Now, a quarter of a century after I first became acquainted with Stepping Stones lighthouse, I love the lighthouse just as passionately as I ever did. Perhaps even more, because my feelings about the place combine with a sense of remembrance and of longing for City Islanders I knew who are now dead. Others island friends have, like me, scattered around the country. We won’t ever live together on that mile-and-a-half-long island again. I also find myself reacting to further commercial development that has taken place and missing the way the island used to look. But whenever I visit the island or drive across the Throgs Neck Bridge, there is Stepping Stones lighthouse, rising as ever on a shoal in Long Island Sound. The lighthouse serves as a visual, tangible reminder to me of a time in my life that remains very dear to me. Not only that, but I have a special place in my heart for historically significant places. Very recently, my personal chronicle involving Stepping Stones lighthouse has gained a new chapter. I have recently made a new friend through e-mail, Alice Kasten of the Great Neck Historical Society, who keeps me informed about her organization’s exciting new plans to restore Stepping Stones lighthouse. The town of North Hempstead, the Great Neck Park District, and the Great Neck Historical Society have joined in a public/private partnership, with assistance from the City Island Maritime Museum, to raise $4 million for the renovation. Already they’ve had some success with garnering grants from New York State and the National Park Service. I can hardly believe that this gargantuan, expensive venture is actually happening in this day and age of dwindling funds for worthy projects and causes. Ravaged by salty seas and severe weather, in recent years Stepping Stones developed a hole in its roof and another hole in its foundation. The U.S. Coast Guard might well have demolished it and replaced it with a navigational beacon mounted on steel poles if not for the Great Neck Historical Society’s commitment to saving the building. Engineers who completed an underwater survey have now identified places where pilings for a dock will be put down. Once a dock exists and more funds become available, building materials can be delivered and the renovation can begin. This past summer, the society has organized a number of tours for people to see the lighthouse from the outside. I can’t wait to go on one of the tours next summer. I’ve also decided it’s an apt time to put Keeping the Good Light back into print. A new Kindle version is available on Amazon.com, and a print-on-demand paperback edition will soon be in the works. I do not have the rights to use the Delacorte cover for new editions, so I commissioned a new one. (Note that the girl in the vessel is now actually rowing.) Victoria Yeh, the talented new cover artist, created the cover when she was only seventeen. Half of the net proceeds from the new editions of Keeping the Good Light will go to the Great Neck Historical Society for the lighthouse renovation. I’m honored and grateful to help preserve this good lighthouse. New Kindle cover by Victoria Yeh Posted in Book Releases, Finding Support, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Keeping the Good Light, Writing Process, Young Adult Author \| Tagged blog posts by Katherine Kirkpatrick, Bronx, Bronx historian John McNamara, Captain Fred (Skippy) Lane, City Island, City Island Maritime Museum, Great Neck Historical Society, historical fiction by Katherine Kirkpatrick, Keeping the Good Light by Katherine Kirkpatrick, lighthouses of Long Island Sound, Oliver Sacks, renovation of lighthouses, Skip Lane, Stepping Stones lighthouse, Stepping Stones lighthouse renovation, The City Island Current, Throgs Neck Bridge \| 5 Comments A Circle of Friends: Remembering Madeleine L’Engle Edited by Katherine Kirkpatrick Adult readership Available at Lulu.com as first edition (deluxe color) and second edition (black-and-white photos). “We don’t always know where the story is going. We don’t need to.”—Madeleine L’Engle Millions of readers know Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) as the author of internationally acclaimed books that ignited our imagination and affirmed our place in the universe, from A Wrinkle in Time to her memoirs, The Crosswicks Journal series. Some people were also privileged to have known Madeleine as a writing mentor, friend, or both. To these lucky people, Madeleine poured out her many gifts: her philosophies for living and writing, her generosity of spirit, her deeply held spiritual beliefs. A Circle of Friends brings together the remembrances of nearly three dozen of Madeleine’s closest friends and students, including many distinguished writers and artists. Here are distillations of her writing advice, personal stories from those who knew her over a forty-year period, essays, poems, and more. As the writers of these essays and poems explain how Madeleine transformed their lives, each one also offers insights on universal themes of love, marriage, friendship, and faith. Madeleine once observed that stories unfold in their own time. A Circle of Friends was created in this spirit of “unfolding” as a testament to the life of a remarkable writer, teacher, and friend. March 8, 2014 by Katherine Kirkpatrick As Good as It Gets The price of one of my young adult novels, throw in a few bucks for tax, is about what you’d pay for a bottle of wine to take to your host for dinner. People used to stop by the autographing party at the local museum’s bookshop to purchase Katherine Kirkpatrick’s latest young adult historical tearjerker, and then continue up the road a half mile, past the duck pond, through lush woods, to Audrey and Dale Kirkpatrick’s home and a gourmet meal. Anyone from the Three Villages (Stony Brook, Setauket, Old Field) of Long Island, New York, might be there: the tennis players, the bridge players, the bank teller, my mother’s hairdresser, the neighbors, some of the teachers my siblings and I had had at school, and people my parents knew through the Presbyterian church, puppetry, charities, real estate, Dad’s travel agency, or his heart surgeries. Whether anyone read my books or not didn’t matter, not really, because I had the great satisfaction of selling a hundred hardcovers in an hour. Even better, the sense of celebration that filled the air was as palpable as the aroma of sautéed onions and mushrooms. The Kirkpatricks knew how to throw a party. Chicken cacciatore, anyone? Genoese seafood risotto? Champagne cocktail? In the octagonal living room decorated with carved screens from India, in pivoting chairs with colorful satin pillows, around a central coffee table and low-hanging lamp, the drinks and the conversations flowed. Audrey and Dale Kirkpatrick. Signing copies of my first novel, Keeping the Good Light. This was how my parents celebrated the publication of my first three books in the mid-to-late 1990s, when I was in my early and mid thirties, before I married, moved coasts, and gave birth to twins. Four other books for older children and young adults, both fiction and nonfiction, followed. But three thousand miles away from family, friends, and my New York writers community, I found it difficult to attract more than a handful of people to my book events. For a while I stopped doing signings altogether. I stopped celebrating. It was as if my last two titles dropped into holes the minute they were published. There is nothing more depressing for an author than to sit at a table with a forced smile in front of a pyramid of books, facing a room full of vacant chairs. The feelings of loneliness and isolation of such situations can be intense. I’m happy to say I’ve found a middle path, a joyous way of celebrating new books that comes in second to my mother’s former parties. Our Western Washington chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) hosts a fabulous twice-yearly event called “The Inside Story.” In this event, fifteen or so local book creators share “the story behind the story” in short presentations of their new and upcoming books to independent booksellers, fellow authors and illustrators, and their families. Many school and public librarians also attend. Our November 3, 2013, The Inside Story at Seattle’s Mockingbird Books drew several hundred people. In her introduction, Laura McGee Kvasnosky spoke of how The Inside Story has greatly expanded in scope and in popularity since she and fellow children’s book creator George Shannon launched the program on October 4, 1998. “I feel like the proud mother and George the proud father,” she said, “and I’ve enjoyed watching the event grow up.” I happened to be sitting near Laura in the crowd and, indeed, like a proud mother, she was smiling and smiling during the trivia prize awards and presentations. The Inside Story #31 at Mockingbird Books. I am so grateful to Laura and George for creating this wonderful community forum where we can give ourselves a boost. Book releases can be as stressful as they can be joyful, because of the expectations we set for ourselves and our publishing companies have for us. Knowing that I can bring my new young adult novel to the Inside Story when it comes out this spring transforms a responsibility into an honor, a burden into a celebration, a dread into a feeling of optimism. Also, by the way, there are small mountains of fruits and cookies served at our Inside Story events. Next time, at Mockingbird Books on May 6, I’ll also contribute goodies home-cooked according to recipes left to me by my greatest literary supporter of all time, Audrey Kirkpatrick. She who cut sun-dried tomatoes into strips for me, who shredded prosciutto and grated Parmesan cheese for me, who invited everyone she knew to her home for me, would have enjoyed our Inside Story festivities and approved. Audrey Kirkpatrick celebrates. Posted in Book Releases, Finding Support, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Keeping the Good Light, Making Transitions, Parents, Publicity, Publishing, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, The Inside Story, Uncategorized, Young Adult Author \| Tagged Audrey and Dale Kirkpatrick, Book Releases, children's book publishing, emotional aspects of relocating, George Shannon, Katherine Kirkpatrick, Keeping the Good Light by Katherine Kirkpatrick, Laura McGee Kvasnosky, Mockingbird Books, New York, Parental Support, SCBWI Western Washington, Seattle, Seattle Writers Organizations, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Stony Brook, Support Among Writers, The Inside Story, Writers, Writing Process, young adult author, Young Adult Fiction, young adult historical fiction, young adult publishing \| 4 Comments February 4, 2014 by Katherine Kirkpatrick The Commander and I Commander Edward P. Stafford, USN (Ret), July 16, 1918 – Sept. 24, 2013, was the grandson of polar explorer Robert E. Peary and son of Marie Peary, called by the newspapers “the snow baby.” The Snow Baby published by Holiday House, 2007, was a James Madison Award Honor Book and a Booklist Top Ten Biography for Youth. A photo of a spunky four-year-old Marie Peary, posed near a gigantic meteorite on a ship, inspired me to write a book called The Snow Baby. A photo biography, it tells of Marie’s childhood, from her 1893 birth in the Arctic to the age of sixteen, when her father, Admiral Robert E. Peary, reached the North Pole in 1909. My forthcoming novel Between Two Worlds also includes Marie as a character. It was easy for me to fall in love with this child, who at the age of eight, dressed in seal furs on an ice-locked ship, played tricks on sailors and found ways to celebrate Christmas while the adults around her worried for their lives. In 2005, in the early stages of writing The Snow Baby, I met Marie’s son Commander Edward Stafford, who was at that time in his late eighties. Though he lived in Florida, he periodically returned to Eagle Island near South Harpswell, Maine, to lead tours of the Peary family’s former summer home, now a state park. I was so eager to go on one of these tours, I took a plane trip of 3,000 miles from Seattle to New York with my four-year-old twins. After meeting up with my dear friend, author/illustrator Sanna Stanley and her three-year-old son, we drove three hundred miles to Portland, Maine. A small outboard motorboat took us across Casco Bay, past many green, forested islands, to our destination. Set on Eagle Island’s rocky bluff, which to Admiral Peary looked like a ship, Peary placed his house where the pilot house of the ship would have been located. Considering his age and how my previous attempts of e-mailing him through a university museum had gone awry, I’d thought perhaps he suffered ill health. On the contrary, the man I met on Eagle Island, wearing long shorts, T-shirt, and baseball cap, vigorously marching up and down the narrow stairs of the old house, was astonishingly robust. He held his back straight. His face conveyed the certainty of a man sure of himself. Indeed he’d earned seven battle stars in World War II on anti-submarine duty on naval destroyers and destroyer escorts in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Stafford remarked that though his illustrious grandfather died when he was nineteen months old, he knew the man through Peary’s wife and daughter who loved him. Through them, something of his grandfather’s force of character transferred itself to him. True, as far as I’m concerned. In my great enthusiasm to meet Stafford, I made a nuisance of myself, asking him one detailed question after another. Perhaps with a frown or inclination of his head, Stafford conveyed his irritation to his wife, who was on the tour with us. She asked me to please refrain from asking Stafford questions until the end. “He needs to save his voice,” she said diplomatically. Meanwhile, for the next hour, ten other tourists fired away their questions and he happily answered them. Then as we stood on the house’s sloping green lawn near the boat dock, he finally gave me ten minutes of his time. Katherine Kirkpatrick, Commander Edward Stafford, Peggy Stafford, and tour boat captain. Reflecting back, I realize it was naïve of me to assume Stafford would be happy to meet me just because I was writing a book about his mother. Celebrity families often keep to themselves for good reason. Stafford’s initial brisk attitude had everything to do with defending the honor of his often maligned grandfather. But setting aside any feelings of disappointment about Stafford’s reaction to me, I spent an absolutely wonderful day on Eagle Island. Stafford told stories with flair, as well as with knowledge and authority. He was the best of guides. He said the island was part of him, and obviously he took great pleasure in sharing it. I loved the house with its snug, shiplike, wood-paneled rooms, its panoramic views, its many tokens and reminders—such as Peary’s stuffed birds, mounted twenty-pound lobster, and Marie’s collection of tiny ivory figures—of the way an extraordinary family lived. My friend and I greatly enjoyed the island’s seventeen acres of fragrant woods, foxgloves everywhere in the underbrush, and rocky beaches. While I’d toured the house, she kept our active young children from the dangerous rocks and wild surf. Then the five of us explored the island together. A three-sided stone fireplace separates the downstairs rooms in the Peary family’s home on Eagle Island. The view from an upstairs room in the Peary family house. Marie Peary’s books and keepsakes. What’s more, just prior to leaving for an enchanted return boat ride in which dolphins leapt about our craft, Stafford gave me his business card. On the top right, printed in dark blue ink was the icon of a ship’s wheel with his name “Edward P. Stafford, Commander, U.S. Navy (Ret.)” and his address and phone number in Florida. I wrote to him, enclosing a first draft of my manuscript for The Snow Baby, which by then was contracted to be published. About two months later I heard back, not from Stafford, but from a man whom Stafford had given the manuscript to, a representative of an historical society in Maine. He pointed out numerous shortcomings in the draft, then concluded, “if I should decide to go forward” (implying I should abandon my book?): “Keep in mind you have chosen to work over ground that has been covered many times over the past 100 years by experienced writers, many of them well versed in Arctic lore and possessed of years of actual Arctic exploration experience. To cover this subject matter with anything less than thoroughness and accuracy could expose you, the Peary and Stafford families, and organizations devoted to Arctic education programs to serious ridicule and embarrassment.” With that splash of frigid polar water thrown on me, I set about a new draft, this time enlisting the expert help of members of a university museum. Within the next two years, I completed eight more drafts, two of which Stafford provided helpful feedback on. By then, though I had no expectations whatsoever that Stafford would like my book, I myself felt pleased with it. In the end, the commander did voice his approval. Inside a Christmas card picturing Santa Claus delivering packages by rowboat to a lighthouse, he’d written in block capital letters, “A BEAUTIFUL BOOK, WELL-WRITTEN AND A PLEASURE. THANKS SO MUCH. ED STAFFORD.” Sanna Stanley. The Peary family house on Eagle Island, Maine. Posted in Between Two Worlds, Biography, Friendship, Nonfiction, Publishing, The Snow Baby, Uncategorized, Writing Process, Young Adult Author \| Tagged Admiral Robert E. Peary, Between Two Worlds, Booklist Top Ten Biography for Youth, children of Arctic explorers, children's book publishing, Commander Edward P. Stafford, Eagle Island, James Madison Award Honor Book, Maine, Marie Ahnighito Peary, Marie Peary Stafford Kuhne, Middle grade biography, Polar Exploration, South Harpswell, The Snow Baby, Writers, Writing Process \| 1 Comment January 7, 2014 by Katherine Kirkpatrick ALA Award Envy Elizabeth Wein and Katherine Kirkpatrick, Setauket, New York, 1999 On Monday, January 27, 2014, I’ll be watching the webcast of the American Library Association’s Youth Media Award announcements, broadcast live from Philadelphia. Everyone in children’s and young adult publishing will be eagerly anticipating the results. In our field, the garnering of a Newbery, Caldecott, or Printz Award is equivalent to an athlete winning a gold medal in the Olympics. My annual February/March readathon, a time of discovering new books and engaging in stimulating discussion, begins after the announcements. Some years, I’ll read not only every Newbery and Printz winner and honor book, but I’ll also work my way through YALSA’s Best Fiction list. Other years, I’ll stop reading after only a few books; especially if a title of my own has come out. While reading an award-winning book that I don’t feel is worthy, I snap it closed and return all the others to the library unread—shelving the feelings of frustration that their gold and silver seals invoke. I know better than to view the ALA awards as the be-all and end-all of my writing life. Nevertheless, I get caught up in the annual fervor. The truth is there are thousands of us authors out there, and there are thousands more of our books published every year than there are ALA awards and citations to go around. No matter how good a book may be, chances are excellent that it will go unnoticed among the vast sea of other titles. In my clearer moments I realize that notions of awards and their perceived value are dark, swirling storm clouds in our minds: If we can guide the plane above such foggy distractions, the view will be beautiful, bright, and expansive. For we can all enjoy a true and lasting sense of abundance on a higher level when we give up our limited definitions of success. The image of the airplane is an apt one to illustrate the story I’m about to tell. Last year, on Monday, January 28, 2013, I was in the audience at the ALA Media Awards press conference in Seattle when I heard that my dear friend of 27 years, Elizabeth Wein, won a Printz Honor for her aviation-themed book Code Name Verity. Elizabeth Wein and Katherine Kirkpatrick in Avebury, England, 1999 I’d surmised from the buzz at the ALA Midwinter Meeting that Code Name Verity was a contender for the Printz. My friend, half a world away in Scotland, suspected it, too. Her enormously popular breakout novel had already garnered a ton of starred reviews and media attention. But of course, ALA award announcements often defy expectations, and frequent surprises add to the drama of this high-stakes event. I wanted Elizabeth to win the Printz, really and truly. But at the same time, as I took my seat that morning in the mobbed auditorium of the Seattle Convention Center, I wasn’t completely sure what my reaction would be if she did. I gave myself a little talk: If Elizabeth wins this award, and if you, Katherine Kirkpatrick, are not one hundred percent happy for her, then you are a miserable, selfish, covetous wretch and you don’t deserve to win any awards in the future. For those of you who watch the live webcasts of the ALA press conference, let me tell you, there’s nothing like attending the event in person. You notice the MC’s bright red socks. And hear how incredibly loud the audience applauded. And feel the heat of the bright lights and movie cameras. Experience the palpable excitement in the air. The MC encouraged us to cheer as he read the names of the Printz judges, and I shouted heartily along with everyone else. I had no idea who they were; it didn’t matter. It was fun to get caught up in the energy of the crowd. Katherine Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth Wein, Errwood Hall, Goyt Valley, England, 1984 When I heard the words “Code Name Verity” in the honor category, my heart stopped. Honor? Why not winner?! Not that I’d yet read the winning title or any of the other honor books. But at that moment I felt childishly defensive of Code Name Verity, while also knowing that attaining a Printz Honor is almost equally as awesome, weighty, and life-changing as receiving the grand prize. It wasn’t until about an hour after the press conference that the good news really sank in. I remember standing by myself at the top of the convention center’s escalator under a sky-high ceiling, surrounded by towering walls of glass. A feeling of expansive joy came over me. I was, and am, so proud of Elizabeth and happy for her, for getting her pilot’s license, for writing her fabulous breakout novel, for receiving the fame and recognition she deserves. I felt happy about myself, too, for being a good friend and for feeling a generosity of spirit. As I was telling a complete stranger at the coat check, your character is tested when someone you’re close to gets something you’ve always wanted. Friendship, all forms of love and true caring, exist outside of man-made rankings and hierarchies. I feel this truth profoundly when I think about Elizabeth and the good times we’ve had together, before and after college graduation, dreaming of becoming authors, having books published, getting married, having children. We traversed the map of Britain together, and even flew in a private plane to the Isle of Wight. I wouldn’t trade this friendship for the Printz Award. Katherine Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Wein and daughter, with the Piper Warrior, Isle of Wight, England, 1999 Posted in ALA Book Awards, Code Name Verity, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Printz Award, Publishing, Uncategorized, Young Adult Author \| Tagged 2013 Michael L. Printz Award, ALA Youth Media Awards, award envy, books on aviation in WWII, Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein, Friendship, Michael L. Printz Award, Writers, YALSA Best Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, young adult historical fiction, young adult publishing \| 10 Comments A New Cover for Trouble’s Daughter Redcoats and Petticoats is now in paperback! Announcing Editorial Services Interview with Katherine Kirkpatrick by Susan Hill Long A Circle of Friends: Remembering Madeleine L'Engle Books for Young Adults Making Transitions Susanna Hutchinson, daughter of Anne Hutchinson Trouble's Daughter Young Adult Author This site does not use cookies	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line535
__label__wiki	0.604755	0.604755	Review: “The Current War” Posted on October 27, 2019 by Katie Carter The story of the war on the currents is actually a very illuminating one (pun intended), although you wouldn’t know it based on “The Current War,” the film from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon that dramatizes that event, spanning from 1880 to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The movie squanders its top-notch cast and a dramatic true story that begs to be put on screen, resulting in a film that, informative though it is, lacks direction and emotion. And this is after reshoots conducted since the film’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2017; originally slated to be domestically distributed by the Weinstein Company, it was a victim of the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal that rocked that awards season, and is only just seeing the light of day again after the rights were purchased by 101 Studios. The film is primarily focused on the competition between Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon). Edison is a proponent of using direct current (DC) electric power, although it is more expensive and more limited in its reach. Westinghouse is out to prove that alternating current (AC) is both cheaper and has a longer range, but Edison’s claims that AC is potentially deadly could smear his campaign. Their years-long battle culminates in a race to see who will win the contract to power the Chicago World’s Fair. Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison in “The Current War” Much of the war between Edison and Westinghouse is waged on the publicity front, with the pair never really coming face-to-face until they share a moment at the end of the movie. While their work dominates their focus, they both face personal challenges. The egotistical Edison, who often neglects his family to spend time in his lab, is shaken by the sudden death of his wife, Mary (Tuppence Middleton). Westinghouse, meanwhile, who is supported in his work by his wife, Marguerite (Katherine Waterston), is disturbed by the accidental death by electrical shock of his friend and colleague Franklin Pope (Stanley Townsend). Both of these incidents seek to somewhat endear these larger-than-life figures to the audience, but they never fully do. And that’s not the fault of the actors. Cumberbatch’s Edison provokes equal laughs and jeers with his snarky comebacks and underhanded dealings; he’s an interesting character, but not one the audience can readily root for. Meanwhile Shannon isn’t given enough material worthy of his talents. Westinghouse isn’t as flashy as Edison, although Shannon gives him an everyman quality that is a nice contrast to Edison. The rest of the supporting cast don’t have any great moments either. Nicholas Hoult portrays Nikola Tesla, the immigrant who initially worked for Edison upon coming to America but struck out on his own after Edison refused to entertain his ideas on alternating current, ultimately teaming up with Westinghouse. In a way it’s nice to have this character who straddles both sides of the war at different periods of time, but in the long run the film isn’t about him, and therefore fails to do this other giant of the industry justice. Tom Holland also appears as Edison’s secretary and voice of reason Samuel Insull; he’s maybe the only likeable character in the movie, and 70% of that is because he’s Tom Holland. Power couple: Marguerite (Katherine Waterston) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) in “The Current War” While “The Current War” does eventually reach what appears to be a clear climax—the Chicago World’s Fair—the story lacks direction up until that point, feeling instead like it is merely depicting snapshots of the current war here and there without really connecting them. There are some high points, like the split-screen sequence juxtaposing the beauty of the electric bulbs illuminating the fair with the horror of that same electric current powering an electric chair as the first prisoner is set to be executing by electrocution. But otherwise, for a film that’s about inventors, it lacks any real sense of exhilaration or discovery. Edison wistfully describes the moment he got the first lightbulb to work at the end of the film, but the audience never sees that moment, or any other moment that inspires that sort of awe. But the technical aspects of the movie are perhaps its biggest flaw. It’s atrociously edited and shot with a variety of camera tricks from zooms to wide angle lenses that give a sense of distortion and disorientation—which might be intriguing, if there was any reason for the scenes those tricks are used in to provide the audience with an off-kilter mood. Instead, they are distracting and dizzying. In short, the majority of the movie just looks flat-out terrible. For all of the production and distribution woes that “The Current War” has faced, it would be nice to see this film make a triumphant theatrical debut at long last. But you’d likely be more entertained reading Wikipedia articles on Edison and Westinghouse as opposed to watching this film. Informative? Yes. Illuminating? Not so much. Tags: 2019 movies, benedict cumberbatch, film, film blog, film critic, film criticism, film review, in theaters, michael shannon, movie review, Movie Reviews, Movies, nicholas hoult, the current war, tom hollandCategories: 2019 movies, Movie Reviews, Movies 3 thoughts on “Review: “The Current War”” Sarah C. says: Great review! I really enjoyed your take on the movie. Katie Carter says: Thank you Sarah! Pingback: Member Reviews: “The Current War” – Online Association of Female Film Critics PreviousReview: “Zombieland: Double Tap” NextReview: “Dolemite Is My Name”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line536
__label__wiki	0.514675	0.514675	A Decade After the Great Recession, Is the Global Financial System Safer? The Great Recession, as harrowing as it was a decade ago, seems to have faded from public memory. It is safe to say that a general sense of normalcy pervades the lives of most Americans. Today, the economic environment could not be more optimistic: The U.S. stock market is hitting new highs, unemployment is at historically low levels and home prices have rebounded to their pre-crisis highs. Banking profits have roared back. Has the global financial system truly recovered? “We have seen numerous regulatory reforms since the financial crisis, and many of them have undoubtedly enhanced the resilience of the financial system,” says Wharton finance professor Richard Herring, who is co-chair of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee. “Most of the reforms have aimed at reducing the vulnerability of banks to another crisis. Equally important, however, are the reforms aimed at enabling the authorities to deal with a bank insolvency without imperiling the financial system.” According to Herring, crisis prevention efforts have focused largely on requiring banks to hold more and higher quality capital, as well as increased asset risk weights and capital surcharges for systemically important global financial institutions. They also include the introduction of a total loss-absorbing capital and global leverage ratio, liquidity requirements as well as heightened prudential supervision including the implementation of stress tests. “These measures have unquestionably enhanced the capital strength of most banks and reduced their vulnerability to a liquidity crisis.” While Herring and other observers have raised questions about the design and cost-effectiveness of many of these measures, he believes overall that “they have strengthened the safety and soundness of the banking system.” He notes that it is also critical that there be an orderly process in place to enable even the largest banks to fail safely. “These reforms are less well known, but equally important. They include living wills and resolution policies designed to accommodate the insolvency of even a very large bank without causing damaging spillovers to the rest of the financial system or costs on taxpayers.” “Most of the reforms have aimed at reducing the vulnerability of banks…. Equally important, however, are the reforms aimed at enabling the authorities to deal with a bank insolvency without imperiling the financial system.” –Richard Herring Wharton finance professor Krista Schwarz agrees that the banking industry is “much safer than it was pre-crisis,” thanks to the financial reforms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the U.S. and Basel III, which is a set of voluntary international banking regulations requiring minimum capital requirements and leverage ratios, as well as enhanced risk capture, adequate liquidity, among other stipulations. “Leverage is down, reducing exposure, and banks have much larger liquidity cushions to protect against potential shocks,” she adds. U.S. vs. Europe European banks, however, have not fared as well as American banks. “U.S. banks have recovered much more rapidly and completely than their European counterparts. Primarily this is because the U.S. regulators understood that many of the large U.S. banks were subject to doubts about their solvency,” Herring says. To deal with this problem, he explains, “the U.S. authorities instituted a Supervisory Capital Assessment Program early in 2009 in which the 19 largest banks were required to estimate their capital adequacy under an adverse macro-economic shock and, if they failed to meet capital adequacy requirements, they were forced to obtain enough financing from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to obtain enough capital to meet all safety and soundness requirements even under an adverse economic scenario.” Critically, Herring notes, “the authorities took the bold, but important, step of making the results public. This was a bold measure because in fact 11 of the 19 banks failed the stress test. This transparency greatly increased public confidence in the process and the results — and fundamentally restored confidence in the U.S. banking system.” In contrast, “the Europeans were much slower to recognize that many of their banks were fundamentally insolvent and when they finally implemented stress tests, the [results were] so weak that the Irish banks passed only weeks before the entire banking system collapsed.” Herring adds that “the fundamental problem [the Europeans] faced is that they lacked the important back-up of a facility comparable to TARP. They lacked financial resources to recapitalize banks that were inadequately capitalized, which led them to cover up rather than address the problem. Although most European banks have managed to recover, the process has been slow and has impeded economic recovery. Banks have been impaired in their ability to perform their fundamental role in financing investment.” Schwarz notes that European banks are far behind the U.S. in tightening regulations. “Europe never undertook an equivalent of TARP, and European regulators have not subjected their banks to stress tests as credible and rigorous as those of the Fed. An illustration of this can be seen right now in the exposure of European banks to the Turkish devaluation, a shock that they should have been easily able to absorb.” “Leverage is down, reducing exposure, and banks have much larger liquidity cushions to protect against potential shocks.” –Krista Schwarz Wharton finance professor Itay Goldstein concurs that the U.S. “did a better job stabilizing the financial system more quickly and more thoroughly than Europe. You can see that banks in Europe continued to have problems for a longer period, and the overall economic problems in Europe [stayed] longer and [were] deeper than in the U.S. I think to some extent this is still the case today. By and large the banking system here is in better shape than in Europe. Europe has some issues that are specific to them that they still have to deal with. Most of it is about coordination across the different countries in the EU.” One complexity: There are local central banks in European countries, and they have to coordinate their actions with the European Central Bank (ECB), he says. Another complicating factor is Britain’s exit from the EU. “Britain was an important part of the banking regulation in Europe, and now … they are leaving the EU. No one knows exactly how this is going to end, and it clearly puts some uncertainty around [the situation],” Goldstein says. Plus, “you see other issues coming up — political movements in different countries that call for separation, and some of them are becoming more prominent. All of these issues are just increasing the uncertainty about the stability of the banking union and central regulation … [and] are clearly weighing on the European banking system.” Herring points to another challenge. “The closely related problem is that the European Union is trying to run a monetary and banking union without a European fiscal policy,” he says. “Because European banking regulations do not address differences in country risk among European member states, European banks are often heavily exposed to member countries that encounter debt problems. Thus, in addition to the financial crisis, Europe has had to contend with a series of country debt crises.” At the time, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain could not repay or refinance their government debts or bail out their own distressed banks without help from the ECB, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more stable EU nations. Global Efforts Getting the financial crisis under control globally took a coordination of policies by the G20 governments, wrote IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in a recent blog. “Countries with banking problems limited the drag of flailing financial sectors on the real economy — through measures such as capital support, debt guarantees, and asset purchases. Central banks slashed policy rates and later sailed deep into unknown seas with unconventional monetary policy. Governments propped up demand with large fiscal stimuluses.” IMF did its part too, she said, putting $250 billion into the system. But more needs to be done. “Too many banks, especially in Europe, remain weak. Bank capital should probably go up further. ‘Too-big-to-fail’ remains a problem as banks grow in size and complexity,” Lagarde wrote. “There has still not been enough progress on how to resolve failing banks, especially across borders. A lot of the murkier activities are moving toward the shadow banking sector. On top of this, continued financial innovation — including from high frequency trading and fintech — adds to financial stability challenges. In addition, and perhaps most worryingly of all, policymakers are facing substantial pressure from industry to roll back post-crisis regulations.” “Britain was an important part of banking regulation in Europe, and now … they are leaving the EU. No one knows exactly how this is going to end, and it clearly puts some uncertainty around [the situation].” –Itay Goldstein The financial crisis has cast a long shadow. Lagarde said 24 countries “fell victim” to banking crises, and economic activity has not rebounded for most of them. Public debt in advanced economies increased by more than 30 percentage points of GDP, which she attributed to economic weakness, efforts to stimulate the economy and for bailing out failing banks. In the U.S., the economy in 2017 was 12 percentage points smaller than it would have been if the 2007-2009 Great Recession had not happened, based on its pre-crisis growth trend, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Such a substantial loss is “unlikely” to be recouped, the central banker said, translating to a lifetime present value income loss of $70,000 for every American. Indeed, the road back from the brink has been “long and slow,” said William Dudley, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in a November 2017 speech in New York. Nine million jobs were lost in the crisis and eight million homes were foreclosed in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Bear Stearns was acquired in a fire sale by JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers went bust and giant insurer AIG had to be bailed out to stem the spread of losses. The securities lending program of AIG’s non-insurance unit was the major source of its liquidity problems, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office. (The impact on the rest of insurers was fairly limited.) Dudley said it took eight years for job growth to rebound back to the Fed’s target level — but residual impacts remain. He pointed to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, which remains bloated after three rounds of quantitative easing, the presence of “significantly” higher public debt, and “substantial damage to public trust in the nation’s government and financial institutions.” Banks Refocus and Restructure Today, U.S. and European banks affected by the crisis have changed. They have been reassessing and adjusting business strategies, growth plans, balance sheet positions, cost bases, organizational structures, scope of activities and geographic presence, according to a January 2018 report by the Committee on the Global Financial System (CFGS), a central bank forum that monitors global financial markets for stability and other issues. In general, banks have moved away from holding “complex or capital-intensive assets” towards assets that typically pose less risk, the report said. Moreover, “many large banks have reduced their exposure to trading assets and more complex securities.” Another trend among big banks is that they have decreased activities in over-the-counter derivatives due to new regulations. This is particularly apparent in global, systemically important banks, according to the CFGS. In the meantime, their common equity capital ratios have risen “significantly” since the crisis. “[The] European Union is trying to run a monetary and banking union without a European fiscal policy.” –Richard Herring Banking systems that are members of the CFGS also saw annual average growth fall to 4% from 2008 and onwards, compared to about 12% from 2003 to 2007, right before the crisis. In Europe, the ratio of bank assets to GDP was a mixed bag, plunging in some and rising in others. Banks in emerging markets have not been as impacted by the crisis and continued to show robust growth, the report said. In particular, growth of the Chinese banking system jumped to around 310% of GDP from 230% between 2010 and 2016. It is now the largest in the world. Two European banks that saw significant changes were the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Switzerland’s UBS. The report said that RBS failed in October 2008 and had to be rescued by the U.K. government. Since then, the bank has taken steps to strengthen its balance sheet. It decided to focus on lending to U.K. businesses and households while shrinking its investment banking activities. RBS also reduced its global operations down to 13 countries from 38. The bank is expected to continue in a period of major restructuring through 2019. The Swiss government rescued UBS in 2008. Since then, the bank has moved away from investment banking activities and refocused on its other businesses, in particular global wealth management and retail and corporate banking in Switzerland. UBS also said its investment bank operations would exit a “substantial” number of fixed income business lines, in particular complex and capital-intensive credit and interest rate products, according to the CFGS report. The Next Crisis? As American and European banks regrouped after the crisis, financial institutions in emerging market economies continued to grow. Chinese banks, in particular, rose to the top of the banking hierarchy with their massive assets. But they also took on a lot of debt. Goldstein says there is “potential fragility” building up in China. “Credit is growing, banks are growing, and those are known to be leading indicators of future declines and future crises. [It’s] possible things are going to start there.” But since China is centrally controlled, the outcome could differ from what happened in the U.S. and Europe, he adds. “[In China,] credit is growing, banks are growing, and those are known to be leading indicators of future declines and future crises.” –Itay Goldstein Herring’s view is that while it’s “impossible to forecast the source of the next financial crisis, I think it is unlikely to be set off by problems at banks in emerging markets. U.S. banks are relatively much less heavily exposed to emerging market banks and other emerging market borrowers than they were in 1982 or 1996, so direct exposures are unlikely to be a problem.” But Herring also acknowledges that “a collapse of banks in a major economy like China could jeopardize economic stability more broadly if it should lead to a depression in the domestic economy. Emerging markets are now a much larger proportion of world GDP than they were 20 years ago, and our economy and that of other industrial economies is much more dependent on their health, but this is more an issue of economic interdependence than financial stability.” Another area to watch is financial innovation, which brings risks along with benefits. It is a “double-edged sword,” Schwarz says. “New products can increase the efficiencies of capital markets, but they can also present new risks.” That’s especially true because technology typically innovates too fast for regulations to catch up. But one silver lining is that technology brings about much improved financial data collection and transparency, which helps alert policy makers and investors about potential risks, she adds. For instance, Schwarz says, the new Office of Financial Research has detailed data on the composition of money market mutual funds on its website. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission now provides volume data for some of the over-the-counter derivatives such as interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, she adds. The Federal Reserve now publishes data on repo and funding rates. Moreover, “data aggregation is facilitated by the post-crisis implementation of central clearing for large parts of these markets,” Schwarz says. “Central clearing itself also provides risk reduction through diversification.” “There will be another crisis, some day.” –Krista Schwarz But, there are still risks, mostly outside of the heavily regulated banking system. Schwarz believes that money market mutual fund reform is incomplete. Also, she says, the “skin in the game” rules for securitizations exempt most mortgages. While post-crisis reforms have made the banking system safer, Herring adds, “to some extent, they have simply shifted risk to other institutions and markets that are less carefully monitored and largely unregulated with regard to safety and soundness.” Risk is like the air in a balloon. By squeezing one part of the balloon, the pressure goes to another part of it. “If that part of the balloon is weaker, it may cause the balloon to explode,” he says. Meanwhile, the U.S. government’s attempt to enhance oversight of the non-bank financial system through the Financial Stability Oversight Council has “fallen short of the kind of surveillance we should have in place to anticipate emerging sources of risk,” Herring notes. And part of the Dodd-Frank reforms constrain the Fed and the FDIC from providing the same sort of support for the banking system that they offered during the crisis. “This, in combination with the continuance of very low interest rates and mounting government budget deficits and spiraling public debt, means that it would be much more difficult for the authorities to deal with a problem if the new crisis prevention and resolution measures should prove to be inadequate.” Schwarz concludes: “There will be another crisis, some day.” "A Decade After the Great Recession, Is the Global Financial System Safer?." Knowledge@Wharton. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 11 September, 2018. Web. 17 January, 2021 <https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ten-years-great-recession-global-financial-system-safer/> A Decade After the Great Recession, Is the Global Financial System Safer?. Knowledge@Wharton (2018, September 11). Retrieved from https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ten-years-great-recession-global-financial-system-safer/ "A Decade After the Great Recession, Is the Global Financial System Safer?" Knowledge@Wharton, September 11, 2018, accessed January 17, 2021. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ten-years-great-recession-global-financial-system-safer/ Will 2020 Be Seen as the Year of the SPAC Bubble? In this opinion piece, David Erickson explores how the market for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) exploded in 2020 and what may happen in the future. Poly Developments: REIT Securitization in China’s Rental Housing Market As China’s residential real estate prices continue to rise, home ownership has become increasingly out of reach for many people. Yet rental housing is not a reliable option for most because of lack of development and other challenges. Meanwhile, many[…] Edward Mills The entire premise is simply dead wrong that the global financial system was the root cause of the Global Financial Crisis. It was the Federal Reserve that triggered the crisis, not the banks, nor Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, nor was it Wall Street. And the truth of that proposition can be easily and quickly demonstrated. Next, there were housing bubbles not only in the U.S. but across Europe and Australia of equal magnitude. However, the U.S. bubble started 1-2 years ahead of Europe and Australia. The facts will show that it was Federal Reserve triggered a chain of events when it plunged its federal funds rate from 6.5 pct in 2000 all the way down to 1 percent from mid-2003 to mid-2004. First, there was a massive flow of funds into subprime mortgages in a “reaching for yield,” converting a red-hot housing market into a raging inferno. In addition, trillions of dollars flowed out of the U.S. into Europe as evidenced by a 60 pct increase in the Euro to Dollar exchange rate. Included were heavy borrowing by European banks from the U.S. money markets. Adding to the global tsunami wave of funds flows was the $4.9 trillion 1997-2007 U.S. trade deficit – the lion’s share of Ben Benanke’s “Global Savings Glut.” The massive flow of funds surged primarily into home mortgages, creating the housing bubbles but, in the aggregate stimulated a global economic boom which, in turn, led to a global commodities boom. Since most commodities are priced in dollars the surge in the Euro naturally made commodities that much cheaper in Europe. Oil, for example, surged from under $30 a barrel to nearly $150. Exploding commodities prices in turn forced the Federal Reserve to slam on the money brakes, jacking its federal funds rate from 1 pct to 5.25 pct in July of 2006. An estimated 75 pct of all mortgages during the low-interest rate years were adjustable rate mortgages. The resetting of such mortgages combined with the effect of higher interest rates on the entire housing market effectively sliced the housing market – and the economy with it – off at the kneecaps. The money market spigots were shut tight such that European banks could not refinance their short term borrowings. The European banks were in far worse shape than U.S. banks. The U.S. subprime housing crisis was simply the local version of the global housing crisis. We begin our analysis with a 64 page document, CRA Commitments, published by the national organization representing over 600 local and regional “community” (housing) activist groups. That document details 446 agreements banks made with housing activists totaling $4.57 trillion of minority lending commitments, primarily for subprime mortgages. $4.51 trillion of that amount was “negotiated” after 1994. Every dollar of the $4.51 trillion of post-1994 “CRA Commitments” were “negotiated” on the watch, under the noses and with the implicit approval of the banking regulators, overwhelmingly by the Federal Reserve. So, why were bang “negotiating with activists in the first place. The story goes back to the administration of George Washington. Thomas Jefferson advocated for a banking system geared to the yeoman farmer, hence our banking system was composed primarily of horse-and-buggy community banks. A national banking system emerged after the Civil War. However, national banks could not operate across state lines. “CRA” is the acronym for the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 as amended in 1989. Initially it was intended to “encourage” banks to look for lending opportunities in “underserved” markets. However, in 1995 (or 1994) President Clinton revised the CRA regulations to “emphasize performance.” In other words, banks were required to write subprime mortgages. In 1994 the prohibition against interstate banking was repealed, triggering a tsunami wave of merger applications. However, bank applying for a merger approval was required to demonstrate it was writing a sufficient quantity of “affordable” mortgages (i.e., subprime mortgages). Regulators allowed activists to intervene to protest that a bank was not writing a sufficient quantity of subprime mortgages. In 1991 activists staged a two-day sit-in of the House Banking Committee and were rewarded with the passage of the Government Sponsored Enterprises Act which mandated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allocate 30 pct of their mortgage purchases or mortgage guarantees to “affordable housing.” The purpose was to create a market for subprime mortgages. President Clinton upped the mandate to 50 pct in 2000. President Clinton also went after mortgage bankers, threatening them with lawsuits and and the possibility of folding them under the CRA. Mortgages outstanding nearly tripled between 1997 and 2007, increasing by $7.1 trillion. The banks’ share dropped from 32 pct in 1997 to 28 pct in 2007; the share contributed by the government sponsored enterprises fell from 50 pct to 39 pct while the pct accounted for by private mortgage entities soared from 7 pct to 20 pct., driven largely by mortgage bankers. Most importantly, reading from a graph prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the share of total mortgages represented by subprime mortgages jumped from about 4 pct to over 33 pct. Clearly, it was government, not the private sector, that drove the housing market to the point of collapse in 2008! Edward E. Mills; JD, MBA, CFA	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line537
__label__cc	0.661989	0.338011	Sweden closed the preliminary investigation against Julian Assange in May 2017. The Swedish prosecutor had been compelled to travel to London to take Mr. Assange’s testimony six months prior. "Six years ago today, on 7 December 2010, I was handcuffed and locked into Wandsworth prison by order of a Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny. I had not and still have not been charged with an offence. The claimed grounds for my arrest and extradition without charge were so that Ny could question me. But it was not until six years later - three weeks ago - that I was questioned for the first time. I have decided to release my responses. But first, some background: I am Australian. I am not Swedish. I do not speak Swedish. I have never resided in Sweden. I am entirely innocent. I was already cleared of exactly this allegation in 2010 by the Chief Prosecutor of Stockholm, Eva Finne, who closed the case. During the height of the Pentagon’s conflict with me the following month, the allegation was resurrected by the current prosecutor, Marianne Ny. It was immediately seized on to extinguish my freedom of movement and harm my reputation. Without even bothering to take my statement, the Swedish Prosecution Authority broke its own rules and released my name to a tabloid newspaper. Prosecutor Ny went on to produce more than 40 press releases and press conferences about me. As a result, to this day more than half a million webpages falsely conflate my name with the word "rape". For six years I called for my statement to be taken so that the ‘preliminary investigation’ might again be swiftly closed. In February this year the United Nations found that Prosecutor Ny has caused Sweden and the UK to breach their international human rights obligations. The UN found that her actions are subjecting me to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" and an unlawful deprivation of liberty which must immediately cease. Finally, as a result, last month Marianne Ny sent a deputy and a policewoman to London to question me over two days, but – true to form – my Swedish lawyer was excluded from the room in yet another breach of my basic rights. On 30 November the United Nations re-affirmed its decision in relation to my case. I am now releasing my statement to the public. The reason is simple. I want people to know the truth about how abusive this process has been. Furthermore, in the past the prosecution has fed partial information to tabloids that politically oppose me. It is better that my statement, which I am happy with, and which makes it obvious to all that I am innocent, sees the light in full. London, 7 December 2016" Link to full text of Assange testimony (HTML): https://justice4assange.com/IMG/htm... Case Fact-checker	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line540
__label__wiki	0.591629	0.591629	Kevin Ray Nichols GOD IS MY SONG Kevin Ray Nichols is Christian Contemporary artist with a desire to bring encouragement of God's Word through music. Kevin Ray has been a worship leader in the church since 2006 across several countries including the Middle East during his time in the U.S. Air Force, and has been writing Christian Contemporary praise and blues songs; passionate in using his spiritual gifts in encouragement and discernment together with writing music in an experience that is heartfelt and Spiritual-led. Kevin desires a ministry to encourage and strengthen people toward God through music and worship leading. God has called him to use music as a platform to share the Word of God in each music project he writes. His new single “Triumph & Tragedy” has touched several people searching for a need to be loved by our Creator. Proceeds from his music is poured back into this vision in hopes to reach more people for Christ. Kevin Ray Nichols’ current album, "God Is My Song," is one he’s really excited about. It’s the one he’s been wanting to write; the one Kevin Ray wanted to be his first album, but music has a way of expressing our soul in its present state. He appropriately titled his sophomore album, “God Is My Song.” This album is full of songs Kevin's heart needed to hear right now. His heart poured out songs he didn’t think were there. The original title idea was going to be “A Joyful Noise,” but it came to pass that many of these songs are more worshipful in the Christian Contemporary vein and express some hurt, struggles, and imperfectness; which point to God who is the Healer, Comforter, and Perfect in all His ways. So the joyfulness comes in knowing God is holding Kevin Ray Nichols - AND YOU - close everyday in every time. That’s when he realized that “God is my strength and my song” (Psalm 118:14). You can pre-order this album NOW on iTunes and at the music link above, as well as hear released singles on Spotify and other streaming media including, "Triumph & Tragedy" and "Old Rugged Cross." Kevin Ray’s 2017 debut album, “Dreams Come True” told a musical journey from top to bottom; from his “beginnings” writing music with my brother, seeing “Dreams Come True” in his gracious marriage to his wife and seeing the miracle of birth in his daughters, to being “Restored” by God and being “Baptized” in the East China Sea in 2007 during his Air Force tour to Japan. Kevin now looks toward the future in his “always being restored" life with Jesus Christ, when one day the “Train Goin’ Home” will carry him through the “Rapture” on his way to Heaven. KRN prays that this journey inspires you and brings you closer to living your life for the one True God. Click the "music" tab above to hear KRN's latest releases! The inspiration for the new album: Psalm 118:14! Copyright 2018 Kevin Ray Nichols Triumph & Tragedy 5:08 Old Rugged Cross 4:25 Bring Me Back 4:16 Baptize Me (acoustic live) 3:46	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line543
__label__wiki	0.951577	0.951577	‘The Office’ Moves to Peacock, But You’ll Need to Pay to Watch Most Episodes According to reports at the time, Netflix considered old episodes of The Office so valuable that Netflix made an offer in 2019 to the owners of the show for “up to $90 million a year for the rights” to continue streaming the service. That’s $90 million for one year to the rights to a sitcom that ended its nine-year run on NBC in 2013. Instead, NBC reportedly paid $100 million for the show in order to make it a centerpiece of its new Peacock streaming service. Starting January 1, Peacock will be the exclusive streaming home for The Office. But there’s a significant catch — Peacock, which is an ad-supporting streaming service, is only making the first two seasons available for everyone. To watch the rest of the series, you’ll need to pay for either the $4.99 Peacock Premium, or the $9.99 Peacock Premium Plus, which gets rid of all the ads. Paying customers at Peacock will get a few additional perks. The service is adding what they’re calling “Superfan Episodes” that include, per the press release, “never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes in extended cuts of the original series, starting with Season 3, with more coming in March.” You’ll also get behind-the-scenes footage, curated episode collections, and even a 24/7 “The Office Zen” channel, perfect for people working from home right now who miss the ambient noises of their annoying co-workers. This will be an interesting test of popularity for both The Office and Peacock. So far, Peacock’s originals — Brave New World, a new Saved By the Bell — have gotten very little attention. The Office might have been even more popular in Netflix reruns than it was on NBC. But was it beloved enough to get people to sign up for — and pay for — a totally new streaming service just to watch it? In other words, do people love The Office, or did they just love having it accessible on Netflix? That remains to be seen. Either way, it may be worth noting that instead of paying $5 or $10 every month in perpetuity to watch Michael Scott act like a dope, you could pay $61 and own the entire series of The Office forever on DVD. Gallery — The Best Holiday TV Specials Ranked: Source: ‘The Office’ Moves to Peacock, But You’ll Need to Pay to Watch Most Episodes Filed Under: Netflix, Peacock, the office	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line544
__label__wiki	0.894983	0.894983	woodblock: Basho FremantleMedia Ltd/REX/Shutterstock.com (born 1940). Brazilian singer. The international hit “The Girl from Ipanema” turned unknown Astrud Gilberto into a star of the 1960s bossa nova movement. Gilberto was born in 1940 in Bahia, Brazil, but her family moved to Rio de Janeiro during her youth. She entered show business in 1963 through her husband at the time, João Gilberto. João, a singer, guitarist, and composer, worked with Antonio Carlos Jobim on developing bossa nova—a musical style that combined Brazilian samba rhythms and jazz. The sound interested American jazz musician Stan Getz, who invited the two men to record with him. One of the tracks, “The Girl from Ipanema,” required a vocalist who could sing in English. Astrud, musically inexperienced but conversant in Portuguese and English, tried the lyrics, and her soft, even voice and low-key style fit the song. “The Girl From Ipanema” earned a 1964 Grammy Award as record of the year, and Getz/Gilberto was honored as best album. Following the success of her debut song, Gilberto toured with Getz, and their collaboration was chronicled on Getz A-Go-Go (1964). In 1965 she released the solo efforts The Astrud Gilberto Album and The Shadow of Your Smile. In addition, she appeared on a variety of television shows throughout the world and recorded the soundtrack for the film The Deadly Affair (1967). Gilberto turned to songwriting in the 1970s and won an award at the Tokyo Music Festival in 1976 for “Live Today.” Gilberto formed a sextet and toured extensively in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992 she received the Latin Jazz U.S.A. Award for lifetime achievement. With her two sons, she created Gregmar Productions, Inc., which released Astrud Gilberto—Live in New York in 1996.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line545
__label__cc	0.500371	0.499629	Showrooms, Submissions, Add Event! About, Cécile B. Evans – AMOS’ WORLD: Episode One In her work, Cécile B. Evans examines the significance and role of emotion in contemporary societies as well as the increasing influence of new technologies on our feelings and actions. In her work, American–Belgian artist Cécile B. Evans examines the significance and role of emotion in contemporary societies while looking at the increasing influence of new technologies on our feelings and actions. For her solo show at mumok, Cécile B. Evans presents a re-configuration of the work AMOS’ WORLD: Episode One. In total, three episodes are planned of which Episode Two is currently in the making. AMOS’ WORLD is a three-part television series that takes place in a socially progressive housing estate inspired by famous Brutalist housing complexes such as Le Corbusier’s Unités d’Habitation in Marseille, Berlin, and Nantes-Rezé (1952—57), Alison and Peter Smithson’s Robin Hood Gardens in London (1972), and Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montreal (1967). The aim was to encourage perfect individual-communal living communes for the capitalist age—yet they nearly always failed, as people did not conform to the behaviors envisioned by the architects. The first episode of AMOS’ WORLD introduces the title character Amos, who represents the stereotype of the frustrated, angry white man. He exudes an arrogance that belies his true, slightly pathetic nature, and he almost enjoys wallowing in the grotesqueness of his own actions. He additionally resembles a cross between Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fallen-to-earth Little Prince, and architects Le Corbusier and Peter Smithson, who co-designed the famous London social housing estate Robin Hood Gardens, only to later describe the tenants disparagingly as contributors to the building’s decline. Amos is played by a three-dimensional puppet with a digitally rendered face, and the other characters—inhabitants of the estate, and the Weather, a narrative voice as well as a kind of benevolent foil to Amos—are a mixture of real and animated performers. As in all good television, the subject of the title, Amos, is never the actual subject. As the drama unfolds, what was presented as a utopian living situation becomes ever more psychologically challenging—the characters’ emotional and physical needs are revealed to be in conflict with what those who constructed this society believe to be “good.” Fissures in this carefully constructed network reveal a breakdown of person-to-person and person-to-infrastructure power dynamics, as the audience themselves look on from units nested within an architectural construction built to echo that on screen. Long before the internet, television was the site of broadcasts in which a mirroring, or projection, of Western societies’ various selves occurred, a fact which also led to the artist’s decision to choose a TV series as a suitable format for her work. The collective narcissism of daily life and cognitive dissonance are key themes of Cécile B. Evans’s new fictional television series AMOS’ WORLD. Evans asks a series of questions about contemporary life: How does the “self” in the digital age reconcile the gap between perceived freedom and control by the network? Is the “architect” who built the system the cause, or are those who use the structures also responsible for the world they inhabit? And when, if ever, do we become aware of our narcissistic subjectivity and realize that there was another viewpoint all along? Parts of the text by Kathy Noble/Mousse Magazine Pictures by Klaus Pichler mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien KubaParis by preggnant agency This website uses cookies to improve your experience Read More. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT REJECT	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line550
__label__wiki	0.710975	0.710975	Reportage › International Queer Windows in Dembow Music AV Princess Jiménez In the Dominican Republic, where the supposedly moral society and the Church espouse often virulent homophobia and transphobia, an unusual alliance has appeared among the very poorest: singers and producers of popular music genre Dembow are working with queer people and trans women, who have become huge stars in their own right. Princess Jiménez writes for Kultwatch about how some trans women are using ultra-visibility and social media fame to navigate a hostile environment. “Because no one can be shinier than me!” says La Shakata (as she is known in social media) to her fans in one of her Instagram videos, while applying an industrial amount of highlighter on her cheekbones, before going out with her friends to a non-gay night club in Bonao, a small town in the Northwest of the Dominican Republic. This flamboyant 19-year-old, who’s usually yelling out catch phrases, twerking, and wearing fabulous outfits in almost every one of her social media posts, is part of a group that refer to themselves as Mujeres Modernas. Mujeres Modernas, or Modern Women in English, is a term created by working class and poor trans women in the Dominican Republic, widely used by queer social media influencers like La Shakata and La Kisty to define their gender identity. They have transformed their queerness and experience of growing up in poverty into a powerhouse expression that uses colorful language to talk about confidence, self-esteem, perseverance, and claiming a space in the mainstream through, surprisingly, Dembow. I have a love and hate relationship with Dembow. When I was younger, I used to hate this loud and popular music. I recall when I lived in the Dominican Republic, when taking the public guaguas (buses) the driver would often play the music on the radio at a volume so high I felt like if I could not listen to my own thoughts. Hoping this unbearable torture would end quickly, and biting my tongue in order to stop me from yelling at the bus driver, while sweating profusely in the middle of a hot, normal day in the island… Imagine listening to the same songs everywhere, loudly; pure hell. Nowadays, after years of reflection, travelling, and after having read Paulo Freire, I understand Dembow’s daring and resilient origin, and enjoy it (in small doses). The general idea in Dominican society about this music genre is that it lacks class, that it is tacky, annoying, and with extremely problematic lyrics, which only reflect some of Dominican society’s values, normativity, inequality, and expectations. With time, this genre, which came out of the poorest Dominican neighborhoods, has become one of the most profitable, famous, and mainstream music genres in the Dominican Republic. They have transformed their queerness and experience of growing up in poverty into a powerhouse expression that uses colorful language to talk about confidence, self-esteem, perseverance, and claiming a space in the mainstream through, surprisingly, Dembow. Dembow is inspired by Jamaican Dancehall music and Panamanian Reguetón from the 90s. It was created by Dominican low-income and working-class teenagers during that same decade by changing the tempo, structure, and instruments, and performing in a local vernacular. DJ Boyo, Dominican Dembow’s first DJ, used Jamaican dancehall music to create the first Dominican Dembow song in Guachupita, one the poorest neighborhoods in Santo Domingo. In the middle of its campiness, its butchering of the Spanish language, its sensual and fearless dances, and its problematic lyrics about women and money, it seems like some queer and transgender working-class people have found a space where they can express themselves. How come some queer people seem to be able to thrive in such a subculture? “Well, first of all, I am a super fan of Dembow. It’s a valid music genre and the public, from different ages and social classes, connect immensely with it. I can say without a doubt that in Draguéalo parties it is pivotal to include Dembow music, and the whole audience dances it ‘bien bailao’. Say yes to Dembow!” Carlos Rodriguez is a Dominican LGBTQ+ activist, director and founder of Draguéalo, an artistic collective which encompasses entertainment, art, and cultural events focused on inclusiveness, which celebrates artistic expression and diversity in the Dominican Republic through parties and live shows. Draguéalo parties, inspired by the popular 80s New York Ballroom scene, are about offering a festive and mixed space where people compete in different categories and themes for prices, as well as just coming to enjoy all the spectacular performances. Draguéalo produces other type of events as well: from drag shows, bingo afternoons with drag queens, voguing classes, drag make-up classes, and cinema forums, to storytelling for children. The end goal is to offer alternative events that can also educate and entertain. The latest edition of Draguéalo was the “Maldita Primavera” (Damned Spring) party. Photos from the Draguéalo “Maldita Primavera” party, May 2019. Photo credit: Draguéalo Carlos Rodriguez, left, is the director of Draguéalo. Photo credit: Draguéalo Dembow has always had a reputation of being a homophobic music genre and being for “tigueres” and machos, but nevertheless we see that some Mujeres Modernas have been able to work and make events in places where this music is played, as well as to visit non-gay nightclubs, why do you think they are able to do that? Carlos Rodriguez: — I believe there have been artists who have helped to break those taboos about Dembow being homophobic, or at least do not promote homophobic attitudes in their discourses. “Crazy Design” (member of the former Dembow duo Los Teke Teke”) has been one of the first artists of this genre who since the beginning of his artistic career has been LGBTIQ+ inclusive. — On the other hand, regarding Mujeres Modernas, Dominicans like to celebrate people with diverse gender expressions from a popular imagination perspective. This is very palpable during the (Dominican) carnival, even in the LGBT Pride parades that take place in the country. It has to do with the stereotyped idea that people have about the LGBT community, that it is circus-like and flamboyant. In my understanding, these expressions and how the people receive them are valid, regardless of whether the receiving end handles the topic of diversity with the correct terminology and from an inclusive perspective. What really happens is the general public is being sensitized to the LGBTQ+ community, and for me this is a good way to start educating the masses. Los Teke Teke (now dissolved) was one of the most succesful Dembow duos in the Dominican Republic. During the peak of their career they made this song and video, where they only have Dominican Drag Queens as models, and no cis-women as dancers. The message is calling for the normalization of transgender people in society. One of the parts of the song says “She is a woman without a pussy, so what?!” Both the Mujeres Modernas and Dembow artists come from poor Dominican neighborhoods. These queer social media influencers grew up listening to that music and might have also seen teenage boys improvising rap lyrics in the slums with their friends, dreaming about becoming as famous and rich as their idols. Another important characteristic both Dembow and the Mujeres Modernas have in common is that they have invented words and terminology in order to express their craft and interpret the world that surrounds them. Sometimes it feels like if one is witnessing the creation of a new language, and sometimes even I am unable to keep up with the new words and phrases that Dembow singers seem to pull out of their flamboyant blouses. It’s like both groups create a sovereignty within themselves, using it to navigate a society that, thanks to social inequality and racism, has tried to limit the spaces they can navigate. Their curious creation of new words is also a consequence of the lack of education and cultural activities in their communities. A lot of Dembow singers and Mujeres Modernas haven’t even finished high school. However, their “reinterpretation of the Spanish language” and creation of new words have been part of them claiming a space in the Dominican mainstream and thriving. La Shakata and La Kisty have capitalized on their social media success and make a living thanks to endorsements and gigs in mostly non-gay night clubs. Their shows are very popular among working class and poor Dominicans. Dembow, which started as music for the people of the poorest neighborhoods in the Dominican Republic, today is listened to by all social classes in the Dominican Republic. It’s like both groups create a sovereignty within themselves, using it to navigate a society that, thanks to social inequality and racism, has tried to limit the spaces they can navigate. However, not everybody in the Dominican LGBTQ+ community see Mujeres Modernas and Dembow music as positive forces. A few months ago, La Shakata said very homophobic and transphobic comments on an Instagram live video, trying to sound funny and raunchy for her thousands of fans. Because of this incident, she was disqualified from participating in the “Trans Queen Category” in the Pride celebration in the Dominican Republic 2019. Jean Sano is a Dominican LGBTQ+ rights activist and human rights advocate. He is a member Youth Advisory Panel of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Dominican Republic, where he is currently working on the design of the 2019-2030 National Youth Plan, which will contain public policy actions to improve the quality of life of LGBTIQ + youth in the country. At the same time, he is an ambassador of the United Nations Free and Equal Campaign. This initiative promotes equal rights for the LGBTIQ + community in the Dominican Republic. What is the situation of LGBTQ + activism? how do you see the future of LGBTQ+ rights in the Dominican Republic? Jean Sano: — LGBTIQ + activism in the country began a few decades ago to fight HIV/AIDS in the (LGBTQ+) community. Being one of the affected populations, different leaders emerged to make the collective visible and make sure it had access to health services. Today the country has moved on to other issues, like guaranteeing the rights of all and all members of the Dominican LGBTIQ + community. There are more than 20 LGBTQ+ organizations that are usually associated with specific groups, so there are trans women networks, lesbians’ associations, gay men’s groups, etc. At this moment, the (LGBTQ+) community is focused on two fights; to promote an anti-discrimination law and to guarantee access to justice. The law will create a legal framework that will protect sexually diverse people and other vulnerable groups. On the other hand, we are working to make sure that the Public Prosecutor Office does not ignore cases in which LGBTIQ + persons are victims of violence, and that the perpetrators are judged by the Dominican justice system. This is a fight that will take us years. If we manage to get the anti-discrimination law enacted, the next step will be to promote bills that would legalize civil unions or marriage among LGBTQ+ people, changing name and gender in documents, etc. However, one of the biggest challenges the (LGBTQ+) community is facing is not agreeing on these issues. It will be necessary to work together with all the organizations in the community to articulate our demands and work out concrete proposals. On the other hand, the government, which is widely influenced by both Catholic and Evangelical churches, has not been so receptive to our proposals, therefore I do not believe that the current situation will change considerably in the near future, unfortunately. We know that our country is very conservative and homophobic, but at the same time we see that Mujeres Modernas like La Shakata and La Kisty are part of the mainstream. Do you believe that their experience helps more LGBTQ+ Dominicans to navigate Dominican society? Why do you think they are so successful in the world of Dembow? — The exposure of people like La Shakata and La Kisty does not help the conquest of LGBTQ+ rights in the Dominican Republic, quite to the contrary. Although it is true that the new generations are more receptive to queer people, there are still many stereotypes about LGBTIQ + people in the country. La Shakata and la Kisty fulfill one of those stereotypes: to make people laugh. They reaffirm the biggest cliché that society has about queer people, which is that sexual diverse people are clowns. That’s precisely the reason why they have been so successful in the world of urban music. They behave like society expects non-heteronormative people to behave. In the long run, this generates a vicious circle in which society expects everyone in the group (LGBTQ) to behave like that. You only need to watch Dominican films or local TV to realize that gays are always ridiculed in comedies. — This inherently prevents LGBTIQ + people in the country from occupying other spaces because they would always have their behavior questioned: if they “suelta mucha pluma”, if they are too effeminate, if they are too noisy, etc. I will not be pessimistic and say that the fact that those Mujeres Modernas are big social media influencers contributes nothing. It is true that their visibility is a form of activism that allows society to understand that there are different types of people. However, the characters they portray in order to maintain a following in social media are often exaggerated and vulgar and can show a bad image of the LGBTQ+ community. La Shakata may only have been trying to appeal to her Instagram audience or trying to be funny, but it’s not hard to understand how extremely problematic such statements can be. Nevertheless, one must also keep in mind her background and that, as Paulo Freire explained “the oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom”. The fight for equality in marginalized minorities must also happen within those communities. I think is important to know how Christian churches have a lot of social presence and power in the country, and how she said these horrible and bigoted statements while navigating her own identity. In their quest to express themselves and create new languages Dembow singers and Mujeres Modernas have made mistakes, sadly. However, neither group has ever had an intention to become society’s moral compass – unlike the upper class, which is also homophobic and transphobic, but presents itself as the ideal in the creation of a perfect and functional Dominican society. There are complex discussions within the Dominican LGBTQ+ community that are worth listening to (which the interviews included in this article are a small sample of) and learn from them as quiet but supportive allies, while also rejecting transphobia and bigotry in general. Nevertheless, I am not excusing what La Shakata said. We know that our country is very conservative and homophobic, but at the same time we see that Mujeres Modernas like La Shakata and La Kisty are part of the mainstream. Do you believe that their experience helps more LGBTQ+ Dominicans to navigate Dominican society? Carlos Rodriguez: — Yes. It is evident how the Dominican people receives them. Right now, they are the influencers with a diverse gender expression who have the most impact in social media. Coming from a country where those expressions regularly get dismissed, I can tell they have both contributed to increase understanding among a lot of people. What they have done has great merit. Even though there are a few female Dembow female singers, it is always the male performers who have worked with Mujeres Modernas and drag queens. They don’t just follow each other on social media but is not weird to see Dembow groups collaborating with not only dominican queer social media influencers, but with also drag queens and other queer performers and dancers, mostly without using them as props or to make fun of them, but as performers, including sometimes producing their music. One example of the latter is La Delfi, whose first successful song in 2012, called “Dame Leche” (please, don’t ask) was produced and featured Jhon Distrito, a very popular Dembow singer and producer back then. This song was mainstream and extremely popular among the general public, including working class, cis Dominican men. La Delfi started her career in the 2009, becoming a very successful mainstream Dembow performer, and performing in mostly non-gay night clubs in and out of drag. In “Mariquiqui” (which was also very popular among non-gay people) she challenges homophobia and transphobia in Dominican macho culture. When it comes to homophobia and transphobia in Dembow songs, I listened to more than 30 Dembow songs while writing this article, and none of them had any transphobic or homophobic lyrics, messages, or words, including the songs in this article. I tried to find Dembow songs with transphobic or homophobic lyrics, but I couldn’t. The “negative messages” that one can see reflected are sex, partying, drugs, and easy money, like in any traditional rap or pop song. Two big reasons why Dembow is perceived as extremely problematic can be that Dominican society is very conservative, and that the music is associated with uneducated and low-income people. Interestingly, merengue and bachata (also Dominican music genres that nowadays are considered national treasures) were also rejected by upper class people for a lot of years when they started out, because they were considered too vulgar and unsophisticated. Another thing both Dembow singers and the beautiful Mujeres Modernas might have in common is their fashion style. Male Dembow singers still dress like cis men, but they sometimes play with the boundaries of “masculine” clothes by wearing very flamboyant and flashy outfights, jewelry, and primped hairstyles, even in their everyday lives. The main aesthetic objective of Dembow artists is not to look tough or macho, but to look good flashy, expensive, and cool. For example, one time Dembow singer El Mayor was criticized for wearing Gucci women’s shoes, and his reply was “I think they are really cool”. Sometimes I wonder myself which one was first, El Mayor or Las Mujeres Modernas? Both groups seem comfortable in their own skins and care very little about people questioning their fashion choices and how they present themselves in society. El Mayor is one of the biggest and most popular Dembow singers in the Dominican Republic. The main model in this video is La Kisty, one of the Mujeres Modernas who are famous social media influencers in the Dominican Republic. The song’s main message is to tell haters to “go fuck themselves” while twerking. One of the most important characteristics Mujeres Modernas and Dembow artists have in common, which seems to help them to connect with each other, is that both groups are openly and constantly looked down on and criticized by most of the Dominican middle and upper class, including in the media. They are considered uneducated, low-class, tacky, and that they both represent the worst things of Dominican society. For example, Niní Cáffaro, director of the Dominican National Theater, has vehemently said that he would never allow Dembow artists to perform in such a prestigious stage, in order to “protect it”. Both Mujeres Modernas and Dembow singers are constantly used unfairly as scapegoats for society’s evils. The exaggerated perceptions about both communities may be due to the fact they are looked at through the lens of an extremely conservative society. What’s your opinion on Dembow? Jean Sano: — For me Dembow is a musical style that is looked down on. It means that it is a rhythm that was born from the most marginalized and excluded communities in the Dominican Republic, especially from the outskirts of Gran Santo Domingo. Dembow is the result of a combination of the lack of cultural activities that the youth from those areas have access to and foreign musical styles, mainly from African American culture. That rhythm is contagious without a doubt, and with time it has acquired characteristics which distinguishes it from other musical genres in the region. Nowadays Dembow is an unique musical style. Dembow’s lyrics showcase the everyday in the country’s low-income neighborhoods, which is why violence, machismo, and toxic masculinity are the main message in the lyrics. I personally try not to judge Dembow lyrics from my own moral values. I believe that one of art’s main objectives, in any of its forms and expressions, is to reflect the interpreter’s reality. You can’t expect Dembow artist to write about anything else because the machista, misogynistic, and violent reality they sing about is the only thing they know. Nowadays there’s a discussion (in the Dominican Republic) about how Dembow influences the youth negatively. I believe that everyone who lives in this country knows about our society’s many vulnerabilities. One doesn’t need to listen to a Dembow song to know about men being violent against women or planning drug trafficking. To me, if one wishes to change Dembow lyrics, society must change first. As long as the country remains immersed in poverty, Dembow lyrics will showcase all of poverty’s evils. Even though both Dembow music and Mujeres Modernas are mainstream and famous, there are certain echelons of privilege they have a hard time accessing. For both groups it is hard to travel outside of the Dominican Republic because is hard for them to get travelling visas due to their social class. Some Dembow singers, even though they are very popular, must be sponsored before travelling to perform for Dominican communities in the United States and Europe. To this date, none of the most famous Mujeres Modernas have travelled outside of the country. For both groups is also almost impossible to access certain social circles, like upper-class and educated circles. Gay night clubs in the country are usually for middle-class, upper-middle class and rich people, and some, a few years ago, would even forbid drag queens and transgender people from coming because they were “too queer”. The worlds of Dembow and Mujeres Modernas seem to connect, flow together, cooperate, and claim spaces with their craft. And these amazing displays of campiness, ratchetness, and magic are, considering all their limitations, art forms that have helped them navigate society, and use whichever tools they can to thrive. One of the main tools Mujeres Modernas use is social media, not only to make a living, but to use their visibility as a form of activism. Thanks to La Shakata I came across Draguéalo, which has received support from internationally famous drag queens like Laganja Estranja and the Puerto Rican April Carrión, who even traveled to Santo Domingo and worked with them. They also showcase non-conventional drag and gender expressions. Do you feel that Dominican drag scene is gaining new momentum thanks to social media? Carlos Rodriguez: — Yes, that’s a big part of it. Social media and the internet in general have helped people to be able to access all types of information. The Dominican queer scene has become more well-known and is growing, and every time the number of people who come to Draguéalo events grows. I believe it is not only for the queer community but also for the general public that is looking for alternative options for fun and entertainment, which has connected with the queer and diverse community. Draguéalo is also a form of activism, why is art as a form of activism important? — Yes, Draguéalo is a form of activism. After several years of diversity-focus activism through photography, film, and education, Draguéalo is a new form of activism. Actually, it has been a wider and a more direct form of activism because of the audience that goes to Draguéalo events and the way the public interacts with it, how they have received these events, how they identify themselves with the brand, and how they have become frequent patrons at our events, and in one way Draguéalo becomes part of those people’s night-life/mariconistica (gay) “religion circuit” in Santo Domingo. To see people’s support is what motivates us to keep putting love and dedication into this project that is still in baby steps. Having Draguéalo’s family growing within the community (LGBTQ+) is the end goal. Hija de Perra, the queer Chilean artist, once said “Of course! Because the crossdresser has no other space but to be a hairdresser or in street prostitution.” Ideally, we would see queer people everywhere, not only as performers, comedians, or social media influencers, but also as people who can go and be whatever they want, who can navigate society easily and go wherever they please. But while we wait for that to happen, this bunch of queer, working class people have built their own way to navigate society and thrive; by being loud and having the nerve to exist as publicly as possible, and using a space like Dembow culture. They might look like two different galaxies, but they coexist in an unusual symbiosis in a post-colonial and warm Caribbean island. What does the future hold? I cannot tell, sometimes is hard to see it when every day is summer, but I celebrate the little battles and recognize the ones who are giving visibility to transgender people in unusual spaces, those creating a queer window in Dembow music. Image description, featured image: One of the most successful Mujeres Modernas, social media influencer La Shakata. Photo credit: Carlos Rodriguez Princess Jiménez Princess Jiménez is a Dominican who's lived in several countries around the world, and currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden. She runs the podcast MangoPodcast and tweets as @PrincessJB87. Featuredpridequeer The Infrastructure of Amnesia Belarus 2020 17.8.2020 / Katerina Zolotova	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line551
__label__cc	0.640057	0.359943	Professor Anja Boisen is awarded the Order of the Dannebrog Date: 6. Dec 2020Author: Kindt Professor Anja Boisen was recently awarded Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark. The award is based on her many years of work as professor at DTU, where she heads the Center of Excellence IDUN doing research in the field of micro and nanotechnology. Anja Boisen had previously received the Elite Research Prize from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, and her research has formed the basis for substantial innovation in how drugs are delivered to the body using nanotechnology. Chairwoman of KIF, Maren Malling, conducted this short interview with Anja Boisen. First of all, congratulations on receiving this very special honor! Please tell us about your field of research and the benefits of this research for society We work with micro and nano devices for sensing applications and drug delivery: two activities with great synergy. For example, our developed nanomechanical sensors can be used to characterize new drug formulations. We hope to provide new and safe solutions for oral delivery of labile drugs, such as insulin, and to facilitate better monitoring of the effect of treatment of diseases, such as cancer. Please tell us about your career path After finishing my master’s studies in physics and mathematics from Roskilde University, I worked as high school teacher for nearly a year. I then did an industrial PhD in the company ‘Danish Micro Engineering’, with a research stay at IBM Almaden. After my PhD degree (1997), I was hired as a postdoc at DTU, and after a few years (1999), I was awarded my first research grant that made it possible for me to start my own research group. I became associate professor in 1999, and professor in 2005. Were you always interested in science? What motivated you to study physics? I guess I have always been interested in science. My parents were both schoolteachers (biology and physics), so I have been exposed to a lot of experiments and fieldwork. My motivation to study physics started after the first year in university. I had done an interesting experimental physics project that inspired me a lot and secondly, one of my female tutors decided to study physics. She was kind of a role model for me. Very few women studied physics. Besides being Head of Section and professor at DTU Health Tech as well as leader of the IDUN research center, you part of a number of boards and committees. What is your motivation for doing this work? The feeling of making a difference and the opportunity to give something back to science and society. Also, it is a fantastic opportunity to meet new interesting people and to learn a lot of new stuff. As center leader and professor, you mentor students and hire junior staff. How do you support and encourage these young, aspiring scientists? I try to see the individual and to understand the person’s motivation and career wishes. Together, we try to align expectations, to set goals and to define responsibilities. I try to be very open about the limited career possibilities within academia and I try to show alternative career paths – for example by inviting former group members to give talks and tell about their own careers. Many work in industry today or have started their own businesses. I support as much as I can in terms of providing feedback, using my network and general coaching. You have received a long list of grants and awards over the years but being awarded the Order of Dannebrog must be quite a unique honor. Receiving this order what does that mean to you? It is an award with a lot of history and tradition. There is something very unique and very Danish about the Order of Dannebrog. It makes me proud on behalf of the entire team. Previous Previous post: Associate Professor Liselotte Jauffred receives a Sapere Aude Starting Grant 2020 Next Next post: Our First Online KIF Networking Event	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line552
__label__wiki	0.970598	0.970598	Melbourne's status as an Olympic city : past, present and future perspectives / Richard Baka Baka, Richard This study investigates Melbourne’s status as an Olympic city. Beginning with its successful hosting of the 1956 ‘Friendly Games’, Melbourne has subsequently established a vibrant Olympic legacy. This has included the development of world-class sports facilities, especially in the Olympic Park precinct, with the focal point being the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The city has also created Olympic connections via the National Sports Museum, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and the Victorian Olympic Council. In addition, Melbourne has earned itself the mantle of Australia’s sporting capital by way of hosting numerous major national and international sporting events. The paper systematically outlines the historical context for Melbourne’s Olympic legacy and by doing so highlights the rivalry and strained relationship that has always existed with Sydney, Australia’s largest city and the host of the 2000 Olympic Games. IN: The international journal of the history of sport, Ahead of Print, 3 February 2019, pp. 1-24. Melbourne 1956, Olympic Games "More events, more medals, more interest !" : the growth and expansion of the Winter Olympic Games Olympic houses : a comparative investigation between Canada, Germany and Australia The Victorian Olympic Council : an overview of its contribution to the Australian Olympic Movement On the periphery : new perspectives on the Olympic movement	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line556
__label__wiki	0.68751	0.68751	Louise Aird About Me & My Blog Tag Archives: Bing Thom Profile: Bing Thom, the Landscaper’s Architect Landscape, September 1993 All landscapers wish that architects were more understanding of the landscaper’s job. Well, one of Canada’s leading architects feels the same way. Bing Thom was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver. His uncle was an engineer and when Thom was eight, he visited his uncle’s office. There, he saw architectural drawings and decided to make drawing such plans his life’s work. At the same time, he had a feel for gardening and the landscape, a sense which he attributes to his Asian ancestry. At 17, he jumped at the chance to work as a landscaper’s helper. “I spent a summer designing gardens,’ says Thom. “Building rock walls and transplanting trees was good experience—it taught me hard work.” In 1966, Thom graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a degree in architecture. After obtaining his Master’s in Architecture from Berkeley, he spent two years teaching at the University of Singapore, then returned to Vancouver and taught at UBC for another two years. In 1973, famed architect Arthur Erickson asked Thom to help him on a project. “Erickson was my teacher at UBC,” explains Thom. “He, like Frank Lloyd Wright, was influenced by Oriental architecture and they shared a tendency toward the landscape. This appealed to me.” Thom helped Erickson on the now-famous Vancouver Courthouse/Robson Square. “This project involved a lot of landscaping,” remembers Thom. “Vancouverites wanted a park. The government wanted an office building. So we put the park on top of the office building. “The courthouse was interesting—three mid-downtown blocks and we were putting a garden atop a man-made structure. The main questions were of waterproofing and finding the right soil mix. So we developed a totally new soil that is both lightweight and able to sustain nutrients. “There were thousands of plants in that garden,” continues Thom. “We found an entire orchard of pines, magnolias and rhododendrons which we transplanted. Also, Spokane [WA] had 200 matching London Plane trees, which are used in cities all over the world. We bought those but, at planting time, the city’s chief engineer stopped us. He said they grew too fast and that the roots would interfere with sewers and water lines. So we planted 200 Sunset Maples and Victoria happily took the London Planes. Engineers don’t understand plants. They think there should be plastic everywhere.” Thom next project was Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall which he designed in a park setting. In 1980, he again helped Erickson, this time on Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill project, which involved re-developing five mid-town blocks and adding linear parks and green space. In 1982, Thom opened his own office and now employs a staff of 20, including nine architects and his wife, Bonnie. It is Bonnie, not Bing, who has the green thumb. The daughter of a farmer, Bonnie is an educated landscaper and works on all of Bing’s projects. “I have a feel for gardening, but Bonnie has the talent. I tell her how I want to project to look and she compiles a list of the plants that will get me that look, according to their colours and textures. “More architects should consider the colours in the surrounding landscape. I never use red brick because only green plants match it. Instead, I keep my buildings neutral so that when plants flower, their colour takes over.” Thom is an architect first, but he will not design a building unless he also designs the landscape. “It’s a personal thing. The building must grow from the ground, and the landscaping is the foundation. Each building must sit correctly on that setting, while relating to the landscape. So the landscape is actually more important than the building. Many architects don’t realize that landscaping is essential to architecture—that buildings and gardens are inter-related and indivisible. “I start every design by looking at the property’s characteristics—the way the sun shines, the wind blows, the location, the view. I use plants only, never anything artificial. And I always use vegetation from the building’s locale. We must remember that we can’t fight nature. We have to work with it.” What do Thom’s clients think about his approach? “They appreciate it,” says Thom. “They may mind spending the extra money, but they never argue. I just remind them that’s money well-spent. Many people don’t realize thatlandscape architecture is more difficult and time-consuming than structural architecture, and that it takes more creativity to do a good landscape than it does to do a good building. I don’t have to account for growth with granite.” Every one of Thom’s gardens also has a purpose. “I want my gardens to be places for meditation and contemplation,” he says “It’s important that people find tranquil spaces, even in the busiest of cities. That’s why we take care that my gardens are harmonious—never jarring or extreme.” Surprisingly, Thom has no garden of his own. He and Bonnie live in a penthouse, with four balconies, and not a single plant. “I’m the barefoot shoemaker,” says Thom. “We’ve been planning a roof garden but we’ve never had the time to create it.” This fits with a trend that Thom has seen increasing—and one that he thinks the landscape industry should be capitalizing on. “People are living closer together and are nostalgic for gardens. I see more rockeries, solariums, and balcony and roof gardens, and there’s a demand for hobby plants, like bonsai. People want more colour in plants that take up little space. “I advise landscapers to get into more public education. There’s a thirst for what landscapers have to offer. People are concerned about the look and health of their environment and there’s a need for professionals to go to the public with courses and lectures.” Thom also advises the landscape industry to lobby for universities to include landscape architecture in their architecture and engineering programs. “Most architects can’t be bothered with the extra work of landscape architecture. The problem is that no landscape courses are required to get a degree in architecture. This should change. The architect finds himself working on a project where the client wants a park or garden, and winds up in a situation where the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. “Universities don’t require architects to take interior design courses either. That also makes no sense. It’s like medicine, where specialists come to think of the body in parts, rather than as a whole. “People wonder why I bother with the landscape but it’s perfectly logical. The building, the interior and the landscape are inseparable, and the same creativity has to be behind all three elements. This should be taught as part of any school’s architectural program. “The real key, though, is to teach engineers about landscape. Engineers do the most damage to the landscape. Traffic engineers do tremendous harm. They want to keep their roads straight and will mow down any number of trees to do it. They need to learn that roads don’t always have to be straight.” Thom, now 53, still lectures at UBC and has just completed a three-year term as Chairman of the Vancouver Public Library Committee. His most recent achievement, however, was his award-winning Canadian Pavilion at EXPO ’92 in Seville. “I wanted to build a Canadian building in Spain, but I couldn’t transplant Canadian plants, so I made a garden using hard landscaping and evocative images to get the Canadian feel.” For the first time, Thom had to use man-made materials. He created a jagged white front which looks like a snowdrift during the day but, when lit at night, looks like the Northern Lights. Inside, the pavilion’s focal point is a wall of shimmering blue/green water—it’s actually panels covered with etched aluminum foil. People were so enthralled by the effect, they waited up to 10 hours to get in a second time. Thom has won numerous awards but his greatest compliment is seeing people enjoying his landscapes. “It’s satisfying to see people relax in my gardens. I see them become happier, friendlier.” Still, he is never satisfied. “I wish I could redo every garden. No matter how careful we are, gardens never grow according to plan. That’s what makes it challenging—the hope is always that the next garden will be my perfect favourite.” Leave a comment Posted in Architecture, Design, Landscaping, Real Estate, Environment & Nature, Profiles Tagged Architectural education, architecture, Arthur Erickson, Bing Thom, Bunker Hill Los Angeles, Canadian Pavilion at EXPO ’92 in Seville, Interior design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, nature, plants, Robson Square, Roy Thomson Hall, thom building, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Vancouver Courthouse On Politics, Religion, Sex & Shutting Up Already Home-Buyer’s Guide. Client: Blu Realty Profile: Finale Editworks On Wal-Mart, Toxic Cotton & The Green Thing Cathedral Place: The Salvation of a Landmark Louise Aird on West of Eden: Canadian Folk… terry on West of Eden: Canadian Folk… Louise Aird on Nettwerking Chris Ewrin on Nettwerking Wilson P. Dizard III… on On Wal-Mart, Toxic Cotton… Animation, Multimedia Architecture, Design, Landscaping, Real Estate Art, Museum & Gallery Exhibits Copywriting, Concept and/or Art Direction General Ranting Internet, Websites, E-Comm Literature, Poetry, Fiction Movies, Film Industry Politics, Religion, Economics	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line557
__label__cc	0.676619	0.323381	A Silvery Moon My New Year’s Practice In another life, I was an anthropologist. I studied that most bizarre of animals, the life-coach. It amazed me how, like a vizier from mythological Persia or a philosopher from ancient Greece, one of these beings could make a living doing what most of us do for free: telling others how to solve their problems. (Blah blah blah, I can hear them already: “a good coach doesn’t give people solutions, but helps them find solutions,”; another common feature of the species is its abundant sense of humor with regard to others, and a complete lack of it in relation to themselves.) One of the favorite rituals of these strange beings is what they call “the pizza of life.” They practice this ritual frequently, sometimes even several times a month, but they swear that it is most important to do it at least once a year! It looks something like this: A “pizza of life,” as typically designed by the Lifus Coachus species (Portuguese). The goal is to give each of these important areas of our life a score from 0 to 10, but as numbers are a scary thing, the life-coach opts for a visual representation, a “coloring-in” of each slice. I tried the practice a few times, and I didn’t like it; it felt too much like a high school self-assessment, and if my studies in philosophy and neurology converge in anything, it is in the certainty that self-assessment is one of the things that we, human beings, are least capable at. The segmentation into specific areas, however, interested me. The first step in solving any problem is to formulate it correctly. The second step is to make it specific, or to divide it into specific parts. Dividing our lives into several areas of action helps us in two ways: It makes us aware of balance and unbalances in our lives and areas of focus. It makes us define what we want in a more concrete way. From this observation, I started the practice of, at the beginning of each year, making a “wish list,” with 1 to 3 items per area. At this stage, I focus on “what I want to happen” and not so much in “how can I make it happen.” These are not “New Year’s resolutions,” but rather an identification of wishes and problems. The distinction is subtle, but important. A resolution is a “I’m going to do this.” But a “I’m going to do this” without a purpose behind it is doomed to fail. The purpose of this exercise is for me to decide what I want — or have — to change; the mechanisms through which to effect that change, those are for another exercise. Here are some observations about the categories I use, and the questions I use to generate desires and ambitions: Health – The cornerstone; without health, nothing is achievable. How would you like to find yours at the end of this year? Career – Different from money; many people are satisfied with what they do, but are unable to pay the bills; others have everything they want but hate their job. What would make you feel accomplished, professionally, this year? Money – Not just a number. How will your relationship with money evolve over this year? “Becoming good at investing.” is a common ambition. Love – What is missing from your love life? To find, build, or maintain a relationship with that special someone? How would it feel to do so? Family and Friends – What do you want from your relationships with those closest to you? Contribution – What could you do that would improve the state of your neighborhood, your city, your country? Personal Development – What would you like to learn this year? What are you going to become a master at? Hobbies and Social Life – Time for fun! What would make you sure that you enjoyed life to its fullest? Peer Group – What kind of people and groups would challenge and support you to maximize your growth? Who do you want to be around? Personal Leadership – What would have to happen to make you feel more independent and fearless? Life Purpose – What are you doing here? How can you do more of it this year? Spirituality – What can you do to be closer, more integrated with the world / universe? (Religion is optional.) Again, these are not resolutions. The question is “what?”, not “how?” “How” comes next. Writer. Podcaster. Marketer. Dental Surgeon. Gamer. You get my essays in your email, before anyone else. Peach (pictured above) gets a treat for every new subscriber. Win-win. me@email.com Sugested Reading: The Dice The Path to Serenity Prophets and Madmen The Ten 2020 Games You Must Play — Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line560
__label__wiki	0.990459	0.990459	Big Band Spotlight Jazz Nightly Techradio Topics & Blogs Images of the Past Podcasts/RSS SDPB Voices SDPB Classical Lindsey Graham Warmed To Trump, And Some Voters Feel Left In The Cold By Don Gonyea • Oct 18, 2020 Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., stands onstage with President Trump during a Feb. 28 campaign rally in North Charleston, S.C. His allegiance to Trump has left some moderate voters feeling snubbed and switching allegiances to Democrat Jaime Harrison. Originally published on October 18, 2020 12:54 pm Even the most optimistic Democrats didn't have South Carolina on the list of Republican U.S. Senate seats they seriously thought they could flip at the start of 2020. But a little more than two weeks out from Election Day, it's within reach. Democrat Jaime Harrison — a 44-year-old former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, congressional aide and lobbyist — has risen in the polls and is giving three-term incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham something to worry about this election. Make no doubt: South Carolina remains a solidly Republican state, and since Graham was first elected in 2002, he has won easily every time. What has changed this year is Graham himself, specifically how he has aligned himself within the Republican Party. For most of his political life, Graham appealed to the middle — those more moderate South Carolina voters who saw him as someone who could cut through partisan politics. The best symbol of this was his close friendship with the late GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona. But now McCain is gone, and Graham's most prominent new relationship is with none other than President Trump, who not only clashed with McCain on issues but also mocked and ridiculed his reputation as a military hero who survived years of torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. At the start of the 2016 campaign, Trump famously said, "I like people that weren't captured, OK?" At the time, Graham was running against him for the GOP presidential nomination, sugarcoating none of his critiques. Donald Trump was "unfit for office" and a "religious bigot," according to Graham back then. One Harrison TV spot shows clips of Graham from the 2016 campaign, when he seemed appalled by Trump. Then, the ad cuts to more recent statements where Graham proclaims, "No, I don't think he's a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. I like the president. I am like the happiest dude in America right now." Some South Carolina voters, like real estate agent Melinda Nicholson, are mystified by Graham moving from such a close friendship with McCain to his current friendship with Trump. "I'm just not pleased," Nicholson says of Graham. "It's like he's Trump's minion, and I don't like that." That opinion comes from a Democrat, but Nicholson quickly explains that she has voted for Graham every time he has run for Senate. This year, she says, "I'm voting for Jaime Harrison." The incumbent's vocal defense of Trump has prompted Democrats from around the U.S. to make online donations to Harrison. With that national support, Harrison has been able to mount an aggressive media campaign, especially with television ads — some of them biographical, introducing himself to voters, and some of them classic attack ads going after Graham. But he has also had the money to build a campaign organization and reach out to voters through social media, radio, direct mail and phone calls. He went from being more than 15 points down early in the year to virtually wiping out Graham's lead in a series of polls as the campaign reached its final month. Then came the blockbuster news that really put Harrison in the spotlight — a record-shattering haul in the third quarter, bringing in $57 million and topping the previous single-quarter fundraising record in any Senate race ever, set by Beto O'Rourke in Texas during the 2018 midterms. It's more money than Harrison — who hopes to be the first African American Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from a Southern state — could even hope to spend in the final weeks of the campaign. The surge in gifts to Harrison certainly got Graham's attention. He has even used appearances on Fox News to urge viewers to contribute dollars, as he did in late September on the conservative cable network: "Every liberal in the country wants to take me out." He then spelled out the address to his website, making the plea very clear. The incumbent senator spent the past week chairing the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for nominee Amy Coney Barrett, and he even alluded to Harrison's fundraising success during those proceedings when the topic of campaign finance came up. "I don't know what's going on out there, but I can tell you there's a lot of money being raised in this campaign," he said at one point, speaking to the nominee and, seemingly, everyone at the whole hearing. "I'd like to know where the hell some of it's coming from." Early voting in South Carolina is now underway. In the Charleston area, people have been casting ballots at the local sports coliseum. Mike O'Connell, 54, is a police officer who describes himself as an independent who is conservative. He voted to reelect Graham, explaining, "He supports the police, I know that for sure. Supreme Court, that's a big issue, and even though I'm independent, I would prefer that Republicans hold on to the Senate." The Supreme Court is a motivator for anti-Graham voters too. Four years ago, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Graham said it was right to deny President Barack Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a confirmation vote because it was an election year. He said then, and has repeated in recent years, that it was a principle he'd adhere to even under Trump. He broke that pledge by fully backing the nomination currently before the Senate in the final days of the 2020 election. That broken promise is an issue for voter Brenda Toohey, a 56-year-old nurse practitioner from Mount Pleasant, S.C. She says events of the past four years have made her an even stronger Democrat. "I think that Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite for letting this vote go for the Supreme Court. It's very concerning." The big risk for Graham is that this election alters his usual approach to winning. He has always relied on moderate voters — be they Republicans, independents or Democrats. They famously helped him survive primary challenges over the years from far more conservative Republican hopefuls. This year, many moderates are upset with him and his closeness to the president. Charleston attorney Andy Savage says that his politics are mostly right in the middle and that he regular splits his ballot between Democratic and Republican candidates. But one constant had been his unwavering support for Graham, as a voter and as a contributor. "Financially, we supported him," Savage said. "You know, all the bumper stickers and all that sort of stuff in politics that you do. We were all in." Not this year. "We were always eyeball to eyeball on the issues," he says. Then the senator "just veered off into Never Never Land." And in the process, Savage says, Graham signaled to voters like him that the senator doesn't need them anymore. Now, it appears, Graham can't spare much of any support. Made possible by your generous gifts. And by the Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. © 2020 SDPB Radio SDPB Home Support SDPB About SDPB Contact SDPB	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line563
__label__wiki	0.788187	0.788187	Senators Push for Vote on Yemen War February 28, 2018 Derek Davison 2 Comments by Derek Davison and Jim Lobe In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) announced that they—along with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who was not present for the press conference—will introduce a privileged resolution that could put an end to U.S. logistical and other support for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their nearly three-year-old military intervention in Yemen. The bipartisan resolution will invoke the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires the U.S. president to consult Congress for any deployment of U.S. armed forces into combat. Senate approval of the resolution could have far-reaching implications for other U.S. military operations in combat zones ranging from Syria to the African Sahel. In announcing the resolution, Sanders argued that “it goes without saying that every armed conflict that the United States of America is engaged in must be consistent with the Constitution of the United States and be lawful.” The Constitution reserves the power to declare war to Congress, and, while the War Powers Act allows presidents to make immediate, short-term deployments in cases of emergency and imminent threat, it also requires a Congressional vote to authorize combat deployments longer than 90 days, including a 30-day withdrawal period. Washington has provided logistical and intelligence assistance to the Saudis and Emiratis since they unleashed their military campaign against a Houthi-dominated insurgency in March, 2015. If the resolution passes—and there’s no way to gauge its support at this point—Washington’s role with respect to the multi-faceted and calamitous conflict in Yemen could change dramatically. A privileged resolution is guaranteed a vote on the floor of the Senate, though that status could be stripped from the measure by the Senate leadership. Shortly after the Sanders-Lee press conference, the Huffington Post reported that the Trump administration has actually begun efforts to persuade the Senate leadership to block the measure. Sanders laid out his argument for invoking the War Powers Act with respect to Yemen, characterizing U.S. support for the Saudi war effort as “unconstitutional and unauthorized”: For far too long, Congress—under Democratic and Republican administrations—has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war. The time is long overdue for Congress to reassert its constitutional authority. And that is what Senator Lee, Senator Murphy, and I are doing with this privileged resolution that we are introducing. Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering today in a devastating civil war, with Saudi Arabia and their allies on one side and Houthi rebels on the other. In November of [last] year, the United Nations emergency relief coordinator said that Yemen was on the brink of ‘the largest famine that the world has seen for many decades.’ So far, at least 10,000 civilians have died, over 40,000 have been wounded, and over 3 million have been displaced. Many Americans are also not aware that U.S. forces have been actively involved in support of the Saudis in this war, providing intelligence and aerial refueling of planes whose bombs have killed thousands of people and made this crisis far worse. We believe that, as Congress has not declared war or authorized military force in this conflict, the United States’ involvement in Yemen is unconstitutional and unauthorized, and U.S. military support of the Saudi coalition must end. Without Congressional authorization, our engagement in this war should be restricted to providing desperately needed humanitarian aid and diplomatic efforts to resolve it. Last November, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly (366-30) passed a non-binding resolution expressing that America’s military activity in Yemen is unauthorized except insofar as it relates to actions against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Ironically, AQAP has benefited greatly from Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, which likely could not be sustained without Washington’s assistance. Lee characterized the issue as a matter of “American principle” and argued that the resolution intends to rebalance the roles of Congress and the presidency in foreign affairs: Our involvement [in Yemen] commenced, of course, during President Obama’s administration and has continued into the current presidency. This involvement is therefore not the creation of either political party. But over the course of the last few decades there has been a steady erosion, due to the willingness on the part of members of Congress to acquiesce to executive authority, in this area. So it’s important that we address this from time to time, especially when American lives are being put on the line and American resources are being devoted toward a particular conflict. The American people have every right and every reasonable expectation that their elected representatives in Congress will debate this, and will discuss this, rather than simply allowing it to happen. Apart from its impact on U.S. involvement in Yemen, the resolution fits into a larger debate about Congress’s war powers as they relate to what the Bush administration referred to as the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The post-9/11 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) has been used by the U.S. government for over 16 years to justify military operations that go far beyond responding to al-Qaeda’s attacks. If Congress were to finally reassert its authority on military matters it could have substantial implications on the GWOT, including U.S. military intervention in Syria and elsewhere, perhaps requiring a new and more limited AUMF. US Foreign Policy, Yemen 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force, Bernie Sanders, Derek Davison, Jim Lobe, Mike Lee, Saudi Arabia, Senate, United States, War Powers Act, Yemen, Yemeni civil war Derek Davison Derek Davison is an analyst covering U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and the writer/editor of the newsletter Foreign Exchanges. His writing has appeared at LobeLog, Jacobin, and Foreign Policy in Focus. More Posts Facebook LinkedIn Previous Article← More Women Protest by Removing their Hijabs Next ArticleDid Bad Economic Conditions Cause Iran’s protests? → Gary Vogler Thank you Senators Sanders and Lee for showing courageous leadership on this issue. I hope you can succeed on Yemen and then move to the others. Just a small correction: Chris Murphy should be (D-CT), not (D-VT). After 12 Years, LobeLog Bids Farewell Mending Gulf fences could weaken support for U.S. sanctions against Iran Can A Soccer Tournament Help End The Gulf Cooperation Council Crisis? Saudi Arabia’s Paradigm Shift In Dealing With Yemen’s Houthis Did Assad Really Use Chemical Weapons in Douma? Calling Iranians “Descendants of the Magi” Is Actually a Compliment Why Does Lee Smith Have A Job?	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line565
__label__wiki	0.94759	0.94759	News & Politics » Feature Torture: Saddam's Weapon of Mass Destruction An Iraqi Prisoner Who Lived to Tell the Tale by Sergio Barreto Several months after his arrest in 1982 Ala'a Al Jaffar and 15 other men from a Baghdad prison were handcuffed and blindfolded and shoved into the back of a small military van. Some of the men huddled on the floor, others stood up and tried not to fall on them. They had no idea where they were being taken. It was summer, and as the van began to move through the city the temperature inside rose quickly. The prisoners realized that there were no vents, and they suspected the guards hoped at least some of them would suffocate. "They did that all the time," says Jaffar. Gasping for breath, some of the men managed to remove their blindfolds, even though they knew they'd be punished for it. Jaffar says he noticed some light hitting his chest, filtering through a hole the size of a lentil, and he put his nose to it. It wasn't enough. His chest tightened, and he felt he was about to collapse. "I saw the faces of my whole family in my mind," he says. "In Islam we believe you see that the moment before death. But I never surrendered." Finally the vehicle stopped and the door opened. No one had died. Jaffar, who now lives in Chicago with his wife and four children, describes this trip in his recently published memoir, The Bitter Time: Scrap of Paper Smuggled of Iraq's Prisons. Every detail is still vivid in his mind. "When I think about it I get the same feeling I felt that moment," he says. "I get chest pains. I can't breathe." But he felt he had to tell his story, even though he couldn't bring himself to use his real name--Jaffar is a pseudonym. "I believed if I didn't write it, maybe people will never know what Saddam did to Iraq." The son of a Shiite merchant, Jaffar was born in 1955 in the southern port city of Basra, three years before the army coup that overthrew the monarchy and turned Iraq into a republic. As a child he was aware of a power struggle between Marxists and nationalists, but he remembers Iraq as a free land until the Baath Party took over in 1968. His father had spoken out against the communists during the early 60s, but he was afraid to speak against the Baathists, particularly Saddam Hussein, who was the real power in the country long before he became president in 1979. Like his father, Jaffar came to hate the Baathists. In 1979 Jaffar was in his second year studying economics and management at the University of Basra. That same year he married Sahar (not her real name), whom he'd known since childhood. He also began writing articles that condemned Saddam and the Baath Party, hoping to get them published under a pseudonym in another Arab country. In 1981 one of Jaffar's two brothers, a doctor, was arrested. He was quickly released, but he wasn't told why he'd been detained. Jaffar says it was common for people to point fingers at acquaintances, or even friends and relatives, to prove their loyalty to the regime and try to gain favors. As Shiites, Jaffar and his brothers were automatically suspect, and their university degrees didn't help, because Saddam felt threatened by people who were well educated. After Jaffar graduated he found work at a Basra branch of Iraq's central bank. By then he and Sahar had two children and were living with his parents, saving to get a place of their own. One night in January 1982 a childhood friend he calls Ahmed, a low-ranking military officer, warned him that he was about to be arrested. He was only 24, and Sahar was 21. Ahmed told Jaffar that another old friend, Majed, would help him flee. But Majed double-crossed them both, and by the end of the night Jaffar and Ahmed were in prison. Jaffar says the officers who arrested him didn't know what he was accused of, though that didn't keep them from taking turns beating him. Ahmed was tortured so brutally he died the same night. The next morning Ahmed's sister told Sahar that her husband was probably in custody. Sahar went to the city's prison, but no one would tell her anything. In The Bitter Time Jaffar writes that during his first week of captivity he saw prisoners ranging from boys in their teens to men in their 80s. His cell mates included a merchant, a tailor, a soldier, a port authority official, and one of his neighbors. The neighbor said he was tortured so badly on his first day he confessed falsely to being a member of an opposition party. Jaffar writes that he often heard other prisoners, including women, screaming and pleading for mercy. After the screaming stopped, guards would sometimes drag an unconscious prisoner into his cell. Jaffar was surprised that at first his captors weren't that brutal with him. Instead they insulted him and only occasionally beat him. They would also do things such as refuse to take him to a restroom for hours, then give him a small can to urinate in. He was periodically driven to new prisons, eventually winding up in a police jail in Baghdad. There he was questioned about his connection to a Dr. Emad. He told the interrogator Emad was a friend he'd lost touch with. Unsatisfied with that answer, the interrogator ordered a security guard to take Jaffar "into the garden for a walk." He was led into an adjoining room, where his legs were tied together, his hands shackled behind his back and tied to something he couldn't see. Suddenly he was jerked violently upward by his hands and found himself hanging from what looked like a butcher's meat hook. The officials demanded to know if he was a member of a subversive group, the same thing they asked everyone. The pain was excruciating, but Jaffar insisted he was innocent. The officials repeatedly dropped him to the floor, then yanked him back up. The next night they wrenched him up again, this time beating him as he hung in the air. He still insisted he'd done nothing wrong, so they attached metal clamps to his earlobes and sent electric shocks through his body. His hands swelled until he couldn't move his fingers, his entire body ached, and his head bled continuously. For seven months Jaffar was tortured. Sometimes he was tortured every night, sometimes he was left alone for days. He says he refused to confess to anything because he knew where it would lead. "People think they can escape torture by making a confession, but then the investigator tortures them even worse to get more information," he says. "So you keep making up more lies and getting in more trouble." They never asked about his writing, so he figured they were just fishing. Later he found out that he was treated so harshly because a fellow prisoner had claimed he was the leader of an opposition group. Jaffar also had to watch the people around him suffer. One young man had a broken bottle inserted in his rectum and would bleed whenever he had a bowel movement. Jaffar was forced to watch as guards dragged in the wife of another man and groped and undressed her in front of her husband, who tried to stop them by confessing things that weren't true. Many Iraqi women were imprisoned and tortured alongside their husbands, Jaffar writes, and they were often raped. He saw lots of prisoners die. Jaffar says the only way he could cope was to focus on his faith. "I grew very close to God," he says. "That was the most advantage I got from prison." One man had a pocket-size Koran when he was arrested, and the prisoners would read it and pray together. "Muslims have to pray five times a day," Jaffar says. "We say that if you pray more you're saving for the future. We used to joke that we had prayed enough for many lifetimes." Their praying irritated the guards, and it became an act of defiance. While Jaffar was in prison Sahar took care of the children and Jaffar's parents. She told the children that their father was away on business and would eventually return, but it was difficult not to show how worried she was. "In Iraq, usually at dinnertime the father gives children a tip," she says. "Dinnertime became a time of sadness. I would give them a tip and say, 'It's from your dad.' My older daughter didn't believe it." Occasionally intelligence officers would drop by the house to ask if anyone had called wanting to know where Jaffar was, and they warned her not to lie or she might be put in prison herself. Friends and relatives were afraid to be associated with the family and stopped coming around. Sahar had always worked, though her husband hadn't wanted her to when they married. She had a job at a food processing plant, and like all government employees, she had to file a report every year describing anything she knew that could be of concern to security officials, including the arrest or execution of a relative. She knew she could be fired or worse if she said Jaffar was in prison, but her supervisor, an old friend of her father, let her report that her husband had been lost in the Iran-Iraq war. Living in constant fear, she too turned to the Koran for comfort: "Allah made me peaceful and secure." Sahar had to be careful what she said even at home. "You can't say anything about Saddam in front of children," she says. "They love him. They see him on TV all the time. They see statues and posters of him everywhere." She says many people were arrested because their children innocently repeated something they'd said about Saddam. "I was afraid if I said something bad about him my daughter would say it at day care," she says. She forced herself to put up decorations on the revolutionary holidays all Iraqis had to observe. "Saddam took my husband away, he ruined my life," she says angrily, "and I have to teach my children to love him." The trip in the military van that nearly suffocated Jaffar turned out to be a trip to court. Ten prisoners at a time were taken before a judge. There were no witnesses or jurors, just a general prosecutor and a few court bureaucrats. Jaffar says that when his turn came the prosecutor produced a stack of statements, allegedly given by friends, saying he'd been the leader of an opposition group. He denied the charges so vehemently that the judge postponed his trial for a month. He was taken back to prison, where the guards, who hadn't expected him to return, beat him unconscious. When he came to, on the floor of a bathroom, he was covered with urine from a blocked sewer. For the next month he was beaten badly. When he was taken back to court a lawyer appeared on his behalf, a man he'd never spoken to. "The defense lawyer said, 'Your honor, I'm sure this man is guilty, but please be kind to him,'" he says. "That was it." Two Baath Party officials he'd never seen before were introduced as witnesses against him. He writes that he questioned them so fiercely they started stammering. For reasons he doesn't understand, he wasn't executed. But he wasn't released. Instead he was shipped to a prison where most of the detainees were political prisoners. He was put in a cell that was 15 feet by 15 feet, which he shared with 65 other men, sometimes more. They would pile on top of one another to sleep. "We would sleep in any position we could," he says. "When I got out of prison I had forgotten how to sleep on my back." He wasn't tortured anymore. The regime seemed to have no interest in him--or anyone else in the prison. Someone came in with tuberculosis, and the disease spread quickly through the prison. Many of the men started coughing and spitting up blood. They begged for medical help, and after three months their jailers produced an X-ray machine. Jaffar says they randomly tested 250 inmates, and 250 had tuberculosis. The guards said they'd provide medical care but never did. He never caught the disease, but he watched several people die from it. Jaffar says some of the prisoners lost their minds and would scream and howl in their cells. Not knowing if he would ever be released, he was afraid he too might crack, and he decided the only way to prevent that was to stop thinking about his family and the life he'd once had. "After a while," he says, "I couldn't remember my children's faces." Three years later, in April 1986, he was suddenly released, part of a group of men freed on Saddam's birthday as a goodwill gesture. He soon learned that Sahar had moved the family some 50 miles northwest of Basra and made his way there. "He used to be very athletic, very handsome," says Sahar. "We didn't even recognize him. He can't stand, can't sit, is just hunched over." He'd also lost the use of his right hand. Six days later his brother called from Basra to say that police had been looking for him at his old address. He, Sahar, and the two children immediately left, taking only some money Sahar had managed to save. They spent six months traveling northward, staying briefly with friends and relatives along the way. They settled for a few months in northern Kurdistan, where Sahar gave birth to a baby girl. Only a few weeks later they paid smugglers to take them on horseback across the desert and over the Syrian border. From Syria they traveled to Lebanon, where they lived for the next 14 years. Jaffar made a living as a freelance editor and wrote books on the side, mostly about Islam and premodern Iraqi history, including The Roots of the Shia. His children--they had another daughter while in Lebanon--did most of the typing for him. Well aware that Saddam had spies in Lebanon, he came up with the Ala'a Al Jaffar pseudonym to protect his family in Iraq. Friends encouraged him to write about his years in prison, and finally in 1999 he wrote a memoir of the time from when he was arrested until the end of his trial. "I felt great peace after I wrote it," he says. "I wanted to give voice to those people, the ones who died in jail." Hoping to further disguise his identity, he wrote it in the second person, but he was still afraid to publish it, afraid that someone might find out who he was and retaliate against his parents and siblings. In 1999 the family went to the UN and asked to be resettled in the West. Sweden offered to take them, but they declined. Jaffar and Sahar decided the weather there was too harsh, and besides, they and their children had already learned some English. A few months later they were interviewed at the American embassy in Beirut and were allowed to come to the U.S. as refugees. The family was sponsored by World Relief and arrived in Chicago in April 2000. Their interpreter was Rana Al-Edanee, a former Basra resident who soon became a friend. "They didn't have any relations with other Iraqis here," says Al-Edanee. "I really became like an adopted daughter. I thank God a thousand times a day I found them." Jaffar, who still can't use his right hand and sometimes has problems with his memory, is now on public aid, as is Sahar. Their son, who's 23, manages a restaurant, and their oldest daughter is in college. One of the two younger girls is in high school, the other in middle school. Jaffar finds it difficult to trust anyone outside his family. He says he shuns the 2,000 or so other Iraqi families who live in the Chicago area and has never attended the mosque on the far northwest side that's run by an Iraqi cleric. He's told no one besides his family and Al-Edanee that he writes books under a pseudonym. He says that even though Saddam is now out of power he's afraid Saddam sympathizers could still hurt his family here or in Iraq. Al-Edanee says he has good reason to be afraid. "One day I was talking to his daughter, and she was saying how wonderful Lebanon was. I asked, 'If Lebanon was so great, why did you leave?'" The daughter said her father had received death threats when he began to write his memoir. "Someone was calling and saying, 'We'll kill you--we'll kill your family.' That's why he left the country." When the U.S. began gearing up to invade Iraq a year and a half ago, Jaffar worried that a war would lead to a repeat of 1991. He didn't believe that American troops would march all the way to Baghdad and thought thousands of Iraqis would be massacred by a vengeful Saddam. He listened appalled as Arabs outside of Iraq defended Saddam. "I was watching an Arabic channel," he says, "and I saw men saying, 'We've got to help Saddam. Saddam Hussein is the best Arab president.'" They also refused to believe that he'd committed atrocities against his own people. Jaffar decided he had to do what he could to change that impression. "I saw these things. I heard these things. I'm a writer. I'm here to be a witness. I want people to know what Iraq was like." He pulled out the memoir he'd written in Lebanon and sent it to a publisher there, who released it early last year. But it got little attention, and he decided it had to be published in English. He found someone on the Internet to translate it, and Al-Edanee, unsure how else to get it published, looked in the Yellow Pages and called around until she found the cheapest self-publishing firm, 1st Books of Bloomington, Indiana. "I didn't know most publishers are in New York," she says. She put up most of the $1,400 cost. The day before the book went to press Saddam was captured. "What I saw yesterday nobody ever dreamed," said Jaffar. "We can't even imagine that he would end up like that. He loves himself so much he didn't even have the courage to put a bullet in his brain." The Bitter Time was released first as an e-book, and a paperback edition went on sale online in early January. The translation isn't very good; it's literal, awkward, and sometimes simply wrong--the jacket calls the book a novel. But the story remains compelling, and since Jaffar retains the rights to it, another publisher could pick it up and do it justice. Jaffar names the prisons he was in, names the officials who ran them, names the men who tortured the prisoners. He hopes the book will be used to keep them out of any positions of power. "If I see any of these men working with the new government I will not trust that government," he says. "No one in Iraq will. They are killers." Despite his fears, he says he would even be willing to travel to Iraq to testify against them. When the country has an Iraqi government and the streets are safer, he says, he'd like to visit his mother and siblings--his father died last year. But he has no desire to move back. "Iraq is much better without Saddam," he says, "but life is better here." Sahar agrees. Then she says, "But Saddam left something broken in everyone's heart. It will never be whole again." Publishing the book seems to have made Jaffar a little more open to the world, but he says he's tried to put his years in prison behind him and can't. "If you ask me how many times they hit me I will tell you," he says. "If you ask me what they did to me on this day I will tell you. I can't forget even what I tried to forget." Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Jim Newberry.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line567
__label__wiki	0.61362	0.61362	How Does the Movie Compare? Mary DroverBook Reviews, Film Reviewsan adventure in tolkien, book review, books, discussion, film, film review, jrr tolkien, lord of the rings, middle earth, reading, tolkien7 Comments You know what would have been a really good idea? Taking notes while I was watching the movies recently, immediately after I’d finished reading the books. Alas, I was too swept up in Middle-earth–how does one get too swept up in a movie they’ve seen literally dozens of times? NO IDEA–and thus, I took literally no notes other than some capslock screaming about Sam, which, I mean, I do every day anyway, so that’s not really helpful. There were a few things that stood out to me that I knew I wanted to talk about, so let’s dive in! Aragorn & Arwen Art by Akita-sensei Generally, I’m going to like the book more than the movie, for pretty much every adaptation, and there are very few instances where that’s reversed. I’d almost say that I love the book & movie for Lord of the Rings the same? They exist in such different realms in my brain. Weirdly enough, I’ve only read the trilogy three times, and the third time was last year. I read it as a child, and then very sporadically, a few chapters at a time, over the next several years, before finally rereading it in its entirety and somewhat together, in the last half of 2020. The movies, however, I’ve probably watched at least two to three times a year since their release? Thus, I’ve grown up with the LOTR trilogy as my favorite movie, but the books haven’t always been my favorite. And, even still, while The Silmarillion pops up in my top ten favorite books of all time, no other Tolkien books do, and I don’t know that they ever will. That’s not to say that I don’t love the books because I do, very much, don’t worry. It’s just a weird dissonance in my head where I love both equally, but in very different ways. One of the things that I appreciate a lot about the movies is Aragorn’s character. He’s very similar, but there’s a pretty huge thing missing in the movies–he’s not arrogant or proud. In the books, Aragorn is kind of annoying at times. He not only believes that he deserves to be king, but that it’s his right, and he’s pretty loud about that. He accepts the mantle almost immediately after they arrive in Rivendell, and he goes around shouting about his heritage to anyone that will listen. There’s no hesitation at all on his part, and anytime he encounters other powerful characters, he’s quick to throw around his kingly birthright. It’s honestly a bit disconcerting, and I found myself sighing loudly at him a lot while reading the books. In the movie, however, Aragorn is pretty humble. He gets all shy and havo dad, Legolas when Legolas tries to basically defend his honor against Boromir. He quickly defers leadership to Gandalf, he refuses to make any huge decisions without consulting the others, and he outright says nope to Elrond about literally all of it for nearly three movies. And honestly? I prefer this version of Aragorn. He’s sweet and unassuming, and he nestles himself into the Fellowship without making any big waves. Yes, he does eventually comb his hair and don regal armor, but that’s only after a huge character arc of change and growth. I get why Tolkien wrote Aragorn’s character like he did. At the time, that was the kind of kingly figure that many stories had, and that many readers wanted. And, to this day, it’s not like I don’t like Aragorn’s character in the books. I understand him, and I appreciate his arc. I just kind of like what Jackson did with him better, and wow, that felt so sacrilegious, am I about to burst into flames? Frodo & Sam Art by Hari Conner Something that will never, ever make sense to me, though, is Frodo telling Sam to go home. That’s just–what? I would have been confused if this happened in the books, too, but it doesn’t, so it’s even more confusing when it happens in the movie. Look, it really doesn’t matter if you’ve never read the books, Frodo telling Sam to go home is so stupid. It just literally doesn’t make a lick of sense. In no universe would Gollum be able to poison Frodo that much that he would tell his oldest and dearest and most beloved friend to leave him. And even if Frodo did consider it, he wouldn’t tell Sam to go home while they were in freaking Minas Morgul! I don’t care what you think about Frodo, he’s not cold-hearted like that. Sure, maybe Gollum could have accomplished it, but at no point would Frodo have thought, hm you know what makes sense, telling my best friend to go home while we’re in enemy territory. I may have a weird love for Sauron, but even the ring couldn’t have swayed Frodo to do something so out of character. And even setting aside the fact that telling Sam to go home while climbing the stairs of Cirith Ungol is just nonsense, Frodo just wouldn’t want Sam to leave him at all. Frodo knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he can’t accomplish this impossible task without Sam. Say what you will about their light-hearted musings about a future story about themselves, but Frodo’s part in that conversation is so telling. He knows that he needs Sam to go on, and not in some awful way, but because he loves Sam, and he knows that Sam is going to continue holding him up, and he also just wants a friend. Yes, I do like what Jackson did with Aragorn, but I hate the scene when Frodo tells Sam to go home because it’s unrealistic for their friendship, and it’s rude to Tolkien fans for ever daring to put tension between the greatest friendship of all time. While we’re here, let’s chat about how Jackson glorified war, as well. The Battle of Helm’s Deep is about ten pages long? Maybe a little bit less, but it really doesn’t take up a whole lot of space. The Battle of Pelennor Fields & at the Black Gate are also pretty short as far as the whole scope of the story goes. Much of the attention is paid to the preemptive work to get themselves ready, and then the fallout after the battle. Sure, Tolkien pays attention to what actually happens in the battle, and he lists out some wondrous deeds by our favorite heroes, but he also speeds right through it and then deposits us back in Frodo & Sam slowly making their way through Mordor. And if that wasn’t indicative enough, Tolkien called LOTR a “high romance”. He had no intention of the story being about war at all. Even after he was gone, the Tolkien family was very adamant that it wasn’t a story about war, either, but rather a story about the individual characters and their relationships with one another, with how the war in their life was affecting them. Middle-earth has suffered a lot of war, yes, but the stories are never specifically about those wars, but the characters suffering from them. And it’s really a bummer that Jackson then turned his lens so firmly on the different battles. I get it, too. I understand that war sells, and that Hollywood wanted a big production, and heck, you’ll hear it right from me! Helm’s Deep is probably one of my favorite scenes ever when it comes to movies, and I’ve long told myself that I get one battle in the rain in my books because holy hell is it badass and can only be done that spectacularly once. But, at the same time, as I’ve rewatched the movies in the last few years and thought about how much Tolkien hated war, it makes me sad to see it so glorified in the adaption of his story. Art by Stevie Dutson I know that this last point is in direct conflict with my previous statement about how Jackson glorified war considering we’re talking about a sword, but the legend behind Andúril is a lot more classic lore for Tolkien than it is talking about war, and you just know he geeked out about getting to give his swords names and cool stories. But Andúril in the movie? Yeah, that’s way cooler. The shards of Narsil are reforged at the damn Council of Elrond in the books, and Aragorn flashes it in everyone’s faces when they reach Edoras, and this kind of goes hand-in-hand with how I like his character better in the movies. I like that he’s more reserved about it in the books, that he pays the sword its due respect and a little bit of fear. I like that we get this huge moment when Elrond travels through the night across Middle-earth to bring him the sword and basically give him one last go big or go home speech. I like that there’s so much importance cast over Andúril, that it’s almost more than just a sword, and that weight in the movies is what makes it so badass. And that is the end of the first week of Tolkien month! I’ve got a lot of fun topics geared up to discuss this month, as well as three reviews–please pray for me that I’ll manage to get all of them done. There’s some shouting about Morgoth, which we all should have expected, as well as an announcement at the end of the month that I’m hella hyped about, so I hope y’all are buckled in and ready for some adventures! TTT: Most Anticipated 2021 Book Releases What Legolas & Gimli Say About Racism 7 thoughts on “How Does the Movie Compare?” I’m reading both these books now. The Silmarillion. Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism by Rose A. Zimbardo and Neil D. Isaacs. Then, I will read The Two Towers. I really need a rewatch of those movies at some point. I haven’t seen them in years. YES, YOU SHOULD! They’re so damn good. I watch them two or three times a year, and it somehow gets better every time. I agree that the books and movies kind of exist separately for me! I’m the same that I’ve read the books far fewer times than I’ve watched the movies, so the movies are what come to mind first for me. But when I really allow myself to dive into the world of the books (like now), I remember how much I love them too. Yess I love the movie version of Aragorn too—his humbleness and reluctance makes him feel much more relatable than mr. “divine right to rule” in the books lol. I really like what you said about Jackson glorifying war, since that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently as I learn more about Tolkien’s life. As epic and fun to watch as the battle scenes are in the movies, it seems to go against how Tolkien viewed those scenes. I think Tolkien always took such care to celebrate the smaller moments of heroism, like Sam sticking by Frodo all the way across Middle-Earth, and while the movies highlight that too, they place such emphasis on the war heroism that the impact isn’t quite as great. Anyway, this is super interesting and definitely something I’m going to keep thinking about! They’re so similar, but they really do exist separately, and I think it’s that way for a lot of people. They’re almost different levels of media? Like, the books are full of such elevated language and insane lore, but the movies are also so powerful and beautifully done. They’re both incredible, but in such different ways. You’re so right, he really did place more weight on the small acts of heroism, often for those outside of the actual, physical battles, and that’s so important to remember when thinking of LOTR. I mean, sure, I love Help’s Deep & Pelennor Fields so damn much, but, at the end of the day, the true heroes–at least, as Tolkien saw them–very rarely saw typical battle. Jenna @ Falling Letters says: “Something that will never, ever make sense to me, though, is Frodo telling Sam to go home.” Augggh yes that scene drives me crazy every time and I forget it’s coming every time, like I’ve blocked it from my mind lol. SAME! I’m always like, “Wait, WHAT is happening??” like I haven’t watched it a million times already. It’s so dumb!	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line573
__label__wiki	0.746098	0.746098	Overthink everything. Matthew Parsons's staring contest with the universe About MJRP Omnireviewer (week of Dec. 13) It’s been the kind of week where I spend a lot of time with a small amount of things — most of which I’ve reviewed already in recent weeks. (Yeah, I’ve still got Hamilton on repeat.) So, only 16 reviews this time, and only one pick of the week since they’re mostly podcasts. Deadwood: Season 1, episodes 4-8 — Well, now I’m hooked, aren’t I? There’s been so much to love in these five episodes. The end of episode four is a hell of a bait-and-switch for those like me, who know absolutely nothing about the actual history of the real town of Deadwood, from which that twist is 100% taken. Al Swearengen continues to steal scenes, but the rest of the characters in the town are getting fleshed out nicely, from Seth Bullock and Alma Garrett, to E.B. Farnum and right on down to Reverend Nickelback. Still though, even most of the way through the first season, I feel like the show is still clearing its throat before it really says what it means. QI: “Miscellany” — Noel Fielding is still alive! Undertale: Once again, I’m underwhelmed by a critically acclaimed indie game from 2015. I haven’t gotten very far, so perhaps that’s a premature judgement. But the default tone for this is self-aware bad jokes, which I find very trying. I get that it’s a genre pastiche, but can’t a game have something to say about a subject other that “what games are like?” I could see this growing on me as it progresses. But then, I said that about Stasis, too. Theory of Everything: “New York After Rent (post prop f director’s cut)” — This is a one-part compilation/update of a three-part series that I’ve already heard, but I honestly relished a second listen. If you want to jump on board with ToE, this is the way. It demonstrates everything that Benjamen Walker is great at: clever turns of phrase, a Jonathan Goldstein-esque ability to weave together fact and (probable) fiction, and backing up giant intellectual pronouncements with great storytelling. In this case, the giant intellectual pronouncement is that Airbnb has resulted in the total commodification of New York City — not just its housing, but its art and the very thoughts of its citizens as well. It’s one of the most ambitious pieces of radio I’ve heard this year, and one of the funniest. Pick of the week. Criminal: “It Looked Like Fire” — This is one of those “two people with intertwined destinies” kinds of stories. The two people are a protester in Ferguson and a newspaper photographer, neither of whom could have quite grasped the future effects of their actions. Fascinating, and elegantly told. This American Life: “Status Update” — A guy who knows Ta-nehisi Coates gets jealous, debt collectors keep suing entire neighborhoods, and Ira Glass tries to understand teenage girls. Sometimes you can just summarize something and that sells it. Planet Money: “Frank Sinatra’s Mug” — Sometimes in radio, it really sounds like people are reading a script. I’m fine with that — except when they try and make it seem like candid conversation. Planet Money is worse for that than any other popular podcast. This is a fun story, though. The Heart: “Idiot+Dummy” — A simple, well-told, bittersweet little love story that’s not sentimental or cloying. The Heart does radio drama better than The Truth, here. Imaginary Worlds: “Han Shot Solo” — Maybe it’s just because I’ve already seen The People vs. George Lucas, but this seems like the least interesting episode of Molinsky’s Star Wars series. But if you’re not familiar with the slogan “Han shot first,” and the nerd debate nerdraging nerdily around it, definitely listen to this. 99% Invisible: “Tube Benders” — Neon! How has 99pi not done an episode about neon already? This is one of the “fine” episodes of 99pi. Serial: “The Golden Chicken” — Okay, now my head’s starting to hurt. So many details! I’m not complaining. Still, if I have one gripe about this season of Serial so far, it’s that there seems to be less tape than I remember in the first. There’s an awful lot of Sarah Koenig explaining things. Maybe that’ll change as we get further into the thick of things? The Memory Palace: “Gallery 742” — My idea to listen to the whole back catalogue before the next new episode went precisely nowhere, but I’ll get through them one of these days. At the beginning of this episode, DiMeo tells you to consider not listening to it. Apparently, it was made to accompany a walk through a new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he claims it only kind of makes sense without that context. Don’t listen to him. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the richness of his storytelling would only cause the actual exhibit to disappoint me if I saw it. I’ll stop before my fawning embarrases me further. All Songs Considered: “Poll Results: Listeners Pick Their Favourite Albums of 2015” — Inevitably, the episode featuring the critics’ picks was more interesting that the one with the listeners’ picks. But there’s still a heck of a lot of variety here, and it’s good listening. I really need to sit down with that Sufjan Stevens record. I’ve heard “Blue Bucket of Gold” on this podcast a couple of times now, and god what a gorgeous track. Song Exploder: “Björk – Stonemilker” — As episodes of Song Exploder go, this one doesn’t offer a huge amount of insight into the track. But you get to listen to an isolated Björk vocal from one of her best songs, so that makes this essential. All Songs Considered: “David Bowie Fulfils His Jazz Dream” — A preview of the upcoming Bowie album, guided by the bandleader, Donny McCaslin, and the Most Legendary Producer In All The Land: Tony Visconti. How can you go wrong? Bob Boilen isn’t the greatest interviewer, but he doesn’t really have to be. And the new music sounds fantastic. Reply All: “Past, Present, Future” — This is a bunch of updates on what happened after the end of several Reply All stories from the past year. So, it’s basically an episode of Reply All that would make no sense to anybody who hasn’t heard pretty much every prior episode of Reply All. Which is fine, because who listens to one episode of Reply All and doesn’t go back and listen to the whole back catalogue? I was particularly taken by the update to the story where the P.J. and Alex broke into an abandoned building and found a goat. Mostly, because when I heard that the first time I kind of didn’t believe it. That’s the thing about radio. You can say you see something and nobody’s any the wiser. But this update has an interview with a listener who has a plausible explanation for why there was a goat in that building. Good enough for me. This entry was posted in Omnireviewer, Podcasts, TV, Video games and tagged 99% Invisible, All Songs Considered, Criminal, Deadwood, Imaginary Worlds, Planet Money, QI, Reply All, Serial, Song Exploder, The Heart, The Memory Palace, Theory of Everything, This American Life, Undertale on December 20, 2015 by Matthew. ← Omnireviewer (week of Dec. 6) Omnireviewer (week of Dec. 20) → Ghost Echoes, copiously annotated The authoritative ranking of ABBA Gold Notes on Moby-Dick (still not finished): Part 4 Notes on Moby-Dick (which one day I will finish): Part 3 The Final Omnibus Haystack Files Notes on Moby-Dick Omnireviewer Things I loved Tweets from MJRParsons	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line577
__label__cc	0.551466	0.448534	Episode #37: Rory Flack March 30, 2010 allison Podcast 2 Comments An interview with Rory Flack, top professional skater, coach, and creator of Ebony on Ice. 47 minutes, 25 seconds. Rory Flack Burghart On her most embarrassing skating moment: In 2005 I was doing a show in Lithuania, and I went to go into my triple toe and completely missed my tap. And I turned forward into kind of a belly flop off the ice. I slid and my body hit the floor, because there was seating on the ice. I got up and went on, but it hurt. I couldn’t lay on my stomach for three months, I bruised my hipbones so bad. I didn’t hit any people, though. I was coming straight down the middle, so I landed in the aisle [laughs]. On how she got started in skating: I saw Dorothy Hamill skating on TV just before I turned five, so it must have been worlds or something because my birthday’s in April. I turned channels and I saw her gliding across the ice, and she was just mesmerizing. And when she was done she took her bows and everybody stood up and applauded, and I was like, that’s what I want to do. And I’ve told her that she’s the reason. When I did my first shows in Ice Capades, she came in and did some guest appearances, and we actually became very close. On her coaches during his amateur career: My favorite coach ever, his name was Ray Balmer, and he was like a father figure to me. He treated me like his child and did so much for me. And he inspires me as a coach now, how I work with my skaters and how I feel about them. We had such a close connection, I couldn’t wait to get to the rink. I also took from Robin Cousins when I was 17. And I was one of the first skaters at Ice Castle in Lake Arrowhead, where I took from Mr. Nicks. On missing her first competition because of chicken pox: I tried to hide it but I was scratching too much [laughs]. I’ll never forget it because when I put on my skating dress I put on a turtleneck underneath and I told my mom, I think it’s going to be cold at the rink. But I was scratching and she looked under the neck of my turtleneck and saw all these bumps, and she said, you can’t go. And I was like, but I’m OK!, and she said, this is chicken pox and it’s very contagious so you can’t go [laughs]. On her mother working three jobs to pay for her skating: She was a respiratory therapist and she worked at three different hospitals. And she was a single mother, and, yeah, she did everything she could when I was younger for me to skate. And yes, she did say to me, I’m putting all this money into what you do, so this is your college. And I was a paper person, a paper boy, I threw papers in the morning before I rode my bike to school. Now I tell everybody at the beginning, this is a very expensive sport, and the better you get the more it costs. But I don’t think I ever felt [pressure] from my mom. What I struggled with, that was my own, it wasn’t thrown at me by anybody else. I know she worked hard, and my sister played the violin, so she had lessons too, and my mom worked hard for both of us. And I understood that, because I didn’t really see myself going to college anyway. So I was like, I’m going to take advantage of everything she can offer me right now. And she struggled, like a lot of parents do. She struggled to make ends meet, and I tried to do all that I could. I had two paper routes, and then sometimes I’d do an afternoon route too for the evening paper, and I helped as much as I could. On competing at the same time as Debi Thomas and being a minority skater: It was a huge responsibility, and it was a responsibility that the community put on me. And Bobby Beauchamp, he was there too. And Mr. Nicks made us aware of what was going on in our sport at that time. It was really a great thing. To me, I was just skating, so you don’t really realize, being 15 and trying to get to your goal, how it’s going to affect other people. And I had my whole community behind me, and the three of us, the whole black community was behind us. There was a little bit of pressure there. On having her photo used on the Saturday Night Live TV show in 1987: I was sleeping and I woke up in the middle of the night, all groggy, and looked at the TV and there I was. I was told by NBC that they expected me to place higher because I skated so well, and they showed my split jump during the newscast and they were like, can you believe she got 10th or 12th or whatever. And it was really cool because it was an acknowledgement that I skated really well, and they just could not believe that I didn’t place better. But they don’t tell you anything — nobody said, oh, watch this show. I just woke up and saw it. And it was a slumber party, and I was like, look, you guys, did you see that? I was on! And they were like, uh, no, and I was like, really, it was me, I was on [laughs]. On her flexibility: The only thing I did that was spectacular and different was the split jump. We had a spiral sequence, and I worked my spirals religiously, but people didn’t really do that back then, and I always wanted to have a great spiral. But a spiral is flexibility and strength, and the split jump is just a flexibility move, and timing. The thing that we didn’t do so much is Biellmans. And back that, well, just Denise Biellman did it. So I didn’t know how to use flexibility to my advantage except in my split jumps. So I put them in every program. I did a variation on the Biellman, and nobody did that. And I did the broken leg [spin], and I teach my 10-year-olds that now, but nobody did that back then either. [The flexibility] is natural. I’ve had many masseuses who, if I hurt something, say it’s hard to get in there where the muscle is actually tight because I’m so flexible. They’re trying to adjust me and they have a hard time with it. On her Russian split jumps: I’ve been doing them for so long, I don’t know if anybody actually taught me. It was something that I saw and I just started doing it. And the more I did it, the better it got. It was the most natural thing I did, and I think it’s been how it is since I was 10 years old. On retiring from amateur competition: I was 20, going on 21, and that was not young then [in the early 1990s]. I had injured myself, and my doctor said that it was a really bad injury, a back injury, and I would never really walk well again. So I thought, well, that means I can’t train, I might as well turn professional, and that’s how it was then. If you did a show, there was no coming back, so you had to make a choice. And I remember, it was 1991 but it was the 1992 season that my back was injured, and I applied for a bye from Regionals to Sectionals, and I was denied [even though] I had been to Nationals before. And the USFSA was like, your doctor says you’re not well enough to skate, so why should we allow you in there and not somebody else. And then my progress got better, really fast, and they gave me a bye. And when I got to Sectionals, it was the West Coast, so it was Tonya Harding, it was Kristi Yamaguchi, it was a strong section. And I reinjured myself while I was there, and I think I was sick, and it was my last competition. And I was devastated because I knew that it was for me, it was never going to happen and I could never come back. But my body just didn’t want to quit [laughs] and I got back into it and started my career as a professional skater. On being an Ice Capades cast member: At the US Open, I had won the Challenge Cup part and was third in the Master’s part, and my whole goal there was to get asked to a show. It was funny, I was the female star [in Ice Capades] and the headliner was Cathy Turner, who was a speed skater. So it was an interesting experience. They hired her because she was the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in short track speed skating — it was the first year that was in the Olympics, in 1992. But she couldn’t do any publicity because she was a speed skater. So they treated me more like the star because I did all the publicity. What she did in the show was, there was one section — I’m sorry, I’m laughing because I remember it — where they put markers out as a circle, and she raced the chorus boys. That was all she did [laughs]. I remember when they were like, Rory, we need you to do all the publicity. And I said, well, then you gotta pay me more. And they said, all right, we’ll put you as the star, she’s the headliner, but you’re the star. And I got a raise and I got to be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. So it worked out really good for me, and I had a great time. I only had to skate two solos in the show, and when Dorothy Hamill came in, I only skated one number in the show because she skated the other one. Sometimes they needed a bigger headliner than the speed skater, so they would bring Dorothy in. On having a long professional career despite not having as many amateur titles as other professional skaters: I think it’s because I love the audience, I love the crowd, and I like to make people happy with what I do. And I’ve grown as a skater, being under the spotlight all the time. I feel like my career began as a professional skater, because I really had to step up to it, being among the Olympians and the world champions, and make a name for myself in a different way. That’s why I learned the backflip. And everything I did, I just put everything I have into what I do out there. And with everything that happened in my life growing up, the ice rink has always been my sanctuary. And it still is, and it’s still great to be in demand, with people still asking me to do shows at my age. It’s a great feeling to know I’ve touched so many people. On her backflip: It was not easy [to learn]. I have a great friend, Doug Mattis, who told me to learn something that nobody else does. And only two other women did it, and they were both coaches at my rink growing up. So knowing that they did it, I was like, OK, I can do it too. But it literally took me two months of gliding in circles on the ice with my friend, and I just couldn’t get myself to do it. And one day after gliding around for an hour and a half — my mother taught me all these different methods of meditation on the ice, to get my mind straight, and finally I was like, OK, you want to do this? You want to be something for a long time? You have to do this, you just have to get over this, Rory. All of us skaters, we talk to ourselves when we’re out there [laughs], and I just went out and did it. And I came out backwards, and I sat down because it was a complete rush. And I looked up and I saw my friend Doug standing there, and I was like, I did it!, and he was like, yeah, you did, and I was like, that was easy [laughs]. And he started laughing at me, and so I did it again and came out standing up nice and tall. It’s really in the head, it’s a guts move. After I had my first child, it was the first jump I did. You know you’re going to land on two feet, so it’s easier than a triple. On the type of ice show she likes to do: I enjoy touring, and I enjoy touring in Europe. It has nothing to do with what’s on the ice, it’s more about the interaction off the ice. In Europe, the cast is a family. You eat all your meals together. In the States, after rehearsals, everyone does their own thing and then comes back the next day. I like the family thing, and that’s just the way that they plan everything. The shows are longer there, so afterwards you might get on the bus for an hour and you’re all talking and everyone’s adrenaline lets down around the same time. So you stop and you all sit at the same table and you eat and then you go to the hotel. So the only thing you do alone on the tour is sleep [laughs]. And it’s fun and I love that. And it’s only once or twice a year and it’s always a different group of people, and it’s great and I love that. On the Ebony on Ice show that she produced: It was a lifelong dream of mine to have a show with all African-American skaters. And from the time I started coaching I started watching all the black skaters that started coming up, and watching them get better. And I had the opportunity to put a show together, and it was a fabulous show. The idea could be whatever I wanted, and I thought, well, let’s just go through time. Because there were just so many pieces of music that I liked, and I thought it would be a great way to tell the story of the music, how it started and how it came from Africa all the way to America, and how it’s evolved and changed. And it was really cool to work with all the kids I’d watched grow up in skating, and to give them the opportunity to be part of such a great experience. Derrick Delmore couldn’t be in it because he was always competing, but Rohene Ward, Andrea Gardiner, Cohen Duncan, they were the first ones on my list. And they were all still competing too, or going to school, so it wasn’t easy to get them. But I had a lot of skaters, and a lot of kids came and auditioned too. On being asked to restage the show for President Obama’s inauguration: It was such an honor, and it was devastating [to say no] but I couldn’t get things together fast enough. There was really no time. The Lincoln Theatre had everything blocked out for us, we had played there before, and when they called, they were like, the employees here still talk about your show. On her future plans for show production: My dream is to be able to produce shows for all the skaters that have a dream of being in a show. And I think a lot of that is from where I came from, not having those titles and having to work my way up. We don’t have those avenues any more. There’s no more Ice Capades, there’s not very many Disney on Ice shows with the economy the way it is. And I thought of a reality show because people love reality and there’s drama in skating, as we all know [laughs], and what a magnificent show that would be, to get behind it, like So You Think You Can Dance, to get behind the scenes and see what people are made of in skating. It’s not just about competing, it’s not just about world titles. When I was a teenager, that was the first time I met Scott Hamilton, he was doing Benson & Hedges Stars on Ice. I remember walking down and meeting him, and Kathleen Schmelz was in his show. And I remember thinking, I don’t know her, and he said to me, you don’t have to be an Olympic champion to be in one of my shows. If the crowd loves you, then you can be in shows. And that was inspiring for me. I tell my skaters, you have to feel free, you have to let go and be able to jump, and fly on the ice. On coaching in Alaska: [Skating’s] not huge at all, it’s dwindled down to nothing. Because it’s so cold people don’t want to spend time in an ice rink. And it’s so about hockey up there that it’s hard to find time for figure skaters. I still go up there and I still do Keegan [Messing]’s choreography, and work with him on spins, and make sure that everything he does is up to par and gets the most points possible for everything, but it’s hard. There’s just not much skating at all. There’s a lot more here in Utah. On coaching her son in pairs skating: I love coaching him. When he was six years old, he didn’t start skating until he was eight, we called Remington The Negotiator because he negotiated everything. Do you think if I did this, I could get that, you know. So he says to me one day when we were driving home, so, Mom, you’re the one who people come to when they want to be champions, right? And I was like, yes, that’s true, because in Alaska that’s how it was. So he says, if I ever skate I’m going to take from you. And I went, OK. And he started skating two weeks before his eighth birthday. And when he was almost nine, same thing, sitting in the back seat, of the car, he says, hey, Mom, if I win the Olympics do I have to go to college? [laughs] And I went, well, you probably wouldn’t have to because then you could do shows and do whatever you want. And he said, OK, then I’m going to win the Olympics. And I said, good for you [laughs]. But I have always said, because he is destined to be very tall, he’s going to be a pairs skater. And I think he’s going to be a great pairs skater one day. And he loves to skate. When he found skating and decided he was going to skate, and we had some tragedy in our family when our house burned down, I was doing a show for my club and he decided he was going to be in my show because he wanted to skate. And I was like, that’s cool. And all of a sudden there was one aspect of his life where he could do no wrong. It was OK if he fell, because it was like I always tell him, we learn from our failures. So take the fall, I can only correct you if you do it. If you don’t do it there’s nothing for me to correct, so take the fall. And he just started liking to skate, and now he loves to skate, and I love to watch him. And he has a great partner and he’s just a joy to teach. On her skating now: I can do [triple] toe right now, and I haven’t done much of anything else because I don’t need to [laughs]. Sometimes I get inspired, and I didn’t skate for almost a year now, but I got called to do a show and a short tour in Moscow and then the same in China. So I got on the ice this morning and skated around, and it felt really good. And I’ll get to that point where things start happening, and I’ll have a day when I do all my triples. figure skating rory flack skating 2 comments on “Episode #37: Rory Flack” Alis McCurdy says: As Pres. of the La Jolla FSC where Rory trained in her early years; she was a very disciplined eager very talented skater and role model. We were delighted that she represented the Club in her early yrears and I was delighted to have her mother and her as friends.Congrats on all your successes. When judging in Alaska I am sorry to have missed you. Karen Bertke says: I remember the first time I saw Rory Flack Burghart. Wow! And when she did the splits in the air… When you look up black women skaters, she is hard to find… I consider her artistry superior to many with exception to Gordeeva & Gringkov…	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line583
__label__wiki	0.52414	0.52414	Media Pluralism We are exploring fake news. filter bubbles. echo chambers. algorithmic news. big data content collection and analysis. innovative news practices. This is the website for the ‘Media Pluralism and Online News’ project, a three-year, Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project (2018-2020). In this project the researchers are tracking the dynamic developments in the way news is produced and consumed online and are seeking to account for this in public policy designed to promote media pluralism. We are aiming to transition the understanding of media pluralism by studying contemporary European policy approaches and a series of innovative news practices, including through making use of a big data approach to collecting media content. Framing the project Media pluralism, Media policy, Regulation Media pluralism has a moment... https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Kevin-Rudd-1260x840-1.jpg 840 1260 Jonathon Hutchinson https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png Jonathon Hutchinson2020-10-28 10:41:282020-11-02 18:07:15Media pluralism has a moment... Media Pluralism Dashboard Development Report, August 2020 https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-12-at-12.34.42-pm.png 714 1007 Jonathon Hutchinson https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png Jonathon Hutchinson2020-08-12 02:44:552020-08-12 02:44:55Media Pluralism Dashboard Development Report, August 2020 Localism, pluralism and responses to COVID-19 https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/media_ownership.jpg 1280 1920 Jonathon Hutchinson https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png Jonathon Hutchinson2020-05-07 23:51:232020-05-08 01:40:01Localism, pluralism and responses to COVID-19 Media policy, Regulation Recent Application of Ofcom’s Public Interest Test in Mergers https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Media_Pluralism_Ofcom01.jpg 1280 1920 Jonathon Hutchinson https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png Jonathon Hutchinson2020-04-09 00:44:272020-05-13 01:01:44Recent Application of Ofcom’s Public Interest Test in Mergers The Role of a Pluralistic Media in Australia's Democracy https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Media_Pluralism_MMP.jpg 600 1000 Jonathon Hutchinson https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png Jonathon Hutchinson2019-05-13 00:28:322020-05-13 00:41:33The Role of a Pluralistic Media in Australia's Democracy https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/media-pluralism-facebook.jpg 587 1000 admin https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png admin2018-08-25 00:00:532018-08-28 11:06:04Media pluralism https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/regulation-1.jpg 600 1000 admin https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png admin2018-08-24 02:17:102018-08-28 11:06:30Regulation https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/phone-screen-guardian-news.jpg 668 1000 admin https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png admin2018-08-23 02:26:202018-08-26 07:15:04News Brands Algorithmic Accountability https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/social-news-1000.jpg 600 1000 admin https://mediapluralism.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Media-pluralism-logo-black-300x300.png admin2018-08-22 02:28:552018-08-28 11:07:13Algorithmic Accountability	cc/2021-04/en_head_0015.json.gz/line586

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